Blood and Water | Neteyam

Flashing Lights ∼ 21

Ao'nung had excused himself earlier, having to perform some task (Tcelia hadn't really bothered to listen when he had explained it) for the Olo'eyktan.

Neteyam had looked after him with a sense of longing, but quickly schooled his face into a more neutral expression as he had caught Tcelia looking at him questioningly. But Tcelia had known Neteyam long enough to have some sort of idea of what he was thinking and feeling. He missed his home, and he missed having the responsibilities that came with being the Olo'eyktan's son.

The Omatikaya kids were following Tsireya and Rotxo out towards a huge cliff formation where the spirit tree resided. Tcelia was on Etwin's back as usual. She liked to think that the ilu and her had formed a special bond since they had spent so much time together. Etwin never seemed to want to form tsaheylu with anyone but Tcelia, and she felt immense satisfaction that she had made such an impression on the animal.

Lo'ak wasn't amongst them either. He had returned very late yesterday and had been gone early the next morning, so there had been no chance to ask him to join them.

She was missing him more and more and over the past few days a guilty resentment towards the tulkun had begun building up in Tcelia. She resented herself for it – the tulkun had done nothing wrong, quite the contrary really, having saved Lo'ak's life and all – but she felt as if her best friend was slipping away from her. She knew she was being unfair, but Lo'ak and her had always been each other's number one. And it hurt that Lo'ak had discarded her so easily, almost as if their seventeen years of friendship meant nothing to him, and that he had only been waiting for someone better to come along. She knew that her thoughts were unreasonable, but she was a flawed person.

Tcelia pinched her underarm, bringing herself out of her pathetic, self-pitying thoughts. She had cleverly (note the sarcasm) devised a failsafe system of pinching herself anytime she felt like tearing out her hair due to frustration over Lo'ak or when she had a mean thought towards Payakan. Only, it wasn't as failsafe as she would have liked, and the underside of her right forearm had started turning purple from the bruises.

Out of her peripheral vision she could see Neteyam eyeing her strangely at seeing her pinch herself, and she turned her head to meet his eyes and stuck out her tongue at him in defense, hiding her arm from him.

"Very mature," He smirked as he shot through the water on the back of his own ilu, closing in on her. He grabbed her arm, forcing the underside of her arm skyward. His eyes darkened as he saw the purple bruises along her skin, "Why are you doing this to yourself?"

Tcelia opened her mouth to explain that it really wasn't all that deep, but was interrupted by Rotxo who yelled at them to watch their heads. Tcelia and Neteyam ducked, forcing Neteyam to let go of Tcelia's arm, and she looked forwards as she bent over the ilu, taking in her surroundings.

They had emerged on the other side of spiraling cliffs that formed a canyon, not unlike the formation that protected their spirit tree back home in the forest.

A smile split across Tcelia's face as she looked around in awe. Infront of her, Tuk, who was riding on the back of Kiri's ilu, looked back at Tcelia and shot her a toothy grin full of the same amazement that Tcelia felt herself.

As the Omatikaya looked around in wonder Tsireya explained how eclipse was the best time to see the tree. They all sheltered their eyes from the sun with their hands as they watched it disappear behind one of the planets above them. All at once, the bioluminescent wonders came to life, bringing energy to the world that only that sort of light could manage.

Tcelia was overcome with a desire to watch Neteyam cascaded in the light that the darkness offered, which she thought a bit strange since she was used to seeing him like that. But out here, in the middle of the ocean, so close to the spirit tree, it somehow felt different.