CHAPTER 19

       Everyone had been worried sick. Ao'nung had admitted to leaving Lo'ak outside of the reef but other than that, no one knew of his whereabouts. Erìhe and Neteyam had begged to take the ikran and fly above the water so see if they could find Lo'ak, but Jake had been quick to shut those requests down.

So the two teenagers were instead pacing the village pathways in frustration, annoyed that they were not allowed to help.

Then a horn sounded. There were calls and shouts from the villagers. "The boy has returned!" "The Sully boy! We found him!"

Erìhe and Neteyam did not spare a glance at each other before hurrying off toward the direction where villagers were gathering. When they arrived, Lo'ak was already standing on top of a boat, making angry advances toward Ao'nung. Erìhe glared at the boy as well. She had already given him a piece of her mind earlier - but felt as though it was not enough.

Jake stepped in front of Lo'ak before he could reach Ao'nung. "Hey - let's have a look at you." He inspected his son for any visible wounds before standing up straight again, "He's fine," he told the others when he hadn't found any serious injuries, "He's fine. Just a few scratches."

"Lo'ak!" Neytiri hurried past Erìhe and Neteyam to reach her son. She placed her hands on Lo'ak's shoulders and sighed in relief. Then she became angry, "I pray for the strength that I will not pluck the eyeballs out of my youngest son!" She practically growled before pretending to scratch his eye.

Lo'ak leaned back as he avoided her hand, but he did not say anything.

"No," Tonowari said, "My son knows better than to take him outside the reef," he turned to Ao'nung before placing a hand on his shoulder and making him get on his knees. "The blame is his."

There was an awkward moment of silence before Jake spoke up again, "Okay," he said, "Let's go," he told Lo'ak before lifting himself up onto the path.

Lo'ak did not move, "No," he said. "This is not Ao'nung's fault. This was my idea. Ao'nung tried to talk me out of it - really."

Erìhe looked down at Ao'nung, who was wearing an identical frown to hers. She shook her head, wondering why Lo'ak would try to keep him out of trouble. He could have died thanks to the idiot.

"Lo'ak," Neytiri said as she rose onto the path.

Tonowari met his wife's eyes and she merely raised her brows. "I'm sorry," Lo'ak told them.

"Come on," Jake pressed. After Lo'ak had gotten on the path, the two of them walked past the Olo'eyktan and Tsahik. "I'll handle this," he told the chief.

Erìhe and Neteyam followed behind them, casting twin glares at Ao'nung who was brought back to his feet by his father. Ao'nung looked ashamed as he hung his head - not wanting to meet either of their eyes. As Erìhe passed, she bumped into him a little and Neteyam had to place a hand on her shoulder to steer her away.

"Not in front of the Olo'eyktan," he mumbled to her as they walked after his parents, Lo'ak and Kiri.

Once they had gotten past the crowd of villagers who were already going on about their night, Lo'ak turned to face his father. "Dad, you told me to make friends with these kids," he said, "That's all I was trying to-"

"I don't want to hear it," Jake cut him off.

"Dad.."

"You brought shame to this family," Jake told Lo'ak. Erìhe looked down at her feet - she always hated being present when one of them were getting scolded.

Lo'ak fell quiet and he would not meet his eyes. After a moment he spoke again, "Can I go now?"

"Any more trouble and I'll knot your tail. You read me?" Jake spoke.

"Yes, sir," Lo'ak responded. Jake only jerked his head, without words telling Lo'ak to go.

Lo'ak walked off, leaving Jake, Neytiri, Erìhe, Neteyam and Kiri behind. They watched him leave, then Neytiri turned to her other son. "Where were you?" She asked Neteyam.

"Yeah," Jake said, his eyes turning to Neteyam, "What happened to keep an eye on your brother?" Then he looked at Erìhe, "Matter of fact - where were you?"

Erìhe fought back the urge to snap and tell him that she was doing precisely what he'd asked her to do - helping Neteyam with his injuries. She instead looked down and averted her gaze once more - not wanting to get herself in trouble.

"I'm sorry, sir," Neteyam apologized on both of their behalf - though he disliked the fact that even his father was treating Erìhe as his own daughter. It did not sit right with him.

₊˚.༄

       "I wish I'd been there," Kiri said. The Sully children and Erìhe were gathered by the shore along with Tsireya, Ao'nung and Rotxo. Lo'ak had been telling them about his encounter with a lone tulkun - he claimed that the animal had saved him. "The ocean has blessed you with a gift, brother."

