thenearshore | just fishin' [open]

Entry tags:

just fishin' [open]

Who: Caster and you
When: September 3rd - 6th
Where: Rivers, lakes and ponds of the Far Shore
What: fishing, troubles, also dogs

[ Do you remember those fishes splashing people and laughing? Caster does, and as he finally finished crafting his weapon - a grand, hand-made fishing rod. Then proceed to get a can of bait and a can of beer for good measure, and there he goes to find the revenge. ]

1. I luv my fishes cuz they are delicious - 3rd to 5th September

[ When he's fishing in the river near his temple, two big white dogs accompany him. One is sleeping and providing a fluffy back-rest to lean on. The other is a bit too hyper, chasing some insects or mice and greeting anyone approaching too close with a happy bark, and a tail wag.

Though he is alone when fishing not near his property but at various ponds, lakes, and rivers found on the Far Shore - did he just trespass at your place? oops!

Incidentally, you might come at him carefully unhooking a koi and... talking to it, apparently ]

Huh, now you're just a normal fish? Who's laughing now?!

[ The fish flops in his grip terrified. It's a pitiful sight, and it's not like he's going to get a reply out of it ]

Eh, you're too small for even get a bite.

[ And surprisingly gently he lets it back to the water. With an abundance of food, any fishing is going to be catch-and-release. ]

That will teach you a lesson! [ Yeah, go, tell those fishes where is their place... yeah ]

2. It's kappastic! - 6th September

[ Several days and several terrified kois later, he's really having a good day. Sitting on a bridge in silence. He just knows it. This will be the day of that epic catch, the majestic fishing experience! It's possibly the most uninteresting hobby under the sun, but if he could spend time on it regularly, he would.

Fresh air, picturesque landscapes of the Heavens, and nice warm weather, what to want more? Suddenly there's bite on the line - just like he expected! - and... the rod gets fully yanked out of his hands. ]

Wooa--!!

[ Certainly, not as expected. There's no way of saving it, the rod disappears far into the water being pulled by a massive catch-- What would be that massive catch turns to be something else. A kappa surfaces and holds the fishing rod for a few tense seconds. It maintains the eye contact with the fisher and slowly, so very slowly... breaks the rod piece by piece. ]

...oh, now it's personal..! [ Caster obviously takes it as an offense. He drops his cape - bracers and generally all unnecessary stuff that might limit his movement and leaps into the lake from the bridge, possibly water splashing an innocent bystander. The kappa is going to pay

That might not be the best idea ]

3. Peace offering - 6th September

[ Later and somewhere else most likely the strangest sight might be seen. Few lake brawls later, both Caster and the kappa seem to no longer be set on killing each other. The bruises and scratches are more visible on Caster, but anyone familiar with kappas - is there anyone like that there? - might notice that his opponent is in similarly poor shape.

The peace offering for the destroyed fishing rod is pretty simple - it's a pack of cigarettes. All is forgiven, they say - or rather, wave - their goodbyes, and Caster sits on a rock to enjoy what is going to be his first smoke in the Far Shore. Only to fail in lighting the cig up with small ansuz rune.

Obviously, it's sogging wet, kappas live underwater. ]

You cheating bastard!! [ He yells in the kappa direction, who is almost in the middle of the lake. Kappa just cackles, shows an obscene gesture and dives underwater. ]

Ugh, think these will work after drying?

4. Obligatory wildcard, [ Have something else in mind? Leave a comment and I'll write you a starter! Also feel free to play with and modify any of the above. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ That extreme seriousness and alertness start to remind him of a certain someone. ]

I haven't checked around there much... yet. If I notice them offending people with raunchy poetry it will give me a good excuse to go after them. [ He offers jokingly as a sort of middle-deal, but then he suddenly grows serious. ]

Do they got offended so easily? Gods, not fishes. [ Had to make that obvious, just in case. Disdain to the older gods he noticed once or twice already. Most intensely with the shinki guy with a bean-cap. That does make him curious - what's the reason exactly? ]

I've only heard old-fashioned haiku so far. [So the raunchy poetry joke falls a bit flat on Shun. Then again, most jokes fall a bit flat on him.

As for the more serious question, he inclines his head.] Some of them aren't too bad, but Amaterasu's advisors you'd want to tread carefully with if you meet them. They're powerful, and though one of the three is much more reasonable than the other two, none of them are that hard to offend.

[With all of them seeming to have the idea that being an old god means superiority, it's not that surprising.]

Eh, looks like some things never change. Back in my day Gods were ridiculously easy to offend as well. [ And it usually got you killed. But then the paths between the mortal world and otherworld are more intertwined and easier to pass. ]

Did something happen between the old and new generation? [ That's as good moment as any other to inquire ] Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but... you guys don't seem too fond of the elders.

Sounds like it's normal for them, then. I never had gods in my world, so I only found out about that here. [Mythology does tend to mention that sort of thing a lot, but Shun hadn't exactly been all that well-read on mythology before coming here.

