Through The Valley • Ao'nung

Chapter 41

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̶̶̶̶  «̶ ̶̶̶ ̶ «̶ ̶̶̶ 　 Assigned  ̶ ̶»̶ ̶̶̶ ̶ »̶ ̶̶̶  

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The light of midday beamed down on the people's skin, almost making the clan forget the storm that happened a couple of days ago.

The sea was refilled with different-shaped fish and algae, making it a perfect time to go hunting, but At'anau stayed in the tent with her sisters.

Tonowari stood at the mouth of the Sully's tent, awaiting the man to follow him outside. At'anau worked on whatever her mother had asked her to do, but followed the two with her eyes.

It took a second before the father called out for her daughter, her hands halting in movements. Standing up from next to the youngest daughter, the girl stood up, making her way outside to be greeted by the chief and his son.

The girl looked at her father and for what he had called her over, but was only met with uncertain eyes scanning her.

Ao'nung passed the girl a heavy net, one she was familiar with when looking at it closely, and motioned for her to come with him, as she had almost forgotten she was assigned to be glued on the boy's hip.

Purposelessly looking at the chief, the man nodded at the girl to follow his son. This time less hostile than the time he exclaimed the rule out.

At'anau joined the boy, dissatisfied with whatever her father kept from her, whatever he and the chief had been conversing about, which the boy she was following had been a part of as well.

Calling their ilu, the two went to the sea wall terraces they were well known with, the girl not able to help not wanting to do anything that day, but stay with her siblings.

Resisting was the last thing she should be doing if she desired to get back on a good list with her father, so she complied and got to work.

When the people already working on the terraces watched their prince look out and teach the young girl, they swooned, talking about how attentive he must be.

Ao'nung didn't seem to notice the whispers, as the girl did, and had to bite her tongue in order not to speak about the doing of her brother's encounter with Payakan.

In all truth, she wished the boy was as attentive as he acted to be. If only he had been this open to teaching her and her siblings their ways and patience. The vile looks almost seemed to have vanished towards her, and she wondered if it really took her mere death experience for those to stop.

Whenever she felt like sitting on the sides and doing nothing, she wasn't commented on or picked on, but almost understood as her head still pounded from the hit.

It couldn't have been genuine, knowing the way the boy went out of his way to scratch the blood from under her nails whenever he could, to an actual tutor whenever people were watching.

But she couldn't reckon that the boy had been thinking about nothing else but the way her body had felt cold in his arms, heartbeat fading under his fingertips, and her life in his hands.

He was given glimpses of the girl's true character whenever peace was upon them, before all of that nearly disappeared into the ocean. That moment on the rocks where her face was still and unrecognizable, she had awoken his desire to gain the worth of the girl's true personality. The possibility of her eyes never opening up to look at his again injected him with fear.