Author's Note: Shh, no one look at me. If I have to, I will start a million stories. I love you all, and this is how I show it. Don't hate me. And no one ask if there is another in the chamber, because, yes, there is.

Tsyeyk first met Tsu'tey when he was four years old. He's a year older than Tsyeyk and they hit it off right away. Tsyeyk was still scared to leave his mom's arms because everything was still fresh and new. He was still learning how to talk, and his tail kept tripping him, so he was scared to leave her arms outside of their little hut. Dad spent so much time helping him walk, talking quietly to him, encouraging him despite how scared Tsyeyk was of him when mom first brought him home. His face was set in hard lines and Tsyeyk was scared of him and his harsh tone, despite the way his sisters hung off of him.

Now, whenever Tsyeyk had nightmares, it was his dad that he went to for comfort. Curling up in his lap in front of the fire or sleeping in his arms at night. He loved his mother and his father. And he also loved his sisters.

He had two of them. The older one by a year, same age as Tsu'tey, is Sylwannin. She's their parents first child. The younger one, a year younger than Tsyeyk, is Neytiri. Both of his sisters were polar opposites of one another. Sylwannin was soft spoken, sweet smiles and a gentle laugh. Neytiri was loud, boisterous, always getting into trouble. Despite being so young, she never stayed where their parents told her to.

Tsyeyk wasn't quite like either of them. He was still learning. He was learning to understand what everyone was saying. How to talk without it sounding strange, and how to walk properly as his default was always walking around on all fours.

"For sneaking," his mother would say. "Go onto all four when you're sneaking, tiyawn."

Despite how young he was, every time his mother would gently run a hand over his braids, he would remember his mom cleaning and brushing his hair for the first time. How knotted and tangled it was. How he's never had someone look after him like that.

It hurt really bad that first time, despite mom trying to be gentle, but it earned him lots of praises and kisses for being such a good boy. After that first time, it's gotten a lot easier. Now mom dresses him up all pretty, weaving in lots of beautiful things into his hair and adorning him. It's been a few months since, and he's finally gotten used to them hanging off of him, making noise every time he moves.

He's becoming more and more like his parents. Like his sisters. Soon he won't be so different. The people that live with mom and dad won't look at him in such a scary way anymore.

And despite the fact that he wasn't there yet, didn't matter to Tsu'tey. Despite Tsyeyk being scared around others, he wasn't scared around Tsu'tey.

Even hanging off his mom, arms around her neck and legs around her waist, he looked at the other boy curiously, resting his cheek on her shoulder. His ears flattened when the other boy peaks up at him from around his own dad's leg, blinking up at him. Tsyeyk, nervously, shrank into his mom a bit more, scared for only a moment, before their eyes locked with one another. The other boy steps from around his father's leg a bit, taking in Tsyeyk's strange features, before those big eyes widen more and a smile crosses his lips, which makes Tsyeyk perk up a bit.

With his tail swaying back and forth in growing excitement, the boy says, "Hi! I'm Tsu'tey!" And respectfully waved his hand from his forehead. "Who are you?"

He knew this one. His mom taught him. "Tsyeyk." It takes a second, but he remembers to wave from his forehead back. His father always said to be polite.

Tsu'tey flashes tiny white fangs, bouncing closer to them. Tsyeyk's mother lowers down onto her knee so that the boys could have a closer look at each other. Tsyeyk wraps his legs tighter around her but turns slightly to stare at the other boy, blinking innocently. Tsu'tey steps closer still, smiling at Tsyeyk before reaching out and running a skinny finger along the space above Tsyeyk's eyes, going from one eye to the other.

"I like this," he says, giggling.

Tsyeyk recoils for a second, reaching up to touch the small patches of hair there, before looking at Tsu'tey's smile, and smiling back. He carefully unfolds from around his mom and turns to look at Tsu'tey, lowering onto the ground, first to his feet and then lowering down onto his hunches, his hands pressing into the ground. Tsu'tey laughs, sitting down in front of him, not seeming to mind the way the boy was lowered to the ground.

