-
Italics: (Na'vi language, or Metkayina sign language, and Jake's inner thoughts)

Okay, I want to apologize in advance lmao I hope I didn't go overboard with the angst, which is one of the reasons that it took me so long to finish this chapter SHSJ anyway, I hope you guys like this chapter! The final battle is coming up soon so i'm excited!

Also, huge thanks to -tHeCoNfUsEdSiMp for once again helping me out with this chapter, because I wouldn't have been able to do it without you. I love you so much and it wouldn't have been possible without your help! Everyone should go check out her Avatar story as well, it deserves so much love and support! :,) 🤍

As always, don't forget to comment and vote <3 I love reading and replying to all of your comments and they truly make my day 🤍 Without further ado, I hope you guys like it!
-

How did you get here? Standing before two of the most important people in your life. Those who took you in, raised you, have loved you as of you were one of their own, and that you have never let down, up until today. They were there standing before you, waiting for an explanation and not give them any more reason for you to lose their trust any more than you have. Part of you began to think thay if you explained it all, not sparing a single detail, that maybe they would understand. Tonowari and Ronal have never been the type to be closed off in terms of how open minded they were. They were always looking for a reasonable explanation, and sure enough, after they heard what happened, they would want to hear from the responsible adult amongst the children. Maybe there were details that they were missing and that would surely turn things around, but for now, their opinions would stand and wouldn't change for anything.

And yet, that truly wasn't even what you were scared of the most. You knew that while you spoke to Tonowari and Ronal, Jake was clearly speaking to Lo'ak in this very moment over in your families' hut and surely the boy himself was revealing everything to his dad, which also included your role in all of this. The moment that Jake took Lo'ak away from Tonowari and Ronal's hut and the other kids dispersed all around the village, that meant that it only left one other place that you'd have to go to was your tent and speak to Jake when him and Lo'ak were done. You'd expect Jake to know everything that he didn't already know by the time you got back to your home, because from the scolding of Ronal and Tonowari that he saw when he heard the commotion, he only knew so much. But, the truth was probably out by now, so you had to expect now to explain the situation all over again when you got back. As of now, you'd have to focus on the two people in front of you that were standing expectantly, waiting for you to talk and explain everything.

You really thought that you would have to be the one to speak up first, but as you worked up the courage to say something, anything, that could help your case, Ronal ended up being the one who spoke up first. As you saw her open her mouth, you shut yours and awaited the words that she was about to tell you. You had to carefully brace yourself for anything that she had to say, despite how visibly angry and upset she really looked. You subconsciously were holding your breath in anticipation and just watched as she crossed her arms together and spoke up. "Y/n," She started, and you nodded in response, letting her know you were really listening intently to what she had to say. "We don't want to believe that you did this without reason. We raised you better than that. Among these children, you were the adult." Ronal said, and as much as the truth of her words hurt, it felt like a punch to the gut when reality began to settle inside of you. It didn't feel good at all.

As she finished speaking, you were quick to say something in your defense. It was hard not to try to mend what has already been broken and assure them of the entire situation. Maybe if you explained correctly, you could really turn things around. Although, as you prepared to defend yourself, you could see Ronal's barely controlled anger and how disapproval rang out through her tone of voice. Still, you did your best to explain. "There is an explanation! I didn't just do this on a whim. There's so much you two don't know." You said, standing your ground and assuring them that the situation had so much more that meets the eye. At your words, Tonowari looked at you warily and with a sense of skepticism. There truly were very few reasons that justified your recent actions and he genuinely hoped you had at least one that was valid enough. Seeing your sudden sense of defense, Tonowari sighed and was the next one to tell you what he thought. "Well, all we want is an explanation. We don't want to assume you did this without a valid cause." He said, and you quickly nodded, silently telling them both that what you were part of had a valid purpose and reason behind it. You hoped for the best.

A few seconds passed by and they waited as you gathered your thoughts. You took a deep breath and exhaled shakily. They were giving you one opportunity to explain yourself and you didn't want to waste it. This was your only chance for them to see what you see and what Lo'ak sees. This included everything that they have been blind to from being so closed off to the real truth. You didn't waste any time in gathering your bearings and looking at them assertively and confidently. "I do have one. A couple of weeks ago, Lo'ak came to me and he was asking me to come with him beyond the reef. I didn't know why. He said that Payakan was asking for me. I know the rules by heart and I even expressed that to Lo'ak but it meant so much to him that I could not possibly deny him that." You said, with a hopeful and sincere smile coming upon your lips, hoping that your enthusiasm rubbed off on them. But, you seem to have not enough of it, because they weren't phased by it. Oh, they were listening to you, but your explanation didn't seem like enough for them. You felt your confidence depleting.

Tonowari sighed deeply and shook his head. He understands now why you did what you did, but it didn't seem valid enough to break the rules to extent that you did. He really did not want to be the one to shut down any sort of spark of hope that you had and be the bad in al of this. Being the cause of your destroyed look on your face was the last thing he wanted. "Yes, you could have. The rules are clear and yet, you chose to disobey them." Tonowari said sternly and you gaped at him in desbelief. At the same time, what you did was wrong in almost every aspect, but you at least expected them to have some kind of understanding. You began to step closer to him and Ronal, while your face had now contorted into pleading expression. "You don't get it! He wanted me to come with him because it was something important to me and he didn't do it out of bad intentions. None of us wanted something bad to come out of this" You said, your voice getting more desperate and urgent. You were just letting your frustration speak for you by now, not helping your case.

The moment your voice changed, along with your body language, Ronal's fight or flight was suddenly ignited and you flinched a bit when she had steppes closer to you and raised her voice. "It doesn't matter what his intentions were! You all went against our customs, for what?" She exclaimed, as she scoffed in total disbelief before continuing, "A lone outcast who has turned his back on the Tulkun ways is facing the consequences of his own actions!" Ronal said and you felt a lump begin to form in your throat as you felt yourself getting smaller and smaller. You felt so vulnerable and you hated it. They just weren't listening to you, and even if the two of them were right in many things, you hated that not a single part of your explanation was going through. And maybe it was, but it really didn't seem like it at all. You looked over at Tonowari and he had his head down and his arms crossed, avoiding eye contact with you at all costs. He really couldn't look at you, could he? He had nothing to say.

As she spoke and continued to raise her voice, she stalked closer to you and each word made tears prick the corner of your eyes. You could not help the anger or frustration building up within you. All you wanted was for them to listen. It would take a long time for you to earn their trust and respect again, and they wouldn't look at you the same for some time. You were certain that it will be long until they forgave you, and you didn't know what you'd do until then. The more silence built up, you suddenly felt something snap within you. "You have no idea what you're talking about! This isn't just any Tulkun!" You exclaimed, raising your voice like never before, but when you looked at both of them, Tonowari seemed the least unphased. Its not like he wasn't expecting you to snap at some point out of frustration. He sighed and he gently stepped in front of Ronal, blocking your vision of her. As he towered over you, you tried not to let it intimidate you, but it was becoming really hard and difficult to do so. "He is outcast for a reason, Y/N." He said in a tone that was calm and collected. You groaned inwardly at his words, feeling like your words were going in one ear and out the other. It was pointless.

You couldn't take it anymore. They needed to know what you knew about Payakan and why he was so important, so that's why you blurted out the one thing that you knew they wouldn't see coming and would at least see why this was so important to you, and why you went out of your way to break the rules in the first place. Without thinking, you groaned and put your fingers through your hair before yelling; "That 'outcast' was the last one to see Hahona alive!" You snapped at him, completely fed up. You were so fired up and out of sorts that you let out small breaths and pants, trying to inwardly trying to calm yourself down. But you had yet to notice Tonowari and Ronal's reaction. They both paused at your revelation and glanced at each other in confusion. They started to piece things together slowly, but they needed a bit more context. They knew more than anyone how much your late mate meant to you, and it broke them to see you live your life without an explanation to how he died. But as of now, they knew why you carried on such a risk like that.

