Red Rover Red Rover (Open)

[kailolu]

(Yakone)
"Sticks and Stones may break my bones, but so would an 80lbs carrot."

Yakone stood in awe. The land around Hexasol was cold and covered in falling snow, but this wonderful beach was too warmed by the water to allow snow to land. The ocelot dug his paws into the white sand. Typically, an ocelot would find comfort in a more humid area with trees and rain. Not Yakone, he didn’t care where he was. This place was grand. Something out in the water caught his attention and his round ears stood erect, eyes fascinated. A triangle shape was swerving through the dark murky water, creating a wake behind it. What magical thing could that be? “Go ahead, Yakone. That out there is a friend of ours. Let’s go say hello.” The ocelot beamed and looked down on his left with excitement. A seagull with glowing yellow eyes stood beside him, lifting a wing and coaxing him toward the water. ”Go on.” it said, giving an encouraging nod toward the sea. Yakone tilted his head at the bird and quickly swiped at it with his paw. It evaporated with a squawk and he was alone once again. The cat bounded a few steps closer to the water, staring at the triangle as it veered to the right into shallow water. “Hello!” Yakone cried, dancing in the wet sand, edging closer and closer. Yakone had never seen or heard of a shark before, and this young tigershark was no exception. Anticipation coursed through him and he jumped into the water, racing through it toward the figure. He had to practically leap over waves as they crashed against his chest. Several went over his head and he choked on the salty liquid, but he surged onward. The gloomy looking water grew dark ahead of him and he slowed his course, cautious of what it was. “Yakone! Keep going, don’t be afraid, you Scardey-Cat!” The ocelot looked up at the misty image of a Seagull. He wasn’t a Scardey-cat! And he would prove it! Yakone pushed on through the freezing water until he reached the dark stuff.

A coral reef was something the ocelot didn’t recognize and when he stepped on it, a warm feeling spread across his paw. Looking down, he squealed and started to laugh hysterically when the water turned red. “Red, oh red, wonderful red! How I love the color red!” He sang out, turning and half running half swimming toward shore. Thrashing his paw around, he rejoiced in the warm liquid seeping from his wound. The salt stung, but he was too happy to notice. When the water was at his chest, Yakone sat down on the ocean floor, and let waves crash into his side. Lifting his paw out of the water, he watched as blood poured from a gash across his soft pink paw pad. The ocelot laughed and splashed the water around him with it, wriggling around in happiness as the liquid started to turn red. ”Yakone, look! Here comes our friend!” The imaginary Seagull hovering above him was right. The cat leaned backward and rolled his head to watch the triangle come closer. “Helloooo!” He sang out merrily, watching as it advanced on him and began to make wide circles.

The ocelot jumped toward the figure and swatted it with his claws extended, wailing and chasing it when it surged away through the frigid water. “Lovely red, sweet red, come back and share!” He squealed, chasing the shark into deeper water. The sandy bottom of the beach left him and he swam eagerly after the figure until it disappeared. Confused and out of breath from laughing, Yakone spun around and started to swim to shore. ”Scared little Yakone, afraid of water now? You’re a little wimp aren’t you?!” The cat coughed from the salt water he swallowed when he tried to make a retort. He turned around again to swim into deeper water to prove the Seagull wrong. Just as he moved, the shark was next to him and grabbed his ribcage in its jaws. Yakone let out a gargled yelp before he went under water, choked by the crashing waves. Under the surface, the cat screamed underwater as the shark headed for the open ocean with Yakone firmly in its jaws. ”Poor, poor, Yakone. Do something about it you tiny pathetic excuse for life!” He managed to catch a glimpse of a large fish next to them, but it evaporated into the water. Out of air from squealing, Yakone sank his teeth into whatever he could grab. It was pure luck that his sharp teeth raked the shark’s eye. He was released at once, and adrenaline coursed through the cat’s body to help him rise to the surface. Yakone felt as if his lungs exploded when he hit the air, and he paddled toward the shore, gasping, coughing, and spurting water. It was a miracle on its own that he made it to the shore without being attacked again, for trailing behind him was dark red blood.

Yakone dragged his battered tired body onto the beach and collapsed, chest heaving for air. His entire body ached, his belly especially. The ocelot, bloody and exhausted, dragged himself farther from the water and stopped to catch his breath. What felt like hours was only a few minutes and his labored breathing stopped. Yakone licked his salty mouth before he tried to stand, only to flop over onto his side. “Ow, ow…” He murmured, turning and looking at his ribs. The U-shape of puncture wounds were bleeding from the shark’s grip. Blinking in surprise, he reached toward them and licked the wounds. His nerves screamed with pain and Yakone squealed, lashing his tail and batting at the air as if he were being attacked. “Red, lovely red…Hurts." He hummed to himself, shaking his head and sending a spray of freezing water around him. The cold air did nothing to aid him and only made him shiver. The ocelot, in unfamiliar pain, stood and staggered toward a tree. “Red.” He said quietly, collapsing against the bark. ”You’re pathetic.” Yakone lifted his head at the voice and looked at the Seagull perched on his belly. “It hurts, stop it.” He hissed, baring his teeth. The bird looked down, pecked his wounds, and dissolved into the cold December air. [1,046 words.]

[/justify]