The Breath of Water | Neteyam

7 • Dilemmas and a Companion

Kiri had secretly slipped out while Liyanin was berating her brothers and began to walk back to their pod; she figured that she'd try and get to know her more some other time, a time when she wasn't annoyed. She had been laughing at the ordeal, but once the giggles ceased, she was left alone with her own thoughts. Her thoughts which she had settled in, which began to remind her of the whole reason why they were picking on her to begin with. If she hadn't been staring at the sand, if she hadn't been so captivated by those organisms, none of this would've happened in the first place. She felt like she wanted to cry, so she sat on a nearby beach and waited before going home. She let out a lot of tears in order to not keep everything in.

After she felt like she was finished, she decided to get up and finish going home. When she got there, her dad was outside the entrance sharpening his hunting dagger. When he saw her, he smiled, but Kiri wasn't feeling happy at the moment. Even now, she was bummed from earlier's events. She had stifled a frown, though, not wanting to be rude to her dad. She headed inside the hut, seeing that her mom was cooking.

"Kiri," Neytiri said, smiling brightly as well. However, Kiri did not feel like trying to save face anymore. Instead, she sat down and began to help her mom wrap the food in the banana leaves. As she wrapped them though, anyone in the room could sense she was upset due to the way she was manhandling the poor food. Neytiri noticed this and looked at her daughter.

"...what is wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing. I'm fine," Kiri responded, not looking at her. "Why should I not be fine?" Kiri then slammed the wrap she was working on onto the plate of the finished ones. Neytiri followed her hand movements, then bringing her eyes towards her daughter's face. She then got up to sit next to Kiri in order to comfort her.

"Why can't I be just like everyone else?" Kiri questioned, more of a question to herself.

"Oh, Kiri..." Neytiri sighed, moving a hair strand behind her ear, but Kiri was too upset at the moment so she ended up scooting away from her out of irritation. Jake being outside the entrance, watched everything from afar. He knew what Lo'ak had told him, that Aonung had called her a freak, but was that really all that was bothering her? He knew his daughter wouldn't let something as trivial as that get her in the dumps like this. He grew worried and planned to ask her how she was soon, but for now, he just wanted her to cool off.

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Liyanin held onto Lo'ak as Payakan swam through the sea so he wouldn't end up falling off. She looked down at his face, seeing his injuries he had sustained from the fight with her brother. She sighed, shaking her head then gazed at the sky. Payakan then clicked, asking Liyanin what the matter was.

"...This boy...did not deserve to be beaten and bullied," she replied, signing, so the animal could understand better. "...he was only trying to stand up for his sister..."

She thought to herself, wondering why her brother was so mean for no reason. As she sat there in thought, she unknowingly fiddled with the braids of Lo'ak's hair as his head laid on her lap. She looked at her surroundings, realizing that the territory they were in was Three Brothers Rock.

Suddenly, Lo'ak awoke, coughing since he was now exposed to the air he so desperately needed. Liyanin jumped at the sound of him choking, the unexpected noise catching her off guard. He sat up from her lap, breathing in and out in order to calm his heart. When he had finished, he started to look at the mass he was sitting on, surprised he was still alive. The Tulkun squirted water out of its blowhole, which caught Lo'ak off guard. He then turned around to see what the creature he was sitting on was, but instead his eyes were met with Liyanin's. When he saw her, he jumped and screamed a little, not expecting her to be there with him. This made her laugh a little.