Through The Valley • Ao'nung

Chapter IV

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̶̶̶̶  «̶ ̶̶̶ ̶ «̶ ̶̶̶ 　Eyes in The Sky　 ̶ ̶ ̶»̶ ̶̶̶ ̶ »̶ ̶̶̶  

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"They're coming! Kiri! Spider!"

entering the mouth of the Omaticayas fortress flew Ikrans high and low, returning from the battle towards their family.

The kids watched their father dismount his Ikran and walk towards and open space waiting for the rest to do the same.

"Fall in." Jake demanded the moments the other Ikrans touched to edge of the cliff.

All three kids ignored their other siblings who joined them with folded ears.

At'anau watched her twin brother walk after his father, ready to take the blame for the smaller one who was still staggering behind alongside his mountain banshee. "You're supposed to be spotters," The father scolded firmly "You spot bogeys and you call them in. from a distance!" He tried to hold his volume but failed "does any of this sound familiar to any of you?" he eyed the kid in the background "Get here!"

He scanned all three of them "Jesus, I let you geniuses fly a mission and you disobey direct orders." Jake missed how his daughter's ear flicked in the air as she felt spoken to.

"Kiri" he spoke agitated "can you go help your grandmother with the wounded, please"

At'anau missed how the smaller one was scanning her brother up and down next to her before she dropped his arm and looked at him "My brother is wounded." This made Tuk, the smallest, skip over to his side and scan his limbs along with the eldest sister who couldn't help to share a glance at her brother from the corner of her eye.

Neteyam held a hand up, knowing the youngest could have a smart attitude and, right now, adding fuel to a fire wasn't what they needed.

"Tuk, go with her." Jake called for all of them to leave him with the older kids and At'anau noticed how she wasn't dismissed notwithstanding she technically didn't do anything wrong.

"Father, sir, I take full responsibility-" Neteyam ignored the flick of a tail on his ankles and looked at the tip of his father's finger in his face. "yes! ye you do, cause you're the older brother you gotta act like it."

Sighs filled the air and Lo'ak shifted on his feet, agitated his brother took the blame once more without hesitation and he didn't know what to say that would set off anyone's temper.

"And you,"

At'anau looked up from her shared look with her mother to her father whose attention was on her along with everyone else's.

"Where were you?"

At'anau couldn't help but notice how both of her brothers were quiet. "Spotting," The girl answered not averting her eyes from her father's "from a distance."

She watched her father look in both her eyes and noticed he had other things to say but had decided to swallow them a little longer.

"MaJake," the mother spoke up, meeting the man's eyes "your son is actually bleeding." Her mother's head tilt and glance almost pushed he father's tense shoulders back down.

"Mother, i-it's fine" he didn't want to look too weak to handle his father's scolding in front of him and his sister, but truth be told he was exhausted and shifted on both tired legs every second.

The father's eyes looked around drowsy between all three people in front of him who all looked exhausted in their own way before motioning for the older son "go and get patched up." his tone calmer. Neteyam looked up at the man "Go on, dismissed " his sharp tongue cut through the air again.

At'anau didn't miss the glare her mother threw at her husband and how he tried to dodge it.

Neytiri looked behind him at her daughter and passed a glance from her to her son. At'anau's brows furrowed, ears turned back. Did she want her to defend him?

The girl was growing anxious by the second, disordered why she was still putting up with this conversation.

"you do understand you almost got your brother killed." Jake's back was straight as he looked down to his youngest son. There was no aggression in his eyes as he looked into Lo'ak's, but he was searching for signs of understanding.

Lo'ak's blinked, nodded as his ears were almost flat to his head "yes, sir."

Jake's jaw locked down as he shifted on his feet before having decided "You're grounded," he started "no flying for a month."

At'anau wasn't satisfied with this, she couldn't care less what his punishment would be. She liked her siblings, them not flying meant she would be spending time with them in another way. What she didn't like was ignorance and recklessness. If this is what Lo'ak is still like he simple is not ready to carry the responsibility he so badly seems to want.

In the corner of her eye she could see Spider eavesdropping the whole conversation and grimace as he settled the girl's Ikran down.

"Now see to the Ikrans. All of them" Jake commanded Lo'ak who obeyed. "And get that crap of your face." he snarled at the war paint on his kid's face usually done in a ritual as true warrior, but of course he wouldn't know.

This triggered the kid and At'anau clenched her jaw hoping he wouldn't start and turn around and thankfully he did, sighing quietly while doing so.

As Lo'ak walked off, helping Spider, Jake turned around to his daughter who had moved behind him.

The kid looked up, waited for her turn, and instead had to wait a couple of seconds as she could see her father was inflicted.

At'anau's ears were turned toward her father, so she could hear everything he had to say clear as water. Yet she didn't understand him when he said "I need you to use your head."

her left ear flicked once, indicating she was displeased. She searched her father's eyes for an explanation before doing so on the floor. "I-" she started cautiously "I should've joined them?" She spoke slowly, raw uncertainty lacing her sentence.

"Did you know they were on the ground?" Jake's raised brows shot the girl's down. With that she noticed her wrongdoing.

"And you let them be."

I had an order, she wanted to answer but decided not to. Instead she held her eyes low, from Jake's point of view looking identical to his oldest. "I'm sorry, sir."

"It's not me you should be apologising to."

At'anau looked incredulously. Eyes squinted and brows furrowed for a split second, before she composed herself and nodded at the ground acting like she understood.

Jake had both his hand on his vest as he sighed, shook his head and shifted on his feet, realising he was going nowhere and was losing grasp of his point. "Don't let this happen again." he ended.

At'anau was conflicted, again? she opened her mouth but didn't know what to ask him, discuss with him or say to him, so instead she closed her mouth and swallowed her words, before nodding and leisurely dismissing herself.

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