thenearshore | [open] the anthem of a bird with a broken wing

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[open] the anthem of a bird with a broken wing

Who: Shun and you!
What: Dragging people out of the spooky dark forest, having Vulture Problems again, and investigating the weird sun-blocking stingray while coming under its effects himself.
When: June 3-4
Where: The spooky dark forest, Nekhbet's temple, affected parts of the Near Shore.
Warnings: Probably some vague PTSD-related stuff in the first prompt, but nothing too serious. Third has more on that front with the potential to get darker given the effects of the stingray ayakashi.

[A: June 3rd, Morning, Far Shore Forest]

[It's been a little while since the dark forest has started appearing, and though Shun's definitely taken brief strolls through it when he's run across it - because whenever he's actively intended to patrol the place, he can never find the damn thing - today's the first time he's doing more than that. It's the fireflies that lead him there first, though he lets them vanish into the far distance once they cross the borders of the woods, and for once, he hasn't been sidetracked into the place when he's had something else he's needed to do or hasn't been in the state to risk staying. He'd been paying for his stubbornness at the festival for about the whole week beyond it, after all.

So it is that he ends up walking purposefully through the trees, head turning at each distant scream or moan that filters through them. It takes everything he has to ignore the urge to run after them, to try and find a source, but constantly reminding himself that it's a lure, like the fireflies and like the nature of the forest itself, gives him something to focus on and minimise the desire to fall into a very obvious trap. Filtering out the distant screams helps for more than one reason, the sound threatening to blur into ones much more familiar to him, but it also means his focus is a little skewed, and when he hears a noise much closer in the trees, his reaction is sharp and immediate as he leaps up into the branches of a nearby tree to check what it might've been.

He can't actually see through the dense foliage to the place he heard the sound, but the sound of any other approach is something much easier for him to notice now, as well as the sight of anyone else roaming the forest. And it is true he's here to patrol, so this scope reminds him of what else he could be doing in this situation, even if it could also find him someone to help track down that stranger noise. Whether one approaches Shun as he's perched in the trees or is approached by him as he winds quickly and skilfully through the branches, his question to whoever he encounters will be the same.]

Did those fireflies lead you in here, or are you here for something else? [He could just ask if people are lost, but maybe this way people who actually are lost won't deny it.]

--

[B: June 3rd, Afternoon, Nekhbet's Temple]

[Anyone in the vicinity of the oddly-shaped, buried-in-a-hill temple that is Nekhbet's might find themselves victim to drive-by vultures, whether in the form of sharp rushes of wind as the large birds swoop excitedly down over people, or wings to the face as a few of them get a little too careless with that enthusiasm. Any amount of investigation will turn up a large crowd of vultures sitting on the hilly "roof" of the temple's ground floor, all tilting their heads curiously and ruffling feathers as Shun picks through the wings of one of them, his grip as gentle as it can be while still being firm as the bird worms around in his hands. Despite being the god of this temple, even he's considered it unwise to go into this particular situation without thick gloves to stop any potential attacks on his hands, and given the pair of tweezers he's angling into one wing, it's probably warranted.]

Hold still. [The remark is more one of open frustration than actually directed at the bird, but it does stop wriggling for at least a moment, and Shun takes the opportunity to get hold of what he's been aiming for. With a sharp tweak, he pulls a narrow thorn out of the bird's wing, casting it aside before smoothing the feathers down and picking through the rest of them. Apparently satisfied, he lets the bird go, and it hops around in front of him in what appears to be some kind of aggressive display for a moment...before it hops into his lap and sits there instead, fluffing its wings importantly.

Shun sighs like he's about to make some derisive comment, but it's interrupted by his notice of anyone approaching, and as his sharp golden eyes look up to scan the newcomer, all of the vultures gathered around him turn to stare intently at them as well, even the one in Shun's lap.

Congratulations, you now have the attention of about two dozen questionably friendly vultures. And a questionably friendly falcon, though much less questionable to people who actually know him.]

If you came to watch that mess, you'll have to wait until another one of them is stupid enough to dive through a rose bush.

--

[C: June 4th, Morning, Near Shore]

[Normally Shun would be doing some training with his powers at this time of day when he has another training commitment in the afternoon, but the weird shadows he's been seeing over patches of sky in the course of his job and general wandering on the Near Shore are getting frustrating enough that he can't put off finding out what it is any longer. It's almost a relief when he gets to the next affected area and the stingray-like thing blotting out the sun is so ludicrously obvious he almost can't believe nobody from the Near Shore has noticed it, but on the other hand, the people below are listless in a manner he's only rarely seen before. The thought puts an unsettled edge to his bearing even as he passes into the shadowed area, and it only gets worse as he questions some of the people beneath it in no more than curt, quick interrogations.

