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persefolli · 1 year

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𝐇𝐞 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐃𝐢𝐞.

𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐢 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐱 𝐉𝐚𝐤𝐞

𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: 𝐐𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞

𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐢 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝

𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭: @myheartfollower, @laylasbunbunny, @destinylb, @deadgirl02

Today was a beautiful day, clear skies and salty air lingered over Awa’atlu and every day you thanked Tonowari for letting you stay in this paradise you called home. Tonowari and Jake wasted no time in making you Tsahik after you accepted their confessions. You married and performed tsaheylu with Tonowari, then eloped with Jake, with Tonowari as a ‘witness’.

The Metkayina praised the relationship between the three of you, stating that the village will become more powerful with the three most powerful clan members running it. “Hey ladies, I’m gonna go get some hunting done today.” You peeked into the marui pod where the Metkayina weaved baskets and buckets. Your fellow weavers nodded and shooed you off to go hunt for dinner you would prepare for both Tonowari and Jake tonight.

You hadn't seen them all day, knowing that they had important duties to tend to. But you had very exciting news to tell them, and you wanted to do it in private, over dinner

You bolted into the forest, letting some warriors know about your whereabouts if anything happens. You got a great distance away from the reef, where some animals were sure to pop out. “What are we feeling? Viperwolf? Kentrocapa? Or maybe some….fish.” You spoke out loud to yourself….and your unborn child.

A few beats of silence and you chuckled, “Yeah we've had fish too much these past few days.” You began sniffing, tracking the scent of a nearby creature that you were bound to kill. Slowly walking over the damp grass, you found a viperwolf. Deep breath in. Deep breath out. You drew your bow, and focused right on the lone wolf that was eating some strange item in the ground. Before you could release your arrow, a shuffle in the bushes managed to scare the poor wolf off.

Your ears perked up, and you turned to face the rustling bushes, “Jake?” You smiled, expecting your lover to emerge from the bushes.

Instead, a taller, short-haired na’vi in tactical gear stepped out from the bushes. You knew he wasn't from around here, and the four fingered hand told you he was no real na’vi. You backed up, slightly losing your footing. “You’re not Jake.”

“Let's make this easy for both of us, peach.” He pulled out an orange band and began inching closer to you.

You swiftly grabbed your bow, drawing it back and releasing it, missing him by a long shot. At this rate he was too close for you to pull out another arrow, so you did what first came to mind.

“HELP!” You turned around and began to sprint, but he was bigger, and faster. He managed to tackle you to the ground and slap one side of the band on your wrist. “Hold still!” He grunted, struggling to slap the other side of the band on you. “JAKE! MA JAKE!” You screamed, hoping your lover was already on his way towards you, but that chance was slim. He turned you around to face him, as soon as you met his eyes you hissed, leaning up and biting his forearm. “Son of a-” Your eyes widened seeing the large rock in his hand.

---

“Have you guys seen Y/n today?” Jake walked into the weaving marui pod.

“She said she was going hunting in the forest earlier today.” One of the Metkayina members responded.

Jake hummed and walked out the pod, keeping his head on a swivel looking for you. Something didn't feel right, in his gut. He had just gotten back from the forest, and you weren't there. Even your scent seemed to fade the deeper he went into the forest. He walked to find Tonowari, who was in another pod talking to some warriors about new trading policies with other reef clans. Jake stood in the doorway and silently motioned two fingers towards him indicating they needed to talk.

“Have you seen Y/n today?”

“No, I assume she's weaving, yes?”

“No. They said she went hunting.”

“Well maybe she's in the forest.”

“I just came from the forest and she wasn't there. Her scent went cold.”

“Hm.” Tonowari nodded. “Maybe she went fishing instead.”

“Yeah….Fishing.” Jake agreed.

The both of them exchanged a look, a calm flowing between them. Their expressions didn't show it, but their senses spiked right in that moment. They didn't want to alarm one another, but they both knew that something was indeed wrong.

“I'll just wait…for a little while.” Jake walked off.

“Yes…she’ll show up eventually.”

Was Jake gonna wait? Of course not. He found his skimwing and immediately went diving in the reef, looking amongst the other metkayina for you. The longer he searched the more panicked he became. The last thing he wanted to do was look beyond the reef, because only Eywa knew what could've gotten ahold of you out there.

On the other side of the reef, Tonowari was diving and asking his clan members if they’d seen you. He became increasingly angry with each “No, I haven't seen Y/n.”

Tonowari was usually level headed, but knowing you were gone with no clue where you went made his mind run wild. He loved you so, almost to the point of obsession, and your absence made his nerves grow hot. He looked, and looked until the eclipse got closer.

The sky grew dark, and he finally met up with Jake in the middle of the reef, panting. “I can’t find her. No one has seen her Jake!”

“I couldn't find a trace of her, I even went beyond the reef.” Jake responded.

Just as he went silent, the static on his earpiece went off. “Can-hear-Corporal?” He managed to hear bits and pieces of the voice from the other side.

“Corporal.” He muttered. There was only one person who called him that.

Quaritch.

“Gather the best warriors and meet me at the edge of the reef, now!” Jake yelled at his best friend and went towards the reef border, where the signal became clearer. “Corporal, if you can hear me, know that I have something you want.” Quaritch said on the earpiece. In the background he heard a very faint moaning noise, very, very quiet.

“DAMN!” Jake slapped the waterbed, and the skimwing screeched, feeling the rage of it’s rider.”

---

Quaritch had a tight grip on your braid. Even though you were already bound up, he still took pride in torturing you. He yanked your braid every once in a while, and held a knife to your throat when you wouldn't quiet down. You were still dazed from him knocking you out with a rock earlier. Your throat was scratchy, and your cheeks were wet with tears. “Please Eywa please.” You muttered. “Tono- Ja- AH!” You cried out as Quaritch yanked your head back again.

“Eywa, won't save you!”

“Please! Please let me go, I'll give you anything you want.”

“No, I'll get what I want, peaches. Your husband, Jake.Sully.” He said with venom. “He won't leave his wife and baby to die will he?”

“If you hurt us they will kill you!” You snapped back.

Quaritch turned you to face him and placed a harsh slap across your cheek. You cried out as he raised his hand again, but a gunshot stopped the slap from landing again. The two of you looked to see Jake and Tonowari approaching, with a large group a metkayina warriors. You began tugging at your restraints, crying in relief seeing your two lovers again.

Jake used the scope of his gun to search for you. He quickly spotted you, and frowned seeing you jerk against the boat railing. “Mawey.” He whispered. “Mawey.” As if he was in your ear, you stopped tugging, and looked at him expectantly.

“He has her.”

Tonowari let out a loud yell, hissing and gripping his spear tight. “Let me see.” He reached out for the gun Jake had. He spotted you, seeing a blood trail stemming from your head, and the bruised cheek which was starting to swell. Tonowari slammed the gun back into Jake’s chest, hissing and snarling. “He must die!”

“Tonowari, this may be a trap we have to-”

“He will die.” He repeated. Jake noticed the darkness in Tonowari’s expression. He would have to move fast if he didn’t want Tonowari putting you in possible danger.

“Sully.” Quaritch snarled into the earpiece. “You for her. No funny business. We have you surrounded.”

Seven more boats began speeding towards Jake and the rest of the Metkayina, surrounding them. You looked, and saw one avatar, and about 4 humans on each boat. This should be light work for the two of them, right?

“Let's not waste any more time than we have to.” Quaritch taunted.

Jake and Tonowari sat in place, deliberating their options. Jake could sacrifice himself, if that meant you would come out safe, but there was no way you or Tonowari would allow that. Jake could attack the ships, but you were held at gunpoint, no way he would make it to you before the trigger was pulled.

Quaritch suddenly raised his hand and smacked you again, making sure you cried out loud enough for the two warriors to hear. Tonowari snapped his head towards Jake and began yelling. “Jake you have 5 seconds to make a decision or I swear to Eywa nobody is getting out of this alive!”

Jake furrowed his eyebrows, finally giving in to his partner's rage. “I'll go alone. Retreat to the reef.”

“Retreat?!”

“Re.Treat.” Jake said, slower, bowing his head slightly. This time, Tonowari caught the hint.

“Hyah!” He hooted out, the Metkayina warriors started turning around and disappearing into the water. Jake pulled his gun aside, and slowly began approaching the boat, seeing the damage on your face more clearly now.

“No. Jake.” You said breathlessly as he came to the edge of the boat He climbed on, coming face to face with Quaritch. “Jake.” You looked at him with watery eyes. Your breathing became unstable as you realized what was gonna happen next.

“No..No take me! Don’t you want him to suffer? Take me instead!”

Jake looked at you and hissed, shutting you up immediately.

Quartich paid no attention to your begging, but took out another restraining strap. “Let her go.” Jake said, slapping one end of the restraint on his wrist. Quaritch seemed satisfied, finally taking out his knife and cutting one side of the restraint off. Jake winced, but managed to clasp the other restraint on his other wrist, resulting in you being cut free.

“Now that wasn’t so hard wasn’t it?”

You stood, looking between Jake and Quaritch. Jake nodded towards the skimwing, telling you to scram, with his eyes. You shook your head, refusing to leave him. Jake kept averting his eyes to the skimwing, but you being stubborn as you were didn’t catch on. You slowly began backing up to the edge of the boat, hitting the railing.

Suddenly Jake swung, hitting Quaritch in the jaw.

Everything happened so fast.

Guns began blazing. Metkayina warriors shot out the water piercing humans with their spears. Jake jumped onto the boat railing, into the water; and Tonowari shot out the water and grabbed you, pulling you right back into the ocean with him.

This happened all at the same time.

You held on to Tonowari tightly as the current in the water almost managed to throw you off the side of his skimwing. The two of you began to move upward again, breaking the water barrier. You watched as Tonowari yelled with pure rage, lifting his spear and impaling an avatar with one swift movement. The two of you dove back into the sea, the water current pushing the half dead avatar further on Tonowari’s spear.

The skimwing slowed down, ultimately rising and stopping on the ocean bed. The boats that now surrounded you were on fire, sinking, with arrow-struck corpses piled on top. The avatar stuck on Tonowaris spear began gasping, spitting up blood and looking at the two of you with pure fear in his eyes.

Tonowari tilted his head, watching the avatar convulse on the spear. “Tonowari?” You called out, but he was gone, his eyes seemed soulless. You held onto the side of the skimwing, floating in the water, watching Tonowari slowly push out his spear and angle it towards the mouth of his skimwing. “T-”

In an instant, the skimwing twisted its head and opened its mouth, chomping down, and completely decapitating the avatar. You watched the corpse of the avatar slide off of the spear, and into the water.

Tonowari had never, never shown this side of himself before. You didn't even think he was capable of doing something like this. You discreetly wrapped your hand around, grabbing his braid. You wanted to know how angry he was, to feel his rage. Maybe even to have him feel your fear, so he can snap out of this. You connected your braid to his, and a jolt of heat ran though your body.

You gasped, feeling the intensity of his rage. It mixed with the adrenaline running through your body, becoming too much, before you fell unconscious.

---

Eyes fluttering open, you saw Tonowari, softly dabbing a rag all over your face. You looked down and saw your legs and torso were wrapped in large, damp leaves. Your eyes trailed to the side, where your braid was connected to Tonowari’s. His face was molded in a deep frown, and only now did you notice the underlying feeling of sadness.

“Wari.” You reached for his hand. “Why-”

“I needed to feel your pain.” He curtly said, almost embarrassed.

“You didn’t have to-”

“I did!” He hissed. “I should have protected you. The baby.”

You gasped, forgetting that with tsaheylu, he felt everything. Jake entered the pod with more medical supplies, sighing in relief once he saw you awake and alert. “Thank Eywa. Y/n…” He scrambled to sit next to you, taking your other hand. The three of you sat in silence. Uncomfortable silence.

“I was gonna tell you guys.” You broke the silence. “I was gonna make a nice dinner and present you with the beads I made. But he pinned me down and knocked me out.” Tears began to slip from your eyes. “I didn’t mean to cause all of this.”

“Hey, this is my fault, I should've known Quaritch would come back.” Jake sighed.

“I'm sorry you had to find out from him.” You said sourly, placing your hand on your stomach.

“I knew before he got you.” Tonowari admitted. nodded, confirming he knew as well. “How did-”

“When we cuddled that one night, and did tsaheylu, I felt something different. Like a tickle in the stomach.” He explained. “But I kept…bonding with you after you fell asleep, just out of curiosity.” Tonowari finally began smiling, tears welling in his eyes. “Then I felt it. I felt our child.”

You smiled and squeezed their hands. The two exchanged a look, and you felt the room fill with tension again.

“We killed Quaritch.” Jake blurted.

You widened your eyes and looked at Tonowari. He shamefully looked away

“He was too big of a threat, we made sure that if he did manage to survive us, he would drown in the deepest part of the sea.” Jake said.

“Ma Wari, Jake. Why are you sad?”

Their expressions changed, looking at each other confused. “You saved my life, you saved the reef. Why are you upset?”

“I scared you, Y/n.” Tonowari said sternly. “I saw you pass out- I felt your fear…I didn't want you to forever remember me in that way. I don’t want my Tsahik to be afraid of me.”

You scoffed, and ran your hand down your face. “Ma Wari. I was afraid your rage would consume you. I know you would never hurt me. Knowing you would…kill for me makes me feel…”

Tonowari searched your eyes as you hummed trying to find the perfect way to say

“Loved.”

#tonowari x reader #jake sully x reader #Jake Sully #tonowari #avatar2 #atwow #avatar fanfiction #avatar way of water #avatar the way of water #persefolli #persefolliwrites

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aonungslvr · 3 months

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he’s…what? II

pairing ; jealous! ao'nung x f!sully! reader

taggings ; 🪽⭐️

summary; you bring ao'nung back to the forest you grew up in, but he's not exactly getting the hang of things.

notes; this was a request but i lost it.. (you know who you are) i literally kicked my feet and giggled when i saw it. in response, of course you can have a part two! hope this is up to par with what you wanted <3

3k words - part one

after you had finally been reunited with your best friend of many years, you two spent a lot of time together. much to ao‘nungs dismay.

you and txäol had daily ikran rides, went hunting, attended clan gatherings, and explored the forest together. you two had done these things for countless years when you had been younger. however, a more than jealous metkayina had began tagging along from afar.

the point that txäol wasn’t interested in you had finally gotten across his mind, but he still didn’t like the fact you had spent all of your time with this boy when you could be hanging out with him.

he was new to the forest and had no clue what he was doing. he tripped over everything, ran from everything, and got mad at everything. all he wanted was his sweet mate to show him around and spend time with him. instead of him, you spent time with your best friend.

ao’nung understood why you were spending time with him, he had been there for you way longer than teal na’vi himself had. but that didn’t mean it made him any less upset.

he would randomly appear at your side, tugging on your arm or tail to ask you to go do something with him instead. you tried to dismiss him and get him to hang out with txäol but he always shut down the idea. that was until you had had enough of him messing around.

you had brought the metkayina and omatikaya boys together in a small area within the forest and began ordering them around.

“i don’t want to hear from either of you until you get it together, get along, and become friends someway, anyway!”

txäol didn’t mind getting to know your mate, in fact he wanted to! but to ao’nung, this was a punch in the gut. get along? with your boy best friend you spend every second with? he’d rather fend off an akula by himself.

for you, he stayed. he stayed standing in the same space after you left, not attempting to make any moves towards talking with txäol. eventually, he had thought of one thing he’d like to say.

“you need to-“

“if you ever raise a finger towards her or even speak to loud, so help me eywa, i will skin you like the fish you are.”

wow.

ao’nung backed up after that.

txäol was dead serious.

they didn’t end up bonding that day.

. . .

“(y/n) why don’t you come back with me to the reef! there’s too many trees here- it’s so hot! and those viperwolf things are terrifying! come on- you like the ocean!”

clearly, your mate wasn’t adapting like you had. it finally clicked in your brain that you and your family had been mentored by the natives of the reef, ao’nung was the only metkayina here and you weren’t teaching him anything.

that had to change.

you started by simply introducing the sea na’vi to the forest. you would tell ao’nung about different plants and animals that surrounded your childhood home and help him become more accustomed to them.

it started by simply showing him random vegetation such as loreyu, and telling him he needed to feel the forest inside of him just as he felt the ocean. eventually you moved forward, introducing him to a kxaylkxa. they were pretty docile animals and your mate didn’t seem to mind them, aside from the comments about how stupid they looked.

“this is seriously an animal-? this thing isn’t just fake-?” ao’nung commented as he tapped the animals head.

“be nice! she is beautiful, you are just mean.”

“come on (y/n) where are the cool animals-! these things just walk around all day, where’s the interesting th- HOLY SHIT.”

your mother was once named palulukan makto, given she rode a palulukan during one of the earlier battles against humans, before you were born. unfortunately, this creature died, but she left behind a baby of her own, who had now grown to adulthood with a keen liking to the sully’s.

