▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
( sacred arrivals )
YOU DIDN'T REMEMBER when tsireya had managed to usher you onto the back of her ilu and guide you along through the clear waters of awa'atlu, but as you basked in the feeling of her hand situated comfortably over your knee, you really could not give an ikran's txìm about it.
after you slowly tore your dazed eyes away from the palm resting against your skin that was set to secure you on the sea animal, your gazed trailed over toward the sights floating in the water around you.
tens upon tens of metkayina coasted through the ocean on their own reef companions, toothy smiles and eager stares glossed across their features as they hurried towards the sight of their beloved tulkun.
the daughter of the village leaders had given you some previous insight on the sacred creatures prior to their arrival, informing you on their significance and spiritualistic connection with the reef people.
the stories you heard from villagers amazed you, especially the ones told from your certain light-eyed friend.
"i cannot wait until you meet my soul sister." she giggled a past morning after a breathing lesson, her hands moving to excitedly grip your own as you followed behind her on a placid walk across the coast. "she will take to you quickly, i know it."
you smiled, returning the sentiment with just as much eagerness to ensure the girl's happiness, and continued to look forward to the then-distant meeting. even with tsireya's obvious excitement, you still felt the bother of another feeling pooling at the edge of your stomach as you grew closer toward the grouping of tulkun.
"are you sure she will?" you questioned those few days ago, your lower lip coming to sandwich between your teeth. "i can't help but think."
tsireya paused her enthusiastic skips to stand still in front of you, her slightly shorter figure staring up at you with eyes curved in concern. "what do you mean?"
a small sigh pushed past your lips and you avoided the reef girl's eyes, glancing down at the sand below you to fidget with the band fastened around your wrist that your youngest sister had weaved together for you with sea grass and shells.
"i am not of your kind," you explained, twisting the material of the bracelet around your uncommon sky people fingers. "... in more ways than one"
at your words, you felt the soft pull of a grip against your fiddling digits, the shorter girl's hands coming to rest against your own palms once again as you finally met her eyes.
"i know she will," she answered, her gaze determinedly stuck to yours, "because i know you."
"what does that mean?" you quipped, your eyebrows furrowing softly.
"it means that she will be fond of you," tsireya answered, slowly lifting a hand to rest against the warming skin of your cheek. "just as i am."
your pupils traced over the dimples that poked at her cheeks through her smile, the familiar burn of nervousness bubbling up within your stomach as her gaze traveled across your eyes expectantly.
"you're too kind to me," you muttered, unintentionally leaning closer into the girl's comforting touch with closed eyes.
her slight grin grew wider at your words as you reached up to rest your palm against her hand, smiling softly. "there is so such thing as being too kind."
before you had a chance to thoroughly digest her words, your cheek slipped from tsireya's grasp, her hand quickly finding yours once again as she tugged you along the sand.
the week-old conversation situated itself in your mind on the ride to the tulkun, gripping the saddle of tsireya's ilu a bit tighter as she dashed toward the surface.
braking through the water, an even larger smile took over your lips as your pupils darted along the scene around you, hundreds of animals and metkayina alike gliding through and above the ocean, all eager to finally make it to the tulkun.
"look!" tsireya suddenly exclaimed, her finger angled toward a particular creature as it surfaced through the water, releasing a loud shriek of excitement as it splashed its fins around. "it's my spirit sister!"
in an effort to increase your speed, the two of you dove under once again, your left hand moving to grip tsireya's waist as you felt the pressure of the sea momentarily pull you backwards.
the underwater world around you was even more majestic than it was above the surface as dozens of tulkun curved their way around you, bellows of beckoning echoing through the liquid around you.
as one large whale arched its way above the two of you, your eyes traced over the enigmatic patterns etched into its skin with some sort of material, your guess being from the ink of the reef people around you.
you felt as if you were surrounded by a dream, and you could tell that the experience would inhabit its way into your brain for many years to come. it made you wonder if you would ever be able to witness a moment as such ever again.
as tsireya's ilu slowed to a stop near her designated tulkun, she dismounted the animal, turning around to face you with a smile.
wait here, she signed, i'll be right back.
with a curt smile of your own, you nodded, watching near the surface while an astonished grin poked at your lips as your friend made her way toward her soul sister.
situating herself in front of the creature, tsireya began to move her hands around, and you figured she was engaging in a conversation with the enthralling animal as it elicited sounds of what you assumed were responses.
your pupils trailed across the reef girl's figure, noticing how bashful she became when she twisted her arms to form one sentence in specific.
