Hello! My name is Elder Sha (open log)

[erogappa]

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!)

Comments

am i late

[tuishou]

[If it's been said once it's been said a thousand times: the suicide forest doesn't know visitors. It doesn't welcome them. Those who are invited are (for the most part) escorted through the winding path and at least partially shielded from the shadows and rope through company and talk. There may have been a wanderer or two, or someone genuinely lost, some time ago but Neji can't quite remember the last time someone just decided to walk in.

And no, he can't remember this one's hair or figure or what-the-hell ever, because he's reasonably certain he's never before come across Sha Gojyo. So to the watch dog this is only an intrusion. This is his goddess' terrain being mapped by some homely unknown, and Neji thinks he can't be the only one who that'd strike a bad chord with.

He wishes he could be in his vessel form. Be unseen and see everything at once. As it stands, however, wishing helps nothing and Neji can't let the gross trespassing just go on. He approaches from Gojyo's left and doesn't quite mean to be silent but there's only so much a person can do for trained instinct.] What are you doing here? [He also doesn't mean for his brows to be knit together in not-quite-suspicion and displeasure. But. What can ya do. The boy's standing aloof. Y'know. Just to round things out.]

no later than i am

[erogappa]

[ The forest is wrong. Gojyo can't quite put his finger on it -- it's like something out of a dream, maybe, or like trying to remember something he was told years ago -- but there's a definite feeling of... of just wrongness. Forests should be full of birds and things rooting around in the crackling leaves underfoot and the creak of trees swaying in the wind. But this place is too silent. He keeps catching movement in the corner of his eye, and it keeps turning out to be another noose (which really isn't better than it being a person or a wolf or something -- it's really not). With every step further in he's becoming more and more convinced that a ghost is going to leap out at any minute, or the nooses will start having bodies in them, or.... or something even worse.

He could be stuck here until nightfall. That would be worse. He actually hesitates at that thought, and it takes a hell of a lot of courage to take another step, and another.

He doesn't make it to a third, however, because some asshole sneaks up behind him. Gojyo shrieks and runs a good ten feet away before turning to face whatever monster or ghoul or...

Or snotty-looking kid just spooked him. ]

Don't sneak up on people! What's wrong with you?!

[tuishou]

[He's not a kid, damn you, he'd died practically-an-adult. And because of all the commotion Gojyo just made, he decided to look (if even possible) even less impressed with the intrusion and would-be invader.

If this was a joke, then the man was a great actor.

Neji doubted it was one, though. He's frowning. Was that already said? That's... too bad.] It wasn't my intent to frighten you. [Seeing as the only reason to 'sneak up' on someone is to maim and-or kill them-] But if you have no business here, I suggest you turn to leave.

It could be easy to get lost after dusk.

[erogappa]

[ Everything about the Far Shore is a joke, but Gojyo's reaction -- embarrassing as it was -- was completely real. ]

Oi, [ --he growls, folding his arms manfully across his chest and trying to pretend that he didn't just squeak in terror-- ] why th'hell would I be wandering around in a place like this if I didn't have business here, huh? [ Seriously, this place is like the opposite of a pleasure forest. ]

I'm lookin' for that youkai guy. Cho somethin'.

[tuishou]

["Manfully".]

'Youkai guy'.

[Yes, he's being purposely obtuse. The words roll of his tongue as if he's only repeating them to make sure he's got it right. Neji keeps the recognition of Cho something hidden behind that stubborn indifference. As much as he doesn't want to (gods forbid) 'protect' the man, he is still one of... well, one of the few in this lame substitute for family. But no, he can't deny the (currently literal) pain in the neck lived here. Neji lightly tilts his head to one side.] He told you he'd be meeting you today? Here of all places?

[erogappa]

[ Of all the things to get weirdly protective of, Gojyo thinks, why the hell would you choose to defend a haunted forest full of hanging trees? What's this guy worried about, that he's going to steal a noose? He should be so lucky. ]

No, he told me to meet him at Tokyo Disneyland, but it was such a nice day I decided to take a stroll through Blast Your Brains Out forest here first.

[tuishou]

[Well in that case he ought to leave the guy alone to enjoy his stroll.]

It's strange to see someone come here unannounced, is all. Clearly you understand why.

[Neji shrugs- hey, he's not the one in 'the wrong' here.] You can follow me to the temple if you wish, but i don't even know if 'the youkai guy' is around, much less available.

[erogappa]

[ PLEASE DON'T LEAVE HIM okay good. Um. Lead the way? ]

You don't need to say that like it's a bad thing. [ He's got things to say to the swamp elf, but if he has to put them off for another time -- especially after wandering through the world's worst landscaping -- he'll find some way to deal with the disappointment. ] I'm not here 'cause I want to be, trust me.

[tuishou]

[Well, that's settled. Neji hums... something, and gestures for the other to come along.]

If that's the case, then I wonder if a surprise is the best way to continue whatever business it is you have with him. [To get one thing straight: whatever mess is about to be made or fixed-- he doesn't care. Hakkai should be more than capable of dealing with his own problems and if he isn't

that's just too damn bad. But if the problem(why is he so convinced this is a problem?) bleeds back to himself, or to Yuri... then as exemplar he should try at least to mitigate it. Or something.

Look, nobody exactly has a handbook printed on this.] What's your name?

[erogappa]

[ Gojyo just snorts at that. No, it's probably not the best way to confront the stupid swamp elf, but he's got a feeling if he had his people call Cho's people and schedule an appointment, they'd never end up meeting. Besides, he's discovered that Sha Gojyo is an impulsive kind of guy, and he's going with it. ]

Sha Gojyo. [ Oh, and the gods and folks like to hear the rest of it too, don't they? ] Shinki. The god I'm workin' with is that Ekko kid. ...Who're you?

[tuishou]

[Welp, he tried.]

Neji.

[Never any family name-- someone please explain to him why it seemed every other shinki was so attached to it. Shinki of the goddess of this temple, but that was obvious, right?

The outside of the home is now visible and Neji slows his step. Clearly he's got no business inside of it. All looming two stories of Yuri's temple look... positively decrepit from the outside. Surprise?]

I work for Ixtab-sama. Same as Hakkai. [Two pieces of info he hopes Gojyo remembers. The swamp elf's name, and the fact that he's more than content to serve. 'More than content', in this case, meaning] Try to keep things neat when you go inside.

[erogappa]

[ It's really not that complicated. If all you've got is your name, then why wouldn't you share the whole thing with others? He's not just Gojyo, he's Sha Gojyo -- he had a family once. May be they were a good family and maybe they were a crap one, but they were his. He belonged somewhere.

...And thank god it wasn't here. ]

You're kidding, right? [ Seriously, it looks like the kind of place kids enter on a dare, the kind of place a desperate man might pass up in a rainstorm. ] What, are you worried I'll accidentally clear away some of the cobwebs?