011 | Black Parade

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: Parade of the dead
When: All day May 26
Where: Shinjuku
Summary: The Near Shore needs a little protecting from the dead



The last few days have been filled with festival food, high energy, and lots and lots of parades. Near Shore residents really know how to enjoy their holidays, stopping up traffic for hours on end as floats and palanquins go by and filling the streets and courtyards in the area with food stands and festival treats. Many Far Shore residents may have found themselves drawn to this particular festival, as it is being held in honor of a shrine.

When an unexpected parade starts up, the people gather round to watch the impromptu spectacle. It's a little strange, yes, but nothing too terribly off-putting. That is until the parade reaches the shrine itself, at which point all hell breaks loose as the members of the parade start attacking anything and anyone in their way.

The Heavens will then call upon all the gods and shinki who are available to help, because these attackers are not normal at all - they are, in fact, the undead.



Let the Festivities Continue

The festival is a large, booming one. There are dozens upon dozens of food stalls set up all over the place with so many different kinds of foods that it could make your eyes go buggy, most of them fried in some way. On top of that, there is live entertainment walking around, stalls with souvenirs, and lots of excellent company nearby. Surely you'll be able to enjoy the festival to its fullest.

The Walking Dead

It is not immediately evident that the parade is being manned by corpses, but keen observers would be able to pick out the noticeable rotting elements of the dead. Anyone with a soul-sensing ability might even realize that they're not soulless, just lifeless. When the parade reaches the shrine, every god and shinki will be needed in order to protect the Near Shore from this menace. Corpses must either be exorcised or completely mutilated to the point where they can no longer move in order to release the soul.

Not Rootbeer Floats

On top of the mass of dead bodies being possessed by stray souls, some of the floats on wheels in the parade seem to have been taken over as well. They are moving slowly and with purpose towards anyone that crosses their path. At first, it may seem like the float is just veering a little off course, but it will soon become evident that it's headed towards you. They may be slow, but they're very large as well, meaning there's a lot more than needs to be destroyed to release the soul.

Souls, Souls, and More Souls

As souls are released from the objects they've taken control of, the air will become thick with a hazy fog of souls rushing away, into the air, and out of sight. This may make the continued fighting a little more difficult, but it means that the job is getting done.

Through some innate sixth sense, some of the dead people may seem familiar to certain gods (or shinki with specific memories). They can recognize some of the souls as friends or compatriots from their home world that had died. And these souls will recognize them as well.

Any characters not currently in the game that have actually died in their canon are free to be used for this part of the event and played out as NPCs by you and whatever partner you are playing with. All of these individuals will react in a similar way, though - they will beg to be released because it hurts them so horribly to be here right now and, of course, they can only be released in the same way that all the other souls are being released: exorcism or total destruction.

In Summary:

• Enjoy the festival
• Help save Near Shore residents
• Take down the dead bodies
• Try not to cry
• Cry lots
• Have fun~

Comments

[bussounoshima]

I know. I saw.

[Once the fighting started, she tried to keep Kainé within eyeshot. She was as concerned as she was impressed. Kainé is human, and the factors from when she was alive no longer seem relevant, but when Sharak thinks about the vision she saw and the youkai back home...]

You did well. You've earned some rest.

[And then, to the frustration of the undead starting to circle them, they're gone. Teleported straight to the nearest shrine to Aditi.]

[shadepossessed]

[Holy water probably isn't meant to be used for washing off blood, but its presence brings her back enough that she remembers a conversation she had a while ago about how feeling torn up inside over things will affect Sharak, too, and she lets go of the robes to run at the back of her neck instead. How would she even know? So it's better to be safe than sorry, and make her way over to the water and dip her hands in to scrub at her face, neck, and forearms. It's not perfect by any means, but -- but she's trying. And her eyes are a little more clear when she blinks back up to Sharak.]

...I gotta stop bitching out on these crazy nights out of ours. [Someday...a real fight night date.] Thanks. For coming when I called.

