Mighty Jewel | LO'AK + NETEYAM

chapter twenty one

Another day had passed by and Kyalayi still hadn't came back to her family's hut, barely holding her parents' gaze as they crossed paths in the village. Then another day passed and another and another until the Metkayina's leader couldn't ignore the complaints and judgments from his people about Marrek's intentions of hiding an hybrid amongst them. Even worse now that her human mother had been staying with the man for a full week now. Ronal was feeling betrayed the most as she had put all of her trust into the healer all those years ago, her rage not mixing very well with her pregnancy hormones since she constantly put pressure on her mate to resolve this prominent conflict. At her biggest relief, Ronal's words finally got through Tonowari as he called for an emergency meeting of the village to discuss about Marrek and his family's future in the clan. After the eclipse had turned the sky purple, all of the villagers, including the Sully's, were circled up around a bonfire on the beach, forming a crowd around their leaders. High and orange flames that reminded them all of the crashed ship that once burned on that same beach. Kyalayi had chose to not go as she couldn't gather the force to face her people, her heart barely holding by a thread as Eywa had kept testing her for the past days. Even if she swore to herself that she wasn't going to eavesdrop, the girl did just that. Kya hid behind a tree, a few meters away from the bonfire, as her ears perked to every sound and every comments from the villagers. The Sully's worried gaze flickered between each other as they witnessed the inhabitants getting more and more agitated. As the chief spotted his old friend enter the circle, he used his strong and harsh voice to silent them all. Marrek slowly walked toward Tonowari, Evelyn's hand wrapped around two of his fingers as she squeezed all of her nervousness out. Some hissed at their arrival, hating the union between Na'vi and Sky People. At the image before his eyes, Jake couldn't help but stared at Neytiri, grabbing her hand tight in his as he recalled their early days when everyone wanted to see them apart. Holding onto her like she could vanished at any moment. Now that the crowd had finally quieted down, both Tonowari and Ronal stepped closer to the cause of all this chaos.

"You've deceived your brothers and sisters, Marrek." Tonowari started but was soon cut off by her mate as Ronal couldn't control the anger from taking over her body.

"You've mated with our enemy and brought a demon child into our village." Ronal spat, growling in disgust at Evelyn who slightly jerked back but quickly came to her senses. "How can we ever trust you again? How can we trust this demon who stand by your side."

Demon was all Lo'ak could repetitively hear in his mind as Ronal and other villages kept insulting on Kyalayi's family. Kyalayi and Lo'ak were the same despite the fact she was reef people and he was forest, both of their family had lived through similar events. Suddenly all of the words that were once used to describe the boy and his siblings came resurfacing like a big wave. Disgusting demon blood, Ao'nung had said. Freaks. Alien. Lo'ak hated all of the prejudices that labeled him as an outcast because closed minded people couldn't see pass their fingers and he couldn't let the same thing happened to Kyalayi. I want you to treat Kya as one of us, Jake had said to his children and Lo'ak intended to keep those words true. Neteyam noticed the quick shift in his brother's body language, he became more agitated as his tail kept swinging back and forth. The eldest whispered a faint "no" to what he figured Lo'ak was about to do, causing the youngest to silently growled in response. It only took another degrading comment from Ronal to make the forest boy speak his mind, stepping into the center of the circle before Jake could react.

"Stop!" He shouted so loud that Kya had heard him as if he was standing right beside her. The girl watched closely as she wished for Lo'ak to not do anything stupid. "Has anyone of you actually talked to Kyalayi before insulting her? Calling her names like she's-"

"Lo'ak." Jake firmly growled. "I'll deal with this one." Jake said to Tonowari, grabbing the arm of his youngest son and yanking him from where he stood and back into the crowd.

"No, this isn't fair." Lo'ak whispered, protesting against his father who tried to shut him up. Marrek watched the young boy defend his daughter, wishing he had the courage to do the same but his hands were tied. Marrek would accept the fate that his old friend and people would choose for him. There was no point in fighting the truth. His daughter was a hybrid, his mate was a human and he loved them both and he would go anywhere to make them feel like they belong. "You said she was one of us. Sully's stick together. I am not letting her-"

"That's enough." Jake firmly ordered, causing Lo'ak to quickly shut up as his father's grip tightened around his arm. Neytiri placed her hand on top of her mate's, forcing him to realize he was hurting their son and immediately letting go. Lo'ak massaged his bicep, trying to shake away the fanthom grip his father still had on him. "What my son means," Jake took a step into the circle, surprising every of his children, even Kyalayi, by doing the unpredictable. Neytiri proudly but subtly grinned at her mate as he had chosen to stand up for the young Metkayina girl as her own father had given up. "is that Kyalayi is no threat and never was."

"Her mother is." Ronal hissed at the masked woman as she walked toward the couple, surrounding them while carefully, even ominously, glaring at the human before her. Jake agreed with Ronal. He thought how odd it was for the woman to appear out of the blue claiming that now, after fifteen years, she wanted to meet her daughter. What had changed? Jake couldn't fully trust Evelyn but after everything Marrek and Kya had done for his family, defending them was the most natural thing to do, to show them how grateful he was. "Tonowari, we can't take any chances. Villages are burning, people are getting killed by those demons. Our people. We are already protecting Jake Sully and his family but at what cost?"

"If Evelyn is banished then I go." For the first time since the beginning of the meeting, Marrek had decided to spoke up, presenting a choice to his chief; taking a risk by letting them stay or banishing the both of them and loosing his clan's healer, and long time friend.

"Dad..." The crowd slowly had dispersed itself as Kyalayi had made her way through it. She had had enough of listening to others choosing the fate of her family and for once, she had wanted for her thoughts to be heard. But when her father had said those words, she had regretted of coming out from hiding and wished she could be by the trees, away of all those eyes who stared at the girl. Some with pity in it but the majority of them with reflected disgust. Marrek glanced at his daughter, barely able to maintain her gaze as hatred started taking over his body. Hatred for himself and everything he had previously done. Kyalayi was better off with the Sully's and he knew that they would care for her as she was one of theirs. That was the reason why he had not even hesitated to say those words. Now that he had assured that Kyalayi was safe, he would follow Evelyn everywhere.

"We can use her." Jake protested as he red the reluctance on the Metkayina's people. "For information. There must be something in that ship we can use to track the Sky People. We could warn the villages before they are reduced to ashes."

Tonowari contemplated Jake's idea as he sensed his mate slightly tugging on his arm for him to met her eyes. He looked at Ronal, the flames reflected in her gaze causing her eyes to mix her usual blue with a warm orange that made her even more threatening. But the chief respected Jake and since he had dealt with the Sky People quite a few times already, Tonowari had decided to trust what once was Toruk Makto, ignoring his mate's wishes.

"We will do as Jake Sully says."