Chimper #4277
Shouka carries a simple clay rice bowl, polished smooth by hands that no longer feel warmth. Before, it was never empty. In The Great Panda City, they were known for sharing food under the bamboo, their laughter as constant as the freezing mountain winds. They were a somebody. Then the Panda Council sent them to investigate a desecrated shrine. There, they found not an enemy, but an echo—the same ravenous dark energy that consumed Inparusu. It didn't scar Shouka; it hollowed them out, devouring their identity and leaving only an insatiable hunger. They returned with unamused eyes and a chilling efficiency, the perfect shadow agent. The bowl is all that's left of the person they were, a reminder of a fullness they can no longer feel.
