thenearshore | Hello! My name is Elder Sha (open log)

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Hello! My name is Elder Sha (open log)

Who: Gojyo and whoever he runs into!
What: Snooping around the Far Shore to try and learn more about why they're all here
When: The days following the temple fire (March 27-31ish)
Where: All over the Far Shore and select spots on the Near Shore
Warnings: will update

Gods and shinki both are disappearing, the priest had said. And nobody knows why. As if being told that he was a) dead, and b) a shape-shifting monster hunter wasn't bad enough (although, to be honest, he was really on board with the monster hunter thing. How cool was that?) Without any memories to draw on -- without even really knowing what he knew and didn't know -- he didn't see a lot of options available to him.

(open to anyone:)
1. He could go talk to Amaterasu. She was the head god around here, as far as he'd been able to determine, and given that somebody had just set her house on fire with her in it while papering the neighborhood with DOWN WITH AMATERASU flyers, he was going to go out on a limb and guess that she knew something about the whole mess he'd found himself in the middle of.

Now if he could just find her.

(Open to anyone:)
2. He could -- and he really loved this word -- crowdsource. Whoever was responsible had to be watching the network -- they'd be a fool if they weren't -- so in-person conversations was the best bet. And yeah, okay, he felt a little stupid at the idea of walking up to one random temple after another and asking the gods and shinki there what they knew about the disappearances, but he also turned into a goddamn staple remover, and there was nothing stupider than that.

(Locked to Yuri and/or Neji and/or Hakkai:)
3. He could feel out the resistance. Sharak Sanzo had all but dumped an invitation into his lap, and she'd made it pretty clear that the swamp elf was a part of it, too. Confronting the guy seemed like a potentially dangerous way to spend an afternoon, but he was already dead, right? What harm could it do? And eventually, if he asked around, somebody would have to know where the creepy smiling guy covered in plant tattoos lived.

(Locked to Sharak:)
4. He could blow the whole goddamn plan off, and go find someplace to get a drink.

(ooc: If none of these prompts work for you, feel free to wildcard and make your own!)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I don't need your permission.

[ Which would have been a better comeback if he hadn't sounded to petulant. Damn.

He takes a swig of his beer and tries to look a little more comfortable on the bar stool. ]

Is this your, uh. Usual place?

Of course you don't.

[Which doesn't sound like a condescending adult talking to a petulant teen at all. It's fine, she's joking, which he can definitely tell from the slight almost-smile on her face. Sharak leans back as much as she can without falling off the back of the stool, her tail falling from where it was resting on the seat to hang loosely behind her.]

I don't have a "usual place". [Really, does she look like a drunk?] But this one is quiet and I was in the neighbourhood for something else.

[ Gojyo snorts at that. ]

Yeah, I bet.

[ In this neighborhood? Okay, it wasn't a total dive (as far as he knew -- had he ever seen a total dive?), but it definitely seemed rough.

But then again, so did Sharak. ]

What's his name?

[That gets him a look out of the corner of her eye and it's not a nice one. Seriously, Gojyo?]

... Hagiwara You. [Pauses to take a sip of her beer.] He's eleven years old and thought copying his mother's prayers to "Aditi-sama" would make him a little braver walking his little brothers and sister home from school.

[In this rough neighbourhood. Sharak's here on business, Gojyo. There isn't much of a Hindu population in Japan, but they do exist.]

So I had a fun afternoon dealing with the asshole who thinks it's funny to yell shit at little kids and follow them around. [Sometimes business is also pleasure.] Aditi doesn't often get anything too strenuous.

[ Oh. ...Gojyo shoots her a sideways glance under his lashes, then turns his gaze apologetically down, back toward his beer. ]

You were right. [ How about a change of topic? ] About pickin' my enemies before I knew who was who.

[ He glances at her again, more directly this time. Between them, a tired and threadbare salaryman slowly tips over until his face is pillowed comfortably on the bartop. ]

Nobody really knows what's goin' on, do they?

[She's always right, Gojyo. That's why you should always listen to her and obey her without question. Sharak stops herself from speaking right away by taking a drink from her beer before giving a brief, bitter laugh under her breath.]

No, we don't. [She leans forward, resting her elbows on the bar and looking at Gojyo out of the corner of her eye.] We can come up with a thousand theories and a handful of them actually make sense... But there's no proof. Nothing concrete. We might be tools in a political plot, we might be victims of some natural magical disturbance. There could be a dozen different parties working behind the scenes, there could be just one. Maybe some of us are dead, maybe all of us.

[And that doesn't even cover all of the different ideas she's heard or lingered on late at night.]

We just don't know yet.

Edited (she's probably not that dumb) 2017-03-29 13:52 (UTC)

And it's not just the new gods and shinki. The ones who have been here forever, the ones who picked their shinki instead of getting them assigned... they don't know anything concrete either.

[ At least, the very few who have deigned to talk to him don't seem to know anything. Most of them were just rude.

