Author's Note: And another one. I am loving this story. And I'm loving how nice everyone is being. I am so sorry about this chapter. I definitely thought I was going to get further than I ended up getting. Hopefully it wasn't too bad. We are definitely getting to First Base in the next chapter. Hopefully. I'm sorry! Enjoy, regardless!
Neteyam awakens to the sound of his own coughing. It's soft at first as he feels his chest squeeze. He opens his eyes to darkness, listening to the sound of rain slamming into the rock around them. Neteyam flinches around his swallow, his throat feeling swollen. He slowly peels himself off of Lo'ak, who doesn't seem to mind the fact that Neteyam was sweating up a storm. He slowly sits up, feeling like all of his limbs are weighed down. He pulls the arm his brother had around his waist and laid it down gently to stand up. He sways slightly feeling heavy and lethargic.
He looks around the quiet cave. Everyone appears to still be sleeping. Even Ao'nung at his side was still sleeping, his sister sleeping on his shoulder, no longer shaking. Neteyam looks towards the mouth of the cave to see both Tonowari and Zestira sitting on opposite sides, staring back at him. Neteyam rolls his ankles, listening to them crack as he slowly makes his way toward the mouth, not making eye contact with either of the two keeping guard. He stops just outside the spray of water, taking a few, shaking breaths before he coughs hard into his elbow, entire body shaking with the force of it.
He's hoping the loud din of the absolutely pouring rain was loud enough to prevent it from echoing and waking his companions. His head is pounding and just coughing seems to suck every last bit of his energy from him. He crosses his arms over his chest for a moment, pulling his shoulders in as he stares out through the thick blanket of pouring rain in front of him.
After about thirty seconds of him just struggling to breath and not cough his brains out, Neteyam finally cups his hands together and holds them out as far as he can before getting his head wet. The cool water feels wonderful against the skin of his arms and what splashes onto his cheeks and chest. Once his cupped hands are full, he brings his hands together to his lips and drinks it. The cool water offering momentary relief to his sore throat. He does this a few times before taking the fifth cupped hands over one shoulder, letting the cool water run down his back, trying to cool him down. He does this a few times until the heat of his body isn't as unbearable anymore.
After a few minutes of standing there, Neteyam lowers down to the ground, just out of the direct spray of water, but he's able to feel some of the sprinkles hitting him. He crosses his legs before pulling them up to his chest, gripping his arms around his knees and resting his cheek on his knees, folding himself as small as possible. He rolls his shoulders forward, closing his eyes. He feels himself starting to doze a bit, but he keeps holding his hands out to collect more water and pour it down his back to try and cool himself down.
It's just a little rain and he's literally sick now.
His papa is going to kill him. He's always told him that he has to be careful. That he doesn't have as strong of a constitution as other Na'vi. Ever since he was a baby, his papa has always been extremely careful with him, much to his father's chagrin.
"You baby him, Tsu'tey. Let him play," Jake would always say when his papa was getting a little too overprotective. As much as Neteyam knew that their papa always loved all of them, he wasn't blind to the fact that his papa worried about him incessantly. He always tried to take care of himself, knowing that, but... he doesn't always happen to be successful.
Someone settles next to him. Neteyam opens his eyes and glances over at Tonowari sitting with his legs crossed beside him. Neteyam offers him a smile and the older Na'vi returns it, reaching out and place a hand on Neteyam's back. His gentle smile faulters a bit and a look of concern flickers across his face as he pulls his hand back.
"I'm sorry," Tonowari says quietly, respecting that Neteyam wasn't trying to wake anyone or draw any unnecessary attention to himself.
Neteyam shakes his head, voice rasping horribly, "Please don't. I'm okay."
Tonowari flinches at the rasp, guttural sound that escapes him. Neteyam buries his face between his chest and thighs, coughing while trying to muffle the sound but the sheer force of it makes his toes curl and his body shake. He takes a few gasping breaths before reaching out back into the water, cupping water before bringing it to his lips to once mroe try and sooth his throat, but it does little to help.
Soft trinkles of water slide down Neteyam's back and he glances over to see Tonowari letting water fall from between his fingers onto Neteyam's shoulder and down his back. The coolness of the water is welcome, as always. Neteyam slow blinks, throat and head both pulsating.
