The Breath of Water | Neteyam

4 • New Lessons Pt. II

Since the kids were off learning the ways of the Metkayina from the leaders' children, that meant Jake and Neytiri had more time for themselves. Jake had begun his learning of riding a tsurak today, but he ended up hurting his hand in the process. So, Neytiri, who was once tsakarem, had helped him take care of his wounded fist.

"I told you to go easy today." She said, laughing.

"You should've felt how that water felt Neytiri, it was like a constant wall just pushing you back." He explained, standing up. Neytiri could only laugh at her husband, asking him to sit so she could apply ointment to his hand.

"You need to be more careful, Ma Jake." She told him in a soft voice.

"I will..." he started. He then began to stare at his mate as she took care of his injury. "...you should come join me sometime, you could learn to tame a tsurak, too."

"Oh, no..." Neytiri replied. "My Ikran is all I need. I do not need another animal."

"But I would love to ride with you, like we did back in the forest."

Neytiri gazed softly at him, a smile creeping upon her lips. "Ma Jake, it is alright. I do not think I would need one, so I will not tame one." She continued tending to his wound. "I could always just ride on yours with you."

Jake sighed, most likely due to his longing for peaceful days again, where he could just be with his family, not having to worry if any one of them would die the next day. He missed where him and Neytiri would just fly to the top of the highest tree in the Hallelujah Mountains, gazing at the stars. The kids' carefree smiles, playing with their friends. Jake's ears twitched as he suddenly remembered something.

"...The kids will miss Spider, Neytiri."

Her mind irked at hearing that name, for Neytiri had never taken a liking to the human boy. She grabbed the bandages to wrap the herbs for Jake's hand in, placing the plants on top of it. "He belongs with his own kind. He is where he needs to be now." she stated sternly.

He noticed her agitation due to the mentioning of the boy, since she was harshly placing the items she would need into their places. Upon seeing her grow angrier, he calmly grabbed her hand, which made her stop doing what she was doing. Neytiri could only sigh, turning to Jake.

"The kids love him; we can't really just...forget about him." He mentioned. She did not say anything, only blowing out of frustration. "I know you don't care for him, but...I am just saying...that if there is a chance he could come back, letting him into the family wouldn't be such a bad idea."

Jake continued to look at her for reassurance, making sure she was listening. "He is still human, Jake." She said. "And the son of that...demon...".

He realized that getting Neytiri to care for Spider would take a lot more time than he expected, so he gave up temporarily, hoping to save the conversation for another day. Neytiri continued to fix up the poultice, then gently placed it on Jake's hand. He hissed slightly at the stinging, but it was not too painful. When she was done, Neytiri began to clean up the space, making sure none of the herbs were left littering the floor of their pod. Jake helped out as well, making the process go quicker than if Neytiri were to do it alone.

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Neytiri had called for her youngest to be brought back home so she could weave her a new top, so Tuk was sent back to the Sullys' Marui pod. Liyanin had decided that the siblings should practice increasing the capacity of their breath in order to stay underwater for longer periods of time, so she brought them and her sister over to a rocky mini-peninsula that was near the sea to sit on. Rotxo had decided to come with them as well, afraid of Liyanin's potential discovery to him and Aonung not following her instructions. They all took their seats upon a chunky boulder, forming a circle. Liyanin turned her head towards Kiri, realizing that this was the first time they had actually met.