“oh him-? he’s just a big baby.” you replied as you gave the palulukan a few pats to the head.

your mate wasn’t moving. either he was too scared to move and startle the, what he would call, beast, or he physically could not.

eventually, the palulukan went on his way, leaving two na’vi behind, one absolutely terrified and one rethinking her choice of bringing her scaredy cat mate home with her.

“(y/n)- i’m seriously starting to think the forest just isn’t for me. eywa knows i was meant to be in the sea for as long as i live.”

“oh come on- don’t talk like that! you’ll get used to it!”

“i seriously doubt it?? i mean- like look at these! stupid floaty things!” he said as he swatted away some sort of white jellyfish looking things.

“wel- ao’nung! no, no, no, kehe! stop that!”

you grabbed his hands and held them down at his sides, preventing him from hitting anymore as you admired the scene you saw before you.

“okay what’s ha-“

“atokirina!”

you watched as the seeds slowly surrounded ao’nung even though he looked like he was one touch away from throwing a fit. you recalled this scene from somewhere in your memories.

your mother told stories, stories of her and your father. when your dad had arrived from the sky people he was about to be killed by your mother before he was surrounded in atokirina, a sign from eywa.

“eywa speaks!” you yipped.

after getting your mate used to the forest and all it has to offer, it was time you started actually training him. he had been around for a few weeks and still couldn’t climb a tree.

given his body physically isn’t built to climb, you took it easy on him for a while, but if you could learn how to swim, he could learn how to climb.

it took hours out of your days but you still helped him learn. ewya knows no one else would’ve done it. besides, you did love him after all.

you had climbed up a pretty easy to climb tree and got to the midpoint within a few seconds before you paused and looked down, waiting for ao’nung to follow.

“come on! just put your feet on a branch and go up!”

“what..”

you weren’t the best teacher. it seemed like such common sense to you, you couldn’t fathom that a na’vi wouldn’t actually be able to climb. you hopped down from your spot perched on a branch and placed your hands on your mate to guide him along.

“like this- you place your first foot here, the the second higher.”

navi were only blue right? yeah well this one was red.

after doing your best to adapt him to climbing (he climbed up and down a tree in only 2 hours 26 minutes), you switched gears to hunting!

you stood behind ao’nung adjusting his arms ever so carefully as he held a bow and arrow in his four fingered hands.

“close your left eye, focus on your target.”

after you were happy with the position of his hands and arms you let go and instructed him to release. it wasn’t even a full second after he fired that you yipped and ducked while pulling the metkayina down with you as the arrow ricocheted the target and came launching back at you two.

“oops..”

so maybe hunting wasn’t his strong suit, next down on the list was bonding with a pa’li. they weren’t hostile animals and should be pretty easy to make tsaheylu with! ao’nung had bonded with an ilu so what was really the difference?

“ok, now gently mount him. slowly.”

you assisted him a tad and got him on the back of the horse-like animal, before instructing him on how to make tsaheylu without getting thrown off like your father first had when he learned your people’s way.

“when you bond, hold on to his neck tightly, but don’t choke him. he’ll want to run and you must stay on his back. just like an ilu!”

the clarification of it being as easy as ilu taming gave ao‘nung little comfort. the metkayina tame their companions as babies, and the bonds aren’t as strict as forest animals.

“just like an ilu..yeah..”

you held the pa’lis kuru steady as ao’nung brought his own down and the nerves intertwined. the animals pupils dilated and he quickly took off, pushing you behind. you tripped on a tree root sticking out but you were okay.

your mate, only seeing you fall to the ground after the animal he was riding kicked into you, was set off and his focus was instantly switched from the pa’li to you. he turned his body around to look at you and in turn fell off the back of his current lesson.

“(y/n)!”

“ao’nung you skxwang! you had it-!”

he got up and jogged to your side, helping you up as his pa’li ran around in circles before coming back and huffing.

“was worried about you- can you blame me?”

you slapped the back of his neck and yipped for the animal to calm down.

“i was fine. it’s just a little dirt. let’s try that again, yeah?”

after a few times (a lot of times) trying to keep ao’nung from falling off the pa’li he was finally able to ride the horse around in a small part of the forest.

over the next few weeks, you had one on one lessons with him teaching him all the things he needed to know to be successful in the forest. plants he needed to stay away from, herbs with medicinal properties, animals he probably shouldn’t approach, how to properly fire an arrow, climbing, and some traditional omatikayan weaving.

as much as he sucked in the beginning, he was a quick learner and managed to adapt in around the time it took you and your siblings too when you entered the sea.

if not now, it was never.

“ao’nung! time for you to get your ikran- come on!”

the majority of his training was all for this small purpose, tame an ikran and try not to die. naturally you hid this fact from him, given he wouldn’t even step a foot next to your ikran. however, whether he liked it or not, if he was going to learn your ways he had to complete this part of the forests rite of passage.

“yeah uh- what?”

“your ikran! your ready, come with me and i’ll take you to the mountains!”

“(y/n), my mate, my lover, my everything, respectfully, fuck no.”

“you’re going ao’nung te lepay tonowari’itan.”

“oh.”

after dragging a whining teen na’vi up the hallelujah mountains into ikran ridden territory, he looked like he was ready!

“see, they aren’t that bad! and taming them doesn’t even kill a lot of na’vi”

“well that sounds go- NA’VI DIE HERE??”

“well yeah obviously, it’s a rite of passage for a reason.”

“eywa please help me.”

“alright! let’s do this!”

you were putting on a cheerful facade to try and make ao’nung more comfortable but you obviously knew the risks. your brother lo’ak had broken a leg when he had first tried taming his ikran, and some na’vi had met worst fates.

you handed your mate a saddle meant for ikran as well as some rope. it’s easier to tame one once your tie their mouth shut, slide on the saddle, mount, and bond. you had explained how some of this worked before when you told the story of when you first got your own ikran, seyä, who was watching from afar.

“when he chooses you, tie his mouth shut with this as you put on the saddle.”

“chooses me?”

“when an ikran locks eyes with you and screeches, it means he has chosen you.”

“yeah, chosen me to kill.”

you slapped the back of his neck before continuing.

“technically yes- but stop with all that! you are ready and you will do just fine. na’vi younger than you do this all the time.”

ao’nung sighed and looked as if he had accepted his death. he held onto the rope you gave him and entered the open area where all the ikran could clearly see him. the animals cocked their heads at him and were probably confused seeing a metkayina here.

one certain ikran, a teal male with some darker blue stripes, took an interest in him and grunted, before releasing a hellish scream. off on the side, you giggled at the ikran that had chosen him, they had the same coloring!

“alright than…you and me.”

ao’nung lunged first, aiming for the ikrans jaw to latch it shut. the animal played defense and offense at the same time and launched the na’vi back on the rocks using his nose. ao’nung got up and was clearly not happy. he had a cut on his elbow he quickly examined before turning and hissing at the monster.

you observed from the side and debated with yourself. if he couldn’t pull it off should you save him? na’vi are supposed to be left alone during this process. when your brother had gotten injured during his ikran taming your father didn’t even want him going back, which caused an argument with your mother. ‘this is our way’ is what she would say. sure it’s your way, but your way is also love and protection. what kind of mate would you be if you sat here and watched your partner die?

you didn’t have any more time to ponder on the thought because ao’nung fought back and had wrapped the rope around the throat of the ikran, sliding it up its neck to get to the mouth. he was tossed around by the flailing of the animals neck, but he held on and slipped the rope around its jaws, tying it off. the creature could no longer nip or bite, leaving its offense limited. the metkayina slid the saddle on and jumped on the back of the ikran as it shook and flapped its wings to kick him off. as ao’nung finally grabbed its kuru, the beast ran towards the edge of the floating mountains and dived off.

“ao’nung!”

you ran to the edge and looked down to try and find where they were, praying you didn’t see the ikran come back up alone.

“oh my eywa, oh my eywa, i killed my mate- i killed him-!”

just as you were about to call your own ikran over and dive down looking for him while planning your own funeral in your head, the teal ikran shot back up, this time, with a na’vi of the same color on its back.

“(y/n)! i did it-!”

“oh my e- thank you great mother- get down here! now!”

ao’nung tried his best to steer his new ikran back towards the mountains and eventually made it, being greeted with the most breathe-sucking hug from you.

“your hurt- come! we have to go to the tsahík.”

“wha- tsahík-? i don’t know- i think i’m fi-“

“now!”

your mate didn’t have the best ideas about meeting another clans tsahík given how his own mother reacted to the sully’s appearing on her beaches.

what he really wasn’t prepared for, was that tsahík being your grandmother.

mo’at spread healing pastes around the wound and wrapped a large leaf around the bend of ao’nungs elbow, almost creating some sort of cast, and sent him on his way.

“you’ll be fine boy, just don’t bend your elbow to much.”

“thank you mormor!”

“yeah, th- MORMOR?? SHES YOUR GRANDMOTHER?”

“yes? i forgot to mention? my mistake!”

the metkayina turned pink and turned to the tsahík, your grandmother, before thanking her profusely and apologizing if he was rude in any way.

you giggled but contained it to yourself. you knew you didn’t tell him, but it made for a funny interaction.

“yes yes, all is well, just go. out of the tent.”

“YES MA’AM.”

“and (y/n)? i hope to see you at the clan gathering tonight.”

ao’nung could’ve broken his other elbow by how fast he made his way out of the healing tent. he waited as far as he could until you came out before rushing over to you and blaming you for not warning him.

“(y/nnnn)!! you didn’t tell me! that was so embarrassing- she probably hates me now!”

“your so dramatic!”

later that day the teen na’vi was caught on his ikran trying to get him to fly back to the reef. (his ikran refused.)

later that night, your clan had a festival. the welcoming back of the former olo'eyktan and toruk makto, 3 tskarems, and the entire sully family, as well as a farewell to the humans.

during all your time home, you had been teaching ao’nung the way of the hunt, and how to succeed in the clan, but not your cultural values.

the omatikayans dance, songs, weaving, and food was all new to him, and he was quickly exposed to it as you brought him to the celebration.

everything was different than how things happened at the reef, but it wasn’t a bad kind of different.

ao’nung watched as you danced with your friends, txäol included, and you smiled, laughed, and sung along to whatever cultural song the singers had chosen to sing that night.

you were happy with the metkayina but it was nothing like this, being reunited with your childhood friends and the rest of your people.

ao’nung, as your mate, picked up on this. he saw your emotions and there was a chance he even felt them himself.

this was your home, and maybe it could be his too.

#avatar #avatar the way of water #avatar fanfiction #ao’nung #avatar x you #ao’nung x female reader #ao’nung x you #ao’nung x sully!reader #aonung x reader

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intuitive-divinations · 1 year

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Hello loves ♥️! In today’s reading we’re going to be learning about your shadow side 🧛‍♀️ . Specifically, I will explore the undeveloped and evolved aspects of your shadow 👀. Take a few breaths and use your intuition to pick a gif 😼!

P.S ~ I’m also going to be including keywords for both sides of your shadow. Use those keywords to gauge when you’re acting in the undeveloped or developed aspects of your shadow!

♦️Pick ~ A ~ Gif♦️

Pile 1

undeveloped

The undeveloped side of your shadow is full of provocations. When triggered you tend to provoke others whether it’s to get them angry or to do something negative. You still somehow manage to justify your actions even when the consequences are bad. This side of you is very susceptible to toxic relationships. Have relationships that don’t trigger you. Your words are like spells. You have the ability to bring your words alive. You could literally “wish evil” on someone and it would happen. Be very careful with your intentions behind your words because they are likely to manifest. Your undeveloped side could also be misunderstood and often miscommunicate.

Key words for this would be: manipulative, persuasive, cunning

evolved

The developed side of your shadow is quite beautiful! You have the ability to inspire action within others. It’s as if you can tap into others energy and know exactly how to create with them or guide them. I’m hearing part of this comes from you being a very deep listener. You might be clairaudient or telepathic. Nurturing your shadow could even open job opportunities to you such as motivational speaking, public speaking, mentorship, teacher, etc. You naturally have a very lovely voice. That’s a strength of your developed shadow side. It’s almost hypnotic in the way it catches the attention of whoever you’re talking to. People actually want to hear what you have to say but you have to the right intentions behind it!

Key words for this side would be: collaboration, co-creation, inspiring

Confirmations: 333, 111, orange/red stuffed animal, Scorpio/Capricorn/Aquarius placements, telepathy, precognition, esp, sirens/mermaids, alarms 🚨 ⏰ , sleep paralysis, gut feelings, heightened intuition, stress balls, fidget toys

Pile 2

undeveloped

Your undeveloped shadow is full of emotional turmoil. You may experience emotional manipulation while your shadow is undeveloped. Others control your emotions. It’s easy for your whole mood to be ruined with one bad interaction with a person. You’re emotions are also very intense. You might get so overwhelmed by them that you prefer to not acknowledge them, which leads to your detriment. I’m sensing you could also have social anxiety. Or you could just prefer to not be social for long periods of time. Prolonged exposure to others probably destabilizes your emotions. You could also be an empath!!!! You have great potential when it comes to connecting to earth and nature. Not only do you feel deeply you feel others deeply as well!

Key words for this side would be: temperamental, impassioned, fervent

evolved

It’s proven that pets/animals regulate human emotions. So if you’ve been thinking about getting a pet, this is your confirmation to do so! Right now is the time for you start being self aware of your emotions and reactions. Take some time to start mastering your emotions. If you’re prone to bottling up emotions, you’re being called to FEEL and acknowledge your emotions completely! This will be very healing for you. I definitely sense you have animal spirit guides. Here’s a few I’m picking up on: lion, sloth, rooster, gazelle, deer, eagle, fox, snail, fish, bunny, wolf, worm. You also could have angel guides. They want to offer you perspective and guidance throughout your journey. They can teach you how to look at the bigger picture.

Key words for this side would be: Empath, Clairsentient, Claircognizant

Confirmations: Earth/Water placements, 222, butterflies, seeing hearts, art, pet animals, dancing, nature, picnic, laying on grass, Greek mythology, kung fu panda, letter X, cloud-gazing

Pile 3

undeveloped

Your undeveloped shadow is afraid of being perceived. You might try to blend in with society in a way that also represses your true self. This side of you is afraid of being outcasted and ostracized. Ironically, you find the most comfort in those who are considered odd, different, unusual of have been shunned by society. It’s like you connect with them on a deeper level. You could’ve even been bullied when you were younger for being different than your peers. Or maybe you had friend groups that always seemed to exclude you. When you are deep in the negative aspects of your shadow you criticize others relentlessly. You might even tell self deprecating jokes about yourself.

Key words for this side would be: cynical, hypercritical, misanthropic

evolved

Your developed shadow understands how important it is to stand in your own energy, reclaim yourself and show it to the world! For example, you may dress a way that is completely opposite of how you feel / want to express. And wish you could just dress how you really want. Or you could have very alternative beliefs such as occultism, paganism, satanism, atheism, etc that you practice in secret. You have the power to transform into your authentic self and also be confident in who you are. Be who you are and you will attract people who accept and embrace you like “moths to a flame”. You have a lot of potential to become a leader in the field of your “alternative” interest whatever that may be. I’m seeing that you’re going to meet your soul tribe/family while you develop your shadow!

Key words for this side would be: unfazed, self-assured, eccentric

Confirmations: Antennae’s, satellite’s, slipping on something and falling, moths, light bulbs, hot/humid weather, Virgo/Aquarius placements, flood, soul-ties, hummingbirds, tambourines, peonies, hula hoops

Thanks so much 😽!!

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ghost-runner · 1 year

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“Useless” and “Troubled” until the End: Pt. 4

Sully Family x “Useless” Fourth Child Male Reader

Summary: Y/N and his family need to learn the ways of water from the children of the Metkayina clan leader. After a confrontation leading to a fight between Y/N and the leader’s son, Ao’nung, Y/N and Lo’ak were left behind at a predator’s den by Ao’nung. Y/N lost sight of Lo’ak and being on his own. Y/N manages to make a new friend, however. Once back at the island home, Y/N follows Tsireya and Kiri to the Spirit Tree where things goes wrong for both Kiri and her brother. Upon awaking from his seizure, Y/N then learned that his siblings and their new friends went out to get Lo’ak after he went to warn his new friend. Quaritch makes a final stand against the Sully family by taking some of the children hostage and their new allies help them only for things to go wrong for Y/N on board the SeaDragon ship.

Warning: Blood, violence, abandonment, small bouts of animal cruelty, injuries, family arguments, abduction, and more…..

Note: I’m going to try to do the Na’vi language if I can. I apologize if I end up not putting anything in. I will also be using sign language in this part as it’s the main way that I’ll have them communicate underwater. Any time someone is speaking in sign language, there speaking part will have “” around it. Also, I’m doing something with Y/N at the Spirit Tree because I thought it’d be interesting for an idea.

