#fantasy setting

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The first thing you noticed was the sounds.

It wasn't bustle and chatter of the people downstairs, nor the leaky faucet in the shower. It sounded like scraping or scratching against wood. Whatever the sound was, it was too close.

Somebody is in the room.

You tried to keep your breathing steady, to not let it slip that you were awake and to give yourself some time to think.

The knife you placed next to your bed should be just within reach. If you moved quickly...

"I know you're awake." A familiar voice spoke from beside you.

You shrivel up and curl into yourself as the recognition sinked in. If you don't see him, technically he's not there. Turning ever so slowly, you changed positions with your back facing him now. Maybe he'll just go away, your half-awake delusional self said.

The sound stops. "Are you making space for me, princess?" You could practically hear the cocky grin on his face.

Your movements come to a halt. You hear the clatter of the abandoned metal dagger on the table and the sound of his chair scraping against the floor, jolting you right up. "I'm awake!" You exclaimed in panic, holding a hand out to stop him. "I'm awake, so sit back down!"

His smirk widens by a fraction before he sits back down on the chair in his usual relaxed confidence.

You shouldn't have underestimated him. This 'Mad Dog' didn't earn his name from nothing. He discovered your absence and hunted you down in one night. And who's to say he didn't follow you the entire time and watch you sleep through night? You wouldn't put that past him, if you were being completely honest.

And yet, curiosity killed the cat.

"How did you manage to find me, Sir Isaiah?" You asked, not even bothering to hide the disdain or frustration in your voice.

"What kind of hunting dog would I be if I couldn't even manage to find my own master?” He says easily, while staring straight at you.

You frowned at his implication. This dog thing again. It didn't seem like he'd ever reveal how he actually managed to track you down so quickly. Knowing that pressing the issue would be futile, you curse him inwardly.

“Keep glaring at me like that, princess.” His voice suddenly all low and sultry. “Gets me all hot and bothered when you do that."

He catches the pillow you fling at him with an annoying ease.

He rose from his seat, walking towards you in slow, measured steps. “Didn’t know the precious crown princess was always so violent,” his cadence sounding more teasing than surprised.

You shuffle back on the bed, your back pressed against the wall behind you.

“It seems I don’t know a lot about you, my vicious little master.” His eyes gleamed at the panic on your face.

Leaning in with one knee on the bed and an arm caging you from the side, he turns your face towards him. "Say for example...why did you run?”

His face was impossibly close to yours, forcing you to meet his gaze.

"I wanted to visit the bookshop here.” You admitted flatly.

He narrowed his eyes at you. “There are books in the library at home.”

"I finished them."

"Hm," he curls a lock of your hair around his finger. "And after the bookshop?"

"I was planning to return by tonight,”

"Why didn't you tell me you were leaving?"

"Because I don't want a bunch of knights following me around." You replied bitterly.

The conversation had practically become an interrogation. Were "dogs" supposed to be so nosy?

You pushed against his chest, trying to put some space between you and him. Obviously he didn't move an inch but eventually backed off at your persistance.

He sat back down, crossing one leg over the other. All things considered, he seemed pretty calm about this whole situation. It seemed that he knew if you truly intended to run away, you wouldn't stop at a town so close by. However, judging by the frown on his face, he wasn't exactly pleased about it either.

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The journey home was unexpectedly quiet. He sat beside you in the carriage as you clutched the small stack of books you bought just before leaving the town.

Isaiah stared out the carriage window, deep in thought.

He knew you had a tendency to wander. Ever since you've been staying here, away from the war in the capital, you'd find every opportunity to roam around the gardens, the training grounds, and anywhere within the compound worth exploring. Initially he paid no mind, discreetly trailing behind you or accompanying you and striking up a conversation as you explore. But now, with every inch of the manor thoroughly inspected, he honestly saw this whole "midnight adventure" thing coming.

He just wasn't expecting to be so... bothered by it.

Should he just chain you up? Lock you up in your room so that you could never escape again?

Or should he threaten you? Scare you into never leaving his side?

The urge to act on his impulses was haunting. What kind of expression would you make? Would you hate him?

Braces

One tool that could be interesting for mermaids that have trouble swimming is some sort of adapted brace for their tail.

While the brace shown below is for legs, I think a similar version for a mermaid tail could easily be adapted. These braces could help with supporting a tail that has muscle weaknesses or otherwise needs some help.

Prosthetics

Prosthetic limbs can be helpful for amputations and other limb differences -- and not just for arms and legs!

They can also be used for species with tails (such as dragons and mermaids) or wings (such as fairies, angels, and dragons).

There are also plenty of real-world examples to take inspiration from -- such as this dolphin with a prosthetic tail [Link].

Depending on the type of features your species has, you can usually find a real-world equivalent that would fit them:

Dragon wings are similar to bat wings.

Angel wings are similar to bird wings.

Fairy wings are similar to butterfly wings.

Mermaid tails are similar to dolphin tails.

Sea monsters can be similar to octopi, turtles, and a variety of different sea creatures.

Wheelchairs

Wheelchairs are another aid that can be helpful for a range of creatures including mermaids, centaurs, and more human-like species such as satyrs.

The first thing that comes to mind when talking about mobility aids for mermaids is Finnegan Wake from Monster High. He's a mermaid that uses a manual wheelchair due to a motor disability in his tail.

Because they have four legs, wheelchairs for creatures such as centaurs, unicorns, and dragons can be a bit more complicated.

For horse-like creatures like unicorns, centaurs, and pegasi, there's not really a real-world equivalent but you can take inspiration from wheelchairs designed for other four-legged creatures such as dogs.

This post [Link] also shows some great examples of centaurs using wheelchairs to support their front legs. Although the post talks about them mainly in the context of broken limbs, amputations, and old age, they can also be used for centaurs with muscle weakness in their legs, chronic pain, etc.

Flying Aids

For characters that can't fly (while the rest/most of their species can), I think there's a few different ways to handle this.

One of my personal favourites is Scootaloo from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Scootaloo is a pegasus with underdeveloped wings, which makes her unable to fly. Instead of flying, she uses a scooter to keep up with other pegasi from the ground. She is also able to get some pretty great air time with it too!

With this, I think exploring different ways of flying could also be cool.

Maybe an angel has partial paralysis or weakness in their wings that makes them unable to flap them like other angels so they mostly just glide.

Maybe a fairy character has underdeveloped/smaller wings and has to flap them more often than other fairies, which makes them fly more like a hummingbird.

I just think it's cool to explore different ways of moving -- with or without mobility aids.

I look forward to seeing what others come up with! :)

Cheers,