Thanatophobia | Ao'nung

⋆˚✿˖°ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟙𝟛⋆˚✿˖°

"You what?!" Ni'la shrieked as she looked at Ao'nung with wide eyes.

"I took him out beyond the reef and left him there," Ao'nung mumbled but stumbled back once he saw Ni'la launch herself at him. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" She yelled before Neteyam wrapped his arms around her to pull her away from the Metkayina boy.

"Ni'la, go back to the pod," Jake ordered.

"But-"

"Now!" Jake yelled, and the girl begrudgingly went back into the pod as her mother walked out to see what was going on.

As she sat with Tuk, she saw her mother and father storm away to tell Tonowari what had happened so a search party could be sent out for him. How could Ao'nung do something so cruel? Why would he take Lo'ak out beyond the reef and then leave him there? Why did he have to be such an idiot?

However, Ni'la couldn't let what Ao'nung had done get to her because she had Tuk to take care of. So, instead of leaving to find her brother, she was playing ikrans with her sister while they all waited to see if anyone could find Lo'ak. Everyone in the Sully family hoped and prayed that Lo'ak would come back safe. But the sun had already gone down, and there still wasn't any sight of him, which meant it made their search ten times harder.

Their chances of finding Lo'ak before it was too late were slim to none, and if anything happened to Lo'ak, Ao'nung would pay. Ni'la didn't care what his parents did to him because if her baby brother didn't return, she would probably kill him.

Eventually, Kiri helped her twin distract the youngest Sully child as Tuk started to ask questions about what was happening outside the pod. Neither of the girls wanted to tell their sister, otherwise, Tuk would freak out.

"Why can't you guys tell me what's going on?" Tuk whined.

"Because it's grown-up stuff," Kiri explained, and Tuk pouted. "But I'm a grown-up!" She insisted, and the twin girls snorted.

"Don't grow up too fast, Tuk Tuk," Ni'la ruffled her sister's hair.

"Hey! I don't want Mama to have to redo my hair!" She said, whisper-shouting the last sentence.

After their conversation, Tuk decided to let it go for a little while, but as time continued to pass, and Lo'ak still had yet to return, the girls felt themselves starting to panic.

Now, everyone was yelling Lo'ak's name as more warriors were sent out to search for the boy, and about ten minutes later, a horn was blown. "The Sully boy has returned!" A man announced. All three girls hopped onto their feet and ran out of the pod to see Lo'ak getting off a man's ilu before turning around.

Once Lo'ak's eyes landed on Ao'nung, he set his eyes on his target until Jake stood in front of him to block his view. "Hey, let's have a look at you," Jake looked down to inspect Lo'ak for any injuries.

Ni'la watched as her mother walked through the crowd and over to her youngest son, "I pray for the strength that I will not pluck the eyeballs out from my son!" She hissed, grasping her hand at Lo'ak's face, causing him to look down.

"No," Tonowari said, "My son knows better than to take him outside the reef. The blame is his."

The two oldest Sully children shot daggers with their eyes into the side of the Metkayina boy as Tonowari forced his son to kneel in front of Lo'ak. Whispers echoed all around as people talked about how disgraceful Ao'nung's actions were, and when Ni'la looked at Lo'ak she saw something flash across his face.

He better not do what I think he's gonna do. The girl thought to herself.

"No, this is not Ao'nung's fault," Lo'ak said, and Ni'la sighed as he did what she thought he was going to do.