The Breath of Water | Neteyam

23 • Development

Lo'ak was with Tsireya in the weaving house, for they were previously at the supper pavilion, but then Tsireya asked him if he could go somewhere with her. He said yes, of course, and she ended up bringing him here. It was kind of busy, there were two teenage girls looking through the fabric, and a man looking at a different pile of fabric made from a different material.

Tsireya was back in the accessory box, looking for a nice hair decoration for her sister and a few body pieces and jewelry for herself.

"Augh, I knew I should have come back here sooner...!" she groaned. Lo'ak peeked over at her, wanting to see what she was up to, unaware of the whispers he was receiving from the two girls.

"What's wrong?" he asked curiously.

"I remember seeing a necklace that I really thought would look pretty on me...but I assume one of the other mothers grabbed it...shoot...I should've taken it right then and there..." she explained, sighing in the process. He walked towards her, placing a hand on her shoulder to try and soothe her unease. She smiled, and rubbed his hand, grateful for his gesture. "...At least I took out what I wanted for Liya."

"Liya? Oh, your older sister?" Lo'ak asked, wanting to clarify. Tsireya nodded in response. "...I did hear from Neteyam and Kiri...well actually Kiri, that she was supposed to be dancing or something?"

"Yes," she answered, now getting up from the box, a big smile plastered on her face. "...this year, our family got chosen again to pick a dancer to perform at the start of the festival...and since I did it the last time, me and my brother decided to ask Liya to do it."

Lo'ak scowled at the utterance of Aonung's mention. Tsireya noticed his discomfort and decided to speak on it, but she saw the two girls from earlier gazing in their direction, muttering and whispering to one another. She frowned at the way they were so obviously and shamelessly gossiping about them, and pulled Lo'ak by the arm and grabbed the accessories she wanted, placing them in her basket and made her way out of the weaving house. It was kind of getting crowded in there anyway.

Once they were outside and a ways distance from the house, she turned to look at Lo'ak. "Speaking of my brother...I never got the chance to address what he did to you," she started. "...what happened was not right. And I am sincerely sorry for what he had done."

"Thank you, Tsireya." he said, smiling softly. "But I really don't need to hear that from you. Both you and Liyanin apologized for what Aonung did to me...he is the one I should be hearing an apology from..." his eyes then drifted to the ground. "...though I'm not sure if I even want one from him..." he said to himself, but due to their proximity, Tsireya still heard it.

"Still, I cannot help but to feel guilty since he is my brother. I do not want you to think or feel like no one here accepts you and your family." She placed a hand on his, rubbing it softly. "Me and my sister care for you guys."

He gave her a half-smile. "I know. But your brother is someone I'm not sure I can just forgive. He nearly killed me."

Tsireya could only nod, knowing that what Lo'ak was saying was understandable and true. I mean, if someone tried to kill her, it would sure as heck take her a while before she saw fit to forgive them...guess you could say she had an inkling of a bias since the perpetrator was her brother.

"I understand. It is only natural for you to feel like that." she agreed, closing her eyes. Then after a second of silence, she grabbed her basket of accessories and turned to go to her pod.

"Where are we going?" Lo'ak asked.

"I am heading to my pod; I want to see if my sister is there," she said as she looked through her basket of bejeweled goodies while walking. "I would like to see her try them on, or to see if she even likes them in the first place."