*ੈ✩‧₊˚ gentle breeze •°. *࿐

forest people

Hanging out at a sandbar with Tsireya, both of you were looking along the beach to see if there was anything that could catch their eyes. From the edge of your peripheral vision you notice something and look up to see five winged beings descending closer to the village. A gentle breeze from the wings washing over the two of you, curiosity filling your mind.

You share a look with Tsireya, both calling for your ilu, riding to where everyone else was. Before getting on your ilu, Nane, you had stepped on a pearl. You picked it up, wondering how a stray pearl got on the shore without an oyster nearby. You kept the pearl and held on to it, getting on to your ilu and riding beside Tsireya to the crowd. Both of you slowly approach the commotion, looking around to see if anything bad was happening and spotting the crowd surrounding a group of na'vi that did not look like they were from here.

From where you are, you see Ao'nung and his friend Rotxo head over to the group and the deep blue na'vi boys greet the both of them. You smile at the gesture, knowing they have respect for your clan. You did wonder why Ao'nung did not greet them back, and instead circled them like he had circled you the day before.

You gracefully dive into the water, slowly walking up and observing the odd na'vi group from the side, picking up on the different details they have.There were six of them, their skin dark blue, their eyes all different colours, thinner chests, thinner and smaller tails. It looked like a whole family, the parents, two sons and two daughters.

Your head tilts a bit as you think about their features and why they would possibly be here, your eyes accidentally clash with bright yellow ones of the older son's. You quickly looked away from his face, catching Tsireya marching over to Ao'nung and Rotxo, who were making fun of the other pair of boys.

"It's so small, how are they supposed to swim?" you catch Rotxo say, you look to see they were looking at their tails. You do not react to what he said, thinking that he did not have to comment on their features. You did hear Ao'nung laugh at Rotxo's words, sighing and crossing your arms. You were not one to make fun of others right away, especially since it looked like the na'vi in front of you looked like they had a long journey.

"Enough Rotxo, Ao'nung," Tsireya scolds them, smacking Rotxo's arm, making them back off and retreat to where you stood. You ignore Ao'nung as he stands beside you.

"Hey," one of the dark blue na'vi says, sending Tsireya a smile as she looks at them. She smiles and giggles before heading over to where you were as well. As she stands beside you, you jab her side with your elbow, letting out a low 'hm' noise in a teasing way.

At that moment, Tonowari flies in on top of a skimwing and your father follows on his own skinwing behind Tonowari. They dive into the water to land their skimwings, Tonowari walks out of the water and to the front of the group, as if separating the family from the Awa'atlu village. You and the group with you walk over to stand off to the side of Tonowari, as your father stands strong off the edge of the group, watching over everyone.

"Olo'eyktan," you hear Tonowari say, greeting the person standing at the front of the group, "Jake Sully."

"I see you Olo'eyktan of the Metkayina," you hear the na'vi, Jake Sully says back, as he already greeted Tonowari the second he showed up. You see the na'vi you had made eye contact with greet Tonowari and the na'vi who you assumed to be Jake Sully's wife greet him as well, whispering out the same words that Jake Sully said.

"Neytiri te Tskaha Mo'at'ite," Tonowari greets, as Ronal slowly approaches the group with her eyes full of caution of the group before them. Ronal's eyes find you, as if telling you to watch her and to be fully aware of the situation in front of you. It was a group of na'vi who had traveled here, but you do not know their reason. That was the 'problem'.

"I see you Ronal, Tsahik of the Metkayina," Jake Sully greets her, with Neytiri saying the same and the two boys greeting her as well. Ronal simply stares at them as if analyzing all of their features the same as you had.

"Why do you come to us, Jake Sully," Tonowari questions, you stare at the group wondering what they will say, Tsireya stepping out of the group a bit to look at the group. You wonder if she did so just to look more at the boy from earlier.

"We seek Uturu," he simply says, his eyes pleading as he looks at Tonowari.

"Uturu?" Tonowari says, questioning what he said.

"Sanctuary for my family," Jake Sully says while nodding his head, as he said that you felt your heart ache for the father. Knowing that asking for uturu must mean something happened in their home for them to flee.

Tonowari does not say anything at first, looking at Ronal to see her reaction to what she will say. She also says nothing, and walks over to the group with her head high. Going around them like a predator to its prey but again with wariness.

"We are reef people, you are forest people. Your skills mean nothing here," Tonowari states.

