Rivals || Lo'ak Sully

Chapter 11 : "Near" 💫

Ma'i was back at her training soon after she and Lo'ak came to the clan. The girl would be lying if she wouldn't say that she catches herself roaming around the place she is at, as if looking for something... or rather someone. And this didn't fail to catch someone's attention.

"How's Lo'ak?" Neteyam asked Ma'i when they were preparing new bows for the training since they already broke old ones due to their hard training.

Ma'i turned her head to see if Neteyam was really asking her, even though there was no one with them.

"How and why would I know?" She looked at him annoyed. "Aren't you the one literally living with him?"

Neteyam laughed.

"Well.. yeah but I mean..." The boy paused and then slightly elbowed Ma'i.

"What?" She stopped doing what she was doing and crossed her arms in front.

"Oh c'mon." Neteyam threw his hands in the air. "He literally walks out of our hut literally almost every night, not knowing that I know of course. " The boy paused." Isn't he like... going out to see you?" The boy smirked as if he had everything figured out.

"Um.. no?" Ma'i frowned. "Since when do I look like I would want to have even a slightest interaction with him?"

"Wait, I'm confused." Neteyam stopped doing anything he was at that moment and turned to face the girl fully. "I was sure that Lo'ak was always out to meet you? I thought you know... you were kind of a thing?"

There was a minute of silence before Ma'i let out the most loudest , most creaking snorting sound ever. She put her hand on her belly to try and lower the pain level due to her laughing so hardly.

"Me? And Lo'ak?" She laughed again. "This is the best joke I've heard in a while, I swear to Eywa."

Neteyam, however, didn't fund this funny at all.

"I'm being serious, Ma'i. I see the way you look at each other."

The girl instantly looked at her friend.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Ma'i firmly laughed and to Neteyam it looked more of a forgery chuckle. "We hate each other." She paused. "Oh, yeah. If I remember correctly, we were about to kill each other not so long ago." Her head tilted to Neteyam's side.

"Yeah, right."

But Neteyam knew. He noticed the way her face went a little red every time she saw his brother. He noticed how her voice always went a little but up too. And of course, Ma'i's whole body language just wasn't it.

Even if his brother and best friend didn't know yet. He knew already.

To Neteyam, it seemed like everyone else around him was oblivious to these two. Most of them saw Lo'ak and Ma'i fight and disagree from a very young age, so they probably made assumptions that didn't exceed reality.

"Whatever you say."

The boy didn't feel like pushing this topic will get them any further, so he decided to leave it for now.

"I can't wait for the competitions for the Year's Clan Prize." He suddenly changed the topic as his legs took off from the place, knowing that Ma'i is going with him.

"Don't remind me." Ma'i gritted her teeth. "I bet it will be way harder than the last few years."

"Don't act like it's hard for you." They both stopped and Neteyam leaned back on some wood.

"I don't need to act." Ma'i eyed him. "It actually is."

"Says the one who always comes in the winner's place."

"Yeah but not first." She mumbled under her nose.

"Maybe this year will be different, you never know."

Ma'i noticed a slight hint of teasing in his voice but chose to ignore it, feeling as if it was only her imagination.

"We'll see."

She decided to come and stand next to Neteyam.

The right side of the body touched him as they looked into the horizon.

Ma'i let her thoughts out, freeing her head for a few seconds. She could feel the light gust hut her face and expand itself into her body but she didn't really care about it.

Ma'i wanted to listen.

She loved being one with nature and letting out her thoughts here, being able to connect with the living world... it seemed so perfect for her.

The girl's eyes closed and she slowly started to drift off into relaxation...

But this was impossible for her.

Just when Ma'i thought that she will have a calm time at peace - it was disturbed again.

She felt as if she couldn't get away from him.

For some stupid reason, her mind decided to take her back to one of the training sessions that they had. And she didn't understand why she was even remembering this.

But the view of Lo'ak's hands repairing a new bow that he created just a few weeks ago was so vividly pictured. The rebellious-looking hair was almost covering all of his face, except for those few gaps, that were perfectly aligned with his golden eyes as he was leaning towards a little bit.

The concentration in his eyes was immaculately seen, it was something that Ma'i always admired in Lo'ak, even though she despised him.

And then the boy shifted his eyes to hers.

Ma'i instantly shot her eyes open.

She could feel the annoyance filling all of her patience cups up.

How does Lo'ak even manage to affect her even when he's not near?