Fate's Game | Lo'ak Sully

Part 25 - Sore

🪷 ⚔️ 🌊

In practically the first round of matches, Tsireya and Tuk's team that they'd cleverly called the "Two-Tees" was ruled out, as they'd lost to both teams, twice.

Clam-ball's rules were more than simple; opposing teams hit the ball over the net in between both courts in whatever direction, hoping the other team would miss it. If the ball touched the sand within a team's boundary line, the other team would score. If the ball landed outside the line, the team who's side it landed on won that point. In basic terms, don't drop the ball.

So far, the games had been evenly drawn. Whenever team Sully would score, so would team Birdseye, (Fay'tari's suggestions (Aon-noying and fishy-fingers) had both been refused by her teammate) making the game a never ending one.

Eventually, when nobody would lead or fall back, Kiri whistled and suggested that they let Tsireya and Tuk play again, just for fun. Neteyam immediately insisted that his team would gladly step aside, allowing the girls to finally get active again.

Knowing that the game wasn't serious, it allowed Fay'tari and Aonung to cool down a touch and to have some actual fun while playing. It was all going swimmingly until Fay'tari stepped sideways awkwardly, hearing a click and twisting her ankle, falling onto the sand. Before she could even try to get up, she heard all three of the girls gasp in unison, as well as quickening footsteps approaching.

"Fay! You okay?" Neteyam inspected her foot, offering her a hand to get up again. Aonung was hovering over her too, though Lo'ak had simply risen from his seated position and that was about it. He watched as Fay'tari refused Neteyam's kind offer, insisting that she was fine and persisting to get right back up with ease. She shook herself off as well as the sand that was covering her, taking a few steps around to check if her ankle was okay.

"All good, see?" She pointed at her foot, half-smiling and looking towards Neteyam so that he'd wipe the worried expression off of his face.

When they were allowed to continue, Fay'tari stumbled a few times, managing to hide the falters flawlessly. Her face would sometimes have flashes of held back pain on it, followed by a complete emotion-wipe thereafter, not wanting to show it.

She'd succeeded to fool everyone. Everyone, except Lo'ak.

He could see right the way through her, noticing each and every time she'd feel her ankle start to hurt again. He knew she'd simply deny the fact if he brought it up, so he stayed quiet. But... Something was bothering him about it.

Every time Fay'tari's team would score, Aonung would celebrate by innocently nudging the girl to the side, making her have to step sideways each time without fail. Lo'ak could see that it was becoming more and more difficult for her to do so, though he wasn't able to step in as Aonung wasn't necessarily doing it on purpose and neither was Fay'tari complaining about it.

That was, until the fish-boy crossed the line in a completely different way.

When his team had been announced as the winners, he chose to celebrate by grabbing one of Fay'tari's hands, raising it up mid-way and turning to face the Sully team. He'd intertwined his fingers with hers and was staring straight at Lo'ak, a self-satisfied and superior glint covering his face.

The boy was not pleased nor amused. Aonung had held on much too long for his liking, rendering it acceptable for him in his own mindset to step in then.

Without thinking too much, Lo'ak strode forward hastily in a direct route towards Aonung, instantly shoving him backwards and forcing him to release his grip from Fay'tari. As he approached the two of them, Fay'tari had attempted to question his actions by merely saying his name, not expecting Lo'ak to do what he did.

He then spoke so that only Aonung could hear him.

"I don't know what your deal is, but cut it out." He threatened, all the while Aonung's face was as smug as it always was.

"Hey, take it easy. I'm helping you out." Aonung tried to reason, though Lo'ak didn't believe him for a second.

"Bullshit." He hissed, balling his fist as he was about to strike. Before he could land his punch, a pair of hands had yanked his tail backwards, making him wince as well as let go of the boy he was threatening.

"Knock it off, idiot!" Fay'tari insults, attempting to stop the two from fighting but only managing to turn in onto herself.

"Don't get involved, yeah? This isn't about you." Lo'ak spites her in a low voice, not yelling but clearly already done with her interference. He turned to get back to Aonung, however he was stopped before he could.

"Actually I think it very much is about-"
Aonung almost managed to get it out before Lo'ak shoved him back once again, bringing his face close to his and threatening the boy for the second time.

"Shut your loud, lying fish-lips before you regret it." He dug his index finger into Aonung's chest, pressing down hard as a warning.

"What're you gonna do, huh? Shove me again?" He snickered, a smile lingering as he awaited his fate.

Without even so much as thinking about the repercussions, Lo'ak punched Aonung directly in the centre of his stomach, making the boy groan in pain before breaking out into a violent coughing fit. He hunched over, clutching his sore stomach.

Meanwhile, Tsireya had fled the scene with Tuk, leaving Neteyam and his older sister to stand and watch whatever was going on before them, thinking it to be rather boring at that moment. Kiri was waiting for some serious action to go down.

"Lo'ak!" Fay'tari yelled that time, separating the boy from the one he'd just punched by standing in front of him. "I won't tell you again, knock it off! Seriously, this is stupid!"

"What's it to you? So what if I hit him a few times?" Lo'ak argues back to her, completely missing her point and making the situation worse. Because of this, Fay'tari paced forwards, pushing her index finger as well as her middle finger into the same area he'd done to Aonung, making him have to step back slightly. She leaned it, talking quieter so that only Lo'ak could hear her.

"I could count this as a rule breach, you know?" She almost whispers, peering up at him through her lids. He copied her by peering down just as intensely, ending up blinking more than he could control.

"Like I care." He snarked.

"So you admit to sabotage?" She tilts her head.

"I haven't sabotaged anything. We were just playing a sport-"

"Liar." She snapped, her face looking much more frustrated in his eyes.

"Hypocrite."

Fay'tari seemed hesitant, not knowing what he meant by that. He could see the puzzled look on her face, deciding to answer her question before she'd actually asked it.

"All good, see?" He mocked her earlier self, mimicking her voice and revealing that he knew her ankle wasn't in fact "all good". She tightened her jaw, almost being able to retaliate with another comment before he made one himself. A bad one as well as an unprovoked one.

"Need me to go get mommy to take you home again?"

Fay'tari was stunned by the sudden remark, flinching in her stand-still and blinking too much. Hear ears hid suddenly, her eyes flickering as her breath began to weigh heavy on her chest. Lo'ak saw and registered all of that. He could see how she no longer looked threatened, instead she read as hurt. He felt a loud thump sound inside, his throat ran dry as if someone had begun to restrict his breathing too.

Aonung had regained his strength it seemed, whilst also noticing that the two were at a silent halt. Having had enough of the boy, he yanked on Fay'tari's wrist, pulling her away from him in a hurry. "Come on, Fay. You don't need this." He says on her behalf, dragging her away from him. Not particularly wanting to stay nor go, she lets him, her ankle aching through every step. She watched the ground beneath her as she walked, trying to calm her mind as well as breathing without Aonung noticing it.

Lo'ak didn't know the depth of the comment, how could he have? He didn't know her past, he only knew the parts he'd seen with his own eyes. He didn't understand the reason for her reaction, but he knew what it meant.

He'd hurt her, not knowing how he'd done so.

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