Flowing Melody || NETEYAM

Reflection Of You

Neytiri sat on the waters edge, watching her children play-fight in the water with some of the metkayina youths.

The singer girl, Fae'voila sat next to her in comfortable silence, as they both weaved baskets from water plants. Neytiri missed her home terribly, and she could not help but be mournful for all she had lost. She hummed a tune under her breath, one of her favourite tribe songs, that her sister had long ago sung to her.

"Thats a beautiful song," fae complimented softly, her voice almost getting lost due to the joyful screams of the nearby group.

"Thank you dear" Neytiri accepted, prideful in her clan.

"One day, if its not too much trouble, i would love for you to teach me some of the songs of your people. They are to be desired."

Neytiri surveyed the girl, Fae shuffling awkwardly due to her studying gaze, before the woman smiled softly, nodding.

"I would love to, child. You have a good heart. It is to be envied in times like this."

Fae'voila smiled shyly, unsure how to accept the mother's heavy compliment.

"I am not as good as you may think, miss." She continued to weave her basket, debating on whether she should continue. She looked back at Neytiri out of the corner of her eye, only to see her gazing at the sea where her beloved children frolicked, waiting patiently, but not pressing for Fae to continue.

"You may have heard, but i live alone.."
Neytiri nodded, not taking her eyes off the horizon but showing she was listening carefully.

"My boy Neteyam mentioned, he speaks of you a lot."

She tried not to blush. looking down at her hands, watching them weave.

"Well, my father was evil. He was cowardly and foolish," Fae breathed before her eye's widened slightly, her delicate fingers stalling on her basket, "do not think me crude, ma'am, i beg. He was no good, i swear it!"

Neytiri turned to her, surveying the wide eyed girl,
"i would never think you crude or cruel. You are trusting me with this information, it must be known for a reason. What did he do to you, my girl?"

"He was tainted, shunned by the village for harming other na'vi. He harmed me, my mother, beings who did not deserve such cruelty ." She paused to take a breath, casting her gaze to the ground, then back up to Neytiri. "When that man died. I smiled before i even considering my mourning."

Neytiri threaded a new piece of leaf into her basket, her eyes downcast at the girls admissions. "What of your mother?"

"Died of a broken heart. Maybe its the song composer in me saying that. But Eywa took mercy on her, she had not been herself for a long time anyway. She loved my father...she had her reasons I suppose, yet still i battle with it everyday to be understanding."

"You are not evil for finding joy in your freedom from darkness. You should not feel guilt for not loving the people who hurt you. I see you, my girl."

"Thank you, Neytiri. I see you."

They sat in comfortably silence, letting the continuous sounds of laughter wash over them as they worked in companionship. Fae had changed to writing songs in a booklet, scribbling messy poems with her quill. She watched the teens have fun.

Tuk raced over, splashing through the water and calling wild greetings, bringing a handful of shells over, with the request that fae braid them into her short hair. Kiri followed soon after, pulling her shawl around her slender shoulders as she came and rested her head on her mother's shoulder, watching her brothers mess about.