Random Addict Thought/headcanon/theory/bullshit

Putting spider to Moana was a bad idea I will not be sleeping

Steven Krueger’s funeral party is my new favorite thing ever

Spider + Kiri Platonic HCs

Platonic soulmates

Kiri claims him as her platonic partner when she's like 16 as a way to establish him as part of her family

At first it causes some raised eyebrows, people suspecting they are more than friends or something shady is happening until it is clear Spider is content with his respective partner and they are content with just having their brother at her side

They each have a little matching braid in their hair with beads for the other, it's a little reminder and a little claim when nothing in their lives are stable

They are also best friends with Lo'ak and act as a trio but he's more popular and less of a "village freak" so to speak and so their dynamic has always been a little bit different

Before she was born, Spider was always intrigued by Grace and her pregnancy. He would curl up by her tank with his toys or tablet, babbling to the tank and to the sister he didn't yet know was his

The occasional floating visitor kept Neytiri from separating him from Grace and later baby Kiri

They have about a 2 year age gap but it's not exact with Na'vi aging

Kiri was convinced braiding Spiders hair would create a tswin if they tried hard enough as a small child

Spider didn't really get it but let her play with his hair whenever she wanted, just liking the attention and the soft touches

Spider had a crush on her for about a year when they were 12 and 10 but later realized it was moreso just a lot of care he didn't know how to process

Kiri is the reason Spider learned what love is

Lo'ak and Kiri grew up tag teaming Jake and Neytiri with comments about their 'other brother' or 'Dads human kid' in attempts to get them to accept Spider as family

It sort of worked on Jake but scared Neytiri more

Kiri is the only one who can always find Spider when he runs off, but Spider is takes hours trying to find them when the rolls are reversed

It helps them both to know that someone always comes looking

Neytiri reluctantly lets it be that Kiri added a bead to her and their siblings songchords for Spider

Spider thinks Kiri is the strongest person he's ever met (though if you ask he'll say Jake)

She was who kept coming to mind when the RDA tried to search his mind and he had to blur her face and voice until he could barely remember them for fear of what it could mean for them

Their relationship is how Jake learned of platonic bonds in Na'vi culture and how valued they are in their society

It's also part of why he starts trying to bring Spider into the family more and more as the kids grow older

Spider thinks that Kiri will want him around less after Neteyam is shot but she leans on him tenfold

They're one anothers anchor

Kiri forgives Spider for saving Quaritch but its something they're never able to completely forget

On the same page, they never forgive Neytiri for pulling them away when Spider was taken and places blame on themself and their mother on bad days since they didn't go back

Kiri is the only one who really knows what humans can and cannot have of the Na'vi - she had to learn since Lo'ak and Spider kept daring one another to do stupid things

Kiri hates the dreads and ends up twisting and braiding his hair with Rotxo when they get to Awa'talu

Spider and Rotxo dye Kiri's tips red like her mothers with berries and paint - which almost got them killed by Neytiri but Kiri loved it

When Rotxo starts courting Spider, Kiri helps him by adding some of Rotxo's stripes to his paint (it's the first pattern that wasn't hers he ever wears)

Spider spends days with Kiri gathering gifts when Kiri tries to pursue their first real relationships

He also dyes the girls tail red with his hair dye knowledge when she breaks Kiri's heart

Let Spider be feral

Let him hiss and claw and fight for his siblings like a wild animal

Let his humanity be something held together by scraps - he doesn't care to be one, na'vi are kinder and stronger and better

Let him act like an angry Neytiri when he's upset

Let him crouch and hunt like his body is 8' taller

Let him bite like he has fangs to tear with

Let him be the stray na'vi trying to hard to feel like his body is home

Rotxo love

This is how I view Rotxo in my writing, he needs some focus

So first things first, physically, Rotxo is short for a na'vi

Poor boy is the na'vi equivalent of a human 5'8" - he's not really that short but also, he will be bullied relentlessly

However, he is b u i l t

He's bulky and puts on muscle easily. (Though he has a little bit of a dad bod cause as he should - like as close as fat muscular as a na'vi body can be lmao)

He keeps the sides of his head shaved and the top in a half braided, half curly look that reaches about his mid-shoulder blades

