Yengwal te Teya Ayton
(Sorrowful nights)
It was all so surreal.
How could this happen?
Communally, we were sharing each others pain without realizing it. All of our wailing, crying, anger, and regret was being felt by those around us. Those who had the strength to, either hunted for food, or buried the dead. Our weak and elderly did their best to heal themselves and others while mothers tended to their children.
And like a watchful parent, an anxious parent, Tsu'tey oversaw it all. He looked haunted. Despite the circumstances, the weavers gathered what they could to make him a new neckpiece, his old one was passed to Ka'ani. Despite the pride he feels, and his prior shedding of his obligations, he has taken the mantle as no one else has challenged him or been appointed to be Olo'eyktan.
I wanted to talk to him, but I felt like I couldn't. Not that he'd said otherwise. He was busy, his whole world is on fire, his brother is dead. I can't imagine it.
Where do we go from here?
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We watched as the day went by and night came. He had to sleep.
I decided to take a small cave with a little privacy. I'm sure the Omatikaya don't want to see or talk to what was once an alien.
I put a tarp over the entrance and burned an incense- like plant to keep bugs out, and chose a warm spot to put my head down to rest. I used a similar material to the tarp to make a place to lay on. But even though the spot was warm, it wasn't warm enough.
I was frustrated with tossing and turning, when someone peeled the tarp back with unsure hands and sighed as they saw me.
"Kali, what are you doing away from the People?" He asked while rubbing his eyes, he sleepily brought over a soft blanket(loom-made), and put it over me.
"I thought no one would want to see me. I was an alien." I replied dryly.
"I want to see you, I know that much. I don't know how to lead these people. They listen, I just don't see them how Mo'at does." He said. He slipped under the blanket and opened his arms expectantly. I realized he wanted me in them.
"That's for her to know. It's a partnership." I mumbled and shimmied into his arms.
"I think I would be able to do this if it were with Neytiri or you. Mo'at is hard to read and I have too much respect for her to ask her any questions." He sighed and pulled me close to his chest.
"Have you told her yet?"
"No. Too soon. After all this."
"The Skypeople got what they wanted, they should leave us alone now." I said to reassure him.
He simply exhaled in response and fell asleep.
Mini chapter!🎉