thenearshore | February Training

February Training

Who: Everyone
What: Information and Training
When: October 15th
Where: Meeting Hall, 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 the Meeting Hall, 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

the basics of proper god behavior

Shinki Training

informational pamphlets

borderline

Physical Training

Rest and Refreshments

Instead of snacks being served at the training session, this week, white-robed shinki with little flags are conducting groups of newcomers and volunteers down to the Tokyo Daijingu shrine and into a street festival currently being held in Tokyo. Traditional dance troupes are performing on street corners, and vendors have every kind of fall street foods, from barbecue to takoyaki, chocolate-dipped bananas and red-bean pancakes. New arrivals will get a white-and-gold envelope with spending money for the fair, although gods and shinki who have had some time to settle in will have to handle their own lunch expenses.

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
Go to a festival
Spectate if you want
Have fun~

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[Swords. That does explain the large amount of practice swords compared to other weapons. Would it be more beneficial to learn how to fight with a sword? There's advantage with reach, but until she was good, she'd be fighting with a disadvantage too. Things to ponder. More things to discuss with her god.]

What kind of abilities do people have?

Too many for me to list. Gods get a power when they come here, but it can be anything from controlling an element to manipulating things like luck or something nearly useless like being able to see people's soul threads. And that's not getting into the people who come with powers from their own worlds. It's best not to leap into a fight here unless you're absolutely sure you know what you're dealing with.

[Shun learnt that lesson a while back, though he hasn't necessarily had a choice at times, like the occasion a vampire tried to kill him. Still, he considers it decent advice to impart, especially considering the amount of deaths they've had recently.]

[Don't leap into a fight unless you know what you're dealing with. Yeah, she's already learned that lesson. It's been that kind of day.]

Duly noted.

What can you do?

[She doesn't expect an answer at all, but it doesn't hurt to ask, right?]

[It might not hurt to ask, but the response is likely as expected, with Shun's eyes narrowing slightly.]

That's not something I spread around unless I have to. [He has occasionally trained in public or used it in front of others when required, but he's not just going to say it outright to anyone who asks.]

I know a good amount of gods have the same sort of attitude towards sharing what their powers are.

[A fair enough philosophy and she expected as much. She raises a hand and inclines her head as a form of apology. At the very least, his overall statements help narrow down the likelihood of him being a god.]

Is there any other advice you can share then? Things a newcomer should know but aren't readily covered by the pamphlet?

[Being a god isn't something Shun hides, so he's open enough about that in his admissions and remarks. While he doesn't seem to take much stock of the apology, he does, at least, return from the openly wary stance to one more neutral and measured.]

The Heavens aren't a safe haven - expect to see ayakashi if you head too far out, especially around the Western District. Don't expect to see much of the old gods unless they need something out of us, except maybe Orihime. There's a shinki named Lavi who's been teaching people how to use sign language, if you want your god to learn it since grabbing for your phone isn't always going to be practical.

[Negative emotions can exist and breed in all places, Heaven included. But what Ginia really latches onto is the fact someone is teaching sign language.]

Do you know sign language?

[Her signs are fast, fluid, a practiced ease and a flicker of hope. But if he knew, wouldn't he have said something sooner? At the least, if her god doesn't known sign language, there's an avenue for them to learn from someone besides herself. Assuming they're open to the idea.]

[Shun scans her motions as she signs to him - it's clear from the few moments he needs afterwards that he's not fluent, but he can at least decipher them given a little bit of time.

A bit more slowly, he signs back to her. Despite the hesitance, the signs are perfectly formed and clear once he identifies the ones he needs.]

Not well. Only started recently.

[He could've just said that, but he figures signing it back will probably give her a better idea of his proficiency level.]

[Even if his response is slow, Ginia still smiles as he signs back. She doesn't mind typing on her phone, but it's nicer signing. It's nice knowing there are people that know sign language, people teaching and willing to learn.

It's honestly some of the best news she's had all day, though at the same time, she's not sure why it makes her feel so... light. Free. ~~Happy.~~

Mindful of his level, she slows down her signing.]

It is nice you're willing to learn. Thank you.

[Since she seems more comfortable continuing to sign back and forth, Shun figures he'll reserve the talking for another time. It's an opportunity to practice it, anyway, since he's only really been doing it with Lavi so far. Celty always seems fine using her phone, and Eric hasn't withdrawn badly enough to resort to it rather than speech yet.

It is easier to read her signs this way, and when Shun replies, he focuses more on trying to pin down which ones he needs a little faster rather than being too hasty about the signs themselves.]

