Worlds Apart: Volume I

The During: Breath

"Breathe in and exhale," Tsireya instructed all of them. Ney'ite closed her eyes and did the best she could do follow the girl's instructions. "Imagine breathing into a flame. You must slow your heartbeat." Ney'ite focused on her heart. It was beating against her chest. It seemed so loud and fast. She focused on slowing down her heart.

"Breathe in." Ney'ite opened her eyes as she breathed in. "Breathe all the way down here." Tsireya pointed to her stomach. Ney'ite continued to breath in and imagined all the air she was breathing was going straight to her stomach. She pretended that she was trying to fill her lungs in their entirety. "And exhale slowly." Ney'ite followed Tsireya's instructions. The air slowly left her body. She did her best to just focus on the simple task of breathing. This would be the way she would survive in this new world.

"Lo'ak, your heart is beating fast," Tsireya said as she put her hand on Lo'ak's chest. "Try to concentrate."

"Sorry," Lo'ak said.

Ney'ite bit back a smile as she looked at Neyetam. He was doing the same thing. She looked over at Roxto and saw that he was doing the same as well. It was good to know that everyone else also saw that Lo'ak had a crush on Tsireya. She wondered when either of them would realize it.

"Breathe in and exhale," Tsireya instructed them. "Empty your mind."

Ney'ite did just that. She closed her eyes once more and blocked out the noise of the world around her. She turned all her thoughts inwards. That was the only thing that mattered. She focused on breathing in slowly. The air was entering her lungs. Once her lungs were full, she exhaled slowly. She imagined she was drawing her bow. She was pulling back and preparing for the moment of release. All she could do was breath in and prepare.

Ney'ite continued this pattern completely unaware of the world around her. As she continued to breath in and breath out, she held her breaths for longer and longer periods of time in between. It was gradual and slow and she knew that she was nowhere near the expertise of the Metkayinas, but she was getting there.

She opened her eyes when she felt a hand on her shoulder. It had to be one of her siblings. There wasn't the rudder like extensions of the forearm of the Metkayinas. She looked over her shoulder and saw Neyetam standing over her.

"We're going in the water," Neyetam said. "It's time to see if all they've been teaching us has stuck."

Ney'ite simply nodded as she got up and followed the others. She didn't say anything. She focused on her breathing over saying anything. She knew that it would be best if she continued to focus on this. Everyone began diving into the water. Ney'ite paused for a moment. She took a deep breath in. Then, as if she was leaping from the branches of a tree, she jumped into the water.

Ney'ite swam forward in this new underwater world. She tried her best to swim as fast as Tsireya and the others, but she didn't let it be her main objective. If she tried to push herself too far too fast, she knew she would fail. Ney'ite focused on the feeling in her chest. If she felt like her test was tightening or on fire, she knew it was time to go back up to the surface. She smiled as she watched her siblings thrive in the water. They swam faster than her to reach an ilu. An ilu came up Ney'ite. Ney'ite grabbed onto the saddle and made tsahelyu. She asked the ilu to carry her forward. As her siblings, bar Kiri, swam up to the surface, Ney'ite swam besides Tsireya, Roxto, and Aunong.

Tsireya smiled as she swam besides her. Roxto was signing to show that she was doing a good job. Even Aunong looked impressed with her new found abilities. Ney'ite was one with her ilu as they all but danced around underwater. Ney'ite resisted the urge to laugh. It was freeing in a way that she couldn't believe. Being under the water didn't make her feel trapped like she thought it would. Instead, it was like being back in the forest.

Then, Ney'ite felt the fire in her chest. Ney'ite looked up to the surface. The sun and the world above seemed so far away, and yet she knew it was so close. Ney'ite was tempted to stay under the water for just a little longer. The fire grew brighter and burned hotter. Ney'ite asked the ilu to bring her back to the surface. Ney'ite broke the surface and took a deep breath. She looked around and saw that Tuk and Lo'ak were diving back down to the world below. Kiri was coming up for the first time. Neyetam looked to be waiting for his sisters.

"How are the two of you doing?" Kiri asked as she looked between the twins.

"Not too bad," Ney'ite said with a smile. "I never thought that I would enjoy the water so much. It's not home, but it's something new."

"I think we're getting there," Neyetam said. "I think Dad will be happy with all the progress we've made."

Ney'ite didn't say anything to that. Instead, she took another deep breath and dived back down into the water.

The worry of war and her past pain seemed to melt away when she was under the water. Ney'ite was so thankful for the reprieve that the water gave her. She didn't know if this would ever truly feel like her home, but she could feel safe. The ilu gracefully swam under the water and brought Ney'ite back in stride with the others. She swam underneath Tuk and Lo'ak. They looked down and waved at her. Ney'ite smiled and waved back. She kept moving through the water and swam besides their young teachers. Ney'ite swam next to Aunong. The boy nodded at her as she swam. Ney'ite looked forward and beckoned him forward. She asked her to push forward faster and faster. She looked over her shoulder at Aunong with a smirk. Aunong returned in like. He started to race after her. Ney'ite smiled and turned back forward. She raced forward with no chance of looking back.

Ney'ite tried to ignore the feeling in her chest. She knew that the ilu was doing the brunt of the work for her, but she had been under the water for longer than she had ever been been. She conceded that she would lose the race rather than losing consciousness. She broke through the surface and took another deep breath. It seemed like the sun was getting ready to hide away. The eclipse was close. She looked back and saw Neyetam, the rest of her siblings, Tsireya, and Roxto sitting on their ilus. She looked forward and saw Aunong's ilu taking him closer to her.

"Thought you could beat me," Aunong teased her.

"I thought I would give it a try," Ney'ite said with confidence. "It will make my eventual victory over you that much sweeter."

"You are too confident for a forest girl," Aunong said as they started to head back to the others on their ilus.

"Being mild gets you nowhere in this world," Ney'ite said. "I would rather take my chances with being bold."

"Got yourself into a race that you thought you could win?" Neyetam said as Ney'ite and Aunong finally rejoined the group.

"You know I had to," Ney'ite said. "Where is the fun if there's not a race every now and again."

"That attitude has left you sulking many a time," Kiri teased. "How many times did Neyetam and the others beat you in a race?"

"And how many times did I beat them at other things," Ney'ite said. She didn't want to think about the others. It did her no good anymore.

"What's for dinner tonight?" Tuk asked. Ney'ite was grateful for her little sister for changing the topic.

"We're pretty much having the same thing as last night," Tsireya said. "There's not a lot of vareity in diet around here."

"It's the same in the forest," Lo'ak said. "Only difference is that we have a lot more fruit." Lo'ak looked up to the sky and sighed. "Fruit. I'm going to miss going and getting fruit from the forest."

"You're telling me," Kiri said. "That sounds amazing."

"Already wanting to go back to the forest?" Aunong said as he looked at them.

"Just remembering the simple things from home," Neyetam tried to direct the conversation away from that. "Didn't think that there was anything wrong with that."

Aunong didn't say anything. He held up his free hand to show that he would back off from the topic of conversation at hand.

"So, dinner and then sleep," Roxto said.

"You, my friend, have piqued my interest," Ney'ite laughed. "That is one of the best ways to end the day."

"What are we going to do tomorrow?" Neyetam asked.

Tsireya thought for a moment, "I don't know." She smiled at all of them. "I guess we'll jsut figure it out tomorrow."