Chapter Text
A hiss filled the air as Lo’ak pulled his sister’s hair. “Let go, Lo-lo!” Lynx half snarled at him.
“Nu uh,” he countered with a grin. His limbs wrapped around hers and he used his height against her. “OW!” he whirled his head around. “Kiri! Let go of my tail!”
“You first,” she stuck her tongue out at him.
“Ew,” Lo’ak let go of the grip he’d had around Lynx’s chest. “You drooled on me.”
“Serves you right,” Spider chuckled jumping into the fray.
“Ah,” Lynx groaned as she was elbowed in the side of her head. Kiri jumped in with Neteyam.
“Watch the mask!”
“Let go of my ear!”
“My tail!”
“Your tail? What about mine?” The group of siblings were a sight as they wriggled and wrestled with one another in a giant ball of tangled limbs.
Tuk crawled over and grabbed a tuft of Neteyam’s hair in her tiny hands. “Tuk-Tuk! No! You’re not helping.” The toddler giggled as her siblings kept fighting.
Jake shook his head as he stepped into his home out of the rain. “What are you doing?”
“Lo’ak started it!” Lynx called out.
“No, you started it when you ate my breakfast.”
“I did not.”
“Yes, you did.”
“You didn’t want it,” Kiri pointed out. “Why waste it?”
“I don’t care who started it,” Jake stepped forward and began lifting his children up and off each other. “I’m finishing it.” He had them all separated in less than twenty seconds as he sat them in a line so he could look at all of them.
“You’re not exactly setting a great example for your little sister,” he scooped Tuk up into his arms. All of them glared at the floor. “You know our rule about fighting. Lynx, Spider. You two are old enough to know better.”
“But Dad,” Lo’ak spoke up. Their father held up his hand and the boy quieted.
“The rest of you go play peacefully until the evening meal. Lynx, Spider. You two can help me clean up around here.” Jake was slightly unnerved as all his children, minus Tuk, turned to openly scowl at him even as they obeyed. The younger kids piled out of their home as his two oldest helped him clean up all the toys.
He had hoped things would calm down once his mate came home from hunting. That was not the case as his horde came back in and gave him the silent treatment. “Neteyam, can you hand me that bowl?” His son did so with minimal eye contact and without a word.
Neytiri’s ears flicked. “Kiri, would you like more meat?”
“No Mom. I’m full. Thank you.”
“Lo’ak?”
“I’ll have another piece please.”
The children descended into silence once more. It continued as they cleaned up and everyone got ready to sleep. Jake noted how the siblings all tried to cram themselves into Spider’s hammock. A few legs and arms stuck out into the open air, but they managed it.
“I came home to the kids fighting,” Jake explained as Neytiri rocked Tuk back and forth getting her to settle. “I broke it up and punished Lynx and Spider. They forget what they were mad about and agreed I’m the bad guy apparently.”
She handed him their youngest as she kissed their older children on the top of their heads goodnight. Neytiri gave him a soft smile as she took Tuk back. Grumbles could be heard but the kids accepted his kisses as well before closing their eyes. He climbed into bed with his wife and youngest daughter.
“They will forgive you by tomorrow,” his mate assured him. “Tuk-Tuk is not angry at you. Are you?”
The toddler laughed and gave her father a warm smile when he leaned over to kiss her. “Give it a few years. Then we’ll both have to suffer them all turning on us.” The tension bled out of his frame as Neytiri danced a hand through his hair and down to his chest.
“Perhaps, but that is not tonight husband.”
“Thank Eywa for that.” He felt her trying to contain a chuckle as he took them into his arms.
Lynx follows in Tsu’tey’s steps as they move silently through the foliage. Other hunters take up positions near them. She stills the moment he does, and they stare ahead. Thirty feet in front of them stand two large ostrich. She knows they usually roam in packs of four or five. These two must have lost their packmates at some point. The tracks don’t lie.
He slowly nods to her, and she readies her arrow and bow. Out of the corner of her eyes she sees her uncle do the same. She’ll take the one on the left and he has the other. Lynx takes a deep breath and steadies herself. Understanding her Olo’eyktan will patiently wait for her to fire first. She knows she is tense and tries to force herself to relax. Her skills are fine with these weapons though she is no master at them like her mother and two of her brothers. Between breathes she releases, and a cry fills the air.
