[Closed] The only thing that's black and white / Is that you don't have to walk alone this time

[handsome_genius]

Who: Yoon and friends
When: Various
Where: Various
What: Two prayers and a lunch chat

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Prayer #53 with Hitsugaya and Alibaba:

I used to dream of being up in the clouds, high above everything... not anymore, since my accident.
-- Drive off or defeat the flying ayakashi that is causing accidents in dreamers
-- 20 comments

Prayer #43 with Keith:

They say that nora are like stray animals - cats, dogs, monkeys, etc. I'm going away for a few days and I don't know if these poor stray cats will get fed while I'm gone. I'd feel better knowing someone was watching over them...
-- Care for some stray animals in a metro area
-- 10 comments

Comments

[freezetheheavens]

[Alibaba, he can feel a twinge of the discomfort and figures he'll need to talk to his shinki later afterwards after this. But he looks back at Yoon, eyebrow raised because he did catch that brief stutter, too.

What have you been telling his shinki, Yoon?

And depending on the kind of prayer they'll end up taking, it wouldn't hurt to try. Holding back a sigh, he begins:]

Spirit, you are lost and adrift. You have nowhere to go and nowhere to return to. Thus, I grant you a place to belong.

My name is Kuraokami.

Bearing two names you shall remain here. With these names I make thee my servant. Thy name is its reading. Thy vessel its sound. By my decree, you become my shinki. Thy name is Yoon. Thy vessel 'Yu'.

Come, Yuki.

[Tracing the character in the air, he watches it as goes over to Yoon.]

[flamebearer]

[ He'd been through this once with Hitsugaya himself and Alibaba hangs back, watching silently this time from an observer's perspective, a little curious about what this would be like. And what sort of vessel Yoon would be.

He'd be lying if he tried to claim he wasn't nervous about this, that suddenly sharing his god with a shinki who seemed to know so much more than him, who might be better at this whole thing than he was managing... But he tried to push that down, ignoring it for the time being. And, remembering Izumo's warnings, not wanting to let his own doubts and fears about himself, about how useful he could be to his god, get the better of him. It's not that he minded sharing Hitsugaya with another shinki - another person around to help keep his god safe didn't seem like a bad idea at all. But it didn't help that there was still the subtle, persistent worry that he'd turn out to be easily replaceable in the end. Not at all as useful or as necessary as he wanted to be. ]

[handsome_genius]

[ Yoon and Ali might turn out to be more similar than they are different. Time would tell if that meant they could become friends or if they'd clash too much over it.

It's been seemingly forever since he felt this way, the spell being spoken like that and getting drawn towards the god speaking it. Briefly, he notes the new name emblazoning on his right shoulder before the sensation of transforming into a vessel takes over. He feels swirl after swirl twisting him around, and at first he thinks he's just getting dizzy from the unfamiliar sensation - magic and all that - but no he realizes after a bit that it's just different from both previous times.

In the end, he lands as a scarf around Hitsugaya's neck. It's sky blue, almost pastel colored, but a long narrow bit of cloth more of the sort that Hitsugaya would be familiar with. ]

'I became... I'm not a weapon!!'

[He actually sounds... relieved.]

[freezetheheavens]

[He can feel the subtle worry, especially with how persistent it is. It's enough to have his eyes flicker back to his shinki briefly before he looks back at Yoon in time to see the other shinki take on his new form, images of Yoon's death flickering briefly in his mind.

It's a familiar feeling of having a scarf wrapped around his neck, even if it isn't quite the same. Not a weapon - not like Goten and Alibaba - but Toushirou isn't complaining. The better question is what power Yoon would have in this form.]

Did you want to be? [He catches on the relief easily like this, but then there is a prayer still to be done. He turns to Alibaba.]

Ready? [He'll summon you in your vessel form next if you are.]

