De'iya's pov:
"You are terrible climbers," Firìja chuckled as Emra'o dropped onto the ground, he was more Metkayina build than me and Naeyi so it was no lie that he would have more trouble with learning the Omatikaya ways.
"Hush, Fi," Ralu sneered at his sister and she held her hands up in defeat, chuckling at Emra'o. Ralu and Firìja were the children of Tarsem, the Olo'eyktan of the Omatikaya clan and his mate and now the Tsahik, Yise.
They had been teaching me, my siblings, cousins and Khalilah the ways of the forest, I hardly expected it to be so different. I didn't really know what to expect from it, my father always spoke so proudly of the forest and it's customs but I never really thought about what it would be like.. I never expected to be here anyway, I always thought I'd never leave Awa'atlu.
"Are you okay?" Ralu asked Emra'o as he touched his shoulder whilst trying to help him up. Emra'o shrugged his hand off as he nervously got up, like he was afraid anyone would notice. Which only made it more noticeable. Ralu's kind smile faded as he looked down at his feet defeated, it was obvious the two boys had a thing for each other.
"I'm fine," Emra'o said as he brushed the dirt off him and looked at Naeyi besides me who was smirking at her twin brother, "I'm going to find dad, see if he's been able to contact mom."
"Good luck," Naeyi joked, "loverboy."
Emra'o shot her a glare as he stomped off to deny what he was feeling, I grew up with the guy, I knew him extremely well. He was crushing on Ralu, big time, but the only ones that knew that Emra'o was attracted to men and men only were me and Naeyi, and now maybe uncle Lo'ak since Naeyi stupidly blurted it out, although neither of the twins had heard their father about it yet.
"Do you think something's wrong?" Khalilah asked us from above us, being a natural at this climbing stuff, "we've been here for quite some time now and we haven't been able to contact anyone."
"I'm sure Araoukai's just busy," I joked as Khalilah blushed at the mentioning of Araoukai, she had told us very proudly that she and him had kissed before she left.
"And Khonsu too?" Khalilah asked us as she turned to me, "even Ri'han?"
My eyes slightly widened at the mentioning of the Ash boy, it was true that I had grown rather affectionate of Ri'han, he was so sweet and handsome and he was different... like me. Not in traits but in looks, when I'm around him everything just makes sense. I'm beyond happy. He makes me feel things I hadn't experienced in my relationship with Maël, Ri'han has become a thought in my mind that popped up as soon as I woke up and stayed with me in my dreams at night.. he was just always there despite him now being out of reach. He made me feel special and he made me feel good about myself, I was attracted to him.. I knew that.. but I just didn't understand to what extent I was attracted to him and I was curious about discovering it.
"Ri'han probably got drowned by Asherah," Naeyi shrugged as we kept on climbing, "can you imagine how boring their life must be without us?"
"Yeah, right," I scoffed as I rolled my eyes, not liking her joke about Ri'han, "I'm sure they're bored too death."
***
Araoukai's pov:
"Something's off," Asha said as she planted herself down besides me and we hid behind a large rock, "they know too much."
"What are you talking about?" I asked my little sister confused, "you're probably just paranoid again."
"Paranoid?" She asked me offended as she got up and shot an arrow into the neck of one of the Ash people, "they showed up in our home to finish Kaoru off! How many more scars does our baby brother need to get it through your thick skull? How did they know in which pod we live, how did they know that dad hasn't been sleeping at home?" Asherah questioned, "I bet that Ash boy that you all seem to like so much is still with that lizard bitch and her psycho sister snitching on us."
"Ri'han? He's fighting against them with us," I stated as I pointed at the Ash boy who was cutting down Ash people, "why would he kill his own people if he was with them?"
"It would be the perfect cover, wouldn't it?" Asha said as she quirked up a brow, "mark my words, brother, he's their rat."
"Well, I trust him," I stated stubbornly as my sister rolled her eyes at me.
"That makes you an even bigger idiot than I took you for," Asherah said as she looked at Ri'han and smirked, "I could just simply kill him and get it over with."
My eyes widened as I watched Asherah draw and arrow and aim it at Ri'han, I gasped and before my brain could give my body the command I had already jumped up and pushed her to the ground. The arrow still got released however, but instead of it hitting Ri'han it scratched past his cheek, making a small cut in it and his bloodred eyes shot over to Asherah who looked at him with such an intense amount of hate in her eyes.
