"I warned you about eating so many." Lo'ak chuckled at Spider, doubled over a few yards from their fire. There had been joking aplenty throughout dinner, but he had tried barring his brother against the juicy plankton meat.
"They were too yummy to pass up." Spider insisted, as he turned back, massaging his stomach. Tuktirey buried her giggles in her hand, though Lo'ak wasn't as tactful. Spider distracted himself by placing more of the gathered dry root into the flames. The night was cool outside the village, where the mangroves couldn't stand guard against the ocean wind. Nonetheless, it was private... quiet. Lo'ak kept a tight circle around the solitary fire with his siblings, Tuktirey pushing her feet through the sand. "Food is saltier here."
"It dries my tongue out." Kiri agreed, but she had never been the biggest eater anyway. Tuk stuck her tongue out, which Kiri mimicked. Both giggled, but it faltered, as if pulled away with the next wave. Spider changed his position to kneeling as silence descended. They were far down the beach from the village, where the mangroves gave way to a forest. The large shadows in-between the tree trunks alluded to a larger land then any of the islands stretched across the seaboard. Farther still, through the thick of the reef, the Cove of the Ancestors glowed in the growing night.
They had wanted it this way- removed, quiet, and together. There was a singularity in their tradition of songs... each member versing their own as their life unfolded. This symbolized the unity, even through the diversity of life, as change was felt by all. This time... Kiri had practically read Lo'ak's mind. They didn't want to do this alone, add Neteyam to their songcords. Individual stories were taught to be treasured. Yet, here they were.
Would it make them feel even a little better? Lo'ak took the lead, undoing his songcord. His sisters followed suite and Spider readied the seagrass they'd dried. It would be weaved first, made strong to connect the amber beads to the rest of their stories. As any of the clans, each differred in length, color, the size and shape of the many pebbles or bones that marked... everything. Normally, songcords showed the variety of life. This time, it bound them closer. How did one start a song like that?
That was the problem... Lo'ak, at least, didn't even want to start. It will... make it real.
Yet, here they were. And their eyes were on him; expecting what would've come naturally to Neteyam. Lo'ak felt his mouth open. There's nothing. I'm in the same place as you.
"There's no pressure." Spider surprisingly spoke, voice heavy for reasons other than his mask. "That's the last thing he'd want us to feel. He was... good at that; embracing others." he exhaled slowly. "You all are."
Lo'ak choked momentarily, holding his bead up to catch the rays of firelight. "Remember the day we followed some run-off to that pool?"
Spider laughed softly. "Only it was a whirlpool. We barely made it out."
Swxang. Neteyam had said; even when he'd been the one to find it!
"I will puncture them." Kiri gestured for their beads, her bone needle resting in the fire. They set to it, more naturally then Lo'ak expected. Was it always so awkward, moving others forward, making the ultimate decisions? Did that fall to him now, with Mom and Dad even more distracted by the growing war? Lo'ak gripped the brittle strands Spider handed him, ignoring his inner questions.
They spent several minutes in preparation. Tuk worked quickly, to no surprise, and Spider suggested that she help with his cord. Being his first bead, he was treating it with more significance than the rest of them. He grinned as Tuk guided his fingers. "You're great at this."
Tuk accepted the praise heartily- frowning next at the sound of a sniffle. Everyone looked toward Kiri, who was working her needle through a bead. Lo'ak reached for her shoulder. "Sister?"
Kiri stayed focused on the needle. "It is, foolish. Everything was chaos and- there was no way to know. But, I keep thinking of healing him at High Camp," She stifled a hiccup, measured the moons lying far away in the sky. "The thoughts of repaying him for always being there." She stopped; eyes closed now to the sky- as though the words caused physical pain. "I can't help asking... if I had been there..."
"Kiri, no." Lo'ak told her, a hand to her arm. She stiffened but didn't pull away. Rather, she steadied herself. And began a verse. "Oeyä zamunge nelex keyéung pay... nuä-pxey tsmukan txkxe a txanatan trr wem po key."
Her words fell between speech and song. Tuk scurried for her own cord, facing the fire in earnest. "Tarep sneyä ftu txopu. Srung lisre-Payakan. Oeyä sìlronsem tsmukan keyéung pay."
They smiled in spite of themselves; Tuk was the closest to Mom's gentle melodies. Kiri passed Spider his bead. He stared, adding his own whisper. "Tätxaw kelku tawtute'upe kämamunge... Oeyä zamunge nelex keyéung pay."
Lo'ak's throat closed on the verse he'd prepared. I made him go back.
Spider clasped the bead in his fist instead of attaching it. "I'd rather be captive then him dead!"
"Don't say such things." Kiri wiped Tuk's cheeks, eyes bright above the fire. Spider's voice came at her sharply. "What else can I say? It'd make things better, wouldn't it? Neytiri hates me, while Jake- pities me."
"That's not true." Kiri insisted, eyeing Lo'ak for back-up. But Spider shook his head, insistent. "Finish the song."
"Spider-"
His brother's eyes welled, pleading. "Let me bear what's mine."
You mean guilt. Lo'ak could've laughed. He pushed air out and tried to take it back in. "I can't... we don't blame you. All I think about is every hurtful thing I said to Neteyam. Looking down on him for- doing things I couldn't. Blaming him- Now, every breathe, action I take feels like a cheat or an insult. It's so unfair!"
He drove a fist into the sand, but it didn't hurt enough! Why couldn't he be numb, like Dad? Form a thought without suffocating in grief? Tears hit the sand around his fist. They let the fire speak between them, until Tuk pressed Lo'ak's bead into his hand, repeating Spider's verse. Lo'ak thought, then sighed. "Neteyam wem fxo'kunshìp, slä tsat wem nì'eyng..."
He could still hear the shots, in and out of his dreams. He turned his head to the water, making the tears less obvious. "Ma'sempul meyam pohan mìtsknes. Pohan 'awstengyamem Ewya... ro'txon'ongmaw."
"Oeyä zamunge nelex keyéung pay." Kiri wiped her own eyes now, looping the bead onto the end of her songcord.
"Lahe tsamsiyu hu'pizayus." Spider finished, the reflection off his mask hiding half his face. Tuk sniffed. "When I give my children piggybacks, I will think of my brave brother in the water."
In spite of the sadness, they had to chuckle. The small joy in that was welcomed.
}{}{}{}{
The 'lyrics' kids were singing on the beach (it was so much fun writing this):
Our brave brother in the water
Beyond Three Brothers Rock, the day was bright when he fought
To save his family from fear, helped by Payakan
Our smart, big brother in the water
To return home what Sky People had taken
Our brave brother in the water
Neteyam fought the demon ship, but it fired back
Father held him on the rocks; he joined Ewya at eclipse
Our brave brother in the water
Another warrior joins the ancestors