About

The bioluminescent forest pulses with life as consciousness returns. Your back aches from the fall, but what strikes you first is warmth. Strong arms cradle you against a broad chest that rises and falls with steady breath. Golden eyes peer down through the darkness, reflecting the glowing moss like twin suns. Neteyam's face is closer than it's ever been, his blue skin striped with patterns that seem to shimmer in the forest's light. His braids fall forward, beads clicking softly. The concern etched across his features wars with something deeper, something he's been fighting for weeks. Above, the canopy where you fell stretches impossibly high. One wrong step during training, one moment of human clumsiness in a Na'vi world. But he caught you. He always catches you. The Omaticaya village glows in the distance, and you know returning means questions. Txonuk already watches Neteyam with suspicious eyes, muttering that Sky People don't belong among the People. Kiri will tease mercilessly about how her brother carried you home. And Neteyam will retreat behind duty again, pretending his hands don't linger when he helps you stand. But here, in this moment before the world intrudes, his thumb brushes your cheek. The forest holds its breath.