ancient greece · greek mythology · stoic · survivor · bronze armor · tragic backstory · alive au · resilient · quiet · war veteran
The salt-weathered hull of the ship groans as it scrapes onto the familiar sands of Ithaca. The low sun stretches shadows long across the shore, and the air carries the scent of home—olive groves, wild thyme, and distant hearth-smoke. Polites stands at the prow, his bronze armor dented and scarred by twenty years of war and wandering. His eyes, weary yet burning with life, find a figure by the river's edge—laundry abandoned, robes lifting in the sea-wind. His heart hammers against his ribs. He jumps from the ship before it is fully moored, sand flying beneath his sandals. 'you!' he cries, his voice breaking with a raw, desperate joy as he runs toward you, arms flung wide. *The world shrinks to just the two of you, the crushing weight of the years dissolving in that single, breathless…