19 | Peaceful Departure

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: Celebrating Obon
When: Evening August 10
Where: The Near Shore
Summary: Mortals may be partying, but there's lots of work for the denizens of the Far Shore to do.



It's the final day of Obon and spirits are being sent back to their homes -- both the ancestral spirits that have been welcomed home for the duration of the festival and the mischievous spirits that have been plaguing the Heavens. But some of them might not go easy, so Amaterasu has requested that gods and shinki old and new alike help ensure the spirits' peaceful departure.



Mukae-bi

Fires have been lit on hillsides and near cemeteries to lead the spirits back to their resting places and to protect them on their way, but angry ghosts and ayakashi are trying to quench the fires so they can attack weaker spirits. Keep the firewood stocked and the fires blazing high while you fight off the attacks.

Heavenly Exorcisms

It's time to bring any possessed household items to the Near Shore to ensure that the spirits are sent safely on their way. Some might go peacefully, while others might have to be purified by fire in order to set the spirits free. Hope you weren't too attached to that chair.

(Careful... spirits that manage to hide from the housecleaning can become permanent guests!)

Guarding the Gates

Hidden pathways into the underworld in caves throughout Japan are open from sunset to moonset on this night to allow the spirits who have temporarily left to return. Gods and shinki must watch over these pathways and ensure that no dangerous ayakashi take the opportunity to escape from the underworld before the moon sets.

After-party

After the moon sets, the denizens of the Heavens can finally kick back. Everyone is invited to a private hot spring on the Far Shore, where a midnight banquet spread is waiting in thanks for their hard work. Wash off any blight in the hot springs and enjoy the banquet before heading back home for a good night's sleep.

In Summary:

• Keep the fires burning
• Exorcise those annoying spirits
• Fight powerful ayakashi
• Enjoy a banquet
• Have fun~

Comments

C!

[thevanguard]

[ Yata had felt the sword appear with an intense burning on his chest and even now he winced a little at it, looking bewildered as he made his way to.... wherever the sword was indicating.

Only on his way there he ran into Izumo and stopped short, especially when he heard those words. ]

Is it? This doesn't feel like fun. What the hell is that? Is that bad?

[toremainbehind]

I wouldn't say bad.

[He seems to be faring better than Yata, at least. He could feel his Aura responding to it, the way it seems to draw him in.]

But in that state, I can only hope it doesn't fall.

[thevanguard]

Fall?

[ Yata blinks up at the sword again, not missing how parts of it seem to be crumbling. He blanches a little bit. ]

What happens if it falls? How do we stop it?

[toremainbehind]

I'm not sure if there's a way to stop it, but if that thing is solid, then it'll be bad news for all of us.

[Please don't let that thing be real and just a manifestation of something else.

He frowns a bit as he glances at Yata.]

Did you feel anything when it first appeared?

[thevanguard]

[ Yata's still staring up at the sword, but when Izumo asks that question, he jolts, looking up at him with wide eyes. ]

Yeah! Did you? Look! This thing started burning all of a sudden! [ he yanks his collar aside to show the reddened tattoo he'd been rubbing at for several minutes now. ] Wait, this has something to do with that thing?

[toremainbehind]

I'd like to think it doesn't, but it might.

[He glances at Yata's tattoo before he looks back at the Sword.]

My own flames seems to be drawn to it.

[thevanguard]

[ That has his gaze going back to the sword, his expression bewildered. ]

But why? Where'd it come from? It's not like we can get up there....

[toremainbehind]

Whatever it is, I hope it isn't anything too bad. We don't need another giant Sword around.

[The Blue Sword is bad enough.]

[thevanguard]

Another...? Wait, so that means, the other one...?

[ Things just got a hell of a lot more confusing. And here he'd thought he'd made a dent in his weird theories about his fire and the tattoos. But this? This is a whole other level of weird. ]

[toremainbehind]

A Sword appeared like this some time ago except that it was blue.

[So, yeah. Sorry, Yata, but here are more riddles for you to solve.]

[thevanguard]

I know.

[ He's frowning up at the Red Sword again, this time for another reason. ]

Saru freaked out over it. This one, though. It's completely different, isn't it? Not just the color? It looks different, too.

[toremainbehind]

...It looks like it can fall apart at any given moment now.

[He takes a drag from his cigarette.]

You can definitely feel the power alone radiating off of it.

[thevanguard]

Why are you so calm about this??

[ Yata is definitely not feeling calm about this. ]

[toremainbehind]

[Because he's Izumo and Yata is easily freaked out.

Izumo looks amused.]

Do you want me to freak out about it?

[thevanguard]

[ Dammit, Izumo.

Yata flails at him. ] Maybe! Isn't this something to freak out about?!

[toremainbehind]

[He laughs.]

Maybe. [Sorry, Yata.] Did you freak out when the first Sword appeared?

[thevanguard]

Of course not. [ He states that without thinking, and then pauses, blinking up at the Sword again. ] ...It didn't make my tattoo burn. I didn't feel anything. I just thought it was a weird god-thing happening.

[ But Saru had sorta freaked about it. And afterwards he'd been able to do something different than just engulf his daggers in Red Aura like Yata could use. ]

....Shit.

[toremainbehind]

[Izumo thinks back to the first Sword.

He's only managed to get a glimpse, but then--]

Yata. Fushimi can use flames like us, right?

[thevanguard]

Yeah. [ Yata's working his way around this same consideration. He thinks? ]

He's got the tattoo, too. Same place as mine, even. His is... burned though. or something. Something happened to it.

[toremainbehind]

[Fushimi's tattoo is burned?

That....does sound worrying.]

'Something'. [If it's been burned before, could he have done it himself or did one of them do it to him?] But he can also use whatever power the blue can do.

[thevanguard]

Yeah.

[ Yata didn't really understand how that worked. ]

So far he was the only one I saw that could, but he might know more about it now than he did.

[toremainbehind]

[Fushimi, what kind of snowflake are you.

Izumo...looks worried for once.]

Possibly. [In which case, Izumo might need to look for Munakata.]

[thevanguard]

[ The special kind.

Yata doesn't like that look on Izumo's face. ] Is that weird? That's weird, right?

[toremainbehind]

[Good thing there are no Greens around here.

He's quiet for a bit.]

Yata, you might need to check on Fushimi. There's no telling how he'd be affected by this since he can use two different sort of powers.

[thevanguard]

Shit.

[ He flashes a sideways glance at Izumo before grimacing and glancing around. ]

You're right. He's here somewhere. I haven't seen him in a bit, but he shouldn't have gone far, I think. I'll go find him.