CHAPTER 43

       Just as Neteyam and Erìhe knew to expect, Tuk was the first of the family to wake up. The little girl had fallen into the habit of turning over on her side once waking up and looking over at Erìhe. Then she would grin gleefully before rolling on top of the girl or bouncing on her mattress, waking the older up.

Today Tuk did the same. When her eyes opened she rolled over to look at the place where Erìhe slept.

Instead she was met by an empty mattress.

Brows furrowed, Tuk sat up and glanced around, wildly searching for Erìhe. It wasn't the first time she'd woken up next to an empty bed - but it was the first time that Erìhe was gone while Neteyam remained in his mattress.

Tuk decided to stand up. And so, she pushed herself to her feet so that she could look around better. It was early morning so the sun shone through the entrance of the pod, giving the child light as she searched for her friend.

When she looked back at Neteyam for longer this time - her eyes narrowed when she noticed something off. Her brother was sleeping on his side so that he faced the wall - but he had an extra limb or two.

Tuk sighed and rolled her eyes as she tiptoed over to the pair. "Erìhe," she hissed while crouching down on the other side of Neteyam. She looked at the sleeping pair and smiled while tilting her head. She wondered what they were to each other.

Together? Friends?

Tuk scrunched her nose at the latter - she highly doubted that.

Erìhe's head was nestled under Neteyam's chin as her arm wrapped around his torso while the other rested in between their bodies. The boy on the other hand had both his arms around the girl, hugging her tightly against his chest for warmth and comfort.

But Tuk wasn't having it.

The little girl reached forward to pinch her brothers nose, "Wakey wakey," she said quietly in a singsong voice as she saw Neteyam's brows furrow in his sleep.

When Neteyam finally gasped and awoke with a start, Tuk pulled away while laughing silently to herself. She did so quietly as she didn't wish to wake up her parents.

"Tuk," Neteyam narrowed his eyes while rolling onto his back to glare at his younger sister. His left hand rested on his stomach while the other still firmly held Erìhe close. Her head now rested on his chest and Neteyam could feel her steady breathing against his skin.

"Mama will wake up soon," Tuk grinned down at her brother. They both glanced down at Erìhe. "I can wake her up," she offered and lifted her hand to pinch Erìhe's nose as well.

"Tuk, stop that," Neteyam said and held her small hand to stop her from waking up his girlfriend so cruelly.

"Boring," Tuk complained. She sat down cross legged while Neteyam lifted his head to glance down at Erìhe's face. The way her whole face relaxed in her slumber was highly mesmerizing to Neteyam; there was no crease between her brows that was a normality for the girl - she was always frowning when not smiling and Neteyam had grown used to seeing her brows furrowed.

However the boy could not admire Erìhe for long when Tuk suddenly grew aware of her brothers distraction. Rolling her eyes once more, she spoke again, "Hurry up," she urged him.

Neteyam scoffed at that. He wished that him and Erìhe could have fallen asleep in the forest again - even if they'd get in trouble for it, at least there was no one breathing down his neck when he just wanted to admire her.

He shook the girl ever so gently while carefully stroking her cheek.

Tuk wore a grimace as she watched this unfold - luckily she didn't have to suffer for long.

Erìhe's eyes fluttered open and shortly after, she lifted her head off Neteyam's chest to yawn. When she saw Tuk, she grinned, "Morning," she whispered, "Thank you for waking us up," she said after glancing around the pod and seeing that everyone else was still asleep.

Neteyam frowned at the fact that she had not even glanced in his direction.

Actually - Erìhe would just feel embarrassed if she looked at him in that moment when his little sister was right there. She'd known that she would feel like this - flustered and embarrassed - but she could not say no when he'd asked for her to sleep next to him.

"I should go to my own bed now, then," Erìhe said while pushing herself to her feet. When she was on her feet, she bent back down to pat Neteyam's shoulder twice, "Good morning," she smiled at him.

Neteyam's frown disappeared as he chuckled lightly, "Morning," he said as he watched her grab Tuk by the hand and go back to her own mattress.

