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Italics: (Na'vi language, Metkayina sign language, and Jake's inner thoughts)

A/N: Don't forget to vote and comment! I love all of your replies so much! Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter! 🤍

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Soon enough, Ao'nung and his friends were leading Lo'ak toward a special location. The seas were choppy, rough, and with rippling waves given that they had left the safety of the reefs and were now in deeper waters. It was an exhilarating experience for Lo'ak, and he had never felt so much adrenaline running through his veins. The feeling of soaring through the water and leaping over waves on his ilu was something he never wanted to forget.

Lo'ak yelled as he leaped in the air on his ilu, twisting in the air before diving back into the water on his ilu. Ao'nung and his friends did so as well. The Metkayina boys were keeping the same pace as Lo'ak in the water since this was territory far more out at sea. Every time one of them leaped out of the water, those few seconds in the air filled them with excitement. Ao'nung, his friends, and Lo'ak all yipped and hooted at the sensation of being so free.

"Come on!" Ao'nung yelled through the crashes of waves he passed, and Lo'ak turned to him with a nod before diving back into the water. "Yeah!" Lo'ak said with laughter escaping him, not having felt like before in his life. Soon enough, after racing, Lo'ak was side by side with Ao'nung riding through the waves and diving at the same time. Upon coming out of the water. Ao'nung turned to Lo'ak and spoke through the noise of the waves.

"Keep up, forest boy!" The Metkayina prince yelled out to Lo'ak, who understood and urged his ilu to go faster and get ahead. After that, a big wave suddenly emerged and this was the perfect opportunity for the group of boys to speed up and ride toward it. When they did, they all leaped through the air with hoots and yells, raising their weapons in the air.

Eventually, Ao'nung and his friends arrived at the place where they wanted to show Lo'ak and carry out their plan. It was a place called Three Brothers Rocks. Three different karst-like rock structures lay beside one another, along with a rocky shore bordering them. Together, they elicit a distinct profile. At their center is an underwater kelp bed that tracks their shoreline. It was truly an astounding place for Lo'ak to visit for the first time, but he'll be disappointed when he realizes that he wasn't brought her to sightsee.

What Lo'ak didn't know was that this very same spot was the hunting territory for a dangerous sea predator called, Akula. The goal of Ao'nung and his friends was to bring him here and then leave him stranded as a prank for revenge. Ao'nung brought the Sully brother to this place on purpose knowing that a predator like that lurked in the waters. When Ao'nung said it was a place to hunt, Lo'ak was clueless as to what the Metkayina prince was referring to. That it was a place to hunt, for the Akula, that is.

Arriving at shallower waters where reefs lay below them, the boys all came up to the surface on their ilu's and took a look around. Birds similar to seagulls were cawing and flying around the rock structures, which seemed to be their home. There were also looming clouds floating not too far from the very top of the rocks, so this place probably had a low altitude.

Lo'ak was the last one to emerge from the water, and his ilu chirped out of instinct. The Sully brother was breathing heavily, but only because of so much adrenaline and excitement. Ao'nung and his friends were all cheering for him, saying that he lived and made it through some pretty rough waters unscathed.

"That was insane, cuz'!" Lo'ak exclaimed, feeling some of his braids fall onto his face. Ao'nung kept on a fake friendly look on his face, maneuvering his ilu to turn around. "This way. Trust me, I know I good spot," Ao'nung said, knowing that he had Lo'ak's trust by now, and briefly turning to slyly smirk at his friends who smiled knowingly back at him.

After that, Ao'nung dove in first, which prompted the others, including Lo'ak, to start to follow the Metkayina prince and his friends. He was leading the group towards this section of the reef, which wasn't as safe as the one back at the village, so it was unknown territory.

After leaving their ilu's somewhere they could go back to after, Ao'nung started to lead Lo'ak through the reef. To 'hunt', he said. The friends of the prince were close behind, and let Ao'nung do what he was planning. Before long, the prince led Lo'ak to be behind big columns of coral. Ao'nung then turned to Lo'ak and began to sign what he wanted to say.

