Sadira stretched across the tabletop, her jacket in a ball underneath her head as the sun caressed the skin of her stomach, her shirt riding a little higher as she relaxed. Perks of being an outcast. She always ate alone therefore, a table was always hers and hers alone.
she sighed, her eyes closing as the thought of a nap through lunch overtook her. She was tired, which was understandable considering her night...hell,
her week. Even with them “bonding” over his little secret, Analu hadn’t let her out of his sight on any of the night watches and he was harsher
than ever. More on edge. She didn’t have to guess why though, she knew...she saw. He and the Mrs. weren’t exactly seeing eye to eye about
anything these days and Sadira could guess it was because they both had different ideas of “secret”. The princess wanted her parents to know what
was going on with her. It made sense; they would probably eventually notice and having them ask was a lot worse than telling them...but Lu had told
her everyone. That meant it was to stay only between the two of them...and Sadira since she--The fuck?
Her eyes opened as her table rocked and she looked into the faces of some company. Oh this was always good. She sighed, sitting up for whatever was
about to go down as her icy eyes fell over all of there faces. Three guys. And they weren’t from the usual mob...hmm. “What can I do for ya,
fellas?” She squinted against the sunlight behind them as she looked into their face. Two of them were...calm. She knew who they were, not names as
she never cared to remember those but, she knew their faces, from class and...other places. The youngest was a freshman; he liked to jack off his
morning wood. The other boy was his brother, a junior like her. He lived his life pretty right. He’d spent a few nights at Jonny’s that his father
might not approve of but...hell, who hadn’t. The other one though...the third boy glared at her. She could feel the anger rolling off of him in
waves and it only made her...smirk. “What’s your problem, brah?”
He said his girlfriend’s name and instantly Sadira knew what it was. Kami Ipo. Okay so maybe she’d bloodied up that pretty little face of
hers but, Kami started it! Sadira kept to herself for the most part and if Kami didn’t want people knowing she’d let this kid backdoor her the
last time they’d done the deed she shouldn’t have been running her mouth. Sadira didn’t have anything to say about it so she kept quiet. It
didn’t matter what she said anyway. An apology wasn’t going to calm him down, she’d learned that shit in the third grade. They never felt any
better after...eventually she stopped making apologies. Her visions were a gift. It’d be selfish not to share...Ha.
“You watch what the fuck you say and who the fuck you say it around or I’ll--,” Sadira stopped him, a short laugh on her lips threatening to
spill over into full blown hysteria. Of course that only made guy more upset and you with think with how big he was she wouldn’t want to do that
but...
“You must be new here-,” she said slowly coming to stand, her head barely met the center of his chest but she looked up at him like she was 10
feet tall looking down. All the humor fell from her voice as she starred him down. “I’m an elder, you dumb fuck. Or you’ll what?”
Inquiring minds were dying to know.
She sees you when she's sleeping.
Ha. See what I did there?
His heart was thudding in his chest. Hard. His eyes were frenzied. And even though he tried to keep his gaze "calm and collected", the core...the
depths of his eyes said panic. As panicked as he felt on the inside. As panicked as he was the moment that he'd listened to the message on his
cellphone from his Uncle Malo. The message that said that he needed to contact his Uncle...as soon as possible. That there were..."things to discuss
of much importance". Hearing the grave baritone of his Uncle's voice, the sound that said that what they had to discuss was Moku related, sent chills
down Analu's back. They know. The kapuna elima...they know. The realization that everything was about to come crashing down around he and his
chosen, Maleah, leveled him. He knees nearly gave out at the sound of his Uncle's tone because that message meant that the news was out. The Elders
knew about Leah's forbidden pregnancy.
Every possible punishment imaginable went through his head as Analu's truck came to a stop in front of Kehealani. The truth was that Analu had no real
idea about what his Uncle wanted to discuss. He could've wanted to talk about...well, anything. The Pueo. Lua training. Anything. But
something inside of him knew that the conversation that they were to have wasn't that light. It was going to be heavy, he could hear it in Malo's
voice. And that meant the start of a whole lot of unpleasant shit for Leah and him. Starting with there punishment. What WAS the punishment for an
elder who took his chosen to his bed before it was time to do so? To be honest, Analu didn't want to find out. He wanted to blank every piece of what
would follow his Uncle's conversation with him out of his mind and find out the one thing that he needed to know...HOW did the news get to the the
elders? Leah was sworn to secrecy, which had brought a rift between the two of them because she couldn't even tell the people that were the most
important to her. That left one person...and one person only. Sadira.
"Hey Analu!" As she pulled himself out of the truck and slammed the door behind himself, he heard an unfamiliar voice and turned, with a forced smile,
on instinct. It was Haku, the youngest brother of one of the guys in the Pueo. He walked with a few of his friends, their faces mostly familiar...a
couple that weren't so much. They echoed the hellos, their eyes doing that...thing that they always did when they looked at a person like Analu. An
elder. Their faces wore a mix of awe, jealous and...curiosity. Almost as if they were looking at the mighty Ku himself. But Analu wasn't Ku. He didn't
even feel like a descendant of the God that supposedly gave his bloodline to the Ikaika. No child of Ku would be as stupid and foolish as he was...
"Hey kid..." With a smile he patted him firmly on the shoulder and nodded to the rest of the boys, trying to keep his cool. "Have you...seen Sadira
around?" And as expected, the faces of the boys shifted, their eyes rolling, the mouths turning from smiles into sneers. Without words, Haku pointed
towards the lunch area that stood a short distance from the trailers. Analu smiled, muttered a quick thank you and walked quickly in that direction
without a look back at the boys' faces. He didn't have to, he knew what they were saying. Mutters of "half-breed" and "mutt slut" were probably
falling from their lips. That was who Sadira was. She was the product of an outsider and a Moku. She didn't belong. She would never belong. And her
only saving grace was the fact that she could..."see". A seer...and a future elder, right along side Analu. But that didn't make her anymore special
to Lu...and considering that her stupid, sloppy, LYING mouth had opened to tell secrets that weren't hers, her status dropped even lower.
Boots crunching on the wood chips and mulch that covered the walk way to the lunch area, he looked for her in the crowd of students. Couple of girls
sitting on lunch benches, chatting to themselves. Not her. Girl curled up beside a tree with her boyfriend. Definitely not her. Girl standing face to
face with a guy twice her size, his fists clenched and ready to pummel her face? Definitely Sadira.
This was going to be good. This guy was mad as hell and all his eyes were saying was how much he wanted to plow her into the ground. And he could try.
Everyone seemed to like trying Sadira when it came to a fight. She often wondered when they’d figure out she didn’t back down from their
shit...Today obviously wasn’t that day. Her heart pounded in her chest the way it always did when these people got her blood going and her
adrenaline rushing. He wanted a fight. He was going to fight to defend his little slut’s honor and Sadira was ready. She had been tired when this
whole thing started, her night with the Pueo as exhausting as it ever had been but, now, now that this kid whose name she didn’t even know, she was
wide awake. Wide awake and seeing...the fight that was coming her way.
Hey eyes glossed over as a skull-searing migraine ripped through her and all she could see was Analu, her world starting to spin as she fell back
against the table she’d come off of. He was angry, his eyes wild and frantic. He was angry and he was here. She saw the door to his truck
shut, the kids he passed on the way in. “Fuck!” It had to be Analu. It was always her visions of him that were this intense. So intense she could
almost smell the night they’d had still on him. He hadn’t been home yet...What was he doing here? Her voice higher than usual as she cussed again,
the pain of the vision threatening to bring her to her knees before...it ended. She didn’t see anything and slowly but surely she started to come
back...only not fast enough...
She lost time but, it must not have been much because that kid was still in front of her and he must have been saying some slick shit because she
could see that stupid smirk on his face through the tears in her eyes. He was saying something about her visions as she brought herself back to stand
upright only to be pushed back against that damn table, the kids hands at the collar of her jacket. “What the fuck is wrong with you, guy?! Fuck off
of me-,” she pushed at him, her hand reaching up to cover his face as she shoved and shoved hard. She was about to hit him, her fist clenched and
ready before a voice stopped the two of them from ripping into one another.