Google says na'vi are 10' so he's like ,,, 9'6"? short king

Partially why he relishes having a human mate cause like ,, he can't talk shit

He wears an obscene amount of beads and jewelry - he is the oldest brother of his 8 siblings (poor boy has three older sisters and three younger, he is one of two boys in the whole house) and they don't mess around in decorating their big brother

Onto personality, he's a big softie

But he's aggressively protective of his family - something he got from growing up with Ronal as his third mom

He grew up prepared to be Ao'nungs right hand, but he didn't always have the drive to be a warrior

He liked the idea but never felt connected to it. It was just a part of the future he was meant to reach

it wasn't until he was pulling desperately at a bomb on Payakans fin and watching Lo'ak sob over his bleeding brother that he realized why he was going to be a warrior

He always mentally attributes his finding reason in his training to Lo'ak and his strength

So he starts training and learning to fight with a newfound passion

Having always been Ao'nungs right hand, its his plan to follow at his side once he's chief and protect their people

Family is the most important thing in their culture and Tonowari has been such a prominent figure in his life that it's his goal to live and die for them

...he needs some help with the self-love and valuing his worth too man

It's part of how he and Spider bond

He's made a majority of his life around Ao'nung and being there for the clan that he forgot to care about himself or really learn about himself as his own person

He finds out he likes cooking while trying to figure out how to not poison Spider after an unfortunate courting accident

He and Lo'ak bond by combining fighting styles and their culture

It's the culture that also helps him bond with Kiri, a surprise to everyone except Spider who knew they'd get on from the start

However, his favorite hobby is fishing - which he gets teased for relentlessly

For all his mischief and jokes, he's an old man at heart

He 100% can and will disappear become he was just vibing out on the water for hours and lost track of time

During which he also attempts to bring home little gifts constantly

He gets it from his little siblings but he's the type to bring you a rock he found and say it was pretty and reminded him of you

So all of his friends have jars of shells, rocks, flowers, etc that he finds for them

However, he also has a habit of collecting strays

He just takes shit home

An octopus was the worst until he showed up two orphaned ash boys that never left

Spider is passionate that its why he fell for him and very smugly holds up that he has a solid argument

But honestly Rotxo just cannot stand someone being alone

He grew up surrounded by so much love and so many people he cared for that the thought of someone being alone when he could fix it makes him feel sick

He is fucking terrified of crabs tho

Tsireya hung one from his loincloth when they were children and ah...things got pinched

Ao'nung used it to torture him growing up and now the one thing he struggle to accept as Ewya's are crabs

Honestly crustaceans in general

He hates them

Learning Spider could eat them was a blessing and a curse

Cause one, easy food to find and two, he gets to see them die (sorry Ewya) but that also means he has to help catch crabs for his family

As teens, it wasn't horrible. But by the time they are grown with 4 kids, it's actually his nightmare

He is a practical joker

He brings it out in Ao'nung too and they can rival Lo'ak and Spider for the amount of mischief they get into

Though theirs is normally innocent and not death or war inducing

The worst thing they ever did was sink a fishing ship - Lo'ak and Spider got kidnapped, they're doing fine

Constantly torn between big brother instinct and little brother instinct

He's the big brother but also,,, 3 big sisters feels like he should have a pass

He isn't as close to them as he'd like

The oldest two are mated to other water clans and the oldest still home is distant, they don't get on super well, but he was close with all three when he was a child

Well, they played a lot.

His mothers are both very doting parents and very loving, but for some reason there was always a disconnect with his directly older sister

The other two are still friendly and loving when they visit, just not as common in his life anymore while she is just ... separate. She hasn't been herself in years

It makes him the acting oldest and he takes that very seriously

He has three little sisters and then the youngest of the family is another boy, all of which are a decent amount younger than him

It wasn't planned that way but he likes having the gap between them, it gives him enough distance to care for them but enough closeness to enjoy them still

They're as much the bane of his existence as they are the joy of it

He will boast about them relentlessly while also trying to drown one because 8 kids was simply 7 too many

Tuk loves the littles though and so he spends a lot of time babysitting with Spider or Neteyam - the two that really get the big brother thing in the two ways he normally expresses it

