#!orochi

[sleepy-strategist]

@mayonakanosakura

It was an unusually quiet evening in the Coalition camp grounds. The usual night owls that gathered in clusters for drink and merriment had retired to their beds a little earlier than expected; the day had been long and overwhelming. A fierce battle to push back the waves of Orochi’s endless forces was thrust upon them without warning, and despite their victory, hearts were heavy with the realization of how little progress they had made in breaking the enemy’s morale.

And so, the little teahouse that sat on the edge of the camp was silent, a mere couple of lanterns lit to provide some comfort to the tents nearby.

Well, mostly silent, save for the minute shufflings and sounds of chewing. Hanbei sat alone on one of the teahouse cushions, a couple of sweet bean buns on the table in front of him, along with a small cup of sake. His ears picked up the sound of footsteps within the deathly quiet, and he turned his head to the entrance curtain in a slight panic. He breathed a small sigh of relief to himself as the newcomer stepped into the lantern light.

“Ah, it’s you, Kasumi. Good evening.” He uttered politely, inclining his head in a small bow. His eyes darted to the plate in front of him a little guiltily. The red bean buns weren’t really supposed to be eaten just yet; they were more of a small gift to the camp for tomorrow, as a little morale boost. Hanbei couldn’t resist sneaking a couple ahead of time. No one would miss two of them, right? Besides, he wasn’t even supposed to be awake right now, but sleep was eluding him.

“... You won’t tell Lady Nene, will you?”

[sleepy-strategist]

@kongonatty - continued from here 

Normally Hanbei liked to retain his calm demeanour, even in the most stressful situations. 

But on this occasion, he didn't even have time to crack a smile. Instead his face was a picture of pure unadulterated shock. 

 "How on earth did they-" 

'-sneak up on us so quickly,' he meant to add, but his words were cut short by the sound of the watchtowers sounding the alarm to the tune of six bellowing horns. All at once, the coalition camp sprung to life, frantically hurrying to the armory, the stables, the artillery... 

Hanbei laughed bitterly to himself. "I guess the nap will have to wait. Come with me, Kong Tut. I need someone to watch my back while I climb up to the nearest watchtower." He declared. Had he chosen to carry his weapon at that precise moment, climbing wouldn't have even been necessary; he hoped one of his retainers was sharp enough to think about retrieving his bladed sundial for him amongst the madness. 

He pointed to the watchtower nearby with his thumb, and started running.

[sleepy-strategist]

❝ Hey, what are your plans now? ❞

“... You mean aside from sleeping off that 4 hour strategy meeting for the rest of the day?”

“... Not much. Why do you ask?”

[sleepy-strategist]

◈  @gongtai -continued from here ◈

"Well, I definitely can't smell them anymore, so I think we're safe for now. Geez... Haven't they ever heard of a bath?" Hanbei groaned, pulling a less-than-pleased face.

He stood up and brushed himself over, in an attempt to rid his robes of the dirt and grass they'd gathered diving behind the wall, in a last-ditch bid for cover.

"So, aside from needing your head examined for that last stunt you pulled... Are you hurt?"

[ministerofwu]

@thekingofsadness Re: "Overly exaggerate my muse based off of your muse’s personal opinion." Lu Xun laughed, shaking his head in response to the request. But with every shake, the wine took hold a little more apparently and tilted his world a little more off balance. Drinking and merriment with the Crown Emperor of Shu was not something he had ever anticipated would occur. But, this was the coalition, and old enemies had become allies of fortune against villainous demons. "No. Pretend to be you? Hah, no, I couldn't possibly show you how..." His diplomacy cut the wine-ramble off before it became insulting. But, the sentence was started already, and it demanded an ending, so as to not be rude. The full finish was 'I couldn't possibly show you how much of a fop you were seen as, among Wu.' That would be rude, though hiding this fact would likewise be rude. A good diplomat (read: one who had not had more wine than rice in the past few hours) would be able to find a way to spin those words to project praise and admiration in with self-effacing. Which meant that the portrayal of the Shu Emperor might have been a positive thing, starting the performance with believing it was. The warmth in his cheeks, rosy already with innebriation, suggested the performance would be positive, and certainly not as rude as denying the man. "Okay, okay, here~" He stood and moved to take a seat on the bench, posture slumping about his shoulders and eyes closing. Hands went to his knees like he was trying to brace himself to sit upright. He took a moment to sway, either from the world spinning unsteadily from the alcohol or in some mimicry of sleeping. His eyes opened with a start, "Zhuge Kongming, just go handle it. Whatever you want." His voice was slow, low, and detached, though again the alcohol and performance were impossible to separate. "What?" Eyes focused on the middle distance, as though there was someone addressing him, "Oh, how do I carry on my father's legacy? I am just brimming with benevolence; and right now, that's the only thing keeping me sitting here and not dealing with your insults against me." He shook his head, and knelt back to the ground, raising his hand. Yes, that was awful and the exact reason why he had tried to deny the idea of presenting it. Why did he think that was a good idea? "See, of course, that's the perception of the one I knew in life. You don't seem much like him. Show me me?"

