Shells | Lo'ak Sully

Part 6 - Missing

I could tell he was breathing, although he still wasn't fully awake.

"Idiot, idiot, idiot boy!" I said to myself, hutting him on the forehead, provoking no sign of movement still.

Why the hell was he all the way out here? And how the hell was he being allowed sanctuary by this Tulkun?

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(POV: Lo'ak)
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I could feel my body waking itself up, my fingers began to fidget and my eyes slowly opened up again, revealing the night sky, to which I calculated how long I'd been adrift knowing I'd been mercilessly left here around midday.

But I wasn't the only thing lying there. To my side, I found another Na'vi who I quickly recognized to be Ni'teya due to her tied up hair, which I noticed she'd only wear up if she was planning to do something reckless that day. Not that I tried to notice, of course.

I crept around to the other side of her, watching as she didn't move whatsoever. She was so, so still. Actually, she was too still. I stopped for a second, examining her just incase she was in fact moving around but I was too fidgety to notice it.

Oh my eywa. I've killed Ni'teya.

"F-" I whispered forcibly out of habit, shooting my hands up to my head and scratching it out of stress.

"She is going to murder me, oh my-"

Hold on, she can't murder me if she's dead!

I paced back and forth until I reached the end of the Tulkun's back, spacing out into the distance with my hands still glued to my head.

Kiri's gonna-

"What are you doing?"

A high-pitched yelp was violently fired out of me. I flung my arm around towards the noice, striking the culprit straight on the shoulder.

"Ow! What the hell Lo'ak!" She clutched her now sore shoulder, glaring up at me through her eyelids.

Ni'teya was in front of me, not dead. Actually, she was very much alive and now very much irritated.

An annoyed 'agh!' came out of me before I walked past her and back to the front of the Tulkun. "I thought I killed you,  skcawng!" I admitted, hearing a large explosion of laughter begin from behind me.

"You, kill me?" She continued her laughter, her eyes shut tight as the sheer intensity of it made her stomach hurt. "You're weird, Lo'ak." she could hardly get the words out by now, struggling through wheezes and tears caused by the remark I made which tickled her.

My attention was completely owned by her in that moment.

She wiped away a tear from the rims of her golden eyes, her laughter coming to an end with a final, "weird..." before breathing in deeply and exhaling thereafter. She didn't look at me at all, and I'm glad she didn't. I'm sure my face would make her call me weird once more.

Once she'd fully calmed down she started to step towards me, ordering me to "turn around for a second" which I complied to without thinking twice about what I was doing.

I felt a sudden touch to my lower back, making my breath hitch and my body to turn itself away so that it was facing hers again. "The hell? Chill, I'm just checking for injuries." She explains, tugging my arm so that I'd turn again. I stayed silent this time, trying my best to not flinch as she poked and tugged me, inspecting. I had no injuries, I knew I didn't; But she'd probably ignore me if I told her. I let her examine my back until she was pleased, letting her then turn me around to the side and then to the front.

She traced her fingers across a small scar on my collarbone, watching my reaction to see if I'd wince if she pressed too hard on it. It wasn't a new wound, I'd gotten this long before we left the Omaticaya clan, and so she left it be.

Finally, she took my head into her hands and tilted it either side in order to inspect it thoroughly, and once she did, she landed a perfect flick right between my two eyes, dead centred and dead hard. "Ow-" I rubbed where she'd assaulted me, stepping away from her as I did so.

"Tell me why you were out here Lo'ak." She all of a sudden demands, her tone much less nice and much more serious. I almost didn't want to tell her, only because I knew she'd laugh at me. She'd run and tell Kiri that I had blindly trusted Aunung and his crew, letting them leave me out here for fish-food. She'd call me weak again, or worse, make me admit it to her face.

"I was fishing." I lied through gritted teeth, looking away as I did so.

"Bullshit!" She slaps me on the forehead again.

"I was! I swear-" I tried once more, covering my head with one hand this time, the other creating a distance between the two of us as a sort of do not cross mark.

"Don't lie, as if you'd be out here fishing. Who brought you here?" She asked, hinting that this would be the final time she'd do so before resorting to violent tactics.

"Alright! Alright, fine! Just don't hit me again!" I plead, hoping she'll show me mercy.

"I'll tell you."

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