Chapter Text
"I think it is best for you to wait til sunrise." Tsireya suggested, her worry manifesting in her expression. She was looking right at Neteyam with those big eyes and Neteyam found himself hesitating, almost reconsidering her advice. Though he reckon Lo'ak had experience knowing his way back home through the night.
"I don't fly until sunrise." Lo'ak mentioned, shattering Neteyam's train of thought, and hopes and dreams in the process.
Neteyam caught his brother's eyes next. He just wanted to return home and sleep in his own beloved mat and it seemed like his face was translating exactly that desired feeling. Lo'ak apparently found his face amusing when his lips broke into a grin.
"I'm serious, it's pitch darkness out there, it's not safe to fly believe me." He added. Lo'ak had tried flying back during night time once, but it ultimately resulted in him getting lost because he couldn't tell where he was going and came straight back to Tsireya in the end.
A'onung who was keeping unusually quiet all this time eventually rose to his feet. His precious and valuable time could be needed somewhere else, like spending it on sleeping the remaining hours he had left prior to waking up before village life. The more he waited around listening to this headache of a mess, the less he would get to sleep.
"Ao'nung, where are you going?" Tsireya questioned her eyes following her retreating older brother walking to the shore.
"I'm leaving, village life starts early and we both have duties of our own, Tsireya. They can figure this out on themselves." Ao'nung waved them off dismissing himself from the group. His typical impertinent attitude reappearing. Neteyam couldn't understand how they were able to hold a conversation together and nearly connected with their similar obligations hours ago. That tiny glimmer of hope that Neteyam gained from that Ao'nung stepped all over it and kicked it out to sea.
As Ao'nung waited for Tsireya to join him along, his patience was rapidly decreasing as she persisted to holding onto Lo'ak, not wanting to depart so sudden. The two shared words but Neteyam's sharp ears weren't able to pick up on it due to the waves muffling them. It was then that Tsireya turned to her irritated brother and stood her ground.
"I am staying here until sunrise, my duties can wait." She replied firmly, never moving an inch forward.
"Tsireya let's go." Ao'nung loudly announced. He wasn't taking no for an answer and he wasn't leaving without her younger sister either, no matter if she wanted to continue being persistent. The siblings needed to return home and have a deep discussion over this without the Omatikayan's around.
"We are leaving now, that is an order!" His booming voice made everyone flinch out of instinct, with ears drooping down as well. Ao'nung had the absolute nerve to use his commanding voice right now and Neteyam fought the impulse to bow his head in surrender, it would be too humiliating. Instead he shot the taller na'vi daggers with his yellow eyes from where he was.
"Fish lips she said she's staying!" Lo'ak shouted back. As if the tension wasn't high enough already Lo'ak had to make things worse with bringing up the nickname he had developed for the reef na'vi.
A'onung retaliated with an angry hiss, baring his fangs ready to tackle his dumb brother. As much as Neteyam wouldn't mind letting Ao'nung knock some sense into Lo'ak right now, he was fed up with everything and just wanted to leave.
So Neteyam made the call for his ikran and disregarded the two na'vis throwing insults back and forth at each other. Poor Tsireya was caught in between, but luckily the shrill scream of his ikran coming into view managed to pause their on going bickering and recoil back as his ikran made a landing and dusted them with sand, mostly at Ao'nung. Neteyam wasted no time in making the bond and immediately hopped on. "Lo'ak let's go." Was all Neteyam said.
Lo'ak knew there was no room for negotiations by the sound of his brother's monotone voice. Plus the look Neteyam was giving him reminded him of his mother, one he got whenever he tested their patience.
Miraculously they found their way back home in one piece. The journey worn them out completely that as soon as their bodies hit their mats they passed out from sleep and luckily for them their family hadn't been present when they arrived because Neteyam didn't have an ounce of energy left to give their parents an explanation on their whereabouts. For now he slept.
