Tsireya's History
When the Sully family arrived at the Awa'atlu village seeking refuge, Tsireya appeared when she came out of the water which caught Lo'ak's attention. Tsireya scolded her brother Ao'nung and his friend Rotxo for making fun of the Sully family. Once her father granted the family uturu and assigned her and Aonung to train the Sully children, Tsireya was glad to do so and led the family to their new home. Tsireya taught the Sully children to free dive with Ao'nung and Rotxo. While they were swimming, her brother and Rotxo began to make fun of them because they did not know how to swim well underwater, but Tsireya showed empathy. She reminded Ao'nung and Rotxo that they were learning. She also taught them to ride the ilu and how to breathe deeply before a dive. Lo'ak had trouble controlling his heart rate during practice due to Tsireya's presence, which led to amused faces among the other participants. She showed Tuktirey how to feed and care for the ilu. Tsireya gave Lo'ak many private lessons, teaching him how to breathe underwater, as well as the philosophy of Metkayina's close relationship with the ocean. During one of them, she tasked him with fishing for a shell, which she tossed into deep water, and when he did, Tsireya was quite proud of him. Later, Tsireya overheard Lo'ak with the others telling them about the tulkun who had saved his life at Three Brothers Rock, where Ao'nung had previously abandoned Lo'ak. She realized that he was talking about Payakan, a male tulkun who was exiled for being a murderer, something Lo'ak refused to believe. Later, Tsireya and Rotxo took Neteyam, Kiri and Tuk to the Cove of the Ancestors, which is the most sacred place of the Metkayina and the location of the Spirit Tree. After diving down to the tree, Tsireya invited them to bond with the tree, but when Kiri had a seizure after seeing her birth mother, Tsireya and the other children immediately rescued her and took her back to the village. When an alarm went off in the clan, Tsireya told the Sully family that the tulkuns had returned. Riding on an ilu with Lo'ak, she presented her spiritual sister. Exchanging stories with her spiritual sister, Tsireya told her that she met a boy. After that, Tsireya, Neteyam, Ao'nung and Rotxo followed Lo'ak and witnessed how he was chosen by the tulkun Payakan, being very proud. Tsireya is chastised by her parents for allowing Lo'ak to bond with the outcast, with her father calling her actions disappointing. Tonowari demands everyone sit down and explained the Tulkun Way and why Payakan was an outcast. Later, Tsireya told Lo'ak how proud she was of him for bonding with a tulkun. After witnessing Payakan's memories through Tsaheylu, Lo'ak defended Payakan to her, though she replied that by the Tulkun Way, Payakan bears the deaths. Tsireya insisted they try to convince Tonowari, but Lo'ak refused, saying neither of their fathers would understand them. Tsireya told Lo'ak "I see you" and insists that his bond with the tulkun makes him part of her clan. When her parents discovered the corpse of Roa killed by the Sky People, Tsireya was saddened by her death and also worried about the threat endangering her own spiritual sister. However, instead of warning her, she followed Lo'ak who went to Three Brothers Rocks to find Payakan to warn him about the tulkun assassins. Along with Aonung, Rotxo, Neteyam, Kiri, and Tuk, she helped to free Payakan of the tracking device that Mick Scoresby and his tulkun hunters use to mark their targets. However, she and the other children were spotted by the RDA. Lo'ak, Tsireya and Tuk were captured by a Mako sub using a net, which was lifted out of the sea by Quaritch's ikran and brought aboard the RDA carrier. She was handcuffed to the SeaDragon's railing.
When her parents and the warriors arrived to save them, Quaritch threatened to shoot the children if they attacked and only ordered Jake to surrender. Fortunately, Payakan attacked the ship, allowing Tsireya, Lo'ak and Tuk to be saved by Neteyam. Unfortunately, Neteyam was shot while escaping from the deck, while Tuktirey was recaptured while trying to save Kiri. Tsireya, Lo'ak, and Spider took Neteyam to a rocky island, where Jake and Neytiri soon arrived. Neteyam perished and Tsireya was saddened by the turn of events. She and Lo'ak stayed behind while Jake, Neytiri and Spider returned to save Tuk and Kiri, although Lo'ak disobeyed and followed the three, leaving Tsireya alone. When the whole family returned after the sinking, Tsireya hugged Lo'ak, who was still crying over Neteyam's death. Tsireya later attended Neteyam's funeral arranged shortly after, during which she was by her mother's side.
