Skxawng • Neteyam

10

•••
One year later

"Come on, wake up! Wake up! We leave in twenty minutes!" Lo'ak yells, causing both Neteyam and Yeiryah to jump from their nap. Neteyam previously had had his head resting over her chest. In her sleep, Yeiryah's arm was slung over him.

It was a position they'd fallen into while they'd been sleeping. After staying up the entire night watching the stars, they'd fallen asleep sitting upright and not touching. Apparently, Eywa had other plans.

"Okay! Okay! We're coming!" Yeriyah yelled, and the two laughed at each other awkwardly as they got up. It was safe to say that Lo'ak was excited to fly this mission with his father. It was their first one, and they were all pretty excited.

Yeriyah rushed to her tent to grab her bow and put a bit of war paint on her skin. She popped her rider's mask on before going to the edge where Zaeyli waited. Yeriyah had never said it out loud, but she loved High Camp. She loved hiding from above, and moving to the camp was not ideal, but she'd grown to love the place.

"Zaey, my girl." Yeriyah calmed her and touched their foreheads together. "We are flying into battle today." They were taking down some of the railroads the Sky People had set up over the past year. Jake and his warrior clan have been slowly tracking and taking them down. It was only until now did he start letting his boys fly as scouts.

She screeched and flapped her wings, and without the bond, even Yeriyah could see her ikran was excited. Perhaps a bit nervous too. It was Yeriyah's first time joining them on their hunt today. To say she was excited was an understatement. Over the past year, she's been watching Neytiri more and more and started slowly learning from her. She admired her more than she cared to admit.

"Are you ready?" Speaking of Neytiri, the woman comes up from behind Riyah and places a comforting hand on her shoulder. It was the same shoulder that scarred months ago. The girl turns to Neteyam's mother and nods firmly. Neytiri smiles at the war paint she'd put on and the intricate details in her rider's mask. Neytiri felt as though she were looking into a younger mirror.

"Yes." She nodded, knowing this situation was more grave than she was making it out to be. The Sky People forced them to flee their homes and took Pandora to themselves. Their destruction needed to be stopped.

"Good. Always be prepared to launch an arrow, Yeriyah. Scout or not. The demons do not care." Neytiri warned her, and she nodded, taking the information to mind.

"I will, thank you." She nodded, and Zaeyli chuffed from behind them. Neytiri turns to Zaeyli and smiles a little. For an ikran who does not like anyone but her rider, Zaeyli did not bat an eye as Neytiri stretched her hand out and touched her neck.

"She is beautiful. There are very few ikran with this colour of purple." She brushed her hand down her side and stepped back.

"Thank you," Yeriyah spoke, and Zaey roared in appreciation. Neytiri nodded once before turning around and finding her mate, who readied his ikran on the far side of the edge.

Neteyam's ikran screeched, and she turned to find him approaching, along with Lo'ak, who was hopping behind him to his banshee. "Are you ready?" She asked with excitement in her tone.

"I am. It seems you are too." He notices her warpaint, and his stomach warms at the beauty that stares back at him. It was safe to say they'd grown closer this past year, so much so that friends was a common term they used to describe each other. However, Neteyam believed he liked her a bit more than she did him.