Tonowari softened his voice, "What do you mean by that?" He said, remembering how your life came to be the moment that you lost your mate. How alone you'd become, how closed off you were to any other chances to start over, and how Hahona's destroyed your life and your will to live the first few months without him. You being someone he watched grow up, he couldn't bare to remember how much it costed you to even hear how you lost the person you loved the most in a situation full of mystery. All this time, not only has it hurt him to watch you suffer like that for months on end, but if something happened to Ronal and he didn't know how, he would take any opportunity to find out the truth. He could see that now, but he hated that he couldn't be on your side. Hahona really was a good man, and if you were looking for any sort of sign to be reassured, Tonowari was secretly glad you were able to get the closure you needed. He felt it was a shame that it was at the expense of violating the rules and norms of your people, and also the place you grew up in. He wouldn't like to admit it, and neither would Ronal, but they both know that they'd do the same.

By this time, when Tonowari asked you to elaborate, you had a steady stream of angry tears streaming down your face and you huffed in response, looking away from them briefly. You had no idea what either of them were thinking, but if this didn't help them see what you saw, then you'd give up. You've done all that you can. "Hahona was there!" You said, sniffling and feeling more tears brim your eyes. Even saying it out loud now made it so much more real and it hurt you more than you could ever describe. You sniffled and tried to keep yourself together so you could speak clearly.

It took you a couple of seconds to continue, with silencd filling the air and Tonowari and Ronal sent each other worries glances. "He was there that day when Payakan fought the sky people and he joined the others in battle. You wanna know why nobody knows how Hahona died?" You said, letting your eyes go back and forth between them. You gave them a chance to respond but they were both absolutely silent, not knowing how to respond to what you were telling them. You sighed and wiped incoming rogue tears once more and continued to speak. "Because he saved Payakan's life! So, that lone Tulkun you two are talking about was the last one to see my mate alive. He died from a spear launched from a demon ship. And it may have looked like he died from something else, but Hahona gave his life to make sure Payakan was okay. The only reason I know this is because when Lo'ak bonded with Payakan, he shared his memories and my son saw it all." You said, and Tonowari looked away, feeling like it really was like Hahona to do something like what you're describing to them. It made sense now.

Though, at the sight of your tears, both of your adoptive parents both felt their hearts cave in. It brought them memories of when you were just a little girl being scolded, and even then, they never liked to see you so hurt. But in both cases, then and now, they were trying to teach you a lesson on what's right and what's wrong. Ronal's face fell, not being able to hide it at all, and her ears started to drop down towards the side of her head. Her eyes were wide but the devastation and sadness she felt for you was clear as day. She had noticed how you almost childishly tried to stop crying and the way your tail hung lowly, tucking between your legs in shame. It truly reminded Ronal and gave her  small flashbacks of when you were young and she wanted nothing more than to embrace you when you were sad It broke her heart to see you like this. But Ronal knew that what you did was still wrong so she stepped back, and let her husband do the talking. Tonowari was feeling something similar to his wife but he also just couldn't allow himself to forgive what you had done. What kind of leader would he be if he let this slide. And if you were going to be the next leader and role model of the clan, he couldn't allow to let this be swept under the rug.

As hard as it was for Tonowari to say what he was about to say what had to, it was necessary. As glad as he was that you got closure, that you were able to find love again, and that you were able to move on, he just couldn't allow it to be ignored. He knew you were hoping for what you pointed out to be what would turn things around, but he needed to brace himself to tell you the harsh reality. "I'm sorry, Y/N. It does not matter what Payakan did, but....what you have done, cannot be forgiven so easily." He said and your eyes widened. Your breath hitched and you only bit your lip to hold back more pathetic cries from leaving your lips. You didn't understand why they couldn't see why Payakan was so important to you now, and why there should be some consideration and to at least try to discuss it further. You just wanted any sort of reassurance and hope that this could be talked and worked through at the very least, but it doesn't seem like it at all now.

Tonowari must have noticed your confused and distressed expression because he then stated; "Before you even knew why Payakan wanted to see you or that Hahona was involved, you still went with Lo'ak knowing you were breaking the rules. On top of all of that, you allowed several meetings to take place between the three of you. Do you understand where you went wrong?" He said sternly, and even if he was right, you at least wanted to know that there was a chance to work through this whole situation and not just close it off in fear that it'll affect the morals and values of the clan. You have accepted that you were wrong, you knew from the getgo in fact and were in no way denying  any of this, but all you wanted was a chance to make things better. You never, ever, wanted it to come to this. It wasn't worth it.

You clenched your teeth and your throat began to burn painfully from attempting to slow your  rogue tears that were threatening to slip. Why was he being this way? Why couldn't he just understand? Maybe your emotions were just blinding you, which was the most probable and likely case, but you started to see that without taking a chance on Payakan, you would have never gotten the closure you so desperately craved, you didn't know if you would have created such a strong bond with your son like you do now, and things would have been just entirely different. You had nothing else to say in your defense anymore. You had nothing left.

You'd said everything that you had to and nothing changed, nothing at all. Tonowari and Ronal didn't seem to think any differently, and their perspective didn't seem to change either. There was nothing you could do at this point You looked at Ronal, with the tiny sliver of remaining hope inside you that you prayed she would see, to know where you were coming from, to see if any of your words had somehow gotten through to her, but you were only set to be disappointed. "Mother..." Your voice was weak and broken. You ended up trailing off when she reluctantly turned her head away from you, refusing to look at you. Ronal knew that the moment she looked into your eyes, knowing you wanted reassurance and support, she wouldn't be able to take it and she would give in. The fact that she turned away, simply only added to your already growing despair.

By now, you see no reason to keep trying to fight this anymore. You felt yourself getting smaller and more vulnerable the more that uncomfortable silence ensued and Tonowari and Ronal had guilty and pitiful looks on their faces. This wasn't easy on them at all, and they wish things would be different, but this had to be done and there was no way around them. You sighed shakily and wrapped your arms around yourself and gazed at the ground in defeat. You nodded your head slowly, which Ronal and Tonowari were luckily able to notice but it only made them feel worse. Tonowari's heart ached at the sight of you looking and seeming so burdened and riddened by sadness. He hated being the reason you cried, feeling his fatherly instincts kick in, but he understood that you still had to learn from your mistakes.

What hurts the most is that they would never understand, or at least you hoped that they never did, what it was like to lose your mate. The most important person in your life, and the extents that you would have to be willing to go to have one last memory of that person. That's what you and Jake had in common at least, and which made you hope he understood your intentions behind all of this. He knew what it was like; and you hoped he would at least know why you're so upset and frustrated.

You were struggling to even find the words or even the courage to speak up and say the next words that would eventually end this entire conversation and leave it aside, leaving it in a way that you didn't want to live with, knowing that you'd ended the conversation in the same way in which you started it. With guilt, shame, and regret, all eating you up inside. "Okay," You gulped and exhaled softly through your nose as you continued, "I-I understand." Your voice was so quiet that their ears were barely able to pick it up. It was almost inaudible. Only silence followed after that, and as Tonowari realized that there is no reason for you to be in this position any longer, he began to speak up.
"There's nothing more to discuss then, Y/N. You may go." He then turned his back to you leaving you more shocked than anything. As more tears threatened to leave your eyes, you nodded silently and you gathered your strength to turn away and leave the hut, feeling nothing but extremely sullen and hurt over all of this. They would never see you the same way.

You didn't look back as you stepped out of the hut, and you had barely noticed during the whole ordeal that it was nighttime already. You breathed heavily as you stepped out, failing to notice how Tonowari and Ronal watched you walk out, turning your back to them just like they had done to you. Ronal had approached her mate and slowly slid an arm around his waist while he then put his arm around her shoulder. Ronal looked up at Tonowari and her eyes softened, as a small message that said 'What do we do now?'. Her eyes were able to say everything and her mate understood her expression, which spoke more than a thousand words. Tonowari closed his eyes and shrugged, not know how things would go from here. In his mind, he knew that you had yet to finish resolving this problem. He could not imagine the conversation you'd have with Jake. Today has just been hard enough, and yet, it was from over. What would their future hold as of now?

You were completely disassociated from all other things around you as you walked back to your family's hut, and you were just beyond exhausted and emotionally drained. How did things turn out the way they did? You would have never thought the day would have gone the way it did. Now, you had yet to speak with Jake, who you guessed has already spoken with Lo'ak by now. Your emotions were far from having a break, and you were now taking these small moments as you walked back to compose yourself, trying to feel somewhat better. You just wanted the day to end and to get some rest, but you knew that it would be long until you did. The sounds of waves soothed you and the cool night air brought you back down to reality. Though, internally, you were preparing for what be an even more emotionally draining conversation. Arguing with Jake was entirely different to Tonowari and Ronal. You didn't know if you would be ready for this no matter how hard you tried to mentally prepare.

