thenearshore | [OPEN] these answers that come into my mind unbidden

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[OPEN] these answers that come into my mind unbidden

Who: Sharak Sanzo, others
What: Hanging out at various locations with Sharak Sanzo.
When: June 12th-13th
Where: Temple of Aditi, Far Shore Library
Summary: A little known requirement of being a Sanzo priest is being a huge nerd.

A. - June 12th
[An overcast day is probably cause for concern at the Temple of Aditi, what with the giant hole in their ceiling, but it's pleasant enough out that Sharak isn't too worried about rain. Instead she's reclined on a throne of cushions on the stone floor, a cigarette in hand, a few books strewn around her and one open in front of her. She's reading a spellbook right now, with avid interest. She has her own magic, of course, but the mechanics of shinki magic are nevertheless interesting. She can't quite figure out what's stopping anyone else from performing it...]

... Well, there's easier ways of getting someone to fess up to something anyway.

[Sharak, don't mumble to yourself. Well, someone might hear her. The barrier around the temple stops any uninvited guests from letting themselves in, but there are still other people living here. Besides, people can always try to stop by.]

B. - June 13th
[Well, since her previous reading material was so rudely taken from her, Sharak figures she needs to find some more. The morning of the 13th she stops by the library and it's several hours before it occurs to her that she had other things she wanted to do that day. She claims a quiet corner of the library to herself and begins her reading with some books on Aditi. There are less of these than she likes, so that quickly expands to other Hindu gods, particularly Aditi's children. At least Vishnu seems more popular than his mother. Right now though, Sharak is preoccupied with some Vedic texts concerning Indra.]

... Wonder how hard it'd be to track him down.

[Again, Sharak, stop mumbling to yourself. Apparently without thinking about it, she rolls an unlit cigarette between her fingers, probably getting a judging look from whoever the librarian is as they wait to pounce on her for lighting it.]

C.
[Wildcard! Anything we've discussed oocly that doesn't quite fit any of these. Feel free to hit me up to plot something.]

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[Dokugakuji's been to Goyo's temple - or what's left of it - and spent a fair bit of time getting the most of his anger out. Of course he wouldn't have been told by anyone - the rest of them are shinki and don't remember that he's Gojyo's brother, nor could he have told them. Save one - Sharak. Even she doesn't actually know about that bond, he's pretty sure, just that she would be the only other god he could talk to about what's happening, enemy or not. They'd already agreed on a ceasefire here.

After awhile of searching - the Far Shore is a big place, it took him a day or two - he finally comes upon her temple. He didn't want to call out to her on the BBS because what if the others heard them talking? It's not worth it.

So he starts to walk towards there and then... can't. What the heck? It's that barrier of hers, isn't it? Well, just great... And he's been avoiding these chickens the whole time, but yelling may get their attention as well as hers. Nothing else to be done for it.]

SHARAK! PRIEST SANZO SHARAK!

[... Because maybe formality will offset yelling, who knows.]

[It doesn't.]

WHAT?

[The shout comes from the entrance to the temple, high atop the hill. Sharak can be spotted leaning against a pillar, glaring down at Dokugakuji. The barrier might be annoying, but considering that a strong gust of wind makes the curtains surrounding the temple billow out dramatically, it's presence might be understandable. The temple is very pretty, but not exactly secure.

Sharak doesn't move from her spot by the entrance, continuing to just glare at Dokugakuji. Huh. There's an unexpected guest, after all this time, but perhaps she shouldn't be surprised.]

The temple to the Dionysus! How long has it been gone?

[He lowers his voice in the hope that she can hear him just fine from over there now that he's got her attention. Sure enough he can't really blame her for erecting the one barrier that she's highly proficient in.

Did Gojyo tell her who he was? Probably not... it's not something either of them let drive their adult lives. Plus, with how they'd gone years before and then months and weeks without seeing one another, he hadn't thought it weird for Gojyo to just not visit him, or talk on the BBS, let alone to him in specific. He and Gojyo had spoken about the Black Parade last he knew and that was only 17 days ago.]

If you know anything about it, please tell me!

[That does get a raised eyebrow. He's looking for Gojyo? Or perhaps the entire Genjo Sanzo party. Gojyo has been the only god among them, and both Genjo and Hakkai had been his shinki.]

About two weeks now.

[Sharak starts to walk down the hill towards Dokugakuji, still not inviting him past the barrier. It's petty and unnecessary, but she can't resist.]

You would be better off asking one of his former shinki.

[Gojyo is gone.]

Former?

[Okay so maybe... maybe losing all of his shinki destroyed the temple? He's grasping at straws here because he doesn't know what happens when a god's temple just vanishes.]

If you're trying to protect them, remember we had an agreement! I'm not here to hurt him - or his shinki, if they're around.

[He can't say he would never hurt them but... not under present circumstances.]

