Little Miss Perfect | Neteyam¹

Chapter 02: You're Grounded

Italicize - story from the past

Bold - thoughts (normally sign language)

Marali paced around her and her father's tent, waiting for his arrival. She knew she was in for it, as she had disobeyed him. Marali rarely ever disobeyed driect orders, in fact, she couldn't remember the last time it had happened. She was a goody two shoes, like Neteyam. Always following orders, never talking back, and taking the blame for someone else's actions. In her entire 16 years of existence, she had only been grounded four times.

Four. That was it.

Not only had she disobeyed direct orders to stay off of the ground, but she had also failed at keeping Neteyam and Lo'ak safe. Of course, no one had died, but that didn't matter to her father. Norm scolded her when they got minor injuries, even if there was nothing she could have done to prevent them.

The young Na'vi girl made her way over to her cot and plopped down. She was going to be grounded, for life.

Her thoughts drifted to how Jake had previously scolded her and his children. Marali loved Jake, he was like a second father to her, but it hurt her heart to see how he treated his youngest son. Norm had told her that Lo'ak was a lot like Jake when he was younger, and that's why he was so hard on him.

Marali landed Tíli between Lo'ak and Neytiri's ikrans, seeing Tuk run up to her mother. Neytiri was calmly calling her youngest daughter's name, comforting her after she had came back from a long day. Marali envied the relationship the Sully children had with their mother, but Ja'lia knew she shouldn't envy that relationship because she should be grateful for what she had.

So selfish. Marali thought to herself.

"All right, fall in!" Jake ordered. Marali braced herself for what was about to come. She knew she was about to have her ass handed to her for the first time today. The second time would come when her father would come to find her.

She quickly made her way over to where Neteyam and Lo'ak were standing, taking her stance beside Lo'ak, knowing he would face the worst of the scolding. Jake was pissed, more so, than Marali had ever seen, and that was saying something. Lo'ak isn't exactly new to getting yelled at.

"You're supposed to be spotters! You spot bogies, and you call them in. From a distance! Does any of this sound familiar?" Jake said, glancing at Lo'ak as if he already knew who the mastermind of the whole ordeal was. "Jesus, I let you three geniuses go on a mission, and you disobey direct orders!" Jake spit, pushing aside the fact that he was yelling at children, who were bound to make mistakes.

Marali put her head down in shame, the feel of her ears pressing against her head in embarrassment. She looked over to see Tuk examining Lo'ak for any injuries and saw Kiri doing the same for Neteyam.

"Kiri, go help your grandmother with the wounded. Please. Take Tuk with you." Jake pleads, not wanting to yell at his sons and her in front of his daughters.

"My brother is wounded." Kiri fired back, before receiving a look that ultimately had both her and Tuk sighing before they went to help the Tsahik. Before leaving Marali's sight, Kiri gave her an apologetic look before disappearing into the Tsahik's tent.

"Sir, I take full responsibility," Neteyam informed, causing Marali to suppress a groan from coming out. Of course, he would take responsibility. He always did, probably always would, until the day he took his last breath.

"Yeah! You do. Because you're the older brother, you gotta act like it!" Jake scolded, while Neteyam just stood there and took it. The young girl couldn't criticize the poor boy. She was no different. The both of them were more alike than they cared to admit.