All in all, he is a big family-loving, lowkey gym buff, softie that needs to learn to love himself

But, until he does, he has a small army prepared to do it for him

I need to keep expanding on this but I needed these thoughts out. Rotxo really hasn't gotten the development he deserves and I can't wait to see how he gets fleshed out

I want to expand on this later but the kids are the ones who make Spider his song cord

Vague spoilers for sunrise on the reaping

Tw: slight gore, character death

Not actually any like direct spoilers but mentions book topics. Peeta centric

I keep seeing people talking about the body doubles and Peeta and how scared haymitch might have been and first - how do we like actually know it’s not? It’s probably not cause Lou Lou was a not great replacement but they had 25 years to change it -

But I listened to the winner takes it all and got an idea and idk if I have the time or energy to write it but fuck me man -

Peeta who did get replaced. Who is dying and betrayed them and fighting with the last bit of him who only ever wanted to be himself being sat in front of a pale, hallowed blond boy who looks just enough like him to make him pause. The boy who has no name who they say has to become him, who he fights but it hurts them both and slowly, slowly Peeta gives up bits of himself to put this boy back together because it’s always been easier to live for someone else but could he die for someone else? Someone that’s not her??

And being the boy with the bread, feeding and nourishing this boy with a puffy, stitched mime of his face. Slowly realizing he doesn’t leave this but Katniss could still have him, he could still send something, and this boy taking his shape. Telling him you love her you would die for her she’s everything please - until this not-him is a little-bit-him. He’s losing himself, he only wanted to die himself, and is this the perfect poetic end of giving himself a chance to live or the despairing tragedy of how that only hope dies?

Peeta dies and his blood sprays across this boy that’s not him and not his blood and maybe a district 1 defect from another world (oh what his father would say) but maybe they are now cause there’s no separation, just the lost little blond boy who went too far from home.

Ngl with winner takes it all on this felt like a very bloody, very what’s left of you when they gave it all away? concept

Cause then what? Do they notice? Will they let themselves? Does katniss know there’s something wrong past the obvious and realize or does she love him because to not is too much a betrayal for all he lost for her? Does haymitch see his sweetheart with too-sharp cheekbones and accept the loss? Does he spiral, wondering if he’s finally too far gone?

Maybe this is too niche I’m not sure this is worth posting but it was a bad day and here comes the word vomit -

Home

Home

Spider was never meant to find Home 

He knows that. No matter what Kiri whispers to him, what Lo’ak insists when the young warriors of the Omatikaya attempt to chase him off, or what Neteyam mumbles when Neytiri whips around with venom on her lips - he knows it, because if it were wrong, it would mean that everything that’s happened was for no reason. He can’t go that route, and so Home is just a concept he’ll never know 

His siblings tempt to sway him many times over the years - they feel so much like Home it hurts, but he’s not so selfish to risk it for them when he knows he already took it from their mother 

He’s seen his father in the photos the scientists don’t know he has, video logs that show a man that’s only been a horror story his whole life 

But what scares him is he sees himself 

He sees his eyes, the scowl when he’s angry, the cinch in his brow. He scowls at the image and sees his own face stare back. 

So yeah. He doesn’t have a home. He has siblings though, and that’s more than he deserves. So Spider is okay. Really, he is.

But then his Dad shows up 

—- 

Quaritch is everything he thought he’d be and…not. 

He’s angry. The man is full of hate and a need for revenge. He destroys the ground beneath his feet and spits on the life that’s surround them. He doesn’t know Ewya but he hates her none the less. 

But he’s protective. Possessive of what’s his (and yet another damn thing he got from his father) and it seems Spider is included in that

He hates it but a part of him feels protected - it’s safe in the that’s holding a poison blade is. He’s one slip up from hell 

But hell was bridgehead. It was the feeling of his deepest parts being pried out and displayed like the pages of a storybook 

No one cared as they saw some of his best and his darkest days. 

No one cared when the whips came out. When he bled so much he worried it was fatal 

No one cared when he starved, when the distant sound of wildlife made his stomach twist with need. 

Except Quaritch. 

Quaritch snuck him food, bandaged his back, and pulled him down. 

His hands may have delivered some of the blows or his lips produced the words to trigger nightmares but he cared. 