Gojyo's... We go back a long way - years. I need to know where he went.

[Goddamnit. Obvious love and caring, with a dash of impotent frustration. Her weakness. Sharak breathes out quietly before responding.]

... I don't know.

[Reassuring. She turns back up the hill and gestures with one hand that Dokugakuji should follow her.]

Come on. I'll get you a drink.

[He lowers his head when she first says that. She doesn't know? He knows that the Sanzos were never all that close so maybe Gojyo's just one extra step too removed but... former is too ominous. He's considering whether or not he should have been more forceful in staying close to Gojyo... but would it have helped? He may never know.

But then she gets his attention again and he raises his head to just catch the gesture.]

A drink... that may help.

[It won't and he knows it, but he'll take the offer anyway because why not at this point? He came all this way and she's letting him into her temple. He's pretty sure it's not out of respect either but he can't bring himself to care right now. He's ready to throw punches but this isn't his castle or his temple so pounding the walls isn't going to be a good plan. Drinking it is.]

[He can try to punch a curtain if he wants, but Sharak might raise some objections to damaging the stone pillars. She leads the way inside, into a grand, circular main room with no ceiling and a floor covered in cushions and rugs. Around the edge of the room there are bells and ornaments dangling from string between the pillars. Sharak gestures towards the floor, but keeps walking into the next room.]

Make yourself comfortable, I'll just be a minute. Then we can talk properly.

[It's a complicated topic, infuriatingly made simple by how little they know.]

[It's hardly a place that Dokugakuji can feel 'comfortable' in considering his own normal accommodations have been works of stone both before coming to the Far Shore and after, but he does his best not to drop too heavily down onto one of the cushions. At least she's not expecting him to be in a good mood. That's one saving grace. He doesn't put his hands on the table for fear of toppling it, just sits cross-legged on the cushion with his head tilted back slightly as he stares at the ceiling. If she berates him for not staying closer to Gojyo enough that there's something he could have done... it might actually make far more sense to him. Guilt makes sense.]

[There isn't really any furniture in the room, certainly not a table. When Sharak walks back in with a bottle of rice wine in one hand and two cups in the other, she just puts them on the floor between them. She sits down opposite Dokugakuji and pours him a drink before speaking up.]

You know gods have been vanishing. Not just the old ones, new ones as well. I have a boy staying here who has already lost two in just a few weeks. [She pours herself a drink as well.] Shinki vanish too, occasionally, but it's more obvious when a god does. Their entire temple is razed to the ground and all their shinki lose the names given to them. They're either reassigned in the night to another god or they're left to find one on their own. It's one of the reasons some of them are considering going nora.

[A back-up god.]

I guess I did know that... Alluka's had three gods before me. Erk, one. Even the soulless I picked up, Masaji, she was with a god before. I guess it's ridiculous to assume Meji didn't have at least one before me as well.

[He takes the drink, but doesn't sip from it just yet.]

I don't blame the shinki for thinking like that... I just never thought it would hit so close to home too. Go figure.

[And he does take a sip then, still bitter about not having put the pieces together before now.]

You're building up quite the collection. I've never had more than two at once and I've only got the one now.

[Four, even accounting for soulless shinki, feels like a lot. Nothing compared to the older gods though, Sharak supposes. She drinks as well, taking a moment to tilt the cup around a few times and watch the liquid move.]

... I knew you were friendly with them, considering the circumstances, but they never got around to telling me the details. [Half of them didn't remember the details anyway.]

Wasn't on purpose, I assure you. Or for prestige or anything like that.

[Another drink before he addresses the other issue.]

If they're all gone, I suppose it doesn't much matter if I tell you. I didn't think shinki disappeared with their god too. That's a new one.

[For all he knows, she won't ever see them again. Or maybe by then she won't have a reason to tell them she knows some of their histories.]

They'll probably be happier that way, honestly - the four of them haven't been apart long for something like 3 years now I think. Probably longer.

[She knows quite a bit as it is. Genjo told her some and then she had her "sources" keeping tabs on them for years. But there are blank spots all the same.]

... Not all of them. Hakkai is still here. [Dokugakuji's other assessment isn't wrong though, judging by Hakkai's emotional state right now.] Genjo didn't vanish with Gojyo, it took a few more days for him to go. That was a "coincidence". He had three other gods here and now I'm the only one of them left.

[He rubs his chin.]

Somehow doesn't surprise me Hakkai survived that, memories gone or not.

[Even Seiten Taisei, powerful as he was, was still driven by Goku's identity, he'd seen that first hand. Genjo stopped him cold.]

And I say that even as... [He sighs a little.] Gojyo's brother.

[Present tense because HE is still here, even if Gojyo's gone 'back' or so he needs to believe.]

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[OPEN] these answers that come into my mind unbidden

C - June 12th

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