Omise

Omise was not meant to be a hero. They stand on the upper tiers, the roar of the falls a constant hum, watching the city below. Down where the stone stairs meet the river, merchants and fishers still turn away when Omise passes. They all remember the day the fighting broke out in the grand plaza, when the city guard moved to silence Kaunto-juba. Omise, ever grounded and reliable, felt the tremor of injustice in the bedrock. They made a choice. The rock chakra on their back flared, and the plaza's paving stones rose to form a barricade. They turned the tide, but saviors of so-called heretics are rarely thanked. The city they protected now treats them like a ghost, a piece of living, uncomfortable history.