"Thank you," he mouths, throat too sore to speak.
Tonowari nods, sloping his hands once more as water runs down his back. "Does this help you?" Neteyam nods, resting his cheek against his knee once more. His pretty, glowing golden eyes start to droop a bit before opening once more, when Tonowari asks, softly, "Did we do this to you?"
Neteyam shakes his head in negative before pointing a finger at the rain.
Tonowari's ears droop a bit. "Yeah, but we were the reason that you were out there to begin with." Neteyam shakes his head, eyes turned back to Tonowari. The older man sighs. "Yes, I recognize that you were there looking for your siblings and friend, but you could have gotten shelter in the trees before the rain got too bad. Being out there, holding up Rhalwari... it was too much."
Neteyam shakes his head, gold eyes sharp and focused, despite the exhaustion written across his face. His thin face pinching, displeased. Despite the pain in his throat, he rasps, "It was my choice." He points a finger at his own chest, keeping his eyes locked with Tonowari.
Tonowari lets out a long, drawn-out sigh. "You are a very kind boy. You certainly honor your father with your actions." Neteyam perks at his words, ears flicking. His tail swishes behind him, momentarily pleased, before his ears lower and his tail slows, as if waiting for the flip side of the praise. "I am ashamed at how desperate I am to get my family somewhere safe. If I was more responsible. If I wasn't as... exhausted I would be the one carrying the bulk of these problems. Not laying them on your shoulders. Not forcing you to bear the weight of my inadequacies."
Neteyam frowns at that, shaking his head. He reaches out to touch Tonowari's hand, long thin fingers looking impossibly small and Tonowari has to remind himself that the boy had to be around his son's age. Maybe fifteen? And while Tonowari loves his son with all of his heart, he also knows how childish and stubborn his son could be. Neteyam just seems so much older comparatively because of how mature he is. Always calm, always collected, and even now, offering comfort and kindness without a bat of an eyelash. Toruk Makto raised an impressively kind, compassionate and wonderful boy.
Tonowari feels privileged to know this young man.
Neteyam licks his lips, flinching at a swallow and Tonowari feels immense pity for him. He shouldn't be holding a conversation with someone who is obviously hurting. If Tonowari had any sort of hope that Ronal would have something that could at least ease the pain in the boy's throat, he would have sought it out, but he knows that she has given the last of the herbs that Lo'ak and the Sky Boy - Spider - gathered to Rhalwari just a few hours ago. Before Neteyam started coughing.
Ronal is no doubt going to be hunting for more in the morning, which Tonowari will be more than happy to help with.
"The Great Mother brought you to us," Neteyam rasps his voice cutting in and out, staring into Tonowari's darkened blue eyes with his own vibrantly glowing golden ones. "She doesn't make mistakes. You all belong with us."
Tonowari nods, wishing that he could be as certain as Neteyam. The boy's tired eyes still shine with an impressive strength as he pulls away, dropping his legs to be crossed at the ankles before reaching out for the water, cupping it, before letting it wash down across his back.
A soft whimper makes Neteyam's and Tonowari's ears flicker as both turn to see Tuk standing back by Zestira, who was watching them silently. Tuk is rubbing at her reddening cheek, tears dropping heavy to the lightly moss-covered floor of the cave as it tapers closer to the mouth.
Neteyam twists toward her, ears perked as he tilts his head, mouth opening, but no sound coming out. No doubt his throat is killing him.
"I couldn't find you, Neteyam," Tuk cries softly, rubbing at her cheek to get the tears away. "I thought the thanator came back and killed you." She takes a deep, shaky breath, eyes opening to look at her brother. "Are you okay? Where did you go?"
Neteyam doesn't respond, probably unable to. But he smiles so tenderly if Tonowari didn't know any better, he would assume the boy was perfectly fine. The eldest Sully son opens his arms for the little girl to run to him. She coils around him like a serpent, arms around the neck and legs around his waist. He doesn't complain, just holds her close, nuzzling into her shoulder as her face buries into his neck.
Despite the pain in his throat, Neteyam purrs into his sister's ear, letting her feel the comforting vibrations from his chest. He purrs for as long as he can before his throat simply can't anymore before he stops. But he nuzzles away, holding her close despite her feeling like a fireball in his arms.
