thenearshore | [closed] here comes the hard sell from the top

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[closed] here comes the hard sell from the top

Who: Cho Hakkai, Ayumu Yamazaki
What: Mission #04
Where: Near the Soulless Shinki temple
When: July 22
Warnings: Ayakashi-typical body horror, violence

[It's hot and still in the Heavens, with a soft drone of cicadas floating over a landscape bursting with greenery. The azaleas are fading, and hydrangea and wisteria have taken their place, blue and purple clusters of blooms dotting the landscape around the temple where the soulless shinki, or so Dokugakuji had claimed, stayed.

Ayumu was by his side, and Banri -- that is, Asshole; it was still too easy to think of him by the youkai name he'd once had -- was pacing the two of them a few steps behind. It shouldn't be too dangerous a trip, he thought, but an ayakashi had come here at least once before. That poor girl they'd had to try an ablution on had been attacked in the Heavens.

And so, just in case, he'd brought the man whose form was a weapon as well as Ayumu, whose other form he still wasn't sure how to use in an attack. They'd have to spend some time really working out her powers.

The temple is just visible in the distance. There are a few forms moving around it, ant-sized from here, but apparently peaceful. Still... there's something on the air, and it's not just the scent of wisteria blossoms.]

Can you feel that?

[Youki, or the scent of an ayakashi? He doesn't think Ayumu can sense youkai energy. If she can feel it, too, there may be another ayakashi about....]

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Something's amiss. It's too quiet. The air is tense, as if something's waiting to strike.

[A slight tremor of nervousness runs through their bond though outwardly, Ayumu remains composed, her cool mask of professionalism firmly in place. It's her first mission for the Heavens and as a shinki; she needs to do well. It'll be her first time encountering the enemy but she can't let that hinder the outcome.]

Is it an ayakashi?

[She'll defer to him; he's the more experienced one.]

I think it may be.

[His chin lifts, his eyes narrowing with concentration as he turns his head as though tracking a scent. He can't quite pinpoint the location of the discordant note in the soft summer air; not precisely, not when it's still so faint, but he has the general direction. It's somewhere ahead of them. Somewhere, perhaps, near the temple.

It's a good day to have chosen to check on the vulnerable spirits there, Hakkai thinks. His mouth presses into a flat, worried line, and he picks up the pace.

In belated response to the tremor of unease he'd felt from her, he tosses her a quick smile.]

We've showed up just in time. Let's hurry.

[The smile helps soothe her a little. Ayumu manages a faint one in return, suppressing her anxiety even more. She can't be a liability in this fight, even if it is her first day of active duty. Protecting him is her purpose, as is the extermination of these beasts. Whatever personal feelings she has about it have no place here.]

Of course, Hakkai-sama.

[There's a bit more confidence in her tone, as well as determination. There's few better cures for fear of the unknown than simply facing it.]

What do you know about the enemy?

[She starts heading toward the temple.]

They come in a variety of shapes and capabilities, which makes it hard to generalize. Larger ones are generally more dangerous.

Borderlines can stop them or cut through them. Although they'll recover quickly from any wounds inflicted short of destruction, cutting off limbs slows them down. Any touch from an ayakashi, even their bodily fluids, will blight you while you're in this form, but you're immune to that blight in your vessel form.

[Asshole is a silent shadow behind them, and Hakkai casts a glance back at him. If there is an ayakashi --]

Shiki, come!

[The blond youkai disappears in a scarlet flash, whipping into mist and reforming as a sword in Hakkai's hand. It's a broad-bladed saber, plainly built but still reminiscent enough of his first form that he's strangely uncomfortable with it.

He knows how to use that sort of weapon, though. It'll be enough.

Something shifts at the temple, half-concealed by the thickly planted trees, but with the sickly glitter of purple that Hakkai immediately recognizes. He slows, and points it out to Ayumu.]

There. Ready, Ayumu?

Yes.

[The more she knows, the less uneasy she feels. Even a quick skeletal briefing like this is enough for her to work off of. Anything else she needs, she can figure out through observation. If Ayumu's feeling perturbed by that glimpse of something unnatural, it's buried deep.]

The sooner we take care of it, the better.

[She'd told one of her fellow shinki such on the day of her arrival - kills should be swift, precise, and efficient.]

[So they should. Hakkai offers her a sharp nod, looking ahead at the creature as it shakes the trees.

It's distant, but even distant, the wrongness of it raises the hairs on the back of his neck. And the soulless shinki there -- whether they're truly soulless or just damaged by the spell that brought them here, as Hakkai believes --- have no defense.

He focuses, planning to call her into her vessel form so that he's wearing her. He's seen other gods do that with clothing shinki, and while he can take the time to don her robe form if he must, it would be faster.]

