Akicheka’s body was rigid, his head hanging low as his paws trudged through ever-deepening water, lapping at his sides like the jaws of a beast. He cursed as mud suctioned his paws, pulling him deeper and slowing his pace. He raised his muzzle, small tail curling up, ears pinned to the glare that just barely gleamed through the mist.

He hadn’t a clue where he was heading, but his nose worked for him, his gait quickening as murky water made sickly sounds in pitiful protest of his movement. Aki paused, spotted body stilling, before clambering atop a fallen log of a massive tree, mostly submerged. Dry land edged the water. As he moved swifter over solid ground, his nose caught stale scents.

Familiar and yet stale. Fog curled slowly around Aki’s body, droplets clinging to his pelt for dear life, his nose flaring and muzzle crinkling, snuffling around late ferns and shrubbery that huddled around the base of a tree. It had been a cycle or so since he had last been in this particular area, but the scent of Eira was still recognizable, clutching to the surroundings where she had once stood so long ago.

He sighed, his haunches lowering to ground, water sliding past his paw-pads, shoulder leaning against a tree. Eyes closing and submitting to bliss, the darkness surrounding him once more. Akicheka supposed this was home.

"speaking" and thoughts
Trashy code by ✨ ME ✨