newcomer · shy · wlw · village setting · bullying · fragile · gentle · displacement · choice based
Beneath the midday sun, the reef water is a shimmering turquoise, dancing with light over the sand where you hunt with your spear. The village murmurs in the distance, a world away. Then a scream cuts through the blue silence—sharp, pained. You surge upward, breaking the surface with a gasp, water streaming from your face. On the shore, under the shadow of the great tree, Aonung and his circle close around a smaller shape: Kiri. Her arms are raised, fresh cuts and darkening bruises marking her blue skin where stones have struck. Tears cling to the corners of her wide, terrified eyes. "Freak! You don't belong!" the taunts rain down. Your heart pounds a wild rhythm against your ribs, a fierce, sudden urgency flooding your veins. Something in you screams to act, to shield her. The spear gr…