When her father is captured, Nîryni must travel with her best friend but upon meeting a certain Metkayina girl, they both start to see each other as more than just friends.
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●In life people all pay prices for even the most simple moments of happiness. Sometimes that price would be too high but one would never know until it was too late.
Grief was something Nîryni had learned to reject at a young age. If she didn't allow it to take hold then she didn't have to feel it.
When her mother got sick, Sìkve pushed the woman to continue to be active. Always moving and going on random hunts. In truth, he didn't want to accept the way he could feel death slowly seeping into the bond he and Asllä shared. He felt that if she just stopped and rested inside their home then she would inevitably succumb to the illness that took a hold of her. All he cared about was keeping her strong.
Nîryni can remember the way her mother would force her weakened body to comply with her mate's wishes. Unfortunately in his desperate attempt to keep her alive when their medicine failed, he himself had pushed her closer to death. At least that is what he believed.
Even though Äslla fought for four years straight and her mind willed to live, her body could no longer keep her afloat. She had laid down one night to sleep after being exhausted only to never open her eyes again.
Nîryni was only eleven when she died.
The days that followed are the most painful moments in her memories.
Sìkve disappeared for two weeks, leaving her to Jake and Neytiri. And when he returned, he was no longer her father. In his place was a man that pushed her away and was filled with the undeniable coldness of half of his soul being gone forever.
To make it worse Nîryni never complained and simply accepted the harshness her father treated her with because she understood that he wanted her to be strong.
Strong enough to survive anything.
Stronger than her mother.
She lost her childhood innocence and emotions through the process and her hardened heart mirrored that of her father's. They both had decided it was best to reject the mournful feeling of losing the most important woman in their lives.
But Nîryni was still a child and had brief moments where she could no longer hold back the flood of tears. And in those devastating moments of pure despair, Lo'ak brought out the playful and glowing side of her. One that was almost forgotten through her grief. For a while he was the only one able to annoy her enough to break her facade. She didn't allow anyone else to get close.
It was in those times they created a bond on the foundation of the fact he would be her safe haven and in return she would stick by his side no matter what.
If only they realized the price that very bond would cost.
Just maybe that tragic death could have been avoided.
♡
Learning how to live amongst the water clan was a mixture of easy and difficult.
