26

✺ ┅*❋ ❋*┅ ✺

the start of the war

The young group of Na'vi were following Lo'ak through the ocean. They met Kiri and Tuk half the way and being concerned for their brother they went after him too. Lo'ak swam to the place where Payakan and him always would meet.

Lo'ak glanced behind him and the others were hot on his tail as they were calling his name multiple times, but then he spotted Payakan in the distance and the vocals he gave were uneasy. It seemed Payakan was trying to get rid of something of himself as he was winding his body in the water back and forth.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Lo'ak yelled and signed while he approached his spirit brother.

"Help!" Payakan vocalized and turned to the side, showing the side of his body.

"Shit!" Lo'ak's eyes widened when he saw the red tracking device stuck in Payakan's thick skin. The device was making an unbearable ticking noice.

"Stay calm! Stay calm! I got this!" Lo'ak yelled and jumped off his ilu to climb on Payakan's back He tried to pull out the device a few times but it was stuck too tightly. Payakan made a few warning sounds and Lo'ak's head shot up which gave him sight on the demon ship that was coming closer.

"Shit." Lo'ak exclaimed again, now more stressed as he continued pulling at the device with no success.

"Lo'ak!" Neteyam yelled when he stopped in front of him and his throat went dry when he saw the red device.

Leyra got off her ilu when she spotted the demon technology and jumped on Payakan's back. "Shit." she muttered under her breath when she saw the demon ship approaching and turned to the other Na'vi in the water.

"Help!" she shouted to them and grabbed the device as well.

"Quick, guys help us!" Lo'ak now screamed and continued pulling at the device with Leyra.

Neteyam jumped on the creature too and saw the giant ship too and turned to his brother. "Call dad!" They were going to need a lot of help to escape the humans, because Neteyam was sure they have spotted them with Payakan by now.

Neteyam quickly pulled Aonung and Rotxo up on the tulkun and glared at his brother while he pushed him away from the tracking device. "Just go, do it!"

Lo'ak hesitated but left the device after receiving another warning look from Neteyam. Leyra grabbed Lo'ak's hand and looked at him. "It's going to be fine, love." She softly said and gave him a quick kiss on the lips before she returned to the others.

He pressed on his comm while he watched the demon ship. "Dad- I mean Devil Dog." He quickly corrects himself and released a breath he was holding the entire time. "Do you read me?" he asked.

Jake, who was back in the village, already noticed the loss of his children in the village and searched with his mate Neytiri since his speech. He heard his comm go off and his heart dropped hearing Lo'ak's voice. He looked at his mate nervously, who was standing beside him.

"Yes, Lo'ak." Jake answered and Neytiri listened through her own comm to the conversation while concern spread over her face. They only used the comms since they arrived here for severe emergencies.

"We are with a Tulkun, who is under attack. Killerships inbound." He explained the situation with a shaky voice while he saw smaller ships appearing and coming towards them. The other there males were trying to remove the device.

"Who's with you?" Jake asked with closed eyes as he knew the answer. All of his kids. His hand remained pressed on the comm while he awaited Lo'ak's answer with a fast beating heart.

"It's all of us! Aonung, Rotxo, Tsireya and Leyra too! We are at Three Brothers Rocks." Lo'ak yelled anxiously as he looked to his friends who were still unsuccessful with the device.

Neytiri gasped with her hand in front of her mouth and looked at Jake worried.

"Get to cover and do not engage. Alright?" Jake ordered, trying to control his emotions and let his brain remain clear. He shared a look with Neytiri who looked ready to save her children. "You hear me? Do not engage."

"We are coming, son."

"Yes, sir." Jake heard Lo'ak's voice before his son broke the connection. He cursed and grabbed Neytiri's hand and started heading to the Olo'eyktan.

"The ship is getting closer!" Tsireya yelled after she looked back at the ship.

"3, 2, 1!" Neteyam counted down and five of them pulled on the device, but they were not strong enough.

Back at the village Tonowari and Ronal looked up from their work when Jake who was running towards them yelling "The kids are under attack!" Neytiri and oceanic Na'vi warriors were behind him.

"The kids are under attack." He repeated. "They are defending a tulkun. It's your kids too!" He clarified while panting because of the running and at those words the leaders jumped up.

"The demon ship?" Tonowari asked while Ronal turned around and grabbed her weapons.

"Yes! We gotta go!" Jake pressed and walked off to his Marui with Neytiri to gather their weapons.

