Chapter Text
Neteyam knew leaving home would be hard.
What was surprising however, was how hard it was for him . Being the oldest, he was raised to be a pillar, a stable role model for his younger siblings to follow. He didn’t complain about the long trip, leaving their life behind, or having to basically start his training over from scratch, but truth be told he was frustrated. The more homesickness settled in, the more his reserve was wavering. Maybe he wasn’t as strong as he thought.
He kept it to himself.
Everything would turn out okay eventually. His father was strong. His parents were strong. He trusted them to get the family through this. But Neteyam was practically an adult. His parents didn’t try to conceal the degree of danger they were in when they were with him. They didn’t give him words of reassurance as they did for Lo’ak or Tuk when they asked questions, but instead confided in him when the younger Sullys weren’t around.
“You need to be strong, Neteyamo.” His mother had told him. “Your brothers and sisters look to you for guidance.” He only nodded. He’d do as he’d always done for them. Encourage them. Be there for them. But by the sound of it, he doubted they could realistically ever go home. It was a scary thought, and a heavy burden to carry.
One that a certain Metkayinan heir wasn’t making any easier.
***
He should’ve known it was going to be a rough transition when he first heard Aonung protesting to his father about not wanting to give the kids lessons. Somehow, he made it seem like he wanted to be there even less than Neteyam did, which was a fairly high bar.
Fortunately, Tsireya was more than happy to help out. She was much more well mannered than her older brother, and Lo’ak didn’t seem too upset about her presence either.
They began ilu riding lessons fairly quickly after spending some time in the water, and Aonung was less than helpful. No matter. Neteyam didn't need his help.
After learning how to position himself and talk to the ily, Neteyam launched into the air with misplaced confidence. After training for years to ride his ikran, he thought riding the ilu would be a piece of cake. For the most part, it actually was, until he dove into the water. He felt a huge surge of pressure as his face collided with the water, harshly thwacking the skin on his arms and face. It caught him off guard. He lost his breath as the wind was almost knocked out of him, and he toppled over backward, swirling through the current.
He resurfaced.
“Slow down!” Tsireya called. “You dive too fast for a beginner. Try to visualize your body connecting to the water before it swallows you. Don’t fight its surface.”
Neteyam coughed and nodded, paddling over to his ilu. Tsireya called it over doing the mouth clicking thing she does. It was different from how they called their ikran. He hadn't quite mastered it. Or the hand talk. Or much of anything really. He wasn’t used to feeling so inferior.
Once he remounted, he noticed Aonung’s face from where he treaded in the water beside his sister. He was smirking as he pointed in Neteyam's direction. He turned and said something to her. She smacked the back of his head while concealing a smirk. Neteyam glanced away, brows furrowed.
What’s his problem? Neteyam thought. Was this supposed to be easy for beginners? He’d like to see Aonung try to fly an ikran with no training. They'd see who's laughing then.
He connected his queue and took off with a soft urging noise at his ilu. He took a less bold route this time, flying just above the water's surface. He felt the ilu start to submerge itself once he gained his balance, but Neteyam guided it back upward. He needed to learn to dive , not just ride underwater. He couldn’t expect the sea to be so gentle during a real battle. He took the ilu a few steps higher, and dove.
SPLASH
He broke the water's surface. The water poured over him heavily but he didn’t lose his breath this time. He tried to hook his right leg around the ilu’s front fin to keep from falling, but the position was awkward and stunted. He couldn’t just sit like when he rode his ikran. There was no gravity to keep him grounded, so he had to use a lot more strength to stay on. It was much harder than he was expecting. He stayed on course a bit longer, but as soon as the ilu made a turn, Neteyam lost control and slipped off.
Dammit! He had no friction underwater. It felt impossible to keep a grip.
Aonung didn’t even try to contain his amusement this time. As soon as he broke through the surface he heard his grating voice laughing across the water. Oh how he hated that sound.
“You ride like a baby! I’ve seen toddlers learn faster than you, tree boy.”
Neteyam scowled. Forgot my name already, huh? He wanted to ignore him and swim back toward his ilu, but Aonung had already called it.
Neteyam approached him in the water, his muscles aching. He was still catching his breath. “Maybe you should * gasp… * actually try teaching me something then * gasp…* instead of spectating.”
Aonung's eyes narrowed. “I don’t think there’s anything I could teach you that you would understand. Consider it sympathy. You wouldn’t last five minutes under my instructions.”
“Oh really?” Neteyam chuckled. “You that bad of a teacher?”
“My skills are too far beyond your level.”
“I'll believe it when I see it, chief.” Aonung got closer, sizing him up.
Tsireya blocked Aonung's chest with her hand and pulled him out of their staredown. “Be respectful towards our guests tsmukan. And he’s right. Father asked us both to teach the omaticayan children. Why don’t you observe for awhile and I’ll go help Kiri and Lo’ak.”
