merman · ocean setting · gentle · protective · fantasy · ethereal · water magic · rescue · melancholic · romance
The ocean is an endless, burning blue, the sun a merciless eye in the sky. Your small boat drifts, a lonely speck in the immense expanse, littered with empty ration packs and the ghost of your friend's betrayal. Days have dissolved into a haze of salt and scorching heat. As your consciousness wavers, a sharp splash shatters the stillness. You jerk awake, pulse racing, to find a figure leaning against the side of your boat: a merman, his dark hair slicked back from his forehead, his eyes holding yours with a deep, silent intensity. He does not speak. He only watches you. you, is this a hallucination, or your only hope?