Kiri giggled as Lia splashed water at her with the ilu.

The two sisters were enjoying a swim with the ilu under the blazing sun, exploring as much of the sea as they could.

In the distance, she caught sight of Aonung carrying a basket in his arms.

Accompanying him were Neteyam and Rotxo. It looked like they were preparing to go somewhere.

A gust of wind blew the lid off the basket and smacked Aonung in the face as her brother and Rotxo laughed.

Lia chuckled.

"What's so funny?"

Kiri looked at her sister.

She followed Lia's gaze and laughed when she saw what had happened.

It was clear that Aonung was pissed off, while Neteyam was clutching onto the lid.

"Don't tell me Loak's with Tsireya again," Kiri said once their laughter subsided.

"Leave him, he's probably too busy being in love." Lia joked, to which Kiri just scrunched her nose in disgust.

"Yuck! She could do better than our scrawny ass brother."

"Kiri!" Lia splashed water at her as she laughed gleefully.

Personally, she thought they made the perfect pair.

While Loak is a troublemaker prone to reckless behavior, Tsireya is sensible and good-natured. If anything, she would be the perfect mate to keep her brother under control and out of trouble.

"Hey! Lia, right?"

Their attention was caught by a voice, and they turned to see Amife, Sylvon, and another young girl riding on the ilu.

Lia nodded. "And you're Amife?"

"Just call me Ami," she giggled. "By the way, these are my friends, Sylvon and Faytu."

"Hey," they replied, smiling at Lia and Kiri.

"This is Kiri, my younger sister," she gestured to Kiri who just flashed them a faint smile.

She didn't like the vibe these girls were giving. It was similar to when Tufe and that other boy approached her.

They pretend to be friendly, then they let their true colors show.

"So, have you guys explored most of the area yet?" Amife questioned.

Lia shook her head. "Not really."

"Great!" Her ears perked up excitedly. "There's a really cool place that my girls and I like to go from time to time."

Then she turned to look at Sylvon and Faytu.

"In fact, we were actually gonna go there. Did you want to come with us?"

Surprised by their sudden offer, Lia and Kiri exchanged glances.

Kiri shook her head, uncertainty in her eyes. She didn't like where this was going. She was more of a play-it-safe girl while Lia was a risk-taker.

"Come on, it'll be fun, I swear," Amife beckoned. "Plus, it's got a great view of the island."

"What do you mean?" Lia's eyebrows creased together in confusion.

"Oh, we have to go over the reef to get there."

Now, Kiri was definitely against the idea. Going over the reef was a red flag, especially since they had just learned to ride the ilu.

Compared to where they are now, the waves and sea were more dangerous and less forgiving.

"I don't know about this, Lia..." Kiri bit her lip as she placed a hand on Lia's forearm.

"Don't worry, Kiri. She'll be fine with us," Sylvon reassured her.

The three girls moved forward on their ilu, waving to Lia.

"Come on! We don't have all day."

Lia sighed, patting Kiri's head. "I'll go check it out and see. If it's as beautiful as they say, I'll come back and take you, yeah?"

"Okay... but I still don't think you should go."

"Remember what dad say? Make friends while we're here."

Kiri nodded with a heavy sigh. "Fine, I'll be waiting then."

She then splashed water on Lia who laughed as she followed after them. Still, Kiri couldn't help but worry. Her sister was a bit too kindhearted, incapable of saying no to anyone.

Lia gripped the reigns of the ilu as she and the girls rode toward the reef, diving underwater and coming back up.

In truth, she was a little nervous. However, it was too late to back out now.

As they approached the giant wave, she quickly took a deep breath and dove right through it with the ilu. Her fingers nearly slipped off the rein.

Now, they were over the reef.

In the course of their journey, the girls hooted and cheered. The water was calm now as they gathered together on the surface.

"That was fun, right?!" Amife exclaimed, a grin on her face.

Lia nodded, "Sure."

Even though she almost died.

The girls laughed at her response. Just then, they see a vast wave approach them. Lia quickly realized how the sky had darkened and a storm was brewing on the horizon.

"Get ready!" They squealed, grabbing onto their rein and diving through.

However, the impact was stronger than the waves from before and Lia lost her grip as the water pulled her apart from the ilu.

Her body rolled underwater and in a state of panic, she quickly swam to the surface only to be knocked back under again by another wave. She barely had time to catch her breath.

