Shells | Lo'ak Sully

Part 1 - Distraction

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(POV: Ni'teya)

A distraction was needed desperately, there was no sign that these supposed "Na'vi" were going to let up anytime soon. It had already reached eclipse in the forest, and the imposters were adamant that Kiri's parents would show up to take back their children.

I knew they would, it was obvious Jake and Neytiri wouldn't let any harm behold their children. It was comforting in a way, knowing Kiri would more than likely be okay when all of this is over, but in my case, the imposters had already figured out that me and Spider weren't part of the Sully family, and worse yet, the leader-man was nicer to Spider than anyone else here.

I was the odd-one-out, and so my head was only filled with one thought, survive on my own. Even if Jake and Neytiri do show up, they're going to harbour their children before anything else. Before even checking to see if I'm alive and breathing. I can't blame them of course, I am the one who brought us here to begin with, and possibly the reason Lo'ak, Tuk and Spider were out this far into the forest  too.

My mind was full of the worst possible outcomes, so I did the only thing I thought would help me get out of this situation.

The plan was simple.

I batted my eyes open, closed, open, closed before finally rolling them back into their sockets, leaning my head back as though limp, pretending to faint.

"Quaritch, we' got a fainter!" my captor yelled over, as I fell to the forest green with a thud.

I felt Kiri's alarmed expression through the sounds of her continued struggle, knowing she probably had no idea what I was thinking and that I had actually fainted.

I concentrated. My captor would have to let go of my arm at some point, even for a split second. I was in a better position now, one where I could feel the curve of my knife through the satchel where my hands lay.

It took a while, so long that I had to open my eyelid by the smallest amount to catch glimpse of what was going on. What I was met with was Lo'ak, who was kneeled down in front of me, squinting his eyes and tilting his head to match my head's angle, as though to question my actions. I ignored him, closing my eyes and waiting some more.

As I lay there, noises sounded around me. It sounded like a creature, and to any non-Na'vi native it would sound as such. But I knew the forest. I spent every day listening, watching and learning its ways, its habits and most importantly in this case, its sounds. And this wasn't one you'd hear often.

This must be them.

The yelps grew louder by the second, echoing through the trees until one sounded just a few steps away from where we were.

There it was. The moment, the split second of release from my captor when they had turned to find their team-member who was holding Kiri shot and killed by a green-feathered arrow. As expected, they're not out to play a game involving their own children.

In one slick motion, I bent my arm as quickly as I could to angle it so that my hand could slip into the satchel and grab the knife. As I began to lift my arms up behind my back, I cut the tie that caged my hands together, freeing myself and cutting my captors forearm as they tried to put me back into their grasp.

I hid, scanning my surroundings to check for everyone else's safety before I'd make my escape. Kiri was already free, shouting at Tuk to "bite! bite!" which she did, letting herself find a second to escape. Spider had done the same and was already helping Kiri and Tuk to safety through the trees.

I was about to retreat back into the forest behind me when I caught glimpse of Lo'ak, who I'd already assumed was free. Ny assumption was wrong, Lo'ak was still being held, a knife to his throat. "Come get your kid, Sully!" his captor bellowed, his wishes clear.