Elia Sully and The Prophecy

The Lessons Begin. I Befriend an Ilu.

Tsireya, Ao'nung, and Rotxo came by our mauri early in the morning. "Come on!" Neteyam and Lo'ak were the first to jump into the water. Then I joined in with Kiri and Tuk, splashing into the water. The water instantly woke me up. I felt energized for some reason. I opened my eyes to see my surroundings. 

I was in awe. 

Colorful corals covered the rocks. Tiny schools of fish were swimming around me. It was a whole new world in the ocean.

The three reef Na'vi were swimming ahead. Tsireya turned around, looking at us, smiling. Lo'ak pointed down before beginning to swim towards them. Neteyam, Tuk, and I followed after him. For some odd reason, swimming brought me peace. I was entirely relaxed. 

The voices in the water, the different fish talking about what they were planning to do...my eyebrows furrowed. I could hear different voices inside my head. No one was talking.

I gasped at my sudden realization. Not only could I glow and transfer peoples' pains onto myself, but I could understand the sea creatures? That was so cool. I wanted to explore a little more. I began following a school of fishes, until I noticed Kiri. I decided to swim up to her. Sensing my presence, she turned around to face me. She grabbed my arm and pointed at a jellyfish-like creature swimming by. We were too mesmerized. 

I hadn't even noticed that Neteyam, Lo'ak, Tuk, Tsireya, Ao'nung, and Rotxo were nowhere to be found. I looked around, taking a breath. I didn't understand why I needed to hold my breath underwater. I could still breathe in it pretty fine. 

That was when Kiri grabbed my arm. Her eyebrows furrowed. I shrugged my shoulders. She pointed to the surface and began swimming up. I followed after her. "What is it, Kiri?" I asked, becoming confused. "Don't breathe underwater. You could drown and die." She told me. I was confused. "What?" I asked. "But...It didn't bother me at all." I replied.

"Are you sure?" Kiri asked me. "Yes." I nodded. "I'm perfectly fine. The water doesn't bother me. I can still breathe normally as I do with air." I reassured her. "You are definitely a demigod, or Eywa blessed you with water breathing, too." Kiri smiled. I chuckled, splashing her with water. "Shut up." I told her. "And this will be our secret, okay?" I asked. "Okay. Whatever you say." Kiri shrugged her shoulders before we dived back into the water and continued exploring.

We eventually ran into Neteyam, Lo'ak, Tuk, and the others. They were looking for us, and they were very worried. They thought that the two of us drowned.

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Once we got the hang of diving and swimming around, next was the mounts. We went to an area that was waist deep...waist deep for Na'vi that is. The water was up to my neck even if I was on my toes too. My feet barely touched the sand. Neteyam carried Tuk as Ao'nung was clicking his tongue. About three creatures from before swam by us. 

"These are Ilu. If you want to live here, you have to ride." Ao'nung told us. Lo'ak volunteered to go first. Tsireya went to help him.

"Make the bond gently. Feel his breath. Feel his strength." She told Lo'ak. Her voice was soothing to hear. "Hold here." She said, holding onto the handle. "Look at his legs." I heard one mutter. "Hold on." Another said. Taking two quick breaths, Lo'ak took off with the Ilu. He went a few hundred meters before he lost grasp of the handle and fell off.

"Ao'nung and his friends were laughing. Even Tsireya covered her mouth, trying not to laugh. I just chuckled. Lo'ak swam up, coming face-to-face with his Ilu. 'You bitch, I'm done!' The Ilu cursed at him, splashed water in his face and swam off. I burst out into laughter at that point. "Everything alright, forest boy?" One of them asked teasingly.

Tsireya turned to Ao'nung. "Brother, let her try." She told him, gesturing over to me. "But she doesn't have a queue. She can't connect with any sea life. "Yeah...I don't think I can do it." I told her nervously. "But it won't hurt to try. Just try it." She encouraged me to try it. 

