11/6/2025, 9:41 PM
there were no answers to be found in the water, not that he'd expected any. he was wound too tight to do any real thinking. it didn't escape him that he was here because he had nowhere else to go.
in times past he would have come to his sister. aimi knew how to shake him out of it when he started overthinking, even if the shaking was percussive. a small smile touched his lips at the thought, but the knowledge that she was gone stung even more sharply than it had.
a school of minnows shimmered under the water, growing bolder next to his stillness. cricket- and frog-song swum in his ears and drowned out the sea. yunxu blinked fog from his vision, and heard someone speak.
he stiffened and whipped his head around to catch sight of the girl, only managing to keep his balance since he was already sprawled atop his perch. his thoughts whirred. he was one of them now, wasn't he? was he supposed to be defending this swamp? perhaps. he didn't know her, and he lifted himself more cautiously to his paws, finding familiar footing now with some time to think.
she was taller than he was, with a coat in familiar sandy browns and creams and with a confidence to her stance that said she knew where she was and what she was doing. yunxu stood there, the fur at his nape bristling faintly. it was entirely possible that shēnléi knew who this was, if he was as free as he seemed in welcoming strangers- yunxu was too far to catch any scent, and the language was enough to keep him from striking immediately.
he'd come here to be alone, but couldn't very well leave. not least because she was blocking his exit.
"hello," he said warily, and glanced down at the water with an uneasy laugh. "...fish? i'm sorry, who are you?"
in times past he would have come to his sister. aimi knew how to shake him out of it when he started overthinking, even if the shaking was percussive. a small smile touched his lips at the thought, but the knowledge that she was gone stung even more sharply than it had.
a school of minnows shimmered under the water, growing bolder next to his stillness. cricket- and frog-song swum in his ears and drowned out the sea. yunxu blinked fog from his vision, and heard someone speak.
he stiffened and whipped his head around to catch sight of the girl, only managing to keep his balance since he was already sprawled atop his perch. his thoughts whirred. he was one of them now, wasn't he? was he supposed to be defending this swamp? perhaps. he didn't know her, and he lifted himself more cautiously to his paws, finding familiar footing now with some time to think.
she was taller than he was, with a coat in familiar sandy browns and creams and with a confidence to her stance that said she knew where she was and what she was doing. yunxu stood there, the fur at his nape bristling faintly. it was entirely possible that shēnléi knew who this was, if he was as free as he seemed in welcoming strangers- yunxu was too far to catch any scent, and the language was enough to keep him from striking immediately.
he'd come here to be alone, but couldn't very well leave. not least because she was blocking his exit.
"hello," he said warily, and glanced down at the water with an uneasy laugh. "...fish? i'm sorry, who are you?"
english | mandarin