~~~Superstes~~~UNDERGOING MAJOR EDITING

Awa'atlu gathering.

"See what happens when you fail?"  A voice told him.

Neteyam woke up in a cold sweat. With uncertainty and fear ebbing at his insides, he sat up groggily. His mother was sitting near the entrance of their pod, braiding Tuk's hair. Even though she was far away from the small section of the marui where Neteyam was, she looked at her eldest anyway. "Good morning, Neteyam." she purred. 

Swallowing the memories and oddities of the dream, he greeted her with the same gentleness. But it was hard to act lik nothing had happened when all his body was telling him to do was panic."Morning, Ma." 

Lo'ak, as always, was aggravating their father. Dad was trying to hang up the fishing nets on the wall while Lo'ak had decided to goof around, trying to distract him. He shook his body and wiggled his arms, doing a step-by-step dance Dad taught them when they were little. Dad rolled his eyes and ignored his son, and Neteyam knew he had to be regretting teaching his boys that dance. 

Finally, after about five minutes, Dad whipped around and started doing the same dance, letting the nets fall to the floor. Lo'ak immediately busted out laughing, copying the moves that Dad preformed on his lanky legs. Tuk let out a laugh from deep inside her belly. "Go, Daddy!" she cheered.

Dad spun around on the balls of his feet, "How do you like that, Lo'ak? Huh?" 

"Dad!" Lo'ak complained, unable to keep up with his father in the muscle memory department. "That is not fair!"

Jake laughed, "Yes, it is!" 

They continue dancing until Dad's gaze landed past Lo'ak and he stopped in his tracks, holding his hands out. 

Neteyam looked behind his shoulder to see that Fey'atsi had emerged from her slumber and was staring at Jake, her hand covering her mouth as if she was trying not to laugh at him. Her smile seemed to be contagious, and Neteyam was grinning like an idiot.  

 Dad playfully shoved Lo'ak's face away and shook his head in disappointment, before turning back to his tasks. 

Feya simply snickered, "I never thought I would see Toruk Makto dancing." 

 "Does this mean I win?" Lo'ak exclaimed. 

"Yeah, you win. Go parade that around the village." 

Neteyam's mother tipped her head back and laughed again. "Oh, MaJake. You are still a skxawng. You'll regret telling him that, we have the party tonight." 

"What party?" Tuk asked, "Is it someone's birthday?"

Mom regained her composure, "No, Tuk. Awa'atlu throws a big gathering every mid-season of every year, an event where the villagers become closer and learn more about each other. There is dancing--" she eyed Dad and grinned, "games, food, things that you all can do." 

Tuk clapped her hands together, "Yes, I love games!"

"It'll be fun," Dad added, "and I signed you all up to help decorate." 

The kids all collectively grumbled, but that didn't sound so bad to Neteyam. He'd always liked decorating, especially for the Omaticayan rituals and gatherings, where everyone came together and had fun late into the night, where they watched the stars and plants flourish and glow.  

Fey'atsi crawled over and sat down next to Neteyam, an eager smile across her face. Her tail waved behind her and her giant eyes were bright, enthusiastic over the upcoming day. She held a strand of her tangled hair between her fingers, "Do you mind helping me?" 

It took a couple seconds for Neteyam to realize she was asking him to braid her hair. He wasn't that surprised, though, considering how much time together they'd spent together during his recovery at High Camp, but braiding Feya's hair in front of his whole family would fuel his siblings (especially Lo'ak's) reasons to tease him. But then again, when did Neteyam ever let his sibling's jokes stop him? He was the oldest brother--he called the shots.