Losses becoming raw once again, as if they'd only happened yesterday. Depressive behaviour thought shed coming back, the listlessness leaving some wondering if there had really been a point to trying to move on. It's different from some, the same from others, but the words weigh down on him in a manner that he knows is unnatural as soon as he notices the effect, and though he knows immediately that he needs to get out of this area, the thought seems to slip from his mind almost as soon as he makes it, replaced with a cloying catatonia. For someone as alert and aware by nature, by necessity as he's been for a long time now, it's an unbearable inebriation, and despite himself, he feels his heart beating faster as he realises that with the size of the creature and the state he's in, he may not be able to escape the area, or at least not for a while. Trying to reach for his godly teleportation ability only nets him a thick fog of twisted thoughts, everything he's had reason to doubt or fear in the last two years tangled into a confusing, impenetrable mess with the excess he'd willingly picked up from the people here settled in over it, and the feeling drives him back to the darkest shadowed areas as the stingray keeps circling overhead, apparently happy in these skies for the moment.

Anyone else in the area may, from a distance, mistake him for an observer, with his slow, seemingly measured steps and his head tilted up towards the ayakashi. However, on closer inspection, his eyes are unfocused and unsettled, his movements short and jagged as he takes another few paces that are clearly taking far more effort than they ever should, towards the edge of the shadow that seems impossibly far in the distance right now. And, perhaps most tellingly for some, his reactions are seriously delayed, his attention snapping to whoever comes near a few metres later than he usually notices an approach, along with a slight recoil as if to prepare for a fight in the moment it takes for him to identify who it is.]

Why are you here? [Right now, the details of just about anything are hard to grasp, including why others from the Far Shore might be in this area. As soon as he pushes one intrusive thought aside, another one pushes through instead, leaving him sifting through things hard enough to live through once with a strained grimace on his face that says he’s going to have trouble doing it alone much longer.]

--

[D: Wildcard]

[[Have another idea? Feel free to poke me for plotting!]]

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[Of course. The idea that he might be the only one in the area investigating this thing is so single-minded compared to how Shun usually prefers to weigh situations that he lets out a harsh, frustrated hiss and pinches the bridge of his nose, a long breath coming after.]

This is ridiculous... [The words are muttered, barely audible and quite clearly not directed at Chikusa. It's impossibly irritating to not be able to think like this, and despite himself and all the reason he has to be feeling these effects worse than some here, Shun can't help but feel it's weakness.

At the question, Shun manages to marshal his thoughts after a moment, straightening up into something a little more akin to his usual bearing.]

Of course. I came here to figure out what it was that thing was really doing to people, but this isn't how I'd planned to find out.

[Looking the guy up and down now that his attention is a bit more focused, Shun glances back up towards the ayakashi.] Neither of us came with a partner, either, so getting rid of it isn't an option.

[Though much as Shun would like to, his powerset and his shinki's aren't the best suited to an aerial opponent even if he had his shinki with him. He'd figured he might at least be able to get more information to someone with a better shot at it, even if it turned out to be something he couldn't effectively deal with himself.]

Then the first thing…. Should be to leave.

[It might sound like it’s an effect of the ayakashi that his speech is quiet and slow, but, no. That’s simply how Chikusa is. Huffing out a breath, he starts to shuffle towards the edge of the shadow, each step forced but not in a way that’s unusual for him. His usual reluctance for movement simply seems… worsened, right now.]

[Anyway, it’s the obvious next step. Whatever is going on with this shadow, it’s obviously carrying some sort of status effect. Best to observe at a distance. Good thing that it doesn’t seem to be actually violent, merely… detrimental to normal people.]

[If he’s going to be honest, Chikusa is sort of inclined to leave it like it is.]

That's what I was in the middle of doing. Even if we were planning to fight it, I can't strategise like this.

[He sounds more than a little peeved about that, mostly because he's used to being able to just do that sort of thing on the fly, but it doesn't stop him from resuming his slowed progress towards the edge of the shadow. His eyes shift over to watch Chikusa's progress, partially because it reminds him that he's not the only one feeling the effects (or so it seems) and partially because it gives him a pattern to burn into his mind to follow and ensure he drives himself onward to the end.

Still, focusing just on that is detrimental for more than one reason, and Shun makes the extra effort it takes to split his focus through his haze and consider what he'd been doing before this.]

Did you manage to get any information on this thing before you ran into me?

[It takes a while to answer. Not because Chikusa isn’t inclined to speaking- although that is true, as a general rule- but simply because energy seems like such a rare commodity while in the shadow of the massive ayakashi. So rare that he wonders if he should even bother thinking of an answer for the other. What if they both have just observed the same things? Wouldn’t it be an utter waste of time then?]

[One step out from the shadow.]

