Chapter 16

"Lo'ak! Lo'ak, where are you going?" Tsireya chased after Lo'ak, stumbling through the overgrowth in hopes of reaching him. "Lo'ak!"

"They are lying!" Lo'ak hissed. He broke through the brambles, not even reacting to the stinging kisses of the branches and the hugs of the vines. He pulled at them, ripped at them.

"What are you talking about?" Tsireya asked, almost pleading with him. "Where are you going?" Kiri, Tuk, and Ao'nung were lingering back, watching in silence. That was fine; he didn't have many words for them either. "Guys, help me here!"

"Lo'ak…" Tuk said softly. "Stop, please."

"Shut up, Tuk," He snapped.

"Hey!" Kiri said. He heard her storm forward, and before he could react, his sister grabbed him by the neck and plastered him against a tree. The bark scratched up his face. "Don't talk to her like that!"

"Kiri!" That was Ao'nung and from the corner of his eye Lo'ak could see him try to reach for Kiri, but she pushed him away, her eyes never leaving Lo'ak's face.

Tsireya stepped in place of Ao'nung. "Okay, let him go, Kiri."

Lo'ak pushed off the tree, making Kiri stumble back and fall. "Get off me, you freak!"

"Hey!" Ao'nung and Tsireya snapped.

Kiri didn't seem to pay attention to their outburst because she got to her feet and tackled him. It had been a long time since the two of them had physically fought, but she was still slightly bigger than he was. Kiri got him under her with quickness, wailing on his chest as Lo'ak tried to block her blows.

"Kiri, get off of him," Tsireya pulled on Kiri's tail, giving Lo'ak enough room to make his move. He pounced back on Kiri, and they rolled down the small hill off the cliff. "Lo'ak! Kiri!"

"Dammit," Ao'nung said.

Lo'ak landed on Kiri, but she kicked him off her. He stumbled back and reached for her tail. She yelped at the yank and pulled at his hair. He yelled at the jerk. They screamed at each other, and even though Lo'ak could hear the heavy footfalls of the others coming down the hill, even though he knew that some of the people in the village could hear them fighting, he kept pulling.

"Get off me!" He yelled.

"You get off me!" Kiri yelled back.

"This is so stupid," Ao'nung complained, his two heavy hands pulling at Lo'ak shoulders. "Great Mother, you're 14; grow up!"

But even with his efforts, Lo'ak still held firm onto his sister. He could hear his girlfriend screaming from them to let go, threatening that she would get her dad to stop it if she had to. Kiri pulled Lo'ak down and sat on him, wailing at him to let her tail go.

"Guys," Tuk shouted. "Stop fighting!"

But as usual, no one paid attention to little Tuk. The fight continued for a few more seconds, perhaps a minute, when a shadow fell upon them. At first, perhaps from the angle where Lo'ak lay, he thought it was either Tonowari or Ronal who had come, hearing the screaming from the village, and running to investigate. But upon looking up, Lo'ak's heart dropped.

"What the hell is going on here?" Spider asked. He looked at the two of them, his arms folded and standing like a disappointed father. Behind him, Rotxo stared down at the two of them, the same expression on his face.

"Lo'ak started it," Kiri said, releasing his tail and standing up, dusting herself off.

"I did not!" Lo'ak stood, dusting himself off. "Liar."

"You did start it when you told Tuk to 'shut up.'"

"Who cares—"

"I don't care who started it," Spider stepped down from the tree root he was on. That was what was making him so tall. "I'm finishing it."

Ao'nung snickered. "What are you going to do? Join the fight?" But when Spider shot him a look, his smile faded. "Sorry."

"You both are siblings," Spider said. "What happened to 'Sullies stick together?'"

"That died three months ago," Lo'ak mumbled.

Everyone heard him, and it seemed like the forest heard him, too, because it stilled with the comment.

"Lo'ak…" Tsireya said softly.

Lo'ak looked at Spider, then at Kiri and Tuk. "I'm sorry… for being an asshole."

"You are always an asshole," Kiri put her arms around her brother. "But that is who you are."

Lo'ak wrapped his arms around his sister, then pulled Tuk into the embrace.

"What are you guys doing out here anyway?" Spider asked.

"Mom and Dad left the island," Tuk said simply. "We watched them leave."

