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What do you think the sullys family reaction to spiders torture would, be I honestly don’t think they’re going to address it in avatar three but I wanted to hear your opinion on it? (make it as dark as you want👹)
Hey!!
I do love a good dark angst 😈 but I def read this wrong and wrote the wrong headcanons lmao so sorry for the wait
I’m doing this in headcanon format for simplicity, N$FW/darker content below the cut.
TW: (All implied, nothing explicit) underage, violence, torture, S harassment/possible implied SA (depends on how you read it, tag is to be safe), humiliation, blood, starvation, isolation, emotional manipulation, abuse
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Spider didn't meant to tell them, he fully intended on taking it all to the grave unless something might help them in the war. But that was it - he wanted to move on
When he gets back, Jake and Neytiri scare him
He tries not to let them but he keeps thinking that Quaritch is back and he didn't get home whenever they come up behind him. Out of the corner of his eye they don't look like the people he wanted to be his parents. They don't even look like friends
They're kinder though, Jake especially, and slowly he feels himself being brought in
He won't ruin it with some stupid trauma response
He flinches away from them and can't sleep near them but sometimes Jake rubs his head or Neytiri will run her fingers over his shoulders when she passes. He swallows down the anxious nausea and relishes in it.
He. Can't. Ruin. it
He wears a shirt now and loose shorts that offer more coverage than his loincloth. He keeps a knife on a beaded belt over the shorts in an awkward combination of fashions and keeps his hair loose so it can't be grabbed so easy. The dreads are gone and so are his stripes but he thinks it's okay, he's just growing up. No one needs to worry.
He thinks he's done well at hiding it but it seems he underestimated the couple drastically.
Kiri ends up being the one to approach him
The family whispers about what to do, how to help, or if they can. They spent the first couple months mourning their own losses and caring for Neteyam but Spider hasn't gotten better. Tired of the indecision, Kiri slips out of their marui and stalks after her best friend
He's with Rotxo on the beach, drooping and tired but relaxed with the other boy. They've been spending more time together and he seems more comfortable around the Metkayina lately.
They don't look like his Dad, like the recoms that claimed him, and Rotxo would never hurt him. None of them would, they're safe.
He snaps awake when Kiri lands a gentle hand on his shoulder. He jerks closer to Rotxo who supports him but urges him closer to his sister.
"Sorry, sorry..can we talk?" Rotxo gives him a look and Kiri holds out her hand so...yeah. Spider stands and she leads him to the treeline
She sits him down with their feet in the sand and leans her head on his shoulder. She's playing mean and she knows it, knows she's his weakness and always has been. His stomach twists and he knows she's going to get what she wants.
"What happened?"
He bites his lip, brows pinched, and tries not to give anything away. "Was tired, it was a long day. Ro helped me with his ilu."
"You know that's not what I meant." He shrivels and leans his head into her hair. She smells salty and sand clings to her messy waves but she's always been his person.
"I...they're monsters, Kiri. Monsters. I...They hurt me." His voice cracks and his head is in her hands, dipping their foreheads to meet. "I just want this to stop..." He was fine. He was.
But she holds him and he finally breaks.
She listens while he chokes on the tears, telling her how his back hurts with the healing injuries she didn't know were there. He cries over the wrong feeling of fabric clothes but he doesn't feel safe without them. She wraps him up in her arms and they lay there. The stars are out now but they don't move and he doesn't realize that, suspiciously, no one comes looking. No one ever does.
When they finally stand, they don't go home. She leads him to the med tents still set up from the battle and sits him on the bed. Silently, she removes his shirt and gingerly applies salve to the stripes reaching around his body. Her tears land on his shoulders and his own on his thighs but he's not humiliated like he was before.
"..are there more?" He shifts, nods, and she does the same process to his thighs. Those aren't as bad, mostly from rough handling and straps but she continues her quiet ministrations none the less. Finally, she finishes, and they go home
He hasn't slept well in weeks, tossing and turning and afraid but she nudges him into the pile of her brothers and drapes herself on top. Lo'ak blinks wearily at him but Neteyam just wraps an arm around his clothed chest and pulls him tight. Lo'ak and Kiri have a silent conversation and soon he's the center of a very cozy pile of limbs and heat
His brothers flank him on either side, Tuk joining between himself and Lo'ak halfway through the night, and Kiri curled at his head with her head cushioned on Neteyams chest
It's the first good sleep he has since he got home
The peace is ruined come morning though
He's the last one to wake, Tuk mysteriously is missing, and the family is sitting around bowls of food. Kiri looks at him, shaky, and gestures him to her.