"We will learn your ways, am I right," Jake Sully replies, looking over to Neytiri for confirmation, she replies with a simple "yes".

After she speaks, Ronal grabs her tail then Tuk's arm, "their arms are thin."

"Mom..." you hear the younger one wail, running over to her fathers side as Neytiri acts as a barrier between Ronal and her husband. You question what Ronal was doing, touching their features as if that wouldn't be considered off to your people. You knew she was unsure of them, but you didn't like what she was doing. The atmosphere was turning tense.

"Their tails..." Ronal starts, you hear the older daughter yelp as Ronal grabs her arms, "are weak. You'll be slow in the water," she directs to Jake Sully.

You see Ronal's eyes sharply look at the older daughter's hand, this time catching a feature that you did not see before.

"These children... are not even true na'vi!" Ronal yells out, holding the na'vi hands up for everyone to see.

"Yes we are," the daughter retorts back, you feel bad for her because she had been the focus of Ronal's berating. You wanted to stop Ronal from what she was doing, but you didn't know what to say that would not make your trainer mad at you.

"They have demon blood!" You hear Ronal yell out. She walks over to the boy that Tsireya talked to, holding up his hand as he looks down in embarrassment. His ears twitch from the attention that Ronal directed to him.

Tsireya walks up even more to go and comfort the group of na'vi children, Ao'nung stopping her with his arm. As Tsireya retreats, you put an arm around her in comfort, knowing her soft heart could not take what was happening.

"Look," Jake Sully puts up his hand, looking like the two childrens' and shows his hand into Ronal's view to get her attention to him instead of his song, "LOOK! I was born of the sky people and now I am na'vi, alright. We can adapt. We will adapt, okay."

"My husband was Toruk Makto. He led the clans to victory against the sky people," Neytiri says, looking over to Tonowari. Tonowari looks at his mate.

"This is what you call victory? Hiding? Amongst strangers?" Ronal challenges, Neytiri looks down as Ronal continues, "it seems like Eywa has turned her back on you, chosen one."

At Ronal's words, Neytiri hisses at her and Ronal hisses back immediately. You felt uneasy while watching the scene, hoping Ronal would understand that Eywa had sent the forest na'vi to you for a reason.

You turn to Ao'nung and ask him, "why is your mother acting like this? They need help."

"I'm sure she knows, but she is looking out for the clan. What if something happens to all of us because they are here? You know Toruk Makto and what he has done, and though he is brave, it is not worth it for us," Ao'nung responds, understanding the most why his mother was being so harsh, "plus they look funny."

"Ao'nung! That's rude," you chide.

"I'm not at war, okay. I just want to keep my family safe," Jake Sully says with his youngest in his arms, he looks at Ronal for any reason.

"Uturu has been asked," Neytiri says, holding her shoulder and looking down.

You hear the youngest start to sob, and your heart breaks. Jake Sully says something to her as a silent conversation is happening between Tonowari and Ronal. Ronal, again looks at you, you don't know how to react to her eyes on you. She looks down a bit, before nodding at Tonowari and backing off behind her mate.

Tonowari turns around to refer to the metkayina, "Toruk Makto and his family will stay with us. Treat them as our brothers and sisters, they do not know the sea. So they will be like babies, taking their first breath. Teach them our ways so they do not suffer the shame of being useless," he finished, you and Tisreya let out a breath of relief, knowing that the family would be staying at the village.

The Sully family all say 'thank you' with the youngest saying it first in the cutest way ever, while one of them rolls her eyes while saying 'thank you'.

"My son Ao'nung, our daughter Tsireya, our Tsakarem (Y/n), will show your children what to do," Tonowari says, your ears twitching up in excitement knowing that you would be able to interact with the Sully family.

"Father, why do I-" Ao'nung starts before he is interrupted by his father.

"It has been decided," Tonowari sternly says, not letting Ao'nung go on. You knew he would complain about it to you later. You smile at Ao'nung's destain, amused that he had to do something he didn't want to.

"Come! I will show you our village," Tsireya cheers out, showing her excitement toward the new family being around. You nod your head at her words, following along, the both of you assisting in bringing stuff over to the marui pod that they would be living in.

Bouncing along the rope path, you look at the family as they look at your home. The tree roots standing strong, being what everything is tied to, metkayina na'vi already busy with their jobs despite the event that happened not that long ago. An ilu travels beside the group, poking up to play around with the forest na'vi. Only the youngest reacted to the animal, stopping her movement and petting its head while giggling loudly.

