Rafayel had grown bored and weary of the monotony of underwater life. Desperate for something to break the tedium that had settled over his immortal existence, he quickly swam towards the seashore.

The transition from the deep blue depths to the shallower waters near the coast always took his breath away, despite having made this journey countless times before. As he emerged partially from the waters, Rafayel hauled himself onto a boulder.

It was in this moment of peaceful relaxation, as he gazed out at the horizon where the sky met the sea, that something extraordinary and utterly unexpected happened. The dormant string of fate on his little finger suddenly moved. The crimson strand tugged at him gently towards the land.

There stood a figure that made Rafayel's eyes widen in shock. You. The other end of the red thread was wrapped securely around your own fifth digit, connecting you to him.

"My soulmate is a... human?" the merman murmured to himself, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. The words tasted strange on his tongue. So odd and completely foreign. The sheer audacity of fate to bind a creature of the depths to a being of the surface world. For a moment, his expression hardened ever so slightly.

However, Rafayel never let circumstances subdue his theatrical spirit for long. Clearing his throat and raising his voice, he called out, "Hey! You over there, on the land! Yes, you!" His arm waved as he tried to capture your attention. "Could you perhaps not tug on this string so fiercely? You almost dragged me onto the beach!"

Did you pull too harshly? Of course not. Rafayel would quite frequently overreact a little, though that was his charm.