22 - Harvest Moon Viewing

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: Harvest Moon Viewing
When: September 10, 6 PM
Where: The Meeting Hall grounds
Summary: The Heavens are throwing a moon-viewing party!







Party Games

Children are dashing all over the moon-viewing grounds in the early evening, flying kites or playing tag and other games. Many of them are wearing cute seasonal rabbit masks made of paper, or sporting ink curlicues and scribbles drawn over their faces, if they've lost too many games.

Card games and spinning top battles, a few practice archery butts towards the edge of the park, poetry-composing competitions, and even badminton: there's something for everyone, and anyone who doesn't look too busy may find themselves offered a rabbit mask and a game to play. Or perhaps you'd like to try your hand at drawing people into your own game?

Moon Viewing

The moon rises not long after sunset, looming over the garden in hazy golden and red splendor thanks to the volcanic fumes in the atmosphere. The games are winding down as darkness falls, and the faint scent of burning incense fills the air as people settle to view the moon rise. Shinki in their festival best, adorned with Amaterasu's golden chrysanthemum, are serving the guests. They set out trays of fresh seasonal fruit (Japanese pears, persimmons, and chestnuts) and plates of mochi, serve sake, and light portable grills to cook sweet potatoes and skewers of meat.

Mazed & Confused

Part of the grounds have been rearranged into a hedge-maze made of tall, plumed grasses packed close together. A sign at the entrance reads, "Bring back my ribbon from the center of the maze,
and I'll give you a special prize!"

Unfortunately, that's harder than it sounds. The maze is full of dead ends, confusing turns, and twisty little passages, which all look alike. It's almost magical how easy it is to lose your way inside, and the tufted grass will prove to have painfully sharp edges if anyone tries to cheat by pushing their way through the "walls" of the maze.

Those who successfully find their way to the center will find a white ribbon fluttering from the top of a tall pole. If they can climb the pole, pull the ribbon free, and make it back to the entrance, they will hear the sound of a child's laughter, and the ribbon in their hand will disappear to be replaced by a round cake of mochi. Enjoy the prize!

Wild Moon

One of the children participating most energetically in the games of tag and dashing around the party is wearing an oversized gray hoodie with the hood pulled up right to the edges of his happy rabbit mask. He's not being very careful, either: he keeps bumping into other party attendees and barely taking the time to mutter an apology before he sprints away.

Although nothing noticeable happens at the time, anyone who's been tagged or bumped into by that particular child will begin to feel more emotional, quicker to react, and less self-controlled as the night wears on. Those who he only brushed by won't be too powerfully affected, but the more times that he has run into someone, the stronger the effect will grow.

(Note: This won't cause anyone to have emotions that they wouldn't feel otherwise, but both ongoing moods and temporary reactions could be amplified.)

In Summary:

• Play party games
• Relax with snacks
• Try to solve the hedge maze
• Go wild
• Have fun~

Comments

[papillonprincess]

[ She murmurs a thank you as he catches her before pulling back to dust herself off. There's a stray leaf on her shoulder on the same side that had been pressed against the hedges. ]

Well, since you're here... shall we go together? Two heads are better than one, as they say. Navigating this labyrinth should be easier if there are two of us.

[ At least that's what she thinks. She hadn't been making much headway for now but then, she just got here. ]

[takenwithhim]

[Sousuke silently brushes the leaf off her shoulder before his arm goes completely away. The invitation earns a slight arch of his brow, but he glances off to the right, towards the "hall" beside them.

And nods.] Aa. Sounds like a good idea.

[He's sure he can conquer this thing. With her help, they should be out of here in no time, right?]

Do you want to aim for the center or the exit?

[Honestly, now, either of the options is good with him.]

[papillonprincess]

The center. I'd be lying if I said the prize didn't intrigue me... whatever it was.

[ Mystery prize. Knowing heaven, it could be anything. So she places her hand on the wall again before looking up at him. ]

Shall we?

[takenwithhim]

[To the center it is then. He's curious as well, and stubborn too. The sign promised something interesting, so... Sousuke nods moves to her side, noticing the way her hand goes to the wall again.

Oh. That "keep your hand on the wall and eventually you'll get out" idea.]

How have you been?

[Something to talk about while they walk.]

[papillonprincess]

Incidentally I was going to ask you the same question.

