Moonchild | Neteyam

29

CHAPTER 29

       Neteyam was walking along the shore with Kiri one morning - he made it a point to spend time with his siblings no matter how busy he got. The two were talking about the forest, their grandmother, Spider and how they missed all of that.

Kiri was especially sad not knowing what had happened to Spider.

Neteyam placed a hand on his sisters shoulder, "He's fine. Spider is tough - after all he grew up surrounded by Na'vi three times his size. He's not easily phased."

"I know," Kiri mumbled, "I just want to hear from him."

Knowing that this conversation was going to get deep and hard for Kiri to speak about, Neteyam changed the topic. "We'll hear from him," he assured her, "But what about Rotxo?"

Kiri's ears twitched and Neteyam did not miss this. "What about Rotxo?"

Neteyam grinned, "I mean - do you think he could like you?"

"Ew! No way - he's so annoying," Kiri shook her head, all thoughts about Spider forgotten.

"I asked if he liked you not if you liked him," Neteyam laughed at his sisters reaction.

Kiri looked furious as she turned her eyes on him. She was just about to say something when they heard a group of boys approaching. They were not speaking quietly, so it was easy to determine who they were.

When Neteyam saw Ao'nung and his friends approaching, he nodded his head toward the edge of the forest, wordlessly telling Kiri that they should go there.

She did not question his intentions and instead ran toward the forest alongside him. It was obvious to her that he wished to eavesdrop on Ao'nung and she did not care one bit.

"-did you see her smiling at Ao'nung today at breakfast?" One of the boys spoke. They had not seen Neteyam and Kiri who were by now hiding behind the trees.

"Yeah! She's totally smitten," another said, "How will you get rid of her?"

Neteyam frowned and peeked past the tree. He could see Ao'nung smiling - though there was a guilty edge to his expression.

"She's just being friendly," Ao'nung told them.

"Sure she is," the first boy snickered.

"It's kind of a shame that she liked you," one of them said to Ao'nung, "I mean - have you seen the way that Neteyam guy looks at her? He's totally in love with her."

Kiri frowned and looked over at the tree next to hers, at her brother. Neteyam pressed his lips into a thin line as he met her eyes. "Are they talking about Erìhe?" Kiri mouthed.

Neteyam only shrugged and looked back to the boys. He had not admitted his crush to anyone yet - and he did not want his sister to be the very first to know.

Though it seemed like these boys were already aware.

He frowned and turned his eyes back to the group who had come to a stop rather close to the place where they stood.

"I believe he likes her too," Ao'nung agreed with his friend. "Too bad she doesn't like him back," he laughed.

Neteyam looked down at the sand. He had already known that this was the truth - but it still hurt to hear other people agreeing with his own thoughts. He wondered just how stupid he looked in other peoples eyes. Did Erìhe know of his feelings?

Kiri stepped from behind the tree and Neteyam looked over at his sister just in time to see her approaching the group of boys.

"Kiri," he hissed but she did not turn around. With a frustrated groan, Neteyam hurried to catch up with his sister. "What are you doing?" he asked once he was next to her.