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

[oathkeeper]

[He doesn't hid the triumphant look he gets when Kairi squeals. He looks pretty smug about it.

Okay but, serious talk.]

Yeah, I think so anyway? What kind of weird stuff did he say to you?

[Because Sora's just putting two and two together that Riku did recognize her, making him a god. Shinki Riku might have just brushed her off and walked away. Plus Sora is the last one to find Riku in this mess.]

But I really mean it. He's a really important friend.

[pure_radiantics]

[She thinks about what Sora just said -- a shinki before, so not now, and clearly based on the things he'd said.]

Best friends. He called you his best friend.

[Which isn't the really weird part. She can buy that. Gods show up randomly along with Shinki and some of them know each other already, so that's understandable... ish.]

But... if he's your best friend... how does Brandon feel about that?

[What she really wants to ask is just who Brandon is if Riku and Sora know each other.]

[oathkeeper]

[Sora nods almost immediately, confirming that Riku is his friend. He wasn't sure he should say that out loud in fear it might effect her but Kairi saying it lets that tension go from his shoulders.

But then Riku Replica is brought up again. The thing is... Sora doesn't know anything about Riku Replica's past, only his death. And Namine had left the far shore before he could ask her more.]

Riku is my best friend. In the whole entire universe.

The thing is Kairi... Brandon and me... We're actually not that close. I uh... Sometimes I don't think he even likes to be with me that much.

[It's hard to admit. Especially since Roxas has such good relationships with his shinki. Sora tries. He tries so, so hard with Riku Replica. But he never, ever trusts Sora or reciprocates his efforts. The thought makes Sora feel a little lonely.]

It's just Yurick and me sometimes, and we get by when he's not busy with his first god. [A quick pause.] I'll introduce to you Yurick another day.

Anyway... Like I said, Riku was here as a shinki once. Him and Brandon... They're uh... Brandon is a copy of Riku. As far as I know.

[That part... Is not really part of Kairi's past, right? She'll be okay?]

[pure_radiantics]

[Thankfully Sora and Riku being best friends isn't directly about her, since it's not even known to her that they know her, let alone grew up together.

But she can sense that trepidation in his answer, that disconnect between her bond with Roxas and what Sora's struggling with. It makes her a little sad too, but she notices Yurick come up and then- other god. Oh. No wonder Sora changed the subject so fast. That was a little unfortunate for both of them - she felt queasy about the idea of having a Nora around, but logically she knew that Sora wasn't the kind of god that Sousuke had talked about. There must have been some kind of agreement, awkward as it made things.

But Sora gambles correctly because Kairi never once heard about Riku Replica in her past. The idea of being a copy makes her sad too - did Sora pick these people on purpose? There was some kind of pattern there, she was sure of it - and it really only made her think of Sora as a better god for it, difficult as his shinki bonds apparently were.]

I'm sorry to hear that things have been so difficult for you, Sora.

[First thing's first: he gets a hug. Because he's the one standing in front of her. While hugging him, she speaks quietly, just so she doesn't blow out his ear.]

Do you think talking to Brandon... or Yurick would help at all? I mean me, not you. You've clearly tried. But - you know you're my friend - you're still a god. And their god too. Maybe if another shinki tries...?

[oathkeeper]

[The hug is welcome and he hugs her back tightly, pressing a cheek against her head and closing his eyes briefly. When she says all that he feels a bit of tears sting his eyes but he does his best to blink them way.

He hasn't even admitted this stuff to Roxas.

He doesn't know why he hasn't. Maybe because Roxas has three and he's doing so well he doesn't want Roxas to think he's jealous or upset, because he's not. It's just how things are.]

I don't really know. Brandon always just does what he wants. Yurick, it's different. His god treats him kind of badly so we look out for each other when we can.

[But he smiles quickly, and squeezes her with a bit of reassurance.]

It'll be alright, I always am. I promised a god that left that I would do my best to take care of Brandon, so I'll try and do just that.

Besides, Riku is here too now. And I'm sure he got a ugly look on his face when you mentioned Brandon, didn't he? I bet it was really funny.

[pure_radiantics]

[Her big takeaway is that he didn't tell her not to talk to them, just that he'd be alright. That's not good enough for her though. 'Alright' isn't as good as 'Great'. So she makes a note to try to find either of them during the festival if she can, or later on too. A god that treats you badly sounds like the one Sousuke was warning people about, so she's happier for Yurick using the nora opportunity to a better advantage than what Sousuke had had forced upon him.

Instead, she indulges Sora focusing on something fun. She chuckles a bit and pulls back from the hug.]

Yeah, he didn't know who I was talking about at all.

[Granted, it'd scared her, but she lets him think it was funny.]

Thanks for talking about me behind back, you know. He knew who I was because you told your best friend the name of your boyfriend's shinki!

[She rattles it off like that to purposefully point out how ridiculous it was, hoping he'd laugh.]

[oathkeeper]

[Sora does laugh, but it's a little more soft than a humorous laugh. He doesn't want to lie to her and say that's true, so what is he supposed to say from here? Riku know Kairi's name because it's Kairi... Not because Sora told him. Lying is hard, but for her sake, he'll have to.]

Yep! He knows lots of things about all sorts of stuff, though. But don't tell him I think he's so smart.

[He grins fondly and nods. He wants to desperately tell her that Riku is both their best friend, that Riku is super important to the both of them. This is hurting almost as much as seeing Kairi as a shinki for the first time.]

Give him a chance, okay? I know he can be scary sometimes. But he's really caring and a big softy under it all.

[pure_radiantics]

[It's the best she can ask for right now, not knowing how deep the hurt goes for Sora.]

Sure, I can give him a chance.

[She shrugs and looks over her shoulder dismissively.]

You didn't see me talking to this six-foot guy Sousuke, trying to convince him we could be friends even though we'd had a disagreement when we talked on the BBS. Meanwhile his god Rin is telling me how he's a big softy too.

[Kairi reaches out to pat Sora on the shoulder as if he was a child.]

So don't you worry about me - if I can handle Sousuke, I can handle Riku. And Brandon and Yurick.

[It occurs to her briefly that they all have silver hair, but the thought slips out of her mind as quickly as it came. An idle observation.]

[oathkeeper]

[Sora laughs warmly at her, looking at her with a fond smile. If it's anyone that's good at wrangling stupid boys, it's Kairi.]

You're gonna be just fine around here, Kairi.

[Sora doesn't realize his shinki collection happens to be a small Riku collection either. They must subconsciously love Riku to bits or something.]

I'm gonna go find Riku, okay?

[pure_radiantics]

[She doesn't do it on purpose - she may have never even seen Sora do it - but as a 'mocking' sort of gesture, she rubs under her nose and grins back at him.]

Heh, thanks Sora.

[A little wave and she's walking off too.]

See you around tonight, probably!

[Living next door to him, it's a safe bet.]