December Training

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone
What: Information and Training
When: September 25th
Where: Bishamon's temple, the Far Shore
Summary: Training and informational sessions for newly arrived gods and shinki



Gods and shinki arriving at heaven's meeting hall are, should they allow it, guided to Bishamon's temple, where a reception area and a traditionally styled dojo and training ground have been made available for the day. The gods and shinki are free to take their time during this day to learn about the details of their new life from Amaterasu's shinki or from the many veteran new god and shinki volunteers.




God Training

Newly arrived gods are escorted into a Western-styled reception hall within Bishamon's temple for an informational meeting covering the basics of proper god behavior, although the minor deity conducting the meeting is in too much of a rush to take questions afterwards. They are encouraged to discuss the information with each other and ask questions of more experienced gods, as well as instructed to guide their new shinki appropriately.

Shinki Training

Various shinki volunteers, both in the white-and-gold of Amaterasu's shinki and in Bishamon's red-piped black uniforms, are stationed around the dojo, passing out helpful informational pamphlets. They will be happy to instruct the newcomers in the use of the borderline as well as offering an explanantion on the basics of what is expected of a shinki and the importance of teamwork with other shinki and with gods. Shinki are encouraged to work together to practice what they've learned and discuss their perspectives.

Someone has brought two overflowing boxes of back issues of From Ama, the Heavenly magazine, which includes profiles of successful shinki and gods, historical tidbits, and the occasional magazine quiz to help shinki determine how well they're currently working with their god or what their greatest strength might be.

Physical Training

The dojo is stocked with a wide variety of practice weapons, traditional and modern, to offer some practice opportunity to gods who, for example, find themselves with a sword shinki but are at risk of cutting off their own toes. It's also useful for veteran new gods wishing to train with their current partner shinki.

This month, a clever shinki magician has created a dozen straw-stuffed training dummies, some with sword-length sticks and some with polearm-length sticks, that have been enchanted to really fight back. Unfortunately, the spell isn't perfect yet! They're good training partners, but sometimes they might go a little haywire and try to smack passersby.

Rest and Refreshments

Along with bottled water, there are several large boxes of energy drinks and vitamin drinks in small amber glass bottles, and an array of protein bars and meal bars. One particular shinki in white, a bespectacled twentysomething man, is explaining the health benefits of everything on the table (even the water!) with great enthusiasm to any guest who looks even a little confused. It takes great tact to discourage him.

Party games have been set up on the lawn near the refreshments table: Twister, Kubb, lawn Jenga, and more.

In Summary:

• Get all the information you can handle
• Veteran new gods and shinki are welcome to volunteer showing the ropes
• Get in some training
• Play some games
• Spectate if you want
• Have fun~

Comments

Lann

[trapperkeeper]

Shinki Training

[Lann is once agin working on his borderlines. His problem isn't getting the lines- his lines are actually quite strong- but rather control. Not only are they larger than necessary, but also badly aimed. He keeps tearing through the next training dummy over. He's starting to get a little frustrated.

Which is actually not helping his control issue. And there goes another dummy. And also a nearby bush.]

Oh, come on! That bush was totally not there a second ago!

[Yes it was.]


Rest and Refreshment

[Lann is looking at the table of refreshments skeptically.]

Is it just me, or does the food kind of... suck this time?

[lionhearrt]

i. Physical Training

[ He didn't attend the god training. Why would he? Instead he pours his energy into the physical training, needing to release even a little of the pressure building up inside him. So, he used the enchanted figures fighting against them without holding back, without needing to curb his power in fear of hurting them. They weren't real, didn't feel pain, and when the red flames finally engulfed them in a sea of fire nothing was left behind, not even the ash. ]


ii. Rest and Refreshments

[ He rests alone, back to a tree while a white cleansing fire eats away, not at blight, but at the black ash beneath his skin. He's used to it by now and easily takes care of it. The white flame soon disappears and his hand falls revealing smooth skin. He lights a cigarette then, letting his thoughts drift along with the smoke while his body slowly grows lethargic. He falls asleep as he is, cigarette still burning, tucked between his lips, eyes closed as he takes a much needed nap. ]

[tadaishi]

God Training

[Just a few hours ago, Tadashi was a normal person with normal responsibilities like like homework and making sure his brother doesn't get himself killed somehow. Currently, he's just been told he's filling in for a god he's never even heard of and has to do his job for a while.

