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emotionalcharley · 2 years ago

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➶ ambivalent — series ; prologue

➴ neteyam x human!reader — “small, infuriating woman”

“Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest do not happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.” - Herodotus

synopsis: neteyam ventures off into the forest in hopes for a clear mind, but finds you instead. what he doesn’t expect to find is himself drawn to you and doesn’t understand why…until he does

genre: slow burn, hurt/comfort, enemies to lovers, 18+

tags/warnings: mentions of a little violence (teyam against a pack of nantang so not much), flirty banter, slight sexual content (i can’t explain it very well but just mentions of it through teyam’s thoughts; it’s better if you just read n see what i mean shsj), navi!oc being a massive flirt (gonna love him i swear) and a little angst (squint and you might see it)

word count: 10.1k

↳ notes: posting this so late, pretend it’s not 10pm LOL um so, i never saw myself here but here we are HSJS honestly, i started out as an avid avatar reader, enjoying other’s works and different perspectives that i didn’t rly see myself joining the community. after a dream of mine, i flew to docs and got to writing. admittedly, this will be a pretty long story so if you’re up for that then, well, welcome! i have so many plans for this that it’s probably why it’s going to turn out so long…but i think ppl like that, right? the more the merrier, or however that goes? ah well, let me wrap this up by saying to be patient with this story bc by slow burn…i kinda mean it. i don’t like to rush connections in my works so if you’re in, you’re in for the long haul hehe

↳ p.s. so there won’t be a set schedule for this, i work and have other obligations so pls don’t harass me for updates;( will try to do a once or twice a week update, but don’t hold me to it!

i do want to make a few disclaimers: writing is my hobby so i am in no way a professional, another thing, the chapters will always vary between 8-10k+ so be prepared for that and dw, my notes from here on out will not be this long, just consider this my introduction ;)) btw, proofread by me so if you see a mistake…no you didn’t

↳ need to know info: all thoughts and whenever the characters are speaking in na’vi will be in italics

ꕥ okok, enjoy n pls like/reblog! it is much, much appreciated ꕥ

series masterlist ➳ chapter i

The bow was steady in his hand.

He had a perfect shot.

In fact, it was so perfect, he knew there was no way he could miss.

However, frustratingly enough, he couldn’t release it. The hand on the bow was unmoving, but the fingers that kept the arrow against the string trembled.

He had enough anger to do it, his father’s wishes be damned. It would’ve been justice, but he couldn’t do it.

He couldn’t shoot it.

Neteyam was hidden high up in the trees. He couldn’t be seen so it would’ve been a clean, and unsuspecting kill. And yet, he was unable to fire the shot.

This wasn’t like him. He wasn’t the sort of person to ever hesitate.

The human woman down below deserved to die, you didn’t belong — but he wasn’t able to do it. Why?

The sky people brought nothing but chaos, destruction and death. Then, in their return, they were allowed a year to formulate plans to kill his family, and try once again to take their lands. Due to his parent’s heroic efforts, it didn’t happen. Instead of sending them all back to their dying planet for a second time, they were killed in the second great war. It was inevitable, really. If his people showed mercy, believing in second chances as they do, they were sure to come back and try again. Possibly with better technology to wipe out the entire planet. They couldn’t risk it. He couldn’t risk it. It had to happen.

Like the first great war, some of the human scientists stayed behind. Supposedly loyal to the Na’vi and to the forest. His mother hated the idea of more of the sky people staying, and argued that they should’ve died along with the rest of their people. Even through the deaths of so many of his people, his father couldn’t conform to the tragedies around him. He didn’t harbor anger for them nor did he want revenge. He wanted to keep his family and his people safe. Running to the metkeyina clan was his last resort, but through them he learned that running wasn’t going to keep his family safe. He had to fight, and he won.

Although he was like his father in many, many ways — Neteyam could never share the same values about the sky people. If it had been left up to him, they would’ve all been killed by his hand. Erased from the planet, erased from Pandora’s history altogether. He didn’t share love for them, even though they were still living and breathing beings. Not all of them wanted war or wanted to see his people annihilated, but their strange faces continued to remind him of what their people did. Not once, but twice.

So it wasn’t odd that he’d had an arrow targeted at your head just moments ago, prepared to end your life where you stood. Who would miss you? Who would mourn you? He was sure you were one of the ones that chose to stay behind because of your dying planet. There was nothing to go back to, and you wouldn’t have stayed behind if you had someone waiting for you back on earth. That was how Neteyam knew you had no family. It was just you.

And it wasn’t like you truly understood the forest around you. Not like his people did.

He knew this because you could be so noisy, trampling about, stumbling on tree roots and batting away the thick leaves around you to make a path ahead. Your little oohs and aahs couldn’t fool him. You didn’t want to die on the planet you’d come from. Hell, none of your people did. More than half were forced to go back the first time around. It was no wonder they all ended up coming back after so many years. That was inevitable as well.

The sky people didn’t belong on Pandora and although he couldn’t get rid of any of them — knowing that in the end, it was about what was right and what was wrong — he preferred it when they stayed away from this side of the forest. It belonged to the omaticaya clan, where he went on several hunting trips with his brothers and where the women of his village went in search of more materials for weaving and healing. It was inconvenient to see a human this far out into their territory in general but more so inconvenient for him to actually see one with his own eyes. He’d had enough confrontations with them to last him a lifetime. He didn’t care to see them more than he felt was necessary to.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard more rustling down below. His eyes flickered down at you, watching you fumble through your bag for something. He stared in mild interest, wondering how you could feel so comfortable being in the forest by yourself. Did you not realize the amount of predators that could be watching you just as he was right now?