“You’re gonna have to get in line, Lu...”
She sees you when she's sleeping.
Ha. See what I did there?
Pausing in his steps, a smirk that was the opposite of every thought draining from his head and into his clenching stomach, crossed his face. Analu
wasn't too surprised by the scene that was playing out before his eyes. If his anger wasn't so pure, he would have forgotten the reason why he was at
Kahealani in the first place. But it looked as if that outsider halfbreed had her hands full already. Sadira was two seconds away from getting into
yet another altercation with someone that was twice...no, three times her size. Analu recognized his face from the Silencing. Even though the name
wasn't coming to him, he knew the guy. He was Akame and he was definitely Pueo. The fuck was he doing here? Oh, wait. Analu already knew. Sadira said
something, did something, told something that pissed him off and now, he was here to settle the score. Payment being her ass. And as much as Analu
knew what his position should've been as he watched her argue with him, he wanted to watch. He was so fucking tired of her. Tired of having to watch
her on duty like a glorified baby sitter. Tired of stepping in between her and another member of the Pueo because they're tired of her fucking mouth
too. And tired...of feeling like...there was no hiding from her. Like her eyes could see everything. Like...she was always watching. And like he owed
her for that. Because of the secret that she knew and now everyone would know because she opened her fucking mouth... by the Gods, he hoped the guy
beat her a-
"Whoa..." Faster than Analu could get out the next thought about Sadira, she was down, her body falling against the table that stood behind her, her
teeth gritting, her eyes shut...a loud curse falling from her lips. And instead of the same shock hitting the faces of the kids around her that had
begun to watch scene with her and the Akame play out, all Analu saw were...sneers. Laughs. They were laughing at her. Laughing at what, from the look
of it, was one of her visions. The awake kind. The kind that felt like her brain was being ripped apart...or so she'd told him...when they were
trapped in the Caves together, her his responsibility and him...another one of her headaches, he guessed. But it was...weird. Seeing no one care about
something that he knew they didn't understand because just like him...they had never cared to ask. But they...pointed and mocked her. And oddly
enough, the feeling in Analu's stomach wasn't about the anger anymore...it was more attributed to the fact that he realized that she could've dropped
dead in front of them...no one would've given a shit. Even as she tried to get up, the Akame pushed her back into the table hard enough to make her
stay down if he hadn't grabbed her back by the collar of her jacket.
"HEY!" Before he could catch himself, Analu heard his voice erupt from his throat, his feet began moving towards the group that had formed. The group
immediately looked up, their eyes widening before a few of them redirected their gaze on him, their eyes finding their shoes. They parted as Analu
walked between them, headed for Sadira and the boy she was about to sock in the face. Without hesitation, he caught her fist with one hand, his other
hand pushing at the thick, broad chest of the Akame that still had not looked from her face, his anger holding his eyes on Sadira's face.
"Back down. Now. The both of you." His voice swelled with the authority he had been taught to use by his Uncle, the sound that made
every thing stop. And it had. The Akame looked up, his face tight with fury, his teeth bared and at the sight of Analu, his expression fell as he
backed away from Sadira, his eyes meeting the ground. He knew his place...unfortunately, Sadira did not.
She still couldn’t fucking see straight. Everthing was a blur as the kid pushed her against that table and this was all Analu’s fault.
What the fuck was he even doing here?! He and the Gods had conspired against her to ensure she lost this fight with Kami’s fucking pet Sasquatch.
Why they’d chosen to give her such late warning on Lu arrival was fucking beyond her. It wasn’t like she had time to make a get away...hell it
wasn’t like she would have anyway! She didn’t give a fuck who Lu thought he was, she wasn’t running from him. Why should she have to? She
hadn’t done anything! She’d gotten off of duty at like 7 that morning, completely exhausted and no where near ready for school, which was a joke
in itself. She went home, she showered, changed, and had a mix of things left in the fridge. After that she made sure her passed-out mother wasn’t
actually dead and she left. She hadn’t talked to anyone before King Kong and she had planned on going through her day that way. So why the hell was
he here?!
She got to retaliate a bit before her vision cleared up completely, her hand pushing the brute away and taking a split second to gather herself before
she pounced on this dickwad. The crowd around them started to thicken before a loud ‘hey’ sounded. Ugh. There he was. Captain Angrypants, here to
swoop in, save the fucking day, and look like a fucking hero in front of his people. Fuck him! No really. Fuck this guy. Harder than the one
that had just laid hands on her. She wasn’t stopping and with the way this boy was looking at her he wasn’t for that either, so she cocked back,
her fist ready to kiss this big fucker’s jaw...She could already feel the satisfaction course through her body and--FUCK! Fuck, fuck, fuck, no! She
wasn’t fact enough, Lu stepping between them catching her fist before it could connect as he pushed the big guy back. Great. Now she was going to
have to take his shit about this. She could hear him now. ’Sadira, what’d you do?’ before he figured she probably deserved it and let
the kid get a hit in anyway...He didn’t know she didn’t have to do much of anything for these people to hate her.
She told him so, in so many words, before his eyes shut her up and his command did the same for the kid. His gaze left Sadira’s face and found his
shoes...pussy. They all were. Him, Lu, the fucking people watching this whole shit play out. She...They just...UGHH! She snatched away from Analu,
turning and snatching her backpack from the table as she prepared to walk off, turning to face him before she did so. “Gladly-,” she began darkly,
her eyes narrowing at him as she stared him down like none of these other people would. “This shit is your fault anyway!”
She tried storming away from him then but her path was blocked...Kaulu. Pueo. And a kiss ass, as always. “He’s not finished with you yet-,” he
said nodding to Analu. Kaulu’s eyes flashed the rage that they all carried when they felt like she was disrespecting them. Fucking men. More
specifically, fucking Moku men!
“Well I’m fucking done with him-,” she stepped forward, close to a fight for the second time that day as she stared him down, hoping he’d wise
up and move. No? Fine. “Analu. Call off your pet, so we can go talk about whatever it is that has you blessing us with your presence.”
She sees you when she's sleeping.
Ha. See what I did there?
It didn't take an genius or even an educated guess to figure out how Sadira was going to retaliate to Analu's presence. When everyone submitted, she
refused. That was the norm with her. That strong will. It was the outsider in her. The foreign thing that looked out from those...odd colored eyes.
Defiance, willful...unbroken. She refused observe the ways of a people that she, one day, would be made to lead as an official elder after her
Ascension. Yet, she couldn't even follow the simplest of instructions without a smart remark?! And this was where the Elders and Analu
disagreed...among other things. How could a little girl that did not even follow the ways of the ancestors that at least HALF of her shared, lead a
people that she despised? And that equally despised her...and her mockery of it? Analu could not see it. He couldn't understand and he certainly
couldn't figure out how she justified turning her back on him. His expression grimaced, eyes narrowing dangerously as he watched her turn away from
him...and then blame the fight that he'd just broken up on him?!
"Excuse me?" He rebutted after her as she tried to walk away from her statement, his voice swelling with authority again. Eyes shifted from Sadira
back to Analu, watching his response, waiting for him to set the "mutt slut" right. Put her back in her place. And by all rights, he should've. She
should've cut her fucking tongue out where she stood...never to say or speak a word again. He could've. Quick. So quickly that she wouldn't
have taken a breath to start her next words before he was on her. But, he knew that was his anger. He knew that a leader ruled with a firm hand, not
with tyranny. Words of his Uncle. And she was just trying to get him worked up, get him irrational enough to end the fight that she'd started with the
Akame. That wasn't going to happen. He wouldn't loose his head. Not here.
