Tcelia was awakened by Kiri early the next morning. For as long as Tcelia could remember, Kiri would wake Tcelia earlier than the rest of the family and they would start the day together.
Kiri had a long time ago, told her that she would occasionally wake up, sometimes hours before dawn, and would lie awake. It was often in those early hours of the morning that the trance like occurrences would happen.
Tcelia had told the girl to just wake her up whenever she couldn't fall asleep again, and she would attempt to prevent the trance from taking place. It wasn't difficult, all Kiri needed was a distraction. So they'd either gather leaves and herbs for Kiri's Tsahik practice or fly through the air on their ikrans – Really just anything Kiri wanted to do
Tcelia reached a hand up to her forehead to shelter her eyes from the sun – a sunray was hitting her face full on, "Hey Kiri," she mumbled, still groggy from her sleep.
Kiri moved her body so that she was covering the sun, and Tcelia let out a grateful sigh, "So, what do you have in mind for today?" Kiri usually decided how their mornings would go, since naturally, she was the only one who knew what would distract her.
"I was thinking that we would get a head start and go swimming," Kiri whispered, careful not to wake her family. Tcelia sat up quickly, all grogginess leaving her body instantaneously.
"Oh, that is definitely happening," Tcelia whispered back, excitement evident in her voice. She had been looking forward to diving into the ocean and seeing what awaited in its depths since they had arrived the day before. Tcelia rose quickly and Kiri put a finger to her lips, indicating for Tcelia to be more quiet. Tcelia shrugged apologetically but she couldn't prevent a smile from slipping onto her lips as she looked out. Village life had slowly begun and Tcelia spotted fishers casting nets in the water and further away, she could see someone tending to small bonfires, probably getting them ready for breakfast.
The two girls snuck out of the pod, grinning at each other giddily. Tcelia pointed at a spot further along the walkway, indicating for them to jump in from there. Kiri nodded – they were both worried about waking someone up if they jumped in the water right by the pod.
But they had barely made it three meters away from the opening, when a low voice came from behind them, "Where are you heading off to?"
The two girls spun around quickly, Tcelia's heart hammering loudly. She didn't know why she felt like she had been caught in the act of doing something wrong, they were only going swimming after all. When she spotted the owner of the voice, she let out a breath of relief. Neteyam was stepping out of the pod, making his way over to the girls, a curious look on his face.
"We are going swimming," Kiri explained to her brother, "Do you want to come?"
Neteyam glanced back to the pod, considering the offer. Then he looked at the two excited girls, who could barely stand still from their eagerness. Neteyam's lip quirked up in one side, probably finding both Tcelia and Kiri extremely amusing. Tcelia couldn't blame him. They almost certainly looked like eleven-year-olds, looking up at him, straining themselves from jumping up and down.
Finally, Neteyam responded, "Alright, but we can't jump in from here, we don't want to wake anybody up,"
"Well, obviously not. We were going to go over there." Tcelia told him, looking in the direction of the spot Kiri and her had agreed on. When she turned her face back to look at them, she caught a quick glimpse of the siblings communicating with their eyes.
"Where?" Neteyam furrowed his eyebrows, overexaggerating his search for where Tcelia had indicated.
Tcelia eyed both Kiri and Neteyam suspiciously, "Over there," she pointed.
"Right, okay," Neteyam responded, then, without giving Tcelia time to react, grabbed her arm, forcing her backwards and took off sprinting down the pathway, Kiri right behind him.
Tcelia stumbled back in a daze. Those skxanwgs, they had tricked her! She took off after them, shaking her head and restraining herself from laughing too loudly. Ever since they had been small, Neteyam, Tcelia and Lo'ak had a habit of making everything into a competition and sometimes Neteyam even pulled Kiri into the mix.
Up ahead, Tcelia could see Neteyam and Kiri slowing down as they neared the spot. Tcelia knew that it wasn't all that important for Kiri to win, the girl had no doubt only gone along with it because Neteyam had asked her to – Kiri was way too mellow to ever start competitions. So as the two siblings slowed down and turned to look at Tcelia, grins of triumph spreading across their faces, she barrelled straight into Neteyam, sending them both flying over the edge.
"You--" Neteyam muttered in disbelief, but the rest of the sentence was cut off as they hit the water. The shock of the water pulled the air out of Tcelia's lungs. It wasn't especially cold but the way the water hugged her, clambering around every curve of her body, felt strange and nothing like the rivers and lakes back in the forest. She liked the feeling a lot.
