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~

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Her shoulders tense a second, but she's quick to draw back enough that she can put her finger to her lips and give Jae-Ha a deathly serious look to quiet him. That crazy ghost thing had been screaming about Jae-Ha being some kind of monster, so it was...probably okay that he knew about them. Unavoidable now, at any rate. But she'd rather keep it as much of a secret as possible, and for now that hopefully still includes the other Hazel. At least her poncho has enough slack that she can safely bring it up to mop at some of that extra blood.]

Hi. I don't think he needs a doctor. My teacher hit her head once and she bled a lot more than this, and she was okay really fast. I think he just needs a bath.

[Mercifully for little Hazel, big Hazel is interested in absolutely nothing besides Jae-Ha being alright at the moment, so he doesn't actually hear a single thing about wings and only hears half of this little story about her teacher hitting her head. What??

He looks down at her. Uh-] Oh. Sure. Thanks for the help, lil Hazel. Ya did good.

[Yay...... look, he's capable of being normal, that means everything is okay now. But since Jae-Ha's let go of her, it's only a moment later that Hazel sinks to his knees beside them both and reaches glumly for Jae-Ha. Come here...] I'm sorry, I shouldn't've— [gone so fucking crazy,] I couldn't stand it.

[Oh. It's a secret...? He blinks at little Hazel quietly and gives a nod, silent until big Hazel reaches for him. Jae-Ha immediately turns to fall into a hug. Thanks for cleaning the blood off his face before he pressed his face into Hazel's shoulder like this. Seeing him like this, seeing him like he had been before... his stomach knots and his whole body is tense as he squeezes him. He wishes he didn't have to see all of that.]

I'm sorry you had to see him. I'm so sorry...

[Sorry to little Hazel, too, for having to witness these sad gays embracing. But since she's their adopted daughter now, this is probably fine.]

[It's pretty gay. She digs some earwax out of her ear as she awkwardly shifts more solidly onto her ankles. For now, the chaos around them was at a low level... Still, she'd keep vigilant while they were being all vulnerable and weird and stuff. Ha, kinda reminds her of when she'd been sitting with Kurti, that night she'd fought with Izabel... All those apologies.]

If you need to kiss, you can.

[HAZEL]

[Ugh, god, come here sad lizard. Hazel goes from reaching sadly for him to holding him tightly almost immediately, one hand cradling the back of his head. He can feel the emotions coming off Jae-Ha and each one stings, maybe this wouldn't have happened if he'd stuck to his side more closely, or something—] It's alright, I'm right here now, it's—what?

[LITTLE HAZEL... well, she has a point. Hazel looks up from Jae-Ha's hair to blink at her, and it's like the world shifts a little bit back out of abject misery. He makes a noise that can't be called much of anything, first, and then laughs a little awkwardly, like he can't remember how right now.

Kids......] Are ya gonna say it's gross to see grown-ups kissin'?

[This embrace is what he needed, after that. He can't help but remember Hazel's expression in that brief moment he'd looked at him before he started going all out. Was that really okay to let him do? He's busy thinking about that when little Hazel's words interrupt the both of them, and he's looking over with just as much surprise.

His own little laugh slips out after Hazel's, and he ducks his head a little more against him for a moment before he pulls back. His arms still stay loosely holding onto him, though, unwilling to let go.]

Are we so obvious? I'm sorry, Hazel dear.

[It's so satisfying, being right. Satisfying enough that she won't gloat out loud and offer them a shrug.]

Granny read a lot of grown-up books. I know grown-ups do a lot of stuff. I don't like it, but I know it makes people feel better, sometimes.

[She didn't feel super after kissing Kurti, but it had been nice to feel like she wasn't alone.]

That's why I won't even make any faces if you want to. But it might be gross if he's still bloody and stuff.

[Okay, it's not like he was even super in the mood to make out right this second, but nothing kills said mood like a little kid talking about how gross old people are. That's fair. And Jae-Ha is still kind of bloody, that's true.]

I think we'll save the kissin' for later. [This very gay hug is fine, for now.] You're spared the grown-up stuff, kiddo.

[Somehow, having little Hazel here is probably for the best right now. Jae-Ha is less distracted by guilt, Hazel seems less distracted by guilt, and they all get a little bit of a breather after that. Jae-Ha still trails off on his laugh as he stares over to where the body is, and then glances down between himself and Hazel.]

Little Hazel dear was telling me that you offered her some help. [Picking up cute kids, huh... cute. Jae-Ha glances up and between them, still loosely hugging Hazel even as he touches at his own bruised face. He feels it now.]

Do you think we should find somewhere a little safer?

[Hazel shrugs and wipes the earwax off on her poncho before she pushes herself to her feet. It was already a,complete mess, anyway...]

