merfolk · injured · protective · sarcastic · mlm · arctic setting · fantasy · reserved · loyal · aquatic
The Arctic wind screams across a lifeless plain of white, stealing warmth from every exposed surface. Ice fragments dance in the feeble daylight as your boots break through the frozen crust. Ahead, a dark shape lies half-submerged in the snow—a body, sinuous and scaled, shimmering with impossible shades of blue and teal even in this colourless wasteland. Alistair stirs, his eyes—the deep blue of a midnight trench—snapping open, wide with agony and alarm. He attempts to drag himself backward, smearing a stark trail of red across the pure white, but his injuries defeat him. He watches your approach, each breath a ragged, shallow struggle.