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

Of course. We can try out a variety, then.

[Had he been unsure of even the preferences he had in stories when he first arrived? He can't remember, although, thinking back, he does recall not being able to guess what kinds of food he would enjoy.

And yet, in many ways, the person he'd learned he was turned out to be the same as the person he'd always been. Not every way, of course. But many. He wonders if it's the same for other shinki.

His expression has grown distant, but he pulls himself back with a blink.]

And I'm sure you'll find some new things you enjoy!

I hope so. There's so many new things to discover...

[She giggles a bit, much more relaxed in the presence of her god than she'd been on her own earlier. It's sort of a safe, homey feeling, she thinks. And chatting like this is nice.]

I'd like to try all sorts of things when there's time. When we're not too busy with work, that is.

[Work takes priority, of course. Winning the trust of someone in such a high position will take a lot of time, planning, and dedicated effort. Being vigilant of opportunities to speed up the process will be important, too.]

Rest and relaxation is important in order to keep us in good condition for work!

[That's his story and he's sticking to it... and, besides, it's hard and stressful adjusting to a strange world with no memories to guide you. He knows. She's had a difficult life and a worse death, and he finds himself feeling oddly protective, despite her obvious competence.]

You should try all the things you'd like to.

I'm not sure where to begin!

[Ayumu confesses with another laugh. Was she this ignorant of these kinds of things in life? Maybe she was. Recreation feels like something that might be a little out of her depth but he's right about conserving strength and energy. Being in top condition in situations that call for it is very important.]

But I suppose I'll have some ideas once I'm more familiar with this place.

I'm sure you will. Ah!

[He points up ahead at a dusty brick wall, at least eight feet high and slightly dilapidated. A few treetops are visible over the wall, and, at the other end of it, a wooden balcony and some columns frame what seems to be a front door.]

I think that may be it.

[It doesn't look nearly as ornate as he'd been afraid it was going to. The compound is rather large, but the building itself, as far as he can see from here, is modest.

Perhaps he'll be able to find himself temporarily at home here, after all.]

Oh!

[It does look rather large and in need of some care but it isn't as fancy as Bishamon's temple or some of the other temples they'd passed along the way. The wall gets a nod of approval from her. It's not so high that it can't be scaled or overcome but it looks defensible. Ayumu will have to remember to ask him what he thinks about caltrops later. From the ground, they'd be pretty hard to see...]

It looks nice. Very well built.

Perhaps it could do with a little whitewash on the bricks...

[The color variation owes more to age and damp than natural clay color, and some of those streaks on the grout are downright unsightly.

When it comes to walls as a defensive measure, Hakkai dismisses them; any god can teleport into any temple. Barriers are decorative. This one would be more decorative with a bit of paint.

The front door, though, is freshly painted in an auspicious bright red accented with gold. It's the fanciest thing about the building. Appropriate, Hakkai supposes, as he reaches for the heavy iron handle and pulls it open.

Inside, the entryway is surprisingly airy and clean, the floor tiled and accented with a long rug running down past doors opening to either side. At the far end, green-tinted light filters in through wide windows set to either side of another door.

It really does look like a temple. Not a big temple, not a massively wealthy temple; but there's an airy serenity about the place that reminds him of his time staying with Sanzo after his trial.]

Maybe. They do look a little worn down but lining the top with caltrops might deter others from climbing it.

[Most of the people Ayumu's spoken with today have been shinki and a couple have appeared to be formidable fighters in their own right. And the idea that gods can teleport hasn't entered her mind yet.

She follows him inside, surveying the interior. It looks nice on the inside, too, very spacious and has a pleasant atmosphere. It feels like a place of rest and recuperation - not a bad feeling at all. Overall though, Ayumu's inclined to reserve judgment until she sees the place in its entirety.]

So far, so good...

Most hostile invaders would teleport in. I'm afraid all caltrops would do is deter mischief-makers.

[And while there's something to be said for that, he'd rather not wind up inadvertently stabbing one of Goten's friends in the hand with a caltrop.

He pushes open the first door to the left and peers in. The room beyond is large and crammed full of neatly labeled boxes, jars, parcels and sparkling chemical glassware. A medicine room, maybe? It's certainly not the kitchen.

That -- or the dining room, at least, with a long, gleaming table taking up most of the center of the room. Behind it, another door next to what looks like a pass-through window indicate the location of the kitchen.]