You stop to stand beside her, as she played, "that's an ilu, they are what we ride on. They are like the winged beasts you have. Except these guys can only swim in the water."

"Woah... They're so cute!" she exclaims, you knew her curiosity and excitement would be fun to be around when training would start.

"They are! What is your name, little one?" you ask, wanting to know so you did not have to refer to her as 'the youngest' in your brain.

"My name is Tuk! My sister's name is Kiri. My oldest brother is Neteyam and then my other older brother is Lo'ak," Tuk says, though you did not expect her to say her other siblings names, you appreciated not having to ask. You noticed a yellow flower on her armband, looking toward yours that was made of multiple shells you found on the shore and a singular starfish that lay in the middle front.

"Thank you, Tuk. My name is (Y/n) and I like your armband," you say.

"Hi (Y/n)! I like your name, can I see yours?" she asks, and you bend down a bit to let her see your armband. Her fingers trace the shells and poke the starfish, "pretty..."

"It is. Now, we should catch up with your family before they come looking for you," you say, tickling her sides a bit. She giggles and you start walking, already knowing where the family would be living.

On your way to the marui pod, you look up to see the na'vi you had made eye contact with. Your eyes are temporarily trapped in his yellow ones, once again.

"Hello, I was just staying with Tuk so she wouldn't get lost," you say, eyes moving away from his eyes and looking at Tuk, "...Neteyam, right?"

"Yeah, I'm Neteyam. Thank you for looking after Tuk, she can get a little lost sometimes. I should've been watching over her, how do you know my name?" Neteyam asks, patting Tuk's head, thankful that you had taken care of his younger sister.

"Tuk told me, so I kind of guessed which brother you were. I'm glad I got it right, that would've been embarrassing," you say, starting to walk to where their pod would be with Tuk and Neteyam following you. Tuk bouncing on the path the rest of the way.

"Mhm! Now (Y/n) knows you and Lo'ak and Kiri," Tuk says with a bright smile. You nod you head at her with a smile as you all approach the pod.

"That's useful, so your name is (Y/n)? You're the Tsakarem right," Neteyam asks again, you don't mind the questions since it means you could keep on conversing with him.

"I am, though I will admit, I don't know a lot of the things I am supposed to do," you comment, watching as eclipse starts and the sky turns into a brilliant orange. You spot the rest of the Sully family, as Neytiri goes to Tuk to ensure she is alright.

"Ah, you'll learn. We all do. Thank you for caring for Tuk again," Neteyam says, placing down the things he has in his arms and grabbing what you had in yours.

"Of course. I should give you and your family time to rest and adjust. I will see you tomorrow for training," you say, smiling at him. You wave goodbye, and he does the same.

You make your way to one of the beaches after picking up the small basket in your marui pod, being as quiet as you could to not disturb your sleeping father. You sat down further away from the waves, and pull out the pearl you found earlier that you stored by shoving it between your clothes and hoping it would not get lost. Luckily, you did not lose and you placed it in the basket.

Since you had only thought of the songcord yesterday, you did not have anything to add to it. When Tsireya suggested the idea, you only started the twine the day before, collected beads, and telling Tsireya why you were adding each part of it. You started to shove miscellaneous items onto it as the sun became fully covered by Polyphemus, and the light fluttered away with the sun.

Though you did not plan to meet on the beach, Ao'nung found you there, watching as you worked on your songcord. He asked about the story of each item as you added it to the twine, smiling at his interest in your songcord and you gladly told him about each one. You ended the day in a happy stupor, knowing that you knew about Ao'nung's songcord and he knew yours. Then going to rest, knowing that you would have a long day ahead of you.

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[a/n]: once up a little bit a go i accidentally published this chapter when it wasnt ready akgfsdjgfhsl i had 3 paragraphs down LMFAO i finally get to write along the movie but omg am i excited for the chapters where i get to pull stuff out my ass. another update wont be for a bit unfortunately, i just wanted the sullys to be introduced <3

did you know: that there are different dialects of the language na'vi speak! when the rda burnt down villages to look for the sully family, they were burning down the houses of the ta'unui clan who are the sea people -- the metkayina are reef people. they call their leader "olecthan" rather than olo'yektan, think of it as french and canadian french - similar but not the same! (via vagabondagebabe on tiktok i love her sm)

i might need a new user to separate my gaming/streaming persona from my writing one LOL do not need those words to collide