"You won't tell your mama about this, will you?" Erìhe asked the smaller girl as they sat on Erìhe's mattress.

Tuk shook her head, "I won't," she promised.

"Thank you, Tuk," Erìhe smiled and ruffled her hair.

Tuk beamed at her before getting to her feet, "Mama!" She yelled as she ran to her mothers mattress.

₊˚.༄

Despite the scare that Tuk had given Erìhe and Neteyam, she'd merely bounced over to her mother to wake her up.

Neteyam had been right - despite her disloyal age, Tuk had not told on them.

Tuk was currently sat on the back of an ilu with Kiri as the two of them floated on the waters surface with Erìhe, who had her own ilu.

"What would happen if you and Neteyam mated?" Tuk suddenly asked Erìhe.

Kiri glanced over her shoulder at her little sister, shocked by the suddenness and randomness of the question. They had just been discussing the forest - so a topic such as this felt very out of the blue to her.

Erìhe frowned, "Uh - well.. we'd be kind of sisters? I guess?" She said uncertainly while scratching her forehead awkwardly. This certainly wasn't a topic she'd given much thought, and especially not something she wished to discuss with a seven year old.

Kiri laughed awkwardly, "Where did this come from, Tuk?"

Tuk glanced at her sister, then her eyes shot back to Erìhe, "Nowhere. I was just thinking."

Kiri hummed suspiciously but let the topic drop.

They had not swam around for long after that awkward conversation before rain started drizzling. Erìhe squinted her eyes as she looked up to the sky. The weather had been unpredictable - the entire day had been sunny and warm.

"Should we head back?" Kiri called to Erìhe, holding a hand above her head to shield her eyes from the small water droplets.

Erìhe did not reply immediately. Instead she was focused on the clouds, assessing and inspecting them. "No - I think we're good. The rain will pass soon," she dismissed.

Just as she'd said, it did not take long for the rain to lessen.

Erìhe and Kiri were laughing at Tuk who stood up on the ilu, hands holding onto her sisters shoulders as her head was angled toward the sky. Her mouth hung open as she attempted to get the droplets falling from the sky to land on her tongue.

Tuk giggled as well as she finally closed her mouth and wiped her lips. "There is mama!" She suddenly said, pointing some distance away.

Erìhe turned her head to look at the figures approaching the village. Neytiri and Jake shared one Tsurak as the Tsahik and Olo'eyktan both glode on the surface, each on their own skimwing.

"They look sad," Kiri pointed out as the group of adults went past them, not even noticing their presence.

"Why is mama sad?" Tuk asked with concern evident in her voice.

"I'll go check it out," Erìhe said, "You two stay here, alright?" When Tuk and Kiri nodded, she turned her ilu to follow the adults, leaving some distance between them.

Once Erìhe had arrived by the shore, everything seemed to hectic. Guiding her ilu to stop by the path, Erìhe pulled herself up onto the walkway while looking around. She caught sight of Neytiri and Jake who stood with the leaders, looking stressed.

"Gather the warriors," Tonowari growled under his breath to one of the Metkayina warriors who had come to see what was wrong.

"What has happened?" Erìhe asked as she walked toward them, eyes wide and scared.

Ronal spared the girl one look before turning and walking off. Before she'd averted her gaze, Erìhe had the chance to see the stone cold expression mixed with grief. It made her think that the worst had happened - though she was not sure what the worst could mean.

"Come here," Neytiri extended a hand toward Erìhe as Jake and Tonowari followed behind the Tsahik. As Erìhe accepted the woman's hand, Neytiri pulled her closer and wrapped an arm around her shoulders while starting to walk after her husband, "Let's go listen," she told Erìhe.

Erìhe could only nod as she looked around at the warriors bustling about, trying to find their way toward the meeting point.

-
A/n:
Guess who has zero motivation to keep writing 🤭🤞

I fell back into the black hole which is dc and marvel and now all my thoughts surround superheroes and villains EVEN THOUGH AVATAR IS MY ALL TIME FAVORITE FRANCHISE

and today I realized what a fucking nerd fucking loser I am but it's fine I guess