𝗂𝗇𝗏𝗂𝗌𝗂𝖻𝗅𝖾 𝗌𝗍𝗋𝗂𝗇𝗀, 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙮𝙖𝙢 𝙎𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮

𝗑.

        

𝘛𝘌𝘕

AFTER EVERY KILL, SEYLU ALWAYS thanked the animal she killed. It was out of respect, and out of appreciation. The hunting party always utilized every part of the animals they killed, wasting nothing and thanking the animals for everything. They used the meat of the fish for food, the scraps as extra food for the tsuraks and ilus, the scales as saddle parts.

       The hunting party moved to the coral towers littered with arrays of fish and patterned anemones. Seylu grunted beneath the water to Neteyam, nodding to a school of hammerbrow fish. The other hunters dispersed throughout the water, collecting only what they needed and nothing more.

        Seylu threw her spear after focusing on the school of fish for close to a minute, stabbing two fish in their hearts, killing them instantly and painlessly. She nodded to Neteyam, who readied his crossbow. He shot a fish in the middle of its body, leaving it writhing in the water.

        Quickly, Seylu threw an arrow in said fish's heart, giving Neteyam a praising nod. They would work on his aim. Seylu killed two more fish, looking at Neteyam, silently telling him to take another shot. He raised his crossbow, and Seylu could tell that his aim was off. It was an intuition she had.

        She placed her hands over his, redirecting his aim with the bow. She looked over at him, finding him with a gaze on her. Neteyam suddenly felt a surge of confusion, and he knew it did not come from him. He wasn't confused about anything. Seylu nodded her head towards the fish, letting go of Neteyam. He quickly focused, shooting two fish at the same time.

        After Neteyam caught three more fish and Seylu caught two more, (an extra for her pregnant mother) they collected their kills and resurfaced with the rest of the hunting party. Seylu called her ilu over, panting as she pulled herself onto the animal, spears in hand.

        "Are you alright?" Neteyam asked, climbing onto his own ilu.

        Seylu nodded. "The focusing takes a lot out of me. Makes my head hurt." she said, closing her eyes. Randomly, she felt sympathy, and she looked at Neteyam in confusion, finding him watching the coral below the water.

        The rest of the hunting party collected their kills and mounted their ilus. "How'd your forest boy do, Seylu?" Sor'ile taunted, holding his spears across his lap.

        "How'd you do, little fisher?" Seylu asked, and Neteyam smiled to himself at her words.

        Sor'ile chuckled. "Five, sweetheart. What about him?" he smirked, some of his other friends chuckling with him.

        Seylu recoiled, her face twisted in disgust. "I am not your sweetheart, Sor'ile, do not ever call me that again. Neteyam caught six, so be careful with your words." she said, rolling her eyes at the boy. Seylu yipped to the hunting party, and they left the area, swimming back to the communal pod. Neteyam smiled at her authority, following her.

        They dove off of their ilus and resurfaced, climbing onto the netting and venturing into the communal pod to clean their kills. Seylu and Neteyam sat beside each other, pulling their dead fish from their bags, each laying one on a woven seaweed slab to gut it.

        "I will help you, just do what I do." Seylu said quietly to Neteyam, pulling her knife from its holder. Neteyam nodded, grabbing his own knife.

        Seylu sliced the underside of her fish, giving the innards to Ouali and her ilu. Neteyam followed her every move carefully, watching her intently. Seylu sliced the scales off each fish, placing them in the large basket in the center of the pod. She removed the heads and the tails, tossing them into the ocean.

        When each fish was cleaned, Seylu directed Neteyam in wrapping each fish in paper to keep it safe, before they placed the wrappings in their waist bags. "You caught enough for your family?" Seylu asked Neteyam, cleaning her spears, arrows and knife.

       Neteyam nodded, cleaning his knife and arrows beside her. "Yeah. Thank you." Seylu thought it was amusing how he followed her around like a lost animal.

        "You're welcome. You did well. You should start hunting with us more often." Seylu spoke, putting her knife away. She adjusted her shell armband, the early light catching the jewels embedded within it.

        Neteyam smiled. "I think I will." he said, seeing Tsireya enter the communal pod with a large smile on her face.

        The young girl walked over to her older sister, kneeling behind her and placing her arms around her neck. "Which one are you? Tsireya?" Seylu asked, trying to distinguish Ao'nung from Tsireya based on the arms around her.

        Tsireya nodded. "Yes, it's me. Would Ao'nung ever willingly hug you?" she said, and Seylu held onto Tsireya's arms, looking behind her to see her sister's face. "How was your hunt?" she asked, smiling at Neteyam and sitting beside Seylu.

        "It was good, Neteyam did great." Seylu said, adjusting the bag of fish around her waist, glancing at the boy. Neteyam smiled, placing his wrapped fish in his bag.

        Tsireya nodded, reaching to adjust Seylu's necklace. "Mother already harvested the crops. She is getting uneasy with the baby." she explained, and Seylu sighed.

        "Let us settle her, then," Seylu said, standing up. She faced Neteyam, who had also risen. "We are going to the cove later, us, Ao'nung, Rotxo and Kiri. You should come with Lo'ak and Tuk." the girl said, the group of three leaving the communal pod, Tsireya guiding Seylu.

       "When?" Neteyam asked as they walked through the village.

        "Just before eclipse." said Tsireya, her bubbly voice returning.

        The girls arrived at their mauri, bidding Neteyam goodbye once he agreed to come to the cove. The sisters entered through the flap, finding their mother flitting about the pod. She turned when she saw them, seeing Seylu removing her waist bag full of fish from her body, placing them in the basket in front of the fire.

        Seylu took a partially done top from her mother's hands, settling herself on her mat to help Ronal complete it. It was for the baby, and Seylu smiled when she saw the small thing. She was quite excited to have a new infant brother or sister. She hoped it was a boy.

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