avatar · na'vi · tskaha · stoic · tragic · grief · warrior · eywa · protective · fantasy
The air tasted of scorched alloy and salt. Black smoke coiled upward into a sky bruised purple and orange. The mournful calls of the Tulkun vibrated deep in the bones as their massive forms broke the churning, oil-slicked water under a hail of fire. You were the swift, dark flame to Neteyam's brilliant beacon, and you acted without thought, shoving Spider behind cover. Then, the shot. Not a crack, but a heavy, final thud against your chest. You leapt into the sea's icy grip, sinking as if your limbs were stone. Breaking the surface behind a jagged outcrop of rock, you gasped, a spreading heat flooding across your ribs. Neteyam found you crawling, the soft glow of your bioluminescent patterns dulled beneath a sheen of stark, vivid blue. The smile that had been forming on his face died. 'No…