like smoke, asami approached the cay just before dusk. with the channel open, she knew it was finally time to resume her duties to laipawa ( no matter how much she ached to stay home— ). she stood there for a time, contemplating her plan once to peregrine. and eventually, with the early morning sun starting to peer through the trees behind her, the spider crawled to the shoreline with sadness in her lupine eyes. it never got easier, and if anything, harder. asami knew that with parting way with the islands, she was losing pieces of herself. age would not always be on her side, would it?

into the water, it cascaded over her black bodice like robes. she always chose the morning waves over midday; her muscles would tense and shrink, but the tightness would serve her upon the end of the channel. like clockwork, the sands disappeared underhoof, leaving her paddling into calm waters. asami never liked the salt that would collect on her knowing she’d have to bathe herself shortly after arriving. such trivial thoughts kept her going during the swim.

she noted her own struggle midway. slightly out of shape from the lack of traveling in the past season, asami had to move slower than usual. a dull ache started in her shoulder, something she rolled her eyes at. “never again,” she called to mother nature. “for as my heart loves the islands, my body hungers for the haul,” she finished. it always felt so silly to talk to the skies as if they were people.

let me pass.

Mother Nature

Success!

In Asami's desperate bid to get to the other side of the crossing, she either failed to notice the outcropping of jagged rocks that peek out from just beneath the water's edge or she didn't care. Though her journey to the other side was ultimately a success, it was not without bloodshed. Asami was sliced open by the rocks' sharp edges. The extent of the injuries are superficial at most but they sting and are a reminder to be more cautious in the future. Her legs and belly will not soon forget this crossing or the rocks that lurk beneath the water's surface.

JUNI!