[ She was, too. It's been a while since they spoke, after all. Her hand remains on the wall as they walk, not quite pressing into the hedge. She heard trying to pass through it was a bad idea. There's a small hum of thought as she walks, wondering where exactly to begin. ]

I suppose things have been... alright. Rei-kun's back... but he hardly remembers me so I suppose that's something though I haven't quite decided if it's a good or bad thing. And yourself?

[takenwithhim]

[He thought so. A slight lift of his shoulders in understanding.]

Ladies first.

[Sousuke occasionally glances towards her as they move, other times looking back to the path. And yes, trying to push through the hedge is not a good idea. He’s picked the leaves off himself by now, but he’d been a bit of a mess after his attempts previously.]

They erased his memories from his first time here?

[As Sousuke’s network post back so long ago admitted, he hates the shinki’s requirement of losing their memories… He wants his own back, but how to go about that is apparently taboo for shinki.]

I’ve been quiet. Mostly training, spending time with Rin.

[Dealing with shinki things and feelings…]

[papillonprincess]

[ She nods back, looking ahead as she walked and making sure to keep pace with her companion. ]

He's returned as a god. There isn't anything else he remembers from the last time he was here except --

[ Except she colors up and shakes her head as if dismissing the thought. Sure, Rei remembered her but did he have to remember that time on the bridge?

But rather than pressing on, she clears her throat and looks back up at Sousuke. ]

N... Never mind. How is Rin-kun?

[takenwithhim]

[He surreptitiously slows his pace, since his legs are so much longer than hers. Plus he's got no desire to wind up at another dead end alone again. Annoying.]

I see.

[Sousuke's tone shows his obvious disapproval of the entire "memories" thing.]

So nothing's changed for shinki.

[The comment's low, under his breath, meant for himself more or less. He notes the color on her face and silently moves on from the issue rather than press. Obviously it's a personal memory she cut off from voicing.]

Rin's doing well. He's still trying to balance himself between "Rin" and "Eros" and the duties we tend to.

[papillonprincess]

[ She does glance at him at the first part, her head tilted slightly. While she did hear him speak, she couldn't quite make it out.

With that, she looks forward again and continues walking. ]

I'm not sure what's worse: our selective amnesia or the identity crisis that comes with being a god. Though I wonder if anyone has made any progress trying to find out why we were brought here...

[ Aaaaand she stops. They're at a crossroads. With that, she looks back up at Sousuke. ]

Where should we go?

[takenwithhim]

[Just something Sousuke has to deal with himself, though if he ever gets the chance, he’s going to try to change… something. He doesn’t know; there’s a list of opinions he has about how a skinki’s lot in their new life could be improved. Topic for another time.

Or now. Sousuke’s expression is quiet, but there’s a hardness in his eyes as the topic brings up some trying memories. Ones he’s grown by experiencing, but still not pleasant.]

Depends on who you talk to. Shinki would probably say the former, gods would say the latter.

[He is momentarily humbled, however, when she brings up the aspect that gods are suffering in their own way as well. He’s seen Rin experience that crisis a few times now and it’s no less frustrating and burdensome than his own dealing with his missing memories.]

The only thing I’ve heard is that the new gods were brought in to either replace something that was broken or do something better than the previous group.

[Take that with a huge grain of salt though. Without a group effort demanding or rebelling or someone accessing something they shouldn’t, there was nothing they could do to find out. That he knows of. You’d think if someone had found out anything about “why,” they’d have said something on the network.

Sousuke glances up. Crossroads and she’s deferring to him for a choice in direction? Bad decision, Kuroyukihime.]

This way. [And heads right. The sounds are louder from that side. Maybe. It’s a direction.]

[papillonprincess]

Most of us are children. I don't understand why they would think a number of inexperienced children would do a better job of being gods than the previous ones were...

[ There's a measure of frustration as she speaks. And she's including herself in that number, too. Why she knows how to fight to a degree is a little surprising to her but she's never felt suited to it. And then there's Rin and Sousuke, neither of which look like they've ever been in a literal war. She can't speak for the others, either. Natsuru, Wendy, even Rei... any other comrade of hers..

But she's pulled from her thoughts by the direction she's given. There's a pause though as she pulls her hand from the wall to follow after the boy. ]

Why do I feel like I've been down this way before...