Love is complicated, but he knows his Dad loved him

He thinks he may have too 

Quaritch saw him. 

He didn’t know. He thought he did but he didn’t but he wanted to he knows he did - 

Then Neteyam almost dies. No one came for him. They left him, gave him up, except his brothers didn’t 

Neteyam and Lo’ak fought for him. 

They risked their lives when they had the chance to get away

Spider pieces his home together after that

Home finds him in the nights after when he rests with Kiri on his shoulder and Lo’ak’s hand loose in his grip. Tuk is curled into her mothers chest and Jake stands a silent guard at the door. Neteyam is flat on the bed of one of Ronal’s medical tents. His brother has been asleep for a few hours now with Norms assistance, but his family is too afraid to leave his side

He’s been awake the whole time. He hurts in ways he didn’t know he could until his capture but the warmth of his closest friends is too precious to loose right now. Still, he can’t sleep. Adrenaline is running under his skin and anxiety is inching up his throat. Jake is outside, safe and strong, but his tracker could lead the rest of the sky people here again, never mind Norms tempering, or his memories could have a clue, they had to be recorded, or - 

Jake lays a large hand on his shoulder. 

He jumps and a scared gasp escapes his throat before he processes the subtle differences. The thinner fingers, callouses Quaritch hasn’t had time to form yet, the gentleness. 

“You need to sleep, Kiddo.”

Spider shudders and bows his head. “I will, just…can’t. I’ll go lay down in a few hours. When they’re okay.”

He can practically hear Jake roll his eyes. “I’m here. You’re safe, they’re safe. You need to sleep, Son.” 

They both freeze, blood cold and eyes wide, as the silence envelops them.

Then, of course, Lo’ak snores and the moments gone. Jake laughs softly and suddenly exhaustion is pulling at his eyelids. A cushion slides behind him and a hand gently lowers him down. 

“Sleep.” 

The pieces come faster after that.

He cries with Kiri for hours. Laments his father, spills everything he felt. She’s the first one he tells the truth too. She knows more than he thinks anyone else ever will 

He tells her Quaritch is alive. He tells her its all his fault.

She cries, yells, and then they just lay there. She tells him how scared she was of her mother. How lost she felt without him there. 

He looks at her as she cries and another puzzle piece slides into place

Lo’ak and Neteyam came together when they came back for him, but it doesn’t feel settled until later. 

They’re on their ilu with Spider behind Lo’ak as they race out to meet Payakan. He’s giant and beautiful and damn terrifying, but Lo’ak describes him as his soul brother. An extension of himself and a badass of a friend. They tell him how Payakan saved them. How he helped get Spider home

He’s scared and excited and now sure what to make of the beast, but then Lo’ak is leaving him on the ilu and falling into the water 

He rises on a fin the size of a small marui with a loud whoop that can’t help but make Spider laugh in astonished awe 

“Paya, meet my other brother, Spider.” Then a wave of water is splashing over him as Lo’ak laughs in a way he hasn’t heard since the forest 

His breath leaves his lungs as he laughs and laughs, happy for more reasons than one. Neteyam meets his gaze from across the surf and smiles then one quick nod. He holds his gaze and feels the warmth spread in his chest. 

“Team up?”

“Team up.”

Tuk has been his little sister since he held her in his arms for the first time. Neteyam snuck him over when they were barely into puberty and put a baby the size of his torso into his arms 

He remembers her being the most terrifying thing in the world. He was so sure she would be terrified of him, that he would make her cry as soon as she was in his arms and the other kids would realize he’s a monster 

But Tuk has always been Tuk and she just grinned and pulled his hair. Her Tswin fluttered with her affections and he knew he would do anything for her 

He had never seen her angry, truly angry, until she stumbled into him cleaning the cuts along his hips and back. The cloths on the floor are bloody and his skin is angry and mottled but he had been decent at hiding the level of it until now. Behind her, Neytiri stops in her tracks as she takes in his scars 

Tuk’s eyes fill with tears and then he has a bundle of 5’7” child in his arms 

Her eyes flash and she looks like her mother when she growls out; “What happened? They hurt you?” 