One of the pueo, Kaulu, blocked her way as she tried to leave. Their eyes connected and the anger that Analu felt was mimicked in his eyes too. Sadira
was acting out. Like a little child. And they, the Pueo, were forced to coddle her until her tantrums were done. They were all fucking sick of it.
Sick of her. Analu answered his nod with a returned one, his eyes returning to Sadira as she ranted...raged.
Moving quickly, Analu grabbed her by the arm, pulling her behind him as they cleared the group and walked towards a shaded brush on the other side of
the lunch area. Without a word, he pulled her in front of him, his back to the group that they'd just left...blocking her and his mouth from view. For
a moment, he just stared at her. His nose flared as he took in the defiance that had not dropped. He was wasting his time with her. He was wasting his
time trying to talk sense into a head that was as hard as obsidian stone. And he was wasting his time even asking her a question that he already knew
the answer to. She'd told. She'd told his uncle about he and Leah and he was a fool to think that she would have even tried to keep the secret that
would've cost Analu his life. How the hell could she care about something that she hated?
"What...are you doing?" He spoke between clenched teeth, his eyes cutting into hers. "HOW can you be an elder when you are still a child. A
thoughtless, fucking child."
She wasn’t acting out, she was defending herself, something no one else was willing to do. Of course she was upset about him being there! Him being
there was only fucking embarrassed her more than these insensitive jerks usually did. This wasn’t the first time she’d had one of those visions
and it certainly wasn’t the first time people had just...watched. When the visions started and she and her classmates were kids, the first few times
it weirded them out and they ran. Understandable. It weirded her out too only she had to live with it. Pretty soon after though they figured out the
visions were only going to hurt her so they stayed, they watched, they wondered...Eventually that wonder turned to ridicule and now it was pretty par
for the course for them to laugh at her pain. It wasn’t like she mattered right? The halfbreed mutt slut deserved what she got right?...Lu being
there only made her feel worse. As crazy as it was, Sadira knew what she was feeling was...embarrassment.Lu already didn’t respect her
position with the elders. For him to see that others didn’t either...Ugh...
She just wanted to go home. And that shit was mega rare. She used any excuse not to have to spend time listening to her mother fuck for a fix or clean
up her mess from a night that she wanted to know nothing about. But she would give anything for that today. She just wanted to leave Kehealani and
forget everyone and everything that had happened today. But Kaulu wasn’t letting that happen, blocking her path because Analu “wasn’t finished
with her”. She wasn’t stupid, she knew he wasn’t done he hadn’t even told her what he came for. Surely, something about the princess and the
secret she was charged with. That’s was always the first question out of his mouth when they were together. Some variation of “did you tell them
yet”. It was annoying, and if he was here to bother her about that now she was going to tell him exactly where to shove his dirty little secret! She
wished she didn’t know! She wished she’d never seen what happened...she wished she didn’t have the “gift” at all.
As she ever so politely requested that Analu pull the reigns on his trained show monkey, he moved quickly putting a vice grip on her arm as he pulled
her along past the lunch area, away from nosy teenagers and busybody lip-readers. “So what did I do this time?” she asked, her gaze still defiant
as he kind of stared at her for a second, that fury written all over his face...What...are you doing? And then the criticism came. She was
such a child, how could she be an elder, yadda, yadda, yadda. Fuck him.
“You people seem to keep forgetting that I DON’T WANT TO BE ANYONE’S ELDER!” Her voice was higher than it should have been and she knew it.
She stopped, her breath hitching as she tried to calm herself to talk to him in a way that wouldn’t put everything they were about to talk about on
blast. As much as she didn’t respect Analu, she had given her word not to tell his secret and she knew it was coming. “What did you come here for,
Lu?”
She sees you when she's sleeping.
Ha. See what I did there?
Nothing Analu said to her at that moment had an weight. Sadira was too angry, too childish, too wild...and too blinded to what really mattered. She
was an elder. Even though her title wasn't official yet, she was still the future of the Ikaika people. And none of that really even mattered to
Sadira. Analu reminded her of her position, time and time again and each time, her reply was still the same. She didn't care. She didn't WANT her
position. She didn't want her destiny...and she didn't want anything to do with the Ikaikas OR the Moku people. And that was the reason why Analu
scoffed at the gift she'd been given. And he didn't mean those fucked up visions that seemed to be more like a curse than a blessing. No, he meant her
rite. Her birth rite. From the second she was born, she was given a position, a place in a history that partly wasn't even hers. A history
that she shouldn't have even known because of the muddled blood that ran through her veins. Yet the Gods saw fit to bless her. Her...instead of
someone who truly deserved it. Someone like his anela. Even though they weren't exactly...talking at the moment, Leah never stopped being the
most selfless, strongest...beautiful woman he knew. She was wise beyond her age and...she dealt with him...and all his bullshit. She deserved a seat
in the kapuna elima. Analu didn't hesitate to tell her, either. But no, a weak, complaining half breed got that place...and didn't even care
enough to fake like she appreciated it.
Analu wouldn't even...reply to Sadira's spiteful, stupid words. He'd callused himself against them awhile ago, taking it as her ungratefulness and her
ignorance. The only thing that made his anger subside at the words was the fact that he knew, without a doubt, that she didn't deserve any of what she
was being given. She didn't deserve it and one day, she would get tired and she'd just...leave. Just like her mother had. His uncle had told him about
her mother. How she just up and left when it all became too much. No wonder Sadira behaved the way she did. She came from a legacy of weak. A legacy
of "give up". Maybe, if Analu was lucky, she'd give the fuck up, stop complaining and just...do herself a favor and go.
When his answer didn't come, she went on with the disrespect that didn't fall short with her. No respect, just a blurt out...forcing him to state his
business. When the hell was this child, this kamaiki, going to figure out that Analu did not OWE her an explanation of his presence ANYWHERE?
His eyes narrowed again as he shifted on his feet, a sign that he was close to breaking. That he was close to hauling off and... Just.
Breathe.
"Fine...did you or did you not open your mouth and tell the ONE THING I held with you in confidence?" He blurted out, not hesitating to make his words
nice or kind. He wanted to know the truth. And he wanted to know it now. The sooner he could leave her presence, the better.
"And your best bet is truth...do NOT waste my time."
He was right, nothing he was saying had any weight but, that wasn’t because she was angry, she just generally didn’t care. She didn’t care about
him, the shit he talked about, or the people she was supposed to be leading. None of this shit mattered to her. Sadira was simply bidding her time
until she could leave The Shore and Hawaii all together. She could go anywhere and just be...different. She could go somewhere where no one cared who
her father was or that she was “important” by some ancient historical standard. She could just be Sadira. A kid who more than anything just wanted
to fit in...She didn’t have time for this sap shit. Lu was about to rip her throat out and she still had no idea why...Besides the disrespect she
had just served up in front of his people that was...
So she asked him. Get to the point. Fast. She had classes to skip and sleep to catch up on before she found something to do with herself for the
night. She definitely wasn’t going to anything tribe related and while the guys might be glad she wasn’t going to duty, the elders did have a
meeting beforehand that she would be skipping as well. Fuck them. Fuck them and their fucking anger. Fuck them and their fucking problems. In a few
years she wouldn’t even be around for the shit they were talking about. She would bid this bullshit town goodbye and catch the first plane to
anywhere but here. So yes. Speak. His time was limited as she was mere seconds from just walking away from him.
Fine...FUCKING HELL. Was he fucking serious with this shit right now? He came to interrupt her day to ask if she’d told his secret? To ask
a question he’d asked at least three times while they were on patrol?! Seriously?! “You have got to be fucking with me, Analu-,” heaving an
aggravated sigh, she rolled her eyes, his words telling her not to waste his time. Why the hell not, he seemed to have no problem wasting hers...She
was sick of this shit!
“I didn’t tell anyone you knocked up little Ms. Perfect-,” she said quickly, her tone a hushed, angry whisper. “Unlike you, my mind isn’t
constantly worried about what’s going on with her vag. I’ve got my own shit to deal with.”
