Chapter Text
Spider let the waves lap at his feet, salty water licking at the bruises that had yet to heal on the soles of his feet. He didn’t allow himself to walk any further, merely rolling his eyes and squinting at the sunset in-front of the boy who was currently trying to tempt him away from the safety of the Metkayina’s residence.
“Come on, bro.” Lo’ak sighed, almost coming out as a whine. His hands rested comfortably around his very own Ilu as it chittered, the bond already made as he seemed rearing to go on the adventure. Spider envied him for his idea of freedom and the very fact that he could have an animal of his own. “We won’t get caught!”
“Right, because we’ll be stuck in the middle of the ocean. Can’t get caught if they can’t find us.” Spider replied, hands on his bare hips as his messy braids flailed about in the wind. He would have to request Kiri redo them, because though he would never mention he still had an underlying fear of Neytiri from the incident.
Sometimes, when he closed his eyes, he remembered what it was like to have her knife pressing at the taut flesh around his jugular.
Spider shuddered slightly, and shook away the fact. Lo’ak seemed to be getting impatient, shaking his head. In the very distance at the edge of the reef, blue figures were steadily walking. They weren’t disturbed or aware of their presence just yet, but neither boy was willing to risk it.
“Come on!” Lo’ak urged, tugging at his arm. Spider felt his breath hitch slightly but nonetheless, he fell onto the back of the Ilu. His arms held the Na’vi boy tight, getting used to the sensation of actually riding one of the ocean creatures in the flesh. He let go momentarily to brush his finger along the smooth, slippery skin before it wandered back. “I won’t drop you..” Lo’ak reassured.
“..I think.” Spider opened his mouth to protest, but they were already delving through the waves. The water soaked his loincloth, and he was disappointed he didn’t have time to think it further through. He couldn’t deny it; the island in the near distance looked beautiful as eclipse was near approached, dashing hues of blue and oranges painting the Marui’s and the mountains far, far away.
The water was a sight in itself, the sky giving it its lovely colour and reflecting generously to highlight both features. “Where are we going?” Spider called, voice raising slightly to overpower the waves crashing together all around.
“To see Payakan.” Though he couldn’t see it, he could sense a grin growing on Lo’ak’s face. “My spirit brother.” Spider had gotten a briefing on Tulkun by Norm before, and had witnessed the harm that Sky-People (Biologically, his people) had the potential to cause. Living proof that they would not hesitate to crush everything in their path for their own benefit. Technically, he had seen Payakan, though that was when he was in the process of destroying the RDA ship.
Spider was excited to see him in a more passive state and perhaps even give him his thanks.
“Hey, hold on,” Lo’ak instructed, his grip on the Ilu tightening ever so slightly. “Oh, and hold your breath.” Spider was thankful for the fact that his reaction time had since increased from his kidnapping, because he had taken in a breath of air forgetting about the fact he wouldn’t even need to with the mask covering his face. Before he knew it, he was soaring through the waters down below. The sun shone in on them, and though his eyes were squinting from the suns glare he couldn’t bring himself to close them in fear of missing out on the beauty Pandora had to offer.
Fish swam around, decorated with hard armor plates or unique spikes jabbing from their body, but they made no move to attack the two boys soaring through the water. As if entranced by the nature, Spider hadn’t even realize they were ascending to the top of the ocean once more until they dipped above the surface. Lo’ak slowed to a stop and Spider furrowed his eyebrows.
“What’s wrong, bro?” He questioned, and the Na’vi boy simply shook his head and stood up on his Ilu. It didn’t seem to mind, remaining still and awaiting it’s next instructions.
“Shh, just wait.” Spider remained still as he listened to Lo’ak make guttural, clicking noises, clapping his hands together. He stilled, and for a moment nothing happened. That was, until, they heard the sound of a Tulkun cooing from around the Spirit Tree, and Payakan revealed himself. For a few seconds, he was in absolute awe; the large creature humming and swirling around their person playfully before finally relaxing and slowing to a stop.
“Hey, buddy!” Lo’ak exclaimed, placing his hands on his hips as he jumped over to the fin beside Payakan’s eye. Spider looked to him, unsure of whether or not he should approach, but he was ushered over by the Na’vi boy eventually. “Payakan: Meet Spider. Spider: Meet Payakan.” He rushed to introduce, hands signing a language Spider was still struggling to understand.
The Tulkun squeaked, eye closing in recognition as it tried to communicate back. Spider ran a curious hand along the fin, connecting with its dull armor plating but making sure to steer away from the prominent hole that left a void to stare through. Lo’ak seemed to be left to his own devices, signing rather excitedly as he made conversation with his Spirit Brother. In the moment, all Spider could feel was envy.