[flamebearer]

[ Alibaba blinks in surprise when Yoon changes into... is that a scarf? He's a little surprised by that, because what can that do? Choke someone? But at least he's tactful enough not to say anything like that aloud, because he knows he'd be super anxious about being useful to his god - in either his normal form or his vessel one. Not sure how Yoon is taking it (being unable to hear that exclamation) he only hears Hitsugaya's response.

And then his god turns to him and he can only nod, his expression brightening with eagerness. ]

Yeah, I'm ready.

[handsome_genius]

'I mean... not really, but...'

[He thinks back to his previous conversation with Alibaba about the usefulness of a weapon. Ultimately he decides it's better for him this way, no matter what. He's not that comfortable around Hitsugaya yet after all.]

'This is just my first time, as... well, you know, and it doesn't matter now. I need the experience.'

[Weapon or not.]

[freezetheheavens]

Then let's hope your first time isn't too much for you.

[But he does nod at Alibaba.]

Come, Kouki.

[flamebearer]

[ There's a strange tug and then he can feel the strange, dizzying change as he shifts from his normal form to his vessel form, settling as a wickedly-curved blade of dark metal in Hitsugaya's grip. ]

That will never not be weird.

[handsome_genius]

[ Yoon's starting to wonder if that qualifies as showing off, what Alibaba becomes as a vessel. If a shinki can show off, when they can't even choose what their vessel form even is. ]

'Is he talking? I can't hear him now--'

[ This might frustrate him more than the vessel form does. Except then he DOES hear what Alibaba says. ]

'Oh. So we can hear each other after all. Now we can get going.'

[ Nervous energy, yay. ]

[flamebearer]

Oh. Huh. Well, that's useful.

[ He's never tried this with another vessel before. Still, there's a sense of anticipation emanating from him all the same. ]

Yeah. I'm ready.

...Uhh. What are we doing, anyway?

[freezetheheavens]

A prayer to eliminate an ayakashi that's ruining a dreamer's wishes to fly.

[And yeah, the god has his own reasons for being upset with that.

Either way, it's a bit odd to hear both shinkis' voices in his head, so he decides not to remark on the foreign feeling it gives him. Hyourinmaru is already grumbling in the back of his head, too.

Toushirou teleports to where the prayer originated from, choosing not to waste time to fulfill the prayer.]

16/20 already woo!

[handsome_genius]

[Yoon hasn't been teleported too often, so he yelps a bit when Hitsugaya does that.]

--Ah!

[And he takes a few breaths to steady himself again.]

More wild magic.

[Then he starts looking around.]

Can you tell how big an ayakashi is when some prays like that?

[Spoken as if he's hoping it's the size of a squirrel.]

[flamebearer]

[ Another thing that might always be weird, but at least he was more prepared for it this time, since Hitsugaya often liked to pop from place to place without giving any warning. He's starting to get used to it. Maybe? ]

Don't worry. [ Cuz you sound a little worried there, Yoon. Although Alibaba's a little uncertain too, because it's not like he's an expert at this either. But- ] Hitsugaya knows what he's doing.

[freezetheheavens]

[You both sound worried.]

Normally, you can't. But the last time I went on a prayer like this, the ayakashi were often huge. [And were flying.

Toushirou can practically feel the darkness that's surrounding the area, a sort of oppressive cloud pressing down. As he scans the area, it's not too long before he hears an almost inhuman growl piercing through the sky.]

[handsome_genius]

[That makes it sound like there's gonna be multiple ayakashi... the nerves in Yoon's bond get more intense for a brief moment, before he tries to calm down again.

And then they shoot right back up again when the growl happens.]

Is it... difficult to get rid of ayakashi the bigger they are?

[He wouldn't be surprised if that was true because it's how it works for real animals, but then again here he is actually hoping that this is a case of magic being very different from his personal experiences. The last line is mostly directed to Alibaba but definitely with awareness that Hitsugaya can hear it.]