In any case, on your way home as you walked back through the woven paths, you could see a figure walking from the opposite direction and coming your way. Squinting a bit, you could see that it was Lo'ak, and he noticed you at the  at the same time, recognizing you coming his way. You eventually both walked enough to the point where you both met in the middle and the boy's eyebrows furrowed and suddenly felt concerned and worried about your puffy eyes and the sadness that came off you in waves, in contrast to the actual waves just below you.

"Mom! What happened?" Lo'ak said with worry and concern laced in his tone, knowing you just came from speaking with Tonowari and Ronal. It must not have gone well. You almost didn't hear him but your frown only seemed to deepen for a split second before you covered it up with a tired smile that did not quite reach your eyes, not wanting him to see you in the state you were in. You just took a barely noticeable sharp inhale and spoke up. "Ah, Lo'ak, nothing you need to worry about. Everything is fine now." You smiled weakly, putting on the best fake smile you could possibly muster, but he didn't buy it at all.

Lo'ak stared you down and analyzed everything from your tone of voice, your body language, and everything that seemed suspicious about your behavior. In the end, Lo'ak had managed to notice your voice was hoarse as if you had been either yelling or crying or both, which only made all of the pieces of the puzzle come together in his head. He suddenly felt his heart drop. Guilt ate away at his heart. He could not help but feel shame fill his entire being. He just finished speaking with his dad and it went like it usually did, so he's learned to get over it and move on, even if he had to reveal everything to his dad. Absolutely everything. He was upset with himself once again over the fact that once again, something he did, got someone he loved in trouble. He needed to fix it somehow.

"Mom.." Lo'ak started sorrowfully. He took a second to find the words that would express how remorseful and sorry he really felt. "I'm really sorry. You shouldn't have to be going through any of this-" He started, but you had to  stop him right there. You and him were just as involved and should not be blaming himself like that. You wouldn't let him. You cut him off, "Lo'ak, it's okay. I'm okay, Ma'itan. I promise." You assured, putting a hand on top of his head, and the cupping his cheek with a soft motherly smile. But Lo'ak wasn't buying it at all. He just couldn't let you shoulder this whole issue on your own. "No, it's not! You're taking so many hits out of all of this because of me when you don't deserve any of it." Lo'ak exclaimed with frustration and your eyes softened at your son being so noble and loyal. But in reality, this was just as much your fault as it was his.

You placed a hand on his head again, causing him to pause his outburst and look up at you. You smiled warmly at him and moved your hand to his cheek, giving him a look that told him that it's all okay. He was too young for any of it, and while you were sure he wouldn't give up, you knew that he had clear what was right from wrong and this experience would teach him valuable things. For now, you'd help him get through it as much as you could, not letting him feel like he was misunderstood ever again as he's expressed to you many times before.

"My son, I don't think you understand how thankful I am for what you've done for me. Without you, I would have never been able to fully move on and feel okay about it. I've been needing closure for so long and you gave me exactly that. So yes, I may have to deal with the others' anger but I don't regret putting my faith and trust in you." You smiled sweetly at him but Lo'ak couldn't help but huff a bit. He gazed at you in awe and surprise. The amount of love and compassion held in your eyes stunned him into silence. It made him feel a little bit more prideful that he had helped you in some way. He still was upset you were taking so much of the blame but you helped ease his mind.

Before you knew it, he reached out and hugged you tightly, startling you for a bit. You wrapped your arms around him and lay your chin on his head shortly after. He would never get over of just how much of your own self you put into him, making sure he was always alright, that he had a voice, that what he thought was valid, and he'd be eternally grateful. You always gave him a chance to prove himself and were there to build him back up when he was down. These were the times you cherished. Just moments where you connected with your son on a deep and nonverbal level. You relaxed into the hug and felt a lot lighter, feeling your agonizing feelings from speaking to Tonowari and Ronal slowly slip away, wafting up into the air. "I love you mom." He whispered, and that alone could have brought you to tears, but happy ones this time around. You held them back, though. You beamed down at him, "I love you too, son." You muttered and you felt him hug you tighter.

It wasn't very long before you and your son separated. You told him that you'd speak to Jake now and that he should go now to be with his siblings and be back by dinner. Even if you had smiled sweetly at him, he couldn't help but feel nervous for his mom. You had already one draining conversation, and judging by how upset his dad was before he came to you just now, his anger probably hasn't subsided. After finally able to feeling better, he knew that you were preparing yourself for what was about to happen. He didn't want to leave, but he did, and he turned around on his way to his siblings to watch as you walked with hesitant steps over to his family's hut. Either way, he continued on his way and went to find his siblings and the Metkayina kids, with uncertainty settling inside of him on the whole way there.

As for you, your heart was hammering against your chest as you neared the entrance of your family's hut. You noticed that the torches were lit inside since there was light seen even from the outside. When you rounded the corner and saw inside the hut, you could see Jake kneeled over the makeshift stove in the middle of your home. He was silent, preparing ingredients and waiting as the water boiled just like you had taught him to do. Whether he noticed your presence or not, it was earth shattering for you to see how he didn't even spare a glance when you took a couple steps inside your home. You really tried not to let it affect you, putting on the bravest smile you could muster, taking a couple steps closer, but he still didn't look up.

To break the deafening silence, you tried to speak up but just as you opened your mouth, Jake managed to cut you off and speak up first, still not looking up and having his eyes trained on the pot in front of him. "Did you really know about this?" He spoke, just above a whisper, but you were able to hear it and it made your blood run cold. To see your response, whether it was verbal or physical, he dropped his spoon and looked up at you from his kneeled position.  It took you a couple seconds but you nodded as he glanced your way before returning to getting things ready for dinner. His silence said it all. It was quiet once again in the hut, and when you tried to sit down just across from him, you could tell that he had a million thoughts just running wild in his head. He didn't know what to say, and not a single thing came to mind that would express just how in disbelief he was.

After your draining and upsetting conversation with Tonowari and Ronal about Payakan, and after Lo'ak had spoken to Lo'ak, you both were tense. He was angry and you were destroyed, neither of you being in the right headspace. Any of you could say something in the heat of the moment and either of you would believe it. With a sigh, you stood up, and coincidentally, so did Jake, which ended up with you two staring at one another in silence from either side of the room. You held your head up high even if you knew Jake was upset with you. You would stand completely on the choice you had made with keeping Lo'ak's secret, not letting him down or throwing him under the bus. And for Jake, he could feel his anger and just pure frustration rising the longer the silence was dragging on. He wanted to be understanding like you were, but it was hard considering the last discussion you had. You lied to him too, hid things from him. It wasn't just the situation with Lo'ak, but this felt like a slap to the face.

Jake inhaled deeply and began walking over to your side of your room, standing in front of you as he finally decided to say what he had been mulling over all this time. "So when were you gonna tell me our son was meeting with an outcast Tulkun? Not to mention, going into the open sea, alone!" He said, letting his pent up frustration speak for him and let him control his volume of his voice, his tone, and all other aspects that made you flinch slightly when he spoke up in that way. You stared up at him and opened your mouth to speak, but simply dug yourself a deeper hole when nothing came out.
You tried to find the best words to explain how you felt but Jake barely gave you time to think or to even find the strength to speak. Your past conversation with your parents still had fresh emotions looming over you so you couldn't help but feel a lump form in your throat.

Jake only continued while you stayed silent, but you kept direct eye contact with him. "Even after our talk yesterday, you said nothing about this! You got on my ass for keeping secrets yet you were hiding something too. How is that fair at all?" He said with something you could only describe as a tone that held an emotion close to betrayal or something of the sort. That was emotion you never wanted Jake to feel, especially when it's directed at you. You didn't even notice he was so close until his breath hit your face. He was really hurt and he was letting his anger speak for him, even if he was right in many ways. Still, you'd defend what you knew no matter what, despite how you felt yourself break with every single second that passed by.

But still, you didn't have to be a genius to know or rather feel how angry, hurt and confused he felt, and rightfully so. It all showed in the way his tail moved rapidly behind him and his ears that were closer towards his head. His eyes were wide in disbelief and his mouth formed a deep scowl. You've never seen him like this, if you were being completely honest, it made your confidence falter bit by bit. Even though you could see why he felt that way, you were not one to back down so easily. You had your reasons for everything that you did, and unlike Tonowari and Ronal, of all people you hoped he understood. He knew Lo'ak better than you did, and he also knows how hard it was to overcome losing someone you love.