Humans were such fragile creatures. Not to mention, they were tiny in comparison to him and his people. They were not suited for Pandora, and could be seen as non-threatening to animals and those that could exploit and take advantage of that. Neteyam, in no way, felt protective over you. That was a fact. If you wanted to be naive and foolish, staggering through the forest like a newborn pa’li making all that commotion, then so be it. He knew that if anything were to happen to you, if you survived it, you would learn to not come out to this part of the forest ever again. That would serve to benefit him, of course.

So, he kept his eyes trained on you. You were about as interesting to watch as him watching water flow down a stream, but he had nothing but his morbid curiosity to blame that kept him rooted to the tree he was on.

As if you were losing it, you began talking to yourself about something. He didn’t understand a word you were saying, but the tone was familiar. You sounded upset. You groaned and zipped your bag up, slinging it back over your shoulder. When you started to move forward, quietly, he jumped to the next tree over and followed you.

One of the strangest yet intriguing parts about you was your lack of a mask over your face. Humans couldn’t breathe the pandoran air. How were you able to? Unless they had come up with some scientific way to go about it, he couldn’t help but feel suspicious. He’d never seen any of your kind without one. What made you so special? Not like he cared all that much. Just curious.

He visibly cringed at the amount of noise that you were making as you walked through the forest. It was as if you wanted every animal and any other living being within a ten mile radius to know exactly where you were. The fact that you were alone kept creeping into his mind as well. You didn’t seem like the type to have any sort of weapon for defense on you, so how were you supposed to protect yourself? He thought about forcing his hand with his bow and putting you out of your misery, but he couldn’t help but wonder how you planned on surviving in such a dangerous place all on your own.

Again. He didn’t care. He merely wanted to avoid having to watch your odd antics as you blundered your way into danger because he knew it would happen. Accidents were more likely to occur to people like you for some reason. He didn't think your people would ever adapt to living on Pandora. Too used to the things that made your pathetic lives easier.

The only two humans that Neteyam was used to seeing were Norm and Max. Even with those two, he kept his distance because they weren’t of his species. They were unquestionably human and even though Norm would sometimes come into the village with his avatar to offer his aid however he could, Neteyam couldn’t see him as anything more than a dreamwalker. Another human that didn’t belong on his planet.

They were nice enough. Possibly afraid of him because they went rigid whenever he would come into their outpost, which was extremely rare. They never spoke more than a few words to him, and kept the contact as minimal as possible. It was to be expected. He was to be the next olo’eyktan at some point. He also carried an air of respect around him. Shoulders back, standing tall, eyes hard and firm. Never went off topic, was direct with his orders and was mature in the way he handled business. He was the complete opposite of his younger brother, and that was a good reason why most people never knew how to act around him.

He could be intimidating. He knew that. He wasn’t proud of it. More like…indifferent. As long as he was respected, he wasn’t sure if he cared about what aura he gave off to those around him. Nothing mattered to him more than what his parents thought of him. Perhaps even his people, but that seemed like a bit of a stretch.

When he came back out of his thoughts, that was when he realized you had stopped moving. In fact, you were standing completely still now. His ears twitched. That sound… He’d heard it plenty of times before.

Hissing.

He needed a second to pinpoint exactly where it was coming from, but there was no time because a nantang came rushing out of the bushes to your left, claws out. He cursed under his breath, and jumped down with his bow up. He didn’t know what made him react so quickly, but his body felt like it was on autopilot. He had to do something.

The arrow wasted no time penetrating the beast on its side, sending it flying back. Neteyam landed with a crouch, already fishing for another arrow. You were now behind him shrieking from the sudden attack, but he paid no mind to it. He needed to focus because the nantang never traveled alone.

The rest of its pack and its mother couldn’t be too far behind. He was sure of it.

He stood to his full height, a second arrow tightly pulled against the string. He turned to his right then to his left, eyes and ears on alert. They were out there. He could smell them. They were probably circling the two of you, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike and avenge their fallen brother. He would’ve stopped to pray for the one he’d killed, but he couldn’t. He was too busy trying to make sure you nor him suffered at the claws of a pack of nantang.

You were saying something to him and he tried to block you out, but he couldn’t.

“Careful, it’s not safe!”

He almost scoffed at that. Neither of you would have even been in this position if you hadn’t been making so much noise earlier. You and your clumsy stomping. You were such a tiny little thing. How could something so weightless possibly be capable of making so much racket?

He hissed at you from over his shoulder, “Quiet, woman. I cannot hear if you are talking.”

He knew you wouldn’t be able to understand considering he spoke in na’vi, but hopefully from his tone, you’d get the message.

Much to his brief annoyance, you didn’t.

In fact, you spoke back.

“Oh, you can’t speak english. Sorry. I was saying please be careful. It’s not safe.”

He glared at you for a moment, wondering if you were unknowingly deaf. Hadn’t you heard what he said a moment ago? You needed to be quiet in order for him to hear. Predators fed on their prey getting distracted. Now wasn’t the time to—

He felt sharp jaws close around his forearm, easily puncturing his skin like butter. The weight of the nantang caused him to fall back onto the ground, grunting at the sudden attack. Another shriek erupted from you, drawing his brows together in confusion. What were you screaming about this time? You weren’t the one being attacked. Plus, this was your fault to begin with. He was being chewed on because he’d gotten distracted by you and your shrill little voice. Just like he feared would happen.

Annoyed by it all, he hit the viperwolf across the snout with his bow, thankful that the blow was hard enough to have it jump off of him in a whimper. He stood back up, quickly, sneering at the wound on his arm.

Humans. So useless.

He tore off a piece of fabric from the drape around his shoulders, and began wrapping it over the wound.

How he despised each and every single one of them.

He was also angry with himself for getting involved. He should’ve been grateful that the nantang were after you. They were trying to do the dirty work for him, but he’d suddenly decided to save you. You were nothing but a liability. Someone that would need to be watched over and protected. He didn’t sign up for this. He’d only meant to take time out for himself to hunt and do a little thinking. He wasn’t even supposed to be here. You weren’t supposed to be here. Didn’t Norm and Max promise that no humans would come near this part of the forest ever again? Perhaps he’d been fooled.

