Chapter Text
Only three weeks had passed since their big move to the Metkayina village — Awa’atlu — and things were already getting out of hand for Neteyam. Saying that this situation was stressing him out above and beyond was a huge understatement. At first, it had been easy for the young warrior to put everyone into neat little boxes for him to sort out.
Ronal, the Tsahìk[1], was someone to avoid at all costs. With the way she had clearly expressed her dislike of them being hybrids with ‘demon blood’ right upon their arrival, Neteyam knew she would not hesitate to use any misstep as an excuse to throw his family out of the Metkayina village.
Tonowari, the Olo’eyktan[2], wasn't nearly as bad as his mate, but his high status meant that Neteyam and his siblings were better off not bothering him.
Their daughter, Tsireya, was an angel incapable of doing any wrong. She had been nothing but kind with all of them as well as a great teacher. But their son, Aonung, was a skxawng[3] who thrived on seeing the Omatikaya siblings’ struggle. Just like his mother, he had explicitly expressed his dislike towards them by always making fun of how their bodies weren’t adapted to sea life and barely putting efforts into teaching them the Metkayina’s way of life like his father had asked of him. He only meant trouble. Nothing less nothing more.
Neteyam's little classifications made it easy for him to know how to interact with his hosts and most of all how to keep his siblings in check in any and every situation. Except he hadn't taken into consideration the ability of his brother to spread disaster wherever he went. That skxawng.
***
“He's the chief’s son!” His father stresses out as he ushers both of his sons into their marui[4]. “What was the one thing I asked? Stay. Out. Of. Trouble!”
“I'm sorry, it was all my fault—” Neteyam tries to diffuse the situation by taking the blame but immediately gets shut down by the older man.
“No, I don't think so.” Jake grits out angrily, “you need to stop taking the fall for this <knucklehead>[5].”
“But dad, he was making fun of Kiri. He called her a freak.” Lo'ak argues back.
Jake pauses at that, a flash of pain passing through his eyes. Neteyam feels a flare of anger come up as he thinks back of the way Aonung and his minions had talked about his family—about himself. What an ass. He kind of wishes he could have pulled more punches in before they all got caught and separated. Their father lets out a long sigh, a hand dragging down his worn-out face. He looks tired. He has been ever since aysawtute[6] came back.
“Just—go make peace with Aonung, I don't care how you do it.” He says dismissively.
Lo'ak doesn't budge, staring up at his father in disbelief.
“What? Dad—”
“Go, NOW!” Jake booms, pointing his arm outside.
Lo'ak huffs out angrily and stomps out of their marui. Neteyam goes to follow after his brother but gets stopped by his father.
“Hey, how did the others look?” He asks, switching to his human tongue.
The young Na’vi takes a second to think the question over. Because of their father's background as a former aysawtute soldier, Neteyam, Lo'ak and all the Omatikaya warriors in training had learned fighting differently from the traditional Na'vi way. From the way Lo'ak managed to knock down Aonung with only three punches, it was obvious that the Metkayinas didn't have any knowledge about that specific way of fighting.
“...Worse.” The young boy winces, expecting some more scolding at the admission.
“That's good.” Jake responds with a satisfied nod. Neteyam's ears perk up, surprised to see pride adorning his father's face.
“A lot worse.” He dares add, a smile blooming on his face.
“Get out of here.” Jake tries to be stern as he dismisses his elder son, but Neteyam doesn't miss the poorly hidden smug smile tugging at the corner of his father's lips.
Nobody should mess with the Sullys, it seemed to say.
***
“Lo'ak! Wait up!”
Neteyam jogs on the bouncy woven pathway to catch up with his brother, fraying a way for himself amidst the bustling crowd of Metkayinas going about their day. He throws his arm around the shorter Na'vi's shoulders as soon as he catches up with him. One of his hands naturally comes up to rest on his brother’s braided hair and slightly ruffles it.
“Come on Mighty Warrior, let’s go find that <bastard> and apologize.” He teases lightheartedly, an easy smile gracing his lips. Lo’ak shrugs out of his brother’s hold vehemently, a deep scowl on his face.
“You think I cannot go apologize on my own, huh?”
“What? No, I—”
“I do not need you to save me, Neteyam. I can handle myself, I’m not a baby.” He growls out, tail whipping sharply behind him.
A few passersby stare at them curiously, sensing the tense air between the two teenagers. Noticing the attention, Lo’ak’s ears fold back and he resumes his walking.