They sit there, Spider holding a bowl of his favorite stew, and no once speaks. He curses himself internally, not wanting to break.
Jake breaks the silence, "Spider, kid, I, ah, think we need to talk about what happened. Kiri said you're hurt and you haven't been acting right. I know, I do, that the humans are cruel. I know we didn't come but Sullys stick together. You're family now..." He swallows, guilty and nervous, " please talk to us."
He denies it, tries to stop it, but Neytiri steps in. Her voice is low and calm, like she uses on Tuk, but there's an anger in her eyes when she scans his shoulders.
"Ma Spider, tell us what they did. Your brothers and sister may leave if you wish, but you are safe. Tell me what I avenge."
He grips Lo'aks hand and Kiri's, head low, and breaks.
He tells them about the whipping, the starvation. He tells them about the machine that splayed him open and how he didn't give them up. He talks about choking on his blood and watching his memories, about Quaritch saying he sees him. How traveling with him was so much better than base until it wasn't. He tells them about walking to the shower with eyes on him, about being gawked at and hungry eyes. How he was left alone for a week and a half with his songcord and fear. What happened when they found it. Quaritch humming his song and making him bleed.
When he's done, Jake reaches for him and he flinches back harshly into Lo'ak. His brother, to his credit, just bundles him up and holds him tight with his ears drawn back in warning. Kiri has a hand on his back and Neteyam slips between them and the adults. He doesn't give them details, just the gist, but he feels lighter.
His family does not.
Jake spends the next days with Tonowari and Norm. Rage is filling every inch of him but he sits at the table and plans
He uses the information given to try and figure out how to fix it. It won't happen again, he'll destroy them, but he doesn't know how he'll get his son back to the way he was
He blames himself and brews. He feels weak and raw and can't process how badly he's failed. Norm, of all people, tries to tell him its not his fault but he doesn't think he'll ever not hate himself for leaving a child to be tortured
Spider wasn't his yet and his kids weren't safe. He knows that, but he knows no one came for him and Tommy either
He never thought he would be that person - he thought he would be better
He hates that his kids know
He hates that they were there and know what happened. That they know how he failed their best friend
He's afraid to interact with Spider, he's scared to scare him ultimately. But he also needs Spider to trust him. He and Neytiri are trying to figure out how to ask him if they can adopt him through a claiming ceremony, but right now he still jumps if they touch him
Toruk Makto knows he did the right thing. Jake Sully will never forgive himself or humanity for the lines they cross.
Neytiri is an active threat to humanity
She never trusted Spider, never felt safe with him, but she couldn't hate him
She left him and she'll always carry that, but children are precious and a Na'vi warrior would never hurt an enemy child
Na'vi don't hurt their children. They don't leave them or starve them or beat them. She already hated Quaritch but she hates him more now
But its the forced Tsaheylu that haunts her
Spider would never have that bond. That's what she thought, but the one time he does he is mocked and hurt.
The idea that humanity could hurt anyone with such a sacred thing, let alone a child of their own species, brings her to enough rage to burn down all of Bridgehead, innocents be damned
She hated humanity but now she has a human she loves. Spider is hers now, Jake brought him in after the battle and claimed him as theirs. He's hers
They'll burn for touching him
He's hurt in ways warriors rarely ever reach and so she snaps
She's already a merciless fighter but it's tenfold now. She will leave no survivors when sky-people come and she will see their blood pay the debt they owe
But for now, for now she takes care of her little ones. She helps Neteyam heal his arm. She teaches Lo'ak how to fight, helps Tuk get faster so she will survive, and helps Kiri become a healer to rival her mother. Spider is still learning to relax with the adults but she's his silent protector and soon he lets her heal his back.
She wraps his injuries and holds him when he's weak. He's small in her arms and she curses anyone who would lay a hand on things so precious
Rage fills her but she spends the time waiting to strike with her children and helping them heal like she never did
Neteyam won't let this happen again
He spends his time with Ao'nung and Rotxo
They're the next generation and he won't let things get so bad when its their turn
A part of him will always resent his parents for what they did. He loves and respects them more than words offer but he almost died saving his little brothers and they're still hurt so damn bad
He gave them everything he had and it wasn't enough
So he plans
He combines Omaticaya and Metkayina fighting styles. He compares defense, strategies, and discusses how they'll work together
He, Ao'nung, and Rotxo spend hours fighting and wrestling, training themselves to be strong
They'll be leaders one day and they won't be loosing their friends again
Part of him is haunted by the cruelty though
He idolizes his dad and can't imagine how the people he came from could be so cruel and make him
But he understands his mothers hatred now
And he thinks he knows it too. They took her sister and now his brother.
