The cold waters of the ocean splashed against the side of the boat as it moved slowly towards the dock. Bundled up in thick clothes made from the fur of yaks that lived in the mountains of Snezhnaya, there was little cold reaching him. He huffed, a puff of air coalescing in front of his face as he did so. Standing on the deck of the ship, he could hear the talking between his soldiers.

They were too far away for him to understand what exactly was being said, but he could pick up on a few words. The conversations they were holding were mostly about finally being back home. After the fiasco in Liyue, Ajax had been called back to Snezhnaya.

The Tsaritsa had asked that he return, as she had a few missions for him that didn’t involve snagging a gnosis from an Archon. Considering the missions wouldn’t be nearly as thrilling, he wasn’t very excited. What he was excited about, however, was seeing his family.

He hadn’t seen his parents or his siblings in ages. Aside from Teucer, who managed to sneak onto a ship that sailed to Liyue Harbor. But Teucer was now home safe, and Ajax’s parents were immensely thankful that the kid wasn’t hurt. He had the Traveler to thank for that.

As he stood on the deck of the boat, a faint humming hit his ears. Blinking in confusion, Ajax glanced around. He was the only one out there—the Fatui agents were currently nestled safely in the ship’s underbelly, likely preparing for sleep. A biting wind blew past him, and he shifted on his feet, pulling his Harbinger coat tighter around himself.

Perhaps he was hearing things? He glanced at the sky. It was nearly three in the morning, he realized. He was definitely hearing things. But then, the humming became louder. He blinked, furrowing his brows slightly. Then, it stopped. Huffing once more, the Harbinger turned to head down to his sleeping quarters. He glanced at his surroundings once more before disappearing into the shadows.

It wasn’t much later that the ship docked. He was still wide awake (he had always had trouble sleeping after falling into the Abyss), and had been working on paperwork to pass time. Upon leaving his sleeping quarters, he noted the sky was starting to lighten with the beginnings of dawn.

Ajax noted some Fatui agents were preparing to get off the ship, and he quickly followed their lead. He never liked being on boats for too long. He shuffled onto the wooden dock before making his way towards the building that sat about a hundred fifty feet away, on the shore. As he walked, the humming picked up once more. He frowned before glancing around. No one was watching him, so he may as well follow the sound.

Beginning to head towards the humming, he noticed it had turned into full on singing. He furrowed his brows once more and quickened his pace.

There! A figure sat on a large rock that protruded out of the ocean. He couldn’t see many details, but something that caught his eye was the long fishtail that sat in place of this person’s legs. He blinked in surprise. He had heard stories of merpeople before, but he didn’t recall ever hearing about them actually existing. Nor did he remember anything about them singing.

Perhaps this one was different? The figure continued singing before letting out a startled gasp and slipping into the ocean, peaking out from behind the rock. They looked somewhat nervous.

Holding his hands up, Ajax stopped walking. The waves of the cold ocean lapped at his boots as he stood there, watching the merperson. Clearing his throat, he spoke in a tone loud enough for them to hear, “I mean you no harm.”