29 - Autumn Leaves

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: Uncover the remaining secrets of the mysterious forest.
When: Nov 29 - 30
Where: Chichibu National Park & the Central District
Summary: A heavily forested wilderness area in Chichibu National Park is attracting dangerous numbers of ayakashi, and Heaven's forces suspect that this might be the mortal forest that was connected to the Heavens in order to kidnap gods and shinki a few weeks ago.






Walk in the Woods

On the morning of the 29th, Heaven's messenger doves drop off small folded cards at the doors of every temple. The cards read,


We believe that we have identified the location on the Near Shore where the human accomplices were working. As it is a large area, we offer you this information, in case you are able to assist us in searching for clues to the identity of the culprit. Please investigate with caution: there are reports of ayakashi in the area.


Attached is a map to a large national park in the Kanto region, with a section of the park cross-hatched in red pen. Anyone who goes to investigate the marked area will discover that it is heavily forested and contains about a mountain and a half; the ground is steep, muddy with autumn rain, and slick with dead leaves, though some red and orange colors are still grimly clinging to the branches overhead. Watch your step! The supernatural menace seems to have faded, but the purely natural hazards can do almost as much damage.

Heaven's forces, wearing white short jackets with gold chrysanthemum emblems over much more sensible jeans and hiking boots, can be seen here and there throughout the forest, searching for clues themselves. If somebody gets in a real jam, they might be willing to lend a hand.

Mysterious Trees

Towards the center of the cross-hatched area, investigators may begin to see some familiar signs. Are those bits of torn-down spell papers still fluttering from nails driven into the trees? Vines and tree branches cut and broken by the hostage rescuers breaking through? Footprints, torn bits of black hooded cloaks... there are clues aplenty here.

There's something else, too: a mysterious presence still seems to haunt the forest. The trees might not move when anyone's watching, but it seems like they're in slightly different positions every time you look away and back. And what was that flicker of movement in the underbrush? Is there still someone here?!

Comment on the NPC REQUEST/CLUE SEARCH thread below to request specific details, or to go hunting for that mysterious presence.

Ayakashi Attacks

There's more than one mysterious presence in these trees... and some of them are definitely not friendly. The forest's aura is unsettling and creepy enough to partially mask their approach, but ayakashi of all types and sizes seem to have been drawn here. Some wind along tree branches or soar through the air on fleshy, wide-spread wings. Others crawl or even burrow in the ground.

And all of them are excited at the possibility of a divine meal. Look out!

Autumn Leaf Viewing

An area of the Central District planted with maple along a stone-walled canal has been decorated with hanging lanterns, comfortable spread mats and cushions, and an abundance of delicious food and drink on the afternoon of the 30th. Everyone is invited: new gods and old, those who helped investigate the Near Shore forest and those who didn't. For those who did investigate, though, one or two of the white-robed shinki who are helping with the party preparations and enjoying the food and drink themselves will take the opportunity to pull them aside and ask about their findings.

The party includes games as well as food and drink. Kites, poetry games, tag, hide-and-seek, card games and dice games are going on all over. There's even some determined board game and mahjong players who have brought their favorite game to the outdoor venue and are setting up on mats with immense care.

At one edge of the landscaped area where the party is being held, the ground slopes up, and is planted with a riot of bright gold, white and rust-red chrysanthemums. Like the ones that bloomed everywhere a few months ago, these flowers exude a sense of peace, confidence and security to anyone nearby, and especially those who pick the blooms to wear in their hair or their buttonhole.

In Summary:

• Investigate a wild forest
• Watch out for nasty trees
• Exorcise an ayakashi infestation
• Enjoy some hard-earned relaxation
• Have fun~

Comments

[priforprince]

[ This will...take some getting used to, yes, but fortunately Hibiki's physical capabilities really are as good as she says they are, too. She adjusts instantly.

No signs of the ayakashi thus far, save for the general miasma of DO NOT WANT lingering in the entire forest. Maxie, however, was not subtle in his fleeing. Once they're back on his trail, a long train of broken branches and muddy hoofprints can be located. ]

There?

[ Yes, Hibiki. There. ]

[unlucky7]

[So astute. Ginia keeps an eye out for any signs of blood as she picks up her pace; hopefully he hasn't injured himself in his run through the forest.

As stealthy as she can be, Ginia lets her steps fall a bit heavier, twigs cracking underfoot. Tracking an already startled horse and sneaking up on him will do nothing toward getting Maxie back.