[There’s no rush of energy, no sudden intake of it like a person breaching the surface of water, but, then again, that’s simply Chikusa in the end. Tired and drowning in his own lethargy, no outside assistance required. Putting his back to a wall, he slides down until he’s sitting and sighs.]

[Still, it does accomplish one thing, and he murmurs out an answer.]

The effects are obvious, but it hasn’t actively attacked anyone yet… And it doesn’t stay in shadows itself.

[While Chikusa's reaction to making it out of the shadow might be subtle, Shun's is more pronounced - as soon as he steps out, he lets out a long breath and puts one hand up to his face. The feeling of the effects slipping away and leaving him not at full function yet, but not nearly as impaired as he had been, is indescribable, and though he doesn't rest like Chikusa does, he takes a moment to just breathe and focus himself again.

When Chikusa speaks, Shun lowers his hand before just letting it drop entirely, his golden eyes a lot clearer and sharper than they had been just moments ago as he looks over to the taller boy.]

It'd be too big to do that, but that makes it more of a threat anyway. It casts a shadow big enough that it's hitting a hell of a lot more people at once than low-level ayakashi can. Why it hasn't attacked is the bigger question, because it would be easy with the state it leaves people in.

[By this point, he’s seen reactions like that a couple of times before- the shadow moving on, past a person, and them snapping out of it as though waking from a dream. It’s always been vaguely interesting, but none of them, he has to admit, have snapped to like the person before him does. No one’s yet displayed such a sharp gaze.]

[He wonders if it’s more about the person or the nature of him as one of the Far Shore.]

Are there any reports of non-violent ayakashi…?

[Having been here for a good two months now, or close enough to it, Shun's heard of and seen a lot of ayakashi attacks, and it doesn't take him longer than a moment to shake his head in answer to that question. His eyes and bearing only get more alert as the moments pass and he starts to shed the remnants of the overbearing veil.]

None that I've heard. Some work indirectly instead of attacking right away, but all of them I've seen so far are malicious somehow. The one time someone tried to make them harmless to humans, they tore apart the Heavens instead, and those were all destroyed anyway.

[Not to mention the taboo ayakashi had been...distinctive, even by ayakashi standards.]

[Well. That’s new, and interesting. Chikusa considers that bit of knowledge.]

So they were brought into the Heavens… Or did they get there?

[Although he supposes that’s not the point right now. Still, it could be important to Axel at some point, if not directly in his interests then in somehow keeping him safe. It’s that thought which drives Chikusa, which forces him to keep speaking and focus on the conversation he’s having.]

So it seems to be sapping energy, then. One would call that malicious, I suppose.

They were brought. A god went rogue, I doubt the aggression towards us instead of humans was a mistake on his part.

[In theory, Susano'o was killed after that uprising, but with Suijin having mentioned finding notes about faking a death, he wouldn't be too surprised to see him resurface. Or for their other enemies to find some way to make the idea work without him.

At the vagueness of that last remark, Shun shoots Chikusa a rather sharp, faintly incredulous glance, like he can't quite believe that's even a question.]

You suppose. I doubt anyone who's been affected so far wanted to experience that kind of feeling.

I wouldn't know.

[Honestly... For a moment, he debates the pros and cons of simply getting up and leaving the other to his own devices. On one hand, it'd get him away from what might very well erupt into an argument that he has neither the interest or energy to entertain.]

[On the other hand, getting up would require movement. Hm.]

That kind of feeling... Have you really never had to deal with it before?

[Thankfully, Shun has no interest in continuing the argument unnecessarily, and when Chikusa changes tack to avoid making it one, he doesn't make a point of it. The question gets a firm shake of the head, and though there's technically more detail to this that Shun isn't interested in getting into, he's at least willing to give a reasonable answer.]

No. I haven't been able to afford having that kind of lack of focus in a long time, and usually those kinds of feelings can be pushed through with a strong enough will anyway. Something like that, uncontrollable and overwhelming, isn't like anything I've experienced before.

[The closest he's come before this was the spell of that demon, and even that was plain exhaustion, not like this.]

[How enviable. Still, glancing back to the shadow and what it’s attached to, Chikusa considers it.]

….We should find a way to check into the buildings it hovers over.

[Finally, with no small amount of reluctance and in no particular hurry, he begins to push himself up to his feet.]

Whether it’s directly being inside of its shadow… or whether there’s a way to block it… It’s important information.

[It's a good point, and though Shun has absolutely no interest in suffering the shadow's effects again, he starts looking around them as soon as the suggestion is made.]

If there are any buildings we can get into from outside of the shadow and move into the area from there, it'll save the risk of having to head through it again. As for blocking it...I doubt anything that just casts a different shadow would help, but seeing if a light source down here changes anything could be useful.

[Looking around, Chikusa takes a note of where they are exactly. A residential area… He thinks that might actually make things a little more difficult.]

