Not a Soldier Yet |Ao'nung x Neteyam|

2. I See Seashells

Some days later, after Tsireya deemed their breathing technique good enough, she decided they should learn to ride and ilu. Neteyam had no idea what and ilu really was. He had seen them around sometimes but had no real encounters with one before this day.

It was Ao'nung who had called for the creatures to come to them. For a moment, Neteyam felt at peace. He had always been fond of animals; not quite as much as his sister, Kiri, but nature had always taken kindly to Neteyam's curiosity. Unsurprisingly, an ilu swam to him and chose him, faster than any of his siblings had been chosen.
For a split second, Ao'nung seemed impressed - but only until his eyes met Neteyam's. The Metcayina rolled his eyes and lightly pushed Neteyam's shoulder, moving him out of the way to show him how to treat the ilu. Neteyam followed his instructions, lifting his arm and grabbing the handle, where Ao'nung had shown him to.

Ao'nung's eyes drifted to his thin wrist, and he stopped talking, lips pursing and eyebrows furrowing together. The nail marks had yet to completely fade away. Neteyam twisted his arm slightly, hiding the scars. In the end, that was better posture too when it came to riding an ilu.

Some days after Neteyam first began to learn riding an ilu, he found himself outside at night again. This time, nobody came to disturb him. He decided to stay out all night, lying in the soft sand near his family's marui. He barely slept, but he felt at peace, like he was meant to be here. It was only when the sun began to rise that he noticed voices coming towards him. There was laughter; it was cruel.
Neteyam sat up hurriedly. His family was still asleep, as were most other families. Neteyam located the laughter and noticed it was the same group of Metcayina boys that always came to torment him.

Neteyam rubbed his face tiredly.

"Your family threw you out for the night, freak?" The tallest boy sneered once the four of them reached Neteyam. "Not allowed to sleep with the rest of the freaks?"

The Omaticaya stood, lips pursed and staring into his tormentor's eyes boldly. Neteyam realized he did not even know the boys' names. Likely, they also did not know his. All they knew was that Neteyam was a darker shade of blue.
Neteyam saw no reason to fight back. None of his siblings were around to protect. Neteyam dusted the sand from his back, turning to walk away when someone grabbed him by his queue and yanked him backwards. Neteyam did not hiss, but his lips parted from the pain, and he fell back, knees folding. Neteyam squinted, trying to see who had grabbed him. It was not the first boy, but another one.

"Why do you never fight back, freak?" The tallest na'vi glared, wanting a reaction.

Neteyam was not willing to give him what he wanted, not even if the grip on his queue burned and his eyes filled with angry tears.

"Aw look, little forest freak is about to cry!" Someone mocked from next to him, but Neteyam couldn't see him. It must have been one of the other two boys who came with the taller ones.

Neteyam felt someone grab his wrist and raise it. He furrowed his brows - these boys already knew he had the same amount of fingers as any other na'vi. His blood ran cold, and he tried to pull his wrist free, but the one holding him by his queue yanked his head back again, drawing a pained sound from Neteyam's throat.

"Look at this bro, someone else tried to teach him a lesson too-"

"Yeah, look, his wrist is bruised. Must have been Ulro."

Neteyam stopped listening to what his tormentors were saying, distracted by the pain in his scalp. He wanted nothing more than to go home, or at least inside his marui. It seemed feeble to attempt standing. He was surely to be pushed right back down.

"Shit, O'ekvì, guys. We got to go, look-" His queue was let go and Neteyam let his head fall forward, stray braids covering his face. "The Olo'eyktan is here."