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

[ Hakkai shimmers and vanishes, and shakujyo appears in his hands. No matter how many times he watches that trick, he's never going to get used to people turning into weapons.

He holds the shaft much more gingerly than he would otherwise. After all, it's not just metal. What if it's Hakkai's throat? He doesn't want to squeeze if it's Hakkai's throat! ]

We'll start off with something easy. [ The older man first -- Gojyo lifts Hakkai up, pointing the sickle blade at the shambling corpse. ] Like a boomerang, out and back. [ And with a flick of his wrist he releases the blade. If his aim is true (and his lax grip doesn't cost him too much control), the blade should slice right through the old man's chest, from hip to shoulder. ]

[The speed is briefly disorienting; Hakkai feels his blade bite flesh as he orients himself, and the chain pull with the tug of Gojyo's wrist that snaps him across roughly at waist level on the corpse. Soft, half-rotting viscera put up very little resistance to his edge; the spine is a little harder. But not too much.

He's impressed. This shape is quite dangerous.

And focusing on the specifics of how it works is just the distraction he needs, he admits to himself as the blade rattles back to seat itself hard against the weapon's handle.]

You don't have to hold me that carefully. I'll try not to cut you, I promise.

[ The blade -- Hakkai -- swings out nearly perfectly, clicking back into the staff with a familiar weight. Good. ]

That's not... [ --he starts to say, then just shakes his head. It's not worth the discussion. ] I trust you. [ So please trust me not to be thinkin' too hard about what part of you I'm holding, he thinks, forgetting for the moment about the telepathic connection between gods and their shinki-weapons. ]

Those two women next? [ This time he'll try for a more complicated pattern: a series of tight loops, spiralling up like the path of a spring. The blade should slice them both into, well. Slices. Three or four big slices should be enough to free the souls trapped inside, yeah? ]

[Hakkai's laughter echoes soundlessly along the connection between them. What part of him, indeed.]

My shaft?

[He's being helpful! Very helpful. Not teasing at all -- well. All right, maybe a little. He doesn't have human, or youkai, body parts at the moment. He has weapon parts, and the only way he's discovered so far to guess which part of him corresponds to which other section is by tracking where damage shows up as injuries.

Which, hopefully, they won't have the opportunity to do tonight. The bodies are just bodies, without anything magically invulnerable about them, and Hakkai's blade bites through the bodies of the two women in easy spirals.]

Hakkai!

[ A bit of red creeps into his cheeks at that, and he very clearly hesitates when it comes time to tighten his grip on Hakkai's sh-- Hakkai's middle part.

Don't say things like that! ...And stop reading my mind! There's private shit in here!

He's impressed with Hakkai's performance, though. The blade flies true, the weight feels just right, and the edge is obviously sharp. He's as beautiful and deadly in weapon form as he is as a person, and fuck please don't let Hakkai have heard that.

Does this come with a mute button? He asks, unconsciously rolling his thumb over the release button without pressing it, a habitual movement as he checks out the next wave of opponents. ]

[Gojyo's reaction is every bit as gratifying as Hakkai could have imagined. He's even blushing, even though, after a moment of hesitation, he does actually solidify his grip. Hakkai, quite shamelessly, laughs at him again.]

You're talking to me. I'm not reading anything.

[Not exactly.

The younger corpse had been hanging back, but the advent of a bigger group of zombies behind her seems to give her new courage. There are at least fifteen of them in this group, and some of them are large. Their reach might have helped against Hakkai as a sword, but in this form, he thinks, it's useless. He'll protect Gojyo as he couldn't protect Elsa--

He breaks off before he can think too hard about that, wondering just what, exactly, Gojyo can hear from him in return. Inside his hollow handle, the chain shifts with a soft sound of metal on metal as Gojyo's thumb brushes the release.]

[ Oh. Well. He can't pretend he didn't know that's how Hakkai felt.

He misses her too. ]

You want to take this group? [ A good fling, aimed a bit high, should give Hakkai plenty of momentum to get through three or four of the zombies... more, if he only hits each of them once. ] Don't double back on yourself or the chain'll tangle, and if you start to slow you can rock your, ah... [ He slides his hand up to the crescent blade, tapping it lightly on the gleaming flat surface. ] ...head? And that should give you one more good pass.

