CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. ✧˖*°࿐
❝ FOR YOU, I'LL KILL. ❞

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"Do not touch me."

Emea glared at the soldier beside her, giving him a side glance at the fact he was tightening his hold on her hands. She shook him off as soon as she was cuffed, staring straight ahead, eyes looking everywhere for the familiar face of the guy she desired to be with.

She ignored the way every soldier looked at Jake as he came forward, her mouth opened a bit to look for Neteyam.

But, as soon as she was to open her mouth to ask Lo'ak, an animal jumped up from the water, its shadow overtaking their vision.

Payakan came to Lo'ak's defense, making everyone divert their gaze towards him which allowed Emea and Lo'ak a bit of time to quickly try to free themselves and the others.

"I need a knife!" Emea yelled over the sound of gunshots, looking around her surroundings for anything sharp. She ignored the "open fire" from the soldiers surrounding her, head moving side to side anxiously and desperately.

"Sully's inbound," she heard the soldier yell behind her, causing her to huff and to stay put. Though, it didn't stop her from continuing to looking for something sharp. "I want eyes on him!"

As they left, Emea continued looking, her fingers feeling clammy at coming to hear her sister's breathing. Poor Tuk was shaking from fear and Emea could only scold Lo'ak to look for something, too.

"There's nothing!" Lo'ak yelled over the sound of gunshots.

Emea ignored his words, craning her neck to see if he was right. Thankfully, he wasn't. She found something, but it was out of reach. She tried moving her body, hoping that there would be sudden movement in the ship that would allow the knife to head her way.

"Shit!"

Much to her prayer, the ship wrecked and all four found themselves off the ground, their bodies going mid-air that gave the knife a perfect opportunity to slip off the ship.

"Are you guys okay?" Emea asked. They all simultaneously nodded as she cursed under her breath, clearly irritated at the misfortune.

Lo'ak felt her anxiety so he wished to help her by trying to get out of his restraints, hoping that he could do something right. The least he could do was save them all.

As he and Emea struggled to get out in order to save their sisters, Neteyam came along, much to their relief—Emea's relief to be exact.

"Neteyam!" Tuk yelled.

"Hey baby brother, need some help?" Neteyam teased his younger brother, cutting Tsireya and Tuk's cuffs first before moving on to the next. He looked at Tsireya. "Get Tuk out of here."

"But, Emea," Tsireya eyed her sister who looked at her.

"I'll be okay," Emea smiled at her, giving her reassurance. "Go. Get to safety."

"Who is the mighty warrior?" Neteyam smiled at Lo'ak almost proudly. "Come on, say it." As much as he wanted to hear the answer, Neteyam moved onto Emea who was waiting impatiently but was hiding it. "You okay? Did they hurt you? I'll kill them if they did."

Emea smiled a bit. "I'm okay. Let's go."

They both went to swim away but, Lo'ak went the other way to grab a gun from a dead soldier. Emea and Neteyam glanced at each other before eyeing the youngest.

"Where are you going?" Emea asked him, eyebrows furrowed together.

"They have Spider," Lo'ak explained before eyeing his brother. Neteyam looked at Emea. "Come on, bro. We can't leave him."

Neteyam groaned out of annoyance, passing Emea the knife he obtained. He sighed before curtly nodding at her. "Be careful, okay? Get to safety, I mean it."

Emea nodded before she placed a hand on his cheek, ignoring the way Lo'ak stared at them two. "Die and I'll kill you."

Neteyam smiled before chasing after Lo'ak, feeling his heart beating against his chest.

Emea turned to leave. But she knew that even a small knife wouldn't do her justice. She looked for more weapons and immediately hid at hearing sounds getting closer to where she was.

Peaking out of her hiding spot, she thanked Eywa for letting her stay a bit longer since Kiri came to be cuffed against a railing. Emea looked after where Neteyam and Lo'ak left before sighing, shaking her head and staring at the floor, squinting.

"What he doesn't know won't kill him," she mumbled. She walked towards Kiri before noticing her sister and Tuk were there already. "You two aren't supposed to be here. You got told to go to safety."

"But Kiri," Tuk looked at Emea, her eyes filled with such worry. "She needed us. I couldn't leave her alone."