"Call the fish," Ao'nung signed to Lo'ak but snickered internally knowing that there was no such thing. Lo'ak nodded and swam a bit further, with his bow and arrow, still keeping himself hidden behind some coral. When he got closer and saw a group of big fish swimming together, Lo'ak aimed his arrow and began to make muffled and throaty sounds without opening his mouth. While Lo'ak did this, Ao'nung turned to his friends with a proud and accomplished look on his face.

"What a moron!" One of his friends signed, prompting the other one behind him to smile teasingly. With that, while Lo'ak had his back turned and continued to 'call the fish', Ao'nung motioned with his hand which was a sign that it was time to leave the Sully brother there. Trying not to make Lo'ak notice, the three boys started to swim away and get back to their ilu's.

Lo'ak had yet to notice that the boys had left, and still had his arrow pointed at one of the fish swimming by. When one of them was close enough, the boy released the arrow and shot straight at the fish. The creature began to writhe around until it died, and with a proud smile, Lo'ak turned around. When he saw nobody there, his smile dropped, as well as his heart at the realization. They had left him.

Before making any assumptions, he wanted to make sure for himself. He swam quickly back to his ilu and mounted it, heading straight to the place they arrived to this place in. Lo'ak was still holding onto the arrow-less bow in his hand, while the other held the grip on the ilu's saddle. He looked around desperately, scared that Ao'nung had purposely left him there. "Hey, guys! Ao'nung!" Lo'ak yelled out, hoping for any sort of response, but he only got his echo in response because his voice was ringing throughout the three big rocks behind him.

"Come on, this isn't funny!" Lo'ak yelled out, steering his ilu to stay in place. He was losing hope with every passing second, and he truly did not know how to get back home. He had just followed Ao'nung and his friends' lead when coming to this place.

Unfortunately, Lo'ak had no idea of what was lurking beneath him. As expected, an Akula noticed the boy's presence and was circling him, having him as a target for prey. Upon having a clear-cut way to try and eat Lo'ak, the Akula changed its pace and began to swim directly upwards to where the boy was.

All of a sudden, Lo'ak and his ilu were taken by surprise when the Akula leaped from the water from beneath them and sent the ilu and Sully brother flying through the air. Lo'ak was forced to dismount his ilu, given that he was thrown somewhere else. The Akula's three-part mouth opened and attempted to bite anything that could serve as prey. Before the ilu fell into the water completely, the Akula failed to take a bite out of the ilu, but then tried again.

Lo'ak yelled as he fell and crashed in the water, then tried to regain his composure beneath the surface. Frightened, the ilu attempted to escape but was not fast enough to out-swim the giant predator, so a bite was taken out of one of its fins. With pained screeches, the sea creature attempted to continue swimming as fast as possible while retaining a bloody fin.

When the ilu was far enough to swim away, and the Akula lost interest, the dangerous predator turned around again and set its focus on Lo'ak, who only had a bow and arrow in his hands and nothing more. He was completely unprotected. With panic, Lo'ak's eyes widened and he began to swim away toward coral formations that would give him some kind of protection. He tried to swim as fast as he could but the Akula was fast approaching.

Luckily, Lo'ak was able to nudge himself inside one of the coral fragments just before the Akula tried to take a bite of out him. Lo'ak pressed his back against the far end, watching as the predator tried to repeatedly bite and try to fit its head inside the coral, but its three-part jaw made it impossible. Lo'ak had time to think.

As the Akula repeatedly tried to ram its head inside the coral, rapidly destroying some part of it, Lo'ak put his last arrow on his bow to use and aimed it at the creature when its mouth was open. When the arrow shot directly into the predator's inside, drawing blood, it only seemed to anger the creature because it ate and destroyed Lo'ak's only weapon in its jaws.