He stutters, not knowing what to say when Neytiri kneels down in front of him. She takes the ointment and the bandages in front of him, moves his arm from his side, and begins to apply. Her hands are shaking and he realizes he’s never seen her frazzled 

“You’re a child.” 

He looks up, Tuk now angrily crying in his arms while she cleans and gently bandages the wounds. “I..I know…look, I’m sorry Tuk saw, I-I didn’t think anyone was coming back for a while..” 

“You’re a child. Children are precious. I-I didn’t realize they…that…” She scowls down at the drying blood and puts the wrap down. She pulls him forward so he rests against her with Tuk snug between them. “I’m sorry, Spider. This will not happen again.” 

His face is red and words don’t seem to work but he manages a scared nod. “O-Okay?” 

She nods, decisive, and resumes her work. Then, lifts a dirty dread with a disgruntled finger. “These next. My children will not be seen looking uncared for.” 

And that’s that. He has a family, a home, and it’s all he ever wanted. 

He doesn’t think it could get better. 

Part two coming cause holy shit it's 2000 words

Protective

The woods of their coast is unfamiliar territory even with his life spent on these beaches. Twigs and prickly grasses nip at this feet and crack beneath him but he knows avoiding them is a lost cause.

Rotxo is made for this island, is and always has been, but he can't help but feel displaced only a mile or two from his marui.

The RDA don't expect them here, though, only in the water. Ao'nung and Neteyam make excellent decoys back at the cove. While they provide a distraction in the water, an easy, unsuspecting target, Lo'ak, he, and Spider bring their numbers through the woods surrounding it. Soon, they will line the cliffs edge and, hopefully, interrupt an expected attack.

Lo'ak found scouts in hiding out in the caves lining the cliffs three days ago. The systems stretch through the cove and provide easy cover, just far enough from home to provide a sense of safety but so close that the intel they gather could prove dangerous. The potential heirs of two clans will be far too titillating to avoid, as such, it should be easy.

Should be.

Rotxo glances to the trees above him, not seeing him but knowing his mate is near.

This is a simple mission. Tonowari and the older warriors are dotted amongst them in case something goes wrong but they're here to prove themselves. To gain experience.

And not get shot.

Rotxo really doesn't want to get shot.

He hears a purring chirp and ducks, alert and stiff in his bones. Unlike the Sully kids, he didn't grow up in war. He wasn't raised with bullets in his ears and fear is gripping him with icy hands.

There's no time to be scared though, Neteyam is warning them.

He ducks into the underbrush, scarcer that the tree people were used to but thick enough they taught him how to hide. The coastal trees are thin and so only the best climbers could take from above. Spider, of course, is with them. He mumbles a prayer to their mother and starts for the cliff face.

Ao'nung lets out a loud, barking laugh and he can hear the strain. his friend has never been the best actor and he's scared. A branch snaps next to him and he jerks up, Tsireya is kneeling half sprawled from a bush. She looks embarrassed and offers him a sheepish smile before Lo'ak is corralling her up and hidden again.

It makes him want to laugh, how clumsy she is, how clumsy she's always been -

A gun shot rings loud and clear through the forest and suddenly movement is all around him. Birds are taking off into the sky and his friends, his family, are rushing through the woods without fear.

Ewya, how are they not afraid?

He chokes but he grips his spear. It's time to be brave, they could hurt his Moms, his sisters, and everyone he cares about. They have to go and he has to do it. He can do it.

Ewya must have her arms around him because his legs are strong as he rushes forward, the branches and undergrowth whip past him but he doesn't feel it. The metkayina boy whoops and then there's a gun aimed at him.

The human is small, terrified, and looks so much frailer than Spider. Perhaps he would have hesitated before, but he saw Neteyam after 3 Brothers Rock. Before the thoughts can settle in his mind, he's throwing his spear and the man goes down with the hit.

His weapon stands taller than the full body of his kill. It's not the first life he has taken, but it is the first he won't pray over or thank. He rips his weapon from the corpse and lets it fall with a dull thud, taking the gun and cracking it against a tree. It's too small for his hands and he won't risk another enemy finding such a prize.

More gunshots ricochet behind him and he rushes forward, finding himself beside Tsireya at the cliffs edge. He scans her body, quick as he can, and finds her okay. She nods and then she's leaping into the water below.

