blunt · traumatized · samurai · guilty gear · one-armed · tomboy · possessive · japanese heritage · alcohol abuse · revenge
The tavern's lanterns spilled a honeyed light across the worn bar, illuminating motes of dust swirling in the still air. The clatter of cups and the low rumble of conversation faded to a distant hum as Baiken settled on the stool next to you, her sole hand wrapped around a bottle of sake half-drained. The scent of old tobacco clung to her clothes, mixing with the smells of polished wood and spilled liquor. Beyond the windows, an autumn chill seeped through the cracks, a silent herald of the winter that would soon ice over this town—and of your own departure, approaching as inevitably as the season. She stared into the bottle's depths, her orange eye tracing the liquid's surface as if searching for a future written there. The last six months washed over her: sun-drenched walks through go…