*ੈ✩‧₊˚ gentle breeze •°. *࿐

breathe

Lo'ak lets out a growl after the military na'vi share an interaction. You can tell that anger was building up inside of him from what the na'vi with the weapon to his head was saying. You hear a huge splash of water and look up to see Payakan breaching the surface of the water and landing on top of the platform you were on.

"Payakan!" Tuk cheers out loudly as Payakan crushes a couple of the people behind you. The sudden movement lifts all of you up and you all let out noises of surprises. Tsireya, who only had one hand bound, holds on to Tuk to make sure she doesn't fall.

The sky people tried to shoot at Payakan, but none of their weapons were working. Lo'ak pushes one of the sky people toward Payakan, calling out to him as the person was crushed under his fin. You close your eyes, not wanting to see the sight of the person being crushed. Payakan continues to create chaos on the platform, you look forward so you don't have to witness it.

"Look!" you call out for the others to see. Though you couldn't point it out, the Metkayina have started to move forward with their weapons drawn and ready to fight with. Payakan dives back into the water after letting out a cry as the Metkayina get closer. So much was happening around you, you were not able to keep track of it all. You just know that after the sky people have opened fire, your people have dived in and out of the water to distract, confuse, and attack the sky people. You noticed specifically Neytiri attacking from the air with her bow.

"Come closer," you say to Tsireya and Tuk, hoping to make sure that they don't feel any aftershock of the attacks. Things got violent quick, fires happening all over the place, both na'vi and sky people being knocked out. The boat starts to tilt and all of you start to dangle from the railing while the rest of the sky people have fallen down to the other side of the dock.

Since you were all clear from the sky people, Lo'ak starts kicking at the railing to see if it would weaken and you guys could loop your arms out of it. The rail was pretty beat up from both you and Lo'ak kicking at it.

"(Y/n)! Lo'ak!" a voice calls out as you see from the side of the ship Neteyam climbing up to rescue you guys.

"Neteyam!" Tuk calls out happily and a smile of relief falls on your face as you see him approach you guys.

"Do you need help, little brother?" Neteyam teases to Lo'ak, quickly going over to cut the orange thing that had kept you from being able to move.

"Shut up and cut us free," Lo'ak says as he watches his brother cut Tsireya free. You held on to her arm that was bound, asking if she was okay, she replied that she was fine.

"Get Tuk out of here," Neteyam says to you and Tsireya, pushing Tuk toward the two of you. Tsireya nods her head and holds the Tuk's back to usher her away. You hesitate for a moment, letting the two pass you.

"Bro, hurry up!" Lo'ak says, bringing his arms closer to Neteyam.

"Are you sure you guys will be okay?" you ask as Neteyam starts cuts Lo'ak free.

"We'll be okay, just, please go," Neteyam says over his shoulder to you, sending you a smile to reassure you. You hesitantly nod your head and run toward Tsireya and Tuk, quickly looking back at Neteyam and Lo'ak sit there for a second before continuing your way to the girls.

The three of you dive into the water and when you get a good distance away from the ship, you all go for air and see Kiri being taken away on an ikran. She was thrashing around and yelling, and in the distance you can see her being thrown onto the ship.

"We've got to go back for her!" Tuk says while swimming back where you all had just come from.

"Tuk, wait!" Tsireya calls out.

"Tuk, we can't-" you start before Tuk interrupts you.

"Sully's stick together," she says, taking a deep breath and going under the water. You and Tsireya look at each other with concern. Not only for Tuk but for Kiri.

"We can't let her go alone," you say, and she nods in agreement. The both of you take deep breaths as well and go under the water, preparing yourselves for what you'll face next. Under the water, you kept your eyes on Tuk, making sure she stayed in your eye sight.

Eventually you reached the ship again and a bad feeling stuck itself into the core of your stomach, Tsireya had popped up above the water and Tuk was already up and walking on the ship. Realizing you were behind the two, you quickly swam up and got on top of the ship as well.

"Tuk, this is a bad idea," Tsireya comments, following behind the girl.

"I agree," you say quietly, trailing off your words as worry fills your mind. You were scared of being caught and scared of anything happening to the three of you. The three of you crawl under a bunch of ships before the three of you see Kiri cuffed to a railing, much like you all were earlier. Except she was alone, which made it easier for the three of you to run over to her to get her out.

"Kiri!" Tuk whispered loudly, running over and taking out her tiny knife to cut off the thing that was keeping Kiri bound.

"Hurry! Cut it here," Tsireya said after jumping over the railing to make the cuff easier to cut. You were on the lookout speaking around, making sure that no one was coming. The coast was clear for a bit before the forest looking na'vi from before walked toward you guys with a stern face, his figure alone filled you up with fear.

"Hurry, hurry, someone's coming," you say, turning to them. Before you could fully turn to them, you were lifted up into the air and tossed over the strange na'vi shoulder. You were thrashing around and yelling for him to let go of you, hoping to get loose from his grip but he was too strong against you. You hear yelling from both Tuk and Tsireya and a loud splash and the falling of Tsireya's voice.

"Don't do anything to them!" you yelled, hitting the back of the na'vi before you were also thrown overboard, water rushing into your ears and mouth. Panicking while looking around, you see Tsireya calling for an ilu and after bonding with the creature she holds out an arm for you to take. You take her arm as you effortlessly get on the ilu behind her, holding on to the saddle as the two of you swam away. You look back with worry on your face, hoping that nothing happens to Kiri and Tuk.