He spares a glance, unsure why she would give up her high ground, and feels the blood drain from his face.

There must be a dozen men on the ground and Tsireya marks the 4th person he can see of his own. Another shot and screaming is sounding from behind him, if there's that many there, who is up here?

The estimation they had only predicted a half a dozen men, maybe a few spares but maybe a few less. He's never trusting Lo'ak to count again.

He turns, planning to jump, but then he's hitting the ground. Above him, the butt of a gun is slamming down. It hits his temple and his vision slurs around him. He swings his arm, heartbeat pounding in his throat, and tries to dislodge the marine across his lap. He lands a hit and feels the weight tip but then the gun is coming down again.

A bruise begins to bloom across his cheek as he fights, blue skin torn and bloody from the branches beneath him and the man currently using his rifle like a bat. He wobbles up, trying to sit up and gain back the favor his height offers.

The man is wide eyed and frantic but the enjoyment in his eyes is what makes Rotxo pause. There is blood on the mans pale skin, bruising and mud across his face, and more dogtags than should be his own across his neck. Still, he smiles, bloody lips and all, and raises his gun.

Raises his gun at him, oh fuck -

A blonde blur snarls and the man goes down with a choked off shout. The gun is lost from his hands and then he hears a shot and Rotxo surges forward. Panic is lacing through him but dies in his throat at the sight of his mate, gun in hand, and standing overtop the body of his attacker.

Blood and mud are caked across his knees and over his torso. Rotxo's own stripes are covered on the blondes skin by the mess but he's there and in one piece. Relief floods his system and he stumbles up, finding himself in the humans arms before he can make it the rest of the way up.

"Fuck, fuck! Spider, a-are you okay? I-Thank you, I.." The words are failing him. He doesn't know what to say in this, thank you for killing a man for me? Thank you for being okay? Are you okay? You're not shot but please don't die of internal injuries when we get home?

"Hey, hey, hey, Ro, I need you to look at me, okay? It's okay, Baby, we're both okay. You can't go now, gotta get home first." His mask is smeared and dirty but he manages to meet Spider's eyes through it. Rotxo barely can speak and the blonde is pulling him between a tree and the large lake rocks that dot the hill. Later, he'll mourn how calm he is. How the blood on his mask and the bruises on his skin are so okay, but for now, he just focuses on finding home behind the glass.

Leaning forward, he presses his forehead to the cool glass and cups his hand to the back of the others head. Spider huffs on a laugh. The sound is small and affectionate but laced with fear but Rotxo decides they'll spare a moment.

Just a moment.

He breathes in the wood, the salt of the sea, and the scent of pinewood that clings stubbornly to Spider's tan skin. He counts the moles on his shoulders and tries to skim over the scars he'll memorize later.

"I-I'm okay. 'm okay. Where are your brothers?" Spider takes a long breath and he gets a glimpse of the boy he's buried, the child he left back with his peoples home tree. "in the water, I-I think. We need to get down there."

He starts to pull away and Rotxo starts to stand. Just as he leaves the cover of their hiding place, he catches sight of dark blue skin. Comprehension takes a moment to set in before he realizes that the blue isn't one of his friends, that they're in the water or safe at home, and that they most certainly don't wear a military uniform.

"Sure you do, Kid. Only place your goin' is back to your Daddy." Spider looks at him and there's fear on his face, real, deep fear. He remembers holding the human in the weeks after his escape, waking him from the nightmares following for the past 3 years, and the scars that mar his back. Spider squawks and reaches back but the recombinant has a firm grip on the blondes hair.

Spider is kicking, fighting, but the man isn't letting go. He's tall, cocky in the way he stands, and appears unphased at the teenaged warrior he's choosing to ignore. Wainfleet is embroidered on a tag across his chest and the name is familiar. The mans hand moves, Spider surging forward for freedom, and then its around the boys neck. It's just to hold him in place but the mans hands are so big they wrap around nearly completely. Spider chokes, ducking his head, and tries to fight but his grip only tightens.

