𝐓𝐖𝐎 𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐒; neteyam

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

EIGHTEEN

"All my emotions feel like explosions when you are around."
-line without a hook, ricky montgomery

NO MATTER WHERE Lo'ak looked, he seemed to find everyone but the person he was looking for. He didn't know Namaoyi was strolling around the village randomly, waving at the people she passed. He wouldn't find her if she was constantly moving around.

Once she did, her hands coming to rest on the woven railing by the sea, the boy found her. He rushed over to her, hands turning her around to rest on her shoulders as he shook her urgently.

"Lo'ak- what?" She questioned with confusion, her brows knotting together at the bridge of her nose.

He breathed in deeply, before speaking the entire time it took him to breathe it out. "Payakan was the one to save you and bring you to the forest," he said, eyes staring into hers. She nodded. "He is the reason you're alive."

She grinned, face shifting as she tilted it. "I know, Lo'ak. I already know," she laughed. He stepped back a bit, his lips twisting in confusion.

"How?"

"I uh- I had another flashback or something, I saw him," she said as she blinked the memory back to the front of her mind, watching the animal carry her away on repeat. He gulped before slowly nodding, looking to the ground in understanding, before their thoughts were led away.

A loud horn sounded through the air, weaving through the houses and buildings above the water as it flew through the citizens ears. Namaoyi looked at Lo'ak in question, pondering over the eagerness in everyone elses form as they ran towards the sound - the beach. It was loud, the booming, continuous yell and the chaos of the people around the two. Everyone was running, so after sharing one last quick glance, they sped off with the crowd too.

They ran onto the beach, moving towards the bundle of people standing by the shore. Namaoyi turned around, eyes wild, as she searched the crowd for him - that one person. Just mere moments later she found him, looking around urgently before him too spotting her nervous state.

"Thank Eywa," he muttered beneath his breath before he ran to her, hand slithering behind her head to press a kiss to her temple.

Her head. Her temple. One girl. One hole.

"What is happening, Teyam?" She asked, looking up at the boy who was slowly pulling away. He frowned.

"I'm not sure," he whispered plainly before looking towards the crowd, watching Ronal and Tonowari step onto a small stand.

"My spirit sister and her baby have been murdered by the sky people!" Ronal enraged, causing Neteyam and Namaoyi to share a worried look. This couldn't be good. "This war has come to us! We knew about this hunting of our Tulkun people, but it was over the horizon, far away!"

The clan around them cheered, Neteyam eyeing the people around him as his hand slithered into Namaoyis. He pulled her closer, their shoulders rubbing against each other, as he slightly pushed one of the people jumping too close to him away.

"You've gotta understand how the sky people think!" Jake shouted while he stepped up to the stand, pushing himself in front of the Metkayina family. "They don't care about the great balance."

"What is your Jake doing?" Namaoyi asked rhetorically, her head shaking as she pushed her palm to her head. Neteyam set his jaw.

"I don't know, but-" he raised his voice as the crowd around them ignored his father "-they need to listen! All of you, you need to listen to him!"