The dream turns as he falls into it, away from his self-doubt.
Instead, he watches himself onboard a ship, shockingly enough. He walks across it without hesitation or effort, stepping up the the edge and placing his knife between his teeth. Then he dives in. The part of him observing this's stomach clenches in terror, but the him in the dream seems to feel no such hesitation. Instead, he slips through the waster silently and skillfully, until he finds what he's looking for.
The boat never stood a chance for his skills.
He sneaks aboard, seeing the strange warping in the wood - this was a boat held by the forces of Corruption. He went about sabotaging the ship, slipping around under the noses of the formerly human beings aboard. Once his work was finished, he slipped back to his own side.
When the battle commenced, his work made it decidedly one-sided and quickly over.
The men on the boat cheered, and Admiral Gusai takes his shoulder, shaking it lightly. "Excellent work, my boy."
It didn't feel like a dream. It felt like a future. One he would need more than he had to achieve. One he would need to shed a weakness to do.
Seeing the Admiral again reminds Akutou of one of the early lessons he learned, one taught even before he left shore for the first time.
"There's always a price, m' boy," said--was it his mother? His aunt? "E'en if it seems free, it ain't; there's a catch somewheres. Bait's free--exceptin' f'r th' hook."
S' where's th' hook in this? Akutou thinks. Maybe it's that guy with the tea again.
What purchase could he possibly make with the coin of his fear?
Otomo Akutou, Stag Clan Hunter
Status 1.0, Glory 4.0, Honor as Expected Crafty * Destined * Heroic * Silent * Wary * Cursed * Disdained * Driven * Phobic
Commonly with jade finger, daisho, standard clothes, pack; hat and cloak as weather appropriate
In peril, jade finger, daisho, yumi, quiver, arrows, ashigaru armor, rations, cash (the pack will wait)
When traveling, all of it