She'll have to apologize for this later.]

[priforprince]

[ Don't worry, Ginia. Maxie is a cartoon horse. He just tends to get smudges on him that are easy to draw but change location every time he's featured in a new shot.

He's also gotten his bridle tangled in some branches up ahead, which has impeded his movement since he can't quite figure out which direction to tilt his head to fix this. Hibiki, upon seeing this, heaves a deep sigh.

He's usually so reliable.... ]

[unlucky7]

[At least he's managed to avoid the fate of going completely off model.]

[Ginia stops short of Maxie by a fair distance. Best not to spook the trapped horse. She lowers down so Hibiki can easily dismount, keeping an eye out for any ayakashi in the area. After all, a tangled horse belonging to a god is a good appetizer.]

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki, expert taker of cues that she is, dismounts from her regal steed and approaches her...other regal steed. With another sigh as she reaches up for the reins. ]

My, my. This is not your finest hour.

[ This goes over that...this goes around this branch...how did you manage this, Maxie? ]

Someone else's shinki is putting you to shame. Have the decency to redeem yourself.

[unlucky7]

[Oh, Hibiki, it's not Maxie's fault he was brought to uneven terrain full of ayakashi and one snow leopard shinki. Ginia's tail curls around her feet as her ears swivel around. It's quiet, for now, and makes for a nice breather and plenty of time for Hibiki to untangle Maxie.

Sorry, Maxie. Once Ginia's a human again, she'll bring some nice carrots and apples for you.]

[priforprince]

[ Maxie looks nervously at the leopard, but as Ginia seems to be behaving herself, he shall do the same as Hibiki finishes untangling him.

She pats his neck absently afterwards, looking back at Ginia. ] Is your god about?

[ Rending might be required at some point. She would greatly like to not be the one doing it, as that diverts from why she came here. Hibiki detests uninteresting diversions. ]

[unlucky7]

[Ginia's shoulders raise and fall in an unmistakable shrug. Caster is around somewhere, but it's a large forest. Between their own agility and his ability to teleport freely, she long lost track of him.

But the cellphone is an easy tether. She takes the phone connected to her collar and cocks her head. Want to give him a call?]

[priforprince]

His information is in here, hm. [ Leaving Maxie to investigate the cell phone, Hibiki hunches down to see about unhooking that phone so she doesn't have to place a call while attached to a leopard. ]

Pardon.

[ Relinquish this phone, please. Let's see. Who is this, and who is their god....? ]

[unlucky7]

[The phone is a flip phone style, closed around the collar and a rubber band around the bottom to prevent it from falling out. The message taped to the phone points the god's identity to Caster, but there are two numbers programmed into the phone.

Caster and Archer.

Hibiki, be honest here; how do you feel about one of Caster's shinki having a magnificent snow leopard vessel form?]

i'll ping on plurk to see if caster is up for joining in/if the call should be handwaved

[priforprince]

[ .... ]

This system is broken.

[ But, fine. She'll call Caster. ]

[futhark]

[ And he answers the call surprisingly fast for him ]

Hi Apollo, what's up?

[ Either she needs him for something - but for what? - or Ginia wants back to human form and found a victim to do the calling. ]

[unlucky7]

[Ginia's ears flick forward when she hears Caster's voice on the phone - snow leopards have great hearing - and lazily stretches.

The branches above rustle, a twisting voice hissing around them.]

Smells... delicious...

[Ginia hops to her feet, fur raising as she slams down a borderline to shield Hibiki and Maxie, studying the trees for the sign of the ayakashi.]

[priforprince]

[ ...oh not again.

Hibiki glances up in concern when she hears the voice above her, then returns to her call when the shinki is on top of this. Wasted on Caster, this one. ]

Your shinki requires you. Hurry over.

[futhark]

[ Caster materializes still holding his phone and right next to Hibiki before she gets the chance to finish her sentence. ]

Everything's alright? [ He asks, looking around. First he notices Ginia, then the rustle of the branches and- something is falling down right above them ]

Duck! [ Unceremoniously he grabs Hibiki close and pushes them both on the side, so they can fall into the foliage. Instead of having the ayakashi fall on top of their heads ]

[unlucky7]

[Ginia leaps to the side as a neon mass of teeth and tentacles and webbing swoops down and tries to engulf her. It turns before it hits the ground, a squid-like creature hovering in the air between god and shinki. Ginia looks past to see if Caster and Hibiki are okay, pouncing to the side as it lunges at her. Throwing a few slashing borderlines to keep it at bay, Ginia sweeps under it and rejoins Caster.]

