"What did you do?" She immediately got up and walked towards her brother; as he looked down in shame, her words became harsh, "Aonung tell me what you did!"
"I took Lo'ak past the reefs, it was just for funny revenge, but he hasn't come back... please sister, help me."
"No. You will go with Neteyam to his father and confess your wrong-doings, then you will go to our father," She hissed at her brother in frustration as he tried to protest.
"No, please! Father will kill me!"
"If you don't find Lo'ak alive, you surely will be dead Aonung. Now hurry and go."
Neteyam was now standing and upset, taking the boy by his braid. He practically dragged him to his father.
"What is it, Neteyam?" His father looked up.
"Tell him what you told me."
After Aonung's confession, the horns were blown for everyone to meet, nighttime was hastily on it's way, and Lo'ak still hadn't been found. They could only be lucky the sea tonight wasn't harsh, thanking Eywa for the miracle. Both families waited together, and when he finally returned, it was like all the tension broke, that was until Tonowari and Jake started to speak. Kireyi watched the whole ordeal, even to the point of Lo'ak taking the blame for her brother. He hadn't known about Aonung confessing to both families, yet once he took the blame, it was as if everyone automatically believed Lo'ak instead. Like they wanted to place the blame onto the boy. She was not about to let him get away with it. It was apparent that it was Aonung's fault. When she reached Toruk Makto and Neytiri, they were with their oldest son, scolding him for not watching his brother.
Her mouth was running before she could even think, "Please do not blame them. It was not their fault!" The three looked at Kireyi in shock, "I had no clue my brother and his friends would do that, so I cannot speak for them. However, they all knew better. I know Lo'ak didn't know about having to stay in the reefs, so please do not blame him."
"Well, Neteyam should've been watching his brother either way." Jake refuted.
"That was my fault, I saw his injuries from their fight and had dragged him with me to help put ointment. Please.... I beg of you, do not blame them for my brother and me. We were the foolish ones." Kireyi tried to hold herself as strong and mighty. But she was nervous either way; here she was, talking back to not only Neteyam's parents but the Toruk Makto.
"I thank you, but this one should've still been watching his brother-"
"Ma Jake..." Neytiri cut off her mate, although with no ill tone, he silenced.
"Please... I beg of you-"
"Kireyi, it's okay," Neteyam whispered, grasping her arm; the girl looked back to him with guilt written on her face. It wasn't their fault.... He gave her a reassuring nod, and she looked at each of them again. From the moment she had arrived she stood in front of the boy, as if to protect him. She realized her tail- the end of it wrapped around his leg, like while she protected him, she subconsciously needed his comfort. Her head dropped at his words, the way he looked at her- comforting her when it was supposed to be the other way around. It wasn't their fault, was all she could repeat to herself.
His parents were quiet and he leaned in more, hand still on her arm, "It's alright."
Kireyi softly sighed, accepting defeat, "I apologize.... this is something between you three...." Her tail lowered in shame, and she walked back to her Pod. She felt embarrassed for trying to speak up against Toruk Makto and Neytiri, but she felt even worse that she couldn't help. She could only hope they listened to her pleas; in the meantime, she wouldn't let her brother get away with allowing Lo'ak to lie for him. She reiterated what happened to her parents, and her family dealt with the situation. Aonung was sent to apologize and made his way to speak with Kireyi.
"Why'd you tell them?" His voice was laced with blame.
Kireyi huffed, not in the mood to deal with him, "They needed to know the truth Aon. If Lo'ak didn't come back alive, you could've been killed," He was silent, "Get a grip Aon. You are not a child, you understand the difference between petty and deadly revenge."
Aonung stepped back a little, not expecting his sister to be so harsh, "Sorry...." His ears dropped.
Kireyi noticed, pulling her brother to sit, "Why do you act this way? What has changed?" Aonung looked at his sister with guilt.
"I don't know," His voice was low.
"Yes you do, what is it?"
The boy's ears were firm against his head, "It's just- they say it's justifiable, with what the sky-people did to us, picking on them wouldn't mean much. That if I didn't then I wouldn't be a good Olo'eyktan, letting anyone join our village."
"Who says that?" Kireyi caressed her brother's hand, still holding it from earlier.
"My friends...."
"Aon...." She sighed, understanding, "They grew up here just as long as us, they share the same connections and love just as we do." Pulling her brother towards her, she hugged him, "Imagine if we had to leave our home forever, the least we could do is be there and help them out."
"I understand, I'm sorry sis." Kireyi pushed her brother away, rubbing his shoulder, "Work with me some more, I miss the you before your new friends."
"Yeah... I get it," He looked down.
"Come, I'll redo your braids for you," Her brother sat in front of Kireyi, the two would often do each others hair if their mother was busy. Sometimes it had simply been a time to bond, get things off their chest.
"Sis?" Aonung asked, and Kireyi hummed in response, "Rotxo won't speak to me.... I tried to earlier and we got into an argument."
She started parting his hair for the braids, "What happened?"
"He yelled at me for the first time.... and told me he was disappointed," Kireyi noticed as his tail dropped in hurt, she softly smiled seeing her brother act how he used to. He was always a very emotional boy, although his greatest strength, it was his biggest weakness. Aonung could be easily swayed sometimes, he had been trying to work on that for years. He never liked letting his family down, but Rotxo was high on that list, the two had been friends since basically birth. They rarely ever fought, so for Rotxo to yell was definitely significant.
"Well, do you understand why he said that?"
"Yeah, but what do I do? I can't lose him Reyi.... he's my brother," His voice was coarse, like he was trying not to cry.
Kireyi hushed him, continuing to braid his hair, "You know how Rotxo is, words will not be enough. Prove to him you will change, show it."
"Alright.... thank you sis."
"Of course Aon, tomorrow we start fresh," He nodded, letting his sister finish his hair.
YOU ARE READING
strong - neteyam x oc
Fanfiction"Don't look away from me," He moved closer. And she couldn't. Kireyi herself was like the water, if he pushed she would pull, he learned that if he wanted to be closer to her he needed to see how she reacted to his own "movements" just as if he was...
