Open ♔ My pri may be pri, but it’s the pri in “prince”, pri!

[priforprince]

Who: Hibiki and you, pri
When: July 27, pri
Where: Harajuku, pri
What: An unusual ayakashi is preying upon Japan’s cutest citizens, pri.
Warnings: Pri-ating the dead horse that is Hibiki's phobia, pri. (Live horse also included. Pri.)


[ In an area of town as style-conscious as Harajuku, various fads come and go. The latest craze, however, seems to be completely involuntary: anyone visiting these two particular blocks of the area will find themselves compelled to add a cutesy suffix or “sentence ender” to the ends of whatever they say. What’s worse, the effect doesn’t seem to wear off for quite some time after leaving, and the longer people use their sentence enders, the fonder they grow of them.

This is causing no end of additional discord to erupt as friends and loved ones slowly cannot stand being around their affected acquaintances anymore.

Particularly adept or powerful gods and shinki may notice an ayakashi-like smoke issuing from people’s mouths as they use their sentence enders. The source is somewhere in town, hiding out. Lurking. Enjoying inflicting itself upon its unsuspecting victims, and growing stronger from ingesting said smoke. Why, it's even affecting any gods and shinki who wander into its territory...

Into this mess, preoccupied by dreams of revolution, rides one Shikyoin Hibiki on a literal white horse. (Don’t ask.) If she’s going to attract PriPara to the Near Shore, she imagines it’ll be touching down where Parajuku should be, as it’s the closest PriPara location to her shrine. Best scope out the area to be sure there’s nothing of use there right now….

But what is this chill in the midsummer air, and this deep-rooted sense of terror-stricken foreboding? ]

Comments

[handle]

[ Sorey definitely notices that something is strange.

It isn't just the strange fog - there's a strange case of people seeming to say things at the end of their sentences. He'd heard about it, but it's... definitely strange to see it all now.

However, it's not just the people around, nor is it the ayakashi that draw Sorey's attention. It's the fact that he sees Hibiki approaching him on a horse. He'd met Hibiki once before, and... he'd noticed that she was a little peculiar.

He speaks when she's close enough, looking upwards at the God before him. ]

You're... hibiki, right?

[priforprince]

[ Hey, one man's peculiar is another Prince's aesthetic. Hibiki certainly seems to neither notice nor mind any attention she's attracting. She's too busy feeling uneasy, though at the sight of someone actually addressing her, she reins the horse in. ]

...I am.

[ What of it? ]

[handle]

It's good to see you again.

[ Sorey greets her. He remembers when she was trying to teach him how to fish... He's still grateful for things back then. ]

Are you checking out the area here, too? I heard about what was happening, but... [ He looks around, wincing . ]

[priforprince]

Happening?

[ Hibiki frowns. That sounds ominous. In fact....

She's starting to feel a chill. But surely, it's nothing. Nothing Shikyoin Hibiki can't handle. ]

What do you mean?

[ Behind them, a pair of pedestrians spot each other in the crowd and head towards each other, waving... ]

[handle]

[ Sorey looks pauses for a moment, feeling that same chill that Hibiki felt. It almost feels as though something is tugging at him - telling him to look over that way.

So, he does. ]

Look - There! Do you see it? [ The smoke that's coming out of their mouths as they seak... ]

[freezetheheavens]

[Aside from being thrust into a place he's never been to before, it honestly isn't much too different from what Toushirou already does when a war isn't to be fought.

However, during a patrol, he notices the fog coming from people's mouths, a hint of a frown on his face. Sentence-enders seemed to be the common victims, even if Toushirou seemed a little put off by it in general. While the victims are still around, it's a different matter to find the one responsible.

Which leads him to seeing Hibiki on a white horse, so he soon appears in front of her.]

What are you doing?

[priforprince]

[ Accosted by a stranger. This happens far too frequently for Hibiki's liking when she is not accompanied by a retinue who can talk to strangers for her, but on the whole, it's no great imposition.

Doesn't mean she'll stop the horse, though. Just slow it. You're not that interesting. ]

Heading down the street.

[ Ask a silly question, etc.

Though, it's the strangest thing. She had almost...for a moment....her lips had started forming another syllable when she'd finished talking. One might almost suspect -

That couldn't be possible. Could it? ]

[freezetheheavens]

[He raises an eyebrow.]

On a horse.

[Why? but his attention is immediately caught when he notices her lips about to form another syllable. It has his eyes narrowing, almost as if suspecting something.

She's not afflicted by the one causing this too, is she?]

[priforprince]

[ Don't get ahead of yourself, sir. You too are standing in the affected area. Perhaps you may be in for a rude awaken-pring.

Hibiki sniffs. ] What better conveyance for a pr--

[ But then she cuts herself off. She had. She had almost punned on that. And, worse, she'd almost....

Head snapping up, alert as a stalwart knight sensing danger, Hibiki pri-mes her ears and listens. This isn't the Gobi Desert. No matter how lacking this world may be, it wouldn't afflict two places with the same disharmonpri.

Would it? ]

[declamando]

[Maria's mostly here for normal clothes shopping, though she can't say she isn't also scoping out potential fashions for Sparkle Motion to try out in future shows. It's good to keep abreast of the fashion situation in an industry like this, especially when it tends to progress so quickly. She has Uta with her today as well - the soulless shinki mostly switches between two sets of clothes, but Maria wants to provide her a few more for the sake of courtesy, and just in case something ever goes wrong.

The sight of Hibiki riding a white horse is...difficult to miss, though, and Maria watches her for a few moments before actually approaching. The tall woman with her hair folded into a bun remains a respectful distance behind.]

Are you sure it's safe to bring a horse into an area this densely packed with people?

[priforprince]

...Queen Maria.

