Little Miss Perfect | Neteyam¹

Chapter 16: Stories and Rumors

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

Bold - sign language

It's been a couple of days since the fight between the Omatikaya and Metkayina teens. Both sides have been reluctant to give a sincere apology because the last time Lo'ak apologized, he was practically led to his death, and Ao'nung feared retaliation.

However, Tsireya talked to all the teens involved except for Ao'nung's friends and asked them to meet her at the hangout spot. Marali was confused about what the hang-out spot was, but Lo'ak said he knew where it was, so that's where they were heading too now. Tuk was also invited because Jake and Neytiri were continuing their training today, and they weren't able to watch her.

"I want to go swimming," Tuk whined. The youngest child wasn't particularly fond of the fact that they were wasting a perfectly beautiful day talking instead of swimming. "We'll go swimming after we have this talk. We must try to get along with them." Marali reasoned.

Tuk brought a pout to her lips and was silent after. Neteyam and Lo'ak were ahead of the rest of the group, messing around with each other. "Come on, bro. Just admit it. You like Tsireya." Neteyam teased. Lo'ak pushed his brother in disbelief and quickly disagreed with him. If there was one thing anyone knew about the Sully boys, it was they were the most oblivious boys anyone would ever meet, especially when it came to admitting their feelings.

"Don't lie, Lo'ak," Marali said as she jogged up to the two teens with Tuk right behind her. "Every time you look at her, you have heart eyes." Lo'ak glared at her, and Neteyam laughed while hitting his shoulder. "See! Even Mari agrees with me." Neteyam said, chuckling at his brother.

Lo'ak mumbled the rest of the way about how we were ganging up on him, and he had no one to defend him. Marali rolled her eyes and slowed her pace so she could walk beside Kiri. Kiri had been quiet the entire way, which wasn't shocking because she wasn't much of a talker.

After a few more minutes of walking, the Omatikaya children finally made it to the hangout spot where Ao'nung, Tsireya, and Rotxo were already sitting. "Hey, everyone!" Tsireya cheered. Everyone greeted her in return and sat at their respective places. Kiri was to the right of Rotxo, and Tuk was to the left of Tsireya. Ao'nung was leaning up against a tree, and Neteyam and Lo'ak sat down beside each other. Marali wasn't sure where to sit, so she took a seat next to Lo'ak.

"I hope you all found this place okay. I know I showed Lo'ak once, but I wasn't sure if he would remember." Tsireya said. The Omatikaya children all told her that they didn't have trouble finding the place. "I don't think Lo'ak would forget anything you said even if he tried." Marali teased. Lo'ak pushed her shoulder, and Tsireya shyly looked down.

Marali looked up at Ao'nung to see him with an expression that she had never seen before. "None of you have to tell me this, but I've been curious about it since you arrived." He said, finally speaking up. Marali looked at him with a quirked eyebrow, and the little conversations that were happening ceased.

"What are you curious about?" Tuk asked.

"Well, sometimes we have people who leave the village to get items that we need, and a while ago one of the people who came back told us stories of their adventures." Ao'nung paused, looking at the group in front of him. "The villager who came back told us a story of how a young boy was the youngest in his village to make a clean kill." He finished.

"Are you talking about Neteyam?" Marali asked. Ao'nung looked at her and nodded his head. "He was the youngest boy back home to make a clean kill. Everyone was so proud of him. There was a party in celebration." Marali said with a shrug of her shoulders. "Anything else you want to know?" Lo'ak asked.