━━━━━꘎༺𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐲𝐚𝐦 ༻꘎━━━━━

When the Sully children returned home, the first thing Neteyam wanted to do was eat. He rummaged through his compartment of snacks. He'd strapped a sack to his bedroom wall and collected various sweet and savoury treats, from both home and the village. He grabbed one for each of his siblings and chucked it to them, where they were sitting in a circle in the living area.
They were talking about their day.

"The reef was so pretty," Kiri confessed. Her eyes were starry with wonder.

As Neteyam walked to join them, he said, "Nah, the highlight was definitely when the Ilu just took off so fast that this one fell off." He pointed to Lo'ak, who rolled his eyes.

"Even his girlfriend saw," Tuk teased.

They laughed.

Lo'ak groaned.

"She's not my girlfriend!"

"You wish she was, fart face," Kiri chimed, chucking a twig at him.

"Excuse me, Kiri - any child of Norm's doesn't deserve an opinion."

"Embarrassing yourself in front of your crush is a hundred times worse than being a child of Norm."

"I thought you said you would drink acid if he was your dad."

"Exactly. I can only imagine what you'd have to do for embarrassing yourself in front of the Chief's daughter," she teased.

"He would never show his face again," Neteyam laughed.

"Lo'ak has Eywa praying for him to get some game."

Kiri and Neteyam laughed, slapping hands in agreement.

"You two shitweeds think you're sooo clever," Lo'ak said. He wore a sarcastic grin, the symbol of the mischievous cogs turning in his head.

He lunged towards Neteyam and the two found themselves tumbling like a pair of wrangling tiger cubs.

"Hey! Quit pulling on my finger!"

"You launched first! Stop squeezing my ears!"

"Quit smothering each other," Neytiri said in a sharp tone. She walked into the Ma'rui pod with a net of fish slung over her back. Each one was almost twice the size of the ones found in the forest streams, if not bigger.

"Kiri you should really stop your brothers when they're misbehaving."

"It's funnier to watch them writhe," Kiri laughed.

"Skxawngs. The bunch of you," Neytiri scolded playfully.

"Ouch! Who bit my tail?" Lo'ak exclaimed.

"That wasn't me, bro. I swear," Neteyam said, drawing away from the attack.

"SWEET JESUS IT'S A CRAB!" Lo'ak yelled.

"Neteyam get it off!"
Lo'ak dramatically pranced around the room, the claw still digging into the flesh of his tail. He tried to grab at it, to dust it off but to no avail.

Jake rounded the corner to the pods. He could hear familiar laughter coming from the Sully family hut. The hysterical overlapping cackles of his eldest daughter and his eldest son.

"What's going on in here?" Jake said.

He strolled in, his hair still speckled with water droplets from where he'd been practicing outside with Tonowari.

"Dad, the crab got Lo'ak!" Tuk shrieked.

"What do you mean it got him?"

"My tail!" Lo'ak struggled.

Jake glanced at his wife, who was lightly smiling in the corner. They shared a chuckle.
He flicked the crab off the tail, like it was a harmless fly. When it landed on the ground and tried to scuttle away, he brushed it with his hand and the family watched it fly into the ocean.

Neteyam's stomach was hurting from laughter. Hearing Kiri snort beside him set him off again.

Lo'ak clutched his tail and caressed the red dents.

He glared at his siblings.

"Thank you, sir," he said with his head bowed in embarrassment.

"Don't worry, kid."

"Oh sweet little bro, are you okay?" Neteyam mocked. He brought his brother into a loose headlock.

"Did the crab give you an ouchie?" Kiri's high tone was met with an eye roll and a hoarse grunt.

"Lo'ak are you okay?" Tuk asked with concern.

"I'm fine, Tuk. At least somebody cares."

"Don't be so dramatic, bro," Neteyam said.

"You try getting bitten by one of those demons. You couldn't handle that bite from a tiny little insect."

"He's got a point," Kiri said.

"Hey, whose side are you on?" Neteyam said, tousling her hair.

"Neither. You're both idiots."

Lo'ak grumbled in the embrace of his annoying sister and even more irritating brother.

----

Eclipse came, and their parents had decided that tonight they were going to be away on their Ikrans for a few hours.

Neteyam had been responsible for putting Tuk to sleep.

"Tell me a story, Neteyam."

"A story?"

"Yeah," she yawned.

"I think you're tired enough. A story will only make you more restless."

"I just wanna hear your voice...I couldn't fall asleep last night cuz the waves are too loud."

"Okay, Tuk. How about a lullaby? Dad's songcord?"