Tsyeyk felt his mom rubbing at his back as Tsu'tey talks to him. He doesn't seem to mind Tsyeyk just mindlessly smiling at him, not fully understanding what the other boy is saying but enjoying both the attention and hearing him talk. Tsyeyk keeps inching closer while Tsu'tey talks, resting little hands onto Tsu'tey's legs as he listens to the older of the two of them, tail swaying behind him happily. Tsu'tey's own tail languidly swirls around in circles behind him, his own grin nearly splitting his face in two.

"And and and I can show you the water," Tsu'tey says, gripping the tiny wrists on the hands resting on his calves. He looks down at the hands, pulling them up a bit to look at his fingers, eyes widening. "You have so many fingers!"

"So many!" Tsyeyk agrees. Tsu'tey and Tsyeyk both look at the younger boy's hand. Tsu'tey plays with the extra finger on his hand for a long moment, eyes wide in curiosity and wonder, before lacing their fingers together. Both boys share crested eyed smiles at one another as every bit of tension between them bleeds away more and more. The younger boy relaxing more into the older one as they talk - or Tsu'tey does and Tsyeyk echoes the words that he's confident in repeating, giddy and joyful whenever Tsu'tey would laugh and grin back at him.

Tsyeyk didn't get to meet other kids his age as he was still so new and had to learn how to be part of the clan still. Tsu'tey was the first child outside of his sisters that he is able to fully interact with. And he loves it. He loves his smile. His laugh. How when Tsyeyk stumbles over words, he doesn't seem to mind. He either laughs sweetly not knowing what Tsyeyk was trying to say or correct his pronunciation without missing a beat.

From that day on, they were inseparable. Tsyek's mom and Tsu'tey's mom were not on good terms with one another, but their fathers were friends. Maybe not the best of friends but friendly enough that the boys were able to spend all the time in the world together. Tsu'tey didn't seem to mind Tsyeyk's more animal like tendencies that he was learning how to overcome. How to be more like the other Na'vi. How to be more like his clan. Like his people.

Soon it became natural to see them together. Always Tsyeyk and Tsu'tey, sometimes Sylwannin and little Neytiri too. Even Tsu'tey's own little brother, who was closer to Neytiri's age than Tsyeyk's, but he would join them too. It got easier. All of it. Learning how to walk properly and talk better. He still slurred his words and got confused. He still growled when upset and crawled around on all fours when he forgot, but it all got easier.

And sometimes, after days of playing, Tsyeyk would wake up in the middle of the night, back in the hut with his parents and sisters sleeping around him. And other times, he would wake up, curled around Tsu'tey, hugging him tightly and feeling his soft breaths on his cheek. Despite their mom's being coldly detached from one another, no one discouraged the boys being together. Their friendship.

A year since Tsyeyk was brought home by his mom, they celebrated his life as it passed into the fifth year. Tsyeyk has started to be fully emersed in the clan in these last few months. Everyone knew that he was there, but they also knew that he was learning how to be one of them, so they respectfully kept their distance, but everyone was interested in his parents new child.

Tsyeyk became one of them. He was the middle child of the Olo'eyktan and Tsahik of the Omatikaya. The only son.

He was showered with love and gifts, so much more than he knew how to handle, so he stayed in his mother's arms, or huddled behind his father's leg, smiling at every smile sent his way. His little face tinted with a violet hue with his blush. And while the attention made him nervous, it wasn't unwelcome. There was food and merriment. Dancing and gifts. The day was for Tsyeyk and the children, and when night came, it was for the parents.

Tsyeyk remembers awakening, back in his hut that his siblings and parents share. His sisters were curled up together behind him, Arvok was sprawled out on his back behind Tsu'tey, and the older brother, Tsu'tey, was as curled around Tsyeyk as Tsyeyk was around him. Tsyeyk felt Tsu'tey's light breath on his cheek as the younger of the two buried his nose under the other boy's. He can still hear the pounding of the drums and the pulling of the stringed instruments around the firepit floors below them, as the adults continue to celebrate.

