Skxawng • Neteyam

7

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"What the hell was that?" She bursts out laughing as Lo'ak tries to do the trick she's shown them on their ikran. The key to the trick was trust. "Lo'ak, you must learn that your ikran won't let you fall."

"She just flashes around and doesn't go down smoothly like you." Lo'ak pouts, and the ikran from under him screeches. Yeriyah flies closer until their wings are almost touching.

"It takes some time, Lo'ak. You only just started an hour ago." She smiled softly at him. "You're a good rider, and you have to trust yourself too."

Yeriyah knew Lo'ak perhaps was hard on himself, going after a brother who'd gotten it on the first try, only to almost fall to his death. Luckily he was okay, but after that, he'd felt the world's weight on his shoulders. The younger, sully boy smiled at her.

"Thank you, Riyah." He smiles. "You know, Neteyam is going to be mad we started without him."

She waves him off. "Forget about Neteyam. Go again." Yeriyah watched him try and fail again. She coached him threw it the best she could, but it was mostly trial and error. The trick itself wasn't hard. It was growing the balls to fall limply in the air with your ikran and narrowly missing the ground.

A few tries later was when she heard Neteyam's ikran calling from behind her. She turned to look over her shoulder at Lo'ak's brother. "You started without me!" He cries.

"Yeah, nice of you to finally show up!" Riyah yells as Lo'ak makes his way over to them.

"Yeah, bro. Where have you been?" Lo'ak asks.

"I was just running late. Tuk was talking to me." Neteyam waves his brother off before turning to Riyah. "Are you going to demonstrate before I start?"

She eyed him for a little longer before replying. "I suppose I could do that for you."

Yeriyah flew up a little before stopping. She turned to the side so the boys could watch better as her ikran stopped, and Yeriyah happily free falls with her ikran. She had time to kick her legs out more before pulling herself back and levelling just above the tree line.

When she looked back up at the boys, they were both clapping. She laughed to herself as she made her way over. The feeling gave her such a rush of adrenaline. "Woo!" She cheers when they are able to hear her.

"It's so weird to watch," Neteyam notes. "It looks like you've both just..."

"Died."

"Yeah." He nods.

She purses her lips. "It could be useful in a war. A way to distract enemies and make them think you're dead. It could be used as a getaway if you ever need it."

"What war?" Lo'ak snorts.

"With the threat of Sky People, war is never off the table," Yeriyah warns him. Neteyam grows quiet. His father is Olo'eyktan, and being the oldest son, he's heard the stories of the Sky People. Now that he's getting older, his father informs him of more and more things that are happening.

"She's right, Lo'ak," Neteyam says. "I want to see you try it first, bro."

"No way! I have been doing it. You're going first." Lo'ak replies, making Neteyam scoff, but he goes out nonetheless. The urge to prove Yeriyah wrong and master it quickly overtook all his needs. Yeriyah and Lo'ak watched side by side as he hesitated. They remained quiet and gave him the time he needed. Although she knew Lo'ak was itching to yell something.