She smiled at Neteyam before mounting her own ilu and riding away. Aonung turned back to him . “I guess like we’re doing things my way. Mount.” He said, his voice commanding. Neteyam gripped the handle on the ilu and climbed on without breaking eye contact.
“You need to focus. Only a minute won't cut it. You need to hold your breath and forget there even is a surface. Don’t think about the air.”
Neteyam nodded.
Aonung circled him. “You should not still be catching your breath. You need control. With no control, there’s no focus. With no focus, you’ll fall. Breathe from here. ” He placed a hand over the uppermost part of Neteyam's stomach. Neteyam jerked back.
“Is this supposed to be intimidating?”
“Do you want to learn or not, tree boy?” Neteyam muttered out an apology. Aonung rested his hand back onto Neteyam's skin. “Slow.” Neteyam took a deep breath, finding it even harder to focus with Aonung touching him. His hands were rough and warm on his skin. He felt his face heat up. Aonung flicked his arm.
“Hey!”
“Wrong. You breathe in too fast. Your heartbeat is fast too. You must build endurance. Try again.”
Neteyam took another deep breath, slower this time.
“Better. Try to dive again, but hold your breath properly this time. And don’t dive so steeply. You aren’t ready” He pointed two fingers at Neteyam's eyes and pulled his hand back. “Focus. You fall again, and I won't be so nice.”
Neteyam nodded. That’s reassuring.
He urged the ilu forward and took off. He found himself gliding over the water, slowly going higher and higher. He took a big breath, taking his time and drawing air as deeply as he knew how. Then, he dove — this time at a less steep angle.
The water slammed into his skin harshly, but he kept his eyes ahead, determined, focused, increasing his speed as he peered ahead. A few more seconds passed and he was still stable. He was doing it! Aonung didn’t know what he was talking about. He reveled in the satisfaction of having surpassed his previous attempts already. He hated to admit it, but his Aonung's advice helped. He tilted head to the right in an attempt to turn, trying to think the command into action. He swiveled in a circle smoothly. Ha!
He turned his head to look back at Aonung, who was out of sight. I knew he was exaggerating. This is easy once you get a handle on it.
However, it seemed like he jinxed it by patting himself on the back too early. When Neteyam turned back around, he saw an arch shaped rock stood directly in his path, and the ilu was not slowing down. He yelped in a panic, accidentally letting some air escape his lungs.
CRACK.
A flash of white filled his vision as he smacked his skull against stone. He was instantly knocked off the ilu, which slipped under the stone and swam away unharmed.
Neteyam began sinking as the rest of his air slipped from his lungs. He’d lost consciousness instantly from the impact, and his body went limp as he fell further and further to the ground. It was almost… graceful. Like a feather slowly floating down the side of the ravine, swirling in the air.
Instead of letting him disappear into the abyss, a pair of strong arms grabbed Neteyam around his torso. His eyes flicked open as he felt his body being guided upward. No air. He automatically tried suck in a breath only to be greeted by a lungful of water. He began coughing and convulsing as he choked.
No air no air no air.
A hand covered his mouth and nose to stop him from taking on any more water. He felt completely paralyzed as he struggled in confusion. He gripped onto the arm covering his face for dear life, as if removing it would do any good. Finally, They broke through the surface and Neteyam stopped struggling.
Aonung removed his hand from his face but held onto Neteyam tightly, swimming on his back so the boy was resting on his chest. Neteyam began coughing and sputtering as air reentered his system. Aonung carried him on the water, thankful the waves weren’t choppy that day.
After what felt like eons, he managed to drag him onto the shore. He helped Neteyam flip onto his front side, and kept smacking his back unwarranted.
“Try to get all the water out.”
Neteyam kept crawling forward on his forearms while he choked. Soon the panic dissipated, and his lungs began to calm down a bit. He collapsed forward, pressing his forehead to the ground in relief.
“Don’t go breathing in sand.” Said Aonung, lifting Neteyam by his forearm until Neteyam was flipped onto his back, panting from exhaustion. Aonung was very pushy when being helpful.
Neteyam stared up at his rescuer, somewhat surprised that he’d done so much to help him. Sure, he’d probably get in trouble if he let one of the omaticaya refugees drown, but still. Maybe Neteyam had judged him prematurely. Aonung caught his gaze.
He expected Aonung to jab him with words or laugh again at his foolishness, but he only shook his head. “ Skxawng .”
He actually looked relieved, of all things. He clenched his jaw unsure as he sat beside him on the sand.
Neteyam sat up, feeling very light headed.
“Thank you, Aonung.” Neteyam said. It was hard to sound earnest with his throat feeling so sore.
Aonung looked surprised. He made a “tch.” Noise.
“Don’t try to talk yet, forest boy.” He stood up and began to walk away towards the village. “That’s enough lessons for today. I told you you wouldn’t last five minutes.”
Neteyam collapsed back onto the sand, and sighed.