[ Protect him, Hakkai. ]

Blade.

[The correction comes colored by embarrassed gratitude and deeper affection; he'd never have let his real voice show so much, but when a word is a thought it's much harder to control his tone.

Besides, he'd heard that.

And he will. He can. Gojyo's here, alive, not a screaming soul trapped in a rotting body with no way to help her but to tear her limb from limb--

-- he really needs to focus on the screaming souls in rotting bodies that are here now, he reminds himself, and the clink of chain this time is like a clearing of his throat.]

Yes, I'll give it a try. Ready?

[ Screaming souls in rotting bodies. It's not words so much as just a... a picture, and a feeling. Mostly a feeling.

With a twist of his arm (not unlike throwing a baseball) Gojyo sends Hakkai's head-blade flying. Where did all these souls come from? Some of them seem to match the body they're in -- at least, as far as he can tell -- but not all of them. There's children trapped in adult bodies, women trapped in men, huge distorted faces crammed into tiny children's bodies...

He shakes his head, trying to dispel the thoughts. He needs to be focusing on Hakkai right now, in case he needs help. It wasn't easy learning how to use shakujyo initially (and he carefully sidesteps thinking about that too hard, so Hakkai doesn't pick up on any memories he doesn't already possess) -- it can't be easy to be a flying blade on a never-ending length of chain! ]

What's it like?

I have more flexibility than I did as a sword. [Hakkai takes relieved refuge in practicality as he twists back on himself, whipping through two bodies side by side with the momentum of the throw and ensnaring another with his chain. Ah. That's a little less effective, though, it slows his momentum enough that his blade lodges hard in a third body and he has to twist free.]

--But I'll need to work on the mechanics!

[Small movements magnify themselves through what feels like the majority of his body when he's moving through midair, and he can move almost as freely as he can with arms and legs. What he can't do, though, is give himself any extra momentum.

He shakes his chain free of the entangled corpse with a swift ripple, and sails back towards the handle.

That ... was fun.]

[ He picks up on Hakkai's enjoyment, and can't help but smile in response. It does look like it would be fun, doesn't it? Whipping about like a hummingbird, gravity easily defeated with just a flick of the chain. It's not something he ever really considered doing himself, and now that it's an option, he's a little jealous!

But only a little. Because he can do something that Hakkai can't. ]

Here. [ Speaking out loud makes it easier to keep his thoughts in line. This whole setup just seems designed to make him slip up and turn Hakkai into a monster, and like hell is he going to let that happen. ] Lemme give you a demo of the mechanics.

[ It took years of practice, but this is a weapon Gojyo's mastered. He flicks the blade straight up, then down hard with a delicate turn on his wrist. There's zombies at 1 o'clock, 4, 6, and 10 -- with a series of deceptively tiny, round movements, he slices them all into chunks, releasing the blur of relieved souls within.

So he's showing off a little bit. Who can blame him? ]

[Hakkai certainly can't; he's too busy paying fascinated attention to the details of Gojyo's technique. There's no doubt he's an expert with this weapon, and no wonder that he was so thrilled to see Hakkai's new form. The subtlest movements control the momentum and angle of his attacks, and the four zombies fall, severed at knee, neck and hip, souls fleeing before they hit the ground.]

I can see I have a lot to learn.

[Really, he's tempted to try to do something more impressive immediately.

Can he -- well, probably not, not just yet. But he can do better than his first tangled attempt, he's certain of that much.]

May I take the next one? [-- he asks, competitive cheer bubbling up under the polite overture as the next wave of corpses lurches close.]

[ Shaft jokes aside, it's the chain that's really the sensitive part! Unlike regular chain (that responds to the regular rules of physics), the slightest wiggle of the handle gets amplified along the length of the chain, so a one centimeter movement at one end can result in huge sweeping arcs several meters across on the other. It's easy to overcompensate, especially when the heavy disc blade at the end moves like it's got a mind of its own.

