"Whoop! Whoop!" you stood, watching Ao'nung calling an animal with odd noises and tongue clicks. "Ye-YE!" Tsireya called another animal you moved away from them. They weren't scary, just unknown to you. "These are Ilu. If you want to live here..." He made eye contact with you. "You have to ride."
"Come." Ao'nung reached his hand out to you and you took it. He grabbed your waist and lifted you up, helping you mount your Ilu. "Make the bond." he said, his hand resting on your leg, holding you steady. You made the bond and felt a slight jerk of the Ilu. "Calm down, breathe." He said, his grip on your thigh tightening slighly. He was nervous the Ilu wouldn't take. "Close your eyes and breathe." You did as he said and you closed your eyes. Focusing on how the connection between you and the Ilu felt. "Good. Now, tell it to go forward." He instructed. "Go forward?" You said under your breath and the Ilu trailed forward at a slow pace. "I.. I did it!" You giggled. "Now come back." Ao'nung laughed along with you. Almost like a second nature, it moved backwards slowly. You and Ao'nung locked eyes for a moment, that seemed to trail on forever, "This is so much different than an Ikran.." You choked up in a laugh. He smiled, only breaking eye contact with you to look at your lips and then quickly back to your eyes. The moment was beautiful... until a splash zooms past you and you look over to see Lo'ak making a complete fool of himself. Almost on time, Ao'nung dips his head into the water to watch as Lo'ak got tossed around by his Ilu and did nothing but look at his friends as he laughed. Even Tsireya managed to let out a suppressed giggle.
Lo'ak came up from the water, gasping and desperately trying to comfort the now, completely shaken up and freaking out, Ilu. It swam away, splashing water in Lo'ak's face. "You alright forest boy?" you heard someone yell out to your brother. "Oh f*ck off." You yelled back at whoever it was and you and Lo'ak rested on shore.
A.N. - I know this one is pretty short im sorry y'all