"It wasn't my secret to tell! Lo'ak came to me and asked me to help him with Payakan and I did! All I did was help guard his secret. Lo'ak needed me! Our son needed me!" You snapped back, stepping even closer to him to know how serious you were being. You truly believed that there was a big difference between the secrets you two had hidden from each other. For you, your secret wasn't yours to divulge, but Jake had full control over what he hid. You would not chastise him for it either, because he did not deserve to be patronized. While Jake's problem is literally a life or death situation, Lo'ak was bonding with a Tulkun and simply learning the truth about the past that you had been wanting to know for months on end. After Payakan told you about your late mate, you grew to trust the lone marine animal deeply. Plus you could see the major bond he shared with Lo'ak. And like you mentioned, it was not your place to spill a secret that wasn't yours to tell. Jake had full control over whatever he decided to share with you, having the liberty to tell you the truth whenever he wanted, but he didn't. That was the biggest difference. It didn't really feel fair that he uses that as a reason.

Jake groaned in frustration and placed a hand over his eyes. He hate fighting with you, and every second of this was like taking multiple stabs to his heart. The look on your face just made him want to throw all of his arguments out the window and hold you in his arms and never let go. Still, none of what happened were things he agreed with and he really didn't like any part of it. And he knew you were right.

Your secret was exclusively Lo'ak's and you kept it with loyalty behind it, but Jake had full control over his. Many unrelated topics were spiraling and merging themselves into this whole issue and it was just messy in a whole different way. He didn't even know what to be mad at anymore. "Are you serious? He's a child! As his mother you should have told him how dangerous this was but no, you let him go!" He said, and you couldn't help but huff in disbelief at his words. You didn't know if Lo'ak told him but you were the one tell Lo'ak it was dangerous and didn't want him venturing out of the reef. And him mentioning that Lo'ak is just a child almost made you scoff, considering how Jake treats Neteyam and Lo'ak as if they were in a military squad. It was really ironic.

Jake exhaled through his nose loudly, knowing he had chosen the wrong set of words. This was getting out of hand and turning into an entirely different problem and he didn't know how to handle it. He never thought that you'd be in the recieving end of a conversation like this one, right after he spoke with Lo'ak and his son told him everything. "The bottom line is that you're the adult, Y/N. You should have known better." Jake said, his tone lowering but still remaining stern. You sighed inwardly, because that's all you've been hearing lately, but the annoying part is that its true. Jake didn't want to yell; especially not at you. He hated every second of it. He really shouldn't have spoken to you like that when the entire conversation startee. He just had too much pent up that he released in a bad way. He wanted to get to the bottom of this, but no yelling had to be involved. When Jake said those words, a chill ran through you and shook you to your core. You didn't falter and narrowed your eyes at him skeptically.

You got up to his level, getting up close to his face and tried to hold back the venomous words building on your tongue. Yes, you were supposed to be the adult, but you wouldn't let any of this fall on Lo'ak any more than it has. Jake has failed to understand his son on many occasions, and you were one of the only people that Lo'ak could count on, so you made it a priority in your life to help patch things up and lead them in a path that will better their own relationship as father and son. You were at fault, Lo'ak was at fault, Jake, Tonowari, and Ronal had a right to be mad, and you wouldn't forget any of that. You would own what you did and accept what happened, while remembering that the only thing that we are allowed to do is believe that we won't regret the choices we made and that we think are the best options. We can only move forward. We make choices and we have to live with them, learn from them, and choosing the paths that we will regret the least. This is what this is all about.

In the end, we choose what we choose. And you chose to be there for Lo'ak. For Payakan. In some way, you didn't regret what happened in the sense that you were able to grow and see not only changes in yourself, but also with the new people in your life. "I will always stand by my son." You muttered, realizing how both of you were breathing heavily and your chest was also rising and falling. Making eye contact, being up close, and never looking away from one another, and neither of you knowing what to say next. He looked into your big, doe eyes that he never got tired of looking at, not letting him be mad even if he wanted to. The tension was rising even more and Jake felt himself falter and buckle under your gaze with every second that passed. This was just so hard.

As more silence ensued between you and Jake, neither of you moved from one another, and there was nothing said, a voice suddenly came from behind you. "Wait, Dad. It isn't Mom's fault!" The voice said, and you and Jake both snapped your heads to the entrance of your home to see Lo'ak rushing inside the hut. Your eyes widened and saw your and Jake's son coming inside with concern written all over his face. You thought that Lo'ak had been off to meet up with his siblings and the Metkayina kids. Was he listening the whole time? Lo'ak stood there with a heartbroken and saddened expression. It's true that he had been taking it upon himself to eavesdrop and couldn't handle the way his dad blamed you, even after he had explained himself to his dad before. The way you were trying to defend him made him feel really happy but he hated the idea of both of his parents fighting because of his mistakes. Neither Lo'ak or Jake knew that fights like these are the reason you were so scared of mating, and getting between their family. Still, you were in too deep and you would be willing do anything possible to make this all better.

Your face couldn't help but soften when he got between you and Jake and then took a slight protective stance in front of you, protecting his mom against something that he thought that he deserved to take the blame for. Jake was surprised for a moment to see Lo'ak's behavior. He huffed and shook his head, "Not now Lo'ak, I'll deal with you later." Jake said, trying to get back to his conversation with you. He didn't think he'd have to have a talk with Lo'ak again, and maybe it was just all for show and he didn't need to speak with Lo'ak, because Jake only wanted to talk to you right now. Lo'ak shook his head and refused to leave. "No, you don't understand, Dad. I asked her to come with me. I told you this before. Mom did tell me it was a bad idea from the very beginning, but I insisted on going and having her come with me. If you want to be angry with someone, be mad at me. She was just keeping my secret and shouldn't take any blame." Lo'ak insisted and both you and Jake exchanged surprised glances for a moment before turning your attention to your son once again. The love in your heart bloomed once more at your son's words. The bond you two shared was unbreakable and would never fade. Jake took a long look at you then at Lo'ak. He wasn't trying to be the bad guy here, he never did, but he couldn't understand why you would allow something deemed so dangerous. Underneath it all, he was just scared of losing not only his son but his mate a second time. It scared him a way he couldn't even describe.

Lo'ak took his silence as a sign he was calming down, he was starting to notice how the fight between you and Jake was becoming tranquil and much more tame than before. It was as if you and Jake had taken those moments of silence as a way of understanding each other wordlessly. Still, Lo'ak would do anything he could to make things better. "Look, there's just so much you don't know, dad. That Tulkun is so important to both of us." Lo'ak gestured towards you, "But I feel like Y/N should be the one to tell you this part. Just...please don't be mad at her." Lo'ak pleaded to his dad, and you looked back at Jake and the man was deep in thought. He was definitely thinking things over and mulling about what to do. It looked like he was definitely considering if he should start to see things the way you and Lo'ak did. Things were changing in the span of just an evening, slowly but surely. But it was something.

He could see, clear as day, that his son was passionate about whatever reason you had a connection to Payakan, especially to how the Tulkun was connected to Lo'ak and how much the Tulkun meant to him, too. Jake simply sighed and placed a hand on Lo'ak's head, affectionately. He had missed the mark on having moments like these with his som, only focusing on his behavior instead on how he really felt and what thoughts ran through his son's head. He needed to be more affectionate towards his son, both of them actually. He had failed to be more of a father to his sons and this would be a good opportunity to start, wouldn't it? Jake looked away for a second and then place a hand on his son's shoulder. "Alright kid, we'll talk it out okay? Go back with your siblings for now." Jake smiled softly, but Lo'ak was skeptical to leave it like this. Who was to say that the argument wouldn't escalate again the moment he left? He did happen to notice that his dad's voice was noticeably much softer and you let a small smile appear on your face. Things were going back to the way they were, and none of you needed to fix this, because in the end, it was all working itself out.

