Little Miss Perfect | Neteyam¹

Chapter 08: Late Night Adventures

Italicize - someone's thoughts or a story from the past

Bold - sign language

Marali stared at the ceiling, tossing and turning every few minutes, trying to find a comfortable position. She looked over to see everyone else peacefully sleeping, evening hearing soft snores coming from Jake and Lo'ak. The Sully family and Marali had been at the Metkayina clan for a little over a week, and sleepless nights had become a normal occurrence for the girl.

Finally having enough of the tossing and turning, Marali slowly sat up and crept to the edge of the Mauri pod, grabbing her knife in the process, just in case. She turned around to make sure no one had seen her and made her exit toward the forest. The girl thought that maybe if she took a walk, and got some fresh air, it would help with her recent development of insomnia.

As she walked along the path, Marali decided she would visit her ikran, Tíli, and maybe take her for a ride. Eventually, she made it away from all of the pods and stepped onto the sand. It was colder at night than during the day, and Marali enjoyed the feeling of the cool sand rather than the warm.

The girl looked around to make sure no one was up before she switched directions, heading toward the forest. No one was permitted in the forest, but the girl decided to ignore the warnings she had received from the Olo'eyktan and his mate.

I was born and raised in the forest.

When she made it to the forest, she felt a sense of nostalgia wash over her. While this forest wasn't home, it was the next best thing. Marali brushed her fingers up and down the bark of a tree beside her and took a deep breath in.

It felt nice to connect back to the roots of who she was. It brought her a sense of safety. Of course, the Matkayina clan was a nice place to live in. The Metkayina people were kind and caring, for the most part, but the feel of the water and sand against her skin would never compare to how the grass and tree branches felt as she ran across them.

As the girl continued to walk toward where her ikran would be, she spun around and looked at the nature surrounding her. It brought a smile to her face. When the girl arrived at an opening, she called to her ikran and then waited for a few seconds before Tíli appeared.

"Tam, tam, Tíli." Marali soothed, rubbing her hand up and down the ikran's neck. Tíli closed her eyes at the feeling of her rider's touch and released a big sigh. "I missed you." She said, bringing her arms around the animal's neck. Marali heard Tíli let out a sound of what she hoped to be agreement.

Pulling away from her ikran, she saw the look on the animal's face and slightly gasped. The girl had promised she would bring her ikran a treat the next time she saw her.

"I forgot to bring you a treat, Tíli. I'm sorry." Marali apologized.

She softly giggled when she heard Tíli let out a huff in disappointment. "We can do the next best thing, though," Marali said, connecting her queue to the animal. "We can go for a ride."

~~~~

Neteyam awoke with a gasp. He had had another nightmare. The boys had them every day this week, and it always happened the same. His mother's life is in danger. His life is in danger. The people he cared about the most dying. The dream has haunted him since his siblings got kidnapped back home.

He hated himself for not being there when his siblings were taken. Maybe if he had been there, things would have been different. Maybe, if he had been there, Spider would still be with them. Maybe his mother would have been dead if he had been with his siblings. After all, he saved her life.