Wandering Paws [genshin impact x cat!reader]

Chapter 38 - Fluffy

'Thought'
"Speak"

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Its bright. Its too bright.

A white light fills your vision and it blinds you. Everything is a bright white, an empty white yet its full of brightness everywhere you look. You can't see because the light blinds you. You can't feel because the burn numbs you. There is nothing here but the light. You'd think you're dead now. Maybe you are. Maybe the afterlife is really just discord light mode, but you can hear the loud beat of a heart. It thumps loudly in your ears, the unsteady rhythm filling the entire space. A heart beat is all you can hear, all you can feel, and all you have. You feel somewhat comforted by it. It anchors you, the sound the only thing keeping your consciousness from drifting away from reality. Its all you have right now, and all you need to think of. But then the light dims, the feeling of cold water surrounds you.

The strong stench of chlorine fills your senses, the fluorescent lights hanging from above shine down on you, and the cold water stings. You are frozen still, like a statue of ice, unmoving and cold. Your tense body and mind slowly move back into motion, into feeling and processing. The still water surrounds you, and only when you recognized the feeling of a hand on your leg do you thrash. You squirm and kick for your life. You jump up as you gasp for air and desperately try to wiggle out from its grip. You feel tears of chlorine filled pool water sting you eyes as you take quick and short gasps for air, each and any of them may be your last very soon.

Your eyes hurt. It burns and so does your chest, and your throat. Its dry and raspy, and you kick against the hands that drag you down. Hands. Several hands. Multiple hands.

Another one grabs onto your arm and drags you down below the water and the sting of water hurts you eyes. Everything is blurry but you register another hand grabbing onto you. You feel yourself loose your breath from moving so much. Exhaustion eats at you as your body grown heavy. The hands drag you down and it hurts you fight against it, it hurts you to move. You body feels heavy and fear settles in your chest. You can feel tears, or was that just the pool water? You choke as the light and bright blue water looses its color. You want to shrink into yourself. Everything is dark and you can't feel anything other than hands dragging you down, the tight grip bruising and only ever tightens further. The water only continued to push you down, still and unmoving yet it was so hard to move against. It filled your lungs and you choke, a flaring pain burning in your throat, chest, and nostrils.

With the last if your strength, you look up at the last piece of light you will see, a small bright blue the reached down into the depths. The hands drag you entire body, a stinging pain that covered you entirely. Only one of your hands broke free from it, and in a desperate attempt you tried to reach out. You're just stupid, aren't you? What, you think the light specifically reached this deep just to reach you? But even if, could you ever hope to reach it? There is a feeling of despair and hopelessness.

Your finger was mere inches away from the light. You strained your hand, if you could even just brush against it, maybe you would be able to resurface. The light seemed to grow further away, and you slowly accepted your fate as you closed your eyes.