She sees you when she's sleeping.
Ha. See what I did there?
Fucking with her? Ha. Not quite. "Fucking" with Sadira would have implied that there was a bone of humor in Analu's body. That he thought it
was fun to yuk it up in the middle of incredibly unfunny situations. Being that he'd never been the "joking" type, not even with Maleah, why the hell
would Sadira even question him...even if she was only being the sarcastic ass that she, by habit, tended to be? By the Gods, he was NOT in the mood
for any of this. He'd literally gotten off duty, fought with Maleah over ten thousand MORE things that she'd come up with to argue with him about,
checked the message from Malo on his cellphone and headed straight to the school to confront Sadira about something that should not have been an
issue. Her silence should not have been something that Analu found himself checking up on every time they were together anyway. Yet, he did. He
questioned her without ceasing. It got to the point where Sadira could see the look in his eyes and know that the question of her silence was coming.
But Analu had to take these measures. He was entrusting the very thing that could possibly destroy him and his impending family to a...child. She was
just a kid. A kid with no ties to the persons she kept the secret for considering that she had no real bonds to the people with the same blood that
made up at least half of her own. She had no devotion. She had no loyalty.
"ANSWER..." Taking a breath, Analu's clenched his jaw, closing his eyes against the need to burst with the fury that Sadira was causing with her
flippant attitude. This was his life. His, his promised and the child. They were all in the middle of this secret that threatened to burst at any
moment and Sadira had the nerve to treat it like it meant nothing to her? If she crawled outside of herself, maybe she could've seen how serious it
was. How everything rode on the quiet that she needed to maintain. How all of Analu's questioning really didn't seem as serious when she looked at the
possibility of the Elders finding out and enforcing the craziest of punishments on Analu and his family. Maybe if she could have looked at someone
else besides her. But she was too busy crying for herself and her life and...fuck her. He just needed her to answer the question.
"Just answer the question." He hissed and without hesitation, her answer came flying out, slapping him in the face with the harshness of her reply. He
frowned at her name for Maleah as he listened to her continue, her mouth spilling more insults on top of the others. So fucking disrespectful.
Everything about Sadira just...bleed disrespect. The voice she took whenever she even thought about Maleah was enough to make Analu's lips
curl and anger. She didn't like her...Sadira didn't like Maleah about as much as she didn't like him, but there was a difference in the way she felt
about him. He could take her bullshit. He could take her jabs at him and his "Chosen" status. He could take her disrespect. But he wouldn't let
her...wouldn't stand for her talking about Maleah that way. Maleah already caught it from every other girl that wished that the blessing of a union
with Analu could've fallen on them. She already felt the burn of jealous eyes and the slaps of the hushed whispers whenever she was in the diner.
Girls hated her because they couldn't BE her. But Analu wondered if any of them would even be strong enough to stand ONE DAY as Maleah. He knew that
none of them could...Sadira's weak ass included.
"YOU..." He started, his teeth clenched. Against his better judgement, he was letting Sadira get the best of him. "...don't talk about her like that.
You hear me?"
This was getting to be a burden she didn’t want to carry. Not just Analu’s secret but, the tribe all together. When word got out that she was
getting visions that actually held some weight Malo, Lu’s uncle came around. She was only 11 so he didn’t give her too much detail but...he talked
to her. Tried to explain her “gift”, didn’t make her feel like a total weirdo for seeing things that weren’t in front of her. He
was...nice to her, so she agreed to help. Her mother was the one to work out all the “in return” details. People probably thought it was
her milking the tribe for the little bit that they gave but, in all honesty...she would’ve done it because Malo asked. He had her respect. He had
earned it when he treated her like a person instead of a mixed-breed mutt slut...Lu had not earned that. And he probably never would.
The problem with Analu was that he’d let these people pump his head up. This whole “chosen” thing was a crock of shit. It wasn’t like he
fucking did anything that any other Moku couldn’t do! He was just a guy who was born into a name that used to mean something. That got him
privilege. That got him the love of every person who shared a native bloodline...supposedly. These people had him thinking he was some kind
of god but, Sadira knew the truth. Sadria knew he was just a guy that lucked into respect that he didn’t deserve. And she treated him as such. He
wasn’t used to that but, he would have to fucking get used to it. They had two more years together before she picked up and move on, leaving this
rock and the people on it to find someone new to hate for being a little different.
He wanted to know whether she’d told his and the princess’s secret? Fine. No. She hadn’t. She was so over him thinking that because something
was important to him, it was automatically supposed to be important to her. She didn’t care about Maleah, or the pregnancy, or him for that matter!
No one knew she knew and no one ever had to find out. Lu acted like he was the only one with things at stake here. The elders, despite all of the
things they asked them to keep secret, didn’t like having secrets kept from them. That was what Sadira was for. She didn’t want to imagine what
would happen to her should they find out that she was keeping things from them. She had a lot riding on his little secret too...but of course Analu
only saw what affected him...And the princess.
Ooh. She hit a sore spot talking about his future wife huh? Even when they were on the outs, she was off limits for shit talk huh? Whatever. As far as
Sadira was concerned, Maleah was just as bad as the rest of them. Quiet, devoted, boring. The epitome of every Moku woman. Perfect to Lu
because she bent to his every request...Only this time her bending resulted in a kid that wasn’t supposed to be here according to the elders’
plan. This was her fault as much as Analu’s and Sadira hated her just as much for that...among other things. But she wasn’t to talk about
her...HA.
“Is that an official decree, Oh-Great-One?” She scoffed, her eyes rolling a little as she looked away from him, the anger in his eyes starting to
make her feel...weird...Like she was doing something she didn’t want to do...It was strange how often this happened. Not how often he was upset with
her, that was pretty standard but, she always ended up feeling...strange. Just different from the usual...Uncomfortable. She was ready to go.
Home and sleep sounded so good to her right now and Analu was only holding her up. “Are you finished? I’ve got plans that have nothing to do with
being interrogated by our fearless leader about his...secrets.” She came close to calling his kid a ‘slip-up’...Who knew how long he’d yell at
her then?
She sees you when she's sleeping.
Ha. See what I did there?
Secret. A secret was what his entire situation was and there was no disputing it when Sadira stabbed at him with her truthful words. She only
meant to hurt him, but her words did so much more...as what she said was true...and underneath it all, that made Analu feel like a complete bigot. How
fair was it that he adapted every law of his people, yet the only law that really meant something, he became blinded to it when his life was
threatened? There were no secrets among the Elders. For the safety of the people and the safety of their existence, the kapuna elima knew
all. That was the reason behind the Elder's tolerance of Sadira. The literally needed her. Analu didn't believe or understand it before, but now that
he'd...experienced her gift, first hand, there was no doubt that those eyes...those foreign eyes saw all. Nothing was hidden from her...and in that
case, nothing was hidden from the Elders. Except for this secret. This secret that he forced onto Sadira for safe keeping, all because she saw beyond
her will. And even though trusting her with anything would make the place he held his secret anything but "safe", he still did it. He still hid it.
Because he wasn't just hiding it for himself. He wasn't making the sacrifice of trusting a halfbreed for him. He was making it for Maleah and the
future child that slumbered and grew in her belly. He was making it for all of them.
"No, Sadira...you're not done." He spoke slowly, ignoring her jabs for a little longer. Just long enough to get to the bottom of what his Uncle's
cryptic message could've really meant. If Sadira said she didn't tell he and Maleah's secret, he had to kind of...believe her. He didn't doubt that if
she had told what he held her in confidence with, that she knew the true meaning of her confession...a very angry Analu. But he also knew what not
telling meant for her...a position as a co-conspirator. Then again, something told Analu that if the secret had been exposed by her, if she found some
reason to tell, that she would definitely be sporting a better smug face and a bigger gloat. So. Maybe she didn't tell. That didn't say anything
comforting to Analu. Actually, it concerned him even more. Some answer was better than no answer.