A wave again thrashed Lia backward as it pulled her deeper into the water. Her foot caught onto something as she was thrown backward by another wave.

Her ankle was trapped between the small space of two corals.

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🤍

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"Hey, you got the net?"

Aonung nudged his head at Rotxo, who nodded in annoyance as he attempted to undo the knots within the net.

"Bro, if you need help, just say so," he shook his head at Rotxo.

Every time they go net fishing, Rotxo somehow always managed to only grab the nets that were knotted from the storage. It was cutting into their time.

"Here, let me help," Neteyam sighed as he worked on the other side of the net.

Aonung shook his head and went back to untying the canoe.

"What are you guys doing?" Kiri questioned, her hands behind her back as she stood next to Neteyam.

"Hey, Kiri. We going net-fishing," Neteyam answered.

"Why is the net all tangled?"

"Rotxo likes tangled nets, apparently," Aonung joked.

As a result of his friend's answer, Rotxo's ears turned pink from embarrassment.

"Where'd Lia go? Weren't you guys together?" Neteyam questioned, changing the topic to save Rotxo.

Kiri sighed, "Yeah, but she went somewhere with that girl and her friends. I told her it wasn't a good idea but they went over the reef anyway."

Hearing this, Aonung stood up abruptly, leaving the rope halfway done.

"What? They went over the reef?" He repeated.

"Yeah, why?" Kiri blinked at him, confused why he was suddenly so serious.

"Shit," Aonung cursed. "What the hell was she thinking?!"

He knew the dangers of going over the reef. His father had strictly told him not to take the Sully siblings over the reef and here Lia was.

"What the?" Neteyam dropped the net as he ran after Aonung, who had dived into the water on the back of the ilu while clicking for it.

Even though he had no idea what was going on, Aonung's panicked state was scaring him. So he hopped on an ilu and followed after him.

"Where are you guys going?!" Kiri shouted, watching as they disappeared into the distance.

While instructing the ilu to go faster, up ahead, Aonung could see the waves thrashing about.

As he crashed through the reef and back under the water, his eyes caught onto her from afar.

Lia was struggling as she tried to pull her leg out of something. When he reached her, he jumped off the ilu and swam down, only to find that her ankle was bleeding from the coral.

As soon as she saw his face, she felt a sense of relief. Her lungs, however, felt like they were about to burst. A lack of oxygen was starting to affect her.

Knowing that there was no other way to free her, he had no choice but to pull her.

During this time, Neteyam approached them as Aonung pointed to the coral reefs that had trapped her ankle.

After balling his hand into a fist, Neteyam began punching at it. As Aonung pulled Lia free, Neteyam's knuckles were bleeding, but he continued to strike the coral reef with one last punch.

Her consciousness quickly faded as Aonung pulled her to the surface by the waist. Jumping back on the ilu, he held onto her as it took them to a stranded rock.

"Hey, Lia! Hey, wake up damn it," Aonung cursed, gently laying her on the rock.

Her eyes were closed and she wasn't breathing.

"Is she... is she okay?" Neteyam huffed, feeling exhausted.

"She's not breathing."

Her ankle was bleeding into the water as it trickled down the rock. The sight of her nearly broke his heart.

In no time at all, he cupped her face into his hand and leaned down to give her mouth-to-mouth.

However, the moment his lips touched hers, she began coughing out water. Aonung pulled away as he helped her sit up while delivering gentle pats to her back.

"Oh thank Eywa..." he sighed, embracing her in his arms.

A look of awkwardness flickered across Neteyam's face as he looked away. In the distance, he sees Amife and her friends as they look back at him and return to shore.

Now, he was pissed.

"Aonung?"

In addition to her hoarse voice, Lia was suffering from a burning throat. As a result of swallowing so much salty water, she felt sick.

As he backed away, their eyes were fixed on each other. He looked so worried that Lia didn't know what else to say.

Then the blood dripping from Neteyam's knuckle caught her eye.

"Brother, you're bleeding," she frowned.

Aonung sighed, shaking his head at her. "Speak for yourself. Come on, let's get you back to the village. Can you walk?"

He lifted Lia to her feet, and she managed to stand only an inch before collapsing into his arms.

"Guess not," he stated, suddenly picking her up princess-style.

"W-What are you doing?"

She panicked looking around as she wrapped her arms around his neck instinctively.

"Just let him take you, Lia," Neteyam spoke up, pointing to the horizon.

"We gotta move before the storm rolls in."