After that, the Akula was pretty smart to realize that opening its mouth won't do anything, so it closed its mouth and stuck its jaw all the way in the hole Lo'ak was hiding in. The boy's eyes widened at how close its sharp teeth were to him, so he started to look around for another way to get out in desperation. All those lessons with Tsireya were paying off when it came to holding his breath underwater, but he started to realize that it wouldn't be long until he ran out of air and he had to leave the safety of the coral column.

The dangerous predator pulled its jaw out and bit through one of the coral fragments, giving it more space to go after Lo'ak. The said boy was able to find another opening and didn't hesitate to swim through it, avoiding the jaws of the creature with just a strike of luck. Lo'ak left that fragment of coral he was hiding in and openly started to swim through the reef until he caught sight of another one, just as the Akula was trying to bite through another one of the corals ferociously.

Eventually, realizing that the corals wouldn't budge, the Akula swam over them instead and continued to swim after Lo'ak. Just as the creature was about to try and take another bite of the boy, Lo'ak miraculously made it inside the coral columns and fragments he was intending to get to. The predator did not give up, and in frustration, continued to ram its head into the coral to get to the boy.

Lo'ak was making his entire way around the coral, to a much more secure area, giving him enough time to get out of the animal's radar. When Lo'ak reached the bottom part of the columns, he leaned against it and stopped hearing coral breaking, seeing that the animal was no longer after him. But even if it's the case that the Akula lost interest, it was too good to be true. He had to be sure it was gone.

There was only silence for a few more seconds, but that was until the Akula reappeared just above Lo'ak, shoving its head inside the coral and thrashing its body to create more collateral damage. As it continued to try and bite the boy, Lo'ak was in distress. He continued to swim through any nook and cranny he could find. No matter what he did, the giant predator was always there. It was like he couldn't escape it.

Lo'ak continued to swim further back, up until he reached a dead end and was forced to lay his back against the coral behind him. He watched as the Akula tried to jam its head through the hole he just came through, but it seemed to have gotten frustrated so the predator abruptly swam away. Lo'ak was confused by its sudden dismissal, but even so, he continued to look for ways to get out. He would run out of air soon, and he couldn't get to the surface with the ferocious creature preying and lurking.

He looked through every single crack that allowed him to see through the fragments he was hiding in, not being able to spot the Akula anywhere. He didn't want to believe it was gone. He thought that before and he was stupid to think the animal would just give up.

Turns out, the predator was much smarter than Lo'ak gave it credit for. The creature did stop trying, but not entirely, only for the meantime. The Akula was intelligent enough to choose to wait until Lo'ak ran out of oxygen and then when he tried to resurface, it would eat him. It was simple.

While Lo'ak continued to look around, he started to feel his lungs constricting. He was running out of air, and he knew he would drown soon if he didn't leave. He puffed out bubbles of air that left his mouth at the feeling of his lungs tightening. Lo'ak let out muffled grunts, letting out more bubbles into the water, and desperately looking to see if there was any way he could get out without risking being seen by the creature preying on him.

Lo'ak stopped for a moment and tried to calm down his nerves, doing the exercises Tsireya taught him. At least so that he could breathe for longer until he found a way out. He tried to calm down his heart rate and his anxiety, but it was too much. Lo'ak shook his head with a pained expression, trying to make his way out of the fragment in desperate need of air. He had no choice but to escape, or he would drown.

The moment he was out in the open water of the reef again, the Akula appeared from a corner and began swimming towards Lo'ak again. That was the predator's plan after all. The creature was rushing in for the kill, opening its three-part jaw. Knowing he had no other choice, Lo'ak pulled out his dagger and held it up with the most daring and courageous expression he could muster. He figured he could at least go out fighting.

Unexpectedly, at the last second before the Akula could reach Lo'ak, a much larger creature that resembled some sort of whale came in and rammed into the predator. The larger creature crushed and pushed the Akula onto a wall of coral, taking out the beast. At moment the predator hit the coral, blood was drawn and it started to howl in pain.

