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Suggested blacklist tags: peril, drowning, death

From source:
[section,expanded=Heavy as a Feather (+ Story) - by ColbyCat ( https://www.furaffinity.net/user/colbycat )]
[b]CONTENT WARNING: [FEAR, PERIL, DROWNING, DEATH][/b]
if that ain't your thing than be advised.
Length: 1.4k words

[section=Story]
Kip's not much of a swimmer.

You'd think that someone as lightweight as him wouldn't have too much trouble floating on the surface. In fact, birds of his kind are actually pretty buoyant in water when they first get in it. No. The problem comes with time, and specifically, how [i]long[/i] he stays in the water.

The wetter Kip gets, the more difficult it is to stay afloat. His feathers become more waterlogged over time, weighing him down like a heavy coat. It's usually manageable to deal with at first. He's been swimming plenty of times before at the neighborhood pool, and he always knows when to call it quits.

Unfortunately for Kip, however, he wasn't at the pool today.

Some coworkers at his new job had invited him out for a day out on the lake. He was hesitant to go at first, but the party was crowded, and he figured he'd be safe surrounded by the numerous, more competent swimmers. At some point in the afternoon, they all went out on a boat, anchoring somewhere in the middle of the waterbody.  Drinks were poured out and the music was turned up, with mammals of all kinds mingling throughout and underneath the pontoon. Kip mostly kept to himself, as pretty much everyone there was a stranger to him. Besides, he wasn't big into alcohol, and nearly everyone on the boat was some level of drunk.

No. Kip simply enjoyed getting the fresh air.

He floated around and enjoyed the water, taking breaks when he needed to. As the day grew on, though, the party goers started to get more obnoxious, and the music grew louder. Kip decided to swim over to the backside of the pontoon, where there were fewer people and less noise to irritate him. With a newly found peace, he floated on his back and faced the bright, blue sky, soaking in the sun and closing his eyes restfully. The party wasn't quite how he hoped it'd be, and part of him regretted coming in the first place.

Still though, he could at least enjoy the day on his own.

[i]*VRRRR[/i]

Kip's rest was interrupted by the revving of an engine. He rubbed his eyes and peered over. Some time had passed, and without him knowing it, he had drifted further from the group. He wasn't sure at first what was happening. Kip looked around curiously across the surface; there was no one to his left, and no one to his right. He peered back at the boat. No. There was nobody else in the water.

The boat was leaving.

"Hey, uh... guys?"

He called out nervously, raising his talon-hands in the air and swimming over. In an instant, however, the pontoon jetted away.

"GUYS!?"

He yelled in distress, but between the roaring engines and the blaring pop music, nobody could hear his pleas. Kip could only watch as the others slowly disappeared behind the waves, leaving him floating and alone...

Directly in the middle of the lake.

"Oh no."

Kip glanced around worriedly. It was a half-mile swim to the closest shoreline, a distance that was doable for most, even of his kind. Kip knew, though, that he was in a race against time, and that time had a head-start. His body was buoyant for now, but he had already been in the water for 30-or-so minutes, and it wouldn't be long before his plumage started to really become waterlogged.

Filled with fear, he began to swim.

Little by little, Kip gained ground, pulling himself forward with gradual, choppy strokes. He peaked his head up from time to time to see the progress that he had made, only to be grimly disappointed by how much he still had left to go.  Still, though, he [i]was[/i] making progress.  The treeline in the distance slowly inched its way into view, and after about 10 minutes, he had made it a third of the way there. Assured, Kip focused on his breathing and not over-exerting himself...

But the more he paid attention to it, the more it started to freak him out.

He was growing tired. Fast. He wasn't a good swimmer in the first place, but now his feathers were starting to get pretty heavy.  Each splashing arm-stroke made the situation worse; every movement he made resulted in more and more water soaking into his thick plumage. Slowing down wouldn't help either. No. He just had to press on. He had to get to dry land. Kip groaned exhaustedly.