"Have you seen that anyone else knows?" His question was hushed and hurried, her prolonged presence irritating him more than she could truly know.
Every eye roll and snide comeback was eating away at what little patience he had for her, not that he normally had a lot of it. She was as hard to
tolerate during the daytime hours as when they patrolled together, his presence forced on her as a watchful eye and deterrent to anyone that decided
they wanted a piece of mutt slut. Literally and figuratively. Sure, the Pueo wanted her gone and done with...but they all knew that their fists and
weapons weren't the only way to get the job done. Analu knew it, too...as did the Elders. She didn't even understand what Analu's forced presence
meant for her. It didn't just mean her safety and his annoyance. It meant protecting her virtue as well...even though Analu couldn't tell she even had
any the way she behaved. She didn't see the irrational anger in the eyes of the men the way Analu did...
"Just tell me what I need to know and you can get back to class because that's the ONLY thing that you've got going on today." Frowning at how he
sounded more like someone who actually gave a damn and less like Analu, he waited for Sadira's reply. He didn't care. Really, he didn't. The only
thing he was concerned about was her keeping it in line so that the Elders discussed more about the tribe and less about her disobedience and his lack
of keeping her tamed. That wasn't his job. He wasn't a glorified childcare provider and he wasn't her keeper. The more she acted like a
future Elder and less like a hyena, the better for him. Besides, there was no way she was running off somewhere to sleep off the past night's patrol.
It was her fault that she wouldn't get any sleep anyway. She chose this life. Nothing in her position as Seer said anything about serving with the
Pueo. She would get no sympathy from Analu about that...
She was just so tired. Tired of hearing Analu talk, tired of listening to him tell her she wasn’t worthy of...well, of pretty much anything,
just...tired. She was going home. Away form him, away from the school; isn’t that what everyone wanted? Why was he holding her up then? His
questions about her loyalty, although justified, were completely unnecessary for two reasons. One, she didn’t give a shit about Analu, the princess,
and their problems. What they did behind closed doors was only her business because the Gods made it so. She didn’t actually care much. And two, if
the elders...not even if, when the elders found out that Analu was having his first and she had not said anything, she was going to be hard
pressed to convince them she didn’t know about it. And the longer he decided to wait, the harder things would be for not only him, but for her
too...But, duh. Lu thinking about someone other than himself was like snow in August.
Have you seen that anyone else knows? She couldn’t help the smug smirk that pulled at the corners of her mouth, finding humor in words that
she thought she might never hear Lu utter. A question about the visions he used to believe were complete bullshit. Now he relied on them? How the
times changed...She looked away a short scoff in her throat as she paused. As much of an annoyance as he was being right now she could be a bigger
one. She tried to think of some ambiguous answer that wouldn’t really be an answer to his question but, he got impatient before she could decide to
utter yes, no, or something else completely.
HA. Was he fucking serious? Her eyes snapped back to his, narrowing as she continued to stare him down. Was he seriously trying to order her to go to
class? No. No, she was being punked. “Last I checked, my daddy was some tourist that came and went years ago, Analu-,” he knew how she felt about
that power trip shit he did. He wasn’t her damn daddy and he certainly had no power over her. Damn his orders. “I haven’t seen that anyone else
knows-,” she said shortly. It was then that something clicked, her brows furrowing together as she started a question of her own.
“Wait. Why would you think someone else knows? Did someone say something? Do they know?” He words came at a hushed, rushed whisper as her heart
rate quickened. Had he fucked up and let it slip to someone that...no, of course not. If anyone it was the princess that had done them in. Didn’t
she know what this would mean for people that weren’t fucking her? There were other people involved that she should have thought about before she
started running her fucking mouth! Sadira had to know that the elders would know. Not that they fucking already knew!
FUCK.
She sees you when she's sleeping.
Ha. See what I did there?
Last I checked, my daddy was some tourist that came and went years ago... That was disgusting. Analu's irritated stare went stoic as he
rolled his eyes, unable to even look at her. He always hated looking Sadira, the foreignness in her face and eyes...the color of her skin. It all
reminded him just how much she didn't belong in the first place. But he especially hated setting eyes on her when she said things like that...when she
talked about the filth she came from. And when she put said filth into dirtier words. And Analu didn't pretend as if he didn't know how accurate her
description of her conception was as Malo hadn't spared the details. But for Sadira to repeat it like her entire life was just some big joke? And she
expected the rest of the tribe to treat her better? Not likely. Analu never spoke like that...even though he knew the dirt, coated in blessed blood
he'd emerged from. As far as anyone knew, his home life was peachy...even with the weakling...the one black spot a line, centuries long, of great men.
That man, his father was the blight on his family...and the fact that he was confined to a wheelchair had nothing to do with it...
Analu's thoughts fell silent to Sadira's words as she answered him, told him that she hadn't had a vision of anyone betraying he and Maleah to the
Elders. At least that was good news. One thing out of a conversation of discomfort and annoyance had turned out right. Analu exhaled slowly, putting
more trust in her visions than he ever had. For something that he had held no faith in, a sure wave of relief rushed over him when he'd heard her
words of confirmation, the visions that he'd labeled as an elaborate con had been the only thing to give him peace since the moment he'd heard his
uncle's message on his phone. It wasn't what he thought it was. It wasn't the end...yet.
Looking around in the second of silence spread between them, Analu noticed eyes that quickly blinked away from watching them. He saw head turn away
from the direction they'd been facing...towards him. Towards Sadira. Pure curiosity about the whispered conversation between the tribe's Chosen and
the tribe's Mutt had drawn their attention. Had made them clumsy...because they knew. They knew if Analu knew that any of them were listening in on
what could have been secrets of the kapuna elima, the consequences would have been dire...even though what they were eavesdropping on was
hidden from the Elders, as well. And that made it even more dangerous to their ignorant ears.
Analu's gaze slipped from them as he heard Sadira's voice fade back in, picking up at the end of her final reply. Her words, as she went on,
quickened, grew frenzied with every question she completed. And he knew...he knew that she'd figured it out. That she'd stopped seeing the pestering
in his questioning her and the irritation in his presence and she saw. There was something behind his asking, something behind his prodding her for
answers about the precious secret she held, the secret that, if found out, wouldn't just effect he and Maleah...it would effect her too. Turning back
towards her, he did what first instinct told him to do. His body hid hers, blocking the panic in her face, blocked her hurried words as he hovered
over her, pushing her closer to the tree...a quiet shush on his lips.
"Sadira..." He called her name as his eyes tried to connect with hers. He had to get her calm. If she got too worked up...she would've attracted
attention...would've attracted more eyes than they'd already drawn to their exchange. "Sadira!" He hissed, his hands grabbing her shoulders lightly,
giving her a soft shake. Finally, she looked at him and he saw a flash of something that he had never seen in Sadira's eyes...fear.
"I'm only asking because...I got a message from Malo today. It was really...cryptic. He sounded...strange." Letting his hands drop from her shoulders,
he looked around again and drew away from her, the distance between them growing again. "I just wanted...needed to make sure you were...holding to
your promise..."
She was fucked. Hard and sideways. If the Elders had found out about Analu and the baby then they would be quick to ask whether or not she
knew before they did. They would ask and she could see without being psychic that they wouldn’t believe her response. Secrets were dangerous when
kept from the Elders and one this big was enough to get her killed. She was supposed to know that Lu was ready to come out and say something about the
kid. She shouldn’t have been on the back end of this; she needed to know beforehand to tell the Elders the vision of his confession rather than
the...conception...Now she would tell neither...Thanks to the princess running her fucking mouth! She should have known. She should have seen
that Maleah would be the end of her. Damn it! She knew the princess was a little selfish but, she didn’t think the bitch was careless. FUCK.