i met a girl, you read from her hands, your eyes widening ever so slightly at the revelation, watching as she seemed to giggle slightly at the reply of her sister.
she met a girl? you internally quipped. what girl did she- wait...
before you could allow your self to process the words any further, you noticed your friend begin to swim toward you, her tail gliding through the water gracefully as she came to a stop in front of you.
come, she beckoned, reaching out to grip your hand and pull you toward her as you focused your eyes once again and followed behind the metkayina.
apprehensively slowing to a stop in front of the tulkun, you watched as tsireya excitedly introduced the two of you to each other.
as you realized her eyes had moved to rest over your hovering figure, you hastily looked back over at the spiritual animal and signed a greeting.
it's an honor to meet you. you nodded. i've heard so much about you.
as have i, a loud bellow followed as the creature seemed to gesture toward your friend, a small cloud of confusion working its way into your mind as you realized you understood her words.
meeting eyes with tsireya, you nervously raised your eyebrows as you searched for a response. in return, she merely smiled at you, taking your palm into her own as she nodded.
and with a small huff of air pushing through your nostrils, you looked back toward the tulkun with a small smile, prepared to speak what you could to the creature of eywa before the rare opportunity would have to come to an end.
𓆝 𓆛 𓆞
the return of the tulkun was an event that circled throughout your head for the entirety of the next few days, your mind still fully astounded that such devine creatures roamed the oceans of pandora with such grace.
your meeting with tsireya's spirit sister seemed to draw the two of you even closer, which was a feat that you didn't realize was possible. the bond between your reef friend and her tulkun was sacred, and the fact that they allowed you to become part of it caused a different kind of feeling to sprout within the beating muscle beneath your rib cage.
once the tulkun ventured back off within the sea, there was still one that strayed far from the rest— your twin's newly found soul brother.
after the encounter with the returning tulkun, lo'ak was determined to change the opinions of you and your friends when it came to the infamous outcast. he wanted the five of you to witness the kindness of payakan, not the so-called belligerence that the legends labeled him with.
taking all of you to the two's normal meet-up spot, you soon found lo'ak in the mouth of the creature, your heart beating right through your chest as you witnessed what you thought was the murder of your twin.
charging forward in an attempt to rescue the boy, tsireya caught your arm and shook her head, a look of some sort of reassurance in her eyes. even though your mind screamed at you to keep going, you trusted your friend more than you trusted yourself in that moment.
soon, lo'ak emerged from payakan's mouth, but with news of the tale behind the myths of the outcast.
"we need to tell the others," your twin insisted on the ride back to the main island, you, neteyam, and your and friends trailing along behind on your own ilu.
"who? our parents?" you questioned incredulously at the suggestion. "they'd kill you for befriending a beast, then kill us for letting you."
"he's not a beast!" lo'ak exclaimed, whipping his head around to meet your eyes with a glare.
"we know, lo'ak," neteyam spoke up from his other side. "but mom and dad do not."
"we'd be banished for even getting near him," aonung quipped from behind your older brother. "and that is putting it lightly."
"well, we can try," tsireya chimed in, meeting your gaze as you shook your head slightly. "maybe we could convince them."
looking over toward neteyam, he caught your eyes with a shrug, and you could tell that he was also on the fence of what approach should be taken to the very uncanny situation.
"the expectations you hold for our parents are way too high," you replied with a sigh. "but, it may be worth a shot."
"what does that mean?" rotxo questioned from behind you.
glancing back at him from your ilu, you furrowed your eyebrows. "what does what mean?"
"worth a shot," he repeated, earning an agreeing mumble from aonung.
"that we should try," lo'ak answered with a nod. "it's worth attempting."
"why didn't you just say that?" aonung added with narrowed eyes.
"we did," you shot back, mockingly narrowing your eyes back at the reef teenager.
"your sky people phrases are confusing sometimes," rotxo mumbled slightly, shaking his head.
"can you not use context clues?" you questioned.
"what are... context clues?"
you momentarily stared in silence at the boy, letting out a breath before shaking your head and diving down below the surface with your ilu.
tsireya glanced at her friend in exasperation, earning a look of startled confusion from the metkayina as furrowed his eyebrows. "what? what did i say?"
༄
a / n :
my last author's note is
me when i'm a big fat liar🫢
ANYWAYS, i am so sorry for
the longggg ass wait, i has sm
going on in life, i literally had
no time to myself for a
good three months.
— but I'M BACK, hopefully
for good since i get a bit of a break
with the summer, and i wanna say
my update schedule will be back
to normal, but i don't wanna lie
to you guys again LMFAOOO
hope you enjoyed :)