CHAPTER 50

The only thing that could be heard underwater was the sound of the water moving as they took steady strokes, and the constant hissing of Spiders oxygen mask. It was sort of calming, in a way.

But that only lasted for a short moment.

When the group of four finally poked their heads out of the water, Erìhe took in a huge gulp of air and noticed Tsireya racing toward them with a concerned look in her eyes. It seemed Lo'ak and Spider had not noticed the same that she had and were presently congratulating each other on their brilliant escapade.

As Erìhe waited for Tsireya to reach them, she looked around for Neteyam while absently tuning in on Lo'ak and Spider's ongoing conversation. "That was insane, cuz!" Lo'ak gushed and the girl shot him a glare. It was insane. Literally insane. Not whatever the fuck it was that Lo'ak was implying. She got shot and they almost all died.

And to her great disappointment, Spider seemed to agree with Lo'ak. "Yeah!" He chortled as the two boys shared a high five.

It was then that a hand shot out from under the water and grabbed onto Erìhe's shoulder, causing the girl to practically jump out of her skin in fright. "Fuck!" She almost yelled before turning around in the water and watching as Neteyam pulled himself closer to her.

Her expression of fright almost morphed into a smile before it fell into panic once more. "Neteyam?" She asked with a worried frown, placing a gentle hand on his own shoulder while allowing him to hold her to keep himself above water.

Neteyam was spluttering, coughing, and heaving in deep breaths.

Erìhe had not noticed when Tsireya arrived beside them, urging them to get onto the ilu. Her attention was fully occupied by Neteyam.

"Did you get hit?" She asked frantically, wrapping an arm around him to keep him afloat. Neteyam was trying to form the words, but could only nod at her instead. Erìhe looked around at the water desperately, noticing as the water around them turned into a sick red colour. Wether it was him or her or both, not one of those options could be any good.

"Come on, bro!" Lo'ak called to his brother and this time Neteyam managed a response: "You skxawng. I'm shot," he said breathlessly while pinching his eyes closed in pain.

Lo'ak's expression slid off his face as he now looked blankly toward Neteyam. He swam over to Erìhe and his brother, cursing under his breath as he noticed the red water around the two. Neteyam was no longer even trying to stay above the surface - with the pain from his wound shooting through his body, immobilising him - and now it was only Erìhe holding him up, biting back her sobs that threatened to spill from her lips at any given moment.

"Keep him up!" Lo'ak told Spider and Erìhe as the three of them began towing him over to the ilu.

"Shit," Erìhe sniffed and wiped at her eyes that had become blurry with tears as they all helped Neteyam onto the ilu's back. Lo'ak was telling the others what to do, but she wasn't so sure she understood any of his words. She felt him pushing her onto the ilu behind Neteyam and she complied without much thought, sliding onto the animals back before taking hold of Neteyam's shoulders, pulling his back against her chest to hold him upright.

The sounds of Neteyam's fast breathing brought Erìhe little to no comfort at all. Without even saying a word, he sounded like he was in such pain and it broke her heart. Never had she seen him in such agony: not when he'd flown fifty feet right into a pile of rocks when he'd gotten caught in that explosion back at home. Not when he'd fallen off his ikran when they'd gone hunting for sturmbeast. And she so wished she did not have to witness it now.

Neteyam's shaky hand rose to hold onto her own, bringing it down from his shoulder and towards his waist, his breathing picking up even more once her hand made contact with his skin there.

Erìhe had been confused up until that very moment. The unmistakable feeling of blood rushing through her fingers was enough to send her into a fit of slight hysteria. Tears pricked her eyes and a sob scratched at her throat, forcing itself to be vocalised as she pressed her hand tightly against the wound, ignoring the flinch it earned from the boy. "It's okay," Erìhe told Neteyam in a mere whisper, unsure of wether he was able to hear her over the other teenagers assurances of the same thing. To make sure he understood her meaning, she pressed a quick, soft kiss to the side of his face and then another to his shoulder.

By way Neteyam's hand squeezed hers that was pressed against his side, she knew he'd understood her. And she knew he was letting himself believe it, because hoping that everything would be alright was far easier than admitting that maybe it wouldn't be.

Erìhe had completely missed most of the ride to shore, along with Tsireya informing them that the skypeople had Kiri and Tuk. Eclipse fell upon them as they neared some rocks nearby the sinking mothership, and Erìhe could barely make out Jake running across the rocks toward them through the dark. Only a nearby fire caused by some previous explosion illuminated their way as they made it closer to Jake.

"Dad!" Lo'ak held up his hand toward his father, "Dad, help! It's Neteyam!"

"Hurry!" Tsireya said as she got off the ilu, holding out her hands to help Neteyam off the animal's back.

"Here! Take him!" Lo'ak said to his father as the group lifted him off the ilu.

"Oh, no," Jake rushed forward to help the teenagers with their attempts of hoisting his son up onto the rocks. He took ahold of Spiders hand and pulled them all out of the water, crouching down to carry Neteyam onto the rocks along with Spider and Lo'ak.

Lo'ak was saying something and so were Spider and Jake, but Erìhe couldn't hang onto a single word as she scrambled out of the water, following behind them with unsteady, but quick, steps. The pain in her leg was long forgotten as she glanced down at Neteyam coughing with his eyes squeezed tight shut. She practically threw herself onto her knees beside him, most likely scraping them in the process, but she didn't mind. She only sniffled and watched as Jake turned Neteyam over, letting out a little breath when he saw the exit wound on the side of his waist.

