Shells | Lo'ak Sully

Part 4: Suspicion

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As nerves settled and tensions rested, Ni'teya and Lo'ak sat down beside each other to eat, finally; A triumph in Jake's eyes.

Small steps approached rather hastily, making Ni'teya turn her head to check who it was. Just as she did so, a boy appeared quietly. It was Spider, looking like he'd just ran the whole way over from wherever he was holding up beforehand. Being polite, Ni'teya greeted him.

"Oh, hey Spider!" She smiled a little, making everyone else inside the hut turn to behold him too. Visibly, he was uncomfortable. He didn't enter any further then he had done, almost as if he hadn't expected everyone to be where he'd found them, even though it was around the normal time they'd all feast together. — Sometimes Spider would show himself a while after everyone else had finished their food, eating leftovers Jake had saved for him, but he'd never show up during meal time. So, this appearance was rather odd to say the least.

"Hey." He spoke in a quiet voice, looking as if he was about to back away when Jake stopped him from doing so.

"There's a bowl over there ready for you—" He said as he pointed behind him at the area he'd been cooking the food in previously. Despite Jake's obvious invitation to eat with them, Spider stayed stood where he was.

"Oh, uhm. — I've already eaten, thanks though." He says, raising a hand apologetically and beginning to back away as he'd clearly been wanting to do for a while. Ni'teya and Lo'ak passed each other a knowing side-eye, showing each other that they both tell he was acting strange. Soon after, it was Lo'ak's turn to talk to him, telling him to 'wait up!' as he was almost finished eating. Ni'teya watched as he engulfed his food, finishing it before her for once; A rare occurrence.

Apprehensively, Spider turned to try and stop the boy from following after her him, to which Lo'ak had already made up his mind would happen either way. "Oh, no no. It's fine, I was just going to go back to—"

"We'll come with you!" He announced, hearing heads shuffle in his direction, probably wondering who he meant by 'we' in this instance. He then slowly swivelled his head around, speaking away from Spider so that he wouldn't be able to pick up on the forceful look he was giving Ni'teya. "Won't we?" He asked her directly, widening his eyes as if to let her know he wanted her to agree and play along.

Ni'teya hadn't registered what he meant for a second, simply staring at him as if he were an abyss, wondering why he was looking at her funny. However, once her brain clicked back into shape, she moved.

"Oh! —" She gasped a little, finishing her final bite before placing down her bowl as she usually did. "Right, yes. We'll come with you!" She hopped up onto her feet, Lo'ak relaxing his posture as she did. All Spider did, or rather, all he could do was wait where he was, not being able to refuse both of them to their faces.

Once the girl was up and ready, all three of them went on their way, Ni'teya and Lo'ak letting Spider lead them to wherever he was planning to go before. They quickly realised that he wasn't going to speak the whole way there, or at least without being spoken to first, so they began to bicker quietly behind him. They glanced at each other with their eyes, both of them practically shouting 'no, you do it!' with them, somehow understanding each other fluently.

After a good few minutes of battle, Lo'ak reluctantly sighed, attempting to then catch up to the boy ahead. He looked back at Ni'teya one last time before he spoke, catching her shoot him an incredibly sarcastic thumbs up, a cheesy smile to pair with it.

"Uh, Spider... Is everything - and I mean this in the nicest and most genuine way possible; — Is everything good? With you? Like, are you good, y'know?" Lo'ak tried to articulate his point, trying not to sound like he was judging Spider in any way, even though he slightly was.

Ni'teya picked up her pace too, wanting to hear what the boy had to say. However, he didn't say much. All he did was shrug his shoulders as he continued to walk, answering with a single statement. "No. — Nothing's wrong."

Despite his harsh tone, both Ni'teya and Lo'ak could tell he wasn't being completely truthful. They passed each other a knowing look.

This time, Ni'teya chimed in. "Are you sure? You seem a little, uh... Distant?"

The boy's walking suddenly became unsteady and wobbly. "I— I said I'm good." He stumbled on his words, making the two others go silent for a moment before Lo'ak checked once again.

"Really?" He inquired, almost having to run to keep up with Spider.

"Yes."

Ni'teya was growing increasingly concerned, wondering why Spider was acting so strange, or more specifically, why he'd been acting so off since he got there. As she spoke, she made sure he could hear her worry in her voice. — "You don't want to talk about anything with us? We're here, you know. Both of us." She reassured him, only making him turn away from the two of them. They looked at each other again, this time Ni'teya giving Lo'ak a specific look with the intention of making him agree with her statement.

He understood her, adding on to what she had said. "Yeah! You can talk to us, Spider!" He did his best to sound approachable though in reality he was horrible at advice.

"N-no, I— I'm okay guys, I mean it." The boy didn't stop his fast-paced walking, almost tiring out the two others. In fact, they had to slow down a significant amount if they wanted to keep their energy, needing to yell if they were to talk to him.

"Well... In that case; Why don't you join us in training today?" Ni'teya shouted over to him, though he didn't stop.

"Oh— No, I've got things to do." He swivelled his head around to give them a straightened smile, trying to seem determined and decided in his plans.

Neither Lo'ak nor Ni'teya said anything thereafter for a while, not knowing what else to say, having already tried everything. However, Lo'ak had one more question to ask.

"What is it exactly that you do, Spider? I mean, you're out here all day, sometimes we don't see you until after dark!" He yelled out rather angrily, this time succeeding in bringing the boy to a halt. He slowly turned himself around, his hands hidden behind his back, making him look incredibly small off in the distance.

Just as he was about to open his mouth to speak, an echoed tune was played. Ni'teya recognized it to be that of a conch shell, only blown in the most urgent of times. Knowing this, Ni'teya was suddenly alerted, wondering if something was badly wrong or if it was simply a matter that needed the clan leader's full attention. — Both Lo'ak and Ni'teya turned to face where they sound had come from, spotting a crowd of people gathered in the centre of the village, as well as a few Na'vi heading out on their ilus with spears. Just as Ni'teya was about to rush ahead to investigate, Kiri appeared, running towards them in a seemingly panicked state. Lo'ak put an arm in front of Ni'teya, stopping her from going anywhere, as he knew she'd probably run off towards her friend.

"Guys! Teya, Lo'ak, come quick!" Kiri bellowed, her voice strained. Ni'teya pushed past Lo'ak barricade with ease, causing him to try and grab her wrist but missing.

With concern spread across her face, Ni'teya asked what was going on, gripping her friend's shoulders in an attempt to calm her down. — "Kiri? Are you okay? What's happened?" She questioned with sincerity.

After a deep and shaky intake of breath, Kiri revealed what the situation entailed, shrieking in fear as she did so.

"...Another tulkun has been killed!"

Ni'teya's eyes widened, her grip got a whole lot tighter. She immediately turned to face Lo'ak, who had the same idea, staring back at her with both confusion and worry.

Suddenly realising that someone had been left out, Ni'teya shifted her gaze behind her.

"Spider—" She called, expecting to find the boy stood where he was mere seconds ago, but discovering an empty space instead.

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