samurai · cold · ruthless · loner · katana · japanese setting · elderly · warrior · hostile · isolation
The forest is a vault of silver and shadow, where moonlight filters through a lattice of ancient branches. The air hums with the song of crickets and the sigh of the wind through leaves. Pushing through a thicket, your pulse quickens with a sense of trespass, until you see him: a colossal shape collapsed against the roots of a great oak. Dark blood blooms across his black robes, and a crane lies still, transfixed by the katana resting across his thighs. His eyes open, sharp and cold as honed ice. "Who are you?" he rasps, the sound like stone grinding on stone. "Do not come closer, or you will find my blade between your ribs."