The Breath of Water | Neteyam

1 • Prologue

Being led by Toruk Makto and former Olo'eyktan of the Omatikaya, the Omatikaya clan and the other clans had successfully thwarted the threat of the Sky People, sending them back to their dying planet. Soon after, Jake Sully, who was also referred to as Toruk Makto, had become the next Olo'eyktan, a title passed to him from the mighty Tsu'tey te Rongloa Ateyitan. His death ceremony was held after Jake's investiture; his body was lain carefully into the ground, decorated with flowers. Those closest to him had sung the beads of his songcord as the rest of the clan had quietly listened and remembered him. After the end, Neytiri te Tskaha Mo'at'ite, the mate of Jake Sully who was also a close friend of Tsu'tey, had placed his songcord next to his body, marking the end of the ceremony.

Death is never the end for the People, so they did not let this keep their spirts down. Additionally, the future Tsahìk, Neytiri, was announced to be with child. The clan celebrated and sung many dance tunes to celebrate the occasion.

Several months later, the firstborn son of Jake and Neytiri was born, Neteyam te Suli Tsyeyk'itan. And some time after this, the avatar of late Grace Augustine was found to be pregnant as well, giving birth to a girl who would soon be adopted by the Sullys. The girl was named Kiri te Suli Kìreysì'ite. They took her in as their own. And eventually, their family grew to 6, the additions being their youngest son, Lo'ak te Suli Tsyeyk'itan, and youngest daughter, Tuktirey te Suli Neytiri'ite. The kids even had a human friend named Spider, who ended up growing up on Pandora since he was too young for cryosleep.

However, their peaceful life would soon be disrupted by the return of the Sky People, 16 years later. They came back this time, with bigger and more dangerous ships. As they landed, it set all the wildlife within a 20 mile radius ablaze. Because of this, Jake had to lead raids on the Sky People's equipment, thus starting the war again. This went on for a year, until the most unimaginable happened. An old foe of Jake's had returned in the form of an avatar, Colonel Miles Quaritch, along with an avatar platoon of his own.

Quaritch was eventually able to get his hands on Jake and Neytiri's children, almost killing them. Jake and Neytiri ambushed his squad in order to retrieve their kids safely, but unfortunately, Spider, the kids' human friend, got taken by Quaritch. Jake decided that staying with the clan was too dangerous for the clan and his family, so he told Neytiri that they should seek refuge elsewhere. Neytiri reluctantly agreed, as she did not want to leave behind her birthplace and clan, but realized it was best for their family. Jake passed down the title of Olo'eyktan to Tarsem, one of the Omatikaya's great warriors. And with that, the Sullys relocated.

Towards the reefs.

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Around a year before the eldest son of the Sully family of the Omatikaya was born, the eldest daughter of the leaders of the Metkayina was born. The mother, Ronal, the Metkayina's Tsahìk, and the father being Tonowari, their Olo'eyktan, or as they say it, Olo'ahktan. Her birth was widely celebrated amongst the People, and specially appreciated by her mother.

Her name was Liyanin. A year had passed and they had a boy named Aonung, and three years after that they had another daughter, which they had named Tsireya.

When Liyanin turned 10, her mother noticed something about her. She would always be in the water all day. She was next in line to be Tsahìk, so she had assumed that her daughter was trying to start early with the preparations. But one day, Ronal came across Liyanin humming the few beads of her songcord on one of the beaches, and what she saw shocked her. Floating above her daughter's head were the waves. As she continued to sing her only meter in a perpetual manner, the water formed different shapes, surrounding her. It would pulsate with each beat Liyanin sung. This was the day Ronal deemed her daughter deeply connected with the water, for she could control its course and shape.

At age eighteen, Liyanin was respected quite much like her mother. She had an almost regal disposition but carried herself humbly with grace. She had tamed her first Ilu when she was only 8. She was also the first amongst her siblings to tame a tsurak (skimwing), being the youngest girl in her clan to tame one at age 15. Only her family knew about her abilities, as Ronal wanted her daughter to live her teenage years as a teenager.

She was a wonderful girl, but she was not as social as her siblings. She would either be off practicing her abilities in secret or doing tsakarem (Tsahìk in training) activities. Sometimes, when she would resonate too deep with the water, she would become untethered. Because of this, sometimes Liyanin would catch small glimpses of future memories the water would hold. She never fully saw them, though, since her sister would often pull her out of these trances, preventing her from slipping too deep.

But one day, she managed to catch a longer glimpse.

It was foreigners—forest Na'vi. They came in on their Ikran, hoping to seek uturu (refuge). She saw six of them, and then that was the end of her premonition. She kept this to herself, though. Her family did not know of her seer-like abilities. She did not want to share this, for she feared it would throw off the balance of many things.

So, when the day came that the horns were being blown to signal newcomers, she had already known who would be flying in.

A/N:
To make the ages clear:
Liyanin: 18 (older)
Neteyam: 18
Aonung: 17
Kiri: 15 (older)
Lo'ak: 15
Tsireya: 14
Tuk:9

(In my Universe, the Na'vi maturity ages is from 16-18 instead of 15-17) (Also, prepare yourself because this fic will be kind of long heheh)