— the next day from Pt. 3 left off —

— Y/N POV

I woke up the next day with an actually feeling good after a good night’s sleep. I tried getting up only to feel weight around my body and looked around to see Kiri and Tuk were hugging me as I slept. I smiled at this as I carefully moved their hands from around me while I got up from their grip. After getting free from the hugging sandwich of my sisters, I looked outside to see it was still dark out with it still being Eclipse so I figured I’d go out early to get some practice in. If I do end up getting into trouble for this, I honestly am all out of fucks to give about any sort of punishment I get from my old man. I roll my left shoulder before I start to take off the leaf bandage wrap so I don’t ruin the bandages with the water. I took a look at the hole in my shoulder before I thank Eywa that the bullet didn’t hit any bone and that the wound is healing nicely. I take my pistol out of the holster and take of the holster from around my leg before hiding them in the marui. I then grab my knife and sheathe it before I set out of our marui towards the beach shore. I thought I saw movement out of the quarter of my eye, but I write it off as nothing as I head down into the water before I’m swimming in the deep water of the ocean. I look back as I’m a few dozen meters away from the shore to see someone heading into the water as if to follow me, but I figure it’s someone getting an early start like me. I breathe in before I dive below the surface while grabbing my knife and getting it ready for whatever I might encounter. As I dive under the surface, I see the beauty of the sea with all sorts of different creatures and plants under the surface of the sea from a first glance. I use my knife and quickly kill two dinicthoid fish that I saw approach me with a swift thrust of my blade into the heads of both. I sheathe my blade before grabbing both of the carnivorous fish I just killed and bring them back to shore so I can gut them. Once I was back at the shore, I started away at cutting open the fish and taking out any remnants of the guts so it will be safe to eat. Once the two fish are ready, I wrap them up in an extra net I found lying around as I hoisted the wrapped fish over my right shoulder and bring the fish over to a small area I saw had some stones, kindling, and sticks/branches around the area that was just outside of my family’s marui to where I could be seen outside of it.

Once at the small area I saw earlier, I started making a small fire-pit using the stones, kindling, and branches that were here. I first dug a small hole before I started with putting the stones into a small circle around the hole and then tossing the sticks and kindlings down into the hole I made before I used a lighter I took from a Sky-people base when scavenging one day to light one stick on fire before I tossed it into the hole with the rest of the kindling and branches. I smiled at the efforts I made paid off with a fire that was now going strong and bright. I started to cut off pieces of meat and bone from the dinicthoids I killed before I started to cook the pieces over the fire when I heard footsteps coming my way, as if I could really care who it is that is awake at this time as well, they can do as they please as long as it doesn’t bother me. However, the footsteps only drew closer to where I was with my fire pit.

(This is what I had in mind for the fire pit during the early parts of a day.)

I continue on cooking the meat as I let my mind wonder while slightly glancing towards the the sea, seeing the sun slowly begin to rise across the horizon. I soon finished cooking the fish and began prepping it with some seasonings I quickly snatched from inside the marui. I left the cooked fish near the fire pit on some seashell plates I ended up finding in our marui and climbed up a tree that had some Yovo fruit at the top that was a few meters away. I plucked about 7 full fruit off the tree, but I ended up losing my grip from the tree and I fell a good 14 feet onto my back. I got up and dusted myself off from my fall before I took the Yovo fruit back to the fire pit where I saw a girl from the Metkayina clan was sitting around the fire. I dropped the Yovo fruit into a basket I scavenged from the sea which startled the Metkayina Na’vi girl that was near the fire. The girl looks to be about two years older than me and she turned around only to see me with my fucked up body covered in wounds to which she winces at, probably wondering how I’m not in much pain as well as what the hell did I do. She composed herself very quickly and began to talk with me as I sat down.

???: Sorry. I didn’t realize that someone else was here.

Y/N: Don’t worry about it. If you don’t mind me asking, I don’t think I got your name.

???: Oh, where are my manners? I’m Tsireya, but you can call me Reya. I’m the chief’s daughter and the future Tsahìk of the Metkayina clan.

Y/N: Nice to meet you, Tsireya, I’m Y/N, the useless kid of my family.

Tsireya: Why would you say that about yourself when you already proven that you have what it takes to keep up with the clan?

Y/N: Was that you who I saw that was spying on me when I first killed these fish?

Tsireya gave me a sheepish look.

Tsireya: You caught me redhanded. I was going for a walk during Eclipse and I happen to see you wading to deeper water. I was curious as to why you were diving on your own when you haven’t even practiced with us yet. Might I add, you’re already a pro at the diving and breathing.

Y/N: I appreciate the compliment on my skills. I guess that it comes with the territory of having to teach myself when the rest of my family is too busy, never notice, or plainly doesn’t care enough to try to teach me the ways of my people.

Tsireya: That’s awful. Nobody should have to go through that.

Y/N: I’m used to it…I mean what else am I supposed to do when my parents only seem to care when I disobey them, get injured, or cause trouble?

Tsireya: You have had it rough.

I start cutting up the Yovo fruit into small pieces.

Y/N: Yeah, no shit. Sorry about that, I’m just super used to swearing a lot since I’ve used it as a way of letting frustration out.

Tsireya: Its quite alright. I understand that it must be hard.

I sigh, knowing that she has no idea what I been through. I then see Tsireya eye my bullet wound in my shoulder with curiosity.

Tsireya: May I ask you something?

Y/N: Go right ahead.

Tsireya: I saw that you have many bruises and cuts all over your body, however, what has caught my attention the most was the wound in your shoulder. May I ask as to what happened?

Y/N: It’s a long story that I really don’t want to get into because it was all over the place and just overall crappy.

Tsireya: I understand completely, Y/N.

Y/N: I appreciate that.

Tsireya: Well, I got to get back home before my brother decides to rat on me to father. It was nice meeting you, Y/N.

Y/N: The same goes to you, Reya. I’ll see you later for when my siblings and I have to come practice.

Tsireya got up and started making her way back to her family’s marui. She waved to me and I wave back to her before I finished cutting the fruit up. I put the many fruit pieces onto the plates and bring them over to a small table where there were some seats set up around it before I set the plates down onto said table. I turned back around and went back to the fire, smiling as I then look out to the sea as the sun finally fully rises. I sat down near the fire and slowly began to eat some fish I left for myself. After I finished, I got up when I went past the fire and went to the sea where I laid back before I started to let myself float in the water. I closed my eyes with a great feeling of contentment and once again felt the presence of people watching me, but I just ignore it and let myself continue to float, letting all my worries wash away as I relax.

— 3RD PERSON POV

We can currently see Jake from the Sully family start to stir awake from the night of slumber, once again met to the smell of food. Jake was the first one up and looked around the marui to see his family, smiling at seeing everyone sleeping, but he noticed something odd. He saw that Tuk and Kiri were sleeping off in a corner where he knew they were not there when they all went to sleep. He shakes off the weird feeling and gets up without waking anyone else up before when he saw that Y/N’s bloody bandage wrap from his shoulder was sitting in a clump on the floor near where the girls were at. He got a little worried before he headed outside to see what the smell was only to see it was the cooked fish and fruit that Y/N prepared as well as seeing the fire that was still going bright. He turned to the sea to see his son floating there alone, he sighed and went to his son before grabbing Y/N’s arm and pulling him to the shore. Y/N ended up startled at the grasp on his arm while being pulled and quickly opened his eyes to see his dad staring at him with a stern look.

Y/N: Aw shit……

Jake: Y/N….You got anything to say?

Y/N pulls his arm away from his dad.

Y/N: You already know.

Jake: Y/N. While I’m happy that you decided to get an early start, you need to be careful.

Y/N: Dad, don’t try showing that you care now. I know that you only see me as a failure.

Jake: Y/N. That’s not true.

Y/N glared at his father as he waded back towards the fire pit.

Y/N: Oh fuck off with that shit! You said as much yourself, Dad! That’s what caused me to run away in the first place which is also the final straw for us needing to leave our home. I already know that my siblings most likely hate me for being the reason of it!

Jake: Y/N!! I didn’t mean that!!

Y/N reached the shore and after reaching the firepit, he turned to his father.

Y/N: Oh, really?! Knowing you, I know you just think that I’m going to end up screwing something up and get us kicked out of this place.

Jake: Y/N! That is not true!

Y/N Bulls—

???: That’s quite enough!! Both of you, CUT IT OUT NOW!!

The father and son stopped fighting and turned to see a tired and pissed off Neytiri walking towards the two of them looking pissed.

Neytiri: The two of you are shouting loud enough for almost all of Pandora to hear! I don’t want the rest of the family waking up to the sound of you two arguing.

Y/N: Sorry…

Y/N looks down sadly as he quietly turned away and walked back towards the fire pit where he sat down very close to it. He threw in some more kindling and sticks to keep the dying flames burning, bringing said flames back to life. His parents silently watch their son with Jake having a face of determination for find a way way to make it up to his son for how he failed him and Neytiri looked at her son with regret and worry about his mental state and just wishes she could hug him and take him away from the cruel reality that life can be sometimes which she knows her son has already experienced. Meanwhile, his siblings had watched the whole ordeal in silence with worry for their brother and wondered how he could think that they would blame him for them having to leave their home. Y/N got up from where he was sitting by the fire and quietly walked into the marui, pushing past his siblings and grabbed his bandage wrap before he rewrapped his shoulder before he turned to his family.

Y/N: Breakfast is ready, that’s the smell you were smelling. It’s fish and fruit, I already ate so I don’t care.

Y/N once again leaves the marui while pushing past his siblings to go to practice with the chief’s kids.

— 30 minutes later —

— Y/N POV

I was sharpening my knife using a stone I found when I saw my siblings and Tsireya along with her brother and his friend come to where I saw sitting on the sand as I sharpened my knife. I saw her brother and his friend, who I heard Tsireya say that her brother was Ao’nung and that his friend was Rotxo, give all of us glares while saying something I could not hear. I just sent a pissed off look towards at them as to say “Don’t piss me off, I’m already not in a good mood, assholes”. They give me a look back that says “go pound sand” and I just roll my eyes at them. I got up and went over to them to where Tsireya started to explain what would be happening.

Tsireya: Alright, so we’re going to be working on your diving and breathing today.

Neteyam: Alright, so what exactly will we be doing to practice.

Tsireya: Ao’nung, Rotxo, and I will be seeing how you do without any sort of practice to begin with and we will adapt from that here. Any other question? None? Okay, great!

Everyone starts wading to deeper water and I silently follow behind a few feet behind everyone as I sheather my knife and throw away the stone I was using for sharpening. Once we reach the deeper waters, we all dive beneath the surface before Neteyam, Kiri, Tuk, and Lo’ak are all surprised by the beauty of the ocean while I just swim down and shock everyone apart from Tsireya with how easily I’ve adapted to swimming and breathing beneath the surface. I nod to Tsireya as we all follow her, Ao’nung, and Rotxo, but I get detracted by the beauty of the sea as does Kiri and Tsireya comes over to where the two of us are and signs to us.

Tsireya: “Is everything okay?”

Kiri just looked at Tsireya in confusion while I responded in perfect sign language.

Y/N: “My sister and I were just just distracted by the beauty of the ocean life and plants.”

Tsireya: “Understandable. Come on, let’s continue practice.”

Y/N: “Lead the way.”

Kiri looked at me confused and surprised before she felt the need to breathe along with Neteyam, Tuk, and Lo’ak and the four swam towards the surface while I calmly breathed in and out while I was still under the surface. I saw Ao’nung signing to Rotxo that my siblings were terrible at this and Tsireya went over to him before punching him in the arm, signing to him to shut up. The Metkayina boys looked to me and I just raised an eyebrow towards the two as they looked at me in surprise that I’m actually competent. The four of us then swim to the surface as my siblings were watching me swimming and breathing like the Metkayina were able to.

Neteyam: Y/N, since when were you able to swim and breathe underwater like that?

Y/N: I’ve practiced.

Tsireya: You guys are doing great so far, however, we need to work on your breathing. Can I get your names?

Neyeam: I’m Neteyam.

Lo’ak: I’m Lo’ak.

Kiri: I’m Kiri.

Tuk: And I’m Tuk.

Y/N: You already know me, but I’m Y/N.

Tsireya: Good. I’ll work with Tuk, Ao’nung will work with Neteyam, and Rotxo will work with Lo’ak. Y/N, do you think you could work with Kiri?

Y/N: Yeah, I’ll help.

— 8 hours later —

It has been a few hours since we finished our practice with the chief’s son and daughter. Kiri and I were relaxing while we played in the water as we splashed each other and Kiri was also looking at the animals that were swimming along the shallow water. Lo’ak, Tuk, and Neteyam were laying back and relaxing on the beach when I saw the chief’s son, Ao’nung, approaching Lo’ak with three of his friends. I got suspicious at this and I told Kiri as much so we went back to the beach when we saw Ao’nung approach Kiri and me before he started harassing us.

Ao’nung: Why are you being so weird?

Kiri: W-what?

Ao’nung: You’re nothing, but a demon.

Kiri started to get a bit sacred of him so I got her behind me to put some room between the two and squeezed her hand when he then started insulting me.

Ao’nung: Looks like you need your pathetic little brother back you up. You’ll never be anything, you pathetic useless skxawng. You will always have demon blood in you.

I started to get tired of his shit so I warned him to back off.

Y/N: You better back of before you regret it.

Ao’nung: What are you going to do about it?

Y/N: Hey. I warned you, asshole. You see this? -I show him my hand- Yeah, it has five fingers, but take a look at what I can do.

I curl my hand into a fist and I punch him across the face. He recoils from this and then comes at me when I tackled him down to the ground. I held him down as I choked him slightly before I pulled my right hand back and punched him three times across the face. I felt my tail being pulled when I turned around to see Rotxo pullingy tail in an effort to pull me off his friend. I kicked him in the gut and got off of Ao’nung before I walked toward the boy I just kicked. I was then punched across the face by another one of their friends when Neteyam and Lo’ak jumped into fight after seeing me get punched. I was punched again by Ao’nung who the. pushed me to the ground. I took a chance and kicked his leg which knocked his leg out from under him and I then kicked him him the jaw. I kicked him two more times in the stomach and I punched him one more time across the face before I stop. I look over to see my brothers beating Rotxo and their friend and I shout to my brothers.

Y/N: Hey! Nete! Lo’ak! I think they get the message. Let them go.

My brothers stop and then the the two get off of the two Metkayina they were beating up. I turned back to Ao’nung who was still on the ground and spoke to him with venom on my voice.

Y/N: You! If I hear that any of you mess with my big sister or any of my siblings again. I don’t care if you’re older and bigger that me, I will not be afraid to beat more fucking common sense into each and every one of you fuckheads. Now get the hell out of here!

I watched as he got up before he and his buddies walked away with their tails between their legs, no pun intended. I saw Ao’nung turn around to look at us and I flipped him the bird with both hands, not knowing that Lo’ak was doing the same behind me. He turned back around and continued walking away as I turn to Neteyam and Lo’ak who had bruises on their faces and the chests.

Neteyam: You okay?

Y/N: Eh, I’ve had worse. Literally.

Lo’ak: I’m good. Come on, let’s head back home.

My brothers turn to head back to the marui when I go over to Kiri to check up on her.

Kiri: Are you okay, little brother?

Y/N: I’ve had worse, trust me.

Kiri: You shouldn’t have done that. Dad is going to be mad when he finds out.

Y/N: Frankly, I’ve lost all care in the world as to what Dad thinks anymore. I’m probably going to end up grounded again and have to apologize. Come on, let’s not keep our brothers waiting.

We catch up to our brothers as we head back to the marui. Upon reaching the marui, Dad immediately jumped all over Neteyam and Lo’ak for getting into a fight while I managed to walk in unnoticed by my parents as I went to grab some medical supplies. Mom did look in my direction, thinking I was grabbing medical supplies for my brothers only for her to notice my black eye and my tail have a big scratch on it.

Neytiri: Y/N! You got into the fight as well?!

Dad got very pissed off with hearing that and yelled more at my brothers

Jske: You pulled your youngest brother into the fight with you?!

Y/N: Oh, for the love all fucking things holy! I threw the first punch, Dad!!

Dad turned around and immediately laid into me.

Jake: Y/N, you’re the one who started the whole mess?!?

Y/N: What the fuck did you expect me to do, Dad?!

Jake: I expect you to stay out of trouble, but you can’t even do that for one goddamn day!!

Y/N: They were the ones who started harassing us! Why does it it even fucking matter?!

Jake: We could get kicked out of this place, Y/N! It would be your fault that we could not find a safe haven for our family if that happened!!

