May Training

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone
What: Information and Training
When: July 15
Where: Bishamon's temple, the Far Shore
Summary: Training and informational sessions for newly arrived gods (although there's none this time) and shinki



The product of many meetings and recommendations, at last it has taken shape. On this day, in anticipation of the new arrivals who appear in a recognized pattern, Heaven has partnered with the new gods and shinki to organize a very helpful informational reception.

The shinki arriving at heaven's meeting hall are, should they allow it, guided kindly towards Bishamon's temple. And in that vast complex they are brought to a traditional-style dojo.
Here the newly arrived gods are gathered, so finding their partner is more simple. The gods and shinki are free to take their time during this day to learn about the aspects of their new life from Amaterasu's shinki, or from the many veteran new god and shinki volunteers.




God Training

Bishamon herself, as well as Amaterasu's ever-present shinki and any volunteering gods, will be the foremost source of information regarding being a god and what is expected of them, such as prayers. It is encouraged that gods group up together to practice what they've learned and discuss their ideologies.
Newly arrived gods are still expected to communicate to their shinki the information* they themselves get oriented with when they arrive.

Shinki Training

Various volunteers are stationed around the building, passing out helpful informational pamphlets. There are many shinki, including Bishamon's and Amaterasu's, who will be more than happy to train in using the borderline and some of the basics of what is expected of a shinki. It is encouraged that shinki group up together to practice what they've learned and discuss their ideologies.
Bishamon's lead shinki Kazuma offers a lecture to new arrivals that will thoroughly cover some essential points about teamwork with both shinki and other gods.

Physical Training

The dojo is stocked with a wide variety of practice weapons, traditional and modern. There are volunteers here as well, willing to assist in basic training. (Or even more advanced sparring, depending on the volunteer.) Essential for gods who, for example, find themselves with a sword shinki but are at risk of cutting off their own toes.
Also useful for veteran new gods wishing to train with their current partner shinki.

Rest and Refreshments

There is a garden off the dojo that is free to be used for rest and conversation.
Should anyone wander outside the designated area, some shinki of Bishamon's will attach themselves to them and not leave them be until they return to the dojo.

There is a refreshments table provided. It is covered with light snacks and various kinds of hydrating drinks. There is a little sitting area set up for people to relax in after they have finished their training or if they're just taking a quick break to cool down. Even hand towels are provided by Bishamon's helpful shinki. The Heavens wants everyone to stay in good condition!

In Summary:

• Get all the information you can handle
• Veteran new gods and shinki are welcome to volunteer showing the ropes
• Get in some training
• Don't get dehydrated
• Spectate if you want
• Have fun~

Comments

asdafafadg

[thethunderbeast]

[Don’t say things like that.

He doesn’t break his gaze away either, and there’s a long, lingering moment where he stares back at her without a word after her strong affirmation. At least she’s got fire. He breaks the silence at last with a casual sigh, and he rests both of his hands behind his head, quickly killing the intensity of the exchange.]

So what now?

[He’s read the brochure and listened to the lectures, and remembers hearing something about vessel forms...]

[thethunderbeast]

[And it works, if only for a second, before he’s able to readjust and maintain his grip on the handle again. He’s managed to turn the tables and put Hak on the defensive, and he backs up a little with a jump, feet scraping against the dirt of the ring. Several spectators part to give them space, and he flashes the boy a grin. Trying to get close, huh? Not a bad strategy, either.]

It felt right. You have a name?

[priforprince]

[ Ah, her. Hibiki does not look too concerned, adding just a touch of a smoother, more professional air to her posture. One's hostess is to be respected, even if she doesn't much care for this one. ]

Many thanks for your continued hospitality.

[ Completely comfortable tea sip. Yeah. She's training real hard. ]

cw: mentions of rape, torture, possible child abuse

[kagenonadeshiko]

[It's a strange sensation, as if someone has grabbed a hold of her core, her very essence, molding it into a different shape. Ayumu's body feels lighter as it blurs, becoming thinner, silkier somehow. It almost feels as if she's floating in mid-air as their bond snaps into place.

Ayumu's lost memories flood her new lord's mind. It starts as a rapid barrage of flashing images of her childhood when she was small and alone as the path that led her to her doom started many years before. Her parents' instruction, their cold insistence that they weren't family, years of harsh training far more severe than a child should ever experience. Images of a young girl whispering sweet words into a servant boy's ear, of her as an adult falling into bed with her enemies followed by bloodshed.

