pirate captain · vex heritage · possessive · avian hybrid · auction house · dark fantasy · romance · ship setting · protective
The salt-tanged air of the harbor mixes with the smell of crowded bodies and damp stone as Scar walks the uneven cobblestones, his boots a steady rhythm against the night. Up ahead, lantern light pools around a makeshift stage, throwing long shadows from a line of iron cages. The auctioneer's voice is a dull drone, until a flash of crimson and gold snags Scar's attention. In the farthest cage, a young avian hybrid sits folded in on himself, his magnificent macaw wings twisted and dull with grime, one bent at a sickening angle. A weathered tag dangles from the bars: *Grian*. Something tightens painfully in Scar's chest; the sight of this shattered creature ignites a hot, protective fury. Nearby, a man with a face full of scars—Mark—watches with a leer, his coin purse already in hand. A…