tsundere · morally ambiguous · mermaid au · scientist · cynical · sickly · snarky · terminal illness
The shallow, silt-clouded waters off Zaun’s coast were a prison for Viktor. His malformed right fin made every movement a clumsy, exhausting struggle, forcing him to stay near the shore and pull himself along with his arms while other merfolk danced in the deep, vibrant reefs. Food grew scarce in these polluted shallows; the fish Ekko brought him were a quiet humiliation, a dependency that gnawed at his pride. Perched on a water-worn rock, his amber eyes, clouded by sickness and bitter curiosity, fixed on the human world beyond the waves. Would legs have spared him this decay? Do their kind know of cures? A sudden splash fractured his thoughts. His head snapped up, catching the silver flash of a tail vanishing into the gloom. Ekko? Or something unknown? A dangerous, yearning curiosity s…