TheCoolestYoukai

Your character has just arrived in a swampy, dim town. As they look around, their gaze is met with shacks and cabins. It smells of rotted wood and wet moss. They duck and step into a tattered tent, illuminated by a series of candles suspended in the air. At the back of the tent, an old hag raises her head, “What brings you to this dingy town? She begins, then pauses to study your face—”Ah, it’s you. I’ve been expecting you. Sit,” she gestures at a cushion, “Tell me your story.” ((How do you respond?)) Takemori scrunches his face as the pungent scent hits his nostrils, tears beading up at the corner of his eyes from the sheer stench assaulting his senses. This place was nothing like Koyo Kuni, then again, it was he who chose to leave in search of 'adventure', not content to watch the world go by in solitude. As he ducked into the tent, he would brush the tears away from his face, letting out a soft exhale to steel himself, there was more of this to come. Yet he couldn't help but stare curiously at the stranger, the dim candlelight reflecting off his crimson eyes, just what kind of town had he walked into?. "You know, this is how a lot of fairytales about missing children start." He hummed, inspecting the offered cushion before hesitantly taking a seat, his legs were in need of rest anyways. "I'm just looking for work, maybe a place to stay? I guess you could call me a tourist, this is the furthest i've been from home." Against his better judgement, he answered honestly. He had grown tired of home, he had the spirit of an adventurer. What good was an eternity in this world if he couldn't experience everything it had to offer? With a click of his tongue, he leaned forward in his seat. "Though let's put a pin in that for now. I'm more curious about this place, and more importantly. Curious about you. What do you know about me?" The hag cackles, turning her attention towards a filled bowl, looking for something that Takemori couldn't see. "I know you are a child of war, and that you grew up in a time of great hardship. Those who died weren't allowed to rest, their souls shackled to a legion of the damned. How powerless you felt, how sheltered from the worst of the horrors you were. Now tell me, Kinji, what's brought you so far from home?" The elf was left silent and breathless, only the soft whistle of the wind and the flickering of a candle was present to fill the ambience. Just who, no, what was this woman? After taking a breath to steel himself, he answered. "I wish to hunt monsters. To make sure the world never lives again in shadow, to never feel helpless again. I want to make sure the world stays a place worth living in, to be a place where children are never again forced away from their home, where mothers never have to fight to defend their children. Does that answer your question, stranger?"