Blood and Water | Neteyam

False Hope ∼ 6

They went back to the cave when Tcelia had managed to get herself together and stopped crying. As they walked towards their tent, Tcelia spotted Lo'ak, Kiri and Tuk kneeling by the side of it, peering under the tarp. Neteyam and Tcelia exchanged a curious look as they walked towards them.

"What are you guys doi—" Neteyam was cut off by all three of the others, shushing him. They gestured for Tcelia and Neteyam to get down beside them and listen. Snickering silently at the dumbfounded expression Neteyam had on his face after being shushed, Tcelia grabbed his arm and squeezed them down between Lo'ak and Tuk.

Tcelia shot Lo'ak a questioning look, silently asking what this was all about. Lo'ak mouthed 'listen' to her and bend his head down and resumed his spying. From inside the tent, Neytiri and Jake seemed to be arguing about something serious.

"I cannot – you cannot ask this," Grief was evident in Neytiri's voice as she spoke, "I cannot leave my people." Tcelia's heart skipped a beat. Jake wanted the Sullies to leave? The kids shot each other shocked looks.

"I will not," Neytiri said. Tcelia felt bad about rooting for Neytiri at that moment, but she didn't want the family to leave, even though she knew how selfish she was being. She just couldn't imagine her life without them. They were her whole life. She swallowed a lump in her throat as she continued to listen.

"He's hunting us," Jake spoke up, "He's targeting our family."

"You cannot ask this," Neytiri repeated, raising her voice, "The children – everything they've ever known. The forest – this is our home!"

"He had our children – he had them under his knife." Jake stressed.

Revulsion bubbled up in Tcelia as she was forced back into the memory of the way her knife had felt when she had forced it into the man's neck, through muscle and tissue. How the Avatar had clawed at his neck, desperate for another breath that would not, could not come. Because of her. She inhaled sharply. Neteyam glanced at her, concern in his eyes. Tcelia ignored him, trying to play it cool.

"My father gave this bow to me as he lay dying," Shuffling steps came from inside the tent, "And he said protect the people." Tcelia had seldom heard Neytiri so out of it. The woman had always been a calming presence, the voice of reason. "You're Toruk Makto!" She cried desperately.

"This will protect the people." Jake's frustrated voice had grown a little louder and almost as if noticing this, he lowered it again. "Quaritch has spider. That kid knows everything! He knows our whole operation! He can lead them right in here." Tcelia's stomach dropped as she understood the gravity of the situation.

"If the people harbor us – they will die," Jake stated, clearly desperate to convince Neytiri that leaving was for the best, "Do you understand?"

A long silence filled the air. Tcelia felt even worse that the small part of her brain still hoped that Neytiri would convince him to stay. But in the more reasonable part of her mind, Tcelia knew that she was being ridiculous. Jake was Olo'eyktan. It was his duty to protect the clan. But he was also a father. His family came first, always.

She looked at the family crouched beside her. At Kiri who was listening intently, eyebrows furrowed. At Tuk who was leaning against Neteyam, eyes large and brimming with emotion. Neteyam who absentmindedly stroked Tuk's hair as he listened to his parents, an unreadable expression on his face. Tcelia looked to her other side where Lo'ak sat. Her heart stilled as she saw the resigned look on his face. All the kids knew that their father had won. They were leaving their home. Tcelia distantly wondered where she would go now. Perhaps she could stay in the tent where the Avatars rested whilst she figured out her situation.