Feeling the gentle nuzzling against his cheek, Tsu'tey pulls closer, hand resting on Tsyeyk's side as he drifts somewhere between awake and asleep. Tsyeyk closes his eyes, feeling the lashes on his left eye brush against Tsu'tey's nose.

"Happy birthday," Tsu'tey whispers into the darkness, his voice slurred and soft from sleep. He squeezes closer, letting out a little sigh.

Tsyeyk nuzzles him slightly, bringing his arm up to wrap around Tsu'tey's neck. He feels another shy smile pull at his lips as he whispers back in the darkness, "Happy birthday."

Tsu'tey laughs, softly, hand sliding to his back. "No, silly. I say happy birthday, and you say thank you, remember?"

"Yes," Tsyeyk says softly. He had been trying to say it all day, but he kept forgetting how, so overwhelmed by so many people saying it to him. Thankfully no one seemed to mind as Tsyeyk at least remembered how to sign it as his mother taught him. That was easier to remember. And he didn't have to worry about his dry mouth failing him. Or his inability to form words, still nervous about getting them wrong.

Tsu'tey smiles and Tsyeyk can feel it on his cheek. "Happy birthday, Tsyeyk."

"Thank you, Tu'tey."

Tsu'tey had just turned seven, and Tsyeyk was on his way to turning six in a few months when they snuck out of Hometree. Well, not really. Tsyeyk's father lead a hunt out into the forest, with Tsu'tey's father and some more hunters, an additional eight of them. And the boys, eager to join, as Tsu'tey was about the age where he would start learning how to hunt as he finally got his first hunting knife for his birthday, that he hasn't taken off since getting it, and he wanted to start watching the hunters in action. There is no way the hunters didn't hear them stumbling along through the thicket after them.

No doubt it was the reason why they decided against the Pa'li that were prepared for them. Or why some of the hunters trailing at the back, kept tilting their heads so that they could listen behind them. Tsyeyk didn't realize this until he was older - and probably not Tsu'tey either - but at the time, they were so excited to sneaking around with the hunters.

Tsyeyk fell at one point, tripping over a branch, but he didn't cry, despite his eyes welling up and his nose burning from where it hit the ground. He sniffles and rubs at his face, whimpering softly, but he doesn't cry. The hunters, thankfully stop for just long enough for Tsyeyk to wipe away his tears, with Tsu'tey soothing him and helping him back to his feet before the hunters were off again, and so was the boys. Hand and hand the boys followed behind the hunters, close enough to keep them in sight - thinking back, way too close if they were tracking - but not enough to just run into them.

They traveled for a really long time. Tsyeyk's little legs had a hard time keeping up but he somehow managed. Thankfully the hunters weren't going very fast, but he's little and relying on Tsu'tey's hand to keep him steady. He's huffing loudly, falling into Tsu'tey's side more than he isn't, but he doesn't let go of his hand and keeps smiling whenever they meet each other's eyes.

They hunker down in silence as the hunters skulk around slowly and carefully, hunting whatever they were tracking. Tsyeyk watched his father with wide golden eyes, mouth spread into an awed smile as his movements were practiced and precise. Tsu'tey's father leans in close to Tsyeyk's and they smile, both turning slighting toward the underbrush that Tsyeyk and Tsu'tey were hiding in but don't appear to see them.

Tsyeyk giggles, sinking into the dirt so it's pressed into his chest, feeling Tsu'tey's hand on his back. He grins over his shoulder at Tsu'tey, who grins back as they watch the hunters move around. Their fathers just share a look, a smile and separate again.

Tsyeyk's ear twitches, hearing something but not sure what it is. And he feels her. She tugs gently on him. The Great Mother. Mom always said that he was blessed by the Great Mother. That he was brought to them as a gift. That he's special.

"You'll take my place one day," she whispered, hugging him tightly as his little hand plays with her small ceremonial pick hanging from her headdress. "Unlike me, who has to trust in my training to help me, you are different. Sweet boy, you are her mouth piece. Her voice to us."

