April Training

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone
What: Information and Training
When: November 6th
Where: Outside the 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 rear of the Meeting Hall, where 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 much nicer room than the warehouse where the last set of new gods got their informational speech. It's a smaller meeting room, with tatami floors and a small dais at the front of the room where the speaker stands. 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.

Butterfly spirits are swarming the flower garden to one side of the dojo, fluttering across bright pink late-blooming cosmos. Shinki who want to practice more precise borderline aim can try using them to gently herd the butterflies one way or another, or, if their borderlines aren't quite that good yet, they can try to catch one with a net. Just be careful! It would be a shame to hurt them.

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.

The animated training dummies are missing this week, although the mundane ones are still intact on their stakes; the white-robed shinki who has previously been seen looking after them is wandering among the mundane training dummies, muttering, making notes to himself and swearing under his breath. Anyone who stares at him for too long, god or shinki, newcomer or established, is going to find him marching over and assigning them a task. Measure the air temperature in each square foot of the dojo, determine the exact height of each dummy and the location where it's most likely to be hit by opponents of different heights, hook an accelerometer to someone's sleeve while they smack a dummy around -- there seem to be hundreds of little, fiddly measurements he needs, and he's not taking no for an answer.

Rest and Refreshments

There are casks of fresh, cold water near the dojo to make sure no one gets dehydrated, and a fresh autumn-themed lunch will be served a little after noon. Rice with mushrooms, salt-grilled fish, roasted sweet potatoes and fresh fruit are on the menu; the shinki will try to accommodate any special dietary requests, and both the new arrivals and more experienced volunteers are welcome to partake.

One of the white-robed shinki has a whole pack of half-grown puppies that she seems to be trying to train. A few have mastered sitting, a few have figured out how to fetch, and all of them are young and excited enough that they're dashing off in all directions at the least provocation. Watch out! Dog incoming! Maybe she needs some help with that?

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 with the dogs
• Spectate if you want
• Have fun~

Comments

[revolutionfalcon]

[Thankfully, Shun can tell a bad punch when he sees one, and about an inch before it turns into face to dummy, he's there with a hand out at Ebisu's shoulder to keep him from just crashing into it and falling over. Generally, he figures kids at least have some sense of how to keep themselves upright, but evidently he was wrong in this case.]

You need to balance yourself when you do that if you don't want to fall over. [Assuming Ebisu doesn't do it himself, Shun's just going to guide him slightly back upright. Still, it did leave a mark, so he draws a line where the punch hit and then a line for Ebisu's height.]

[chibisu]

- oh!

[Sorry for the rather belated reply, Shun, but Ebisu had his eyes squeezed shut in anticipation of a face plant. At least it makes him easy enough to straighten up, and he stares down at his feet as if that can answer how to properly balance.]

I see.... Everyone else makes it look so easy. [He nods appreciatively up to Shun.] As expected of someone who earned the title of the most popular newcomer god!

[hey shun you didn't forget about that, did you- ]

[revolutionfalcon]

[Shun straightens up himself once the kid looks like he isn't going to fall over again, and looks like he's about to return his attention to his work before the mention of the "most popular newcomer god" thing. It inspires a very obvious, if brief, grimace on his face, though he turns his attention back to Ebisu with a little more thoughtful of a look than he had initially.]

I couldn't really care less about anyone's ridiculous popularity contest. But I don't remember seeing you before now. [He can't possibly be new if he saw that, but Shun tends to pick out the kids among their number easily, and he definitely hasn't attended this before now that he's seen...

Shun's eyes narrow slightly.] Are you an old god?

[chibisu]

Oh, you made a face exactly like he said you did the first time!

[It's not a delighted exclamation, exactly, but it's definitely the tone of someone who's curiosity has been perked up. Still, he's not a rude child by any means, so he nods immediately.]

Yes, I am. [He holds out his hand.] I'm Ebisu, God of Fortune for fishing and commerce.

