Absence

Idea 27

Saiya hugged the small girl, wrapping her long arms around her. They stayed still for a few seconds before Saiya stood back at her full height. Kiri hugged Saiya tightly almost knocking the breath out of her as she huffed in hopelessness.

The girls all settled to sit in a circle near the centre of the mauri, Kiri pulled the tiny sea glass stones and thin fabrics from her pouch, getting them ready to make bracelets. They spoke about whatever they could without dampening the mood with tears, and conversations that Tuk could be apart of.

"Pass me the pink" Tuktirey said directed to her sister in an annoyed tone. She had been trying to finalise her bracelet, but she needed one more stone and it seemed to be impossible.
"Ask nicely and maybe i'll give it." Kiri replied, rolling her eyes at her little sister's attitude.
Saiya was barely paying attention to them, her fingers struggling to push the thin string of fabric through the tiny holes of the sea glass.
"I did." Tuk huffed losing grip on her fabric and all of the pebbles falling out back onto the wooden ground.
"No you didn't." Kiri retaliated not noticing her Tuks mess.
"See what you've done!" Tuk cried out standing up in frustration. Her outburst immediately caught the attention of Saiya and her sister.
"This is all your fault!" The young girl yelled again, her eyes watering.
"Tuk-" Saiya tried to chime in and calm her down before being cut off.
"Neteyam would've passed it to me!"

The mauri fell quiet. Kiris eyes filling with tears and face in disbelief.
Tuk immediately regretted her words, not meaning to hurt her sister in anyway at all.
"I'm sorry- I just, I want to go home." She muttered quietly, looking down at the ground. Without wasting a second she practically ran out of Saiya and Neteyams mauri leaving the two older girls on the ground.

"You know she didn't mean it." Saiya comforted, laying her bracelet on the ground her placing her hand on Kiris' thigh.
"But she's right. Neteyam would've passed it to her when she first asked." Kiri admitted, feeling incredibly guilty. She had never once been compared to her older brother, only watching Lo'ak go through the motion. Now she understood how badly it stung.

"I think i'm going to go." Kiri huffed swiping up the last of the stones and putting them back into her pouch along with Tuks unfinished one, leaving Saiya alone on the ground with her finished stone bracelet in front of her.
"I'll visit you later Saiya." The girl said as she walked out, making sure to close the flap behind her.
Saiya said nothing as her gaze remained on the closed flap of the mauri. Suddenly a waft of whatever had been burned outside on the sand creeped its way into Saiyas nose, rattling her stomach.

One of Tonowaris men had been roasting outside but far near the shore, a scent that Saiya couldn't have possibly picked up because of the distance, but she did.
Her hand flew to her mouth as her body hunched over. Quickly she stood and ran over to an empty basket in the corner of the mauri, releasing the harsh vomit that erupted from her throat. She fell to her knees continuing to eject whatever her body had stored inside. The grainy texture left in her throat urged her to drink some water but her body felt weak, making the water even more difficult to attain. She held her stomach, not in pain, but in fear she would be sick again. Smells had become awfully strong and nauseating to her and she had no clue why or how to stop it.

Finding some water allowed her to crawl back into her bed, closing her eyes as she continued holding her stomach. A tear slid down the slope of her nose, across her face to her other eye. She felt as if the family was falling apart in front of her and she was helpless to do anything about it. Neteyam being here meant none of this would've probably happened, if she maybe had spoken up more and told him no when he wanted to save Spider, he might've been here, and she wouldn't be alone.