Y/N: I’m so fucking tired of this same old shit, old man! We only yell at each other instead of being able to talk normally!! I don’t care if I’m in trouble because of this!!! It only seems like you see me as the fucking useless and troubled fuck that I am!!! For once, I would like for you to see this shit from my fucking angle!!! I already know to fucking high heaven that will never happen though!!! I’m always the reason for something going wrong!!! If you’re going to try to have me apologize, you can shove it right up your ass, Dad!!!

I just got up and stormed out of the marui without another word, stunning all of my family as I storm off into the ocean as the setting sun glowed off the surface of the water. I just hoped to go towards wherever as long as I’m away from here. I silently turned to see Dad trying to catch up to me and I only flip him the bird with both hands before I turn back around and silently walking away from him into the ocean and I swam away from him.

(How Y/N flipped off Jake)

I just swam and swam in anger until I found a cave that I remember Tonowari was speaking about last night. I swam into it and came up to an area that had air. I climbed out of the water and observed the cave with its beauty as the walls sparkled and the small rocks twinkled in the low light that is visible. There are a few bioluminescent plants that I can see in the dark, same for a few bioluminescent animals. I then remembered that my earpiece was still in my small waterproof bag on my person. I pull out my earpiece and put it into my ear before I flip to an open frequency.

Y/N: Hello? Can anybody read me? Over?

Jake: Y/N? How the hell are you contacting me?!

Y/N: I have some tech of my own. You really would not care to hear about it so I’ll spare you the trouble. Im only calling to tell you that I’m not going to be coming back until late, Dad.

Jake: -sighs- Understood…

Y/N: Later, old man.

I hung up the call and I laid down onto the rock floor comfortably as I stared up at the ceiling. I heard some noise that sounded like someone pulling themselves out of the water behind me and I leaned my head back to see Kiri and Mom climbing out of the water before they started coming towards me. I got up from laying down and just looked at them confused.

Kiri: Hey there, little brother.

Y/N: Kiri? Mom? What are you doing here?

Kiri: Coming here to bring you home. It’s already late. I just don’t want to worry about you getting back safe, okay?

Neytiri: I came to make sure that you’re okay after the fight and the argument with your father.

Y/N: I’m fine.

Kiri comes over to where I’m standing and kneels down to my height.

Kiri: Y/N, I know I have not been there for you a lot of the time, but you’re still my baby brother. I want you know that you’re always special to me.

Y/N: Kiri…

I let some tears fall from my eyes as I hug Kiri tightly.

Y/N: Thank you.

Mom comes over to the two of us as my sister and I hug and rubs my cheek with her hand.

Neytiri: Oh, my precious boy…

Y/N: Mom…

Neytiri: I’m sorry that I have not been a good mother to you, my son. I want you to know that you always have a place in our family. No matter what.

I smile at her as more tears fall and she joins the hug. After a minute or two, we all pull away.

Neytiri: Let’s go, my children. Your father is probably worried about us.

The three of us dive into the water and swim back to the marui where I saw Dad looking for us on the shore.

Y/N: Hey Mom, Kiri, I’ll catch up with you inside. I want to talk with Dad in private.

Kiri: Alright.

Neytiri: Just don’t argue, my child.

Mom and Kiri went inside as I turned to Dad.

Y/N: Dad…I wanted to apologize. I was out of line….I know that I should not have started the fight.

Jake: Y/N, I understand why you started it in the first place, but you need to be careful.

Y/N: I know. I’ll try to make peace with them in the morning.

Jake: Alright. I just want you to know that I am proud of you for standing up for your sister, Y/n. I just want you to think before you act next okay. I love you regardless, son.

Y/N: I know, Dad.

Jake: Come here, son.

I run over and hug Dad tightly. Dad pulls away after a minute or so.

Jake: Come on, let’s go get some sleep.

Y/N: Yeah, good idea.

I follow Dad into the marui before I got comfortable in one of the corners and curled myself into a ball. I closed my eyes to sleep when I felt people cuddle up to me. I open my eyes back up to see my family had all curled up to me to make sure I was in the center of this sleeping group of Na’vi. I smile and close my eyes again before I drift off to sleep.

— the next day around noon —

— Y/N POV

I was thinking in our marui after practice when I heard Lo’ak call for me to follow him to find Ao’nung to apologize to him. I go over to where I hide my pistol, magazines, and holster are hidden and attach the holster to my thigh and place my pistol into the holster before I place the pistol mags into my small bag. I catch up to Lo’ak when he’s a small ways away from Ao’nung and he see him talking to some friends of his.

Y/N: Hey dipshit.

He turns around to see the two of us.

Ao’nung: You talking to me?

Y/N: Who else would I be talking to if not you?

Ao’nung: What do you want?

Lo’ak: We’re here to apologize for fighting with you yesterday.

Y/N: Even though you were being a complete ass yesterday….

Lo’ak: We cool?

Ao’nung: It’s whatever. Hey, do you two want to come hunting with my friends and I? We know a great spot for it.

Lo’ak: Sure, it sounds like it can fun.

Ao’nung: What about you?

Y/N: I’ll tag along to see what’s going on…

The Metkayina boys have us follow them to the water, but I grab Lo’ak’s arm.

Y/N: Hey Lo’ak, keep an eye on those guys, I have a bad feeling about it…I’m coming prepared.

I quickly show him I’m bringing my pistol with me just in case shit hits the fan.

Lo’ak: Good thinking. Let’s go.

The five of us begin to swim out to sea for about 50 minutes before we reached a rock formation that Ao’nung called “Three Brothers Rock”. I saw a giant fish that they called an “akula” from what Chief Tonowari has told me about some of the ocean’s predators. I see Ao’nung pass my brother a crossbow and tells him to use the crossbow against the fish. I watch Lo’ak go a bit out to the open water to get a clear shot when I saw Ao’nung and his friends ditching us. I knew this was going to go bad. I immediately draw my pistol into my right hand as I grab my brother’s hand before the akula started to chase us after Lo’ak shot the bolt at the akula. I grab Lo’ak’s arm and immediately pulled him towards the coral reef formation. However, when I was looking around to find the akula, I did not notice that the akula was coming up from behind and started crashing into the reef we were hiding in. I hit my bro on the shoulder and signal for him to follow me. We begin to swim away out the other side when the akula once again attacks us. I signal for Lo’ak to swim away and I distract the creature by shooting it twice with my pistol, luckily I’m able to distract it for long enough until it manages to pass me as I swim and I hit by its tail fin. That was the last thing I remember before I blacked out after I hit my head on some rocks.

— Hours later at night time and at an unknown location —

— Y/N POV

Y/N: Fucking hell, my head…..

I slowly started to come to after I blacked out and I rub my head. I feel some liquid on the back of my head as I rub it and I bring my right hand into my line of sight to see my fingers had blood on them.

Y/N: Ahhh fuck…

I blink a few more times to clear my eyes and I see I’m out to sea in a small island and that it was currently storming heavily with thunder and lightning. I look around and see that my pistol and knife washed up on the shore a few feet away from me so I quickly grabbed the two items and put them back into my holster and sheathe. I look around again to see if I can tell where I am, but I do not recognize anything that can tell me where I am. I look at my body and see that my body has a bunch of fresh cuts and bruises, but I’m happy that I’m used to the pain at least. I also feel a big cut on the back of my neck going to the underside of my chin, stopping right underneath my mouth. I knew this will leave me with another scar on my face to add to the two I already had. I just hope to Eywa that Lo’ak got out okay. I pull out my earpiece from my bag and put into my ear before I turned it on and tried calling anyone on an open frequency.

Y/N: Can anybody hear me on this frequency? Come in, over?

Nobody responded over radio static and I try again.

Y/N: Can anybody hear me on this frequency? Come in, over? Dammit.

Once again I don’t get anything over the frequency and I sigh, knowing that I’m on my own. I look down to the stormy waters that are being very rough because of the storm. However, I then heard a shriek of pain coming from down the shore. I run over to where I hear the shrieking and I see a fully white Skimwing stuck on the shore of the island. I spotted that she had some deep cuts in her back and she had some deep cuts on both of her wings. I run over to her and she looks at me pleading for help, which made me get straight to work. I found some plants that I quickly ground up into a medicine paste.

Y/N: Thank Eywa that Grandmother taught me me how to quickly identify plants that can be used for medicine.

I apply the medicine to all of the deep cuts on the Skimwing as the beast screeches in relief of pain from what I can assume. I then look around and find a very small piece of sharp metal as well as a reel of fishing line. I attach some of the fishing line to the blunt end of the makeshift needle and I start stitching up the Skimwing’s deep cuts as I continue to place medicine along the wounds while I stitch her up. I finish stitching the Skimwing and I go around to her front where she looks at me with a face of gratitude for what I did for her. Before I do anything else, I splash some of the medicine I made onto the back of my head as well as onto the big cut around my neck and I’m relieved of some of the pain. I turn back to the Skimwing and I put my hand on her snout, rubbing it.

Y/N: How do you feel?

The Skimwing screeches at me and I could assume she says she feels a lot better thanks to my efforts. I reach up and rub her head as she leans her head into my touch.

Y/N: Do you have a name?

The Skimwing once again screeches at me, I think she is saying that she does not have a name.

Y/N: Could I give you a name?

The Skimwing looks at me with a look of curiosity, probably confused on what I’m saying.

Y/N: How does the name Bel’lia sound?

The Skimwing gives me a bit of a smile at the suggestion I gave for a name. I think she likes it. I laugh a little at her smile.

Y/N: Looks like Bel’lia it is. Would you be willing to be my friend?

Bel’lia screeches at me and I can assume that she is saying that she would be happy to be my friend.

Y/N: Thank you.

I scratch her head as she screeches in content and I then help her back into the water. Bel’lia dives beneath the surface once she was in deep water and I smile that I was able to help a beautiful creature in need of help, but I soon notice that the storm is getting worse. I need to get back soon before any of my family tries to come out to find me in this weather. I dive beneath the surface and try my hardest to swim through the rough and choppy waters for about 10 minutes with little progress being made. I almost decide to turn back to the island when I see a blur of white coming towards me. I saw it to be Bel’lia and she gestured for me to grab onto her. I do that and she started to swim fast as I hung onto her where I knew I can hold on from seeing Chief Tonowari teach my old man with a Skimwing.

— the next day in the morning at the Metkayina Clan island home —

— Y/N POV

Bel’lia and I had finally managed to get out of the storm and we were able to start making our way home. I was riding on Bel’lia’s back as she swam along the surface of the water. I still had adrenaline pumping through my body as I stayed awake all night. I looked down to Bel’lia and rubbed her head.

Y/N: Thank you.

She screeched in response to my thank with a thanks of her own for me helping her out yesterday. As I looked up, I saw the island as the sun rose over the horizon. I saw some Na’vi on the beach as they watched me approach the beach. I saw Ao’nung, some of his friends, and Tsireya. As we reached the waters where Bel’lia could not go any further, I got off of her and rubbed her head.

Y/N: Bel’lia, thank you for helping me, my friend.

She growls and screeches playfully for a bit, as if to say “And thank you for helping me, friend. I’ll always be nearby should you need any help again.” She stayed by the shore and watched me wade through the water towards the group of Na’vi gathered on the shore. I saw everyone give me surprised looks that I tamed a Skimwing all on my own and that I had tamed a fully white one. I’m guessing it’s similar to how it’s special to bond with a fully white Ikran. I immediately gave Ao’nung and his friends a glare and they knew they were in trouble so they pushed their way through the crowd and speed walked away. I looked back to Bel’lia to see her still watching me. I made it to the beach when I was hugged by Tsireya, unknown to her that she was holding her arms around the cut on my neck.

Y:N: Ahhhh, that stings.

Tsireya pulled away from the hug, worried she accidentally hurt me.

Tsireya: Are you okay?!? What hurts?!?

Y/N: I’m alright, Reya. Just that this deep cut on my neck is killing me with pain. Not literally killing me, luckily.

Tsireya: I’m glad that you’re okay. You will want to check in with your family. They are worried sick about what happened after Lo’ak told them what happened about he took the blame for the hunting mishap.

I facepalm.

Y/N: Goddammit, Lo’ak, for fuck’s sake…..alright, but tell your brother that if he messes with me or any of my family, I’ll kiss his fucking ass.

Tsireya: I don’t think he will. He looked like he was about to crap himself after he saw it was you riding in. He even said that he does not want to piss you off after seeing that you managed to tame a Skimwing on your own as well as surviving what happened.

Y/N: I’d like to keep it that way. Hopefully he’ll come around and we can possibly be friends.

Tsireya: Who knows. Anyways, go check in with your family. I want to speak with you and Kiri when you’re done, though.

Y/N: Alright.

I head over to my family’s marui only to see them all asleep, but the marui has a sad aura to it and everyone looks distressed and distraught as they sleep. I head over to where Mom keeps the medical supplies and I grabbed some medicine paste and leaf bandages. I went outside of the marui and began to apply the medicine paste to my neck cut and the various small cuts around my body as I grunt at the stinging sensation the medicine has on the wound.

Y/n: Fuck, that stings like absolute hell.

I continued to to apply medicine to my neck wound and I started to rub the paste into the wound. I said more vulgarities under my breath as it stung before i started to wrap the wound with the bandages. I then went over to the fire pit I had created a few days ago and I started the fire up. I waited for the fire to start roaring before I sat by the fire and just let myself relax.

Y/N: Oh man, my fucking neck.

However, I failed to notice that my family started to stir awake from my voice waking them up.

— 3RD PERSON POV

Lo’ak was the first one awake from thinking he was so worried about his little brother that he imagined hearing his voice, but he soon heard the voice again.

Y/N: Oh man, my fucking neck.

Lo’ak rubbed his eyes and got up to see where the voice was coming from. He saw his younger brother sitting around the fire pit the family now uses at nighttime. He ran towards Y/N and tackled him into a hug.

Lo’ak: Y/N!! You’re okay!!!

Y/N: OW!! FUCKING HELL!! LO’AK, FOR EYWA’S SALE, MAN!!!

Lo’ak immediately got up off of Y/N and helped him up.

Lo’ak: Bro, what the hell happened?!? I saw you get knocked out and you got pulled away by the strong flow of water going away from where we originally were.

Y/N: Well, it’s a long story. Are you all right? I haven’t seen you since the hunting incident.

Lo’ak: I ended up taking blame for the whole mess and Dad said that I shamed the family after seeing what I did and that you were still missing by Eclipse when I should be responsible for watching you after I pulled you into the mess. I ended up bonding with a lone banished Tulkun that is an outcast because he killed some whalers.

Y/N: It looks like I’m going to need to have words with Dad then, I told him about what can happen with that behavior of his. If nobody else is going to say something about that, I will then. I’m proud of you for that, Lo’ak, even if nobody else will say so. You stepped up even though you didn’t need to and that you did a big feet with that Tuklun. Follow me though, there’s someone I want you to meet.

The two wade into the water to where Lo’ak saw Bel’lia coming towards them and she popped her head out of the water, startling the older Sully.

Y/N: This is Bel’lia, my new friend and partner.

Y/N rubbed her head as she playfully screeches in enjoyment at the attention. Lo’ak looks at her in surprise that his brother was able to bond with a Skimwing, let alone a fully white one. Only trained warriors of the Metkayina clan were able to tame them. Hell, it took Jake days to tame his Skimwing.

Lo’ak: How did you bond with her? She’s beautiful.

Something the two failed to notice was that the rest of the family had awaked at the sound of Y/N screaming from being tackled by Lo’ak.

Y/N: Well, I asked her to be my friend after I ditched her up. You can see the stitches on her wings and back. She helped me get back.

Kiri: You’re just like your big sister after all, baby brother.

— Y/N POV

I turned around, startled, to see Mom, Dad, Neteyam, and Kiri all looking at me surprised and worried.

Jake: Son, come over here please.

I head over to my family with Lo’ak next to me.

Neytiri: Oh my Y/N.

Mom cups my jaw as she runs her hand over the newly bloodied bandages around my neck.

Neteyam: I’m happy to see you’re okay, little brother.

Kiri: I’m proud of you, Y/N.

I get pulled into a group hug as I’m at the center of it while everyone hugs me gently, being careful of my neck wound. I close my eyes, enjoying the hug from my family as everyone pulls away.

Jake: Are you alright, Y/N?

Y/N: My neck hurts like hell from a deep cut. I already know it’s gonna leave a scar.

Neytiri: Oh, Y/N…….

Y/N: I’ll be fine, Mom. Kiri, Neteyam, Tuk, Tsireya wanted to see us about something. Let’s go.

Kiri: Lead the way.

After about 10 minutes of going to find Tsireya, Kiri, Tuk, Neteyam, and I found her with Rotxo and Ao’nung as we approached them.

Ao’nung: Hey Y/N, can we talk?

Y/N: We can talk right now. What do you fucking want?

Ao’nung: Rotxo and I were in the wrong for what we did back in the reef.

Y/N: You only realized that now, asshole?

Ao’nung: We know. We wanted to apologize and holler hope that you can forgive us. We want to try to become friends with you.

