Chapter 7: Paradise, part II

Viyume spent the larger part of the next two days making sure her camp could be lived in. She first retrieved her things, including the storage crate. Next, she made sure Tskxe knew where he could find her, and worked on realizing a crude fireplace, a simple hammock and a shade to protect her alcove against both the sun and the wind. Additionally, she constructed a support stand from multiple thick and hollow reed stems she found, in order to hold and display her rifle for when she wasn't using it.

After having taken care of the basic necessities, and while still waiting for Neteyam, Viyume focused on expanding her songcord.

On Vitra's island, she had picked up a small piece of a dead tree branch on her way back up the hill to the cave. She now spent some time carving a part of it into an acceptably-sized bead. For its shape, she used the rough outline of the tall and narrow conical section of the island as she had first encountered it. It would represent how lost she had been after having left Näyal, her parents and the rest of the Omatikaya and the subsequent mysterious guidance and wisdom she had received from this small and peculiar stranger.

She had a second extension in mind. It would represent her arrival at the Metkayina islands, the help she received from Tuk, her reunion with Neteyam and finally her confession to him. To realize this, she used a small shell she had found on one of the beaches she had been exploring together with Neteyam on the first day they had spent together. The shell had an intermittently striped brown coloration and was shaped like a spiral. Viyume had never seen anything like it before she had arrived here.

When she was finally finished, almost two entire days had passed since she had last seen him. Maybe she had been unlucky and he had shown up at her camp while she had been away to hunt and gather. She found it to be unlikely though, as he could have left behind some indicator that he had been there, such as a flower for her to find. Then again, maybe that wasn't his style?

In any case, it looked like she was spending another evening by herself. She went to lie down in her hammock, on her side, in order to enjoy the view of the bay. Now that she momentarily didn't have any more work to do in her new home, she thought about her old home she had left behind. She wondered how Näyal was doing. Would she still be chasing after Ra'amo as always? Maybe she had had a lot more success with him, now that she was no longer held back by Viyume's conflict with him?

And what about her parents? Were they desperately searching for her? Or had they given up on her already? What had Näyal even told the clan? If she had told everyone that Viyume had been killed by the toruk, would her parents be grieving for her? Viyume did not feel sorry for her mother in that case, but she did feel bad for her father. How would her disappearance affect their relation? Would they be having another child now that they could provide for one again?

Viyume could also envision her mother fully dedicating herself to bringing Artsut and Ateyo back from their exile to overthrow Mo'at and Tarsem. However, her mother's decision whether to actually go through with that was probably independent from whether Viyume was still in her life or not. Viyume could see this happening in either case.

Maybe she would one day go back to her old home, if only to see how Näyal and her father were doing. The time for that wasn't right, though. Despite thinking about home, Viyume wasn't feeling homesick in the slightest. Right now, she was exactly where she wanted to be.

She had another dreamless night, until early in the morning, when she thought she was dreaming about something dripping on her nose. In actuality, she was lying on her back in her hammock, instinctively wiping at her nose every time a drop of water fell on it. This happened maybe four or five times, until a bit more water than just a drop hit her in the face.

Viyume shook her head momentarily, trying to get rid of the cold on her face. Now she was finally waking up. When she opened her eyes, she found to her delight a dripping wet Neteyam standing over her. He was wearing his famous big grin and it actually conveyed some mischief this time.

"Good morning, sleepyhead. It is almost midday already. We should not let a gorgeous day like this go to waste!" he announced in amusement.

Viyume stretched herself momentarily whilst yawning and briefly closed her eyes again. Only then was she able to form some words: "Hey Neteyam…if you are not too cold, you can lie down beside me… if you want. I do not need much room."

"I have a far better idea." he said, before unexpectedly grabbing her under her armpit and under her knees and lifting up her whole body.

"Wha…what are you doing?!" Viyume yelled, surprised by the suddenness and the ease with which his strong arms picked her up.

"You have been in the water here before, right?" he wondered, seemingly innocently, as he carried her out from behind the shade and into the light of the sun, causing her to briefly squeeze her eyes shut again.

