Sullys Stick Together

Chapter 19

Lo'ak and I flew around, away from the war party, but close enough to see what was going on. We could see Neteyam flying above the battle, keeping a sharp eye for any surprises. We could see dad down on the ground, supervising as our people took weapons and supplies. I couldn't help but be reminded of how things were before we had to leave our home. If we had never left, dad would still be chief. Before I could get too lost in thought, Lo'ak called my name. I turned my head quickly to see him flying closer to me now, "We should go help them out!"

I shook my head at him, knowing he had been here before with Neteyam. "Lo'ak, no. Remember what happened last time? Dad was ready to skin you for that." 

"We will be out of there before he even knows we were there! Come on mighty warrior!" Without another word, he was flying down to the surface and hopping off his Ikran. With a few moments of hesitation, I followed.

Once we were on the ground, I found Lo'ak again and stayed close to him, knowing that if we were spotted, dad would kill us both. He grabbed a gun from one of the open boxes and held it up shaking it as he made his war cry. I shook my head, "Lo'ak we need to leave! We are spotters! If someone sneaks up on us it's our fault!"

"I know I know. We're almost done!" He called out from behind him as he began running in another direction. I went to follow him but was stopped by an Ikran landing in front of me. Oh shit, I thought to myself. I looked up at the rider and saw Neteyam, which was a relief seeing as I thought it was dad. "What are you doing down here?! Dad told you to spot!" He yelled down at me as he looked to the sky for Lo'ak. "Where is he?" 

"He said we should come down to help. I tried to stop him but you know how he is! He ran off that way," I pointed past his Ikran. Neteyam looked over for a moment before looking back at me. "Get back on your Ikran, and go spot. I'll handle Lo'ak." Just like that, he lifted up from the ground and went to track down our brother. Quickly, I called for Tyla and hopped on her back as soon as she landed. Once I was back up in the air and away from the commotion of the battle, I heard a familiar sound. I looked around quickly trying to find the source, and my stomach dropped when I found it. Airships. I made my war cry as loud as I could, as well as Tyla, and noticed as all the Navi looked toward the sky. 

But it was too late. There had been another ship I hadn't seen or heard of over the commotion of the battle while I was on the surface. Within seconds, the ship was opening fire on the ground, hoping to hit anyone and anything. I quickly looked down, not finding dad, Neteyam, or Lo'ak anywhere. In my panicked state, I did the only thing I could think of. Distract the ship. I flew Tyla right up to the windshield of the ship, ensuring that the monsters inside could see me, and flew in front of the ship. Once I saw that they were moving their guns to aim at me, I took off, making sure to serpentine so I wouldn't make for an easy target. 

They did exactly what I needed them to. Follow me. However, what I didn't expect was for them to fire at me without having a target locked on me. I quickly made my way into some trees and used them to sneak my way back behind the ship. Once I was sure they didn't see me, I flew back around to the front, this time having my bow and an arrow ready to fire. When I was sure I had a shot, I took it. And the ship fell. 

I flew back to the battleground landing Tyla after noticing that the battle was over. "Dad?" I called out over the crowd cheering for our victory. "Nelyia," I heard his voice call out. He was close. I pushed my way through the crowd and finally found him with Neteyam and Lo'ak. But there was one thing that sent shivers down my body. Lo'ak was on the ground holding his side. "What happened?" I asked panicked. "He got cut by debris when the ship started firing. Why was he down here? Where were you?" Dad answered and I could hear the anger in his voice. I told him what happened, and he held his hand up to silence me. He lifted Lo'ak up and without a word, we all went back to home tree.