Everything hurt. His body pressed under the weight of water, and spun as if the current couldn't decide which way to carry him. Huiren gasped, his throat and lungs started burning. He tried to open his eyes, but the water stung and made everything a blur. Desperately, driven by instinct more than sense, he kicked towards the light of a bright surface. He was a strong swimmer, growing up along the banks of the river. The water ebbed and flowed around him, and pushed him towards the shore as if coughing him up from it's depths. As soon as he found purchase, he dug in, summoning all his might to scramble and drag himself up from the water's reach before his strength gave out. Slouching on the sand and stone, Huiren coughed and hacked until he felt some relief from expelling the water from his body. His throat still felt like sandpaper, but the man tried to ignore that and the sting in his eyes in favor of looking around him.

Huiren was confused. This isn't... His voice died as quickly as he was reminded about the pain, causing a wince.

This wasn't the river, for one thing. An ocean? Slowly, he looked up and down the shore. Mountains to one side, cliffs and jagged stone jutting from white water to the other. Huiren stared at that for a moment, surprised he had been lucky enough to miss them. But how could this be? There was no way he would have survived the river taking him to an ocean, if he had been underwater the whole time. His brow scrunched with the effort of thought. The last thing he remembered was... Being struck by an arrow and falling into the river. Huiren quickly looked down at his chest - and his jaw dropped open. This wasn't—

Those were canine legs in front of him. Those were paws, and he was covered in fur. His eyes roved himself, looking over his shoulder to see that, he indeed did have a canine body, with a tail and everything.

He at least noticed that his waist still dipped into a curve and his legs were slender. This fur didn't even look bad or far from his hair color, soaked with water as it was — he nodded appreciatively before getting back on track. How could this happen?! He had seen wolves in the forests before, so he was familiar with them. But to become one, he must have...

Died... The word slipped through in a distant rasp. He had heard of beliefs in reincarnation from merchants before, but he never would have suspected... Huiren found himself looking down a long nose to stare at the paws in front of him. He lifted one, turning it over to reveal the black pads. It was the only thing that made sense to him, and it settled something in his gut. But what did that mean for the others? For his sister Kunyan, or his Mocheng? Muted red eyes snapped up as the realization came to him, forgetting all about himself and his new body. He gazed out over the expanse of ocean with parted lips, as if waiting for more heads to break it's surface and swim towards him. Of course, there was nothing but waves rolling onto the shore, teasing his paws. The man felt an ache in his heart, and he hoped to all that there was, that this meant they were okay.

For now, he faced the ocean, his gaze intense as his mind worked overtime to process all that had happened, in what felt like such a short amount of time.