25 - Troubled Waters

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: Alleviating the troubles caused by conflict in Heaven
When: October 10
Where: Orihime's meadows in the Far Shore, as well as various places in Japan, China and Ireland
Summary: Orihime has been tasked by the Heavens with resolving the conflict caused in the mortal world by the new gods' struggles against one another. Several gods have been killed recently, and their violent deaths have led to dangerous corruption being released in the mortal world. Help Orihime expunge the corruption and return the human world to a peaceful existence.







Orihime's Meadows

Before traveling to the Far Shore, gods and shinki can meet and make plans near Orihime's modest home at the edge of the Southeastern District. Her dwelling is too small to accommodate even one team of gods and shinki arranging something as serious as this, let alone several. It is obvious she thought about this fact, and has crafted four cloth tents out in the meadows surrounding her home. The sounds of the milky way river are now joined by rustling fabric in the wind, for each tent has a flag mounted atop it and standing in front of it:

• The blue tent belongs to the team for Ksitigarbha. It has a sigil in black on the flag.
  
• The green tent belongs to the team for Li Tieguai. On its flag, a mortar and pestle in white, but the visible part of the pestle resembles a staff crook.
  
• The red tent belongs to the team for Cu Chulainn, with an impressive reproduction of a two-headed dog celtic knot in shining silver.
  
• The brown tent belongs to the team for Loki. Its flag bears a two-headed snake in gold.
All four tents are spread out in cardinal directions. Near each tent, she has a few stacks of wooden prayer tablets related to each of the problems, as well as maps and supplies for those who might need them.

In the center of all four tents is a simple chair and table where Orihime herself is generally sitting, talking to others nearby, or writing notes based on those conversations. She does a lot of listening when people ask her for new supplies she hadn't thought of previously, but has only been supplied with four shinki runners to get those supplies, one per group. Additionally, she cannot teleport down to the Near Shore herself, nor can anyone use her home to teleport down to where each of the troubles are; that is a problem for each group to solve on their own, with Orihime only able to mediate and provide suggestions.

Child's Play

Kshitigarbha, protector of children and of hell beings, is one of the recent casualties. Without his protection, it seems that babies' fears are giving rise to new and awful ayakashi throughout the city of Xi'an. Shadows on the wall above the crib, oversized stuffed animals, monsters hiding in the closet or rattling the windows at night -- all the fears of earliest childhood are taking real, malicious form. Babies are panicking, parents are exhausted, and all this stress is pulling in even more ayakashi! Someone needs to lure out these nursery nightmares and defeat them before the situation gets worse.

As gods and shinki work to rend the ayakashi tormenting children, they may notice a strange shadow passing by in the street outside, or scratching noises at the nursery window. Something more seems to be waiting outside....

Flu Season

With sky-high living costs and limited space, Tokyo has a large homeless population. Li Tieguai, protector of the poor and patron of medicine, was another recent death: now, winter's coming, and without his protection it seems like everyone's getting sick at once. They're suffering from everything ranging from plain old head colds and 'flu to more serious things like pneumonia or infections. Help pass out tea, soup and blankets, make sure they get the right medications, and get the sickest people to the hospital.

Carrion crows crowd close around the sick and croak, watching the gods and shinki helping them.

Wild Hounds

As if honoring the fall of the Hound of Chulainn, stray dogs have begun to form into large, dangerous packs in rural and suburban areas of Ireland, and even well-trained housepets have started breaking their leashes and joining them. They're starting to chase and bite humans, and it's only a matter of time before someone gets killed. Gods need to defeat the ayakashi possessing the "leaders of the pack," and get the pets back to their worried owners.

The groves of trees where the dogs are lairing seem unusually dark and shadowy, and footsteps seem to echo those of the gods and shinki tracking them down.

Prank War

Teenage pranks are turning unusually cruel and dangerous lately: with Loki gone, a few groups of bored kids have coalesced into more serious gangs in Chiba, and they've been seen setting fires, tormenting animals, vandalizing businesses and intimidating or robbing people walking alone at night. Someone needs to stop them from causing trouble, put them on a better path, or turn them in to the police before someone gets badly hurt.

Even as they're working to stop the teenagers' mischief, something seems to whisper to them and encourage them to join in and cause a little trouble. After all, it's just some fun....

