Chapter Text
“Go, go, go!”
Neteyam shouted as bullets rained down on the wall between them and the recombinant shooting at them, gesturing with his head for Lo’ak and Spider to make a run for it and escape from the ship.
“But bro, you-”
“That’s an order, Lo’ak! Take Spider and go!”
The tone of Neteyam’s voice was enough to startle Lo’ak into obeying, and he grabbed Spider by the arm, getting ready to run.
“I’ll cover for you, okay? I’ll be right behind you.” Neteyam reassured them, exchanging bullets with the recombinant. Lo’ak gave a curt nod before tightening his grip on Spider, quickly making sure there wasn’t any other danger, before bolting. Both he and Spider jumped into the moon pool, disappearing into the ocean below with a splash.
Neteyam had taken a moment to make sure his younger brother and Spider had made it safely, breathing out a sigh of relief once he saw them leave. A bullet racing past him, mere inches away from his head, reminded him of what he was currently supposed to be doing. He dropped to the floor, gripping his gun and crawling further behind the wall, ears flicking nervously.
“Come on out, Little Sully. You can’t hide forever.” The recombinant growled, clearly getting frustrated at how long it was taking to kill Neteyam. “I know you’re back there… come on out and I might just use you for bait instead of killin’ ya.”
Neteyam growled under his breath, still crouched behind the wall. He tried to control his breathing, looking around cautiously before beginning to slowly crawl along the wall, still holding onto his gun, finger on the trigger. He strained his ears for any sound, trying to guess where exactly the recombinant was now so that Neteyam could attempt an ambush.
He peeked around the corner, frowning when he didn’t see anybody. The recombinant should’ve been around here… as far as Neteyam knew, he didn’t have anywhere else to go. Maybe they had some sort of path through the ship Neteyam didn’t know about…
As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Neteyam felt someone grab his tswin, yanking him up onto his feet. He hissed in pain as the recombinant gripped his arms, forcing them behind his back, trapping him. “There you are, Little Sully.” The recombinant said, followed by a cruel laugh. Neteyam could hear the smug grin in his voice, and he snarled, thrashing in the recombinant’s hold.
The recombinant paid him no mind, instead grabbing Neteyam’s wrist in an iron grip and twisting it so that he could peer down at Neteyam’s hand. “You must be Neteyam, then. The eldest.” The recombinant said upon seeing Neteyam’s three fingers. Neteyam shivered, realizing the recombinant and his teammates must have been briefed on how to identify each of the Sully children. Just how much did they know about him and his family? How long had they been watching?
Suddenly, Neteyam was slammed into the floor, letting out a pained sound as the air was knocked out of him. The recombinant had pinned him to the ground, tying Neteyam’s wrists together with one of the same plastic orange bands they had used on Lo’ak, Tsireya and Tuk. Neteyam hissed again, feeling tears pearl on his eyelashes as he fought the urge to cry. As much as he hated to admit it, he was scared. He had always been scared, but the adrenaline of war and the pressure of being the responsible older brother had always kept him sane. Now, pinned to the cold, hard ground of the ship’s deck, it dawned on Neteyam how seriously fucked he probably was.
Neteyam looked down as the recombinant tied his wrists, spotting his knife hanging from his loincloth. If he could just reach it and surprise the recombinant, he had a chance of escaping. He glanced up at the recombinant, making sure that he was occupied, before discreetly moving his tail towards his knife, trying to tilt the sheath so that it would slip out.
Neteyam started to get frustrated, his tail not making much progress. He was running out of time- tying his wrists wouldn’t take long, and even a glance down from the recombinant would give him away. If he could just work the angle, tilt it a little-
“Oh no you don’t, Little Sully.”
The recombinant growled, grabbing Neteyam’s tail and yanking on it painfully. Neteyam let out another sharp yelp of pain, before gritting his teeth, refusing to look weak in front of the soldier. The recombinant, now done tying Neteyam’s wrists, slipped Neteyam’s knife out of its sheath and tossed it across the deck, far out of reach. Neteyam started to panic, deciding that the only thing he could do now was to fight back as much as possible. He began to thrash around, hissing at the recombinant, tugging at the bindings of his wrists and snapping his teeth, trying to bite him.
The recombinant swore under this breath, grabbing Neteyam’s throat and slamming him into the floor again. “Damn savages.” He hissed through gritted teeth, arms still wrapped around Neteyam’s throat. Neteyam struggled to breath, still trying to escape, but he could feel himself running out of air after a minute or two. Black spots danced in his vision, and he looked up with panicked eyes, seeing the recombinant looking down at him with a wide grin. “Not so tough now, are we, Little Sully?”
Neteyam could feel himself slipping. His thoughts were jumbled, but all he could think of was how this was probably the end. He would die at 15, strangled to death on a skypeople ship by a recombinant soldier. Neteyam almost laughed at how ridiculous he thought it was. He had never really expected himself to die like this, though he supposed he should’ve. War had been chasing his family since he was a child. The only regret Neteyam had was that he was going out with a whimper instead of a bang- but at least Lo’ak and Spider were safe. That was all that mattered.
Just as Neteyam was about to pass out, he heard a deafening roar. He could barely register what was happening before dust and debris clouded his vision and he felt the recombinant lose his grip on Neteyam, falling away. In a split second Neteyam looked up, gulping in a large breath of air, before feeling the worst agony he ever had in his entire life. It felt like his entire nervous system was on fire, or his skin was being stripped off all at once. Neteyam choked, wanting to scream, but no sound came out of his throat. He could feel tears gathering in his eyes, beginning to hyperventilate before the pain began to dull slightly. It was still horrendous, but at least he could think now.
Neteyam forced his head up, looking around drowsily. His mind took a second to register what the wreckage around him was- a helicopter, smoking and burning, had crashed into the deck of the ship, and rather violently. Neteyam caught sight of several skypeople bodies, all dead, in different states of disarray. Some had been charred to the point of being unrecognizable, and it was hard to tell where flesh began and metal ended.
Neteyam tore his eyes away- no matter how much he despised the skypeople on this ship, he couldn’t stomach the sight of their mangled corpses. Neteyam gasped again, reminded of the extreme pain he was in as a pang of agony rocked through his body. He couldn’t hold back the choked sob that tore out of his throat, several tears falling from his face and splattering onto the deck below him. His eyes were stinging with smoke from the fire, and his nose took in the scent of burned flesh with every inhale, making him gag.
Was he shot? Had he been stabbed? Was his abdomen sliced open? Were his organs spilt out all over the floor right now? Neteyam knew something was wrong- his body was screaming at him about it. He tried to lift himself up, but collapsed immediately, the pain making him feel like he was about to throw up.
“Neteyam!”
Neteyam’s head shot up as he heard his mother’s voice, making out her ikran’s silhouette through the smoke. “Mom?” He croaked weakly, though it was enough, as he could see her running towards him.
“Neteyam! Oh, Great Mother, thank you!”
Neytiri crouched down next to Neteyam, grabbing him and holding him in her arms in a tight hug, whispering prayers and thanks to Eywa that her son was alive. Neteyam was overjoyed to see her, but let out a pained shout as she dragged him into her embrace, the motion sending more white-hot pain through his body. Neytiri looked down at him with panicked eyes, before her gaze shifted down, past Neteyam’s face.
Suddenly, Neytiri let out a shriek, covering her mouth in horror.
Something was very, very wrong.