"He's been real patient with you, Kiddo, but you know he's not a patient man. C'mon, time to get you home. If you stop your kickin', maybe I'll even let you stay awake this time." The man looks away from Spider, looks to Rotxo, and reaches for his gun. This one is big, big enough for a na'vi, and fits in his hand like an extension of himself. He aims it straight to Rotxo and his finger goes to the trigger.

Except, Rotxo isn't afraid. He expects the white-hot panic to flood him again, to feel his limbs heavy and lagging behind with the will to run away, but instead all he feels is rage. Red hot, protective, rage.

Spider looks small in the mans hold and looks so, so afraid. Rotxo reaches down and grips his spear. Wainfleet pulls the trigger but Rotxo is faster, aimed low and charging for his hips. While he may not look small now, he was the smallest in their youth. He knows how to take down a bigger opponent.

He surges and tackles the mans waist. This one is trained far better than his previous kill and doesn't go down just yet, but his grip on Spider does loosen. He snarls, low and instinctual, and feels every bit the animal the RDA calls them. It feels strong.

With a knock of his spear, the gun is knocked askew from where it was aimed. He takes the moment where Wainfleet struggles with the surprise to take a sweep for his head. The instinct to block has the gun falling from his hand and then, with a strong kick from Spider, his mate hits the forest floor.

With his lover out the way, Rotxo throws himself at the larger man. He's taller, but Rotxo is stronger. "You don't get him. Not again."

The solider laughs, loud and wild, "Fuck, Miles, you really do take after Sully. Got yourself a feral little toy and all, huh?"

The gun is cast aside now but Wainfleet reaches down, pulling a knife from a holster on his hip, and cuts across Rotxo's shoulder. His aim is strong and lands true, cutting deep across his collarbone. He gasps, pain flaring across his chest, but swings down his arms anyway. He lands a hard punch to the mans face, then another, and reels back again only for his wrist to be caught. He pulls, trying to free himself, and catches a glimpse of Spider, red faced and wheezing. His hands are shaking frantically as he checks his mask and the adrenaline comes rushing back.

Wainfleet lands a good hit to his face again, then aims to stab his shoulder where he cut before, but Rotxo pulls from his grip and pulls him up by the shoulders. He lifts the recombinant and slams him down. He can't get Quaritch for what he's done, but he certainly can give Wainfleet a taste here.

Blood pools in the mans mouth and he chokes, shoving frantically and thrashing against his hold similar to how Spider did moments ago. The mirror makes bitterness flush through him and he lifts him again, slamming harder now and relishing in the dull thud of the mans skull on the rocks below.

A gun cocks off to the side and his gaze flies to his mate, now on his feet and scrambling to the bushes they hid in before. He grabs the spear he's now left discarded at his side and throws it with practiced aim. It's lower than needed to be but the soldier falls with a spear through his gut. It'll be a painful death but Rotxo can't find himself to care.

"You don't get to hurt him." He growls and reaches for the gun before he hesitates. The man is groaning beneath him, incoherent and bloody, and Rotxo decides he chose his grave. He stands, legs shaking and tired, and pulls the man up. A birds cry fills the air and he hunches, an arrow flying past his curls, and he feels strong. His mate is safe, his family is fighting beside him, and he proved himself today. He feels strong when he lifts the man beneath him, pulling his weight onto himself, and walks to the edge. With a long breath, he drops the bloodied man over the edge and into the water below.

He stand, still and tired, but satisfied. The man hits the water below and he notices the movements in the woods have gone. It's calm, undisturbed as if nothing happened here at all.

He breathes in the salty air, tanged with blood, and lets his shoulders drop. A muted sort of pride lays in his chest knowing he defended his home but there's sadness there that knows he just kissed what was left of his peaceful life goodbye. War has met them here and it's clear his time is up.

"Rotxo? We did it...They're gone, only a few are injured. But..." A pause, "Well, we lost two. Menang and Eleora are with the mother but, it-it's time to go home." A soft hand grabs his elbow and he jerks back to reality.

Tsireya is gentle, safe, and he leans down to kiss her forehead. He turns and Spider is there, red faced and looking stricken, no doubt somewhere else. But he's safe, wrapped against his brother's side.

He walks forward, checking his lover for injuries, and nods to Lo'ak who lets him take his brothers weight while his own lover slips back to his arms.

"C'mon, lets go home."