Everything hurt. Pain was hardly a new thing to Soulfaith, but bleeding out underwater was a completely new experience. The water around him was muddled red, and Soulfaith could hardly tell which way was up. But he knew one thing. No matter how tempting the call of the sea, no matter how badly Soulfaith wanted to surrender this tormenting fight, he knew that it wasn’t over for him yet. Soulfaith wasn’t great at keeping promises, but he had sworn to Sharktooth that he would do great things. He had promised soweli Kili that he would carry on the elder’s legacy. And Soulfaith, for all of his flaws, was /not/ going to let any of those cats down. He had been underwater for… half a minute? Time was starting to lose meaning. Soulfaith turned over in the water, desperately looking for a way out. He felt trapped. Soulfaith felt like his lungs were going to burst. What if he drowned down here, what if he never made it out? What if, what if, what if? The loner twisted dramatically in the waves, and like a sudden gift from Starclan, Soulfaith saw it. Moonlight. It felt like it was a thousand moons away, like it would take an eternity to reach. The pale, pale light flickered, wavering through the murky red water. It was impossible… a dream Soulfaith could only aspire to reach… a dream Soulfaith would fight tooth and claw to hold. Soulfaith reached out, slashing at the water, fighting with all of his fading strength to breach the surface. Every second was agony. Every second begged him to give up. Why keep fighting if all that waits at the surface is more pain? Why keep struggling when you can have this serene, silent ending? The ocean around you is void of pain, the water seemed to whisper to him. You simply give up, succumb to the pain, and give in to the silence… it will all be over so soon. Keep going. Keep fighting. You’re a warrior, Soulfaith, the moonlight above him called. Don’t give up, Soulfaith! You’re so close! You can’t let them all down, not when you still have so much life to live, so many more souls to save! Two voices at war in Soulfaith’s mind. One calling for an honorable end, and the much stronger one screaming to rebuke that sign of weakness, to forsake surrender. Give up, it never even mattered. Never surrender, your heart beats evermore. Accept the end around you, allow Starclan to claim your soul. Fight tooth and claw, do it for Albatrossmoon, do it for Theodore, do it for Sharktooth and Kili! One minute. The light was growing brighter, even as the corners of Soulfaith’s vision started darkening. How long until he passed out, until he couldn’t last any longer? Soulfaith’s heart was desperately racing, trying to recuperate from the blood that Soulfaith was losing. It was an impossible battle, and that voice kept begging Soulfaith to give in. But he refused. The voice calling for his demise seemed quieter, and the one screaming for his freedom echoed through his mind. You’re so close, it screamed, bouncing around in his mind. Just one. more. fight. It felt like breath was only one pawstroke away. Soulfaith’s life, like a shimmering thread, now rested in his paws. Soulfaith extended his paws forward one last time, his lungs burning for lack of air. His gaze narrowed, the moon shimmering through the water. /Please Starclan,/ his mind echoed. /Save me from this death./ He was so close. His paw brushed the surface of the water, before slipping back under the waves. One more clawing gesture, one last surge of strength, and he knew he’d be okay. Once more, he clawed forward, eyes gleaming with hope, hope undying, hope unfettered by the world’s harsh gaze, hope undaunted by Starclan’s many challenges. Hope, dreams, faith. Faith in what Soulfaith couldn’t hold, faith in what Soulfaith could only lie awake dreaming of. Faith that this, this wasn’t the end. This wasn’t /his/ end. With that gleam of hope, Soulfaith’s muzzle broke the surface, and he breathed life once again.
Soulfaith clung to the driftwood, shivering and coughing up water. With every rock of the waves, Soulfaith could feel his injuries scraping against the bark. It was awful, and the incessant stinging of the salt water made it no better. Soulfaith was desperately trying to paddle back to shore, and despite only being about ten strides away, his life raft refused to move in the waves. Soulfaith supposed that was a positive. If he were drifting further out, the blood from his injury would probably draw in sharks… Soulfaith shook away the thought. He needed to focus on his own survival right now. Soulfaith was trembling, partly from the cool water that sliced directly through his thick coat, partly from the sound of the waves. Water everywhere, water he could easily slip under, water that could claim his Soul if not for this lazy piece of driftwood. Soulfaith needed to get out of the water as soon as possible. Another hacking cough, and Soulfaith spat more saltwater into the ocean. This was terrible. His head was woozy from loss of blood, and while his injuries weren’t terrible, he knew that he wouldn’t last until the sunrise if he didn’t stem the bleeding. He had already re-tied his eyepatch around his new facial scar, but the injury on his chest was an entirely different story. Two deep gouges, each bleeding ferociously, gouges that Soulfaith knew would remain as scars even if he found a medic immediately. Soulfaith ground his teeth together furiously, trying once more to paddle back to shore. Nothing. Not even an inch of ground gained. Groaning, Soulfaith flopped over backwards across the driftwood, relieving his chest from the grinding pain. Soulfaith peeled off his eyepatch, feeling a little sickened by the red hue. Hopefully it wouldn't stain. “suno lili…” A dim, flickering light appeared from his eyepatch, and he held it up so it faced down to his chest. Soulfaith winced as he examined the wound. It was still bleeding profusely, and it was clearly deep. The fur around it was matted with crimson, and the salty sting still remained. Even if he tied his eyepatch over it, it would be like trying to cover a falconcat with a mossball. Pointless, in other words. Soulfaith turned his eyepatch away from him, and began murmuring in a rhythmic chant, “loje. laso. loje. laso.” The light from his eyepatch flickered, red, blue, red, blue, but it was the middle of the night, who could possibly come and save him? Even with land and safety in his sight, Soulfaith was stranded. He closed his eyes, growling beneath his breath. The pain, the unfairness, and the fact that despite it all, he still. hadn’t. killed. that. fox. Would he ever? Would the ginger beast hunt him until the day Soulfaith finally succumbed to fate? * bump * Something bumped against Soulfaith’s driftwood. He quickly strapped his eyepatch back over his cheek, and turned towards it. “Stars above,” the loner meowed, shock and wonder in his voice. Of course, he should’ve thought of this first! He had docked the board when he arrived to visit Albatrossmoon, and had kept it far away from where the tide might steal it. But Soulfaith had been out here too long, and the tide had taken it… Right back to Soulfaith. His magic surfboard bumped against his driftwood, red and blue just like Soulfaith’s distress signal. Soulfaith shifted from the driftwood to the surfboard, sighing in relief as he flattened himself against the smooth, splinterless surface. “Thanks, buddy…” Soulfaith closed his eyes, laying his head against the board. He was dead tired. He needed a nap. “Take me back home… just, stay near the shore.” And the surfboard did. A warm, comforting exhaustion, like what he imagined a hug from Momma would feel like, settled over the loner’s heart. (ERP)
