There was a feeling of warmth between his skin and hers.
Aonung's queue tickled Katiya's chest as it fell to the side.
"Let go," she said, struggling to free her wrists from his grasp.
"If you ask nicely, I will," he smiled.
She let out an exasperated sigh and paused to contemplate her next move.
"Fine, will you please get off?"
However, Aonung's smile faltered when she added, "Pervert!"
In the blink of an eye, Katiya kneed him in the stomach, prompting him to release one of her wrists.
Aonung groaned painfully as Katiya used her free hand to push him off her.
She was taken aback when he suddenly dropped his body weight on her, taking the air out of her lungs.
He was heavy, and she could barely move as she tried to wiggle from beneath him.
After exhausting herself, Katiya surrendered as Aonung slowly recovered from the pain she caused him.
"Get off me, or I'll knee you where the sun doesn't shine," she threatened, placing her hand on his chest.
Aside from wrestling matches with her brothers, this was the closest skin-to-skin contact she had with another boy.
To her surprise, Aonung laughed breathlessly in her ear.
"You just lost your chance, sweetheart. Now you have to beg for it," he said.
Katiya's eyes widened in shock at his words, and she wanted to kick him away at once.
To get a better look at Aonung's facial expression, she grabbed the part of his queue near his scalp and yanked his head back into her line of vision.
Aonung grunted painfully, a devious grin adorning his lips as he met her gaze from above.
It seemed that the burning anger in their eyes was the only thing they shared.
"Tch," Katiya clicked her tongue in annoyance.
The smirk on his face irked her even more despite the pain she caused him by roughly pulling his queue back.
"Oh, Eywa! She stabbed you!"
Upon hearing Rotxo's voice, Aonung glanced at Rotxo before he turned back to Katiya, who promptly hit him across the face with her forehead.
"Ah, damn!" Aonung cried out, instantly releasing Katiya's other wrist as she quickly shoved him off her.
Grasping onto his nose, he cursed under his breath as warm fluids poured from his nostrils.
His hand was covered in blood, and he realized she had given him a nosebleed.
In no time, Katiya picked up her knife and flicked Aonung off while running past Rotxo.
Aonung scoffed now that he understood the meaning of her middle finger as he watched her figure disappear behind the corner of the ilu pen.
"I... I am sorry..." Rotxo stuttered, lowering his head in shame.
Poor boy, worried to death, ran back to check on his friend, only to distract him from his confrontation with the newcomer.
While Rotxo initially believed Aonung had been stabbed with a knife, he actually bled from a different source as a result.
Aonung rolled his eyes as he got up and ruffled Rotxo's curly hair.
"Come on," he said, inhaling sharply as he grasped his nose. "I'll get her back next time."
As eclipse set on the horizon, Katiya ran as fast as she could to find her father despite the throbbing pain on her forehead.
There was still no sign of Loak and it was getting dark.
Regardless of what Aonung did to her brother, she would make sure he paid for it.
She wasted no time telling Jake and Tonowari, and they immediately organized a search party.
The chaos drew the attention of multiple people as they gathered to hear news about Loak's whereabouts.
"See? I knew apologizing was a terrible idea," Katiya muttered, narrowing her eyes at Aonung, who was with Tonowari and Tsireya.
To stop the bleeding she gave Aonung earlier, he had a piece of rag inserted into his nostrils. The man looked absolutely ridiculous to her, but she wasn't in the mood to laugh.
So, Katiya turned back to her siblings and continued rambling.
"But no, the skxawng didn't listen to me, so he had to get involved with the stupid prince of the sea for the sake of his sister. Great Mother! This is why Grandmother said love blinds you, because literally—"
"Kati," Neteyam interrupted as he pointed to Loak and Jake swimming toward them on the ilu.
With Neytiri following behind her, Katiya jumped off the deck and ran toward them.
"You're an idiot!" Katiya exclaimed, smacking Loak's head as he dodged her hand.
"Pray to Eywa that I will not gouge out the eyes of my second-born son," Neytiri hissed at him, examining him for injuries and gesturing at his eyes.
Loak lowered his head and reluctantly moved away from his mother and sister.
From the deck, Aonung and Tonowari approached him, and his gaze shifted to them.
"It is my son's fault. He shall take responsibility for what has happened," Tonowari said, placing a hand on Aonung's shoulder and lowering him to the ground.
In front of him, Katiya crossed her arms as she met his gaze.
Rather than feeling remorse, Aonung simply rolled his eyes.It disappointed him that his plan did not work to get rid of the newcomers.
"No," Loak interjected. "It wasn't Aonung's fault. I wanted to hunt fish outside of the reef so I asked him to take me there."
Katiya was caught off guard by his response and wanted to smack her brother again for spewing lies.
