4EVER | NETEYAM

0:12

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"What is your problem with them?" Tsireya stood up with a certain, angry look in on her face. "They are more than dangerous. They have brought war to us and guess who was the one who got badly hurt?" Adhara could never regret saving Neteyam, but this wouldn't have happened if they just never came to them for refuge.

"Yes, but war is over. There's no need for you to continue being paranoid for something that has finished." Tsireya snapped and started to breathe heavy, Adhara closed her eyes and sighed, causing her cousin to click her tongue and run off. Adhara massaged her temples in pure frustration and let out a deep and long huff.

She had always hated arguing with Tsireya because she was fully aware of how emotionally sensitive her younger cousin was, but she had to talk to her about it. Usually, she would find her and apologize, but Adhara knew Tsireya wouldn't want to talk to her, so she trusted Lo'ak and Kiri to console her for Adhara.

Her cousin doesn't need her and even Tsireya knew that, but Adhara still felt like she needed to protect Tsireya. Tsireya was a social butterfly and every social butterfly needed a protector, Adhara. "That was harsh." She spotted Ao'nung, he was leaning on the corner of the Marui pod. "You have no talk in this." Adhara rolled her eyes at her older cousin. Ao'nung clicked his tongue and sat down on his mattress.

"You know she's very sentimental. Acts with her heart." He started, Adhara hung her head low and looked at her fidgety hands. "Yes, but she will be taken advantage of." Adhara laid down on the mattress and looked at the Marui pod's ceiling.

"You are not our blood sister, but we do see you as a true sibling. You have grown up with us and have been treated the same way as us." Ao'nung said a heartfelt message, Adhara scoffed and smiled.

"Thank you for that, Ao'nung. I never thought I'd be honored to hear those words come out of your mouth." Ao'nung glared at her and scrunched up his nose. "You know what, I didn't mean it." Said Ao'nung, clearly annoyed by Adhara. She laughed and pulled on his mattress, gaining his attention once more.

"I am joking, I truly do appreciate your kind words. You'd make a great father one day." Adhara sweetly said. Ao'nung's smiled peaked and he looked away, smiling. "I don't like saying this, but I'm sorry for how my friends and I have been treating you." Ao'nung finally expressed his feelings to Adhara.

She found it amusing how well he treated her when they were alone together, but the moment someone joined in on the conversation, his personality did a whole 18o. It was like he's protecting his "cold hearted" reputation.

Tonowari had yet to announce the future chief of the Metkayina clan, so Ao'nung felt like he had to prove how he was not fit for being Olo'eytan. He did not want to be chief for various reasons, but the main reason was that he was petrified of war and dreaded leading great warriors to their death. Only Tonowari and Ronal knew who was truly worthy of their trust to rule their clan correctly in the near future.

Adhara always thought Tsireya was perfect for the role. She had felt both worry and peace, agony and relief. Tonowari and Ronal knew how great their daughter actually was. They refused to announce it because of the unexpected war and sudden visit amongst the Metkayina clan.

"I forgive you. Next time I won't, so watch it." Adhara wanted to get her point across and she made sure of it, just because Adhara forgave Ao'nung once won't mean she will continue doing it over and over again. "Thank you." He appreciated her honesty and genuine words. Ao'nung called for his ilu and plunged into the water, his ilu appearing and swimming away.

Adhara ran her fingers through her newly done braids and stood up, she looked at the crystal clear water and sighed. She called out for her ilu and dove into the water. Wezen slid under her body and into the saddle, Adhara stroke his face and held on to him. Wezen let out some happy cries and dashed around.

She felt herself getting struck on her back by something and Adhara took a minute to process. She looked behind her and her eyes landed on a particular boy staring right back at her, Neteyam. Adhara rolled her eyes and swam up to the surface, "That hurt!" She slapped Neteyam's shoulder, he winched and held his shoulder, dramatically.

"I'm sorry, but I just wanted to ask you if you wanted to accompany me." He looked down sadly, obviously pretending. Adhara sighed and contemplated. "Fine—" She narrowed her eyes at him, "—but only if you make me one of those hair beads. They're very pretty." Neteyam's smile grew at Adhara's comment and nodded vigorously, Adhara couldn't help but smile at his ridiculous self.

"Hey, I made you smile." Neteyam gave her the side eye and a slight smirk, her smile instantly left her face and she now had a poker face. "Don't ruin the moment." Adhara clicked her tongue and motioned Neteyam to lead the way. Neteyam spared her one last look at rode off with Adhara following him.

Neteyam led her outside of the reef, stopping behind a huge coral and peeping through a tiny hole before setting a trap down. Adhara only watched, she had no idea what he was doing. Her brows were furrowed and she was looking at him intently. Neteyam quickly receded and hid behind a coral, 'What are you doing?' Adhara gestured to him, he put a finger up and gestured her to trust him. Adhara gulped and broke her gaze on him to look at his so called 'trap'.

They hid behind the coral for quite some time and Neteyam was starting to lose air, Adhara complained mentally and did what anybody else would do. She grabbed his neck and paused for a second, Neteyam was struggling to calm his heart down. He was confused while she was nervous, she didn't know if it would work or not.

Adhara quickly connected lips with Neteyam when she noticed him struggling to not go up for air. She blew enough air for him to survive another 30 seconds and pulled away from him, with a flushed face. Adhara snatched her arms away from Neteyam and looked back at the trap, with trembling hands.

She stole a tiny glance at Neteyam and took notice of how calm he was, he was not even close to how nervous Adhara was. Just then, she saw movement in the corner of her eye and snatched her eyes away from the boy. Neteyam swam around Adhara and headed toward the now dead fish in the trap. She was impressed by his creativity, but it was probably a common trap in the forest, so she didn't show her amusement.

When Adhara made sure Neteyam was coming up to the surface, she quickly swam up. She took the two seconds alone to think about what she just did. "So cool, right?" Neteyam held out the fish and swung it around in her face. Adhara swallowed the lump in her throat and backed away.

She grabbed ahold on Wezen and rode off quickly, Adhara wanted to get away from Neteyam as soon as she could. She could feel tears burning her eyes, she could not believe what she just did. It was silly for everyone else, but it was something extremely important for Adhara.

"It wasn't even an actual kiss, stop overreacting." She told herself, but she just could not stop thinking. Ronal told her that Rigel, Adhara's mother, had always believed a first kiss was the most intimate action one could ever do. Adhara also believed that. A kiss overall was something only mates did. But maybe Adhara was just overreacting and, maybe, her lips were still as virgin as ever.

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