His purring lasted long enough for Tuk to settle down. After a few minutes of silence, Tuk slowly pulls back, her small face pinching in confusion as she stares up into her brother's eyes. She pulls one hand from Neteyam's shoulder to place against his face, first his cheek, then his forehead, then back down to his cheek. She blinks those huge golden eyes.
"Neteyam? Are you sick?" Neteyam shakes his head but Tuk's face morphs into a pout. "No lying, Neteyam. We have to get you into bed, right this instant, mister!" Her eyes peer out at the blanket of water still coming down outside the cave. She sighs, glancing back over at her brother. "We can't go out there to get medicine, huh?" Neteyam shakes his head, placing a hand onto his chest with a meaningful look. Tuk frowns at it. "You aren't okay! In the morning, we'll get something, okay? Okay, Neteyam? Say yes." She pauses, considering when his lips part she cuts in with a quick, "But not with your mouth!"
Neteyam huffs, ignoring the sharp stab at his throat before nodding solemnly to his sister.
Tuk smiles, pleased. The last dampness on her lashes is gone as she moves to stand, taking Neteyam's hand and pulling him with her. Her pretty golden eyes turn to Tonowari and she smiles more, crinkling her nose and the skin around her eyes. "Goodnight!"
Neteyam offers a little wave of the hand before following his baby sister into the darkness of the cave. Neteyam lowers carefully beside Lo'ak's sleeping form, pulling Tuk to his chest and moving her between both brothers, knowing that Lo'ak won't mind.
"Don't worry, Neteyam," Tuk says softly, petting back some of the braids from over his shoulder. "You'll feel all better soon. Okay?"
Instead of responding, Neteyam curls around his sister, a smile pulling at the corners of his lips and love tightening his chest more than the urge to cough.
When Neteyam awakens again, curled around Tuk with Lo'ak's breath fanning against his forehead and hair, his hand on Neteyam's shoulder as they huddle close together. Neteyam still feels unbearably hot, and with Tuk in his arms, he feels like he's on fire.
His head and throat are pounding and now he's certain his parents are going to kill him when he gets home. Not only for being out and about without telling anyone, out in a storm when his dad warned him one was coming, spent all night on the forest floor with both of his siblings and Spider, and he spent enough time out in the rain and caught a cold.
Is he forgetting anything?
Oh, yeah. He also took on a thanator, something neither of his siblings are going to let escape their parents' attention. Not to get him in trouble, but because he really should have died back there. He would never ask them to keep it a secret, fully aware of how dangerous that was and how lucky he is to have made it out with only a few scratches to tell the story, but their dad had this way of just knowing when one of them was keeping a secret. Even without any sort of prompt. He always seemed to know.
Eywa was looking out for him. He survived the thanator only for his parents to kill him later.
It's... a form of justice, he supposes, for the worry his parents are going through, or will if they aren't home yet. Because there is no way that Neteyam is lucky enough to be able to get everyone back to First Base without everyone knowing. They would have no way to explain the reef Na'vi anyway, so the secret would come out regardless of if every star had aligned to make their escape and return go completely unnoticed by someone who would mention it to their parents.
Besides, Neteyam wouldn't want to lie to his parents anyway. He messed up, so he should face the music, as his dad says. He really should learn by now that he can't take his eyes off of Lo'ak, but... well... he couldn't help himself.
Neteyam tries not to think about the reason for his distraction. He was... making a gift for his papa, who has been gone for the last week, checking in on the nearby clans. And Neteyam has missed him. He's supposed to be back any day now, so Neteyam wanted to get his gift done as soon as possible, but he realized too late how quiet it was and when he went searching, he couldn't find Lo'ak. Or Tuk.
And Apollo, Lo'ak's ikran was gone. And Neteyam knew. He hadn't expected Spider, but he probably should have. Lo'ak gets into a lot of trouble on his own but put the two of them together and they always seem to find it in droves.
Not that Neteyam thinks that it's Spider's fault for even a moment. Sure, they feed off each other and Spider doesn't press hard enough to talk Lo'ak out of his crazy ideas, but Neteyam doesn't, for a moment, believe that Spider is a problem, let alone the problem, like his mom believes.