I think Hibiki is jealous I'm your shinki.

[She says to Caster as she looks Hibiki's way and gives a smug smile the way only felines can. Reassessing the situation, Ginia drops her barrier and resets it to shield Maxie, giving Hibiki a clear shot with her holy water guns.]

[priforprince]

...I don't think I want to know what you're saying.

[ Hibiki sounds vaguely squashed over here. Also put out.

In any case, Caster is aware of this current problem. Hibiki rises enough to get in that clear shot, water arcing towards the ayakashi while Maxie sort of turns in a circle, wondering what's going on.

If Hibiki weakens this irritating creature, would you dispatch it for her? ]

[futhark]

Yeah, I don't think you'd like that.

[ But everyone should be jealous that Ginia is his shinki tho, that is something to boast. Alas. There are an ayakashi to take care of. There's also a... horse.

Okay.

Sure. He's riding on a leopard he's not much better. And he'll be doing that right now, excuse him as he closes on to Ginia. ]

Let's kill it!

[unlucky7]

[Not any horse, a purple horse. Maxie is a good horse, it's not his fault Hibiki decided to drag him into a cursed forest filled with ayakashi and one giant snow leopard.]

You got it!

[With Caster on her back, Ginia doesn't waste any time attacking the ayakashi. Ice encases her paws and fangs like pale blue crystals, the same effect spreading onto Caster's staff. It's felt easier as of late calling on her ability, stronger too. She leaps onto the ayakashi, slashing at the wet patches left by the sprays of holy water. Her claws tear deep gashes into the ayakashi and leave the edges icy and frostbitten, easily twisting away. They are an elegant and powerful pair, an efficient ayakashi killing machine.

Take that Hibiki.]

[priforprince]

[ Caster and his shinki do put on quite the show, it's true. Maxie manages to find his way over to Hibiki, and she holds onto his bridle idly while she watches. Her eyes track the motion of the combatants without her feeling bothered to turn her head. That would be beneath her, and would also require more frames of movement from the animation team.

When the ayakashi is rent, Hibiki...blinks. And holsters her holy water pistol beneath her jacket again. Caster is competent in battle. Shall she admit as much? Is she feeling that greathearted today? ]

Wandering separated might not have been prudent.

[ Nah. He knocked her into the ground. ]

[futhark]

[ It's a good feedback, he is anything but prudent most of the time ]

Maybe, but we can cover more ground this way- [ He says as he slides off the back of the snow leopard. But not before giving his shinki a scratch between the ears. ] Wanna go back, or stay like this?

[ He noticed Ginia likes staying in the cat form, so he doesn't call her back immediately as the fight is over. But his attention is back on Hibiki and her companion ]

For a moment I thought that the horse is your shinki, Apollo. [ Why else the horse would be here. Also would explain weird coloring ] Why the horse?

[unlucky7]

[With the ayakashi rend, Ginia gives a long lazy cat stretch and bumps her hand into Caster's hands as he rubs her ears. Her tail flicks toward Hibiki as she considers things.]

I bet Hibiki is dying to know who I am.

[Which really means all the better to stay in this form and hide the answer, but no, Ginia likes Hibiki enough and thumbs are useful.]

Call me back when you're ready.

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki has set about cleaning herself up as best she can with a handkerchief, so she's occupied when she replies to Caster. ] He walks in my stead.

[ It's muddy, okay. A fact with which she seems to have somehow become intimately acquainted anyway....

Ah, well. The past is the past. Maxie sneezes, apparently used to being used in this manner, and then shifts a little further away from Ginia.

It may not just be Hibiki's curiosity that needs to be indulged, here. ]

[futhark]

[ Oh fine, he's not going to make a huge mystery out of it. Say hello to your thumbs again Ginia ]

Return, Ginia [ He calls her back vessel form shifting back into the human form. Would the sudden change scare the horse, or maybe make Maxie even more intrigued? Look what your friend can do, now go ahead and learn how to walk on two feet too! ]

[unlucky7]

[Thumbs, two feet, cellphone, there are a lot of boons to being human-shaped again. Ginia materializes at Caster's side and gives Hibiki a light smile before approaching Maxie and offering a hand out so he can sniff her.

Sorry for scaring you, horse-buddy, we're cool again, right?]