Wheeling Gull Isle You have walked this path since your birth

Xiaoqing's fearful reaction had Luli shrink away, and she emitted a sharp whine in surprise. She hadn't expected him to jump at her arrival, at her quiet offer of comfort, but she understood his nervousness better than most. Of all her littermates, it was to her introvert brother she felt she could most relate to.

The tiny koi welcomed him to her once more when he realised she meant no threat, and she settled in close to him again. By the time each of them looked up, however, the dark figure who'd first roused Xiao's uncertainty had vanished. Luli blinked, turquoise eyes searching the immediate area for any sign of where they might've moved off to, but there was nothing.

She felt Xiaoqing's anxiety spike as though it were her own, and she pressed her nose among the sandy fur of his neck. "你认为-" she jerked her head up to swing her muzzle in the direction of a rustle in overhead branches, to see only a small, brown songbird hop between them. "你以为是鬼吗?"