They sat down on a patch of grass outside of the Marui area. They were all in a circle, Lo'ak was sitting right between Raeya and Tsireya and next to her were Neteyam and Aonung. Kiri and Rotxo were sitting across from them.
"Take a deep breath," Tsireya instructed and looked at Lo'ak. "You have to calm your mind and heart beat," she continued," think of it like this."
Tsireya put her hands on Lo'ak's chest and stomach. "Breathe in," she said. He took a deep breath. "Breathe from down here," she was talking about his abdomen. "Breathe out slowly."
Lo'ak looked to Tsireya with that look in his eyes. She was still clueless. She placed her hand against his heart and spoke without thinking. "Your heartbeat is to fast."
"Sorry," he whispered, embarrassed that she noticed.
"Your heart beat should be slow and calm. Relax." Raeya added and put her hand on the other side of Lo'aks abdomen. "Try to slow down." She said.
"Okay." Lo'aks face had started to turn red. He had the hands of two beautiful girls on his abdomen and he could not keep his calm.
Neteyam and Rotxo shared a knowing smile between each other. Next to them, Kiri just rolled her eyes at this action. But Neteyam could not help the feeling of jealousy that started to form in his mind.
"Maybe forest Na'vi have faster heart beats then us," Raeya pointed out after Lo'ak had struggled to slow his heart rate down. She removed her hand from his stomach.
"Or maybe he just can't keep his calm when two beautiful girls touch him,"
Everyone's looks went towards Aonung who just turned up the heat by stating the obvious, but doing it in a very insensitive way.
"Aonung," Raeya and Tsireya said simultaneously. "What is the matter with you," Raeya gave Aonung a disappointed look and Aonung just looked at her.
"What! I didn't say anything wrong," he said and laughed.
"Not funny, I'm still learning bro" Lo'ak finally spoke out.
Tsireya looked at her brother with a disappointed look and shook her head.
"Let's try again," she said.
"Aonung, can I talk to you for a second?" Raeya said without braking eye contact with him. They stood up and walked a little bit further away from the others.
Neteyam couldn't hear what they were saying, but he could see the way that Raeya looked at Aonung. She was angry and disappointed with him. But Aonung just argued back at her.
"Let's just keep practicing, okey," Tsireya said, trying to keep the others from staring at Raeya and Aonungs arguing.
Neteyam couldn't help but keep looking over there every once in awhile. His curiosity was getting the best of him and he just had to know what was between Raeya and Aonung.
"What's his problem," Neteyam asked and looked at Tsireya. She was caught of guard by his question.
"He's just in a bad mood today, that's all," Tsireya said quietly without looking at Neteyam. She quickly went back to instructing the others with their breathing.
"When are we going to go learn how to ride these Ilu creatures?" Kiris question caught Tsireya of guard. But when Lo'ak looked at her and asked," yeah, when are we going to get into the real stuff?" she just couldn't help it.
She stood up and walked over to Raeya, who was still arguing with Aonung.
They talked about something and walked back to the group.
"Ilu riding requires you to be able to hold your breath," Raeya started and looked at the forest boys," but since you are so eager to learn, let's get to it." Raeya suggested at the beach where they were earlier.
----
"Ilu are the equivalent to Ikran or direhorses in the water tribes. They are both strong and beautiful." Raeya said while stroking the Ilu next to her.
Neteyam scratched his neck. "Will they try to kill me?" He said while looking at the adorable creature in front of him.
"Why would you think that?" Tsireya questioned.
"Well, when you tame an Ikran they usually try to kill you before you make the bond," Lo'ak said and looked at the peaceful creature in the water. Obviously trying to figure out if it had any sharp teeth that it could use to bite him.
Tsireya and Raeya looked at each other and laughed. Aonung grabbed the Ilu and suggested towards Lo'ak.
"I guess there's only one way to find out," he said with a grin on his face.
Raeya furrowed her brows at Aonung. She was confused. "Ilu are not vicious. The ones that the Metkayina warriors use are the ones that kill." She stroked the face of her own Ilu, "Ilu are harmless."
"Yeah they are harmless," Aonung repeated and looked at Lo'ak. "Try it out,"
Lo'ak mounted the Ilu while Tsireya kept it from moving. "Make to bond," she instructed," feel her breathing and movement."
Neteyam and Raeya were standing back while Tsireya and Aonung taught Lo'ak.
"If you want me to teach you I can take you to another Ilu," she said and suggested at an Ilu a little further away from the others.
