Neteyam didn't know how long he was asleep. When he woke up he felt dizzy and felt with regret. To imagine, he used to love the person who did all the evils made him wanted to dig his own grave.
He rubbed his eyes and saw Tiva is preparing weapons as she used to did when she was an assistant. Neteyam felt pang of guilt yet cleared his throat anyway. Tiva stopped her work and went close to him.
" Does it hurt?"
" A lot.Yomiting... Deceived me"
" She deceived all of us"
"... You went through all of this... Because of her"
" Never mind.... Such things happen".
" You're too kind."
" drink this" Tiva gave him medicinal drink. Neteyam drank it because he got no choice.
" You think I can protect my people.... I even fell in love with the traitor...."
" Everyone loved her not just you... Of course you can protect. You always wanted to lead don't you?"
" Yeah, but... I don't know I am capable of it... Besides there's no one to guide me"
" We can rescue them... Mo'at must be still alive so does Grandma.."
" Artsut? You call her grandma...? She is the reason for.... many troubles..."
" What? I know Grandma is strict... But what do you mean?"
" She helped Arvok to kill my father. Thankfully Arvok failed.. And she insisted Yomiting and Eylan...be Tsahekrans... to me.. And I fell for it."..
" She may hate Toruk Makto and you... But I don't think she would never betray her clan..."
" You're too naive... " Neteyam said looking at Tiva straight. Tiva never been this close to him so she slightly blushed. Neteyam noticed it.
" What's your name, stupid girl? "
" You don't even know my name?"
Neteyam felt embarrassed. Tiva felt disappointed but not surprised which made her frown a little.
" I don't know Skxwang..."
" Fine, It's Tivarya..."
" Is that all?"
" I don't know the rest. I don't know who my parents are..."
" oh... Beautiful name by the way"
" thanks"
" Again... Sorry for the slaps and fighting with you...."
" Just forget it... Past is in the past.".
When Tiva is talking with him Vawmipa came without even clearing her thoughts. Neteyam was conflicted again.
" Vawmipa... Why are you look like her...?" Neteyam asked bluntly.
Vawmipa sat beside Tiva. She was relaxing. Neteyam noticed she is not even a forest girl.
" well... I don't know" Vawmipa said without hesitation.
" I think.... Your mother had another daughter and she is Yomiting...."
Tiva said carefully. Vawmipa looked at her for a while. That awful familiarity between her and Yomiting already haunted her.
" my mother is Varang... Tsahìk of the Mangkwan clan. We are known as the ash people... And we don't believe in Eywa. "
" What?" Neteyam asked. " That can't be true"
" Sadly, it is. We were a same clan just like you guys. But Volcanic eruption happened... Eywa didn't warn us. Many of our people died... So my mother took the lead... She is evil..."
" Unbelievable.... Your own mother?" Neteyam said without thinking.
" Yes, She was about to kill me many times. I could not take it anymore so I ran away"
Tiva felt alarmed. If Yomiting is Varang's daughter things might get way worse if they met.
" So she is just like Yomiting?" Tiva asked.
"Yes, she is worse." Vawmipa said in conflicted emotions. Though she acted as the badass tough woman her biggest fears are way more obvious to Tiva.
Neteyam couldn't process everything straight. He used to be good at everything. He was everyone's favourite for his true talent. But now because he fell in love with a wrong girl he feels like he is the biggest traitor.
" Vawmipa you won't get hurt by Varang as long as I live." Tiva said. Vawmipa hugged her right away and cried a little. Neteyam noticed her toughness which looks like a common trait for chef's children. Yet, he couldn't believe Tiva's gut without zero talent.
" Now sleep both of you. It's still midnight. I will stay awake"..
" What?" Neteyam got up immediately.
" Yomiting might come back. You can't face her with the injuries"
" can you then?"
" Well, I won't die that easily don't worry"
Tiva said and left right away. Neteyam realized he can't get up yet. He got 5 bullets and his Kuru is slightly hurt. He never felt that defeated. He hissed in pain. Vawmipa was already asleep under a tree.
As no one was there to notice Neteyam let his tears go. He missed his family. It was the first time he was without his family. Though his father will be furious for the disobedience he missed him. He did not want to think how would his family react if they knew what happened.
In Metkayina Mangroves everyone searched for Neteyam. But he was nowhere. Not even in the Ocean. Neytiri was deeply worried. So did Jake. Lo'ak couldn't believe it. Tuk kept crying missing him.
" I think he went back to his home" Neytiri said.
