CHAPTER 15

Five more days had passed in which 'Kanu had slowly given up on spending time with Lo'ak. The boy just seemed to not want anything to do with her.

"Neteyam!" 'Kanu called and started heading toward him.

Neteyam - who had been feeding his ilu - looked up to see her approach, "'Kanu! What's up?" He asked once 'Kanu stood beside him, waist deep in the water.

"Your brother keeps avoiding me," was the first thing that 'Kanu said to him.

Neteyam frowned, though he was proud. He was yet to recognize the anger and hurt in her eyes, "Oh yeah?"

'Kanu nodded, "Yes. He is a lying piece of-"

"Whoa, whoa," Neteyam held up his hands, "That's my brother you are badmouthing," he was shocked. Why was she so angry? "What happened?"

"He does not need to spend time with me, but he just keeps lying," 'Kanu rolled her eyes and crossed her arms as the ilu nudged her thigh with its head, wordlessly asking what was wrong.

"Keeps lying?" Neteyam threw another piece of fish into the air and they both watched as the ilu stretched its neck to catch it.

"He says he's busy but then I see him later and he's doing absolutely nothing," 'Kanu sighed, "Does he not wish to be friends with me? That's fine - but he does not have other friends," she shrugged pettily. 'Kanu was beginning to ramble more to herself than talk to Neteyam, "Me, Reya and his siblings are the only people he spends time with. And not spending time with me means that he's not spending time with Tsireya - which then means he's going to be a loner. I mean he should at least make an effort to get to know the others so he wouldn't be all alone."

Neteyam's kept his wide eyes on the ilu before them. He didn't know if he was just imagining things, but the animal seemed to be laughing at his stupidity. 'Kanu noticed his sheepish look and nudged him, "What is it?"

"Hm?" Neteyam hummed and looked back up at her, "Oh - nothing. I just think I may have left the fire on back in the pod-"

'Kanu frowned, "A storm is coming. We were advised to leave the fire on to maintain warmth."

"I better go check it out!" Neteyam said and hurried off, wading toward the shore. 'Kanu was left standing there alone, unsure of what had happened. Was she some sort of Sully repellent?

'Kanu sighed and stroked the ilu's head, "Boys," she rolled her eyes but smiled when the animal nudged her hand.

Meanwhile Neteyam was hurrying through the village, searching for his brother. When he finally came across Lo'ak, he was sitting by the beach with a bored expression on his face.

"Lo'ak!" Neteyam called as he walked over to him.

Lo'ak looked up at his brother with an annoyed expression, "What?"

"Watch your tone," Neteyam teased as he sat down beside him.

Lo'ak rolled his eyes, "What is it?"

Neteyam cleared his throat awkwardly, "Well - you know I told you to act hard to get?"

Lo'ak nodded, "Yeah. Do you think it's working? I've caught her staring at me a few times. Though she always seems mad-"

"Yeah, no," Neteyam cut him off, "It's not working at all."

"What?" Lo'ak turned to Neteyam, "What do you mean?"

"It's just making her furious, bro," Neteyam admitted and shrugged nonchalantly.

Lo'ak blinked. He could feel the anger towards his brother rise up, "How could that be?" He asked and Neteyam grimaced as he heard the threatening tone that laced his brother's words. "You told me to act hard to get. You said it was the best thing I could do!"

Neteyam held up a hand, "I never said it was the best thing you could do-" he fell silent when he saw Lo'ak's expression. He found no humor in this situation, "Well - yeah. That was my mistake."

"I thought you knew what you were doing!" Lo'ak stood up, "Does she hate me now?"

Neteyam followed his brother and got onto his feet, "Of course she does not hate you. She's just angry."

"Angry?" Lo'ak repeated, "Well what should I do now?" Neteyam opened his mouth to answer and Lo'ak immediately held up a hand to stop him, "Actually - I won't ask you."

Neteyam closed his mouth and resisted the urge to laugh. His brother was really stressing out about the situation. He knew he shouldn't be finding it funny but he could not help it. It was Lo'ak's first love and he had absolutely no idea about what he was doing. Neteyam grinned as he remembered himself being in his situation - though unlike his brother, he had no chance of the girl reciprocating his feelings whatsoever.