Erìhe let herself be slightly comforted by the fact that it had gone right through; it didn't mean there couldn't be lots of internal damage, but it did mean that the bullet had not been able to use up all of its energy inside of his body - or whatever it was that Jake had always told them. She didn't remember much right in that moment.

But her momentary calm was quickly overwhelmed by a feeling of desperation once more when Neteyam started to hyperventilate. He seemed to be in a state of panic. Jake quickly grabbed each of Lo'ak's and Erìhe's hands and placed them on the bleeding wound. "Put pressure," he told them.

"Dad, I-" Neteyam said between gasps. Maybe he was trying to say goodbye. Erìhe did not wish to hear it. With determination she cast her eyes away from his face, instead focusing her attention to the gaping wound beneath her hands.

"It's okay. I'm here," Jake assured Neteyam.

In that instance a great flapping of wings could be heard, followed by heavy footsteps and soon Neytiri there, was crouched beside the rest of them and inspecting her son in horror. "No, no, no, no, no," she mumbled, leaning over Lo'ak to get a look at Neteyam's face.

"It's okay," Lo'ak said to his brother.

Erìhe wiped her tears on her shoulder, looking away from the scene. Her eyes met Tsireya's teary ones and she immediately called her over. "Ronal," she said, "Get the Tsahik." Tsireya nodded frantically before hurrying back into the water, calling her ilu before diving into the waves.

"I want to go home," Neteyam gasped, his eyes flickering between his parents. He couldn't see Erìhe, why couldn't he see her? He could have sworn she was just there with him, holding his hand and assuring him everything would be alright. Where was she now?

"I know. I know," Jake's voice quivered as he furrowed his brows, an expression of pain overtaking his features. "It's okay, we're goin' home," he lied in that same shaky voice. "We're goin' home. It's okay. It's okay."

But Neteyam found himself unable to listen. He could see her again; Erìhe's face just about peeking over his mothers shoulder, looking over at him with a pained expression. He swore he could feel hands on him, on his chest, shoulders, cheek, the wound in his side. He hoped that a pair of them would be hers, offering comfort to him as he took in rapid breaths that he was not convinced wouldn't be his last.

He felt so guilty making everyone worry like this. The fact that they may have to deal with his death - with witnessing his death.He knew his mother would bare it the hardest, and so would his father. He wished Lo'ak wouldn't blame himself. But he did not know what Erìhe would do. She would be sad and she would grieve, this much he was sure of - but he was sure of nothing else. He did not want her to have to deal with his death, he wanted to live. For all of them, for himself.

It seemed that as soon as this thought crossed his mind he couldn't feel anyone any more. It was like the hands he'd previously felt were quickly retracted from his body as if they'd been burned, taking away all the pain with them as they let go. He could no longer feel the gunshot wound in the side of his stomach. He couldn't feel his back pressed uncomfortably against the rocks anymore.

Neteyam couldn't feel anything.

He was lightheaded, his ears were ringing, his vision swimming and suddenly he felt like he'd been pulled underwater. Maybe he had been. He would be none the wiser - he was not sure about anything anymore. Maybe his eyes had closed, but he did not know that for sure either.

A silence took over the group as they watched Neteyam stare up into the distance before his eyelids fluttered, and then finally closed. He was completely still - no longer was he gasping for air or trying to form final sentences. He was completely unmoving.

The air became thick as everyone stilled, hands still lingering on his still body.

Lo'ak's grip became loose but Erìhe refused to relent the pressure she was applying to Neteyam's wound. She would not - could not let go.

"Neteyam," Neytiri spoke softly. Others were shaking their heads and holding back sobs as they slowly realised what had happened. "No. No, no, no. Neteyam!" Neytiri then screamed, and Erìhe had to shut her eyes tight, willing herself not to listen to the grieving mothers terrible screams.

One of Erìhe's shaky hands migrated from Neteyam's wound up toward his chest, over his heart. She had to be sure there was truly nothing that could be done for him before she could accept it. Neytiri was yelling and Jake leaned over his son to hold her. Erìhe knew she was imposing, knew she was in the way, but she couldn't care.

Her hand rested above Neteyam's heart and for the longest time she sat still, forcing her hands to not shake and making herself deaf to Neytiri's screams of grief. Erìhe's eyes closed as she compelled her tears to remain at bay.

"The Tsahik!" Tsireya called, wading through the shallow water and lifting herself onto the rock, "My mother - she.. I got her.." her eyes landed on Neteyam and a cry escaped her as she took in the scene.

Ronal was not slowed down by what lay before her. As she rushed over, she almost pushed Spider out of the way, "Out of my way!" She demanded. Jake attempted to pull Neytiri away from Neteyam and after a small struggle she had complied, now holding onto Jake for dear life as she cried and peered over his shoulder to look at her son. But Erìhe didn't move. She couldn't move.

The quiet but distinct thump, thump, thump had completely paralysed her.

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A/n:
Im so mad bc I rlly wanted to scare y'all into thinking he was gonna die 🙄 but without all that unrealistic, Kiri bringing him back or whatever, it can't be done 💔💔

But yeah Neteyam lives 😍😍 I had a promise to keep and an apology to make 💔