Trinity

Break

There wasn't much of a trip back to the SeaDragon, considering it was visible from the island as they mounted up. Leaving Ten'etirey a very limited amount of time to fully process and come to terms with what just happened. A few minutes. That's all she had.

Before departing for the island, Waryn was left behind. He was too noticeable, too out of the ordinary. Any word of a bright red ikran would reach her family and potentially put them in further danger if they decided to do something about it. Or cause them to flee. Consequently, that put her on Tiray with Mansk, and for the first time... she wanted to be anywhere else.

Mansk and Quaritch had to feel the chaos that was currently rampaging through her mind, seeking out and destroying anything good. The maelstrom of swirling doubt and uncertainty, ready to swallow her whole and drown her in the powerlessness of the situation. There was nothing she could do; she couldn't stop them, she could only... ride along and watch.

She didn't understand...

Why?

Why would Eywa choose the three of them if this was the outcome? Why choose him? The Great Mother doesn't pick sides, but surely... she wouldn't plan this. Ten'etirey needed guidance, her world was crashing down. Yet again, she was on her own without direction, just like at the start of all this.

I don't understand...

How many times did her father tell her about the monster? The cold, cruel man who cared only for his own, and even then, there was a price to pay for it. Why did it take witnessing it for her to realize he would always be that monster? Dead set on completing his mission, uncaring for the cost.

How can she rectify in her mind the man from last night and the man today? It didn't make any sense! How could the man who showed her how his broken soul was being mended just throw it away today?

Love that surrounded her heart and made her feel whole the night before now felt like a lie. What was once an embracing promise of protection and affection turned hard and cold, caging and locking her down. Binding her to well-deserved misery.

How much of it was a lie? If she couldn't feel the monster within or see the monster hiding when she saw his soul... what was healed. The repairs to his soul were bound in falsities; he took the love of his mates and used it to empower himself. She was so blind. Blinded by wanting to belong and finally feel like something wasn't missing. So much so that she knew the truth and was determined to prove it wrong.

He could change. He had changed... he showed them that he had changed! Was it just a lie? All lies?

Doubt spread through her mind like wildfire, leaving only ash and regret in its wake. The pillars on which her happiness and stubbornness stood might as well have been made of paper. The foundations burned down before she had the chance to douse the flames. Everything she'd built up, collapsed.

What have I done?

"Red?" Mansk's concerned voice at her side pierced her as she flinched out of her mind.

Ten hadn't realized they were back on the ship, and she was no closer to processing this than she was before. It was worse. She doesn't respond to him and avoids his gaze as she dismounts. After jumping off the roof, he follows her, but she yanks her arm out of his gentle grasp and vaults over the railing to the main platform.

"Red, wait!" She hears the thud, signaling he landed close by, but she doesn't care and tries to walk past the others. Quaritch lands in front of her and blocks the path inside.

"We need to talk." His patronizing tone only served to put her more on edge.

"We have nothing to talk about." She pushes past him, but he swiftly takes hold of her arm and wrenches her back in front of him.