"For your sake I hope you mis-took me for someone else," Ri'han shouted as his fingers touched the small cut which was now bleeding. Zeoay, who was fighting like a one-man army just before us, turned to their fight with his ears perked up.
"I was aiming for you," Asherah answered honestly as she kicked me off her, making me grunt in pain and grab onto my nose, where she had kicked me, "this war has happened since you came along here with your fake sob story."
"I am fighting for your people here!" Ri'han said as he stomped closer to her, "try it again and you'll regret it, princess."
"You touch even as much as a hair on her head and I'll get you myself," Zeoay threatened Ri'han as he stepped infront of Ri'han, blocking his gaze at Asherah. I frowned confused at Zeoay's strange comment, it made me wonder what Teungyi's son wanted from my sister. I looked up at Asherah for clarification but she was staring at Zeoay with a small smile on her face and a blush upon her cheeks.. I blinked a couple of times, feeling rather confused.. what was going on?
"There'll be no killing each other," I said as I got back up to my feet and dusted the sand off my body, "we're all at the same side here, we're just saying and doing irrational things because of the dire situation we find ourselves in."
"I'm not being irrational," Zeoay said as he spit on the ground besides him before locking eyes with Ri'han and smirking, "I'm just making him a promise."
Ri'han stared at the fourteen year old boy, Zeoay might be young but his parents were two of the best warriors in the village, only a fool would take him on. I was growing anxious od the situation, which made my attention for the battle slip away.. I didn't even notice Zeoay's little sister, who was somewhere she wasn't supposed to be.
"They're retreating!" Müna shouted as she pointed from her hiding place over to the battlefield, "brother! They're retreating!"
"What did dad say about you sneaking onto the battlefield?!" Zeoay shouted at his eleven year old sister angered.
"Erm," she stammered, "do it?"
"Get out of here, skxawng!" Zeoay hissed at his sister and with a big sigh she hid herself away again, she was extremely good at hide and seek.
But Müna was right, the Ash people were retreating, I saw my father, Teungyi, Yrritsyo and the others all cheer excitedly for their victory over this battle. Sure, the war was not over yet.. but this battle we had won.
"Miya!" I overheard Seyza shout, turning my attention over to her, she shouted something which made my mother run after her as fast as she could.. something was wrong but with all the loud cheering I could not hear what Seyza had shouted at my mother.
***
Miyara's pov:
I was a light sleeper. I always had been. That made me wonder, would he have survived it if Aonung were home instead of me? He wasn't a light sleeper.
Two days earlier
I was awaked by the bead curtain which hung infront of Zaniyah's bedroom, the sound of the beads falling against one another was enough to wake me up, someone had touched the curtain. At first I thought Zaniyah was awake again, she had been awake at least once every night since Aonung left our pod. But this feeling in the pit of my stomach told me something was wrong, I didn't think it was Zaniyah that was awake, I didn't think she'd come to me and ask where her father was like she did every night. I was immediatly wide awake and I got up to my feet, I quietly tiptoed through my pod. My gut was telling me to check on Kaoru, that something was going on with him.. or perhaps it was Eywa that told me so, she was guiding me to my second son and I had to listen to her.
I quietly walked over to his bedroom and what I saw shocked me to my very core. An Ash man was standing over my son with a dagger in his hands, he was about to stab Kaoru in his heart and everything went in slowmotion for me. This rage I had never felt before awaked something inside of me, something dark..
I screamed at the top of my lungs, it sounded raw and almost scary. I launched myself forward and pulled the man off my son with such force that even I was surprised by the strength in my body, the knife had cut Kaoru's skin though, which awokened him as he stared at me fighting the man with widened eyes.
The man stood behind me and tried to cut my throat so he could go back to killing my son and I wouldn't allow that. Even if I had to fight for an eternity.
I grabbed the dagger with both of my hands as the sharp blade cut deeply into my hands, my blood pouring and making the hold he had around the dagger slippery. I managed to get the dagger out of his hands and as I held the dagger with my left hand I lifted my right hand and scratched his face open with my nails. The man clutched to his face as I stabbed him in the stomach, his bloodred eyes widening in shock as they locked with my cold ones. I wasn't feeling sorry for a moment, he tried to kill my baby and he wouldn't get away with it.