Did he mention how much hated liars? Almost more than humans, but that was clearly still up for debate.

His palms itched to strike an arrow at you instead. Then, all of his current problems would vanish along with you. He couldn’t stand having to protect someone so weak as you. So defenseless. Your entire species was soft. Had to come up with some confusing advanced technology to even walk amongst his people, and live on the planet like he naturally could. Didn’t that tell you and your people that you just didn’t belong? That maybe you should’ve left when it was offered instead of staying behind?

Neteyam was sick of it.

“Watch out!”

So damn sick of you and your kind.

Without thinking about it, he aimed and shot the beast before it could’ve fully lunged at him. It fell onto its side, the arrow plunged right between its eyes. The other nantang snarled at him before they disappeared back into the forest, realizing that the battle just wasn’t worth fighting anymore.

Smart choice, he thought to himself.

When they scattered, the forest grew quiet again. The whistle in the wind made him peer up at the trees, watching the leaves rustle. He sighed. There was a lot that was going to come with being the next olo’eyktan. He wondered how he was going to make the right decisions when it came time for him to lead. He’d had half a mind to send all of the humans far east. Far away from his people, but he knew his father would never approve of it.

Neteyam frowned. His father was too weak when it came to those humans he was so fond of. Scientists that were engrossed with their little techy trinkets, weird bubble masks and their strange fascinations for Pandora’s animals and plant life. Some claimed to love and respect his people, but none of that mattered if one found themselves traveling too far into his territory, appearing to forget that humans just weren’t welcomed on this side of the forest (or anywhere on Pandora for that matter).

Judging by the sheepish look on your face when he turned to face you, he was right. So you did know. That only made him more annoyed with the situation. You’d disrupted his thinking and his precious time alone to save you when you’d thrown yourself into danger’s way. Maybe you hadn’t been aware of your surroundings but couldn’t you take time out of your busy schedule to learn how to defend yourself instead of screaming in the face of danger? A brief talk with Norm or Max could settle this matter. You needed to learn how to wield a knife or something of the sort because Neteyam didn’t plan on doing this a second time. He was a busy man. Plus, what did he look like parading about as some human’s bodyguard throughout the hours of the day? Ridiculous. He wasn’t having it. He would much rather go and sort all of the rocks in the forest than watch over you.

“Thank you,” your tone was flat, and it didn’t settle well on his ears.

He grunted, sliding his bow back around his body, not sparing you a single glance as he turned on his heel to head over to the viperwolf he’d killed, “hm.”

He knelt down by the animal, spoke a few words under his breath and pulled the arrow out with ease. He cleaned the weapon before sliding it back in his quiver, and stood back up.

When you took a step towards him, his head snapped up at you. Your eyes went wide, hands up in defense to show him that you meant him no harm. Debatable. Physically, you were about as harmless as a yerik but he was no fool. He glared at you. He knew your kind tended to have ulterior motives. He wasn’t going to let his guard down for a second.

“No harm,” was what you tried to tell him, reaching towards the strap of your bag to take off again, “Just want to help.”

He knew that word. Help. He inhaled and sharply exhaled through his nose to show you that your help wasn’t necessary. What could you possibly help him with? Leaving out of his sight and never coming back was a good start.

He watched with a cautious eye as you set the bag back down onto the ground, and went shuffling through it for something. He was on guard, but curious. What were you looking for now?

He stood in silence for a moment and let you rummage through your bag of junk before he took a step back at the sight of something pastey in a weird jar.

“No,” he said in a warning tone, putting a hand back on his bow.

The sight of you tilting your head to the side would’ve looked cute if you weren’t holding something that he felt could potentially kill him.

You blinked, “It’s a healing salve. It’ll help that wound of yours.” He didn’t understand what you meant until you pointed to the blood oozing out of the wound on his arm. He glanced down at it, and saw that the blood had soaked through the fabric he’d used. He winced. He needed to get to the tsahik, but he was sure she’d have a million and one questions for him. Then, it wouldn’t take long for his mother to sniff him out and get onto him for leaving the village for as long as he’d been gone. Especially since he didn’t bother to take anyone with him. Like he wanted to deal with that right now. There was still a problem in the form of you that he had to figure out.

That was his main priority, but it seemed like you had other plans.

You stood up with the jar tight in hand, and he stepped back again, a hand stretched out, “I said no.”

A pout formed on your lips, stopping where you were, “C’mon. It’s not that bad. It won’t even hurt.”

That look on your face…

Something strange twisted in his chest. It was around his heart. A faint thump, spreading through his chest. Had something else happened to him during the attack earlier or was he just going crazy?

No matter. He needed to focus. You were obviously trying to kill him and dying by some strange paste in an unfamiliar jar was not going to be the way he was going to go out. He deserved a warrior’s death. Not dying by the hands of some pathetic human woman that was about as competent as an ikran without a rider.

Kiri would never let him hear the end of it, he knew it.

He chose to glare at you, silently hoping that you’d get the message to stay as far away from him as possible. That he didn’t want nor need your help. To just keep your distance and hopefully turn around, and head back to wherever it was you came from. He could handle himself. He wasn’t dying. A little herbs and a prayer to eywa would fix him right up. He was sure of it. If only you’d let him leave so he could go and do that.

Then again, he needed to make sure you understood to never come back around again. That had to be rectified before anything else. If you started to get comfortable with lingering near his village, then who was to say you wouldn’t decide to bring someone else along?

He had to nip this little situation in the bud before you even thought of doing something as outrageous as that. He didn’t care to see more of you prancing around this side of the forest, so it was now or never.

