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Thing's seemed to be looking up for Ni'teya within the Metkayina clan; Roxto and Aonung were much nicer to her now, helping her make neckpieces and headpieces out of her shells, just as she wanted to do. She'd used her favourite shell to centre her headpiece, and she wore it practically everywhere. The crown came down onto her forehead, dangling and glistening as she walked.
Aonung complimented it, saying it suited her well.
She'd come to realize that when she'd look at her favourite shell underneath the water, it would shine ten times brighter than before, making her proud she'd found such a beautiful one compared to all the others - not to say the others weren't beautiful of course - and that she'd kept it safe all this time.
However, something that either pleased or displeased Ni'teya - she honestly couldn't decide which description was more accurate - was the fact that Lo'ak had left her alone completely since the incident. He never bickered with her, despite her making a few comments about how he was a slow swimmer, he never so much as even looked at her with unpleasant looks or scowls. In fact, Ni'teya started to question whether someone had swapped their soul with Lo'ak's, and the real Lo'ak was out there somewhere, huffing and puffing as he'd normally do.
.
The sun had just risen above the waves and Tsireya had suggested an outing to see their clan's most sacred place. Ni'teya and Kiri were more than happy, Kiri especially since she was the one who had the strongest connection to Eywa out of the two of them and even the whole Sully family. It worried Ni'teya sometimes, how Kiri would comment on how she could feel her breathing closely and say that it felt like she was right there.
The five of them met up with Tsireya, finding out that Aonung was going to be coming as well, which only Lo'ak seemed to mind. By now, everyone had bonded with their own Ilu, Tuk calling hers TukTwo, which made Ni'teya snicker everytime she heard her say it. Ni'teya didn't know what to name hers yet, so she held off on that activity for the time being.
Once everyone was strapped in, they set off, following Tsireya and Aonung closely from behind.
When Tsireya said that she believed the Spirit Tree to be the single most unbelievable sight to behold, she wasn't lying. Kiri couldn't hold herself back, she dove down almost immediately after spotting the tree, causing a congo-line to form behind her consisting of Ni'teya, Tuk and Tsireya to begin, shortly after adding Aonung, Neteyam and Lo'ak to the mix.
Kiri attached herself to it, as did Tuk, however Ni'teya held off on it.
She thought she'd let Kiri share her discoveries on her own this time, as she knew she'd been looking forward to this for a while (mainly due to the fact Kiri hadn't stopped talking about it since they arrived).
A few minutes had passed, and Kiri had not come out of her meditative state, which was strange since these visions didn't tend to last too long for anyone.
After a few more minutes, Ni'teya grew even more stressed and asked if she could try and wake Kiri up. Tsireya was almost able to suggest a way to help her, when Kiri began to shake uncontrollably in front of us. The immediate reaction from Ni'teya was to lift her body up to the surface, letting Tsireya and Neteyam aide her with it, as it wasn't an easy task.
Even though they had reached the surface, Kiri was still seizing and shaking, maybe even more by that point. Ni'teya began to push up Kiri's body high enough to get her onto her Ilu's back, however she wasn't successful the first time. When she tried again, Aonung yelled "Do you need help? Hey!" beside Ni'teya, asking her an impossible question. Ni'teya continued to struggle with lifting Kiri's body onto her unnamed Ilu without answering him, before watching as two darker blue hands came into focus from the other end of the Ilu, pulling Kiri's arms up and successfully getting her up safely.
With no time for gratitude, Ni'teya flung herself onto the Ilu, realizing that Kiri had stopped shaking and was now still, not moving any muscles.
The ride back felt too long for Ni'teya's comfort, that was the quickest she had ever rode her Ilu before however it still felt as if she was dragging along slowly due to the added weight.
