Blood and Water | Neteyam

Trembling Hands ∼ 13

Tcelia's lungs screamed as she tried to kick free from Ao'nung's grip. Behind him, she could see three of his goons, snickering. He was doing this for their sake then, Tcelia deduced. She signed for Ao'nung to stop it but instead he dragged her further down. She hated him right in that moment, no one needed be that cruel.

She quickly slipped the pearl into a small pocket she had in her top.

She didn't know what Ao'nung wanted from her, but she suspected it might have been payback for when she had kicked him in the stomach almost a week ago. He sure knew how to hold a grudge.

She glanced up, seeing Neteyam, who had noticed what was happening and swimming down towards them, worry and anger radiating from him.

Tcelia turned her head back to look at Ao'nung and narrowed her eyes. She didn't know how much longer she could go without air - black dots were starting to form around her vision.

She had a horrible flashback to the forest, when the avatar's knee had been on her back, denying her air, and she felt panic welling up in her.

Before, when she had tried to kick herself free, she had tried to do so without harming Ao'nung, but she couldn't bring herself to care about that any longer. Forcing her other leg down, kicking Ao'nung straight in the face, he let go instantly.

She turned in the water, swimming towards Neteyam who had his arm outstretched towards her. Taking it, he helped her swim up so that she could preserve her air and energy.

As they broke the surface, air rushing into her lungs, she looked around in a frenzy. She spotted Tuk who had made it to the beach and underneath her she could see Ao'nung and his friends making their way to the surface.

"Let's get to the beach," Neteyam hurried Tcelia away from where the boys were emerging and they swam to the shore, Tcelia seething.

"You could have killed me, asshole!" Tcelia hissed and pushed at Ao'nung's chest - forcing him several steps back - the second they had gotten out of the water. Unfortunately the kick to his face hadn't seemed to hurt him too much. Tcelia cursed water resistance for being a thing.

Ao'nung glanced back at his posse, snickering with them, "I thought you would be better at holding your breath by now, forest girl."

"I have barely lived here a week!" Tcelia exclaimed incredulously and lunged at him, not really sure where her advance would end, but she hoped it involved her scratching Ao'nung's eyes out. Sadly, she didn't get very far – Neteyam had grabbed her by the waist, restraining her.

"Ooh, she is cute when she is mad, is she not?" Ao'nung asked his friends, who were all smirking and laughing, then he made eye contact with Tcelia again.

"Oh, I will give you cute!" Tcelia sneered and struggled to break free from Neteyam's grip, "Let go of me, Neteyam!"

Neteyam only tightened his grip around her waist. "Do not, Tcelia," Neteyam murmured to her, "He is not worth it," this was directed at Ao'nung.

Ao'nung raised his hands, feigning an apology, still wearing that intolerable smirk.

"Fine," Tcelia snapped, "It's fine, I am cool," She pried herself out of Neteyam's grip, who eyed her skeptically, obviously not believing a word she was saying.

She looked at Ao'nung and the boys again, who were still snickering and grinning amongst themselves, obviously waiting for her next move. Tcelia was livid - she could have died, and the boys were making a joke out of it.

She almost made to step towards Ao'nung again, giving him what he deserved, but stopped in her tracks when she noticed something – or rather, someone – moving in her peripheral vision. She had completely forgotten that Tuk was present and had witnessed the entire thing. She was staring at Tcelia with wide eyes, also waiting for what Tcelia would do next.

Tcelia inhaled. She did not want to be a bad role model for Tuk, and trying to solve something like this with violence was definitely not what a good role model would do. So, she shot Ao'nung a withering look and swallowed her pride, turning on her heels and grabbed Tuk's arm on the way, dragging her along.

Behind her, she could hear Ao'nung and his group erupting into laughter. She squeezed her eyes shut, counting to ten as she made her way back to the village. Tuk had adjusted herself so that she was holding Tcelia's hand and was softly stroking it with her other hand.

When they had gotten closer to the village and far away from Ao'nung, Tcelia exhaled and looked down at Tuk, faking a smile, "Would you run home, Tuk? I just need to speak to Neteyam for a moment."

Tuk brought Tcelia's hand to her mouth and kissed it gently, before taking off towards the pathway by the shore. Tcelia's heart almost burst with affection for the little girl.

Then she swiveled around, meeting Neteyam's gaze. He had stopped behind her, but as she turned, he put his hands on each of her shoulders and asked her if she was alright, worry evident in his voice.

Tcelia swallowed and nodded slowly. Realizing how much her hands were still shaking, she hid them behind her back. She did not want to show Neteyam how much the incident actually had affected her – he had so much to worry about already.

"Thank you," she swallowed again, "For stopping me back there," she nodded towards where they had come from, "I do not wish for Tuk to see me angry like that."

Neteyam chuckled and squeezed her shoulder, "You had a right to react the way you did," He removed one of his hands from her shoulder and rubbed the back of his neck, "Honestly, if Tuk hadn't been there, I would gladly have let you beat him up," he shrugged, "And I would have helped you."

Tcelia sighed and looked down at the ground, "It reminded me of what happened back in the forest," she admitted, "When the avatars had taken us hostage."

Neteyam gently placed his hand on her chin and lifted her head, forcing her gaze to meet his, "Remember what I promised you," his eyes were soft as he searched her face, "I am not letting anything happen to you," he smiled gently, "And that includes getting into fights with the chief's son."

Tcelia chuckled and nudged him away from her affectionally, "Whatever you say, forest boy." She wrung the last words, an echo of what Ao'nung had called her earlier.

Neteyam snorted, "We should head back, we do not want to be late for dinner," he said, glancing at the dark sky.

"Yeah, almost dying really makes you starve," Tcelia joked, desperate not to think of it as anything too serious. She was sure that if she did not attempt to take it lightly, she would end up getting a panic attack.

"Not funny," Neteyam hummed as he began walking towards the smoke that was rising from the bonfires in the distance.

"A little funny," Tcelia grinned at him as she made her way alongside him.

He shot her a stern look, but she only smiled in return.

They walked in silence for a while, Tcelia chewing on her lip.

"I could have taken him, you know?"

Neteyam furrowed his eyes at her in confusion, "Who, Ao'nung?"

Tcelia nodded.

Neteyam smiled to himself as he looked towards the bonfires, "Oh, I do not doubt it for a second."