" He never disobey"
" But that does not mean he misses his home. Of course he might went to see Yomiting" Neytiri replied to Jake.
" She will protect him"
Lo'ak wanted to scoff. Kiri made wry face. But their parents didn't notice that. At least they knew Neteyam isn't dead. Eylan was with them.
" I had an argument with him" Eylan said.
" About what?"
" It's not a big deal... He blamed me for trusting Tiva"
" That horrendous child... Ruined our lives" Neytiri growled.
" Maybe he went there just to calm himself down"
Eylan said. Except Lo'ak and Kiri others believed it. They wished Eylan has gone back to the forest already. Eylan sensed it too well. But now Jake Sully didn't allow her to go. Worst of all now she has to take care of his family.
Tiva thinked what happened within these days. Nobody noticed how fast the time has flewn it took two weeks to come from Ocean to Forest. And in foot Na'vi may walk for months. Tiva's reckless decisions barely survived her friends and Neteyam.
" why did I think it's a good idea to use Bow without zero shooting skills.... What if he died there... What if my friends died.... I can't even seek help..."
Tiva said to herself. At least na'vi children were safe for a while. Tiva roamed around deceased na'vi people. Some were mothers and fathers even warriors. Tiva connected their beads all together. Even if she wasn't the Tsahik she realised they need proper funeral at least.
Tiva sings the funeral song while placing beads, feathers, or arrows on bodies.Her voice trembled, but she sang anyway.Not as a leader. Not as a warrior.
But as a sister.
"Eywa ngahu,
Oel ngati kameie.
Srane sì txon,
Nì'aw oe tsun lu.
Oeyä tsamsiyu,
Oeyä mawey.
Fya'oì, ma tsmuke,
Fya'oì, ma tsmukan.
Ke tsun livu frapo,
Slolu nga Eywa'ru.
Ngaru tìrey,
Ngaru txoa.
Oel ngati kameie,
Fya'oì ma frapo.
Fya'oì…
Nì'aw Eywa ayngaru lu"
(Eywa be with you,
I see you.
Pain and loss,
I carry them all.
My warriors,
My heart.
Rest now, sisters,
Rest now, brothers.
We cannot walk together anymore,
You return to Eywa.
Your spirits remain,
Your light remains.
I see you,
Rest now, all of you.
Rest…
You are forever with Eywa.)
Tiva sang slowly yet beautifully. Others slowly join the last lines:
"Oel ngati kameie…"
One voice became many. Grief became a chorus.
The forest did not sleep that night.
It glowed.Soft pulses of blue and violet shimmered across the clearing, as if the ground itself was breathing. Every leaf, every tendril of moss carried light. The air smelled wet and sacred.
No one spoke.
Bodies lay beneath woven leaves, arranged in a circle around the roots of an ancient tree. Their weapons rested beside them — not as tools of war, but as offerings. Broken arrows. Feather cords. Beads carved by hands that would never carve again.
Tiva stood in the center.Not above them but with them.Her hands shook as she tied the final bead around their wrist.
A hunter's bead. Ocean-blue. They never got to earn it.
The realization cracked something inside her, but she did not cry yet.Not here. Not while they watched.The ground flickered.
Tiny seeds of light rose from the roots, drifting upward like slow fireflies. They touched skin, hair, closed eyelids — settling on the fallen as if recognizing them.
Pandora was remembering.
A low hum began in the distance.
Then another.
Then many.
The forest singing.
Tiva inhaled sharply.
"Eywa ngahu…" she whispered.
Her voice trembled, but she forced it forward, each word breaking like waves against stone. The chant spilled into the glowing air, fragile but unyielding.
One by one, the others knelt.
Fya'oì… ma frapo."
(Rest… all of you.)
That was when the forest answered.
The seeds of light lifted together, rising in slow spirals. Not random. Not wind-driven.
Guided.
They drifted upward through the branches, carrying faint glimmers of blue like souls dissolving into the canopy. The glow reflected in everyone's eyes, turning tears into constellations.
Tiva finally broke.Her knees hit the ground.
Not a scream.Not a wail, just a quiet, shattered breath.
While giving them funeral the nightmare resurfaced. Neteyam's death and his funeral she saw when she was in the Rain forest
Salt wind. Endless horizon.A different night.No glowing roots. No singing trees.
Only waves swallowing sound.
Tuk stood at the edge of the shore, younger, smaller, hands curled into fists she didn't remember making.
The Sully family sat scattered along the sand. Ronal and other Metakyina people assisted them. They were grieving too. Neytiri sang Neteyam's funeral song.