He's more confused than angry, but confusion still isn't a good feeling.]

Nice of them to tell us what's going on, but that was pretty short.

Physical Training

[Training dummies are nice, especially the ones that actually respond to attacks and retaliate. Unfortunately, he's managed to pick one that seems to malfunction more than the others, and instead of returning his attacks, is going after innocent people nearby with a polearm-stick.]

Watch out! Sorry, I don't know why this dummy's going after everything but me.

Rest and Refreshments

[After the training dummy fiasco, comes food! Or...just water, because those protein bars don't look particularly appealing and he's not positive about what they contain. So he's grabbed just a bottle of water and set up a game of Jenga.]

Physical Training

[moonlitknight]

[ A shot rings out as a bullet goes through the dummy's knee, then a second bursts through the other effectively stopping it in its tracks. ]

[moonlitknight]

i. Physical Training

[ He's used to marksmanship practice but it's been awhile since he last picked up a sword. The weight feels familiar. He swings it around a few times, getting a feel for it's balance before he goes up against one of the enchanted dummies. Unfortunately, the tactile wooden figures aren't so house trained as he hoped and when one of them goes rogue and moves to attack a passerby-- ]

Look out!

[ He wastes no time in using his supernatural speed to shield the passerby from the oncoming attack. ]


ii. Refreshments

[ Zero is nowhere near the games, but he is taking a break away from the crowd. He's got a waterbottle with him and is currently opening up a pomegranate (where did he get that?) before his bloodlust raises its ugly head. ]

Shinki Training

[batteredog]

[ Near that bush is another shinki carrying a katana. He looks over at the demolished shrub before tilting his head to the side as he eyes the other shinki wondering if that was on purpose or not. He hasn't been paying attention to their progress so he can't be sure and without reading her lips, the deaf boy hasn't caught any of her words. Still, he'll move four paces away from that bush... just in case. ]

[killsthebuddha]

[God Training]
[ Genjo Sanzo, 31st of China, has had enough of gods. Gods sent him on his journey. Gods tried to murder him. Gods swept him up and tried to play pretend that he was, in fact, going to be a god himself. Patience entirely exceeded by the sheer absurdity of this concept, he’s not going to play along with it. It’s not worth trying to make sense of right now.

So when they’re encouraged to talk among themselves, Sanzo’s headed out. ]

Goddamn bullshit is what this is. [ The words carry, sounding about as rough and dire as his mood was right then. It probably doesn’t help that he’s not at his best at the moment, not the steadiest after having gotten the worse end of an encounter with a war god not long before this new farce began. ]

[Rest & Refreshments]
[ Sanzo keeps to himself outside, off out of the way, sitting with his back to an ornamental statue, keeping line of sight on the refreshments. He’s decidedly out of sorts and looking altogether disreputable- there’s still blood on his robe, even- for the priest that he is or the god he’s been told he’s supposed to be, glaring at everyone in a way that had to be purposely intended to ward people off.

If his idiot team ended up here, this is where he’s going to end up catching sight of the bastards. Even bad food would lure Goku into its orbit, and probably Gojyo, too. Hakkai, if he wasn’t already with the others, would probably just turn up with some passive aggressive insult whenever he damn well pleased at some inconvenient time. (Who knew what happened with Sharak and her people. Had they been caught up in whatever this was, too?)

When his team finally does show their faces, he decides, he’s going to shoot them for being so much trouble. ]

Ignis

[recipeh]

Shinki Training

[Ignis holds the pamphlet that was placed in his hands with a slackened grip. This piece of paper was just rubbish to him since he couldn't read a word on it. His face was set in a stony manner that made him seem unapproachable, but really he was trying to process everything that was happening to him at this very moment.

He had awakened...somewhere. The only thing he could recall was his name and he couldn't see a bloody thing. He was guided to...a place where there were many voices around him, but it seemed that there was the general consensus of confusion. He listened in on people muttering to themselves or whispering to others about "death" and "the far shore" to gather as much information aurally as he possibly could.

Now he was just sitting quietly at the sidelines of the borderline practice area, his eyes trained in front of him as he listened to people shout "LINE!" over and over again.

It looks like he may be staring at you, but he's doing no such thing.]


