CHAPTER 17

       Eríhe would not admit it, but she had found Neteyam quite attractive when he went into the fight.

That feeling only lasted about five seconds before it turned embarrassing. All the boys were rolling around in the sand and shallow water, hitting and kicking each other as they tried to land punches.

"Stop it," Kiri called over the noise, "So stupid!"

Eríhe watched as Neteyam got punched and she nudged Kiri, "It's funny, no?"

"No!" Kiri said, "They're getting beat up!"

Erìhe rolled her eyes, "They are warriors," she laughed, "They'll be fine."

"They don't look like warriors," Kiri mumbled with her eyes glued on the boys rolling around the ground.

Eríhe had to agree. This was just about the most childish thing she had seen - and having known Lo'ak almost all her life, that said a lot.

The two girls watched as two of the Metkayina attempted dragging Lo'ak off Ao'nung by pulling on his tail. "Ow, my tail!" Lo'ak protested.

"My ear!" Ao'nung yelled as Lo'ak dragged him along by his ear. "Let go!"

Erìhe turned her attention from them to Neteyam, who sat on one of the boy's chest and landed punches one after the other on both sides of his face. Kiri turned to her, "Shouldn't we stop them?"

Erìhe sighed as she glanced back at her, "Yeah - go tell your dad."

Kiri chuckled, "Why do you seem sad about breaking up the fight?"

Erìhe waved at the scene before them. The boy had just managed to push Neteyam off him and was now the one hitting him. "Is this not entertaining?" Kiri raised a brow at her and Erìhe grinned before pushing her off toward the village, "Go get someone, I'll try to make them stop."

Kiri chuckled as she turned toward the village. Erìhe looked back at the boys and pondered what she should do. Inserting herself in the fight would not be smart, neither would be pushing one of the Metkayina - that would be taking part in the fight. She settled on moving closer to the boys and clapping her hands loudly. When that did not work, she decided to call their names, "Lo'ak! Stop that - Neteyam."

Sighing, Erìhe stepped back. "Oh? What's that?" She pointed off toward the village, "Is that the chief and Jake headed this way?" She was lying. There was no one.

But it was enough to get the boys to let go of each other and scramble up to their feet. Neteyam pushed the curly haired boy away from him as he looked in the direction she was pointing in. "There's no one," he stated as he wiped blood off his lip.

Erìhe looked back at him, "I'm aware."

Lo'ak looked at Ao'nung angrily and Erìhe could tell that he was about to resume the fight, so she stepped in front of him. "Your father is waiting to scold you."

Lo'ak looked back at her accusingly.

₊˚.༄

Erìhe was somehow dragged into the marui pod along with Lo'ak and Neteyam - as if she had been part of the fight or something. Jake led the teenagers into the home and made the two boys stand in front of him. Erìhe was glad that she at least did not have to stand next to them, and was instead allowed to stand beside Jake. This way she could avoid having to look into his disappointed eyes.

"What was the one thing I asked?" Jake asked after checking that no one was within earshot. Apparently he had a problem with scolding his kids around others. And this of course did not include Erìhe - she was almost always present. "The one thing?" He repeated.

Neteyam and Lo'ak looked down in shame. "Stay out of trouble," Lo'ak said.

"Stay out of trouble! That's right." Jake affirmed.

Neteyam stepped in front of his brother and Erìhe sighed. "It was my fault," he told Jake.

"I don't think so," Jake told him, "You've gotta stop taking the heat for this knucklehead!" He said, frustration evident in his voice.

"Look, dad," Lo'ak spoke up, "Ao'nung was picking on Kiri. He called her a freak."

"They were also making fun of Erìhe's tail," Neteyam pointed out quietly.

Jake briefly glanced at Erìhe, as if to confirm this. When she pressed her lips into a thin line and shrugged, he sighed before turning back to Lo'ak. He was quiet for a moment, thinking something over before he spoke again, "Go apologize to Ao'nung."

"What?" Lo'ak asked disbelievingly.

"He's the chief's son," Jake told him. "You understand?" He looked outside of the pod again, "I don't care how you do it - just go and make peace." Erìhe watched as Lo'ak hung his head and started heading out of the pod. "Just go," Jake stepped out of the way as Lo'ak walked out.

A moment of silence passed as they watched him go. Jake spoke up only once Neteyam passed him to walk out as well. "Hey," he said. Both Erìhe and Neteyam looked at him. "So, what did the other guys look like?"

Erìhe covered her smile with her hand and turned to silently snicker behind his back.

Neteyam looked back at his father, "Worse," he told him.

Jake nodded, "That's good."

A smile stretched across Neteyam's face, "A lot worse," he said almost proudly.

"Get out of here," Jake said with a slight smile. "And you," he beckoned for Erìhe to come closer, "Go help him with his injuries."

"What?" Erìhe asked, her mouth hanging open. Was that why she was there? To play nurse? "Why not Kiri?"

"She's going through a lot," Jake told her before nudging her towards Neteyam who was waiting for her by the opening with a smile.

Erìhe almost rolled her eyes and said that she too was going through a lot, but instead sucked it up and trudged past Neteyam. She assumed he was following her as she made her way down the village toward the shack where they kept the firewood. She had heard from Tsireya that you could also get herbs and all kinds of other things from there if you asked for them.

"Wait for me," Neteyam said as he jogged to catch up with Erìhe who was almost by the pod already. "I am hurt," he placed a hand on her shoulder as he held his stomach dramatically.

Erìhe turned around to brush his hand off, "Stop being such a baby," she gave him a stern look before walking inside the pod. Neteyam chuckled before following behind. Now inside, Erìhe approached an older woman, "Excuse me?" She said carefully.

The woman looked at her, "Yes?"

"Do you know where I can find herbs?" Erìhe asked.

"Herbs? What kind of herbs?"

Erìhe held Neteyam by his arm and pulled him to stand next to her. Not expecting the sudden pull, Neteyam bumped into Erìhe so that their sides were touching.

The woman looked Neteyam over once before nodding in understanding, "Ah - yes, over here." She made them follow her to a corner of the pod where she opened up a basket, pulling out all kinds of things.

The woman piled the objects into Erìhe's hands, explaining what each thing did as she handed them over. Erìhe prayed that Neteyam was actually listening to the woman, because she had not caught half of the information being thrown at her.

When Erìhe's hands were full of all kinds of ointments and other things that she was sure they would not need, the two of them headed out of the shack after thanking the lady. "Where are we going?" Neteyam asked as he walked beside her.

"Let's go to the edge of the forest," Erìhe decided. "Take this bowl of water," she told him and stepped in front of him so that he could take it from the pile.

Neteyam shook his head, "I'm hurt."

Erìhe stared. She thought she saw Neteyam's teasing smirk slip for a second under her gaze - thinking that he was intimidated by her glare made her want to laugh. "You will take this bowl of water or I'm leaving all this and you here."

Neteyam nodded once after thinking it over. He knew better than to put it past her - she would in fact leave him there. "Alright, alright," he agreed before hastily taking the full bowl of clean water from her hands.

"Thanks," Erìhe said stiffly before turning and walking down the beach. Neteyam smiled softly to himself before walking after her.

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A/n:
I'm currently writing chapter 32 and I'm very stuck 🤭 but it's fine I'll get over it - I have a lovely friend who helps me come up with ideas <33