Kiri and Tuk ventured back to their tent while discussing the findings that Tuk discovered in a small brook. Her pouch settled on her hip was weighted down with various new seeds, pebbles, and river stones for her ever growing collection. Tuk had found one particular stone that was perfect just for Neteyam's new bracelet she was working on. Tuk's pure excitement to show the eldest brother the stone put a smile on Kiri but soon her nose took a whiff of something salty and her yellow eyes landed on her two brothers sleeping. The two had been missing for some time and their unforeseen appearance back raised many questions. She could understand Lo'ak's absence since he often chose to wander around and not return for several nights yet Neteyam was a different case. He was always the first one to step foot back after a day of duties with his father.
Tuk was also taken back at the sight because she suddenly stopped her rambling and then a wide, joyous grin broke out on her face.
"Neteyam's back!" She exclaimed happily, completely disregarding how booming her voice was and achieved to disturb the sleep out of the two na'vis. The youngest bounced her way to Neteyam's side and took a seat, her pouch in her lap and a hand inside ready to show him her findings of the day.
Neteyam rubbed away the sleep before squinting his eyes up for his view to be of a smiling Tuk. Beside him Lo'ak let out a groan of being woken up.
Kiri crossed her thin arms and made a clearing of her throat to gather everyone's attention.
"Where have you two been? You guys smell like you've been swimming in salt?" She asked as her face scrunched up. Neteyam managed to sit up and offered a soft pat to the top of Tuk's braided head. Now, he knew he wasn't the cause of the smell since the main culprit of his brother had spent time in the salty water so, his eyes whipped over to Lo'ak as to allow him take the heat on this one.
All yellow eyes turned to Lo'ak, awaiting his answer.
However, whatever possessed Neteyam to think it was a good idea to let Lo'ak speak on their behalf made him almost face palm and regret it instantly when Lo'ak nonchalantly replied to Kiri.
"We did, it helps with the skin." Lo'ak completely flat out lied to her, knowing full well that it didn't and Kiri knew that. But Kiri played along with Lo'ak's lie because she always found it amusing to see him flustered and cornered within any lie he came up.
"So you two have been soaking in salt all this time and didn't offer an invite?" She gasped pretending to be fake hurt by her brother's actions though Tuk did appear to be offended.
"I wanna come along!"
"Tuk no one is going anywhere, I simply tagged along with him and we lost track of time. We had to wash off by the ocean but that's it." Neteyam responded. He played his words safe and kept calm under Kiri's examining eyes. It was the best answer he could come up with to not make Kiri so suspicious of their absence. She studied them for a moment her golden eyes switching between the two before seeming to accept Neteyam's answer at last.
"Well, I'm glad you two made it back, mother was starting to worry." Kiri resumed what she had ventured back to do, grabbing some herbs and other supplies to bring back to her grandmother. They had to make more healing ointment because the returning hunting party earlier had a run in with a group of viperwolves. Fortunately no one got severely injured only a few scratches that would heal in the following days.
"Lo'ak will be sure to speak with them, isn't that right baby bro?" He firmly stated just in time for Lo'ak to whip his head so fast in shock with an almost pleading look replacing his once sleepy eyes.
"Neteyam—"
"Tuk did you want to show me something?" He said turning his focus and body to Tuk who was patiently waiting while rummaging through her little pouch. Her face quickly brightened up again and she nodded her head before digging her hand in search for his new stone.
"She would not stop talking about it." Kiri added from where she was siting.
"Only because it's perfect for Neteyam!" She argued back, sticking her tongue out before Neteyam could notice and scold her for it. Kiri just rolled her yellow eyes, gathered her supplies and left without another word. Meanwhile, Lo'ak came to stand in front of the two."You say that about every pretty pebble you find Tuk."
"But this is prettier than the others! Plus I had to get my hands dirty to get this one so it was totally worth it." Tuk tried to justify herself. She took Neteyam’s larger hand and settled the stone right in the middle of his open palm. Both Lo'ak and Neteyam's yellow eyes landed on the turquoise rock, its color very oddly similar to an oceanic clan they came know. In fact, the more Neteyam examined it and moved it around in his palm he could see tiny swirls within comparable to the wavy patterns that the Metkayina had. The stone was quick to be snatched from him by Lo’ak who held it up in front of his face instead with Neteyam’s glare going unnoticed.