"Just - go talk to her, I guess," Neteyam said, placing a hand on Lo'ak's shoulder.

Lo'ak glared at Neteyam, not willing to take any advice from him anymore. But then again, this seemed like the right thing to do in this situation, "Alright." Then he left his brothers side, leaving Neteyam chuckling.

Neteyam looked up at the sky as it started to rain. He decided it would be best to get back home.

₊˚.༄

Lo'ak had not managed to find 'Kanu after leaving the beach. He probably would have found her - but a meeting was suddenly called and all the warriors had been required to go there. Obviously Lo'ak had been curious and made his way to the meeting point.

"My spirit sister and her baby have been murdered by the skypeople!" Ronal declared before the tribe. After her, Tonowari, Neytiri and Jake had arrived from their swim, they had come back bearing heartbreaking news.

'Kanu stepped to the side and hugged her brother, looking down as tears rolled down her cheeks. The deceased tulkun had been loved dearly by the entire tribe - her having been Ronal's spirit sister, 'Kanu had been close with her too.

Ronal snarled, "This war has come to us! We knew about this hunting of our tulkun people, but it was over the horizon - far away!" 'Kanu watched her parents who stood before the people, holding this speech. Everyone could tell a war was coming, and everyone was prepared to fight.

Ao'nung cheered with the rest of the clan and 'Kanu let go of him, walking over to Tsireya's side instead and wrapping her arms around her. Lo'ak had arrived on the scene and stood across from them, his gaze immediately searched for 'Kanu.

He found her there, standing beside her sister with her arms wrapped around her. Lo'ak could see the tears trickling down her face and he wanted to go over to her. 'Kanu met his eyes but she only looked away, not wanting him to see her cry - plus she was slightly petty about him having ignored her for the past week.

Jake stepped in front of the Tsahik and Olo'eyktan, "You've gotta understand how the sky people think! They don't care about the great balance!" When the Metkayina did not cease their fierce war cries, Neteyam begged for them to listen to his father. "The sky people will not stop! This is only the beginning. You've got to tell your tulkun to leave!" He turned to the people, "You've got to tell them to go far away!"

"Leave?" Ronal asked incredulously, "You live among us - and you learn nothing!"

"We will fight to protect our brothers and sisters!" A warrior behind the Tsahik called. His line was met with calls of support and agreement from the other Metkayina. Tsireya sobbed and held her sister close to her.

"No, no, no, no!" Jake said, his voice grew desperate and loud as he tried to make himself heard over the tribe's cries, "If you attack - if you fight - Then they will destroy you! They will destroy everything that you love!" He looked directly at Ronal, referencing the pass of her spirit sister. This only made the people that much louder and he tried yelling over them, "Hear my words!"

"Listen to my father," Neteyam told them, "He speaks the truth!"

"Damnit!" Jake seethed and grabbed a device from Neteyam's hand. 'Kanu blinked through her tears as she tried to make out what it was - it seemed to be a large needle that had a red block attached to it. Jake got up on the platform to stand next to the leaders. He held the device high above his head for everyone to see. Once everyone had silenced, he spoke again, "You tell the tulkun that if they are hit by one of these then they are marked for death. You call for me, I'll silence it," he looked around at the now silent warriors, "Saving their lives - that's all that matters, right?"

'Kanu wiped away her tears. The loss of her mother's spirit sister saddened her greatly, but the anger was quick to overshadow the sorrow.

"Saving your family," Jake continued, looking directly at the Tsahik. His speech was followed by dead silence in which the Olo'eyktan and Tsahik exchanged looks.

At long last, Ronal nodded her head ever so slightly and Tonowari stepped next to Jake, "Tell the tulkun," he advised the warriors.

"Go!" Ronal added, causing the warriors nearby to let out cries as they turned and headed for the waters, "Go!"

Lo'ak was among the first people to leave and 'Kanu saw Neteyam looking after him before he followed. She sniffed and pulled away from Tsireya, "Everything will be alright, will it not?" She asked.

Tsireya nodded, though she did not seem convinced herself, "everything will be alright," she confirmed.