Don't blame me - Neteyam

Chapter 7

Pandora forest

Deep forest

Lei'la and Neteyam had been flying over for almost 12 hours, searching for the perfect place to set up their camp for the next month or so. Lei'la leaned forward, tiredly resting her head on her Ikran's neck. Her ikran let out a small snort, waking the girl up. "I'm fine," she mumbled, sleepily stroking Tìreyä.
After another few hours, Neteyam signalled for them to descend to the forest to set up camp. Lei'la let out a relieved sigh as the sky above them began to darken, signalling the start of eclipse. They landed their Ikrans immediately, beginning to unpack their gear for the hunt ahead.
The pair worked in silence; the only noise was the forest and the quiet humming of Lei'la's song chord.

Neteyam listened to her soft voice, opting to let her sing. She looked over at Neteyam, immediately shutting up. "Sorry," she mumbled.
Lei'la moved further away from him, turning her back to him as she continued to tie the knots, building their tent.

"Lei'la," he started, but she quickly dropped her rope.

"Don't Neteyam" she said "We don't need to talk or pretend to get alone; let's get this over with".

"Fine," he grumbled, turning away from her and continuing to set up his side of the camp. Eclsipe was fully upon them, covering the skies of Pandora in shades of deep blue, with the only colour coming from the small fire in their camp that kept them warm. Lei'la sat by the fire, her knees pulled to her chest as she stared at the flickering flames. Her mind was blank. She couldn't think about how her father had forced her onto this stupid hunt or that she was stuck with the one person she hated more than anything. She put her chin on her knees, sighing softly and closing her eyes.

On the other side of the fire, Neteyam sat resting back on his elbows as he stared into the fire, his mind so active he could barely keep up. He was worried for his younger siblings, which he had left; he was worried for his clan; and he was worried for his parents, who had to cope without him. It was all too much for him to handle. Not once had he been without responsibility in his eighteen years, and he absolutely hated it. Neteyam sighed, looking up at the stars. He always found comfort in the stars.

"Please stop sighing like a lost Palulukan," Lei'la almost shouted from across the fire, looking at Neteyam, the fire making her eyes a deeper shade of amber.

"Excuse me," he said, looking over at her, extremely offended. He raised his eyes.

"Stop sighing like that," she repeated. "Are you deaf?" she asked, tilting her head.

Neteyam said nothing; he just shook his head in disbelief. He couldn't do this for a whole month. He gave Lei'la one final look before he headed for his tent for the night; he didn't give her a final glance or a goodnight. Nothing.

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The same routine happened for the next week; they would spend the day hunting or building new weapons to hunt with. Then every night was the same: Lei'la would cook some of the food they hunted while Neteyam prepared their gear for the next day. They sat around the fire in silence, eating, then went to bed in silence. No words were exchanged; there were no snarky comments. Nothing.

This particular night, Lei'la was feeling especially homesick; she couldn't stop thinking about her siblings; she had never been apart from them this long since the moment they were both born. Like always, she was curled up by the fire, her chin resting on her knees, her eyes trained on the flickering fire. Her tail was wrapped firmly around her waist. She looked like a lost child trying to hide from the world.
"What is wrong?"