"Fine...if you insist." Ao'nung rolled his eyes teasingly, calling an Ilu over to me. This one was pretty big for its size. 'Okay, Elia. Be calm. You've got this...' I mentally told myself. 'Yeah, you do! Don't be shy!' A hyperactive voice exclaimed in my head.

'Huh? The Ilu is talking to me? I think I must've imagined it...' I thought to myself. 'No. You're not imagining at all! I can read your mind. You're also a child of the Sea! Come on! I'm impatient.' Before I knew it, the Ilu was nudging me. "What are you waiting for? Go on." Ao'nung gestured. 

"Eli, do you need help?" Neteyam asked, swimming over to me. "No, I think I got this." I replied, lifting myself up and on the Ilu. I grabbed onto the handle for support. "She's going to fall off instantly." One of the guys laughed. "Yeah." Another agreed.

I just swallowed the lump in my throat. 'Please go slow...' I thought, pleading with the Ilu. 'Alright! I'll go slow. Don't worry!' The Ilu replied back in my mind. "Go!" I said, and the Ilu took off, slowly at first. It took me a while to adjust, sitting on the Ilu. And I grew more confident. 

'Faster! Faster!' I thought. 

The Ilu went faster. I still managed to hold on, adjusting myself so I wouldn't slip off. 'Can you jump?' I found myself asking. 'Say less!' The Ilu chuckled. I found myself out of the water and in the air with the Ilu. I could hear gasps and shouting from behind. 'That was so cool!' I thought excitedly, wrapping my other arm around the Ilu as we dove back in. It felt so natural riding sea creatures. It felt so right. I ended up loving the sea.

"Breathe in...And breathe out. Imagine flickering a flame. You must slow your heartbeat." Tsireya told us. I think dad called it meditation. This was going to help our lungs to expand. That way, we could hold our breaths underwater for a longer period. I watched as Tsireya's hands went to Lo'ak's chest. 

"Breathe in." She told him calmly. "Lo'ak listened, taking a deep breath in "Breathe from down here. Breathe out slowly." Lo'ak did breathe out slowly, but Tsireya was surprised. "Lo'ak, your heartbeat is fast." She told him. "Sorry." He apologized. "Try to focus." She told him. "Okay." He nodded. "Breathe in..." She told him again.

Neteyam looked over at Rotxo, smiling a bit. Rotxo smiled back. I tried to hold myself from laughing. My lips were quivering. Kiri turned her head down at me, giving me an annoyed look, shaking her head. I couldn't help it. 

Lo'ak had a crush on someone. It was a miracle sent from Eywa herself. Someone could watch over him and keep him from getting into too much trouble besides Neteyam and I. 

I loved swimming on my Ilu, whom I named, Stevie. She loved her given name too, so I thought I would keep it. Neteyam, Lo'ak, and I raced each other to the surface. "You are learning to breathe." Tsireya smiled, telling us.

I chuckled in response. Technically, Neteyam and Lo'ak were...not me.

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At night, Kiri, Tuk, and I were taken to the corals to gather materials from there. Tsireya came with us. There were these pinkish jellyfish-like creatures floating around. Tsireya grabbed one of them and placed it on Tuk's back. It looked like she had wings now. "This will help you breathe underwater." She told us.

As we were collecting the barnacles, I found Kiri playing around with the glowing fish. Everywhere she would move her hand, the fish would follow, moving around in a synchronous pattern. It was so beautiful. She then gestured the fish in my direction. The fish started swimming around me. They were so tiny, yet they glowed brightly when they were together. 

'I want to glow just like them...' I thought. And then, my entire hair started to glow a golden yellow. Kiri smiled, chuckling a bit. The fish all swam towards my hair, becoming very interested. They were attracted to the light and warmth I radiated off me. Tsireya looked surprised and in awe.

"How are you doing that?" She asked me, signing. "I don't know. But I've always glowed." I signed back to her. "You are a very interesting Sky Person." She signed back. I smiled at that comment.