The Last Warrior of Anurai || Neteyam

Chapter Ten ~ Gifts and Forgotten Days

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Anulei's POV

When she and had Tsireya had returned, breakfast was just finishing.

The bones added unfamiliar weight to the small pouch Anulei wore on her hip, and bounced against her skin with each step.

"Oh, we missed breakfast." Tsireya noted sadly, "Sorry Anulei, I didn't think we'd take that long."

Anulei reached out a hand and ruffled Tsireya's hair, much to her dismay. "It okay, I'll live."

"Tsireya! I saved you some!" Lo'ak was calling out to the younger girl.

Her face brightened as she turned to the forest Na'vi girl. "I'll share it with you, don't worry."

Anulei nodded, "Thanks."

They walked over to where Lo'ak was sitting with his siblings.

"Here," The boy handed Tsireya a small pouch of fruits.

"Anulei." Her attention was caught by Neteyam, who held a similar pouch in his hand.

A smile slipped onto her face at the gesture, "Thank you Neteyam."

She accepted the bag and sat down beside him, Tsireya on her other side.

"You guys must've slept in for agessss." Tuk pointed out.

Tuk's older siblings as well as Tsireya and Anulei shared a knowing look. Tsireya had told Lo'ak about her idea, which in turn was told to Neteyam and Kiri.

"Mhm, I just had a late night last night." Anulei shrugged, lying to the little girl. She could feel Neteyam's eyes on her.

"Speaking of last night," He spoke, "Are you finishing your hair today?"

Anulei's hand reached up to feel her loose strands of her. The kinks and patterns from the braids had dropped now, leaving behind her normal wavy hair. "I think I'll leave it like this for now."

Neteyam nodded, "It looks nice."

"Thank you." She smiled, looking down at the fruits in her hand.

~~~

It was a busy day in the village, or at least it seemed like that for Anulei. Everyone she knew well was hurrying to prepare the celebrations for Lo'ak's birthday tomorrow.

Tsireya had been put in charge of keeping the boy distracted, something she was very good at. This meant she could not sit on the rocks with the girl or attend lessons with her either.

Instead Anulei chose to work on her gift (And half Tsireya's gift?) to Ronal with Tuk for some company.

Tuk herself was finishing up her gift to Lo'ak, arranging the shells into a pattern that would look nice as a necklace.

Anulei was weaving some fine seaweed into a tight braid. She had already carved a small hole in both the bones with the tip of her knife, and it would soon become a piece of jewellery.

Tuk chatted away endlessly as they worked, making a lot less progress than Anulei had.

Anulei imagined she would have to help the younger finish her project later.

As Tuk spoke and Anulei listened, she couldn't help the churning in her stomach.

When collecting the bones with Tsireya, she hadn't stopped to wonder if Ronal would take the present well or not. She could, and then Anulei would be on the temperamental Tsahìk's good side, or she wouldn't, and Anulei would be banished from the clan forever.