𝐓𝐎𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐔𝐍 | neteyam

𝟎𝟏𝟑 | 𝐒𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐑

          AY'YEIVA DIDN'T KNOW HOW SHE FELT ABOUT HER NEWFOUND TOP PRIORITY. She was sitting on a rock, the same ones the group of teens had circled around just the day before, watching as her brother tried pulling a prank on one of his friends. It was mean, but entertaining to watch him fail time and time again. When her parents told her to always have an eye on either her brother or the Sully's, she knew her brother would be the funnier option. He also knew when she didn't want to be bothered, and today was one of those days.

          Her eyes strayed away from the scene in front of her and landed on a stick lying next to her foot. After a moment of staring at it, she picked it up.

          The end opposite to her hand dragged the sand around, the lines not making any sense at first. She continued picking it off the ground and creating new images--

          A scream.

          Another.

          Her head spun around as she stood up, stick falling into the sand. She searched the direction of the scream until she saw a commotion of waves, running and diving towards it.

          As she gained on them she recognized her sister, making the conclusion that this was the Sully children in distress. The first Ilu to ride by held Neteyam and Kiri, but the girl looked unconscious. Ay'yeiva met the edge of the shore after calling out for her father, gaining the attention of Tsireya.

          "Guys, my sister!"

          Everyone looked over to Ay'yeiva, what looked like relief washing over most of their faces. She reached out to grab onto Kiri, taking notice of the small glares she was getting from the oldest boy. She ignored them, his clearly negative mood not the most important thing right now.

          She was able to lift Kiri onto the shore while everyone else got up themselves, Tsireya yelling out to Tonowari when she saw him and Jake running over to them. Everyone followed the two of them to the Sully marui pod where they placed Kiri down.

          After that, it was a blur of wishes and worries.

•—•

          RONAL SET UP HER STUFF INSIDE THE MAURI POD AS THE HUMANS JAKE CALLED LEFT IN A RUSH. Neytiri had yelled at them for not helping at all when Ronal went to leave. Ay'yeiva was able to have a front row seat to it all after Tonowari told her to guard the entrance so no one unwanted could peek in at Kiri.

          She both loved her job, and secretly despised it. Keeping people out meant watching the ones who were allowed to deal with their worries, all while dealing with her own. Her friendship with Kiri grew quicker than expected; She too could lose someone.

          Neteyam, as much as she didn't want to be near him, exited the marui pod and took a seat on the edge of the marui, feet dangling in the water. Ay'yeiva studied him for a few minutes before saying, "She's going to be okay, Neteyam."

          He froze in place. On the one hand he didn't know how he could believe her. The person who left her siblings to do what she should've been doing. The person who broke up a situation he had under control. The person who suddenly became best friends with his sister's after only meeting them a few times. He could only take her word with a grain of salt.

          But on the other hand, he froze out of confusion. Or was it irritation? He didn't understand why, but it bothered him to hear her say his name. It bothered him to know she was watching him but he couldn't see her. It was bothering him to know that whenever trouble comes, she seems to follow to clean it all up.

          He didn't look away from his stare in the water. He couldn't.

          It made Ay'yeiva smile.