chapter eighteen
Jake and Neytiri warned the kids before the memory of hometree's destruction started. The kids heard stories but the stories never do the actual scene Justice, never.
"Will we be affected when it starts?" Kiri asked, looking out for when the Sky People arrive.
Jake could feel a pit in his stomach knowing the answer was, "yes." He sighed softly, "can we be hurt? Like our actual bodies?" Lo'ak asked, holding his bow tightly. "Our actual bodies, no. But us in here, yes. But the pain won't last long." Jake explained, the exact words Mo'at said to him.
"MaJake, there!" Neytiri yipped, pointing from her right side.
Jake instantly gathered everyone into a circle, all together for when the bombs hit. "Ready?" He asked, looking to Neytiri as he waited for the kids answers. "Yes, sir!" They all said in unison.
"Have no fear, have no fear!" Neytiri turned her head, spotting Tsu'tey telling the people to be brave. Days before his own death. She frowned, tears threatening for a moment but she had her kids with her, no time to dull over the past, not now at least.
"It's starting."
It's been four hours since they all went in to find Neteyam. Mo'at and Ronal couldn't tell if the Sully's were making progress but they just prayed to Eywa they were. With the Sky People and an unknown Navi species on their way with over 2,000 people they were gonna be a slaughtered village soon. Along with who knows how many more.
"Nothing?" Ao'nung said, walking into the Mauri and crouching next to Neteyam, caressing his cheek carefully. "Nothing." Tsireya sighed, continuing to make her favorite fish soup.
Ao'nung stood up, hissing in what sounded like anger but deep down was fear.
"What is wrong?" Tsireya asked.
Ao'nung chuckled but it was real, filled with fear and panic. "Well let's see, dear sister. Neteyam's been in another coma for about three days and the Sully's are now in a ritual that have huge risk, oh and there's a war coming! A war we have zero chances at winning. That is what's wrong!" By the end of Ao'nungs rant he was out of breathe and tears were threatening his eyes.
Tsireya frowned at her big brother, he's always held such things on his shoulder, never letting her in fully but she didn't care how much he pushed her away from the hard things in life. She has seen things now, been through loss and violence. The world was on their shoulders now.
"Brother, look at me." Tsireya grabbed her brother face, forcing him to look her in the eye. "We're in this together, always." Tsireya hugged Ao'nung close and at first he hesitated but he was far too stressed to hold It in at the moment so he relaxed, then cried silently into his baby sisters arms. Letting his heart ache in the way it has for years now. But now it wasn't silent, it was loud and free of the suffering alone.
"It's okay, It's okay." Tsireya whispered, rubbing circles around Ao'nungs back.
"I-I can't anymore. I just wanna be done with all this, I just wanna be done!" Ao'nung cried.
"Yes, you can, yes, you can." It hurt Tsireya to hear such words from her brothers mouth but she knew it was how he felt, he couldn't hold it in any longer.
"I'm so tired."
In shear panic Neteyam had to know how many were coming, the type of weapons and if he knew what Navi species they were than maybe he could figure out some sort of weakness in their way of battle. He breathed in and out before diving into the water, swimming smoothly to the nearest ship.
Neteyam breathed heavily when he reached the boat but gained composure quickly and pulled himself onto the ship. "Okay, okay." He whispered to himself. The ship had the dark blue Navi everywhere so he first checked what kind of weapons they had and the weapons gave it away quickly what type of Navi they were.
"Ash." Neteyam whispered.
But it didn't make sense to him. Ash Navi look different but these Navi also have the same exact weapons? Ash navi have small cracks across their body with lava in the cracks, these navi should have it if their ash. So why don't they? There weapons were on fire to the tip, cracks in them with lava, rope swirled around it. Their knives always hot with red leafs decorating the handle part.
Neteyam's thought process was stopped when everything started to disappear again.
"No, no, no!" He needed to still see what kind of weapons the Sky people had. It's been a few years, they've most likely upgraded.
Tsireya and Ao'nung took a walk to cool off and talk, they mostly just talked about how they've been trying to deal with everything but they were cut off by the horn blowing the 'stxong' signal.
Tsireya and Ao'nung ran quickly towards the crowd of people, hearts racing. "What is going on here?!" Ao'nung hissed, alarming his people he was here. They all scrambled away, creating a path for Tsireya and himself.
"It's Neytiri's Ikran..." Tsireya whispered.
"Was it shot down here?" Ao'nung asked, squatting down to the Ikran, tracing along it's wound. It was hit by something but it didn't look like a gunshot, seemed familiar to a arrow wound but it looked like the arrow went straight into the Ikran. Ao'nung looked further into the wound and it seemed to have burns, like the arrow was on fire.
"Ash Navi." Ronal spoke suddenly from behind the crowd.
Everyone turned and then made a path for her. "Ash Navi? Why would they come here?" Roxto asked. "Because there with the Sky People." Ronal answered, looking into the foggy distance beyond the sea.
"That means some of them are already here or all of them are here."