"Not really…why?" she answered without thinking, before noticing the suspicious movements of his ears. Then it dawned on her why he was really asking that question. "Wait! No! Stop! Let me go!"

"Just remember, you asked for it!" he informed her, right before hurling her away from the alcove and clear of the cliff. She screamed as she fell almost three body-lengths down, straight into the water with a large splash.

The temperature may not have been very low relatively speaking, but Viyume was unprepared for it and felt the icy cold engulf her. Although she had not been in open water for a long time, she still remembered how to swim; most Omatikaya knew how to. She kicked her way up to the surface just in time to be splashed in the face by the displaced water from Neteyam's dive. Once he surfaced, she immediately splashed him right back in retaliation.

"I guess you are awake now..." he commented with a cheeky expression.

"Not funny! That was SO cold! And I could have lost my songcord!" she replied indignantly.

"Then I would have dived down to get it for you, no problem." he answered easily, making Viyume smile again. "Speaking of diving…together, when I say, okay?"

"Okay." Viyume confirmed, having already forgiven him. She carefully watched his movements in anticipation.

"Now!" Neteyam called out, after which the both of them took a deep breath and dove underwater.

Viyume blinked her eyes several times as she attempted to adjust both physically and mentally to this peculiar world under the surface of the water. Plants with all kinds of exotic shapes and colors covered the bottom of the bay. Some of them had tendrils or leaf-like appendages that moved along with the water. They almost seemed to be moving on their own because the water was so clear.

Everything the two Na'vi could see had a calming blue hue encompassing it. Some sea creatures, mostly fish, could also be spotted. They were hard to recognize, though, as most were quite far away. Likely most sea life had been frightened by Viyume's and Neteyam's sudden unannounced intrusion into their peaceful habitat.

Viyume was the first to go back up to the surface to breathe and she was immediately impressed by how long Neteyam could stay under. When he finally did surface, she felt she had to say something about it.

"That was amazing! It is beautiful down there, but I actually meant…how can you stay under for so long?" Viyume exclaimed.

"That? It was nothing compared to the Metkayina. You should see Ao'nung and Rotxo and Tsireya do this. You would not be praising me." Neteyam said rather humbly.

"Are they your new friends?" she asked, curious all of a sudden.

"I would not go as far as to say that. They are alright, though, especially Tsireya. You have already seen her with my brother, remember?" he answered honestly.

"So…is she also teaching you their 'sign language'?" Viyume wondered, growing a bit suspicious now.

"She teaches all of us." he replied, not in the slightest bit concerned and seemingly not detecting Viyume's hint of jealousy.

"So, what is up with that? Why do they need you to learn how to talk with your hands?" Viyume asked, really not getting it.

"When the Metkayina dive, they stay underwater really long. It is how they hunt. So, they need a way to communicate with each other. Naturally, we need to learn it now too." Neteyam answered patiently. "I can show you."

He proceeded to gesture something to Viyume, who of course had no idea what he was communicating. Meanwhile she gazed intently at his face, trying to discern from his expression what he was thinking. He didn't give away anything until right before he moved his hands back into the water. Viyume knew something was up, but was too late to react. Just at the surface, he squeezed his hands together, purposefully squirting quite a bit of water into her face.

Viyume glared at him for a moment, noticing his somewhat guilty smirk. She couldn't let this go unpunished. Swiftly, she reached out to push his head back down into the water to wipe the expression off his face. She succeeded in pushing him under, but when he resurfaced, the smirk hadn't disappeared. Instead, it had grown into his usual grin.

"You are really annoying today!" she called out in mock-frustration, as she softly punched his shoulder. "What happened to the courteous firstborn son of two great leaders?"

"He is about to catch you a fish for breakfast to make up for it." he offered generously.

And so Viyume watched as Neteyam called for his ilu, mounted it, and proceeded to scour the bay. He had brought with him a small spear and wielded it as his mount propelled itself through the water.

It was hard for her to see underwater, considering the distance between them, but it appeared that he soon managed to spear a long and sleek fish. This was confirmed when he went back to her to present it.

"It can definitely provide more than just one meal." he commented, sounding self-critical as if he had overshot his original goal.

