February Training

[godsoffortune]

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

Newly arrived gods are escorted into a traditional reception room within the Meeting Hall for an informational meeting covering the basics of proper god behavior. A minor deity is giving the speech, and none of the white-robed shinki enter. 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 in the white-and-gold of Amaterasu's hosuehold 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 explanation 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.

A training game has been set up through a section of the Meeting Hall gardens, with little cut-outs of ayakashi hidden in the landscaping, tucked into bushes or taped under bridges. Prize ribbons are being offered for every ten "ayakashi" a shinki (or team) discovers.

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. Several magically animated straw-stuffed training dummies, many of which have been carefully mended and patched with neat black stitching, are set up on the lawn with a white-robed shinki hovering nearby to watch over them. They make good training partners, although anyone who comes too close risks being targeted for a sparring match whether they wanted one or not.

The pond behind the dojo has had dozens wooden poles sunk in it, spaced a few feet apart, with a bunch of brightly colored ribbons tied around the pole in the very center. Some of the white-robed shinki are practicing scaling the poles and leaping from one to the next, until they get close enough that they can snatch a ribbon from the center pole, and several have fallen in and are being teased by their fellows.

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~

Comments

[nopixiedust]

[Regaining her balance, Wendy scowls at him.]

How come you had to choose my branch?

[onehandsomeslickninja]

Because someone was underestimating and needed a lesson of her own. [Edge folds his arms, confident in the unassailable logic he's presented.]

[nopixiedust]

Underestimating, huh? Underestimating the loser who has a leaf in his hair.

[She reaches up towards that hair of his... but there is no leaf. Only her attempt to grab his ear for a good ol' twist.]

[onehandsomeslickninja]

[Well, mission successful -- Edge, not anticipating an attack, doesn't think to defend until it's too late, and he's batting at her arm.] Ow! Hey! I have so many issues with this!

[nopixiedust]

[She may be small, but she is fueled by spite. The ear gets twisted a little more.]

Now who needs a lesson!?

[onehandsomeslickninja]

[Wince!] You're really lucky I don't pick on little kids, or I'd be giving you one!

[nopixiedust]

Then I'm gonna be a kid for eternity, so you better be prepared for lots of bullying!

[Wendy no]

[onehandsomeslickninja]

[That actually makes Edge think a moment.]

I'm not sure if that's terrible for you or great, actually!

[nopixiedust]

Terrible, probably.

[The answer leaves her almost automatically, without much thought put into it, and Wendy only pauses for a moment before shrugging.]

But that's how everyone here is stuck as, right?

[onehandsomeslickninja]

[Edge has to shrug. Being a kid has its advantages, but also its disadvantages. He wouldn't want to be a kid -- too many things lost, such as fighting ability and an awareness of how pleasant pretty girls are. But would he have missed those things if he'd been a kid to start with?]

Physically, maybe. We all have the capacity to grow and change, though.

[nopixiedust]

Do you think so?

[Crossing her legs daintily, Wendy rests her chin in her hand.]

I play with the shinki kids under Amaterasu a lot, anytime it seems like they're a little lonely or could use a new face besides their own. They've been around for hundreds of years, I think... but they still act like regular kids.

[onehandsomeslickninja]

Uh.

[Edge looks away quickly, tugging at his mask.]

That -- that may have more to do with, you know, physical changes.

[nopixiedust]

[...]

Physical changes.

[onehandsomeslickninja]

Yeah, you know. Physically aging. That makes the way you think change a lot. --But that doesn't mean you can't grow and learn in other ways!

[nopixiedust]

....Are you talking about boobs?

[JUST CUT RIGHT TO THE CHASE]

[onehandsomeslickninja]

That's part of it, yes! [Argh! Why doesn't she have parents or anything?] That all comes with mental and emotional changes too!

cw of the "explaining hormones to what looks like a small child" variety

[nopixiedust]

[...]

Oh, sex.

[She doesn't sound particularly shocked or scandalize, or even impressed.]

[onehandsomeslickninja]

It's not just that. You start thinking differently in a lot of ways.

But yeah, that. See, it's not a big deal to you, but it becomes a lot more important when you're older. Not just... ah. Uh. Physical acts. But romance in general! Also, responsibilities and stuff shift. When your body gets bigger and stronger, it feels different too. There's a lot of physical stuff that goes into growing up.

[nopixiedust]

[Resting her chin on her knuckles, Wendy frowns a little. She gets what he's saying, but at the same time...]

I'll spare you the embarrassment... [She is a generous overlord.] So what do you mean by responsibilities shifting?

[onehandsomeslickninja]

Well, no one expects a kid to have a job, or look out for their family, or go out and fight. Here in the Far Shore it's a little different, I know, but how many people think you should go out and fight, and how many are really pretty horrified every time you do?

[nopixiedust]

[A long, thoughtful period of silence...]

Honestly, more than you think for the first, and less than you think for the second, so far...

[onehandsomeslickninja]

Okay, but the Far Shore is a total mess. Anyone who thinks a kid should be fighting has completely missed the point of being an adult.

[Edge may not have much going for him, but no one can deny he has a pretty good moral compass.]

[nopixiedust]

Well, it's not as if we have a choice, right?

[Which is what it comes down to for her.]

[onehandsomeslickninja]

...I know. You're already dead, you need to be a tool of a god just to have a chance at surviving here, and only working with a god can you destroy the ayakashi.

[Edge turns away. At his side, his fist trembles; he is not a subtle man who hides his emotions behind a calm veil of control.]

I don't mean this against you, but I hate seeing you fight. I accept it for all those reasons, but that doesn't mean it's right.

[nopixiedust]

Well... [She crosses her legs, expression a little more serious now.] The world doesn't really care what's right. All people can do is deal with things as they are.