Which, today, it does. ]

Be my guest! [ It's a little weird to be holding shakujyo and watching the blade dip and soar, but to not actually be controlling it. Standing still while the blade moves is difficult -- it's instinct to guide it, and it's going to take him a while to get used to letting Hakkai take control. But if they're going to be fighting like this, then he needs to get over that, doesn't he? ] You want to try launching yourself, or d'you want me to give you a running start?

I think I could use the start! I can't move that much.

[Although it's a small button. Hakkai tries to shift it, a feeling oddly like fidgeting, and not quite as effective as he'd like it to be. As a sword, too, he'd just barely been able to shift his edge position and aim; while there's more freedom of movement to this weapon's edge, it's not as though he can leap from Gojyo's grip and go dancing around.

Not even when Gojyo'd been holding him too weakly, and certainly not now!

He's gaining confidence in his movements, though, and when Gojyo presses the release catch, he'll leap free with a swirling slash that falls from above to neatly bisect three clustered zombies.]

Oh, sorry! Here. [Hey, he didn't know! Hakkai can move the blade on his own, so it only made sense that he could launch himself off the shaft.

Stop callin' it a shaft, Sha, stop thinkin' about holdin' his goddamn shaft, this is not the fucking time to get a half-stack, stop it.

He presses the button and sends the blade flying... and then watches with awe and not a little glee as Hakkai twists through the air with breakneck speed. It's like watching one of those hunting birds at the edge of a marsh, isn't it?

Before Hakkai can return to the post, it's a goddamn post, nothing sexy about a post, Gojyo gives the post a little shake to send a wave of vibration down the chain and flick the blade back up. ]

Here, try for another group without resetting!

[Hakkai makes a startled noise as the chain ripples and he's suddenly flying in a different direction, speed picking rapidly back up as he hits the top of the arc and begins to plunge down towards the corpses below again. Six in range; and tangling the chain with their limbs will slow him down, but coming from above, he can turn the plunge into a sidelong sweep, clearing a swathe around Gojyo and whipping back to behead three out of four toppling bodies.

The fourth lurches back up, a woman's ghost screaming from a child's face, and Hakkai has enough momentum left to end her suffering with a neat flicker of his blade. Two-thirds, he thinks, not bad, and turns his attention back to Gojyo-- who'd been thinking something, he'd heard the mutter of it at the edge of his own mind, but it wasn't quite loud enough to be meant for him to hear.]

Would you like the last two?

[He lets the thought feel affectionately teasing; after all, he wouldn't want Gojyo to get bored! And, besides, he's learning as much from Gojyo's skill as he is from trying out this form himself.]

[ Sparing a moment to think wordless gratitude at Hakkai for taking down the smallest of the zombies -- they might not be real children anymore, but it still hurts his heart to have to cut into them -- Gojyo takes over. He slides a foot back to give himself the added range of motion, then whips the pole up and over his head, the motion a blur. It's a helicoptering move, establishing a perimeter and dicing the two unfortunate zombies who happen to be in range.

And, since he's got the momentum, he takes another opportunity to show off a bit and brings that horizontal perimeter up, until the blade and chain describe a dome over their heads. It's not a move he can keep up for very long -- the risk of losing his grip on the post as it spins from hand to hand increases with every pass -- and by the time he recalls the blade, his face is gleaming with a sheen of sweat.

That felt good, though. It's been too long! ]

You doin' okay? [ It hadn't occurred to him before, but now he's thinking about it: ] You don't get motion sick when you're like this, do you?

[Flesh parts easily under his blade, and Hakkai lets Gojyo take the lead, moving as though he's nothing more than a normal weapon in his god's hands while he observes the details of the movement. It's not something he could do without Gojyo spinning the spade itself; and yet, it's shockingly effective, both for defense and for its violent effectiveness.

He thinks he could dodge anyone or anything that tried to grab him out of the air like this, too. They would be invulnerable.]

--I don't seem to. [Motion sickness? The question startles him; yes, spinning at that speed should have at least disoriented him in a body, of course, but perhaps it's his attention to the details of his movement that's saving him from queasiness.

The lack of a stomach or inner ear probably helps. He adds a bit of cheerfully bloodthirsty reassurance, repeating: I'm fine.]

[ Oh good. He figured that Hakkai would have said something, but, well, you never knew with Hakkai.

