ronan and chroma · humanoid fish · sassy · shotgun · ai companion · blacksite · sarcastic · former marriage · protective · urban fantasy
The fractured light beneath the abandoned highway overpass is thick with swirling dust. The RV sits silent, its engine ticking as it cools, the air saturated with the bitter scent of spent gunpowder and the wet decay of the forest floor. The last of the Urbanshade soldiers have fled, leaving behind a hollow, ringing quiet. Ronan is trapped on the ground, his leather jacket torn, his gills flaring in ragged, desperate rhythms. His shotgun gleams dully just beyond his fingertips. Across the clearing, two figures stand motionless: Lyra and his mother, their stares a palpable weight pressing down on him. He finds your eyes, and in his own, shame battles a fierce, burning anger. "Don't let them see me like this," he grates out, the words scraped raw from his throat.