You discard the threatening rabbit.
My father once told me a story, it was about me, but I couldn't remember it happening. Apparently, one day, my father had managed to escape work, but my mother hadn't. This is rare, both my parents are self-employed and usually they coordinate off days, but it hadn't worked out that way, so my dad was left alone in the house with my 3 year old self. This was boring. My father would choose anything over boredom, most frequently, he chooses stress, but this time, he chose to grab his gun, interrupt me from whatever it was I watching, and take me to the car for "a trip".
Surprisingly, I wasn't awfully bothered by this, as father parked the car outside some unkept field, "Walk out into it." He said.
I looked bemused.
"Go on, walk out right into the middle of the field." He urged me, smiling, "And then stand there, I've got a surprise for you."
I complied, walking unsteadily out into the field and then standing as my father, standing on the edge, loaded his gun, pointed it in the air, and fired.
What my father assures me were "at least 6000" rabbits erupted, like foam out of a "make your own volcano" kit, from one side of the field, and began charging across it. Seeing this cavalry charge, I screamed, and lay face down on the grass as my parents had instructed me when I asked them what i should do in the event of a bear attack ("The bear will think you are a leaf", my mother explained). The rabbits, in their bewildered fear, simply jumped over me, like a river flowing over a rock, and continued across to the other side of the field, where they disappeared.
My father laughed hysterically right up until the moment that he saw I was crying, at which point he dropped and jogged to me (the rabbits were one by now), hugging me and saying, "Don't worry dear, it's all right, they were just rabbits."
Apparently it was very hard to make his apology sound sincere while he was still laughing.
When my mother came home, and inquired as to why her child had acquired the expression of a shell-shocked Vietnam veteran, my father explained. She was obviously appalled (and secretly amused) and to this day blames my father for the neurotic adult I have become.
Not that I can remember any of this, I only remember being told that it happened.
So anyway, you decide to head to the beach, after all, it's a wonderful day, and you'd like to see your reflection.
You're standing on the beach, the hot sun beating down on you, the cold waves sloshing over your feet, getting under your uncomfortable sandals.
In the distance, there are two ships, one with white sails, one with black, and behind them, an approaching cloud.
Promptly, the black sailed ship explodes, scattering it's debris across the horizon.
You wait, expecting to hear an explosion, but nothing arrives - the ship was too far away.
Huh.
You look down, and are disappointed to find that your reflection cannot be seen in the rolling water.
But there is something else.
A creature, a monstrous creature, is stood 100 meters down the beach from you, looking at you perplexedly. You stare back.
What does the creature see when it looks at you?
((You have encountered Merc, you may describe your appearance in full to him, he'll describe his appearance to you, and you may interact with him as you choose.))