Y/N: Well….I think you learned your lesson so I’ll say that it’s water under the bridge. Just don’t be a dick anymore, okay?

Ao’nung: Cool.

Y/N: So, Tisireya, what did you want us to see?

Tisreya: Follow us!

My siblings and I follow the three as they take us below the surface of the ocean where we dove a deep time before Tisreya showed us about an animal called a “gill mantle” that can help us breathe as we dive further and further downward. Tisreya attaches one to both me and my sister while Rotxo and Aonung attached one to Neteyam and Tuk as we then continue to dive until we reached a giant under water tree.

Tsireya: “This is the Spirit Tree”.

Kiri looks to me and I nod to her.

Kiri: “It’s very beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like it apart from the Tree of Souls back in the jungle of our old home.”

Y/N: “No kidding, sis. Also, nice work on the sign language after I showed you how to use it.”

Kiri: “Thanks, Y/N.”

Y/N: “Are we able to connect to it?”

Tsireya: “Of course. Come on.”

Tsireya has us follow her closer to the tree to an area where Kiri and I can connect our queues to it.

Tsireya: “Connect your queues to it.”

I connect my queue after Kiri connects hers. I peacefully sit on the seabed as I feel myself be pulled to Eywa’s connection and out of my physical body. I open my eyes to only see white as I look around before I’m blinded by a bright light to where I’m pulled to an area that looked like an city on Earth from what I know from Dad about his home planet. I felt myself be sat in a seat at an unknown place with a lot of people who looked similar to Norm and Max walk around and sit down around the area in at to talk with one another. An unknown man then came up to me and sat down across from me at the sort of weird table arrangement I was currently sitting at. I looked closer at the man to see his looked almost identical to Dad from a picture Dad showed me from before he became a full Na’vi.

???: Hello nephew.

Y/N: Huh? Did you just call me “nephew”?

???: Of course I did, why wouldn’t I know of my youngest nephew?

Y/N: Okay, just who the hell are you?

???: Figures. I’m not surprised that you wouldn’t know who I am, even with my brother being your father. I’m your dad’s deceased brother, Tom. I’m your uncle.

I just looked at him in shock and surprise.

Y/N: Un-Uncle? You mean you’re Uncle Tom?

Tom: That’s right. I’m happy I can meet one of my brother’s children in the flesh. I have to say the blue really works on you, kid.

I chuckle at Uncle Tom’s remark.

Y/N: Very funny, Uncle. But how are you here in connection with Eywa? Dad told me that you passed away on Earth after someone had killed you.

Tom: Well, the universe works in very strange ways. You never know what can happen at almost anytime.

Y/N: You’re not wrong, Uncle T.

Tom: I dearly miss Jake, but I’m happy that he was able to build a life here after what happened back on Earth.

Y/N: Things have been rough with him throughout my whole life, Uncle Tom, but I’m happy that things have been changing lately for the better.

Tom: I do want you to know that I am proud of you, nephew. I also want you to know that your family loves you dearly and that your dad is very proud of you, even if he has not shown it many time. I would beat his ass from beyond the grave if I was given the chance if he thought otherwise.

I laugh at Uncle Tom.

Y/N: I appreciate that, Uncle Tom. I just wish I had a place to be myself.

Tom: Oh, Y/N. You will have a place in the family. No matter what you may think otherwise.

Y/N: Thanks, Uncle.

Tom: Well, it looks like it’s time for me to leave. It was great talking with you, nephew. I hope you meet you again some time.

Uncle Tom then got up and got onto some sort of weird machine that I have never seen before. He did something with a part he grabbed before he turned it and it made a loud noise before he rode off on it. It was only then everything went black and I went limp before blacking out.

— Back at the Spirit Tree —

— 3RD PERSON POV

Tsireya was watching the two siblings as she saw their bioluminescent markings glow brightly while the two were connected to the tree. However, she soon saw both of them started convulsing with their bioluminescent markings fading completely due to the two siblings suffering from seizures from connecting to the Spirit Tree. Neteyam, Tsireya, Ao’nung, and Rotxo disconnected the two from the tree and got onto their Ilus before they took off back to the surface.

— at the Sully marui —

— 3RD PERSON POV

We currently see Kiri and Y/N being carried by their parents to the marui as we see Norm Spellman in his avatar body and Max Patel setting up medical equipment to help their friend’s children. Jake set Kiri dow as Neytiri set Y/N down with both children being next to each other as Norm and Max got to work on trying to help the children while Tuk and Neteyam looked at their siblings with worry. Neytiri and Jake were very worried about Kiri and Y/N because they knew both of their children had a very strong connection to Eywa and worry about what might have happened. However, Ronal came to see if she could help out with the trouble and she got extremely mad at seeing the medical equipment. She stormed out of the marui in anger as Neytiri tried to convince her to help. Jake pulls Norm out of the marui to talk.

Jake: Norm, do you have any idea what it is that is affecting the two of them?

Norm: That’s the trouble that we’re running into. We don’t have a clue what it is that is causing your kids to go into comas.

Jake: It might be from the feelings of Eywa that both Y/N and Kiri have said they felt before.

Norm: Then we have a problem, Jake.

Jake: What?

Norm: Those feelings that the two have mentioned work along the lines for someone suffering from epilepsy. If either of them try to connect to the Spirit Tree again, there’s a chance either Kiri or Y/N might die from it.

Jake: Shit…

Neytiri then came over to the two as they talked.

Neytiri: I need Norm and Max to pack up and leave. Ronal said she’d try to use her ways to heal our children.

Norm: If you say so. Max! Pack it up!

Max took the gear away from the marui and Ronal entered it before she got to work with her medical practices. After a bit of time, Ronal finished her practices and everyone waited in anticipation for something to happen. After a few minutes, groans were heard from Kiri as she started to regain consciousness from her seizure induced coma. Y/N, however, was still unconscious and Kiri looked around confused on what was going on until she looked down to her baby brother unconscious beside her.

Kiri: Oh my Eywa, Y/N!

Kiri grabs Y/N’s hand and squeezed it as Ronal once again begins her medical practices to try to wake up the youngest Sully boy. After she finished the second round of practices, everyone waits with anticipation for something to happen. After 10 minutes, Y/N began to stir awake from his coma and looked around confused as his head began pounding with hurt.

Kiri: Y/N! You’re okay!

Kiri hugged her youngest brother in relief as everyone else let out breaths of relief, thinking that Y/N might be stuck in his coma. Y/N just hugs Kiri back, still confused on what is going on or how they got to their home. Jake and Neytiri were thanking Ronal for helping their family before they went to their children. Both parents embraced their children with tears trailing down their faces, thankful to Eywa for the miracle of their children waking up. TUk and Neteyam also came over and hugged their conscious siblings. Y/N just accepted what was happening despite being confused still. After 20 minutes, everything was packed up when Norm and Max went back to the jungle after being thanked by Jake for coming all the way out there. Y/N walked out to talk to his dad.

Y/N: Dad….I need to talk to you about something important.

Jake: What’s up, son?

Y/N: You remember how you told us about our Uncle Tom? Back from Earth?

Jake: Of course! I would never want the memory of him to be forgotten.

Y/N: Well, I met with him and talked with him when I was connected to the Spirit Tree…and I was on Earth when it happened.

Jake was caught very off guard at what his son just revealed to him.

Jake: What?!?

Y/N: I got to talk with Uncle Tom and the vision I had showed me a glimpse of Earth where we sat at some table arrangement in some sort of city.

Jake: I-I honestly never expected to hear this, Y/N.

Y/N: As Uncle Tom literally said to me, “The universe works in strange ways.”

Jake: That sounds like something Tom would’ve said. -Jake looks to the sky- I’m happy to know you’re watching over us, Tom.

Y/N: Is everything going to be okay, Dad?

Jake: We’ll be okay, son. I promise.

Y/N: Alright…If you’re sure.

Y/N hugs Jake and the two embrace.

— A few days later after Tulkuns attack by the whalers —

— Y/N POV

I was out deep in the jungle around the area where I know Ro’nea’s cave is at. I was working on my target practice with my bow and arrows as well as with my pistol. I loaded a fresh mag into my pistol when I let my mind wonder to how badly the tulkun attacks against the Metkayina clan has affected them while Dad revealing why it happened. I’ve been sticking to working on my own for the last day or so and I haven’t really talked with much of my family since the attack. I shot at some rock targets with my pistol as I shot rounds down range. Once the mag was half empty, I stop firing when I heard the sounds of engines going. I knew it was the sky-people and the Recom soldiers on their ship. I put my pistol into my holster and put my bow onto the catch on my quiver before I whistled long and loud for Ro’nea. I watched as my Ikran companion flew from her cave high on the mountain and she slowly landed in front of me. I smiled at her as I haven’t flown with her in about a week and I go over to Ro’nea before I gave her a big hug. She hugged my back with her wings and let me down before she put her head down for some rubs and scratches. I shake my head at her antics as I laugh and scratched and rubbed her head as she screeched in enjoyment as the attention.

Y/N: Ro’nea, it’s good to see you again, my friend.

Ro’nea screeches in response as if to say “It has been. Are we going flying today?

Y/N: Yes, Ro, we’re going flying. I need to make sure things are okay even though we might get spotted by those fuckheads. Let’s go.

I jumped onto Ro’nea’s back and sat on her saddle before I put my weapons onto her harness as she took off, not bothering to connect my queue because I think Ro’nea knows what we need to do. I let her fly us over the island as we get a birds-eye view of the situation. I soon saw Lo’ak on his Ilu as he was being followed by Kiri, Tuk, Neteyam, Tsireya, Rotxo, and Ao’nung.

Y/N: Shit. They must be following Lo’ak to where he usually meets with Payakan.

I’ve met the Tulkun and he’s far from what the stories say about him. I’m just happy that Lo’ak did trust me enough to bring me to meet him the other day.

Y/N: Wait a minute. Fuck! They must be chasing after Lo’ak because he’s going to warn Payakan about the whalers.

Ro’nea turns her head to look at me.

Y/N: Ro’nea. Follow my siblings and their friends. We need to make sure that nothing bad happens.

Ro’nea screeched at me in response, telling me she understood what I said and flew after them while flying very high up so we don’t attract any unwanted attention from whalers or Recom soldiers. After about 30 minutes, I saw Payakan surface, but I saw he had something going through his fin. I then saw everyone trying to pull it out as I then saw Quaritch and his sky-people friends going after my siblings and friends. I had Ro’nea get closer to the SeaDragon ship to where I knew Quaritch would be able to hear me and I draw my bow. I draw an arrow onto the bowstring and let the arrow go as it flies through the air and buries itself into one of the Recom’s skull. I believe that fuck head I killed was Zhang. Everyone on the ship was shocked to see an arrow penetrate the dude’s skull and I then shouted loudly.

Y/N: HEY YOU DUMB FUCKS!!! OVER HERE!!

I saw Quaritch look in my direction as I saw him recognize my Ikran and my voice. Once he looked me in the eyes, I flipped him the bird, daring him to focus on me in hopes of drawing attention away from the others. I saw a few ships start coming my way as I have Ro’nea fly a few dozen meters in the other direction before I had her stop.

Y/N: Ro’nea, get safe. I’ll be okay, just get somewhere safe.

She screeched at me, understanding what I’m about to do before I jumped off of Ro’nea and dove towards the water below with my bow and arrow reattached to me. As I dive into the water, I dive down deep enough to I knew Skimwings would be at with a few submarine like machines a few meters behind me. Once I reached a cave, I saw Bel’lia in there and she looked like she was surprised to see me there, but understood I was trouble if I was coming directly to her cave. She saw the machines behind me and she got to work destroying the machines. I watched in amazement as she expertly trashed the machines to scrap metal. She turned around and signaled for me to hop on to which I do. She starts swimming up to the surface as I held onto her before she surfaced near the ships that were following me as Bel’lia continues to swim away from the ships. I noticed that there was two oil drums on one of the ships so I grabbed my pistol and shot at the drums, hitting on and the caught fire before shortly exploding, the ship getting destroyed in said explosion. The second ship started to ready to harpoon to shoot at us.

Y/N: Bel’lia, DIVE!

She dove beneath the surface and I saw their were mines attacked to the side of the ship that I then shot at with my pistol. My bullet hit its mark and the skip exploded after having the mines explode. I then saw some of my friends and siblings were taken by the submarines. I was pissed at seeing this, but I knew I had to get out of here as soon as possible. Bel’lia sensed my anger, but she also knew that we could not do much. We headed back to shore when Neteyam saw me and waved me down halfway back home.

Neteyam: Y/N? What the hell are you doing out here?

Y/N: I was making sure that you guys were okay. Safe to say that plan went out the window considering they got Kiri, Lo’ak, Tsireya, and Tuk. Where’s the others?

Neteyam: They made it back to land already. I saw your handiwork with those ships. Nice work, little brother.

Y/N: I had to do something about them, at least. Anyways, grab onto Bel’lia. We need to get back to land as soon as possible to tell Mom and Dad what happened.

Neteyam: Alright.

Neteyam gets onto Bel’lia and sits behind me as she takes us back to shore.

— At the Battle of the SeaDragon —

— Y/N POV

Me and Neteyam were riding on Bel’lia as we overheard Dad say he was going to surrender himself to Quaritch in return for the safe return of our siblings. We also just saw Payakan attack the ship from the side, prompting everyone to start attacking. We reached the SeaDragon and got off of Bel’lia as we climbed on board the burning vessel and Bel’lia swam off to safer waters. Neteyam got his hands onto an assault rifle and I got my hands on an SMG.

We started shooting and killing sky-people as we pushed our way up to the decks where Tuk, Tsireya, Lo’ak, and Kiri were being held at. I loaded five sky-person full of lead before I reload my SMG as we finally reach the area where everyone was being held prisoner at. I unsheathed my knife and cut Kiri and Tsireya free from their bindings while Neteyam cut Tuk and Lo’ak free. I started run up to where I had seen Spider at when Neteyam stopped me.

Neteyam: Bro, what are you doing?

Y/N: We need to save Spider.

Neteyam: There’s no time.

Y/N: It’s my fault that he’s here in the first place. I’ll be damned if I leave him after I got him in trouble with being here.

Neteyam: -sighs- Fine, let’s find him.

Neteyam and I both start moving back to where I saw Spider at as we keep killing sky-people when we see Spider meet up with us.

Spider: Guys! It’s great to se enough again after the shit that went down.

Y/N: And you two, my friend. Let’s get the hell out of here.

Spider dove into the water as Neteyam and I covered him when I saw a Recom aim at Neteyam.

Y/N: Bro! Look out!

I push Neteyam into the water and I killed the Recom who was aiming at my brother, but I don’t come out unscathed. I received a bullet into my gut as I then jumped into the water below. I hit the water and try to tread the water as I grunt in pain from my new wound in my gut. I start having trouble keeping my head up when my brothers come up to the surface of the water.

Neteyam: Y/N! Are you okay?!

I look at him as I hold my stomach where he can now see the blood coming from my gut.

Lo’ak: Shit. Y/N’s hurt!

Y/N: I-I’m fine. Let’s get somewhere safe.

Neteyam called for his Ilu and let me ride with him as Lo’ak rode on his when we make it to the rocks where Mom, Dad, Tsireya, and Tuk are at. Neteyam helped me up onto the rocks as I lost a little strength. Mom and Dad both looked at me worried when they saw the bullet hole in my gut as Tuk and Tsireya gasped loudly at the sight of me. I sat down against some of the rocks as Dad came over to me to help stop my bleeding. I groan in pain as he holds down the wound when I look around and notice something.

Y/N: Where is Kiri?

At that moment, I heard Dad’s communicator turn on and I heard Quaritch speak.

Quaritch: Jake. I have your daughter. If you want her alive. Come meet me on deck.

Jake: Shit. Neteyam, Lo’ak, keep your brother safe. Spider, Neytiri, let’s get Kiri back.

Mom, Dad, and Spider all dove into the water back towards the ship as I get up and walk towards the water in pain.

Neteyam: Y/N! You need to stay back.

Y/N: I’m not going to let them go without help.

I swiftly dove into the water as I quietly follow Mom and Dad as they swim to where Kiri is at. I climb out of the water as Mom, Dad, and Spider quickly get out and run to where Kiri is at as I follow behind them. I silently climb a support beam that is attached to ceiling as walked slowly along the upper catwalk area as I see where Kiri is being held hostage by Quaritch. As he goes on about speaking for Dad to cuff himself, I crawled to where I would be above Quaritch where I saw Mom and Spider notice me. Mom had Spider held at knifepoint which surprised me a lot. However, once I saw that Quaritch tensed up with Kiri after seeing his son being held hostage by Mom, I jumped down from the upper catwalk and I bite Quaritch harshly onto his neck while I kicked Kiri away from the psycho I just bit. Kiri ran over to Mom and Dad who hugged her as I let go of Quaritch before I punched him, causing him to lose grip of the pistol he had. I grab the pistol with my tail and bring it around to my hand so I’m pointing it at him.

