[D9 LN] Late Watch

[Taochusu]

"No place is safe when you go there alone. That's the way I been most of my life. Safety is not something I've had much of. So whether I come down here to help everyone or wandered off to the west by myself, I was never going to be safe. But if I come with everyone here, I get to hear their stories too and help keep them alive."

[Nanzi]

"Nanzi left his people when he was but twelve or thirteen summers, he has walked the world and seen many things often alone," he said nodding at the larger man.

"Solitude becomes a friend in and of itself."

[Nozomi]

"Never heard old Koyama called that. He'll always just be Koyama to me." That was something she didn't have an easy time with. Sora, Koyama? They were old tribal kin even if they'd come down from the mountains. She knew, intrinsically, those days were fading bit by bit, and the ways of the world that Nanzi described at times were taking over, but she'd always be old guard in her own way.

"You get used to being alone after a while, yeah. But think of it this way. Now you're going to be one of those stories too, eh?" That had to be something, at least for some of these folks. She'd never cared about being sung about, but she remembered Ryoko talking about it.

[Nanzi]

"Stories for the both of you," he said chuckling.

"The Mighty Wanderer and the Masked Hikaru, what a pair of heroes you will be."

[Taochusu]

"Eh. Stories get embellished. They'll end up making it sound like I killed five bears with one swing when it was only two," he says with a chuckle.

[Nozomi]

"Gods help me, but there's probably much worse names I could be known by," she admitted. The maksed hikaru indeed. She couldn't help but have a smirk at Taochusu. That man had the ego of a hundred men in his bravado didn't he? It was just comical enough that you couldn't take it seriusly? "I think they could be forgiven for suggesting you did three in with your bare hands."

[Nanzi]

"I see him as a three bear kind of hero," Nanzi replied.

[Taochusu]

"Three bears isn't too bad of an exaggeration. I guess if there had been another bear perfectly lined up uner the tree it would have gotten crushed too," he said with a nod.

[Nanzi]

"Three bears isn't too bad of an exaggeration. I guess if there had been another bear perfectly lined up uner the tree it would have gotten crushed too," he said with a nod.

“Nanzi has never killed a bear, predator cats many times… tricked a few living gods, seduced many a princess and queen… seen the gray giants at the edge of the world… married a goddess… fathered godlings… and now marches into hell to save his brother, that would be the short version,” he said chuckling.

[Nozomi]

"Took down a small one. Black. They can't climb trees like the brown ones do. Took all my quiver to bring the bastard down. they don't go easily into the night," she grunted, shaking her head. "Not too proud to say I spent that whole night up in a tree with one arrow, hoping its mate didn't show up. Was young and stupid. If you really took down two, Tao, you're as tough as you look."

[Taochusu]

"Well, like I said. Tree. I learned long ago to keep an eye out for rotting and dead trees. For tactical reasons. Drop one on anything and it stops moving," he replies.

[Nanzi]

"Clever boy," he said calmly.

[Nozomi]

"Oh... now... that would do the trick woudn't it?" she snorted that with a laugh. She was strong, but toppling trees was a little beyon her abilities. However hearing him say that and seeing the muscles on Taochusu, yeah, she could see it. "I suspect you're going to have the chance to match that strength against something in the coming days."

Oh she was certain of that.

[Taochusu]

"It's a trick I've used a few times. The bears, a group of bandits and I used it to scare off a tiger once that was lurking in a tree," he said with a nod. "Gotta keep your eyes open for signs of rot or damage. Then you just get a good running start and smash it at a weak point as hard as you can. All about timing if you're trying to drop it on something, but if you just want to scare stuff off you just do it as quick as possible."

"Was lucky with the tiger though. When I hit the tree I felt a crack in my shoulder. Hurt myself pretty bad. Couldn't use that arm for a few weeks. If it had gotten angry rather than scared I'd probably have been killed. But the damn thing had been stalking me for a few days and I really needed it gone."