"They leave the island every day," Rotxo said. "What's so special about this time?"

"Because we don't know when they will be back," Kiri clarified.

Spider and Rotxo looked at each other. "What?"

-in the hut-

The sun was high in the sky when Spider and Rotxo finally understood that no one understood why the parental Sullys left the island. Everyone was huddled in a small circle in the middle of the Sully home; now that their parents where gone, it didn't matter if Spider was inside the hut or not. Well, everyone sat in a circle, but Lo'ak who leaned against one of the beams of the hut. He looked at the group as he toyed with his arm band.

"So, you're telling me that they just skipped town?" Spider asked.

"Don't say it like that," Kiri admonished. "You make it sound like they are fugitives."

"That's not what I meant," Spider said. "I am just trying to understand—"

"What else is there to understand?" Lo'ak snapped. "They left, didn't tell us, and now we are here."

"Im confused, because why do you think they are lying, Lo'ak?" Spider gave Lo'ak the same attitude, but Lo'ak flicked him off with his wrist and continued to play with his arm band. Not bothering to answer.

Kiri sighed. "He thinks they are hiding something."

"Because…?"
"I mean, they were very suspicious."

Spider nodded his head, bringing his knees to his chest. "Well, I guess this is a good time to say what I know." Lo'ak's ear perked up. "I overheard Tonowari and Ronal talking last night, when you all were at the dinner."

"What?" Ao'nung and Tsireya asked at the same time.

"I didn't feel too hungry yesterday, so I returned to the hut for bed. Tonowari and Ronal didn't notice me, and they were just talking."

"About what?" Ao'nung urged.

"Something about the Lefpom People, I don't know."

"Lefpom People?" Kiri asked.

"Who are they?" That was Tuk.

"Are you sure that was what you heard?" Ao'nung asked.

Spider nodded his head. "Pretty sure. Why?"

The three Metkayina children looked at each other, their eyes wide like plates. The others looked at each other, confusion written on their faces. Lo'ak crept closer to the group, still keeping his distance.

"I thought they were a rumor," Rotxo said. "Like…you know, the bedtime stories our parents tell us."

"They could still be a rumor…"

"Can someone tell us who the hell these people are?" Lo'ak asked loudly.

Tseriya turned to Lo'ak and took his hand in hers. She rubbed the top of his hand. "They are very old Na'vi who used to walk Pandora."

"I mean, they are old as hell," Ao'nung cut in.

Tsireya rolled her eyes. "They used to be very prominent on Pandora, then they just vanished."

"Why?"

She shrugged, something she learned from the Humans. "No one knows, but…they were considered very kind people. Even during the Time of Great Sorrow."

"Maybe Dad is going to ask them to help against the Sky People?" Lo'ak suggested.

Rotxo shook his head. "Probably not; they are not fighters. Never have been. They had no reason to be."

"Well…the Elders of the village did say they killed people—" Tsireya added.

"Yeah, but like—that was so rare, it doesn't even count."

Tsireya weighed her head from side to side, "It counts. A dead person is a dead person," she then looked at the Sully kids. "They were never rumored to be dangerous. Most people liked them or didn't see them as a problem."

"So why are Mom and Dad looking for them?"

The Metkayina kids just looked at them blankly. "I don't know."

"But you know who may know?" Kiri perked up. "The Spirit Tree. Come."

-At the Spirit Tree-

Kiri, Spider, Rotxo, and Tuk stay floating on the surface meters above the top leaves of the Spirit Tree, while Lo'ak, Tsireya and Ao'nung swam down into the darkening depths. If they looked down, the only light they would see would be the glowing roots of the tree, and the sometimes-glowing fish that swam around it. Lo'ak hadn't been to the tree in almost three months; every time he did, he would freeze. His hands would go from almost dry to almost painfully moist. As he swam closer to the waving tendrils of blossoms moved by the gentle current, his heart thrummed in his chest.

Down below, just before the darkness, Tsireya waved Lo'ak over.

'Use this one.'

Lo'ak took hold of the blossom string she handed him, careful not to brush against her fingers. Without a second thought, he connected his queue to the tendril.

What once was is now again.