He would never have a Spirit Brother, nor Sister; he would never be able to achieve a bond as he did not have a queue like they did. Spider could only ever have these things metaphorically, and every time he was reminded of it a dark shade of green overcame him.
Jealously was not a good look on Spider.
Lo’ak clambered up clumsily onto the head of the Tulkun, giving a reassuring glance to the human boy as he held out his hand. “Come on, it’s fun; I promise.” Eventually, Spider couldn’t resist getting up too. He looked around expectantly, hands on his hips.
“So, what are we—“ Out of the blue, Payakan sprayed from his blowhole and pushed up out of the water, sending the two boys into the air. Lo’ak whooped excitedly, whilst Spider flailed his hands about as if he were to grasp the air. As he was flung up, he caught sight of the Metkayina clans home in the distance, from a much higher angle, the sun beginning to dip further and further away as Eclipse neared. He couldn’t help but let out a laugh as he crashed back down into the waves, eyes closing.
Just as he felt his heart beginning to slow, the waves rushed around him, and as he opened his eyes he realized that Payakan was carrying them both on his back again through the waves. Bubbles accumulated around his face as he let out a breathy laugh of disbelief, rising to the surface once again.
“This— this ,” He gasped, hands on his head as he flung around to face Lo’ak. “This is insane, cuz!” The Na’vi boy cackled with delight, signing something to Payakan as the Tulkun settled down in the water. He shielded his eyes from the light as he looked up, seeing the sun steadily disappear as Eclipse followed.
“Tsahey; we gotta get back.” Lo’ak cursed, shaking his head. “S’nearly Eclipse.” Spider jolted to attention, already wading through the ocean water to get back to the Ilu. Lo’ak was hot on his trail, but not before signing something to his Spirit Brother. It was what he presumed was a goodbye.
Lo’ak made the bond hastily but carefully, and began soaring through the waves again with the Ilu. Spider gulped, clammy hands clenching and unclenching around air.
No one wanted to face the potential wrath of Neytiri after curfew.
“So, you planned getting back into camp, right?” Spider asked, peering over his shoulder to get a grasp at Lo’ak’s expression. To his horror, he saw nothing but underlying anxiety. His ears were pinned back tightly to his head, arms shifting uncomfortably around the Ilu’s neck.
“Yeah— yeah, cuh, don’t you worry.” Lo’ak responded, trying to keep his cool nature. Spider squirmed around behind him, suddenly queasy, as he pondered all the possible ways he would be reprimanded when they returned. He had never gone in the ocean before, let alone riding an Ilu — so he was sure Lo’ak would get some heat for it too. Norm never specified he wasn’t allowed to venture the reef, but it was an unspoken rule that he just shouldn’t .
They arrived back at the shore too soon for Spider’s liking. As soon as he unmounted the Ilu, he became aware of the figures storming towards them in the distance. “Wiya..” Lo’ak groaned, slapping a hand to his face. Among the blue figures, some darker ones stood out, taking long, fast strides.
Neytiri and Jake.
And the more they came closer, the more furious their expressions became. Spider hugged his arms close as they ran into a sprint, Neytiri being the first to arrive. Her knees brushed against the sand as she collapsed beside Lo’ak, hands brushing against his face as she fell into a slide. Her son winced at her sharp expression, trying to wrangle from her grasp.
“Mother, i’m fine —“
“You should be thankful other people are present so that I do not bite your tail off right now.” She warned, sharp canine teeth baring as Lo’ak grimaced. Jake eventually caught up, and Spider watched him rush to his son, too, as he remained alone and yet so surrounded by it all.
“What were you doing !” Jake seethed, more embarrassed by the situation than anything else. “We had everyone look for you, just to find that you— you snuck out.” He leaned in closer, frowning.
“You disappoint me, son.” Lo’ak visibly flinched at this, eyes darting to the sand as the waves rocked back and forth around them. Jake sighed, pinching his eyebrow as the other people began to approach. Tonowari raised an eyebrow, eyeing Spider.
“.. Is everything alright here?”
“Yes, yes, it’s fine.” Jake reassured, holding a hand back to tell them to stay at a distance. Spider trudged behind Lo’ak as Ronal approached, eyes sweeping to him immediately as she deemed him the cause of the problem almost instantly. He gulped, not liking the way her eyes creased at the sight. “We’ll take it from here.”
Tonowari observed the situation once more, before huffing to himself and trudging back on the beach. With the flick of his hand, he had the whole search party in pursuit. Spider took another hesitant step backwards as Ronal’s eyes lingered, before she finally turned to leave. His throat ran dry as his attempt to hide being Lo’ak’s taller stature failed.
