Skipping Stones | Lo'ak

4

CHAPTER 4

Kiri - as it turned out - had taught herself to ride an ilu. 'Kanu had been astonished upon seeing the girl swim around on the back of an ilu without receiving any form of help.

At that moment the Sully children were sat in a circle with Tsireya, Rotxo and Kuna. They were being taught their breathing technique. The technique that allowed them to stay under water for such long periods of time at once.

"Breathe in," Tsireya said before her, Rotxo and 'Kanu demonstrated. The three of them took deep breaths in, encouraging the others to do so as well, "And breathe out." Rotxo and 'Kanu showed how.

"Imagine a flickering flame," 'Kanu said, holding her hands elegantly before her.

"You must slow down your heartbeat," Tsireya said, placing a hand on her stomach and chest.

'Kanu saw Lo'ak struggling to follow their teachings and she leaned over to place a hand on his chest and the other on his stomach, "Breathe in," she told him. Lo'ak did so, and she applied gentle pressure to his abdomen, "Breathe from down here. Breathe out slowly."

Lo'ak let out a shaky breath as he looked at her. 'Kanu frowned as she believed him to be nervous. It was truly not that difficult. "Lo'ak, your heartbeat is fast," she informed him, looking up into his eyes.

"Sorry."

"Try to focus."

"Okay."

Neteyam looked at Tsireya and the both of them laughed silently to themselves. Kiri looked over at Lo'ak and 'Kanu quizzically before rolling her eyes. Rotxo gave pretty much the same reaction as Kiri.

Soon the others declared that they were done for the day, leaving only 'Kanu and Lo'ak alone to practice.

'Kanu thought Tsireya was mad for leaving her alone with this boy. She was beginning to get frustrated by his slow progress and Tsireya knew better than anyone how much of a bad teacher 'Kanu was for this exact reason.

"You're not doing it right!" 'Kanu groaned, falling backwards onto her back on the rocks. They had been working on his breathing for a while now.

"I'm sorry!" Lo'ak said. He finally felt like he could breathe properly. For probably an entire half hour they had sat still with 'Kanu's hand on his chest and stomach, trying to get his breathing right. He had found it impossible to concentrate on what she'd said to him.

Being gentle and calm had not worked out for 'Kanu so far, so she decided to try things differently. She propped herself up on her elbows to narrow her eyes at him, "Tuk would've learned this by now."

Lo'ak frowned back.

"She even learned to ride an ilu quicker than you." This made Lo'ak angry. His whole life he'd tried to be like his older brother, since he was who he compared himself to constantly. But now he was being compared to his little sister as well?

"I was just nervous, okay?" He snapped at her.

'Kanu sat up straight, "About what? It's like treading water. Easy."

To Lo'ak, it felt like she was dismissing his efforts by simply saying it was easy. It was not. She'd just grown up with it - he'd grown up somewhere entirely different. She'd never have to know what it feels like to uproot her entire life and move kilometers away from home - some place where all the skills she'd ever learned became useless.