That last move cleared them a good sized space in the middle of the street, but there's plenty more zombies at the end of the block, mixed in with some of the folks who had come out to watch the parade. It'll take finer movements and more precision aim to take out the zombies with civilians standing around, and Gojyo figures he should take a minute and check in with Hakkai before they try something that complicated.

He sets the spade end against the pavement, resting the pole against his shoulder to free up his hands and let him light a cigarette.

Your aim's really good. Does anything feel wrong, or weird? ]

I think your aim is a little better than mine. This weapon is complicated, isn't it?

[Aren't I, he'd almost said, relaxing into the familiar give and take of battle in his shinki form, but he's not sure yet how comfortable Gojyo is with the fact that Hakkai is his weapon.

It won't stop him from sneaking in the occasional joke, but at least he can be sensitive about casual mentions. He considers the milling crowd at the end of the street; the undead, and their mortal victims, those who'd been too close to the parade or too slow to run.]

I think I'm in good shape. Nothing feels wrong.

I'd fucking hope my aim was better, [ --he thinks, off-handedly, the thought not even really registering as such. He's much more focused on Hakkai's -- the weapon's -- Hakkai's new shape. He can't actually see Hakkai in the gleam of the sickle blade, but he's looking anyway... and trying really hard not to be obvious about it. It's not that he expected a Hakkai-weapon to have a terrifying little smile or bright green details or anything -- Banri sure doesn't look like himself when he's a sword -- but... but the weapon leaning against his shoulder is his best friend. That's weird. ]

Do you feel anything at all? [ He taps the flat of the blade again, twice with the pad of his finger and then a third time with the nail to hear the blade ring. ] Or see or smell or anything?

[Gojyo's finger presses curiously against his blade, and Hakkai, amused, tilts it back to tap his finger in return, silencing the ring of the steel.]

Yes. My vision is a little better, in fact.

[Which is for the best, because he has no idea where he would wear glasses on a weapon. His perception has an unblinking clarity that must be magical -- and his hearing, too, for that matter. He adds, thoughtfully:]

--But not much of a sense of smell. Or taste.

[Also for the best, considering their current opponents.]

[ Gojyo's disgusted snort agrees -- best not to taste things when you're slicing into people. He's learned that one the hard way himself.

He's got so many more questions, but those zombies down the street aren't going to de-soul themselves. Hoisting Hakkai by his, uh, post, so that he hangs horizontally, Gojyo heads toward the crowd. ]

If you start to get tired or hurt or anything, tell me. [ He squeezes the post emphatically. ] I need to know what your limits are like this, okay? [ It's a point he'd never have raised with person-Hakkai, but person-Hakkai can stop and sit down whenever he wants to. All this fucking responsibility... it's really exhausting.

He can't resist: ] I'm gonna use you fast and hard, so be ready.

[Gojyo never can resist lines like that, can he? Hakkai turns his attention to the corpses at the end of the street, affecting a tone of thoughtful innocence.]

Oh? Do you think you have better stamina than I do?

[--and, because it is important to let Gojyo know where his limits are in this shape, he only pauses on that line for a second or two before continuing more seriously.]

If I'm injured, it'll show as damage.

[ Gojyo just nods at that -- damage to the blade (or chain, or any other bit) equals damage to Hakkai. Makes sense. It's not like with the original version -- he can't just dispel and resummon the thing to undo any damage. Well, that's not too big a deal -- he tries not to let the blade hit metal or ding against stone as it is. He'll just have to be a little more cautious, that's all. No big deal. ]

I think it's cheating, bein' made of actual steel.

[ The fog is thicker at the end of the street, forcing him to be closer to the zombies than he'd usually prefer. At least they're slow moving; Drop 'em first Gojyo thinks, sending Hakkai's blade flying. It's a series of high peaks this time, punctuated by sharp dips that split zombies heads, one after another. The civilians scream in terror as the zombie heads explode for seemingly no reason, but at least headless zombies can't bite anybody -- don't think he's forgotten about that bite on your shoulder, Hakkai. Once the civilians are clear, they'll be able to move in for cleanup and take the bodies the rest of the way apart. ]

011 | Black Parade

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)