Gritting his teeth, he stepped towards you. Your breath hitched at the sudden movement, but you didn’t lean away when he reached forward to snatch the jar from your hands. Curiously, you watched him sniff at the glass before he shoved two fingers inside. Neteyam grunted at the pungent smell, but didn’t let it stop him from gathering some of the gooey paste and applying it over the wound. It was cool to the touch, but it didn’t hurt. It was actually sort of…nice. He forced his face to remain neutral because the urge to cringe was hard to fight back. He had to see it as him not accepting your aid because he needed it, but doing it because it would shut you up. Plus, there were more pressing matters that needed to be dealt with. He didn’t have time to go back and forth with you about offering him help (even though it was definitely not needed).

As if he hadn’t made that clear the first several times in his head.

He handed the jar back to you, intentionally missing the bright smile that bloomed across your face by inspecting the covered wound with interest. It felt prickly, but nothing unpleasant. He assumed that the strange substance was working. He wasn’t exactly used to human’s precious gadgets and weirdly effective medicines just yet, but it wasn’t like he wanted to make it a habit to learn either. He was just fine with his way of doing things. It worked before they got here. It would continue to do so.

He was aware that his distaste towards the sky people could get a bit irrational, but he just never felt comfortable around any of them. Even Spider. He appreciated him and could deal with him being around, but Neteyam couldn’t see him as a brother. Or even as a friend. He was just always…there.

With his eyes trained on you, watching as you stuffed the jar back into your bag, he felt a corner of his lips pull downward. Maybe he was being too harsh on you. It wasn’t like you’d done anything to him. Not personally, anyway. Hell, he’d just met you. Well…admittedly had been stalkerishly watching you for a while before he came down to your rescue, but he shouldn’t have been so hostile when he first spoke to you. True, you were human, but you still had feelings and as the future olo’eyktan to his people — he needed to be the peace and not part of the divide. It was clear to him that the sky people weren’t going anywhere anytime soon so maybe that was what his father had been trying to teach him.

Could this be the reason why his grandmother kept telling him that he wasn’t ready to lead the people just yet?

He sighed to himself. He couldn’t let his feelings towards your people justify treating you so badly.

That seemed as good of a start as any.

He felt like apologizing but if you didn’t know what he was going to be apologizing for and ended up asking him about it, he’d probably shrivel up and die on the spot because the last thing he wanted to do was admit, out loud, that his standoffish behavior came from such a ludicrous reason. But, that was his pride speaking. He wanted to be a well-rounded leader and it started with being able to have those uncomfortable conversations about things that he’d rather bottle up, and worry about later. Much, much later, actually.

Just as he was about to open his mouth, he shut it. How was he supposed to have a conversation with you if you didn’t speak na’vi? At least, he figured you didn’t because so far you were only speaking in english. Truthfully, he wasn’t all that confident in his ability to speak english coherently enough for you to understand, but maybe it was worth a try.

He almost ran a palm over his face. As if things weren’t already complicated.

Neteyam was so deep into his thoughts that he didn’t realize how close you’d gotten. In fact, you were seconds away from touching his wounded arm with some sort of soft looking fabric in your hands. He made a motion to step back when you grabbed his wrist, keeping him rooted there. He grunted, feeling your tiny fingers on his skin. He hated to admit it, but he wasn’t…repulsed by your touch. In fact, he secretly enjoyed it. The sight of your small hand taking up not even a quarter of an inch of his arm was beguiling. So feather-like, warm and soft.

His tail swayed back and forth, trying to rid those thoughts from his mind completely. What was he thinking? You were touching him without his consent. Why was he thinking about how nice it felt to have you touch him rather than work on pulling away from you? Maybe his injury was making a mess out of his head now. Perhaps it was a good idea to visit the tsahik after all.

“Stay still,” you said under your breath as you began to rewrap his wound, eyes focused on the task, “I’m not going to hurt you.”

It was all thanks to his father and Norm that he could understand a percentage of your language. He never bothered to fully learn even though he considered himself quite the fast learner. However, he was beginning to rethink that. If he wanted to keep the peace amongst his people and yours, then it was imperative that he started to think about learning more and becoming fluent.

He stared down at you as you worked, noticing that you were having a bit of a hard time reaching as you went to circle the fabric around his arm. He frowned, and made the quick decision to bend at the knee, giving you better access to him. When your eyes glanced up towards his face, he sharply redirected his gaze elsewhere so he wasn’t caught looking at you. He kept his features schooled neutrally, appearing unbothered and even a little bored. He hoped it worked. He didn’t want you to know he’d been staring.

The corners of your lips twitched at the faux display, and went back to work. “Thank you.”

Neteyam had gotten quite settled with sitting there and letting you play nurse on him that he didn’t notice when you’d finished. With a soft pat to his arm, you backed away and he looked down at your work. His arm no longer throbbed or felt strange. The combination of your weird magical salve and the fabric you used, he felt better. If he took his mind off of it, he could easily forget his arm was injured in the first place.

Pleased with the realization that he no longer saw a need to go and see the tsahik for medical treatment and could stay off of his mother’s radar for some time, he stood back up and continued to admire your handiwork. You busied yourself putting the excess roll of gauze away, and picked your bag back up. With it over your shoulder again, you took a moment to look him over, and found yourself staring again.

He didn’t have much on other than what looked to be a few pieces of protective clothing made from leather, adorned on his forearms and calves. He wore something similarly made around his midsection which made you notice how taut and sharp his abdomen was. Since he was so tall, you only came to his waistline, and was face to face with his waist. Even though his abdomen was further up, his abs looked as sculptured as the rest of his body appeared.

There were a few bejeweled braids that framed his face but the rest was pulled back into a low ponytail, reaching down his back in unbraided spirals. His hair was long, and looked as silky and as smooth as moonlight striking across a rippling river. It was a wonder how it didn’t get in his way. It was more known for the na’vi to have their hair braided, but his wasn’t. However, it suited him.