Come, Maiki!

[It's faster this way, indeed. Ayumu's form dissolves and reforms into her kimono vessel form. Perhaps she's a bit too snug on Hakkai's frame, particularly across his shoulders. and the fabric falls a bit short on his legs. It'd been her kimono once, after all, and as her unfortunate attempts to wear his clothes have established, they're not the same size. But then again, her taller brother had been able to wear it without much difficulty so maybe Hakkai's lucky.]

Go on ahead. I'll figure out how to protect you from here.

[It's going to take a little experimentation on her end but she's comfortable with learning and mastering skills while under pressure. A smaller margin for error makes for an excellent motivator to perform well.]

[Hakkai has the pared-down wiry build of a man who's been traveling hard for years, so even though he's much taller than she is, the fit on the kimono is not too bad as it settles onto his shoulders. It is, still, a bit short. He rolls his shoulders back, checking how well he can move, and nods, breaking into a run. Ahead, the ayakashi heaves itself up, a massive yellow-eyed head turning towards them.]

Let me know immediately if you're in any danger. I don't know your strengths in this form yet.

[The ayakashi had been perched on the roof of an outbuilding near the Soulless Shinki temple, sniffing and tilting its horned head at the various Soulless walking around. It started to unfurl its wings and lean over to strike at one when it caught that smell of a god and two shinki heading towards it.

With its mouth opening wide, it starts to hiss: ]

S̷͟͢M̛͘͟E̴L̨̛L̴̡S͝͏ G̵̢O̢̨͝O͟D!͞͡҉ ̶͝S͞O ̕̕͜G҉͏O̴̡͟O͜͢D̵.̨.҉.̡̧̀

[From there, it lifts into the air and hovers above the god wielding his two shinki while one of the Soulless - the ayakashi's intended target - looks on.]

[What can she even do in this form? It's a shame that the shinki training didn't include a session in what Ayumu's powers even were. Is it even possible to draw a borderline in this form? She just doesn't know. Her own instinct is to attack the creature herself but nothing happens so whatever it is she does, it's not that. They're in its sights now and it's hovering above them.

She spots what appears to be the ayakashi's target, her mind working quickly to come up with a strategy.]

Don't worry about me, Hakkai-sama! Worry about yourself and that person over there! I'll be fine.

[There's a slight rise in frustration through their bond. It's not directed at him or the situation, assignments are what they are. It's entirely at herself and her own apparent lack of knowledge and experience at facing this kind of adversary. Whatever life she'd lived, it hadn't been spent fighting creatures like this.]

I hope you know what you're doing with that sword. If you see an opening to wound it, take it.

[Her frustration echoes at the edges of his mind, and the corner of his mouth turns up as he looks coolly up at the ayakashi hovering above them. Asshole -- as Hakkai's already noticed is his style -- has fallen completely silent, as though he's no more than a real blade in Hakkai's hand.

The creature is still close to the outbuilding, and Hakkai casts a quick glance at it -- sturdy walls, stone -- and then breaks into fluid movement. He runs towards the outbuilding, breathing in and then out as he flings himself into a leap, twisting in midair to plant his feet on the outbuilding's wall and shove off again, with all of his strength, towards the ayakashi. He braces his palm against the hilt of the sword, ready to sink it deeply into the spirit's corrupted substance and use it as leverage to flip over its body and land on the other side.

If no one makes any unexpected moves, of course. There's a part of his mind wondering about the toughness of the creature's skin and the thick, shaggy fur covering it, and a part hoping that, if it does stop his blade and he falls onto it, Ayumu's fabric will prevent the blight from going too deep.]

[The ayakashi was clearly not expecting a rush attack, especially since it required Hakkai to jump up and towards it in the process. It start flapping its wings anxiously. With one massive beat, its wings were extended outwards - enough for Hakkai to get in close and stab it. On the next beat however, as Hakkai tried to launch himself upwards, the ayakashi was flapping in a way that tried to knock the god aside - and cause some superficial blighting in the process.

Either way, the sword was going to end up stuck in part of the ayaskhi, enough to make it scream in frustration that its would-be meal is no longer so easy to get at. It'll be trying to fly higher, but now with some difficulty due to the placement of the sword more than any pain from it.]

[It's strange focusing on defensive measures like this when quick brutal offense feels like such a natural response to Ayumu. But armor is the role she's designated to play in this fight and play it she shall. As long as she's Hakkai's shinki, she won't let it touch him.

She might be new to this but her reflexes remain as quick as ever, her fabric stretching out to shield Hakkai from the creature's wing buffet. If anything, Ayumu's reaction time is even swifter than usual now that she's free to observe, analyze, and think freely, leaving the actual killing to her god. This amount of blighting burns a little but it's easy enough to withstand.

