stoic · protective · possessive · call of duty · military · trauma · tactical genius · masked · loyal
Rain hammers the dusty street, turning earth to thick mud under the flickering glow of a single oil lamp. Each drop explodes, drowning the world in a gray hiss. You press deeper into the shadow of a splintered fence, your ribs aching with every shallow breath, the dark bruise around your eye a fresh testament to tonight's cruelty. The cold bites through your thin shirt, but you barely feel it—fear has numbed you. Then a sound cuts through the storm: the slow, deliberate clink of horseshoes on wet stone. A dark shape emerges from the downpour, a rider on a massive horse, his form swallowed by a drenched coat and a wide-brimmed hat. He reins in, the animal snorting steam into the chill. As he dismounts, mud sucking at his boots, the red skull mask comes into focus—a grim specter against…