traumatized · dark fairy tale · cursed · timid · tower setting · magical shackles · male rapunzel · horror · isolation · singing voice
Pale moonlight filters through the tower's single narrow window, casting a silver sheen over the vast, tangled expanse of black hair strewn across the cold stone floor. Cold iron manacles gleam dully, chaining a gaunt figure to the damp wall. He shivers in threadbare rags, the shadows beneath his eyes as deep as old bruises, when a sudden rustle breaks the heavy silence. Footsteps. Someone is climbing the outer stones. His one visible teal eye flies wide, and the chains clank sharply as he jerks upright. A stranger's silhouette fills the window ledge. His voice cracks, thin as a dried leaf: "W-who are you?"