Shun frowns slightly at the question, as if considering how to answer.] I wouldn't call it just something that happened as much as how they've handled things since we got here. They didn't tell us about shinki turning into ayakashi if they regained their memories until it happened to someone. It took newcomers asking for them to set up those training days as any kind of organised welcome - I was one of the people who told them to do it, but I doubt I was the only one. And it took a newcomer to set up writing those pamphlets shinki get, because otherwise they had to rely on their god to pass on the information. That sort of thing.

Well, back in my day the gods formed a unified front only when there was an outside threat. In the times of peace, it's each minding their own business. Or screwing up with mortals for some reason.

[ He puts a bait on the hook - that means impaling a worm on it. Kind of gross, but he seems unperturbed by doing that. With soft swing, he casts the line away from his spot ]

I'm not very familiar with this land, but I see no reason why its gods would be much different. The apathetic treatment can mean either that they assume even new gods can fend off for themselves, or- [ He tugs line back gently with a jerk of the rod - handmade rod, no reel, who needs modern inventions like that? ] -we are considered the threat.

[Considering what he's seen and heard in his time here, Shun isn't altogether surprised to hear that. Almost as soon as Caster is done, he inclines his head.]

We're definitely considered a threat. I've told Suijin a few times that the lack of information passed on to us is a problem and a lot of why we don't trust them, but apparently we're not widely trusted on their end enough for them to pass on sensitive information. At this rate, it's going to turn people against them more than it protects them.

[Ironically, he'd say the attacks on the Heavens have actually helped in keeping people reasonably sympathetic.]

Not trusting the new guy around, but they're still summoning those "new guys" in a bulk. Doesn't make much sense, there must be something else-

[ It is quite disheartening to hear that perhaps their assignment here was work of an accident or some godly infighting. That doesn't ease the feeling of being in a wrong place, but... you have to play with the cards you were dealt. ]

Even if we're just dumb kids in their eyes, you usually teach kids to handle themselves.

You're saying that as if they're the ones bringing us. [Not that the Heavens tend to let that on particularly often. They haven't gotten news about the supposed search for who's behind all this in months.

There's a slight hum from Shun, somewhere between agreement and thought.] There's throwing people into the deep end, but I suppose they think what they give us is enough. They have this ridiculous idea that we should take their word just because they say it.

Aren't they? [ He always assumed that they kind of did. That for some reason, Heavens needed to fill in the roles of all those weird not-Japanese gods ]

I thought we were always part of their plan- whatever it is. If not, then... [ -well shit, but he doesn't voice it. It means they're an accident and a burden. ]

Apparently not, though they don't admit it often. It's part of why they were so disorganised about us for so long. [But given exactly how long they'd been disorganised for, he doesn't consider it much of an excuse. He's been here five months, just about, he knows others who have been here even longer, and the routine welcome gatherings only started maybe a month and a half ago.]

We're not expected here, and I doubt we're really wanted. Which just makes getting anything out of the older gods harder.

Yeah, that kind of sucks. [ Accidental summoning is even worse than just lack of organization. You can get better at organizing things, but if they're an unwanted and possibly expendable presence, that's even worse ] Now I understand your scowl much better.

[ He would scowl too if he made a habit out of it ]

[Shun just raises a brow at him for that remark. If that was the only reason he had to be scowling, it would really be a lot better than things actually are around him.] You're clearly new if you haven't had the chance for them to annoy you that much. Though I think I remember seeing your hair at the last training.

[Possibly the one before as well? Shun likes to keep an eye on things, and people with fairly noteworthy physical features tend to get filed away very easily as someone he's spotted, if not actually engaged with or paid more attention to than getting a basic physical idea of them.]

[ Terrible blue mullets do count as noticeable features, indeed. But he's still baffled ]

Of all the things you could remember me it's for my hair? [ Note to himself: next time up the show-off-during-training game. People are supposed to remember him for his sick spear tricks, magic maybe, not something so ultimately inconsequential like hair.

That would sound almost like he took that seriously but he laughs it off just as quickly. ] That's a new one.

[ And back to the original topic. ] Yeah, I've been here for- what, three weeks? Haven't even seen most of those big names yet, but I've been keeping my ears open.

Plenty of people here have red eyes, or use polearms, or are your kind of height and build. Your hair and your outfit were the easiest quick methods to identify you. [So evidently he did notice him somewhere on the training grounds, but he'd been a little off two training sessions ago, and the last one he'd been trying to juggle so many weapons he couldn't pay nearly as much attention to those training around him as he would have liked.

Three weeks in particular puts him back to about where Shun suspected, in any case, but he nods a little in some kind of understanding.] It's a lot easier to miss them these days. The last I heard from any of them was that idiot wind god asking me to do something for him a little under two months ago, and the last I saw any of them more publically was when Amaterasu's temple burned. That was near the end of June.

[ Oh, so sick spear tricks were noticed. Good. Not that he got feathers ruffled over it, but he's prideful enough to feel good about that mention. ]

Plenty of people have red-- really? [ It probably means nothing here, but back in his place, that was the sure way to spot someone of divine lineage. If that rule is still at works here, some of the new gods might have ancestral maybe to hold their new positions. Perhaps not, but it's an interesting possibility to ponder on. He waves that off, there is more important topic at hand ]

I heard bits and pieces about that fire. But I didn't know the old gods started to hide after it happened. [ Is culprit one of them then? ] Are they afraid, I wonder.

