The Breath of Water | Neteyam

58 • One's Efforts

"How do you think you will fare?" questioned Masanai, her hands on her hips.

"Why do you ask? Am I performing horribly?" Neteyam wondered, worried about his abilities.

"...it is just...I do not know. You seem...distracted."

Oh. Nail on the head.

The situation last week with Liyanin, or rather, situations, had kind of taken a toll on Neteyam. Knowing that she would have to experience those things, it made him feel so useless. He loved her with all his heart, and wanted nothing more than to help her get rid of these problems, or at least find out why they happen in the first place. But he had no idea where to start. Instead, he had given her a few more dance lessons over the week, wanting to make sure she had what she wanted to do down since the time for her to perform it was only drawing closer. And really, his work ethic in his practices with Masanai had indeed been slipping.

He slumped down in the water, looking down at the sand. He sighed heavily as he closed his eyes. Masanai noticed his mood shift, and knelt down to meet his level.

"Neteyam, if there is ever a day you feel you cannot do something, just tell me. We do not have to continue this practice." She stated, but he shook his head in response.

"Taronsäwem is a week away. I cannot afford slacking off now. I do not want to let down my teammates."

"Do you know what would be worse?" She mentioned, her brow raising. Neteyam lifted his head a little, looking at her. "...if you burned yourself out completely before the games. That would completely let down your teammates."

He chuckled a little at this, knowing what she was saying was right. He would constantly do things, but give himself no time to rest. Masanai stared at his face for a while, then came to a conclusion. She stood up abruptly, making him whip his head up out of surprise.

"I am going to tell Liyanin about this."

His eyes now widened. He shot up, shaking his head quickly. "—No! Don't do that, please!" He begged.

Masanai grew shocked at his sudden exclamation, but stood her ground. "She seems to be the only one that can get you to do stuff and listen, so I am going to tell her."

Neteyam rushed up to her, then grabbed her hand. Which made her senses go all sorts out of whack.

"Please, Masanai. Don't tell her. She...she is dealing with enough right now." He restated. Masanai couldn't speak right away, his proximity to herself made her words get caught in her throat. But if she staggered for too long, he would think something was wrong with her.

"A-alright. I won't tell her. Only, if you go home right now and let us finish this practice tomorrow."

"...thanks." He said. She then told him that she would be going first, and waved bye. After she had left, Neteyam gazed at his hand, then back at her. He had a thought—a thought he prayed wasn't true—but soon let it go into the abyss of his mind.

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"So this year's players consist of Wekyu, Masanai, Yipentì, Duräley, Kaysitxi, Amilnay, Neteyam, Rotxo, and...Arut." Tonowari listed out, talking to his mate and eldest. They were deciding on how to split the teams now, since the game was supposed to take place the following week.

"I still cannot believe how many adults lost. Only Arut and Yipentì made it." Liyanin mentioned.

"Lots of youth out on the field this year. Feels...refreshing." He popped, laughing a little.

"Most are quite skilled on the field as well. This will be kind of difficult..." Ronal said to herself, her hand on her chin in thought.

"Do you have any suggestions, Liya?" Tonowari asked her. She dropped her head in thought, thinking of the best way to go about this. What she did know, is that she didn't want Neteyam with Na'vi he didn't know, since the teens can be quite rude sometimes. They would probably go against him on the field even though he was on their team. Wekyu showed some form of like towards Neteyam—heck, he even said he'd hoped they were on the same team. But she couldn't help but feel like that wouldn't be such a great idea.