Still, one way or the other, all of them are going to be in so much trouble, no matter how much of the burden that Neteyam takes for himself. No matter how responsible he is. Their dad will dish out punishment for all of them.
Everyone at fault gets to be punished.
Neteyam rises to see most of the reef Na'vi already pulling themselves together, and he feels like he's made of sticks and twine. Every bit of his energy is sapped from him. Everything hurts. And his head feels like it's full of cotton. He's not sure if the perspiration on his forehead is from himself or Lo'ak's warm breath, but he wipes it off. He reaches out and shakes his siblings before reaching over Lo'ak to shake Spider, who comes to consciousness faster than Lo'ak and Tuk.
He stretches, yawning, before looking around. "Are we getting out of here?"
Neteyam nods, throat feeling like it's swollen shut. Spider yawns before leveling him with a stare that he no doubt picked up from the Sully patriarch. Neteyam's not sure if his sickness is painted across his forehead or what, but this look passes over Spider's expression and suddenly he's worried.
"Are you okay, cus?"
Neteyam nods as Lo'ak sits up, looking at him with bleary gold eyes and instantly snaps into alertness. Neteyam would have sighed if his throat wasn't locked shut as Lo'ak cups his face, feeling the heat radiating from it.
"Bro," Lo'ak whispers, worry flickering across his face. "Are you okay? You haven't been this way all night, have you?" Not having the heart to lie to Lo'ak, he just shrugs and Lo'ak looks stricken at that. "Why didn't you wake me? I would have gone to get you some medicine! There has to be something around here."
Neteyam shakes his head, offering a little smile that seems to anger Lo'ak more. And with that anger, there is shame. His lips press together as he studies Neteyam's soft expression.
"I didn't mean for you to get sick, Neteyam." He sighs, shaking his head and Neteyam sees their papa in him. The regret, the worry. All things that Neteyam hates to see on his spirited brother. Tuk sits up between them, yawning loudly and rubbing at her eyes before stretching her arms above her head.
Neteyam shakes his head again, reaching out to scrub at his brother's head, which usually annoys Lo'ak but this time he just stares miserably back at Neteyam. The older boy brings his brother's head to his so that he can press their foreheads together, offering him a small smile before pulling away and standing.
"How bad is it?" Spider asks, worry lacing in his voice too, much to Neteyam's chagrin. Everyone always worries too much.
"Bad enough that he's not talking," Lo'ak grumbles. He pushes to his feet, placing a hand on Neteyam's chest. "I'm going down to get something for you. We have to get your fever down so that grandmother won't skin both of us when we get back." Neteyam couldn't argue with that. If anyone was scarier than their mother, it was their grandmother. Neteyam reaches out to grab Lo'ak's arm to stop him before he can take more than two steps. Lo'ak glances back at him, face tight. "Stop worrying so much. It'll be just a few minutes and I'll be back."
Neteyam shakes his head again, opening his mouth when a hoarse, pained squeak leaves him. Both brothers flinch at the sound and Spider cringes at their side, having also stood, no doubt to join Lo'ak. Which, honestly, Neteyam was grateful. He would rather them be together. They would watch each other's backs out there.
"No?" Lo'ak murmurs, turning toward Neteyam to try to understand what he wanted. Neteyam opens his mouth, to try again, but both Lo'ak and Spider's faces pinch, waiting for that horrendous noise once more, before Neteyam gives up. He turns to look back at the corner of the cave to see Ronal looking over Rhalwari's wounded leg, her face still even and unreadable.
As if sensing their eyes on her, Ronal glances up. She tilts her head, slightly but doesn't question their gazes.
"Oh," Lo'ak says, eyebrows lifting toward his hairline. "Sure, we'll get something for her too."
Neteyam smiles back at his brother, nodding. He releases Lo'ak's arm, giving him the infamous 'be careful' look their papa perfected. Lo'ak nods, a smile curling the corner of his lips before he turns to leave.
"We'll be right back," Spider says to Neteyam, offering a little smile before following after.
Neteyam nods at nothing before lowering to a sit. He's going to have to conserve as much strength as possible to get down from this cave. They still have a ways to travel before they can call for their ikran. But the small tug at the back of his mind, his bond with his sweet Aphrodite letting him know that she is somewhere nearby.