[bussounoshima]

[Sharak may look a little more pale and tense than she normally does. But she's used to ignoring and fighting through pain. She dips the end of her long sleeve into the water, soaking it, and then moves behind Kainé.]

It happens. [Rubs over the blight on the back of Kainé's neck with the wet fabric.] You're welcome, though.

... Kainé, if you ever remember anything, I want you to tell me right away.

[shadepossessed]

[She closes her eyes and suppresses a shudder at the touch, but she continues on with the theme of not pulling away or tensing up. She might hate herself for it, but right now -- when she'd been held in someone's arms and realized there was a chance it wasn't the first time that had happened -- she feels absolutely starved of contact.]

...I don't remember anything.

[Just to clarify. Only one big secret is being kept by Kainé.]

You think that'll happen?

[bussounoshima]

[Sharak ignores Kainé's discomfort until she's wiped the blight clear. Hopefully it doesn't just reform right away. She can feel the stinging on her own body still, but she's going to ignore that for as long as possible to avoid drawing Kainé's attention to it.]

It's possible. Avoid thinking about it for now, as best you can, but don't panic if it does happen.

[shadepossessed]

[It does start blossoming into place again while Kainé thinks -- because how the hell could she not? Of course she would panic if it happened. If she was this miserable without knowing anything about herself, she can't imagine what it'll be like when she has more pieces to the fucked-up puzzle that she was. And the worse she got...

Kainé groans and scoops up a handful of water to slap into her face. This time, the blight settles down enough to be washed away properly.]

Yeah. I'll talk to you, instead. At least that way I'll be too annoyed to piss my life away feeling sorry for myself. [She peeks over her shoulder to study Sharak, then carefully turns and starts to thumb away some of the blood from her face, too.] ...She was kinda a rude old bitch, huh? I liked it.

[But there's definitely less bitterness or grief in her voice. Kainé knows that killing her -- again, too -- was the right thing, for herself and the old lady. It's what she'd wanted... Hmn. Sharak was so good to her. So, so good.]

[bussounoshima]

If you start whining and wasting away, I'll kick your ass. That should distract you.

[So, so good. Alright, Kainé's blight seems to be under control so Sharak steps back from her. Her fingers twitch and she unconsciously grips her gloved forearm with her hand. What a pain in the ass system. At least Kainé is brightening up again, as much as she can.]

She definitely seemed like your type.

[shadepossessed]

[ah, yes. talk of ass-kicking is doing a lot to lift her spirits.]

Huh. No wonder I don't think you're so bad, either.

[rude old bitch]

[bussounoshima]

[The objectively best time for flirting is when both parties are covered in blood, it's true, but really, Kainé. Contain your thirst.]

I can kick your ass right now if you want it that bad, brat.

[shadepossessed]

[the worst part is, that's toned down from the first draft]

Ha.

[She ducks her head to hide the smile that quirks up at the edges of her mouth, then reaches out to trail her fingers along Sharak's arm. She'd been guarding it a little more...]

Alright, come on. Your turn.

[bussounoshima]

[The real worst part is, Sharak still doesn't know that they're flirting.

She pulls her arm back from Kainé's touch reflexively.] I'll clean up later. You go take a bath or something, you're a mess.

[shadepossessed]

[Aha. So she was right.]

Shut the hell up, [she sighs, rolling her eyes up.] I'm not a fucking moron. You try to force me away to clean regular-ass blood off me, it's gonna get worse.

[She's Against Sharak putting off treating her pain when it was so simple just because she's caked in gore. Dress would have to be thrown out completely, anyway. It could wait.]

[bussounoshima]

[It actually has nothing to do with Kainé being caked in gore and everything to do with Sharak's own stubbornness and pride.]

I can wash my own hands, Kainé.

[shadepossessed]

[That's even stupider, so Kainé takes a step back and crosses her arms. She's not going off to bathe until she sees some purifying, woman.]

[bussounoshima]

The fuck do you think you're doing, looking at me like that...