You're welcome to look around if you like, too, you know.

'Kay, Hakkai-sama.

[It's a little disheartening to hear Hakkai's enemies can infiltrate his home with such ease but giving in to negativity solves nothing and from what she'd gathered from the pamphlet, could harm her god so Ayumu simply turns her attention to investigating the temple.

Now that he's given her permission to roam the grounds on her own, Ayumu's quick to do just that. For better or worse, this is their home and if she's to be an adequate protector, she needs to know everything there is to know about this place and commit every bit of it to memory. Gathering information is the first step in defending anything.

And of course, this applies to Hakkai, too. To look after him well, Ayumu will have to get to know him as well as she can and familiarize himself with all his connections, methods, and habits. There's something oddly comforting in that thought.

In the meantime, Ayumu wanders into the meditation garden. She busies herself with examining the plants, pleasantly surprised to realize that she recognizes some of them as herbs. Many are used for cooking but some of the other ones are used for other things? Different remedies? Though Ayumu can't think of many medicines to use them for so she must not have much skill in that. Judging from how many culinary herbs she recognizes, maybe she's good at cooking...]

[Hakkai glances out the back of the temple at the meditation garden, but only briefly, with a distant expression on his face as he watches Ayumu look over the plants. Then he slips back inside, checking the second floor -- mostly rather small and austere bedrooms; it could easily be modeled on a temple with resident monks, with so many sleeping quarters, he reflects. He can't exactly imagine himself with so many shinki.

Even one, he's still a little uncomfortable with. He'd felt her pang of concern when he told her about teleportation; he certainly doesn't blame her for being worried about that, but that he could feel it....

Were his feelings that open to all of his gods? In retrospect, the thought is acutely embarrassing. He gives the first floor another once-over, and finds himself at last coming to a stop in that mysterious medicine room, going over all of the prepared ingredients. There are books on the shelves, too, filled with spidery handwriting spelling out recipes for every imaginable ill, from salves for bruises to one complicated recipe labeled A draught for the resurrection of the dead.

Curiosity is too intense to deny, and he washes his hands, pulls down one of the larger mortars, and begins working on the bruise salve. When Ayumu finishes examining the garden, she'll find him there.]

[Ayumu takes her time in the garden, partly out of thoroughness and also because it's just so calming. It's been a long day for her since arrival and this garden feels much more private and secluded than the one at Bishamon's. It's her favorite feature of the place so far though there's still other places she hasn't looked at yet. The entire second floor, for instance.

However, she's been a while and should probably check on her god before heading upstairs, she thinks. With some reluctance she comes back inside, taking another look at each room before she finds the medicine room for herself.

Her eye instantly strays toward the bookshelves with open curiosity for a brief moment before settling on Hakkai working on something. Her footsteps are naturally quiet as she approaches, a habit far too deeply ingrained in her from life for death to rob her of it.]

What are you making? A poultice?

[Her footsteps are almost silent behind him: not perfectly silent, not to ears that despite their limiters are still a youkai's, but almost. A human would have startled.

Luckily -- because he'd have slopped half-finished salve everywhere if he had flinched -- Hakkai isn't human anymore. With his attention still on the herb and oil mixture he's blending together, he nods.]

Yes -- these are books of medicine, so I thought I'd try one of the recipes, and see how effective it was. It's a salve for healing bruises.

[And while he doesn't have any bruises at the moment, it's easy to smack his hand against the table and give himself one for experimental purposes. Also, if the salve turns out to be less effective than he'd hoped, a bruise isn't the sort of injury that will bother him much while it heals on its own.

If it turns out to be as effective as a recipe left by a god of medicines and healing ought to be, he can start working on a cabinet full of the more serious remedies.]

Oh, really? Sounds useful.

[Maybe Ayumu should take a look through some of those books, too. A salve to heal bruises sounds wonderful, indeed. Absently, Ayumu's gaze wanders to his reference text, scanning the handwriting out of curiosity. She doesn't recognize all of the characters but most of them, enough to get the gist of the recipe and what it's supposed to do.]

Oh, I think I saw some of this growing in the garden.

[That gets him to look up from his mortar; he reaches for one of the small jars and adds a small pinch of the dried yellow flowers. That's the last ingredient; a quick few extra strokes of the pestle, and he picks up the spatula instead.]

