Fate's Game | Lo'ak Sully

Part 6 - Silence

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(POV: Neteyam)

That whole ordeal was too much to take in, even for me! I knew exactly what Lo'ak was feeling about the situation, as he was so public with his opinions, but Fay'tari on the other hand was harder to read.

I could tell she disapproved, sure, that much was clear. But there was more to it, I could feel it. If the same Fay'tari that I'd known years ago received that news, she'd have reacted in a completely different fashion to the way she did, closer to how Lo'ak expressed himself. She wouldn't have stayed silent and she wouldn't have walked away.

So, I took it upon myself to find her first.

I searched the skies and the caves that were close by, guessing out of pure hope that she wouldn't have gone too far. Thankfully, I spotted the same ikran that had brought her to us, sat perched up next to a tree on one of the Hallelujah Mountains. I circled it a few times, looking out of Fay'tari however when I couldn't spot her from that height, I landed.

As soon as I did, I saw her. She was sat with her legs up against her chest and her back against the tree, watching the sky above her. I could tell she knew I was here, because she'd rather obviously been avoiding my look towards her.

"Not so little anymore, little Fay?" I try to joke, receiving only the smallest of smirks which was enough for me to understand that she was open to talk. I then walked over to where she was sat, joining her and sitting beside her, copying her position on the floor. She never broke her stare up to the sky, making me join her with that, too.

"Bye." I said suddenly, sensing her head snap to the side of her. I chuckled at her reaction, before explaining myself. "I didn't get to say it the first time. You know, when you left"

"Oh, right- Bye to you, too." She spoke quietly, returning her attention to the sky.

When a short gap of quiet was simply too quiet, I filled it. "So... What do you think of this whole- Um. Situation?"

I could tell she was thinking of what to say, obviously not very hard at that considering what she came out with.

"I want to skin him."

I almost laughed, but realized that she probably wasn't joking about that remark.

"I didn't think this would happen today" I told her honestly, resting my head on the slightly cold bark behind me, sighing and letting myself relax

"It doesn't surprise me" She said, shooting me a sorry look.

"Why's that?"

She sighed too, beginning to play around with the grass she was sat on, twirling it around through her fingers and sometimes plucking small strands from the ground.

"My Mother likes to decide things for me. Actually, no. She doesn't tell me what she's decided for me, I should say." Fay'tari admits, making me relieved that she was being truthful and wasn't totally emotionless.

"I thought I was coming here to be a warrior as part of your clan, that's what she'd told me."

Oh, I get it now.

"I'm sorry she did that, Fay."

After that, she merely looked over in my direction and examined me. She waited a moment before asking me an unusual question.

"You still do that?" A small smile starts to show on her face.

"Do what?"

"Apologize for other people? It's a bad habit of yours." She laughs slightly at the last thing she said.

Even though I hadn't seen her for years, it still felt the same as before. Well, almost. She was clearly different now in a few ways, but when she laughed it all seemed exactly as it was years ago.

I hesitated, getting a little ahead of myself as I spoke next.

"What happened to your eye?"

Her breathing hitched for a second, her smile fading and her ears lowering as she turned away from me and went back to fidgeting with the grass.

"Sorry, you don't have to answer that-"

"It's okay." She says softly, still turned away.

Feeling bad, I waited patiently for her to find her words.

"It was on the day I got back after I left here, my Dad's funeral." She begins, speaking quickly but making sure she tells it right. "I think I was angry, or maybe upset, I can't really remember. But I decided to run away, anyway. My Mom tried to stop me, she followed me onto some rocks and because she'd grabbed my arm, I tripped. When she lifted me up after that, I had blood streaming down the side of my face and my eye was closed. I think I passed out after that, I was little, so."

Finally done, she seemed slightly relieved, maybe because she'd gotten something off of her chest or because she just didn't like telling the story. She eventually turned back to me, checking what I looked like. "It's fine now, see?"

"I'm sorry that happened to you."

"Here you go again, with your bad habits." She smiles to herself, leaning back onto the tree.

"Do you want me to tell my brother to leave you alone?" I change the subject, not wanting to be called out further.

She scoffs at my question, "Right, as if that's necessary. He'd kill himself before he willingly spoke to me. And to be frank, so would I." stating the obvious.

Sure.

"And what if you're forced to spend time together?" I deepen the conversation.

"Then..." She thinks, "I'll scare him into behaving, I suppose. It's not that difficult after all."

Not really knowing how to respond to her threats that weren't even aimed at me, I said nothing. Luckily, she had more to say.

"Tuk's grown up, huh?"

"Yep! Although, she's a lot to handle." I snicker,making her return a small laugh.

"I can tell, the way she was clinging to Neytiri was rather amusing." Instead of answering once again, I was more amazed that she'd managed to hide that amusement in front of all of us.

"You look more like your Mom too now, you know?" She glanced up at me. "Lo'ak looks a lot like his Dad."

I suppose she was right, and I was also amazed at how she'd noticed in such a small space of time. A comfortable silence passed, the two of us continued to look up at the night sky.

"You know..." Fay'tari started, "I'm not, like, miserable and gloomy now. I know it looks that way, I just don't like getting angry anymore." She says. I could tell she was worried about coming across as more serious than she was before, although I wouldn't mind either way.

I started to laugh, my head filled with only one line which I wholeheartedly believed should be followed through.

"You should teach Lo'ak that."

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