It's not every second person or anything, but I've met at least a handful other than you. Enough that it's not a useful distinguishing feature. [Not to mention some of the others here with red eyes have much more interesting ones, in his opinion.

Shun gives a faint hum as if he's thinking on those words.] I'd say they've withdrawn to try and protect Amaterasu. Her advisors "grounded" her after a previous attack, but an attack on her own home means that's no longer enough. Especially considering nobody seems to really know how it started, and it took some of us newcomers to save her.

[That, in all honesty, is the thing that had always unsettled him most about the fire - the complete lack of presence of the advisors at the time. Someone like Suijin could have combatted the spread a hundred times better than most of the newcomers.]

[ Wording like "previous attack" implies... ] So the fire was the second attack? Someone sure wants her dead if they go for assassination attempts. I probably shouldn't gossip, but I heard something about messages against her scattered around Greece.

[ He's been having ears open, yes ]

But you know what I'm most curious about - what is our role in this? Are we supposed to protect her, or not get involved? [ Sworn loyalty to the old gods, and so on, or every god goes for themselves ]

Most of us are not even related to Japanese pantheon. Shouldn't we reside in different otherworlds?

First one wasn't a direct assassination attempt, but there was a cherry blossom viewing in late April she and all of her advisors attended. The same people who sent out those messages and burnt her temple later on set the entire cherry blossom grove alight. [And it hadn't been a pretty sight. If that other party had been trying to drum up support, they'd failed at it there and then with the careless attack on whoever happened to be in the vicinity at the time.]

So far, not get involved. Her advisors seem convinced this is something for the old gods to handle. And they refuse to give us the information we'd need to help anyway. [So even if anyone wanted to, they've made it much harder than it needs to be.]

We should be in other afterlives, but we're in this one for some reason. You can set up visits with the one you're supposed to be part of if you want, it's happened before.

[ So it's not their business, got it. He's good in just staying neutral, so he doesn't mind it that much... even if he dislikes the implication of being left in the dark. ]

But it's just a visit, right? Not a possibility to move there... [ He does wonder what troubles other types of Heavens deal with. Ayakashi was surely not a thing existing back in Ireland, but they had their own share of troublemakers. ]

Say- do they also use shinki? [ Probably going by the different name, but it's not the name that matters - only the idea of using human souls as weapons ]

Apparently not. They're welcoming enough, but this whole thing seems to be the Japanese Heavens' problem. [Even if the other pantheons had seemed happy enough to greet and talk to these new incarnations of gods that should have been theirs. Though he's honestly not sure what the politics there are, since he didn't discuss it much while there.]

Not sure. They didn't mention them while I was visiting mine, but it's possible there's an equivalent. [They'd need some way to fight, unless the problems they deal with aren't as resilient to conventional weapons as ayakashi.]

Setting up a visit is probably a huge bother, hmm... [ Maybe he doesn't mind it that way. It would surely get weird to return and- no idea what then? Lots of awkwardness probably. And possibly lots of problems too. And with that, he drops the idea, at least for now ]

Thanks for all the gossip, it does give ma better insight about what's going on. [ A thoughtful pause ] Are you just helpful- [ Even despite that permanent expression glued to the face ] -or do you want something for that?

[ It's asked very matter-of-factly, and not suspicious at all, because he does know some people just like to be helpful. Even when they have resting bitch face case going, like his battle-butler of a shinki ]

You'd have to ask them. [Since the Heavens were the ones who organised the previous trips, Shun has no idea of the trouble that might be involved. He wouldn't mind talking with Horus again, but he's not desperate enough to set up a trip.

At the idea that he's just helpful, Shun gives a somewhat dismissive sound.] The more information that's around, the less idiots and the less ignorance I have to deal with. Consider it giving myself insurance.

[Because he's been here long enough to be a prime source of information anyway, so he figures he might as well offer it before someone tracks him down to try and get it sometime he'd rather not deal with that.]

So- helpful. I'll take it! [ That's what he gets from this explanation. Even if it's selfish helpful, it's still not a trade. ]

You know what else you could give me? Your name. [ God name, real name, either way is fine. But it's good to know who to thank for all the intel ]

[Shun's not concerned enough with what other people think of him to correct the notion, though he does offer a more obvious derogatory snort at the idea he's being helpful.

And it's hardly a surprise to be asked for his name by this point.] And you could give me yours as well. [But he's typically not protective enough of that to expect Caster to say it first, so he goes on after a moment anyway.] Kurosaki Shun. Nekhbet when I have to be.

[ The obligatory introductions time. Double useful when someone is being so totally-not-helpful-just-insuring-himself helpful. Gotta know who to ask when shit goes down and why is everything on fire. ]

Cú Chulainn [ he's tempted to add "always" alas he does not give in ], but I tend to go as Caster around here.

[ So a god-name, name and a moniker. True 3 in 2 promo offer. ]

When is the time when you "have to be" Nekhbet?

just fishin' [open]

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