Moonchild | Neteyam

26

CHAPTER 26

"Erìhe look!"

Erìhe stumbled backwards slightly as she turned her gaze up, toward the tops of the trees. Neteyam stood on one of the branches as he waved down at her. It was eclipse by now and they had all been at the party for enough time to all be in slightly drunken states.

Or more than slight.

"Neteyam," Erìhe gasped dramatically as she placed a hand on her mouth - as if she had forgotten that he was from a forest clan and could easily climb any tree on this island.

"Oh great mother," Aluva - who sat on the ground by Erìhe's feet - mumbled just as dramatically as she too looked up at Neteyam. "He will die!"

Ao'nung waved her off as he blinked slowly, "He will not die, skxawng." He was not as drunk as the four girls, but he could not hide his tipsiness.

"I'll go save him," Níawi said determinedly as she pushed herself to her feet with the help of her hands. "He will not die today!" She declared while making her way over to the tree with unsteady steps.

"I better go make sure that she does not die today," Riik'o hiccuped as she stumbled after her friend.

Erìhe's hands rested on her hips as she squinted up at Neteyam. He was not that high at all. He stood on one of the branches, smiling and waving at her - only at her.

Unlike all her friends who had been sitting around on the ground, Erìhe refused to do so. She was determined to prove that she was not drunk and that she was in much better condition than all of them.

But this was her first time ever having alcohol and her tolerance was considerably lower than anyone else's. She had drank much less than them too.

"Sit down next to me," Ao'nung said as he lifted his hand to hold onto hers before pulling her down.

With messed up balance, it was no surprise when Erìhe stumbled right on top of Ao'nung. Even as she almost sat on his lap, she only sighed and did not move. "Look what you did," she complained, letting her hands fall limply on her thighs.

Aluva laughed loudly at the two, making Ao'nung blush even more than he had been. The alcohol combined with the fact that Erìhe was so close to him had caused him to turn red - and now the humiliation just added onto that. "Go away," he pushed Aluva, making her fall back while still laughing.

Grinning, she sat back up, "Alright, I'll leave," she winked poorly before holding onto Ao'nung's head to help her to her feet.

Ao'nung groaned as he swatted her hands away from him. As they looked after Aluva, he wrapped an arm around Erìhe's waist as he tiredly rested his chin on her shoulder. The two were sat on the ground - Erìhe just mere inches in front of him, her back brushing against his chest.

They both watched as Aluva walked over to her friends. Neteyam was laughing as he watched Níawi trying to pull herself onto the branch while Riik'o did her darn best to help push her up.

By then Ao'nung had managed to get a hold of Erìhe's hands, and he looked down at them. "Who's this bracelet for?" He asked as he toyed with the bracelet she had made.

Erìhe grinned as she peeked at him from the corner of her eye, "Not for you."

"Ouch," Ao'nung said dramatically, letting go of it, "Who then?" He looked back at her.

Erìhe glanced back at her friends. By now Neteyam had stopped laughing at Níawi's attempts to get onto the branch and had instead helped Aluva onto the branch so they could both make fun of her poor tries. "Me," she told him, "It's mine."