Ma Neteyam

17

There were plenty of moments in Neteyams life where he had been put under stressful situations or encounters.

An example? Despite his father positioning Neteyam and Lo'ak far from the real battles back home, his younger brother always found a way towards danger. He seemed to crave that adrenaline, didn't seem to mind the punishment that came after.

Neteyam wasn't a fan of adrenaline, was afraid of the punishment, yet he was always the one that had to chase after him. Stuck making sure his rebellious younger brother doesn't end up killing himself during his adventures. And then he was the one taking blame for Lo'aks actions, which in all honesty, is something that he had gotten used too.

Most of his life had been lived in war, battles, hiding, running. All because of the RDA. They've made his family live in fear, his father extra protective, and his clan always on alert.

And in a way, they won. Because now they were here, on this island, hiding and running with their tails between their legs. Them fleeing showed how much his father cared for his families well-being, but also showed how much fear of the RDA they truly had.

Neteyam understood why his father made that decision though. He knew Jake didn't want to strip all of them away from their home, but after so many years of never ending violence and destruction, he wanted to find an escape from that.

Especially after the last incident where his siblings had, once again, managed to find themselves in trouble when Neteyam wasn't around. They had traveled alone to places they weren't supposed to be, allowing Quaritch and his team to capture them, creating a very risky rescue mission for his parents, one that Neteyam himself couldn't help but join in on.

Even after his father ordered him to wait by his Ilu, it was Neteyams turn to disobey and follow behind them. And he was glad he did because he saved his mother. He got his first kill.

He remembers that sort of adrenaline clearly. When he saw his mother, unknowing of the gun pointed right at her, the soldiers finger on the trigger, ready to shoot. He acted on instinct, doesn't even remember thinking about it before he had his bow up, and then the arrow struck true.

He doesn't regret it, not one bit. He was a warrior, he was trained for situations like those. He was trained to defend and fight. But the next wave of adrenaline hit him when he had gotten Quaritch's attention afterword.

Neteyam tried to ready another arrow, but he remembers how much his hands were shaking, how fast his heart was pounding. And by the time he was ready, it was too late. Quaritch was already firing at him when Jake had saved him, throwing them both to the ground to dodge the rapidly firing bullets.

Right now, there was no trained soldiers chasing them, they didn't have weapons from another world, didn't have guns. And yet he could feel how fast his blood was coursing through his veins. The situation seemed to hollow him out, because with every pounding sound from footsteps, it seemed to rattle inside him.

He couldn't even hear his heartbeat. His body was so tense, he felt like he forgot to breathe, that he needed to remind himself to feed his lungs with air. Another yell split through the forest, and Neteyams legs picked up pace on their own.

He felt his grip slipping from Vareyas arm slightly, the slickness of her sweat making it harder to hold on. But he only squeezed tighter, tight enough that he was sure he was going to bruise her lighter skin.

That didn't worry him though, not now at least. Because Lengö and the rest of the group were getting too close for comfort. And while Neteyam was running just as Vareya had asked, he was still slowed down by her.