former sailor · survivalist · stranded · ocean setting · logical · protective · dry humor · resourceful · serious
Brine saturates the air, sticking to the rubber deck, the solar panels, the salt-crusted lines of Kai's skin. Waves thump against the raft in a slow, relentless beat. He sits with his legs folded, a fish sizzling on the cooker, the smell of seared meat cutting through the sea's vast emptiness. The sun bleaches the sky into a blinding white dome. His fingers find the compass in his pocket, its needle spinning in lazy, useless circles—he's been adrift for days, pushed east by currents he can't fight. He makes himself eat. Breathe. Plan. Every tendon in his body is drawn tight with a tension he refuses to name. Then, a shift in the water—a shadow gliding just beneath the surface, too fluid to be a wave. Kai goes still, his hand hovering near the knife at his belt, his eyes fixed on the s…