11/3/2025, 6:35 PM
open for any tianlong dynasty members!
as the day wound into evening, yunxu found himself by the ocean.
this seaside wasn't the kind he was used to. there was little sand- it was swampy, choked with trees he had no name for, and lacked any of the shallows or clear tidepools he'd played in and learned to hunt as a child but the techniques were still the same. he'd found a collapsed tree leaning precariously over the water and, after a while spent testing to make sure it would hold his weight, ventured out to fish.
he wasn't having much success. it irritated him, but right now he could believe it was because his heart wasn't in it.
he was thinking.
there was some relief to be found in abandoning his search for a way back home. but of course, relief mixed with hopelessness (he was trapped here with no way back) and sorrow (he hadn't gotten to say goodbye) and anger (why was he here instead of dead?). it turned into something unpleasant in his belly. he'd given up, hadn't he? it still counted as surrender even if there was no way to win.
yunxu sighed. he dipped a paw in the water and watched tiny shapes dart for cover in the tangle of mud and roots.
now he faced the necessity of proving his worth to these people who had taken him in. he knew he had it in him, had taken to those challenges eagerly before. but now he just felt tired- even after a few days' recovery from the month's worth of travel.
it frustrated him. was this a flaw of his mind or his body? whichever it was, he needed to get rid of it.
english | mandarin