"Are you okay?" Tsireya asks as she and Ao'nung both turn toward him and Tuk, who presses into his side. Everyone starts moving around them, stretching and shaking out their limbs, getting ready for another long day.
Neteyam nods, offering a smile. Both of the siblings look worried at that.
"Neteyam shouldn't be out when they weather is against us," Tuk says, rubbing Neteyam's back comfortingly. Neteyam smiles at her, nuzzling her cheek in appreciation, but mostly to hear her sweet giggle and pretty smile sent his way.
"Is... everything okay with you?" Ao'nung asks, blue eyes watching the other boy around his age. The cave is still dark enough for their markings to glow, but Neteyam can now see how light their eyes are through the light pouring in from the mouth of the cave.
Neteyam nods, but Tuk says, "Uncle Norm said that Neteyam's consideration isn't as good as ours." She nods, slowly, looking sad.
Ao'nung's forehead creases at that, while Tsireya tilts her head in confusion. "Consideration?" She echoes, wondering if she heard right.
Neteyam, beyond amused, smiles and nods. His huff is soft and only heard because of how close they are to one another.
Tuk nods solemnly, still rubbing at Neteyam's back. She rests her cheek against his arm and Neteyam meets Ao'nung and Tsireya's eyes, not even attempting to correct her, but amused, nonetheless. Tsireya smiles back slightly, figuring it couldn't be too bad if Neteyam didn't seem concerned by it. Ao'nung, though, just stares at the curl of Neteyam's lips, seeing how unsteady it is. Even in the darkness, there is something off about his color, and while his eyes are glowing - not as brightly as it was in the pitch darkness of the night before - there is something unfocused about it.
"Constitution?" Ronal guesses, lowering next to her daughter.
"Yeah!" Tuk says, nodding. "Dad says it's because Neteyam is special. Eywa made him special."
"How so?" Tsireya asks, amused.
"The stork dropped him at Hometree and he hit every perfect branch on the way down," Lo'ak jests, dropping down next to him.
Ao'nung looks perplexed. "What is a stork?"
Neteyam looks over at Lo'ak, expectantly. Lo'ak hesitates, looking between all of the interested faces of the mother and her two children. His eyes catch Tsireya's before lowering slightly. He clears his throat, digging around in the pouch at his side while explaining, "Our dad told us about it. Apparently, it is a bird that delivers babies on Earth."
Tsireya and Ao'nung immediately look fascinated, but Ronal asks, incredulously, "The Sky People do not mate for their young?"
Neteyam looks at Lo'ak, waiting patiently. The younger brother glares at the older one, already regretting his choice of words. "No, it's just something that Sky People tell their children when they think that they are too young to learn about mating," Lo'ak says. "It's not real or anything. At least, according to dad. It's a pretend bird that carries babies to their parents."
"Huh," Tsireya says, voice soft, contemplatively, but also seemingly disappointed.
Ao'nung rolls his eyes. "Why not just tell them the truth? Mating is a sacred bond between two people who love one another and Eywa. Why would anyone try to make that seem less than the honor that it is?"
"Listen, bro," Lo'ak says, laying out the plentiful bounty that he and Spider - who was passing out some more edible mushroom and roots - managed to find while they were gone. "Sky People do things differently than we do. Mating isn't as straightforward for them as it is for us. They don't have Eywa there to let them know that they are with the right people. Sometimes, or a lot of the time, they mess up."
"How is it not as straightforward?" Rotxo asks, lowering onto his hunches next to Ao'nung, offering a little nod to Neteyam, who nods back slightly.
"They don't bond like we do," Lo'ak says. "They don't form tsaheylu. And because it isn't as... sacred to Sky People as it is to us... well, they jump into mistakes faster than we would and, well, they don't need to form tsaheylu to... well, have babies." Ronal perks up at that, suddenly interested once more as she sorts out the familiar herbs, passing a handful to Rotxo, who takes them, straightening up to bring them back to his mother. Ronal passes another handful toward Neteyam.
He takes them, staring at the mixture of roots, mushrooms and flowers, frowning. He swallows with great difficulty, realizing that he hadn't thought this through. He presses his lips together when Ronal reaches behind her back, pulling off a wicked looking knife.
