There was the light crash of waves beyond the walls of Fei'uey's home. She had been tracing lines and patterns into the floor, fingertips numb from use. In the quiet hours, when her siblings were out doing whatever, she had found inner peace.

Her designs, if one looked close enough, were the patterns of her and her family's skin. Every swirl and pattern was connected, interlinked. A bond unbroken.

Her efforts were backed by a strong motivation. The problem was, even if she tried to explain the lingering sense, her parents nor her siblings would ever understand.

Fei'uey stood from her work and dusted off her hands. She touched each finger to her thumb and shook the numbness off.

She dwelled next to the water, sticking her hand in the familiar substance and circling her hand around. Without her regular duties as the eldest daughter, life felt more empty than she had imagined.

It wasn't until she heard calls and saw foreign Ikran in the sky further away that she came to her senses. A horn was blown, the sign of newcomers.

Fei'uey rushed forward, through hundreds of little homes among their system of housing. The center, in front of her father's Marui. On the sand, they would land.

She pushed past awestruck people and ignored exclaims of shock. Not only would her father want her there, but she wanted to be one of the first ones to see such people. She needed the experience as the next chief.

It was a family, it had to have been. The way the youngest clung to her mother's leg and the eldest man, perhaps the father, stepped off first. What caught Fei'uey's eye first was their build.

They had a deeper blue skin tone, with leaner bodies, braids in a distinct style, and thinner tails. Another thing was their clothing, which consisted of other materials not from the sea. She glanced down at her own attire, dozens of shells and resources from the sea. When she looked back at their clothes, with narrowed brows, she felt a sudden curiosity.

Fei'uey saw her mother and father landing, front and center, to greet the strange people. Her mother just trailed behind her father. Beyond inspection, she could tell by the intense look on her face that she didn't trust the newcomers. The young girl scowled at the hostility. Even if it was her mother, she couldn't help but feel a distaste for her manner.

Sure, all she had learned was to trust Ronal in her judgment, but at some point, every Na'vi must make choices themselves and form their own mind. Fei'uey had begun to do it sooner than most.

Tonowari, her father, and the leader of the foreigners had begun speaking with a simple gesture of hello. It was then that Fei'uey had found her sister, Tsireya, next to their brother and his best friend. Before she could make her presence known, she had seen who she had locked eyes with.

Just by the direction, she could see who it was; one of the two teen boys. Foreigners. Mutual interest was present, especially when she had seen the way he kept glancing back at her with an awestruck look. Fei'uey rolled her eyes in disgust. Not even a minute in and there had been entanglement between the foreigner and one of the tribe, let alone her own sister.

She watched as they made eyes at each other. After just a few moments, she walked over to Tsireya, nudging her in the side and huffing. Even if she was happy for her little sister, could it have been anyone else than someone that Ronal would never trust?

"What?" Tsireya asked innocently. Her eyes told a different story. She was smitten and hooked.

Fei'uey frowned. "Don't play dumb, Reya, I know more than you." Pursing her lips, she looked back at the boy that had taken an interest in her. "What you're doing isn't a good idea, we don't even know why they're here."

Tsireya patted her sister's shoulder and chuckled. "I'm fine, Fei. I think you have your own problems to worry about." She nodded her head back to where the boy was. When Fei'uey looked, instead of finding just Tsireya's admirer, she also found the boy next to him staring right at her.

His face matched the other foreigner's. She recognized the look, as she had seen it on her father's face when he was watching Ronal, her mother. Tsireya wasn't the only one who was the object of attraction anymore.

The boy had held eye contact for about three seconds before he tapped out and looked at the ground with a flushed face. Unlike Tsireya, who had been open to reciprocating the feelings, Fei'uey looked at her father and kept her priorities straight. She had duties and was meant to set a good example. However, she couldn't be blamed if Tsireya wouldn't listen to her directions.

The leader spoke with authority. "We seek refuge."

Tonowari was open to reason, but Ronal had already narrowed her eyes. She was skeptical. "We are reef people, you are forest people. Your skills will mean nothing here."

Jake Sully had a desperate look in his eyes. "We'll learn your ways, right?" He looked back at his wife for reassurance.

Ronal had already begun circling them. She grabbed Neytiri's tail and inspected them one by one. "Their arms are thin. Their tails are weak," she grabbed Kiri's tail, which she yanked back and exclaimed softly. "You will be slow in the water," she grabbed the hand of the teen girl, holding them up. "These children... are not even true Na'vi!"

Gasps were heard in the crowd. Fei'uey looked at her sister and gave her an "I told you so" look. Tsireya only pouted and looked at the ground.

Ronal went to Lo'ak next, holding up his hand for everyone to see and count. "They have demon blood!"

Fei'uey stopped listening after that. She rested her hand on Tsireya's shoulder and sighed, whispering, "You shouldn't entangle with these people in the way I just saw, Reya. Mother would be furious at you."

The younger girl sighed heavily. "But it doesn't matter, Mother is like that with every new one she meets. Once she realizes they're not here for danger, she will calm down."

It was wishful thinking. "You are being delusional, she would never do that." She smirked and nudged the younger girl with her elbow. "You clearly haven't known her for as long as I have."

"Don't pull the age card!" Tsireya whispered in a harsh tone.

It was then that Tonowari had begun to announce something. "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."

The small group had muttered quiet thanks. "My son Aonung and daughters Fei'uey and Tsireya will show your children what to do."

Both Aonung and Fei'uey whipped their heads at their father. Fei opened her mouth to protest and leave her out of it, but Aonung started first. "Father, why do I-"

Tonowari quickly cut him off, pointing a finger. "This is decided."

Tsireya seemed almost too excited, as she stepped forward to speak first. "Come, my sister and I will show you our village."

Out of sight from others, Fei'uey smacked her sister's arm and seethed, "You could have done it yourself!"

"But I'm sure that boy would like to see you more often," she gave a coy smile.

Fei rolled her eyes and groaned, restraining herself from throwing a fit. "You only want to see that boy! This is all for you, moron!" Tsireya only laughed. "Why drag me into your pitiful attempts of spending time with the forest people?" Fei'uey whispered harshly.

Tsireya gave a coy smile. "Don't talk about Toruk Makto's family like that, Fei. I think father would find it very noble of us as his daughters to do this."

Fei'uey grit her teeth and gave her sister a cold look. "Not when your motive is to talk to some boy. Father wouldn't find that very noble, huh?"

Tsireya, instead of returning the harsh attitude, only giggled, covering her mouth with her hand and leading the rest of the foreign family to her. Her sister trailed behind, eventually slipping away from the group and going back to the water.

Fei'uey had believed that she hadn't been seen, but she was wrong.

The eldest of Toruk Makto's children, Neteyam, had seen it right in front of his eyes.

this isn't that good, but i will be editing it once the movie comes out on streaming. i also don't have much of a plan for this book, but please bear with me! (this chapter isn't edited)

12/19/22: new update! i found a website (courtesy to one of my readers, i can't remember their name, i found a website with the movie on there, so i will be using that for the dialogue and scenes. i have just edited this to match the movie, thank you all for reading lovies! <3