Jake’s attentive eye swept towards him, and he let out a growl; more tired than frustrated. Big, blue hands fell to his shoulders and Spider stumbled beneath the immense force. His breath got caught in his throat, eyes wide as he caught sight of Jake’s very gaze.
“You!” He exclaimed, shaking his shoulders and rattling him about as if he were a toy. “What were you thinking, huh? What were you thinking. You know it’s unsafe to go out there, you know —“ But Spider had stopped listening. A ringing was in his ears, stopping him from hearing the littlest bit of the conversation even if he wanted to, though his world was beginning to become a blur.
“I warned you, boy.” Spider gasped with horror as he was forced to look up, right into his fathers eyes. Quaritch was unforgiving, his grasp like steel and his mouth open to show off his sharpened fangs. His shoulders were sure to bruise from the impact, though he was sure his mentality would be even more wounded. “You think you could escape ?” Miles snarled, making sure to pop the P as his ears twisted backwards. The other Recoms chuckled, hands remaining tightly on their guns as if Spider would chew his head off that instant.
They made no move to help, making his cheeks flush as he realised how utterly pathetic he seemed. He made one final attempt to struggle, even going far enough to hiss in his face. Quaritch was seething at this, which he considered a win.
A five second win, that was, before he decided to act on his anger.
A big, blue, hand raised, and Spider glued his eyes shut. He realised he couldn’t breathe, it simply wasn’t possible, as he waited for his impending doom to arrive. Tears ran down his cheeks, dripping onto his feet and the ground below because it was all his fault, he shouldn’t have run, he was stuck here forever—
No one was coming for him.
“Spider.”
..
“ Spider !”
He gasped, eyes jolting open. He took in a gasp of air, chest shaking horridly as he processed what happened. He was staring at a forest-coloured Na’vi, significantly darker, but his eyes were so regretful , concerned, that Spider knew that on no planet was this Quaritch. “Oh, Spider— Deep breaths.” He was reassured as he hiccuped, and it was then his sight was returned to him, catching sight of Lo’ak trying to take a step forward though Neytiri reluctantly held him back.
Jake took up most of his vision, and only when Spider stared at his face was when he became aware of the hands cradling his face, a dark blue thumb coming to rub away the tears that were spilling uncontrollably from his eyes.
“I.. I-“ For the first time, it finally hit Spider what he had done. He had found a family, who cared for him more than they had shown and more than he could ever imagine, and he threw it away because one day he would have to tell them that he saved Quaritch from rotting at the bottom of the ocean. “I’m sorry.” Tears fell like a seeping wound, and his hands balled up to rub them away.
“What?” Jake frowned with disbelief. “Don’t say that. Don’t— This isn’t your fault.” Neytiri gave a pointed glare to Lo’ak, who rolled his eyes. (The action, of course, causing a cuff to his ear.) “Come on, let’s go away from here.” He soothed, glancing around at the crowd that had been staring from the Marui. At the sight, their heads (Including Tuk’s) disappeared quickly.
Spider sniffled one last time before brushing his face free of snot and tears, straightening up. “Yessir.” He affirmed, and Jake stared at him from the corner of his eyes with pity as he tried not to pull a face of shock.
Surely, he didn’t..
Neytiri frowned at him, leaving Lo’ak and letting him off the hook (but not with a warning for later) to wander off with Neteyam and Kiri once more wherever they were. She joined Jake at his side, and hand on his shoulder.
“What was that?” She asked, Jake having to search through her tone to find the concern.
“I.. don’t know.” He swallowed thickly, looking at her. “I’m going to find out.” She frowned, hand on his cheek in an instant.
“Ma Jake,” Neytiri murmured softly, forehead pressing to his. “We need to discuss this with Tonow—“
“We will.” Jake promised, hand interlocking with hers as it brushed away from his face. “I promise we will. But I need to make sure he’s okay.” Her face contorted, almost uncatchable as Eclipse had long since come. He pulled away, hand lingering on hers for a minute longer before his touch left her. “I will when I can. Just.. wait a bit, yeah? Let me figure this out.”
Spider shifted uncomfortably on the side, recovered from the initial shock. A yawn escaped his lips as he tried brushing away the smaller droplets of tears that were falling. His feet ached, tired from playing around all day with the Sully children. A hand guided him, and he realised that Jake was by his side bringing him to their family Marui. He prayed to Eywa that there might be something they could do about the privacy, but instead, he was set down like a porcelain glass that could shatter at any moment with the beach wind whipping in his face.
Jake sighed, hands placed on his hips before he finally settled down next to the human boy in a crouched position. He looked perplexed, hands placed in a triangle around his mouth.
The only thing Spider could do now was prepare himself for the conversation about to take place.