Promise me

5 • Miracle

I see land.. it looks beautiful. I see many teal Navi that match the water. Dark black hair mostly in buns and wavy hair. They have tattoos all over their body with seashell tops and jewelry. They all look very pretty and majestic.

I circle around trying to find a landing spot. Maybe they're nice enough to let me stay? I pray to eywa everything works out. Even if I can't adapt to the ocean as much as they can.

I see a peninsula and a drone on it.. max and norm? I land beside it and walk with nothing on me and my hands out to show I mean no harm. I am surrounded by all these teal Navi when I notice familiar faces.

"Ralu?!" I hear.

"Neteyam" I say quietly jumping into his arms and melting in his touch.

"Why are you here?" Norm asks from behind.

"T-the sky people attacked the camp.. me and warriors were on patrol but we heard a bang and the camp was exploded.. I lost Noak a-and my mom a-nd my new friend Lay.." I say breaking down.

Neteyam hugs me as Jake walks away. I see him talking to what I'm guessing is the Tsahik and Olo'eyktan.

I see Loak and hug him as well. Just then I see a girl beside him. She smiles and I try to smile back. I see two other boys with the group, the smaller one looks sweet and soft as the taller one looks intimidating.

I look at them and the smaller one gives me a smile and the taller gives me a look.

"Where's Noak?" Tuk asks me hugging me from behind.

"He's gone.. Tuk. I'm so sorry I tried my best to bring him to you but I couldn't.. I failed you Tuktirey." I say. She starts crying and hugs Neytiri as Jake walks over.

"Olo'eyktan and Tsahik said you can stay.. we have room in our pod." Jake says.

"Okay.. I don't have any of my things." I say.

"I'll make you some clothes and Loak will make a mat for you. Come Loak" the nice girl says and drags Loak back.

"That's tsireya. She's tonowari and Ronals daughter. They're the chief and Tsahik. She also has a brother." Neteyam says.

We walk to their pod as I talk about what more happened and how life was like with Lay.

"Tarsems son Layto?" He asks.

"Yeah.. I know it's weird." I say sitting beside him. Putting our feet in the water.

I play with the water as I watch it perfectly curve around my feet, having flashbacks from earlier that day.

I breath deeply, trying to calm myself down from a panic attack. Neteyam rubs my back to calm me down as well. Just then I feel the pathway underneath us move.

"I have made you some tops, and a basket. Loak made you a bow, arrow and a mat. We will put it in the sully pod. We must teach you everything." She says as they both walk into the pod.

"Want to swim? You can meet Rotxo and Aonung." Neteyam says.

"Rotxo and Aonung?" I ask confused on who that is.

"Oh Aonung is tsireyas brother and Rotxo is their best friend." Neteyam explains to me.

"Ohh.. were they the two guys behind you?" I ask.

"Yeah Aonung is the taller one with a bun and Rotxo is the shorter one." He says.

I nod in agreement and walk with Neteyam to the sand. I flinch at the feeling of the sand going between my toes. It's soft and warm, like a warm blanket hugging my body.

I smile as I feel the comfort of it and continue walking with Neteyam. I notice the two boys from earlier playing with eachother and talking as they float in the deeper waters in front of me.

They look nice.

Aonung then looks at us as I made eye contact with him. His eyes match the ocean. I feel like they're pulling me in. I break eye contact from the awkwardness as we swim towards them.

"You must learn how to breath" Neteyam says

"Isn't that how I live?" I ask I snarked at him.

"Haha very funny, you have to hold your breath for a long time. It's very helpful here." He says.

"You must also learn to ride an ilu. They are how we get around in the waters. Warriors take big creatures called Akula." Rotxo explains.

"And you have to learn the sign language. It's very useful." Aonung adds.

I follow them to a rock as they sit around me. Tsireya soon joins us as we get comfy. I sit beside Neteyam as he's the only one I know throughout the whole group.

"Imagine you see a flickering flame.. it's calming. You must slow your heartbeat down." Tsireya explains as she sits across from me.

Aonung puts a hand on my stomach, I only see Rotxo and Neteyam snickering at Tsireya gives them a glare.

"Breath from down here, it calms more." Aonung explains.

I try to listen but I struggle a bit.

"Your heartbeat is still fast" Aonung says.

"I wonder why.." Neteyam whispers under his breath. Only me and tsireya hears as she hits him on the arm.

When I finally think I can breath properly we go to more shallow waters. Tsireya and Rotxo leave. Neteyam goes to his pod so it's only me and Aonung.

"This ilu is very easy to ride. She is soft, careful and kind. You must connect and sync your breaths. It is much easier to tame an ilu than an ikran." He explains.

I hop up on the ilu, struggling to straddle myself. Aonung grabs my hips and moves them in place, I flinch at the sudden touch.

It helped very much as I make tsaheylu. Connecting my braid to the ilu. I breath in slowly and connect my breath to hers as she eases into my touch. She's very easy.

"When you dive under, keep a good position. Let your feet drag behind you. Just hold on tight and move with the water." He says.

Go

I move quickly and before I know it I'm under water. It was too fast and I got scared and let go immediately. I came up to the surface to see the ilu come up and run her head against mine.

"It's okay girl, I'm okay" I hear Aonung laugh from behind me.

"That was a good first try. Don't get scared. Expect the unexpected." He says.

I swim back to him and meet the ilu there as I hop on and make tsaheylu. I breath in calming myself down, to hold my breath longer.

"You're doing alright, just adjust your hand." Aonung says adjusting my hand where I'm now underhand on the ilu. "It's for better grip" he explains.

I nod and I tell the ilu to go.

It took me a few teies before I finally got it. Just then I hear a horn and Aonung looks excited as I see tsireya ride around yelling.

"Everybody the tulkun have returned. Our brothers and sisters have returned!"