The Breath of Water | Neteyam

50 • Sandcastles

A/N: Woah! A double upload?! 😮🤭😎 enjoy~

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Neytiri had finally managed to finish her family's ioi after all of recent time's events. They came out exceptionally well, and beautiful. She could already imagine her family wearing everything, the sight bringing a tear to her eye. She had decided to make Neteyam some sort of Ikran-rider tights, but in a more fancy way that would be proper for the festival. She did the same for Jake, Kiri, and Lo'ak, since they rode Ikran as well. She didn't want them (the kids) to forget where they came from, but also not wanting to tell them that their forest life is all they should know, so she also incorporated use of items from the sea—a few coral pieces and some shorestones. She also managed to get a few bejeweled 'ali'ä (choker) and fkxile (bib necklace) for her family.

"Thank you so much, Kinat. For helping me with my daughters' ioi, for letting me make the rest here, and for making me one. I am so grateful for you." Neytiri spoke, hugging the woman tightly.

"Of course, Neytiri." She looked into her eyes as she pulled away. "You can always come to me anytime you need my help, okay?"

Neytiri nodded, grabbing her stuff that she had wrapped carefully in a sack. She gave one last head bow to Kinat, then left out of her pod to go to her own.

Upon her arrival, she saw that it was empty, much to her benefit. She could hide the sacks in a nice place, hoping to surprise her family later at night when they had all returned. She set them down carefully in a corner nearest to her snonivi, making it look like nothing special. But then she thought about if it looked too 'unspecial', that her family might set some stuff on it and end up messing it up. She then decided to have it sitting up on the wall, instead, so it would look like something important, but not revealing the contents of what was inside.

She couldn't wait for the night.

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"Lo'ak, try adding some seaweed..." Kiri said, staring at the sandcastle that her, her brother, Tsireya, and surprisingly, Aonung were working on. Neteyam and Liyanin were nearby, the latter working on the former's nikroi that she always got interrupted in making. She was sitting between Neteyam's legs, the boy braiding parts of her hair and decorating it with various beads Omatikaya style, but adding in some shells to keep that reef feel present; he was very focused on this task.

Since her hair was in his hands, he felt something different about it. "Liya, did your hair get...thicker?"

"Ah, yes, it did," she replied. "It is because of last night. It grew, but it went back to its normal length when I woke up. I guess the thickness stayed."

"Aonung, what are you doing there?!" Tsireya shouted, seeing him gouge out a part of the castle. Lo'ak looked to see why she was yelling, then saw what the other boy had done. He had scooped out his watchtower.

"Bro! Why did you do that! That was my part!" Lo'ak shouted, dropping the tiny pieces of seaweed he had collected. He stomped over to him, Kiri rushing to stop him before a fight broke out.

"It did not look right. You should move it someplace else." Aonung spat, shrugging his shoulders.

"This is supposed to be a team-building exercise, guys. Let us stop ruining the mood, yes?" Kiri asked in a passive-aggressive tone.

"...fine." Lo'ak said, unexpectedly agreeing, but he then carefully walked over to where Aonung had made a weaponry. Aonung's uncaring attitude had immediately disappeared and transformed into that of a worried one, his eyes widening upon the realization of what Lo'ak was about to do. Before he could even fully stand up, Lo'ak's foot had completely crushed the sandy weaponry, twisting his heel deep into it to make sure no one could tell what it once was. "...this didn't look right either." Lo'ak shot back, a smirk on his face. Aonung got up, wanting to pummel his face in, but the girls held both of their brothers back by their tails.