bound - avatar oc x oc

part 4

As they rose from the bushes, Akaia grabbed Tuk's hand and began to move out with the others.

They shuffled through the bushland, careful not to make a sound. Akaia could hear Kiri teasing Lo'ak about something; she turned to shush them—just as Tuk was yanked from her grasp.

Akaia whirled with a hiss and lunged at the woman who had taken Tuk. The avatar dropped the child as Akaia tackled her, the two of them crashing into the undergrowth. In a heartbeat Akaia gained the advantage, straddling the woman and unsheathing her knife, driving for the heart—only to be blindsided and slammed to the ground by another avatar.

The second soldier pinned her, wrenching the knife from her hand and flinging it into the bushes. He ground a knee into her back, keeping her face pressed to the dirt.

Rage flooded Akaia's vision. Around her, her siblings were surrounded, forced to surrender their weapons. The soldier increased his weight, and Akaia grunted, fury shaking through her. Her thrashing drew the attention of another male—one who moved with an easy authority. The leader. He approached with a smirk, never looking away from her eyes.

"What have we here," he said, crouching to her level, a flicker of recognition in his gaze.

"Look, Colonel," another soldier called. "Check it out—four fingers. We've got a half-breed."

Akaia's eyes snapped toward Kiri, whose hand had been grabbed and lifted for display. The Colonel stood, crossed to Kiri, then turned to Lo'ak.

"Show me your fingers," he ordered, hands on his hips.

Lo'ak flipped him off with both hands.

The Colonel laughed. "You're his, aren't you?"

Lo'ak hissed, defiant.

"You're his, alright." The Colonel's smile thinned as he grabbed Lo'ak by the queue and hauled him upright. Lo'ak growled in pain.

Akaia bucked beneath the weight pinning her, spitting curses in Na'vi.

"Shut her up," the Colonel said without looking. The soldier shoved a gun barrel into the back of Akaia's head—right into her wound. She cried out, and Kiri, Spider, and Lo'ak shouted for him to stop. Akaia went still, breath trembling.

"Quiet. All of you," the Colonel snapped, turning back to Lo'ak. "Where is he?"

Lo'ak glared. "I don't speak English with assholes."

"Where is your father?" the Colonel repeated, tightening his grip on the queue until Lo'ak shouted in pain. Tears—hot with anger and helplessness—stung Akaia's eyes as the muzzle dug harder into her scalp.

Lo'ak still refused, hissing weakly.

"Really? You want to do this the hard way?" The Colonel drew a knife, then released Lo'ak and stepped toward Kiri.

"Hey—don't touch her! Don't hurt her, please!" Spider blurted, panic cutting through his voice.

The Colonel paused, fixing Spider with a long look. "What's your name, kid?"

Spider hesitated. "Spider. Socorro."

Recognition clouded the Colonel's face. He knelt. "Miles?"

Lo'ak and Akaia traded a baffled glance.

"Nobody calls me that," Spider muttered, confused.

"I'll be damned," the Colonel said, standing. "Figured they sent you back to Earth."

"You can't put babies in cryo, dipshit," Spider shot back, glaring.

"What do we do, boss?" the soldier holding Spider asked.

The Colonel pressed a hand to his com and called in a pickup.

Rough hands hauled Akaia upright; the soldier wrenched her arms behind her as they were marched into the clearing. She was thrown to her knees in front of Lo'ak. He looked her over, worry cutting through his bravado—she wasn't doing well.

Akaia's vision wavered at the edges as the avatars clustered around an old armoured suit, scrubbing through its recorded footage.

"It's Sully's woman," one of them said. "She's an animal."

Akaia hissed under her breath. How dare they speak about her mother like that.

The Colonel looked up, the screen now frozen on Jake's face. "That's where I recognised you," he said, waving the device. "You've got your daddy's look."

Akaia growled, and his smile turned cruel. "And your mother's temper. Feral. A pack of savages."

Before she could spit a retort, the barrel pressed again into her wound. She bit it back, hatred burning in her gaze as the Colonel hit play.

Above them, the sky deepened toward eclipse. Akaia tilted her head, drawing a breath that tasted of metal and ash, and prayed to Eywa for her family's safety.

————

a/n

Poor Akaia i feel so bad for her but im literally the one putting her through this pain lmao oopsies.

1098 words