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

[kagenonadeshiko]

[Ayumu beams as she takes the phone. For all her tech issues, she's had a lot more time to get acquainted with how these devices work, at least, so it doesn't very long for her to put her number in Goku's phone and hand it back to him.]

Fighting for fun doesn't sound bad at all. It's a bit different with gods and shinki though, I think. Well, you'd have to name me for me to able to help you rend anything and the bond's kind of weird. I don't understand it very well but I'm sure Hakkai could explain how it works better.

[She chuckles a bit.]

Magic's not really my area of expertise. But I'd love to spar with you sometime. I don't think I have much experience fighting among allies. I've only ever really done it with my gods and Gojyo.

[rockthemonkey]

[Smart phones are a little much for Goku's level of tech understanding, so he watches Ayumu work with an impressed look on his face. He'll figure it out eventually, he's young. It can be one of the many things Hakkai has to walk him through.]

Really? I haven't noticed anythin' weird yet! [Because your shinki is soulless, Goku.] I'll ask Hakkai and make sure.

[Or he'll forget and just start naming people whenever it's convenient and rapidly realise the mistake he's made.]

Yeah, I'm no good at that magic stuff either. But sparring is fun! And fighting with Gojyo is fun too, he's really strong! Dumb and annoyin' but strong!

[It's important to include the "stupid kappa" disclaimer every time he compliments Gojyo. Sanzo would never forgive him if he didn't.]

[kagenonadeshiko]

Gojyo is pretty fun to fight with! And he's definitely strong! Much stronger than me, anyway. I have to rely more on leverage and momentum. Hakkai's really strong. Quick, too.

[Ayumu's pretty fast and can take a lot more than her small, pretty appearance might suggest but in the end, she's hindered by human limitations. Given how many people with special powers are around, it's pretty annoying but she's able to compensate by fostering good will with allies stronger than her.]

What do you think of obstacle courses, Goku? I think they're even more fun than sparring.

[rockthemonkey]

[Goku nods happily- yes, his friends are really strong and fast. Ayu-chan is so smart. He doesn't judge her for having human limitations. Sanzo's human and he's one of the toughest people Goku's ever met.]

I don't think I've tried one! You mean like a race or somethin'?

[kagenonadeshiko]

Something like that!

[Ayumu beams.]

You can race someone else or race yourself. They're really good for learning how to think and act quickly in a variety of situations, one after another. They're a very fun way to train.

[rockthemonkey]

Huh...

[Goku guesses that sounds interesting, but with Ayumu smiling like that he's distracted and thinking about someone else. It sounds like something Hakkai would say, which instantly puts Goku on guard. It probably is something fun, but. Danger.]

... Hey, Ayu-chan, did you work with Hakkai for a while?

[kagenonadeshiko]

[Danger is fun, Goku. Usually. In moderation. Nothing wrong with getting your heart rate up and your pulse racing to break up the monotony of life.]

I did. Though I wasn't as much of a help to him in his work as I could have been.

[She'd only ever gone on that one mission with him and spent more time working apart than together during their partnership. It is one regret she has about how it turned out.]

You know that saying about 'two cooks in the kitchen', right?

[Or two violent, self-destructive, repressed housewives with passive aggressive streaks living under the same roof. If Heaven didn't have a saying about that before, they might now.]

[rockthemonkey]

Two cooks? ... Doesn't that just mean twice the food?

[That sounds good! And Ayu-chan sounds so much like Hakkai, maybe she's a really good cook too! Goku is briefly lost in the image of two Hakkai's in the same kitchen, making dinner. Two Hakkais. Holding sharp knives. Smiling.

He tenses slightly.]

Ah, nah, I think I know what you mean.

[kagenonadeshiko]

Well, I suppose twice the food could be an option but they'd have to work well together first. And I think we're better off living apart.

[Perhaps one day studies will confirm whether or not two alphas of the dangerous housewife species can coexist peacefully in the same habitat but for now, it appears that natural law dictates a struggle for dominance occurs until mating takes place or one is slain or exiled.

Little has been documented or verified about this elusive and deadly creature.]

[rockthemonkey]

You're still friends though, right? So it's fine.

[They don't have to live together to get along otherwise. Some people need their space. This is something Goku knows and does his best to understand, even if it's a completely foreign concept.]

[kagenonadeshiko]

We are still friends. Better than we were before, in fact!

[Hakkai's much easier to talk to when she has the option of tuning out the last disaster or terrible life choice. As a shinki, she'd felt obligated to protect him from himself as she felt a shinki should protect her god. He hadn't wanted her protection and she hadn't wanted his protection either so the smartest thing to do had been to remove herself from the situation entirely and leave him to others better suited to handling him in regular, close proximity than she.

Sometimes she feels a little wistful or misses the calmer, more domestic aspects of living with him but she doesn't miss the constant stress, anxiety, and tension. Ayumu doesn't regret leaving him; if she hadn't, she wouldn't have been assigned to Sanzang who's much easier for to live and work with for whatever unknown reason.]

And I think it's easier to not to take someone for granted when circumstances make it so you have to reach out to spend time with them.