Just like in human form, as pretty and delicate as Ayumu seems, she's tougher than she appears.]

If you can pull your sword free, keep attacking and try to keep it off-balance. We have the advantage for now.

[Hakkai twists as the wing strikes him and stabs, hardly caring where the blade lands. It sinks deep into the muscle just over the ayakashi's wing joint, and he feels Ayumu's fabric twist with equally swift reaction as the massive wing sweeps up and over to buffet him. Only one feather edge scores his face, leaving a thin line of blight that burns like acid: easy to ignore.

His death-grip on Shiki's hilt is all that saves him from tumbling to the ground below, and for a moment, his body swings free over thin air as the ayakashi labors for more height.

Ayumu's comment gets a swift sense of wordless assent in response, and he tightens his grip on Shiki and swings up, landing in a crouch on the ayakashi's shoulders. The blade itself is lodged deep, and resists when he tries to pull it free. Lodged in bone, perhaps.

Do ayakashi have bones? Curiosity doesn't distract him from releasing the hilt and calling.]

Return, Hoshiimamai -- [and, as Asshole's body wisps into temporary smoke and begins to reform, but before the soulless shinki can take enough form to risk blight from the ayakashi under their feet--] -- come, Shiki!

[There. Blade in hand, he darts forward a few feet, and drives it down at the back of the ayakashi's neck before it can recover from the removal of the sword in its wing.]

[There's a brutal tenacity to Hakkai that few ayakashi are on the receiving end of in the Far Shore. Only a god like Yato had made them experience such swift justice. The ayakashi was taken by surprise and Hakkai's gambit worked as it struggled to track the forms and functions of his two shinki working in tandem alongside the god's own physical assault.

Before the question of bone in ayakashi can be answered, the spirit fades - vanquished - with a squawking death scream as Hakkai is left to his own devices for landing on his own two feet.

The shinki that had been watching, meanwhile, dares to venture closer as the awful tremor in the air that had been the ayakashi's presence is only a lingering sensation now.]

[And it's over far more quickly than Ayumu had anticipated upon seeing the creature. Are all ayakashi this fragile? It'd looked big, even a little intimidating but she supposes that goes to show how deceiving appearances can be. It's not in her to be cocky but she'd expected it to be more of a threat.

Then again, she wasn't the one doing the actual fighting. All she'd done is focus on defense.]

Well, I guess that's that.

[Ayumu's 'tone' is a little incredulous and tinged with belief. She truly hadn't excepted it to fall so easily.]

Nice work.

[Hakkai falls as the ayakashi's substance dissolves under him, and throws his hands wide to avoid slashing himself with his own sword as he tumbles on impact and comes up on one knee. That fall is definitely going to add a few bruises to the minor spots of blight.]

So it is. I suspect there's a reason that ayakashi was attacking helpless shinki.

[It hadn't been a serious threat -- not, at least, to the three of them. Ayumu's battle instincts were sound, even in an unfamiliar form.]

... and we work well together. Thank you for your help. Ayumu, return.

[Just in case, he's not returning Asshole to his youkai form just yet. Instead, he glances curiously at the approaching shinki.]

Good afternoon. Are you hurt?

[The kimono dissipates and reforms into Ayumu just in time for her to see the shinki shake his head. She notices that Hakkai hasn't returned their blond cohort to his original form yet so she decides to stay vigilant herself just in case there are any more ayakashi lurking hidden in the trees.]

Yes, we do. I admit I'm relieved. You handle a sword well.

[It's one less thing to be concerned about, at least. Her god can fight and she's capable of supporting him in combat, even if she's still not quite what her power's supposed to be. Ayumu will just have to keep practicing that along with her borderlines and spells until she can figure it out.]

Why, thank you. It's not my preferred weapon, but I have a little experience.

[He flashes Ayumu a quick smile, and then refocuses on the soulless shinki. There's no visible blight, nor any wounds; it seems it's true that the ayakashi hadn't had time to injure him.

That raises, of course, the question of why he's approaching them.]

Then how can we help you?

[The soulless shinki stares at them for a few seconds before pressing his hands to his sides and bowing politely.

"Please let me serve you."

Hakkai's cheery smile drops away instantly, leaving his face blank and a little cold. Naming another shinki? He feels sorry for the 'soulless' sort, yes. They've been badly damaged by whatever it is left them so quiet and compliant. That doesn't mean he wants another one.]

I'm sorry. I can't do that.

... But if you'd like a god, I can introduce you to a friend.

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[closed] here comes the hard sell from the top

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Round 1/5

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Round 2/5

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Mission Success

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