Her words and thoughts were rushed, a way out of this mess Analu had made trying to piece itself together in her mind as he tried to snap her out of
it. He called her name to no avail, the questions still coming, “The fuck am I supposed to do Analu? This wasn’t the fucking deal! I was supposed
to know long before the fucking Elders-,” Her name came again, hushing her as he shook a little of her panic out of her. Just enough to get her to
focus...And the news just got worse. A message from Malo? Great. If Malo knew Sadira was keeping things from him she was doubly screwed. She’d given
her word she wouldn’t do this. She’d told him when she started being the tribe’s two-way radio to the Gods that she’d tell him everything.
EVERYTHING. Analu had made her a liar to one of the only people that had ever trusted her with anything...But he hadn’t said what he wanted
when he called. That was good right? If Malo knew Sadira was keeping the news of Analu’s first born from him, he’d have killed her already right?
She hoped so, as she wasn’t dead that had to mean he didn’t know...
Her eyes narrowed at him as he finished his thought. He was making sure she was keeping her promise? “Well I hope you did this shit to the princess
before you came way the fuck here. In case you forgot, the two of us are not the only two people that know about your having a kid-,” that shit
pissed her off! Sadira knew Lu hadn’t said shit to little Ms. Perfect about his worries and he’d come straight here to bother her! “Maybe you
and Maleah need to have a talk instead of an argument this time.”
She sees you when she's sleeping.
Ha. See what I did there?
She was falling apart. Right in front of him...right in front of everyone as her sporadic questions and raised voice were drawing unwanted
attention. Sadira was losing it and there was nothing that Analu could do about it. He'd never seen her so...scared before. So disjointed and ready to
fall apart at her already loosening seams. What had he been thinking? What had he been thinking in the caves that night? Just admitting a
secret so weighted, so heavy to someone like Sadira? She was a child. A kid. A girl that was too young to be weighed down with half of the crap that
the tribe loaded on her back. Messages from the past. Omens for the future. Glimpses into imminent danger. Whispers from the gods. Secrets of the
Elders that even she wouldn't be privy to if she hadn't seen some of them already. It was all too much for someone as young as her to handle and yet,
she had to. It was her purpose, her calling. And now, Analu was seeing how much that weight really effected her as he watched her crumble right in
front of him, his hands at her shoulders, shaking her softly into silence. She couldn't lose it. Not now. Not when there was still the blind spot in
Analu's very near future that could or could not have had something to do with the secret that teetered on Sadira's shoulders.
Quietly, he told her about the message he'd received from his uncle and about how his voice was almost unreadable and his message, as alerting as the
past weeks had been. Carrying around this secret was killing him. It was. It was eating everything inside of him alive...not that the patrolling
wasn't already doing a perfect job of that in the first place. He and Leah were fighting every day now and he was in cahoots with one of most
untrustworthy, unwanted people in his life. His patience was dwindling...he was dwindling. He was fading fast under the pressure. And it was coming
from all sides now. First from Maleah and now...from Sadira. He had to tell. He had to get it over with and tell the Elders before it was too
late. But when had he been given the "just the right time" schedule? When WAS the right time? Tell now, get punished. Tell later, get punished.
Both situations were heavy with the fact that he had not only his future in his hands but Maleah and their unborn child's, too. And...Sadira's. This
disliked, unwanted kid was putting everything in his hands just like he put everything in hers. And they wanted to know why he hadn't told yet? All of
this. Every single piece of this...everything that hung in the balance. That was their answer...
Hanging his head as the renewed panic settled on Sadira's face, her eyes narrowing at the sound of Malo's name, Analu almost felt...ashamed
underneath her scorn, underneath the hissing whisper of her words. Until he heard her name. The pet name, if you could even call it that, that Sadira
and a lot of the other girls used for Maleah. Princess. She was the princess. The Chosen One's Promised. And as far as Sadira could tell, the
dirty rat. The reason behind Malo's call. The one who told. Fuck. FUCK! Had it been her? Was this accusation true? Was it a vision that Sadira had had
that proved that Maleah was really the one who had told what she'd promised Analu she would hold on to until the time was right? No...no. Not Maleah.
Never his anela. Never his beloved. Sure, most of their arguments had been about her and her wanting to tell her parents about the future
growing in her belly. But Analu had firmly shot down that idea. Shot it down and in doing so, had made it very clear that telling her own father and
mother would have been disobedience and betrayal. He didn't have FUN telling his love that she couldn't tell the only two people she desired, more
than the world, the good news to. It had hurt him as much quieting her as it hurt to quiet himself. Yet, he did and she had...he'd THOUGHT she had,
stayed silent. Obedient. Until now, he hadn't questioned her...until Sadira's words. Until her scathing words...
"And what the fuck is that supposed to mean?" He hissed back, drawing closer to her as his heart began to speed up, dangerously. "You're
honestly saying to me that Maleah told...no. You're wrong." As calmly as he could, he fought against Sadira's words, fought against the sarcastic look
on her face, humor at his trust in Maleah. Fought against the small sliver of fear inside of him that wondered...if Sadira was right.
"No. Leah would never do that..." He sneered, shaking his head. "Because unlike you...she knows when to keep her mouth closed."
She couldn’t believe him...well, yes she could. Maleah was the pinnacle of Moku womanhood to this guy. She was everything that was right about
Mokukeiki women and in the characteristics that described her fell the words, obedient, honest, and loyal. In Analu’s mind, the princess couldn’t
have told their little secret because he told her not to. It was supposed to be that simple. Because he told her she could tell no one, Analu assumed
that she had, indeed, told no one. Sadira was calling bullshit. She’d watched the two of them argue...not in person obviously, but she’d seen her
plead with him to tell her folks and him tell her, everytime, without fail, no. She knew how much Leah wanted them to know...hell, probably wanted
everyone to know. She was a sacred vessel now. The fucking incubation chamber for the tribe’s future. Assurance that this tribe would survive
another generation of ass backwards rules and outdated beliefs. Sadira was sure she’d wear that shit like a badge of honor once Lu allowed it...or
maybe she got tired of waiting.
Maybe she got tired of waiting, said “fuck it” to what Analu wanted from her and just...told. What did it matter who she told? In South Shore
when one person knew something it was only a matter of time before the rest of their tribe knew it and then the people outside the tribe...this would
be a disaster for him. If she hadn’t have been so angry about the impending doom she would face if Malo did actually know about Lu’s baby, she
might have felt a little sorry for Analu. Whether he told by himself or someone found out it was going to look bad for the leader of his people to
have shown so little self control. If he couldn’t do something as simple as keep it in his pants, who was he to run the tribe...why the fuck did she
care? Sadira was so beyond Lu and the situation he’d gotten himself into; she was more worried about what might happen to her. What was she supposed
to do now? Too much was riding on her gig as seer for things to fall apart...And all this shit came back to one person...
Yeah. She said it. The princess. “You know what the fuck it means, Analu. She two months pregnant, not two months old. Princess talks-,”
he cut her off asking if she was being serious, if she was actually telling him that Maleah had been the one to out them...well. “No. what I’m
telling you is that I didn’t say anything and you didn’t say anything. Only one other person knows Analu and I don’t mean Haumea*.”
What did she have to spell it out for him? What was stopping shit from connecting in his thick ass skull?! Still he denied even the slightest
possiblity that it could be his beloved Maleah who was only right and good and...unlike her? Excuse him? He did not fix his mouth to compare
Maleah and Sadira to one another? Like Maleah was somehow better than her? Like the bitch could do no fucking wrong?!
“Unlike me...Unlike me-,” she nodded her agreement with his words. He was right. When pissed to hell sometimes she couldn’t guarantee the things
that would come out of her mouth...this was one of those times.
“Too bad, ‘unlike me’ she couldn’t do the same with her legs.”
