thenearshore | 011 | Black Parade

Entry tags:

011 | Black Parade

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

In Summary:

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

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[Ross was observing too, but as he munched on a candy apple he was putting on a facade of laziness. That was one of his strengths--pretending he wasn't paying much attention while he was watching like a hawk. Though that also meant his attention was elsewhere, and he dropped his apple when he took Ayumu's hit to the shoulder. Poor candy apple. It never had a chance.]

My apple isn't. Apologize to it.

[Hi, "Yumi."]

[There's a familiar voice Ayumu hasn't heard in a while. She turns to face him and is immediately assaulted with a vision of Ross bleeding out from injuries sustained in a surprise attack. For a moment, she just regards him with a flat expression and furrowed brow.

Is it really that hard for the Heavens to send advance warning about these things? Though Ayumu supposes this is an improvement over discovering random amnesiacs in her home. And at least, this time it's not a complete stranger.

Ayumu breathes out a sigh, bends down to the fallen apple, and whispers mournfully to it:]

My apologies, fallen apple. May you find peace.

[Then she straightens up and turns to Ross.]

So I guess you're my shinki now. Have you been paying attention to the parade?

[Between the turnover rate of shinki in her service and the less-than-pleasant mood she's been in since recovering her memories, Ayumu's done bothering with formal pleasantries.]

[Pfffft. She actually did it. He had been expecting some irritated words at the very least, but that response was more than acceptable. His amusement was more than enough to let go of that somewhat awkward silence, although maybe that outlook would have changed if he knew that she had been seeing a vision of his death at the time.

Speaking of his death, it was certainly news to him that Ayumu was his new boss. Fortunately, the blunt words were just fine in his book.]

A little. [It was a really good thing that he didn’t feel bad about...stretching the truth, let’s say.] They need to try harder to hide the rotting people.

[Ayumu actually cracks a small smile at that. He's observant. That's good. Useful, even.]

There does seem to be an awful lot of them. How many have you counted?

[By this point, she assumes it's the whole parade but she wants to see if he's come to same conclusion. After a moment, she adds as almost an afterthought:]

By the way, do you remember where my temple is?

[She might as well take care of that matter, too, while she has him here.]

[He raised an eyebrow. With all these questions, he couldn't decide if she actually didn't know or this was her way of testing him.]

Too many. It'll be a problem if something happens. [One was too many already, really. That, and realizing he would be moving to a new temple very soon kept him from answering her off-hand remark right away.]

That's what you're worrying about right now?

[Maybe it was a little of both. At any rate, Ayumu appears to relax slightly at his response, nodding to herself a bit.]

Not really. I just thought I'd ask while you're here.

[She gives a little half-shrug, her gaze returning to the parade.]

I'm more worried about them. I think they could be trouble.

[They haven't done anything yet but Ayumu can't think of a single positive outcome from raising the dead.]

[Maybe it was because he had gotten a little too used to used to having Gintoki as a god, but he was still making assumptions based on those words. He would have to unlearn that habit. Then again, considering Gintoki was also the same guy who had thrown a boulder at him while testing his food powers and had changed Ross into his vessel form to keep him from eating sweets, it wasn't an unexpected reaction either.]

Alright, I got it. [A sigh.] I'll go keep tabs on them...

[He disappeared right after those words, only to reappear with an apple.]

After I'm finished with this.

[Sigh.

She doesn't protest, however. That he's aware is good enough for her. The dead don't seem to be moving against the living but so long as they're able to act quickly when it's necessary, Ayumu's content to leave him to his apple. It's not like people can't multitask.]

Just keep your eyes on them, 'kay? I'm gonna take a look around.

[Ross might be her shinki now but considering he's her fifth one in a couple of months, Ayumu thinks it's best not to get too comfortable with their partnership.]

Got it, boss lady. [Gintoki had been "fox boss", so calling Ayumu "boss lady" was clearly very fitting here. Or he was just trying to get a reaction out of her. Knowing Ross, it could have gone either way.

To his credit, he was actually watching just like he was told. He was going to do it anyway, mind, but for the moment he was fine with playing the part of the obedient shinki. He glanced at the nearby buildings as well, wondering if it would be best to watch for trouble from above instead of having to deal with all the hustle and bustle. If she was leaving anyway, there was no harm in taking a peek and making sure nothing was going wrong at that moment.

He teleported to a nearby roof or two, quickly scanning the area at each point before moving on to the next. Nothing yet... His mana reserves were lower than he would have liked, too. He wasn't gone for very long, but it was still long enough for someone to notice that he had moved.]

[Ayumu's out of sight when he returns but it shouldn't be difficult to spot her with a little bit of effort. She's a short distance away, still slowly making her way to the front of the parade. Her departure's nothing personal; Ayumu's only ever worked closely with one shinki on a regular basis and he'd been one of her own choosing. She isn't sure what Ross's form could be but whatever lightning had struck with Axel hadn't struck with those assigned to her by the Heavens. After a yellow beast she still couldn't identify, a Western gun that made far too much noise, and a shinki unhappy serving her, she doesn't have much confidence in the Heavens' ability to assign her a partner she can work with.

