Shooting Stars | Lo'ak¹

Prologue

"Yes, Tsahik," Ja'lia agreed.

Mo'at walked back over to her youngest grandchild and started to stroke her hair as it was something that had always helped Tuk to sleep when she was having trouble.

Everyone looked at each other, and wondered what they should talk about, "What are you guys doing tomorrow?" Ja'lia asked.

"I was thinking of going to see my Mom and Spider," Kiri informed, and Ja'lia felt her mood become slightly sour at the mention of the human boy. She then looked at Lo'ak and Neteyam to see what their plans were. "I have to train tomorrow," Neteyam shrugged.

"I don't have anything that I know of. I was thinking of going with Kiri," Lo'ak said.

"Can I go with you two?" Ja'lia asked, and both teens looked at each other before nodding their heads.

Once arrangements for what everyone was going to do the next day had been made, they all decided that they should try to get some sleep. Neteyam and Kiri went to their mattresses, while Ja'lia went over to sleep beside Lo'ak.

Most parents would tell two teenagers, especially ones of the opposite sex, that they weren't allowed to sleep next to each other, but Ja'lia and Lo'ak had been doing it for as long as they could remember. Oftentimes, when either one of them couldn't sleep, they would sneak into the other person's home so that they could sleep beside each other.

When Lo'ak finally laid down on his bed, Ja'lia quickly joined him as she placed her head on his chest, and listened to his steady heartbeat to fall asleep. She honestly dreaded the day that Lo'ak found a mate because then she wouldn't be allowed to do things like to sleep next to him anymore.

Ja'lia felt the slow rhythm of Lo'ak's chest, and that told her that he was already drifting to sleep. As she closed her eyes to welcome the darkness, she felt Lo'ak's arm protectively wrap around her, and that was the last thing she noticed before falling asleep.

~~~~

"Ja'lia!" A voice shouted. Ja'lia grumbled in her sleep, but she pushed the person's hands away, as she turned to move onto her side.

"Ja'lia! Get up! We have to go!" The voice shouted again, and something in Ja'lia's mind told her to open her eyes to see who was yelling at her. As she rolled onto her back, she saw Lo'ak's frantic expression as he pulled her up onto her feet once he noticed she was awake.

"What's going on?" She asked, groggily.

"The Sky people have returned. Parts of the forest are burning to the ground. We have to go, now!" Lo'ak said with urgency in his voice.

Lo'ak's words seemed to wake Ja'lia up as her eyes widened in shock. He roughly pulled her arm as she turned around to see a fire running rampant, heading right towards where they were currently. The boy called for his ikran and turned around to look at the girl he had been pulling with him.

"Get on!" He demanded.

"Have my parents come back?" Ja'lia asked, and Lo'ak hesitated with his response. "No," He whispered, and Ja'lia's eyes widened.

"I have to go find them," She said as she tried to pull her arm out of Lo'ak's grip.

"No," Lo'ak firmly shook his head, "I'm not going to lose you,"

"Well, I don't want to lose them. Please, Lo'ak," She pleaded, and Lo'ak was persistent in his refusal as he forcefully placed Ja'lia onto his ikrans back.