He's never hated someone before but he thinks he hates Miles Quaritch.
His mother just might have to fight him to deliver the killing blow
Lo'ak is protective
Anyone looks at Spider the wrong way and he's ready with a fist to the nose
He was the one that went back for Spider
He was the one that ran into the ship
Spider is his brother and best friend, his family is stepping in now but it's his job to be there
Older or not, Spider isn't as strong as them. His skin rips and his body exhausts so much easier than theirs does. He wasn't there before but he has to be now
Anyone who thinks about messing with Spider needs to go through him
His body itches with energy, with the need to do something but there's nothing for a 14 year old to do
So he just stays nearby
He distracts Spider, surrounds him with the friends they've made, and keeps him safe
He takes him on ilu rides and to visit Payakan. He introduces him to the plants around the coast and shows him the reefs with Tsireya.
He honestly becomes a menace, it's cute but Spider has to try and dodge him to get alone time
But he's a little brother and he does what little brothers do
He pesters. It annoys Spider to no end but, honestly, he doesn't think he would stop him if he could
Kiri tries to heal him.
She can't fix things but she resolves to be by his side
She spends the evenings with him just talking and laughing, he tells her things no one else gets to know and things feel a little bit normal in a twisted sort of way
They lean on each other through the healing and hurt. They coach each other through the feelings as best they can. They're best friends and always have been
She won't let that change
She wraps his wounds and learns how to ease the pain from her mother
She spends hours with Ronal and Tsireya to learn how the ocean fixes hurts and shares how the forest does the same
Its her self proclaimed job to make sure his injuries heal but so does his mind
Tsaheylu is sacred and so she talks to him about Ewya, his father, and the fear he still has
It is on him to get through it in the end but she staples herself to his side to make sure he doesn't do it alone
She makes Neteyam help too but honestly her brothers are stupid so its on her to be the support
Overtime, she and Tsireya gather together a collection to make Spider more Na'vi-esque clothes that offer him the coverage he wants
They try to make him feel like Spider again, braiding his hair, covering the bruises and scars, and painting his arms in new stripes to look more akin to their own.
He goes through stripes of each of his friends families, mimicking their patterns in little ways for them to lay their claim
She isn't the most affectionate person but for him, she finds herself making it happen
She loves him so for now, being there will have to be enough
Tuk is just a kid, she doesn't know what's happening
Spider is. . .different and she's smart enough to know it's bad
But her family won't tell her what happened or what's wrong
Spider just looks sad and her family are acting weird, but he's getting better
It's slow, but she's gonna help and it'll be faster
So she brings him toys and climbs on him, drags him deeper into the sleep pile each night and offers him the treats she steals from the cookfire
While her siblings get breathing lessons, she brings him to the tidepools and makes him weave shells into her hair
She does all the little things that her family do for her to make her feel better and thinks, quite proudly, she's making him better
Everyone gets sick sometimes, sometimes it's just in someone's head. Besides, Spider always is sicker than her brothers and sister - she just has to be persistent
He'll get better. She's sure of it.
Kiri and Spider have been best friends since the beginning
They met when Kiri was still an infant and Spider around 2. He still wasn't allowed to leave the labs but he snuck in to one of Kiri's checkups
He was a climber and a builder - hence his name - and so it was hard to keep him out of where he wanted to be
So when the toddler heard another cry in the building it was only a matter of time before he found it
He wanders, stumbling through the offices he's confined to and sneaking until he reaches the Avatars
Jake is there, Kiri in his arms, sitting next to Ms. Grace's tank. He's talking and it sounds like a story which Spider loves so he of course toddles his way over. He climbs into the Na'vi's lap without regard for his size, skin, or the fact that he's only met Jake a handful of times.
Jake, to his credit, catches the tiny human with a free palm under his butt. Paying no heed to the flabbergasted look on the mans face, he peers down to stroke the girls cheek
He flies for a moment while Jake tries to keep them apart but then the girl has his hand in her palm
She blinks up with big eyes and Spider offers a giant toothless grin: there was no going back after that
Neteyam comes with Kiri
He's Spiders age but double his size, 2' taller for the 2 months he's younger
Still, Spider doesn't let the few kids his age on Pandora get away. He's a social butterfly and opts to conquer Neteyam's introverted ways.
And so he toddles after the blue boy everytime he comes with his sister
Kiri is growing fast, especially next to human growth standards, but she still has a ways to go to meet Spider, so her big brother will have to do
It's 3 months of toddling after him, pulling his tail, and playing with the pretty beads adoring his hair while Neytiri tries desperately to keep the little human away from him
But, once again, containing Spider is mission the adults surrounding him have yet to accomplish
And so Neteyam finds himself with a little blonde flea attached to his side
He chases the younger boy through the halls, giggling at the tiny hisses Neteyam lets out when he catches him. He pulls his tail and climbs onto his big boy bed - he can use the grown up bunks now! - while Neteyam tackles his obstacles with ease.
