Fate's Game | Lo'ak Sully

Part 22 - Predicament

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That night, as Fay'tari and Lo'ak lay in their usual spots, unable to fall asleep whatsoever for separate reasons... Ish.

Lo'ak's mind was replaying the words he'd said to his brother the day before, growing increasingly concerned every time another loop of it played. Someone else knew, and it was his fault. He was worrying about the thought of Neteyam telling others about it, especially his opponent. If she found out, he had a few ideas about what she'd do him; Each of those including a knife, a shovel and a shallow grave.

More-so however, he was also thinking about what he hadn't told his brother, the questions he'd left blank.

He regretted not answering his brother, knowing that he was far more vulnerable now. However he still didn't know how to. Truth was, Lo'ak was in a predicament, a sticky one. Did he want to be named the winner? Yes. But did he want to win, no. In the same way Fay'tari had realised just that afternoon, Lo'ak knew that he'd have to stick with Tsireya, which wasn't what he wanted. But what did he want? Well, he could answer the counter-question easily, if you were to ask him what he didn't want then he'd answer that he didn't want to be paired with Fay'tari.

It was just a matter of deciding which of those answers was the odd one out.

In Fay'tari's case, her head was still ringing with the thoughts of her future. She saw herself in a world where she was paired with Aonung, looking plainly happy on the outside however knowing the true feelings inside.

In her mind, she was questioning what kind of fate she'd hoped for in the first place. She knew she wanted to change it, sure. She knew she wanted to avoid the engagement to Lo'ak, but what else was there besides that? If her fate was just going to lead to another unhappy pairing then... What was this all for?

What fate was she looking for exactly?

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That following morning, everyone was tasked to help out in the village, being asked to weave a few things together. Even Tsireya and Aonung had been asked to join in, meaning everyone was stuck in the same cramped room together for the time being.

The tension was seeping through, immensely.

Lo'ak had chosen to sit as far away as he could from his brother, which luckily meant that he was also a safe distance away from Fay'tari. Tsireya had moved away from Lo'ak this time, joining Neteyam's side as Fay'tari countered it. Aonung sat as close as he could to Fay'tari, of course, much to Kiri and Tuk's amusement who were sat next to his sister, finishing the circle.

Lo'ak figured Neteyam indeed hadn't told anyone about the game, or rather, he could tell he hadn't told Fay'tari and to be frank, that mattered the most.

Throughout the entire morning, Aonung had been trying every trick in the book to make Fay'tari talk to him. He'd ask if she needed help, if she could help him, if she could pass him a new bowl, is she liked the new bowl, if she had a good day the day before, everything, literally everything. The boy wouldn't stop, which surprised no one. What did surprise them though, was that she wasn't opposed to him this time. It looked as if she didn't mind his blithering questions as she was answering every single one, no hint of detest in her voice.

Though she wasn't paying any attention to him herself, or trying to make the conversation even between them, it wasn't as if she didn't want to talk to him.

To anyone who knew about the game, it came across as though he was helping her win the game more than she was trying to.

Kiri and Tuk were vastly enjoying the sight, giggling to each other when Aonung would find yet another excuse to speak. Neteyam was trying to keep to himself, as was Tsireya, although once or twice they'd both given each other a side-eye due to something Aonung had said. Lo'ak was quiet, silently and rather neatly getting on with his weaving.

That was, until a sharp snap was heard from his corner of the room. He'd somehow managed to snap one of the sticks they were using as supports, which were not easy to break. The space was hushed for a brief moment, before a few of them got back to talking.

Fay'tari however, was now inclined to pay more attention to him.

She started to speak louder when answering Aonung's endless questions and requests, noting the boy opposite her's behaviours and mannerisms as she did. Because of her close evaluation, she discovered that when she'd answer Aonung in a more serious and unbothered tone, he'd grip his materials gently, folding them the way he was supposed to. In a different way, if she'd either laugh or sound as if she was smiling at something Aonung said, he'd begin to mess up, folding pieces the wrong way or dropping things by accident.

This deeply interested her.

She got so immersed by his reactions that she began laughing at everything Aonung was saying, making a few individuals begin to speculate as nothing Aonung was saying was at all funny. Lo'ak started to handle his materials with such force that almost everything would either snap or fail to comply with what he wanted, making him as equally angry at that fact as well as at what Fay'tari was doing.

When he could no longer handle it, Lo'ak aggressively dropped whatever he was holding, getting up and leaving the hut they were all in with fury in his step. Fay'tari immediately snapped back into reality, blinking a few times too quickly and turning to look at whoever was left with her. The only two others who'd noticed Lo'ak's exit were Neteyam and Tsireya, but they were both talking to each other through some sort of telepathy.

Once they were done, she watched as Tsireya got up to follow Lo'ak, hearing her call out his name in the distance as she left. This made her uneasy, causing her to look towards Neteyam who was surprisingly already looking at her.

He looked quizzically at her, as if she'd done something to him personally. Of course, she had done something although she wasn't aware of the fact that he was watched her taunt Lo'ak the whole time. She merely shrugged her shoulders at him, at the same time asking, "What?" before continuing her crafts.

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"Lo'ak wait!" Tsireya jogged after the boy, who had a particularly fast angry-walk to her dismay.

He ignored her, continuing to stride towards his own hut.

"Lo'ak, seriously-"

"What is it?!" He snapped, halting in his step and raising his hands in defeat when she wouldn't stop chasing him.

"I know." She simply says, making Lo'ak a bit more irritated due to the fact he didn't know what she meant at all.

"What? What do you know?"

"I know about the game."

Lo'ak's breath hitched, his head only being able to come up with one word.

Shit.

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