Chimper #4777
The vendors who line the cherry blossom paths whisper that Katsuhito’s lanterns are a sacred duty, each one lit to guide a lost soul back to the city high on the mountain. They are only half right. There was a time Katsuhito carried just one, a proud beacon during the great storms they weathered alongside the titan Bjorn, their focus absolute. But on a high-altitude patrol, a sudden, blinding blizzard swallowed their entire unit, and the single flame they carried was not enough to lead anyone but themself back from the freezing white. When the winds died, they went back and collected the lanterns of the fallen. The mask hides a face they no longer believe deserves to be seen, and the light they bear no longer illuminates a path, but simply counts the cost of their survival.
