Moshirou

On the night the freezing winds of The Great Panda City carried a strange silence instead of their usual howl, Moshirou stood watch. Beside them, Maneki-neko’s bell was unnervingly still. The Panda Council had dispatched warriors to the city’s edge, sensing a spiritual threat, but Moshirou’s post was the nursery. The young chimps huddled, their fear a palpable chill. Moshirou looked from their ornamental fan to their marshmallow stick, feeling helpless. They were a guardian, not a fighter. So, they lit a small brazier and began to toast the marshmallow. They passed it to the smallest child, then another. Soon, a tiny circle of warmth and sugary smoke pushed back against the dread. When the silence finally broke at dawn, Maneki-neko found them asleep, surrounded by children clutching empty twigs.