Tsyeyk didn't know anything about that, but he did feel her. She was the one that took care of him before his mom found him. Tsyeyk was too you, and the memories are fading more and more as time goes by. But he can still remember the ghost feeling of her hands mending his bruises. Her kisses to his crying cheeks. Feeding him when he's hungry and thirsty. Keeping him warm and safe at night. He doesn't know what she looks like, but he does know that he loves her.

And mom was the gift. Mother brough mom to him. So that he wouldn't be alone. So that he could learn to be one of The People. He could learn from mom, and her family. Now their family.

But he hears her. Feels her always. And she calls to him.

Tsyeyk peaks away from the hunters, out of the underbrush. His ears perk again, trying to catch the sound that he heard before, but he's not sure what it was. He carefully slips out from under Tsu'tey's hand, who is so enraptured by watching the hunters moving around with unspoken words, moving as if everything was rehearsed down to even the smallest movement. Locate, encircle, move in for the kill.

Tsyeyk slides out from under the bushes, crawling on all four, being stealthy like he was taught. He glides across the ground, over roots and through the dirt, following the feeling while straining his ears to catch whatever it was that called out to him earlier. His eyes scan the forest, trying to locate anything that shouldn't be there. He can see animals scampering about, moving from place to place. Above him, things crawl about through the trees. Swinging from the branches.

Tsyeyk carefully climbs over a tall branch, scrapping up his little knees as he goes. He's still so small, it's hard for him to pull himself up without struggling. He's not sure how far he goes, crawling over roots and under low hanging branches. He carefully makes his way across the ground until he reaches the top of a dirt hill. Glancing down at the trees that perch awkwardly on the slanted slope. Just beyond a bunch of trees is bushes and foliage, and then an opening, grass and flowers dispersed about in a beautiful pattern that the Great Mother created.

"Tsyeyk?"

Tsyeyk jumps at the feeling of a hand on his back, twisting a bit as Tsu'tey lowers onto his belly next to Tsyeyk. "What are you looking at?"

"Mother shows," he says, pointing. Whatever it was that she wanted to show him, it was here. He knows it.

They both glance out past the slope and the trees, the grass and the flowers, there is something there. Beasts. Strange beasts that Tsyeyk has never seen before. They shuffle about, touching the plants and messing with the dirt. Their fur is strange, colored and patterned. And their skin is a sickly pale color. Or shades of brown. All seen between the strange patters of black and green. These strange adornments hanging off of them and all wearing the same ceremonial mask, reflecting beams of light caught from the sun. Little Tsyeyk doesn't understand it.

Tsu'tey gasps as the strange beasts come into view. Poking and prodding at everything that they tough. Both boys press their ears back and lay flat against the ground, staring down at the strange beasts, walking upright, like they can. But they look small from this distance. Down by the flowers and the grass, not yet to the bushes. They are fanned out, much like the hunters were, scanning the area.

A different clan? But they look so different. Tsyeyk doesn't understand.

"Monsters," Tsu'tey whispers, eyes wide in horror and fear.

Tsyeyk looks at him, surprised. He's never heard such a scary word before. "Monsters?"

"Monsters," Tsu'tey whispers again, looking at Tsyeyk. "We have to tell Olo'eyktan. Monsters can't be in the forest."

"Tell daddy," Tsyeyk says, ears pressing back harder as his little hands become cold with fear. They shake a bit and Tsyeyk has to clamp his mouth shut as to not make any noise. Tsyeyk was taught both before he came to the clan and after. In order to survive, one must be quiet. Crying children sounds like whimpering animals to predators and they will seek out the noise. All children are taught very young to make as little noise as possible when out in the forest - especially unarmed.

"Go, Tsyeyk," Tsu'tey says, small face pale with terror. "G-Go and tell your daddy. I will watch them. I-I will make sure they don't go to Hometree."

Tsyeyk's eyes water a bit as he looks at Tsu'tey, shaking his head. "No, no leave Tu'tey."

"Shh," Tsu'tey whispers, lower lip trembling a bit. "Go. I'll be here. Quiet, though. Don't let the monsters hear you."

