Coin Flip - Lo'ak

1:

Disclaimer: whenever the words are in italics there is a pov shift from 1st person to 3rd person pov. Enjoy!
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The water was tickling my toes. There was small ripples against the rock I was situated upon, created by the calm waves. I loved being here on this rock. My rock. As weird as it was to say, it formed a smooth dip in the place I had always sat on throughout my life. Coming here so often, I left my personal mark.

I sat, hugging my knees for comfort while watching into the distance. Self soothing as always. A habit I never grew out of from a young age.

The air felt fresh, it blew my hair back and out of my face, the cool air burning my nostrils with each breath. It was so freeing being away from the people of this clan. Truth be told, I could never call them "my" people, it just felt wrong.

My people would never shut me out, they would never look at me with indifference and disgust.

Sometimes, I wish people were more like animals. They would never judge you and instead look at your heart, who you are, not what you look like.

Firik, my ilu swam around the rock I sat on. She was floating and gliding against the water, playful in her natural habitat.

I always came here, the hours passed while I was lost in my thoughts. Thoughts of everything and everyone, and yet, nothing at all.

I tended to fiddle with smaller rocks or shells that I found on the ocean floor. Like right now. The small white shell had ridges on one side while being smooth on the other. I traced each ridge with my nail as it made a slight clicking sound.

I had to keep my hands occupied, the hands they all hated so much.

Lost in thought, a small splash brought me back to reality. I stayed quiet, trying to figure out what made that noise.

I slowly stood, making sure not to startle the animal that made the noise. I could tell from the light splash that this fish - I suppose - was of smaller size.

Not only was this my comfort spot, it was also a great hunting area. School of fish always swam by at one point or another. I was a little mad I forgot to bring my large fishing net to stock up on food for the next few days, although knowing I come here almost every day, it wasn't a big worry.

I liked to hunt for my food. Granted I didn't have much opportunity to be fed as I had no family, which also kinda left me with no other choice. But at least I learned to enjoy it.

I grabbed my spear that had laid next to me the whole time, circling the water on my rock. My ears fell forward to increase my attentiveness. Roaming my eyes against the water, I spotted movement not far below the water's surface. I could follow the faint shadow of the animal.

The fish, I could gage was decent in size. Big enough to fill my hunger at least.

I noticed it hover in the same spot for a little, wasting no opportunity, I jammed the spear into the fish, bringing it out of water for inspection.

"Yes, this will do just fine."

I grabbed my woven satchel and opened it to place inside my next meal once I removed the spear from its body. I called Firik to fasten both my weapon and satchel on so that I could enjoy the view from my rock for a little longer.

My stomach dropped as soon as I heard a low and faint sound in the distance. Still being on edge from earlier when trying to catch the fish, I was able to hear the horn. I would have missed it otherwise.

I was a great distance from shore, just at the reef's edge. I never allowed myself to physically go beyond this point, only my eyes could take in the beauty from past the reef.

I was always afraid. So I took in the comfort and safety of my rock and never once allowed myself to go further than this point.

As much as my heart yearned to stay, I had to go to shore and figure out why the horn was blown.

Quickly, I dove into the water and called for my ilu to guide me to shore.

I pushed Firik to swim even faster, tightening my grip on the handle to help me stay steady and not risk falling off of her.

When I could see the shore from under water, I made sure to keep my distance from the clan. I guided my ilu behind the pods - our homes - so that I could stay hidden in case there was a threat and I could quickly make my exit without being seen.

Unfortunately being on the ilu rendered my sight useless, I couldn't make out the cause of the commotion. I dismounted Firik and let her swim off, away from any danger but not before I grabbed my bag filled with my dinner. I kept my spear strapped to her side though, knowing it was too large to handle when trying to be unseen, I'd collect it later.

There were still too many people hiding my view from whatever they were circling. I threw the woven sack, strapping it onto my back to keep my hands free.

I slowly grabbed the netting of the pods above me and pulled myself up and out of the water. I needed to find higher ground or get closer.

There was less options for higher ground, so I opted for the latter. The closer I got, the more my heartbeat increased.

I had to physically put my hand on my chest and stomach to guide my breathing. Waiting for a few deep breaths  to calm my rugged breathing and my speedy heartbeat.

My ears perked up and my pupils widened a fraction to fully engage my senses. I was so nervous, I've never heard the horn before, and I was prepared for the worst. Was it the sky people? Could my worst fear in the world come true today?

I continued getting as close as I could while still staying hidden by our infrastructure. Each step was taken carefully and being calculated.

I finally got to the last pod which separated the threat and clan from myself. My closest option for a hiding spot.

As my head moved from behind the marui (the pod/hut) and roamed my eyes in-between the sea of people to get the best view, I finally got a sight of the cause for this commotion.

At first I just saw a deeper colour blue, thinking it was just the water from far away. But upon further inspection, I couldn't be more wrong.

They were of the Omatikaya clan I recognised. The deep blue being a staple identifier.

Their dark blue bodies now stood out like a sore thumb. What were forest Na'vi even doing here?

I heard how bad the people were whispering about them, my ears dropped slightly from their nasty comments, I felt incredibly bad.

What were they doing here? Are they alright? What could this mean? Will more be coming? All these questions circled my racing mind. I needed to know. This was the most interesting thing to happen here in a very long time, I couldn't help my curiosity. I mean, could you blame me?

I started to hear shouting from our leaders. It was hard to distinct what exactly they were shouting about, only making out some of their conversation when the clan quieted here and there.

It was still very hard to understand what was going on, however as their conversation came to an end, I could understand that they were to stay and learn the ways of the water and our clan.

The crowd started to part and disappear as the chief's daughter guided the Omatikayan family towards their pod.

They walked past my hiding spot, close enough for me to see them, but not close enough to spot me in return.

I couldn't keep my eyes off of them. I was so infatuated that I must have stopped breathing for a while. The air caught in my throat, reminding me to breathe.

I walked to the other side of the marui to take a final glance at them as they rounded the corner.

As their family left my view, and I caught my breath, soothing my heartbeat once again. I couldn't believe my eyes, the only thought consuming my mind was that "they're just like me".

- End of chapter one!