She nodded with a smile.

Neteyam sang his sister sleep. His voice was deep and came out in a low tremor. He bore the fruits of a tender voice, one that you could find comfort in its richness.

After only a few verses, Tuk was lulled to sleep. He brushed his hand over her head and went to check on his other two siblings.

Earlier, Kiri had asked for permission to go on a late night swim. The water glowed at night - it was a natural beacon, the waves flushed blue with each plankton-filled swoop.

He came out of the pod from the side exit that led from her room. Her room was well-decorated, despite having only been there for such a short while. He expected over time, it would become full of trinkets that she wouldn't have the heart to let go of.

He saw her drifting under the water, amongst a school of fish glowing golden. Neteyam marvelled at the sight of it - they almost followed her, but the boy couldn't tell from the distance he was standing at. He would have joined her, had it not been for the fact that he did not like how cold he got after swimming in the water, and how long it took for him to dry off.

Lo'ak on the other hand was sitting on the edge of the wicker pathway. The boy was running his hand over some red flora that seemed to dance under the waves. The petals of it peeked over the water and he brushed his fingertips over them. He smiled to himself.

Neteyam felt happy that his siblings were doing well...but he missed home.

At night time, the homesickness was a plague that would not leave until the sun had risen. It resided in his stomach and the only way to relieve it, he felt, was to distract himself. The village was still bustling, it only went dead silent when The Protectors - the night watch, were released to patrol the mangrove forest behind them and monitor the sky. It was no secret that they were designated to prepare for unprecedented attack.

The Sky People had always been a threat to all Na'vi. Or so had been the case since Neteyam was a child.

Both of his parents had warned him of the dangers of the Sky People, despite sharing human DNA himself.

Their technology was grave. Kiri's birth mother had been killed by demon technology, but in the woman's service to Eywa, she was immortalised.

Sky People couldn't match the united forces of the Na'vi and the creatures of the land.

The boy thought of Spider. It hadn't been fair that he was the one taken, for what seemed like so long ago.
He knew Lo'ak shared a stronger bond to the human boy, but Spider had been like a brother to him too.

Neteyam wondered if he was okay. Kiri had seemed most affected by the pain of it, but every time Neteyam had tried to ask, he felt he was intruding. Kiri was outspoken when she wanted to be, but most definitely a concealer of emotions.

Neteyam went in to his room, and tried to fall asleep. Tuk had been right - it was so difficult to sleep.

After too much tossing and turning, he jolted from his position.

He got up and decided what he too needed, was a fly.

He mounted Sehite, hushing him so as not to alarm the village. They took off into the sky with an almost magnetic pulse. Sehite's wings, like framed glass, glowed iridescent. The way the water refracted on the glossy wings was beautiful.

The sound of his wings sweeping through the air as he got higher and higher filled him with a thrill. The air smelt of salt...but more faintly there was a refreshing tinge of dew. He resisted the urge to whoop, as Sehite swirled through the clouds and sharply dove on the wind.

The wind carried them. Neteyam laughed silently at the rush of the flight.

Below, the water was still, save for the few rolling waves that fizzled onto the coast.

From this height, the water looked like nothing more than a spillage of the sky. An enormous turquoise puddle, while the sky felt endless. The stars speckled the night like glitter, lighting his way through the soft gale.

Beneath him, he noticed a Metkayina from the village - they escaped their pod with a firm tie of the door, and a brave jump into the depths. An Ilu followed after them from its keep not too long after. When the Metkayina emerged, they were atop the animal.

It seemed someone else too could not sleep.

He flew slightly lower to get a glimpse of who it was, if he'd recognise them at all. At the moment, he only knew the people who trained with him.

As he got a closer look, he saw who it was.

It was Itaxri, with her Ilu, laughing and playing with it like it was her best friend. She threw something at it. The Ilu caught it and spun around in victory, a chittering sound of joy escaping it.

"Shhh!" she said to her animal, pressing a finger to her lips.

"We have to be quiet, Ak'tari."

She stroked its head then swam a little further away from it. She threw whatever it was again, and the animal swam to retrieve it for her.

"Good girl, Ak'tari."

It was a wholesome sight, and it much resembled the relationship Neteyam and Sehite had.
In fact, it was an embodiment of the relationship all Na'vi had to their animals. Animals were not just that, they were companions. Especially spirit animals - they stayed by your side for life.

Neteyam flew away from the pair and glided over the water elsewhere. He did not want to disturb them and he would rather relish in time spent with his lifelong friend.