Rest and Refreshment

[After a time of getting his bearings of maneuverability which meant somehow getting his hand on a polearm and using it as a guiding stick. He followed the sounds of some man explaining the contents of a table which sounded like food and drink. He could certainly use some water to clear his head.

The word "water bottle" came to mind, but he couldn't recall what one looked like. The image of one was right there at the edge of his mind. He knew that he couldn't see for some reason, but he his brain was trying to reach images that weren't there.

Pushing that out of his mind, he spoke up finally.]

Excuse me, if someone could direct me to where the water bottles are, I would be grateful.

[battered]

Physical Training
[The physical training is one of Raichi's favorite aspects of these get-togethers, any way of burning off a bunch of excess energy is great for him, but he's apparently found himself getting targeted by one of the rogue training dummies, and one-on-one combat is definitely not something he's used to.]

Kahaha! [A sharp and nervous outburst of laughter might seem like a super out of place reaction for someone who looks a lot like they're trying to fend the dummy off with a club he picked up off the weapon rack, but it's what he does. Loud, nervous laughter.]

Sh-... should I fight it?

[It's not what he came here for, not really, but... that's what it's looking like he'll have to do?]


R&R I
[The food, as always, is a classic favorite part of training. Free food! It's always different! The emphasis on snacks that are refreshing for after working out so much seems to capture his interest pretty thoroughly, and as such he's been snared into listening to the lectures from the shinki trying to push the refreshments.

Is he actually enjoying listening to all of this, or is he simply too awkward to try and cut the conversation short? Either way, he's not contributing much, just sort of... nodding along to what he's saying, picking up one of anything that's being pointed out, and munching on the snacks with great enthusiasm.

Hey, at least that gives others an opportunity to get their food and leave uninterrupted?]


R&R II
[Apparently having managed to escape the refreshments table, Raichi can't help but be ridiculously curious about the games set up for everyone to partake in.]

Uh, h-hey! What's this for?

[Twister? Kubb? Lawn Jenga?? Never heard of 'em.]

r&r

[saiyanhybrid]

Hm?

[Gohan looks up when he hears the voice talk to him, looking over at the person in question.

A blink before he actually pauses in eating, swallowing the food in his mouth.]

Sure thing. Just take four steps ahead of you and it'll be right in front of you on the table.

r&r 2

[saiyanhybrid]

Those are games.

[What's up. Your god comes to land beside you.]

You've never seen them before?

ii

[toremainbehind]

[It doesn't take very long to find Mikoto even if Izumo wasn't actively looking for him. It hasn't even been long since Izumo's returned, but it didn't matter.

So, by the time he finds him, he doesn't say anything and simply sits beside him, the familiar tendrils of smoke curling around them as he basks in the silence.]

Training

[letteropener]

[Celestia is a mare on a mission today. She'd woken to a vision, and she knows what that means -- so, mindful of the training shinki, the pony moves carefully into their training zone, seeking out one particular human.]

[Spotting him is no difficult task, though, so as she steps closer, Celestia lifts her voice slightly to be heard over the general tumult.] Pardon me, but... you would be Ignis, yes?

[recipeh]

[Ignis does just that and reaches out slowly. As soon as his hand hits something cool with a little condensation, he picks it up.

He finds the cap and unscrews it. As he raises it to his lips, he breathes in to make sure that it's scentless like water. Which it is, so he drinks it.

It's never harmful to take extra precautions]

Thank you.

[He lets out a slight sigh and pushes up the dark lenses that are sliding down his nose.]

Enjoying yourself?

[recipeh]

[Ignis's face turns to the voice that calls out his name.]

Yes, that is me. May I help you?

[Well, as much as he can help someone with the lack of knowledge he has at the moment. He has a meaning to change that.]

[letteropener]

[Ah, good. She closes the gap between them, stopping a few feet away to address him on an equitable level.]

I am Princess Celestia, and I have been assigned as your god here in the Far Shore.

[battered]

[Games, huh...? That seems like it'd make sense, though he probably would have guessed something like the lawn Jenga to be more like some kind of abstract piece of art or a weird decoration of some kind.]

Nope! How do you play?

[saiyanhybrid]

Well, which one do you wanna play first?

[He smiles at him.]

RnR!

[diehardreaper]

[ He really needed to find a way to open these bloody things on his own. No matter how he had gotten used to doing the most mundane tasks with one hand, new bottles always gave him a bit of trouble. While he had been fiddling with the one he had, being called out to was enough to get his attention.