Can you hand me that empty jar? -- and you read Chinese?

[It's his native language, but he hadn't expected her to be so comfortable with it.]

[Ayumu grabs the jar and passes it over.]

Apparently so. At least, enough to understand most of what it said. A few characters gave me a little trouble.

[So maybe it's not her first language? Or she's not that good of a reader? She seems to have picked up other things easily enough once she got the basic concept down though.]

Well, the handwriting is terrible.

[He takes the jar from her and begins scraping the salve into it from the mortar. It doesn't take long, and he cleans the spatula off against the edge, sets it down, and holds his arm out towards her.]

Would you mind hitting me? The forearm will do. Just hard enough to bruise.

[Ayumu looks up, startled and mildly alarmed.]

Are you sure, Hakkai-sama?

[Isn't that the opposite of what a shinki is supposed to do? But if it's an order from her god, it'd be wrong to refuse. Still, she'll give him one last chance to reconsider before striking his forearm.]

Of course. I'd rather not try this on someone else until I'm certain it works properly.

[Therefore he needs a bruise! And if it turns out not to work, or not to work as well as advertised, he can easily ignore a minor bruise on his arm until it heals on its own. He leaves his arm outstretched, smiling mildly.]

[Ayumu nods. It makes sense he'd want to test it first though she's tempted to offer her own arm instead. Maybe another time if he needs a test subject.

She studies his arm a moment, considers how much force would surely leave a bruise, and then delivers a sudden hard strike. A little harder than what's likely necessary but it's sure to leave a nice, bruise to test the salve's strength on.]

How's that? Do you need me to hit you again, Hakkai-sama?

[The strike is swift and forceful, as he'd have expected of someone with the martial arts skills he'd seen from her. He keeps his arm outstretched, neither flinching nor wincing as the blow lands, and only moving a little with the force of the blow -- since, after all, failing to move away means more force going towards bruising it.

It feels as though it's going to bruise. He sets down the salve jar and unbuttons his cuff, rolling it up to consider the skin. Clearly reddened, already starting to swell; he casts a judgmental eye over it and offers her a little nod.]

No, I think this will do nicely.

[He leans back against the counter waiting, and adds, curiously, as he waits for the bruise to develop:]

I haven't had the chance to look at the garden yet. You said there were herbs growing out there?

[Well, that's that.]

Yes, I did. There's quite a large variety of them. Most of the ones I recognized would be good for cooking, I think, but I saw some healing herbs as well. There may be more of the latter than I could tell.

[Maybe she should add medicine to her list of subjects to study. It certainly feels like something she might feel drawn to but it's definitely something she only has rudimentary knowledge of at best.]

You should take a look while you're waiting. The garden's really nice.

[She still wants to take a look at the upper floor but these medical texts are just too enticing. Surely, a little peeking around at them couldn't hurt...]

That's not a bad idea.

[She looks fascinated by the texts. He clears his throat.]

And if you'd like to look through these, they're quite interesting themselves, too.

[He raises his eyebrows, and adds:] Let me know if there's anything that's difficult for you to read. It's my native language.

Oh? I'll keep that in mind.

[She smiles at him and grabs a book off the shelf, not needing to be given permission twice. If there's passages she doesn't understand, Ayumu will be sure to take him up on his offer. But as it stands, these might be a good test of her own language abilities. Maybe she should look for other books as well, just to get a handle on her capabilites. Briefly, her conversation with Munakata comes to mind.]ir

But I want to see what else I can read first.

[In this sense, not having any memories is a little exciting. There's a lot to discover about herself, too.]

Of course.

[Perhaps they can bond after all. Intellectual curiosity is a plus. Hakkai smiles, inclines his head to her, and heads out to investigate the garden.

He only recognizes about half of the plants, but, after ten or fifteen minutes of browsing, he's concluded that the ones that aren't culinary are medicinal or unfamiliar. There are even some plants he's only seen in old herbaries, never in person, and a few delicate sprays of ginseng growing on a slope under a quince.

He reaches out to try plucking one of the ripe fruit and is surprised by a twinge from his arm. He glances down at it to find that he's been outside long enough that the bruise is well on the way to dark purple.

Back inside it is, to where the salve is still waiting on the workbench, and to see if Ayumu's still reading.]

You were right. The garden is impressive.

May Training

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