Moonchild | Neteyam

51

"We were so worried about you," Riik'o then said, "Where have you all been? We tried looking for you. We joined the fight."

Tsireya let go of Erìhe, still holding her arm around her. "We were stuck on the ship," she gave them the simplest explanation that barely covered anything - but it was essentially what happened.

Níawi nodded with a concerned frown, "I'm glad you got away," she whispered. Then her eyes suddenly widened as she remembered something important, "Kiri was taken! Ao'nung and Rotxo told us she was taken onto the ship - one of the skypeople took her."

Erìhe nodded, her lips downturned in the corners in a frown, "Jake and Neytiri went to get her and Tuk."

"Tuk, too?" Riik'o squeaked, but the only response she received was a solemn nod from Erìhe.

"Lo'ak went too," Tsireya whispered worriedly and Erìhe squeezed her shoulder in comfort, whispering back that he would be fine.

Tsireya, Erìhe and Ronal were startled when Aluva let out the loudest gasp they'd ever heard. The sound broke through the silence and Erìhe immediately whirled around to search for the reason of her reaction.

She'd already had time to get her hopes up that Neteyam had woken up, but was vastly disappointed when Aluva pointed to her thigh instead, a horrified expression etched on her face, "You got shot, too!" She stated, "Are you alright?" She questioned and stepped closer with Níawi to inspect the wound.

Níawi held a hand over her mouth as she looked at the horrid injury. "Does it hurt much?"

Well, it did hurt now that they'd mentioned it.

Erìhe grimaced as she poked out her foot, flexing her entire leg to test it. Looking down, she could see that it was hardly bleeding anymore and the water had washed away a lot of the dry blood that crusted her thigh, but it was still a hole in her flesh - a disgusting sight to say the least.

"It stings a little," she admitted, her brows furrowed.

"Come here, girl," Ronal demanded, holding out a hand to bring Erìhe down to the rocks beside her - right next to Neteyam who was still passed out. Aluva exclaimed again when she caught sight of the exit wound: "It went all the way through?"

Erìhe only sniggered as she settled down next to the Tsahik, allowing her to get out her healing balm and gently smear it over the wounds. "I got quite lucky, don't you think?"

Níawi shook her head in disbelief but a small smile appeared on her face. "Unbelievable."

"You certainly did get lucky," the Tsahik agreed with Erìhe, putting away the balm and holding up a long piece of cloth instead. The girl brought her knee up, allowing Ronal to wrap the cloth around her thigh with ease. When she tightened the cloth harshly, Erìhe let out a little sound of protest but pressed her lips together and otherwise said nothing. "You've been moving around too much," Ronal commented, leaning back again once she'd tied a tight knot in the fabric.

"Kind of had no other choice," Erìhe sighed and looked down at Neteyam sadly. She not-so-discreetly moved her hand over to hold his again and lifted it onto her lap, now holding on with both her hands. Her fingers brushed over the bracelet Neteyam had made - the one that was supposed to be given to the one you like - and she remembered they had never exchanged bracelets. Her fault.

Aluva looked down at the two teenagers with a sad look in her eye. When Riik'o turned to look at her apologetically she only averted her gaze and offered the girl a small smile. She'd understood she had no chance with Neteyam for a long time already, ever since he rejected her. Everything in her wanted to be furious with Erìhe but she recognised that he'd never been hers: Erìhe had him first. She was guessing he was hers even when they were children. She knew she'd get over this, and truthfully, she liked Erìhe as her friend far too much to keep holding onto this grudge.

From the moment Erìhe had first kissed Neteyam, she hadn't minded Aluva's feelings for him - at first it had been the satisfaction of her having something the other couldn't have, but now she just didn't let it bother her much. Erìhe still wanted to be her friend, however awkward it would be for a while.

"I hope Lo'ak is fine," Tsireya murmured, glancing at the sinking ship. When Erìhe looked over as well, her eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. She hadn't looked over at the wreck in a while, and now that she did she could see that it was mostly submerged - only partly out of water anymore.

"Is it - is the ship turning over?" Níawi wondered, pointing toward the mothership.

It was indeed turning upside down as they spoke, and they had no way to know wether the Sullys were still on board. The odds weren't looking very good.

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A/n:
I definitely forgot about Aluva, Riik'o, and Níawi