Shells | Lo'ak Sully

Vol 2: Prologue

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On the day the sky above was a clear, crystal blue, the ocean below, a deep sapphire, two brothers were playing on the rocks bordering the calm reef and rough sea. One was taller than the other, his forehead covered with a Rider's mask, his hair braided with beads here and there, smiling from ear to ear. The other, shorter, had the same braided hair although his was tied up, his cheeks covered in painted lines of orange and black. They were running along the rocky edge, playing a civil game of tag.

"You're it!" The shorter one called out, making his brother turn suddenly with a disbelieving expression.

"You didn't even touch me, you cheater!" He cried, chasing after his brother with a large smile splayed across his face despite having just been deceived.

"Ha ha! Catch me if you can, loser!" The youngest brother cheered and teased before diving straight down into the water beside him, followed shortly after by the other.

The game was moved underwater, the youngest attempting to hide behind various structures of coral, or in bushes of sea-plants, or even in soles of fish. However, he wasn't quick enough; Just before he had to go back up to the surface for air, he felt a small tap on his shoulder, turning to discover his brother smiling down at him as he was already on his way back up.

He chased his brother up, not swimming nearly as fast as he was, soon after resurfacing next to him.

"Time out, time out!" The eldest called, keeping himself afloat, laughing.

"How are you so fast at swimming, Teyam?" His brother asked, slightly out of breath after swimming so much.

"You've just got to practice more, Lo'ak. It would do you good to quit skipping lessons, hey?" Neteyam suggested with a smug grin, knowing his little brother hated swimming lessons, mainly because of who the teacher was.

"But that fish-freak makes fun of me!" He whined, rolling his eyes and turning to swim back to the rocks the two were running along beforehand. Neteyam followed, eventually sitting on the rock's edge next to Lo'ak, catching his breath.

"Pay no mind to him. — He only picks on you because you give him a reaction, you know? Maybe you should—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I should just ignore him, right?" He finishes his brother's sentence before he got the chance to himself, making Neteyam sigh a little. The eldest moved his hand up to Lo'ak's head, placing it down and rubbing it a little, knowing his little brother didn't like it very much when he did that to him.

Behind the two, the sun began to slowly set, the sky turning into a bright orange which soon morphed into a deeper shade, streaks of golden light flashing across the sky above where they sat, dangling their legs in the water.

Without warning, the eldest raised to his feet, placing both of his hands on his brothers shoulders and talking once again.

"Hey. Do you remember that game Dad used to play with us back at the forest?" He began to chuckle.

Lo'ak shoved his brothers hands off, raising to his feet as well and smiling as he answered, recalling immediately what game he was talking about.

"That one with the mighty warrior and his greatest enemy?" He checked to make sure, standing opposite his brother.

"That's the one! Do you still remember how to play it?"

The two began to circle each other, obviously getting into character already.

"How could I forget?" Lo'ak questioned, stretching his shoulders and cracking his neck from side to side.

They continued to walk around in circles for a while, before Neteyam finally lunged at his brother, holding a make-believe sword in his hands. He waved it towards Lo'ak, causing him to move aside quickly and dodge the unreal blow.