4EVER | NETEYAM

0:13

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Wezen wailed happily under Adhara's touch. "Alright, big boy. Let's win this." She said encouragingly, Wezen leaned his head lovingly under Adhara's finger tips.

She had one of her hands firmly wrapped around the ilu's handle and the other hand on Wezen's neck, her legs were pressed up on Wezen's side, her hair was tied up in a low messy bun, and her hair was filled with sea shells, like jewelry. Her gaze was also very narrow, focusing only on the finish line placed on a little rock island, where some adults stood alongside the drawn on line.

Ilu racing was a common activity where Metkayina's raced for a price, a silly one. A skimwing cry was heard and Adhara dipped her head underwater, her ilu quickly dove under and sprinted forward as fast as Wezen could.

Her uncle, Tonowari, had tried to convince her to not participate this year, she could never miss a single year. Of course, there were new participants, so Adhara had to do her best and use all of her techniques taught among the years.

Adhara fixated her eyes on how everyone else went on the left path, she thought for a second and scurried off to the right path. Adhara looked back, curious to see if anyone went right and sure enough, Rotxo locked eyes with her.

Adhara took notice of how close Rotxo was and rushed to grab ahold of something to distract him. In the middle of the path was a huge algae that hung over the path, she pulled it up to pass under and pushed it down with a lot of force, hitting the poor boy in the bare face.

Adhara did feel remorse, but she wasn't going to go back and make sure Rotxo was alright. She was competitive and she couldn't give less of a shit for the price, Adhara only cared about the title.

The price was left over Akula meat. Metkayina rarely hunted Akula, but when they did, it was usually when the Akula had crossed the reef and posed a threat to the peaceful habitat.

Adhara had to shift a lot in sharp turns, her necklace almost slipped off countless of times. She had been struggling to get past the thick and tall algae, so she took  a shortcut and rejoined the racing group.

It had been about 8 minutes, and everyone was going up for their mid race breath. Adhara didn't feel like going up for air and took this moment to her advantage, she overtook Ao'nung and Lo'ak. In front of her, was Neteyem, Tsireya, and Kiri.

Tsireya was always a hard to beat opponent. She had a strong ilu and knew her away along the paths. Unfortunately for Tsireya, Adhara was fully aware of her tricks.

Adhara had studied her cousin like a book with every competition, mastering the way to beat Tsireya. But so did Tsireya. They were neck to neck, it was a tense one.

The cousins shared a knowing look before crashing into each other, planning to slow one another down. Violent, but still safe enough. Adhara smiled in amusement and shook her head. They quickly separated from the impact and Adhara gripped on the ilu's handle. Tsireya also had a big grin plastered on her face, they were both having the time of their lives.

Tsireya overtook Adhara and kept blocking her, not allowing her to pass. Adhara had to make a smart decision, so she gestured to Wezen, 'Grab the ilu's tail.' And so he did. Wezen gently grabbed ahold of Tsireya's ilu and whipped her to the side, which got Adhara first place.

The finish line was already in sight, if Adhara sped up just a little bit more, she would win. She smiled, knowing she would totally win this year.

Adhara let out a muffled yelp as she was thrown out of the path, she spun once before taking a look at the culprit. Like always, Neteyam. Adhara glared at him and watched as he passed the finish line, she took off and got second.

Neteyam was already celebrating with his father and family, while the others were just then getting out of the water. Adhara felt someone pushing her lightly and turned around.

"The algae hit me really hard in the face." Rotxo had an angry expression on his face, he also had a big red mark on his forehead. Adhara burst out laughing and shook her head while placing a hand on Rotxo's shoulder.

"Sorry Rotxo, it wasn't my intention." Adhara crossed her fingers behind her back and smiled, Rotxo smiled back like the idiot he was and pat her shoulder. She stole a glance at the winner, Neteyam, and quickly averted her gaze when she saw how intensely he was looking at her.

Adhara looked at her feet and felt an arm wrap around her waist, she smiled. "Uncle— Oh." Adhara thought it was Tonowari, he always held her around her waist. "I'm your uncle now?" Neteyam teased, Adhara hummed and slowly removed his arm away from her body.

He furrowed his brows in confusion and watched Adhara as she walked off. Neteyam looked around, wondering if anyone else witnessed what he just saw.

His eyes locked with a certain fish boy, Ao'nung. Neteyam rolled his eyes, knowing what the fish boy was grinning at. Neteyam gestured a shut up at him and turned his heel to leave.

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