Mighty Jewel | LO'AK + NETEYAM

prologue

Marrek had been travelling all around Pandora when he first stumbled on sky people. Some were tiny, pale and weak, and others looked familiar. First look, Marrek swore they were part of the Omatikaya clan but when he noticed their fingers. Five of them. He understood they were disguising themselves as them. While travelling, Marrek had heard about strangers coming down from the sky but it was his first time encountering a group of them.
They were called Sky People and they came to take over Pandora.
Marrek wasn't built like a warrior, he only knew a few basics combat tactics but the feeling of protecting his planet took over his body. He hid behind a tree, a knife in hand aiming for one of the tiny Sky People. He threw it, the blade's rebound hitting the tiny's foot alerting the rest of the crew that they were under attack. Marrek only wanted to protect his people, distract the Sky People from exploring further Pandora and discovering its tribes. He stepped away from behind the tree, revealing himself to the strangers as they pointed machine towards him. He didn't know what they could do but he didn't want to find out either so he kneeled on the floor. Delivering himself to them.

"Let's take him back to the labs." One of them exclaimed.

Marrek let two of the big ones tied his arms behind his back. He walked willingly to discover where they would take him. After he had been captured, Marrek was isolated in a white room with nothing but a single wooden chair in it. Doctors tested on him. Put every sorts of needles in his arms, legs and tail. They tagged his ear with a sort of earring with a location chip inside of it, like he was some farm cow. But Marrek never knew about the chip. After awhile, he got used to the infusions, treatments and weekly beatings to get information out of him. One of the doctors seemed to always stay behind after he had been beat up. Evelyn was her name. She had almost white long hair which were most of the time tied in a bun and ice blue eyes. She would stay in Marrek's cage and put medicine on his fresh wounds. She would talk to him without an ounce of hate in her voice. Evelyn was gentle. She was different than the rest of Sky People, less eager to destroy Pandora like the others were.

Months after his capture, a familiar blue silhouette entered his room. A faint expression of hope travelled his face but it quickly disappeared as he dropped his eyes to the fingers. Five of them. Sky people once again disguised as one of his. He frowned, scared of what they were planning to do but when he restored his gaze to the blue face, his traits softened. The ice and almost grey eyes. The white like snow hair. He recognized Evelyn. Now that he examined her new face, she still looked the same. But he didn't understood why she was in an avatar form.

"We're going on a mission." She paused. "Outside."

Marrek spent a whole year with Evelyn and other Sky people travelling around Pandora. Despite his will to protect, he had to help them translate, gather information and infiltrate some tribes. He didn't have a choice. Each time he thought about escaping, Evelyn popped in his mind, keeping him from running away. Marrek had fallen in love with Evelyn, even deeper now that she looked like him. Evelyn felt it too. Their bond. It was strong and scary for both of them. Their love was forbidden by each of their clan but that alone, didn't stop them. One night, when the forest and the sky was asleep, they found their way back to each other. The kneeled on the ground, Marrek facing Evelyn and looking at her with only love and passion in his eyes. She stared at him the same way. She placed a hand on his cheeks, he leaned in and gave it a small kiss before returning his gaze on her. She slid her hand down to his chest where his heart laid. She felt it under her palm, beating fast. They could barely speak but they understood one another. Without words.
That night, they mated for life and when they returned to the labs, Evelyn's avatar was pregnant.
A forbidden's love's baby was the most intriguing thing to every scientist in the place. Evelyn knew that. She resented that her baby would be the object of studies. When Evelyn's avatar gave birth, she held the baby like a true mother. It was a girl. She was the perfect mix between Evelyn and Marrek. Evelyn had kept her pregnancy hidden from Marrek. After their night together, he never saw the woman in her avatar form again. When his child was being tested, punctured by needles or cut for biopsies, he didn't knew. He was kept in the dark until Evelyn finally decided otherwise.

The baby girl was three months old when her mother finally took her responsibilities seriously. In the middle of the night, Evelyn broke Marrek out of his cage. They ran in the halls, escaping from Sky People. Lights were hitting every walls and alarms echoed in ever room. Evelyn directed them toward their child's room. She tore the strings attached to her tiny body and handed her to Marrek. Her father. Marrek frowned but still held her carefully. As soon as he saw her face, he knew she was his. He was already protective of the girl.

"I know you might not understand me." Evelyn started. "But she's ours." She gestured her hand between her chest and Marrek's. He rose his eyebrows, he understood her in a way.

Evelyn grabbed her mate by the wrist and ran to the closest exit. She unlocked the door with her badge. She could hear the footfalls of guards, they were coming for them. She did what every mother would, she sacrificed herself. Evelyn pushed Marrek outside, the baby still asleep in his arms. He turned back to Evelyn and nodded to the side. Marrek thought she'd follow. Instead, she said, "Give her the best life." She closed the door and muffled bullets sounds echoed in the silent forest.

Marrek had just heard the love of his life die.
But in that moment, he looked at the baby, his daughter and promised himself that no Sky People would ever harm again someone he loved.

He would protect Kyalayi with his life, just like Evelyn did.