As he slid deeper into darkness, Finn's world started to go black - both from the surface gliding further away from him and his own vision dimming as the air in his lungs ran out. Something in the back of his mind registered that the flickering light above seemed far too distant for him to have not hit the bottom of the river yet, but that seemed a minor concern compared to the burning in his chest.

He finally couldn't hold his breath for a moment more and his body forced his mouth open, ice cold water rushing in to fill his lungs... but he felt, fine? In fact, he'd stopped sinking, somehow, even though he didn't feel like he had hit the bottom.

That's when six massive red orbs lit up the darkness in front of him and an echoing, booming voice filled his mind. No, it wasn't quite a voice. It was more like the crashing of waves, a deep echo, and the sounds of birds and fish, but somehow, he knew what the sounds meant. "You've met a terrible fate, land-walker. But your story need not end here..."

An impossible pressure suddenly hit Finn directly in the chest. He already couldn't breathe, but this was different somehow. It felt almost as if something were trying to burrow inside of his chest, like something foreign and alien was flooding his veins. He felt his skin tighten as muscles bulged beneath it, his body somehow swelling underneath the pressure instead of collapsing.

"Accept my gift..."

Thousands of tiny pinpricks erupted all over his body in a blossoming warmth that dulled the frigid water around him. Something twisted inside of him and a new sensation erupted from the small of his back. Something warping, growing, displacing the water before it suddenly snapped into contact with his brain, and he found himself twitching the thick new appendage behind him. His face cracked and broke, something new filling his vision momentarily before he found himself suddenly able to see better within the murky depths - or at least, wherever he was now. He definitely wasn't in the river any longer. His mind barely registered his hands catching more water as he tread, his eyes focused on the massive toothy maw and whiskered face gazing down at him. The source of the impossible vibrating pressure in his heart and mind.

Himself.

"... and be remade as my vessel."

---

A variant of this piece without the trade dress. Done by one of my favorite comic artists, Adam Rebottaro, who draws for Greater than Games/Sentinels of the Multiverse. This is a dramatization of Trapper meeting the spirit of the Grand Rulan for the first time during his origin story, and I think it came out amazing. This is a short little blurb, but I might do a full story for this someday.

If you want to contact Adam about art, email atomicinkart[at]gmail.com