Thanatophobia | Ao'nung

⋆˚✿˖°ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟟⋆˚✿˖°

"Alright, guys! Gather around!" Jake ordered.

Ni'la plopped down beside Kiri and rested her chin on top of her hand as she waited for this family meeting to be over so they could eat. She watched as Lo'ak walked back in, and Neteyam grabbed his arm, "Family meeting, remember?" He asked, causing Lo'ak to roll his eyes.

"Come on, take a knee," Jake instructed as he kneeled in front of his children. "Let's go," He said, hurrying his children because he knew all of them were hungry.

Quickly, Neteyam and Lo'ak crouched as they intently watched their father who took a deep breath before speaking, "I need you kids to be on your best behavior. I mean it. Learn fast, pull your weight." He paused, looking over at Lo'ak, "Don't cause trouble, got it?"

"Yes, sir," Lo'ak nodded before hissing when Neteyam grabbed the back of his neck.

"And you," Ni'la's eyes widened as her father's attention was suddenly on her. "I saw what you did with Ao'nung back there. I don't want you doing something like that again," He looked at his daughter with a raised eyebrow.

"Why not?" Ni'la asked, confused.

"Because he's the Chief's son," Jake said.

"But Tsireya is the Chief's daughter, and she helped," Ni'la pointed out, causing Jake to sigh and shake his head. "Ni'la, just - stay away from him," Jake ordered.

"But-" She went to argue before she was cut off, "Ni'la, listen to your father," Neytiri said sternly.

"Yes, Mom," She grumbled, causing Kiri to snicker at her.

It was silent for a moment as Ni'la looked down at her hands, but when she looked at her youngest sister, her heart broke. Tuk had tears in her eyes as she looked at their parents, "I want to go home!" She cried, and everyone's ears went down at her words. "Aww, Tuk," Neytiri cooed.

Guilt washed over the oldest members of the Sully family because they knew Tuk didn't understand why they had to leave in the first place. Of course, Tuk was smart, and she knew they were protecting their family, but she didn't understand why they couldn't stay home if they promised to not go out in the forest again for a while.

It wasn't fair to her. She was the youngest, and Tuk hardly ever got to go out in the forest. The only time Tuk was permitted to go was if it was with Lo'ak, and Lo'ak had warrior training.

Jake looked at his youngest child with pity as he felt a wave of guilt consume him, "Tuk," Jake sighed, "This is our home now," He grabbed Tuk's hand to comfort her, "And we're going to get through this if we have each other's backs, right?" The father looked at all of his children.

"What does your father always say?" Neytiri questioned, trying to lighten the mood.

"Sully's stick together," The five children mumbled, looking down at the ground or their feet.

"That's right, Sully's stick together. This time with some feeling," Jake encouraged. Ni'la huffed as she repeated their family motto, only there still wasn't any emotion in her voice she had just said it louder, like the rest of her siblings.

And before anyone could say anything else, Tsireya and her brother stood outside their family pod. "My father asked me to tell you that dinner is ready, and we would like it if you guys joined us." Tsireya smiled, causing Ao'nung to roll his eyes. "Yeah, sure, kids why don't you go with Ao'nung and Tsireya," Jake asked, raising an eyebrow.

All five children got up and followed after the two Metkayina teens as they led them down to where dinner was held. Honestly, they were all thankful it was dinner time because they hadn't eaten in a while, and they were all extremely hungry. Ni'la's stomach had been begging her for food for hours, but she had been preoccupied with other things.