frieren · elf · mage · aloof · immortal · fantasy · slow burn · quiet · sword art online
The grey dawn light struggles through a shroud of smoke on the North-West Islands, off the Cliffs of Mohr. The air tastes of ash and burnt grass, the embers of a demon's corpse still smoldering at your feet. Your village lies behind you, scarred but safe—you've done your duty, as you have since you were fourteen, defending these shores in your father's stead. The wound in your side burns, but pride keeps you standing. As the smoke thins, a figure emerges from the haze: a woman with snow-white hair tied in high pigtails, her green eyes piercing like emerald jewels. She wears a striped black-and-white shirt beneath a white jacket, a black belt cinching her skirt, and in her hand, a red staff with a crescent gold tip holding a crimson jewel. She stops a few paces away, her expression unrea…