Lo'ak took this as his chance to try and get to the surface, but as he tried to swim up, the thrashing of the much larger whale-like animal was causing its tail to move from side to side, making it impossible for Lo'ak to get to the top and get air. It took a while but at the same time as the Akula was killed and its lifeless body descended to the bottom of the reef, Lo'ak began to blink in and out of consciousness.

Before he could even try to get up to the surface because the path was cleared, Lo'ak choked out a muffled groan, and a bubble of air released from him. He began slowly closing his eyes and let his knife go, given that he no longer had the strength to hold it anymore. Soon enough, he was completely unconscious and began to slowly sink toward the ocean floor. After that, everything went black.

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The last thing Lo'ak expected was to wake up again. When he did, he was laying on a hard surface, and he could feel air coursing through his lungs again. When he opened his eyes, he felt water rushing in behind him like a shore, and he was so woozy, that he just assumed that's where he was. Lo'ak's arms were completely scratched up, and he had some bruises forming on his back and his forehead.

He slowly began to pick himself up and lean against the surface he woke up on. The boy crawled a bit more forward, grabbing onto any dent that could give him impulse. Lo'ak started to look around and realized that he was indeed back on the surface, and still at Three Brothers Rocks. Confusion ran through him, not being able to piece together how he got there or how he was even alive for that matter.

Before he could form another thought, a hole opened up in the surface he was in, then water and air erupted from it. If he wasn't mistaken, those were blowholes, like nostrils that whales and dolphins have back on Earth. Norm and Max had taught him, Kiri, Neteyam, and Tuk all about life on Earth. Even Jake too. That meant that he was on some sort of creature, and on the top of its head where they breathe.

"Holy shit..." Lo'ak muttered, seeing not one, but multiple blowholes starting to open at the same time. As more waves crashed beside him, he began to look around and saw brightly colored head crests that protrude from the front of its snout, which looked like tusks. The creature also seemed to have plated armor all over its body, which is why Lo'ak assumed he washed up on shore when he woke up.

He was unaware, but Lo'ak was probably on the back of one of the most sentient and biggest creatures that exist on Pandora. From what he could see, the whale-like creature had various fins on both sides. As the creature blew more air through its blowholes, Lo'ak slid off its back and lowered himself onto the water.

The boy swam a bit, and in the corner of his eyes, he saw a spear wedged into the animal's fin. Moving a bit closer, Lo'ak swam up to the creature's eyes, which were following the boy's every move. He made eye contact with the animal's bright and yellow eyes, prompting the whale-like creature to create rippling and vocal echolocation sounds, reverberating through the water. The animal opened and closed its eyes with a slight fondness to them, gazing at the boy who positioned himself to sit on its fin.

Lifting its head from the surface slightly, so that's eyes could face Lo'ak above the water, Lo'ak quickly realized what this species was. "You're a Tulkun," He said, and the said creature closed its eyes slowly and opened them again as if it was nodding. Lo'ak was in shock and couldn't form any words to say except ones that expressed pure gratitude. "You saved my life. Thank you," He said, realizing that he probably had to sign for the Tulkun to understand him "Thank you," He said again, but this time, signing as well.

The Tulkun's eyes softened at the boy's words and began to create loud echoing sounds that sounded like the creature was trying to tell Lo'ak something too. "Buddy, I have no idea what you just said," Lo'ak laughed with a smile. Eye contact was important for the Tulkun to communicate as well, so how he was looking at Lo'ak, it was clear that the creature already had a soft spot for the boy sitting on his fin.

Having said that, the Tulkun moved its gaze onto the spear impaled on its frontal fin that Lo'ak was sitting. The said boy quickly caught on and turned back to face the eyes of the sentient creature. "They hurt you, didn't they?" Lo'ak asked, referring to the Sky People. Only they could have these types of weapons.

