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(POV: Lo'ak)
Why is it she's always not where she's supposed to be at any given moment?
I couldn't find her all day, yet there she was with my sister, claiming to have seen the Sky-People. I began to think that Kiri should've known better than to let Ni'teya go with her, but hearing those words in my head made me realise that Ni'teya had probably not given Kiri a choice.
I had successfully kept her out of trouble for the past few days, even knowing that she didn't want to be stuck with me throughout the entirety of it, and the second she got the chance to, she ran and hid.
And now, the thing that I'd precisely wanted to avoid had taken place.
I watched her as she told my sister something, pointing over at the trees behind our hut before she went on her way towards them. Naturally, I followed her, wanting to check for additional wounds or anything, really.
The air that night was crisper than usual, the sky was darker too, resulting in a much darker forest.
When I had caught up to her, she was sat in the middle of the trees, fiddling with leaves, pieces of wood and bamboo, stems, even thorns.
"What are you doing?" I ask her, giving her a chance to explain herself. She froze in place for a second, not expecting to hear a voice behind her. That, or she'd just been caught doing something she wasn't technically supposed to be doing.
"You startled me." Ni'teya stated coldly before pursuing her previous antics.
I stepped around and in front of her, trying to make out what she had between her hands. Almost instantly, I recognized the half-moon shape to be that of a bow's belly, quickly scrambling for thoughts on what in Eywa's name she was doing holding it.
"Why do you have that?" I look to check her expression, which was concentrated and flat. I didn't know whether she was ignoring me or if she simply didn't process what I'd asked her, but either way, I needed her to answer me.
I sat down in front of her, trying my best to make her look at me, which she refused to do for some reason. Her hands raced to tie a knot, moving too quick to actually be able to tie it properly, meaning that it came undone as soon as she let it go. This provoked a frustrated sigh from her, throwing the stem that hadn't done what she'd wanted it to her side, picking up a new one and proceeding to do the same thing.
"Hey." I stepped in, knowing she wasn't thinking straight and needed to calm her mind down. I reached for the bow as well as her hand that was clutching it, took it into mine and gently lifted it off, taking the bow away from her and away from her eyeline. She sighed again, this time allowing herself to look straight at me, her eyes empty.
"What's wrong this time?" I tried to lighten the mood, chuckling a bit as I spoke, failing to make her smile too. I then reached forward, using my fingers to touch the beads that were hanging from her neck, averting my gaze for a while in hope that maybe she'd speak then.
I could feel a strong stare continue to hit me and soon after, I heard her voice. "What are you thinking, Lo'ak?" She whispers, so quiet and quick that if I hadn't been paying attention to her, then I'd have missed it completely.
I didn't know what she meant, but I answered her anyway, still admiring her beads. "I'm asking myself why you're making weapons." I spoke in the same hushed tone as she did, attempting to match her energy as to make her more comfortable.
"And, I'm thinking... You probably have a reason, so, why don't you tell me?" I tried, letting go of her beaded neckpieces and moving my look back onto her face.
She looked at me, her ears lowering every time she'd take a breath, furrowing her brows at the same time.
"I'm scared." She simply says to me, holding her gaze.
"Of what?"
"Of what's going to happen. To the clan, to your family." Now, she had a few cracks in her voice, showing more emotion to my relief.
"You don't need to worry about that, Ni'teya. And you certainly don't need all of these things." I tell her truthfully, turning my head and pointing towards all of the thing's she'd crafted so quickly, now realizing the sheer number of them.
She shook her head, "I do! What if I have to save you again, you always need saving Lo'ak, you-" she tried to laugh and pretend to make a joke, however I saw straight through her. She was telling me what she was really scared of, and thus what the purpose of the weapons were.
"I'll be fine, don't worry about me. If you want, I'll swear to you right here and now." I began my speech, picking up her left hand and intertwining my smallest finger on my right with hers, showing her I was making a promise. "I will not leave your side, I will not run and I will not hide, I'll keep you safe if you swear to stay by mine, too." I said, meaning every word.
A real giggle came from Ni'teya thereafter, finally showing her small smile.
"Do you swear it?" I ask, prompting her to answer truthfully.
"I swear it."
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(POV: Narrator)
It was Ni'teya's turn to hold Lo'ak hostage.
He allowed her to continue her crafting until she was satisfied, if that was what made her feel safe.
Eventually, they returned to the hut before it was too dark out, keeping Ni'teya's weapons safe under some leaves and twigs out in the jungle in a place she could easily locate, upon her request.
It was discovered that Jake had managed to keep the Metkayina clan from attacking the Sky-People just yet, as they'd planned to do so due to news of a Tulkun that had been killed. Upon hearing this, Lo'ak's face fell, instantly asking a series of questions involving mostly the location of the Tulkun.
His dad told him he didn't know exactly, just that a small pod of Tulkun came up close to the reef's edge, telling their Spirit-Sisters and Brothers that a member had been killed.
Ni'teya could tell this bothered Lo'ak, so much so that he didn't respond to his dad when he'd usually ask him another few questions. She tapped his arm as if to ask if he was alright, knowing his first instinct would be to go out after his Tulkun.
Feeling her small tap, he turned and smiled a small smile at her, providing her with little reassurance. Because of this, she made up her mind to grab his wrist, that way if he did decide to leave then she'd know about it.
