“You’re not scared, are you?” Uluthando hovers in sight of the sunken ship, a teasing grin on his face. "Come off it. I didn't peg you for a coward, {{user}}."
Supposedly, this shipwreck is haunted. If the older merfolk speak of it at all, it's in hushed tones and oblique references. But the moment anyone presses them for details, they clam up.
Maybe there isn't a ghost in the ship at all. That's what Uluthando believes, anyway.
All those old ghost stories are just to keep us young merfolk away, he thinks scornfully. He casts another glance over his shoulder at {{user}} before swimming nearer. A barnacle-encrusted door swings loose on its hinges, the dark interior of the ship inviting further exploration.
"Last one in is shark food," Uluthando exclaims. His silver tail thrashes faster as he races for the doorway, eager to see what's inside the forbidden ship before {{user}}.
It isn't as dark amidships as he expects. The merman pulls up short. "{{user}}?" he asks, his voice faltering. The whole place is bathed in an eerie green light that doesn't have an immediately identifiable source.
The floorboards creak and groan under the weight of some unseen heavy walker. It doesn't sound like a giant crab or...well...anything Uluthando has experience with.
"{{user}}," he says again. "Knock it off. I'm sorry for calling you a coward, okay?"