Realizing Neteyam's arms were still around her she kicked away from him and broke the surface of the water, returning to catch her breath. Kiri was still standing on the pathway looking down at her, laughing into her hand. Neteyam emerged out of the water straight after her, shaking his braids from side to side.
"Hey!" he exclaimed, splashing water at Tcelia. Tcelia laughed and stuck out her tongue at him.
"Oh, you are going to regret that," Neteyam said, diving towards her in an attempt at tickling her. Tcelia squealed and dove under his arm, emerging on his other side, where she caught onto his shoulders and pressed him under the water. But Tcelia hadn't thought that move through, because Neteyam swam further down and grabbed Tcelia's legs, forcing her under the sea's surface as well.
They quickly surfaced laughing and Tcelia almost made to clamber onto Neteyam's back to once again, force him under, but was interrupted by Tsireya who had appeared beside Kiri.
"Oh amazing, you are already up," She clapped her hands in delight, "We should get started on your lessons then. Where is Lo'ak and Tuk?"
When the whole team was gathered – Lo'ak and Tuk still rubbing the sleep out of their eyes – they had gone for a real swim.
The ocean was just as wonderful as Tcelia had expected. The water was clear and pleasant and powerful. She enjoyed the strange feeling that consumed her when she was in the water.
The sea was packed with multiple different species of ocean life, many of which Tcelia hadn't even known existed. She looked around in wonder as she passed corals that glowed and fish-like creatures that glided against her leg.
She looked up at Lo'ak and Neteyam who were swimming slightly above her. They were too, looking around in awe. She caught Lo'ak's eye, then swam on her back, facing him. She formed her mouth into an o shape and blew out her breath. The air bubbles formed a ring that moved upwards and collided with Lo'ak's face, who immediately stuck his face out of the water. A friend back in the forest had taken her to a lake once and shown her how to make bubble rings (A very sneaky and not at all obvious attempt at getting her alone). She had spent a lot of time practicing it and had been immensely proud when she had nailed it. She had found it incredibly entertaining ever since.
She spotted Neteyam chuckling beside Lo'ak, and she made her way towards the surface.
"Ha, Ha, very funny, Tcelia," Lo'ak said when she resurfaced, flicking water at her, "How did you learn how to do that anyway?" he questioned.
"'Ukxo taught me," Tcelia snickered at Lo'ak. Besides her, Neteyam seemed to freeze.
Lo'ak had apparently noticed it too and raised his eyebrows at him, "What's up, bro?"
"Nothing," Neteyam answered curtly and dove back into the water. Tcelia and Lo'ak shot each other puzzled looks, then made their way after him. Although Tcelia should have known better than to bring up 'Ukxo, she knew that. His name had just slipped out accidentally.
Tcelia spotted Tuk ahead of her, swimming along clumsily and she wondered if that was how she looked as well.
Tsireya, Ao'nung and Rotxo were moving through the water below them in a graceful and quick manner, whereas the Omatikaya were struggling to keep up. Tcelia and the Sully kids stayed mostly on the surface, hesitant to dive too far from their source of life: Air. Something that the Metkayina apparently didn't seem to need. They were far below surface level, maneuvering amongst the many colorful corals and marine life swimming about. For what felt like the millionth time, Tcelia and the other kids gasped for air and looked at each other, unsure of the whole situation. They stuck their heads back into the water.
Tsireya formed some sort of sentence with her hands and Tcelia glanced at the Sully family, but they looked just as confused as she felt. The Metkayina looked at each other quickly and then swam up towards the Omatikaya kids.
When Tsireya and Rotxo broke the surface, Tcelia's mouth almost fell open – they weren't even out of breath. "Are you alright?" Tsireya asked.
"You're too fast! Wait for us!" Tuk complained, wiping water out of her eyes.
"Just breathe," Tsireya told them.
Just then, Ao'nung broke the surface, "You are not good divers," he said, "You may be good at swinging through trees but-" Tcelia snorted as Tsireya interrupted him by smacking him over his head. Ao'nung turned to look at her accusingly, but Tsireya paid him no mind.
"Come on, bro," Lo'ak complained.
"We don't speak this finger talk," Neteyam explained, lifting his hands to mimic whatever it was Tsireya had said under the water, "We don't know what you're saying."
"I will teach you," Tsireya assured them.
Tcelia sighed inwardly. She did not like being bad at things. This was going to be a long day.