[ministerofwu]

Random Starter

( @bulletwithanameonit sent 💀 for a dark starter. )

By all appearances, Wu was in dire straights.

His archers had already been felled. That was to be expected when fighting a unit so thoroughly built on gunpowder.  Rifles were a difficult opponent to stand against, and his opponent was clever, clearly clever enough to keep his distance.  Lu Boyan found himself and most of his army sitting, backs pressed to short palisade walls as volley after volley of rifle rounds peppered the only thing between himself and being shot at directly.  Around him, the bodies of his archers laid out, leaking and lifeless or worse... groaning and pleading.  But to go to them would be to invite those bullets upon himself, and that he simply couldn’t allow.

As strangely as that was, it was actually going pretty well according to plan.  He knew they wouldn’t approach at this point, and just fire off until all of his, the whizz of a bullet passed his ear forced him to duck a little closer to the center of the wall.  But that’s why he had the palisade walls built here, because it forced the advancing rifleman to stop in empty river bed.  The rifle fire was even by design, to mask the coming roar.

Churning, foamy maw of the river flooding due to a dam breach, on schedule, would charge its way down the river.  It’s what he was willing to lose archers over: Forcing Master Date into standing in the river bed and focus on shooting him was the diversion from the river leviathan that would crush the rifle forces where they stood.  Or, they could chaotically run into the staggered palisades, where the advantage of rifles would be ruined by the melee of blades waiting for them, thirsty for revenge.  Or, they could retreat down the river bed, though the steep cliff face on either side, save where Boyan and his soldiers now held, would be a difficult climb even for those skilled in scaling rocks.

[ministerofwu]

Random Starter

(( @savageorchids​ sent  📹 for me to use a line from my favorite movie as a starter.  I don’t really have a favorite movie, but this is from a movie I really like, and I absolutely love this quote))

“You ever hear about the lions? You got this lion. He's the king of the jungle, huge mane out to here.” His hands raise slightly on either side of his head, just for that added effect, “He's laying under a tree, in the middle of Africa. He's so big, it's so hot. He doesn't want to move. Now the little lions come, they start messing with him. Biting his tail, biting his ears. He doesn't do anything. The lioness, she starts messing with him. Coming over, making trouble. Still nothing. Now the other animals, they notice this. They start to move in. The jackals; hyenas. They're barking at him, laughing at him. They nip his toes, and eat the food that's in his domain. They do this, then they get closer and closer, bolder and bolder. Till one day, that lion gets up and tears the shit out of everybody. Runs like the wind, eats everything in his path. Cause every once in a while, the lion has to show the jackals, who he is.“ His finger was poking into her chest at the end of it, those violet eyes searching her own.  She always said she was a snake, a viper or something.  Today, a snake wouldn’t do.  He needed a lion.  They were pinned here within the Orochi Mockery of Ma Huang’s manor, surrounded by a demon division that was slowly taking the whole estate.

“It’s too late to be scared.  It’s time to kill.  I’m going back out there, you come out when you’re ready.”

[sleepy-strategist]

◈ @ministerofwu - random starter◈

"I hope you have a good plan handy, because right now I'm fresh out." Hanbei hissed, eyes fixed firmly on the window that was filtering in their only source of light- and it was fading quickly. He clutched at his side, just below the ribs, where blood was steadily blooming crimson on his snow white robes. A foolish miss-step on his part; he only had himself to blame for getting too cocky when an Orochi general made a swipe at him.

At any other time, he simply would have sent his compass spinning and snatched Lu Xun up with him in a bid to retreat, but that wasn't an option; it was easy to tell, when a glance was given to his trusty weapon of war. A fresh crack was driven straight through the middle, and one of the spinning blades had also been snapped clean off in the struggle. It was incredible just how quickly downhill things had gone. Before they had a chance to even think, they'd hidden themselves in one of the stray houses that was part of a cluster in an abandoned village nearby.

... But now what? They were pinned, and the Orochi forces were searching for them. Unless they lost interest, it was only a matter of time before they were discovered.

"... Please say something." He urged, his tone somewhat irritable, still frustrated at his own recklessness. The fresh wound in his side certainly wasn’t helping his mood, either.