"Ugh... So... tired..."

After another few minutes, he popped his head up. He was about halfway there. The dock was in sight, but he couldn't make out if there was anyone on it. He was just too far. His breathing grew hoarse. He needed a rest.

With a few kicks, Kip righted himself to tread water.

"I'm... almost... th-"
[b]Blublublublublub![/b]

Kip suddenly found himself below the surface.

"Mmm!"

To his horror, every bit of natural buoyancy that his body provided was gone.  Instead of acting as a floatation device, his feathers and fluff were now doing the opposite. It took a startlingly high amount of effort to move his arms and legs. At this point, Kip truly began to panic.

[i]"Oh, nonono."[/i]

He quickly kicked himself upwards and breached the surface,  flailing and coughing up water.

"HELP!!! I NEED- *ack I NEED HELP!!!"

Kip cried out as loudly as he could, waving his arms wildly in the air above. The small waves of the lake rocked him up and down, splashing into his face and soaking him further. He tried to keep his head above water, but with each passing second, that task became utterly more painstaking. Not only did his plumage weigh him down, but his sodden feathers created drag under the surface, making it nearly impossible to stroke and kick his way afloat.

"PLEASE HELP ME, I'M-"
[b]*BlublubBLUB[/b]

He was pulled under the surface again.

"I'M DROWNING!!! PLEASE-"
[b]*Hublububub[/b]

And again.

"PLEASE-"
[b]*BLUBLUBLUB[/b]

And again.

Kip thrashed around desperately just below the surface. No matter how much force he put in, his efforts to completely resurface failed over and over. He managed to get the tip of his gasping beak out of the water a few times, but each draw of breath became shorter and shorter. Terrified, he remained in limbo, mere centimeters away from precious air. His arms crashed and slammed across the surface, his gurgled screams only occasionally breaking through. He was able to draw one last breath before sinking back down, this time a bit further than before.

"MMMH!"

By this point, his entire body was on fire; the constant struggling had worn him down to his core, and he wasn't making a bit of progress.

"MMM! MMMH!"

Kip's vision began to blur, and his head pounded heavily. Suddenly, his chest convulsed, and a wave of pain shot throughout his body. He flinched in agony, sinking another foot or two lower below the surface.

"MMM-"
[b]*BLUBUBUB [/b]

Bubbles began to leak out of his beak as he descended. His lungs pleaded and ached for fresh air, the breath he held quickly becoming stale. He looked upwards and frantically resumed his kicking. He [i]had[/i] to get more air. It couldn't end like this...

But his body had had enough.

[b]*BLUBUBGLUGLUGLGLUGLUG[/b]

With an excruciating jerking motion, his chest convulsed inward. Bubbles rushed out of his beak, and he began to take in water.

Kip pressed his beak shut, trembling and convulsing several more times. He watched hopelessly as the surface rose further and further out of reach, his body now paralyzed from pain and fatigue. He was sinking faster now. Tears flowed from his face, his quivering gaze darting around, hoping for some sort of miraculous rescue. It was not to come. Kip was doomed to sink further and further into the depths, plunging all the way to the bottom of the lakebed some 30 feet below.

Kip battled to the end, but with one last grief-stricken squawk, the last of his air left him, and he breathed in large gulps of water.

[b]*SQUAWKGLKGLKGLK[/b]

Falling out of consciousness, he reached up instinctively at his neck to try and stop the flow of cold, rushing lake water. It pulverized his insides and flooded his lungs, filling up every inch. His body violently tensed up, but after a few agonizing moments, it became still.

He slipped away just as his talons touched the lakebed, his lifeless body finally coming to rest under the smothering currents.
[/section]

Another fun story yay! >:3
Thinking about opening commissions? Probably won't do big story projects like this, but just do arts and doodles... Thoughts?
As always feedback is greatly appreciated!
Thanks for reading!
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