thenearshore | May Training

Entry tags:

May Training

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

prayers

Shinki Training

informational pamphlets

borderline

Physical Training

Rest and Refreshments

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~

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[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.]

Yes, I do. So a kimono, hmm.

[Despite being the garment she'd died in, there's no recognition whatsoever. To her, it's just a blue kimono. It's a very strange sensation being able to feel him pick her up but it feels nice to be held so carefully like this. Maybe it's strange to take such pleasure in it when she's an article of clothing but it is what it is.]

I'm not sure how good of an armor I'll be but I'll do my best to protect you, Hakkai-sama.

[Surely she must be able to do something useful in this form but she's just not sure where to even begin. Maybe if she's worn, something will come to her?]

Edited 2017-05-20 08:40 (UTC)

The touch of an ayakashi alone hurts gods or shinki, but you're invulnerable to it in this form -- thus, armor. You likely have some additional power as well in this form, but it may take some experimenting to discover what it is.

[Practical explanations help, too. He's not going to try putting her on here, not when he's still so badly shaken -- he can keep his hands still and his expression under control, but he suspects he won't be able to stop himself from reacting if he tries to wear her before he's had the time to deal with what he saw.

He smiles faintly, ducking his head.]

Return, Ayumu.

[At those words, the transformation starts reversing itself, her kimono form becoming heavier as the fabric dissolves and reforms into the solid form of a woman. Ayumu's smiling when she reappears, looking pleased and a little more sure of herself than she did before. She has a purpose and a function in this world now which is doing much to relieve the anxiety and distress she's been feeling by herself throughout the day.]

I'm glad I'll be of some use to you, Hakkai-sama. I'll work hard to be excellent armor, then.

[She bows. It feels proper to show him this respect. It's befitting for a lord and his servant.]

[His reflex is to return the bow, but he stops himself: she's clearly more comfortable with the formalities, and he doesn't want to insist on an equality that he knows isn't honest. Instead, he inclines his head, polite but not nearly as deep as Ayumu's bow.]

I'm confident you'll do well.

[Mildly, he adds:] It's a much more useful form than some. I know a shinki who becomes a staple remover.

[Ayumu's face lights up at his words of encouragement. Whether she responded like this in her past, she doesn't know but for a few seconds she just sort of basks in it. She truly will do her best not to disappoint him.

When the conversation turns to the other shinki, Ayumu tilts her head a bit quizzically.]

A staple remover...? What's that?

[Other than something that apparently isn't useful, she has no idea.]

Oh, of course, let me...

[He pats his pockets: yes. There's his phone. He has no idea if it's the same one he had before, but it looks similar enough that he easily runs a quick image search and holds it out with this on the screen.]

This is a staple remover. It's about, oh... [He gestures, indicating something around two inches long.] This big.

[The odd little device catches her interest immediately. It's definitely looks new, more new than a lot of things she's seen today. Then Hakkai pulls up the picture like magic. This staple remover looks like a very strange device indeed but Ayumu's hesitant to call it useless. Without thinking, she blurts out:]

That is small. But you might be able to dig out someone's eye or badly injure their nose with it.

[Maybe. If one was really determined or needed to.]

Or pierce a tongue! Really, I think it'd be less convenient to gouge an eye with that than with your fingers, though.

[Fingers work perfectly well: he should know.

He chuckles lightly, closes the phone and puts it away.]

Well -- would you like to stay here? Or take a look at our new home?

I haven't seen my temple yet. Let's hope it's not too terrible an eyesore.

We can go now.

[She beams. Ayumu's had plenty of time to mingle with other people while she's been waiting. Going to their new home together sounds like a nice conclusion to an eventful day and a little bit like an adventure of it's own. It's a little exciting somehow.

Then something occurs to her.]

But if you haven't seen it, how will you know it's yours?

I did get directions.

[It's one of the things he'd thought to ask, and he's glad he did; he can't begin to guess what Li's temple will look like. Perhaps it'll be like one of the temples back home? Or perhaps it'll be less temple and more apothecary?

Whatever it looks like, at least he knows where it is. He pauses for one last look around Bishamon's temple garden, and exhales.]

I'd renovated an old, abandoned temple into a small school before I left, as well. I'll have to check on it and make sure nothing's gone wrong since then.

[Hibari's probably been a little upset, for one thing. Hakkai is going to have to look him up and explain the situation.]

A school? Are you a teacher?

[Ayumu has a lot of questions but she doesn't want to seem too overbearing by asking them. This is their first meeting after all and she's a little wary of coming across as a burden to him. She fully intends to make good on her promise to be a good shinki but there's just so much she doesn't know.]

Is it a dojo like the one here? Or a temple school or a private academy?

[The idea of attending school sounds nice, like something she might enjoy and her interest is pretty easy to see as she waits for him to lead the way.]