“Show me where you found this and I’ll do your chores for a day.” Lo’ak said while continuing to admire the teal stone.
“Make it a week and it’s a done deal.” Tuk bargained as she crossed her thin arms to appear more assertive. That made Lo’ak finally snap his eyes down at Tuk and then the two began a random staring contest which ultimately resulted in Tuk winning and a defeated Lo’ak groaning at what he got himself into. Tuk displayed a wide prideful smile as she closed up her pouch and stood, reaching up to grab Neteyam’s stone out of his hand and returned it back to her older brother.
..........
While Lo’ak and Tsireya left to do who knows what, not that Neteyam was even remotely curious, he sat himself in a large flat rock close to the crashing waves and got to work on his new anklet. Just before they left he made sure to pack everything that he needed the night of. A wide leaf was laid out to his side containing all of the materials and the sun provided him the perfect light so he didn’t have to squint as much trying to put his beads in. Unfortunately, his progression was cut short by a big looming shadow blocking the sun. He didn’t even have to glance up to know that the shadow belonged to Ao’nung.
“You are preventing me from working.” He said keeping his head down and tried to resume once again, not wanting to give Ao’nung his attention. But then from the corner of his eyes he saw Ao’nung sit right next to him as if Neteyam had inviting him to join him. He tucked a few stranded braids behind his ear and casted a look over at him. Ao’nung’s aqua eyes were already studying Neteyam as if he was awaiting some type of response then his eyes shifted down to Neteyam’s slender blue hands.
“What are you working on?” He questioned, eyes narrowing on the unfinished anklet. Instead of answering back he lifted it up and showed it off before continuing to thread and interweave the various beads in his design, his braids cascading down and making him stop to tuck it away. Ao’nung watched Neteyam slowly grow annoyed little by little from his braids getting in the way. It was amusing to watch every time Neteyam had to stop just to brush his braids away so out of pure pity and nothing more, he thought to himself, he dug into his small pouch by his hip and then cleared his throat. Neteyam glanced over with a small furrow to his forehead.
“Use this for your braids.” Ao’nung offered. Neteyam eyed the tie and instead of grabbing it he simply declined by gathering all of his braids to one side of his shoulder.
Ao’nung signed at Neteyam’s sudden stubbornness, not liking his hospitality being disregarded by the other. Therefore, before Neteyam could even refuse and act out he got behind the blue na’vi and took his neatly long braids into a ponytail.
Well, a rather loose one. One shook of his head and he could feel it come undone. "Have you ever in your life done a ponytail?" Neteyam questioned in complete bafflement.
" Why do you have so much hair?" He instead had the audacity to answer with watching as the other redid his hair effortlessly into a more secure and tight hold before resuming his bead work.
"I stopped cutting it years ago though my hair is much longer without the braids." Neteyam stated fully immersed into carefully threading in his beads now that his hair wasn't bothering him. The rolling waves crashing into the shore offered them a pleasant ambiance as the taller of the two just sat there observing Neteyam in his little project with a bead between his teeth so he could tie off an end.
"Can you show me some day?"
A'onung's voiced out unassuming of the implication of what that truly meant to an Omatikayan. The little bead that was settled between his teeth took its chance of Neteyam's gasp and made him go into a violent coughing rage. It was like the bead and Ao'nung were working together in secret to result in Neteyams downfall. A big and sudden smack connected with his back and out came the rebellious tiny bead lodging his throat. A couple more coughs well, mostly to try and hold off the purple flush currently engulfing his face. He could not believe what the other was asking of him. Surely he knew and this was all a devious plan to witness Neteyam lose his cool composure.
Golden eyes soon turned to manifest a menacing glare. "You do not just ask that without knowing its meaning!" Each word said he stabbed his finger into the Metkayina's chest wanting it to hurt or at least bring him some discomfort.
A'onung's aqua eyes only glowed with merriment. "Well why not?" He challenged. With the way Neteyam was responding he couldn't let it fly by his curiosity was urging him to push the small na'vi more. "Is it only for certain special occasions?"
