Spider's sister

Dream

'Dragonfly! Where are you?'

I make myself even smaller hearing how close by Neteyam is. I glance to my side and Lo'ak places a hand over his mouth.

'Don't laugh.' I mouth the words. He nods.

Barely holding his laugh. I hold my hand up. And start counting down from five.

Five, silence.
Four, Neteyams steps sound closer.
Three, the leaves behind my back rustle.
Two, Lo'aks breathing intensified.
One!

I get up abruptly and gasp for air. Grabbing the blanket covering my legs. A sound from below my bunkbed.

Spider climbs up and rests his arms on the railing.
'Sis? You alright?' He whispers.
I nod and gulp.

'Couldn't sleep either?' I ask. He chuckles softly and shakes his head.

'Nah. All the machine sounds irritate me.' He says.

I smile.
"Yeah, the jungle sounds are much more soothing."

He climbs off and lands on the ground. I bend over the railing to watch him.
'Let's go there right now.' He whispers.
My eyes shoot open.
'It's the middle of the night!' I scream whisper. He chuckles. 
'So? Norm's not going to come after us anyway.'

It takes me a few seconds to consider but I nod firmly.
'Yeah, okay!'

Spider and I finally made it to the exit without waking anyone.
Sneaking the whole way and taking two masks. I take one last glance into the dark shack.

Aside from the few flickering lights of the tech and the whirring of the machines. It's dead quiet.

I look back at Spider. He smiles and I nod. He opens the first door and closes it quickly after I step in. The door whirrs loudly.

Then the second door can be opened and we run out as fast as possible. We jump down onto the grass and run towards the woods.

'Somebody must've heard that.' I yell while looking back at spider who's right behind me. 'So what?' He answers, breathlessly.

I shake my head and feel a large grin on my face.
'Last time they were so mad at us.'
He chuckles and I can't help but laugh as well.

We run until we're near the Omatikaya home base and make a right turn somewhere near the large ferns.
'It's somewhere around here...' I mumble. Looking around while following the slight trail in between the glowing moss.

'Found it!' I hear Spider say a couple steps in front of me. He points to something between the leaves.

Our hut.
It's a small space made of branches, leaves and cloth. Theres two small leaf beds and some other stuff.

I shove aside the cloth and reveal the dark hut and crawl in. Spider follows and while he situates himself on his side I search around my stuff.

I found a packet of candles a long time ago on the ship and brought it back. When I find them I place them on my bed.

I search a little longer, shoving aside random things. Knifes, beads, snacks and extra clothes.

'What?!' I mumble to myself. Spider looks confused.
'Whats wrong?' He asks.

I search around.
'My matches are gone!' I add.

'Oh no, I got them...' He mumbles. I turn around look at him irritated.

'Why didn't you tell me?' I ask, sort of relieved they're not gone.

He chuckles and scratches the back of his head. 'Lo'ak and I tried to burn a banana fruit...'
He holds the box in front of him.

I shake my head and take the small box out of his hand.
'You should've asked before taking something that's not yours.' I say, trying to sound mad.

He scoffs. 'Yeah yeah.'

I light one of the candles and shove the bottom into a carved piece of wood. Max called it a 'Candleholder'.

There's a comfortable silence for a while. The jungle sounds rustling outside.

'I wonder if they're up...' I mumble while sitting crisscross on my bed.

He sighs. 'Probably not but... Neteyam and Lo'ak might be.'

He places his hands behind his head and lays down, looking at the roof.
'Let's just sleep a little more and meet up with them before breakfast.' He says.

I sigh and put the matchbox back in my leaf satchel.
'Yeah, okay.'

I peek between the cracks of the hut and see the creek.
'I'll be right back.' I mumble before heading out the hut.

Spider hums and turns on his side. Closing his eyes and covering his arms.
He must've not had a single minute of sleep last night.

I sit down near the creek. The bioluminescence on the moss lights up beneath me.

Peeking down I realise my top is on wrong. I stretch it over my chest.
My skin isn't blue like the Omatikaya. And my body is different than theirs.

The tops Kiri has never fit me. When I asked one of the women in the shack they explained to me why I have these lumps on my chest.

She called it 'Breasts'. Apparently they have some more important purpose, to feed your child when they're born.

I scoff and look at my reflection in the water. The fake blue stripes make me feel better, but it's not great.

I'm insecure about my body, since a couple of years I stopped growing taller. Now i'm just as tall as Tuk. The people on ship told me I might not grow any taller either.

And other parts of my body, like the lumps on my chest, are growing. Even if I don't want them to...

I fidget with the beads on one of my braids. I'm happy that none of my friends judge me.

Quietly I stare into the water. Until I hear some rustling behind me. Quickly I turn my head and listen intently. Scanning the bushes around me.

I see some leaves shake abnormally and ready my knife strapped to my thigh.

I get on my feet, crouch down and rest one hand on the ground.
Holding the knife out in front of me with my other hand.

Suddenly Neteyam emerges from the woods.
He chuckles and holds his hands up.
'Sorry, Dragonfly. I didn't mean to scare you.'

I stuff my knife back in it's holder. 'It's fine.' I sigh. Sitting back down, my back facing him.

He sits down next to me and looks at me.
'Your hair's longer...'

I grab the length of my hair.
'Fuck you're right.' It's been a while since we visited the village.

'I'll cut it soon.' I add quickly.

He chuckles.
'It suits you...'

I feel my cheeks warm up, so I pull my eyes away from his gaze. Looking at the moss beneath my hand.

'I see you're a warrior now...' I mumble.

He pats on the waist guard he's wearing, indicating he's a full fledged warrior.
'Yes I am.' He says.

'How did check up go?' He asks, changing the subject.

'No abnormalities. No sign of our DNA changing either though...' I say.

Neteyam is quiet for a little while, until he speaks up.

'You two were the first human babies to grow up here, Eywa might still have plans for you.'

'I don't want to get my hopes up...' I say while smiling at him. Grateful that he's trying to cheer me up.

'You're fine the way you are.'
Lo'ak voice sounds irritated. He also emerged from the same spot Neteyam came from.

'Brother.' Neteyam acknowledges him.
'You know I didn't mean it like that.'

Lo'ak walks past him and sits down next to me.
Right in between me and Neteyam.