The Breath of Water | Neteyam

16 • Those Expanding Feelings

A/N: Just putting this here to say thank you for liking my story so far! I did not expect it to gain the amount of traction it did, :D
And I really do love reading the comments you guys leave, so don't ever be to shy to leave one! Anyway, comments and votes are appreciated !! Okay now back to the story~

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Neytiri was supposed to be learning from Ronal about the Metkayina's ways, but with time's recent preparations for the upcoming festival, she realized that it was natural for the Tsahìk to be so busy. At least this meant she had more time to spend with her kids.

She noticed that her daughter, Kiri, had been working on something the past few days, which was kind of surprising for her, since Kiri doesn't usually make clothing items on a whim. But then she found out that the collar was for a new friend she had made. Neytiri was glad that Kiri wasn't upset anymore; the other day when Kiri wouldn't speak to her, it made her heart feel heavy. She didn't like seeing her like that, but alas, there was nothing she could do when Kiri would act in that way.

One day, Neytiri went for a walk through the village, wanting to see what it is the Metkayina did during this time of year. She was still getting used to the bouncy netting that they walked on, but she managed to not fall over. As she passed through, she could see what the different families did in their pods.

One family had a mom and son working on what seemed to be an ioi (ceremonial wear), and he appeared to be around Tuk's age, but he was very careful with how he handled the material his mom was tinkering with. The daughters, though, had focused on sharpening their hunting daggers. Neytiri figured that they were apart of the Hunt that Neteyam had joined in, since the girls did seem to be teenagers. Neytiri continued walking and saw another family where the daughter was already in her ioi, spinning and dancing with her dad while her mom sat and clapped; the family must have been working on it in advance if they finished it this soon.

Seeing and feeling all of the happy emotions in the air had managed to make a wave of relief and peace wash over Neytiri. She thought to herself, and wondered what her children would look like in an ioi. She came from the Omatikaya, so weaving was second-nature to her. She wanted to make sure that she had incorporated hints of their roots within the ioi, but she couldn't make them all on her own, but she wanted it to be a surprise as well—a gift for her kids.

All of a sudden, someone had bumped into Neytiri, snapping her out of her daze. When Neytiri came to, she had seen a woman reaching out for some stuff that fell into the water. She didn't know if she was the cause of the woman falling and dropping all of her stuff, but she still felt bad and wanted to apologize.

"Oh, I am so sorry!" Neytiri said, bending down to help pick up the stuff that was still on the netting. "I spaced out and—"

"No, no, it is my fault. I was the one who did not pay attention." the woman said. She sat still on her knees, then sighed, staring at her sinking items in the water. Neytiri looked at the items in the water, and feeling a sense of guilt she dove in, even though she did not know how to swim her best. Still, she managed to collect the woman's stuff and make it back above the water. She placed them on the netting, then climbed back onto it.

"Tewti (expression of surprise)! You did not have to do all of that! I could have called an Ilu...!" the woman said, still grateful for what Neytiri had did for her.

"It is okay, it is the least I could do." Neytiri replied.

"I could not thank you enough...! I needed these items to make my daughter's ioi...thank you so very much!" she said, rubbing Neytiri's shoulder, a common sign of giving thanks. Neytiri nodded, smiling. The woman grabbed her items, and proceeded to stand, but she didn't walk off. She turned to face Neytiri.