Tonowari turned to the warriors with a strong look. "Weapons! Sound the alarm!" He orders and the warriors nodded and walked away doing as they were told.

Tonowari looked back at Ronal and glanced to her pregnant stomach. "You should stay back." He softly said and caressed her belly.

Ronal grabbed her spear and held it up to the sky while looking at him fiercely. "I ride." She declared and stepped out of the Marui.

"Alright." Tonowari nodded, but was still worried about her. Ronal was ready to protect her children and fight against the sky people for killing her spirit sister. Tonowari grabbed his own weapon and followed his mate to the water while the alarm went off.

The ocean was full of the warriors, all releasing warrior cries while they rose above the water on their skimwings. Tonowari and Ronal were in the front, leading their army and Jake holding his gun was beside them.

The wings of a dangerous creature were flapping as it flew above the water in the sky. On top if it was Neytiri holding her arm up with the bow of her father in her hand. Releasing a warrior cry Neytiri shot forward on her ikran while Ronal did the same in the water, determined to get to the sky people.

"Aonung!" Neteyam shouted while he was on his ilu and threw a piece of rope to the boy on the creature. He caught it and wrapped it with the others around the device, securing it tightly while Neteyam secured the other end on the saddle of his ilu.

"Go! Go!" Leyra yelled to Neteyam, who hopped on his ilu and swam forward, pulling the device with him while the others continued pulling it by hand.

Miles Quaritch, who was on the ship looked though its telescope and spotted the Na'vi helping the tulkun. It wasn't hard to notice the differences between the reef and forest Na'vi. "I'll be damned." Quaritch said grinning to himself as he looked up at Lyle. "Sully's kids."

Spider, being next to his father frowned and looked through the telescope himself after his father and the other Avatar distanced themselves from him. He cursed under his breath and was concerned for his friends safety. Seeing them in this situation after months wasn't easy and he had missed them so much.

The Seadragon released Metadors, who were heading straight for the young Na'vi and Payakan and small submarines to catch them under the water.

"Pull harder!" Tsireya screamed after witnessing the smaller ships being dangerously near.

"Pull!" They all screamed at each other and eventually landed in the water with a splash. The device was finally out of Payakan's skin.

"Kiri! It's out!" Tuk yelled happily as she caressed Payakan's head alongside Kiri, but she was focused on the ships approaching them. "Let's go Tuk!"

"Go that way! I'll draw them off!" Neteyam ordered and met Leyra's concerned eyes. He nodded at her reassuringly but she only shook her head.

"No. I'll take it and draw them off. You go with the others!" She quickly said and took the device from him, even if he made it hard for her to grab it. "I know my way better outside here." She reasoned and Neteyam knew that she was right.

"At least let me go with you." He suggested and looked at her with puppy dog eyes.

"No." She said stubborn and held the beeping device close to her.

"Fine." He responded, not happy about her decision, but gave her a kiss on the lips. "Be careful."

Lo'ak quickly swam up to her and held her cheek. "I love you and be careful." He kissed her quick, before she dived into the water.

"Be careful!" Rotxo said ironically and turned to Kiri while looking at the two brothers playfully.

"I'll be so careful!" Kiri mocked and laughed with Rotxo, while Tuk giggled a little.

"Guys! Come on, we have to go!" Tsireya urged while rolling her eyes at their behavior and slipped on to her ilu.

"Payakan, go! Go!" Lo'ak exclaimed to the tulkun, who let out a sound and went under the surface to swim away from the demon ship.

The group split into smaller groups and dived into the salty water. They were surrounded by the demon ships so they couldn't go anywhere else so they hid in giant seaweed, trying not to get caught, searching for air bubbles.

Leyra held the tracking device tightly and she heard it beeping while she moved fast in the water. Spending much time outside the reef is a favor now that she knew where to swim so the small ships won't spot her.

She felt a few explosion above the water and it scared her ilu a few times, which caused her to almost fall off it multiple times. She patted the head of the ilu to calm it down and eventually she dropped the tracking device in a coral reef. Then she sped away from the beeping device.

The young Na'vi in the seaweed were constantly trying to dodge the giant metal crabs and submarines, but the giant seaweed was hitting their faces so the machines were right behind them.

As Tsireya looked back she saw a crab suit chasing her, but unfortunately her ilu stopped in its tracks and the reason was that another crab suit was in front of her. The ilu quickly swam away before it got hit with a sharp weapon. Tsireya looked back and forth at the two crab suit and she was sure they have her now.

Luckily Lo'ak came to rescue as he sped directly to her and grabbed her arm while heaving her behind him on the ilu and escaping from the sky people.