Emea understood the younger girl's words, knowing if she disagreed she would be a hypocrite. She immediately went to help Kiri, grabbing the knife Neteyam had given her.

"We need to hurry," Kiri rushed out. "Quickly."

Emea nodded, but before she could cut it away, a soldier that had been holding her gunpoint came forward, catching them by surprise.

"Surprise," the man told them, grabbing Tuk while he had picked up Tsireya to drop her into an opening that led to water. He went to cuff Tuk but Emea didn't let him as she punched him in the face, making him stagger back.

"Sky People need to leave us alone," Emea hissed, squatting. She sliced his leg before moving upwards, slicing his cheek. It didn't take long for her to then slice his arm but, he took the knife away from her and threw it away.

His soldiers came to help him contain her, listening to his commands while making sure she didn't run away.

"We can still get this done."

Emea, though, finding a perfect chance to escape since she wasn't restrained, kicked the avatar holding her before biting them on the arm, being key go. She turned to look at the girls.

"I'll be back and I'll tell your father," Emea tells them two,hearing gunshots behind her as she jumped.

She swam away hurriedly, animals coming to her aid at feeling her panic. She swam towards where she remembered Neteyam and Lo'ak heading to and got herself upwards to the ship, ignoring the swift burn on her shoulder.

She walked deep into the ship, defenseless, and her heart sped up at realizing she didn't have any type of weapons on her.

She speed-walked further in, eyes hurriedly glancing at the machines surrounding her. She hurried when she came to see Neteyam and Lo'ak with bodies next to them and a boy standing aside, talking to them, not so far from her.

"Neteyam!" Emea whisper-yelled just in case some soldiers were looking for them. He looked towards her, eyes immediately widening at her state. "They have your sisters. We have to hurry."

"You're shot, Emea," Neteyam rushed out, hands quickly going to the wound on her shoulder. Emea looked down and he turned to look at the others. "We have to go. She's hot."

"Tell your dad your sisters are on the ship!" Emea yelled at Lo'ak, but he was too worried for her well-being to have not heard her. "I'm okay. I'm okay. Do not worry about me, we have to get Kiri and Tuk."

"We will get them," Neteyam placed his hand on her cheek, the four of them getting away before any chaos erupted. "Are they hurt?" Emea shook her head. "Okay, then." He turned to look at Lo'ak. "Let dad know." He looked back at the girl. "You're losing a lot of blood."

"My father," Emea breathed out, "he taught me that if the bullet is inside, I'll have a better recovery than anything. Check if the bullet went through, please."

Neteyam looked behind her shoulder and sighed in relief at coming to see no bullet had gone through. "You're fine. You're okay. But, I'm taking you to your mother. This is far too risky for you, Emea. Don't die or else I'll kill you."

Emea smiled at his words before Neteyam's let out a sigh of relief when Tsireya came foward, her ilu beside her.

"Emea!" She rushed towards her eldest sister, eyeing the way her wound bled. "We-we have to go to Mother. She'll be able to heal you."

"I feel very loved," Emea confessed. "But, as much as I'm enjoying all this attention, I am not going to die. I'm fine."

"Take her to the village," Neteyam instructed Tsireya. "She can die if she looses a lot of blood." He turned to look at Emea as she looked back at him. He placed his forehead against hers, his eyes staring at her closed eyelids as she winced in pain. "I'll kill them for you. In a heartbeat."

Emea laughed a little. "Thank you, Neteyam. But let's not waste time. Head to your parents, let them know your sisters are on the other side of the ship. They're cuffed to the railing and they're surrounded."

Neteyam nodded before helping Tsireya place her on the ilu. Tsireya got behind her and she looked at Neteyam and Lo'ak.

"Don't do anything stupid," she mumbled before leaving.

Neteyam could only stare after them.

"'I'll kill them for you'," he turned his head to see Lo'ak and Spider teasing him. "'In a heartbeat'."

"Shut up. Let's go."

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Me? Gone? Never

A glimpse of how chapters are
written before I fully write them 🫡

But, so far, some users from the
first chapter are annoying me so
I've been hiding from my issues...
Anyway...

I hope you guys like this chapter. Sorry
for rushing but it's 2 am and I have class
at 9 am (I have to wake up at 6 to get
ready since I commute)

Thoughts? 🙂