𝐄𝐂𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐒𝐘 | neteyam

three 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐒

THE NEXT DAY we decided to teach the Sully kids breathing techniques. The ocean may be beautiful and can be calm, but there is a danger in everything, so they need to know how to properly breath underwater.

We were sitting on rocks near the beach, the three older Sully kids and Tsireya, Rotxo and me.

"Breath in," I said and everyone followed my instructions, "and breath out." I checked on everyone and laid my eyes on Neteyam, who was sitting opposite me.

"Imagine flickering a flame," Tsireya continued, "You must slow down your heartbeat."

Her hands wandered on Lo'ak's chest to feel his heart. "Breath in," she said to him, "breath out slowly". The others were also following her instructions.

"Lo'ak, your heartbeat is fast, try to focus," Tsireya said to the boy and looked into his yellow eyes.

"Sorry.", he replied.

Suddenly, Neteyam started to grin and looked me in the eyes, and I immediately knew why he was smirking. I tried my hardest not to smile and rolled my eyes in his direction. I thought Tsireya and Lo'ak were cute! Rotxo also had to grin, and Kiri tried to ignore them.

It was pretty obvious that Lo'ak had a crush on Tsireya. Like I said before, I can see it in his eyes and in the way he acts.

-

Neteyam was a very ambitious guy, I noticed that by now. He was a quick learner. He's been here for 3 days now, and I honestly can see that he's making progress when it's coming to swimming and riding an ilu.

In the evening, when I was sitting on a rock, making bracelets for Tsireya and me, I saw him walking towards me.

"Hey Aylikhi," he said to me and now stood only a few meters away from me.

"Neteyam," I said and gave him a nod.

He looked at the bracelets in my hand for a few seconds before he spoke. "I really want to improve my breathing skills, but Tsireya is busy and I don't think Ao'nung and his friends really like me," he stated and now I looked into his yellow eyes. They were beautiful.

"So I was wondering if you could maybe help me," he continued with a small and hopeful smile on his lips.

For a second, I didn't say anything since I was slightly confused. Wasn't he tired from today? Didn't he learn enough today? But I was also happy that he wanted to improve his skills.

"Yeah, sure," I answered, "Come, sit down, I can teach you from here."

The tall boy sat down near me, our faces turning to the beautiful ocean in front of us. A warm and mesmerizing sunset was on the sky.

I slowed down my breathing and put my hand on Neteyam's chest. I felt his heartbeat, it was quiet fast, but I chose to ignore that.

"You breath in," I said with a gentle voice, "and out".

"The sea is around you and in you.

The sea is your home,
Before your birth,
And after your death.

Our hearts beat in the womb of the world.

Our breath burns, in the shadows of the deep.

The sea gives,
And the sea takes.

Water connects all things,
Life to death,
Darkness to light"

With a slow voice I repeated these words.

After a few minutes, Neteyams heartbeat was slower now, I spoke up again. "I have this seashell," I picked up a pink seashell from the ground, "I am going to throw it into the water, and you will try your best to pick it up and come back here," I explained to the boy beside me. He gave me a nod in return.

So I threw the seashell into the ocean and we waited for a few seconds.

"Okay, are you ready?", I asked Neteyam.

"Yes, I'm ready", he replied and his eyes focused on the sea in front of us. He jumped into the gentle water, and I got in to.

He started diving and I put my head under the surface as well to watch him.

He did very well. I could see that his breaths were slow and controlled and that his mind was clear.

After around 2 minutes he got up again, his left arm high above his head with the rosa seashell in his hand.

"I did it! Aylikhi I actually did it!", he said excitedly and he had a huge grin on his face.

"Yes! Good job, Neteyam, I'm proud of you," I said to him with an honest smile.

Both of us got out of the water and Neteyam catched his breath, exhausted from just now.

"You are a quick learner, Neteyam," I said to him, which caused him to look at me, still smiling.

"Well, I have a good teacher," he answered, and I laughed, "I mean, I'm trying!"

For a moment Neteyam just looked at me and grinned, then his eyes wandered to the sea again.

"Aylikhi!", I suddenly heard a voice calling from the distance.

I looked on the beach, where the voice came from, and saw Lekxyo there waving into our direction.

"Who is that?", Neteyam asked me with raised eyebrows.

"My brother, Lekxyo," I answered and stood up, "I think I have to go. It's getting late."

Neteyam agreed and got up as well. But I just knew that my brother would make a dumb comment, so I quickly said goodbye to Neteyam and ran up to Lekxyo, feeling kind of bad for just leaving him alone there. But I'll make it up.

When I arrived at my brother, he already had a stupid grin on his face.

"I don't wanna hear anything from you!", I said to him and started walking towards our Marui.

But for some reason, my brother can never listen to me.

"That was one of the Sully kids, right? What's his name?", he asked me and walked closely behind me.

"His name is Neteyam. He is the oldest of the kids," I answered his question and walked faster, not looking back.

"Well, what were you guys doing there? All alone?", he continued to ask.

"I was teaching him how to control your breathing. Now stop asking questions, you skxawng," I said to him and rolled my eyes.

"Okay, okay, I'll stop, calm down," Lekxyo laughed.

"Thank you."

We arrived at our Marui, and I quickly laid down. I was tired and exhausted from today and needed to rest.

I needed energy for tomorrow.

-

MY COMMENT:
i'm so excited for the future of this book you guys!!

don't worry, you will learn more about aylikhi in the next chapter ...

tsireyas monolog is literally so beautiful, i get goosebumps every time i hear it. i had to include it in this book too. also, aylikhi will connect more to eywa in the future!

what are your thoughts on the chapter? tell me. and don't forget to vote🫶🏼

next chapter will be tomorrow or on sunday between 4-7 pm CET

(this is how i kind of imagine lekxyo)