Rivals || Lo'ak Sully

Chapter 21: "Fluffy" 💫

(POV: Lo'ak)

He hated it.

Hated it so much that he felt like punching someone and that's definitely not what he wants.

As soon as he woke up that morning, the day was going worse than it could have possibly been.

First, his weapon broke again, that meant additional time for fixing and repairing. Lo'ak didn't mind it at all but it was so time consuming that he felt like his time could've been spent with more purpose.

But that wasn't the worst part of the day, nor was the awful new species of birds who started roaming around his hut and making incredibly unpleasant sounds and not giving him an easy time sleeping.

The worst part was actually the one that should've been the best. Lo'ak knew that his close friend is back and it was not the first and last time that Txarey'kan travels to help his family. Every time he comes back, Lo'ak feels excited and seeing him brightens up even the darkest of days because that's what friends do.

But not this time.

Lo'ak was on his way to fetch a new pair of arrow ends when his arrow fell and he bent over to pick it up. His eyes quickly moved up as he stumbled across a surprisingly disturbing view.

He saw Txarey'kan's back and smiled to himself but that smile quickly turned into a frown when his friend turned around.

With Ma'i in his arms.

Lo'ak felt air being sucked out of his soul. Ma'i looked so happy, he could tell it from her lowered ears and closed eyes as he saw her relax into his friends arms. Txarey'kan brushed his hand on the girl's back and Lo'ak felt something inside his stomach turn as his body became hot. It felt like it's burning. His eyes squinted and brows furrowed as he tried to get a better glimpse of his friends. Lo'ak saw as Txarey'kan whispered something to Ma'i and her face lit up like he just said the best words one can ever mutter.

And suddenly he felt like punching someone.

That someone might as well be Txarey'kan.

A loud noice echoed through the area and he looked down at the broken arrow. Lo'ak didn't even notice how hard he was gripping it until it was left in ruins.

His eyes drifted back to his friends but seeing them so close almost made him flinch. So he quickly turned around and moved his body somewhere else. Somewhere further from them.

Lo'ak didn't understand why he was suddenly feeling like this. It didn't make sense to him. He should've been truly happy that his friend was back. He should've wanted to spend time with him. He should've went to him and pat his back saying something funny and welcoming.
But instead all he could think about was how close he pressed Ma'i into his chest.

And that smile she had on her face.

It did something to him and his stomach turned again.

Lo'ak was so into his thoughts that he didn't even notice where he went until his feet felt the sand. He jolted to a stop. Fresh air hit his nostrils and he exhaled softly as his eyes roamed around.

It looked like an oasis: fresh water and air, beautiful scenery. He could notice a few animals wandering around and smiled to himself. His knees folded as he bent down to pet the fluffy animal who was currently trying to climb up his feet.

"Hello there."

Lo'ak smiled as his hand brushed the soft fur. The little animals eyes were so big as he sniffed and looked up at Lo'ak that it felt like they could fall out.

He looked very young, maybe a few months old and Lo'ak started thinking about his family.

"Where is your mother, little one?"

He looked up to see if there are any other animals around the area but he couldn't see anyone or anything that could indicate this one's family existence.

"Are you lost?"

Lo'ak smiled again as the animal slowly moved against his hand.

Others would definitely find this cute. Especially Ma'i.

A sudden crash sound echoed through the area as everything moved in the matter of seconds. Thousands of animals moved towards Lo'ak and he instinctively bent into a ball-like-position but he saw that they ran past him, further into the space. He looked down only to be welcomed by presence of emptiness from his new fluffy friend's side.

And that's when Lo'ak heard the voices.