Quaritch: You’re one tough little bastard, I’ll give you that. You sure you even know how to use it?

I got pissed at him and I shot him in the shoulder.

Y/N: Does t-that answer your q-question?

I failed to see that Quaritch had a second pistol on hand and he quickly he grabbed it before he shot me two more times in the stomach. With adrenaline pumping, I tackled him and we ended up falling off of the boat. I just looked him in the eye as we sunk below the surface of the water before I pulled him up to the surface to where I saw some rocks. I slowly pulled him up to the rocks as he started coughing up water as I stared him down. I just silently stared at him as he looked back at me in silence before he talked.

Quaritch: Why would you save me after everything I’ve done to you?

Y/N: W-well, you saved my best friend from being killed so as the saying I’ve heard goes. “a life for a life.”

Quaritch: Why don’t you join me?

Y/N: I’d rather die sad and alone than join you. I only saved you in return for you saving Spider.

I dove back into the water and began to immediately feel my body start giving out. I barely make it when I’m left floating in the water barely conscious when I feel my body being pulled up and onto the rocks where my family is.

Lo’ak: Watch his head, Bro!

I feel my wounds having pressure be put into them as I finally let my pain out as I scream in pain. I blink into see Dad holding my gunshot wounds as Mom holds my right hand, saying prayers to Eywa to not let her son be taken from her. Neteyam and Lo’ak are looking at me in sorrow as they are not sure what to think. I feel my left hand being held and I see Kiri hold my right hand with tears in her eyes as she looks at me with worry all over her face. I saw Tsireya comforting Tuk as a Tuk is bawling her eyes out while Tsireya has her own tears coming down her eyes. I smile at my family before I speak to Dad.

Y/N: D-Dad?

Jake: Yes, my son?

Y/N: D-did I d-do good?

Jake: You did perfectly.

Y/N: If I’m g-go, p-please don’t b-be hard o-on Neteyam and L-Lo’ak.

Jake: I will, I promise.

Y/N: I-I-I l-love y-you a-all.

Neytiri: My son…

Kiri: Y/N…

Neteyam and Lo’ak: Y/N….

Everything then goes black as I close my eyes with a feeling of peace.

To be continued…..

Leaving it off at a major cliffhanger…. I first want to apologize for the long wait for Pt. 4 of this series. I couldn’t bring myself to finish the whole story here. I’m not going to lie, I cried a little when I was making this chapter at times. I’m not entirely sure what I want to do for the epilogue so I want to see up a question poll. I want to try something for it, but I’m still trying to make up my mind after writing this chapter. I’ll make up my mind in the next few days.

#atwow x reader #avatar imagine #atwow x you #avatar kiri #avatar the way of water #avatar x male reader #jake sully #neteyam #tuk sully #neytiri #sully family

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adrift-in-thyme · 4 months

Text

Febuwhump Day 13: CPR (Twilight & Wild)

Ao3

CW for drowning, blood and injury, vomiting, and referenced animal death (temporary and non-graphic)

——————————-

Twilight surfaces with a gasp. Water droplets cascade off of him, sparkling like opals as they roll down his sea-blue armor. Any other time they would be beautiful. But not now. Definitely, not now.

He hefts Wild more firmly in his grip, kicking madly to keep the hero’s head out of the water. Blood drains down from the gash across his forehead. It pools in the crystalline liquid surrounding them, turning wispy in its unforgiving current.

Twilight sweeps it away as he begins paddling one-handedly toward the shore.

“Hold on, cub,” he rasps, water burning in his throat. “We’re almost there.”

Only the lapping of tiny waves serves as his reply. The iron ball of worry situated in Twilight’s gut solidifies further. He can hardly comprehend it past the adrenaline coursing through his veins, but it is there nonetheless. It sets his heart pounding harder, makes his breathing more erratic.

The shore is in sight, however, and he battles toward it with a strength he does not feel.

Wild’s long hair flows beside him, drifting loose and free like strands of molten gold. One of his arms breaks free from the rancher’s hold and floats crookedly. The skin of his fingers is as pale as death.

Ordona only knows how much water is currently clogging his lungs. Twilight knows better than anyone how painful a fall from the Great Bridge is. And the hit he had taken beforehand had practically sealed his doom.

More than likely, he had been unconscious long before he collided with the dark waters of Lake Hylia.

It had taken Twilight at least five minutes to find him and five more to free him from the debris that he had become tangled in. Every single second had felt like a dagger to his heart.

When the heroes had landed in his Hyrule a week earlier, he had been overjoyed. To be able to show them the land he had fought for and the home he loved was more than he could have ever asked for. Especially, where Time and Wild were concerned. So, when Wild begged to go for a ride with him across the rolling plains, how could he refuse? Why would he?

He should have, Twilight thinks bitterly, spitting a mouthful of water. Or at least, he should’ve asked another hero to come along with them. Time, perhaps.

But it had been so long since he had gotten to spend some time with his best friend. It had truly been wonderful, just the two of them, laughing as they flew across Hyrule.

Until the black-blooded monsters had attacked.

His feet connect with murky mud. Gasping, Twilight drags himself up onto the bank, releasing his hold on Wild. The hero’s body lands in the mud with a sickening squelch. He lies where he has fallen, eyes closed, lips and skin the same shade as his tunic.

“Come on, Wild.”

Twilight pulls himself up onto his knees, forcing leaden limbs into cooperation. Trembling fingers find Wild’s icy cheek, then travel down, searching his neck for a pulse point.

“Come on. I know you’re tougher than this.”

His voice cracks, desperation cleaving through all else. No steady throb responds to his touch. No breath issues from the nostrils he hovers a hand over.

(No mischievous grin quirks the champion’s lips, lighting his eyes with an infuriating energy. No teasing remark lifts Twilight’s spirits…and ignites his ire. No hand settles upon his shoulder, warm and rough, scarred and steady. Comforting.)

Inhaling a ragged, gasping attempt at a breath, Twilight places his hands over Wild’s chest and pushes down hard.

There was a kitten, when he was young, that had somehow ended up in the river. He had fished it out with careful hands. Then, as tears streamed down his cheeks, he had brought it to the one person he knew could fix anything.

And sure enough, she had. With warm hands and steady breaths, Uli had coaxed it back to life. After that, she taught him how to do the same. So that he could always try to save those dear to him, whether animal or human.

Now, as he places his mouth over Wild’s and breathes for him, he is more grateful than ever that she did so. If he didn’t have this, he doesn’t know what he would do. He doesn’t necessarily want to contemplate it.

…and if this doesn’t work…well, he can’t think about that either.

The moments begin to blend together as he continues.

Push, count, breathe. Push, count, breathe.

Twilight does it again and again, every movement fierce and desperate. His arms are shaking now from the force of it all. His muscles scream their protests. His breaths come too fast for him to garner the air he needs. Tears snake down his cheeks, fire against the frigid water that clings to him.

But he can’t stop. He won’t.

“I’m not losing you, cub,” he grits out, even as Wild remains limp. Even as he grows colder with every passing second. Every as his wounds ooze blood and his skin becomes a darker shade of blue.

The sun shines its mocking rays down upon them, turning the champion’s hair into a halo. Overhead, a bird sings a joyful song.

A sob tears its way out of Twilight’s throat.

“Damn it, Wild…breathe!”

Once more, he bends and blows breath in Wild’s still lungs. Once more, he rises and presses down on his chest. Again and again and again. An endless, relentless rhythm that tears him apart.

He’s choking on his tears now and shaking more violently than ever. His world has narrowed to just this merciless thread of moments, just the two of them, one hero trying and failing to save the other.

“I won’t…let you…leave me!”

Wild bucks beneath his hands. Sky blue eyes fly open, hazy and wild. Just as quickly they squeeze shut again as the champion pitches sideways.

Twilight holds him steady as he coughs up murky water. But it’s difficult to do so when his own body is begging to collapse. That doesn’t matter though. Not anymore.

Sweet relief covers him like a blanket.

We made it. We’re okay. Wild’s okay. My cub is alive.

Wild finishes and collapses against him, breathing hard.

Thank Ordona he’s breathing now.

Twilight wraps an arm around him, carding trembling fingers through his tangled hair. Sluggishly, those eyes search him out. A grin tugs at Wild’s lips. They’re returning to their usual pink, now, and his skin is regaining some of its color as well.

“H-hey, Twi.”

Twilight smiles. It is shaky and wet, but it’s there nonetheless, proof that this new terror hasn’t managed to break his spirit.

“Hey there cub. You alright?”

“Um-hm,” Wild hums, curling deeper into his embrace. He shivers and closes his eyes again. “I h-hate big lakes. Always t-tire me out.”

Twilight chokes out a chuckle. “Well, next time you decide to take a dip in one, clue me in first, alright? You almost gave me a heart attack.”

Wild’s hand finds his and squeezes, weakly.

“Y-yeah,” he murmurs, just a touch of cheekiness in his tone, “I’ll make sure and do…do that. Now, can we…can we go home?”

Twilight blows out a sigh.

Home. Home sounds wonderful.

“Yeah, cub,” he says, already grasping a nearby blade of grass to call Epona with. “Let’s go home.”

#febuwhump 2024 #febuwhump day 13 #drowning tw #blood tw #injury tw #vomiting tw #temporary animal death #linked universe #linkeduniverse fic #whump #angst #trin writes #lu twilight #lu wild

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therainywriter · 1 year

Text

A Dangerous Situation (Angst/Fluff)

Pairing: Tsuek'tu (Na'vi) x Reader

You were in awe, so entirely captivated by the beauty of the world around you.

This was your favorite time of the day. When the sky grows dark and a luminescent glow weaves through everything from the ground up. Your eyes were wide with wonder as you walked along the mossy ground, watching it light up with each step.

You could spend hours simply doing that, poking and prodding at the dirt, and still be amazed each and every time it brightens under your finger.

You adjusted your mask and lightly touched the leaf of a plant at your side, curious as to if it'd react at all. Though the flora itself did nothing, a strange animal lit up and spun off the top of it, twirling gracefully above you.

You gasped quietly and looked up in awe until the creature dimmed out of sight.

The gentle trickle of a flowing stream lured you to a shallow river. Bioluminescent plants and swimming fish illuminated the water and you couldn't help but draw closer.

You sat and dipped your feet in the cold water, watching as the small, glowing fish swam between your ankles. A smile pulled at your lips as you watched them, entranced with the curious organisms.

Little did you know, you too were being closely observed. Tsuek'tu had been following you since you'd begun these rather dangerous "nighttime adventures".

He was going to kill you, seeing you as nothing more than another demon here to destroy his home, but he didn't, by Eywa's will. Two atokirina had floated delicately at your side and the grass had pulsed with the steady beat of your heart that first time he saw you.

He couldn't bring himself to stay away after. He was so deeply troubled by you, conflicted with a growing need to be near you and protect your helpless being.

You went against everything he stood for, but he saw you.

A deep rumble made your head perk up and your stomach drop. Many times you'd followed this path and no danger had come to you, so you deemed it safe. Oh, how wrong you'd been.

You slowly scooted to your feet and looked around, a sick feeling settled in your gut. You froze when you saw a slick, black creature emerge from the dark forest.

The quills at the sides of its head shook with its growl as it slowly stalked towards you, ready to pounce at any moment. You stared into its green, predatory eyes, certain this was where you met your end.

This thanator was going to kill you and you couldn't do anything to stop it.

The creature lunged for you- you screamed and turned around, running as fast as you could, making sharp turns in hopes that maybe, just maybe you could escape it.

You could hear it behind you, how closely it followed. Just one wrong move and-

You cried out when something pulled you off your feet, hurling you to its body and moving quickly among the trees. You instinctively gripped onto what felt like shoulders, hiding your face on a warm chest.

"Please don't kill me!" you begged with teary eyes, unsure of what you were tucked so securely against.

A series of sharp, angry words were spoken at your ear, Na'vi words. "Shh, quiet." he scolded silently.

You gulped, a native had saved you. Your people have caused them nothing but pain and destruction, yet he rescued you. You couldn't begin to fathom why.

You did as he told and didn't speak, you simply clung to his body as he ran along the thick vine-like structures below you. The thanator hissed from below and backed off as if it didn't want to bother fighting the Na'vi.

He slowed his pace and eventually loosened his grip on your smaller body. He put you down, keeping his hands on your arms to steady you.

He was beautiful, breathtaking really. His eyes were molten gold and it felt as though they pierced straight through your soul.

His hair was long adorned with beads and braided back from his strong face. Many scars covered his body, some appeared more gnarly than the others and you found yourself wanting to ask what the stories behind them were.

"Are you stupid?" he asked with narrowed eyes, a frown pulling at his lips as your wondering gaze shot up.

Your mouth fell open a bit and you struggled to form a response, offended at both the question and genuine concern in the way he looked at you.

"N-no... no, I'm not stupid." you said with a slight frown, "There have never been- I thought that area was safe."

He furrowed his brows and shook his head, "Skxwang, no land is safe. There is always danger."

He didn't tell you that it was he who rid the forest of any visible threat to you. That he earned many scars ensuring your safety, allowing you to roam about his home wherever you pleased.

You felt embarrassed and your cheeks grew warm, "I'm sorry..." you apologized without thought.

He didn't respond, nor did he make a move to leave. He simply looked at you, his expression stern. "Why did you save me?" you asked curiously, tilting your head slightly as you awaited an answer.

He stood to his full height and looked away for a moment, seemingly thinking before turning back to you. "Nga yawne lo oer, muntxa." he said gently.

His words settled deep within you, they tugged at your heart and warmed you in an unfamiliar way. "I don't understand," you said, following behind him as he passed you and continued along the path.

"You are not meant to," he admitted, glancing behind his shoulder at you. His frown melted into a welcoming, amused smile. The sight warmed you, it felt almost familiar.

"Can you, at least, tell me your name... so I can thank you properly?" you questioned, struggling to keep up with his long strides.

He stopped suddenly and turned to face you, "Tsuek'tu te Reyatan Kah'akt, you may call me Tsuek'tu."

With that said, he pushed you off the thin strip of elevated land, grinning as you screamed and landed in a pile of bushes to break your fall.

You stood up with a small groan, holding back your complaints, and looked around. Your lab wasn't far from where you'd fallen and you felt relieved in knowing you wouldn't get lost trying to find home.

You looked up to where he had been only moments ago, only to find his place empty now, and smiled softly, "Thank you, Tsuek'tu."

The rest of the night you couldn't help but hope you'd see him again, Tsuek'tu, the Na'vi that saved you.

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adelaidedrubman · 9 months

Text

John and Jestiny put on a show for Skylar and Sherri. read here on ao3.

notes: just in time for labor day, the sound of the summer is back! it’s hook, line, and sinker chapter 3 babey. wordcount: 7.3k warnings: per usual, unhealthy relationships out the wazoo. stalking and harassment of past romantic partners (dealt with in a lighthearted manner but called for what it is in text), physical violence and semi graphic threats between present love interests (pre-relationship, but ft. john trying to pretend he’s not turned on about it), general deceit and manipulation, albeit mostly unsuccessful. humane animal death (it’s a fishing fic), weird sexual tension over fish gutting, littering, catchall johnjess warning. catchall my minimal proofreading warning.

“You got the plan down, right?” Jestiny hissed at the man fumbling uselessly with the task of baiting his hook, leaning into the motion of casting her line to inconspicuously shove in front of him and hopefully block the embarrassing display from Sherri and Skylar’s view. “Don’t need me to fuckin’ rehearse it with you again?”

By the time they’d parked the skiff just under the bridge connecting the road nearest Can of Worms Fishing Store with the island directly across from it where her ex-girlfriends were presently fishing, Jessie was beginning to think this entire thing had been a massive, undeniable mistake.

“Yes,” John replied in a whistle through his own gritted teeth style into a grin, harmonized with a twang of his fishing line snapping. “You shouted it in my ear approximately ten times on the drive over.”

He shuffled to her side, batting his eyelashes at her as he cocked his rod clasping hand back. “Dear,” he tacked on, with all the uncanny artificially synthesized saccharinity of a splenda packet.

“Not your line,” she smiled in reply, letting go of the crank of the reel just long enough to reach over and bop the tip of his nose. There was no way she was going to let him actually cast in front of Skylar and Sherri.

A well timed tug on her rod confirmed that luckily she wouldn’t have to — she was able to effectively knock his right arm down as she staggered back to oppose the force pulling against the line.

She briefly darted her eyes to John to ensure was looking back with appropriately visible impressed enthusiasm — and not set to reach for his own rod — before settling her gaze on Skylar and Sherri as she wrangled her catch.

The irritation at their stubborn refusal to look back was mildly assuaged by the sight of big, beautiful golden trout dangling at the end of her line as she yanked it from the water.

