Blood and Water | Neteyam

In the Depths of The Waters ∼ 10

Tcelia was awakened by Kiri early the next morning. For as long as Tcelia could remember, Kiri would wake Tcelia earlier than the rest of the family and they would start the day together.

Kiri had a long time ago, told her that she would occasionally wake up, sometimes hours before dawn, and would lie awake. It was often in those early hours of the morning that the trance like occurrences would happen.

Tcelia had told the girl to just wake her up whenever she couldn't fall asleep again, and she would attempt to prevent the trance from taking place. It wasn't difficult, all Kiri needed was a distraction. So they'd either gather leaves and herbs for Kiri's Tsahik practice or fly through the air on their ikrans – Really just anything Kiri wanted to do

Tcelia reached a hand up to her forehead to shelter her eyes from the sun – a sunray was hitting her face full on, "Hey Kiri," she mumbled, still groggy from her sleep.

Kiri moved her body so that she was covering the sun, and Tcelia let out a grateful sigh, "So, what do you have in mind for today?" Kiri usually decided how their mornings would go, since naturally, she was the only one who knew what would distract her.

"I was thinking that we would get a head start and go swimming," Kiri whispered, careful not to wake her family. Tcelia sat up quickly, all grogginess leaving her body instantaneously.

"Oh, that is definitely happening," Tcelia whispered back, excitement evident in her voice. She had been looking forward to diving into the ocean and seeing what awaited in its depths since they had arrived the day before. Tcelia rose quickly and Kiri put a finger to her lips, indicating for Tcelia to be more quiet. Tcelia shrugged apologetically but she couldn't prevent a smile from slipping onto her lips as she looked out. Village life had slowly begun and Tcelia spotted fishers casting nets in the water and further away, she could see someone tending to small bonfires, probably getting them ready for breakfast.

The two girls snuck out of the pod, grinning at each other giddily. Tcelia pointed at a spot further along the walkway, indicating for them to jump in from there. Kiri nodded – they were both worried about waking someone up if they jumped in the water right by the pod.

But they had barely made it three meters away from the opening, when a low voice came from behind them, "Where are you heading off to?"

The two girls spun around quickly, Tcelia's heart hammering loudly. She didn't know why she felt like she had been caught in the act of doing something wrong, they were only going swimming after all. When she spotted the owner of the voice, she let out a breath of relief. Neteyam was stepping out of the pod, making his way over to the girls, a curious look on his face.

"We are going swimming," Kiri explained to her brother, "Do you want to come?"

Neteyam glanced back to the pod, considering the offer. Then he looked at the two excited girls, who could barely stand still from their eagerness. Neteyam's lip quirked up in one side, probably finding both Tcelia and Kiri extremely amusing. Tcelia couldn't blame him. They almost certainly looked like eleven-year-olds, looking up at him, straining themselves from jumping up and down.

Finally, Neteyam responded, "Alright, but we can't jump in from here, we don't want to wake anybody up,"

"Well, obviously not. We were going to go over there." Tcelia told him, looking in the direction of the spot Kiri and her had agreed on. When she turned her face back to look at them, she caught a quick glimpse of the siblings communicating with their eyes.

"Where?" Neteyam furrowed his eyebrows, overexaggerating his search for where Tcelia had indicated.

Tcelia eyed both Kiri and Neteyam suspiciously, "Over there," she pointed.