The Tulkun hummed deeply, as an affirmation. Without hesitating, Lo'ak maneuvered himself on the fin and looked at the eyes of the Tulkun again, filled with determination. "I'm gonna pull it out. Don't worry. Trust me" Lo'ak assured, trying to pull on the hook as hard as he could, but it didn't budge. He quickly realized that there was some sort of lock on the bottom, so he submerged himself to be below the fin as the Tulkun watched him intently.

Grabbing onto the top part of the lock, Lo'ak began to twist the mechanism the opposite way, to release the hook. The more he twisted it, the more rust began to fall out, which meant that this Tulkun has probably had this on for a long time with no one to help.

As Lo'ak successfully removed the bottom part of the hook, he was able to release it from the Tulkun's fins altogether. The creature's eyes followed the rusty spear fall onto the bottom of the ocean floor, happy that it was gone at last.

Lo'ak came back up to the surface and re-positioned himself on the Tulkun's fin, earning a hum of gratitude from the creature for finally getting that spear off. It was painful to have, but it was more excruciating to relive the memories that came with it. Now, this Tulkun no longer had to suffer through that.

"Friends?" Lo'ak asked, signing while connecting his hands. He had a hopeful smile on his face. The Tulkun's eyes softened at his question, wanting nothing more. At the sound of confirmation from the creature, Lo'ak laughed wholeheartedly. "Yes, that's right! We're friends!" He said, a bright smile beaming at the Tulkun.

It seems that the Tulkun itself was too excited because it lifted the fin that Lo'ak was sitting on, making fall off onto the water, and then dropped the fin back down with a splash. "Woah! Bro!" Lo'ak exclaimed before he was completely submerged underwater.

Once below the surface, Lo'ak raised his arms as a sign asking why the Tulkun did that, but all in good fun. Lo'ak could tell that the giant animal was feeling a bit playful because it started swimming around in circles merrily until it came back to face Lo'ak. The Tulkun made whistle and clicking sounds, expressing its happiness, making the Sully brother smile fondly at his newfound friendship.

After that, the Tulkun gave Lo'ak an invitation to swim around the reef while he hung onto his fin. And that's what they did. Lo'ak held onto the Tulkun's fin as they cruised along the reef, with the sun reflecting onto the crystal clear water. It was so blissful that Lo'ak couldn't even remember what Ao'nung and his friends did. It had completely left his mind.

As they swam, Lo'ak turned to look at the eyes of the Tulkun and smiled, which the creature reciprocated with a high-pitched whistle, closing and opening its eyes fondly. They did all sorts of different tricks together like twirling in the water, swimming backward, doing flips, and swimming just across from each other.

Eventually, coming up the Tulkun's other side, Lo'ak noticed that this particular one had a shorter fin. It looked bitten, or more like broken off somehow. Lo'ak's eyes furrowed sadly, already feeling condolences for whatever may have transpired for that to have happened. "I'm sorry," Lo'ak signed, still underwater.

Knowing that it was probably too painful to even recall what happened, Lo'ak left it at that and he was sure that maybe someday this Tulkun would be willing to share what happened, but all in due time. He wouldn't do that to him, and he certainly didn't want to re-open old wounds that have taken time to heal.

Moving over to the Tulkun's other side, and still not knowing its name, Lo'ak held onto the creature's extended fin and they continued to swim together, creating a lifelong bond.

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Nighttime fell back on Awa'atlu and Kiri's mood seemed to continue to dampen even after you and her had that talk. There was a much bigger issue at hand, and you thought that maybe it was time for Jake to step in and see if he could try and help differently, so you suggested that he could talk to her this time. He had noticed earlier that day when she began to feel a little more somber than before. He wanted to help his daughter feel better.

You could see Kiri sitting on the platform outside the hut with her feet submerged in the water, watching the bioluminescent fish and coral swim around peacefully through the night. She was moving her feet slowly back and forth, entranced. The glowing fish were gathering at her feet and circling them.