Boss Battles

Those who helped to resolve the problems caused by the gods' deaths have one final enemy to face. Four dangerous ayakashi are behind these conflicts. Each character can participate in one boss battle, but it's fine for characters to form multiple different groups (i.e. multiple threads under one boss's comment.) To ensure that the NPC knows when to respond to your characters, please indicate which characters will be in a thread in your first comment.

Kshitigarbha - Child's Play

Li Tieguai - Flu Season

Cu Chulainn - Wild Hounds

Loki - Prank War

In Summary:

• Check in with Orihime and your new teams
• Save scared children
• Help the sick
• Tame stray dogs
• Stop pranks from going too far
• Watch out~

Comments

[lionhearrt]

[ Permission granted, Mikoto grins as he lets some of the pressure loose. The red aura that surrounds him burns at will. His will. But he doesn't use it now, not against these punks. Instead, when he slams a fist into the first one, a white flame burns into the flesh healing the slap of flesh on flesh. Pain blooms quickly followed by relief followed by more pain as he slams another fist that brings rapid relief. A shock to the senses over and over again as the god of the sun loses himself in his own powers. The fist that breaks the skin heals it. ]

[brynwieldr]

It'll work best if I do, but you should be able to give them orders as well.

[revolutionfalcon]

[Thankfully, Shun is wary enough of anyone getting that close to him in a fight that he's pretty well clear of Chikusa's wing by the time he flaps it at him. Chikusa seems to have that guy pretty well in hand, but Shun sighs a little as he flips himself onto the shoulders of some poor guy behind him and flip-throws him into a pile of bins.]

Try not to do any permanent damage.

Orihime's Meadows

[trademark_skull]

[It's true, Emizel was not good with remembering everyone's god name yet. But he did recall that Li Tieguai sounded familiar. It made him feel even worse now that he couldn't remember who that was.]

[It was then as he was exploring around the tent that he saw Hakkai. A bit pleasing to see him here but-- wait.]

[Emizel looked up to the tent flag, the name, and back to Hakkai. He remembered now.]

You--

[Something sank to the pit of the demon's stomach. A little bit odd for a reaper to get worked up about believing they're seeing a ghost.]

Aren't you supposed to be--

[reformedsinner]

[The boy whose last punch had knocked down his comrade is trying again, yelling obscenities as he swings a wild haymaker at Hakkai's jaw. Hakkai sighs, as put-upon as a teacher faced with a worksheet where every answer is wrong, and leans back just a few inches to dodge the swing.

He brings his other hand around in a swift chop to the back of the punk's neck, pulling the blow enough that he goes down in a heap merely unconscious, rather than with a freshly broken spine.]

Perhaps they'll be better at recognizing those sorts of people after today?

[Ideally, whatever has been encouraging them into this behavior will be gone. Some people, however, are delinquents without any outside help.]

[brynwieldr]

[Leo approaches and flips Brynhildr to a page, tracing a sigil over the area Hijikata indicated. Sure enough, it looks like a pretty nasty wound.]

There we go. I can add smoke and fog and other things to terrify them when you approach them.

[revolutionfalcon]

[Coincidentally enough, Shun ends up pulling a very similar move to Hakkai on the next kid who tries to just drop the complexities and charge him, except his chop is aimed for the windpipe rather than the spine. The target goes down gasping, and Shun shrugs a little as he surveys the dwindling numbers remaining.]

Assuming they even remember what hit them. [Even before he finishes that sentence, another two of the remaining teenagers are trying to run him down again, since at this point they seem to be favouring force, not strategy. Shun moves quickly enough that the kids don't even seem to have realised he's changed positions before they're already slumping to the ground and he's straightening up on the other side of them.]

[handle]

My eyes are adjusting pretty fast. What about you? How are you holding up?

Orihime's Meadows

[doodlebuginette]

[She'd just finished dropping off the croissants and was headed back toward the blue tent when she felt it. That chill racing up her spine. A quick glance around later and she'd noticed a girl she didn't recognize playing cat's cradle. Only... one of the strings was attached to her?

Well then.]

I agree. We should all do our best!

[That probably should have been the end of it, but her curiosity was a force of nature sometimes. Before she can think twice about it, she's moving closer to try and get a better look.]