Sprinkled throughout are scenes of her with her brother, shouting the same things at Susumu that were once shouted at her and giving him the exact same harsh lessons. Her teaching him to disguise himself as her so that he would live, she would die, and the mission would still succeed.

There's a couple of familiar faces - Hijikata and Okita, more of the former, and the other Shinsengumi. The most notable scene is her going to take her final assignment. There's images of her coming and going from Masuya's shop and her tearful breakdown in front of Tetsu.

At last, there's her capture by the enemy and the brutal gang rape, torture, and beatings until her eye socket was crushed, her left arm was broken with the bone sticking out grotesquely, and she was bleeding heavily from cuts all over her body. A myriad of feelings color the final scene - grief, regret, defiance, shame, disgust, and determination. So much determination but also love. Love for her brother, love for the Shinsengumi. No matter what the enemy did to her, she would not break. She'd protect them all until her final breath.

And she did. After that, there is darkness and nothng more.

By the time the vision clears, there's a dark blue woman's kimono lying in a pile at Hakkai's feet, the exact same one Ayumu had worn on her last mission.]

[mithrarin]

[Sympathy? Maybe, but his smile is just for how ridiculous her claim is, and how she has to know that.]

[Dust accepts the offered goods, certain that no one here is going to complain. They're open for all, so if she wants to snatch them and eat them elsewhere, who cares? Something else must be driving her like this, and for whatever reason, he wants to help if he can.]

Where are you headed?

B

[blizzardrock]

[Just strollin' casually by.] Hm?

I think I will.

[He takes a seat beside, though his smile is slightly dim.] How was it?

physical training

[heatupnever]

Yo. [Hi Chise, please excuse this rude lady reaching around you for a weapon.]

How long are you gonna look? [...Please excuse this rude lady in general.]

[nibelungvalesti]

How shocking.

[The Valkyrie is developing the slightest sense of cynical humor.]

What is your weapon of choice?

[reformedsinner]

[Memories pour in upon Hakkai with painful, vivid clarity, and tension locks his muscles where he stands, hand outstretched and fingers pointed at the very tail of the character he had drawn to name her.

It's only the tension that keeps him upright and unmoving as he feels the full brutality of her death. Bile bites his throat and sours the back of his tongue. He's no stranger to cruelty and violence, no stranger to pain, nor to the darkness that comes as a respite from pain at last, but this --

(was this what she felt?)

-- this is almost more than he can bear. Fabric settles in airy folds at his feet as Ayumu solidifies into her shinki form, and Hakkai has to force himself out of his rigid stillness, and stoop, with infinite care, to lift her from the cobbled path.

His hands flinch reflexively back from the fabric at first. They're too bloodstained to touch her, too filthy to be allowed to stain someone who. No. He cuts himself off before the reflex of disgust spirals into a cowardly retreat, and forces himself to pick her up gently and hold up the garment she has become. It's a dark blue kimono, the sleeves cut like a young woman's, the fabric good-quality but not too fine for everyday wear.

It helps to focus on the banal. He has to force his face out of rigid stillness, too, into a polite smile as he surveys her new form.]

It seems you'll be my armor. Can you see yourself?

[He'd been able to, in some forms; not fully, but enough to get a rough idea of his shape and function, and sometimes he'd even been able to move independently of his god.]

you're welcome

[darkestbefore]

[ She gives a soft laugh when he leans back once more, something shifting to where it feels like it almost should be between them.

At his question, she inclines her head. ] I believe now I give you a vessel name to make everything official. If you're ready?

[rainbowmaster]

[The moment Shun gets closer, Johan is immediately wary, but he doesn't move. He just eyes him a bit. Shun doesn't exactly strike him as a person who could be irrational and suddenly throw a punch at him, but he's learned a lot of things can happen.

Always best not to underestimate anybody.]

I slipped and acknowledged one of my Spirits in front of him. It might've triggered something familiar because one of our friends back home is the same as me.

[Well, at least he's admitted he and Fubuki came from the same world.]

After that, Fubuki began to act weird and he left.

[revolutionfalcon]

[Unfortunately, that is exactly the kind of person Shun can be and often is, and it's taking all of his self-control to not be here - he's too incensed to even express appropriate surprise at Johan's revelation. If Johan knew the whole time he was from the same world as Fubuki, not only was that first instance careless, but allowing the spirits to be used so extensively in that fight against the jellyfish instead of getting the hell out of there is now a hundred times worse.

At least this tells Shun that Fubuki has the self-preservation instinct to cut and run if things get too bad, but he still doesn't want to risk it. Letting out a sharp hiss to try and lower his frustrations a bit, he levels Johan with a merciless eye.]

