𝐊𝐈𝐒𝐒 𝐌𝐄. 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐲𝐚𝐦

𝟑. 𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐦

With the sun shining bright in the sky, Alo'an, and his dad stepped out of the Marui.

"They should already be awake, so go over there." Aniri said. "Okay, I'll send the parents over to you guys." Alo'an replied.

Aniri smiled at his son before going in the opposite direction. Alo'an made his way around the village, finally arriving at the Sullys Marui.

He spotted Neteyam outside the pod, looking over at the sea as he ate the fruit.

"Good morning." Alo'an said, getting closer.

Neteyam looked back, looking the boy up and down.

"Yeah, you want me to get them?" he asked, pointing at the pod. "If you don't mind." Alo'an smiled.

Neteyam nodded, entering the home. Alo'an could barely hear them talking. Soon after, they were outside.

"What do you need?" Jake asked. "I'm here to take the kids to train, my dad and the chief are waiting for you guys as well." Alo'an explained.

Neytiri looked at the man, and then at Alo'an. She didn't want to leave her kids with another child.

"Neytiri, come on." Jake said, looking back. "I'm just saying goodbye." Neytiri mumbled.

She hugged her kids before catching up to Jake. Taking one last look at Alo'an, the parents were off. Alo'an looked back at the kids, who were staring at him.

"Okay, so what should star--" "I wanna go into the ocean." Kiri interrupted. "Me too!" Tuk exclaimed with a big smile.

Alo'an looked at the two girls and nodded.

"Okay, come on." he hummed.

He led them to a hut where they kept the materials for the ilus. It also had a diving board.

"Go ahead." Alo'an smiled. "Neteyam, go." Kiri said. "Uh-uh. You said you wanted to come so you go first." the boy argued. "Neteyam, don't be a wuss." Lo'ak sighed. "Yeah, don't be a wuss." Kiri giggled.

Neteyam looked at Alo'an, looking worried. Alo'an shrugged. He didn't want anything to do with the argument.

"Fine." Neteyam frowned.

He was on edge, contemplating whether or not he should go. Suddenly he felt a push, he was in the water.

His head popped out of the water, seeing his siblings laughing from above. He glanced at Alo'an, seeing as he was softly laughing at him as well, trying to hide it with a hand over his lips.

"Your turn." Kiri said, kicking Lo'ak in the back.

The boy splashed into the water, quickly going back to the surface.

"That hurt!" Lo'ak shouted. "Don't care!" Kiri smiled, jumping in with Tuk.

The family was inside, now they were waiting for Alo'an. He dived in, swimming under them. He came back up, the droplets of water going down his face shining from the sun.

"Come on." he smiled.

Lo'ak looked at Neteyam, who had his eyes locked on the boy's face.

"He's waiting for us." he said. "Oh, yeah." Neteyam hummed, looking away.

The two boys dived back into the water, seeing their siblings swim together with Alo'an. Lo'ak and Neteyam shared a look as they quickly made their way back up.

Alo'an looked at them, and then saw Tuk go up as well. What was wrong with them?

He swam up, joining the others. He appeared, seeing the kids breathing hard, trying to get air.

"Are you guys okay?" he asked, concerned. "No, you're going too fast." Tuk whined. "Oh, I'm sorry." Alo'an chuckled.

He stopped once he noticed the others staring at him with serious faces

"Maybe we should've started with breathing exercises." he mumbled. "You think?" Neteyam sarcastically replied.

Alo'an shrugged, leading the other off to the shore. Kiri was far behind since she was distracted by the reefs.

"Let's go learn how to breathe." Alo'an smiled.