“Oh, Jessie dear!”

She resisted shooting another glare at the exclamation — Sherri and Skylar would know damn well she wouldn’t like being called that.

This was definitely a mistake.

“That might be the most impressive catch yet!” At least he was back on script now. “Please, let me have the honor of doing the work of gutting it for you.”

“John,” she chimed bright with gratitude, dropping the fish into his outstretched arms. “That’s such a considerate thing to do for someone!”

She gave a pointed look to Skylar and Sherri.

“Anything for you, my dear.”

She tried not to let tension settle too deeply into her jaw as she forced a grin. “I’ll cast your line for you while you do!”

She made the barest of eye contact with her rod as she threw it out, the vast power of her stare settled on the tattooed hand bringing a knife down to pierce through the fish’s brain with expert precision.

It was a genuine marvel to her how he managed to handle the task with such a natural grace that he seemed a completely different man from the one she’d watched flounder with the simple task of baiting a hook.

If the fingers sliding down the clean, straight, perfectly placed incision along the fish’s underside weren’t branded with the same distinctive black ink, she would have thought they belonged to someone else entirely.

She could almost imagine that he was someone different — someone she respected, even — as she watched his hand disappear into the cavern of the fish’s belly.

The way he found the red knot rooting its spinal cord without delay, squeezing it tightly between his fingers. The way the delicate placement of his grip retained every bit of its exacting care even as his forearm flexed with powerful force to yank the long tether of nerves from the body. The way he remained completely unphased by blood dripping down to splatter atop those stupid, hideously expensive looking loafers. The way his arm flourished with a smooth, dramatic flair he threw the plucked out rope of organs into the water.

“You’re good at that,” she murmured aloud before she even processed her mouth was moving. “I love watching you work,” she added with a deflecting chuckle and wink, forcing herself back into character. “Babe.”

He blinked twice, a hint of genuine surprise seeming to spark through his eyes as he looked up to flash her a satisfied grin.

“You might want to watch your line instead,” he replied with a nod towards her hands. “It looks like you have a bite.”

Jestiny turned forward to see her pole bent to the point of being practically folded in half.

“Fuck!” she screamed as she buckled her knees and yanked her arms back to oppose the fish.

Jesus, this was embarrassing — how the hell had she missed the fish tugging? Had his shitty angling skills somehow infected her? She’d never had a fuck up like that when she was fishing with Sherri and Skylar.

And now, thanks to him, she was making a fool out of herself right in front of them.

Fuck.

So embarrassing.

Her cheeks flushed hot with fresh shame, only swelling as she successfully yanked up a massive largemouth bass.

Fuck. She’d almost let a good one get away.

This wasn’t like her.

This was his fault, somehow.

She should have never agreed to his stupid plan.

This was a mistake.

“What a catch!” the mistake in question cried with equal parts drama and vagueness, clearly lacking the know-how to comment on the specifics of the fish beyond the acknowledgement that it was one. “Would you like me to gut that one, too?”

“She can wait,” Jessie replied, holding the fish up proudly. “Gonna wanna get a picture with her fully intact first. Sure beats that ten pound rainbow trout you caught earlier.”

Listen to her. Even giving false credit for one of her catches. How far had she fallen?

“Just pop open the cooler for me, then grab me some more bait.”

She glanced forward again — Skylar and Sherri were looking now, at least, and she would tell herself they only started once the fish was pulled from the water.

“Of course,” he offered pleasantly, to his credit tipping the cooler up so that the fish crowding it would be visible to her ex-girlfriends across the water. He was better at empty theater than he was at fishing. “All yours.”

She swore she saw Sherri roll her eyes before turning to whisper something to Skylar.

Those bitches. How dare they whisper secrets about her.

Whatever. Moving on.

She swiped the cup bearing a proud ‘Drubman Marina’ logo perhaps a bit too hard from the cupholder, making a show of looking inside it.

“Fuck!” she exclaimed, this time in feigned surprise. “Looks like we fished through all our bait!”

“Fish biting a little too well, today.”

“For some of us,” she replied, looking directly at Skylar and Sherri and the arrow-straight, undisturbed poles of their fishing rods. “But speakin’ of, I do believe that’s the proprietor of Cans of Worms Fishing Store over there with a full cup of bait. Let’s drive this baby over there to give their small business a little economic stimulus, at least.”

“Jessie, do not fucking come over —”

Jestiny cut off Skylar’s shouting with a rev of the motor rumbling to life, idling there as John pulled up the anchor.

She could not so effectively drown out him whispering directly into her ear. “I didn’t say you could drive the boat,” he hissed. “The agreement was you would pretend to drive as we pulled up.”

“I know,” she rasped back with a smile she didn’t have to fake. “I was pretending when I agreed to that. I deceived you. I’m good at that. You need work,” she said with a raise of her eyebrows. “You’re overselling. Make it subtle, don’t ham it up so much.”

“Acting note taken,” he replied, scooching into the seat next to her. “Now give me the —”

She jerked the wheel and slammed her foot on the accelerator — giving it enough gas in the single pump that they were able to coast the distance to Skylar and Sherri’s place on the bank, the bow landing gently in the mud.

“Expert docking, dear,” he commented syrupy sweet as he hurried to swipe the key from the ignition, slipping it onto his wrist.

Possessive, paranoid, materialistic, overdramatic diva.

Guess that explained the key she’d noticed hanging over his heart — must be to an even nearer and dearer expensive toy.

God, she couldn’t wait to fake end their fake relationship.

The sentiment only grew stronger as she watched him carefully tiptoe through the mud with sudden apparent concern over dirtying his already bloodied shoes.

“Ms. Woodhouse,” John held out a hand towards the brunette that was met with nothing but a scowl in return.

He made an apologetic ‘ah’ noise and wiped the hand on his shirt, but Jessie knew it was not the fish guts Sherri was repulsed by.

“My apologies.” He bowed. “I haven’t yet had the privilege of patronizing your little store.” Jessie smiled. Patronizing was right. And Sherri deserved it. She had to admit she could revel in his condescension, when it wasn’t directed at her. “It’s so difficult when I have my own boat ramp right in the backyard to remember to get out there and support the small business owners in the community.”

“Support?” Skylar cut in, scowling even harder than Sherri did. “When have you ever supported any business around here? You call trying to shut everyone down and take their property from ’em support?”

Huh. That’s weird — Skylar seemed to have history with this guy. And it was bad enough he was a lawyer at all, did she fuck up and start pretending to date a fucking foreclosure attorney or something?

John waved the accusation off. “Please, I hate discussing business matters during my recreation time.” He reached into his back pocket to take out his wallet, pulling another hundred dollar bill from it. “I would love to support Can of Worms now.”

He turned to Sherri, gauchely waving the bill in front of her. “I’m afraid my lovely date and I have fished through all of our bait. But it seems you have plenty left. He nodded towards the unopened can at Sherri’s feet. “I’d like to purchase it.”

Sherri met him with a dead-eyed stare. “Store’s closed.”

John turned, looking across the water at the Can of Worms storefront. “Your hours say open until 9.”

“Well, I’m not on the clock.”

“Oh, don’t be unreasonable. I’m paying well above market rate for something I could just waste time going over and buying from you, for much cheaper, in the store.”

“No, you couldn’t,” Skylar said. “Store’s closed.”

He pointed behind him. “I see it open.”

“Store’s always closed to you.”

Jestiny gave up on pretending not to notice the conversation, setting aside her beer to slam her hands down on the side of the boat. “Well, fuckin’ sell it to me, then!”

“God, Jessie,” Sherri groaned, leaning down to hold her head in her hands. “Can’t you just fucking leave us alone? Following us, harassing us while we’re trying to fish? We broke up with you. We don’t want you around.”

“Shit’s sad,” Skylar agreed. “Just stop. Don’t make us get a fuckin’ restraining order or something.”

Jestiny kicked the side of the boat, hard. “They’re called Orders of Protection, in fucking Montana!”

“You learn that from your slimebag lawyer boyfriend?” Skylar asked. Jessie frowned. That was hitting below the belt, she thought. “And did he learn it from law school, or ’cause half the fucking County wants to take one out on his creepy ass?”

Sherri brought a hand over her mouth to stifle her laugh at Skylar’s joke. “They really are perfect for each other, huh?” she giggled against Skylar’s shoulder, setting her chin atop it and looking up at her adoringly.

Jessie felt flames crawl up in her belly. Of all the infuriating insults.

“Yeah, we fucking are! I finally have someone who can keep up with me behind the rod and on an intellectual fuckin’ level!” she forced herself to flash an adoring smile of her own at the man she shouted over. “And he’s got an actual sense of humor! Just look at his outfit!”

John turned to shoot Jessie a glare.

“Yeah,” Skylar laughed, turning to nudge the flyaway hairs clinging to Sherri’s dewy brown skin away with her nose so that she could finally whisper her teasing directly into the brunette’s ear. “Looks like you and I were the only ones that didn’t think to come dressed for the circus.”

“I fucking heard that!” she leaned over the side of the boat to screech, crumpling the styrofoam of the bait cup in her fist and attempting to fling the trash across the distance to Skylar and Sherri — the bits floating down to scatter impotently along the surface of the water instead.

“Jesus, Jessie, a fish is gonna fucking choke on that,” Skylar cried, pushing herself up from her lounge chair.

“And maybe I can’t stop you from driving a boat on public waters, but you can’t litter on my damn property,” Sherri agreed, reaching behind her to pull a net from the pouch on the back of her own chair and toss to Skylar. “That shit drifts to shore.”

Jessie crossed her arms over her chest with a huff, rolling eyes dismissively to duck Skylar and Sherri’s judgmental glares with an earnest wave of shame — she didn’t mean to endanger any poor fish, obviously, she was just angry — instead finding John’s gaze, oddly comforted by the quiet, embarrassed fury she saw simmering back at her, as if the bright blue glitter of his eyes was a temperate pool to reflect her own angry humiliation, unfiltered and undiluted in their vibrant heat.

Then something in his stare sharpened, an almost imperceptible narrowing of the pinpoints of his pupils into focus, gaining all the ice-cold clarity of a glacial pond as he darted his eyes back to where Skylar reached forward to dip the hoop of her net into the water to scoop up the ripped up bits of styrofoam.

“Hi,” John hummed pleasantly as he stepped up to Skylar, placing a hand atop the handle of her net. “John Seed. Do you remember me?”

“The fuck you —”

He slid his hand down the pole of the net, pulling it closer until his fist was circled just beneath the base of its mesh. “I tried to buy bait from you a few moments ago. You refused to sell to me.”

“...Yeah?”

“Big mistake,” he barked with a tug of the net to cause Skylar to stumble slightly, barely catching herself to remain upright. “Big. Huge!” He forced a manic laugh, snatching the net from her hands. “Because perhaps had I been occupied with my own fishing, I wouldn’t have time now to ask if you have a proper permit to fish with a net.”

Sherri stood, moving to stand between John and Skylar, defensively.

“I do my business selling fishing licenses, dumbass,” Sherri grumbled, pulling two crumpled pieces of paper from her back pocket to flash. “You really think I’d come out here without one?”

“Ah.” John clicked his tongue against his teeth twice, wagging his finger and tapping it against the paper Sherri held out. “But I’d like to see your netting license,” he said in sing-song. “A Class A resident fishing license only allows fishing with a hook and line. Netting requires its own permit.”

Sherri and Skylar exchanged confused looks.

“Ha!” Jestiny let out a single, choppy laugh as she hopped over the side of the boat, splashing mud as she landed. “It does.”

It did, when it came to hoop nets. But of course even if he knew the law he wouldn’t know the difference between —

He waved a hand in front of his face, then rested it atop his chest. “Oh, I’m only joking, of course,” he said with a smile, bowing his head. “Montana Code Title 87, Chapter 6, Part 5 Fishing Offenses includes an exception in paragraph (1)(a)(iv) for landing nets.”

Jestiny felt a giddy heat blossom along her cheeks — that was unexpected. He knew the difference between a hoop net and a landing net. He’d actually studied up.

He cocked an eyebrow, smile widening. “For after the fish has been hooked as specified in subsection (1)(a).” He nodded down towards their rods. “And your hooks appear to be bare.”

Skylar placed a hand atop her hip. “We weren’t even fishing with that net,” she said matter-of-factly. “We were just cleaning up the trash your girlfriend threw in the water.”

“That’s not what I saw,” Jessie chirped, throwing her arm around John’s waist and pulling him to her. “And I think the word of two officers of the court is gonna outweigh what y’all say.” Jessie leaned forward, snarling. “I think it certainly gives me probable fucking cause to seize all this shit as fuckin’ evidence of a crime, including the fucking bait,” she snapped. “I think it could mean both y’all forfeiting your fucking fishing licenses as penalty, if this shit gets charged.”

“And I have a feeling it would be,” John purred, turning to the side to beam at Jessie with a thoroughly convincing mimicry of proud adoration as he raked his fingers through her hair. His smile sharpened into a smirk as he turned back to their fellow fishers, hand still stroking up and down the side of Jessie’s neck. “I’m on quite good terms with the County Attorney.” Former prosecutor? Jessie worried in the back of her mind, not letting it distract her from their victory. “I think she’ll be quite concerned with such a flagrant fishing violation committed by a prominent player in the local fishing scene.”

“Good fucking God, Jessie,” Sherri huffed, swiping the can of worms from off the ground and shoving it in Jessie’s hands. “Here. Take the damn bait, since it means that fucking much to you. You win. We’re leaving.”

“Hell yeah you are!” Jessie cheered triumphantly at the pair throwing their tackle boxes into their truck bed. “Don’t let the trout bite you on the way out!” she called after them with a hand cupped at the side of her mouth. “Not that it’s been something you’ve had to worry about so far!”

John threw his head back to laugh on cue at the jab, and Jessie had to admit as truck doors slammed to drown it out that he had something of a theatrical acumen.

She turned to the side and clasped his face between her hands tightly as she grinned up at him in spite of herself.

“That was amazing!” she said in a hushed roar. “I mean, I gotta fuckin’ hand it to ya, that was great, you —”

She bit her lip as she watched him stand taller, a preening lift of his jaw as he basked in the praise. And for some reason she couldn’t summon the appropriate irritation at the vanity.

But as the engine of Skylar’s truck rumbled to life behind her, she nonetheless used the interruption to avoid inflating his ego further whilst keeping up the ruse by pulling him down to press her lips against his and kiss the smug smile away.

He’s good, she thought as he melted against her obligingly with a swift but tender unwinding that felt shockingly natural, draping an arm over her shoulder to reach a hand around to thread in her short crop of hair as he kissed her back.

His other hand rested gently atop one of hers still cupping his cheek, stroking along the leathery ridges of her knuckles as he dropped his jaw to deepen the kiss.

It was so odd, the feeling of kissing him when they were playing at gentleness — the slow drag of the slick underside of his lip shifting up to expose the slight hairline cracks of chapping along its wetted surface, the surprising softness to the tickle of the whiskers of his beard that made her realize how meticulously oiled and groomed it must be, the careful way he mirrored her incremental movements as she finally parted, soft, panting breaths tingling against her skin as he dipped his head to stay leaned into her while allowing her the separation.

“You, uh —” She drew in a sharp breath as she dragged her fingers through his beard, bringing their tips to rest just above his chin. “You knew the difference between a hoop net and a landing net.”

He laughed, warm puffs of breath falling against kiss chafed skin. “It’s defined in the Fish and Wildlife Commission Regulations,” he said, his whisper further softened by the airiness of the deflection. “Keeping up with them actually comes quite in handy, in my line of work.”

Jessie sighed pleasantly, then stiffened just as quickly.

His line of work?

She’d already been concerned about him being a bootlicking landlord lackey or overeducated cop of some kind, could the situation be even worse?

Could he be —

She gulped, dropping her arms and taking a full step away from him this time.

Could he be some kind of in-house counsel for one of the commercial fisheries around here? One of the goddamn slimy corporate lobbyists for those corrupt, greedy bastards?

No, she shook the thought from her mind — she couldn’t entertain such horrible possibilities, and the sudden blare of Skylar laying on the horn as she coasted by would have drowned them out anyways.

“Jessie,” Skylar poked her head out from the driver’s side window to call out. “Can we have a quick, civil word with you?” she asked, punctuated with a pointed look towards John. “Alone?”

All her catastrophizing about her pretend boyfriend’s professional life vanished with the giddy soar of accomplishment — this was it. Clearly Skylar and Sherri had talked about it, and after her impressive showing here today they had accepted what a horrible mistake it had been to ever break up with her in the first place, and were about to beg her to come back.

“Sure.” She drew out the syllable with a nasally whistle, eyebrows raising with expectant understanding. “‘Quick and civil’ is my middle name.”

Jestiny smacked the man beside her on the rear end to dismiss him, shaping her wince at the harsh impact of his uncushioned tailbone against her palm into a playful wink. “Give us a few minutes for girl talk, would’ya?”

