invisible string ↝ ao'nung

XV; When You Die

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞
You die
And words don't do anything
It's permanently night
And I won't feel anything
We'll all be laughing with you when you die
𓆝 𓆟 𓆞

Sylwana drew the boys behind her. She was the only true warrior here, and she'd fight as such.

How had he survived? Her father confirmed he'd been left underwater, sinking to the bottom of the reef alongside the demon ship. Even with his expanded avatar lungs, he couldn't have possibly made it out.

Someone helped him. But who? She'd seen no Sky People after they returned to the ship, and she'd even killed a few herself. She supposed at least one could have hidden away and dragged this particular demon to safety. Though humans were not at all strong. From the age of four, she had been helping Norm and Max and other scientists lug their equipment around. Quaritch seemed to have infinite lives, each one devoted to killing her entire family. Based on the way he was staring directly at her, she guessed she was next.

She left his gaze to try and figure out what clan's garb he was wearing. It was distinctly Na'vi, nothing about it screamed Recom or demon. It was a rough fabric, dark, though in the night she couldn't exactly see the colour. Until her eyes caught on a small chain. It had a red stone. Her eyes widened.

"Figured it out, have you?" Quaritch chuckled, moving his hand down to the red stone casually, as if he hadn't killed her twin brother and attempted to kill both her sisters and her parents a few months ago. "I was lost, angry. Lost all of my squad. Only had Cupcake-" Cupcake? What kind of name was Cupcake? "- Flew around until I found a familiar looking mountain. Like a volcano."

Sylwana couldn't care less about his life story, but she needed time, and Quaritch was looking too pleased with himself to notice the way she directed Spider, who had been slowly shrinking out of Quaritch's sights, with her hands. Both she and Spider had been around enough warriors and human soldiers to have a small understanding of the hand movements they used to communicate in silence. To Lo'ak and Rotxo, she used Metkayina sign language. She could only hope they understood.

Quaritch was still rattling on. "I told them about what Jake Sully truly was. They believed me instantly. You know, they're not the biggest believers of 'Eywa'," he used finger bunnies when speaking Her name, like her father, Max, and Norm sometimes did. They did it with a smile on their face, making a joke. Quaritch did it with a snarl.
"You do not believe in her because she is not for you," hissed Sylwana, her accent thick, but Quaritch understood. Spider nearly had Rotxo's knife out of his sheath, and thanks to the shadows of night, Quaritch was yet to notice.

"We can speak your tongue," Quaritch said, and it took Sylwana several seconds to understand, because his Na'vi was so terrible. But he could speak it, and he even had their accent. She tilted her head, away from Spider. "Fine," she returned to Na'vi, "So where are they?" He didn't need her to elaborate. The Txepìvam, the Ash People, were incredibly sneaky, completely isolated from any other clans. The Omatikaya had not heard from them in thousands of years. The Metkayina could no doubt say the same. Any attempts at communication were ignored, and they sometimes threatened war if any other clan reached out. She knew little about them; but was always told, if you see a red stone, run.

Quaritch grinned then, as happy as she had ever seen him. "Oh, they're here alright. Don't you worry, they'll make their appearance eventually."
Spider now had Rotxo's knife, and was slowly inching it towards her. Sylwana didn't move to grab hers. Quaritch, of course, had a large gun strapped across his back, but she didn't miss the almost equally large knife sheathed at his waist. No doubt made from obsidian. He had really gone full Na'vi, and she hated him for it.
As soon as he made any movement towards that knife, Spider would hand her Rotxo's knife, she would have her own knife in her other palm, and the three boys would run back to the clearing. If they ran into trouble, Spider and Lo'ak had knives, and enough training to protect themselves and Rotxo.