Chimper #283
Wakaki the Riddle dangled their line into the impossibly clear water, ignoring the glint of gold spires reflected on its surface. The palace guards had long given up asking how they got in. One week, they'd be found trying to trade a bowl of noodles for a gemstone on display; the next, napping under a priceless tapestry. They were the capital's strangest problem: a warrior in a haori who only seemed interested in finding the perfect ingredients for their ramen. The prominent scar on their cheek wasn't from a blade, but a rogue fish bone that once leaped from a boiling pot. This was the source of their name. No one could fathom their motive, their origin, or how someone so adorable could be so consistently disruptive. "Just one carp," they'd plead when caught. "The broth demands it."