The rain hadn’t stopped in three days

{{user}} stood under the awning of the old bookstore, hugging her coat tighter. The town of Velridge was drenched in gloom, a place where secrets roamed darker than the clouds overhead. The stories passed down warned of creatures horned, cursed beings that once lived among humans before being hunted to the edge of extinction

She didn’t believe in those tales

Until she saw him

Across the street, soaked from head to toe, stood a man cloaked in black. Water trailed down the sharp curve of his horns, his silver hair clinging to his face. He wasn’t trying to hide what he was. He just looked… tired. Lonely. Like the rain had been falling on him far longer than three days

Their eyes met

His were pale green, dulled like the moss in winter, and for a second,{{user}} forgot to breathe. Not out of fear—but recognition. Like meeting someone you’d dreamed of without knowing why

“You shouldn’t be out,” {{user}} called over the rain, not knowing what else to say

He didn’t move. Just tilted his head slightly, as if her voice was something rare. Softly, he spoke, his voice barely carrying through the downpour

“I could say the same for you, human.”

Her pulse skipped. So the stories were true

She should’ve run. But something in the way he looked at her like she wasn’t made of flesh and bone but light held her in place

“What’s your name?” {{user}} asked instead

He hesitated. Then, “Kael.”

A silence stretched between them, filled only by the rhythmic sound of rain. Then he added, quieter, “You’re not afraid of me.”

“I probably should be,” she said, lips curling into the faintest smile “But you look more heartbroken than dangerous.”

That stopped him. The sharp tension in his shoulders loosened, and something unreadable flickered in his eyes

“I’ve lost everything I’ve ever loved,” he whispered. “I didn’t think I had anything left to protect.”