He pushed out his bottom lip, giving her a flutter of his eyelashes as he turned to head back towards his boat. “Don’t keep me waiting.”

She wouldn’t — assuming the women were contrite enough, she was sure it would be five minutes flat before she was waving goodbye to him from the back of their truck bed as they all drove away together.

Since he did know how to gut and clean them, she thought she’d let him keep the fish she caught as compensation for his efforts.

“So, what’s on your mind?” she asked once John was sufficiently out of earshot, folding her arms along the window frame and resting her chin atop them to poke her head into the truck. “Need fishing tips?”

“Look, Jessie, I…” Skylar gave her a pained look, drawing in a deep breath. “We talked about it, and… We really don’t want this to be any harder than it has to be, okay?”

Jessie pursed her lips together, crinkling her nose and tensing her cheeks with a pressure she knew would cause dimples to sink endearingly into their rounds. She tried to not to savor the pained expression on Skylar’s face too much, but it was difficult not to indulge in the satisfaction from their begging with tail between their legs for her to take them back.

Sherri nodded in agreement, leaning forward in the passenger’s seat to peer through the window. “We want to work this out.”

Jestiny cocked her head further to the side, cheek resting against her arm. “I’m listening.”

Perhaps she wouldn’t really make them beg, but at least a tearful apology was in order.

“So, even though it’s right by my store, we’re willing to make a deal on this fishing spot.”

Jestiny blinked up at them.

“You can have it Saturday evenings through noon Sunday, and we agree to not come around,” Sherri explained. “Then we’ll take Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and you get Tuesday and Thursday.”

“W-What?”

“It’s more than fair, I think,” Skylar tacked on, giving her a stern look. “Most of all, we don’t want it to be a big fight, anymore.”

“We want to handle everything peacefully,” Sherri said, expression pleading. “And we’re glad you found a new fishing partner, even if it is, well…” She shook her head, flashing a forced smile. “We’re just happy to see you moving on.”

Jessie clicked her teeth together, neck stiffening as she raised her head.

This made no fucking sense.

“Yeah, I mean…” Skylar shrugged, eyes darting over Jestiny’s shoulder. “For what it’s worth, y’all do seem really good together. Right for each other. Better than we ever were for you.”

No fucking sense.

Jessie slapped a hand against the side of the truck, pushing herself off its frame. “Are you fucking kidding me!?”

“Seriously, Jessie?” Skylar deadpanned in reply. “It’s a really fair deal. We’re being nice, after —”

“Nice!” she croaked in mocking tone at piercing volume, throwing a too stiffly splayed hand up to swing through the air in the arc of a goodbye wave before clenching it back into a fist at her side as she stormed away from the truck. “Real fucking nice!”

The tension locked into her shoulders as she stomped through the mud, pinching tight enough it wrapped around to squeeze the cavern of her chest, push stinging bile up to catch and smolder in her throat in a heavy lump.

“How was girl talk, my —”

The arm that tried to reach comfortingly towards her was quickly pushed away — fingers curling the soft leather cord of his key chain as she yanked it from his wrist.

The polite clearing of his throat rumbled in synch with the motor roaring to life as she jabbed the key into the ignition and cranked it to the right.

“My dear, how was —”

“We’re leaving!” she shouted over the harsh rattle of gas pumping through the motor to spin its blades, shoving the gear shift into reverse as she slammed her foot on the accelerator.

“H-Hang on, let’s —”

“We’re leaving now!”

She jerked the wheel sharply to the left once she’d put space between the bow and the riverbank, leaving John flailing over the side to hurry to hoist the anchor.

“Very well,” he ground out, loud enough to pierce over the racket. “But I’m driving the —”

She shoved the gearshift forward and stomped down on the gas again, sending them lurching forward with a bounce of the bow towards the sky.

She barely even noticed the sudden, heavy pressure of something falling in her lap, the man at her side losing his balance and stumbling to land with chest atop her thighs.

She rolled eyes that had begun to water from the wind cutting against them as the boat zipped along.

“Those assholes,” she cursed, tightening the grip of her fingers around the wheel until they grew numb. “How dare they. How —”

How dare they do what, exactly? her brain struggled to piece together as wind whistled in her ears harsher as the boat quickly gained speed, gliding over waves growing steeper from the force of her wake. “How dare they think they can just buy me off like that! Do they think — think this is just about a fishing spot?”

“Well,” John spat, heel of his hand smashing against her thigh as he tried to push himself up in the brief of lull of the boat’s course evening out as Jestiny weaved them between jutting mudbanks to an open stretch of water, slamming the gas down harder upon clearing them. “Isn’t it?!”

“Oh, fuck you, too!” she shouted down at him, jabbing her elbow at his collarbone to shove him away, off her lap and onto the floor. “This is about the fucking principle of the matter,” she hissed, wagging a finger at him on beat with the forceful up and down bobs of the boat along choppier waters.

“This is about fuckin’ fairness, and justice, and getting what’s owed to me for the months I put up with their shit!” She briefly glanced up as she continued talking, distant greenish brown blurs of oncoming land fading from her line of sight as quickly as it popped up over the horizon, another jerk of the steering wheel bringing her to a wide expanse of clear, glittering lake.

Good, she needed to do nothing but sail fast and directionless enough to outrun her thoughts for a while.

“After all that they’re treating this like a fucking scheduling issue, when they should be —”

Should be what? She choked on a particularly strong gust of wind, stinging her chapped and sunbaked cheeks as it whipped against her face, a matching burn rising in her throat. Apologizing? Begging? Taking it all back?

She gritted her teeth tightly to steel against the wind as she continued. “They have the fuckin’ gall to act like they’re the ones being nice about this, when they can’t even —” She clenched and ground her jaw. “It’s a public shore! Sherri doesn’t own it, just because her store is nearby and it’s fucking convenient for them! They never even had a right to —”

“You need to slow down!”

She pushed away the arm reaching for the steering wheel. “I’m fucking talkin’ at a perfectly fuckin’ measured and goddamn coherent pace! If you can’t keep up, that’s —”

“The boat!” he screamed, fingers clawing and pulling at her arm without managing to get it to budge. “You need to slow down the —”

Sudden warmth slung itself along the tops of her thighs — a glistening mix of blood and saliva spurting from his mouth as his jaw crashed against the glossy wood of the dash.

And the air filling her lungs to feed the complaining shout building in her chest was knocked from her just as quickly by the heavy impact of his torso crashing against her as he was flung back — landing in her lap for the briefest heartbeat before they were both sent flying over the captain’s seat and tumbling along the length of the boat as its bow tipped upward and the smooth coast of water along its hull was replaced by a harsh, violent scraping.

The pressure of his body weight only intensified, now fully pressed against her to pin her down back flat against the backrest of the row of seats at the stern — which now ran almost parallel to the ground from the angle the boat had landed.

She grunted, trying to wriggle out from under his weight at least enough to free her arms and push him off entirely — the effort proving unsuccessful, his body staying pressed flush against her even as the vast expanse of tangerine marbled sky stretching out above her became blocked by his head, lifted so the scowl twisting onto his face could show.

She shoved the heel of her hand against his chest, gripping his shirt and pulling when he failed to budge. “Get the fuck off me!”

The angry curl of his upper lip deepened, head jutting forward until their noses were pressed together. A droplet of blood fell from his mouth to land with sudden heat on her chin. “You crashed my boat.”

“No shit!” she spat back, butting her forehead against his. “You shouldn’t have been fucking distracting me!”

His brow twitched, his body tensing further. “You crashed. My. Boat!”

“And did you get some kinda fuckin’ head injury during it or something?!” she barked. “The boat crashed —”

“You crashed —”

“— you have sufficiently fuckin’ established that.” She shoved her hand harder against his collarbone, digging her nails into the mass of his shoulder. “So how about instead of sitting around goin’ off like a broken record you get the fuck off me and help me shove this thing back into the water? I’ll even give you the honor of driving the piece of junk back to the marina, since you have such a minnow up your ass about me doing it.”

“Oh, and wouldn’t I love to,” he hissed out through tightly gritted teeth, lips twisting into a smile leagues removed in its exaggerated pleasantry from the bitterness of his tone and the rage in his eyes.

His smile dropped — a swift movement of his arm breaking her grip on him as he pulled it towards his chest, then shot the hand forward to bury in short strands of copper and grab a fistful. His palm settled cradling the side of her skull as he jerked her head towards him by the grip on her hair, then slammed it back down against the seat cushion at an angle that caused her neck to twist so her head was turned towards the side and at the edge of the backrest as she landed, forcing her to look over the back side of the boat to the motor.

“Had you not certainly managed to damage it beyond the point of being able to cross a puddle!”

She paused only briefly to take in through narrowed eyelids the sight of mangled propeller he’d directed her gaze towards, a sleek black and silver blossom of twisted and dented metal, one of its petals bent so far back by the force it looked plucked clean from the stem. The second outboard was absent from the boat entirely, just barely peeking up past the waterline at the base of the short cliffs they’d landed atop.

She flicked her glare towards the hand buried in her hair, then back up to his face so she could savor the wince of pain in his eyes as her boot made contact with the side of his stomach to kick him off.

She scrambled to her knees to grab him by the shoulders and slam his back against the ledge of the stern, climbing atop his chest and pushing him back further until his head hung off the side, neck nestled between the shiny metal blades of the propeller.

She replicated the force he’d exerted against her, pulling gel-stiffened locks from their place plastered against his skull to shove his head back and sideways until the edge of the twisted propeller blade dug into the delicate skin of his neck. “I bet it still runs good enough I could start up the engine and lob your head clean off your fucking body right now!”

She watched pink crawl up the stretched column of his neck and settle deep into his cheeks, blood rushing to his head from the angle. She felt his chest tense beneath her as his hands reached out to grip her hips, heard the rustling of his adjusting his legs behind her — certain he was readying himself to push her off and retaliate.

She elbowed away the arm reaching towards her hip before he had the chance, settling for the sufficiency of her threat and hopping up before he could strike.

She jumped down from the boat to stand atop the rocks and survey the landscape, scanning along the rocky coastline, the peaks of mountains and the sharp points of pine trees standing in backdrop past the vast expanse of sunset sparkling water. Her eyes traced the outline of the suspension bridge running roughly parallel to the shore, which Skylar and Sherri would likely be zipping across on their drive from Can of Worms back to Skylar’s trailer up in the mountains right about now. It was too vast and treacherous a distance of lake to attempt to swim across, especially in the creeping darkness, and the only other land in reach were the smaller, even less likely to be inhabited islands.

“We landed at that big ass fucking island that blocks off the lake from the West,” she announced, dragging a knuckle along her chin as she thought, smearing away the droplet of blood she’d forgotten had settled there. “About three-quarters north ways into it, I’d say.”

She spared a glance to the man still in the upturned boat behind her, fidgeting and pulling down at the hem of his now thoroughly dirtied shirt as he rose to stand.

She sighed, briefly reaching into her pocket to check with a sense of predetermined defeat the display screen of her cellphone, confirming a thick circle around a diagonal line greeted her positioned at the service strength icon.

“We can keep hiking north, along the coastline,” she said resolutely. “We’ll hit the main road eventually, and we can hitchhike along it. Worst case scenario if no one picks us up, there’s a little general store on the other side of the water. If we get started now, we might make it before they close up shop.”

“Hitchhiking?” he repeated, weighed heavy with incredulity. “No, absolutely not. This isn’t exactly the place for —”

“Jesus,” she interrupted, rolling her eyes. “Look, I know you just lost one of your favorite toys, but we don’t have time for you to be a spoiled fuckin’ brat about how we’re getting out of here, too. It ain’t exactly my favorite pastime neither, but those of us born with mouths empty of silver fucking spoons know that sometimes you gotta do things that are —”

“If you could stop talking down to me long enough to listen, perhaps you’d understand that I’m not protesting because I think it’s beneath me. I’m… familiar with this island, actually.”

Jestiny rolled her eyes. Was there a thing on earth he wouldn’t find a way to brag about?

“And I can tell you, there isn’t going to be enough traffic along the road for hitchhiking to be a reliable bet.”

“Great!” she barked, pushing past him to reach for her now well dented tackle box. “All the more reason to haul ass towards Old Sun Outfitters before closing time.”

“They’re closed already,” he deadpanned in reply. “Permanently. The owner and his family of si —” John cleared his throat, with a quick, hard blink, as if needing to abruptly shift his train of thought. “They shut down. I doubt there’s even a working payphone around there, anymore.”

Jessie paused to study his expression, to scrutinize the strange, sudden dodginess behind the unnaturally soft smile and relaxed eyes.

He was clearly hiding something. Had Old Sun really shut down? She’d only stopped by there a couple of times to pick up bait, and she couldn’t say she went recently enough to know, or often enough to keep track of their business.

And how would he know, anyways? Was he —

Her breath hitched, that same chilling, nauseating prospect bubbling back to the surface.

Was he a foreclosure attorney?

“But if we keep going west and cross the main road, there’s actually a —” he paused, the fluid wave of his hand continuing on beat as he stared on silent and searching for words. “...residential area, on the other side of the island. Closer than the rundown general store, and actually occupied. I know a place there we can shelter for the night. And some of my associates will be stopping by anyways tomorrow morning, and can drive us back to the Marina first thing.”

Knowing the zoning for a place he didn’t live? Having associates in the area?

Jessie gulped. This did not bode well.

“No fucking way am I gonna go wandering into the woods at sundown with a fucking creep like you. And I’m sure as hell not joining you for a fucking sleepover.”

“Oh, please,” he scoffed, throwing arms up into the air. “I could just as easily drown you under the cover of darkness during the little moonlit stroll along the coast you’ve proposed, were homicide my goal.”

“Yeah?” she goaded with a raise of her brows. “And I could avoid the fuckin’ risk altogether by bashing your head open against these rocks, and selling whatever good samaritan I finally flag down a sob story about how my poor boyfriend just died in a boating accident.”

“Oh, and how delicious and satisfying it would be to spend my final breaths watching you stumble helplessly lost through the woods, not finding another soul, until you finally collapsed from exhaustion and joined me in death.”

“I would fuckin’ carve out your eyes and throw them in the lake first, so that the only thing you’d ever see of me again is my fishing hook when I came back here to catch whatever trout had the bad luck of eating you.”

“Would you?” he gasped, with an unbothered, wild smile and a hand drawn to his chest. He pushed out his bottom lip so that his smile fell, clicking his tongue against his teeth and pinching his brow with feigned pity as he patted his pocket and added in taunting sing-song, “Because I still have your fishing knife.”

She felt her jaw tense and her eyes bulge angrily, waving her arm as she stomped away to preserve whatever image she could of being unbothered by the revelation.

“Keep it!” she shouted as she turned on her heels, beginning to stomp her way north in as steady of a march as she could keep atop the uneven rock. “I’ll walk my way back to the mainland alone, and you can fuck off into the woods!”

“Oh, don’t be foolish!” John called after her. “It’s better that we stick together, you can at least be reasonable enough to see that.”

“Sure fuckin’ can’t!” she shouted over her shoulder. “I’m following the road, whether you’re with me or not!”

He huffed, impatient and petulant, stomping forward a few paces without properly committing to following after. “Would you just listen? You’re not going to find anyone to help, it’s —”

Still, it was enough to let her know it was a bluff, and he’d be following along whatever path she chose. “At least I’ll be alone!”

“Which is dangerous!” he bellowed after. “Jessie, will you please just follow me into the occupied part of the island? For fuck’s sake, do you even have bear spray?”

“Nope,” she chirped pleasantly, pausing a beat at the word ‘please.’ “I’ll take my chances!”

“For the love of —” She picked her pace back up. “Wait!” His footsteps thudded more quickly behind her, and the arm swinging back with her upbeat gait was caught at the wrist by his hand. He let out a long, exasperated sigh.

“There’s a very secluded little stream on this island, out by the abandoned mill,” he explained with a renewed slow, measured calmness. “Not many people know about it, and hardly anyone is ever there. But I have it on good authority it’s an excellent place to catch rainbow trout.” He released his grip on her wrist, as if testing her willingness to stay in place without the force. “I could show you where it is — and see to it the few other people who know about it make themselves scarce from here on, if you’ll follow me to make camp for the night.”

Jestiny clenched her jaw tightly enough she thought her teeth might crack as she paused there, considering.

She knew bait when she saw it.

He was a devious, manipulative, conniving bastard trying to lure her in with cheap tricks she was too smart to fall for.

Biting now would be yet another huge mistake, and she was above that.

She drew in a deep breath.

“Lead the way.”

#and everyone ignore the wrong chapter number on the banner when i first posted. that didn't happen you're crazy.#fic: hook‚ line‚ and sinker #writies and wordies #otp: stop bothering these nice folks #oc: deputy jestiny ellen #ch: john seed

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