Falling for the Olo'eykte

✧Chapter 13: The Emergency Committee

Neteyam's POV

After a long but fast trip through the forest, we finally arrived at the Kelutral. "Go and find your family. I'll gather everyone up at the clear" Azura told me hopping off her pa'li. Nodding, I parted my way towards my kelku to collect my family.

As I got near the kelku, I was able to see my family through the door. "Neteyam. Where have you been?" said my mother with worry and anger in her eyes. She stood up and quickly made her way towards me to make sure I wasn't injured. "Don't you ever leave again without telling me, understood?". Her angry tone made a shiver run up my spine, yet I knew it was because she was protective of us.

"Sorry mom. Last night I couldn't sleep and I decided to go for a walk" I began to explain, but my father interrupted me. "Where have you been all night? You know that being outside on your own after the eclipse is dangerous. What if the humans had been out there?". Rolling my eyes, I allowed him to blow off some steam. I knew he wanted us to be cautious, but I was old enough to know how to protect myself.

"I wasn't alone. Azura was with me". My confession made everyone look at me with surprised expressions all over their faces. Silence took over the kelku, at their loss of words I decided to be the first to speak. "Can we speak about this later? Right now, I need you to hear me out. This morning, the sky people were near the Li'ona's lands. They burned the place where Azura and I were and left with the threat that they would be back". 

Gasping my mother inspected my body again for any injuries. "Did they hurt you?",  "I'm fine mom" I replied, yet her worried eyes didn't avert from my face. "Who?" my father was quick to ask, "The colonel and a few of his soldiers. They are close dad, if we don't do anything about it they'll find us sooner than we had thought". My father looked focused as he took in the information. "Where is Azura?", "At the clearing. She wants to gather everyone together to warn them about the humans". Nodding, he directed towards the exit of the kelku. "Let's go. There's no time to waste"

While we were walking towards the clearing to reunite with the clan, Lo'ak walked to be by my side and started tapping his shoulder with mine repeatedly. "So you were with Azura all night, huh?" he said teasingly while wiggling his eyebrows. I ignored him and continued to walk, yet he didn't give up. "Come on, Neteyam! You've spent a night with the girl you are in love with and you ain't going to tell your brother about it".

"There's nothing to tell. We simply spent the night talking and I'm not in love with her". My brother looked at me with an incredulous expression, like I had said the stupidest thing he had ever heard. "Seriously Neteyam? Do you really want me to believe that or do you just want to hide what happened last night?". Lo'ak got closer to look me straight in the eyes to make sure I wasn't lying to him.

Before he could continue bothering me, Kiri interrupted him. "What are you guys doing? They are waiting for us at the clearing" she said, clearly annoyed. Suddenly, a mischievous grin appeared on Lo'ak's face. I knew what it meant and I wasn't going to like the outcome. "Don't you dare Lo'ak" I warned my brother, but he didn't care. "Neteyam is in love" he sang, emphasising the word love as he ran towards our sister.

Kiri looked at me surprised. "And who is the lucky girl?" she asked teasingly. "It's just a lie, don't listen to him", "Neteyam, do you think I'm dumb? You disappear every afternoon to go for a walk and I'm sure you don't know the lands well enough to go alone". I had no choice, if I didn't explain myself to my siblings, they wouldn't stop bothering me. "It's just a girl of the clan, nothing important" I dismissed.

"Just a girl?" Lo'ak intervened. "He's in love with the Olo'eykte and they were together last night, but he won't tell me anything about it". Kiri stared at me wide-eyed. "The Olo'eykte? Have you lost your mind? She is promised to Zygmunt. If he finds out you have feelings for her, kicking us out of here is the least he will do".