“I had the situation under control. You didn’t need to intervene.” He mumbles in a calmer tone.
“Under control?” Neteyam scoffs in disbelief, following closely behind his younger brother. “We wouldn’t even have had to fight if it wasn’t for your skxawng ass,” He lightly slaps Lo’ak’s shoulder for emphasis, “but no, the Mighty Warrior had to prove a point, right?”
“So what if I did want to prove a point, huh? I did not ask you to fight with me.” He snaps, pausing briefly to let a flock of running kids pass by.
“There were four of them!” Neteyam says incredulously, “You were clearly outnumbered. Was I supposed to just stand by and watch them jump you?”
“I did not need your help!” Lo’ak cries out, stopping so suddenly that Neteyam bumps against his back. The shorter Omatikaya boy swivels around to face him, anger marring his face. “This wasn’t even about you! It was Kiri and I they were calling freaks.” Neteyam frowns, confused by the logic behind those words.
“Anyone who picks on my siblings is picking on me too—”
“NO! You don’t understand!” He shouts, not caring about all the eyes in the surrounding maruis blatantly staring at them now. “You don’t have demon blood!” He adds and shoves his four-fingered hand in the other’s face.
“Do you even hear yourself Lo’ak? I am your brother—”
Rolling his eyes, Lo’ak silences him with a curt headshake.
“Why do you think they stopped messing with us as soon as you arrived, huh? It’s because to them, you are true Na’vi!” He spreads both his arms out sideways, chest puffing out in a pompous way. “The Mighty Warrior son of Toruk Makto[7].” He mocks, presenting his brother as if he was some kind of revered deity. “They respect you. But me? I’m just a freak.” He spits out, shoulders slightly sagging. “And they will never respect me, specially not if you are always there to play hero.”
“Baby bro…” Neteyam breathes out in sympathy, reaching out to console his brother. But Lo’ak slaps his hands away, a deep scowl on his face.
“Just— <FUCK OFF!>” He hisses, sharp teeth on display as he shoves the other away. “Let me be!”
And with those final words, Lo’ak turns around swiftly, running away.
“LO’AK! Get back here!” Neteyam calls after him but only gets flipped off in answer.
This little shit! He thinks, “Fine! Do as you wish, that is all you ever do anyway, you skxawng!” He yells in frustration after his brother’s retreating back.
Every person who had watched the scene seemed to be staring at him now, waiting to see what he was going to do next. They had all witnessed how he had miserably failed in asserting his authority as the eldest. Neteyam's tail curls around one of his legs, shame burning hot on his face. How embarrassing. He had to get out of here, get away from all those prying eyes. And so, he leaves to go somewhere he could be alone with his shame and his thoughts.
***
As he makes his way into the island’s inner jungle, Neteyam feels like he’s going to explode. His mind is racing, relentlessly replaying the fight with his brother, over and over again. How dare Lo’ak tells him he isn’t concerned by the insults thrown their way? They literally shared the same blood — demon blood! That made him as much a hybrid as his brother. Sure, Tuk and him only had three fingers and no hairy eyebrows, but it didn’t mean they weren’t the same. He too felt pain when their physical differences were pointed out by fellow Na’vis.
The only real difference with his brother was that, as the first born, Neteyam had to learn how to control himself early on so he could always react properly in every and any situation. Hence why he knew how to bottle up all the improper feelings he may experience. He always had to be level-headed, always had to be the bigger person. Sometimes he wished he could act as selfishly as Lo’ak does, wished he could lash out at any and every slightest inconvenience. But no. Being the big brother meant he had to set the example for his younger siblings, all for his parents’ sake. He couldn’t just do as he pleased. He had been working so hard to earn the title of Toruk Makto’s Mighty Warrior son. He deserved to be recognized and respected accordingly — even if his own father seemed to have difficulty acknowledging it and treat him as such…
Neteyam tries to calm himself down. His heartbeat pumps fast in his chest while his tail thrashes wildly behind him. His mind was racing so much with all those thoughts that he hadn’t even realized how deep he had gone into the jungle. He stops and lets out a long sigh. He hated feeling so out of control. The young Omatikaya boy thinks about how he should probably just go back to the village, find Kiri, and check up on her to make sure she was alright. He wasn’t used to feeling so many emotions at once. So much anger that he feels like screaming until his throat turns raw. As he thinks, he stares at his balled-up fists resting at his sides. Slowly, he unravels his hands, bringing them up at eye-level with his palms facing him and his fingers spread wide. Three-fingered hands.
