Shells | Lo'ak Sully

Part 18: Distrust

At first glance, they guessed it was some abnormally short Sky-Person, a guard of some sort, coming to send them off on their way or worse. They weren't far off, however the Sky-Person in question was none other than their friend. That they hadn't quite anticipated.

"You guys shouldn't be here!" He whispered once he'd gotten close enough to them.

Due to his unexpected show of face the three of them had already come to a halt beside each other. Confused, almost angry, Kiri stepped forward to speak.

"Spider, you—"

"Go back!" He immediately cut her across without waiting even a second. Kiri looked even more confused. "Go, now! They already know you're here, please!" He pushed his arms forward as a signal to leave however none of them budged.

Lo'ak didn't care who was in front of him; He didn't care about what Spider had to say, nor did he respect his efforts of trying to keep them out of danger. He'd grounded that right in Lo'ak's eyes. To him, Spider was a contributing force to Ni'teya's suffering. To him, Spider was no longer a friend, but a traitor.

"Who's to say you didn't tell them yourself?" Lo'ak spoke in a calm yet interrogative manner, causing Spider to visibly grow uncomfortable.

He breathed inward rather loudly before he spoke. "Just leave! He'll—"

Before the boy had a chance to convince anyone - not that he would've succeeded - a different figure emerged from the doorway.

Lo'ak was suddenly a lot less calm.

"Well, well. Got yourself a little army, huh?" A low voice spoke, a familiar one to all three of them, Lo'ak especially. Despite their unified reaction of anger, they soon realized he wasn't speaking to them.

Three more people stepped out from within the ship. Two of them were tall, one short. As they walked, the shorter one was being led by some kind of handle, however upon closer visibility, Lo'ak, Kiri and Ao'nung were able to see that they were being led by handcuffs. What they noticed first however much outweighed that factor.

They all saw, they all knew that it was Ni'teya.

Kiri let out a rasped gasp, bringing her hands close to her face as she shrieked the name of her friend. Lo'ak didn't waste much time either as he started pacing forwards rapidly, being forcibly stopped by Ao'nung after only a few meters. Lo'ak didn't even protest, he just tried to get by, staring, not taking his eyes away from what he was witnessing. Somehow, he couldn't bring himself to call for her.

Quaritch brought his arms out from his side as he chanted: "I'm so glad you're here!", smiling much too widely.
"I did think we were overdue for a small chat, don't you agree?" He asked innocently, specifically looking towards Lo'ak, who was still being held back by Ao'nung.
"I believe... If I'm not mistaken, that you owe me a favour."

"No." Lo'ak was quick to answer him.

"No?" Quaritch stepped forward a few times.

"No, I don't owe you anything."

The man pretended to think, peering back at the girl he'd dragged out with him. — "I wouldn't be so sure of that, son."

Lo'ak lunged forwards suddenly at the sound of his words, making Ao'nung need to try twice as hard to hold him back.

"I recall... Letting you go free, no?" He continued, yet again looking back at Ni'teya.

She was looking down, straight down and only down, her hands held behind her back and her shoulders slouched to her sides.

"That could've been you!" Quaritch laughed, pointing at her as he smiled over at Lo'ak.

He did not like that one bit; The boy tried once again to charge at the man.

"It confuses me almost..." Quaritch wasn't done, he carried on digging into Lo'ak's every irritation, making his anger worsen. — "...Why you're so hurt by her suffering."

That time, Lo'ak got himself out of Ao'nung's grip.

As he ran, bolted, towards Quaritch, the man reached behind him, speaking as he did so, slowly.

"Oh... could it be..." He said, revealing the item he had in his hand.

He then placed it to Ni'teya's head.

.
.
.

Wattpad wouldn't let me upload for TWO DAYS.

Error 404 moment lol