There were also two feathers poking out from his hair, close to one of his pointed ears, which were both gauged and kept open by handmade jewelry. Speaking of jewelry, he even wore a beaded choker along with something else that was woven by hand, positioned right over his throat. You didn’t have time to squint and inspect it when you heard a grunt.

Your eyes moved up, meeting his hardened gaze. He stood in front of you, staring at you in silence again. It looked like the cogs in his head were spinning, like he was trying to figure out what to say and how to say it. Or maybe he was annoyed. You couldn’t tell. He wasn’t really giving anything away.

Your staring was flattering, but since he didn’t have his wound to worry about anymore, it was best the two of you finally cleared the air.

He cleared his throat, and dropped his arm. He straightened his shoulders, and stood up taller. He tried to muster up the english he knew to be able to say what he wanted to say.

“You cannot return here. You must go back and stay.”

His face was void of any emotion, but internally, he was conflicted. It sounded a lot better in his head, but he silently hoped you understood what he meant or else he was forced to try again and it wasn’t going to be pretty.

Though his accent was thick, you heard him but didn’t quite understand what he meant.

He could see the slight confusion on your face, and almost groaned. This was going to be a lot harder than he thought.

“Home,” he tried again, saying it slower so you didn’t lose him, “Your home. Go back and stay. Forest is my home. You are not welcomed here.”

Welcomed?

You fought the urge to frown, “I don’t understand. Not welcomed? Why is that? I always come out to the forest. Norm and Max haven't told me anything about staying out of it. What are you talking abou—”

Just then, you were yanked into his chest with an arm curled around your waist. It all happened in a blur. Next thing you knew, you were sprung up high in the air. He held you close, and landed on the nearest tree branch, grateful that you didn’t scream from being surprised. Your footing was wobbly as your back hit the tree. Wordlessly, your eyes fell back on his face and found that he was an inch away from you, keeping you caged against the tree, several feet in the air, with his arm protecting you from the chance of you falling. His body was pressed against you, keeping you from going anywhere. He was so close, you could feel his breath brushing your ear, sending shivers down your spine. What was going on? Did you miss something?

“Hey, what are you—”

“Quiet, woman,” he warned in a low tone near your ear, looking down as he spoke, “I do not have to save you.” He pulled back to get a good look at your face, entertained by the slightly frightened look he was met with. He smirked, “I could let the palulukan eat you instead.”

Your eyes widened at the mention of such a legendary beast. Without a second thought, you glanced down from under his arm and saw it circling the spot that he had just ripped you away from. It was sniffing the ground, no doubt looking for you and him. You had a feeling it was attracted by all of the noise from the attack. Holding your breath, you watched it pace around for a minute or two. Then, with a frustrated growl, it raced off elsewhere, leaving the area quiet again.

You sighed. You’d almost died twice now. Maybe there was some truth to what he was saying. Perhaps it was time to leave the forest, and never come back.

Neteyam laughed at your reaction, pushing his hand off of the tree, holding his stomach, “Your face. Maybe it is sign from Eywa,” His laughing made you realize how deep his voice was. It almost distracted you from becoming a mixture of annoyed and embarrassed. When his laughing died down, he let his eyes roam over your body that was still leaned against the tree. He hummed, “I save you. Now you belong to me.”

“Huh?” Your eyebrows shot up in shock, “Wha…Sorry? Belong to you?”

Neteyam hummed again and nodded, crossing his arms against his chest. The muscles in his arms flexed under your gaze. It was almost hard to look away.

“Excuse me, but I don’t belong to anyone,” you said, walking towards him, “I am my own person.”

He frowned. What were you going on about? Maybe you didn’t understand what he was trying to say. His face fell. Of course. That had to be it. Not that he cared if you took offense to the way he said something, but he didn’t like the fact that what he wanted to say came out the wrong way.

Deciding to try again, he opened his mouth, “Not belong. Ah… I save you so you will have to save me.”

You blinked, “Save you?”

He sighed, growing frustrated. He didn’t know the word in english. Maybe you could understand if he said it another way.

“Save you,” he pointed to you then back to him, “Save me. Understand?”

He didn’t know how, but once your face lit up, it seemed that you finally understood him. He mentally exhaled a breath of relief. It still sounded off to him, but it didn’t matter. You knew what he meant, and that was what mattered.

“Like I owe you now?” He nodded, not sure what you meant but it sounded a lot better than what he was trying to convey. You shrugged, “Sure, okay.”

The image of you coming to his rescue would’ve been demeaning to his pride if the idea itself wasn’t so funny to him. He couldn’t imagine you being useful to him in battle. You’d only get in the way trying. Still, you owed him so that obviously meant a number of things. You didn’t have to fight for him. You could help in other ways. Not that he’d ever truly need your help for anything ever again, but it was still pleasing to know that if he did, you were on standby, awaiting his command. That made him smirk.

You took a heedful step towards him, eyeing him, “You don’t think I could do it.” His face wasn’t giving anything away, and that made you truly take offense. “Fine. Then you won’t get any help from me.” He shrugged. As if he would ever need it, like he said. Well, to himself, but still. It wasn’t needed nor wanted, but the due was still there. “Oh, and thanks for saving me again, by the way,” you pushed a finger into his abdomen, causing him to grunt and drop his arms. There was a teasing gleam in your eyes, choosing your next words carefully, “But aren’t you supposed to save people that can’t defend themselves anyway? You’re a warrior, aren’t you?”

He couldn’t believe what he was hearing, if he understood you right. Were you truly questioning his status as a warrior? Not just any warrior, but the best in the village?

He bristled at that comment, jaw ticking. There were some things he could brush off, but some he couldn’t. He was next best to his parents. They taught him everything they knew. Even his uncle spent time teaching him things that neither his mother nor his father knew of. Neteyam considered himself a well-rounded warrior, a real future olo’eyktan of the omitacaya clan. How dare you question him like this.