You could say it's a "temple school"!

[Because they teach classes in an abandoned temple... he chuckles, and clarifies.]

There are some young shinki here, and plenty of people who don't yet read well. We mainly teach math, reading and languages, though a few people have asked to be tutored in other subjects. I teach math and reading myself.

It's not a dojo, though we've held a few martial-arts classes there for teachers who don't have their own venue yet.

I see...

[She has met a couple of shinki who've seemed fairly young so she can see why there'd be demand for a school. Martial-arts classes makes sense, too, given that shinki are supposed to be protectors. Chinatsu, while spirited, didn't look like that much of a fighter to her and there might be other shinki with little combat experience as well.]

Which languages do you teach? What other subjects have people studied?

[It's tempting to just pummel him with questions; interrogation feels like it comes naturally to her and now that she's more certain of her place here, Ayumu's curiosity about her new environment is well and truly piqued.]

I believe it's just English so far, and as for the other subjects -- they're mainly practical. Household money management, for example. Cooking.

We have quite a few young gods and shinki who haven't had to live on their own yet, too, you see.

[It's bad enough that temples are being set on fire on purpose; they don't need any accidental kitchen fires muddying the waters.]

I can make you a copy of the class schedule if you'd like?

Please do. I think I have a lot to learn.

[Maybe attending the school would be a good place to start. And if Hakkai's a teacher there, shouldn't she accompany him? Protecting him is her duty and it sounds as if it might be a good opportunity to meet other people. If she's to properly assist him in his work, forming contacts feels important as well as becoming better informed about all of this.]

Those are good things to teach. I saw a number of young people at Bishamon-sama's.

[Teaching's a nice thought, too. Does she know anything well enough to teach? It seems like such a lofty goal.]

There always are quite a few young people.

[He shakes his head.] Not to question the decisions of the Heavens, of course, but I'd think they'd want more experienced souls as gods....

[This is 100% to question the decisions of the Heavens, which are highly questionable on multiple fronts. He doesn't want to say that too openly at Bishamon's temple in front of all these unfamiliar shinki, though.

They're getting further away from her temple along the tree-lined path, but still. He flashes Ayumu a quick smile.]

When I arrived, learning to use the local technology was one of my priorities. I recommend that as a starting point.

[She smiles back.]

Like that device you used to show pictures?

[It's the best description she can give without knowing its name.]

It's strange to bring a lot of young people here unless it's deliberate.

[A thoughtful pause then a shrug.]

Maybe they're desperate.

[It's just a guess but she keeps her voice low anyway. Ayumu doesn't know enough about the situation here to judge for herself yet.]

Exactly like that. You'll get one too -- it's called a cellular phone.

[She'd said that she was from a time in the past, hadn't she? It won't be the only technological innovation to surprise her, he suspects. He'll definitely have to stick with her on her first trip to the mortal world.

As for the question of all of the children, though...]

Desperate, hoping for easily molded newcomers, or not in control of who arrives at all.

[Each of the options carries with it very different assumptions about Heaven's motives and competence. He has his own opinions, but no real evidence. Not yet.]

It'd be hard to know which it is without evidence. I see why you need more information.

[No wonder Hakkai's interested in reconnaissance. It'd be difficult to figure out how to proceed without knowing which is the case. All three circumstances call for a different approach to a solution.]

What do these cellular phones do? Besides show pictures, that is.

And it could be some other possibility entirely, of course... [He turns his hands palm-up in a tiny shrug, and moves briskly on to her other question.]

They make calls -- that is, you can talk to someone a long way away and clearly hear their replies, as long as you both have a phone with you. They can look up a variety of information and translate it into Japanese. There's a function to help you make schedules and remind you of appointments.

Oh, you can use them to play back music or movies, too.

[He pauses.]

... Do you know what a movie is?

[Ayumu shakes her head.]

Phones sound extremely useful, especially for something so small.

[And they even play music! She wonders what kind of music even exists in this place.]

They're remarkable! I wish I'd had one at home. It would have been quite helpful.

[Just imagine being able to convince both Goku and Gojyo to play phone games in the back seat instead of fighting with each other. Constantly.

He sighs with nostalgia.]

Ah, in any case, a movie is something like a play, except it's a moving image of the play that you can watch at any time.

Oh, that sounds amazing! What kinds of movies are there?

[It all sounds like magic to her somehow, so very strange but it's a little exciting, too. There's a clear sparkle in her good eye as she talks, her smile wide.]

It all sounds so fascinating.

All kinds. I'd been watching through a list of funny movies about space monsters before I left. I'll have to see if I still have it.

[Is his phone different? Does he have his old texts? Well, he can probably ask Davesprite to send the list again if he's lost it. The sprite had seemed thrilled by the chance to make it in the first place.]

What sort of stories do you like?

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