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

[blizzardrock]

[He'd hope that people are hard to kill, in a general sense. But he gets the feeling that that's not what Chikusa means.]

...What kind of defenses?

[kokuyoyo]

A lot of them...

[This is going to take a while; Chikusa sinks back down onto the grass with his fingers interlaced against his knees.]

He can go through portals in space so that he isn't hit, or trap people in them... Getting too close results in electricution... And he has shields which pop up in response to threats.

An upfront battle isn't something that can be won against him.... [At least, Chikusa knows it wouldn't be with his skills.]

[blizzardrock]

[Ah, those kinds of defenses. He considers it for a second, but...]

[He leans his chin on his arms.]

Does it feel better to talk about it? [Because he's offering. That statement was an offer.]

[kokuyoyo]

[For that offering, all he gets is a wary side eye.]

...Don't you want to stop me from killing him...

[blizzardrock]

Maybe you'll talk yourself out of it.

[...Okay, no, he doesn't actually think that.]

I won't tell him what you're planning, if that's what you're worried about. [For one thing, Chikusa hasn't told him who it is, and for another, those defenses don't correlate to anyone he recognizes.]

You won't let me try [—to stop him, that is—], so I'm doing the next best thing.

[kokuyoyo]

[Yeah, good for moving on from that 'talking out of' thing. Chikusa's dead eyed stare says it wasn't going over too well.]

...and the best next thing is...

[blizzardrock]

Letting you talk about it. It’s been on your mind, right?

[...Maybe the next “best” thing wasn’t the right way to say it.]

[His expression falls into shadow.] ...Maybe it’ll feel less alone that way.

...Does he know? ["He" being—] The person you’re protecting.

[kokuyoyo]

...I guess...

[It's a quiet, awkward answer. Is that the kind of thing people worry about, when they're struggling over a solution to an answer, or preparing to murder someone? His gaze drifts away again for just a second. Regular people are strange...]

He knows I want to kill this guy.... but I haven't talked too much about it with him....

[blizzardrock]

[He looks away.] I'm not going to force you, you know?

[He stands back up and looks toward the direction Chikusa had been throwing lines at earlier.] ...Were you blowing off steam, doing that?

[Since he apparently hasn't been talking to Ken about it, and all.]

[kokuyoyo]

Ah....

[Blinking a bit, he looks back to the pond.]

....Oh. Maybe.

...I'm also just not a good person. [Bluntly stated.]

[blizzardrock]

Is that right? [Chikusa has been planning to kill someone and won't be dissuaded—Fubuki kind of already knew that...]

...You're not a bad person to me, though.

[kokuyoyo]

[....Weird. That's the only thing that can come to mind as he continues to stare out towards the pond, thinking over the response. It doesn't really make sense, honestly.]

Why?

[blizzardrock]

[Way to put him on the spot, Chikusa.]

You're...

[How does one describe "you're a friend"? It's not like a friend can't be a bad person... But he's never been bad to Fubuki.]

...You've never hurt me. [The opposite, actually. And really, he doesn't mean that Chikusa isn't a bad person in general just because he isn't so to one person, it's just...an observation.]

[kokuyoyo]

[Well....]

I guess that's a simple reason... [And he hadn't pegged Fubuki as a simple person, unlike Ken, but whatever.]

[blizzardrock]

Maybe the simple reasons are all you need. [It's not like human beings are capable of being completely logical.]

You gravitate to people who treat you well. That's just human nature.

[A small, insincere laugh.] But if you say you are, then I won't dispute it. [It's not like Fubuki thinks he's the best person, either.]

[kokuyoyo]

....Sure.

[It sort of makes sense to him, he guesses, although he's not sure he's ever done it himself... But whatever.]

Is that all you wanted then?

[blizzardrock]

[Confirmation that Chikusa would go ahead with killing someone?]

[...No, but he'll deal with it.]

Just...be careful.

[kokuyoyo]

...I will.

[That's the whole point, after all. Still, if that's all that was needed for him... Chikusa turns away, and starts to shuffle off. He has more to do than just harass people, after all.]