Thanatophobia | Ao'nung

⋆˚✿˖°ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟚𝟡⋆˚✿˖°

"I thought your father said your family was done with war."

Ni'la looked at Ao'nung before she stood up, "What are you talking about?"

"Sky people went to a village not far from here asking if they knew where your father was. Why are they still looking for your family if your family is done with war?" He said, walking towards Ni'la.

"Was anyone hurt?" She asked.

"Does it matter to you?"

"What?" Ni'la narrowed her eyes at the boy.

"It doesn't seem that you or your family care about anyone else but yourselves. Because if they did, you would have stayed back at your original clan instead of bringing your problems here," Ao'nung stood dangerously close to the girl as she looked up at him with a burning rage.

Who did he think he was? He had no idea why she and her family left. He had no idea the things she and her family had sacrificed to protect themselves. The things she would give, the things she would do, to have been able to grow up the way the Metkayina children did.

It seemed surreal to Ni'la that the children of the Metkayina clan were able to grow up without constantly having to look over their shoulders. They were allowed to live without the constant fear that the Sky people would come back and rip everything they loved away from them.

Of course, Ni'la knew the Sky people wouldn't have stopped at the Omatikaya clan if they were to have forced the Omatikaya people into submission. They would have continued to try and take other clans' land, but that didn't mean she wasn't jealous of those children who got to grow up in a peaceful environment.

"Is that what you want?" Ni'la questioned. "Do you want us to go back home, and forget everything that we've built here? Would me and my family leaving make you happy?" She snapped.

"No, but I wish your family would start taking responsibility for their actions," He crossed his arms over his chest as he looked away from Ni'la's fiery gaze.

"You don't know anything about my family. You have no idea what we've sacrificed to protect our people, to protect the ones we love," She said, clenching and unclenching her fists.

"What about the people I love? Huh? What am I supposed to do when the Sky people come here because they're looking for your family?" Ao'nung raised his voice.

"As long as they don't fight the Sky people, nothing will happen to them. They only want me and my family," Ni'la spit.

"And what happens when that isn't enough? What happens when they aren't satisfied with just taking you and your family?" He asked, causing Ni'la to scoff.

"Don't be stupid, Ao'nung," She looked at him bewildered. "If the Sky people find me and my family, they'll kill us. That's the reason we left home. They've already tried to do it once," She responded.

"So, you're going to continue to run away and put others at risk for harboring you?" Ao'nung questioned. "You're just going to up and leave because things got too hard?"

"You act like it's easy!" Her voice cracked, causing Ao'nung's expression to soften. "You have no idea what it's like to constantly live in fear. What it's like to pray that your family comes back safe to you every single day. You have no idea what it's like to leave your entire life behind," She continued as Ao'nung continued to let her speak. "All of us sacrificed something leaving home because we didn't want our people to die. We thought it would be safe here."

"But it's not safe here, they burned down an entire village looking for all of you," He said, and Ni'la felt a lump start to form in the back of her throat. "I'm sorry," She said softly.