𝐓𝐎𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐔𝐍 | neteyam

20 | IN THE TREETOPS

Tonowari neared the entrance of the Sully marui pod, Ay'yeiva's words playing in his mind as he thought of the bad news: Something is coming. She knew. Why didn't he listen to he words sooner and let others know? Why didn't he even let Ronal know? It was a question for another day.

Neytiri and Jake's laughter toned down when they saw Tonowari's solemn expression. Jake left his mate's side and exited the pod to talk to the chief, "What's wrong?"

"Sky people." He turned to the man, noticing Neytiri now beside him once again, "They're looking for you, Jakesully. South. They have a human boy who speaks Na'vi." Tonowari looked out towards the ocean, rough waves and rain making a gloomy day.

Jake took a small deep breath before asking, "Did they kill anybody?"

"Not yet." The chief spoke sternly, "They threaten. But the villagers will not tell them where you are." He turned back to face the two Omatikaya, "By my order." He hesitated before mentioning, "At Ay'yeiva's ceremony the Spirit Tree had shown her that something was coming. I failed at preparing the village, and now we must keep our home safe."

Tonowari left for his own marui pod in search of Ronal, but found Ay'yeiva instead. It looked like she had been waiting for him to return. "It's happening, isn't it?"

He gave her a slight nod. Ay'yeiva looked behind her father to the water, watching how rough the water was becoming.

Rough waters bring trouble. It was something her father had taught her young, and it had always turned out to be true. She couldn't remember the last time she saw waves like these. She gave Tonowari a nod in goodbye, leaving the marui to find her siblings.

It didn't take much, listening out for yells among the village and following them to see both her brother, sister, and the Sully kids all running towards the ocean. Have Aonung and Tsireya learned nothing?

Ay'yeiva ran to the nearest shore and called out for Lan as she jumped in the water, connecting their cues and immediately swimming out to follow the group of teens.

The weather calmed down and the water was flat, Lan slowing down as they got closer to where the others hid behind seaweed. Ay'yeiva neared them and tapped on Tsireya's shoulder, slightly scaring her. Neteyam, noticing the girl, grabbed her arm and pointed at his brother — swimming into Payakan's mouth. She watched the scene in shock and worry, having never seen this kind of action between a Tulkun and Na'vi. She put her hand over Neteyam's as a way to say everything would be okay, and that seemed to have been enough to calm his own worries.

Tsireya watched the moment beside her unfold with a smile on her face that she tried her best to hide, returning attention to why her sister had followed them. "Where did you come from, Ay'yeiva?"

The older of the two shook her head, "Not now." and Tsireya knew to ask at another time.

Lo'ak emerged from Payakan and swam to the surface, everyone followed in suit.

...

The five teens followed in behind Tonowari as he led them to a marui pod, Ronal watching them from behind, "You allowed this. You allowed him to bond with the outcast!" She yelled at Tsireya, the youngest girl saddened, wanting to cry. Ay'yeiva pulled Tsireya beside her. The eldest rarely showed comfort in front of non-family members very often — it was considered an honour for the Sully boys to be witnessing it so early on in knowing her.

"You disappoint me, daughter." Tonowari spoke. He turned to Ay'yeiva, closing his mouth before saying anything, only giving her a stern glare that she returned. She knew he had nothing to get mad at her for. "And you," He faced Lo'ak, "son of a great warrior, who has been taught better."

"Payakan saved my life, sir. You don't know him."

"No, Lo'ak." Tsireya pleaded.

Tonowari motioned his hand down, "Sit." When no one joined him on the floor, he yelled, "Sit down!" Ay'yeiva stayed standing, returning another glare her father gave her.

"Hear my words, boy. In the days of the first songs, tulkun fought amongst themselves, for territory, and for revenge. But they came to believe that killing, no mattter how justified, only brings more killing. So all killing was forbidden. This is the tulkun way. Payaken is a killer, so, he is outcast."

"I'm sorry, sir. But you're wrong."

Neteyam met Ay'yeiva's narrowed eyes. She didn't like the way this was going and he could tell by the scary look she gave him. He wanted nothing more than to shut him up, but didn't know how. Neytiri tried, but it didn't work.

"I know what I know" Lo'ak shrugged, soon after being told that's enough from Jake and dragged off.

...

Ay'yeiva sat nestled in a tree by the edge of the forest. It was almost eclipse, and she could see nearly the entire village from her spot in the treetops. The water was calm, and it managed to bring her enough peace to make up for the hectic day she had. It wasn't enough though. There was a feeling she just couldn't shake, that something was going to go wrong at any minute. She just couldn't stop worrying. The clan was officially her people now, and if she messed anything up it could mean the end of her village. It could mean the end of—

"I didn't expect a water Na'vi to know how to climb trees so well"

She was pulled out of her thoughts abruptly, following the direction of the voice to see Neteyam making his way to the branch she was on. When he sat down next to her, he couldn't help but admire the view, "*This* reminds me a lot of being back in the forest. Sometimes my siblings and I would climb for hours trying to find the best spots to watch the sunset, but here you can just sit anywhere on the sand and watch."

Ay'yeiva knew he was talking, but hadn't heard anything he said. She was still stuck on why he had sat next to her in the first place.

"It'd always be so cool when the sun would shine through the branches and leaves and would make patterns everywhere. Or when we'd make hand puppets through the leaves when the light would hit them just right. Maybe one day I can take you to the forest and show you." He realized she wasn't exactly listening, and decided he could say whatever he wanted. There was something about no one hearing him that made Neteyam want to say what was truly on his mind.

"Or maybe it's the same in these forests. The types of trees and plants aren't exactly the same but, they all have lea--"

"Why are you talking about leaves?"

Neteyam shut his mouth immediately and flung his head to face her confused one. She had only cued into the last few words he said, extremely confused if Neteyam was making things up or randomly infatuated with leaves.

He cleared his throat, "Uh, trees, actually." And prayed she hadn't heard everything he said, or guessed the small intention behind it.

It was true, the boy had started to develop small feelings for the girl. But, how could you not? His family had been living in the village for a few months now and he had gotten to know of nearly everyone in the village at one point or another. Ay'yeiva was by far the girl who piqued his interest the most, but he had no idea why. At first he thought it was because he had seen her in the vision the Spirit Tree gave him: if it was going to happen, why not make it happen sooner? But now, seeing her in the glow of the setting sun, he knew why he had began to fall in the first place.

Without even speaking to each other, he knew how she was feeling about certain things. He too was the eldest child of a clan leader. And although his father didn't have any clan to lead anymore, those pressures would never leave him.

He saw how much she really cared for her family, whether she outright said it or not. She never would let them get in harms way, even if the only harm was their father. He saw that earlier that day.

Something he couldn't help but notice though, was how the space between them grew in size as she moved over ever so slowly. He knew it was way too fast for anything to happen between them, but did he really scare her that much?

AUTHORS NOTE
it's been a while.... hehe
here's a longer chapter as an apology 😭

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