Shells | Lo'ak Sully

Part 19 - Feelings

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(WARNING: If you're sensitive to gore-y descriptions, I advise you to skip towards the end of this chapter)

(POV: Ni'teya)

Oh, oh no. My chest began to hurt, my throat closing in on itself. He's shot, Lo'ak's been shot, no.

He wasn't moving as he was sat, kneeled down in front of me with his eyes still fixated on nothing. His breathing sped up, his ears plummeted, he looked grey, pale.
I couldn't do anything, my throat was now stopping any breaths from escaping, making them harsh and coarse.

"Oh no. No-" I whispered before falling onto my knees, matching his height, my awfully uneasy and shivering hands doing their best to find the wound in order to put pressure on it. Come on, Ni'teya.

"It's okay, it's okay, oh god, I-" I wasn't aware of the words coming out of me, my words were welling up as well as my tears. I could feel everything; My heartbeat, rapidly punching the insides of my chest, pounding.

I saw him leave his trance out of the corner of my eye, letting his head navigate to look at me. His eyes were weak, they looked tired but terrified. I thought maybe he'd say something, anything at all, he could insult me for all I cared. But what I heard wasn't a sentence nor a swear, he took a short intake of breath, gasping as he did so.

"Ni'teya...?"

I gasped and hissed inwardly, my eyes darting between both him and his thigh, my hands still trying to locate the wound which wasn't visible due to the amount of red fluid that was tinting the ocean.

"It's okay, you're okay, just hold on-" I tried reassuring him, at last feeling a small indent in his thigh, immediately pressing down hard on it with both of my hands. Come on.

He held his position, not saying anything else because he couldn't bear to speak. He let out a final heavy gasp before I felt him fall.

"No- Lo'ak!" I quivered as I spoke, watching as he fell onto his side, his eyes closed and his arms splayed out in front of him.

No, no, no, please. I can do this, I can-

Forcing myself, I held my breath and let the tears that were holding onto my eyelids fall, needing to leave and take Lo'ak somewhere safe. I unraveled my satchel, using my thorn-knife to split it through the middle to that I could then wrap it around Lo'ak's leg tight enough so that he wouldn't lose as much blood. I did so, leaving the weapons I had crafted on the platform, beginning to hopelessly drag the boy towards the egde, calling for Meyaani in despair, my voice breaking.

He was too heavy. My sorry state made my limbs weaker, I couldn't pull him far enough. I tried and tried, yelling, grunting and hissing as I used all of my strength to pull Lo'ak to safety, but I was failing.

Just then, I heard quick footsteps ahead of me, thinking it could be Quaritch at first. I gasped, looking up manically, waiting for the individual to show themselves. When he did, I yelled and I screamed and I sobbed.

"Help! Help me, quickly! Please!" I begged the man before me, the tears flowing stronger now.

Jake legged it towards me and his son, realizing quickly that he was bleeding heavily from his thigh. He knew my goal, lifting his son's legs and shuffling forward as I shuffled back, lifting his other end. The man didn't have time to react, he placed his son onto my ilu behind me, resting him on my back as I brought his arms to my front so that I had control over him, not letting him fall.

I could see his fear, though. His eyes were shaken, he had no choice but to yell and order me to save his son. "Go, go back! Take him to the village." His screams were broken too as he pointed in the direction of sanctuary. He vanished thereafter as I circled Meyaani around and rushed away from the ship.