With hesitance, Lo'ak looked back to you, he was not very sure about wanting to go now and you picked up on it immediately. You smiled and turned your son around to face you. "Go ahead, I promise we'll work things out." You said, and Jake couldn't help but let a ghost of a smile appear on his lips. He couldn't wait to just talk this out another way, understanding it all and not putting a dent or a crack in your relationship more than it already was with each second of the argument that passed. Lo'ak felt unsure of himself and hoped he didn't make things worse by showing up to the scene but the atmosphere felt a lot calmer. You hoped that he knew, but you and Jake were happy that he stood up for not only you, but for what he believed in and how he felt, even if neither of you said it out loud. "I'm proud of you son, now get out of here." You said softly, chuckling a bit after your words left your mouth. It just seemed contagious because Lo'ak laughed a bit too, nodding at your words. You gave him a halfhearted grin and gestured your head over towards the entrance. Lo'ak finally smiled back at you and gave you a quick hug before making his way out, leaving you and Jake alone again.

When silence ensued for a couple seconds again, you turned back to look at Jake and he was giving you a look full of sincerity mingled with desperation to make things right again. Not only about the situation with Lo'ak, but with the way you've regarded each other. He wants you to tell him everything that Lo'ak didn't, and he wanted to understand. Before you could get a word in, you opened your mouth to talk and Jake beat you to it. "Please, y/n," He said as he stepped closer to you and cupped your cheeks with both of his hands, forcing you to give him all of your utmost and undivided attention. "You can trust me. You know you can. I don't want to fight, I don't want us to lie to each other anymore. I'm right here, okay?" He whispered as you looked up into his eyes, not saying a single word.

You nodded wordlessly and you decided you would not hide things from him anymore. And he wouldn't hide anything from you either. This was the way you and Jake understood each other the most. You sighed shakily when you felt his breath against your face. You gulped and looked down for a moment before locking eyes with him again. "I'll tell you everything. I-I don't want to hide anything" You said, and Jake smiled softly, rubbing his thumb against your cheek. This was all he really wanted. To have an understanding.

Eventually, Jake lowered you and him to the ground. You sat in front of one another, legs crossed, and him holding onto both of your hands. Soon enough, you were telling him everything. You asked him if he remembered when you told him about your mate, and he said yes, so that was your cue to tell him all that you know. About Hahona's connection to Payakan, the memories that Lo'ak told you about that Payakan showed him, what Hahona wanted Payakan to tell you, and everything down to how it all connected together.

You didn't spare him a single detail, and the more that you spoke about it, the more overwhelmed tears were threatening to leave your eyes. It wasn't long before Jake noticed and brought you into his arms and you leaned your head against his chest, tucking your face in his neck as he cradled the back of your head. He had one arm wrapped around your waist, holding you close. He truly didn't know the extent that this whole issue went, and how much it seemed to break you the moment you spoke about it, told him that this wasn't just a whim. It was real and he should've listened. He whispered sweet nothings in your ear as you tried to hold back your cries, pressing his lips against your forehead lovingly. "It's okay, I'm right here" He whispered, and he could tell you were trying to get words, judging by how your cries were being interrupted by choked words.

"It was horrible," You hiccuped and sniffled as Jake brought you further onto his lap, leaning down to nudge his nose against yours. "What was?" He asked, not knowing what you meant out of so many things that happened. You shook your head at the moment that happened just a couple moments before arguing with Jake. "Seeing Tonowari and Ronal so upset and disappointed in me. I...I just couldn't take it" You said, feeling a couple tears slip down your cheeks, and Jake moved his hand from your waist and gently wiped them away. He couldn't imagine how you felt, letting down people you've spent your entire life trying to live up to. Could that be how Neteyam and Lo'ak felt? Trying to be perfect, to live up to Jake's expectations like you did for Tonowari and Ronal? How much it affects them to let Jake now probably went tenfold for you. It was probably agonizing for you to go through.

You felt Jake hold you against him even tighter, and he didn't ever want to let go. He didn't ever want a repeat of your argument. Seeing you suffer, shouldering and taking the blame all by yourself, and simply willing to accept anything thrown your way, it was hard for Jake too. He couldn't even express how much you meant to him, and his only real explanation for yelling before was having pent up anger and frustration for wanting to truly understand what was happening. He didn't feel as betrayed as he thought, but more deprived of what you could've told him way before, but he understands now. He really does. He was scared of losing the light you and his children brought onto his life. He loves you in every conceivable way and you mean so much to him that it physically hurts him to see you suffer. He wants you to talk to him, like you are now.

"You could never disappoint them, y/n. They may be upset now, but they'll understand. They just need time to see what you see," Jake said, running his hands up and down your side and you sighed, looking blankly across the room, shrugging a bit. After this, probably tomorrow, facing them again would not be pleasant. All that you talked about with them would come rushing back in full force. You didn't know if you were ready for that. Who knows? Maybe they'd sleep on it and think differently by morning? Which was unlikely. You knew that when Tonowari had an opinion, nothing in this world could change it. "I hope you're right. I just can't bare for them to be mad at me. Ive spent so much time trying to be perfect and be the good leader that they've raised me to be, and now, it feels like I'll never recover from what they said," You muttered, sniffling a bit from the aftermath of crying so much before.

He grabbed the palms of your hands silently and pressed a kiss to each of your knuckles, helping you ease your breathing and your inner turmoil. You looked up at him, and he looked down at you, gazing intently for any sign of an incoming emotion. You've never felt more safe than you did, with the way he was holding you so protectively, gently, and the way he looked at you. He was willing to listen to anything you had to say. He was wrong before, and he would stand by you, by his sons, and his entire family. Jake can tell that you want to be strong, not only for you but for him and the kids, but he reallg wished you knew that you were one of the strongest people he knew. After everything, you were still standing and moving forward, which is so much more than you gave yourself credit for. Jake would offer himself a million times over to be the person you lean on and shoulder your burdens with. He'd told you a lot of times in the past, but he would let you know as many times as needed to get you back on your feet. He wouldn't even think twice before throwing himself into danger to protect those he loved, and he wouldn't hesitate for a second.

You and Jake stayed there on the ground, with him holding you tight and close to him for a long as you needed it, no matter what. When you were ready, you and him continued to prepare dinner together in comfortable silence. He would lean over your shoulder and kiss you over and over, apologizing between each kiss for yelling. It wasn't like him and he didn't want a repeat of that under any circumstance. As you two cooked together, all Jake could think about was how truly strong you are, how he can make things better, and a flurry of other thoughts that made him want to embrace you and never let go. You have been holding onto your own emotions for the sake of your mate and your children, but you were able to show Jake vulnerability, and be able to feel like you can express yourself and not feel weak or guilty for the choices you make. You both know that now. He would go through any length for you.

Eventually, when the kids came back for dinner, none of you brought up what happened and you and Jake had decided together to set a tone in which it felt like nothing happened and it was a normal day. You and Jake snuck small glances at each other during dinner, holding onto each other's hands tightly and not letting go, and cherishing moments like these with your children. You wanted nothing to ever have these moments marred by upsetting thoughts or past mistakes. The Sky People would appear any moment these days, and you and Jake would not waste it being upset with each other.

Any mistakes that any of you made, you would all work through it together. Side by side, and not leaving one another in the dark. Tension had left the Sully's, and the coming day would only be better. Your mood quickly brightened when Jake had randomly reached up and he gently caressed your cheek, which caused Tuk to tease you and your older kids to look at you and Jake with a knowing look that had a hint of teasing in it. You smiled, not trading this for anything in the world. Things were changing.

-

After dinner, the sun had fully set after the eclipse and nighttime was falling once again upon Awa'atlu. The skies were painted with purple and blue hues, and many torches were beginning to be lit all around the Metkayina village. Things had cooled down a bit after dinner with your family following the whole bonding with Payakan ordeal, your argument with Tonowari and Ronal, and the discussion between you and Jake. Now, Lo'ak and Tsireya were taking a walk together through the beach littered with palm trees. Tsireya had noticed how closed off Lo'ak had become, and if he were to need a way to let things off his chest. she would be there for him no matter what. She was actually the one who suggested the outing.

As he walked in front of her and the two teens passed by a big leaf in the way with a bit of a hill in their path, so Lo'ak instinctively held it back until the girl walked by so that Tsireya could come through and not be abruptly hit by it. The two continued to walk forward, but, as soon as Tsireya started to speak, Lo'ak turned around to face the Metkayina princess who he had taken quite a liking to. Their small walk had been silent up until then, but as of now, there were a few things on her mind that she wanted him to know and that she knew he wanted to say. Many things had happened that day, so she knew his opinions had to be voiced.