"We can eat it together." Viyume suggested immediately, before adding: "You are really good at this."

Neteyam gave her a single acknowledging nod when he heard this, but didn't otherwise reply. Instead, he turned to the fish.

"Calm, brother. I see you." he said to it, taking out his hunting knife whilst remaining on his ilu. "Your spirit returns to Eywa, so your body may provide for the People."

Once he stabbed it in such a way that he immediately ended its suffering, Viyume couldn't help but silently admire how respectful he was being. At the same time, she felt there was something familiar about all this. She was sure she had seen him catch a fish before. Then she recalled it had been in a dream. It was peculiar to now be experiencing something very similar for real.

Once they were back at Viyume's alcove, Neteyam proceeded to clean and prepare the fish.

"Tell me, do the Metkayina boil their fish? You know, like in a big cooking pot?" she asked him somewhat concernedly as she remembered something else.

Neteyam gave her a puzzled look as he turned his head to gaze back at her over his shoulder before answering: "Maybe there are some that do. I do not know; I have not seen it. Why?"

"No reason. Just forget it, okay?" Viyume replied evasively. "But to be clear, we are not going to boil this fish."

"Sure. I was not planning on it." Neteyam said in return. "But how come you are bringing this up? Did your parents make you eat boiled fish or something?"

"No…no, they did not." she admitted, initially in honesty. "I saw… some people on a lone island as I was travelling here. They ate fish prepared that way. That is all."

"Really?" Neteyam asked, having grown curious enough to momentarily stop what he was doing and turn his body to face her properly. "Who were they?"

"Not Metkayina." she answered simply. "I only asked them for directions. I did not ask who they were. They said they saw your family fly over their island."

"I am quite certain none of us saw them. At least I did not, and nobody talked about having seen any people on a lone island before we reached Metkayina territory." he revealed to her.

This was certainly strange to Viyume, who remembered what Vitra had told her about five ikran riders and a young child as a passenger who had passed over her island. She decided to describe the place to Neteyam.

"It is not a large island like where we are right now. It has a tall, narrow stony peak and a forested valley obscured in fog. There is a big weathered old tree prominently visible… even from the sky." she said, trying her best to stay objective in her description.

"Sounds like one of those mythical places from the songs of old men and women. I assure you I have not seen it." he admitted.

Viyume didn't believe for a moment that he was lying to her about something so trivial. Had Vitra been lying then? But how had she guessed the correct number of members of the Sully family if she hadn't seen them?

"Is there something wrong?" Neteyam then asked, sounding slightly worried, no doubt noticing the serious expression on Viyume's face.

"No, it is fine. Who cares who they were? They got me here." Viyume responded dismissively, mostly towards herself, as she was regretting that she had even brought up the topic.

"So…you did not track our scent then after all?" he teased her with a knowing look, referencing the improbable explanation Viyume had given him before.

"Are done with that fish? Or are you going to let me starve?" she teased back immediately.

Neteyam promptly resumed the task at hand. Not much later they were both enjoying fried fish.

Once they had finished, Neteyam proposed to get back into the water, specifically to ride together on his ilu. Viyume was reluctant at first, but after taking note of the creature's gentle nature, she agreed.

She found herself having to hold on tightly as they moved through the water and out of the bay. She was not at all used to this amount of resistance whilst they were in motion at what she guessed to be only a moderate speed. It helped that Neteyam was sitting in front of her, and that he appeared to know how to position himself. Still, she had difficulty keeping her eyes open when she moved her head out from behind his back in an attempt to see where they were going.

Instinctively, she wanted to close them, just to prevent feeling the unpleasant pressure of the water on them. Neteyam made sure to surface regularly, but this did not help much in that regard. At least he was making sure she did not have to hold her breath for very long stretches.

At a certain point, Viyume decided to just clamp her arms around Neteyam's waist and rest her head against his upper back. Though she didn't like travelling through the water much, it was somewhat offset by giving her an excuse to essentially cuddle Neteyam for a longer time without it becoming awkward. She liked the feeling of his warm body as they were submerged in the cold water. She was even somewhat disappointed when he decided to surface and slowly come to a halt.

