Homami

The fishers down by the rushing water in Waterfall City will tell you Homami was a court painter, exiled for sketching the Emperor in an unflattering light. The truth is simpler. The tear in their jumper came from scrambling away from guards who saw them sleeping near the great fish statue. They wore the tear like a badge, a reminder that the city’s grandeur was not for them. Years later, they heard a whisper of Takeo’s name, a leader for the forgotten. Inspired, Homami traded a charcoal portrait for a worn beret, a small act of claiming an identity the city had denied them. The bruised eye came from defending that identity, but even as they picked themself up, a grin spread across their face. They were no longer just an outcast; they were a story, and every mark was another line to draw.