Hatsunosuke

Every evening, as the amber leaves of The Heart of the Forest turn to silhouettes, Hatsunosuke lights their guiding lanterns. They walk a path only they seem to see, weaving between trees where no trail exists. The locals, ever cheerful, offer them food and songs, which Hatsunosuke always accepts with a gleeful smile, a choc stick often poking from their mouth. But no one follows them on their walk. The dark samurai armor they wear feels too somber for their bright spirit, a contradiction no one dares to question. No one has ever seen who or what follows the bobbing lights into the deepest parts of the woods. When asked about their nightly vigil, they just tap the hilt of their blade and say, 'To make sure the quiet ones find their way home.'