"Grab that rock to me, Ao'nung," she commands before grabbing out a stitched fabric and resting it next to herself. She takes the time to chop all of the medical herbs into a pile of dust on the flat-ish rock that her son grabs for her before carefully scooping it onto the threaded cloth before moving the stone out of the way and turning her gaze toward Neteyam once more. "Come close," she commands once more. Neteyam obeys until his knees are right next to her own. "Tip your head back and open your mouth. Tsireya, come help me."
Ronal goes up onto her knees while Tsireya scoots closer to help her mother. Ronal grabs at the waterskin on her side, instructing Tsireya to hold the makeshift sack of herbs over Neteyam's open mouth while she gets to work dropping bits of water into it, wetting everything inside until it starts to drip out the bottom, the water being filtered through the herbs.
They do this for a good ten minutes or so, until Neteyam can finally feel the heat of his body lessen a bit and it gets a bit easier for him to swallow. Once he can swallow without being in agony, he is then forced to eat the sludge left behind, which wasn't great, but he was already starting to feel better afterward. It brought the consistent pain throughout his body from aches and pains, and the fever and sickness attacking his mind and throat, from a horrid 20 pain level down to like a 15, which he'll accept.
He smiles at her kindly, nodding his appreciation before looking around at everyone, making sure that they were ready. He waves for them all to get moving and everyone grabs all of their things, Neteyam gets strapped down with Rhalwari, against everyone's protest, but he would have none of it. He just pretended that while he couldn't speak, he also couldn't hear.
Tied together with Spider's blanket once more, everyone begins their descent to the forest floor. Lo'ak grabs onto Rowee, to carry him down once more as Spider goes through a quick lesson on climbing down the wall. Thankfully, the storm stopped sometime before sunrise and the sun beating down on the stone has warmed it, all traces of water gone.
Lo'ak, Tonowari, and Tsuy'asha help Neteyam begin. With all three flat to the ground, they help hold Neteyam and Rhalwari as he carries her over the side, to keep him balanced, the whole time looking anxious. Everyone kept insisting that someone else carry her down, but Neteyam just shook his head and smiled at every protest thrown his way.
While Neteyam didn't feel great, he knew that he could do this. He just followed his instincts and moved slow and steady. Thankfully, Rhalwari put more weight on that left side and not his right, which was already a good start for him. He stopped a lot more than he would have wanted but managed to get to the floor in descent timing. A lot of hands grabbed onto him once he reached low enough for them to take some of the weight off of his screaming limbs, which he was thankful for.
Thankfully no one fell. A small slip here and there, but expert years reflex managed to keep everyone from hurdling to the forest floor. Once they were all down once more, Tsuy'asha once more took over carrying Rhalwari, after she petted down Neteyam's braids, thanking him softly.
Neteyam took back all his gear, giving Spider back his blanket, from his adornments, his corset and even taking back Lo'ak's bow when his brother passed it to him.
"Sick or not, you're still a better shot than me," he says easily, a touch of pride in his voice. Neteyam smiles fondly at his brother, scrubbing at his head before starting off. They still have a ways to go and they want to try and get everyone back to First Base before nighttime hits once more.
As they travel in relative silence behind Neteyam, Rotxo, holding the hand of his brother, steps up next to Lo'ak. "Are you not good at the bow and arrow, or is your brother just really good?"
The question is innocent. Not a strike or jest. Just honest curiosity.
Lo'ak smiles, pride filling his chest. "I'm good, don't get me wrong. We learned from our mother, who is one of the best, if not the best, in the clan. But Neteyam is a lot better than me. Plus, he can switch sides."
"Switch sides?" Rotxo repeats, blue eyes wide and curious. "What does that mean?"
"We typically shoot with the left hand pulling back the string, but Neteyam is like dad, predominantly right-handed, so dad taught him to do it the other way too. Now both feel natural. He doesn't usually go right side, just because he learned on the left side, but if that arm ever gets tired or he hurts his hand or something, he can switch. It's pretty cool." Lo'ak grins, pleased at Rotxo's wide eyes.
