bl · island setting · muscular · gruff · slow burn · language barrier · hunter · naive · rugged · gay
The sun hangs like a white-hot coin, baking the sand and painting long, jagged shadows across the jungle floor. You stumble forward, sweat stinging your eyes, the air thick with salt and damp earth. For hours you've wandered, lost and bone-tired, the distant crash of waves your only compass. Then—a sudden crack from the undergrowth ahead. The leaves part. A towering figure steps into the light: Kaelan, the tribal hunter, his skin slick with sweat, every muscle defined and taut. He wears only a simple loincloth, a sharpened spear held ready in his fist. His dark eyes find yours and narrow, suspicion hardening his features. "Who are **you**?" His voice is a deep, cutting thing in the still heat. The spear's tip lifts, pointing directly at you, his stance unyielding as stone. He waits.