Tacenda - Things to be left unsaid; matters to be passed over in silence
or
Tsa'tvayi gives Neteyam a purpose, while caring for his family as if they were her own.
Started: Jan 01, 2023
Completed: Jan 21, 2023
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TSA'TVAYI
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THE WATER WAS FREEZING cold, Tsa'tvayi's limbs beginning to go numb. She'd been out for over in hour, Ean'ora pushing quickly as they sped thorough the dark water. There weren't no traces of Lo'ak yet.
Her chest was heavy the longer she looked, knowledge of what preyed on the other side of the reef clinging to the front of her mind. She set her jaw and willed Ean'ora to continue.
She would bring him back. She had to.
Tsa'tvayi felt almost responsible for not noting the boy had been missing for so many hours, the girl sitting in his place within his family as if it was hers. Now he couldn't be found and all she could do was pray that he hadn't died.
Water splashed her skin, her hair soaked as they rose to the surface so that she could look around quickly. She was shivering, the night colder than most and her body beaten from the past days. Her legs were screaming at her as she tightened her grip on her ilu, the bruises being pressed roughly.
Then, she saw him. He was smiling down at whatever it was he was sitting on, his body racked by violent shivers. Tsa'tvayi willed Ean'ora to speed up, the ilu letting out a chirp as she listened. Lo'ak glanced up in shock, relief coating his face.
"Tsa'tvayi!" He yelled out, pushing himself up on unsteady legs.
"Lo'ak," she cried out in relief, "Are you alright?"
The boy nodded as she neared him. "I'm okay." He shook even as he spoke. "I'm okay."
Tsa'tvayi was about to wave him over when she noticed the ground under his feet moving. She blinked, and it blinked back, her heart dropping as she noted the missing fin on the tulkun. "Lo'ak," she whispered.
The boy hummed in question as he approached her with slow steps. "Why are you walking on Payakan?" Her words were a low mumble, the tulkun blinking back at her slowly.
"Payakan?" He asked, then looked down at the blinking animal.
"Oh! That's your name?" Lo'ak bent down and pressed a hand against its side, the tulkun letting out a happy exhale and a flap of its fin.
Tsa'tvayi could only watch as they bonded, a bright smile on Lo'ak's tired face. They were spirit brothers. The realization was a heavy one; the boy with demon blood had bonded with the killer tulkun. Everything suddenly seemed os much harder.
"Lo'ak," she called out again. "We have to go. Your family is worried."
He glanced up at her and nodded once before soothing the tulkun and standing. "I will see you later, Payakan."