What are you doing?

:D

[shadowrevenger]

{Finally it sounds like the ayakashi that's been whispering in the shadows all day has decided to show itself. Good, because he'd certainly like to show it exactly what kind of trouble he can cause. Although it is still a little hard to tell where exactly the voice is coming from...maybe this way...

He knows he picked the right way when he hears the crash against the concrete and the yell, and his heart skips a beat as he turns the corner. Shun....And the thing he's fighting is fantastically hideous. Ren smiles a little and tightens his grip on his poleaxe as he runs toward them. This should be fun.

"Get its wings" sounds like a good plan to him. He teleports mid-step into the air above the ayakashi and brings the blade of the axe down hard onto its wings as he falls back to the ground. As he hits the ground, he jumps backward and lands a little way from Kotori.]

Oh, hello, Kotori-san. Shun...you weren't going to keep all this fun to yourself, were you~? That's not very fair...

[hellskitchen]

[ Rin's already trying to figure out how to get out of this situation. Even if these two teens has his arms, doesn't mean their grip is strong enough to break free. Or he could could go for the man with knife and kick him in the face. He has options.

Then he hears Yukio's voice, and the warning shot. The sound even makes Rin jump in his skin. That's kinda close!

Though the shot is enough to scare off the group. The delinquents drop their hold of Rin and starts running. They didn't come here to get killed after all. He looks over to Yukio, his gun still up and smoking.]

You actually have a gun?! [This doesn't look like the same gun that Takuma transforms into, so this one must be the real deal.] You might be the dark lord, but you shouldn't point that at brats.

[in_praetego]

[ Anything for his brother... even if it involved putting a bullet in someone's head.

He doesn't lower the gun until they're gone and when they're out of sight, he puts the safety back on before holstering it behind him. ]

Those brats meant business, Rin. They might have been affected by ayakashi to begin with... or worse.

[ The lack of coaltar meant this likely wasn't a demonic possession but eh, one can never be too sure. ]

It seemed a little too dangerous to go out here unarmed so I didn't. Have you found any leads?

[revolutionfalcon]

[Shun's just slashing his blade up into the wing on the other side when Ren teleports in - it's not a shinki, but the fact that it was created by a god's power seems to help some - and he's not sure whether to breathe a sigh of relief or worry more. In the end, he picks somewhere in-between, and rolls out of striking distance as the snake hisses in pain and dips to one side. Ren's hit looks like it almost clipped off part of one wing, so that's a start.

Straightening up once he's out of harm's way - and watching the snake as it tries to strike from its new spot, only to crash into a borderline Kotori casts - Shun lets out a breath and glances towards Ren. He's got the kind of look on his face that's promising a lot of swift pain for the ayakashi as well.]

If I was keeping it to myself I wouldn't have made that order loud enough to be overheard. But it's good someone reliable showed up. [He's going to be worrying a little, but at least he knows Ren's fighting level well, so he's not going to have to be trying to cover for someone who only really knows how to swing their shinki.

He takes another few steps back so he can see all of the snake more clearly, sizing it up and then glancing towards Kotori before looking back to Ren.] This might be easier. I won't be able to use Kotori's vessel form on it until it's a lot weaker than this, but you should be able to weaken it more effectively. We can distract it and add some hits from our end as well until it's ready to be finished off.

[He can't imagine two people isn't going to be enough to end the thing, as big as it might be. They'll just have to be thorough about it.]

[bussounoshima]

Not really, but he did turn up with the chickens...

[That doesn't make him one of them, Sharak. She glances at Celty out of the corner of her eye, no showing her own concern. She's doing okay, for the most part, but Sharak can tell she's worried.]

... I get the feeling he's pretty tough. [He's obviously not a normal horse.] But if you want to take him back, that's fine. I can handle some house pets.

[These ones are possessed by ayakashi, but still. It'll be fine, Sharak can handle it.]

[usedperishsong]

[ ....oh jeez. ]

Well, this sure looks like a good way to all end up in the timeout corner.

[ Kanade wanders up to this near-altercation. ] Big Sis doesn't really wanna get involved, but you start whalin' on each other an' she might hafta send you to bed with no supper.