Tuk was trying to hold on to Kiri but the speed made it almost impossible. Kiri tried to tighten her grip on her little sister but Tuk eventually hot hit by a large seaweed, separating the two sister. Being so small Tuk dodged the crab suit and swam away, desperate to find an air bubble.

The little girl found an air bubble and took a deep breath while trying to steady it. She held on to the wall made out of the seaweed and tried to calm herself down, now that she was on her own. That's what she thought when she heard someone behind her gasping for air. Thinking it was one of the sky people she released a scream and hit the person in the face, before turning around.

"Ow, Tuk!" Lo'ak exclaimed while he held his aching eye and glared at his little sister, even though he was proud of her defending herself. This girl had a strong punch for her age.

"Tuk! Good, you're alright." Tsireya said when she came out of the water and hugged the little one quickly. She popped her head down under the water for a brief second and spotted the sky people again. "It is coming, Lo'ak." she warned and looked at him with wide eyes, unsure what to do next.

"We Gott go! Quick!" He exclaimed and grabbed Tuk's hand going back under the surface. He led them out of the seaweed but they were face with another crab suit righty away and they didn't had a chance to escape, because the human fired a net in their direction. Tuk and Tsireya got captured inside the net and Lo'ak grabbed it from the outside trying to find a hole while Tsireya tried pushing Tuk out of a larger hole.

Eventually Quaritch and other Avatars dived into the water with their ikrans and grabbed the net with the ikrans claws taking them out of the water and into the air. They were taking them the large demon ship.

The net was swaying rapidly because of the wind and Lo'ak struggled to hold on.

"Lo'ak! Your knife!" Tsireya pointed to his knife attached to his hip and Lo'ak responded nodding while grabbing it. He tried cutting through it but the net didn't get a scratch.

Then the three of them noticed that they arrived at the ship and they were thrown on the ground roughly. Tuk screamed out sacred while the other two lunged at the Avatars angrily while Lo'ak tried fighting against them with his knife, but he was pushed to the ground by one of the Avatars.

The female Avatars grabbed the girls and held them in place by holding their queue roughly.

Spider was running down the stairs to the scene but he was stopped by human guards on the deck a few feet away from Lo'ak. That's not how he wanted to meet his best friend again. "Bro, you okay?" He asked.

Lo'ak looked back at the human boy a little as his cheek was pressed on the ground while he was struggling in the tight grip from the avatar. "Yeah, great cuz, never better." He answered sarcastically.

Spiders attention was drawn to his father, when arrived on his ikran and jumped onto the deck looking at Spider. "Get back to the bridge." He orders strictly as he points to him and then to the ship. "Keep him there!"

Quaritch walked to Lo'ak, Tuk and Tsireya, smirking to himself. "I remember you." He looked straight at Lo'ak who hissed at him. "Cuff 'em to the rail, all of 'em." He ordered to the avatars who did as they were told. Although the three were fighting with all they strength they ended up tied at the rail.

"I found another one! Near our ship." A female avatar exclaimed as she dragged Leyra behind herself and threw her to the ground before Quaritch.

Quaritch narrowed his eyes as he noticed that Leyra didn't looked like a forest Na'vi, neither like an ocean Na'vi.

"Shit!" Lo'ak cursed when he saw her from the distance and her head slightly turned to him but her head remained low while her gaze was on the ground as her hair fell on her face. Quaritch tilted his head while he continued staring at her interested.

"Show me your hands." He ordered.

"How am I supposed to when they are tied behind my back, dipshit!" She responded angrily in the Na'vi language but only with a hand movement from Quaritch and the female Avatar freed Leyra's hands.

Leyra slowly raised her head while she looked him straight in the eyes and held her two middle fingers up, flipping him off. Tuk let out a giggle when she saw that because it reminded her so much of Lo'ak, but no-one else laughed.

The tension only rose as Quaritch said nothing for a few minutes as the realization hits him. He would recognize those green eyes everywhere and when Leyra compared her features to his she let out a gasp.

"Dad?" She silently whispered and her breath got stuck in her throat.

"Leyra..." Quaritch slowly said and caressed the cheek of his daughter. He never thought he would see her ever again. He swallowed before he looked at the Avatar behind her. "Take her inside and do not leave her alone." He ordered loudly before turning away.

"No!" Lo'ak and Tsireya exclaimed when the Avatar grabbed Leyra and forced her to go into the inside of the ship.

✺ ┅*❋ ❋*┅ ✺