Neteyam didn’t stand for blatant disrespect. Wherever he went, his presence demanded respect and that was what he was going to get. Even from someone as stubborn and vexatious as you. He was going to wipe that smug look off of your face, and put you in your place.

He stomped towards you, enjoying the way you took a few steps back until you were back against the tree again. Yes. Neteyam grinned. That was the look. You had every right to be scared. He didn’t plan on going easy on you. Not after you were so bold just a moment ago. No. You could take it.

He opened his mouth with his pointer finger raised to tell you off when he heard a familiar voice call out from down below.

His right ear twitched at the sound. He dismissed you for a moment, and glanced down to find his best friend shouting at him with cupped hands around his mouth.

“Brother, you up there?”

Neteyam hissed at the sight of his friend, and shifted his focus back onto you again. He didn’t have time for his friend’s foolishness. He needed to set the record straight with you again. That was his only priority right now. He didn’t feel like engaging in another meaningless conversation with him like earlier. You were more important.

You looked away from the male down below, and back to Neteyam with a raised brow, “Is he calling for you?”

Neteyam raised a finger again, ignoring your question, his eyes in slits, “Understand this, woman. I am a warrior. A true warrior. I show this again and again, yet, you doubt. I do not like that.”

Realizing that he’d truly been bothered by your comment, you grinned, “Oh? Sorry to hear that,” you said condescendingly, working his last nerve, “but that’s not what I was saying. Maybe if you listened more than you talk, you’d know that.”

A vein pulsed at the side of his head, throbbing in irritation. How was he letting some small woman like you get to him like this? It was infuriating, to say the least. He couldn’t stand the way you were looking at him. Pompous human, thinking that you were so clever. He was several times bigger and stronger than you. That should’ve made him intimidating enough but you weren’t backing down. It was as if you thrived on making him angry. He could tell that you were someone he needed to stay far, far away from if he knew what was good for him. Letting you get under his skin in this way wasn’t going to do him any good. Not if he wanted to be the kind of leader that he’d been striving to achieve.

Deciding that he needed to be the bigger person and not just physically, he took a deep breath in, and tried at the conversation once more.

“I will not fight. Agree to disagree, fine,” He held your gaze, yellow eyes darkened by the pure fact that it sounded as if he was letting you win the argument. If it wasn’t obvious, Neteyam hated to lose, but he had to remember: he was doing this because it was what a real leader would do. It wasn’t losing, he tried to convince himself. It was compromising on each other’s differences. He felt that he could live with that.

“Your english is better than I thought,” your eyes swept across his face, in thought, “Earlier, were you pretending to not understand me?”

Neteyam felt the corners of his lips twitch as he stepped back, grateful to put some space between you and him. He would never in a million years admit it out loud, but your scent was making him lightheaded. Not in a bad way, either. He had the urge to get closer, to stuff his nose in your neck and get it right from the source, but he pushed it down, deep down, and locked it with a padlock. He’d never allow himself to get that close to you again. Not if he could help it. You needed to know his boundaries, and this was at the top of his list.

“No. My english not perfect. I understand better than I speak,” he pushed some of his hair back over his shoulder, brows furrowing at it. He really needed to braid it back up again. It was beginning to annoy him now.

Intrigued, you pressed on, “Well, I think you’re good enough. Seems like you can hold a conversation well. Maybe I could—”

“No,” he interjected sharply, a deep frown settled on his face, “You will go home, and stay. Never come back. Understand?”

There it was again. That bossiness about him that you were beginning to really dislike. He may have had a lot of physical attributes over you, but the one thing that you weren’t going to let him best you at was thinking that he called the shots here. He couldn’t tell you what to do. He wasn't a clan leader. He didn’t even look that much older than you. It was almost comical how he was trying to order you around like some well trained lap dog.

“Listen,” you stepped back into his space, trying to appear as threatening as you possibly could with your eyes hard, looking up at him, “I’m not one of your little subjects that you can boss around and expect to kiss your feet. You can’t just tell me off like I’m some little kid, yeah? Not even Norm or Max can keep me away from this forest so go ahead.” You shrugged, “Waste your breath because I’m going to continue doing what I want.”

If you had been a Na’vi woman speaking out of turn to him this way, he would’ve had you pressed face first against this tree with his teeth hovering over the soft skin of your neck, forcing you to submit and apologize. However, he couldn’t because you were so fragile and so sickeningly human that he had to just stand there and take it. He couldn’t harm a single hair on your head, and that made his eye twitch. He really couldn’t stand the way you spoke to him. Like you were belittling him. He had every right to forbid you from coming back to this part of the forest, and yet, you were being unreasonable and stubborn. Hadn’t you learned how dangerous it could be by now? Were you really that daft?

Maybe if he shot himself with an arrow instead, his misery would come to an end.

Then again, you were the type to haunt him even in death so would he really ever know peace?

Your confident stance made him want to snort. Why was he standing around wasting time going back and forth with you? The conversation with you was becoming overly boring for him. He didn’t see a need to continue it, really. He’d said all that he needed to say.

With that, his face fell into a bored expression, “Fine. Do what you want. Next time, I will not save you.”

You scoffed, “As if I’ll need any saving from you.”

He half smiled at that, “Mmm. We will see, yes?”

You rolled your eyes, turning your head away from him, “Yeah. Guess so.”

“Brother!”

Another call from his friend from the ground made Neteyam sigh. Did the man ever get tired of walking in his shadow? Surely there were a number of things for him to do to occupy himself for the day. He was beginning to become a headache for him.

Neteyam wasn’t one to enjoy the company of another for more than five minutes at a time. He preferred his own presence. Just total and complete seclusion. Entertaining someone just wasn’t his forte. Not in the slightest, but for some strange reason, he entertained you. He blamed his strange behavior on your irksome ability to get under his skin so easily. How your mere presence made him want to jump ship but pull you close at that same time.

