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̶̶̶̶ «̶ ̶̶̶ ̶ «̶ ̶̶̶ Dreamt about this Hunt ̶»̶ ̶̶̶ ̶ »̶ ̶̶̶
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At'anau tried plunging herself in the waters to cool her hot head, but the water only compressed her father's words and look of disappointment denser between her ears. She called for her Ilu and jumped on immediately, spiralling between coral reefs and plunging back up in the air as high as the animal could, but not high enough.
Eyeing the border of the reef At'anau fought the urge to cross it but resisted. The girl travelled past the chief's marui and watched her mother work alongside the Tsahik, whose belly was starting to show first signs of pregnancy. She was unaware of her siblings positions, but presumed they were all busy filling in their part.
At'anau realised she physically hadn't been around her twin brother as much as she liked, the sense of his presence just above her heart fulfilling the ache of separation just enough to know he's well.
She wondered if Neteyam struggled with the same troubles she had been, but noted he always knew taking the initiative in making his time purposeful.
The girl didn't know where exactly she was going around the island and let the Ilu lead her confidently for the first time. At'anau longed for a space she could unfold herself, investigate and love like she did her home.
Questioning the big boulder her Ilu ferried her too she looked at the animal who squeaked in response, requesting the girl to simply trust her. The ride had been quiet the entire time, the girl shy from nature but emotionally disconnected to communicate with the animal.
The animal however, had a lot to tell the girl, a longing to be loved by her and a need to fill the consuming void in her as she signed her to hold a long breath.
The two dived in front of the sky scraping rock and the girl urged the Ilu to hurry. She held her head low as they swam through underwater tunnels. After it turned pitch black for a second, a light at the end of the tunnel emerged in the water, and before the girl knew they rose up and broke the surface, entering the giant bio luminescent cave.
At'anau was in awe, and it didn't go unnoticed by the Ilu who'd led her. The waters were as clear as glass, without any rippling disturbance of waves or winds, allowing the girl to see the bottom of the waters filled with little tiny pincer fish and dorado verde.
The colours reflecting in and on the water along with the darkness of the cave resembling the eclipse in the woods and the flora of her home making her heart flutter. She pondered if falling in love would feel even fiercer than the spark igniting in her heart that second.
The animal beneath her swam around slowly towards the border of the water that ended abruptly on the edge of a sandberg and allowed the girl to step off.
At'anau realised she hadn't named her ilu yet, but sensed she had a lot of influence of the highly emphatic animal.
She felt sorry for always comparing the creature to a undeared version of her Ikran as it only tried his best living up to her expectations. Guilt of only having turned a blind eye to how the animal had listened to her and given only exactly what she needed made her finally sit down and appreciate all it had been doing for her.
Despite the Tsaheylu the two had made without actually getting to choose one another, At'anau could state with her whole heart that she could finally see them in her.
Breaking the bond with her queue and its Kuru she decided it didn't need a name from her as she would let it have its own identity to choose getting addressed to, but for emergencies they'd go with Seb.
The ilu piped up its voice ricocheting off the walls of the cave before he swam away from her, turned and made a one way ticket out of the cave.
At'anau straightened her back alarmed, waiting for the animal to return and laugh in her face as a joke, but it didn't.
The girl swore under her breath, hitting the sand under dreading her swing back to the shore in her condition if the Ilu wouldn't return.
The girl felt slightly betrayed, but indifferent as it was the least she could expect from an animal who had to feel neglected most of the time she spent with her.
After a couple of minutes of staring at the neon vegetation above her head however, she caught the sound of the surface of the water rippling. The girl swiftly turned on her belly and expected the ilu to re-enter, but was instead met with much larger and intenser creatures.
The girl scurried of the edge back towards the cave wall purposelessly as these animals only needed to open their wings and they would have a hold on the girl and a fourth of the cave's volume each.
Water splattered everywhere as some of the creatures sparred for room and one last animal entered the cave with a screech that sounded too much like a call of surprise.
At'anau watched the animal at the entrance with squinted eyes and scoffed once she recognised it to be her Ilu.
Startled by the large animals at first, At'anau took a closer look as the ilu guarded the entrance that would be the exit as well. The girl's brows raised from her frown in realisation of all the Tsurak around her, led in by her Ily.
The girl looked at the ilu incredulously who lifted its neck high in the sky and laughed loudly, causing the girl to join. The skimwings swam in circles underwater almost seemingly waiting for the girl so she smoothly plunged in as well, the fluorescent colours helping her identifying everything in the dark clearly.
Too reluctant to approaching the animals first the girl held her ground for a minute reading their behaviour as she had no mentor by her side telling her what goes and doesn't.
The girl swam closer between the animals who possessed a long snout with sharp teeth which she avoided getting close to.
Too stubborn to give in to the little fear she felt alone in the cave she reached a hand out to the animals swimming circles around her. Some welcomed her, some didn't spare the girl their light of day and she couldn't say she minded.
She wasn't certain if she was a subject of the placebo effect, but she noticed one of the creatures less in tune with the others. Either way, that one was poking her eyes out and she had decided she'd made a choice.
Slowly swimming closer to the animal which was starting to get closed in by the girl and rocks behind it, she held the end of her queue closely between her fingers and prepared herself to break a sweat.
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do you guys like At'anau? I hope she doesn't sound like a pick me lol id kms.
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Through The Valley • Ao'nung
FanfictionThere's no doubt that the personal bonds between twins can be strong, but there's no evidence that it's mysterious or unexplained. If only one knew the pain they gave the other by leaving. The Na'vi say, that every person is born twice, but they d...