"No hear you," Tsyeyk echoes, voice wavering. Tsu'tey nods, his own hands shaking as he peers back over at the strange monsters, toes curling in anxiety. Tsyeyk pushes up onto his hands, momentarily feeling the edge of the cliff squish beneath his fingers but thinks nothing of it as he speeds away, down on all fours, being as fast but quiet as possible. His heart is pounding in his ears and his limbs feel like they are going to go flying off his body in all directions as he instinctually backtracks to where he left his father and the hunters.

One thing that Tsyeyk always trusted was his sense of direction. Even before mom found him, Tsyeyk always knew how to find his way back home.

"Daddy!" Tsyeyk calls out as loud as he dares, bursting into the space between trees, the hunters gathering up their kills. By the time he made it back, his skin is slick with sweat and his heart threatens to burst out of his chest. He races past the hunters wrapping his arms around his dad's legs and looking up at him. His father kneels down holding onto Tsyeyk's arms to look at him.

"What's wrong, my son?" He doesn't appear surprised to see him.

Gasping, winded, Tsyeyk whispers, horrified, "Monsters, daddy." Tsyeyk says and his father gets a strange look on his face, knowing that wasn't a word that they taught him as Mo'at didn't believe in the scary stories that the older kids say to the younger ones to scare them. She didn't like those and didn't want her children to take part in them. All the adults tense up at the word, eyes now scanning the forest around them, looking for this monster as if it had managed to creep up on them.

"What are you talking about?" his father asks, keeping his voice low. His eyes are sharp and alert, fully taking in the little boy's pounding heart and the shaking of his little hands. "Where are these monsters?"

"Monsters, out there. With Tu'tey!" the little boy gasps as he turns and points off the way he came from. The hunters stiffen, sharing looks with one another while Tsu'tey's father snaps to attention.

"Where is he, boy? Where is my son?" Tsu'tey's father asks, voice strained as he kneels down next to Tsyeyk. He clenches his hands on his thighs, but he almost looks like he wants to reach out and grab onto Tsyeyk. Thankfully, he doesn't.

Tsyeyk, still scared for Tsu'tey, reaches out and takes his dad's hand, wrapping his little hand around a finger and starts to pull him along back the way he came, back to Tsu'tey. It doesn't take any more prompting. The hunters follow after, gripping their bows and knives, ready to fight whatever it was that Tsyeyk saw out there. Tsyeyk drops down low, onto all fours again, most dropping low too, moving fast and swift, while others climb up into the trees to get a different vantage point.

Tsyeyk releases his hold on his dad's finger and moves as fast and as quietly as he possibly can. His dad right on his heels. With his dad there, he's able to vault over tall roots with ease as he makes his way back to Tsyeyk, terrified of what could happen to him without Tsyeyk there to help look out for him. He crawls into the up the hill until he finds Tsu'tey, exactly where he left him, still watching the monsters. His ears perk slightly, pointed back at them. He looks over his shoulder, smiling grimly with a touch of relief at the sight of them.

Tsyeyk crawls up to him, lowering down onto his belly right on top of him, pressing his face into the older boy's shoulder, reassuring himself that Tsu'tey is safe. The older boy reaches up and touches the top of his head, giving it a little pat, while turning his eyes to his father.

"Daddy," he whispers, his voice wobbling as he points down toward the beasts, still prowling and pawing about in the grass and flowers below. "Daddy, monsters."

The hunters, both on the ground and up in the trees spread out a bit, watching in confusion and curiosity at the strange roaming beasts. Tsu'tey's father stops by his hip, able to see the monsters with a frown on his face. Tsyeyk's father too, glaring down at them, a familiar pull at the corners of his lips, creases forming between his eyes. He reaches out and places a hand on Tsyeyk's back as the boy pulls off of Tsu'tey to give him space and scoots back from the ledge a bit.