Besides, she's used to getting things done on her own.

Still, nothing has changed yet and that worries Ayumu a little. Why bring out the dead if there's no ulterior motive? It makes no sense. A couple of minutes later, Ayumu starts heading to the spot where she'd run into Ross.]

[After a few minutes of looking, he saw her. It looked like she was heading to the front... Alright, might as well follow her lead. However, he was just as used to doing things on his own, so instead of going to meet her, he had a different plan. Yup, he just cut across the street without a second thought. It was fine. All the Near Shore residents milling about wouldn't be able to see him, and the floats weren't moving that fast.

Really, considering the corpses, the one who was most likely to be hurt or even bothered was him anyway.

When he noticed her walking back, he did the same and crossed the street to meet her in the same seemingly lackadaisical manner.]

Didn't find anything?

Edited (of =/= to, self) 2017-01-15 23:46 (UTC)

No, not yet. But it's only a matter of time before something happens. It doesn't make sense to set this up and do nothing with it. This is too much of a spectacle not to serve some purpose.

[Though exactly what that purpose could be eludes her at the moment aside from the obvious assault on the spectators.]

Any theories on what might be responsible for this?

[When it comes to occult matters and issues concerning magic, Ayumu's well aware of just how far out of her realm of expertise she truly is. But Ross seems more comfortable with magic. Even if shinki don't remember things, they seem to have a general understanding of the laws that govern the places they're from.]

It's hard to say. Could be that someone's just reanimating the corpses with magic. Or it's a god who can control the dead. [Yup, he really was not above suspecting one of their own, so to speak.] They all wouldn't be so obedient if they were really alive and could think for themselves.

[In his opinion, anyway. That did mean that if his guess was right, the culprit could send their impromptu army of corpses to attack at any time, and it didn't seem like any of them had the capacity to refuse orders. This could get very bad very fast. Even if the two of them did manage to find the culprit, that didn't necessarily mean the guilty party wouldn't panic and start the attack to give themselves an easy escape route.

However, while he was thinking all of that in his head, to Ayumu he would only show a shrug.]

We could try to find out for sure, but they'll probably attack while we're busy with that.

Hmm. Interesting.

[Ayumu doesn't just mean the theories themselves but the amount of thought that seemed to go into them. She may know nothing about magic but she knows a great deal about fighting men and the way they think. The stupid ones don't live long in her experience and given her own profession, she knows all too well that even the most cunning of men can be outsmarted with the right tools and information in one's hands. Falling to a surprise attack is by no means an indicator the man is a fool, particularly when he's clever enough to consider an enemy within the ranks.]

If I wasn't here, what preparations might you make for an attack?

[Now she is testing him a little though her expression remains neutral, perhaps showing even a little weariness. It's nothing personal for her, she just likes to know what's in her arsenal before putting it to use. Ayumu can think of far useless candidates for a shinki than smart man who understands magic.]

If you weren't here? [His raised eyebrow and expression made it clear that he didn't understand why she would be asking about that.] They'd be the same preparations I'd use if you were here.

[He was one of the so-called new generation of shinki who had stuck around the longest, but that didn't mean he was used to or particularly good at working with others. Not for the obvious reasons, mind, but still. As for his actual answer, he had to think about that one. --Oh.

Without another word he took a few steps forward to free himself from the crowd, and threw a ball of magic at the nearest floats. It caused some surface damage to a few of them that was enough to be noticed by others, but not enough to send the floats careening off course or anything of the sort. Step 2 of this plan was to step back into the crowd and tap the shoulder of a Near Shore resident to get their attention.]

Hey, did you hear? The rest of the parade's been cancelled. Some of the floats are damaged, so they're cancelling everything to fix them. See? Look at that one. They're telling everyone to go home, so let everyone else know too--I'll help. [Ah, that's what he was getting at.]

[For a moment, Ayumu just watches him work. Both clever and independent - excellent qualities to have in a shinki. It'd be easier to make this work with someone she can leave to his own judgments and devices, she thinks. After all, in her previous job, she'd worked with her brother from a more supportive role and only acted as his superior when necessary. While she's still not accustomed to having protectors or being in a position of command, perhaps if she tries to approach it this way, it'll work out better.

After a couple of minutes of observation, Ayumu nods and gets to work herself, making a beeline for a middle-aged couple watching the parade with their children. She'll follow Ross's lead for now.]

Oh, I'm sorry. The parade's cancelled. See the floats? Some of them are damaged. Everyone will have to go home.

[Evacuation is as good a plan as any and it's subtle enough that it shouldn't cause too much widespread panic.]

[He glanced over his shoulder and noticed her following his lead. It was a strange thing to see after the time he had spent with his previous god. He could get used to this, honestly.

