𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 : 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐖 ، lo'ak x oc

𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝘄𝗼. "t̶h̶e̶ n̶e̶e̶d̶e̶d̶ f̶i̶g̶h̶t̶"

Hours have turned to days, and the majority of the seedlings have burgeoned. Since then, it goes without saying that Petika has been Lo'ak's sole thought. He hunts while thinking about her; he swims, fishes, eats, drinks, breathes, and does everything under the sun while thinking about her.

He's kept his feelings a secret from the majority of the people he knows, and for now, only Arutey knows of his little infatuation.

"Bro, stop with that face; you look like you're about to take a shit," Arutey mutters unobtrusively, keeping his posture straight; a way to carry himself with dignity in front of their teacher, Swalta.

Lo'ak awakes from his daydream. "What face? I'm not making a face." His cheeks bloom crimson that appears merlot due to his blue complexion. He feels a bit of humiliation that his closest friend caught him in his little trance.

Arutey raises his right brow bone as the side of his mouth tugs into a doubting visage. He sighs, looking away from Lo'ak's smitten simper and towards Swalta. Their pedagogue came back a day ago; his leave was in fact the cause of his mate giving birth, and the look on his face since yesterday indicates that it all went well. Because of his found happiness at being an official father, he has planned something allegedly thrilling.

Swalta motions for his students to remain still and quiet for he is about to make a statement. "I have a different plan for all of you today. The individual assignments are challenging, but everyone has been doing well with them, so I've chosen to make it simpler. You will be paired with someone I believe you will get along with, and you will train with them the entire week, doing whatever assignment you have for the day together," he elucidates, his coy smirk mixed with a tinge of devilry.

At least four of his students have bartered looks that signal vagueness and fret for what's to come. Their murmurs become tumultuous conversations that clearly disagree with his plan.

Swalta is a mischievous man who likes to challenge himself and his students, claiming that doing so will make them greater hunters or warriors if the time comes. Unbeknownst to them, he also gets a laugh from seeing his students' unhidden reactions when it comes to something or someone they despise—conflict, disinterest in one another, or straggling each other; he will definitely savor the sight.

He steps down from the massive rock that gave him the spotlight and walks over to all six of his pupils, grasping their shoulders individually, unintentionally harshly, and placing them in two vertical lines.

Swalta clenches Lo'ak's shoulder tightly, directing him to the exact position he's supposed to be. The boy stumbles and sways awkwardly before he's placed in his spot. The sunlight filters through the trees from where he stands, its tendrils depriving his will to see from his dexterous eye, causing him to avoid it and turn to the other side. As an attempt to dodge the sun's perforating streak of sunbeam, he is directed to a recognizable yet plaguy profile that he would never prefer to see. He hastily twists his head to the opposite side, preferring to have his left eye punctured by the sun than to see her evocative face.

The line finishes with Arutey being the last of Lo'ak's line, and all six of his students are standing side by side. "Lo'ak, Tisxia, and Arutey; the person to your right is your partner," he reveals, receiving disparate reactions from the young hunters.

Yineri exhales sharply, clicking her tongue out of disapprobation. She keeps her aggravation intact within her mind; however, Lo'ak cannot seem to hide his displeasure as he gruffs and grunts loudly. "What?!" He barks, the deep furrows in his eyebrows nearly eternally mark lines on his forehead.

Yineri sighs to herself, "Oh, please," rolling her eyes. The Sully boy's cauda whisks upward, his ears rapidly oscillating as he glares at Swalta and then back at Yineri with an incense demeanor.