Not too long after that you see three figures at the surface of the water, you pat Tsireya's shoulder and point at them. She slightly turns her head to nod at you and swims up above the surface. You see Lo'ak and the human they were friends with, and Neteyam struggling in the water. Your eyes stayed on him and you were about to open your mouth before Tsireya interrupted you.

"Get on!" Tsireya said to Lo'ak, patting the space she had in front of her while looking frantic.

"C'mon bro" Lo'ak says to Spider, not looking back.

"Lo'ak, I think Neteyam needs help," you say, watching how he struggled to stay up for air.

"I'm shot," Neteyam says. As if the water decided that it was finally time to reveal what had happened to him, the water around him turned a dark red. Everyone took a moment to relish in their shock, everything seemed to go quiet as you got off the ilu to get closer to Neteyam and help.

"Shit!" Lo'ak yelled out. Being the closest to Neteyam he swam under Neteyam's arm and kept him out. Since you had got off a bit earlier when you, you were under Neteyam's other arm, bringing him on to the ilu. "Keep him up!"

"I got him," Spider said as he got on top of the ilu to make sure Neteyam stayed on the saddle. From the water, you could see the blood drip from the bullet hole and your eyes starting to tear up.

"Keep him up!" Lo'ak exclaims as you and Tsireya help Spider bring Neteyam up. Lo'ak got on top of the ilu in front of Neteyam, allowing for him to lean against his figure. Lo'ak brought one of Neteyam's arms over his shoulder to keep him stable and as a reminder that he was still there. You and Tsireya held on to opposite sides of the saddle as Lo'ak started to speed up.

"They have Kiri and Tuk," Tsireya says, worry still in her voice.

"I can't go back," Lo'ak says, looking straight ahead with determination. You had stayed quiet the whole time, your eyes staying on Neteyam and his current state. "Dad, Neteyam's been shot, we're going to the rocks closest to the ship," Lo'sk said into the comms he had taken from Neteyam, his voice filled with urgency. You couldn't tell what his dad had said but he firmly nodded his head and continued to swim toward the rocks.

"Neteyam, you'll be fine. I'm sure of it," you say to Neteyam, looking up to his tired state. He weakly nods his head back at you to confirm he got your reassurance but something told you he wouldn't be okay. The eclipse had started, the sky was growing dark with the circumstance yet orange was burning with hope. When you reach the rocks, you notice Jake and waved your hand in the air though it was barely poking out from under the water but he had walked over.

"Dad! Dad help Neteyam," Lo'ak desperately called out, Neteyam's breath was noticeably getting heavy. He was struggling to breathe.

"Neteyam, breathe like we practiced," you desperately said to him, hoping he could still hear you over himself.

"Hurry!" Tsireya yelled as she and Spider started to lower Neteyam into the water to help get him up onto the rocks.

Jake had grabbed Spider's hand to pull him up as he was holding Neteyam, Lo'ak taking over Tsireya's spot in helping push Neteyam up. You and Tsireya had taken the job to support his legs up as the harsh waves beat the both of your backs. You all had finally got him up and placed him safely on the rocks, all of you surrounding him as Jake checked his back.

"Oh no, put pressure- put pressure on him!" Jake said as Lo'ak pressed his hands on Neteyam's chest. His breath stayed as heavy as before.

"Like we practiced..." you had whispered out, knowing he wouldn't hear you. But Tsireya did, and she reached out to hold your hand. You felt tears fill up your eyes as you couldn't do anything for Neteyam at that moment. In a second, you hear Neytiri land and pace quickly over.

"No, no, no, no," was the only thing leaving her mouth as she slipped in beside Lo'ak, putting a hand on Neteyam's stomach.

"It's okay son, I got you, I got you," Jake was saying to Neteyam, hoping that his words would comfort his eldest. You looked to Tsireya, eyes wide as if you knew what was going to happen next. You bring your eyes back on Neteyam as he says,

"I want to go home.

"I know, I know. We're going home, we're going home, we're going home,"Jake says, his voice cracking.

"Dad..." was the last thing Neteyam said before he completely went still. His breath completely escaped him and drifted off into a gentle breeze that wrapped itself around your head until he faded away completely.

The world muted, even with Neytiri yelling for Neteyam, you couldn't hear anything as you felt tears run down your face. You couldn't even keep your head up as you allow your head to completely dip down. Now, the only thing you could see was Neteyam's lifeless legs. You notice Tsireya shake and press down on Neteyam's legs as if he would come back to life and pretend he was dead.

The eclipse had fully settled in, as if confirming the end of Neteyam's life.

When Jake, Neytiri, Spider and eventually Lo'ak left the rocks you and Tsireya had taken your turn to mourn. You scooted up a bit, took his arm to hold in your hand as you rub his arm, letting the tears you released fall down your face.

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[a/n]: sorry i had writers block for a bit !

two more chapters and i give u guys an alt ending and a bonus chapter <3

did you know: the metkayina and the omatikaya iknimiya (rite to adulthood) are different from each other ! for the omatikaya, they have to tame an ikran and boom - adult. meanwhile, the metkayina have to be able to ride a tsurak without falling off and complete tasks from the spirit sibling, the tulkun ! the tattoos they receive from eywa is a symbol that they are done their iknimiya and are an adult !