Don't Give a Duck // open

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The night was clear, the black sky littered with an uncountable amount stars and the world glittered from dew clinging to grass, shrubs and tree branches. It had rained an hour ago, and the rain clouds had long since disappeared in the night sky. The dew reflected from the only light offered on most nights; the third quarter full moon that stood high in the sky, looking down on the mortal realms from its perch in the heavens. However, even without the light, the darkness could not conceal his vision regardless of the fact that his eyes were blue. Just because his eyes aren't the color of a pure wolf, did not mean he lacked their vision. Fortunately, he had never had to deal with such ignorance because of his pack.

Such a gorgeous night would have usually drawn Xin's attention, but not this time. From his hiding place in the thick brush, Xin's eyes widened in disbelief and shock of what he had just witnessed. He gapped, staring at the lone figure at the edge of the cliff. A pure white male wolf about the size of thirty-three inches stood, looking down over the cliff, his ears pricked forward and his tail was standing up high with pride. Though he couldn't see his face, Xin could imagine the smug look on the wolf's face and the eyes deathly cold; a look that had often turned to him and his family.

A crow cawed, so loud and sudden. The sound snapped him out of his shock, and immediately he whipped around to run back to camp. However, just when he had the pure white wolf stood in front of him. Xin yelped in surprise, shocked. He looked behind him to see the wolf no longer stood by the edge of the cliff that was several meters away. How could the wolf had gotten behind in from such a distance in a split second? Xin turned his head back to look at the wolf, but just as he did, the bigger wolf lunged at him, fangs glistening in the moon's light.



Xin's eyes flew open, and he jerked back expecting to feel his flesh to tear with immense pain. However, his flesh did not split, and there was a pain, but not to the degree he had expected. Panting, Xin shook his head, his face throbbing with pain; right where his skin had long since healed but scarred over. Not again, Xin groaned, squeezing his eyes shut to will the memories of his nightmare away with little success.

Annoyed with himself, Xin got to his paws and shook the loose soil out of his thick grey and brown coat. He loped away from under the tree he had slept under for a midafternoon nap. A nap, ruined, because of that persistent memory that did not want to go away even after a year had passed.

The smell of water was thick in the air. In his travels, Xin had come across a small lake with a fascinating island in the middle that had four unnatural bridges on each side. Curious, yet tired, Xin had inspected one of the bridges; ones made by humans that have long been extinct. Before his exile, Xin would not have believed of what the humans have created with their own paws. His pack was secluded, away from any human creations. It was truly mysterious how such a species with such magical abilities could go extinct. It was a chilling reality, knowing that even the greatest of species could die out.

Ahead, the trees broke away to light and water. Xin's thoughts of the humans swept away from his mind like a swift, powerful current of the river and his stride quickened. He broke into a run and rushed into the lake.

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{{ word count . 637
{{ tags . Braveheart ♥
My first IC post in Instinct! WOOT!!

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In an instant, the water rushed around him, covering him like a heavy blanket of cold. He dove below the surface and his vision blurred as he entered the other half of the world. Though his vision was blurred he could see movement moving swiftly at the edge of his vision. Once or twice he got the flash of light reflecting off the sun and Xin knew it was the fish that live in this lake. He could also see the weeds that live under the water as he casually kicked his legs to go deeper. As he continued to hold his breath, he squinted and looked around him, trying in vain to see more detail with his only one good eye.

Sometimes, he wished he had eyes like the fish. What could he discover that couldn't be seen with these eyes? He knew it was different compared to the land, but how different is a mystery to him. He loved mysteries and loved the unknown, unlike his superstitious ex-pack who even believed there were demons in the water and that if a canine drowns in the water the demons would take their souls. Crazy right? Maybe that was another reason why he was treated so horribly besides his sexuality. They didn't mind the water but they never loved it like he did and they even thought he was insane because he liked to swim even more than going out on a run.

His lungs burned and his brisket began to hurt from lack of oxygen. Reluctantly, Xin kicked with his hind legs and headed back to the surface. A rush of air and bright sunlight met him as he broke the surface. He coughed out water that managed to get in his throat and gasped in heaps of air. Okay, maybe staying that long underwater wasn't such a good idea after all. However, he did feel a lot better. The water never seemed to fail in taking away all the negative things within him like it was little more than dirt or mud. How could such a thing contain demons? Sometimes, Xin felt the water too was as misunderstood and misjudged as he was. It was truly his only best friend.

"Hey," a male voice howled, interrupting Xin's thoughts as he shook his head to shake off the water from his ears. "What're you doing that for?"

Xin whipped his head around, spraying water from his chin and looked back. Several meters away stood a red and white furred dog that looked similar to wolves but not so much as not to see the clear differences. The male dog stood by the bank looking his way. Did the dog call to him? Xin looked around, thinking the dog must have been calling to someone else. However, he could see no one around but himself. Curious, Xin turned back to the dog and cocked his head. "Are you talking to me?" he called, kicking his legs with ease to keep his head above water.

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{{ word count . 504
{{ tags . Braveheart ♥
It's no problem, Brave! We all have our good posts and bad posts and yours isn't that bad.

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At first, the dog by the bank stared at him with wide blue eyes. Dubiously, the male red and white dog nodded but said nothing. Xin couldn't help but lightly smile at that. He wouldn't be surprised that the canine was surprised by his behavior. Not many swim just for the joy of it after all. The dog's reaction wasn't anything new to him. Even some of his packmates looked at him in awe while others just looked at him as if he had nuts instead of a brain. Xin couldn't help but find it amusing by the number of reactions animals express.

Since it was apparent the dog was talking to him, Xin leaned forward and kicked his legs to push himself toward the other canine. Halfway to the other dog, he heard the male speak. "Uh, yeah. What are you, a duck? Where the heck, did you go?"

A force ran through his brisket and chest, and his throat rumbled before letting out a burst of laughter. A duck? Okay, that one was new. Thank the Ancestors that he was in good shape. Otherwise, he would have gotten too out of breath to swim to shore and drown. He felt his paws touch loose soil and pebbles beneath him and pushed a little harder to reach solid ground.

"What's down there?" the dog added another question to the list of questions to answer.

Standing on firm ground again, Xin panted as the laughter died out of his chest. He better answer some of this dog's questions before he gets buried in them. "No, I'm not a duck, but I do have webbed feet." Xin replied. He took a step further, so the water touched his belly. Lightly, Xin shook his body that was heavy with water. It didn't help much since he was still in the water, but it did help some. "As for your other questions, there is a whole new world below the surface" he added with an easy grin. Xin turned and carried on out of the water. The water just surrounding his paws now, Xin vigorously shook his coat to free himself of the liquid. Now that he had his swim, he felt a lot better.

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{{ word count . 397
{{ tags . Braveheart ♥
I have nothing to say, unfortunately...

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