The Breath of Water | Neteyam

42 • Like a Supernova

"Holding oneself back in love...it is one of the hardest things one can do, for it takes such an unfathomable amount of strength to do so."
｡ﾟ(ﾟ｀ﾟ)ﾟ｡
.
•

Before they all had left, one of the markers went back to Neteyam.

"Right, what is your name?" She asked, but he didn't reply right away, instead he seemed to be in a daze. She looked at his face, then clapped to bring him back to his senses. It worked, for he blinked his eyes twice and finally realized he was being spoken to.

"Oh, um...sorry. Wha...what did you say?" He said, stumbling a bit over his words.

"I asked for your name."

"...it..." he blinked again, shaking his head. "...it is Neteyam."

She nodded, then turned around to swim back to shore. Neteyam had started feeling drowsy and heavy, like he couldn't hold up his body's weight anymore. His new mount had squirmed from under him, realizing something was wrong.

"...let us get back." He said to the tsurak, rubbing the side of its head. He leaned a bit forward on it for support as they rode.

----------------------------------------

"Kaysitxi, first daughter of Zukeki and Rekrawin, is the seventh winner of this year's second phase, and will be moving on to the third and final phase!" Tonowari shouted. He cleared his throat afterwards, realizing he had been yelling a lot as he turned towards his family. "This is certainly going on longer than I had anticipated, this phase usually goes by much faster." He mentioned, laughing a bit.

"I wonder who the next winner will be," Ronal said to him, her hand on his back.

Liyanin was relentlessly fiddling with her fingers, looking out at sea. There would only be two more winners left, and Neteyam still hadn't shown up. Tsireya could see her sister's nerves, and so she placed her hand on her shoulder to try and ease her troubles.

"...you do not think something happened to him, do you?" Liyanin wondered aloud, the nerves present in her voice; any sane person could hear the shake of that last syllable.

"Liya, there would have surely been news if something did." Tsireya told her, careful with the intonation of her words. However, her sister was still fidgeting, so she saw fit to bring up another topic. "...Aonung still hasn't shown up...I do not think he will be passing on to the next round." She laughed, hoping to get a reaction out of her. But nothing on Liyanin's face changed; it was as if she didn't hear a word she had just said.

"Ronal, my love, could you announce the last two winners, please?" Tonowari asked her, making his voice more soft to up the chances of her saying yes. She sighed, seeing right through his ploy, but still obliged. She walked over to the edge so she could see who would be riding in next easier.

About fifteen minutes passed, and the Na'vi on the beach could finally see some more Na'vi riding in. The crowd started to make noises and chatter, eager to find out who the eighth winner would be. Masanai's attention was recaptured, for she, too, wanted to see who it was.

"The sum atxep of Eastern Coral Wall has been found by...Neteyam!"

Upon hearing this, the Sully family's ears all perked up and they were caught in disbelief. Jake and Neytiri were staring at each other, the latter's hands over her mouth. Kiri, Tuk, and Lo'ak however immediately ran over to the shore, wanting to see their brother; the parents soon followed them as well.

Liyanin's mood instantly shifted, and she couldn't contain her smile. She felt like a huge weight was lifted off of her shoulders. She wanted nothing more than to rush down there, but she knew that would raise many questions. So instead, she just gazed at him as he rode in carefully. But she noticed something was wrong with him; not only that, but he had a tsurak!