EXPECTATIONS | Neteyam

DECLARATION

Neteyam was contantly on her mind, every since she laod eyes on him. At first it was his mysterious aura and his family, and everyone else could feel it too. Then as they got closer, it was his selflessness for his family; his determination to live up to Toruk Makto, which no-one ever will. His kindness when no one was kind to him, even himself. His concern, The way he looks when he's annoyed or when he's thinking like that time they went out in the middle of the night.

But it's not just his personality. There was something about that deep blue skin and the stripes that decorate it. His long hair, which he insists it has to grow as long as his mother's. Those slender but muscular arms, his carved torso, his gentle hands and his eyes. Those eyes of the sun, so yellow they would make you feel warm inside. Tefiti smiled just thinking about him.

She was making a balm for her a patient she was in charge of. Now that she had returned to Ronal's education, she was working constantly up to her expectations, which she obviously surpassed though Ronal would never admit it.

The sound of yelling emerged from the docks as Tefiti flicked her head to the opening of the pod. She rose from where she had sat all morning, stretching her legs as she peered round the corner.

A crowd of metkayina stood by the boats on the platform. She caught sight of Tonowari's colourful cape on his shoulders. She leaned back into the room of sick metkayina. "I'm sorry, something has happened. i'll be back soon."

Reaching the circle surrounding the sound of Ronal speaking, she pushed her way through the crowd to find Neteyam.

"My spirit sister, and her baby have been murder by the sky people!" Ronal yelled from the upper platform, which towered above everyone else. Yells of complaint racketed around the crowd.

"This war has come to us. We knew about this hunting of out Tulkun people. It was over the horizon, far away." Tonowari jolted his spear into the air, increasing the sound of hissing and yelling around Tefiti. "Now it is here!"

The crowd bared their teeth, slamming their spears into the ground. The sound of "Kill the sky people!" and "Save our tulkun!" filled her ears as she spotten Neteyam through a gap in the crowd. Warriors all around her stuck out their tongues and hissed again.

"You have to understand how the sky people think. They do not care for the great balance!" Jake Sully shook his head to the people around him. Neteyam turned to the warriors behind him. "listen to him, please!"

"Neteyam!" Tefiti called out to him, but the crowd covered her sight again. "They sky people are not gonna stop. This is only the beginning- you gotta tell your tulkun to leave!"

Though she could not see Jakesully, Tefiti could only imagine the look of desperation on his face. She sucked in a gasp of air. What if it was Ro'in that the sky people had captured?

"Tell them to go far away!" The crowd yelled in defiance at Toruk.

"Leave? You live among us, and you learn nothing!" Ronal yelled at Jake, despair filling her voice.
"We will fight for our brothers and sisters!" The crowd roared again. Jakesully looked around in despair. "No-no-no! If you attack, if you fight, then they will destroy you! They will destroy everything that you love!"

"Neteyam!" The girl yelled through the crowd, Neteyam finally seeing through the gaps. "Tefiti!"
She pushed her way through to him, his warm touch around her shoulders.

"Hear my words! Hear my words!"

"Stay calm, stay calm!" Neteyam held an orange metal tracker in his hands as he held back the heaving crowd, one arm outstretched the other around Tefiti. "Listen to my father."

"Neteyam." Tefiti whispered, blinking helplessly into his golden orbs. He looked back powerlessly, shaking his head. "I don't know Fifi i'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"Damn it!" Jakesully snatched the orange tracker out of Neteyam's sweating palm. He ran onto the higher platform, holding the tracker high in the air so all can see. Silence surrounded the platform instantly, so quiet you could hear a pin drop onto the woven floors.

"You tell the tulkun, if they're hit by one of these they are marked for death." Tefiti slid Neteyam's hand off her shoulder, blinking away her shock. She couldn't help but feel it was Jakesully and his family's fault. If they never came there would be no Tulkun marked for death. But she knew that was wrong. It could never be Neteyam's fault.

"Call for me and i'll silence it. Saving their lives, that's all that matters. Right? Saving your family." Tonowari glanced to Ronal, who shut her eyes and nodded. the Olo'eytkan glanced around the crowd, before waving to the others. "Tell the tulkun." Ronal walked away promptly. "Go."

The crowd dispersed towards the water and their family. Tefiti hesitated to go to her mother or Ro'in. She looked to Neteyam, her slender hands wrapping around his wrists and his hand gently. She followed his unblinking line of sight to Lo'ak, who had disappeared into the crowd.

"Tefiti!" Her head spun to Aonung, Rotxo and Tsireya. The girl once again looked like she was about to cry, as Tefiti pulled her in to a hug, her head resting on her chest. "Are you alright?" Aonung said to her, concern furrowing his brow for the first time in his life. She nodded. "Lo'ak has disappeared again. We need to find him. He's going to the outcast presumably." Aonung nodded to her, then to Rotxo.

Tsireya let go of Tefiti, the older girl stroking her hair behind her ear fondly. They followed Tefiti to the docks, who leaped to a separate one which lead to the two boys. Tsireya and Aonung had taken their ilu. "Lo'ak!" She leaped onto the the platform.

"Get off me!" Lo'ak brushed Neteyam's hand away coldly, before leaping into the water. "Lo'ak!"

"Stop!" Tsireya yelled.
"Come on!" He hit Aonung on the chest. "He's going to Payakan!" He ran towards the edge of the water, calling the ilu frantically. "Neteyam." Tefiti spoke croakily. He remained unphased, impatiently waiting for the ilu to arrive beneath him. "Neteyam!"

He raised his head, coming out of his haze. "Sorry. I'm sorry. I'm jus-" Tefiti pressed her lips into his cheekbone, rubbing the crease of his furrowed brow flat. She stroked his face a moment, looking into his eyes, that still give her butterflies every time she meets them.

He glanced to the floor, hiding his blush again. He kissed her forehead gently. "Don't worry about me. I'll see you in the evening and we can go on a walk like we always do. okay?" She nodded, letting him go as he plummeted into the water.