He takes another swig of his beer. There's just too many questions, and not nearly enough places to even start looking for answers. And really, at the end of the day, does it matter? It's not like he's got any idea who he was, or what kind of life he might have to go back to. ]

...You're a god, right? [ He waves off the inevitable disagreement. ] I know, you're a priest, but I mean, you've still got your memories right? You remember who you are, where you're from?

Or so they say. Most of them are probably telling the truth.

[If it is political, it wouldn't make sense for everyone to be in on it. Only so many people can come out on top and if they were all for it, there wouldn't be any need for schemes anyway.]

For the sake of not repeating ourselves, just imagine the quotation marks around "god" whenever I say it. Yes, I remember. [Sharak raises her head and straightens up slightly.]

I am the 28th of Arhat, Sharak Sanzo, guardian of the Kouten sutra.

[ Gojyo's nods, as though she's confirmed something for him, and takes another slow swig of his beer. There's people here from dozens of different worlds -- it doesn't take a genius to figure out that the talking lion and the talking horse aren't from the same world as the rest of them -- but he knows what a Sanzo is. And when he's asked other people about her, nobody else has known the title 'Sanzo' except in association with Sharak here.

Which means that they're from the same world.

It's a thrilling thought (it's a terrifying thought, turning his guts inside out and making his head spin, but aren't scary and exciting two sides of the same thing?). Casually, he reaches up to rub the back of his neck -- it really is stiff, after the day he's had -- and just as casually checks the color of his fingertips as he picks up his beer again. No blight. Good. ]

What's your world like? [ Your world. Not our. ] Is it nice?

[Gojyo's being subtle, which is suspicious enough on it's own. After having both Genjo Sanzo and Kainé as shinki, Sharak is familiar enough with blight to notice the checking for what it is. Gojyo must be thinking too much about things he shouldn't.

Well. So long as he's clean.]

... There isn't really an objective answer to that. [Sharak casually takes a cigarette packet out of her sleeve.] On any day it could be wonderful, it could be torture, or it could be completely mundane. That's how any world works.

[ Well there's a cop-out answer if he's ever heard one. Is she just being cautious, or is she simply that bad at conversation?

Really, it could be either one. ]

I meant, do you miss it? Do you want to go back? [ Idly, he sketches the characters for three and storehouse into the condensation on the side of his beer. ] Is it the kind of world you'd want to visit on vacation, or is it, y'know. [ With the ball of his thumb he wipes the characters away. ] Dangerous?

[ Ekko's told him a little about the world he came from. Some worlds aren't ever wonderful or mundane. Some are just shit all the way down. ]

[A little of both. She's a priest, okay, philosophy is her job. Even dangerous hellscapes have their moments.]

I don't think I'm really the vacation type and it's certainly dangerous. [Sometimes people try to eat her?? Saiyuki-verse sucks. She idly taps the corner of the packet on the bar.] But I'm going back. There are still things I need to do.

[Still fights to finish, still people to protect. As far as missing it goes... That's better left alone. The world is less important than the people in it.]

[ She's definitely terrible at conversation. Gojyo mentally shrugs, and takes another sip of his beer. It's not what he's craving -- it tastes okay, but it's not what he really wants -- and so he pushes it away, still half full. ]

I think I was a superhero. [ No, no, hear him out. ] I'm serious! Look, [ and he half-turns in his chair to properly count of the points at her ] I'm fast, really fast, and I'm stronger than normal humans. I've got these scars... [ Visible here, and here, on his bare arms ] ...there's bullet holes, bite marks... I'm pretty sure there's one on my back that's from acid.

[ He takes another swig of his disappointing beer. ] What else could I have been but a superhero?

[ He doesn't actually believe any of that. But how much she laughs at him will give him some idea of how far away from the truth he was. It's a risk, but he's dead. There aren't that many things left to risk, and far too many people here seem to know him. He needs to get some answers, and quick, before somebody slips up and tells him too much. ]

[What the fuck is he saying now. Sharak was not expecting the conversation to take this turn and it shows on her face when she turns to face him properly as he continues on.

A superhero... Sharak bites her lip to stop the laughter threatening to burst out. It doesn't work and she gives up on trying to contain her laughter.] Pfft- hahahahaha!

[This fucking dork.]

... Maybe just really clumsy? You should try on some tights, see how they feel.

[ So. Not a superhero then. Not anything close to a superhero.

Well, he kinda knew that, didn't he? A half-youkai abomination wasn't going to be anything that important or valuable... but he's got a Sanzo who's willing to sit and have a beer with him, so he can't have been all bad! ]

Got a pair you can loan me? [ --he purrs with a wink. The come-on takes him off guard, and he blinks in shock at himself a moment later. Where the hell did that come from? ] Shit, um... Can we pretend I didn't say that?

[She can tell from the tone and the wink that that was a come-on, but for the life of her she can't say how. She doesn't even own any tights to begin with.]