The rest of the it was a blur to Ni'teya, she had passed Kiri to her Mother, allowing the clans's Tsahìk to attempt to contact Eywa for help. Ni'teya sat beside Kiri throughout the entirety of it, holding her hand even though hers was a shivering mess. Nothing was happening at first, Kiri didn't wake up for what seemed like forever before finally, a breath.
Kiri was okay.
Ni'teya reached forward to hug her as soon as she could see her stabilize herself, trying her best to not let Kiri witness her fear and upset eyes. She knew that if Kiri had seen her expression and picked up on her irregular breathing pattern, she'd most likely apologize for making her feel that way instead of focusing on her own wellbeing.
Neytiri felt safe enough to leave her ite with her eylan, patting Ni'teya on the back as she did, whispering a kind "Thank you, child."
(ite meaning: daughter)
"Kiri, come feel some fresh air, it will do you good." Tsireya suggested, appearing within the hut and kneeling down in front of Kiri even though the hug was still in progress. Ni'teya released her grip at the same time Kiri did, agreeing mentally that Kiri should go with Tsireya.
Ni'teya stayed sat in the same spot until both Kiri and Tsireya had left and they were out of both sight and noise range, allowing Ni'teya to let out one long shaky breath knowing she was alone, lifting her hands up to her face and leaving them there. She allowed her thoughts to wander, though there would have been no preventing them from doing so if she had wanted to, thinking the worst.
She thought about what would've happened if Kiri hadn't made it and what she would've thought of herself thereafter. She thought about the possibility of resentment, being blamed for Kiri's death by her family even, resulting in her inevitable return home to a forest which this time, had no Kiri in it. These thoughts deeply hurt Ni'teya, bringing salty tears to the rims of her now almost-shut eyes, attempting to stop them from falling as there would be no stopping them once they began.
She thought about the events that had occurred that day, remembering how Kiri was so excited to visit the Spirit Tree and attach to it, knowing that now she probably wouldn't be allowed to do that again in case of another incident like this.
Continuing her struggle to prevent her tears, she heard a rustle coming from behind her, turning her head quickly to catch the culprit and send them on their way. The last person on earth she had wanted to be greeted with was stood there with seemingly nothing to say except a few "Um"'s and "Uh-"'s upon glance of Ni'teya's wet eyes.
Lo'ak did know why he was there, and he had previously thought of what to say however he couldn't get the words out in that moment.
"Go away, Lo'ak!" Ni'teya demanded in a hushed tone, trying to make her shaky voice less obvious to the boy, deciding she'd like to keep her dignity if she could help it.
"Um, you dropped-" He began, before being met with an angrier pair of eyes this time, the shimmering rims obvious to him.
"Out." Ni'teya attempted once more, watching as he hesitated.
Lo'ak saw that there was no chance in getting his words out as he'd either stumble upon them or she'd cut them off with force anyway. He watched her ears dip further down, deciding he didn't want to be the cause of her rising pain as he knew she'd already gone through enough of it that morning. He nodded towards her, politely smiling softly before breaking the eye contact and leaving the hut without completing his task.
Ni'teya was now thinking about Lo'ak, which doubled therefore in suddenly remembering what he had done. He'd helped Kiri onto the Ilu, even though Ni'teya had not asked for his help. He simply understood that she wouldn't be able to ask for help herself, even though she needed it.
She couldn't figure out how he could've possibly understood this, however if he hadn't done what he did in that moment, it wouldn't taken them longer to get Kiri to safety, and Ni'teya was grateful. She realized soon after that she'd just pushed away the individual who she was feeling so grateful towards away however, swivelling her head around and attempting to locate him in case he hadn't gone too far.
"Lo'ak?" She called out, no answer. She was stood up now, tip-toeing the edge of the hut's entrance, scanning the platforms and the waters for any sign of him.
'Shoot, now I feel bad.' she thought.
Ni'teya was about to step out from inside the hut when a familiar Na'vi appeared to the other side of her.