[revolutionfalcon]

"He"? [Shun doesn't really think much of the idea that people were paying that much attention to the look he was making when the announcement happened, but any further focus he was going to have on that gets eclipsed by the young god's introduction.

To Shun's credit, his eyes widen only fractionally before he controls the reaction. So this is the one whose execution people keep talking about...

Somewhat cautiously, and with the air of someone who doesn't engage in polite airs often, Shun takes the offered hand and shakes it once, firmly.] Kurosaki Shun, since they didn't use my real name for that ridiculous announcement.

[chibisu]

[It's a good handshake! Ebisu can't reciprocate perfectly well, due to the size difference, but he does his best. It's the kind of gesture he can clearly do well, if not for how small he is.]

Does that mean you would prefer Kurosaki-sama used instead?

[revolutionfalcon]

[It's not really surprising that Ebisu is used to that sort of gesture with what his domains are, though Shun still withdraws his hand at first opportunity. He doesn't really like drawing out that sort of greeting too long.]

That's fine with me. [He could do without the "-sama", but he still prefers his actual name to his god title.] Is this your first time coming to one of these gatherings with the newcomers?

[He can't really broach the subject of the execution without knowing what knowledge is there already, but he can try to explore the other information about this little god in relation to the newcomers.]

[chibisu]

Yes. My shinki and I have been far too busy to attend other things in the past, although I know that they've been occurring, and some other things were also in the way.

[For example... You know. Execution by Heaven and the resulting wariness. Ebisu doesn't bring it up, however. Instead, he stares up at Shun thoughtfully.]

However, I thought since so many of your generation came to assist my shinki, it was a good time to meet all of you before giving my thanks. There... is some measure of self-interest in my coming here, however.

For example, I really wanted to meet you, Kurosaki-sama. As a god that has been recognized by Heaven in such a way, that must mean you're really reliable, right?

[revolutionfalcon]

[That explains a few things...and Shun can't imagine this kid's shinki would've been too enthusiastic to make nice with the newcomers after the execution. It probably would've just generated suspicion all over again, considering how most of the old gods treat them.

Shun doesn't look particularly impressed by the idea of being thanked, though it eases off a bit at the point about self-interest. Even if he still looks somewhat unconvinced about how "recognised" or even reliable he might really be, he shrugs slightly and goes along with it for now.]

If you mean "reliable" in that I answer as many prayers as I can and try to keep my followers out of harm's way, you could say that. I don't like standing by and watching people suffer if I can do something about it.

[chibisu]

That's right. [There's a slight smile on his face.] That's the exact kind of thinking that would come from a god born from a mortal life.

[But that's getting off track... So, taking a breath, a more solemn look crosses over his face.]

The shinki who went to represent me during the Gods' Meeting... When he went up to the stage, there weren't any negative reactions, were there?

[revolutionfalcon]

What about the ones that aren't? [Shun has gotten the sense the gods made that way are much more concerned with the big picture and nothing else, but it would be interesting to hear an old god's opinion on that, even if he is a kid right now.

It seems like he has some concept of his current situation if that's his concern, though, and Shun thinks back to it.]

I wasn't paying that much attention to reactions, but I don't remember anything that stood out.

[chibisu]

I see. [He breathes out a sigh of relief, a hand at his chest.] That's good. I thought there was a chance that something could have happened, and Kimi is so calm that I couldn't be sure...

[Still, he asked him a question, and Ebisu lowers his hand.]

For us... I don't think we can be so intimate. It's why we have shinki.... to help us find where the line is.

[revolutionfalcon]

There definitely wasn't anything that interesting that came up. [Shun says that somewhat dryly, considering he found the announcements about as interesting as watching paint dry. A bad reaction would've at least been noteworthy.

Ebisu's answer confirms to some degree an impression he's been getting increasingly since he got here, though, and it makes him grimace briefly.]

