Work Text:
Spider had been in this new village, with new terrain, animals, and people for about a week or so. And he was learning plenty of new things! He liked learning new things, even if those things were hurtful. One thing that he definitely knew hurt was words, words can hurt a lot. And apparently it did not matter who those words came from because this time it came from a lot of people. The people of Awa'atalu.
Awa'atalu was beautiful and filled with more people than High Camp by like a lot, and the thing about its many people was that they all had eyes. Eyes that watched him, not just with hate or distaste or annoyance like he was very used to, but also with fear. That was new. He had never seen that.
The fear started with just their eyes, but soon it evolved into words and whispers. Whispers about curses and whether or not Spider was like the rest of the Sky-Demons. (Spider was not from the sky, and he was not a demon. But good guess.) Then the parents were gripping their children, and warriors were gripping their spears. But the funny thing was that they never even used those spears, not even to threaten him with. They were too distracted with whispering and shrugging at each other when he did basically anything. Stretching and cracking his knuckles or back seemed to be their favorite.
They would murmur about how he would apparently break his bones and then heal himself right before their eyes, as a way of flaunting his power to them. Well, he guessed that would be cool. Apart from the flaunting part, Spider was not a flaunter or some kind of entertainer, but thanks anyway.
The thing that caught his eye most though was when the children would put sand, or preferably seaweed in their hair and chase their friends. Screaming about how they were the yellow demon and demanding someone to face them. Apparently, none of them could since they all ran screaming when they saw him watching from under the shade of the trees. Heh, brats.
But, hey! They were just kids. Though apparently teens did this too...?
Regardless of them, High Camp needed this alliance, and his four three siblings loved it here! He was fine, even though the words hurt. They really, really hurt.
*Poke*
Spider jolted, looking up from the net he had been crafting as he hissed at whatever just snuck up on him. The only ones who did that were Kiri, Tuk and Lo'ak, and they knew not to poke his skin.
Spider clutched then net in his hands as he registered the little reef girl in front of him, his heart calming down and his annoyance flaring up. He chuckled tiredly, unaware of the girl stiffening up.
"Finally come to fight the beast, huh? Got tired your little game?" He said without looking at the girl and straightening the strings of the half-done net. She wasn't armed, he didn't think.
He looked back at her, frowning at her lack of response from her or the other kids behind her.
"What? Don't tell me your scared, you guys seem so brave when you pretend to be me. Did you realize you were wrong?" Spider knew he was being an asshole, but he was exhausted.
At the lack of response again, Spider shook his head and heaved the net over his shoulder.
"Welp, this was fun but if you guys have not noticed, I still have a job to do. So, bye." He called over his shoulder as he walked away, his head pounding. He wanted to go home, he wondered where it was.
Mina (Mm-ee-nuh) wandered into her marui, the sky-boy's words echoing in her head.
All I did was touch his hair. She thought unhappily. But- sometimes people did not like being poked, because she did poke his hair. Her big brothers hated it when she poked them awake, and her Sa'nu always scolded her.
They did not like being teased either, or name called. And she called the sky-boy names. She called him the yellow demon. Her stomach turned.
That boy was not a demon. He was also older than her, older than Lo'ak her friend Tuk's older brother. Tuk liked The Boy; she even hugged him when they first showed him to the tsahik.
The boy was not a demon, but he was upset. Mina could tell that he was upset because of his laugh, even though you are supposed to laugh when you're happy. The boy was unhappy, and Mina caused it.
"Mina, what's wrong?"
Mina looked up from her hands, eying her mother who had just come back from fishing. She then realized her mouth was hurting. How hard had she been frowning?
"Did you trip over your tail again?" Her brother asked as he came in with a few herbs for cooking. He was teasing her which hurt, but not as bad as she hurt The Boy.
"Do not make fun of her." Her mother defended her quickly, making her brother nod. Did anyone ever defend The Boy?
"<<Mama... do you think words can hurt?>>"
Her mother blinked and nodded at the strange question. "<< Of course I do my dear, it is why I defended you. Though it should not have been from your own brother.>>" She said the last part through her teeth, looking sharply at her son who flinched.
"<<I-it's just that... do you think those words could hurt to a demon?>>"
"<<... A demon?>>"
"<<A demon?! What did it say to you!?>>" Her brother jumped up, his words unlike the taunt he made just moments ago.