Well, anyway. Getting these people to clear out was still the biggest issue here. He probably wouldn't be able to convince everyone, and he knew that. Still... The thought of trying to save people but ultimately failing to do so rubbed him the wrong way. He couldn't explain why. It just did.

Eventually he went back over to Ayumu, now that the crowd over where he was had thinned out some.]

What's going on over here? [He figured it would be best to pretend he didn't know what was going on in case the people there noticed his presence right away this time.]

[And once again, she plays along, slipping into the role of a curious, gossipy onlooker.]

Looks like the parade's been cancelled due to damage to the floats. No one's sure exactly what happened but they want us all to go home. Apparently, they overlooked some flaws in their haste to get everything ready.

[Ayumu sighs with all the exasperated entitlement of a spoiled and bored housewife. It's a quick and easy cover, one that she can make up easily on the fly which she's doing now. With a bit of a dramatic flump, she latches onto Ross's arm and pouts.]

Some date this is turning out to be. Let's go somewhere else, dear.

[It's a convenient escape from the scene for them both just in case they had been noticed and it also frees them to investigate elsewhere.]

[He could certainly play along with the gossipy onlooker role! Hell, he could even play along with the spoiled housewife role to an extent.

However. (There was always a however.)

Ross mentally drew the line at his involvement in said role. It wasn't that he thought it was a bad idea or anything, but it put him in an awkward spot. Especially after being called "dear." Maybe there was still a chance for him to turn this around.]

Alright, alright, but don't pout. You know I can't stand seeing you like that. [He reached out with his free hand as if he was about to comfort her...only to pinch and tug at her cheek instead.]

There. This face is better. [He was only half-succeeding at keeping the amusement out of his face.]

[Inward sigh.

Well, sometimes covers don't quite go as planned or intended so it's important to be flexible and adapt when the situation shifts. So Ayumu responds by simply sidling closer, gripping his arm a little more firmly, and giving him the same simpering, coquettish look that's lured more than one man into her clutches and occasionally a concealed blade. She doesn't mean anything by it or expect much of a reaction. It's Ross and he struck her as pretty immune to her charms so far.]

I expect you to make it up to me.

[Her voice rapidly shifts to a slightly breathless, sultry tone more appropriate for the bedroom. She pouts again; this time it's more sensual than cute.]

[Oh no he made it worse. He was already out of his element before, but that and now this was more like being unceremoniously chucked out instead of just nudged out. Was she getting revenge on him? Because it definitely felt like she was getting revenge. As an aside, the thought of it being anything else didn't even cross his mind. His reasons for thinking that had everything to do with his forgotten but still ingrained past instead of anything she had done, though.]

I know, I will. But I can't do anything here. We'll have to go home first. The last time we didn't go home first we nearly got caught...

[He let out a weary sigh, as if this was a common problem. It was...probably a bad idea to keep trying to one-up her on this front. Really, this was turning into the most bizarre game of chicken, in a way.]

[A bizarre game of chicken is one way to put it. And it's also strangely nostalgic, reminding her a little of the spontaneous play she and Axel used to do when they were alone. Only then, Axel was smart enough to know when to back down. He knew the risks of escalation with her; mainly that she'd respond in kind.

It's also a little saddening. Ross is proving himself more useful than she'd expected but he's still not Axel. And it's not fair of her to treat him this way. It's not his fault he's been assigned to her either.

So in a rare moment of leniency, Ayumu chooses to relent. With another sigh and pout, this one more cute like the first, she loosens her grip.]

Fine, we'll go home first. But I fully expect a grand performance tonight, dear.

[He glanced at her with a raised eyebrow. The reason beyond her relenting was beyond him. Not that he was complaining or anything, but it was still a question he didn't have an answer to. Then again, considering the situation, maybe it would be better to let things lie in case she changed her mind. He still didn't know her that well, so a little distance was welcome, especially by this point. Granted, it wouldn't have gotten this far in the first place if he hadn't been stubborn about letting it go...]

No promises.

[Plus he was still saying things like that. At any rate, he was concerned that something was about to happen with the parade, and he was silently thankful that it was mostly calm.]

Ah, before that, there's something I want to check on first.

[Ayumu's concerned about the parade, too, and that worry is keeping her from falling completely apart. She can't perform her duties or protect the Near Shore residents if she gives into her grief and starts sobbing. And even now, her pride's still intact and she's not particularly of a mind to break down in tears in front of Ross.]

I guess I'll leave you to that. If you see anything interesting, report to me, please. I'll be around here keeping an eye on things.

[And there's that cool, brisk professionalism again.]

Got it. I'll head to the front and see what's going on.

[Brisk professionalism? He could handle that. While this would have been a perfect time for his usual antics, he said nothing more, and did exactly what he said he would do. The fact remained that there were lives on the line here, whether they belonged to the living, shinki or gods. That thought was on the altruistic side, but he was a legendary hero in his past life, after all.

He called out to her from over his shoulder.]

I'll be back later, boss lady.

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kagenonadeshiko - 2017-03-09 07:32 (UTC) - Expand

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