Thought it might be useful. Like signalling. [That, and he'd in part jumped in after Eric expressed interest to make sure he had an interpreter. Not that he'd admit that.]

Works well over long distances, easy to share visual information.

[Ginia pauses, trying to understand why she knows that. No immediate examples come to mind, but if she can remember it, it must be rooted enough to be true, right?]

I'm happy other people can sign. Thank you for telling me.

[Because as much as she doesn't mind using her phone to communicate, it's a convenience to everyone else. Even signing at a slower pace, being mindful of her words, it feels better, natural.]

[Shun just nods at that, since it was the gist of what he was going for. Even if not many people know it, it could be useful for the ones that do, especially if he's going to be fighting with them reasonably often.

He frowns a little at her last comment, though he signs a proper answer first rather than explain why.]

Others might learn if they know it'll get used.

[After establishing that, he pauses slightly before adding another little bit.] Don't need to keep thanking me.

[He's always been strange about thanks for things he considers minor, if not outright dismissive.]

Sorry.

[The sign comes as a reflex. Ginia pauses, hand lowering, fingertips tapping into her palm.]

Have you been here long?

[It seems like a safe, simple enough question.]

[He is more willing to answer that one, and he answers promptly, like he's a question he's had to field more than a few times before even if it isn't usually in sign language.]

Almost six and a half months. Longer than most.

[There's maybe a handful or two of people who've been here as long as or longer than him, and he's hoping it stays that way. They don't need to lose any more experienced parties.]

[Six and a half months isn't a lot of time all things considered, but if he's one of the longer residents, it's a startling bit of information.]

How long are people usually here? Where do people go?

[This is going to be a somewhat difficult concept to explain in a language he doesn't have the best grasp of, but Shun takes his bearings for a moment before trying to sign it out.]

Disappear. Nobody is sure where. Back to their worlds is what people say. Some people stay for months. Others just weeks.

[Ginia processes all that. She's about to ask if there's any indication someone is going to leave, but no, that wouldn't be a disappearance then. Going home seems hopeful, but where do you go when you're already dead? Her jaw clenches at the idea and she huffs to herself.

She begins to thank him, but catches herself. Instead, she asks:]

Do you want to leave?

[That question gives Shun pause, and his eyes narrow faintly again. It's a question where he has to consider how much he wants to say, and eventually, he signs out a rather short answer.]

I have business back home. [He doesn't really want to stay gone forever, since he has friends here now as well, but he would like to resolve what's left unfinished in his own world before he comes back to this one.]

[To pry beyond that would be rude, so Ginia accepts the answer with a nod.]

Have people disappeared and returned? If they have, do they remember being here?

[Shun definitely prefers that people don't press on that particular subject, so he moves on to the next one easily.]

Yes. Some remember, some don't. Some come back in different positions as well.

[The unexplained swap between roles was mentioned in the started pamphlet, a single sentence at the bottom. To go from shinki to god or vice-versa... it's a troubling thought, though something deeply appealing lurks within it too.

She wants to ask more, but the present line of questioning steers too close to personal information. It'd be poor to start off on the wrong foot with an unknown god. Though on that note:]

May I ask your name?

[That, at least, Shun isn't too reserved about giving away, and introducing himself is a pretty basic skill to have in any language, so he does that a lot more promptly and fluidly than he has his other signing this conversation.]

Kurosaki Shun. Nekhbet sometimes. You?

[There's a pause before Ginia replies, maybe longer than it should. Because she's had her reservations all day about giving out her name, not out of any need of secrecy, but because she hasn't seen the point. She's just a shinki, a tool to do a job. Why would anyone care about her name?

But enough people have harped on her enough about it, and after meeting the one person so far that knows sign language, maybe it's worth giving her name this time.]

Ginia.

[She spells out her name, then also gives her name sign: the letter "G" combined with the sign for "seven".]

[It takes Shun a moment to figure out the second thing is a name sign - he's not the most familiar with them, but the context of it combined with the lack of sense the signs would make otherwise makes it hard to mistake as anything else. He doesn't have one himself yet, since he was never really sure he'd need it, but he's at least aware of the concept.

He nods slightly, as if committing the name to memory, then glances towards her weapon and signs one more thing.]

I'll leave you to it. [He has training to get back to, and surely she does as well.]

[Ginia holds back thanking him again for all the information and instead gives a bow of her head and a wave goodbye. Everyone's busy here, no need to take any more time than needed. Without waiting for a further response, she turns back to her rifle, checks over it, and resumes her training and waiting for her god.]

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revolutionfalcon - 2018-03-07 03:51 (UTC) - Expand

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