They all sprint foreword as the beasts collapse. The arrows hit the marks in the creatures’ necks as they pull out their knives to finish the kill. They recite the words as the other hunters help keep the large ostriches still so that it may be over quickly. Their struggles cease when the blades pierce their hearts. Silence fills the glade for a moment as the hunters calm themselves.
Lynx pulls her knife out and mechanically cleans the blade off. She doesn’t see her uncle do the same as she places a hand on the creature. “Thank you, brother,” she murmurs. “Thank you.”
“It was a good clean kill,” Tsu’tey pats her hand as he assures her. “This was your first kill. Take a moment. Center yourself.” They all wait as she sits there and meditates over the hunt. She manages a smile when she opens her eyes. “Our clan will eat well tonight,” he grins back at her.
She nods and goes about helping the others prepare the bodies to be taken back.
She is surprised when her mother smiles at her that evening and offers her a necklace. It has one of the ostriches’ large talons in the center of it. “Your uncle told us how well you did,” Neytiri kissed her forehead as she placed the necklace around her throat. Careful of the mask.
“We’re proud of you, kiddo,” Jake adds as her siblings all stare at her new accessory.
“Can we go with you next time?” Lo’ak speaks up. “I wanna hunt too.”
“You’re just a little too young, sweetheart,” Jake ruffles his hair playfully. “Give it a couple more seasons.”
“Can we at least watch?” Neteyam inquires.
“If you wish to go on her hunts then it is up to her,” Neytiri replies.
“You can come,” they beam at their older sibling. “But you better stay quiet. You chase off the prey and I’ll serve you for dinner instead.”
“Ew,” Kiri giggled. “Lo’ak would taste awful.”
Spider carefully carried his youngest sister on his back. Tuk absolutely loved being picked up and taken places. Watching everything from the safety of her parents’ or siblings’ arms. Mo’at lightly joked that she wouldn’t learn how to walk until she was too big to be carried. Her siblings didn’t mind, and it was better if the terrain was going to be rough. They didn’t want their little sister missing out just because she was younger than them.
“Hang on, Tuk-Tuk,” he grinned back at her. “We’re going up.”
“Up!” she copied. “Up!”
With practiced steps he climbed up a tree and used the branches to ascend higher and higher into the air. He knew his father would probably freak if he just saw Spider scaling this high. Let alone with his little sister on his back. Mom usually got it.
Once at the top it was a slight jump to the rock ledge he needed. Tuk enjoyed the ride as her brother took them further into the air. His hands and feet flying over the rocky surface like he was floating. He was the best climber in the family.
He peaked his head over the side and crawled up the ledge. “Okay, we’re here,” he sat down and tapped his sister’s arm to let her know it was safe to let go. Tuk did so and stood next to him. The rock they rested on wasn’t as high as the mountains but still suspended well above the forest below.
Spider held her hand as they took in the view. “This is my special spot, Tuk-Tuk.”
“Waaa,” her eyes were enormous as she almost spun in place.
“I like coming up here. You can see so far,” he explained. “We’ll see even further when we get our ikrans one day. Then we’ll go flying all the time.”
“Fly! Fly!”
“Don’t worry sis. I’ll take you flying.”
They stayed there a couple minutes before he spotted a familiar figure. “Tuk-Tuk,” he urged and pointed. “Look!” She turned and saw what had her brother so excited. Off in the distance was a large orange and red body.
“What that?”
“That is the toruk,” he near whispered. “Dad rode on one. I don’t know if it was the same one or not.” The great leonopteryx let out a roar as it flew just above the tree line. Spider knew his father had released his mighty toruk back into the wild after the Big Battle. When asked why he’d explained that the toruk’s job was done. It was time for him to be at peace.
The Omatikaya were still wary in the skies. Never knowing if the toruk would target them as food once more now that he was riderless. His dad never seemed worried, and Mom was so at ease in the air he couldn’t tell if she even thought about it.
“Toruk,” Tuk gazed at the beautiful beast.
Spider knew he was beaming as it got closer and closer to them. He’d seen it a few times and it was always magical. His heart thundered in his chest as the toruk swept down and flew right by the rock they were sitting on. Tuk cheered and jumped up and down. He could have sworn the great leonopteryx had turned its head and seen them before flying onward.
The siblings stayed there for a long time. Until the toruk was out of their sight completely.
“Remember Tuk-Tuk,” Spider made sure she was looking at his face. “This is our little secret. Ok?”
“Shhhh,” she smiled at him. “Secret.”
“Yeah, now let’s get home before Dad freaks out. He just thought we were going to the river.” He spun around so she could climb onto his back.