video [isonade hunting tips]; un: hunter

[notched]

[ The woman on camera is petite with a pretty face. Her hair had been braided back neatly at some point, but now loose strands of it hang around her face. Her clothes are loose and androgynous; always in rough-spun breeches and sturdy boots. She is sitting in what appears to be one of the Tamamo pleasure dens, the phone balanced on its side with a stand so she can speak to it without holding it.

That's as far as she's gotten with technology, it mostly baffles her, but she has something to say: ]

Isonade hunters. Listen well. All Shark Giants are capable of a deadly, four-legged charge attack and they swipe at you as they come into range. Dodge to the side, not backwards, so that you may more easily circle to their back.

Bait and kite them until you are able to land your backstab cleanly. Their hide is tough, you must commit in full. But they will fall swiftly if their spine is severed.

If you have not the poise to withstand their charges, you must stay at range from them and work slowly, steadily. They will tire with the cumulative damage to themselves.

Gather as many Haniwa as you can to take with you. They have no particular defense against accursed attacks, these will be a great boon to you as a projectile. Do not linger long with them in your possession, however, or it will be you who suffers from their taint.

[ She goes silent for a moment. Studying the camera, something she is not used to speaking to. Her dark eyes are ever so slightly disconcerting, a little distant and empty.

But she quirks a small, courteous smile, ]

Happy hunting.

Comments

[ryototsukai]

that includes you.

[notched]

Hardly.

[ryototsukai]

you're on the Tamamo roster. i'm a Liutenant. so yeah, you are.

look i'm not. i'm not gonna put you on a leash or anything but please be careful if you're going to mess with the Haniwa figurines, okay? can i at least ask that much?

[notched]

I am not one of your children to coddle. I am a Hunter.

Use my knowledge, or do not.

[ryototsukai]

[ She felt a headache coming in. ]

i'm not trying to coddle you!

i want to have faith in your ability to take care of yourself out there, but you've barely been here a month. can you blame me for being cautious?

[notched]

You will have more faith when you see me on the Hunt.

[ryototsukai]

maybe so, but the isonade aren't our problem [ For the moment, anyways. ]

you're on your own out there. and i know i can't stop you, but there's a culture to this place to consider. if you get cornered, it's not just bad for you, alone.

you're not an island unto yourself.

[notched]

They were my problem when they attacked me. But I attended to the problem, why not relay my expertise.

Ah, yes. The posturing of our queen. What a tragedy it would be if her toys were seen to underperform or overstep.

[ Someone is sour as fuck, huh... ]

[ryototsukai]

[ Musashi had her own... mixed perspective on Tenkohime, but that wasn't the point. ]

i don't mean her. i mean the rest of the clan. other Lost Souls like you.

[notched]

What of them

[ryototsukai]

water doesn't move through a river passively. nothing touched by the flow remains itself, all is carried with it eventually. everything trickles down, and what is done further up the river's way will inevitably impact the flow further down.

am i making sense here? what you do impacts others, whether you can think of it in the immediate sense or not. those isonade will know you're tamamo. they might go after someone else in the clan as revenge. they might manage to convince the enma to come down on your fellows. they could form an alliance with the shuten and attack tamamo Lost Souls not as adept in defending themselves against sudden attack.

[notched]

Politics.

[ Her disdain is hard to convey through text. ]

[ryototsukai]

however you want to tall it, we have a responsibility to make sure what we do doesn't wind up hurting people who don't deserve it.

[notched]

They'll be hurt all the same. We are all here to be used.

[ryototsukai]

if you believe that's true, then isn't that even more reason to watch out for them?

[notched]

No.

[ryototsukai]

i guess that's just a fundamental difference between us, then.

i can't do that. just say "no".

[notched]

There will be more after. You'll watch them die, new ones come in. You'll learn to say no. Just give it time.

[ryototsukai]

maybe. but i doubt it. i'll give out, physically, before i give in to something like that.

[notched]

You might. Some do. That's not mine to handle either.