The group travel through the forest without too many issues. They sneak around some beasts, make plenty of stops to get some water and rest, and gather more medicine, that is helping Neteyam feel a little bit better each time, even though he is coughing up a storm the entire time they are traveling despite his best attempts to try and keep quiet, but they trudge on, getting closer and closer to their destination. Both brothers can feel the pull of their ikran, sensing their slight siren's call. They must be flying overhead, searching for them.
There is a sound through the forest amongst the din that they seem to be listening to, but not concerned about, but that sound makes them, and Spider come to a halt.
"Was that...?" Spider asks softly, his eyebrows pulling together.
"I don't know..." Lo'ak says softly. All eyes turn to Neteyam as he steps up onto a tall root, golden eyes scanning the forest, clocking the movement of the beasts around them before turning to look over at Lo'ak, offering a slow nod. "Okay," Lo'ak sighs. "Let's pick up the pace."
As they make their way through the forest, a thought occurs to the younger Sully brother. He digs around in his belongings until he pulls out his throat radio. He forgot in all the excitement that he grabbed it on his way out of First Base on reflex from their dad beating it into them that they shouldn't leave without it. Ever.
"Neteyam!" Lo'ak gasps.
Neteyam freezes, long, pale body going rigid in worry as he turns toward Lo'ak, hands ready to knock an arrow. He spots the radio and visibly relaxes, nodding. Lo'ak grins triumphantly, attaching it to his neck and placing the piece into his ear.
While he does that, Tsireya asks, "What is that?"
"It'll let me reach Kiri. At this point she's got to be out looking for us," Lo'ak says, relieved. "This will go a lot faster if we have three ikran as opposed to just two." Neteyam nods.
"See if you can reach her," he says, voice soft and rough.
Lo'ak nods, clicking it on. "Eagle Eye to Sunshine. Come in, Sunshine."
There is a long pause before finally, Lo'ak hears a crackling over the radio. "I hear you, penisface."
Lo'ak barks out a surprised laugh at Kiri's droll voice. The group glances at him as Neteyam motions for them to stop. He keeps scanning the forest around them with Spider taking up the rear and doing the same, both motioning for Lo'ak to continue.
"Don't call me that, Kiri," Lo'ak says, mirthfully.
"I'll stop when you do. The ironic twist on my codename isn't lost on me," Kiri says, voice still dry. "Now where are you? Dad is going to ground you - "
"I know, listen," Lo'ak starts.
"- For life, Lo'ak."
Lo'ak sighs, sending a look to Neteyam, who offers him a less than encouraging smile. Lo'ak motions for him to take the headset but Neteyam shakes his head, motioning to his throat. Lo'ak groans, pressing the button on his throat again. "Listen, Kiri. We are heading toward the plains, and we are going to call for our ikran. We need you to meet us there, we're going to need your help."
"Who's we?" Kiri asks after a beat.
"Neteyam, Spider, myself, and Tuk," Lo'ak says, smoothly. Neteyam tilts his head, giving his brother a stern look, making his way over to his younger brother, leaning in close to try and hear. Lo'ak shrugs but when Neteyam's look doesn't let up, Lo'ak adds, "And, well, Tuk found some Na'vi that need our help. So, we need your help so we can bring them to dad."
"Dad was expecting someone?" Kiri asks, voice lilted with surprise.
"No, they've come to seek uturu," Lo'ak explains, rolling his eyes. Neteyam presses close enough that their ears are almost pressed together. "Listen, just come to the plains, Kiri. We still need to find a way to talk to mom and dad. Find a way to explain this. Bringing strangers to First Base and all."
"You won't have to worry about that," Kiri says, evenly. "He's right next to me."
Neteyam and Lo'ak both flinch at that, coiling back from one another. Lo'ak clenches his teeth as his dad says, evenly though the radio, "We will see you at the plains, Lo'ak." Both brothers cringe at one another. That was his scary voice. The flat, toneless one that he takes on when he's beyond angry.
"Yes, sir," Lo'ak mumbles. "We'll be there within the hour." Neteyam nods, shoulders slumping. He motions for everyone to get moving, heading back to the front to lead the way.
"I'm guessing that means your dad is coming?" Spider asks, stepping up next to Lo'ak, who flinches.
"Yeah, and he sounds pissed."