Through The Valley • Ao'nung

Chapter XXXIV

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̶̶̶̶  «̶ ̶̶̶ ̶ «̶ ̶̶̶      Influenced Mentor        ̶»̶ ̶̶̶ ̶ »̶ ̶̶̶  

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At'anau jumped in the waters which held a strong current and held herself close to the rocky surface of the sides of the sea terraces. 

Many crevices of the material held a bundle of limpets which she collected using the skill she had been taught by the boy doing the same thing not too far away from her. 

They weren't using the well known animals that helped their breathing therefore often went up for air. The girl more than the boy who took note of it. 

Time passed as they continued trying to meet the demands asked with a second one put on their shoulders which the boy accepted to the girl's dismay. 

A storm was on its way, meaning they wouldn't have the entire time of the light of day and needed to double their time of work, but the surrounding reefs had been almost cleaned up making it difficult meeting demands. 

At'anau would often peak just on the edge of the reef, in between the entrance of two boulders dividing the wild tides with the reef, and would notice ideal spots for the limpet to store themselves. 

A mother-load would be stashed not too far from her she was sure of, but the principal of crossing the border was keeping her back. 

The two kids reached the surface again, At'anau to catch her breathe and Ao'nung to drop the collected shells. 

The two kids noticed the amount of workers on the terraces had been decreasing. The news of the storm coming calling them back to the island and the kids thought about having to leave soon as well before it reached the shore. 

"We should be going soon." Ao'nung stated, looking inside the basket at what they had caught and lacking satisfaction. 

At'anau looked out to the open sea which was still calm enough to work in and shook her head. "there's still hours left, let's go." the girl wanted to work as fast as possible as the finish line was visible, but far. 

Ao'nung was pessimistic about it, tilting his head and being in denial as At'anau caught it and tried coming up with another plan. 

Scavenging inside the reef would work if they weren't in a time limit and the girl's mind went back to the border separating it. 

"Outside the reef," At'anau began, but Ao'nung frowned, tilting his head before the girl's was even finished talking "you know the waters, right ?" she raised her voice as the boy turned his back towards her shaking his head vigorously. "you can tell when it's unsafe, when we need to go back." 

Ao'nung was inflicted by the way the girl still had breaking the rules in her head after getting in the most trouble possible and questioned her morals, but was intrigued as her plan insinuated she would put her trust in his claims of the water. 

At'anau took in the way he stayed quiet, not rejecting her plan and the longer it took for him to say no, the more she was going to take it as a yes. 

Ao'nung tilted his head in anticipation and grew nervous as time was scarce and the girl was waiting for his green light, the white shell around her neck bringing out the whites of her eyes. 

The boy sighed, making his way to the water which was enough for At'anau to dive back down and swim passed the borders. 

She felt the difference of the current an waited for the boy to join her as the turned to corner of the sea that turned steep.