...it takes him a second to realize what the guy needed. After all, he was right next to the bottles. ]

Do you one better. Here!

[ He'll hold one out, pressing it against the man's cheek. Hey, if he's looking for the water, he's probably feeling overheated, right? He's just being helpful... ]

[revolutionfalcon]

[A: Physical Training]

[Considering Shun prefers to fight an opponent that can actually fight back when he's training, he's quick enough to take a round with one of the moving straw dummies. Since it's still not a real opponent, though, he's using one of the weapons he's less familiar with, a naginata with a short blade. It's a bit easier to get the hang of than other polearms since it still uses some motions similar to a sword, so he figures it's best to start there before he dips into polearms he's less familiar with.

Since the dummies are only wielding sticks, it's not exactly what he would consider a dangerous spar, but he's been paying enough attention to know what's about to happen when the dummy abruptly turns away and lurches towards the next-nearest person. As it swings the stick, Shun spins the naginata up and blocks it just before it gets close enough to risk hitting whoever the unlucky target was.]

I wouldn't get too close to these things unless you want to fight them.

--

[B: Rest and Refreshments]

[Shun is definitely not standing anywhere near the refreshments table with his water given the annoying rambling shinki there, so he ends up around the edges of the lawn instead. He's been out of things long enough to not recognise most of the games they're offering, and the only reason he even recognises the Jenga is because he had to play it during a prayer recently. Still, it means he's eying off anyone actually playing the games with a slight frown, as if he's trying to figure out the process and rules just by virtue of staring really hard.

He's not moving to play at any point, but he's watching intensely enough that it might get disconcerting after a while.]

--

[C: Wildcard]

[[Shun is generally around to spar or train in a variety of things - he's willing to teach people hand-to-hand, knife/dagger fighting or acrobatics and spar with sword users of any level since he's been learning that for a while now, but he's still picking up polearms and tessen so may approach people with experience in those instead.]]

[saiyanhybrid]

[Gohan watches him closely, not missing the little signs.]

Yeah, I am. But what about you?

[A pause.]

My name is Gohan.

[battered]

[Oh he gets to choose! Neat!

Hm. Hmm. HMMMM....]

What about that one, over there?

[And he gestures to where Kubb has been set up.]

[declamando]

[A: Physical Training]

[Maria's been keeping to her schedule with training herself even outside these meetings - it was a habit back home, and hadn't become any less of one here. But while the straw training dummies are useful as temporary opponents, they...definitely have their flaws.

Maria's sparring one of them, a blade in her hand only a little longer than a dagger, letting it press her back towards the weapon racks so she can take it out with a comeback attack. However, halfway through its last motion, its head twists suddenly and it goes rampaging back towards the path.]

What the-- [But she can see from here it's about to run into a person, and she doesn't have much time to catch it up. Turning towards the racks, she quickly grabs a heavy bladed whip and lashes it out towards the out of control dummy, with aim that only an experienced user would be able to manage.]

Stop right there! [She only barely gets that out before the whip takes off the dummy's head, and it stumbles drunkenly and a bit confusedly before flopping over. As she bundles up the whip and starts to head over, Maria looks a little troubled by how easy that was.]

I suppose they're still fragile, aren't they?

--

[B: Rest and Refreshments]

[Standing a little away from the refreshments table so she doesn't get her ears talked off by the shinki over there, Maria's holding a stack of flyers and approaching anyone who comes close enough.]

Sorry to bother you, but I'm setting up a training class outside of these meetings and trying to get the word out.

[She holds out one of the flyers - it's a neatly handwritten and drawn message about agility training through dance, citing inspirations from various kinds of combative dancing styles as well as more normal ones like ballet and street. The address on it is listed as Sparkle Motion Studio, a location on the Near Shore.]

[recipeh]

[He faces the man he's speaking to now, a little more at ease as the conversation picks up.]

As well as anyone can be in these circumstances. I could use the phrase "at least I'm not dead" but not without the glaring irony.

[He nods to him.]

I'm Ignis.

[recipeh]

[He had heard the heard the hooves on the ground before, but now they were approaching as the woman spoke. There were two reasons for this, but one was far more absurd than the other.

Ignis stood up respectably.]

I had heard that I would be assigned a god. It's a pleasure to meet you, Princess Celestia.