Neteyam feels sadness and guilt stir uncomfortably in his stomach.
‘You don’t have demon blood.’
‘They respect you.’
Lo’ak’s words echo hauntingly in his mind. Too much guilt. He clicks his tongue in frustration, not wanting to dwell too much on that particular feeling and its meaning. He turns back around, deciding against going back to the village, and marches purposefully to go find his ikran[8] instead.
***
After having climbed one of the biggest and tallest trees he could find — which honestly wasn’t even that big compared to the trees found back in the forest where he grew up — Neteyam sits on a large sturdy branch. With how busy he had been trying to learn the Metkayina ways while watching over his siblings, he had only managed to come up here a couple times. He inhales deeply and takes a second to admire the view he gets of the surrounding area. The sun is shining brightly on the calm sea. Awa’atlu looks as busy as ever with all kinds of people bustling about their daily tasks. From up here the Metkayinas look like little light blue dots. Neteyam can even spot a few canoes circulating near the massive mangrove roots where the maruis are located.
The Omatikaya boy sighs, his eyes now resting on the jungle and its sparse, weird looking trees. This was nothing like his dear rainforest back home, but at least it still managed to make him feel less hollow, more like himself. He closes his eyes, listening intently to the sounds of the jungle. It was almost quiet, the distant sound of crashing waves mostly overpowering the chattering of the unknown foreign wildlife.
After some time, Neteyam stands up and lets out two high pitched caws followed by a series of loud tongue clicking. He only has to wait a few seconds before Awaiei, his ikran, appears in all her green, yellow and brown glory. Her flapping wings send a strong gush of air towards the young boy that makes his beaded braids fly wildly in every direction. The large animal screeches happily when it lands in front of the Omatikaya boy.
“Hey beautiful.” Neteyam greets her with a wide smile. He grabs her protruding chin bone and slightly shakes it. “I missed you.”
Awaiei lets out a loud squawk in answer and nudges her head against his torso.
“I’m sorry baby, we cannot go for a fly. I don’t have my ionar[9].” The green ikran huffs and lets out an annoyed snort at that. “I know, I know, sorry.” Neteyam chuckles lightly, “I came to visit on a whim. I guess I needed a break.” He lets his hand wander along the animal’s strong neck, gently caressing the smooth, green skin. “It must be hard for you, being so far from home…” He muses quietly as his hand idly traces the brown and yellow streaks until reaching the base of one wing.
Before he can do anything about it, Neteyam feels his lower lip wobble as his eyes burn with unshed tears.
“It is for me too.” He chokes out in a whisper, “I want to go home, so bad.”
Awaiei swivels her head side to side, a low crooning sound coming out of her as she looks at the boy curiously. Sensing her rider’s distress, she softly rubs her massive head against the Na’vi’s one. Neteyam throws his arms around her neck and hugs her tightly. His shoulders shake with the force of his sobs as hot tears stream down his face. For once, the young boy lets go, allowing himself to totally unravel.
***
It’s only hours later, long after the puffiness of his eyes had gone down, that Neteyam finally makes his way back to the village.
Eclipse was about to start, and he knew his parents would chew him out if he didn’t make it back to their marui before dark. As he exits the jungle and walks along the shore, he notices a gathering near one of the small docks. The closer he gets to the mangrove and the maruis, the more he senses the buzzing agitation of the crowd. The Metkayinas are forming a semi-circle, everyone looking at something in the water. Neteyam pushes past gossiping people to get a closer look. Once he reaches the front row, he sees several fishermen and fisherwomen tending to an ilu[10].
The beast seems agitated, letting out high pitched shrieks as the persons surrounding it try to calm it down and hold it in place.
“What’s going on?” Neteyam asks the woman standing next to him.
She takes a double take when she notices who just talked to her. For a second the Omatikaya boy expects being completely ignored — something that had already happened a few times with the ones who were against Uturu[11] being gratified to his family — but then, the woman starts talking.
“This ilu arrived a few minutes ago with an injury.” She points towards its back and it’s only then that the boy notices blood coming out of one of the animal’s hind fins, a good chunk of it seeming to have been torn out. “The fishers think it’s an akula bite. But what is even more worrying is that the ilu came back without any rider, even though it is wearing a saddle.”