Everyone's already fighting all over. I don't know how I can find my shinki. [So no luck so far on that front... Sorry, big Hazel. And sorry Jae-Ha, because maybe if she'd had one, she could have saved him from half his injuries, at least.] ...I know a lot of bad people that died. If I'm supposed to stay by you guys, "safer" might mean really far away. But I don't think you're supposed to fight after you hit your head real bad anyway.

[Hmm... Well, they're not going to find her shinki if they go far away, but they're also not going to have a great time with more zombies, if she really is expecting to see "a lot of bad people." Is that even how this works? Hazel hasn't been paying that close attention.

He sighs, shoulders slumping a little - he's tired now, great - as he looks at Jae-Ha.] Well, you're the injured party. Should we all take a hike?

[For a moment, Jae-Ha is quiet, clutching at Hazel's shirt as he thinks. The tension has only partially left his shoulders since Hazel arrived, and now they have this other little Hazel to worry about, as well.]

I hate to leave this as it is, but there's already been an incident where I nearly heard too much. [Ayakashi levels of too much... He hugs a little closer to his boyfriend, and then shifts to stand back up on his own.]

We should probably head back. Most of the gods and shinki have arrived by now, so it should be under control.

[Well, if Jae-Ha's getting attacked by maybe-dads...it seems possible that all the pursuers over the years might show up. Why couldn't they all just be like Izabel? She scuffs her shoe against the ground, casting another quick look about the area before mumbling some sort of agreement.]

If it gets really bad again, Hazel and I can come back? [And Jae-Ha if he felt up for it, but,] They would call the gods again, right?

[Wouldn't Hazel eventually need a new soul toy either way? She's up for a tactical retreat with two strange dudes.]

Alright, away we go. [Hazel's already moved to follow Jae-Ha back to his feet, sliding an arm securely around his waist when they're both up again. No more ghosts, no more standing there taking punches, thank you.] The lil lady's got the right idea.

[He casts a wary look back at the absolute shit still going on around them, frowning.] Let's walk a bit and make sure nothin' wants to follow us, first.

Then let's check.

[Jae-Ha's a little quiet, all things considered, but it's probably because of what just happened and the Zeno Incident from before that. (It's definitely both things.) He still crosses one arm over himself to lace fingers with the hand Hazel has at his waist. They can walk just like this.

After some walking, he does speak up quietly.]

If these are really souls of people we can recognize, then could it be that they should have been shinki?

[Their gay is encumbering their gait, but that's fine. Hazel's legs are short, this makes it easier to match pace without that much effort.

Her eyes slide over to watch him before she goes back to being on the lookout for any approaching zombies or moments of crisis they can interrupt.]

Like they came out wrong? [Hmmn. Put 'em back in the oven, Heaven.] Izabel was a ghost a long time before it was born, and she said other ones weren't as cool as her, but I don't think this is what she meant. I don't think she knew anything about shinki or sick spirits like these.

[And bone bugs didn't talk or know intimate details about someone's life, so that was out.]

[Izabel who might not be real, check. Got it.]

I don't think they're any type of shinki. Half of 'em don't even belong to the bodies they're in—how often do ya see a shinki wanderin' around half rotten? It doesn't make sense.

[Who is Izabel... he'll ask more about this later.]

I don't think they are shinki, but I wonder if they were meant to be. I saw Garou's death, as I was jumping away. My existence killed him and nothing else. For him to have been rotting is...

[He trails off, glancing to the side as they walk. It sure doesn't make sense.] On top of that, I was twelve at that time. It was a long time ago.

[squints at jae-ha, squints at big hazel, raises a hand to shield her mouth like that's going to keep jae-ha from hearing her.]

I don't think he's s'posed to know that.

[Get your shit together, big Hazel!!!]

Maybe they put him in a holding facility. Because he was being bad or he was knowing stuff he shouldn't.

[Oh, child... He will at least put in the effort to stage whisper back to her:] It's alright, it's just that one. He's finer than a frog's hair.

[...Anyway.]

I'm tellin' ya both, it ain't the same kinda thing. Besides, my—y'know, it won't work on ordinary shinki and it certainly worked on him. [So there!! Can we please, as a group, move on...]

[He's going to pretend he doesn't hear these cute nerds.]

I suppose that's true...

[It didn't work on ordinary shinki, he remembers that. Hm. Well, he can tell that Hazel doesn't want to guess on this, and little Hazel's wild ideas are really too much. So.]

Well, you two Hazels should do some speaking. There should be a way to feel where your shinki is, if you happen to have one, right? Why don't you give her tips on how?

[she's pretty sure frogs don't have hair

like

??????

can you be finer than that which doesn't exist...]

[Hazel, baby, that is the point. You solved it. That's the obnoxious Southern way.

Anyway. Big Hazel looks sideways at Jae-Ha, then down at little Hazel, then back again. Uh, hm-] Well, try thinkin' really hard about findin' somethin' important, I guess.

[That's so cute, something important.]

Is that what you thought of, the first time? That's so sweet.

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