"Exactly now I wish to move on from this topic." Neteyam declared beginning to pack his belongings into his sack. The faster he moved the faster he could escape this embarrassing and aggravating conversation.
Its clear that their customs were vastly different to each other without a doubt and maybe he did overreacted a bit and Ao'nung was just asking out of pure curiosity but the amusing grin plastered on his face told him otherwise. With everything packed away in his satchel he got to his feet and called out to his ikran. He really wanted to make some progress on the anklet today but it seems Eywa had other plans for him today like dealing with a bothersome reef boy. Speaking of, a large hand captured his wrist in a means to halt Neteyam’s motives to leave.
Their height difference really was impressive and a lot to take in so much that Neteyam had to crane his head just to look at Ao'nung and his always present smug grin. "Fine fine, I'm sorry just dont leave yet." He uttered, his voice almost sounding pleading like and quiet toward the end. Neteyam studied the other just as he felt a big gust of wind and a loud screech behind him from his beloved ikran coming to his rescue. He watched how the Metkayina flinched ever so slightly and his aqua light eyes flickered between Neteyam and his ikran currently screaming at him.
Meanwhile, his wrist was still being held hostage.
So Neteyam eyed his hand before letting out a small cough which he finally reacted and swiftly released his wrist like it had sent a volt of energy through him. With both of his hands now free he could soothe and reassure his ikran to relax, giving it gentle rubs along its strong neck and jaw.
"You make it really hard to stay." He replied glancing a look back at the reef na'vi. A'onung met his golden ones filled with resolve in keeping the other from leaving. "At least until my sister returns. I have to make sure she arrives the same way she left."
Neteyam gave him a warning glare at Ao'nung's last comment and it seemed his beloved ikran also disliked it because it let out a loud shriek out of intimation directly to the taller of the two. Stomping its hooked talons onto the sand and as much as seeing Ao'nung retreat back slowly in surrender and flinching each time a shrill filled their ears made him grin, Neteyam was quick to calm his friend down with gentle rubs and shushed words. Words that Ao'nung could not make out. His aqua eyes observed the two from a couple of feet back and to his surprise the ikran flew away after the exchange.
Now the two oldest siblings stood there a good distance away from each other in utter silence. The smaller na'vi was the first to speak.
"Take back what you said about Lo'ak." He stated while kicking some sand at him. The sand barely even reached Ao'nung so he tried again with a bit more force until the sand landed on the others teal feet. A small victory but he'll take it. A'onung just watched him with that same smug grin, his words laced with sudden amusement. "Take back what? That your little brother is troublesome? Because he is."
"If Neteyam wasn't already sending daggers with his golden stare he would've kicked more sand at him. Ao’nung was on a mission today to annoy him, like every other day actually but Neteyam was the more mature one of the two it seemed like so he just shook his head and sighed. "Lo'ak worships Tsireya. He probably would lay his body across a puddle of water so she wouldn't have to step on it. He truly loves her and she loves him, you have to see and accept that." He knew his brothers ways occasionally could be considered reckless and maybe often times idiotic but he also knows that he has a big heart within. Nothing could come between them and Neteyam although still reluctant and iffy about this whole situation has to learn to trust in Lo'ak and believe that Eywa chose this path for his younger brother.
"Maybe that's true, but you and your brother are omatikayans we are metkayina we're already too different." Ao'nung responded his aqua eyes breaking away from Neteyam to gaze in the crashing of the waves behind them.
There was a beat of silence as they watched and took in the sounds of the ocean from where they stood. Neteyam's voice was quiet and sincere but it was loud enough when he spoke.
"Or maybe what really matters is in here." A slender finger pointed toward his heart and his yellow eyes took a glance up briefly. "What you feel inside with the one you love."
A'onung remained quiet beside him with an unreadable expression, almost like he was actually taking in Neteyam's words or choosing to disregard him either way he didn't care. A'onung would never see it the same way, his stubbornness and massive ego would act first than comprehend. With the turmoil happening inside Neteyam's head he missed the moment the metkayina's eyes softened ever so slightly.