[ For this esteemed personage, Hibiki will rein in the horse entirely. Said horse does Not look happy, but it's also not running pedestrians over with Hibiki hanging from the stirrups, so, so far so good.

What's more, Maria has one of those thoughtful concerns people sometimes have about people who aren't geniuses! Hibiki doesn't quite smile - she's too distracted by...whatever's making her tense...for that, but she does keep her tone light. ] It's all right. My mastery has been acknowledged.

[ The horse sneezes. ]

[declamando]

[As long as the horse isn't hurting anyone, Maria is satisfied with that much. She has her doubts Hibiki would've brought it if she didn't have good control of it, for the sake of her pride if nothing else, so she'll take some reassurance in that.

The horse's sneeze does make her mouth pull into a slight smile, though.] So I see. But I have to ask why you brought it out here in the first place. It doesn't seem like an ideal place for horseriding.

[priforprince]

[ Sorry, Hibiki doesn't follow. It's a conveyance, isn't it? And this is a street. Not a problem. ]

I can't sightsee on a motorcycle.

[ And forget trying to charter a chauffeur as a denizen of the Far Shore. She has tried.

They never pick her up. ]

[talkbirdytome]

[Hiyoko is here mostly out of curiosity, having heard some pretty strange rumors lately. The appearance of an actual prince on a white horse derails that goal nicely though.]

Wow! You're like Don Quixote riding boldly out to face the nefarious windmills!

[Is that even a complement?]

Gotta say that is quite an entrance. Maybe I should get a noble steed...

i made this up but it seemed feasible

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki is the type of person who would end up starring in an adaptation of Man of La Pancha where the noble Don was an attractive young man instead of a deluded old one, so she takes this as a compliment.

It's also remarkably, well, coherent from someone she last saw spearing her property and making off with it who knows where. But she's not about to give away her connection to the goat. ]

They require discipline.

[ SHE IS NOT ABOUT TO GIVE AWAY HER CONNECTION TO THE GOAT ]

That would be a hilarious movie

[talkbirdytome]

[That goat's head hangs in a place of honor over her mantle as befits a worthy and rare foe.]

I bet. Fancy guy like that must be pretty demanding.

[The offending spear is actually strapped to her back right now. It jostles just a bit as she shrugs.]

But I figure that if I can handle negotiating an alliance with bears, I can probably manage a horse.

hibiki singing a solo as she goes around and around hanging off a windmill

[priforprince]

[ ....She's. Wearing the.

Of course she is. The...natural...type to the core, this one.

And not in a refreshing way. ]

They're not so-

[ Wait. What was. What was that?

Hibiki frowns. A chill just ran up her spine, from her seat to the top of her head. But, why? She was already conversing with this...huntress.... ]

[lookingforhead]

[Celty's noticed the strangeness going on around her. First the general unease, and then the smoke that's filtering around. It's not until she inspects a bit closer that she overhears the altered speech patterns and how people are reacting do it. A few quick tests confirm that her own shadow control isn't on the same wavelength as the effect of the Ayakashi.

But then she spots Hibiki, and more importantly the horse she rode in on. Celty breaks out into a run, following after her. By the time she catches up she's bent over, one hand on a knee while the other holds up her phone to be read. In spite of her nature, her shoulders are rising and falling like she's trying to catch her breath. Her spelling is none the better for typing while running.]

Where wdid your bget that horese?

[Priorities. She has them.]

[priforprince]

[ Well, that's unusual. Hibiki looks down from her lofty position, not especially moved by this display, but she will rein in the horse to read the message.

And keep her opinions of the spelling to herself, for now. ]

....It's a rental.

[lookingforhead]

[The spelling cleans up this time around, now that's she a little less frantic.]

A rental? Where did you have to go? How much did it cost?

[Whether she has to go to the Near or Far Shore for it seems relevant too.]

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki still has her receipt, conveniently, so she hands it over. Looks like the horse is from a riding club operating out of a park here in the city, and she paid

quite a lot

of cash. ]

Are you that interested in equestrianism?

[ Not that it's any skin off her (perfectly-shaped) nose. Nobody's ever had that reaction to her horse before, however. ]

[water_meebo]

[ Mikleo cannot for the life of him understand why every time he sees Hibiki, something incredulous happens. It's not that he was actively seeking her out but rather he always found himself catching her in really awkward situations.

Right now she was riding a white horse.... a white horse. He couldn't really process this at all but fine whatever, there were more important things than someone on a white horse. Of course, a terrorizing Ayakashi wasn't exactly hard to discover either but he would rather deduct the overall situation than assume. ]

Hibiki-- what exactly is going on?

[ Somewhere along the line they exchanged names right? If not he probably remembered it from hearing other people talk about her or the network itself. ]

[priforprince]

[ Ah, her imitation. Hibiki reins in the horse, still glancing around. What? What's amiss? Was it his being here? No, he's hardly that unpleasant.... ]

It's likely nothing. [ That's right, isn't it? She's worried over nothing. ] When mingling with the common folk, these disturbances will happen.

[ She does not consider the horse noteworthy at all. ]

[water_meebo]

[ Honestly, he would like it if she stopped calling him her imitation. He wasn't trying to be her!!! ]

I kind of doubt that. There's something unsettling about everything right now.

[ He presses. ]

...Where did you even get a horse?

[priforprince]

I rented it.

[ Offhandedly, she says it. As if this is the most natural thing in the world.

Said horse tosses its head. Perhaps it knows it's being discussed, or perhaps it, too, senses an uneasiness as a waft of mysterious smoke waves by....

....sending a chill up Hibiki's spine so potent that she sits up, back poker-straight, teeth rattling. Her eyes lose focus. Wh. What...

Why is she suddenly terrified? ]