twenty-seven and not in heaven

A heron flew overhead.

Its outline skeletal and awkward with broad, feathered wings and a folded neck. Long feet that dragged behind it in the air. Its shadow a dark silhouette against the rising sun, rising over towering pine.

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Down below, on the earth, he drank, slow and deep.

Into the lake’s water up to his elbows.

The water cold against his throat.

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Keeping things somewhat vague. Especially the timeline.

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  Izumi had decided to make one last pit stop before heading east towards the mountains. It wasn't that she couldn't stop at a certain watering hole along the way, but personally, the crane needed some alone time without the possibility of running into others right now. To think.

  It was probably best if she took a shortcut to prevent running into any mountainous packs in that area, too. As long as it's been since going rouge, she still wasn't comfortable running into unnamed faces -- not right now, at least. Another run in with @Antares was one she would've been comfortable with, but running into Quicksilver or even Reiko right now would set of her boughts of anxiety. The cranebird wouldn't know what to do or what to say if she ever did, ecspecially when the latest interactions she'd had with the two ended terribly.

  It would just be too akward.

  Waltzing throught the forest to stumble upon the lake, Izumi would stroll towards the shore and dip her head to lap up water, eyes closed yet brows knitted tightly together as the stress from these thoughts were now making their invasion into mind...

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There was a pale bitch, there, stood upon the water’s shore. Long-limbed and spindly. Fine-boned, with dark points.

He ignored her.

Waded deeper into the water.

Deeper, until it lapped and rolled at his stomach, his chest. His legs and sides dark; saturated, with the water. His tail tip dripping.

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  She, too, couldn't help but notice the other -- a blonde man within the lake's heart by his knees, though she did not concern herself within her business. Only wishing to grab a drink and move on. Only when the man would start going deeper within the water would he lavender eyes peek upwards from he dark lashes, slowly lifting her head up to look at him. What...what was he doing? Going for a swim? It was not such an unheard of thing that would bring her to the point of confusion, yet it was such a random transition of behavior that Izu couldn't help but watch in curiosity.

  -- and was it just her, or did he look strangely farmiliar?

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A flash of silver beneath the water, glinting with the reflection of the sun.

He dove.

Dark, saturated blond fur darkened even more. A splash and flurry of brackish lake water. Sediment and sand and lake grass kicked up from below.

He emerged, from the lake depths, with a fish.

Its body, long and grey, flicked and flailed.

Oxygen-deprived.

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He waded to shore.

His body—his fur—dripping.

The fish fought him every step of the way.

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Izumi literally had to stand there and blink if she wanted to properly assess what the fuck just happened before her very eyes. Did he....did he just....? Throw himself into a pool of water??

On purpose!?

Without further assessment she moved all on her own to come closer, almost marching towards the lake's surface if there was a better description for it. The crane was unaware of what he'd been doing and found it weird all in itself, but Izumi was fully convinced that she had stumbled upon a scene that was far more darker than she would've expected it to be. The girl had been a victim to such thoughts too, it had even caused her death within another life. Though if the girl was able to help pull them back to shore then he could avoid such a tragic, self-made fate. She wouldn't have known what to do after pulling them back up, but it the crane bird could figure that out afterward. For now, she'd need to help them first.

Yet just before the siamese reach the rocky shores of the lakeside, he'd emerge from the water and the crane was stopped within her tracks -- light panting from a slightly ajared maw while she stood and watched him. Confused.

He wasn't trying to drown himself, he was catching a fish....

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Fish in mouth.

He waded to shore.

Around the bitch that stood and stared. Beyond the lake’s rocky, bouldered beach. He dropped the fish on the ground. It flopped and twitched, its dying breaths, beneath the shade of an evergreen. Soft, brown exposed dirt.

He shook himself dry.

Dropped to his stomach.

He tore the fish open. His paws held it still.

If the bitch wanted to watch that fucking badly, he would fucking let her.

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