He gritted his teeth at the thought. He was really losing it now. Something had to be terribly wrong with him to have thoughts like that curling his mind when he knew it wasn’t right. You were a sky person. An annoying one at that. Loud and bratty, disrespectful and a hindrance. Neteyam couldn’t stand someone like you, and yet…

“It sounds like he’s calling for you,” you mentioned again, taking a step forward, “Why don’t you go down and talk to hi–”

It wasn’t as though he’d been watching you but he could sense it. Your footing had been off. You were about to fall to your imminent death, and oddly enough, he didn’t want you to die. What a clumsy, infuriating woman you were.

When he caught you, he felt your arms instantly lock around his neck. He didn’t even remember picking you up. It was like you had climbed your way up. Comical as it was, not much was going through his mind in the moment. All he could focus on was your scent. It was like a thick cloud of your aura blocked out everything else around him, forcing him to focus on the very thing he tried to ignore earlier. This was why he didn’t want you near him again, but it had been inevitable.

Unconsciously, his nose traveled where he could smell you the best and when he pressed his face into your neck, he heard a faint gasp from you. He ignored it, and skimmed his nose all the way up to your ear, internally fighting a losing battle. He needed more. He wanted to desperately crawl into your skin, and never come out. His instincts told him to bite into you. Mark you as his, but his more rational side screamed for him to wake up. That you weren’t the one. That it was impossible. That this was wrong.

But can scents lie?

“What are you doing?” Your voice had never sounded so far away.

Neteyam nosed back at your neck, and growled deeply. He wondered if he was going mad. If this was his breaking point. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t let you go. Not when he was so close. So close, he could…

Your face twisted up in surprise when you felt something hot and wet slide across your skin. With another gasp, you tried to pull away from him but he held you against him in a tight grip.

“No,” he commanded in a deep tone, and ran his tongue up to your ear, “be still, tawtute.”

The whimper that slipped past your lips did nothing but arouse him. When you stopped moving to let him do what he wanted, he took that as a sign of submission. How it made him want to force you onto all fours and stuff you full of his cock just to satisfy that strong desire within him to see you submit with that bratty mouth of yours. You were talking so big earlier. What happened to all of that? Were you scared now? Afraid of what he could do to you?

His chest rumbled with a deep vibration of excitement.

Not so talkative now, he thought to himself.

His fangs grazed your soft, supple skin, enjoying the small sounds of your gasps in his ears. Human. Skin as delicate as the petals of a flower. Did you bruise easily, he wondered. Would he fit if he fucked you now? Would you care if he folded you in several different positions to suit his needs? Could you cum and let him fuck you again and again until he got his fill? No. He wasn’t so sure you could handle someone like him. You would break, but that was to be expected, right?

You were nothing but a human. You and him couldn’t have been more different, and yet—

His eyes immediately went wide.

What was wrong with him? His rut was still a bit of ways away from now. Why was he acting so strangely? This wasn’t like him.

That was when it dawned on him.

He knew what this was. It couldn’t be.

Instead of dropping you at the sudden realization, as if he’d been burned by your touch, his hold on your waist tightened, disregarding the protest from you. He stared ahead in disbelief and anger. He was scenting you for a reason. It was no wonder he couldn’t pull away.

You were his mate.

A human, as his mate.

Your questioning voice sounded more and more distant as he fell into a state of denial. It couldn’t be. It couldn’t. Not him. There must’ve been some mistake. It was unheard of for a na’vi to take a human mate. This had happened once before, and Neteyam swore he would never stoop as low as to involve himself with a human. Not like him. Not like his failure of a brother. No. There must’ve been something terribly wrong with him. Had you been around a na’vi woman instead? It was possible you could’ve had the scent of another. It just couldn’t be you, no. He refused to believe it. It was a mistake.

But what if…what if it wasn’t?

Neteyam knew, right then and there, he should’ve let your incoordination be your downfall because unbeknownst to you, you’d just become his.

You struggled in his grasp, trying to get a look at his face, “What the hell is your problem?”

His jaw clenched as your voice finally got clearer. He didn’t need this. He didn’t need you to come into his life and mess everything up. It wasn’t perfect, but things had been just fine without you coming around and presenting yourself with the scent of his mate. This wasn’t supposed to happen. You weren’t supposed to happen.

“Hey,” you tried again, finally allowed wiggle room to look at him, eyes searching his face with a frown, “why did you–ah!” You were dropped back on your feet, but didn’t have time to find your footing. With a scream, you fell backwards off of the tree branch and soared down.

Neteyam peered over the edge, and watched you with narrowed eyes. He needed to get rid of you. Pretend that none of this ever happened, and go right back to his pathetic life. He’d left the village to get away and do some thinking but he couldn’t wait to get back. He needed that sense of normalcy back, and being around his people and away from you would do it. He was sure of it.

You knew you were going to die, but dying from a great fall like this? You never imagined it. Sure you woke up with a start from a nightmare similar to falling like this, but you never in a million years thought it would actually happen. It was a lot scarier outside of a dream.

But, it seemed that fate wasn’t done with you just yet.

“Pesu? A tawtute?”

Caught by a pair of strong arms, you looked up at your savior and felt the words stop in your throat. Another gorgeous, 10-foot tall man stared back at you with wide, wondrous eyes. He was so close that some of his braids would have touched your face if he moved in a smidge closer.

Then, his eyes flickered to Neteyam who jumped down from the tall branch with ease, barely breaking a sweat. His arms were crossed, and his face looked pained with something. His friend tilted his head to the side, and noted the way Neteyam’s tail patted at the forest floor. His body was tense, and his friend instantly knew something was wrong. Well, if watching you fall from the tree wasn’t enough to tell him that at first.

