[COM]Sleep By Day, Travel By Night Through Hostile Territory
It’s not too uncommon for Suzaku to traverse hostile territory during his many escapades. Where certain routine norms become tricky affairs, like sleeping. Unable to slide into that restful state with casual ease, being in a space where any hint of vulnerability can lead to disastrous outcomes. Sure, sleeping high up in the trees may not offer a whole lot of comfort. But it’s good enough, he’d say. A safe-ish spot to catch some Zzzs and rest up while the sun makes its daily journey across the sky. Then, once the sun completes its descent below the horizon, it’s time to gather his belongings and continue on. Step by cautious step through the still darkness. Nighttime almost like a protective blanket, a pseudo stealth cloak of sorts, providing significantly more cover than careful daytime movements. Of course, that’s not to say night traveling is completely safe. But given Su is more of a lone wolf a majority of the time, with impressive sharp senses, it's much preferred. Now one may say he’s still fairly vulnerable here, but not to worry. Because what you don’t see is numerous trip wires and concealed strands. The perfect tool to alert Suzaku should someone wander into the immediate area. And yes, forest animals do trigger them from time to time. Occasional false alarms that disturb his sleep, but it’s a small price to pay for relative safety in such territories.
All of the above, however, is when the weather is nice. It's been mentioned Suzaku has a keen interest in storms. Quite the sight at a distance. Rain showers amplifying the calming auras he seeks. Heck, he even trains in heavy downpours from time to time. But in hostile territory, such weather makes stealth movements exceptionally difficult. Let alone getting rest in spots like this, proving to be virtually impossible. You may think it'd provide added cover to allow traveling during the day. Which it does to a degree. But those conditions can also significantly suppress his sharp senses. The environment at times becoming outright disorienting when trying to focus too hard on suspicious sounds in the flurry of chaotic ambience. Further amplified by the lack of familiarity with foreign surroundings. All the while, providing great cover for anyone with malicious intent to track and get closer to him. In fact, for a good while, Suzaku did use storms as cover to travel in these kinds of places. Up until one experience, where a rival mercenary used the cover of heavy rain to get close. A younger Suzaku, caught off guard and having considerably less experience, suffered quite the brutal beat down. A tough lesson, but one he's certainly learned from. Passing storms won't totally stop him, but let's just say he gets rather creative to keep on going where he needs to.
Now, back to the Su-venture lore-ing... There are a variety of reasons certain provinces would be hostile towards Suzaku. Some inhabitants are aggressive to ALL outsiders. Some others, Suzaku has quite the negative reputation as a result of him having to capture well known figures to fulfill contracts. Others are unwelcoming because of him disrespecting heads of state. Sometimes by accident, sometimes not. But that’s neither here nor there. On rare occasions, hostilities even spurred on by others he'd travel alongside. Heck, he still has a bounty on his head in one particular area because of Dex, [as seen here]. Along with a variety of other reasons territories might lean toward the unwelcoming side of things. But hostile or not, if it's a necessity to travel through a territory, Suzaku will take on the challenge.
Very well done illustration of Suzaku getting some rest in unfriendly territory by artist
biggoodwolf aka
littlebadwolf![Suzaku スザク] belongs to me
DexterLion! Also on 🟦☁️ [DexChillViber@Bsky]
Category All / All
Species Cheetah
Size 849 x 1200px
File Size 2 MB
Listed in Folders
It's got to be pretty peaceful up there in the trees. Being deep in enemy territory you can still find peace around. If Su can find it then so can you. Now that I think about it, I wonder how Dex would be if he had to sleep in trees on a mission like Su has to here. I'd imagine the forecast would call for cloudy with a 50% chance of raining lions by 2pm xD
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