Thanatophobia | Ao'nung

⋆˚✿˖°ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟠⋆˚✿˖°

Water encased Ni'la's body as she dove into the ocean to follow after the three Metkayina teens who were supposed to be training the Sully children. Much to Ni'la's dismay, Ao'nung ended up being one of the three teenagers who were training them today. She didn't understand why he was there, especially since he had made it perfectly clear that he didn't like any of them, including her.

The last thing any of them needed was a headache caused by their inevitable arguing, even though they had all promised to try and get along with Ao'nung. But it's not like the Sully children wanted to fight with Ao'nung, he just had an insufferable personality, and Ni'la was never one to shy away from telling someone she didn't like them because they were an asshole.

Fish grazed the girl's skin and she giggled at their delicate touch before swimming around the reef to explore. She saw that Ao'nung, Tsireya, and Rotxo were way ahead of them, but she paid them no mind as she explored the ocean. The cool water felt amazing against her warm skin.

Ni'la brushed her hands against the rough rocks underneath the water and smiled. It sort of reminded her of the way the bark scraped her feet back home. Eventually, her exploration of underwater came to an end because she saw her brothers swim up for air from the corner of her eye. Surprisingly, Ni'la didn't feel the need to swim up, but she would because her brothers were.

Once she was above the surface, she heard Neteyam and Lo'ak gasping for air. "How are you not out of breath?" Lo'ak questioned, and Ni'la shrugged, sticking her head just below the surface of the water to see Tsireya signaling something at her. None of the Sully children had any idea what she was saying until the Metkayina girl moved with her hand that signaled she wanted them to follow after her.

So, the Sully boys took a couple of deep breaths before going underwater while Ni'la simply dove under and began to make her way toward Tsireya. The girl was faster than her brothers, but she was also better at holding her breath because when she turned around to see if they were following after her, Ni'la saw they were already swimming back up.

Everyone knew it was going to be hard for them to learn the Metkayina ways because they were forest people, but Ni'la could tell by the look on Ao'nung's face that he wasn't happy with how terrible her brothers were doing.

The Omatikaya girl was the first to reach the surface, and Tsireya followed, "Are you alright?" She asked in concern.

"You're too fast! Wait for us!" Tuk whined, wiping the water off her face.

After a couple of seconds, Ao'nung finally joined the group, "You guys are not good divers," He smirked. "Maybe good at swinging through trees-" The boy was cut off as Tsireya hit his head.

"Why do you have to be such a dick?" Ni'la questioned, causing the boy to smile mockingly at her. "Does your mother know you talk like this?" Ao'nung said, and Ni'la rolled her eyes at his question.

"Come on, bro," Lo'ak scoffed, ignoring the bickering between Ni'la and Ao'nung.

"We don't speak this finger talk." Neteyam gestured with his fingers, "We don't understand what you're saying," He complained, frustration evident in his voice.

"I will teach you," Tsireya assured.

"Besides, it's not like you would do any better if the situations were reversed," Ni'la pointed out, but before Ao'nung could say something in his defense, Rotxo cut him off. "Where's Kiri?"

"Who?" Aonung asked, causing the Omatikaya children to roll their eyes. "Do you seriously not know who our sister is?" Ni'la questioned, wanting to know if he was serious or not.

"No, Ni'la, I don't know who your sister is. I can't even remember their names," He pointed to Lo'ak and Neteyam, causing the two boys to scoff. "So then why do you know her name?" Lo'ak pointed to his sister.