MOON RIVER | Ao'nung

chapter eight.

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Jake and her brother walked into the marui and Neyali rushed to her brother's side, taking a look at their faces. She didn't have time to see if they had gotten hurt during the fight and was glad to see they weren't hurt too badly.

"What was the one thing I asked? The one thing" Jake said as he looked intently at the three of them.

"Stay out of trouble" Lo'ak answered.

"Stay out of trouble! Right" Jake said.

Before Lo'ak could hear anymore of their father's words, Neteyam intervened "It was my fault"

"I don't think so. You gotta stop takin' the heat for this knucklehead" Jake told Neteyam.

"And you" Jake said, turning to look at his daughter. He quickly scanned her body for any bruises, but found none. Her braids were a little disheveled but that was it.

"I expect more from you Neyali"

Neyali tried not to wince at her fathers words "I wasn't going to let them beat my brothers up dad"

Jake looked displeased with her answer, but before he could comment on it, Lo'ak spoke up.

"Look, dad. Ao'nung was picking on Kiri. He called her a freak"

Neyali looked at the floor embarrassed. She couldn't believe she was friends with someone who would ever bully her siblings. She felt ashamed of herself and disappointed. She should have known better.

Jake glanced at Neyali before turning his face and scrunching it, letting out a sigh "Go apologize to Ao'nung"

"What?" Lo'ak asked in disbelief.

"He's the chief's son. Do you understand?"

Jake shook his head "I don't care how you do it. Just go make peace. Just go" He said as he stepped aside, allowing Lo'ak to leave.

Neyali and Neteyam start making their way to leave as well.

"Hey" Jake spoke up.

Neteyam and Neyali both turned their heads at the same time and Jake tried not to laugh at how much they looked alike.

"So what'd the other guys look like?"

Neyali stayed quiet, not wanting to speak at the moment.

"Worse," Neteyam answered after a moment of silence.

"That's good" Jake said.

"A lot worse," Neteyam added with a cheeky smile.

Jake looked at his daughter who was too busy staring at the ground. Neteyam could tell that their father wanted to tell her something, but Jake decided against it.

"Get outta here" He said.

Neteyam grabbed onto his sister's hand and led her out of the marui.

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Once they were far away enough Neyali spoke up "Did you know about it?"