If you're going to keep interacting with him, don't be such a careless idiot about it in future. If not for his sake, then for the sake of what I'll do to you if he's hurt because of this.

[There's no hint of hesitation or second thought in that threat. The only reason he's not trying to cut him off altogether is because of his own circumstances with Yuto.]

[thethunderbeast]

[He casts her a look through the side of his eye, and his lips curl up into a smirk again. He doesn’t make a move though, waiting for her to do it first... whatever it’ll be.]

Are you?

[redmare]

[This guy was too nice..]

Are..you my god?

[Man that would've made it even more embarrassing.]

[fullcowl]

I'll definitely bring it up to her. The better we can make this the easier the adjustment will be... at least I hope.

[fullcowl]

Between the escalation and everything else... yeah. I wish we could track down the culprit.

[He sighs. There are too many questions and nowhere near enough answers.]

It sounded... really lonely. I think it'll probably result in a good match? He doesn't have to go on an ayakashi related prayers since I usually bring Todoroki along for those. But he seems more social, so talking to the people on the Near Shore might go easier.

[fullcowl]

[There's... nothing telling him that he is.]

I'm not, sorry.

[redmare]

I see.....Ah, I'm Chinatsu Hiyama, by the way. Thanks, for uh..helping me out.

[fullcowl]

It's nice to meet you. And you're welcome. If you need help with anything else, please feel free to contact me.

[darkestbefore]

[ She's not sure.

But she doesn't let that show, just nodding her head to show she is. She'll make sure she is, for him. ]

Yes. Very well then, [ Yona takes a deep breath, settling her own nerves as she recalls the words she'd learned upon first arriving, even if she'd never anticipated using them like this.

She even knew just the right name that would be perfect for him. ]

Grasping thy true name, I bind thee here. With borrowed name, I dub thee my servant. Hak answers, Rai to sound. Come, Raiki.

[kagenonadeshiko]

Oh, it's fine! Don't worry about it. I was just a little surprised.

[Maybe she's not used to socializing with others? Well, that's something that'll have to change. She needs to make new memories to replace the ones she's lost.]

I'm Yamazaki Ayumu, by the way.

[kagenonadeshiko]

[Ayumu looks up from the pamphlet at the sound of an unfamiliar voice saying her name. The ex-hearth goddess is looking considerably worse for the wear since she was last seen by Kairi. Her left eye is disfigured now, skewed slightly lower than her right, the eyelid drooping almost completely closed now. Her left wrist is stuck at a slightly unnatural angle as if it had been broken and healed wrong and there's visible scarring from many cuts on her limbs.

Whereas before her expression had usually been calm, there's a brittle quality to it right now, as if her composure is hanging on by a thread. The same alertness is there though as she regards the girl uncertainly. Ayumu's still not quite sure how to respond to most things she's encountered today and certainly not a girl she's never met somehow knowing her name.

Finally, she settles on a simple polite greeting.]

Hello.

[kagenonadeshiko]

[At the moment, Ayumu's a little too confused to know much beyond the fact that she's dead and in a strange place surrounded by people she doesnt know and landmarks she doesn't recognize. But the questions are calming her down a little, appealing to her rational mind and coaxing her away from these irrational, compulsive escape attempts.]

I.. I don't know. Somewhere safer.

[She's feels way too vulnerable and exposed right now.]

[timeshields]

... That's unfortunate.

[She'd hate if Souji or Nanako left...]

let's get physical~

[bartenderizing]

[ He'd gotten to the training grounds earlier because, after making sure Yona was alright, ultimately it seemed like she needed the privacy to process the things she had to go through. If that's really what it meant to gain a new shinki, Shizuo hoped that the redhead didn't gain anymore. Even if that went against her wish to have more people around. The other reason he went ahead was in hopes of being able to figure out who it was.

Things don't really work out like that. It's not like the connection between a shinki and their god also connected the shinki to one another. (Shizuo was also the worst person to judge on that divine link.)

Really, part of him was already getting irritated with not making any progress, so the slam into the ground was enough to get the tall blond onto his feet and stepping out to the 'field.' A cooler filled with ice packs and glass bottles of milk were settled in the place that he had been. Two of those bottles are already empty. ]

Oi. Don't go interrupting everyone else's hard work.

[ There were plenty of weapons offers to people that didn't have any of their own. Shizuo chose to continue without anything more than his hands and modern fashion sense. ]

Do you really need that much attention?