Shells | Lo'ak Sully

Part 14: That week

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(POV: Narrator)

A breeze flowed steadily for days and days, the sun left undisturbed by the clouds. No rain fell, nor did storms brew overhead as they seemed to have congruously fogged up the boy's head instead. He did as he was supposed to as it was all he could do. He ate, despite his significant loss of appetite. He caused no trouble, staying put in his hut as there was no way he'd be able to leave it if he tried. Most of all, he dreamt.

Over the course of the week they began to worsen. Considering the dreams he was having were already quite bad to start with, these newer and far longer dreams meant that the only 'sleep' he would get was when his body forced his eyes shut, sending him to slumber without him wanting to. Then, after having dreamt once again, he'd wake, only to fall back asleep against his will.

The cycle tormented Lo'ak. So much so that his dreams began to creep their way into his real life, too.

One night, he woke up after witnessing a horrific image. At first, everything was peaceful; He could see himself, carrying a large sack of shells, following Ni'teya down a long stretch of white sand, laughing. She was wearing both her decorated neckpiece as well as headpiece, two of her favourites as she had plenty to choose from. She told him off when he dropped a few of them, which ended up in an argument once again. He only looked away for a second, but it cost him. For when he looked back, with no warning, causing the boy's nerves to skyrocket, he saw Ni'teya's paler face. He couldn't mistake it; It was the face she had on her as she lay in his arms on the ship. He saw blood trek down from her stomach, her eyes closing slowly as her breath started to slow, only one thing being noticeably different in her appearance... She wasn't smiling that time.

He awoke in a cold sweat, something he was used to by that point. — Since that night, since that dream, he wore his own neckpiece constantly. He wouldn't even take it off as he lay in his hammock, dreading the next time he'd close his eyes.

You see, it must be established that, due to anything and everything that happened, was said or was construed in the dreams he was having, Lo'ak blamed himself for what happened to Ni'teya. The moment he was pushed from the ship replayed and replayed, as if it could have ended differently. He felt he should've pushed harder and fought stronger, that he would've stood a chance of saving her if he tried just that bit more. It wouldn't have. But he never admitted that.

Jake kept an even closer eye on him, too. It made perfect sense why seen as if his child, that was clearly not head-strong enough to face such a force alone, was to escape from him once again, then he may end up losing another one. He hid his pain, he'd learnt that unfortunate skill well, however that didn't mask the fact that he felt every inch of it. He hated himself for not catching the two of them from leaving. He hated himself for not taking more care to look after them, as he felt it could've all been prevented if he simply spoke to them, instead of treating them like prisoners.

Lo'ak continued this streak of self-destruction until one day, towards the end of the first week, after something Kiri had said which he overheard, made him realize something. "Trees don't speak, Tuk!" she said, which, to anyone else, would've simply stayed as a mindless statement. Not to Lo'ak, though. It made him leave his hut for the first time in days to find his mother or father, to ask them for permission to go someplace.

When they heard his request, they were hesitant. He looked far too weak, after all. Soon though, they agreed to let him go if one of them accompanied him, that individual ending up being Neytiri, who flew overhead on her ikran, keeping a far enough distance away from him to give him the space he needed but close enough to ensure his safety.

Lo'ak had made it to the Spirit Tree. — The realization that he came to was that if he wanted to speak to Ni'teya, he could.

Of course, in his mind, she was dead.

So, naturally, when he connected to the tree and saw only forestry, he was rather confused. He walked around for a bit, eventually stumbling across someone else, whom he was equally as desperate to speak to. Neteyam, rather annoyedly, was rested up against a tree, crossing his arms and giving his little brother a strange look. Since it wasn't the first time he'd interacted with him like this, he went straight ahead with his goal...

"Bro! Bro! I need help, do you—"

"Nope." Was the blunt answer.

Lo'ak stared at his brother in fright. "What? I—"

"First of all brother, hello to you too. Second of all, no, I don't know where she is." He uncrossed his arms, talking smugly.

He waited for a moment before answering. Not because he was thinking about what to say, more-so that he was confused about what his brother was saying. "Huh? How'd you know I was gonna ask that? And—"

"Because of what you're wearing, duh?" He said, as if it was obvious, making Lo'ak look down and discovering that his neckpiece had made it into this spiritual realm too.

He cleared his throat, ignoring Neteyam's statement. "How come you don't know where she is? I thought you—"

"You thought I, what, knew the location of  anyone, at any given time and at any given moment? Look, brother. I don't know how many times I have to tell you this; I can't help you if you've annoyed Ni'teya, again, and don't know where she's stormed off to! Maybe, and here's a wild shout, quit wasting your time asking me to find her when you could be finding her yourself."

"Wait, but—"

"No buts! I've had it! And I have no doubt that she's had it too. Whatever you've said or done to her, I'm sure you'll somehow, miraculously, find a way to make it up to her although I have no idea why she accepts it all the time. What? Do you think because of your buffoonery that she's decided this is a good place to hide from you? Well, actually I wouldn't be surprised... But, nonetheless! She's not here. You're—"

"Neteyam!"

"Don't act shocked! You should know this alrea—"

"No! Neteyam, just shut up and wait a moment!" Lo'ak finally yelled, cutting across his brother's not-so-heartfelt commentary. He then wore a look of both horror and hope, picked up upon by Neteyam rather quickly after he'd stopped his talking.
"What was that last thing you said?" He asked, holding his head still as his throat closed in on him.

Neteyam fidgeted, put on edge by his brother's clear concern, making him wonder what he'd done to Ni'teya this time.

"Uh, that— That you're a buffoon, and—"

"No!" He grew impatient. "The very last thing!"

"Oh, uhm— I don't—" He looked up to think, holding a finger to his mouth.

Lo'ak didn't care to wait around. He knew what had been said, he just didn't quite believe it.

"What do you mean..." He started, his hand beginning to shake.

"What do you mean, she's not here?"

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