It was broken in quiet ways.Jake was staring at nothing.Neytiri carved from silence.Lo'ak hollow-eyed, as if something inside him had been scooped out and left open. No songs.No chants.Just the ocean taking everything it could reach.
Tiva hadn't understood it then.
Why did no one scream?Why no one howled.Why grief could be so… quiet.
She remembered thinking it was wrong.
Grief should burn.
Grief should shake the sky.
But now— She realized the truth.
People should endure it anyway.
She didn't know if it was fate — or a warning.Yet, the worried glance of Neteyam's Ikran stiffened her.
" You really think I could stop his death?" She asked.The ikran only watched her.
Unblinking. He knew more than the Na'vi like other Ikran's.
She felt another weight. She wondered what Eywa actually tried to hint at.
Was Eywa warning her…
or preparing her?
At first she thought it was meant to stop his death. But seeing her new found family members were massacred it made her think otherwise. For the first time, Tiva wondered if saving him was never the point.
Nivi woke up and saw what Tiva had been doing. It was already freezing morning. Tiva wore the necklace which shared the beads of dead na'vi and her broken tiny song cord was there. She got it when Nivi came close to her.
"So, Neytiri broke your songcord?"
" She did. But now I got it back"
Tiva fixed her songcord and put it on her neck including the sea shells she found in Metkayina sea.
" Will he help us?" Nivi asked with a doubt.
" He is supposed to lead Omatikaya. He will help us"
" I feel bad about him. But he had to face truth"
" I don't know. But I can believe Yomiting wanted his death all along... How can she even think like that..."
Nivi held Tiva's hand. It was unbelievable to think someone in their own kind would betray first.
" You should have stayed with your child" Tiva said remembering what Nivi said to her months ago. She wondered why she was that clueless.
" I can't... Because I am not in Fipo's clan..."
" But... You're kid's mother"
" That's the first time forest people mated with Reef people... They didn't accept me as if I was responsible for his death... I wish he were alive"
" I wish too. It's unfair"
" You have been changed a lot. You barely hold responsibilities like this... Who told you to do the funeral...?"
" I just..."
" It's Ok. You have a good heart despite how stupid you're."
Stupidity wasn't something knew to her. She didn't want to embarss herself further. She wanted to get angry and there was no time. She wanted to be happy and there is no time for achieving happiness. Now felt like a defeated idiot.
" I didn't mean..."
" That's Ok. I know I am stupid. I managed to rescue my friends almost in few seconds. If I failed there everyone would die...".
" Forget it. We have to defeat RDA.."
" I can't kill... them...".
" They executed our people Tiva"
" Do we really have to fight to save them?"
Nivi looked at Tiva as if she never knew Tiva is strange and weird. Tiva never wanted to fight but she thought peaceful talk would help which never happened.
She saw how her Shimmyfly friend died along with fanlizards.
" No.... It can't be... My friends...".
Nivi wanted to say they're just animals but Nivi knew how close Tiva was to them. This time she could not control her emotions and began to cry. Small animals were her only friends back then. Of course, death of her people gave her enough grieve but animals death was unexpected..
In the RDA Yomiting was enjoying her simple victory. She really thought Neteyam was dead. That's what she wanted from a long time. She was tired of pretending as the nicest girl in the world.
" Are you sure that Jake Sully's first freak is dead?" Ardmore asked.
Quaritch despite wanted to take revenge from Sully never expected that much Ruthless behaviour from a Na'vi. Besides, as much as he has a son to think of losing a son wasn't felt right to him. But, he was mad at Jake and he had obey the order. There is no escape in that.
" He is dead. I am more than sure about it. No one would live after falling from that mountain..."
Yomiting said.
"if he was in the Ocean... Why would he come here?"
" Probably He wanted to see me. Stupid half breed. Maybe Eylan informed him.. Don't worry Eylan can't do much... Did Mo'at gave answers."
"She didn't..." Parker Selfridge said.
" stupid old woman we could have conquered all the Pandora if she gave that information"
" We will make her give that information" Wainfleet reassured her.
" She won't give. We should threaten her more carefully..."
" Like how?" Quaritch asked unbothered.
" At this point stupid Jake Sully is worried about his damn son. Let's bait him saying his son is captured he has to face us in order to save him"
" Jake isn't that dumb" Quaritch said bluntly.
"But he is a father."
" You could have captured his son first. We could have trick all the family"
Wainfleet said remembering how Neteyam shot him then.
" Neteyam is dangerous when he is alive....
Yomiting said bluntly leaving others speechless.