Shells | Lo'ak Sully

Part 20 - Gone

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(POV: Narrator)

The sun was rising, Ni'teya and Lo'ak had been chatting amongst themselves, Ni'teya not letting herself nor Lo'ak fall asleep until somebody else was there to supervise him. Lo'ak had eaten already as Ni'teya had made him a fillet o' fish, because that was all she knew how to cook, and his energy was slowly returning.

It was different now. Instead of a rather stingy energy between the two, everything resulting in a disagreement or a slap, it was much more comfortable. There'd still be disagreements and things that got on Ni'teya's nerves, however she'd laugh them off instead of turning to violence... Sometimes. When they didn't have anything to say, the atmosphere wouldn't turn awkward, it would remain the same safe and pleasant one, neither of them needing to fill the silence.

They'd seen a few explosions in the distance, watching as fire rose high and the smoke even higher, holding the stare for a few moments before continuing on with their conversation, keeping their minds off of it. Ni'teya struggled with that, often looking for too long over at the ship, meaning Lo'ak would have to move her head back towards him with a gentle caress.

After a few more loud bangs could be heard, Kiri and Tuk returned into the hut to see their brother, Tuk immediately running up to him and hugging his head. Kiri laughed, telling her to 'be careful!' as to not hurt him too much. Tuk smiles at her brother widely, swaying herself back and forth, holding onto his smallest finger.

Kiri sat down next to her friend, wrapping an arm around her and hugging her sweetly, pulling her in and proceeding to add another arm to the mix, trapping Ni'teya. She hugged Kiri back, digging her head into her neck, making sure to not hurt Kiri with her shells.

"Thank you, Teya." she whispered into her friend's ear, making it twitch upon hearing a voice so up-close. With that, Ni'teya hugged Kiri tighter in response, grateful and tired at the same time, letting herself be thanked for such a great act of heroism.

Tuk continued to look at her brother without talking to him, simply happy he was okay, not needing to put it into words.

"Why don't you get some air, Teya? It would do you good." Kiri suggested to her friend, releasing her from their hug and patting her on the head. Ni'teya faced Lo'ak, who looked content as he played with Tuk, tickling her and making her giggle cutely. Deciding she could use the clean air, Ni'teya agreed.

"I'll go out to to jungle, I'll bring us some fruit." She told Kiri, getting up to find a bowl that was large enough.

Ni'teya then left through the back exit of the hut, making her way into the jungle. She watched her step, her legs feeling rather weak after being sat down for such a length of time, looking around for fruit trees.

She passed a few along her journey, picking various fruits of all shapes and sizes, colours and textures, placing them into the bowl that was filling up quickly. Avoiding the pinky-purple berry plant, she found a few of Tuk's favourite, a reddish fruit that was almost perfectly round. It was incredibly shiny, both inside and outside, which Ni'teya figured was probably the reason Tuk liked it so much.

The bowl was full, meaning Ni'teya could return to the hut. Before she did so, though, she took a detour to the clearing in the jungle where she'd stashed her weapons, placing the bowl down beside her. She lifted the pile of leaves and twigs that had been hiding them, finding only a few knives and smoke-bombs that had been left. She wanted to destroy them, dispose of them properly in case they were found.

So, she took the first smoke-bomb, chucking it above her head and watching as it exploded in the sky as it hit a tree's leaf, letting beautiful green and yellow powder seep down thereafter. As it reached her, she closed her eyes shut, spinning around with her arms stretched, beginning to laugh at what she was doing. The second one was purple with a few spots of blue, reminding Ni'teya of a sunset, dancing around in this one this time, smiling widely.