𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 ˚𖦹° ᴀᴏɴᴜɴɢ x ᴏᴄ

Chapter 9.

"Tell him what you told me!"

My voice cuts clear through the night and my dad looks up, startled. He and Kiri are seated on a platform by the water, having some sort of serious conversation. I glance concernedly at Kiri, and she shakes her head. I'll tell you later.

I shake off my worry and curiousity and swing Aonung around. He pulls himself out of my grip, wincing as he tugs his queue from my tight fingers. He hesitates and I slap the back of his head, forcing him another step forward.

"Fine," I snap, as he continues to open and close his mouth. "He took Lo'ak outside the reef and left him there. He thought Lo'ak would have been back hours ago, and I haven't seen him since the morning. We went to look for him for nearly an hour just then, and he's definitely not here."

Dad sighs, wiping his face and standing. Kiri looks concerned now, and I grab her. Aonung leads dad off somewhere, and I make to follow, but Kiri's silence worries me. I sit her back down and hold her hand.

"Are you okay, Kiri. It's me. You can tell me anything."

"I am just so tired of being different, Akoya. Not just a forest freak or having these fingers."

She holds up our hands, four fingers and a thumb. I frown a little and look back from our hands to her face.

"Is it the voices?" I ask quietly, and she looks surprised. "I hear them too. I hear her, Kiri."

"Oh," Kiri sighs, and a broad smile stretches her face. "It's mighty, isn't it. She lives, Akoya. She's within us, and especially us. I don't know why. We'll figure it out, right? Why we're different? Where we came from? Our father?"

"Of course," I say reassuringly, but I stand slowly. "But first, we have to worry about our family here. Come on."

I pull her up, and together we dart after Dad and Aonung. The village has changed somewhat. Several skimwings are fluttering in the distance, no doubt looking for Lo'ak. Dad is nowhere to be seen, but I leave Kiri in the hut with our worried looking mom.

She calls after me, but I'm gone, twisting through the pathways to get to Aonung. I spot him at one edge, talking frantically with his parents.

"What are you doing?" I snap, after nodding respectfully to Ronal and Tonowari. "Where is he?"

"They're looking," Tonowari says tightly, swallowing his anger as he addresses me. "What happened to you?" he adds as he notices the bruises.

Ronal sweeps around me, swiping the blood from my lip and bringing it to sniff. She turns sharply to stare into the sky, then the reef, then deep into my eyes. There is something so unnerving about her stare, but I hold her gaze. Tonowari and Aonung are watching, glancing between us.

I can see her sense something, see the difference that Kiri and I share, before she finally turns away. A horn sounds and I see several skimwings approaching, slowing in front of a platform below. I am the first to hop down, pulling Lo'ak up and thanking the rider.

"Are you okay?" I turn him around before pulling him into a tight hug. I feel his arms snake around me as he leans in, exhaling quickly. Then we turn together to glare at Aonung before dad slides over and hurries to check his son.

Lo'ak makes to move furiously towards Aonung but I hold him back, staring just as fiercely at the Metkayinan boy.

"Hey, hey. Let's have a look at you, okay. He's fine. He's fine."

Aonung looks deeply guilty and slightly unnerved under the dual glare of me and my brother. Mom, Neteyam and Kiri part the crowd, yet only mom approaches, turning Lo'ak around before hissing furiously at him.

"I pray for the strength that I will not pluck the eyeballs out of my youngest son," she growls, and I gently step in front of him.

"No," Tonowari says, watching cautiously. "My son knows better than to take him outside the reef."

He places a hand on Aonung's neck and forces him down to crouch. I'm standing nearer their platform than I thought, so the kneeling Aonung is barely a foot from me. He raises his gaze to glance experimentally at me, and I hiss.

"The blame is his." At Tonowari's words, dad nods appreciatively, gesturing for us all to leave.

"No," Lo'ak says unexpectedly. "This is not Aonung's fault. This was my idea. Aonung tried to talk me out of it. Really."

I tilt my head, as Dad mutters for us to leave again. Tonowari stares disbelievingly down at Aonung, who looks puzzled and guiltier yet. Ronal gives a small shake of her head, the meaning unreadable. I don't follow, slipping aside to watch as his parents pull Aonung to his feet.

"Is this true?"

"Aonung, what were you thinking?"

Aonung meets my gaze, as though asking me what to do. I stare blankly back. He can only guess what is the right answer, and he chooses wrong.

"Yes, it's true."

I growl, shooting him a final glare before turning slowly and stalking after my family. I can hear Lo'ak's protests and I scowl deeper. Aonung's eyes follow my furiously retreatign back, and I feel them watching our family argue as we pause a little way away. 

"I don't want to hear it," my dad says finally, furiously. "You brought shame to this family."

The words are clear and raw, dripping with such venom I see Lo'ak wilt, though he fights it admirably. No one else seems to notice how deep it cuts him, and I hiss.

"Dad, Aonung did this! He admitted it! Why-"

"Akoya, enough," Dad says.

"No. Why are you always so determined to blame everything onto Lo'ak. Just because he isn't the perfect son, mighty warrior, all dutiful and meek, doesn't mean it's his fault. He is your son, treat him like it."

Neteyam and Kiri suck in sharp breaths. Mom tilts her head, and Dad is silent. His quiet is dangerous, and I brace myself sharply. But the shocked look on Lo'ak's face, the tiny appreciation and disbelief in my little brother's watering eyes makes it all okay. I would risk any groundings or chastening just to have that shock on his face that someone would stand up for him, that someone cares.

"Akoya te Suli Sorayì'ite, that's enough." The sharp stiffness to each syllable quivers with uncontainable anger. "You are the one that brought this all upon us. You put your brother in this position. You need to get your head in line. Stop acting so insane, because it doesn't make anyone like you more."

But my small happiness at Lo'ak's appreciation dwindles as my father's words sink in. I lower my gaze immediately, and I feel Lo'ak reach for me. I tense and shrink away from my brother's comforting and appreciative grasp and lower my gaze.

"Of course, sir," I say, turning. "I'll report back to you later."

I feel all five pairs of eyes on my back. I feel the ire and shock emanating from my family. 

"Akoya," someone says sadly, pleadingly, but I don't turn back. Everything is numb, or perhaps there are too many emotions flooding me, so many I simply can't feel anything physical. Yet I feel the pain wracking my soul. The whispers are roaring now, hissing through my mind. I'll never be enough.

~~~~~

Again, I'm trying to figure out a parent/child relationship more similar to Lo'ak's than anyone else. I want Lo'ak to have a figure to rely on besides Neteyam, someone who causes just as much trouble but will still take he blame, so Lo'ak doesn't feel any more inadequate. Sorry that this one's a little boring, the next part will be better :)