Lo'ak's mate

Catching up

Back in Kiri's hut, now Tuk with us, I try to catch her gaze. "What are you hiding~?" I tease her. "Faxei'a... I can't tell you, seriously!" Kiri whines. Tuk nods as she nibbles on Lionberry seeds she collected. "You should ask them, if you really want to know." Tuk chews through her words.
"Hm maybe I will..." I mumble.

Later that evening I sit on my bed, Wëkei'o hasn't returned home yet. I fiddle with the Lionberry seeds Tuk gave me as a snack and stare into nothing.

Then I hear a soft knock on my hut. I put the seeds down and make my way to the opening. I slide the fabric to the side. "Neteyam? What are you doing here?" I say.

His cheeks seem flushed.
"... we're all going to eat but-"

"But what?" A voice is heard from behind the hut. "Tsmukan!" (Brother!) I say. He comes and stands next to me and greets Neteyam. He does the same and they pat each other on the back. My brother always had respect for Neteyam, even when we were younger.

When the rest of us kids caused trouble Neteyam would always save our asses and make things right. He looked out for us.

"My parents have invited you guys for wutso." (Dinner) He says and he smiles sweetly. Wëkei'o looks at me questioning. I nod pleadingly. He sighs and agrees to come along.

We make our way to the Sully's hut and Neteyam casually walks in. Wëkei'o and I trail behind. I lock eyes with Jake but he's focused on my tsmukan. "So you are back from hunting?" He asks when we sit down. Suspicion laced in his words. Wëkei'o gulps and before he can respond Neytiri slaps Jake. "Don't be so rude!" She turns to us. "We're glad you could make it Wëkei'o, Faxei'a." She smiles endearingly.

The meal Neytiri has prepared looks delicious and soon after we've finished eating her and Jake get up to clean. I follow along. "Let me help." I say gathering the leafs we've eaten from. "No, you should join the kids." Jake says. Neytiri takes the leafs from my hands. "Let the sa'sem clean." (Parents) Neytiri adds. She smiles and I give in.

I leave the hut and find Lo'ak, Neteyam and my tsmukan around a campfire. I join them silently. Sitting between Neteyam and Wëkei'o.
Neteyam smiles and hands me a spartan fruit. I take it and take a bite.

My eyes wander to Lo'ak who's situated across from me. We lock eyes and I unconsciously dart my eyes to the ground. It seems this confused him and he doesn't look at me anymore. Meanwhile my tsmukan and Neteyam have been catching up. "You're awfully quiet, Lo'ak." Neteyam mentions. Lo'ak just shrugs and fiddles with a stick he picked up.

"Lo'ak. Lets catch up hm?" I say. He looks up surprised but nods and follows me away from the other two.

When I think we're far enough I see something in the distance. I point to it and look back at Lo'ak. "Look! Our old sun cabin!" His eyes follows my fingers direction. "Oh right! Wasn't that where we used to play house?" He reminisces. I laugh and grab his wrist to drag him along. He doesn't say anything but I feel his pulse speeding up inside my palm.

We enter the small sized hut we all made when we were younger and we plop on the floor. An awkward silence falls between us. After a while he clears his throat. "So uh, how have you been?" He asks. I look at him and feel a chuckle coming up. "Seriously?" He also bursts out in laughter and for a little while it feels as if we went back in time.

"I've been alright." I try to lie. His expression changes. "Don't lie to me Faxei'a." He says.

As if his gaze, voice and soul has ordered me to tell him the whole truth. I tell Lo'ak about my parents death and how Wëkei'o hasn't been home much, how after they left I felt alone and didn't have any friends or family. But how i'm nonetheless grateful for them saving the clan. The whole conversation his eyes didn't avert from mine and his comforting hums made me feel at ease.

The tears swell up in my eyes and his hand grabs mine tenderly. "Ngaytxoa." (Sorry) I mumble. He shakes his head. "Don't apologise! You've done nothing wrong. I'm sorry I wasn't- we weren't here for you." He stumbles over his words a little. "It's not your fault." I respond.

Lo'ak proceeds to tell me all about the Metkayina tribe to cheer me up. All the people they met, their habits and animals. How he made friends with a tulkun called Payakan. All of it. During his story his hand is still connected with mine.

"And after the war-" he stops talking. His ears prod up and he turns his head. He pulls me closer. "Did you hear that?" He whispers. "No..." I whisper back. "What is it?"

I was too busy listening to his voice and heartbeat I didn't hear the rustling near the cabin.

He gets on his feet, still crouching.  I reach for the knife attached to my thigh and listen closely for the sound to reappear.

Rrsh rrsh

It's closer!

Then suddenly a tall dark shadow appears in the cabins doorway.