thenearshore | 19 | Peaceful Departure

Who: Everyone!
What: Celebrating Obon
When: Evening August 10
Where: The Near Shore
Summary: Mortals may be partying, but there's lots of work for the denizens of the Far Shore to do.

It's the final day of Obon and spirits are being sent back to their homes -- both the ancestral spirits that have been welcomed home for the duration of the festival and the mischievous spirits that have been plaguing the Heavens. But some of them might not go easy, so Amaterasu has requested that gods and shinki old and new alike help ensure the spirits' peaceful departure.

Mukae-bi

Fires have been lit on hillsides and near cemeteries to lead the spirits back to their resting places and to protect them on their way, but angry ghosts and ayakashi are trying to quench the fires so they can attack weaker spirits. Keep the firewood stocked and the fires blazing high while you fight off the attacks.

Heavenly Exorcisms

Guarding the Gates

Hidden pathways into the underworld in caves throughout Japan are open from sunset to moonset on this night to allow the spirits who have temporarily left to return. Gods and shinki must watch over these pathways and ensure that no dangerous ayakashi take the opportunity to escape from the underworld before the moon sets.

After-party

After the moon sets, the denizens of the Heavens can finally kick back. Everyone is invited to a private hot spring on the Far Shore, where a midnight banquet spread is waiting in thanks for their hard work. Wash off any blight in the hot springs and enjoy the banquet before heading back home for a good night's sleep.

In Summary:

Keep the fires burning
Exorcise those annoying spirits
Fight powerful ayakashi
Enjoy a banquet
Have fun~

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[That's true. It feels a little unsettling even talking about thinking about it. The nature of their existence now, on the other hand, she's free to think about as much as she'd like.]

I'm not sure I'd be able to get along without a head, though. Do you not get hungry either? ... I think I could get away without talking if I had to; but if I couldn't sing, I wouldn't be able to perform...

[Her train of thought has gone so far on this already, and only now does she realize that this might not be the most polite track for the conversation to follow.]

Ah... I mean... y-you don't have to talk about that anymore, if you don't want to! I've just... never met anyone who didn't have their head... you know... attached.

It's okay. I think I'm okay with it because this is who I am. Like, I must have always been like this. Or something like it. I do wonder where my head might be but I don't feel like it's...missing if that makes sense?

[She doesn't know why, but since she's been here she's at least been reassured by a sense, a gut feeling, that wherever her head is, if it exists, it's okay. Or at least nothing she needs to worry about.]

It's fine. It's nice to not have to worry about frightening people. I don't know whether to say it's nice to be your first or to be sad you can't introduce me to others like me.

[There's a pause, and then she adds a wink emoji to make it clear she's joking.]

[There's a moment where Natsuru blinks and it is very plainly obvious that she has no clue what to say. A moment that feels much longer to her than it would to the headless woman. It's just a brief pause, and then she's visibly relieved when she sees the wink emoji. You had her going for a second there, Celty.]

W-Well, you get used to this sort of thing here, right? There's much scarier things than a person who doesn't have a head. Especially when she's really nice.

[Ah, that just slipped out. It's a quick judgment, yes, but Natsuru feels pretty certain of it. Still, she blushes at just blurting it out like that.]

[Celty's neck and shoulders roll in a soft nod at Natsuru's breakdown. She won't deny she's unique and certainly stands out among the others by the absence of her head, but she's hardly the strangest thing about their community of Shinki and Gods. Or at least she's not much more strange than the next person.

At being called nice though the shadows that stream from her stump grow a bit thicker. Almost as if she's blushing.]

Thank you. You're nice too.

[It's incredible how Celty's body language seems to suggest at what her head might be doing if she had it attached. Even though Natsuru's not really thinking about it, she feels a strange kinship with the woman at the feeling of warmth rising to her own cheeks. Which is ridiculous, Celty obviously can't blush. But maybe she feels the same, regardless.]

Th-Thank you...

I mean, you know... we're all in this together. It's... nice, having friends to rely on. Especially for shinki.

[Or so she assumes. It's not like she agonizes over her lack of memory of friends or family she might have had before. She literally can't, it's part of her nature as a shinki. But... the absence of those memories might make the connections she forges here that much more important to her.]

Yes. I think so too.

[Celty's not been here long enough to think of things quite the same way as Natsuru, not measuring the value of the friendships in relation to the absence of what might have once been there.

Rather, it's nice, and really just enough and all she needs, to have people with whom she can trust to know who she is. Deep down she feels like she herself is enough to declare her own existence, but it's nice to be able to let her guard down. A guard she's been keeping up more to protect others than herself.]

[Natsuru's smile brightens at Celty's agreement. It's official as far as she's concerned. They're friends, or at least they can be now that they're getting to know each other.]

I've never been friends with a dullahan before, you know. I don't... really know where to look, when we're talking...

[That's especially difficult since they're in a communal bath together at the moment. And they just met. This seems like the sort of thing one should clear up early in a new friendship, though.]

That's another reason I have the helmet. Just pretend my eyes are up here I guess.

[She waves her hand around the smoky shadows. The top of her neck makes a good focal point too.

She then pauses briefly as a silly thought wiggles into her mind.

'Did I just say "my eyes are up here?".' Her shoulders shake in a soft silent chuckle at the absurdity of it.]

[That gets Natsuru to purse her lips briefly, almost holding back a small chuckle. She noticed that specific phrase too. It's funny, but it does make her blush a little.]

Okay, sure!

[And with that, she manages to focus her attention on the odd smoky shadows where Celty's head should ideally be.]

Do you wear a helmet everywhere? That seems a little inconvenient...

I had it with me since I arrived here so I guess there's a reason I had it. If there's anything else I used when I was alive I don't remember.

But it does stand out sometimes.

Mm. [She nods in agreement.] ... Probably better than going around without it, though.

[She looks ever so slightly guilty at that, thinking back on what went through her mind when she first saw a headless woman in the bath. If it were out in public, Celty would have stood out even more.]

Ah, but it doesn't bother me, okay? So you don't have to worry about it if it's just us!

[Will they be hanging out like this in the future? Who knows! But Natsuru wants to leave that door open!]

I appreciate that. Thank you. And please don't feel offended if I choose to wear it.

[She squirms a bit, in a good mood. Adjusted as she is to her state, she's still happy everyone has been so accepting of her. But sometimes it just feels right to wear the helmet and she hopes that a mood of the moment doesn't cause accidental offense or worry either.]

I think I might go, but thank you for talking with me. It was nice to meet you.

Not at all! Whatever you feel like is fine.

[She doesn't mind, as long as Celty understands she doesn't have to if she doesn't want to. It must be uncomfortable wearing a helmet all the time... or maybe it's not, since she doesn't actually have a head under it? Anyway, Natsuru's smile remains as Celty begins her farewell, and she nods in reply.]

All right. It was nice to meet you, too. [Blushing slightly, she adds:] I hope we can talk again sometime...

[She thinks she'd like to get to know Celty better. Though, maybe with more wearing clothes, next time.]

19 | Peaceful Departure

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