"One of them." Neteyam S.

11.

The following day, I was told to meet Neteyam in the forest to learn the language with him. We decided to start body with parts. I sat in front of him, in a crisscross position with our knees touching.

He pointed to his ears "Mikyun."

I repeated "Mikyun."

Then he pointed at his lips. "Seyri."

"Seyri.

Then he pointed at his eyes. "Nari."

I tilted my head a bit, looking into his eyes deeply. They were a shade of yellow I have never seen before, and it felt like the entire forest was reflecting into his eyes. We were sat in a dark area, so his eyes were practicaly glowing, as if he was hypnotising me. I couldn't look away. Suddenly, he flicked my nose. 

"Y/n!" He said getting back my attention.

"What? oh, right." I chuckled. "Navi."

"Nari!" He repeated.

"Nari." I said and he nodded his head.

"Good. Now repeat all the body parts I've tought you." He said. "And point at them."

I pointed at all his body parts, and said their names in Navi, and when I pointed at his ears they flicked, taking me back a bit. 

"What?" He asked, a bit embarrased as I started to laugh. "It's a reflex!" He said before he did it to my ears too.

"Oh, you're right! It's still funny." I smiled.

"You're very easy to teach Y/n." He spoke.

I blushed a bit looking at the branch beeneth us. "You know English very well for someone who hasn't gone to school for that long."

"Grace said that young minds learn faster than old ones. Loak was the one that took the longest to learn. Kiri on the other hand, picked it up faster than all of us." He added.

"How was life on Pandora before humans came?"

"It was peaceful with no violence. They wanna ruin our planet, it's sad."

I sighed as I pat his shoulder. "Humans bring trouble wherever they go."

He put his other hand against mine. "You're different tho."

Him and I shared eye contact for a moment, before he broke it, putting my hand away. "What happened?" I asked him.

He sighed "Bad things happen here Y/n." When he finished his sentance, he turned his arm around, showing me a huge scar that went all the way across his arm.

"Oh my.. You don't have to talk about it if-"

"No, it's fine. A couple of years ago, the sky people came and attacked us while we were in school. I lost my best friend that day." He looked away, sadly.

I sighed before I pulled him in for a hug, as a sign of comfort. He stayed still for a moment, before he wrapped his arms around me. That was until a voice called from behind him. "Neteyam!"

We quickly pulled away and saw Loak coming towards us. "Are you busy, we're goi-" He stopped when he saw me. "Oh, Y/n didn't see you there." He smirked at Neteyam.

"Hi, Loak." I smiled.

"What do you want Loak?"

"Me and some friends are going hunting if you wanna come along, but you seem busy, sooo." He did a finger gun motion. "I'll leave you 2 to it."

He started to walk away but stopped suddenly, and said something to Neteyam in Navi language. "Hey, bro."

Neteyam turned to look at him.

"Behave." Loak replied in navi as he winked at him before he left.

Neteyam hissed at his brother and just shook his head.

"What was that about?" I asked and he blushed.

"Archery's next." Ignoring my question he started to walk away. 

"Wait up!" I yelled as I started following after him. We went to the bottom of the tree, and he told me to wait for him by a tree as he went to get something. When he came back, he had a bow in one hand and a few arrows in the other.

"I'll let you use my bow and arrow for now. Place the bow in your left hand, and hold an arrow with your right." I did as he told me to. "That's not how my hold a bow." He turned the bow the other way around as he chuckled at me. "Sxwang."

"Asshole." I returned with a smirk. "Now what?"

He started to explain movements, as  he used his hands to show me certain motions. He would turn his gaze to me from time to time to make sure I was paying attention, and I was. "Let me show you." He said grabbing the bow and arrow from my hands.

I watched as he pulled his bowstring back, and squinted his eyes to narrow the arrow properly. I also noticed how his back muscles would tense up as he did it. He finally released the arrow hitting the centre of the aim perfectly.

I gasped in amazement as he did it so gracefuly. "Now you try." He handed me the bow.

I gulped, and placed an arrow in the bowstring, pulling it back to line up with my face. He walked over to me, and started correcting my position. He put his hand on my back fixing my posture, and brought my arms up slightly. I was getting nervous, and I felt my face heat up at how close we were to one another.

Suddenly he put his hand on my hip,  pushing it to the side slightly. The sudden contact made me accidentaly let go of the arrow, and look at him surprised. He looked at me too, and then turned his head to the aim and smiled. "You hit the centre!" He yelled.

"What?" I looked, and I noticed my arrow was right next to his. "I actualy hit it."

He smiled at me and pat my head. "Not bad, newbie. Again."

For the rest of the day, I continued to shoot with his bow. It wasn't as good like the first try, because I was actualy paying attention this time, and not getting distracted by someone.

When night time hit, Neteyam offered me to eat diner with his family. I started building a bond with them too, as they tried their best to speak English. Loak and Neteyam would say stuff in Navi from time to time, and I could tell some parts were about me.

Neteyam was also talking to me a lot more than usualy now, and I could tell he was proud of how much I've learned. I was building a connection with him, and I was happy about it.