We can. [Sharak leans back again, laughter now contained.] But next time you'll get a black eye, so watch it.

[No flirting allowed.]

That's fair. [ Friends again, he finishes off his terrible beer and gladly shoves the empty away from him. That really didn't taste good at all. ]

This shit sucks. [ He can definitely see the appeal of having a cigarette to toy with during moments like this. ] I don't ever know what I'm going to say, or how I'm going to react to anything. [ He waves a hand at the empty beer bottle. ] I don't know what I like, what I don't like... What's the point of erasing our memories of stuff like that?

[ He doesn't really expect her to have an answer, but wouldn't it be nice if she did? ]

When you die, you don't carry the memories of your past life into your next. [Speaking of cigarettes, Sharak starts to tap one out of the packet in her hand.] You begin anew, with another chance to erase some of the suffering in the world and without the regrets from your past. Your karma is all that follows you.

[Wow, she almost sounds like a real priest there. She lights the cigarette and takes a drag from it.]

A shinki is a spirit who hasn't yet completed their rebirth. They're caught in the middle, before their old identity is erased and their new identity can begin. Like them, you've lost all memories of "Gojyo". But, unlike them, you still have that identity.

[The old shinki forget their names. Their memories are sealed away permanently. They're probably really dead, instead of only possibly.]

Edited 2017-04-06 20:28 (UTC)

[ He frowns at the bartop until she's done talking, but he's clearly listening carefully to every word.

There's a long pause, after she's done. ]

Until I disappear, you mean. Until I finish getting reborn and what's left of Sha Gojyo gets erased?

[ That should probably be a really upsetting idea. He's talking about dying, after all... but if he's not really alive now, then what's he got to lose?

But that's bullshit. He's only got a little, but like hell is he going to let that little bit go. Nobody's vanishing Sha Gojyo, not if he's got anything to say about it. ]

That's kinda what your creepy-ass youkai friend said. When the spell stopping us from movin' on wears off, we remember things and then we vanish. [ He glances at her cigarette, and licks his lips. It really shouldn't smell good, and yet. ] I was right about him, by th'way.

I'm glad you specified "youkai", or I never would have known which of my creepy-ass friends you were referring to.

[Her whole collection. Honestly, she's just glad someone believes that she has friends.]

That's one theory. But normal shinki don't disappear like that, and it happens to gods as well. I'm in as much danger of disappearing as you are. [Both Genjos, goddess and shinki, vanished at around the same time. Kainé's gone, Goten lost two gods in a row... Whoever is behind this doesn't seem to play favourites.]

What did he do this time?

[ Normal shinki.

That's right. He's not a normal shinki. He glances at Sharak out of the corner of his eye: she's not a normal god. Bishamon's a normal one -- she's been here forever, was born to it, was never a human (or a youkai, or a half-youkai bastard).

So are they hostages? Placeholders? Accidents? A new direction for heaven, somebody's idea of a joke...?

The bartender clears away his empty bottle, and doesn't leave a new one. Gojyo can't seem to bring himself to care. ]

I've never seen a man care so much about what another man did with his hair. [ Not that he's got many hair-related memories, but just go with it, okay? ] Is that a youkai thing? Havin' long hair?

[ His own is held back in a tight ponytail. One day he'll discover man buns, just wait. ]

Everyone thinks they get to have an opinion about how other people look.

[But really, Hakkai, what did you do. Control your thirst. Maybe she should tell him to just cut off contact completely, if he can't control himself even that much. At "youkai thing" Sharak opens her mouth to say something, pauses and then shuts it again. Taps a long fingernail on the bar, cigarette in her other hand.]

You know, it actually might be. I know the "I just spent a year in the woods with nothing but my claws to cut hair with" look is popular.

[ Oi. He doesn't care that Cho's a youkai, okay? Or even that he's a weird looking youkai, so don't get all casually judgmental over there. He's not the bad guy here. ]

Plus, it's great for hiding blight. [ By the way, guess what's Hakkai's doing? ] Or so I hear.

[She was talking more about superficial stuff, rather than youkai racism. This time, anyway. It's not like Sharak isn't used to comments (or a panicked avoidance of comments) on her own appearance, after all.

Anyway: damn it, Hakkai. Sharak sighs sharply under her breath and shakes her head a little.] He can't hide it from his god anyway, and it's their business.

[Hiding it from everyone else is just pride.] Don't get me wrong, he's still an idiot if he thinks that's a solution. But it's not hiding anything.

Yeah, I met her, too.

[ She cares enough about Cho to be upset that he's blighted, but not enough to do anything about it? Maybe they aren't friends after all.

The man next to him just ordered something that looks like whiskey or rum. Testing the limits of his invisibility, Gojyo reaches over and helps himself to the glass just as the bartender sets it down. Neither man blinks. ]

She's got a hell of a set of blinders on when it comes to that guy.

[ But that's none of his business, right? ]

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