Sullys Stick Together

Chapter 17

A FEW MONTHS LATER

Dad called my siblings and me into the hut in the morning after we had been out running around with the other kids of the village. We walked in, Neteyam and Lo'ak close behind me. Since I got better from my injuries, they have been more protective of me. They let me train with them, but if I so much as winced they stopped and told me to go relax no matter how many times I told them I was alright. Once we entered the hut, we all knelt down in front of mom and dad, Neteyam and Lo'ak on either side of me. 

"Alright. Since it's Nelyia's birthday and she's finally 13 years old, " He smiled at me, "your mother and I decided that we can go back to the forest and get your Ikran," He had a smile on his face, as mom came to be beside him. I felt a smile growing on my face as well. With that, we all packed a few things for the journey, got onto their Ikrans, and headed back home to the forest. 

The ride back home was so much better than the one we had taken to the Metkayina village. The sea was calm, and it was a warm sunny day. It seemed like we were only in the air for 2 hours before we saw the forest's edge come into view. Once we got there and landed, Tuk hopped off of mom's ikran and ran straight to the plants and played with them with a huge smile on her face. Kiri followed her, as usual. I got off of Neteyam's ikran and looked around the forest. Lo'ak stood beside me, doing the same thing I was, taking in the forest again as if we were trying to remember where we were. 

Soon enough, we made our way to the mountains where the ikran resided. Mom stayed back with Tuk since it was too dangerous to bring her anywhere near the wild banshees, but Dad and the rest of them were following close behind me as I snuck closer and closer to the group of creatures. Dad was walking me through how to capture one, and how I would know which one chose me. Not that I needed that information, I did grow up in the forest after all. I had heard everyone's stories about how they got theirs. Now I just had to do it for myself. Once I got out into the opening, I grabbed my rope and walked slowly as most of the ikran flew away when I got too close.

Then I saw her. She was a light blue, with some hints of dark blues and greens. We made eye contact, and she screached at me. I tilted my head to the side, showing her that I wasn't afraid, and hissed back at her. Then it was on. She lunged towards me, missing me by a hair when I jumped out of the way. Luckily, when I jumped out of the way, I landed right in her blind spot. I took this to my advantage, jumped on her head, and tied her mouth shut. "Yeah, that's right. I got you," I huffed pushing her head down. But before I could get too cocky, she hoisted herself up and flew off the edge with me still holding on. "Woah!" I shouted and held on tighter. She was trying everything in the book to get me to let go, but nothing worked. Once I got to a good position, I grabbed my braid and made the bond with her in the air. "Easy!" 

She leveled out and let me catch my breath. I patted the side of her head and looked to my side, hearing another ikran cry out. My smile grew as I realized that it was my brother. "Mighty warrior!" Neteyam shouted as he flew closer to me. I knew in that moment that my life was about to change. I only hoped we would be able to stay in the forest for a while.

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A.N.

HEY GUYS! I am so sorry. My life has gotten INSANE lately. I have little to no time to myself because of work, so finding time to write this, or even think about it was honestly very limited. I do have to prioritize work, so I'm going to have to change my upload schedule. Unfortunately, that means I have no idea when I will be able to upload next. I am sorry, I'll do what I can. ALSO if you have ideas for a future chapter, PLEASE drop your suggestion in the comments!!!