Nearing the time for everyone to go to sleep for the night, Ni'teya started to think about how she could prevent him from leaving during the night, as they had to sleep in separate huts. If she asked either Jake or Neytiri to swap hammocks, she'd seem far too strange for her own liking so she ruled that off of the list. Deciding on her best option, she let go of Lo'ak and headed in Neteyam's direction.
He was pottering around with some cups when she tapped his shoulder, irking a familiar, "Oh! Ni'teya!" from him as he'd usually do that always came with his cheesy smile.
"Can I ask you a favour?" She sways back and forth in her step, clasping both of her hands together in front of her, obviously cautious.
"Go ahead, anything." He nodded at her, giving her his full attention so that she'd know he was listening.
"Can you do your best to make sure Lo'ak doesn't run off? Like, anywhere? Don't even let him 'grab some water' or 'go to the bathroom'!" Ni'teya asks of him, mimicking his brother's voice as she suggesting things he might come out with in hopes of escaping.
Another smile crept onto his mouth, hindering a wavy expression on the girl in front of him's face.
"Of course. I'll stop him." He says, ruffling his hands through her hair which was down for once, turning back away from her with a smirk and continued what he was doing.
Neteyam wasn't trying to patronize her,
he was just proud of her for asking for help, and not even realizing she'd done it.
Ni'teya was restless that night, tossing and turning with no end, trying to listen for rustles coming from the hut next door to hers, in case Lo'ak had managed to sneak past Neteyam's watch. She soon fell asleep naturally due to how tired she was after the day she'd had, sleeping with a troubled expression through the night.
.
"Teya, wake up!" she heard a voice call out through muffled conversations, immediately getting back her thoughts and jumping out of bed. Kiri was the one who had called her, who was now at another hut.
Ni'teya ran to check the neighbouring one, which revealed no soul to be in it. Moving on to the next one with a fast beating heart, she was able to stop running and frantically looking around, as Lo'ak was sat down, eating his breakfast as he'd usually be doing.
Relieved to see him there, her heart slowed down back to normal and her complexion relaxed, allowing herself the freedom of going back to her hut and doing what she needed to do.
Once the Sully's had finished their food, Tuk took Ni'teya and the rest of the children out to the shores, claiming that she'd spotted a really, really big jelly-looking creature, to which Kiri especially wanted to see upon hearing it being described.
Tuk and Kiri had gone ahead, leaving Ni'teya and the two brothers to figure out what they wanted to do, seen as they weren't as fussed with locating a giant creature that early in the morning. Going with Neteyam's idea, the three of them headed out to the rock they'd had diving lessons on before, to play conch-catch and also dive some more. Both of them warned Ni'teya this time, telling her to look out extra carefully, making her roll her eyes discreetly.
They all got into the water, telling themselves to stay under there for as long as they could, as Lo'ak had foolishly challenged them to a 'who can stay under the water for the longest' match on the way there, doubling in a 'first one there's the winner' race. Taking on the challenge that they both claimed was an easy win, Neteyam and Ni'teya raced ahead, keeping their breathing steady.
They were neck-and-neck with the rock in sight, still able to maintain their breathing pretty well, thanks to Tsireya's training. Finally, Ni'teya leaped out onto the rock, yelling in victory and laughing at Neteyam's sorry state. She celebrated by dancing around on the rock's smooth surface, shaking off her wet hair and body. In fact, she was so involved in her celebrations that she hadn't heard Neteyam yell out to her.
"Ni'teya!" He shouted for the third time, this time loud enough so that she could hear him clearly over her own screams.
"Where's Lo'ak?"
It was as if a bullet had penetrated her, Ni'teya dove back into the water to look around for him, catching no signs at all. When she had enough, she swam back up to the surface where Neteyam was calling out for his brother. She hit the water with force. "Stupid!" She remarked through gritted teeth.
"Stupid, stupid!"
He'd fooled both of them. Ni'teya believed she'd been foolish enough to be blinded by his obviously ploy. Fighting her anger as best she could, she began to swim for shore without any word from Neteyam, who followed her closely. She didn't head for the huts, however.
Neteyam was confused as to why she was strolling into the jungles, knowing that it had nothing but puddles of water and selections of fruits hanging from it's trees within it. But even having only known the girl for a short amount of time, he trusted her, following her in.
She looked around a clearing in the jungle, trying to locate the specific place she'd left her things in was, eventually lifting the correct pile of leaves and retrieving two items: A bow and a knife. The bow was able to be swung around her body, letting her hands stay loose. She'd crafted a bigger satchel for her to put the arrows into, which she'd also made previously as Lo'ak watched. The thorn-knife had its own spot as it usually did, a holster she'd strapped to her leg, allowing her easy access to it at all times.
Neteyam stood watching as the girl gathered her things, wondering if she was about to actually kill his brother. By the looks of things, it wasn't something she'd think twice about.
Before he tried to question her, she'd already left the jungle and was looking around for Meyaani, practicing her callings that Tsireya had tried teaching her a while back.
"Hold on! Where're you going exactly?" Neteyam attempted, watching as she jumped off of the platform and onto her ilu, not trying to stop her due to the glint in her eyes.
"Your stupid brother broke his promise." Is all she told him before pushing her ilu forward, making it go, on her way to find him.
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