I however didn't stop when the man fell to the ground, I screamed and crawled on top of him as I continued to stab him in his stomach and chest. His blood was spluttering all over me and he was long dead but I couldn't stop, something had taken over me.
I hardly noticed Asherah holding her sisters back so they wouldn't see, I hadn't noticed that Araoukai had ran out to get his father at uncle Yukrì's place. I barely even noticed Tsireya entering the pod, they were practically our neighbours so obviously she would've heard my screams, I didn't see how pale she went as she saw me stab the man until there was nothing left of him. I didn't notice Kaoru staring at me stabbing the man with utter fear in his eyes, all I cared about was keeping my children alive and making sure that this man was dead.
"What's going on?" Aonung's voice echoed from far away, but he was not far away.. he was in our pod, with Araoukai.
Aonung ran into Kaoru's room and his eyes widened as he saw me stab the Ash man. There was so much adrenaline in my body that I could not tire from stabbing this man, my eyes were wide and cold and I was certain that Aonung had never seen me like this. I hadn't even seen myself like this.
"Miya," he whispered as he placed a hand on my shoulder. I hissed at him and lifted the dagger, as if I was about to stab him.. my husband.. My eyes locked with his and I was drawn back to reality, I realised what I as doing.
I gasped ad I looked at the man that I had stabbed beyond recognizing, I threw the dagger away and crawled off the man.
"Miya," Aonung repeated, "what happened?"
"I heard Zaniyah's bead curtain, like it was moved.." I whispered with an almost unrecognizable voice, "this man was hovering above Kaoru with the dagger.. he wanted to kill him.. I don't know what came over me."
And then it hit me.
"Kaoru," I said as I turned around and looked at my son, who stared at me with widened eyes, "my son... are you allright?"
"Y-yeah, mom," Kaoru stammered with a high pitched voice, "I- I think I just pissed myself."
"How did this man know where we live?" Asherah asked as she was standing in the entrance to Kaoru's bedroom with her arms crossed, Araoukai was standing right besides her.
"Where are your sisters?" Aonung asked Asherah.
"Aunt Reya took them with her," she answered and turned to look at me, "what happened to your hands?"
I frowned and looked down at my hands that were still bleeding and covering my thighs with blood. I hardly even felt it.
"She grabbed the dagger," Kaoru answered, "so he wouldn't kill me."
Aonung took my hands into his and looked at the deep cuts in them, then he turned to look at the cut on Kaoru's chest which was also bleeding.
"Asha, get aunt Reya and stay in her pod with your sisters," Aonung said and Asherah nodded, although he couldn't see it. She immediatly left to get Tsireya.
"Woah, mom," Araoukai said as he came closer to the man's body, "you really did a number on him."
"Araoukai," Aonung said, "wake Teungyi, Yrritsyo and Rotxo up, tell them that their Olo'eyktan requires their help at his pod."
"To dispose of the body," Araoukai nodded, "I'll get them."
"Can you hold a little longer with that cut, Kaoru?" Aonung asked him, "I think your mother needs treatment first, so she doesn't bleed to death here."
"No," I said immediatly, "Kaoru first."
"Darling, you-"
"Kaoru first!" I said as I raised my voice at him, "Kaoru. First."
"You're bleeding heavier than him, Miyara," Aonung spoke again.
"That's because I was protecting our son," I spat at him, "you weren't here to protect him."
Aonung's eyes widened as I said that, I shouldn't have said it, not infront of Kaoru. But I was so lost in the moment that I couldn't help myself from blaming him a little bit. He had moved out to live with his little brother about a few weeks ago, when Kaoru got burned, because he blamed me.. because I made Kaoru keep a secret about Araoukai. I shouldn't have made Kaoru keep the secret, I told Aonung that but he wouldn't listen.. I was afraid if he found out he would still force Araoukai to mate with Eraya.. and he still wanted to do that.
And now he was back, feeling concerned about me when he wasn't even here to protect his own family.
I was angry at him.
"Mom," Kaoru said and my ears lowered as I broke eye contact with Aonung.