Confused by Neteyam’s sudden coldness towards you and why his friend was still holding you, there was nothing you could do but stay silent. The air between you two was tense. You had questions, but judging from the way he had let you go a moment ago, it was wise to not speak to him. Still, it didn’t make you any less angry. You’d almost died just now! He was standing there as if he didn’t care what happened to you when he had been so quick to save your life earlier. Not once, but twice.

He can be so moody, you thought.

“What’s wrong, brother? What is this human doing so close to the village? What happened?”

“I do not wish to explain here,” Neteyam growled before he approached the two of you, not sparing you a glance, “Take her with us. We’re going back to the village.”

He didn’t say another word, and walked past you, headed deeper into the forest. He ignored how much the look on your face bothered him, and decided that he was going to find a solution to this problem as soon as possible.

At first, he wanted nothing to do with you. Believed that distance from you would clear his head and make his body realize that it had chosen wrong. However, it would’ve been foolish of him to take that risk because the symptoms of being too far from his potential mate would be fatal. Not so much for him as it would be for you. Again, he didn’t care about you but if you were his mate, then the responsible thing to do was to get clarity on the situation and find a proper way out.

He wasn’t eager to take on a mate in the first place, so to be presented with a human mate at that — he couldn’t fathom it. He couldn’t let it happen. He wasn’t like his brother. He would never fall prey to a human, and become so weak and dishonorable to fall in love with one. He would rather lose a limb or two than let something as absurd as that happen to him.

Once in the village, he would have to avoid his mother at all costs, and head straight to his grandmother. She was the tsahik, after all. She held a direct connection to Eywa. She would surely know more about this sticky situation he’d found himself in and know exactly what to do to get him out of it than anyone else.

He growled under his breath.

“What a small, infuriating woman,” he muttered to himself.

He needed to get rid of you, and fast. He refused to let you become his responsibility, and wouldn’t dare allow you to get in his way of becoming olo’eyktan. You were a hiccup, that was all, and if anyone could come up with a way out of the situation, it was his grandmother. She knew it all.

Well, he could only hope. She was all he had.

“Please put me down,” His ear twitched at the sound of your exasperated voice, but didn’t turn around, “I can walk, really!”

His friend’s booming laughter made Neteyam roll his eyes.

“Don’t worry, you’re very light, tawtute. Like a newborn baby.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying, but just let me walk. Please,” you pleaded, and the two of you were seeming to get on Neteyam’s last nerve.

He stopped walking, and turned around to look at you and him with narrowed eyes, “If she is foolish enough to walk, then let her. We do not have time for this, Kanu. It is almost nightfall. We need to get back to the village before then.”

With a sigh, Kanu settled you back down on your two feet, allowing you space to straighten yourself out. You huffed, and nodded at him in thanks before you began walking ahead. Whatever the guy up ahead told him, you were grateful for. What was the need to be carried? You had working legs. You could clearly walk on your own. What was the fuss?

Within two steps forward, you felt an immediate, sharp pain shoot through your leg. With a cry, you tumbled forward but didn’t meet the ground. Instead, a long tail curled around your entire waist, keeping you upright.

“Wha—” You were met with a cheeky grin, Kanu glancing between your leg and your face.

He leaned down close enough to your face to feel your breath on his lips. His smile formed into a smirk, “You are wounded, little one. That is why I carry you. See?” He jutted his chin to the seeping blood near your calf, gesturing to the wound that you were unaware of. Your lips parted, surprised. When did that happen? Perhaps sometime during the fall? You remembered feeling a twig against your leg, but you didn’t think it could’ve caused such an injury. “You are very fragile, tawtute,” he used a finger to gently turn your gaze back onto him, he hummed, “be more careful from now on, yeah?”

Even though he had an accent, his english sounded nearly perfect. You wondered who could have taught him, but didn’t have time to go through the list of names when you felt his arms slide back under your legs and pull you up against his chest. He didn’t grunt nor did he make a face. It was as if you were weightless to him. Naturally, since you were only human and weren’t over 8 feet tall. That fact made you feel useless. Maybe that was one of the reasons why the taller one ahead didn’t seem to like you. Too fragile, too human.

Your face fell. It wasn’t like you’d asked to be human, after all. Surely that counted for something, right?

“Kanu,” The one holding you muttered, eyes ahead with curled lips. He felt your confused stare on him, and continued on, “My name. It is Kanu.” His eyes darted down at you, gleaming with curiosity, “And you?”

You felt your face warm at how intensely he was looking at you. Like he could read your mind or something. You looked away, teething at your lip. When you let your name slip, he hummed and craned his neck down so that his face was close to your cheek. The close proximity from him again made you look at him, swallowing.

He chuckled before whispering, “A pretty name, little one. Pretty like you.”

Neteyam could feel his blood throbbing through his veins. How maddening. To feel anger towards the way Kanu was speaking to you, it was ghastly. He prayed that the tsahik would know what to do about this because he couldn’t live with being in your presence for much longer. He felt like he could hardly breathe. His skin itched to touch you again. Burned with the desire to hold you just like before, and bury his nose in your neck to get a lifetime fill of your intoxicating scent but he held himself back. This wasn’t normal. Something was definitely wrong, and he needed to figure out what it was and then correct it. Then, he could work on getting rid of you. For good.

Another laugh from Kanu made him dig his blunt nails into his palms. Perhaps once he was named olo’eyktan he could send his dear old friend to the far west, permanently.

Then, he heard your giggle follow after.

His jaw ticked.

Yes. He just might think it over.

taglist:

@powowowy @daydreamerbunny @itzmariaa777 @suntizme @neteyamforlife @blushhpeachh @makeup-stuff-and-such @ilovejakesullysdick @fantasico @iwanttohitmyself @mashiromochi @mae-is-crazy @lovekeeho @tpwkstiles

end notes: so there was definitely more ppl that probably wanted to be tagged, comment and i’ll be able to tag you in the next chapter!

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