𝐃𝐘𝐒𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀, lo'ak

4. ALLURE

𝐃𝐘𝐒𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀ᶠᵒᵘʳ

     THE COARSE GRAINS of beige sand sunk beneath the soles of her feet. The cool air entered her nose, and a canvas of buried microscopic seashells presented itself beneath her feet. The fine sand almost graced her ankles as she navigated her path across the seashore. Like all days in the Awa'atlu village──adolescents around her age often stayed at the seashore finding more fish to harvest, or perhaps training and swimming in the calm sea with their Ilu. While others trailed their footsteps against the dense sand with woven baskets of food on their head. Young children were running around the village with airy giggles escaping their lips.

     Despite the pale blue curtains having pastel clouds with fluorescent sunlight beaming before her, the crisp breeze engulfed her turquoise skin, and goosebumps began to appear on her arms. Her eyes wandered toward the site of her location. She lifted her slender fingers to stroke a loose curl behind her ear. Her teeth began grazing against her bottom lip. The young girl currently felt a sense of dread from not being present next to a certain boy.

     Let it be known, thoughts of Lo'ak seemed to brush A'kaia's mind──more than before, to which the girl almost wanted to ask Eywa to answer her prayers on why he always drifted into her thoughts. She's never experienced such a thing before, and the encounter with him that day only seemed to be all she could think about. It's been two days since A'kaia last saw him, and the last time they saw each other, it was that fight. She knew he must've not mentioned it to anybody because she hadn't heard from her father or the mere mention of Toruk Makto, about it. She figured it would be best to not say anything about it, and keep it silent.

     He understood her. He was the only one who didn't just watch it happen, he defended her even when he knew she could do it herself. She's become so desensitized by the verbal and physical abuse she received from the villagers, yet this boy could not condone it, and even went as far as to fight for her sake.

   Her thoughts were soon washed away once she arrived at the reef──the sight of a small girl greeted her with Tsireya by her side. "A'kaia! You're here," Tuk grinned at the older girl who approached them, and her smile was so contagious that A'kaia couldn't resist her own upon seeing hers. A'kaia waved at the girl in return with a casual smile and traveled her gaze to see the marine-blue sea creature present near them. She approached them as her figure emerged into the calm sea. Her feet applied pressure against the dense sand──and the water gradually began peaking to her legs as she eventually stood near the girls. The glass substance sat at the midst of her thighs, and she smiled when Tsireya handed Tuk a thin parchment of food for the Ilu.

     "Here, feed her," Tsireya instructed the girl with a generous smile.

     Tuk's arm reached her arm above the creature──her fingers lacing on the thin parchment before dropping it into the Ilu's mouth while light-hearted giggles spilled from Tuk's lips as she spoke. "I love her already," she expressed with a grin on her face, gently caressing the baby Ilu that cooed from her touch.

     Throughout the day, the Metkayina girls proceeded their lessons with Tuk and Kiri, guiding them on how to ride and teaching them the way of the sea, while the Sully brothers remained elsewhere. They helped the girls learn some sign language. Which they understood relatively fast for beginners, and Tuk was unexpectedly instantaneous at learning to ride the Ilu in contrast to her older brother. A'kaia only smiled at the mere reason.

     Tsireya couldn't help but glance at A'kaia from time to time during their lessons. There's been a question lingering on her mind for a while now, since the arrival of the new Na'vi family. She suspected that her sister was acting slightly differently. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she sensed a shift in her energy and noticed the way she's been more relaxed to articulate her voice more often. However, she brushed that thought──knowing A'kaia used her voice solely the reason being the Sully family had little to no knowledge of understanding sign language yet.