A couple of days pass, and everything is going well, almost too well. The Poteks and the Avits are now somewhat friends, even if Niko doesn't show it. She does care about them, she thinks she cares too much, too soon. Today they are planning to hang out by the beach to relax. Niko, as usual, keeps going on lookout for the earthers’ village. She tells Dhati and Ori first before heading out. When she arrives to where they are, Ash is already lying on the warm sand, and the others are further along on the shore.
She walks towards them with one of the scout's guns strapped to her back, along with a bow and arrows. As she gets closer, Nevan and Teyluk notice she's wearing her flying attire, the black suit, while Akit plays with Nero in the water, along with Dhati and Ori.
“Good morning,” Niko says as she stands beside Nevan and Teyluk.
“Morning,” Nevan replies, smiling, while Teyluk smiles to himself.
“DHATI! ORI!” She calls out to them, gesturing for them to come over.
“You're ready?” Ori asks as he jogs towards her, followed by Dhati.
“Yeah, I just came to tell you then I’ll be heading there,” Niko tells them. While they chat, Nevan and Teyluk sit there, looking at each other, confused.
“Okay, be careful,” Dhati says, hugging Niko, then turning to leave.
Niko walks towards Ash to attach his harness, preparing to fly. She jumps on his back, and then fly away, catching Teyluk's eyes as they depart.
“Where is she going?” Nevan asks Dhati, while Teyluk listens intently.
“A lookout to the earthers’ village,” Dhati responds casually,
“Alone?” Teyluk inquires, surprised.
“She doesn't want any of us with her; she says it's not safe. Plus, she has an errand to run after,” Ori replies.
“She's not alone anyways, she has Ash and her weapons,” Dhati adds, “Besides, she goes to make sure these people aren't planning to attack us. So, just a precaution.”
On the other side, Niko is spying on the earthers as they make weapons and harvest crops, living their lives normally. But something that never sits right with her is that some of Dregawa's people are on their side; greed infected them as well. She keeps looking for the monstrous leaders of this village, Joe and Mitchell, but can't find them anywhere.
Niko is hoping to find out the name of the island they're talking about, which island they chose, to try to warn them at least. She would never wish what happened to her village on her worst enemies, though she does on Joe and Mitchell, but their families don't deserve to die. She snaps out of her thoughts as she sees them playing with their kids. How is that fair? That they have their families while she lost hers?
Realizing she won't find anything that day, she leaves and goes to where Ash is waiting. When he hears her approaching, he lifts his head to look at her. She looks sad, and it shows. The errand Dhati referred to was that Niko is going to visit her family, something she does when she's sad or misses them. Niko gets on Ash's back and cues him to fly. Thinking about her family, she loses focus until she hears a weird sound, wings flapping. Ash, however, is flying above the clouds, so she can't see beneath her. That means whoever is flying can't see her either. She signals to Ash to descend slowly, making anyone following her visible. But when they do, they see no one, as if she imagined it. She finds it odd; she's been imagining things lately. First, the figure she ‘thought’ she saw on her brother's birthday, then this.
She tries to gather her thoughts and concentrate on her route, recognizing the island within distance. She lands and tells Ash to stay close, just in case. As she walks towards her parents' old home, she notices the flowers she left on her late brother's birthday are gone. Not scattered, given that the wind blew them away, but disappeared completely, which never happened before. She usually removes the dead flowers herself. She put them there the previous week; why would they be gone?
She sits down in front of what used to be her home, holding her face in her hands. She feels like screaming out loud, keeping her sadness and brokenness inside. She doesn't want anybody to know, not even Dhati or Ori. What will they do? It isn't their fault she is depressed; they remind her of her late family every day. How they laugh, how they care for each other, how lucky they are they have Anu and Tul. When Niko was younger, she was jealous of them; she even sometimes wished she died with her family, at least she would've been with them.
She breaks down in tears and practically begs for her family while she cries. Ash hears her; he doesn't understand anything other than his friend is sad. So, he draws nearer and rubs his head into her shoulder, as she continues to sob while holding him. Until he shoots his head up, startling her, as he hears a branch snap.
“What's wrong, buddy?” she says, wiping her tears, to see clearer.
She starts to look around in the direction Ash is looking, noticing the same figure she saw the last time she was here. Ash is hissing in that direction; she squints her eyes trying to focus, starting to walk closer to the figure, readying her bow and arrow. As soon as the figure sees her coming closer, he turns and starts running away. She sprints after the figure, trying to catch up with him. She stops then to aim her arrow at him, but when she releases the arrow, it only strikes him in the shoulder. She hears another branch snap behind her, meaning that there is more than one person there. She quickly turns to look for the source of that sound, with another arrow ready in hand. She sees someone she didn't expect.
“Calm down, it's me!” he says, looking at the arrow aimed in his direction.
“Teyluk??” she says, surprised, almost shooting him in the head.
“What are you doing here??” she asks, confused and angry, as she looks in the direction of the figure again, seeing he's gone.
“Dammit, he's gone,” she curses under her breath, letting go of the arrow.
“What are you doing here?” she questions sharply.
“Who was that?” Teyluk asks, looking above her shoulder where the figure was.
“How are you here?” she asks again, raising her voice.
“I, kind of, followed you here,” he says, looking at her, his voice getting low. “Actually, flew here.”
“Why?” she asks, walking back to where Ash was waiting, leaving him behind as he follows.
“Dhati told us you were going on lookout to an Earther's village,” he says, cautious, as her eyes widen.
“YOU WERE THERE?” she asks, absolutely shocked, adding, “How did I not notice you? I should've.” She says the last part to herself.
He stands there as they arrive where Ash and his horse are waiting. She begins packing her stuff when she asks.
“That means you were here since I landed?” she asks, knowing this means there is a big chance he saw her break down and cry. He nods, looking at her as his gaze softens.
She turns to him, pushing him till his back hits a tree bark, holding him by his shoulders while looking dead in the eyes.
“Tell anyone anything about what you saw here or the village, and your parents will know about you breaking the rules again,” she says, threatening him.
“And no one will stand up for you this time,” she says firmly, letting him go.
“You're threatening me?” he asks, tense.
“You were the one telling me not to take my anger out on others,” he adds in frustration.
“if you asked, I wouldn't have told anyone,” he adds, frustrated. “But you are a hypocrite and stooped this low. Well, two people can play this game.”
She gets on Ash and flies away; she slows down to wait for him. When she sees that he is behind her, she checks on him every once in a while. She didn't mean to be harsh, but she couldn't have someone know that the soldier and the chief's right hand broke down and was almost attacked. Even if she trusted him, she couldn't risk it. She was never going to tell his parents about him being here, even If he told anyone about what he saw.
Back in the Potek household, Teyluk is pacing back and forth in his room. Angry at Niko, he thought they were becoming somewhat friends at least before she threatened him. Something itches his brain: the reason she was crying, bawling her eyes out. As he stood and watched from afar, he couldn't hear her as she spoke. All he knew was something on this island made her really sad, and he wanted to know what it was.
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