Whether the approval was for the story or for the swordsmanship, Kubo ate it up. Father thought he was doing well! That feeling never got old.
He helped Beetle pull the sword free - at least, he had his hands on the sword and was exerting himself when it came away. He kept the sword, not ready to concede that maybe the trees were getting too thick for someone without superstrength - or even a grown adult's strength - to cut through.
"I hope so," he said, taking a double-swing at a branch in his way. "Sometimes when Mother couldn't remember an ending to a story I'd make up an ending that seemed like it could happen, but that story ends with one of your warriors in the pit you dug to trap the bear, two others swept down the river, and you in a tree with all your arrows spent and the bear demon waiting at the bottom. I don't know how you got out of it alive!"
But obviously Hanzo had, so the mystery remained as suspenseful as ever without actually being scary.
"Anyway, it starts with a messenger coming to the castle to ask for your help -"
He went through the story from the beginning. The tale passed the time well, even without music or pictures to back it up, but about an hour in, Kubo was breathing heavily from the exertion of cutting their path, his storytelling slowed down.
He paused in front of several fallen trees, an unstable wall across their path, overgrown with vines and moss. He certainly couldn't cut through it.
He glanced over his shoulder at Beetle, ready to relinquish the sword, but too proud to suggest it just yet.
no subject
He helped Beetle pull the sword free - at least, he had his hands on the sword and was exerting himself when it came away. He kept the sword, not ready to concede that maybe the trees were getting too thick for someone without superstrength - or even a grown adult's strength - to cut through.
"I hope so," he said, taking a double-swing at a branch in his way. "Sometimes when Mother couldn't remember an ending to a story I'd make up an ending that seemed like it could happen, but that story ends with one of your warriors in the pit you dug to trap the bear, two others swept down the river, and you in a tree with all your arrows spent and the bear demon waiting at the bottom. I don't know how you got out of it alive!"
But obviously Hanzo had, so the mystery remained as suspenseful as ever without actually being scary.
"Anyway, it starts with a messenger coming to the castle to ask for your help -"
He went through the story from the beginning. The tale passed the time well, even without music or pictures to back it up, but about an hour in, Kubo was breathing heavily from the exertion of cutting their path, his storytelling slowed down.
He paused in front of several fallen trees, an unstable wall across their path, overgrown with vines and moss. He certainly couldn't cut through it.
He glanced over his shoulder at Beetle, ready to relinquish the sword, but too proud to suggest it just yet.