Moonchild | Neteyam

19

CHAPTER 19

       Everyone had been worried sick. Ao'nung had admitted to leaving Lo'ak outside of the reef but other than that, no one knew of his whereabouts. Erìhe and Neteyam had begged to take the ikran and fly above the water so see if they could find Lo'ak, but Jake had been quick to shut those requests down.

So the two teenagers were instead pacing the village pathways in frustration, annoyed that they were not allowed to help.

Then a horn sounded. There were calls and shouts from the villagers. "The boy has returned!" "The Sully boy! We found him!"

Erìhe and Neteyam did not spare a glance at each other before hurrying off toward the direction where villagers were gathering. When they arrived, Lo'ak was already standing on top of a boat, making angry advances toward Ao'nung. Erìhe glared at the boy as well. She had already given him a piece of her mind earlier - but felt as though it was not enough.

Jake stepped in front of Lo'ak before he could reach Ao'nung. "Hey - let's have a look at you." He inspected his son for any visible wounds before standing up straight again, "He's fine," he told the others when he hadn't found any serious injuries, "He's fine. Just a few scratches."

"Lo'ak!" Neytiri hurried past Erìhe and Neteyam to reach her son. She placed her hands on Lo'ak's shoulders and sighed in relief. Then she became angry, "I pray for the strength that I will not pluck the eyeballs out of my youngest son!" She practically growled before pretending to scratch his eye.

Lo'ak leaned back as he avoided her hand, but he did not say anything.

"No," Tonowari said, "My son knows better than to take him outside the reef," he turned to Ao'nung before placing a hand on his shoulder and making him get on his knees. "The blame is his."

There was an awkward moment of silence before Jake spoke up again, "Okay," he said, "Let's go," he told Lo'ak before lifting himself up onto the path.

Lo'ak did not move, "No," he said. "This is not Ao'nung's fault. This was my idea. Ao'nung tried to talk me out of it - really."

Erìhe looked down at Ao'nung, who was wearing an identical frown to hers. She shook her head, wondering why Lo'ak would try to keep him out of trouble. He could have died thanks to the idiot.

"Lo'ak," Neytiri said as she rose onto the path.

Tonowari met his wife's eyes and she merely raised her brows. "I'm sorry," Lo'ak told them.

"Come on," Jake pressed. After Lo'ak had gotten on the path, the two of them walked past the Olo'eyktan and Tsahik. "I'll handle this," he told the chief.

Erìhe and Neteyam followed behind them, casting twin glares at Ao'nung who was brought back to his feet by his father. Ao'nung looked ashamed as he hung his head - not wanting to meet either of their eyes. As Erìhe passed, she bumped into him a little and Neteyam had to place a hand on her shoulder to steer her away.

"Not in front of the Olo'eyktan," he mumbled to her as they walked after his parents, Lo'ak and Kiri.

Once they had gotten past the crowd of villagers who were already going on about their night, Lo'ak turned to face his father. "Dad, you told me to make friends with these kids," he said, "That's all I was trying to-"

"I don't want to hear it," Jake cut him off.

"Dad.."

"You brought shame to this family," Jake told Lo'ak. Erìhe looked down at her feet - she always hated being present when one of them were getting scolded.