Because of Tsireya, Loak was clearly protecting Aonung.
Astonished, Tonowari looked at his son.
"Is this true?" He asked.
Katiya opened her mouth to speak as Aonung remained silent, but Loak grabbed her forearm and stopped her.
With a shake of his head, he pleaded with her not to say anything.
In frustration, she glared at him and then walked away before her anger imploded.
"I'll handle this one," Jake said to Tonowari, clutching Loak's arm and pulling him after Katiya.
In a few seconds, the crowd dispersed and everyone returned to their previous activities.
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"You almost killed him, Aonung," Tonowari said.
Aonung sat against the durable fabric wall in their Marui and averted his gaze from his father.
After removing the piece of rag from his nostrils, which was stained with old blood, he peered through the small gap in the fabric.
"They cannot stay here, Father," he said, directing his gaze back to Tonowari. "The Sullys will bring war to our clan. And what will you do when that happens?"
A few seconds of silence passed and Tonowari sighed.
"We will make sure that does not happen," he said.
Aonung scoffed. "We cannot guarantee anything. Sky People are demons. When they reach us, we will have no choice but to fight because of the Sullys."
"Then we fight," Tonowari said, nodding his head. "We fight to protect our home and our people."
"Mother is with child. Why wait until then when we can drive away the cause of this war?" Aonung argued.
Tonowari glanced at Ronal, who was busy cooking soup on the ceiling-mounted mini stove.
"Uturu has been asked by Toruk Makto," he said, sighing as he met Aonung's gaze. "They are reef people now, one of us. You will be Olo'eyktan-in-training soon. You, of all people, should know better and show them hospitality."
Aonung scoffed and tossed the piece of rag aside.
Seeing this, Ronal raised a brow at her son. Though she understood and agreed with Aonung's concern, she also saw a valid point in her husband's statement.
"Starting tomorrow, you will spend your days with the Sully children and teach them our ways. That is your punishment," Tonowari said, prompting Aonung to sit forward in surprise.
"But Father—"
"It is decided, Aonung. Teach them the ways of our people and learn your role as Olo'eyktan-in-training."
Aonung pursed his lips in irritation and sat back against the wall.
"By the way, what caused your nosebleed?" Ronal asked, subtly glancing at her son in an effort to switch topics.
In annoyance, Aonung scrunched his brows as Katiya's face flashed in his head.
"A stupid forehead..." He murmured.
"What?" Ronal stared at her son in confusion, then looked at her husband, who simply shrugged.
"Nothing," Aonung sighed. "I'll do what Father said and teach the newcomers. Maybe give them a few beatings too, if they're not—"
Ronal shot him a glare and he shrugged in response.
"What? If I'm assigned to be the teacher, I get to punish my students."
"How many times must I repeat that you will be Olo'eyktan-in-training? Welcome them with open arms," Tonowari said with a sigh and walked out of the Marui.
"I'm just kidding," Aonung muttered, rolling his eyes at his father.
"Speaking of Olo'eyktan-in-training," Ronal said, refocusing her gaze on the stove. "Have you picked out a Metkayina girl as your mate? I would still like you to be mated the day after your ceremony, son."
Aonung gazed out into the distance through the gap in the fabric wall as his mother's words lingered in his mind.
While his mother persisted, he had not put forth any effort toward finding a mate.
Especially now that he will be teaching the Sully siblings, he had no interest in doing so any time soon.
As a sea breeze blew through the gap, Aonung's gaze was drawn to a certain Omaticaya girl across the horizon.
The beauty mark under Katiya's left eye caught his attention during their earlier altercation. She wore her usual angry face with slightly creased eyebrows and a frown on her lips.
Now that he thought about it, he wondered if she even knew how to smile.
"What are you looking at so intensely that you did not hear a word I said?"
Amid his reverie, his mother's voice snapped him out of it, and he turned his gaze back to her.
"Nothing. I haven't found anyone yet, Mother."
Ronal narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously, but she decided not to press further.
"Very well. I will look and pick one for you."
"Sure," Aonung replied and turned his attention outside.
Now that was out of the way, he didn't have to worry about it anymore.
The newcomers, especially Katiya, were already a handful for him now that he had to be around them more often.
Maybe the others weren't so terrible, since Loak took the blame for him.
But for some reason, Katiya never failed to annoy him.
Some aspect of her, perhaps her voice or her face, irked him to the bone, and he didn't know why.
Aonung observed her as the wind blew her hair into her face and she aggressively moved it out of the way.
A chuckle bubbled up in his throat at how ridiculous she looked.
Ronal glanced at him and shook her head, furrowing her brows in concern.
"Oh, Great Mother, my son has finally gone crazy."