Surface| Neteyam

15.

I walked out of my room, my eyes were red from the pools of water that lay in them. The village was quiet, it must have been a long day for everyone for it to be this way. Even in the early hours of the morning there would be commotion but there was nothing.

I saw my father bent down, sharpening something under his blade that he carried everywhere.

"Dad?"

He turned around, placing the knife down, I could tell he was in no better condition than me, deep eye bags contrasted against his blue skin.

I had a million things I wanted to say to him but I couldn't get a single sound out as he came closer to me, his arms wrapped around my body tightly. I hugged him back and everything felt okay again.

I closed my eyes and I felt my lip quiver while he brushed his hand through my hair, planting a small kiss on my forehead.

"Sìltsan Seytira, Sìltsan." He whispered, I tried to hold onto him as I felt his arms loosen,

Don't leave dad, I want to stay happy with you forever.

Finally I let him separate from me, as he moved away cold reality came back like a spear to the chest. He took my face in his hands, inspecting my expression closely,

"Why are you crying?"

I tilted my head away, "I tried to be brave, but I can't."

My dad always made sure I was strong because how can you live in a cruel world if you are weak and kind.

"Brave doesn't mean you're not scared, It means you go on even though you are afraid."

I gazed at him, how could I love someone so much but be so terrified that if I take one wrong step they would hate me for the rest of my life.

"But that doesn't make you any less a skxawng" He pushed my head gently back with his hand and I let out a stifled laugh.

"I love you star" He caressed my cheek as his soft words echoed through my head. I remembered how my mom used to call me that. She used to take me out late at night behind my father's back and let me find the biggest brightest star in the whole sky. And each night she told me if I ever felt far away to just look up at the sky and find my star, that way I could always find my way back to her.
"I love you to the moon and back" I repeated.

This time he let me off with a warning, that was to never leave him for as long as I did without asking. I still refused to tell him about where I was, well, rather who I was with but I could tell that he already knew, I guess in a way we were both just wishing it wasn't.

I strolled out of my home, taking in the familiar scenery.

I wasn't really thinking as I walked along the bay, somehow I found myself drawn to the Sully's home. There I saw Neteyam, his legs dangled above the water and his gaze looked lost in the bright sea.

"Can't sleep baby?" I teased, sitting close to him. He turned his head, his eyes slowly trailing.
We looked at each other, not really thinking about anything or anyone, just each other. As the wind brushed his hair back he took me into his arms and gave me a long hug.

The painfully tears came rushing down once again, I held onto him tightly, not wanting to ever let go. He gently pushed my head into his chest and stroked the back of my head soothingly.

"I'm sorry" I sobbed, realizing I was probably getting his clothes soaked.
He cupped my face in his hand, forcing me to look at him,

"Don't apologize" He whispered, whipping a tear away with his thumb. After what felt like an eternity, we finally let go of each other's embrace.

"I think I know what could cheer you up" He grinned, pulling me up from the ground. We strolled through the empty village. I dared not to look past the horizon that separated the ocean from the reef in case the haunting memories of last night came back. Neteyam noticed this as I stiffened,

"You need time to heal, no one can blame you for that"

"But we don't have time Teyam, you saw what I saw that night, the fires, they were real, we could have done something to stop them!" I tried to stay calm, mawey Sira mawey, I told myself.

"Listen, my father won't allow our war to come to your people, I promise" He put a hand on my shoulder and lightly squeezed it.

"I'll tell him myself, he has friends, sky people friends who can stop this"

I felt oddly reassured by this, his tone was honest and what else could I do but believe him.
"Now c'mon" He smiled heading over to the forestry part of the island, roots covered most of the ground but they were hard to climb so my people stayed out of them for the most part. Other than scavenging for materials and food we steered clear of anything we were unfamiliar with.

"Is this a good idea?" I said meekly remembering the last time I tried to climb something.

"You can do this"
I swallowed hard as I watched him jump onto a branch with ease, his thin arms and legs made it easy for him to maneuver around the forest, my limbs on the other hand would just weigh me down.

He wrapped his wiry tail around the tree for support and watched closely to see what I would do.

"I'll try"

I attempted to copy what he just did, using the almost invisible crevasse in the root as a stepping stool. I wrapped my arms as fast as I could around it while my legs swung aimlessly in the air.

I could hear him laughing from overhead, oh how I wanted to climb up there and slap him hard in the face.
Although the whole experience made me sympathize for him and his siblings, It was easy to see how hard it was to adjust to something you weren't made to do.

I heaved myself over the root, collapsing onto it as I stretched my arms out in defeat.

"You did great" He beamed,

"Har har" I replied sarcastically, still refusing to move.

He lept down to where I lay,

"I have a better idea"

Neteyam led me back to the front of the wide forest, calling out to something in the distance.
I looked over at him with a confused expression,

"Just watch"

Right then a large winged beast dove down beside him, in a panic a drew out my knife and went into a fight ready stance.

"Hey, this is Na'ue, my Ikran, '' Neteyam said, standing in between us. I began to recognize it at a closer glance, the same ones that the forest Na'vi rode on when they came to the islands.

"Hello, Na'ue" I tucked the knife back and lifted my hands up to show I wasn't a danger. The large Ikran was beautifully colored in greens and blues as it stood by Neteyam I could tell they were close.

"Good now you've met each other.." He hopped onto the Ikrans back, making the Tsaheylu,

"It's time I showed you the way of the forest"

A/N
Four chapters in one day oh my, I don't think I'll be posting as consistently after this but I really enjoy writing so I hope you like this little treat. Let me know if you want more interactions with any of the other kids or with the whole group( or just Neteyam )