"The storm will pass. Lo'ak, I saw something today. I saw a forest boy chosen by Tulkun," Tsireya started softly, with nothing but so much gentleness and understanding laced in her voice. He wasn't facing the girl completely, so Tsireya had taken it upon herself to move over and stand in front of him, putting a hand on his arm. "I am very proud of you," Tsireya said, meaning every word, and Lo'ak could only gaze at the girl intently waiting for her next words, but he decided to speak first and say something. It was nice to hear those words, especially from someone so important to him, like you. It meant a lot to Lo'ak that Tsireya was there for him, always believing in him.

"Payakan didn't kill those boys. He saved my mother's mate. I saw it all. The demon ship killed his mother right in front of him, so he gathered the young bulls and the reef boys together to attack the ship, and they were all killed, including who meant to my mom the most" Lo'ak said, and Tsireya's ears tipped back at listening to such a sad story. She had known of your past with Hahona, and Tsireya had met the man. She knew and saw firsthand how devastated you had become after that, and how Lo'ak had become so passionate to defend yours, Hahona's, and Payakan's honor was really incredible and she could not be prouder, no matter what her father, mother or anyone else said. She had faith in him, until the end.

"But by the Sky People, not by him. He's not a killer," Lo'ak continued to say truthfully, and in Tsireya's mind, there wasn't an ounce of doubt. She believed him, had faith in him, but by the strict laws of the Tulkun, things had worked out differently. "No, Lo'ak. By the Tulkun way, he is. He bears those deaths, including the one of your mother's mate" Tsireya said, but Lo'ak couldn't help but feel frustrated at the fact that Payakan had to suffer being lonely and guilty for having good intentions, even if it wasn't the right choice. No one seemed to see that he did not mean for any of those things to happen. Who would ever do that on their own free will?

"Does he have to pay for it for the rest of his life? He knows what he did was wrong. I know it. He would never do it again" Lo'ak said as he countered the girl's words, and Tsireya sighed as her eyes softened. She thought that maybe if Lo'ak told Tonowari his perspective in a much different way, then things really might be able to change. There was a chance for things to be different if Lo'ak told Tonowari all that he was telling her. Tsireya gently grabbed his wrists and tried to guide him back to the village. "We must tell my father," She said, but Lo'ak had instantly refused, keeping his feet planted on the ground. Bringing the topic up again would only anger and frustratethe Olo'eyktan again, causing more trouble. He wouldn't understand.

"No, no. I'm in enough trouble with my dad already and my mom has already been through enough," Lo'ak said, even if the conversation he had with his dad earlier that day telling him everything, and the one you had with his dad too continued to loom in the back of his mind. In manyways, maybe Jake was ready to listen, but Lo'ak wouldn't take that chance. He didn't think that he was ready to understand. But the thing is the Jake really was ready to listen, but Lo'ak didn't know that. It's all too complicated right now. "Your father will understand this, I'm sure of it" Tsireya said, but Lo'ak shook his head again. Would his dad understand all of this? Was he really underestimating him?

"No, he won't. My mom does, but he doesn't understand anything," Lo'ak said, as much as it pained him to even say that out loud. Was that the kind of relationship that a father should have with his son? Lo'ak had no idea that Jake wanted to mend things with his son, and telling him all of this would surely turn things around. He wished so badly that things were different. "The whole clan hates me. Demon blood. Alien. That's all they see" Lo'ak continued holding up his five-fingered hand, different from most Na'vi's, and Tsireya couldn't help but gingerly grab ahold of it, inspecting each and every one of his fingers as a silent message to him that no matter how many fingers he has, Lo'ak is a part of their clan now. She cared about him despite his human genes or how many fingers he had. It didn't change anything for her. She held his pinky finger gently, turning to look at Lo'ak, still holding her hands with his affectionately.

"I see you," Tsireya started, holding direct eye contact with the boy in front of her and not letting it waver, while Lo'ak couldn't help but lock gazes with her, entranced by the girl and everything she was saying. "You are brother of Tulkun. You are one of us now," Tsireya said and continued. She was showing him that her bond as brothers with Payakan was something that she was incredibly proud of and he should be too. She was accepting and gentle, which Lo'ak couldn't helo bur feel eternally grateful for. At her words, Lo'ak couldn't help but smile a little and exhale through his nose, not taking his eyes off her. She was really important to him, and he hoped that she felt the same way.

-

Out in the open sea, early in the morning, the herd of Tulkuns that visited Awa'atlu a couple weeks before was just swimming peacefully amongst each other. Eylti was swimming there too, with her mate right alongside of her. It was only a small group this time, rather than the entire group that visited the Metkayina weeks before. In this herd, your spirit sister, Eylti, and her mate were swimming together happily.
What these creatures didn't know is that they were the next target for the RDA. They had been spotted by the SeaDragon where Spider was currently being held hostage, and was manned under the control of Quaritch. Not only was Eylti and her mate part of this small pod, but Ronal's spirit sister, Ro'a, and her calf had become targets because she swims slower for her newborn calf and is easier to catch than the others. That is usually the same strategy every single time. The mothers with their calfs were usually always the easiest ones to go after.

As Ro'a was swimming through the water with her calf right by her side, with Eylti close by, a helicopter/drone from the RDA was flying just above the mother and her calf, preparing to launch a tracker. Just as it was about to shoot, Eylti had lifted her head out of the water and spotted this. Being the smart Tulkun that she is, she quickly realized what was about to happen to Ro'a and her calf. As much as she knew that this was a bad idea, there as a lot on the line. Without thinking it twice, Eylti quickly swam over, away from her mate, and shoved Ro'a and her calf out of the way with the top of her head, only for the tracker to be launched and embed itself right onto your spirit sister's back, which was quick to start beeping. At the same that she realized she had just signed her death sentence and out of pure and agonizing pain, Eylti realized that she had been hit with something, so she howled and wailed with agony as a warning for the other Tulkuns. Her mate swam up right next to her and wailed at the fact that his mate was being tracked, not leaving her side. At least, Ro'a and her calf were out of danger and out of range as well.

Now, the SeaDragon had a clear view of where the herd was, and more specifically to be exact, where Eylti was. The Tulkuns began to swim closer together, like in safety in numbers to protect one another and hopefully escape as a group, as pointless as it was. From the inside of the SeaDragon, in the room of main base of the operations, Scoresby was looking at a hologram that displayed the movement of the herd of Tulkun, with Eylti being shown in a different color because of the tracker, not realizing yet that they had tracked your spirit sister and not the mother and her calf. "You got my mother?" The hunter asked, and the woman manning the big hologram and overseeing the movement nodded. "No. It's another female Tulkun that the tracker caught, strong signal, range 4000," The woman said, and Garvin leaned over to see the display too. He was shocked that the other female Tulkun hadn't been caught like they had originally planned. This would make things harder since this female didn't have a calf and didn't have the need to be slower, unlike Ro'a.

"Bring it down on the hull" Scoresby had begun to announce enthusiastically, walking around each station to look over the progress. Spider was standing right next to the man that was in charge of the controls of the ship, so after the orders of Scoresby, the man had immediately pulled down the levers and the ship began to descend from its position above water to glide through the choppy seas of open sea waters. "Coming down on it," The man said, letting Scoresby know that his orders were completed and they could move onto the next phase.

From the very top deck of the SeaDragon, the outer roof above it began to open from its sides, leaving the deck out in the open, and it left a lot more space for the many machines that are supposed to engage in this part of the hunt. This included Crab Suits, helicopters, Mako Submersibles, and so much more heavy machinery. It was designed specifically for this type of hunting missions to hunt down Tulkun.

Soldiers were beginning to each begin to enter their machines and strapping themselves in as those who were in the submersibles had the doors below them begin to open, revealing the water they would be released onto. "Sub teams, two minutes! Let's do this! Let's get in there! Hatches closed!" Scoresby announced out to everyone else as he walked through the deck with Quaritch right behind him, overseeing the preparations of his own boat at the same time.

Passing by many people rushing to get ready to hunt this single female Tulkun, Scoresby had rounded the deck hurrying everybody up to what they're supposed to do before the all of the Tulkun's in the pod found a way to escape somehow. "Come on! Hustle! Hustle! Crews to their boats! 2 minutes! Let's make some bank!" The hunter yelled, reminding everybody what this whole operation was for. No matter how greedy it was, most people sold out for the money and didn't care what they had to do in order to get it. Scoresby never cared about that.

