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( beyond the reef )
UNSURPRISINGLY ENOUGH, YOUR fight hadn't gone unheard of around awa'atlu, and soon your father had dragged the three of you back to your sectioned marui to unleash his disappointment upon you and your brothers.
"what was the one thing i asked?" he intently questioned as the four of you made your way underneath the dwelling. "the one thing?"
keeping your head turned seemed like the better option to do in your situation, studying the intricate designs on the inside of your tent to keep from baring witness of your dad's angered glare.
you ran your tongue over the inside of your lips, small gashes from where your gums collided with your teeth indented across the skin.
"stay out of trouble," lo'ak dejectedly answered, his eyes trained on the scenery behind jake in an effort to avoid meeting his eyes.
"stay outta trouble!" your father repeated. "right."
"it was my fault," neteyam spoke up, holding his hands out as he stepped in front lo'ak defensively.
"i don't think so- you've gotta stop taking the heat for this knucklehead," the older man dismissed through his teeth, staring pointedly at your twin.
"dad, aonung was picking on kiri and—"
finally looking over at the three, you heaved a curt sigh, cutting off your brother's sentence as you shook your head.
"it wasn't lo'ak this time," you defended, meeting your father's confused gaze. "it was me. i started it all."
"what are you talking about?" jake pressed, his eyes narrowing as your brothers looked at you in confusion.
"i started the fight, i punched aonung," you expressed. "lo'ak and neteyam were just trying to help me."
jake paused, running his tongue along the insides of his cheeks as he fumed. "are you kidding me?"
shaking your head, your eyes fell to the ground soulfully.
"you're supposed to be the sensible twin- you're older, you make sure lo'ak doesn't do anything rash!" your father went on. "you stay out of trouble, you don't go causing it."
"aonung was picking on kiri," you lowly explained, "he called her a freak... so i punched him and we started fighting, then lo'ak found us."
the taller na'vi glanced over at his youngest son, toothing on the gum of his cheek.
"he was defending me," you continued, gesturing toward the boys with your shoulder. "neteyam, too."
jake stood in silence for a moment, his pupils traveling over toward the water before sighing softly. "you're the sensible twin."
his tone acted almost as if he was aiming to remind himself of your designated trait, prompting an ache to tug at your heart as your ears pressed flatly against your head.
"go apologize to aonung," the previous toruk makto finally ordered after a moment of silence, glancing back toward the water. "both of you."
your eyebrows moved to harshly furrow over your lids, a breath of incredulousness pushing past your lips as lo'ak spoke up from beside you. "what?"
"he's the chief's son, d'you understand?" the man expressed with a shake of his head and a heavy sigh. "i don't care how you do it, just go make peace."
you parted your lips to get a final word of protest in before your father shut you down, stepping to the side to usher you and your twin on. "just go."
biting back one last comment, you let a huff pass through your nostrils and trudged forward, squinting at the sunlight hitting your eyes as you exited the shade of your marui with lo'ak tailing behind you.
the two of you were quiet on your search for the son of the metkayina leaders, the only sounds meeting your ears coming from the soft crash of the waves against the shore or the occasional distant conversation of a few passing villagers.
"why did you do that?"
keeping your gaze trained on the ocean surrounding you, the sudden ask sat in your mind as you bit on the corner of your tongue, irritating the already scarred lining.
shrugging lightly, you came up with some sort of response. "maybe i was tired of neteyam always coming to your rescue."
"he doesn't come to my rescue," lo'ak scoffed with a roll of his eyes.
"then what do you call what he does for you?" you questioned, a hint of irritation lacing your tone as you looked to the boy.
he gave no response, kicking at the sand underneath his feet.
"exactly," you retorted, focusing back on the waves. "it was partially my fault, anyways."
"i threw first," your twin reminded. "you tried to get me to stop."
"yeah, and then i made it worse," you argued with a sigh. "dad is right- i should be staying out of trouble, not causing it."
"aonung started everything," lo'ak voiced, narrowing his eyes as he looked over at you. "he was the one picking on you- i just don't get why you wouldn't let me tell dad."
"because i don't need him thinking that i am some baby that can't handle my own, okay?" you shot back. "he barely wanted me out on the field back in vayaha, i don't need him worrying about some skxawng calling me names."
"yeah, well, maybe he should worry," the teen replied sharply. "if he doesn't care about the disappointment, he should at least care about the sensible twin."
caught aback at the suddenness of his words, you paused your walking, your brows edging toward the inner corners of your eyes as you gazed culpably at your brother. "lo'ak—"
"come on," he interrupted, not halting nor slowing at your call of his name. "i don't feel like looking for this skxwang all day."
staring at the omatikayan boy's back as it grew further away by the second, you glanced out toward the water before continuing on toward the docs, the gnawing feeling of an unnerving sense coming to rest at the pit of your stomach.
after calling out for your ilu and scouting the areas the two of you knew of surrounding the atolls of awa'atlu, the distant figures of a few familiar reef people managed to make their way into your vision.
letting a sigh brush past your lips, you willed your ilu over to the teenagers, lulling to a slow halt once you were within talking distance of the three
"what are the tree twins doing here?"
it hadn't even been a full five seconds and you already felt like delivering yet another knee into the son of the olo'eyktan's groin as you and lo'ak faced the boys.
you decided to speak up first, shuffling a little closer as your twin came to a still by your side. "we're sorry we hit you."
"... so many times," lo'ak added under his breath, earning a quick glare from you before you turned back to the metkayina.
watching as aonung's bruised eyes traveled over toward his friends in some sort of silent ask, you knit your eyebrows together in a slight suspicion as the reef boy faced you again with a dismissive smile.
"ah, we should be friends," he offered with a curt nod, extending his arm out for a traditional na'vi handshake.
eyeing his webbed arm, you slowly lifted your own hand, bringing it to grip the underside of his forearm as he did the same to yours.
"come hunting with us, outside the reef," aonung urged, looking between you and your brother with a sly grin. "it's where the real warriors hunt."
quickly shaking your head, you slipped your hand from his, glancing at your twin with pursed lips. "i don't think that's a good idea."
with a teasing scoff, the metkayina teenager rolled his eyes and looked toward lo'ak. "i guess one twin is out, how about the other?"
"yeah, no way, we're not allowed," lo'ak denied, his eyebrows dropping ever so slightly as aonung released yet another scoff and faced his friends.
"i must be asking the wrong brother!" he exclaimed, prompting small snickers from the other boys as he raised his hand in an dramatized shrug.
from the way aonung exchanged sneaking glances with his friends, you felt that familiar daunting pit of doubt build up in your stomach, and quickly whipped your head around to face the omaticaya boy beside you.
"do not, lo'ak," you lowly chastised, your eyes narrowing as you watched a faced of contemplation carve its way across his features. "you know that neteyam would not do this either."
avoiding your pressing gaze, your twin met aonung's eyes with a nod. "let's do it."
the son of the clan leaders let out a noise of cheer, taking his speargun from its designated place on the handle of his ilu before handing it over to your brother with vigor.
he let out a battle cry, the echo of his noise reverberating off of the rocks enclosing the five of you before he took off, guiding his riding companion through the current.
"lo'ak!" you called out as your twin moved to dive underneath the calm waves, pausing to meet your eyes with a look of tenaciousness flooding his irises.
"i'll be fine," proclaimed the boy, not waiting for your final reply as he willed his ilu down through the water to follow after the reef boys, leaving you alone to tread over the surface, surrounded by nothing but the towering earth around you and the impending feeling of dread creeping over your heart.
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