As he does, his fingers poke into the loose soil and he catches sight of a glowing gurx worm peeking out at him, then quickly squirming away, vanishing into the dirt. Mom had warned him about playing around them, as they messed up the around their nests. "De-stable-ize," she said, then corrected with, "makes it dangerous."

Tsyeyk blinks, eyes wide, as he looks up at Tsu'tey, leaning forward a bit more as now they can all kind of hear the monsters communicating. It's right then that the ledge just crumbles beneath Tsu'tey as the worms flee deeper into the dirt.

"Tu'tey!" Tsyeyk gasps, voice tiny and squeaky, barely hearing himself.

Tsu'tey gasps, feeling himself falling forward and his father jolts out to grab him, Tsyeyk's father a second later. Both of them miss and Tsu'tey hits the small drop onto the slope before launching feet over head further down, twisting as he hits trees and branches and bushes, tumbling and twisting wildly trying to grab onto something to stop himself. Tsyeyk squeaks in terror, reaching out for his best friend, eyes wide as Tsu'tey hits the trunk of a tree hard and at an angle, bouncing off of it and mercifully landing in the bushes and spilling out onto the other side.

All the beasts turn to him holding out strange things in their hands, having heard the epic crashing through the brush and his gasps of pain. For a beat, all is silent as Tsyeyk watches Tsu'tey's unmoving body just lay there in the grass. Then he heaves, touching at his chest, like the wind was knocked from his lungs and he rolls onto his side. Aside from the hard hit against the tree, which ripped a yelp from him, and the gasp of air, he's silent, as they were taught. He's desperately trying to keep quiet while curling into a ball and fighting at the pain biting at him from all angles.

The beasts move closer and that's enough for the hunters. Tsyeyk feels his father shift behind him, and while he's barely able to pull his horrified eyes from his best friend, he sees his father, bow pulled taut with an arrow knocked in place, pointed down at the beasts, ready to protect Tsu'tey. The other hunters follow suite, except for Tsu'tey's father, who is still knelt down next to Tsyeyk, his body coiled up tight, hands flexing at his side, one inching closer and closer to the wicked blade at his side.

Tsu'tey grips at his chest with one hand while pushing himself up onto the other. Tsyeyk strains his hearing as the beasts speak, inching closer to Tsu'tey down below.

"Wut iz dat?" one of them says. "Sum kaind uf bloo monkee?"

"Kairful," another says, their strange sounds confusing Tsyeyk. "Itz huj, allmowst thee saiz ouf aan adalt."

Are they communicating, somehow? Tsyeyk doesn't understand these strange sounds and judging by the way his dad's ears flicker, and his frown pulls harder, then he doesn't either.

Tsu'tey tenses up at the sound of their voices, their strange beastly noises. He looks up, slowly and while Tsyeyk can't see his best friend's face, he can see the strange beasts, but only slightly through their strange... see through masks. Tsyeyk's not sure what sort of ritualistic masks they were, but they seemed pointless to him. Shiny and strange, even from this distance.

The beasts that were advancing on Tsu'tey stop. They look at each other.

One of them says, "Iz dat... ah kihd?"

"Hiz fays luks... yung."

Tsu'tey's tail curls up slightly as the boy carefully pushes to his feet - no foot. He lifts up one of them, hovering it over the ground, balancing on a single leg. He's hurt. Tsu'tey's father growls next to Tsyeyk.

"Ateyo," Tsyeyk's father says, voice low and even.

"My son needs me," Tsu'tey's father, Ateyo, grounds out through the thunderous rumbling in his chest.

Tsyeyk's father opens his mouth, still pulling back the bow, ready to fight, when Tsu'tey's balance shakes a bit, and he puts pressure on his wounded foot and can't stop the whimper of pain that escapes him, and he falls onto his side. Tsyeyk whimpers, trying desperately to be quiet but he's so scared for Tsu'tey.

Hearing this, Ateyo snaps like a loosed arrow, flinging himself off the edge, hitting one slanted tree and launching off of it to land just behind his son, dropping down onto all fours before rising up to his full height, making the beasts jerk back, pointing the things in their hands at him, strange yelps of "sheet" and "holley fuk" escape them as they back up.