Quaritch and Scoresby passed by a big boat, which had the name of Matador, and it had a harpoon launcher settled right on the very front of it. Scoresby passed by and reminded the boat crew to move it along because they were set to depart soon. Quaritch had put his fingers right on the front part of the very sharp harpoon, feeling the sharpness of the tip. It was and seemed pretty lethal, especially to Tulkun. Eylti would soon be subjected to that, it was just a matter of time. Still, they needed to hurry or they would lose their shot at this operation.

Soon enough, the platforms and ramps were beginning to be released onto the water so that the soldiers in their machines could be released onto the water, as well as the Matador boat. "All boats in! Boats in!" Scoresby announced to all employee's, right at the same moment that one of the smaller boats was currently being released onto the water, which were Picadors; used as pursuit boats because of how fast and agile they are. They were designed for this.

As the boats began to descend the ramp and onto the water, Quaritch had already boarded the Matador with Scoresby so he could be there in person during the hunt. He wanted to see what all the fuss over hunting Tulkuns was about. Variations of other Picador boats were released as well, following the lead of the boat that the Colonel and Tulkun hunter were in. "We're rolling!" One of the men in the Matador said, giving the cue to move forward and begin the hunt. They were now well on their way.

Once all boats were in the water, the big boat of the SeaDragon was docked and now unmoving while the group finally started to make their trek through the water on their smaller boats. At the feeling of rushing through the ocean and the boats bouncing on the water because of the speed, the men all laughed and yelled out with adrenaline coursing through them. It usually went about the same way every single mission.

Meanwhile, the herd of Tulkuns was still swimming away as fast as they could possibly could and wailing amongst each other to get Eylti as fast as they could away from the boats that were incoming, but as predicted, Eylti had to swim faster because she didn't have a calf to take care of, and she had her mate to swik by her side. The tracker was still embedded in her back, beeping loudly. Helicopters were flying above them and keeping up with the Tulkun pod as the boats started to rush into where they were. As a group, the Tulkun pod all started to collectively submerged themselves and began to swim further down into the ocean, with the hopes of losing the Sky People moving fast on their trail. Eylti kept looking at her mate in distress, trying to think that they would escape and they she wouldn't die right then and there.

Watching this from the boat, Scoresby had a scan in front of him that showed where the Tulkuns were swimming to, and where Eylti was specifically amongst the pod. "Standby, depth charges in. Fire! Fire! Fire!" Scoresby ordered, and with that, several bombs were launched from the top part of the boat, and they landed right where the pod was swimming in. Upon contact with the water, the bombs emitted a loud sound wave that was hurtful to the Tulkun and their ability to use their ability of echolocation, which threw them off course, slowing them all down at the very same time.

The Tulkuns wailed in pain at the sound waves reaching them, and the impact was just too great on them. Due to this, they couldn't stay further down in the ocean because the sound waves were just too painful for their sentient bodies to handle, so all of the Tulkun were now forced to come up to the surface once more just like Scoresby predicted would happen. Now the Tulkun happened to be in the direct eye-line of the boats rushing in to the adults and newborn calfs included of other Tulkun, not just Eylti. Scoresby turned to Quaritch and gave him a look that said; 'This is how it's done', but he was too blinded by wanting to make money that he didn't see how cruel this all was.

From the SeaDragon, Spider was standing next to Ian Garvin, watching the transmission of the hunt from the main operations room. His face was scrunched in emotional pain for these all of animals and his eyebrows furrowed, feeling his heart tug in pain at what he was seeing and witnessing. "What's that? What're they doing?" Spider asked Ian, pointing to the screen and seeing the Tulkun come up to the surface of the water, letting their tusks brim the surface, and wailing in utter distress. "Those are the Tulkun echolocation sensors, How they navigate. They have to hold them out of the water and keep them afloat so they don't go deaf," Ian began to explained while Lyle took a breath out of the Pandoran air mask, watching the transmission too. Spider understood now that this is why they had to come back up to the surface after those bombs were dropped. They were most likely, and probably in extreme agony.

Back on the Matador boat, Quaritch watched all of this happen with no words to say. He just didn't have anything to say. Not that he cared at all, really, but he simply preferred to watch than ask a million questions, disrupting the process. "Picadors," Scoresby yelled out to the smaller boats riding beside them. "Get in there! Go on! Get in there!" The hunter said, which had prompted the men on the other smaller and agile boats to accelerate their boats and get ahead of the Matador, to head towards the pod of Tulkuns that had been slowed down. They were definitely easier to catch at this point.

All of the Picador boats began to ride up right next to, and in between, the pod of Tulkuns. The men manning the boats rode up so fast that they mounted the Tulkun's backs like a ramp, and then came down to the water. They rammed the boats right up to the Tulkun's sides. What they wanted to do was separate Eylti from her mate and from the rest of the pod so she was alone. One Picador boat rode right next to Eylti now that they had separated her from her mate and from the pod because of the painful sound waves. The men on the boats immediately began to release sound waves with a machine that distorted the Tulkun's mind and movements, making Eylti wail in pain. The female Tulkun swam messily since her senses were being affected by the sound waves being projected onto her. She knew well she didn't have a lot of time left in this point in time.

Back on the SeaDragon, Spider watched intently what was happening before his eyes. Eylti was getting all of her inhibitions taken away so that they could separate her from her mate and her pod. "They're gonna cut the cow from the rest of the pod using a sound cannon. They, uh, target the females because they are usually slower than the male Tulkuns. It seems that this one has a mate as well" Ian explained, and that seemed to make Spider's heart hurt even more. It was so cruel and inhumane.

On the Matador, Scoresby was watching the operation go by smoothly. Quaritch then began to speak even through the loud noise of all of the engines of the boats. "Do they ever fight back?" The Colonel asked loudly, but Scoresby shook his head nonchalantly. "No, I've never seen 'em lift a fin! They're tough bastards to kill, though" The hunter yelled out, laughing as if the whole situation was amusing, which it wasn't. "Submarine teams go!" Scoresby said through his coms, and on the SeaDragon, those on the Mako Submersibles were dropped onto the water, and once below the surface, they immediately spotted Eylti swimming, without her mate since they got separated, alone and away from the pod as planned. She really was swimming for her life at this point, knowing how this all ended. She was giving last ditch efforts to survive, knowing she didn't have much time before they caught and killed her.

"There is our gal, right there" One of the men manning the submarines relayed through the coms, seeing Eylti swimming alone as they kept getting closer. "Target in sight. Harpoons, get ready. Here we go, baby" The man said, seeing Eylti spot the submarine and begin to swim the other way, a lot faster too. Still, even with her, sudden change of course, the submarines had continued to chase after her relentlessly.

From the Matador boat up in the surface, the hunter, Scoresby, left the controls to someone else and began to move over to sit behind the harpoon launcher, with Quaritch right behind him. "See, we go in from below, where there are gaps in the armor," Scoresby said, starting to position himself to fire and pulling the lever on the side to activate the whole mechanism. This was all happening all the while the other submarine team below kept chasing Eylti right toward Scoresby's boat so he has a clear angle.

One of the controlling submarines below was prepared to launch the inflatable anchors on the bottom of the subs. "Alright, let's go. Get up in there. Get me really close" The man who was controlling the sub said, beginning to make his way around and maneuver the submarine so it is directly under Eylti and shining a light on her belly to where they're launching all of the inflatable harpoons. After having a target, they began to keep that very same distance from your Tulkun spirit sister. "Hold it steady. In range, arm one," The man said, relaying the message to the other people on the submarines beside him. In a few seconds, Eylti would have nowhere to go and it would be a matter of time.

"Armed," The man confirmed, targeting the light to her back fin. And then, it was time to shoot. "Target leveled. And...one away!" The man called out, launching the spear, and upon contact with Eylti's fin, the anchor inflated. The female Tulkun began to wail and cry out at the feeling of being impaled, sensing nothing but agony and pain coursing through her. Because the anchor inflated, a side of her began to rise to the surface. She still didn't give up and just continued to try and swim away, as pointless as it really is to do that. There was nothing to do.