Aonung was approaching, he looked like he normally did, quite smug in Ni'teya's eyes. He was holding a sort of bowl, with an array of fruits and nuts inside it, gesturing it out towards Ni'teya as soon as he got close enough. She shook her head, pushing it slightly back towards his chest, saying "I'm okay, thank you."
"You were brave today, you should reward yourself!" he suggested in a chuffed tone, yet again offering her something to eat.
Ni'teya found the concept of rewarding herself for keeping a rather uncool front up whilst also panicking like she'd never panicked before strange. Reluctantly though, she took a few pinky-purple berries out from the bowl, tasting them for the first time. They were surprisingly sour, leaving an odd tinge in her mouth long after which she found disgusting, making a mental note to never again eat the pinky-purple berries - or maybe to just not take food from Aonung again.
"You weren't hurt at all, were you?" he asks, taking a step towards Ni'teya and reaching his hand up towards her forehead as though warning her of what he was about to do. If you could count 'not being hurt' as breaking down just a few minutes ago then Ni'teya would say that she was not, in fact, hurt.
Spotting his hand, she flinched, taking a step back hindering Aonung to lower his hand quickly and awkwardly.
"No, no I'm all fine, I'm not hurt at all." Ni'teya responds, breaking the silence, which actually only allowed more silence to break through and reign victorious.
"Kiri says-" The boy began, before Ni'teya took his words as a quick escape route which she was about to take full advantage off.
"Yes! Kiri! I have to find Kiri, goodbye Aonung!" She hastily said, jumping down from the raised ledge her hut was on and jogging away from him, leaving him to scratch his head and eat the rest of his berries (which Ni'teya allowed, completely).
Proud of her release tactic, Ni'teya spotted Kiri quickly and raced to get over to her. She was sat next to Tsireya, watching the fish circle her feet in the water just as the two of them had done previously that week.
"Kiri!" Ni'teya called out, equalling a "Teya!" from her friend, allowing her to slot herself in between the two of them.
"What did my brother want? He wasn't bothering you was he? We saw him go over with a bowl and thought maybe he'd attempt to poison you." Tsireya joked, making Kiri giggle suddenly.
"Oh, no. He wanted to know if I was hurt, that's all." Ni'teya commented, watching as Tsireya made an odd face in the direction of Kiri, who yet again reacted with a laugh.
"What?" Ni'teya continued, wondering what was so funny about what she'd just said.
"Nothing!" the two of them chimed as though rehearsed, leaving Ni'teya even more dumbstruck than before.
She couldn't tell if the two of them had eaten something rotten and were feeling the side effects, or if they were thinking something impossible. Ni'teya really hoped it wasn't the latter.
"Okay...Well, anyway. Have either of you seen Lo'ak? I want to-" She began, changing the subject in hopes that they'd stop snickering at each other.
Another look was shared between the two of them, before Kiri responded: "Maybe he's gone to beat up Aonung for speaking to y-"
A stern "hey!" from behind them made them jump, Ni'teya included, turning to see Neteyam give both Kiri and Tsireya a look. They didn't laugh this time, only turned back to their original positions before sharing another 'oops' glance.
Ni'teya was more than done with the conversation and knowing that Kiri was in good company as well as strength, she allowed herself to leave and make herself some decent food. The berry-tinge was still lingering, to her dismay.
So, she acquired anything she thought she needed to whip up some mean fillet o' fish before heading out to the reefs. Having spent so much time in the forest finding her own means of food, she was already a natural at fishing, managing to grab the first one she saw and bring it back to the hut to cook.
Feeling rewarded, Ni'teya lay back down on her hammock, finishing the last of her meal before letting out another long breath, less shaky this time with the added reassurance of her friend's health.
She touched her beaded neckpiece, skimming the edges of the pearls and shells with her fingertips, moving her hand up to do the same to her headpiece.
She began at the outer edge, tracing her way into the middle where her favourite shell would lay.
But when she felt for it, she only felt a gap where it should've been.
.
.
.