Analu would never like Sadira. In the grand scheme of things, he knew that much was true. He would never befriend her. He would never respect
her. He would never care for her. And he was pretty sure that even as a fellow elder, he would never feel the same camaraderie that he did the rest of
the future circle. He could safely say that he hated her more than he could stand to look at her, but that didn't matter. The way he felt for her
didn't mean anything when it came to their positions. They were future Elders, the next generation of kapuna elima and despite the feelings
he had for her, Analu had to respect her calling. But he didn't. There was nothing to respect. And when he looked at her, nearly trembling on the spot
when he spoke of Malo's questionable voice message, the only emotion he could give her was...pity. He pitied her for being a little girl that was
thrust in the middle of a mess that was too big for her, all because she was doomed to "see" it.
Until she did that, the fear gone now and anger set it its place and Analu was quickly reminded of the exact reasons why he hated Sadira so
much. Her mouth. The words were like the strongest poison that left her lips. It was almost impossible to believe that Sadira could do anything
outside of complain and bitch and moan about her life and how unfair it was that she had to live it. About how she hated the one thing about
herself that really mattered, the only thing that kept her and her sorry excuse for a mother from being exiled from the Shore. About him and
how indulged he was. How stupid he was for...how stupid he was for not realizing that he and Sadira weren't the only two secret holders in this
dirty circle of distrust. She was talking about Maleah again. Didn't he tell her that Maleah was off limits? Didn't Analu express the fact that
there was not a single bone in his body that had doubts about Maleah's faithfulness to him, no matter what her seer eyes saw? Yet, she still found a
way to put Maleah right in the center of the problem at hand.
Analu grimaced at her as she cut in between his defense of his anela. He shook his head in disbelief as she continued to speak lies about
Maleah's involvement...as she continued to talk about something that she didn't understand. Devotion. Maleah's devotion to him. No matter what Sadira
thought she knew, it was unshakable...unfailable truth and Analu wasn't going to let her lies about his promised dirty what he already knew. No matter
what...she wasn't going to betray him. She wasn't like Sadira. Maleah wasn't a little girl so caught up on what she wanted that she would try his
leadership and test his word. Sadira, on the other hand was...and Analu had no problem telling her so, his chest rising as he spoke about his love
with pride, teeth clenched in defense of her.
Too bad. 'Unlike me' she couldn't do the same with her legs... Analu's body jerked violently towards her at those disgusting words. If he had
not caught himself, he would've lunged at Sadira, tackled her and pummeled her with all the force that he would a man with a tongue that got much too
clumsy when talking about a future elder's Promised One. She's still a girl. A stupid, foolish girl with a sure death wish, but all the
same...a girl. But her words meant as much as anyone else's did that spoke like that about his future. And the sense in Analu wavered on the edge of
reason and reaction. The two warred inside of him, wanting to push him in either direction, the words of his Uncle about being "wizened instead of
quick tempered" in direct conflict with the need to smash Sadira's teeth into her head.
Instead, Analu's eyes darkened, a soft, dangerous smirk falling on his lips. "And this..." He began, his voice slipping out as dangerous as a snake's
hiss. "...is why you will always be a stupid, ignorant child." Grabbing her wrist, he turned her on the spot, her back against his broad chest as his
arms crossed over her chest, locking her in his tight, constricting embrace.
"Do you really THINK that YOU had anything to do with your...purity?" The word "purity" came out of his mouth like a ridiculous joke as he said it.
There was nothing pure about Sadira. Not waiting for her answer, Analu held her tighter against her struggling, his sharp whisper falling on her ear.
"Everyone knows why no man is allowed to touch you, little girl. See? That is how stupid...how foolish you are. If it wasn't for the Elders'
protection during the day and mine...that's right...me protecting you during the night patrol, your legs would've been open a long time
ago..."
With that dose of reality, Analu pushed her away from him, her body nearly falling as she stumbled forward.
The feeling was more than mutual. Sadira would never like him either. He would never have her respect and he would never know her friendship. And she
would do him one better in saying when he ascended, she would be nowhere to be found. They had no future together because as soon as she was able, she
was leaving this horrible little close-minded town for greener pastures. Fuck the tribe. Fuck the elders. Fuck thier leader. She wasn’t worth shit
to these people beyond her role as a CB radio and she she could swear on the life of her mother that as soon as she got her first chance she was out
of here. Away from the Shore, off of this island, out of the state. Maybe out of the states completely...Despite what these assholes thought, she had
plans outside of being their precious seer. She had plans outside of being anything to them at all. She was sure they couldn’t wait to see her go
and that was fine with her because she couldn’t wait to leave. But that was an exit for another time.
Now, she was charged with another responsibility that was not hers. Making Analu see how fucking stupid he was. Lu was far too busy defending his
beloved to see reason. Maleah was the only other person that might have given them up. She was obviously (and understandably) tired of Analu and his
orders. She could have easily done what she’d been asking since this whole mess started and just told her parents; who in turn would tell
whoever mattered to them, who would then turn around and tell whoever would listen the juiciest piece of tribal gossip since the announcement of
Analu’s birth. Maleah was the weak one in this situation, not Sadira. And if Malo did know she was the reason. The obvious answer was directly in
front of his face, but he refused to give it any thought, his body half lunging at her after her rant was over. She knew she had overstepped, her
words far too bold to not cause a violent reaction in him. Sadira knew he would probably smack the shit out of her but...he didn’t. He stopped
mid-lunge, all of the rage she’d stirred plastered to his face as if it were etched into his skin.
Oops. Did she hit a nerve? Oh-fucking-well! He’d been on hers all morning! All she had been trying to do was make it through the school day, now
look. Lunch was ending and she didn’t even have the desire to go to class anymore. Not that she had it before...She didn’t give two fucks about
him being ang-...her thoughts came to a halt as his expression changed, the anger in his features, slipping as his lips lifted in one corner. She’d
fucked up...her feet unconsciously moved back as he spoke, telling her again how she was now and would always be a child. Fuck him! She was more of an
adult than he was damn it! And she was about to tell him exactly that before he reached for her, his hand taking her wrist with viper like speed as he
turned her around, trapping her against him.
“What the hell are you doing?!” She struggled against him, but it only made his grip tighter. He ignored her question, asking one of his own as
she continued to try to fight for her freedom. She couldn’t breathe! She...wait. What? Sadira stopped moving, her body still as she listened for
once. What the hell was he talking about? As if her virginity was anyone’s choice but hers!? She had everything to do with her...what was he trying
to say? Of course no man was allowed to touch her, but Analu wasn’t allowed to get Maleah pregnant. Shit happened. Not that she
found anyone on the Shore worthy , but she could easily find someone that was into...or was that what he was trying to say...
It was her turn for an expression change her features going just as dark as his as he pushed her away. He was calling her a whore. His girlfriend was
the pregnant one, but someone in his twisted head she was a whore. She’d slept with no one, but the apple didn’t fall far from the tree
huh? Is that what he was hinting at? That she was just like her mother? That if it weren’t for the Elders and the all powerful Analu Ikaika she’d
be a strung out semi-retired prostitute like her mother? Her eyes began to fill as he finally let her go. She stumbled forward as he pushed her,
turning immediately to face him when she found her footing.
“I hate you-,” she said stepping back toward him, blinking back the tears that were threatening to spill over at any moment. “I hate you and
this stupid place and all of these stupid fucks that give me hell everyday for no reason!” She did! She hated him. She hated them. But more
that...she hated that he was probably right.
She sees you when she's sleeping.
Ha. See what I did there?
Analu was done. He was sore, he was hungry, he was tired. He was done. Physically and mentally. Analu hadn't had a moment between the
end of his duty with the Pueo, the irritating back and forth with Maleah, the mind numbing fear Malo's message had left him in and now...the heated
argument he'd been having with Sadira. To be honest, his brain had given up minutes ago. He was finished. Done with talking and definitely done with
listening to Sadira's selfish, one sided bullshit. By the gods she was such a child! Even when there was some part of Analu that remembered that, that
actually pitied her, that actually felt...bad for all the shit he was raining down on her life with he and Leah's "secrets, she went and
fucked it all up by saying the stupidest, most annoying...shit! And he'd TOLD her that Maleah was off limits. Yet, she persisted. She pushed. She
goaded. She went too damn far. Too far with the snide comment that made his anela sound less like the sacred Promised One of the Chosen and more like
a...like a whore. Like her legs were open for any and everyone. Like she was nothing more to Analu than...he couldn't even THINK about the
end of that sentence without the anger welling up in him more than it already had. Any more of that anger and snapping her neck would've easily
replaced his vice-like "hug" that was slowly stealing the air from her lungs.
