Fate's Game | Lo'ak Sully

Part 5 - Arrangement

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(POV: Narrator)

Jake had been stood silently in the same place for quite some time, and his wife was growing obviously impatient.

None of them knew why Fay'tari was there, truth be told. Neteyam had a few theories, mainly circling the idea that she was coming back to finalize her training, however once he'd seen her, he realized that that theory was way off. He was still happy to see her nevertheless, as the two friends never got to say goodbye to each other before Fay'tari left, but he couldn't help but feel that she'd changed just by looking at her.

She stood before Jake, waiting for him to say what he clearly had just on the tip of his tongue. It seemed he'd worked up the courage, as he began to speak directly to the girl.

"Alright. There's no other way to go about this other than just telling you outright."

That statement made the three older children grow even more confused, although Fay'tari just accepted that what he was about to say wasn't going to be easy on the ears.

That was until she actually heard the words leave his mouth.

"Your Mother has requested for you to be betrothed to one of my sons."

Gasps were heard all around. Her eyes twitched slightly, her ears pricking up as she peered directly into Jake's eyes and examined whether he was making a violently unfunny joke. When she determined that his face didn't resemble one of amusement but one of dread, Fay'tari's fists clenched themselves shut tightly. Her brows begun to quiver and her eyes left Jake's so that she was then staring straight in front of her at seemingly nothing.

The only word that sounded inside her head was No.

As if a switch had been flicked, Fay'tari loosened her fists and relaxed her face, her eyes becoming numb once again. She composed her posture, before proceeding ahead.

"Which one?" She asked through slightly gritted teeth.

She didn't dare look at either of them, not wanting to see the looks on their faces as she knew what she'd find.

If she had looked at that moment, she would've been proved wrong as to what she thought they'd look like. Neteyam wasn't angry or bitter-looking, he just looked sympathetic. Lo'ak however, did in fact look angry. But moreover, he looked shaken and bruised, staring daggers at his Father who was visibly nervous.

"Well, that's where the problem is, um-"

He tried to speak but his wife wouldn't let him because he was so slow at it.

"Your Mother told us you were fifteen. You are fourteen." She stated the fact, looking over to her husband to get on with it.

When he looked back at Fay'tari, she was already staring straight up at him.

"Who?" She asked again, this time making it clear that she expected her answer.

He gulped, knowing what was coming.

"Since you're the same age as him, we've decided it should be Lo'ak, my youngest son."

A beat sounded, anyone could feel the tension in the room. Fay'tari's eyes alone could've killed.

Lo'ak's probably would've just made you laugh.

He looked as if he'd been shot straight through the chest, his eyes were wide and his mouth was agape, letting everyone see his pure and innocent shock.

Neteyam looked rather taken aback himself, as he wasn't sure at all who they were going to pick. However the idea of Lo'ak and Fay'tari slightly tickled him. He wouldn't dare laugh in that situation, despite how much he wanted to, he just peeked over to his brother to see what he looked like. Kiri didn't hold back, though. As soon as she heard his name called, her hand shot up to her mouth as she tried her very best to cover her laughter. Her eyes shifted back and forth between her brother and Fay'tari, as if that was the most entertaining thing she'd seen for years. Tuk didn't completely understand the situation, but she understood that two individuals weren't happy about it.

Lo'ak's emotions got the better of him, doing exactly as his Father had assumed would happen after he'd announced the arrangement.

"What?!" He yelled, followed by yet another "What! You're joking?!" as he paced towards Jake and Neytiri, his eyes still wild.

"Lo'ak, we couldn't tell either of you until we were sure of what was going to happen-"

"What?! It's not happening, though. It's not!" He yells louder, stepping between his Father and Fay'tari, who still hadn't moved or said anything.

"Lo'ak-" Jake tried to calm down his son, whilst also understanding his objections.

"No! No! You can't make me!" He screams rather childishly, suddenly turning around and questioning the girl behind him.

"You don't want this either, do you?!" He stares hard at her, his index finger pointing directly at her.

She looks at his finger and then at him, glaring.

"What do you think?" She makes her feelings obvious, wanting to bite his rude finger straight off of his hand.

"See!" He quickly shoots back to both of his parents, causing Neytiri to give up on her youngest son, walking away from the scene with a fed up look.

"It's not your decision to make, Lo'ak. It's been decided already." He could tell in Jake's voice that he was growing tired of his objections too, making Lo'ak even more annoyed that they weren't listening to him.

Members of the crowd were breaking off by the minute, having seen what they needed to see already. Fay'tari was still enwrapped in trying to decide whether she should run for it or accept her death, as this pairing would most likely result in it. Judging Lo'ak's state, she wasn't sure if he was scared of losing his sanity or his safety.

The boy looked towards his brother and sister for any sort of help, however they had to stop their chuckling the second he landed his eyes on them, making him realize he wasn't going to get anything from them.

Before he could object once more time to his Father, Fay'tari decided to ask a sensible question, though her blood was close to being on fire.

"There's no way of avoiding this?" She pipes up, making Jake look at her apologetically, giving her her answer which she so dreaded.

With that, she shot Jake and Lo'ak one last look, not a very friendly one at that, before turning suddenly and beginning to walk back through the remaining crowd. She reached behind her, pulling out her spear and whistling to her ikran, Ka'ani before mounting him and making him plummet off of the raised cave.

She needed to get away, leave that cave and the people in it. She needed to process what was going to happen to her, what had been decided in her favour and without her immediate consent.

She wasn't angry at Jake or Neytiri, she was angry at her own Mother. Once again, she'd made her realize that she was not only alone in that moment but she was going to be for the rest of her life, seen as it was obvious she didn't need her daughter with her.

Ikeyni had told her that she was going back to the Omaticaya clan to offer up her services there instead of with the Tayrangi clan, claiming that "they needed the extra help". She thought she'd be going there to become a warrior, in her own respect, as it had a whole different meaning to the Omaticaya clan, a greater one.

She'd always wanted to be called a "mighty warrior" but things were different after that day. Instead of looking for a title worthy of keeping, she was looking for a spear worthy of killing.

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