"With her first ever shot arrow, our daughter managed to injure a Thanator, she will be a great warrior, tonight we celebrate this achievement!
Jake raised a cup, shouting praise to his oldest daughter, to celebrate her great accomplishment. All the Omaticaya were very proud of her. Her family was proud of her. Ti'ywan was proud of herself too.
"Ah ah ah! What do you think you're doing young man"
Jake caught a 7 year old Lo'ak sneaking around trying to get some fermented juice. He grabbed him by the waist with one hand and with the other he stole the cup from the little guy and drank it himself. Lo'ak groaned and flailed his limbs furiously.
"That's not fair!"
"It is fair, only adults can drink this, you're way too young, Lo'ak"
"Then why does Ti'ywan get to have some?!"
Jake frowned in confusion.
"She doesn't ge-... Ti'ywan!"
He put Lo'ak under his arm, worried he'd go steal the alcohol if he let him down and ran to Ti'ywan, who was hiding behind a group of young warriors. He seized her cup as she was about to drink it.
"Daddy! Give it back!"
He put her under his other arm and walked back to the family circle, where he scolded both of them. They both pouted while crossing their arms and so Jake gave them each a cup of normal juice. They soon forgot why they were upset.
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"Titu!"
Tuk called out to her older sister who was making necklaces for her family. She noticed the little girl and stopped for a bit, opening her arms. Tuk climbed onto her lap and curiously looked at what she was making.
"Who is it for? Titu"
Ti'ywan continues making the jewellery while gently rocking her little sister.
"It's for our family, each of you will get one, here, this one is yours"
Ti'ywan pulled the necklace over her and gave her a kiss on the back of her head. Tuk hugged her and quietly watched her make the rest. Then they went to give them to everyone.
"Mommy, Titu has something for you!
Tuk proudly announced as they walked into their home. Ti'ywan kneeled I'm front of her parents and presented them with the gift. They gave her both a hug and admired her work while she got up and went over to her other siblings, who were once again fighting. When they noticed that Ti'ywan was watching, they quickly stopped, afraid she'd get upset and break the fight herself.
"Here, this one is for you Neteyam, this one's for Lo'ak and here, Kiri, this one is yours"
She handed each of them a slightly different necklace. They were surprised but very happy and passionately jumped at her to hug her. Making her stumble and fall on the floor. She laughed and hugged all three back.
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"Daddy, which star did you come here from?"
They were all stargazing tonight. Neytiri and the other siblings were already fast asleep, but Ti'ywan wanted to hear more stories about her father and where he came from. He tilted her head slightly to the right and pointed at the sky.
"Do you see that tiny one? The one barely glowing? That's where I'm from"
She squinted her eyes until she saw it.
"What was it like there?"
He frowned, reminiscing about home and his brother.
"Well, many decades ago it was a beautiful planet, Earth, the continents were green, full of trees and different kinds of plants and animals, we didn't have trees as big as here, but they were beautiful too, the ocean used to be vibrant turquoise on the beach and a very deep blue farther away, but it was a home to the sky people, humans what they call themselves, they destroyed it, cutting down the forests and polluting the ocean until Earth no longer welcomed them"
Ti'ywan looked up at her father who slightly tightened the grip on her shoulder.
"Why did the sky people come here?"
"For something they didn't even need to live"
"Why would they do that?"
"Because sky people are greedy, never having enough of material things, now, let's go to sleep, tomorrow is Neteyam's birthday, I promised to teach him how to use a bow"
"Can I come with you?"
"Of course Ywanie"
He gave her forehead a kiss and they both closed their eyes.
"Good night"
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"Alright Neteyam, like I told your sister two years ago, take a deep breath and shoot when you think it's right"
"This is giving me...uh what did you call it daddy?"
"Deja vu?"
"Yes! That!"
"Don't even say that or we'll get attacked like last time"
Neteyam still remembered that day, it scared him a bit back then.
"Shush both of you, Neteyam, focus"
Neteyam did so and then released the arrow. It successfully hit the fish and he jumped in to fetch it.
"Wooo, he did it!"
He grabbed it and ran back to their father excitedly.
"I did it, dad! Look! I shot the fish!"
"Yeah you did, good job, look how big it is"
He ruffled his hair and praised both of them. They continued to practice until the eclipse and came home with a whole basket of fish. The family kept three and gave away the rest to the members of the clan.
"I want to use a bow too!"
Lo'ak protested, wanting to achieve something and get praised too.
"You can learn to use it when you are ten"
He pouted, upset that he has to wait one more year. Neteyam poked fun at him with Kiri and Ti'ywan tried to calm him down, making him even more upset. She didn't know what else to do, so she hugged him tightly until he struggled to breathe and pleaded to be released.
Everyone bursted out laughing and Neteyam found a new thing to poke fun at Lo'ak about.
"The mighty warrior easily gives up when he's bound!"
"Let's see how you do when you're getting choked!"
Lo'ak growled and jumped on him, trying to get him in a chokehold. Neteyam laughed and tried to shake off his persistent and angry brother.
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"Ywanie, be very careful okay? Tie the mouth shut first and remember, if it chooses you, it'll try to kill you"
Ti'ywan finished her warrior training and since she was now 14 years old, it was time for her to get her own Ikran. She hissed as she passed all of them and they all flew away after hissing back at her. She made her way to the back where a battle-scarred black and yellow Ikran was resting. She yelled out to wake him up and he immediately got up to attack her. She slapped him with the sticky rope but failed to tie it around. The Ikran roared at her and showed off his sharp black teeth. She growled and barred her fangs back at him and this time successfully shut his mouth with the rope. He started trashing around, trying to get it off and she climbed up on his back. He threw himself off the cliff and Ti'ywan wrapped her legs around his neck while quickly forming the connection.
Neytiri was worried about her daughter, but Jake fully trusted his daughter. After all, he trained her himself from the beginning to the end. He knew she was fine. And he was right. Soon Ti'ywan flew past them up into the sky before free-falling to their height. Jake got on his Ikran and took off, and Neytiri followed after him. They all yelled excitedly about the successful bonding. This marked her as a true warrior of the Omaticaya clan.