"<<I was the one to speak and tease and pretend! I was the one who spoke and made him laugh with sadness." She quickly cut in, not wanting anymore lies to be said. She could understand why her mother made a confused sound.
"<<Laugh? So, he cursed you!>>" Her moron of a brother quickly decided, and before she could say anything he grabbed and tugged her out of their home as she shrieked and protested.
The evening was going decent, is what Lo'ak thought as he laid in the wet sand as the tide lapped at his legs. His sisters were splashing in it like weirdos, while his favorite weirdo laid almost limply nearby. Spider had been acting weird for the past two days, and no question was making him give an honest answer. Ugh.
"<<Hey you! Sky boy! Undo your curse on my sister!>>" Called out the boy storming toward them, Lo'ak jumping up just in time to see the said sister squirmed in his arm looking just fine.
As the two sides met and Spider was forcefully shielded, Lo'ak demands an explanation to which he was given.
"<< Your pet demon has cursed my sister with his evil laugh; she talks nonsense about his wounds made by words. As if it can feel! Make it undo its curse or else." The boy, the BASTARD shouted at them with righteous fury unphased by his sister who was thrashing and shouting protests.
Lo'ak's sight was red.
"How dare you..." he snarled the words, his ears going flat against his skull, oblivious to Spider who was also protesting and pleading him to stop. The next moment he was heard.
"STOP!" Spider yanked his hands free, and stomped in front of his brother, the girl with her brother, and the crowd... crap.
He turned to the boy, eying his indignant and angry mug with his own hard stare. He took a deep breath.
"First of all, I did not place curses. I also do not break my bones and heal." He had not initially planned that second bit, but he was just so tired.
"If you do not do that, then what do you do? <<Demon.>>" And before he could respond, Lo'ak did instead.
"I'll tell you what he does. He mends nets and he cooks fish, just like you! And you want to know what else he does? Mourn." He said, his voice cracking. "He mourns just like you do and not just for our brother. But for Roa. You remember hearing of her death?? Well, he watched, and he wept just like you did."
"And the reason he wept because he can feel, just like you can. Just like you can. He watched helplessly, only because if he tried to help, he would've died." Lo'ak continued without mercy. "He would've died because of the demons. The real demons. They would've killed him. And you would've laughed? Right? Cheered Because he's a demon and demons are cruel. No. This, this is cruel." He gestured to the boy and girl, barely sparing a moment of pity to the her as she wept.
"You are being cruel. What are you doing is wrong." He lastly said before taking his brother by the hand and walking back home.
Spider sagged as he walked into the Sully family's marui, plopping unceremonious and barely careful of any belongs scattered along the floor. A moment later he managed to speak.
"I think I should go back to High Camp."
"NO!"
"Bro, we need you here!" Lo'ak reminded him, sitting up and staring at him, half sad, half pissed.
"Don't you still love us, Spidey?" Tuk asked him, looking at him with those huge eyes.
"I do Tuk-tuk, you know I do." He said, a rare stern note lining the end of his sentence.
"You guys need to be safe, we all do. And in order to be safe, I need to be in High Camp." He should've stayed in High Camp or on that damn ship.
Lo'ak snarled and stood, as Kiri gasped. "You should NOT have stayed on that ship, that is why we got you OFF! Dumbass!"
"Who is 'WE' Lo'ak!? The other guy's not here!"
Spider's reminder of their loss stung viciously, taking away their breath and leaving them as still as said loss had been.
"What's going on here?" Jake's question cut through them, forcing them to breath as they flinched at the voice of their father and supposed guardian. Jake stood still, leaving them unaware of his next words.
"Jake... Jake!" Spider called him twice, getting the confused man's attention.
He took a deep breath before continuing. "I want to return to High Camp." He said, ignoring his siblings who protested loudly. "When does Norm come for his next visit?"
Jake's eyes hurried from side to side, and he almost gave a vague answer before relenting.
"Tomorrow morning." Jake justified his own words, reminding himself that this was ultimately better. It had to be.
"Done." "Spider-"
"Jake!" Spider cut him off, as respective and placating as he could manage, which was not a lot. "Please don't."
And as usual, Jake did not.
Spider left the next day. He was given a moment of privacy with his siblings in which he apologized, and he was not forgiven but embraced.
He pulled himself away and boarded the copter as it left. His head turned away from Norm, who frowned and questioned with nervous smiles.
He had only been here a week, and while Awa'atalu was beautiful, it's words are what hurt.