Not a Soldier Yet |Ao'nung x Neteyam|

37. Lone Tulkun

Neteyam found himself tied up again, alone on the dock. Night had fallen, and Quaritch had gotten bored of him. He struggled to yank his arms free, but only succeeded in worsening the blisters and fabric burns decorating his wrists.

"Damn it!" He gave a particularly harsh tug and cried out in pain as the strange rope cut into his skin further.

Nothing comforted him except knowing that Spider was alive and seemed fine. Bruises littered his body, and he was rapidly losing strength from being starved. He could barely keep his eyes open, not having slept for two nights since his capture.

Neteyam lowered his head and took a shuddering breath, all but collapsing into unconsciousness. He prayed to Eywa that he would wake to see another day, no matter how dangerous and cruel it would be to him.

Lo'ak woke up, jerking upright.

His mind was blurred with panic as he looked around. He found himself atop a large rock in the middle of the ocean. He froze as he remembered exactly why he was there.

He had snuck off to look for his brother only to be knocked off his ilu by a vicious beast. Lo'ak had no idea why he was even still alive. The last thing he remembered was pain in his lungs as the last of his breath left him. He was sure he had drowned, and yet somehow, he felt very alive.

The rock under his body moved; Lo'ak let out a shout and fell backwards, plummeting into the water.

Lo'ak came face to face with a large eye. He almost gasped before he remembered he was underwater. He resurfaced, inhaling sharply. "You saved me! Thank you."

The creature made a soft sound in reply; Lo'ak frowned slightly, then began signing as he talked. "I have no idea what you just said. But thank you for saving my life."

The tulkun hummed in response to his words again. Lo'ak glanced around nervously.

"My brother is missing, I need to find him," he whispered helplessly, gesturing wildly with his hands, hoping the tulkun understood him. "I think he was captured by the sky people. "

Neteyam was roughly shoved awake. He stumbled and blinked his eyes open, disoriented. Quaritch was staring down at him, frowning deeply. His nose was bruised badly from Neteyam's punch. It was broken.

"This is the last time I'm asking," the colonel breathed out, leaning down and grabbing Neteyam's cheeks roughly, forcing the smaller male to look in his eyes. "Where is Jake Sully?"

Neteyam shrugged. "It is good you won't ask anymore. It was annoying. "

Quaritch glared down at him; he grabbed his queue and yanked Neteyam forward by it. "I don't think you understand. You're of no use to me and whoever the hell left all those bite marks on you clearly isn't coming to save your pretty little ass."

Neteyam glanced to the side before a smile formed on his face. He spoke, accent strong. "I don't need to be saved."

Quaritch jerked his hand, pulling on Neteyam's queue again. The rough yanking made the rope around Neteyam's wrist reopen his wounds. A drop of blood rolled down his arm, Quaritch watched as it fell to the ground, merging with the water, tainting it crimson.

"Oh yeah? You're gonna save yourself? You don't seem to be succeeding very much, kid." Quaritch chuckled lightly, as if merely talking about the weather.

"Do not call me kid, asshole." Neteyam hissed.

"Then don't act like one and tell me where I'm going tonfind your father." Quaritch let him go and pulled out his knife in a silent warning. "If you do, I might consider letting you go. You're not the one that I want anyways."

Neteyam ignored his warning. "I would rather die."

"As you wish." Quaritch growled low in his throat and cut the rope binding Neteyam's arms. He gestured for his rapid blue dogs to join his attacks. Neteyam was too lightheaded to do much; he laughed as they punched him around, startling his tormentors before they simply deemed him insane and pushed him to the ground. He felt a hand on the base of his tail and growled, sounding almost feral. It was the female na'vi. She had a vicious grin on her face as she pulled so hard in his tail that he could not prevent a scream from leaving his throat, raw and filled with pain.

Neteyam's vision blurred; the world around him went silent, only a muted buzzing filled his ears. He allowed himself to fall to the ground. He was surrounded and had no way out; it was useless to fight. He did not even have his knife.

"I'm not going to kill you," Quaritch said, pressing his boot down on Neteyam's throat. "But you're gonna wish I did, Sully boy."

The others moved to hold him down, cheek pressed against the floor of the battleship. Neteyam went limp in their arms. Quaritch kneeled in front of him and grabbed his hair, forcing his head up.

"What does it feel like, knowing father dearest hasn't come to find you yet." The five fingered male sneered in his face, flashing sharp teeth menacingly.

Neteyam closed his eyes tightly, helplessness bubbling to the surface. Deep down, he knew his father had yet to come and save him because he had no idea where his son had disappeared off to; a deeper, darker part of him was convinced that he was not worth saving. Neteyam swallowed down the sob that threatened to bubble to the surface. He could not be weak. Not now.

These were not na'vi. This was much more dangerous than Ulro and his friends had been. When these people threatened him with death - he knew they would follow through if given reason. Quaritch was a trained war dog, a soldier who lost his humanity the moment he arrived on pandora and harmed the first creature, be it a plant or an animal.

Neteyam wanted to go home. To the forest or the reef, it did not matter. His mind was exhausted, tormented, restless. The sun tore in his sensitive skin without mercy, beating down on him in golden rays. Opening his eyes, Neteyam saw commotion; then, he was let go of suddenly. He got to his hands and knees and gasped as he began sliding along the ground, finding nothing to hold himself with. He knocked a soldier down with his body, sending him toppling over.

The ship was tilted. Something had slammed into it; Neteyam wondered if he was dreaming, but it seemed more likely that he was hallucinating.

"Neteyam! This way, come on bro, before they notice-" Lo'ak clung to the side of the ship, reaching for his brother's hand eagerly, eyes blown wide in panic. "We gotta go before they see us."

Neteyam felt relief flood him. He was so close to freedom. He grasped Lo'ak's hand and felt he'd made it home.