𝗂𝗇𝗏𝗂𝗌𝗂𝖻𝗅𝖾 𝗌𝗍𝗋𝗂𝗇𝗀, 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙮𝙖𝙢 𝙎𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮

𝗑𝗑𝗂𝗏.

       

𝘛𝘞𝘌𝘕𝘛𝘠－𝘍𝘖𝘜𝘙

        BEING A LEADER WAS SOMETHING Seylu was learning diligently to be. She had to learn how to keep her people calm under pressure, and how to take authority. For an eighteen year old girl, making people listen was a challenge. Nobody wanted to listen to Seylu, so she had to get creative with how to make them listen.

        They swam under the water, jumped through the air, all in an effort to stop Lo'ak from putting himself in danger. Seylu led the way, her mate at her side. Neteyam and Tsireya continuously called after the boy, urging him to return home.

        Lo'ak jumped onto Payakan's back, pulling something from the tulkun's skin. Seylu wasn't close enough to see what it was, but by Lo'ak's panicked words, she assumed it was the tracker. "Lo'ak!" Neteyam yelled as he swam up to Payakan.

        "Bro, come on! Help me out!" Lo'ak shouted as Neteyam crawled up the tulkun's back. "Hurry, the ship's coming!"

        Neteyam helped pull Ao'nung up, and then he reached down, looking for Seylu, who was rubbing Payakan's skin in a calming manner. "Seysey," he called, and Seylu snapped her head over to him. "We need your strength." Neteyam said as Seylu found his arm, tugging herself up with his support.

        Tsireya arrived on the animal, and Ao'nung saw the ship coming closer. "We're doomed." Seylu groaned, realizing how deep the tracker was stuck in Payakan.

        Ao'nung hit her arm as Neteyam told Lo'ak to call their father. Kiri and Tuk moved to calm the distressed tulkun, and Rotxo knelt across from Seylu, helping to pull the device out. "It's getting closer!" Tsireya wailed as they pulled.

        "Mawey, mawey. Pull on my count. Three, two, pull!" Seylu commanded, everybody pulling as hard as they could when Seylu said to.

        Lo'ak suddenly grabbed a rope, looking to Seylu. "Sey, can we use your killer?" Lo'ak asked quickly, and Seylu squinted, guessing he was speaking of her mount.

        She nodded, quickly leaving her post on the animal and jumping onto Ouali. "If he doesn't kill me for this, yeah." she commented, making their bond.

        "Ao'nung!" Lo'ak yelled to the boy, tossing him the other end of the rope.

        Ouali screeched as Neteyam and Seylu tied the rope to his saddle, all while Lo'ak urged him to hurry. Ao'nung and Rotxo tied the other end to the tracker, making the knot tight. "Go, go, go!" Ao'nung shouted to his sister.

        "I'm going!" she shouted back, trying to speak over her shrieking mount. "Ouali, go, hurry!" Seylu yelled, and Ouali groaned, lifting out of the air and flying forward with strength, fighting against the rope.

        Neteyam kept an eye on his agitated mate as he instructed the group to pull. "Everybody together!" Tsireya yelled, failing to avoid being splashed with water from Ouali.

        Ouali screeched, aggressively trying to pull away from Payakan, hopefully taking the tracker with him. "Keep going!" Seylu shouted to the group pulling, as all but her saw smaller ships coming for them.

        Finally, the tracker came out, and Seylu was launched forward off of Ouali as everyone else fell into the sea. Seyu climbed back onto Ouali when he landed in the water, pulling the rope until the tracker was in her hands. "Go, I will lead them away!" Seylu yelled, pointing in the direction she wasn't going in.

        "Okay." Lo'ak agreed, swimming to his ilu.

        "Lo'ak, come." Tsireya called for him, and Seylu rubbed Ouali's head, preparing him to dive.

        Before they could, Neteyam swam over on his ilu. "I'm coming with you. You're not talking me out of this." Neteyam said firmly, and Seylu chuckled.

        "Okay, but you do know I've been trained for war since I was four, right?" she smiled, and Neteyam rolled his eyes as the rest of the group began diving.

        Neteyam tapped his fist to his sternum once. Seylu smiled and called to Ouali, inhaling sharply as they submerged under the water. Neteyam was at her right, and Seylu held the tracking device behind her as she crouched on her tsuark's back.

        Ouali was extremely fast, and Neteyam and his ilu had a struggle to keep up. The device continued beeping as the mates swam through the ocean that Seylu knew how to navigate. Suddenly, large explosions sounded under the water almost directly on Seylu, and Ouali cried while she struggled to stay on the writhing animal.

        Neteyam kept an eye on Seylu and Ouali in worry as more explosions came their way. After a minute or so of the loud weapons landing, they stopped, and Neteyam grabbed the tracker from his mate, dropping it in an arrangement of coral that she wouldn't have been able to see.

        They rose from the water a few moments later, panting as they caught their breath. Seylu scanned the areas around the large ship for her brother and sister, but she could not see anything. "Do you see them?" Seylu asked nervously to Neteyam, squinting in the direction of the ship.

        Neteyam shook his head. "They will be alright. Are you hurt?" he asked, swimming closer to her to check her over.

        "I am fine. Are you?" she questioned.

        Her mate nodded, grasping her hand as she continued to look for their brothers and sisters. She did a double take when she saw two ikrans pulling a net out of the water. "Are there people in there, Teyam?" she asked, moving Ouali closer to the scene.

        Neteyam groaned. "Tsireya, Lo'ak and Tuk," he answered, and Seylu heard the panicked shouts coming from the three children. Neteyam saw her getting into a flying position on Ouali, and grabbed her arm harshly. "You are not going over there, Ma'Seylu." he said firmly, his emotions racing with worry.

        Seylu narrowed her eyes at him, free hand finding her spears. "Watch me. Stay here, and stay safe." she warned, and before Neteyam could utter another word, Seylu was diving below the water, urging Ouali towards the large ship that held her sister.

        She did not care that she could get captured as well, because Seylu knew she had to protect her sister, as well as Neteyam's youngest siblings. There was no hesitation in the girl's mind, because this was war, and she was a warrior for a reason.

꧁꧂༺༻꧁꧂