As close as he held her, as much as he could feel every struggled breath she made the attempt to take, he really felt...nothing. Not for her. Her
words had changed everything. All the guilt that he felt in her reaction when she heard him mention his Uncle's name and his unexplained call was
overlooked when Sadira had dug into the one person who couldn't even defend her own name. Maleah didn't deserve that from Sadira. She didn't deserve
half the shit she got off of tribesmen that talked behind her back, never daring to say anything that they murmured to their equally
terrified and spineless friends' in she or Analu's faces, giving them only smiles that meant nothing and were as fake as their silence. But he had to
appreciate their concern for their own lives...and the fact that they weren't as stupid, nor as disrespectful as Sadira. Maleah was twice...no, a
million times the woman that Sadira had YET to become, if she was so lucky, yet Sadira blamed her...made fun of her...accused her of the one thing
that Analu was terrified to even believe.
That was...the truth. Analu was afraid to believe Sadira's words. He was afraid to even think that the woman that he knew would follow him through
hell and back, would be the one to betray his trust. He didn't want to admit his fear that it could've been true and he didn't want to even hesitate
on the fact that when Sadira spoke of Maleah's betrayal...that he wasted a second actually believing her. Thinking that maybe she'd seen it in another
cruel vision the gods had sent her in hopes of destroying he and Maleah completely. All because they defied the "order" of things. That wasn't it,
though. The only place her accusations came from was her hate and her jealousy. Her lies. And it was her lies that had her in his grasp,
struggling to breathe as he spoke the complete truth to her. The truth about who she really was. She wasn't any better than what she thought of
Maleah. Just because she had the virginity that Maleah didn't? No, that just made her "untouched", not pure. Nothing about Sadira was pure. Not her
dirty blood, not her filthy mouth and not her obstinate way of defying everything any one outside of the Elders asked of her. And the only
reason why she did anything they wanted was to keep the "free ride" she had going where they took care of her and her...mother, if anyone could even
call that woman that.
Letting her go, her body nearly falling to the ground after he spoke, saying all that he cared to say, he heard her final words. Words filled with
feelings that he already knew she felt. She hated him. Great. What was new? Sadira hated every thing, every person, every object, every piece of that
side of the Shore. No one was stupid or ignorant of that fact. Actually, the many times that she spoke of her dislike kept everyone pretty fucking
informed. Scoffing, he watched as she stepped towards him and...were those tears? They...her eyes, the ones that Analu hated making contact
with, burned into him as she stared at him with more fury than he'd seen in her yet. And he was completely sure that those foreign eyes...glistened as
he watched her spew off her hate to him. In all of the hate that Analu regularly saw streaming out of her strangely colored eyes, he'd never seen
tears. He'd never made her cry.
"Yeah...whatever, Sadira. What else is new?" Frowning, he looked away from her, his eyes, moreso than ever, unable to return her intense stare. A
completely weak rebuttal from him, considering the words he'd just said to her. But her eyes did what they did best, which was weaken the shit out of
him.
Ugh! She would not do this in front of him! She would not let him see her cry because he was a stupid, completely WRONG, asshole! She was not her
mother! She proved it day after day by giving these fucking people what they asked her for. No one cared what the visions did to her; no one cared
about anything but what she could give them, what they could take from her. Analu was no different. He didn’t give a fuck about her or her feelings,
as long as she was keeping his precious secret. Sadira was nothing more than a radio to the other side and as soon as they found a ouija board to do
the job she was doing, she would be just as out as her mother was. Just as discarded...maybe more...hell, half of her had been rejected by these
people since birth...She hated him for doing this to her. For making her look weak when she wasn’t. She wasn’t. She knew what these kids thought,
she knew what Analu though. The she was a pitiful excuse for Moku because she was the “mutt-slut”. Because she was half haloe she couldn’t do
the things they did; she couldn’t be more than half of the person they were. Fuck that! They wouldn’t last two hours in her shoes and on
most days, she wished she could prove it to them somehow. If somehow, just for a second, she could pass off her visions...and somebody else could be
the freak for once.
But that was far from a reality. She was the only freak in town and that was just how things would be. And Analu would keep reminding her. That she
wasn’t a person, but a means to an end that he would gladly trade for someone else who could do the job if there existed such a person. He hated
her. Her mere presence was enough to irritate him and the God’s forbid she spoke to him...well the feeling was mutual. And she told him so, her word
like a venom incapable of doing what they were supposed to. She couldn’t hurt him. He didn’t care that she hated him, he didn’t care about
anything. Nothing but his precious Princess and their dirty little unborn secret. So she shouldn’t have been surprised at his reaction, his complete
dismissal of whatever she was saying...Didn’t mean it didn’t still hurt.
“Are we done?” She asked for the second time, folding her arms across her chest. Her eyes found the ground as she waited to be dismissed this
time. She was over the arguments, over the bullshit. She just wanted to get far as hell away from him.
She sees you when she's sleeping.
Ha. See what I did there?
Fine. She was done? He had been. Or did she miss the memo while she was busy throwing blame and insults at someone who didn't even
deserve all the hate she was aiming at them. Analu wasn't talking about himself as nothing that Sadira said about him phased him. None of her bratty
comebacks, none of her complaints, and none of her sharp tongued insults. They were all beyond his concern...until they became about Maleah. And
despite all of the differences that were pushing between he and his anela, he would defend her until his very last breaths. He would never
stop fighting for his Leah...and the sham purity they held on to like the frayed, stuttering lifeline that it was...because of him.
All because of himself. He blamed himself for who they were now. He blamed his place in the tribe, he blamed himself as future leader...but more than
that, he blamed the cowardly fear that he pretended was bravery every time he forced Leah to hold on to something that she was bursting at the seams
to tell. And like bursting seams, they were barely holding on to who they were, the pressure of their secret making him more irritable and her, more
depressed...distant. He could barely recognize them anymore. They barely spoke and when they did speak, it was with raised voices, accusations and
impatience. Analu barely knew the relationship...the love...the girl that he was defending anymore.
"We've been done." And part of that had been true as Analu answered Sadira's cold question, her avoiding eyes probably praying that the conversation
between them was over and done. Analu couldn't help but to agree. No thanks to Sadira's obstinate attitude, it had gone longer than it was meant to
and...any extended exchange with Sadira bordered on "dangerous". But that wasn't the reason why he had been so finished with her. Sure, she was
annoying and childish, incapable of any real maturity...but, there were things that made Analu...uncomfortable. He only had himself to blame. He'd
lost his temper with her and he'd seen the one thing he hadn't wanted to see. It went beyond the anger and the fear. Beyond her immaturity. He'd
seen her pain... He'd seen the hurt that the tribe's words produced...and his words had caused it. The things that he'd never done more than
think had hit her hard...and had silenced her. And Analu, watched and ignored the tears brimming her eyes...just like all the others. He was just
like them... Except, he couldn't help but wonder if the other tribesman tasted the strange sour of bile rising in his throat the way he had after
the poisonous words left his lips.
"Get out of my sight." His cold eyes fell on hers, watching her stare at the ground. It was odd...not seeing her stare back at him in defiance. She
looked like the others. Submissive. Controlled. But there was something...different...about the way it wore on Sadira. She looked...she looked like a
toy that Analu remembered from his childhood. A little flute his Uncle had given him when he was a small boy. It made beautiful music and if Analu had
taken better care of it, it would still to that day. But it had been stepped on one too many times. It never completely broke in half, but the final
foot on its slender form quieted its music and it never played the same way again.
![[*]](images/davis/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
