ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕥 𝕆𝕗 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕖𝕒 || 𝕃𝕠'𝕒𝕜 𝕏 ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣

8.

Continued

I sat on the rocks, peacefully trying to calm my mind, as I listened to the waves ripple. "You are really good at disappearing." I opened my eyes and saw Neteyam, I let out a sigh as I squinted at him. "You are really good at finding me." Neteyam chuckled as he sat down, "So what's your deal with that Tulkun? Payakan I think the name was."

I chuckled as I looked back out into the water, "It's a long story, I wouldn't want to bore you." There was a small moment of silence. "Well I asked didn't I? I would like to know, that is if you are willing to tell me." I gave Neteyam a smile, to which he returned. 

"Well when I was younger, I ventured outside the reef, after my parents told me not to. I found myself lost, alone, and afraid. I was helpless, I was stuck, all I could do was try and yell out to my parents and hoped they would come find me and take me back to safety. It never happened."

I smiled slightly, "It was getting late and I was still lost, until my final cry alerted Payakan. I was afraid of him at first, but he told me everything would be okay. I put my trust in Payakan and he allowed me to ride on his back, so he could take me home. When I arrived back home, I told Payakan I would come see him again. My parents never knew I met the Tulkun, until I got older."

"What happened?" Neteyam asked. "They were curious where I was going, so they followed me, of course at the time I didn't know Payakan was outcast. When they found me with him, they scolded me and spoke poorly towards Payakan. They practically forced me home and as I was leaving, Payakan said, When the stars align, and when the waves are still. I hold those words dear to my heart, but he swam off and that was the last I ever saw of him, until now."

Happy tears threatened to spill from my eyes as I remembered all the times I spent with Payakan. Neteyam put his hand on my shoulder and I gave him a smile. "You really do care for that Tulkun." I nodded my head, "He is my family." 

"I'd totally kick your ass bro." Neteyam turned around as I did the same. Lo'ak, Ao'nung, Rotxo and Sorr'en were laughing with each other. Neteyam and I looked at each other, confused about why Lo'ak was getting along with Ao'nung and Sorr'en. 

Neteyam stood up and put his hand out to assist me to my feet. I willingly accepted his hand as he pulled me up. I moved my hair out of my face as the wind blew, Neteyam trying to do the same. "Why is it so windy?" Rotxo shouted as he looked at me. "How would I know?" I responded. Dark clouds rolled in, as I felt a raindrop hit my skin, I looked up and another drop hit my cheek, "Storms coming." Ao'nung shouted.

The wind started to calm down, but it was still somewhat windy. Neteyam took my hand as he led me down off of the rock carefully. Once we were on the ground he let go. "What were you guys doing?" Rotxo asked. "She was telling me about her history with Payakan. What were you guys doing?" Rotxo chuckled and so did Sorr'en. "We were just joking around and talking." Ao'nung responded. 

There was a huge flash of light, followed by a loud boom. I turned to the others and they looked at me with wide eyes. "Maybe we shouldn't be outside!" Neteyam shouted, the others nodded. I looked out into the water and saw how wild the waves were. "Y/n, let's go!" Lo'ak shouted, causing the others to stop and turn around. 

"What about Payakan, what if he's in danger." They all gave me an annoyed look. "Y/n he is a Tulkun, he will be fine." Ao'nung scolded. My brother walked up to me and grabbed my wrist, leading me to an empty pod. The others sat down and looked at each other. I stood in the entry frame of the pod, staring out into the sea.

"Y/n, he is fine." Lo'ak spoke softly, I turned and flashed him a small smile. "I know, I'm just watching the waves." Rotxo stood up and walked over to me, "This storm came out of nowhere. It's crazy." I nodded my head. "I know you Forest children do not know this, but our island rarely sees storms. When it does see them, they are always really bad. They come and go at random times." Ao'nung sighed out. 

"We use to get rain often, not everyday but, from time to time." Neteyam added. I turned around and looked at the two brothers, "In the Forest, what was it like?" Lo'ak looked up at me as he stood up, Neteyam put his head down as he let out a sigh. "It was home, trees everywhere providing shade and a place to rest when it got too hot. Beautiful views, plants, wildlife. It was everything we have ever known." Neteyam spoke with a smile. 

"I do not understand why your father would remove you from your home if he's Toruk Makto. What drove you away?" Ao'nung asked. I walked over to Ao'nung and hit his arm. "Do not ask that." I whispered to him. "It's fine Y/n, as I'm sure you all know, our people are at war with the Sky people. Neteyam and I were spotters, our jobs were to fly over head and call out things that we saw. I got bored of that and went down to the ground, to join the fight and we ended up getting hurt, because of me." Lo'ak looked at the ground.

I walked over to him and placed my hand on his chest, over his heart and he looked up at me. "Lo'ak, you are not at fault for wanting to help your people. As family should help family. You couldn't have known you or Neteyam would get hurt. Your father puts so much pressure on the both of you, especially you Lo'ak. You cannot let him make you feel like everything is your fault. He is the parent, not you or Neteyam, it is his job to keep you both safe."

Lo'ak started to smirk slightly as I gave him a smile. He nodded his head and Neteyam stood up, "Our father moved us here to keep us safe. Away from an old friend of his, that is out to hurt him and possibly us. That's why we are here." I looked at Neteyam, "Does he know you and your family are here?" 

Neteyam shook his head, "Not that we know of." I nodded my head and looked at Ao'nung and Rotxo. "Those things you rode in on, what do you call them?" Lo'ak laughed, "You mean our Ikran?" I nodded my head, "Yes, the winged creature." Lo'ak laughed again. "They are how we get around the Forest." Rotxo looked at Lo'ak, "So they are like your pets?" Neteyam and Lo'ak both darted their eyes to Rotxo.

"No! Ikran are more than pets. They are family, Ikran only bond and fly with one hunter in the whole lifetime. For you to find your Ikran you must allow it to pick you." Lo'ak said. "Pick you?" I asked. He turned and faced me, "Yes." I gave him a confused look, "How do you know if it wants to pick you?" Neteyam snickered. "It will try and kill you, you must earn the privilege to ride with that Ikran. We all had to do it, all of us except Tuk."

"I see, when you say family, do you mean like Spirit family. Like us with Tulkun." Sorr'en asked. Lo'ak and Neteyam looked confused. "You have not learned this yet, we have not talked to any of you about this." I said looking between Lo'ak and Neteyam. "We should, they need to know." Ao'nung added.

"Sit, the both of you." The brothers nodded as they sat down. "Metkayina people have a special bond with the Tulkun. They are family, we refer to them as our Spirt brothers and sisters. The bond between a reef person and a Tulkun is special. We only see them ever so often so when they return, we celebrate it." Rotxo spoke with a smile.

"Hopefully, you and your family will get to witness and experience it with us." Lo'ak turned to me and gave me a smile. The horn blew and Ao'nung looked at me. "What's happening?" Neteyam asked. "I'm not sure, stay here. Rotxo, Sorr'en stay with them, Ao'nung come." Rotxo nodded as Ao'nung and I got up.

We walked towards the center of the island and saw a small group of our people surrounding our parents. "We are preparing for a very bad storm. There is nothing to worry about right now, but everyone should stay alert." I looked at Ao'nung and he looked at me, "Father never speaks out about storms, it must be serious." I nodded and turned back to pay attention to our parents. 

To be continued...