𝐒𝐊𝐘𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋 - 𝐥𝐨'𝐚𝐤 𝐱 𝐨𝐜

Chapter 7- 𝐅𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 & 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐲

3rd Person POV

"So, does the paint have a purpose?" Ataya asked as Kiri painted something on her forehead with yellow war paint.

It was the day the she had been dreading for a long time. It was time to get her ikran. Ever since the flight she had on Lo'ak's ikran on the first day she came here, it's been a fear of hers.

And once she learned that her ikran will try to kill her when it chooses her, it got worse.

"Not that I know of." Kiri replied to and took a step back look at her finished paint job.

"Are you nervous?" Kiri added while putting the paint bowl down on the floor.

"Yeah I am, like really nervous." Ataya said anxiety evident in her voice.

She sat there in her tent anxiously waiting for Lo'ak to arrive so the they could go up to the mountains. Ataya was biting her nails when Lo'ak finally came.

"Are you ready?" He asked looking at her appearance. He didn't even need to ask whether she was feeling alright as she was visibly nervous. As if Ataya wasn't already nervous enough, the idea of seeing Lo'ak ever since the kiss also worried her.

After the kiss, they both acted like nothing happened. They told no one and tried to forget about it which was way harder than they thought it would be. She didn't know about Lo'ak but she could speak for herself that whenever she looked at Lo'ak, all she ever felt was the lingering feeling of his lips on hers.

Ataya nodded. She didn't trust her voice to talk. She was genuinely terrified.

They made their way over to the mountains as a group. Ataya, Lo'ak, Kiri, Neteyam and even Tuk. Jake and Neytiri were out with the war party, searching the grounds for 'sky people' who came too close to their hideout.

It took them almost an hour to get there. They climbed up some vines, went under a waterfall and then climbed some more. Ataya was complaining the whole way and the added tiredness of walking for so long only made her anxiety worse.

When they finally reached their destination Ataya's mouth fell agape at the view infront of her.

There were hundreds of ikran, all a different color. Even though it looked mesmerizing, it made Ataya more nervous.

"I can't do it." Ataya said and turned around to leave only to be grabbed on the shoulders and turned back around by Lo'ak.

"No. You can to it. And you will do it." He said sternly and pushed her forward.

Ataya looked back at Lo'ak with a desperate expression but Lo'ak dismissed it, pointing towards the ikran to encourage her to go forward.

Ataya turned around and took a deep breath. She reached over to the rope that was attached to her hip string of her bottoms and removed it.

She walked towards the ikran in slow and steady steps, turning the rope in a circle as she did so.

She looked at each of them to see if they would try to kill her but they were all unbothered.

And then she heard a loud roar from her left side. She quickly turned and saw the ikran that was roaring on top of some rocks. It was dark green and had black designs on top of its wings. The green color got lighter towards the end of its wings and tail.

Ataya froze in her spot. The ikran roared again jumping down from the rocks it was on.

Ataya's grip on the rope tightened and she hissed at the ikran. In one quick motion Ataya ran behind the ikran, jumping on its back. She held on with one hand and tried to tie its mouth with the other.