While you stayed back at the hut, Jake was making his way over to sit next to Kiri on the platform. The girl noticed his presence and saw him place his feet on the water, just like she was. He sighed deeply as he watched her turn her gaze away, refusing to look at him.

"So, what is it, baby girl?" He asked softly, watching Kiri place her head in her hands. He could see how conflicted she was, and he hoped that he could find out what it is that is clouding her thoughts so much. "You're missing Spider?" Jake asked, and Kiri nodded.

"Yeah, I am. But that's not it," Kiri muttered, and Jake sighed, knowing that at least they were getting somewhere. He was aware of the close bond Kiri had with Spider and that his being taken by Quaritch must be keeping her up at night. He couldn't blame her, because he'd be the same way if he ever lost you that way.

"Okay," Jake said, placing a gentle hand on his daughter's shoulder. "So, what is it?" He continued, keeping a soft tone. The last thing Kiri needed at that moment was the fact that someone was digging for answers, and Jake wanted to get to them, but slowly and at a pace that she was comfortable with, with no pressure.

Kiri inhaled deeply, then exhaled and looked forward. "I feel her, Dad," Kiri said vaguely, making Jake start to wonder who she was referring to. "Feel who?" He asked, interested in what it is that she feels so connected to.

"Eywa," Kiri said, and Jake's eyes widened and ears tipped back in surprise. Kiri laughed softly and proceeded. "I hear her breathing. I hear her heartbeat. She's so close. She's just...there. Like a word about to be spoken," Kiri said, turning to look at her father who was listening intently and with genuine interest.

"I know you think I'm crazy," She muttered with her ears tipping back with slight embarrassment. She started to feel like maybe she shouldn't have said anything. Jake sighed, placing a comforting hand on her back. "You're not crazy baby girl," He said softly, not wanting her to feel ashamed about how she felt.

"So, what does Eywa's heartbeat sound like?" Jake asked, knowing that her daughter has a special connection to the deity. He doesn't think it's impossible that she might have a stronger connection than he originally thought. Kiri straightened up and looked in the distance, beginning to think for a few seconds, trying to find the best word to describe what she felt. Eventually, she found one.

"Mighty," She said, and Jake formed an unreadable expression on his face. His eyes softened at what she said, though. He believed her, he did. If that was how she described it, then there was no doubt in his mind.

Around the corner, Neteyam was walking towards Jake and Kiri, holding Ao'nung by his braid angrily and dragging him over. The Metkayina prince had a defeated look ok his face, mingled with fear of what the consequences of his actions would be.

Jake turned around in his seat and then stood up at the appearance of his oldest son holding onto the prince by his braid. Neteyam glared at Ao'nung before letting go of his braid. "Tell him what you told me!" Neteyam demanded, knowing what Ao'nung had done to Lo'ak by leaving him out and stranded by himself.

Ao'nung gulped in fear at both Neteyam and Jake glaring at him in anticipation. The prince slapped the oldest Sully's hand away and then stepped forward to reveal and explain what he had done to Lo'ak earlier that day.

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I wanted to make this chapter longer but Im so tired I can barely keep my eyes open lmao anyway, this was about 4.6k words long, but I think ill make the next one a lot longer 🤍

This chapter was focused a lot on Lo'ak and the action scene between the Akula and him, so I know it might've been uneventful but I tried SHSH Im working on improving my action scenes lol

As Ive said in othee author's notes, I'm so, so happy because this week I'll be able to do more updates since I have a long weekend AND I'll be done with most of my work by mid-week

Also, I wanted to finish this before Valentine's day was over but I finished writing it at midnight shsj still, hope you guys had a good v-day! 🤍

There's not much I have to say now, but I'll add other news in future chapters if there are any! My life has been pretty uneventful lmao Anyway, I'll see you all in the next one! 🤍 Have a good rest of your week and good weekend everyone!

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