Tsireya walked in with Tsahik supplies and she fell onto her knees infront of me, to help me first.
"Kaoru first," I spoke softly and she wanted to argue about it with me, "Kaoru first."
Tsireya sighed but obeyed my orders and moved to Kaoru, treating his wound first. I pulled my hands out of Aonung's and I refused to look at him, he didn't speak a word.
"They're retreating!" I heard Müna shout from afar as I managed to shoot another Ash woman. My hands were covered with leaf bandages but I still managed to shoot with my bow and arrow and I could also still heal people.
I turned to see the Ash people retreating, followed by lots of cheers from the Metkayina people.
"Miya!" Seyza shouted as she came running to me, "it's Rotxo!"
My eyes widened in fear as I ran after Seyza to go to Rotxo.
***
Emra'o's pov:
I sighed as I sat against a tree in the forest, I wouldn't even try to climb it since I was a horrible climber and the other Omatikaya kids were making fun of me for it. I missed home, I missed Awa'atlu and my mother. I missed my cousins and my aunt and uncle. I wanted to go spearfishing beyond the roots with Araoukai, I wanted to go to the spirit tree with aunt Miya and to go back to skimwing training with Mo'iki.. I wanted to assist uncle Aonung with the hunts, I wanted to eat everything at feasts with Kaoru, I wanted to have Zaniyah and Na'aila braid my hair for the millionth time.. I even missed Asherah's nasty remarks, I even found her nicer than some of the kids here.
"Mom, you there?" I asked through the throat microphone, but I reached nobody.. it was so strange, I was able to talk with Kaoru from Awa'atlu when he had gone to Ta'unui with his mom and brother.. but for some reason I couldn't from here.. would I really be too far away for the signal to reach?
"Have you managed to contact your mother?" Ralu asked me, startling me as he showed himself from behind a tree, walking over to me, "you left to call her, right?"
"Yeah, well, we've been here for a long time and nobody has been able to reach any of our relatives at Awa'atlu," I sighed as he sat down besides me, making my heart skip a beat, which I hated.
"Maybe you're too far away," Ralu said and he smiled at me as he looked into my eyes, "you have beautiful eyes."
"Are you fucking gay?" I scoffed and I saw his eyes widen in fear.
"I'm so sorry, I-I thought," Ralu stammered and I grunted and squeezed my eyes shut for a moment.
"You thought.." I stammered and hesitated to say it, I knew I wasn't into girls but I had also never been with a guy before, "you thought right."
A girl had never made my heart skip a beat, but Ralu had.. which I hated because we could never be. I was Metkayina, I was supposed to stay there and I wanted to stay there. Ralu was Omatikaya and he was the next Olo'eyktan.
"So, you just like to scare people like that?" He asked me as his golden eyes narrowed at me and I chuckled.
"Don't play dumb," I sighed, "I know my sister has already told you."
"Yeah, she did," Ralu chuckled, "she encouraged me to come here."
"She shouldn't have," I said as I got up to my feet and looked down at the Omatikaya boy.
"Why not?" He asked me.
"What's the point in trying?" I asked him and crossed my arms, "you're Omatikaya, and I'm Metkayina."
"You can stay here," he said with hopeful eyes.
"I don't want to stay here," I said, "Awa'atlu is my home. It'll always be my home."
"Home is not a place, Em," Ralu said as he got up and looked down at me, since he was a little taller than me, "it's a person."
"You're right, I suppose," I said as my heart was beating heavily in my chest, "but I can't be that person for you."
And with that I left him, I hadn't noticed Naeyi watching the scene from a distance and grunting frustrated as I denied my feelings.. I was good at that, I was good at protecting my heart from heartbreak. Even if denying the feelings I had developed in the time we were here for Ralu also hurt me.
I had intended for this chapter to be published earlier this week, sorry that I haven't done that.. At the moment I'm training to get my bus drivers lisence so I can be a busdriver for three days in the week and they had an opening for an earlier theory exam (I need to pass three theory exams before I can move onto driving lessons, I have two out of three now) and so I suddenly had to study a book of 160 pages in two days and therefor I had no time to finish the chapter earlier. But here it is. I hope you all liked it.
And let me know what you thought about it and what you think will happen next.
And also, how would you like to see the story move along?