"How did you say you met this.. tulkun?" Erìhe asked.

"He saved me," Lo'ak repeated himself for the millionth time that day. "I almost died but he came just in time."

Erìhe had heard him the first few times he had said this, but she enjoyed watching the guilt flash on Ao'nung's face whenever he said that he'd almost died. Neteyam poked her arm when he noticed her smirking in Ao'nung's direction. Erìhe rolled her eyes as she looked away.

But then Ao'nung spoke up, "The tulkun have not returned yet - anyways no tulkun is ever alone."

"This one was," Lo'ak told them. "He had a missing fin," he motioned to his left arm, "Like a stump on the left side." He looked at Tsireya as he spoke.

"Poor tulkun," Kiri said sadly.

Tsireya seemed to know this tulkun, as she spoke up, "Payakan," she said and looked to the other Metkayina. "It's Payakan."

"Who's Payakan?"

Erìhe looked up at Tsireya with a frown.

"A young tulkun who went rogue," Rotxo explained to the unknowing Omaticaya, "He's outcast - alone. And he has a missing fin."

Tsireya turned to look at Lo'ak again, her hand placed in his arm, "They say he is a killer."

"No," Lo'ak disagreed.

"He killed Na'vi," Ao'nung told him, "And other tulkun. Not here - but far to the south."

"No, he's no killer," Lo'ak said adamantly.

"Lo'ak," Tsireya claimed his attention, "You are lucky to be alive."

This only seemed to upset Lo'ak, "I'm telling you guys - he saved my life." He looked over at the others as he placed a hand on top of Tsireya's, "He's my friend."

Erìhe knew that Lo'ak was an idiot - he was often off doing dumb things, getting himself and others into trouble - but he was no liar. She believed him, but she also believed that the Metkayina knew what they were talking about.

Neteyam chose that time to speak up. He stood up from his crouched position beside Erìhe and walked past her to stand behind his brother. "My baby bro," he said teasingly as he placed his hands on Lo'ak's shoulders, "The mighty warrior who faced the killer tulkun and lived to tell about it."

Lo'ak shook him off before standing up as well. Neteyam chuckled and stepped away, standing behind Erìhe who gave him a stern look.

"You guys aren't listening," Lo'ak said, starting to back away.

"Lo'ak, I'm listening!" Tuk called after him as he turned and walked off.

"Lo'ak, come back," Kiri said. Then her eyes fell on Neteyam, "You skxawng."

Neteyam sighed before yelping as Erìhe lifted a hand to hit his leg. "Idiot," she rolled her eyes.

"So stupid," Tuk agreed and shook her head.

Erìhe laughed before standing up. Neteyam was right behind her, so her back briefly brushed against his chest before she walked over to Tuk. She grinned as she held up her hands threateningly - as if to tickle her, "You don't speak like that to your brother, do you?"

Tuk squealed as she hurried to her feet, "Then why do you speak like that to him?" She laughed as she ran behind Tsireya to hide. Tsireya watched them with a smile.

"Because he is not my brother," Erìhe laughed as she took slow steps toward the girl.

Neteyam's eyes widened slightly. It wasn't as if he'd expected her to think of him as a brother - but somehow it still surprised him to hear it from her. Erìhe stopped walking toward Tuk when she saw the little girls smile fade, "What's wrong?" She asked her.

"Am I not your sister then?" She asked as she stepped from behind Tsireya.

Erìhe glanced up at Neteyam, as if checking to see if he'd get angry. Then she decided that she did not care either way and closed the distance between her and Tuk, "Of course you're my sister," she chuckled as she picked her up.

Tuk laughed gleefully as Erìhe carried her away. The two had developed a habit of going over to the seawall to play in the warm, shallow pools.

Neteyam watched as they walked off and he smiled a little - despite the twinge of jealousy that he felt.

"She's so hot."

Neteyam glanced down to look at Ao'nung who had spoken. The boy was watching as Erìhe disappeared from view.

"And she's good with kids," Ao'nung added to his thought. Rotxo laughed at his friend and Ao'nung merely smiled and looked down at his hands.

"Ao'nung!" Tsireya warned.

"Don't dream of it," Neteyam said sternly, not looking back at him as he followed the two girls. Ao'nung frowned as he watched him go.

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A/n:
I love you guys to bits and pieces - you don't understand, I was FIGHTING off the urge to not post this chapter yesterday