On Eylti's other side, a woman was manning another submarine, and she repeated the same process that the man before she did, launching another spear to her other back fin. "Fire," The woman said, shooting the anchor, and then watching as it makes contact with the female  Tulkun's fin as it inflated. As of that moment, Eylti was now beginning to even quicker to the surface and without a chance to escape. "Good strike, arm two!" The woman called, already preparing to launch another one, but this time, the spear stabbed right through one of Eylti's  frontal fins, much like the anchor Payakan had when an anchor was shot at him. "Booyah! The man said, seeing success and accuracy in their hunt so far. The mission was going smoothly.

"Nice! 3-6, you owe us beer!" The woman said as she laughed, watching as Eylti was starting to begin to appear from above the surface of the water, appearing directly in Scoresby's eye sight, in a perfect spot for him to launch the harpoon. Watching this, Scoresby began to laugh in accomplishment and explained the situation to Quaritch. "The bags slow her down and pull her up towards the surface," He said and the hunter explained, turning to look at the crew in the back, who was very concentrated.

"Get on her! Get me in there. Straight up on her. 30 meters," Scoresby said, beginning to align the harpoon directly to where he wanted it to hit. A part of Eylti had accepted her fate, but she wanted to fighy until the last moment even if she died. Now that she was up on the surface with all of those inflatable anchors attached to her, they had a clear shot at her, so she couldn't escape. Her death was seconds away by now. On the SeaDragon, Spider had continued to watch with horror as the female Tulkun was cornered and had no chance to escape at this point. Garvin was continuing to explain the situation to the boy, being the marine biologist that he is, it hurt Ian just as much as Spider to watch this whole operation happen. "Explosive tipped harpoon," Garvin explained, but Spider couldn't muster anything to say. What could he possibly say about this?

For Scoresby and his group, they began to get closer and closer to Eylti who had slowed down by a lot than when they first started. Scoresby aligned the harpoon directly to the spot that would instantly kill your spirit sister for good. "10 meters. Get me in there," Scoresby said to his crew, who complied and accelerated the boat and now they were as close as being right behind Eylti's tail, which was splashing and thrashing violently in front of them.

"Now, steady, steady...keep the boat steady! Hold, hold..." Scoresby said, finding the right opportunity for Eylri to raise her tail high enough so that he can shoot. And with that, Scoresby launched the harpoon with a metal rod connected to it the moment Eylti lifted her tail. He could see where the harpoon went through a camera on it, that displayed where landed on a small screen in front of him. The weapon was released and just went directly underwater, then stabbed and attached to Ro'a's abdomen. She wailed and shrieked in distress and torture. Eylti knew at this point she was going to die, but she hoped her mate and the rest of her pod were able to get away, because she has already had a death sentence.

The pain was so great that Eylti came up to the surface, which was perfect for the next part of the hunt. This happened every time a Tulkun was hit with one of the harpoons. "Hold onto your ponytail, Colonel," Scoresby warned with a cocky laugh, because the next thing that they knew, since the harpoon was attached to a cord on the boat, they were all being tugged harshly pulled through the water. The your spirit sister thrashed and moved around a lot in the water, tugging on the cord tightly as Eylti made some last few attempts to escape, even if it was futile.

"Hold back full!" Scoresby yelled out to the man controlling the boat. He did as told and immediately halted the Matador, trying to make it rev backward a bit. At the sudden tug of being held back and the harpoon digging into her skin, Eylti howled with anguish,l and pain, splashing her fins and tails desperately trying to survive, as futile as it was. The impact of her tail splashing on the water sent what felt like gallons to Quaritch's face, and Scoresby's.

The Tulkun hunter turned back to the man behind him manning the boat, prepared to give the last few orders. "Hold her! Hold her!" He began to yell through the noise and then he turned back to face the Tulkun they'd caught. "She takes an explosive harpoon to the chest, and she's still running. Beautiful," Scoresby laughed at her attempt to even try and get away. Knowing these were probably her last moments alive, Eylti wailed and cried in utter misery. She was in so much pain in every part of her body and felt internal organs start to shut down. The harpoon hit her chest and abdomen in the most vital spots of her body. She knew she was dying. But at least she had saved Ro'a and her calf from the pain, and that was the only thing keeping her going now.

In the SeaDragon, Spider's face contorted into one of affliction and it hardened when seeing the female Tulkun's desperate cries to live. The boy was disgusted by the unnecessary brutality brought upon these creatures who didn't do anything wrong and were happy living the way that they were. Garvin was watching all of the footage too, feeling a pang of guilt and sadness take over him for taking part in something so ruthless. He never wanted any part of this.

As for Eylti, with each passing second, it was clear that she would not come out of this situation alive under any condition. Her mate would be left alone, and the entire pod was probably far away by now, and who knows if more Tulkuns from her pod would be the next targets. As Eylti continue to try to fight back her incoming death, she eventually started to feel her organs shutting down. The last thing she did was lift her head from the water and emit a loud and agonizing shriek before she finally passed on. Her lifeless body floated on the water, and as if by some miracle, a couple seconds later, Eylti's mate came from the shadows of the deep after chasing the boats discreetly for so long. He started to circle around his deceased mate, hoping for any hopeless sign that she was alive. But, it pained Eylti's mate to see her eyes roll to the back of her head, losing the life in them completely.

As her limp body stayed afloat and her mate cried out and wailes in anguish at his mate's death, the boats began to surround and corner the female Tulkun while Scoresby had a very annoyingly accomplished look spread all over his face. To him, it was another completed hunt, but he really had no clue or any idea of what he just did. Back at the main base of operations in the SeaDragon ship, Spider watched with horror and disgust at what he witnessed. How could anyone not be shocked at how gut-wrenching and cruel this was? And the fact that the whole crew began clapping and cheering for this was sickening. They were all high-fiving each other and happy, but for what? Contributing to meaningless murder of a creature that was probably considered a family member to a Na'vi out there. His mind was truly baffled at the fact that anybody on the ship is proud of something like that. Humanity was lost on so manh levels. He hated every second of this and refused to be a part of it.

Now that Eylti was lifeless, the soldiers and crew who were in the Crab Suits began to approach from below your spirit sister and then climb up to her back and proceeded to insert and stab Eylti with metal hoops that would be useful for when they transport her onto the ship. Eylti's mate swam all around the love of its life, rubbing his snout on his mate's body with sadness and pain that she had been brutally murdered by the Sky People. All of the people in the Crab Suits did not pay mind to the adult male Tulkun wailing in a high-pitched shriek in suffering and excruciating emotional pain that they're experiencing.

Garvin saw Spider in the corner of his eyes and saw how the boy had his eyebrows furrowed and tears brimming in his eyes. If he had to be honest, Ian was bothered by every single one of these hunting missions, but he could never say anything and was a marine biologist, it was his job. Nature on Earth was decimated, and it turns out that unfortunately, the RDA had resorted to acts of violence like these towards Tulkuns. They never changed, and they never will. He really questioned his job, because he hates being part of something as unforgiving as this. He goes along with what the RDA says so that he can keep his lab and the organization doesn't take it away from him. What he truly wants to do is study the Pandoran ocean where he would rather spend time taking samples and getting data, rather than helping the RDA meet their quota for hunting Tulkuns like this.

In the end, it was clear that humanity was lost.

-
Okay, it took me ages to finish this chapter because I got super immersed in this book series on here and I never found the time lmao also because this chapter ended up being over 15k words and after a lot of mulling over how it should have gone, I just left it how it is shsj anyway, hopefully I didn't go overboard on the angst :,( Its sad that this is not the end of it and I have a lot more planned :,) The final battle is near!

Also, as I have said before, revisions for all of my Avatar books will start right after 'Your Existence' is over, so Im starting with the first book of 'Barricades' and finishing with this one. Ill go over them throughout the summer. If you see any spelling mistakes, don't worry, because they will all be fixed eventually, book by book! I type my stories on my phone so spelling mistakes really go over my head when Im writing :,)

After those revisions is when I'll be starting the next few stories that I have planned and I am so excited :,) Like I said, though; spelling mistakes will all be fixed eventually! I would do it like before where I ran my chapters through grammarly but then the app would freeze and that would just stress me out so yeah lmao shsj

As usual, I put these at the end of every chapter, but there's not much else that I have to say now, but as always, I'll add other news in future chapters if there are any at all or if anything changes. Anyway, I'll see you all in the next one! 🤍 Have a good rest of your week everyone! :,)

Also, remember if you want a dt for the next chapter, let me know! I love doing these because I can really express my gratitude to all of you that way :,) I really want to start doing these more! I haven't done one in a long time. See you all in the next one!
-