“…What’s an akula?” He asks, not having ever heard that word before.
“FOREST BOY!”
Neteyam’s head jerks to his left at the call, ears perking up. His eyes meet Aonung’s frantic ones. He frowns as the Olo’eyktan’s son makes his way towards him in a hurry.
“I need to talk to you, Forest boy.”
“I have nothing to say to you.” Neteyam answers drily, already turning away from the other boy.
Aonung grabs his biceps firmly, preventing him from leaving. The Omatikaya boy’s eyes settle on the hand gripping his arm before they snap up to its owner’s face with a glare, tail flicking in irritation. Aonung releases him immediately, his hands coming up in a pacifying motion.
“It’s about your brother.”
“What about him?” Neteyam asks warily.
Aonung looks uneasy, his feet shuffling awkwardly in place.
“I would rather not speak here.” He answers, his eyes looking anywhere but into Neteyam’s golden ones, “Come. Let us go somewhere less crowded.”
The two boys get away from the gathering, ending up onto a small, secluded beach. Eclipse was fully in now, the wildlife’s bioluminescence coming to life and painting their surroundings into soft hues of greens, blues, and pinks as their tanhì[12] illuminate their skin.
“Alright.” Neteyam stops walking, facing the slightly taller Metkayina. “Now that we are alone, speak.” He orders. “What is it that you wanted to tell me about Lo’ak?”
Aonung looks conflicted. He shuffles some more, taking a deep breath before he starts talking. “Humm…after our fight your brother came to us. To apologize.” He licks his lips nervously before going on. “He did it in a cocky way, belittling me in front of my friends. So, to humble him, I challenged to come hunting with us, beyond the reef.”
“We are not allowed outside the reef.” Neteyam frowns, “You know this.”
“Yes but…we went anyway,” Aonung shrugs, “and then…when your brother wasn’t looking, we all…" He trails off, one of his hands coming up to play anxiously with his armband, “left.”
“You left Lo’ak? Alone? Beyond the reef?”
“Well, it was supposed to be a joke.” He retorts, quick to defend himself. “Payback for…you know.” He gestures to his bruised face. “I thought he would have come back once he noticed we left, it was not supposed to turn out that way.”
“Aonung. Where is my brother?” Neteyam feels the anxiousness rising fast in him but forces himself to remain calm.
“I don’t know.” Aonung gulps, blinking rapidly. “The injured ilu you saw is the one your brother rode today. And if what the fishermen said about the akula bite is true then—”
Neteyam doesn’t like where this conversation is going, not at all.
“What’s an akula[13]?”
Aonung looks at him with surprised eyes, as if the other boy was supposed to already know the answer.
“What is it?!” He snaps impatiently. His hands come up to shake Aonung’s shoulder vigorously, making the other boy flinch.
“It’s a predator!” He blurts out at last, “a big one. Very dangerous...”
Neteyam lets his hands drop back to his sides, eyes widening in shock. He feels as if a bucket of ice-cold water has been dumped on him. Fear makes his heart stutter as it dawns on him that Lo’ak could be dead at this very moment. He stares at Aonung who stares back silently, ears folded back. White hot anger suddenly takes a hold of Neteyam.
“<You son of a bitch!>” He curses, harshly grabbing the other’s tswin[14]. Aonung hisses in pain at the sudden grip but doesn’t fight against it. “Wait until my father learns about this.” He growls lowly and starts walking back to the docks, holding firmly onto the Metkayina boy as he drags him to his family’s marui.
He finds his father sitting with Kiri outside their home, feet hanging in the water. The two Omatikayas look up at them, bewildered, as Neteyam presents them Aonung.
“Tell him what you told me!” He barks the order. The Metkayina boy slaps Neteyam’s arm away, effectively freeing himself from the tight hold he had on his tswin. Aonung looks down at Jake apprehensively, wary of what Toruk Makto’s reaction would be after hearing what he did to his second son.
***
They had all gathered in the Olo’eyktan’s marui as they waited. Tonowari, Jake — Neteyam’s father — and a couple of warriors were standing at the entrance staring silently at the dark horizon as they waited for the search party to return with his unscathed brother, hopefully. Kiri, Tuk, and Tsireya were sitting around the fire lighting up the marui. They were talking quietly among themselves, trying to reassure one another. The Metkayina girl looked particularly worried about Lo’ak, unshed tears swimming in her eyes.