Neteyam looked at the Ilu and nodded his head. Raeya didn't make any eye contact with Neteyam. This was the first time she had been this close to him. So she felt a little wierd.
Earlier she had just seen him from afar, but she could still see his beautiful eyes, unlike any she had ever seen. She felt that if she looked at his eyes from this close, she would drown in them.
She admitted to herself. Neteyam was not a bad looking guy, but she didn't know anything about him. All that she knew was that he had a tendency to stare at people.
She finally looked back at Neteyam.
Even if she wouldn't return the eye contact, she felt his eyes on her. "You can bond with this Ilu," she stroked its head and took Neteyams hand and placed it on the Ilu,"climb up." she said.
He swung one leg over and sat on the creature. Raeya kept her eyes on the Ilu than him. She grabbed one of his hands and closed it around the saddle handle. "Hold on tight to here. Ilu can go really fast. When you can't go with the speed, let go."
"I don't want to stay here all day so you better learn all this fast."
Neteyam finally spoke. "This is new for me. You heard the chief, we're in the dark about this stuff." Raeya sighed and finally looked up to meet his gaze. His eyes were beautiful. There was something about the way he looked at her. She was about to say something but the splash that occurred behind her startled her.
Lo'ak went flying from his Ilu. Tsireya made a face of pain but Aonung just laughed. Lo'ak resurfaced and looked at Neteyam who was trying to hold his laughter in. Lo'ak felt embarrassed.
"This is exactly why you need to hold on tight."
Neteyams first try ended like Lo'aks. The second try he held on longer but still went flying. His third try went a lot better but still he struggled to hold on.
"I think you have practiced enough for today," Raeya looked at Neteyam who was still determined to master Ilu ridin in one day.
"Just one more time, please," Neteyam looked at Raeya with pleading eyes. She sighed and let go of the Ilu. But before Neteyam could dive down again a loud noise was heard from the outer reef.
Everyone looked at the direction of the loud noise. They could see a bunch of Na'vi riding these big water creatures towards them and letting out a war cry.
Raeya looked at the group of people coming in and her eyes went wide.
"Their back!" She yelled.
She quickly dove down and went to Tsireya who looked just as surprised and, to Neteyams amazement, happy about who evers return.
"Tsireya their back!" The two girls dove down together and sawm to shore. Leaving Neteyam and Lo'ak on their Ilus.
Lo'ak made his way on his Ilu towards Neteyam and they just stared at what was happening in confusion.
The group of people who were riding in on these huge water creatures, that were twice the size of an Ilu, and letting out a war cry, turned out to all be older boys.
When they made it closer to the shore all of them dove down into the water and sawm to shore. All the other Na'vi had come out to the beach to meet them.
Most of them went straight to what seemed like their parents. But some of them went first to their friends.
Neteyam saw one boy in particular go up to Raeya and Tsireya and hug both of them.
"Who the hell are they," Lo'ak questioned, the obvious jealousy in his voice.
"Some sort of warriors I'm guessing by the paint on their bodys."
Neteyam just shrugged and kept looking at Raeya who seemed really happy, that who ever this boy was, had returned.
Maybe he was a family member? A brother?
He watched as he reached into this bag that he was carrying and took out two flowers. He handed one to Raeya and the other to Tsireya. They both smiled and giggled at that gesture.
Neteyam was taken back by Raeyas smile. It was so beautiful that his heart skipped a beat. But when he looked at the flowers that this boy had given them, he recognized them right away.
These flowers only grow in the forests that Neteyam and his family grew up in. How did this Metkayina boy come to possess them?
Out of nowhere Aonung appeared behind Lo'ak and Neteyam.
"They are shaxk's warriors." he said while looking at them. "They were out on a six month training expedition. And now they have returned."
Judging from Aonungs expression he didn't really like these guys. "When a Metkayina boy turns 18, he has to start this training with the others 18year olds. And at the end of their training, they will go out for six months to go through training in other parts of the region. It's tradition, has been for a really long time. And if your lucky, you will get to do it two when you turn 18 and are still apart of our tribe"
Aonungs expression didn't change when he was talking, nor did his gaze. He was looking at that same guy that was talking to Raeya and Tsireya.
"Who is he," Neteyam asked.
"That Ka'i, he is notorious for being a kiss ass and a bitch. And for some unknown reason my sister and Raeya are friends with him"
Neteyam went into deep though. Why did he feel jealous about this?
Why did this guys appearance make him feel some type of way.