Lo'ak was hurled through a chaos tunnel of colors, seeing passing memories of those he loved and those that loved him flash by him. He couldn't put a name to faces, he didn't even hear sounds other than his racing heart. Sometimes he would see his face…but before he could turn away and look elsewhere, the face of his older brother was gone, replaced by some other event.

It wasn't the ground he made contact with, it was water, cold and vast, he looked around to find himself in the middle of the ocean. The horizon line kissed the sea, turning both the sky and the water shades of pink and orange and purple. Around him, he heard voices. He turned to see his mother and father with weapons in their hands, the smell of gun powder simmering in the air. Before them, but far enough to not be seen as a threat, were a group of Na'vi so dark they looked like the night. They glowed under the dimming light, the light contrasting heavily against their skin that they looked like the shifting darkness.

He couldn't hear what they were saying, just that the darker Na'vi seemed to show they were no threat by putting their hands up in surrender. Lo'ak didn't know what shocked him more, the fact that his parents didn't attack the strange people out of precaution after all the not-so-veil threats to "eliminate all threats" done by their mother OR that the strangers turned their backs on his parents and swam away, not bothering to look back.

Who were these people who feared no man with a high-powered army-issued rifle and a woman with a knife made of the hardest stone they could find? Who were they to look their death in the eye and shrug? They must be strong.

Before Lo'ak could swim along with his parents as they retreated, he was sucked down below the surface, only to reemerge in the shadows of Tonowari's hut. Ronal pointed a knife at his parents, talking in that weird, intense way she always did when she was trying to get her point across. He liked Ronal; after getting to know her, Lo'ak thought she was cool, a little intense, but cool. She didn't ask too many questions, always understood when she should stop talking. She didn't seem to give too much of a damn and neither did he—and he liked that.

"Lefpom People?" That was his father. His parents looked at each other.

"They hold grudges," Ronal said, handing his parents bowls of fruit.

And before Loa'k could see more, he was pulled into the shadows by an unseen force. He was pushed into the wide-open night, on the warm sandy shore of the beach. Just above him, he saw the shadowed figures of his parents. They leaned against each other, watching the crashing waves beyond them.

"We have to go," His father said. "We have to woo them to our side."

"And what about the children?" His mother asked.

"They can stay with Tonowari and Ronal—"

"But that boy is there—"

His father shot her a look. "We can't tell them to kick Spider out," He said a little forcefully. Lo'ak didn't like how his father was always in a mood these days. He was annoying to be around sometimes…although, Lo'ak was probably not much better… "So it is either Tonowari or the Scientists."

His mother stared at his father for less than a second before saying with her chest, "I will tell Ronal to be expecting them in the morning."

He wanted to hear more, he really did, but as he stepped forward, a hand seemed to yank him back. Lo'ak opened his eyes to see Ao'nung and Tsireya looking at him with wide eyes.

'Come on! We have to get air!' Ao'nung gestured.

Lo'ak nodded once before swimming behind the siblings. When they reached the surface, all three of them gasped for air, wiping their face to get the water out their eyes. Kiri stared at them with intensity.

"So?"

Lo'ak paddled his way to the ilu she and Tuk were on. "We have to go North."

"We?" Spider asked, raising an eyebrow. "You speak French now?" That was a saying he got from his father…Quaritch. Whenever someone said something that involved everyone but not a damn person wanted to do, he would say that. Lo'ak hated the saying when he first heard it, and he hated it now. He was sure Spider knew that his thoughts on the matter hadn't changed because just as the half smile came, it was gone. He looked down at the Ilu he and Rotxo shared, rubbing its scaley head. "Sorry."

Lo'ak turned his attention back to his siblings and friends. "We have to go North."

"Why?" That was Tuk.

"Because that is where mom and dad are going."

"North is nothing but water," Tsireya protested. "Maybe a few small islands, but I doubt anyone lives there and I'm not even sure if the islands even exist. No one goes too far north."

"I'm with my sister on this one, Lo'ak," Ao'nung said. "its too dangerous."

"You all wanted to know where Mom and Dad were going—"

"No they didn't," That was Rotxo. "You wanted to know. They didn't ask."

Lo'ak looked around at his friends and family. They were supposed to stick together; and now, when it mattered, they weren't going to. Lo'ak huffed. "Fine, then I'll go myself." He ducked under the water, and he could have sworn he heard Kiri say something, but the splash of his kicks drowned out her words.