A true seer | Neteyam

1. The beginning

I had always been of the idea that it was no coincidence that all living things existed. It was not possible that it just happened. But there was not much I could comment on that; Eywa did as Eywa saw fit. No one wanted to think they were stupid for not getting the meaning behind life, and neither did I. For that reason, I was bound to live and talk and walk like I had any idea of what I was doing. It was just too sad.

Perhaps I was five or six when I felt like I finally had a piece of my puzzle solved: I was friends with Neteyam. His father was the clan's Olo'eyktan, and with his busy schedule of endless teachings for his future role as leader, Net and I barely had time to see each other. That's why I found astounding the fact that our friendship was solid enough to not crumble upon some weeks of lack of interaction. When I finally got the chance to see him, standing next to his brother Lo'ak, both hand-making some beads for their hair, I yelled.

"NETEYAM!" I said while eagerly running towards him. He looked up to see me and I swear I saw a glimpse of shine through them. He immediately jumped to his feet and caught me, his arms around my waist as he pulled me in for a breathtaking hug.

"Glad to see you missed me," he quickly responded, a wide smile adorning his face,  dropping me in front of him. I said some words to Lo'ak besides me to not appear rude. He didn't seem to care and went back to painting his wood bead.

"Look! Look! I finally lost another milk tooth!" He looked at the gaps of teeth in my mouth and smiled even more, if that was possible. "It's my third one so far, I bet I already beat you with that. You owe me that toy you took last time." I watched his eyebrows frown visibly and I stuck out my tongue.

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, lady, but I still got the lead, see?" and he showed me a space in his mouth that, a month ago, was occupied by a white block. He grinned and I rolled my eyes.

"I hate you!"

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, you fish face!"

"In that case, I hate you more, smelly feet!"

"You should smell your feet, it's like they were dipped in shit!" I might have been too harsh with that, but his face when I said it was priceless. Neteyam had his mouth gaped wide, his eyes equally open, and his eyebrows raised but furrowed at the same time. It was all fun and games.

Anyhow, we started chasing each other through the forest, climbing and swinging through the trees. At that time it felt like I had run for a whole hour, but it could have easily been ten minutes. My and Neteyam's breathing were short and fast, one after another in just a couple of seconds. I felt my throat dry.

When I was taking a break, after debating for some minutes if I had been the one chasing or the one being chased, Neteyam grabbed me from my torso and yanked me to his shoulder. I yelled angrily at him, calling him all kinds of things. Neteyam was unbothered, walking somewhere I couldn't see. He had no idea his to carry people on his shoulder, so he kept shifting my position until he dropped me like I was some sack of fruit. Interestingly, the fall hadn't hurt a bit, as it seemed that Neteyam left me on the most grassy and somewhat comfortable part. Nonetheless, I was about to kick him in between his legs when I realized where he had taken me.

It was the Tree of Voices.

Both of our breathing stopped. All I could do was admire the huge tree. The sun was a couple of minutes away from setting, and I knew that soon the bioluminescence of the place would show itself. I sat on the floor, silently waiting for said moment. Around us was heard the sound of hooves on grass, the rattling of leaves and the swinging of vines. Everything was calm.

"What do you think it's like? To get a mate, I mean," Neteyam asked and turned his head at me. He, too, was sitting, his left arm touching my right one.