11 • The Hunt

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Jake and Neteyam followed the village chief on their mounts, mentally readying themselves for what was to come. When they reached the destination, Tonowari turned to face them and the others behind them.

"Hunters! It is that time of the year! The time for us to catch the food in order to help ourselves and cater for the festival!"

The whole group except for Jake and his son all began to whoop, cheering and shouting. Neteyam looked around, smiling at the gleeful noises. Jake laughed, his spirits hyped as well.

"The annual celebration of our spirit brothers' and sisters' completion of their migration has finally come upon us! Let us begin the Hunt, now!"

The other hunters cheered loudly as they dove one by one into the water with their hunting tools. Tonowari then looked at Neteyam.

"You will be hunting with my son and the other teenagers." He said.

Neteyam groaned inside, not wanting to have to be with that headache of a boy right now. But he kept a smile on his face, not wanting to offend Tonowari by displaying the dislike for his son.

"Yes, sir."

"Come, Tsyeyk Suli, let us start." Tonowari said to Jake, prompting the latter to nod. The two adults dove into the water, leaving Neteyam behind. He turned around, looking for the group of teens he was supposed to hunt with. When his eyes finally spotted Aonung, he headed over, reluctantly, to where he was. He noticed that Lo'ak wasn't amongst the group, which made him start to feel guilty that he wasn't invited. When Aonung saw the last addition to the team, his cocky demeanor had somewhat shriveled, since he was now in the presence of Toruk Makto's eldest son, who had completed his rite of passage. Neteyam was shocked that the group had ceased their chatter once he had reached them. The group was mostly boys, but a few girls were sprinkled here and there.

"Are you ready, taronyu (hunter)?" Aonung asked Neteyam with a slight mocking tone.

"Always." He replied, smirking.

"Then let us dive!"

The teens then dove underwater, whooping, beginning their official hunt.

The rush Neteyam felt was real; as he sped through the waters he could feel his adrenaline pumping through his veins. He wanted to catch lots of fish to show his dad how good he was, but he also just wanted to one up Aonung. He had swum for a while when he had finally stumbled upon a group of fish. He carefully approached them, not wanting to scare them away. He called for them, hoping that they would come closer to him on their own. As the fish were making their way over to the boy, a fast projectile sped through the school, catching Neteyam off guard and ruining his plan. When the thing passed, he saw that the majority of the fish he was targeting had disappeared. He grunted, looking around to see what took his yields. After he turned his head upward, he saw who the culprit was.

It was another teenager, a girl. She had a small fishing net that she had attached to her Ilu, showcasing all the fish she had just stolen. When she saw Neteyam, she had chuckled a bit, blatantly teasing him in his face. After, she turned to speed away. Neteyam groaned, upset that she had stolen what he wanted, what he almost had. He swam away to a new area, hoping to find a different group of prey. It was now that Neteyam had realized that this was more than just a hunt.

This was a competition.

As he constantly searched for more fish, he saw yet another teen swimming by, a collection of fish at his side. Neteyam had told himself that he needed to get his game up if he wanted to win. These kids were good. Better than him. They are more acquainted with hunting under the water, so it makes sense why they were so adept and swift. If this was in the air, Neteyam would have no problem shooting his targets down. He closed his eyes, calming down and reducing his use of energy, wanting to slow down his heartbeat. Once he had managed to do that, he thought carefully about what he should do next. He was skilled with his bow, exceptional, even. It was just the water that hindered him. So what could he do? If only, if only he could remove the water somehow. Somehow...

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