I'm trying to learn what I'm supposed to be doing like Hitsugaya asked me to, after all.

[flamebearer]

[ Alibaba's not going to lie and say he's not a little concerned about the ayakashi being huge. Or in multiples. Multiple huges. He really hopes Hitsugaya knows what he's doing, especially since it sounds like neither he nor Yoon are all that confident yet.

But he's determined to protect his god, no matter what it takes, and that determination is something that easily overwhelms even his own sense of nerves at the unknown, a focus settling him into steely resolve. ]

We both are. This is why we're here, isn't it?

[ The growl from the sky has his own attention casting upwards, searching the darkness with senses beyond his eyes, since those are wherever the rest of him currently is, but he still has an awareness of their surroundings all the same. ]

It knows we're here.

[freezetheheavens]

It does.

[His eyes look up at the sky.]

Be confident, both of you. [And as he says this, he shoots up to the sky, searching for the ayakashi. He can hear it moving, the beating of wings heavy through the clouds.]

[handsome_genius]

[Yoon stares at the void of his vessel form for a long moment. He'd seriously thought that Alibaba and Hitsugaya were a team that had been on a lot more prayers already. Maybe not? He takes a deep breath and blows it out again, then nods with a somewhat audible noise.]

Okay. Okay....

[And he looks around at them before seeing the building that Hitsugaya teleported to being fairly high up. He gets a feeling, like...]

Uhm, I can't explain why, but maybe if you touch the roof I can figure something out about what kind of ayakashi that is.

[flamebearer]

[ Sorry to disappoint, Yoon, but this is Alibaba's first time out here himself. He knows Hitsugaya has done prayers before and his god seems completely calm and unruffled about all this so he's not too worried. Only about disappointing his god somehow or failing to keep him safe.

Which is why he easily turns serious and focused on the task at hand. Yoon's statement gets a surprised blink, curious and fascinated, as he waits. ]

Whoa, really?

[freezetheheavens]

The roof?

[He may seem confused, but he is more familiar than the two of them about the sort of power shinki can possess like the power Goten has. It's why he doesn't argue as he goes to land on the roof.]

[handsome_genius]

[ No sooner does Hitsugaya land than Yoon gets nervous again. But he takes a deep breath and focuses on... the roof. As best he can, anyway. He knows he's looking for something out of place. He's never gotten particularly close to an ayakashi, but he knows very well what blight feels like, so he's kind of searching out that same sort of piercing pain.

Eventually, he finds it - that phantom pain of his and his eyes open wide, if that's possible for a shinki in vessel form.

Yoon and Hitsugaya both get to see what the ayakashi looks like - the kind of maneuverability it has in flight, how fast it can go, how big it is in relation to the size of the roof, and its rough shape. ]

[flamebearer]

[ For the moment, Alibaba remains quiet, wondering what they're doing, but patient enough to wait and find out. ]

[freezetheheavens]

[It's rather strange suddenly being able to see the ayakashi, but he suddenly has a feel of its mobility, its size, everything. It has him focusing his gaze on where the ayakashi is.]

Are you two ready?

[It won't be too difficult to Rend this creature, but he needs to be sure that the two of them are at least mentally prepared for this. He can still feel Yoon's uneasiness and perhaps even a smidge of Alibaba's own uncertainty.]

[handsome_genius]

[ Yoon gulps nervously. ]

'I'm not even sure what I should be ready to do like this... but I'll keep my eyes open.'

[ In his mind, he's looking at Alibaba's human form. ]

'The least I can do is watch your backs, right?'

[And leaves this to the guys far better equipped to take out a giant bird-like ayakashi they realistically shouldn't even get that close to for fear of blight stings.]

[flamebearer]

[ In whatever space they find themselves in while they are vessels, Alibaba glances over at Yoon and gives him a playful thumbs-up, grinning easily at him in hopes of reassuring him. ]

We're ready, Hitsugaya. We've got this. Let's do it.