Byakuran

Byakuran was patient. Their student, Satochiyo, was not. The freezing wind whipping through the high-altitude bamboo grove made Satochiyo’s single lantern sputter, its light swallowed by the dark. "The path is gone," the student insisted, frustrated. Below, the city’s lights glimmered under a purple-hued sky. Byakuran, wearing a calm side smile, lifted one of their own guiding lanterns. They didn't hold it high to challenge the gloom. Instead, they lowered it toward the ground. The azure visor they wore caught the glow as the light traced the worn edges of the next three stones, revealing a path where Satochiyo had only seen an abyss. "The light is not a weapon," Byakuran said softly. "It is a question you ask of the darkness."