Losing Game ~ Lo'ak Sully

.+Chapter Three+.

    Kiri, Tuk, and I stand outside the tent listening in on Jake and Neytiri's conversation... or more like argument.
    "This thing. This Quaritch Whatever he is..." Jake starts.
    "What's going on?" Neteyam asks as Lo'ak and him walk over to us all crouched beside the tent. We shush him and continue to listen in.
    "He can walk right in here," Jake continues. "He can walk right under Eywa's nose."
    "This is our family. This is our home," Neytiri counters.
    "This is about our family," he responds. "This is about our little ones."
    "I cannot. You cannot ask this," she says. "I cannot leave my people. I will not." I meet eyes with Lo'ak as we both worry about the same thing. Leaving.
    "He's hunting us," Jake reasons. "He's targeting our family."
    "You cannot ask this!" Neytiri tells not backing down. "The children. Everything they've ever known. The forest. This is our home!"
    "He had our children," Jake reminds her. "He had 'em under his knife!" Neytiri sighs and we here her rustle around.
    "My father gave me this bow as he lay dying," she tells him. "And he said 'protect the people.' You're Toruk Makto!"
    "This will protect the people!" Jake starts to shout as well. "Quaritch has Spider. And that kid knows everything." I shudder at the thought. There's no telling what they are doing to him. "He knows our whole operation, and he can lead them right here... If the people harbor us, they will die. Do you understand"
    He pauses for a moment before continuing, "Look, I got nothing. I got no plan... But I can protect this family. That I can do." His voice softens, "But I know one thing. Wherever we go, this family is our fortress."      
    We hear them stop talking and we know it is decided. We're leaving the forest. And there's nothing we can do about it. I get up and start to walk away. The others called for me but I ignored them. I walk up to the mountain side that gives me a full view of Pandora and all of her glory.
    Tears start to roll down my face as I think about everything that the forest has gave me that I now have to leave behind. All of the memories with my parents. They are buried here. They live within Eywa. At least i know that wherever I go they will always live within me through her. I stand there taking in the beauty of the environment until I feel hand wrap around my stomach and a head rest in my shoulder.
    I know that it's Lo'ak. I can't mistake him for anyone else. I turn around in his hold to pull him into a hug. He pulls me closer and runs his fingers through my hair. We just stand there in each others embrace. All we needed at the moment was each other. He pulls away from me a moment to look at my face, wiping the tears away.
    "Talk to me," Lo'ak whispers soothingly.
    "We have to leave everything behind," I cry. "All of the memories that we've made here. Everything we've ever known"
    "I know Reya," Lo'ak reassures. "I don't want to leave either. But at least we have each other and our memories will always be apart of us... in here" he places his hand over my heart before moving it up to my cheek.
    I lean into his hand and look up at him before responding, "But Lo'ak wherever we go, we aren't going to know these people. They're going to look at me like i'm some sort of freak. They won't understand."
    "Then we can be outcasts together," Lo'ak says smiling at me and I give a soft smile back. That was something we always said to one another when we started to become insecure about our differences. I said it when we first met and it's been our thing ever since

~
We all load up our stuff on our ikrans and get them ready to fly for the journey. Lo'ak quickly runs back inside like he forgot something. He comes back out and I see him holding Neytiri's bow. There's something else in his hand but I can't quite see it.
"Lo'ak, let's go," Neteyam shouts to him already in his ikran.
"Hold on," he tells him before walking over to his mother. "Here you go mother." He hands her the bow in his hands.
"Thank you, Lo'ak," she gives him a soft smile before putting the bow on her ikran. Kiri mounts her ikran getting ready to head to the sacred tree for the ceremony. We will leave directly from there. Jake makes sure her ikran is secure before heading off to his own. Neytiri walks over to Mo'at and begins to cry, wishing not to leave her mother. She pulls her into a hug embracing for a moment before pulling apart.
"Grandmother," Tuk says and quickly rushes over to hug her. "Come with us. Please."
"No, Tuktirey I must stay," she responds with a hint of sorrow in her voice. The people need their Tsahik now more than ever.
"Tuk," Neytiri calls her over to get on the ikran. Tuk starts over to her before rushing back to Mo'at for one last hug. Then she finally walks over to her mother to get ready to go. Just as I'm about to hop on my ikran, Mo'at calls me over to her.
She pulls me into a hug and whispers into my ear, "Take care of Lo'ak my dear. He needs you now probably more than he ever has. I know this is difficult for you all but stick together."
"Of course," I smile at her while shedding a tear. She wipes my tear before sending me off. "Goodbye, Grandmother," I say as I turn around to mount my ikran, Azra.

~

This is like stones in my heart.

    We all stand up before the people ready for the new Clan Leader to be crowned. Mo'at takes Jakes chest piece off of him and places it upon the new leader.

Tarsem is wise for his years.

He will be a strong Olo'eyktan.

Tarsem, Tsutey's younger brother, take out his knife and hold it high above his head, ready to strike.

The leader must die.

He slices his dagger across Jake's chest leaving a small cut.

So the leader can be born.

I see Jake look up at Tarsem sadly. I can tell he's not ready to give this life up. But we all have to make sacrifices to keep each other safe.

Toruk Makto will disappear.

I look over at Lo'ak to find him already looking at me and this is when we know... this is it. There's no going back. The people are to be guarded by Tarsem and we are to leave for who knows how long. Jake steps down and begins to walk away from the clan. Everyone follows in suit and Lo'ak takes my hand to follow after them.

The people will be safe.

I go to let go of Lo'ak's hand to get onto my ikran but he keeps a firm grip. I turn around to face him with a puzzled look on my face.
"I made this for you," he says holding out a bracelet for me. I smile at him. "It's made of all of your favorite things from the forest so you won't forget." He puts it on my wrist and a tear sheds from my eye from the gesture.
"Thank you, Lo'ak," I pull him into a hug. "This means a lot to me." He wraps his arms around my waist and buries his head into my neck. We pull apart, although not wanting to, so we can go. We all get on our ikrans ready to depart for the long journey we have ahead of us. Jake takes off first with all of us following after him.
I look down to the ground to see the clan that we had to leave behind staring back at us. We continue to fly through the forest and I take it all in, not knowing when we will be coming back. Eventually we fly over the tree tops and come upon the edge of the forest that leads out into the open ocean. But we don't stop. We just keep flying, and flying, and flying. Until... the trees become a distant memory and are no longer visible.

A family protects each other.

It's what gives it meaning.

One life ends.

Another begins.