"How was that? It was fun, was it not?" he asked, seeking to confirm that his sense of having a good time was the same as hers.

"It was." Viyume said quickly as she hung forward and to the side, to be able to make eye contact with him. "But a little slower would make it perfect."

Neteyam and Viyume spent most of the afternoon exploring the deserted island they had travelled to. Neteyam appeared to have had a secondary reason for visiting this place, as he also searched for certain rare crafting materials. Viyume supposed he needed to be able to reasonably explain to his family and to the clan where he had disappeared to. She naturally didn't have a problem with it.

The day went by too fast, but it definitely was another memorable one for the both of them. Back at Viyume's alcove, with the orange sky in the background, Neteyam would soon be departing again.

"Are you sure you do not want to come to the village with me?" he tried once again.

"I am sure." she said calmly. "Why? Are you worrying about me now?"

"To be truthful, yes, I am." he admitted readily, sounding relieved that she had brought up the topic. "I go back to the village not because I have to, but because I want to see my parents and my siblings. And you are staying right here again all by yourself. What about your family?"

Viyume almost rolled her eyes in response before replying: "I told you I do not have any siblings. And my parents… well it is complicated. I think we could all use some alone time right now."

"Viyume…that is exactly what worries me. If after so many days of not having seen them you still say something like this, then it does not sound good to me." he replied as he sat down beside her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Okay, you deserve to know. I have a bad relationship with my parents." Viyume revealed suddenly, no longer able to keep this information from him as he gazed intently into her eyes.

"This does explain something. Actually, it already explains a lot…" he said, contemplating.

"What do you mean?" she wondered.

"As I see it, there are now two paths in front of you." he elaborated. "Firstly, there is the outwardly tedious and difficult path. Secondly, there is the seemingly short and easy path. But the most important thing to realize, Viyume, is that you can never know exactly what you will face on either of those paths. What may have appeared hard at first glance might end up being easier in the long run. And what may have looked easy might turn out to have some unforeseen consequences."

"That is profound." Viyume said, being more captivated by his eyes than by what he was saying.

"So, you can choose to either follow the tedious path, or take the shortcut." Neteyam continued. "Though sometimes, you must choose not for yourself, but for the sake of others."

A chill ran down her spine as he said this. Viyume remembered those words from her dream. What was going on here? She realized she should have paid closer attention to everything he had been saying.

"I do not understand." she answered confusedly.

"I initially thought you came here just for me. But now I think there is another reason why you are here. You are running away…It may seem an easy shortcut to take, leaving behind everything you do not like. But you are forgetting the good things you are running away from. What about your friend? The one you were with the day you dropped your weapon and I gave it back to you?" he said, deducing quite a few things about her.

"Näyal?" Viyume asked, surprised that Neteyam remembered her and was now bringing her up. She proceeded to attempt to stubbornly justify her actions: "I asked her to come with me, but she did not want to."

"Why not?" he asked back immediately.

"She…" Viyume began, before finally realizing what Neteyam was getting at. "She did not want to do that to her family; she did not want to leave them behind."

"She chose for the sake of others, and I suspect if she had only thought about herself, she would have come with you."

"So, are you saying I am selfish? For running away? And that I should go back to face the difficulties in my life? You do not know what I had to face. You do not know my mother…And Näyal…she will be better off without me in any case, really. She makes friends easily."

"Can you not see it, Viyume?" he said patiently, still trying to enlighten her. "Whoever you left behind, they will have each other. And if not, the clan will be there for them. But who do you have left, aside from your ikran, Tuk and myself?"

"My weapon."

"It is just a thing. Can it give you this?"

Neteyam proceeded to pull Viyume into a tight embrace. She felt his strength and his warmth engulf her more than it had ever done up until now. It felt so good, so comforting. She pulled him even tighter against herself, so much that it was difficult to breathe. But she had to do so, even if only momentarily. She had to release the negative energy and he was helping her do that.

Eventually, he was the one who gently encouraged her to loosen her grip so they could physically separate again. She silently agreed they couldn't stay intertwined like this forever.

