thenearshore | [open] this too shall pass

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[open] this too shall pass

Who: Chikusa Kakimoto, Ken Joshima, three different animals, and you
What: When a god leaves, there's always a few people who end up left behind. Chikusa and Ken deal with it in the only way they know how- badly.
When: August 16 to start with and some days after it
Where: The empty clearing where Hestia's temple used to be
Warnings: A closed ablution will be happening in one thread, so some mild body horror at the least. Also a pair of teenagers in mourning dealing with loss unhealthily.

Hestia's temple has never outwardly been impressive. It had been small, and white, and done in the traditional Greek style- no bigger than a small house at best. The most memorable part of it, for anyone who has passed through the Far Shore, has been the recent addition of a goat tethered right outside its front door where it kept the grass in check.

There's no front door for it to be tethered to now. That would be because there's no temple at all.

For those passing through the Far Shore, they might come across a completely empty clearing which now holds nothing at all. And for those not inclined to wander? They might be drawn to it instead by the sound of what sounds like a dog or wolf howling.

That would be Ken.

All that's left in the clearing which once held Hestia's temple would be a pair of teenage boys, a roaming goat, a split-tailed demon cat which eyes any intruders warily, and Bon the Tibetan Mastiff who occasionally joins in with Ken's howling.

Oh. And the piles and piles and piles of various canned goods, snacks, and other such non-perishable foods that are scattered everywhere with no apparent rhyme or reason. The god and his temple may have gone but not, for some mystical reason, the literal hoards of food his shinki gathered throughout it.

To the side, Chikusa is curled up by a pair of large but simple duffel bags, his arms wrapped loosely around his long legs and his head bowed.

Ken is nearer the center of the clearing, on his knees. Once anyone who's come to investigate the din gets closer, the howls that sounded so purely canine at a distance become less so. From up close, they sound more like a strange cross-breed of a howl and a scream of pure anguish - with the tears on Ken's face suggesting the latter is closer to the truth. The impressive volume he's achieving further suggests that he'll continue until he's either heard by his god - wherever he's gone - or until his throat is so bloody and raw that he can't actually make sounds anymore.

A particularly close observer may be able to note that, on Ken at least, there's hints of blight already visible - a faint dark bruising creeping up the back of his neck, peeking out over the collar of his shirt. It's hard to tell if either shinki is aware of it.

[OOC: Let us know if you want Chikusa, Ken, or somehow both of them to respond to.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[With how much time the animals spend around Ken, it's not exactly a secret that there's blight on his skin. Ironclaw- or, as she's more commonly known, Pookie- isn't alarmed by this. She's seen Chikusa's blight experiments and how easily it get washed away with shrine water, so.... No big deal, right?]

[It's only when she's climbing one of the nearby trees and glances down at Chikusa's back that she realizes what a problem is on her paws as a trio of eyes stares at her from the back of his neck.]

[Her first solution is to try and get Bon to listen to her, although she's not sure why she tries. All he does is bolt off in the direction away from the school, leaving Pookie to travel on Pezzente the goat. That is how, on one side of the Far Shore, Bon plays Lassie to one Butch Cassidy and, on the other side, Pookie screeches her little heart out until Hakkai finally goes to see what the ruckus is.]

[The end result? Two different gods being lead by two different animals to the same spot with amazingly little to go on.... despite the fact that one of those animals can talk. No one said cats were helpful.]

[When he finally reaches the clearing, running after the split-tailed cat who streaks ahead of him on goat-back with occasional pauses to look back and exhort him to hurry up, Hakkai understands.

Cats may not be helpful, but cats have more loyalty than they're commonly given credit for. Hakkai nods to her, briefly, and heads straight for Chikusa. He drops to one knee beside the boy.]

Your god.

[It's not a question. He knows the freshly-turned look of the soil all too well, and Ken hasn't stopped howling since Hakkai came within earshot. He casts a glance towards the other shinki.]

[For a moment, it almost seems as if Chikusa is ignoring him, or unable to hear Hakkai- a far cry from the teenager who is usually fairly intune with his surroundings. Yet after a few long seconds, he curls in tighter on himself, and one slow hand reaches up to curl its fingers into his purple striped knit beanie so that he can tug it just a little further down the front.]

[He doesn't want to talk. Not to anyone- at least those who are still here. The only person he wants to speak with is gone, and who knows if he'll come back?]

[However, the movement of his hat disrupts his hair, nudging it just enough.... that a dull violet eye can be seen along the curve of his neck, slowly shifting to focus on Hakkai.]

[If Chikusa's noticed it, he hasn't paid it any mind.]

[closed] Ablution x 2

the animals get the adults

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Pre-Fuckery

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a boy and his dog

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Ablution

The vets will see you now, Ken

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