Howaito

Howaito did not carve the secret passages for emperors or generals. They were meant for the lost—for families fleeing a skirmish, for scholars carrying forbidden texts, for anyone who needed a path when all public roads were closed. The network beneath Waterfall City was their masterpiece, a lattice of tunnels behind the roaring cascade where the sound of rushing water drowned out all secrets. But whispers travel faster than footsteps. They hear that Maneki-neko still walks the passages, a silent guardian of their original purpose, but Howaito cannot bear to stay. To see your life's work become a tool for the very people you sought to evade is a unique kind of heartbreak, so they wander, forever checking the integrity of a home they can no longer inhabit.