The first this I did when breakfast was over was try to escape. I left Tsireya with a quick apology, making up a random task I had to do as soon as possible. As I headed towards the common area of ilus, to supposedly feed them, although they did that by themselves.
I, very unfortunately, couldn't make it past the front entrance when mom yanked my hand and pulled me towards her.
"Don't even think about it," she said and then forced me to walk where three people waited for us.
The oldest out of two males was, or at least looked like, the father. He had braids like everyone in the clan; his curly hair plaid-free at the ends and tied in a bun. His mate, whose name I didn't know yet, was a little shorter and prettier, with an oval shape face and long lashes go accompany her greenish eyes.
I would have preferred to stare at them longer than to have to shift my sight at the being I had been deliberately ignoring. Atswon. It was as if a new set of memories that I had buried deep down was emerging as I looked at his face. I remembered seeing him sometimes throughout these five years. First when he was far away and riding his ilu. Then, when our eyes locked as we took our places next to our Tulkun, for they had returned from their mating season. Lastly, when I was serving my duty to hand out the meals at dinner, he said kaltxì and left to sit somewhere I didn't care enough to see.
Physically, he was part of the rare kind of Metkayina. Handsome. But not my type.
He had thin lips and a nice nose that was more pinkish at the bottom than the usual shade. His nose had a little bone sticking out, making it look somewhat similar to a rectangle. His eyes were not wide apart; instead, they immediately followed the bridge of his nose on both sides. He had some hair on his eyebrows and a darker shade of sea green on top that made his face pop. If you compared them side to side with Aonung's, he actually had something instead of a big forehead. His jawline was sharp, but still held some chubbiness from childhood that was yet to disappear. He was only eighteen, after all. His neck and shoulder structure was more like that of the forest people, forming something close to right angles, like an upside down T, instead of the triangle shape that the Metkayina held. It made him more attractive, in a way. All of his features seemed to fit his decent, muscular arms and back. He definitely was his mother's son.
I was probably burning holes through his body as my eyes went up and down in the most respectful way possible. My eyes came to a stop when my sa'nok coughed rather moodily.
"Ma 'eylans, this is my daughter. She is a gorgeous girl like I told you. I am sure that her and Atswon will get along incredibly. After everything we have arranged for them..."
Her words were merely there as a reminder that she would make sure, moving earth and sky, that we ended up together.
I gave them the best out of my fake smiles and chuckled a little. The path of pretending was the only in mind, but without having a goal that it would take me to. At that point I was a compass without direction.
The three adults celebrated our first encounter and kicked us both out of the room. From their perspective, giving us time alone to talk would ensure that by the end of the day we would agree to become mates in the future. The truth was that neither of us wanted to engage.
I could barely muster enough care to suggest going for a walk around the island. He simply nodded and began a two minute voiceless walk.
As uncomfortable as it was, I couldn't talk more than necessary. If the idea was to get rid of him, the best way was to act like the retarded, clumsy, forest Na'vi that no one would ever like.
With that mindset, my mouth opened, about to ask Astwon the stupidest question I could think of. But he spoke first.
"Hey, um, listen. I am sorry for the inconvenience that this will cause but, um, I don't want to be your mate." Words spilled from his mouth as if he hadn't had the change to think it over before. I furrowed my brows, stopping my walk, and then raised one of them. His eyes widened. "I didn't mean it like that. There's nothing wrong with you. You are a very nice person from what I've told, and what I have personally seen. Shit, sorry. I'm a skxawng. Forgive me. Rutxe. It's me, not you," he quickly added.
Light chuckles escaped from my mouth, followed by the longest and loudest laugh I had had in a very long time. I put my hand over my mouth, clamping it shut.
"Hey, no judgment. I'm quite capable of comforting myself when somebody implies that I am the worst prospect for a mate. But thank you for trying to apologize. Care to elaborate further as to why you don't want me as your mate? Not that I want you as mine either."
"Ouch. It isn't something in particular, I simply don't want to mate. Ever. And there is no other way to say it to the girl my parents want me to, uh, mate with." He got quieter by the second, looking away at the beach for some time.
"I get it. I don't want to mate either." Not true. "But my mother is fixated on that stuff. There is no way out of an arranged mating. Is it the same for you?" I turned my gaze at him, both of us letting our arms rest on the wood railing of the small bridge.
We inhaled deeply the smell of wet sand.
"It is. They can't accept that I am not like them."
"You know, you're not as bad as I thought you would be?" We both laugh and he shakes his head with a smile.
"Well, you are not bad at all, forest girl."
"Friends?" I stretched my hand at him.
"Friends." He shook it.
We continued walking around, throwing jokes into the conversation and cackling until we were breathless. Many of the people turned to look at us, but we easily ignored them.
By the time we were getting tired, Atswon suggested he dropped me of at my family's mauri. In such short amount of time, I'd learnt that he was very respectful and a gentleman, but shy, too. I agreed and in no time we were facing my mom in front of one of the entrances. She had a grin from ear to ear and eyes that were shining.
"Oh, look at you two! I knew it would work. You are the perfect couple. A hunter and a healer."
My nose scrunched as a reflex and I added, "What? No, we-"
"We are delighted to hear that, sa'nok Na'tyr," Atswon cut me off and I looked at him. Our minds seemed to connect in thought and my eyes widened with realization.
I followed his lie and nodded. "Yes, we are. You were right, mother, about everything."
The last words hurt my pride, that is. She didn't seem to notice the odd set of words that I have never, ever, used before. She kept ranting about the mating ceremony that would be held in 'no time', which were two years from now.
She came to a halt, half realizing that we were not interested, half remembering that his family was waiting for him back at his mauri pod. I said to her that I would be saying farewell to Atswon and she happily agreed.
Once I was out of the pod, I signaled with my head to a direction far enough to stop any eavesdropping from my mother. He nodded silently and we went there.
"Why?" I asked.
"I'm sorry."
"You are not. Otherwise, you wouldn't have done it."
"Right," he said, lowering his head. I kept waiting for him to continue. "So... do you- are you in?"
"I am. I'll pretend I want us to be mates, maybe even pretend that we mated, once the time comes and only if we get that far. But I want you to know that I am at most doing it so I am not bothered by anyone on the matter again. So I don't 'bring shame upon my family' as some say. You have your secret reasons and I have mine. We are friends, and maybe it can grow into an even bigger friendship, but never something more. To the public, we'll be a couple. Do you understand?"
"I do," he stated firmly, "We will discuss the details tomorrow. And thank you, you are truly something else." He gave me a smile that showed his white pearls.
"I could say the same thing about you, Atswon. Good night."
"Good night."
————
Author's note:
Hi! Happy New Year! I know you all will probably kill me for doing this cheap fake-dating thing, if it can even be called that way, but fear not, you will obviously be with Neteyam and you both will have the cutest relationship ever. Atswon is actually a nice guy and I only wanted to add some drama into the story, so I thought of this. Please don't lose hope in this book, it's only just getting started!
Next chapter is going to be good!
Happy first day of 2023, cheers.
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A true seer | Neteyam
Fanfiction"We once used to be friends, Neteyam and I. We were more than that. If only my family had stayed in the forest, it could have remained that way. It must have been Eywa's will that we reunited ten years later, in my home in the Metkayina clan, and th...
