Shells | Lo'ak Sully

Part 12 - Boredom

Knowing now that she could do it, she walked out of the hut, slowly speeding up her pace and going to find a better spot for herself. As she was searching, she spotted a familiar dark blue Na'vi, which hindered the vision of her previous mission, causing her to divert off-route and going towards his direction instead.

"Lo'ak!" She called out, making him turn his head and react to seeing her with widened and shocked eyes. Before he could object to her being up and moving however, she walked towards him harshly and rather quickly, making him shut his eyes tightly as he recognised that walk as one that wouldn't end well for him.

He peeked one of his eyes open, checking she was actually still there as she hadn't said anything else, noticing her direct and determined expression.

"I'm going with you." She states as if fact, trying to sound threatening enough so that he'd have no choice but to let her come with him.

"I don't think you should-" he begins, before being whacked on one of his arms. Ni'teya tries again.
"Please!" She says, this time putting on a whiny and rather persuasive voice.

"Hey! You can't hit me anyone, remember?" He tells her, acting as if he'd been stabbed and not hit not at all hard enough.

Ni'teya was confused by this, she couldn't think back to any point in time where either someone had told her she wasn't allowed to hit Lo'ak anymore, or a time where she herself stated that she wasn't going to. It seems Lo'ak had taken their new-ish friendship as an indication that she wasn't going to be hostile towards him anymore somehow, thinking that because of the day before's events, she'd be nice to him.

If she could hear his thoughts about that, she'd laugh in his face.

"And why not?" Ni'teya speaks up, crossing her arms over her chest and tilting her head.

Taken aback, he realised that his assumptions were most painfully wrong. Lo'ak didn't answer her, instead he walks towards the edge of the platform where his ilu was patiently waiting.

"Don't ignore me, Lo'ak! I'm going too!" She demands of him, walking to catch up to him.

Visibly annoyed, he snaps himself around towards Ni'teya and tells her directly, "I won't let you come with me, you're not well enough!" he begins, "If you think you're coming then you're mistaken. You'll have to go through me first."

With that final statement, Ni'teya simply raises her eyebrows, not threatened at all by what he's said she'd have to do. A long, excruciating staring contest takes place, Ni'teya holding her own and making sure Lo'ak knows that she will get on that ilu. Also, that she'd have no issues in 'going through him first'.

Finally, he lets out an aggressive and frustrated grunt, accepting his fate.

Pleased, Ni'teya hops along to the edge of the platform, standing on the lowest point of it so that she wouldn't have to step too far to reach the ilu. Just as she was about to attempt to cross the bridge between land and sea, Lo'ak sped ahead on his ilu, laughing and pointing at her. "You really thought I'd let you?! My dad told me you weren't allowed to swim, dumbass!" He laughs even more, watching as she followed his ilu's movements around where she was stood.

With no other option, Ni'teya lifted her hand and flipped the boy off with her middle finger, clearly showing him her disapproval of his actions. In response, he lifts both of his hands up to his mouth, creating an extremely fake shocked expression, pretending to be insulted by her. Ni'teya rolled her eyes at that, turning around and walking back to her torture-hut that she was stuck to.

"Don't have too much fun while I'm gone!" He snickers to himself, only making Ni'teya want to hit him even more.

And so, Ni'teya was left to entertain herself, wondering how exactly she was going to do that.

She decided her first order of business would be to organise her things, as she wasn't always the tidiest person when it came down to it; She put her shells in colour-coded order in a small wooden box, laying next to them were her fixed headpiece and neckpiece. Having finished with that, Ni'teya went on to organising her other means of accessories, like satchels, different types of beads which included hair-beads used to tie her hair up as well as decorative beads that she'd wear around her neck, wrists and ankles sometimes. It did somewhat hurt to bend down after a while, however the pain was bearable.

When there was nothing left to pick up off of the floor, Ni'teya took a look at what she'd managed to a accomplish in the span of... an hour. It had only be an hour and Ni'teya was already bored out of her skull.

She soon realised that she was the only Na'vi left in the village, except for a few new mothers who'd recently had children, too young to be carried vast distances along the sea. This didn't mean anything to her at first but the cogs began to churn and turn within her mind thereafter. She'd realised that she was alone in the village which meant no one could stop her from leaving the hut, could they? Knowing this and not feeling as cautious as she probably should've been, Ni'teya headed towards the beach that she'd collect shells on, deciding that was a good past-time for her to immerse herself in.

And she did just that, walking up and down the stretch of sand with her head down, plucking the best looking shells from the grains and into her satchel to be used later. Though it wasn't the most exciting activity, Ni'teya still enjoyed it thoroughly.

Once her satchel was full, she decided she'd go back to the hut, empty it and resume her searching once she had more room. As she turned, her path was discovered to be blocked by a Na'vi. The same Na'vi that left her there to die of boredom.

Upon noticing him, not that that was a difficult task as he was literally two steps away from her, she turned back on herself and ignored him. Turns out he'd been following her for a while, waiting until she saw him. He did think about creeping up on her a few times however when remembering that he'd left her stranded that same day, he thought it wise to not do that.

As she walked away from the boy, she could feel him behind her matching her steps, following closely. After testing her theory for a little while longer, confirming that he hadn't left, she stopped her feet and turned suddenly, making him jump.
"Quit following me! Go back!" She nudges him with the tips of her fingers, watching as he didn't obey her and stayed put.

"Lo'ak, don't be annoying, go! I'm perfectly happy on my own." She tells him directly, lifting her head up in an authoritative kind of way, showing her confidence in her statement.

"You're not in the hut, though. Aren't you supposed to stay there?" He interrogates correctly.

"No-" she attempts first of all, however she goes back on herself knowing he was right. "Well, yes, but is there really a difference in walking around in there than out here? I'm not exactly doing anything dangerous." Ni'teya states, showing Lo'ak some her shells as proof of what she was doing.

"Us Sully's don't take injuries lightly. Now, come on, I'm taking you back." Lo'ak tells her, reaching for her forearm and beginning to tug her to follow him to the hut.

As his grip was so strong on her, she quickly devises a plan which was foolproof, plus, Ni'teya was still bored.

"Ow, ow-" she whines, acting as if he'd hurt her somehow. She's immediately met with a concerned Lo'ak, who's already turned to check what was causing Ni'teya pain. His eyes intense and his grip stronger, not thinking that maybe that was the reason she was hurting. Not able to play along further, she breaks down into a laughing fit, pointing at him just like he did earlier that day on his ilu.

"Ha! That was for- leaving me!" She struggles to say through her cackles, "Your face- Ha!" she continues, showing no signs of stopping. Lo'ak wasn't amused, he'd let out an agh! sound which was followed by him pulling his arm away from hers in annoyance, embarrassed that she'd fooled him and evoked such a reaction out of him.

Lo'ak then walked away from the laughing girl, not wanting to be ridiculed any further, leaving Ni'teya yet again to fuel her own entertainment. Only this time, he'd given her plently of it to last an afternoon.

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