It's a bit weak to claim looking after humans and then never interact with them. It feels like some of you hadn't spoken to a human in decades before we showed up.

[chibisu]

Ah.... That's probably true? I can't remember enough to say for sure, but I'm sure you could ask one of my shinki. They may know.

[At least he's honest? It's the kind of simple and blunt honesty that comes with a child.]

Still, it's a position that is probably strange to you... But while Gods are Gods, there's still only so much we can do... or that we should do. [His hands clasp behind his back.] Kurosaki-sama, do you think there's a reason that those of the Far Shore are easily forgotten by those of the Near Shore?

[revolutionfalcon]

It's not a good thing either way. [Ebisu not being certain implies he hasn't done so since his reincarnation, at least, which has to be getting close to a year now. He doubts it's different even for gods in less vulnerable positions.

Shun's eyes narrow a bit at the question, since he feels like he's being led somewhere here, but he answers it anyway.] I assumed it was something to do with life against the afterlife, since that's basically what this place is.

[chibisu]

Well, that's certainly part of it. The existence of an afterlife is important... but it shouldn't distract people from living.

Or else what's the point, isn't that right?

Of course, the other part of it is that... Gods should only be able to do so much, even though we can do far more than any human could so. Does that make sense?

[revolutionfalcon]

There's a difference between "only able to do so much" and "making as little contact as possible", and the second one seems to be how the old gods prefer to handle it.

["The big picture" seems to be the catch-cry of the old gods, in Shun's experience, and it's not something he's found to be particularly helpful in most situations. They seem happy to leave things to stew until they explode, if the incidents from the four dead gods are any sign.]

[chibisu]

I can't speak for any other god. [He can only speak for himself, and, well, they should both be aware that he can only speak so much even there.] Oh, but if you want to speak to a god that interacts a lot with humans, then you should speak to Yato!

[revolutionfalcon]

I've spoken to him a few times, but as far as I know, he and Yukine have been busy with something for a while. I haven't seen either of them in a few months. [He's not giving any more details than that out since Yukine had been fairly secretive about it, but the main gods he'd been talking to who seemed decent about that sort of thing have both been absent of late, like Bishamon.]

[chibisu]

Yato is a small time god who doesn't have as many followers, I think... but that means he works very hard in the Near Shore for it. I think we're friends! [He seems really pleased about that.... However, being reminded of Yato sets of a lightbulb, and he pauses in the way he'd been rocking on his heels.]

Oh! That reminds me, I made a mistake, Kurosaki-sama. I've definitely been on the Near Shore and spoken with humans. [He presses his hands together, smiling.] Yato took me down there shortly after I reincarnated, to a restaurant he said my previous incarnation wanted to go back to.

[revolutionfalcon]

I've heard about that. [Yato had actually once revealed to him his concerns about not being reincarnated for lack of followers, so Shun knows that much about him, at least.

He does raise a brow a bit at Ebisu's choice of example, though.] So only once, and what would've had to be almost a year ago now.

[If not more. All Shun's heard about Ebisu's reincarnation was that it happened "shortly before" newcomers started arriving.]

[chibisu]

Mm, yeah... But my shinki haven't wanted me to go out too much. We've had too much work to do anyway, so it might not have been particularly possible anyway...

[revolutionfalcon]

What kind of "work" do you end up focusing on, anyway? [Shun's never heard a lot of detail when it comes to what the old gods are always so busy with, other than the fact that they're supposedly always too busy to actually interact with the people they're supposed to be helping.]

[chibisu]

[A glint starts to shine in Ebisu's eyes.]

Would you like to come see?

[revolutionfalcon]

[...On one hand, that look gives Shun the distinct impression that he's about to get dragged into something he's probably going to regret. On the other, he can't say he's not somewhat interested in how the old gods operate, and here's one actually offering to show it.]

Once I'm done here. [He is still halfway through both training and measuring this straw target.]