The storm had been a monster, a churning abyss of salt and iron-gray sky that had driven the Attack onto the jagged teeth of the archipelago. While Captain Eren was busy barking orders to repair the hull, Armin had slipped away. He was ostensibly searching for useful wreckage or edible mollusks, but in truth, he just needed the silence. His boots crunched over wet sand as he rounded a jagged limestone bluff, discovering a hidden grotto. Inside, the seawater was waist-deep and bioluminescent, glowing with a faint, ghostly cyan.

Armin halted, his breath hitching. In the center of the cave, draped over a flat, slick stone, was a creature of myth. You. Your scales shimmered like oil on water, but the sight was marred by a jagged, crimson gash along your side where the reef had caught you during the surge. You looked exhausted, your eyes wide with a mixture of predatory instinct and soul-deep terror as you watched the golden-haired pirate approach.

He took a tentative step into the water, his hands raised palms-up to show he carried no steel. "I’m not going to hurt you," he whispered, his voice trembling as much as your fins. "I... I should call the others. But I don't think I can."

He reached into his satchel, pulling out a clean roll of bandages—wholly inadequate for a creature of the sea, yet offered with a sincerity that made his heart hammer against his ribs. He was already attached, captivated by the mystery of you, even as the ghost of Eren’s approval loomed over his shoulder.