The other boy is shyer but Spider has learned how to rile him up by now
They play for the hour or two that Jake spends with Kiri getting monitored in the labs. If Neytiri is there then it's harder, but Spider can normally get a story for them at least.
It continues on for a while with Kiri joining them as she starts to crawl, then toddle with their hair or her brothers tail in her fist
And it seems that gets Spider a little too comfortable
Namesake on full display, he tries to climb the bunkbed ladders of the bunk room while Neteyam is chasing him
He's gotten far too big for most of Spiders tricks to slow him down so the child thinks this is his chance to get a rare upper hand
Except bunk beds are tall and metal is slick and maybe Spider isn't really that much of a big kid yet
He really does try to catch himself but its too slippery and he hits the ground hard
The scientists around the lab don't like it when he cries and really does try to keep it in, but his arm really hurts and he can't help but let it escape
He waits for Neteyam to mock him or tell him to stop but instead finds himself craddled against the boys chest.
"Shhhh, shh, 's okay Spi, just stop cryin'. I-I'll get my Daddy and Uncl' Norm." Spider only shakes his head and cries more, clinging to the other boys beads.
"No'uh, 'm okay. 'm a big boy."
Neteyam stutters for a minute before he nods. The two boys stay curled on the floor for a few minutes then with Spiders arm cradled between them.
"Don't worry, 'm here Spi. Every'tings okay."
Their relationship is never as close as the others growing up but there's an understanding between them the others never have
They're equals, the two oldest brothers.
They might be opposites but they've got one another's backs...even if that's just taking left while the other takes right to corner Lo'ak at highcamp.
Neteyam never made friends easily
Spider forced himself into the picture and his siblings never really got a choice in the matter
Sure, being the Ole'ekytans son meant some of the other kids would clamor for his attention but he never did good at being more than casual
Responsibilities stack on him like like the berries on Tuks tarts: he doesn't have the time or strength to devote to anything else
His siblings are enough though. There's a war and he can't loose focus or they'll get hurt
He left them once and lost Spider - he won't let it happen again
It gets lonely though
He chases after his kid brother and protects his sisters from as much as he can but...there's no one to look after him
Then he meets Ao'nung
Ao'nung is brave and cool and gets it in a way his siblings just can't
He may not have grown up in a war but he has a little sister and another on the way - he knows the responsibility of an important father and its addicting to have that person in his life
They lean on eachother, quietly, and he finally has something for himself
He tells him things he never told anyone else
He talks about his fathers expectations and pressure, his mothers trauma, his worry over the human they left behind, and his fear for Kiri's future. He talks about Lo'ak running into danger and Tuk losing her innocence and Ao'nung talks about his anger. About the fear he has of whats to come, about Tsireya and how he worries this will break her. He's weak around him and Neteyam savors it.
Time goes by and he gets hurt. His arm might never be the same as it was and his ear still rings with the echoes of gunshots but he has his brother back and his family is safe
Neytiri finally, finally lets Spider come home but it's not over
He doesn't think it ever will be
But Ao'nung slips his hand into his and maybe he'll be okay
Maybe he doesn't have to do this alone
Rotxo was Ao'nungs first friend
They were friends from the first time they sat through lessons together and they've been attached at the hip ever since
Rotxo knows Ao'nung will be a great Ole'ekytan but he'll need a right hand and Rotxo is ready to step up
For a long time he thinks maybe he'll be more than that but the Sullys arrive and they both find that path a different way
Still, they're eachothers person
They back one another up no matter what and there is rarely one without the other
In training they pair up, have joint moves that they make just for themselves and know the others gaps or weaknesses like its their own
Tonowari didn't want to train them for war but they didn't want to risk being unprepared
So when the sky people reach their waters, they spend every hour they can steal with one another
They spar and wrestle and carve more weapons
Their hands shake with fear and adrenaline but they keep their thighs pressed to the others and carry on
Rotxo gains muscle mass and Ao'nung learns to use a bow Neteyam carved. They grow their skills, their strength, but also their fear
Unlike the Sullys, they didn't grow up with war on the horizon
They don't know what's coming and cling to each other while they can.
No matter what, they know they can rely on the other
It isn't until they see Quaritch dead that they'll let go of the breath they're holding but they hold the other up until then
Nothing could pry them apart and nothing that tries will walk away