Neytiri — Neteyam's mother — was pacing back and forth, tail thrashing restlessly behind her, mumbling countless prayers to Eywa[15] under her breath as she worriedly wrung her hands. When she had learned what happened to Lo’ak, Jake had to physically stop her from calling her ikran and go find her son herself which she hadn’t taken well. She hated feeling so useless in this new environment — a trait she definitely shared with her firstborn.
Ronal was sitting on a colorful woven mat, busy mixing all kinds of herbs and slimy seaweed together in case Lo’ak came back injured. Well, if he came back at all. Neteyam pushes that thought away, trying to stay positive. His brother would come back, hopefully unharmed. The young Na’vi was standing away from everyone else, back leaning against the wall near the second entrance which also allows him to keep an eye on the horizon. He lets his eyes wander some more around the huge marui before they fall on Aonung.
The Metkayina boy was sitting in a corner, arms hugging his knees to his chest as he sulked. He had already taken an earful from both his parents and Tsireya earlier so now he was making himself small. He was lucky to be the Olo’eyktan’s son, otherwise Neytiri would have probably skinned him already. As if sensing he was being observed, Aonung’s light blue eyes meet Neteyam’s golden ones. The two boys glare at each other for a few seconds before Aonung yields and looks away. Neteyam mentally scoffs.
At least he had the decency of looking ashamed of himself, Neteyam thinks.
A sudden chorus of ‘the forest boy has returned!’, ‘the boy Lo’ak has been found!’, ‘Toruk Makto’s son is back!’ coming from outside has everyone in the marui stopping what they are doing. They all rush outside, Jake and Neytiri first, followed closely by Ronal, her mate, and their son. Neteyam goes to pull Tuk up in his arms before walking out with Kiri and Tsireya by his side. His parents are frantically checking Lo’ak up for any injury. When none are found, Neytiri thanks Eywa — grateful her son had been found safe and sound — and then lightly slaps his head with a hiss, so upset she threatens to pluck his eyes out.
“He’s alright!” Jake announces to the crowd of onlookers. “Just a few scratches, but he’s fine.”
Relief washes over Neteyam. He puts Tuk down who then dashes to their brother to hug him tightly.
Lo’ak was ok. Praise Eywa.
When Neteyam focuses back on the conversation between his parents and the Olo’eyktan, the latter is rightfully making his son kneel down, a strong hand resting on Aonung’s shoulder as he promises that he would face the consequences of such rash behavior. But Neteyam is surprised to hear Lo’ak object, taking the blame instead by saying he was the one insisting on going beyond the reef.
What was he doing?
Neteyam doesn’t miss the look the Tsahìk throws her mate ‘see? I told you this family only meant trouble.’ The young Omatikaya boy was confused, why would Lo’ak lie? But more importantly, why wasn’t Aonung saying anything? Neteyam internally seethes as he watches the Metkayina boy just kneeling there, staring mutely at his younger brother instead of speaking the truth. After his parents thank the hunters who had helped find his brother and apologized to everyone for all the trouble, the crowd finally disperses. The Sullys leave the big marui and start making their way back to their own, Lo’ak leading the way.
“Dad, you told me to make friends with those kids, that is all I was doing here—” Lo’ak starts explaining to their father only to get promptly cut off.
“I don’t wanna hear it.”
“Dad—”
“You brought shame to this family.” He says firmly, “Anymore trouble boy and I will knot your tail. <You read me?>”
“<Yes sir. Lima Charlie>,” Lo’ak answers almost mockingly and with attitude, “can I go now?”
Jake’s jaw flexes as he reigns in his anger. He jerks his head with a grunt, allowing his son to leave. His father sighs and shakes his head disapprovingly, a hand coming up to massage his forehead.
“Where were you?” Neytiri turns to Neteyam, voice laced with disappointment. His ears immediately fold back, eyes going to the ground.
“Yeah, what happened to keeping an eye on your brother?” His dad inquires expectantly.
“<Sorry, sir.>” Neteyam squares his stance and faces his parents, joining his hands behind his back as he gets ready for the scolding that’s about to come.
“How many times do I have to tell you this? You are the older brother, Neteyam. Your mother and I trust you to be there so that kind of incident doesn't happen.”
“I know. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” The young boy promises.
“It better not.” Jake says with finality. “Let’s go.” He takes Neytiri’s hand in his and stirs Kiri forward with a hand on her upper back as he calls for Tuk to follow them.