The Breath of Water | Neteyam

34 • Exchanges Pt. II

A/N: Hope you guys like the picture! It's so hard coloring water and I got lazy halfway, can you tell 😵‍💫 😂

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"What...are you talking about?" Lo'ak asked. Payakan hummed out of bewilderment as well.

"I...!" she hurriedly climbed into the water off of her Ilu, proceeding to climb onto Payakan's fin to get closer to Lo'ak. She seemed really excited about something. "I could feel you...!"

"......huh?"

"Okay so my memory is a little bit fuzzy, but what I do remember from my...tranced-out situation is that I could see every single txampay'weya. Like I could feel their presence in the water...! And...I think that blackout expanded my powers a little!" she explained excitedly.

"Wait, what?"

"You seriously still do not understand?" she said defeatedly.

"No, I mean like, what makes you think your powers expanded?" Lo'ak elaborated.

"When I first entered the water, there was this...small feeling in the back of my mind of...well, you."

"...me?" he repeated.

"Yes, you. I could just feel you, but I just brushed it off as a mere thought, since you were nowhere in my sights."

"That's...insane, bro..."

"I know right...?!" her tail was now wagging uncontrollably, repeatedly splashing the water. Lo'ak saw this and chuckled a little bit.

"Calm down a little, yeah?" he laughed out. She took a few breaths to regain her composure, and apologized for her behavior.

"I am sorry, it is just that this is my second power upgrade that I have gotten...I am so excited...! I wonder what other powers I will get next...!" she rambled. Payakan squirted water out of his blowhole, matching Liyanin's energy, causing her to rub his head.

"Haha...what is the first one you've gotten?" Lo'ak asked, intrigued about how her powers work.

"The first upgrade...? It was...kind of similar to this one. But it is related to sound," she said, now gazing at the water. "...actually, I got it the day you went outside the reef with my brother."

"Really?"

She nodded. "Yes, I was trying to see what you guys were talking about, but the distance was too great. I remember having a strong want of hearing you guys, and next thing I know as soon as I step in the water, your voices were as loud and clear as the morning sky. It gave me quite a shock." she giggled at the last sentence, remembering how she fell flat on her butt when the sound reached her ears.

"Damn...so you got like...a full-blown ocean detector...?"

"Yes, it is so fascinating...!" she said, sighing and climbing now onto Payakan's back. The creature hummed, asking if she felt him as well. "No, I did not. I think it is due to your massive size. I just got these powers, and it usually takes some practice for me to interact with larger things." she explained.

She now laid down on his back, staring at the sky. She wanted to tell Neteyam of everything right now—her abilities, her feelings...she didn't know how much longer she could go on. Having that fear of the one you care for so much have death charging straight towards them...it was an unfathomable fear she never wanted to feel again. She also would've gone on forever hating herself for not telling him anything, regretting all of her choices. "...should I tell your brother?" she said, hesitantly.

"...What?"

"...Of my powers," she now sat up so she could look Lo'ak in the eye. "...I mean, you took it well. Who's to say that Neteyam won't?"

He was taken aback by her wanting to tell Neteyam. But then his mind had a thought, and Lo'ak being Lo'ak, decided to give his brother a...little push in the right direction.

"Liyanin...I do not know if that is such a great idea." he said, his eyebrows furrowed a bit, mischief bubbling in his chest.

"Why? Why do you think that?"

"He...my brother has always kind of been iffy to...I guess you could say...supernatural situations." he explained, knowing damn well what he was saying was a half-truth.

"Are you serious? Why?" she asked, visibly upset.

"...back then, when we lived in the forest, he had befriended this one girl, and she was like super into hexes and other stuff...so then one day when he was going to go to her hut, he hung out for a while. But then the days after that, he started getting into a lot of unfortunate situations...Like when he went to go for a ride on his Ikran, he got tangled up in these vines that came from out of nowhere! And then when he went to go fishing with my dad, he ended up accidentally almost shooting some of my dad's hair off."

Liyanin's mouth was agape as she listened to Lo'ak's story. What he was saying had some truth to it, but as he continued to speak, he started adding some embellishments of his own.

"...but the final straw was the fact that when he was participating in the archery competitions, all of his arrows that my mom had made for him ended up being crushed. He cried a lot that day because he really wanted to show everyone that he was good with his bow like our mom."

"...what does this have to do with the girl?" she asked.

"...well Neteyam went over to her hut again, in tears because he couldn't participate in the competitions. And when he started explaining everything to her, he saw that she was smiling while he was crying. He asked her why she was doing that, and you know what she said?" he asked Liyanin, whom was deeply invested in this story.

"No, what did she say?" she replied, shaking her head hurriedly.

"She told him, 'the stars told me that if you were to go through multiple adversities, you would come to lean on me!', and he rightfully got angry and fed up. He wasn't one to yell, but he did at her and never spoke to her again...this all happened when he was 12 by the way." Lo'ak finished.

Liyanin's ears drooped a bit, her gaze going back to the water. With this knowledge, she felt as if she could never tell Neteyam how she felt, for if she did, he would find out about her powers eventually and he would be upset. She didn't want that. However, some part of her told her that this story sounded a bit...too dramatic.

But her expression told Lo'ak everything he needed to know.

So these two idiots are crushing on each other...my dumb brother..., he thought to himself. Do not worry, Liyanin, if anyone were to get with my brother, I would want it to be you. I will help you out!

"...but since it was so long ago, maybe his feelings have changed...?" Lo'ak suggested, but her thoughts were elsewhere now. He kind of started to regret telling her such a dramatic rendition of what actually happened. But maybe this would push Neteyam into telling her how he felt.

"...well, I am going to finish what I came out here to do..." she said, her face void of any disappointment that was once present. She patted Payakan's head, hugging the side of his face, bidding him goodbye, the creature returning the farewell. "...see you later, Lo'ak! Thank you for that...story." she said, laughing.

"See you later...!" he said, waving back at her. Oh, boy, if Neteyam were to find out what he had just told her, Lo'ak might actually manage to have his brother lose his cool demeanor and yell at him...

Maybe he shouldn't have done that.

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