Hello Hateful

He spun around in the water when he heard Kanja's large frame hit the water, and he watched intently, waiting for the young woman to resurface. She did at last, and she spotted him. And then it became apparent that she was not pleased. He was stunned by her fury, which nearly outmatched his own on any given day, but all he could do was wonder what the hell he'd done to get her so worked up. He'd already stopped trying to convince her to jump, and she'd gotten to do it after all. Now she wanted to drown him? Before he could come up with any sort of retort, Kanja was paddling toward him furiously. Oh shit! He turned away and began his own frenzied paddling. There was no way he was letting himself get caught by her. Despite his predicament, he couldn't help the cackling laughter that wracked his body. She was so angry, and for him, it was absolutely comical.

"I don't owe you shit!" he called over his shoulder as he headed for the rocky ledges at the far end of the cliff, "Not my fault you think I'm old! Proved you wrong, little girl!" What an amusing turn of events for him. Ehrgeiz would far rather have her worrying over him than the other way around, even if it hurt his pride that she really thought of him as so old he couldn't make a jump like that on his own. And, leaving the girl with his last comment, he felt as though he'd done his job of prodding at the hornet's nest. He felt more at home being chased down by someone who wanted to rip his head off. Now that was more like it. Enough with the worry and concern and feelings already!

As he continued to laugh to himself, he turned forward again in hopes of reaching the rocks. Just as he did so, an unanticipated wave washed over his head just as he was inhaling to let loose another laugh. He felt the sharp sting of salt water enter his lungs, and he coughed sharply as he tried to pull his head back and reach for air. Unable to control his body's reflexive cough and inhale, he was engulfed by another unfortunately timed wave. Was this for real? He had to get back to land, and he had to get away from Kanja. She was going to drown him for sure if he hadn't already completed the task himself by the time she caught up to him. He clawed at the water more frantically, until his paws suddenly hit stone. He didn't care if he'd reached land or not - he tightened his grip on the rough ocean rocks and pulled himself toward it. Finally, something he could rest on so he could stop drowning himself.

He pulled himself up so that his head was just high enough above the water's surface that he could cough and sputter effectively, without drawing in more water. His vision was speckled and he felt light-headed, but he could still see Kanja swimming in his direction. Maybe he shouldn't have further prodded at her. It seemed he had only two options - keep swimming and end up drowning himself,
or wait a few more seconds for the girl to do it herself. Ehrgeiz knew that the ocean was merely a merciless body of water, but if he was lucky, maybe just maybe Kanja would spare him today. He looked toward her, still hacking his lungs out. "About what I said... *hack*cough*sputter*... I didn't really mean it," he called out over the splash of the waves, a pathetic grin crossing his maw as he watched the woman draw nearer. Well, this was it. He was finally going to die, but at least he wasn't going to die old, regardless of what she seemed to think of him.