[What disrespect. Sharak rolls her eyes and pulls her gloves down to her wrist, revealing the blight she caught from Kainé covering her forearm. It's probably a decent mess by now, but Sharak shows no signs of pain. She rinses it with water from the shrine, using her other hand and already damp sleeve to scrub the blight away.]

[shadepossessed]

[She just sets her jaw harder, not so much as blinking until Sharak finally reveals the blight. She tries not to react much to that, either, left eye only twitching a little, and once it's clear she gives a sharp nod. Was that so fucking hard?]

...You know, after I fall to pieces that hard, you don't have to act like you're always made of iron. Might even make me feel like I'm not such a fuckhead.

[bussounoshima]

Not iron. [Holds her arm up to examine it herself before rolling up her glove again. The blight is gone, but there are a few extra scars that the glove usually hides. Not that that should be a surprise to literally anyone.] Stone, maybe.

But it's not bad to feel things strongly sometimes. It's better than the alternative.

[shadepossessed]

[Her eyes trail along the scars before she looks away. Now's not the time to worry over how many battles she's seen, where else those scars might be... So she was warning her off the alternative, huh? What a hypocrite.]

Metal's malleable. Stone only cracks, when it can't take it anymore. It's not too late to change your mind. [...] Even if you're old.

[bussounoshima]

[Sharak smiles wryly and taps the scar on her left cheek.]

I don't mind a few cracks. We'll see if I live long enough to get wrinkles.

[shadepossessed]

I'll mind. You think I wanna go around saying my god's cracked?

[You madwoman. But Kainé backs off a little, idly frowning down at the hem of her dress.]

Sure picked a hell of a day to wear white.

[never mind that she mostly wears white or similarly light colors already]

[bussounoshima]

Well, you don't have to go around saying it.

[Rude brat. Sharak looks Kainé up and down. She's also wearing a lot of white but she isn't in quite as bad a state as Kainé.]

Red isn't your colour either. Seriously, go have a bath and get changed.

[shadepossessed]

Hey, shut up. Red could be my color if I wanted it to. [This, though... Uh.] We need a giant tub. One so big I could fucking sleep in it...

[This isn't so much an actual suggestion as it is a wistful dream. Right now she bathes in an oversized wooden laundry basin, essentially. But she's satisfied enough with the state of Sharak and she's trying not to dwell on the old woman, so she stretches her arms up with a grunt, then turns.]

Hn... [She pauses before going off to disappear, but doesn't fully look over her shoulder towards her god again.] The main room's gonna feel weird tonight. Emptier. Just a feeling I have.

[bussounoshima]

[Sharak ignores that wistful dream as she focuses on picking blood out of the end of her ponytail. She already got Kainé a flower, any more and she really will be spoiling her.] Hmm.

[How did blood even get there? Gross. She's going to have to wash her hair tonight, what a pain. She suddenly pauses when Kainé speaks up again. There's an invitation or a request in there and Sharak isn't sure how to take it. She doesn't turn to face her shinki, unsure of what she'll see if she does for some reason.]

... You can sleep wherever you want.

[shadepossessed]

[Maybe when they're as rich as Hazel and Jae-Ha...]

...Mmn.

[Which is apparently Kainéspeak for "expect a visitor late at night" while keeping to that awkward feeling. It feels like too much to keep pushing the limits on how much she can truly be wanted around, when she just got the concept through her thick skull. She'd have to redouble the strength of her walls in the morning.

But...in the morning. Yeah. That sounds better.]

[bussounoshima]

[Sorry your god isn't a rich, Texan, mansion-owning god, Kainé.

Sharak stays silent. She's reading too much into it. Kainé is lonely and unsure of herself and upset- seeking out company is natural. Sharak won't turn her away if she doesn't want to be alone at night. It's not as if Sharak minds the company herself, after all. If things stay like this, it's perfectly fine.

She turns back towards the shrine and gives up getting the blood out of her hair. It'll only get dirty again and she feels like shooting at something all of a sudden. Hopefully there's still some undead left.]