"Just think about what I said. You chose to come here. You chose to pursue me. And I… am thankful for that. You are an amazing person, Viyume. I cannot stop thinking about you. But do not sacrifice everything for this relation. What if I would not be here anymore? You cannot go on all by yourself; no one can." Neteyam said sincerely.

"Why would you not be here anymore? I imagine with your skills and strength you will outlive all of us." Viyume continued in defiance of his message.

She could see he wanted to say something in response to that. He moved his lips for a moment, but produced no sounds. Then he remained silent, seemingly not knowing what else to say to her. He looked at her with an expression which conveyed disappointment and disbelief, before finally speaking again, but this time with a completely different tone of voice.

"Do you know what it is like out there in a war? Out there, fighting against the Sky People…it can all be over for you in an instant." Neteyam said gloomily as he turned away from her to look out over the bay. He then sat down in a crouching position, leaning partially against the rocks, as if subconsciously looking for some physical support. It was surprising how quickly he went from being confident into this current vulnerable state.

Viyume subsequently knelt down as well and gently grasped his forearm in concern and support. She didn't really have a proper answer to what he had asked. Instead, she asked a question back in a soft hesitant voice: "Did you ever…have a close call?"

"I had multiple. And recently too." Neteyam admitted without hesitation. "First during the raid on the human supply line. And then later during the encounter with those Avatar soldiers. In those moments, you do not fully realize it. Only way afterwards, when everything is calm again, and you are alone with your thoughts… only then do you wonder how much longer your lucky streak is going to last."

"Luck does not determine everything. You conquered those dangers because of your skills." Viyume suggested on a positive note, refusing to believe he had made it through those encounters on chance alone.

"The skills of getting into trouble." he continued in the same despondent tone as before. "You were not there, Viyume."

She wasn't used to seeing him like this and she certainly didn't like having to deal with this negative side of him. Had he somehow absorbed the negativity she had released through their hug? Viyume did not consider that thought in a serious manner, though. It appeared he was simply losing himself in his own thoughts and emotions as he had been dissecting hers.

"Okay…" Viyume said, not wanting to argue any further against his self-criticism. "So do not get into trouble anymore then and you will have a long life."

"That is easily said. I think it is only a matter of time before danger finds us again. And you might not want to be near me when that happens." Neteyam insisted, apparently in all seriousness.

"Then I will protect you. You said I was running away, but this is only a small part of the truth. I did come here for you, but it is not as simple as you think. I had a…dream about you and about the attacking humans. In this dream, they found us in the forest and started shooting at you. I was unarmed and could not protect you. I felt so useless, like I had made the worst mistake of my life. So, when I woke up, I took my weapon and headed out to find you. I feel as if Eywa gave me this vision and thereby the task of saving you…That is what I am running towards." Viyume revealed, glancing briefly at her rifle afterwards.

The weapon was being prominently displayed just a few arm lengths away on the support stand she had constructed. Its dark contour was being highlighted by two brightly colored purple leaves crossing each other in the background. She had carefully selected them for their symmetry and had purposefully pasted them against the rock wall to make the rifle more noticeable.

"Saving me?" Neteyam asked, his tone implying that he couldn't decide on whether he disbelieved her, or admired her.

Viyume continued holding his forearm with her right hand and used her left to gently stroke his hair and the side of his face. He leaned his cheek slightly into her palm as he closed his eyes and sighed in apparent relief.

"I am going to be late for dinner." he suddenly said as he moved his face away from her caressing hand and then stood up. "Do not misunderstand me. I respect the choices you have made. I simply would like to know that you have really thought them through. We should talk more about these things some other time, when our minds are fresh."

"You are not perfect, Neteyam, and neither am I. And we do not need to be. We are fine the way we are." Viyume tried to rationalize.

Just when she thought he was going to walk away, he made an unexpected move. It looked like he was going to embrace her, but instead he gently touched the sides of her head and planted a quick kiss on her forehead. Viyume had not expected it and was unprepared. When he moved his face away, she instinctively moved hers along with his in an attempt to stay close. However, she knew she had to let him go for now, so she stopped before it became too noticeable.

"Thank you for this great day, Viyume. I will see you soon."

"I want to… Can we… It… was wonderful…See you soon, Neteyam…"