Night Watch (day 11 late night, Unicorn embassy)

Moto Baatar · **Joined:** Wed Apr 01, 2020 11:41 pm **Posts:** 304

Moto Baatar was on the roof of the Unicorn embassy, sitting at the spot where Tsukimi had shown them had a good vantage point of the neighborhood. He looked around from time to time to make sure all was well; looking towards the walls and city gates more often than not. The young Unicorn knew very well that most cities fell by treachery, and he didn't like how an awful lot of courtiers had been speaking in favor of the Steel Chrysanthemum lately. He didn't like that one bit.

So here he was, late at night, watching just in case he could give an early warning. Now that Baatar had kinfolk in the city, such concerns seemed more important in his mind.

Of course, Baatar still had a skin of kumis to keep him company. No sense being bored and thirsty all night, after all.

Togashi Myo-en · **Joined:** Mon Apr 06, 2020 4:27 am **Posts:** 418

Further down Friendship Street, it appears Baatar's solitary nightwatch might not be so solitary after all. An athletic, tattooed figure flows up onto the roof of the Dragon Embassy--a larger building than its Unicorn counterpart, though far from the most imposing one on the street. A few minutes later, a flapping black bird-shape rises out of the embassy yard, circles the roof, and then lands near the human shape.

Myo-en stretches in the moonlight, reaching her open hands up toward the first stars she's seen in days.

Moto Baatar · **Joined:** Wed Apr 01, 2020 11:41 pm **Posts:** 304

Baatar spotted the tattooed monk leaping to the top of the Dragon embassy. She didn't seem to be wearing ninja pajamas or otherwise appear to be an enemy, so the young Unicorn waved a cautious greeting at the other rooftop.

Togashi Myo-en · **Joined:** Mon Apr 06, 2020 4:27 am **Posts:** 418

Myo-en notices the slight figure waving from the other roof. The landscape of rooftops looks very different from the landscape at street level, but she's pretty sure that must be... the Unicorn building? Teeth flash white in the moonlight as she waves an arm back.

The sound of a hoarse Caw! floats above Friendship Street, and the feathery shape that had landed near Myo-en takes flight again from the roof edge, circling upward.

Moto Baatar · **Joined:** Wed Apr 01, 2020 11:41 pm **Posts:** 304

Moto Baatar looked up as the crow took flight, briefly silhouetted against the full moon. How unusual it was to see a crow flying at night! Surely it was an omen. He shivered slightly in the cold night air.

But was it a good sign or a bad sign? The young Unicorn had little knowledge of such things. The fate of the city would just have to reveal itself in the more usual way: over time.

Togashi Myo-en · **Joined:** Mon Apr 06, 2020 4:27 am **Posts:** 418

The crow spirals downward above the young Unicorn's head...

Moto Baatar · **Joined:** Wed Apr 01, 2020 11:41 pm **Posts:** 304

Baatar looked at the crow, then looked down at the ground below where it flew, wondering what had drawn its attention. Could it have spotted a rat or some other prey?

Togashi Myo-en · **Joined:** Mon Apr 06, 2020 4:27 am **Posts:** 418

The crow circles downward... and thumps onto the roof a yard or so away from Baatar. It tilts its heat to inspect him out of one beady eye. There seems to be something clamped in its strong, sharp beak.

Myo-en, on the other roof down the street, leans back and glances up at the starry sky for a few moments.

Moto Baatar · **Joined:** Wed Apr 01, 2020 11:41 pm **Posts:** 304

"Eh-?" Baatar said, sounding surprised as the crow landed nearby. Weren't birds normally more skittish around people? Then he noticed the crow had something in its beak. "What have you got there?"

Thinking quickly, the young Unicorn drew a rice ball from a pouch and showed it to the crow. "Look, I'll trade you this tasty rice ball for it!" Setting the rice ball down in front of him, Baatar backed away a few feet to see what the crow would do.

Togashi Myo-en · **Joined:** Mon Apr 06, 2020 4:27 am **Posts:** 418

The crow hop-hops forward, pauses. It inspects Baatar again from its left eye, then the right, fluffs up its back and neck feathers, and ventures forward again with staccato confidence. beady right eye now clearly fixed on the rice ball.

The object in its beak is (roughly) round, pale in color. When the crow comes within a couple of feet of Baatar, it drops the thing gently and quite deliberately into a hollow between roof tiles, where it's in no danger of sliding downward.

If Baatar gets a good look at it, it will reveal itself to be... a snail shell. Empty, and quite clean. It's a pearly cream color with an attractive red stripe running along the coil.

Down the block, Myo-en looks from the sky back to the ground-Friendship Street, the embassy yard, the alley running behind the Dragon compound. No one has ever given her a convincing answer about the physical direction of Yomi, she reflects. The last time she tried asking a group of Brotherhood monks about it, she'd nearly fallen asleep...

Moto Baatar · **Joined:** Wed Apr 01, 2020 11:41 pm **Posts:** 304

"Huh," Baatar said as he picked up the snail shell. He turned it over in his hands to examine it closely, then looked at the crow again. Was the snail shell a gift? A warning? Was the crow warning that the Steel Chrysanthemum was about to attack the city with giant, fiery snails?!

The young Unicorn looked toward the city gates, which still stood closed, with no sign of giant war mollusks.

Still safe... For now.

Togashi Myo-en · **Joined:** Mon Apr 06, 2020 4:27 am **Posts:** 418

The crow makes a creaky, purling sort of noise and begins dismantling the rice ball with its beak. Rice is okay, but maybe there's protein in there!

Night Watch (day 11 late night, Unicorn embassy)

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