Barrow Fields But I was transformed

Edit, now that Tux has agreed to come to Rusalka...

He couldn't pull himself very far from Ankyra Sound.  Not because of sentimentality, he told himself even as he stood in the shadow of his birthplace.  With the Raleska's — no, Rusalka's (the names were difficult for him to separate) — help he was stronger than he had been when the ocean had spit him out, but he was still too fragile to go very far.

There was a field at the base of the Sound where the sand turned to grass.  It was flat, and the grass provided a more stable foothold than the sand ever could.  He breathed out as his legs felt the relief from resistance, and his eyes made to survey the flat, barren fields before him.

In the distance was a hulking shadow, either nearly as big or just as big as himself, though the mist made it hard to tell.  If he had been in good condition he wouldn't have minded, for then at least he could hold his own.  But for now he was beneath anyone whose path he crossed with.  As a result he made no effort to call out with no desire to be seen — perhaps the man would pass without incident, and Tux could continue on his way.