We’ll have to find the proper house to break into…

[Just casually talk about breaking and entering, it’s fine. Obviously if there’s an open window or something, he’s more than fine with that being their route, but that might take too long. Take what you can get, and all that.]

[Possibly the worst part of the casual talk about breaking and entering is the fact that Shun doesn't even react as if it's something bad, merely looking around to see if he can find something that fits their criteria. There's a reasonably large building nearby that has very wide balconies, though, and Shun ends up looking that one over a little more than anything else here.]

If we climb up that one, we can see if someone's been careless higher up and if we can get in. Some of the apartments cross over the shadow.

[On the outside, the shadow only falls over a small part of the balcony of some of the apartments, but inside, Shun figures they'd go further in and give them more certainty as to how much use cover is against the creature.]

Then it’s decided.

[He’s glad you’re not that the one person in the group not down with crime, Shun. With that, Chikusa immediately starts to head towards it and carefully eyes it. He thinks he could easily make it up the side of the building… It’d be a little tricky, but not impossible.]

Do you think you could make it, then…?

[That’s his main concern. It’d be annoying if he had to do all the work himself when he’s already so tired of things.]

Don't ask stupid questions.

[Shun doesn't even hesitate in giving that answer, as impolite as it is - he wouldn't be suggesting it if he couldn't do it, or at least not without making it known it'd only be one of them trying.

And that lack of hesitation extends to his actions, as well, because after a moment, he eyes up the building before darting towards the wall of the one next to it. Leaping up, he kicks off that wall hard enough to clear the barrier of the lowest balcony on the other building, landing neatly and dusting his sleeve in a rather casual manner.]

If you're going to ask me that question, then hurry up and prove you can yourself.

[Shun can probably hear Chikusa long, deep sigh even from all the way up there.]

Annoying...

[Is the showing off really necessary? He's pretty sure it isn't. Still, Chikusa patiently makes his own way up, mimicking the route Shun had used but in a more slower manner, utilizing his long limbs and height to help heave himself over the balcony.]

Do you want to go first, then...?

[Since he's in such a hurry.]

[That sigh is definitely audible from where Shun is, and so is the insult, but Shun gives no reaction to it. Petty insults barely even register to him these days, given the ways his opponents on the battlefield would try to rile him up back home.

As Chikusa makes his slower way up, Shun tests the door on that first balcony - it's locked, and actually breaking in doesn't seem worth the effort to him. Even as Chikusa reaches the balcony proper, Shun's already gauging the jump to the next one up.]

That one's locked. We could break it down, but when I'd bet someone on the higher floors has left their door unlocked, it's not worth the trouble. [The higher they get, the safer people will think they are, and smashing down a door runs the risk of alerting even the oblivious people of the Near Shore.]

[It seem like they're already decided, then, and Chikusa wordlessly starts to move and make his way to the next balcony up. He hopes they won't have to do this a lot... He's running low on energy as it is.]

[It might be useful in this case that Shun is so far ahead, swinging himself up to the next balcony with no apparent trouble, because the rather derogatory sound that comes from him when he tests the next balcony door is probably easily audible.]

Seriously? [By the time Chikusa gets up, Shun likely will have already slid open the door, eying the interior with distaste.]

I wasn't expecting someone to be this careless until at least another floor up, and that was if we were lucky. [His unlucky guess was the fifth floor or higher.]

I’m glad your pessimism is wrong, then…

[Catching up on his energy again, Chikusa tries to glance around by leaning over the balcony to see just where the ayakashi is located in comparison to the apartment interior.]

...Try the kitchen.

If I'm expecting people not to be stupid, that's optimism. Groundless as it might've been. [It's less of an argument and more of a passing remark as Shun steps into the little apartment, glancing back when Chikusa makes that suggestion. With a slight incline of the head, he crosses the room, looking around continually to ensure that nobody in it is actually home and likely to catch them.

There's a small window in the kitchen as well, and without crossing between rooms, Shun leans at a slight angle to check the accuracy of Chikusa's gauge.]

Looks like you're right.

[It’s good to know that his ability to gauge distances and make accurate guesses is still functioning well, then. As far as Chikusa is concerned, this is all in the name of his god. Even if getting rid of the ayakashi is impossible, at least he’s figuring out more of his skills and keeping them polished. Slouching in himself, he takes a careful look around of his own.]

Do you feel affected again…?

[Before answering that question, Shun steps into the other room properly, making sure he's close enough to the door to step right back out if he starts to fall under the influence again. There's a few moments of silence, Shun's eyes narrowing a little in focus, before he shakes his head, shooting a glance out the kitchen window again.]

No. It doesn't even feel like it's starting light and then progressing into something worse. So if any god has some way to snipe that thing from out of a window, we might get somewhere.

[open] the anthem of a bird with a broken wing

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