Sullys Stick Together

Chapter 4

Today was the big day. The day that dad lost his role as chief and the day we left the forest. I was with Neteyam, helping him pack our belongings and get them in the bags strapped to our banshees. "Dad said he wants you to ride with me, so get whatever you want for the journey. I don't know how long we will be flying," he instructed, pointing off to my designated bags. "We shouldn't be leaving at all. It's wrong to run," I mumbled softly as I turned to pack the rest of my things, though I didn't have much to pack. Just a bow dad made for my last birthday, and a knife Lo'ak gave me. 

"Nelyia, we've talked about this. Stop complaining about it and just do as you're told." Neteyam and I had talked about us leaving the forest before. He said that mom and dad were doing what was best for us and the people. I said that we can't just run from our problems and that it goes against what they've been trying to teach us. Of course, I lost that argument though, "Yeah yeah. Whatever." Soon enough, it was time to leave. Everyone mounted the Ikran, Tuk with mom, me with Neteyam, and everyone else flying solo. As we took off, I couldn't help but look around behind Neteyam and watch as the forest just grew smaller and smaller. We were really leaving. 

I took a deep breath and turned to look ahead of us. Dad was leading, followed by mom, then Kiri, then Lo'ak, leaving Neteyam and me in the back of the pack. After what felt like ages of flying, we ran into an issue. A storm. And a big one at that. Neteyam reached around me and tied his hand to the handles of his banshee and told me to hang on. Dad was giving hand signals to everyone, as we were flying over an open sea and the waves and thunder were crashing too loud to hear over. A lightning bolt flashed in front of Neteyam and me, causing the Ikran to panic and fly off course. I screamed and held onto Neteyam's arm as he tried to lead us back to the others. 

Before we could get back on track, a huge wave came smashing into the Ikran, dragging us underwater. I felt Neteyum pushing me up toward the surface, but in the chaos of the water, I lost sight of my brother. I got to the surface only to be pushed back down by another wave. I fought to stay on the surface, "NETEYAM!?" I called out frantically looking around the best I could. I was losing breath rapidly, as I was only able to stay above the surface for a few seconds at a time. 

"Nelyia!" I heard the call from a distance but couldn't tell which direction it was coming from, or even who it was. Suddenly, Neteyam burst up beside me, breathing heavily. "Neteyam!" I called out feeling the panic set in. "It's alright. Just try to stay above the water!" He yelled out over the storm. From above us, I was able to hear the call of the Ikran. Neteyam and I looked up to see the rest of our family flying above us. "They can't get close enough without the Ikran getting caught in the waves," he looked around trying to find something for us to use. "There, swim over to those rocks!" 

He grabbed my arm helping me start swimming in the right direction. As we were swimming, the storm got worse. I was now only able to remain above the water for a second at a time. Neteyam must have been struggling too. We finally reached the rocks, Neteyam climbed up first and grabbed my arm hoisting me up after him. Both of us were gasping for air, me more than him. Dad and Lo'ak were the ones to get low enough for us to grab on. Neteyam grabbed Lo'ak's arm and pulled himself up, while I climbed onto dad's Ikran. Once we were up and away from the danger of the waves, dad patted me on the shoulder instructing me to look at him. I carefully turned around and met his gaze, shivering from the cold. "Are you alright?" He asked loudly. I nodded slowly, "I think so. Just cold." He just nodded and reached behind him into the bag grabbed a blanket and handed it to me. Eventually, the storm died down and we all grew more and more exhausted. I leaned back against dad, starting to drift off to sleep. 

I was woken up by a gentle tapping on my arm. I opened my eyes and leaned forward looking around to see a village coming into sight. As we approached the village, I watched as people jumped into the water and mounted strange creatures. We flew around a couple of times to let them see that we were Na'vi before we landed all at once. We all got off of the Ikran and stayed close to each other. I was standing behind dad next to Lo'ak as we approached the people, and they approached us. 

Once their chief came in we greeted each other, and the grown-ups talked amongst themselves. Then a woman came over towards my brothers grabbing their tails and inspecting them before they pulled away. Then she looked at me and grabbed my hand before I could react. "These children aren't even real Na'vi! They have demon blood!" She called out holding my hand up above my head, "Dad," I said timidly pulling my hand away from the woman. Dad held up his hand, showing the people that he was born of the sky people and that we would adapt to their ways. Tuk had come over and stood next to dad and softly asked if we had to leave. He picked her up and hushed her softly saying that it was going to be okay. I held onto his arm, hiding behind him as the Metkayina people discussed. 

"Jake Sully and his family will stay here. My children will teach your children our ways, so they do not suffer the shame of being useless," The chief exclaimed. Dad set down Tuk, "Alright, alright guys what do we say?" 

"Thank you," We all said in unison. 

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A.N.

Hey everyone! Thank you for the love you've shown for this series! We are getting hit by a winter storm where I live, and we are expecting to lose power. So if I don't upload tomorrow, that's probably why. Y'all stay safe and warm out there!