Another Chance |Ao'nung x Neteyam|

Chapter 14: Peace in my Violence

Quaritch aims his gun just as Neteyam straps his bow to his back and twists out of the way, flying under the man. His ikran snaps its jaw, aiming for the throat of the recom's beast.

Neteyam cries out, loud and proud, just as his mother had taught him and — as Jake taught him — throws his knife, hitting his target dead on.

His soul hurts for injuring such a beautiful creature, but it gives him a chance to disappear out of sight and find Lo'ak.

The ikran Quaritch is riding shrieks in pain. The knife is not enough to kill it, but it hurts the beast and it starts zigzagging erratically.

"Lo'ak!" Neteyam yells out, finger on the right buttons. "Can you hear me?"

There's static for a second, Lo'ak likely engaged in battle, before his voice rings out. "They've taken hostages! There's still aircrafts, too."

Neteyam curses. It's so much more tiring too fight. He takes a second to breathe behind some large rocks, cooing to his ikran, whose wing is bleeding, though it is not deadly.

"Come on, girl. We can do this." Neteyam closes his eyes, feeling her beating heart before guiding her along.

They shoot high in the sky, flying at rapid speed. In front of them, Neteyam sees a jet. He takes a sharp right and aims, drawing his bow taut and shoots.

The arrow shatters the glass, piercing the soldier inside. The aircraft spirals — Lo'ak is there, under it. He shoots at the bottom, where he knows the engine is, with a gun, and the jet bursts into flames before it can hit the water.

"Lo'ak!" Neteyam shouts, flying up next to him. "Who are the hostages?"

"Naìtvì and Rotxo." Lo'ak banks to avoid a stray bullet and curses when he realises he needs to reload. "But bro, I just found out, Naìtvì is with child."

Neteyam freezes, eyes wide before a deep rage bubbles up inside him. "How many are on the ship?"

Lo'ak frowns. "They brought hundreds. But only around twenty avatars and recoms."

Neteyam takes a deep breath. "They're not going to live. Not on my watch."

Lo'ak cringes back. "Bro, be careful."

Neteyam nods once before diving for the ship. He doesn't need the ikran, so he jumps off, spare knife at the ready. He stabs down a human as he lands and jerks out off the way as recom aims for him, one he doesn't recognise.

Rotxo is tied to the railing, head bleeding, right beside Naìtvì, but otherwise, they both seem to be fine, if a little shaken by the force of the hits.

Neteyam doesn't want to fight short distance — so he draws his bow again and aims for the recom, shooting him in the hip, making him fall.

Somehow, the bullets miss him, never grazing his skin, but both Rotxo and Naìtvì are injured and it enables a wild rage to tear into Neteyam's heart, heightening his senses.

And ikran lands in front of him, blocking his path.

"Not so fast, babycakes," Quaritch sneers down at him, dismounting easily. "You have to go through me first to save your little friends."

Neteyam bares his fangs, but doesn't say a word to Quaritch, ducking out of the way. He knocks an arrow into place and aims, but the recom shoots at him. Neteyam jumps behind a steel door, shielding himself.

Quaritch curses, out of bullets. The recom draws his knife, shuffling closer menacingly. "You've got a little too much to lose here, brat. Would be smart to just hand yourself over."