[redotiertwo]

[Davesprite tweaks one of the bottles out as well with his telekinesis, leaving it to float in the air within easy reach of Hakkai and making it much easier to get the cold pack out.]

I have to admit, this is way more fucking intense than I was expecting from the whole dramatic "conflict in Heaven makes conflict on Earth" speech.

[redotiertwo]

Wow, okay, I see you don't care for your struggling bird brethren.

[Davesprite could try making the brethren excuse on the crows, but none of them have been too receptive to that so far, so instead, he flicks his tail out at a couple of them to knock them off track and make them have to go around to get themselves flying straight again.]

[shadowrevenger]

Hmmm, so just you and whoever happened to show up then. I'd be jealous if it hadn't been me~

[With the borderline in place but still with one eye on the ayakashi just in case, Ren takes a moment to really size up the situation at hand. It looks like Shun only has Kotori with him, and he can't use her much...and he only ever brings along those little bottles...

He starts nodding along with what Shun is saying before he even gets to Kotori's name, somewhat distractedly as most of his attention is now on getting his water guns free. Shun's probably just going to sigh at him, but...]

Do you want another weapon, Kotori-san? [Too bad if she doesn't, because he's tossing one of the water guns her way anyway. And then he tosses the other one at Shun. Not that either of them really need one, but they're a bit large so neither does he if he's going to be running around.]

All right, I'll try to get some good hits in. First, to keep it from leaving, I think. Here I go.

[Ren teleports into the air above the ayakashi again to drive his axe into its back and then proceeds to try to use it as a sort of springboard to start slashing at its wings again. As long as he can be ready to move before it decides to come after it, he should be fine.]

[priforprince]

I'm not....

[ Some sort of convulsion that is certainly not a sneeze (yes it is) happens behind those hands. ]

[priforprince]

Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha!

[ Faint laughter marks the disappearance of...a cape?....behind this corner.

Yes. Yes, that was a cape. A long, billowy. Cape. ]

[declamando]

[Well, that's...something to see. Still, her question stands, and Chikusa did nod in response to it the first time, so she puts her business face back on soon enough.]

Could you lead me to the ones you said you saw who were worse off? I'll be able to lower the numbers that need to go to the hospital, at least.

[If the hospitals nearby hit capacity, then more people are going to suffer, and they're going to need to be transported to care even further away at best. Maria might as well do what she can to stop that happening.]

[declamando]

[Maria doesn't look pleased about that, but he does have the more effective weapon for disabling without hurting them, and her godly powers might be able to get an ayakashi out of whichever one the leading dog is. So she falls back a bit, moving around the edges and making sure none of the dogs break off to try attacking anyone else.]

There's no obvious signs yet, but we might need to lure them somewhere more open than this. It's harder to see which one they're following in such a tight area.

[declamando]

[Oh dear. Maria winces faintly before looking out over the park.]

I'm not sure that's a good idea...there's a lot of people here in very bad shape. If you give them a medication that turns out not to be safe, they might not be able to handle it in their current condition.

[It's a very delicate way of saying they might not survive the ordeal, but surely there's another way to test it in advance.]

[declamando]

Make sure I don't overdo it. [It's rare Maria admits that kind of weakness, but in this situation, it could be vital. She needs that extra strength to be able to do this for as many people as she can, even if she can't fully heal them all.

Maria kneels down in front of the two children with a smile, gently taking their hands. The echo of a white glow appears around them, and Maria's expression tightens that tiniest bit as her energy begins to go towards healing them.]

How are you feeling? Do you need anything else? [The conversation covers up the time she needs to do this, though Tsuzuki may notice that the shivers and sweating are starting to lessen already.]

[declamando]

[With a slight nod, Maria starts with the nearest tree, scoring a cross into the outer surface of the bark. She doesn't want to go too deep considering how important elements of nature can be to her pantheon, but there's no other way they can really guarantee they'll be able to find this place again.]

No, it shouldn't be, especially since they're not all ayakashi. I'd be a lot more worried if they were.

[She'd definitely have to fight them alone if so, since Uta is already here with her, though she does glance over to Tatara to gauge how useful that little fire of his might be.]

How much can you do with that fire? [She's already gesturing for him to go ahead so she can cover the back even as she says that.]