ʙᴀʀʀɪᴄᴀᴅᴇꜱ: ᴠᴏʟ. 2 | Jake Sully X Reader (Book 2)

| Chapter 17 |

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Italics: (Na'vi language, Metkayina sign language, and Jake's inner thoughts)
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You and Jake ran out of your hut and saw that all warriors were already jumping into the water and onto their respective creatures, whether it was an ilu or a Skimwing. Tonowari was the first of the crowd to leap in the water, immediately mounting his Skimwing with a powerful war cry that rallied up the others. Ronal did the same, and even if pregnant, she rode her Tsurak with tenacity and strength, holding her spears tightly in her hand.

While Jake jumped onto the water along with the other warriors to get on his Skimwing, you yipped and called for Aio, who came from above and landed right in front of you. You quickly mounted your Ikran, connected your queue and you snarled menacingly, to which your Ikran reciprocated with a loud screech because of the bond. You held on tight before beginning to fly high up in the air, catching up with the rest. When you reached the others, you looked down and saw that all of the Skimwings of the warriors below you, including Tonowari, Ronal, and Jake, all opened their wings and took flight.

The only sounds that could be heard were the spirited war cries of the warriors who followed behind Tonowari and Ronal. Riding Aio, you lifted your bow in the air and let out a war cry, and after Jake heard this, he reciprocated by doing one of his own too. As she rode her Skimwing, Ronal moved to be on one knee while she held her spear beside her, aiming it. They were all ready to fight. For their children, for the Tulkuns, and to protect their home.

As for the Sky People themselves, in the SeaDragon, the entire staff and crew were preparing themselves for battle. Ships, boats, and submarines alike were being prepped, and guns and rifles were being loaded, along with bombs and rifles as well. The teams that were supposed to go after Payakan were preparing the inflatable anchors and the explosive harpoons, ready to repeat the same process.

Men and women were boarding their submarines and preparing the controls accordingly, ready to hunt another Tulkun. Scoresby was walking along the area along the lower deck, inspecting and checking that everyone was getting ready. "Submarines, close the hatches! Two-minute warning!" The hunter announced, giving everyone the heads up at they'd all be commencing the hunt soon. Those who were in the Crab Suits connected their hands to the sensors that controlled the robotic hands of the suit, testing their functionality.

Meanwhile, the kids were still with Payakan trying to get the tracker off. Nothing was working, even when six of them were pulling on it at the same time. Neteyam's eyes quickly landed on his ilu on standby, and he came up with an idea. The Sully brother took the rope he brought with him and called over the ilu. When the creature came closer, he wrapped the rope around the ilu's body and then turned to look at the Metkayina prince, who was still helping Lo'ak, Tsireya, and Rotxo pull.

"Ao'nung!" Neteyam called, getting the said boy's attention, and tossing him to the other end of the rope. Neteyam quickly turned around and tightened the rope as much as he could, but being careful to not hurt the ilu. Ao'nung proceeded to wrap the end of his rope on the beeping tracker while Neteyam got the other side ready. "Bro, hurry up!" Lo'ak said with urgency, noticing what his brother was trying to do. It was their best shot at getting it off. When both sides were tied, Ao'nung and Neteyam looked at other and nodded. "Go, go, go!" The prince urged, and Neteyam did not waste any time in mounting the ilu.

From the docked SeaDragon, both Picador and Matador boats were beginning to disembark from the lowered ramp on the ship. Soldiers were ready and armed at their posts, whether it was by manning a gun, or the sound wave machine that distorts echolocation. Either way, the kids were running out of time and the boats would reach them at any moment now.

Neteyam started to command his ilu through the bond to start swimming in place, using as much force as possible to pull off the tracker. The creatures' fins splashed in the water harshly, showing just how much strength and effort the ilu was putting in. "Go! Now!" Neteyam yelled to the others, who began pulling on the tracker at the same time. "Everybody! Pull! All at the same time!" Tsireya yelled out, pushing the tracker with her feet as hard as she could while Ao'nung pulled on the device itself and Lo'ak and Rotxo pulled on the rope. They started to feel that it was slowly coming off, but they needed to endure it just a little more.