Ateyo hisses, ears pressed back and tail lashing behind him.

"Sheet, sheet, sheet!" One of them raises the thing in their hands higher before another one with a fiery red mane jumps in front of him, knocking it down to toward the dirt and holding out their hand to Ateyo.

"Fuking iddiet! Luk!" It gestures wilding with its hands - paws? - toward Tsu'tey and his father. The former of which is already is pushing himself back between his father's legs until he's safely behind him.

Taking a few, shoulder heaving breaths, Tsu'tey grabs his father's legs and pulls himself up onto his one foot. Tsu'tey tries to climb onto his dad's legs so he can get onto his back but can't figure out how to put pressure on his foot to do that. He does a little jump but nearly falls over again as he loses his balance and has to grab onto his dad's sides to keep standing. He shakes, containing his pain as best he can while pressing his face into his dad's back. Ateyo spreads out his legs a bit more, sinking lower so that Tsu'tey's second hop gives him the ability to grab onto his father's shoulders and pull himself up.

He locks his arms around his dad's neck and presses his thighs together against his sides to try and keep himself planted on his dad's neck. He shakes, Tsyeyk can see it, even from his perch. He shifts more, trying to keep himself both out of the way of his dad reaching for his knife and ensure that once his dad starts moving, he won't just fall off of his back. His long, thin tail curves around to his weaker side to help hold him to his dad by curling around his waist a bit.

Tsyeyk leans closer but stays away from the edge, now knowing how much more of the ground has been worn away by the gurx worms beneath them. His father had pulled him back a bit to more stable ground after Tsu'tey fell, now he's pressed into his dad's back to keep out of the way of his bow.

"Ay tink dat's hiz kihd," the one with the red mane says, twisting between their fellow beasts, growling, "Poot douwn yur gawddam guyns!" Then it turns towards Ateyo and Tsu'tey. "Hez prowtekting hiz yung."

"Wut... aar tey?"

The red mane sways as Ateyo backs up, brandishing his knife. The beasts point their things at him again but the one with the red mane snaps something too fast for Tsyeyk to catch. No one moves but Ateyo as he backs up into the foliage, leaning forward to help Tsu'tey balance. He waits until he in the trees again before carefully maneuvering Tsu'tey onto his chest so that he can wrap his arm around him to support Tsu'tey's weight.

Once he gets back up the hill to Tsyeyk and the others, he sheaths his knife onto his thigh and doubles over, hugging Tsu'tey tight to his chest, curling around him, his face in Tsu'tey's shoulder while Tsu'tey's is buried into his neck, sobbing softly. He's still trying to keep quiet despite the fear and pain he's in. His little body is shaking and Tsyeyk feels so bad for him. He's so brave, in Tsyeyk's opinion.

Tsyeyk's father glares down at the monsters, lowering his bow and loosening the tension. The beasts are looking after Ateyo, trying to find out where he went.

"Come," Tsyeyk's father says, voice low and rough. "Let us return to the clan."

Ateyo nods, pressing his lips into Tsu'tey's braids, letting out a shaky breath of relief. "Yes, Olo'eyktan," he says, quietly.

"You two," Tsyeyk's father says to two of the hunters, "watch them, make sure they don't get close to Hometree. And find out where they go, return before nightfall." They both nod, taking to the trees once more to watch the strange beast from a higher vantage point.

The rest of the hunters fall into formation to ensure that nothing follows them back to Hometree and they quickly depart. Tsyeyk takes his dad's hand, stumbling a bit to keep up and after a few minutes before he leans down and scoops Tsyeyk up into his arms. He wraps his arms around his dad's neck but twists around a bit to look over at Tsu'tey, who's face is still buried in his dad's neck.

Tsyeyk stares at the back of Tsu'tey's head, his tail still wrapped around his dad's waist to help keep himself balanced and to show that he's scared. His little body is still shaking and Tsyeyk wants nothing more than to make him feel better. But that has to wait until they get back to Hometree and figure out where those strange beasts came from.