Counting Stars - Aonung x Neteyam

Part 1

He thought a lot about his tired face and red eyes when he went to sleep that night. He felt bad for him, but mostly he felt that he should do more for his well-being. Something completely illogical since the boy wasn't bad because of him. Without saying much, he sat down next to him and dipped his feet in the water as well.

His sister Kiri, the strange girl, was not far away. After everything that happened when the people from the sky came to kill them, nobody bothered her anymore. On the contrary, the people of the tribe had begun to hear rumors that Eywa favored her so they favored her too. Sometimes she would wake up with baskets of ripe fruit next to her capsule or people would give her random gifts when they saw her.

She didn't seem to mind, she always said thank you and smiled. She still didn't get along that well with him and his brother, but overall, they had mutual courtesy, which is more than he could have said a month ago.

- What do you think? - Neteyam whispered, pointing to the couple who were still laughing and filling each other with paint a few feet away from them. He grunted.

- I don't understand that stupid habit. - I answered shaking my head. - Why do you need so much paint? - I finished shaking my head. Neteyam laughed beside me.

- Tonight, Lo'ak will become an adult. The paintings showed him as a boy before, but from tonight he will be considered a man. With all the responsibilities that come with it. If we were still in the forest, we would paint each other every day, the change is more noticeable. Here we will do the ceremony only. - his voice trailed off and his eyes wandered away in thought.

I could guess what he was thinking. Since they had arrived, I had not stopped thinking about what would become of me if I had to do what they were doing. Flying thousands of miles away from my home to run away from murderers. I didn't understand it before, when I didn't know the demons in the sky. When I hadn't seen their cruelty and the way the Sully's protected their family. I knew that if my father had been in their situation, he would have done the same thing. He would have killed, burned and destroyed anyone who would harm his family. I understood him more than I would ever be able to say out loud. I looked at him again and his gaze was still distant. I didn't say anything for a while.

- Is it part of the ritual that my sister has to paint him? - I mumbled, looking away. It had been so long that my feet were starting to numb. He laughed again and shook his head.

- Surely Lo'ak has told him, but in our tribe that is the job of all eligible women. They paint the child for the last time since it will be one of her who ends up marrying the man he becomes. - He gives me a sidelong glance with a shrug of his shoulders.

- Then it's more serious than we thought. - I replied, looking at him.

- I don't know how serious you thought it was, but anything that makes my brother happy is something that deserves to be respected and protected. - He looked back at me, this time a little more seriously.

I wouldn't say anything to him, but I understood what he meant. I had never seen my sister so happy; she smiled every time she got up and did everything with renewed energy. She hardly ever argued and her eyes seemed to shine brighter than ever. The first time I had seen her cry was when she saw Lo'ak hurt when we returned from saving them. I hoped it would be the last, that week had been a nightmare. I had never seen her so angry. I couldn't even think about what would have happened if the boy hadn't come back alive. I would never have forgiven myself. And for some reason I didn't understand it hurt me more that the boy next to me would never have forgiven me either.

- If it's because of age, that means you've already passed the ceremony. - I kept talking, changing the subject. He shook his head and his expression became relaxed again.