[ That's the problem with these hedge mazes though... everything looks like everywhere. ]

[takenwithhim]

[He’s going to let the “children” comment slide, since he’s obviously a young adult (ahem). But the point’s not a bad one to make; he’s noticed the general age around the Shore is fairly young on average.]

Maybe they think younger people are easier to train to do the job how they want it done?

[More experienced people tend to be more stuck in their ways and don’t want to change or adapt to the different or new respectively. Speculation at best. But he agrees with her frustration. He knows for sure that his god was never a god in his previous life. Neither he nor Rin are people with skill or knowledge about war or fighting. (And Sousuke, for one, definitely knows he wasn’t a dog in his past life, thank you.) But it doesn’t feel like those pulling strings or giving orders care.

Sousuke tenses slightly under his jacket when he muses about being down the same way.]

Hedge mazes look the same no matter what path you go down.

[He glances to the side, then back to the corner they just took.]

Oy. We can’t pass through the walls, but do you think we can mark them?

[That way, they’ll know if they come back to the same spot.]

[papillonprincess]

[ Young adult, children, it's all the same... shhhhh... But he does make a good point about training. ]

You can't teach an old dog new tricks, as they usually say. Probably it works the same way when teaching new gods.

[ Though she does pause as she considers the suggestion. She stops, looking up at the hedge with a small hum of consideration. ]

We can't... I tried but they pushed me back even if I made a borderline. Since they shift all the time, I can't imagine trying to make a mark on the hedge itself is going to do any good. Perhaps the ground?

[takenwithhim]

[She brings up a good point about the whole training thing too (even if Sousuke’s going to silently ignore that “dog” adage, considering what his vessel form is). It make sense though, if whoever “they” are wants to indoctrinate the new batch to follow their whims.]

Probably. I don’t think everyone’s on board with it though…

[He glances at the hedges again as she thinks about his suggestion, but frowns when the answer confirms his suspicions.]

Why make a maze that moves? [It’s under his breath, but exasperated all the same. That defeats the entire purpose of a maze! With an small (irritated) grunt, he digs the heel of his sneaker into the ground and drags his foot backwards. Once this way. And once that way. It leaves a large X carved into the path, close to the hedge so it’s not in the middle where other people might walk on it and erase it.]

There.

[papillonprincess]

I can only imagine it's to discourage cheating. That would defeat the purpose of having a maze if we could easily pass through the hedges.

[ She does appreciate the mark, glancing at the ground to commit it to memory. Though she can't help but wonder if it's going to stay in place... maybe it's just the hedges that move. Who knows? ]

I can imagine we're close to the center... Perhaps if we take a few more turns. We've been here a while, after all...

[ A beat, glancing back at him with a small smile. ]

Where were you headed when I bumped into you, by the way?

[takenwithhim]

And encourage getting stuck in here.

[Which is not what a normal maze should strive for, but what this one is obviously taking pride in doing. Sousuke’s already tired of seeing green walls by now, but he’s doggedly determined to either reach the center or the end. And not admit he was ever lost…

He digs the mark in deeper into the ground when the girl glances at it. Probably need to make sure it doesn’t fade or get kicked away by passing people.]

What makes you say that?

[Getting close to the center, that is. They could be in the corner for all they know. He blinks at the question, not sure what she’s asking for a second. “Headed” in a maze?]

I was heading for the center.

[papillonprincess]

Either that or they were counting on some kind soul to lead us out if we were in here too long.

[ But she does seem to hum in thought, pressing her hand against the wall again. It's a good enough lead. She doesn't trust her own sense of direction to tell her where to go. Part of her is hoping she gets lucky and finds her way to the center anyway. ]

Call it a hunch... we can't have been walking all this time and not have gotten any closer to where we're supposed to go, after all.

[ A beat, using the pause to mark another turn. ]

I wonder what the prize is supposed to be...

[takenwithhim]

I’ll climb out if it gets that long.

[Or use twigs and somehow start a fire. He’ll tolerate spending one night in here, but not more. Sousuke follows his companion as she moves down the wall. Every now and then, he digs another X in the ground, smaller ones on straightaways and larger ones when they reach corners or intersections.]

If the walls can move and rearrange themselves, then we can.

[He’s not entirely convinced the shrubbery can move, but if their intense enough not to allow passing through, well… Who knows. Luckily they’ve not found any of their previous X’s yet.]

Probably a coupon or food voucher.

[Something small enough to be replaced if multiple people found it and something everyone could use.]