Mighty Jewel | LO'AK + NETEYAM

chapter thirteen

"Where were you?" Jake yelled to his sons as Neteyam put Kiri down in the middle of their family's hut. Kyalayi following inside while Tsireya and Ao'nung had left to get the village's healer, Marrek. The white haired girl comforting Tuk while her parents worried about their eldest daughter.

"Spirit tree, sir." Lo'ak answered. "She connected with it and then started having these seizures."

Neytiri kneeled besides her daughter, caressing her arm to calm her body, to slow down the shaking in a way that seemed way too familiar. The Metkayina siblings soon returned with the help. Marrek squatted to examine closer Kiri's condition, the seizing didn't seemed to slow down. The mother and eldest son tried pining Kiri's body down by holding her legs and arms.

"Good." Jake exhaled as he saw Marrek once again take care of one of his kid. He watched the healer pinch every part of Kiri's body, searching for a lump or something that could indicate the source of the seizures, sometimes poison left traces in the body. But this time, it wasn't poison. "What is it?"

"I don't know." Marrek sighed as he saw Jake's expression shift, darkened. "I can stop it. Slow it. But I don't know when your daughter will wake up. Or if she ever will." It was the toughest words that Marrek had to say. As a father, it broke him. As a healer, he didn't have a choice but tell the truth. Jake nodded to the man as he started to work on the medicine. Tuk ran out of Kyalayi's light grip and toward her sister. The same way Kiri had done several days ago.

"Mama, is Kiri going to be okay?" The youngest cried out.

"Oh, Tuk." Neytiri exclaimed, her eyebrows scrunched together as she watched her children suffer. She took her youngest in her arms, comforting her. It deeply affected each member of the family. Neteyam the most. He blamed himself, like always. He looked up to his family, searching for some sort of comfort but none of them glanced back. They were all focused on Kiri, and who could blame them. His hands still on his sister's legs, he glanced toward the ocean girl, meeting her eyes as she was already staring at him.

"Kiri's going to be okay." Kyalayi signed causing Neteyam to shrug, doubting her words even if they meant to soothe his thoughts, to bring his heartbeat down. "You're going to be okay." She gestured, emphasizing on the first word, before Neteyam gave one simple nod, grateful for Kyalayi's reassuring words that eventually brought him a slight easing feeling. Especially, when no one else saw he needed comfort too. The boy returned his attention to Kiri when Marrek crouched beside the injured girl with a boiling mixture made of sea leafs, dried corals and tree wax. The man gently raised Kiri's head as he made her drink the whole thing. Kiri exhaled a long shallow breath, her body instantly calming down like she was asleep.

"Tomorrow," Marrek started. "If Kiri doesn't wake up, I will talk to Ronal. She can do a ritual, help Eywa connect to her and hopefully wake her up."

Jake seemed relieved as Marrek's words echoed in his ears, but he knew the battle wasn't over. Kiri wasn't yet saved. But for the Sully, a weight got lifted up from their chests, regaining their usual and calmer breath rhythm. Kyalayi scrutinized what was in front of her. A family. A family that would do anything for one another which she find beautiful. But something was missing. Someone. She searched the room before turning her head around to check the beach. Lo'ak sat on the sand, looking up at the eclipse. She glanced one more time to the Sully's before joining the youngest son who looked so small before the ocean. Kyalayi figured she wasn't of any use in the hut, the only thing she could do now to help was caring. And it was the girl's greatest strength. Kyalayi silently sat down next to Lo'ak, staring at his face, searching for the right words to say. He seemed thoughtful like he was questioning his whole life and probably beating himself up for what had happened to Kiri.

"You cheated." Kyalayi finally exclaimed, referencing to their previous race underwater and causing the boy to scoff as he tried to hold a laugh. He didn't want to let himself be happy while his sister's life was critical but Kyalayi had found the right words. Because Lo'ak was used to screw up, used to his father's lectures and used to be the one to blame but one thing he was unfamiliar with, was someone who would warm his heart after it. The boy only ever wanted someone to ease his mind from the constant self doubting. Kya had understood that.

"There weren't any rules."

"We'll, it wasn't fair." The girl protested. Kyalayi wasn't actually mad about the race. She couldn't care less about it but she liked this playful dynamic between her and Lo'ak. He made her feel like a kid again.

"Nothing is fair." Lo'ak finally locked his gaze with Kyalayi's, a devastated one. Lo'ak wasn't only referencing to Kiri's health condition but also, his feeling of never being enough and of always being a disappointment to his father no matter what he did or did not do.

"It's not your fault." Kyalayi whispered as she put a hand on the boy's forearm, giving it a small and comforting squeeze. He placed his hand on hers, the leather glove stealing some of her touch. In that moment, the white haired girl wished she could just take them off. "Lo'ak. It is not your fault." She repeated, resting her free hand on his cheek, causing him to drop his gaze. Embarrassed. "Your father didn't seem angry. Just," She paused, remembering Jake's face as Neteyam had entered with Kiri, unconscious, in his arms. "Scared."

Lo'ak signed as he let himself fall on the sand, Kyalayi's both hands falling to her side which he immediately regretted as he find himself longing for her touch. The girl still kept her gaze on the forest boy as he stared deep into the sky. The moonlight illuminating his face as darkness had filled the whole village and worriedness overflowed the Sully's hut.

"What happened?" Jake asked to his oldest, calm but still in a blunt tone. Neteyam got up as they both walked further from his mother and sisters.

"Lo'ak was telling the truth, sir. No fight, no comment. Tsireya only decided to show us their spirit tree."

"Where is your brother anyway? This family needs him. Here." Jake rested a hand on his son's side neck. "Sully's stick together." Neteyam heard the faint shake in his father's voice that the man tried so hard to hide. He stared at him. For the first time, his father looked scared. Like he had learn something he hadn't shared yet. Something dangerous.

"I will go find him, sir."

Neteyam walked out of the hut and immediately spotted his brother with the girl he cared for besides him. They laid together. Kyalayi stared at Lo'ak. Lo'ak touched Kyalayi. And Neteyam watched. Even if it broke him, he couldn't pull his eyes away from them. This exact moment is when he made a promise to himself. A promise he intended to keep for his brother's own good and resulting into sacrificing his own happiness. Suddenly, Neteyam saw them quickly standing up, pointing towards the sky. A star slowly getting bigger and closer, its white light turning yellow then orange. Like fire.

"Dad!" Neteyam called out as Jake joined his son outside. "Sky people." He stated, almost whispered. A terrified feeling travelled along his whole body as he gulped the lump in his throat. They found us, he thought.