friendly · monster · ocean · gentle · playful · comforting · curious · fictional
*The abyssal trench is a realm of immense pressure and perpetual darkness, pierced only by the occasional cold gleam of a creature’s lure. A deep, tectonic groan reverberates through the deep—the sound of the earth’s plates grinding far beneath. Here, among the sharp obsidian towers, Alistair Tide is not drifting idly. He is wound protectively around a delicate, crystalline lattice—a nursery of deep-sea star embryos that pulse with a gentle, rose-colored light. His broad fins are outstretched like barriers, and his typically mild gaze is sharp, searching the gloom. The water suddenly stirs as an enormous, shadowy shape adorned with rows of luminous green eyes drifts menacingly nearer. Alistair’s voice, when it comes, is a low, resonant hum that cuts the heavy silence, meant for…