I WANNA BE SAVED, neteyam

Ch 20: Tuktirey

"Ayatney wake up!"

Tuk shook the older girl by her shoulder, bored out of her mind. She was the only one still asleep and in the pod left, other than the little girl herself.

Everyone one else had left the hut when the pair were still asleep, none of them having the heart to wake them up as Tuk snuggled further into Ayatney's arms. But that was an hour ago and Tuk was awake now.

Her mother had always told her to never leave the hut alone without her older siblings or Ayatney ever since they had arrived months ago. And being the good listener she was, Tuk obeyed her mothers rules.

"Wake up!" Giving one last scream, Tuk gave up. She had decided to throw her weight onto Ayatney, letting her body sag as she laid in defeat.

Truth be told, Ayatney had been awake for a while already. She just didn't have the motivation to get up because when was the last time she had the time to just lay and do nothing?

But, she supposed it was time to wake for Tuk's sake.

Ayatney stifled a fake yawn, stretching her limbs wide and knocking Tuk off her guard as the older girl wrapped her up in her arms. She let out a squeak in surprise as Ayatney pulled her into her arms. Looking up, Tuk noticed the smile on her friends face though her eyes were closed, making her very upset.

"You were awake this whole time!"

Ayatney chuckled, rolling onto her back as Tuk's little hands came to hit and push at her. Her small fist doing no real damage until she had delivered a mean punch to her stomach.

"Ow!"

"Yeah! That's what you get!"

Tuk had a gentle soul, but didn't mean she had a gentle body. The little girl was quiet tough for her age, the experience from war hardening her young stature.

Finally recovering from the blow, Ayatney used her abdominal muscles, though a bit sore, to pull herself into a seated position. Loose hairs had escaped her braids, tell signs that she had tossed and turned during the night.

"If you are up, let's start our day!" Tuk wasted no time standing to her feet, pulling the girl by her arm like she did when they first started their swimming lessons. "I have been waiting a long time and I don't want you to go back to sleep!"

"Okay, okay."

Ayatney gave in, allowing Tuk to drag her wherever she wanted to go. It ended up being the beach again. Tuk had been learning weaving with the other young children in the Metkayina clan and had been assigned to find some shells and seaweed for their next lesson.

Time after time, a different shell had been stuck into her face, the same question being asked over and over. A small green shell, a yellow one with pink stripes, a large light purple shell with green spots varying in sizes.

Another shell was shoved into her eye of sight, it was a rich orange accented speckled clam. It reminded her a bit about her own ikran, her white scale's accented with heavy orange and blue patterns. The contrast of the orange would do wonderful against someone's dark hued blue skin.

"What about this one? What do you think?"

Taking the shell, Ayatney flipped it over to see the inside. It was a pearly white, the iridescent colors shining in the sunlight.

"It's beautiful Tuk, you should definitely use this one."

She put it back into the palm of the content girl, quickly stuffing it into her makeshift pouch. Tuk ran back into the shallow waters, bending over and digging into the sand hoping to find more just like that one.