32 - Blow Your Top

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: A volcano eruption threatens the Western District
When: Jan 14 - 16
Where: The Western District of the Heavens
Summary: The Western District volcano is erupting again, endangering nearby temples and sending ash sprinkling down across the Heavens. Is it natural, or another attack? Those who dare climb the volcano can find out.






Earthquake Warning

On the morning of the 14th, an earthquake rattles windows throughout the Heavens. It's not strong enough to knock down buildings -- unless they're about to fall down anyway, like some of the older abandoned temples -- but it's strong enough to knock things off shelves and startle any late sleepers out of bed.

After the earthquake, strange sights abound around the Heavens. The poetic koi are swimming in organized schools in all of the canals, heading upstream towards the east. Springs of pure water burst out in some areas, and in others, normal springs or fountains have gone temporarily dry. Blue and green lights bob and weave across the landscape.

Falling Rock

The volcano begins erupting with a roar and a bright scarlet glow on the horizon. Ash and bits of rock fall across the Western district, and may even reach into the Southwest, Northwest and southern Central districts. Volcanic glass fibers that look like golden hair collect on trees, fences and buildings.

Trails and fountains of lava are also erupting from freshly opened fissures and wending down the sides of the volcano. Gods and shinki who live in the Western District are going to need some help clearing ash and glass from their roofs, trying to re-route lava flows (the good news is, if you cool one side down enough, you can turn them! the bad news is, that takes a lot of work) or just offering them a spare room to stay until things calm down.

Swamp Gas

It's not just lava and springwater erupting from mysterious new crevasses -- and it's not just mundane volcanic gases, either. Divine volcanic vents are blowing mind-altering fumes all over the Heavens. Anywhere across the Far Shore, but especially as characters get closer to the volcano, they may experience one or more of the following effects:

• Confusion
• Intense emotions
• Anger and irritability
• Impulsive behavior, loss of emotional control
• Hallucinations
• Unusually clear insight into other people and situations
• Coughing, eye and throat irritation, difficulty breathing
• Irresistible impulses to speak in poetry

Most symptoms will clear up after a few hours in fresh air, and all of them will be gone within 48 hours of the last volcano gas exposure.

Mountain Climbing

Natural disasters don't just happen like this in the Heavens... do they? Amaterasu's white-robed shinki are convinced that something is wrong, and they're organizing into search parties to go up the mountain and seek out the cause of this eruption. New and old gods and shinki are welcome to join them, or form their own groups. All of the hazards -- tremors, lava, ash, and volcanic gas -- will get worse as characters ascend the volcano. Strange little spirit flames, in shades of red and blue, dance on the rocks, dazzling, confusing and threatening to singe interlopers.

And there's someone up here, too. A mysterious figure with glowing red eyes is keeping watch on the intruders and vanishing behind boulders whenever someone turns his way. He won't let anyone traveling with one of the white-robed shinki get too close, but solitary gods or shinki might manage to lure him into conversation, if they try....

OOC: Please comment to the 'NPC REQUEST' thread below in order to talk to the mysterious figure on the volcano.

Those climbing the volcano will have a chance to battle the mysterious figure should their characters choose to do so. If you're interested in a fight, please comment to the 'NPC FIGHT' thread below before the top-level is posted. A top-level for the fight will go up on IC Jan 16/OOC Sept 4.

In Summary:

• Don't get rattled
• Help out the Western District with their volcano problem
• Watch out for volcanic gases
• Find out who's behind the eruption
• Have fun~

Comments

she's about to put that cow out of a job

[reloves]

[ Those golden statues? Beautiful. Amazing idea. Minako can even appreciate them in multiple ways, since first of all of course Hibiki's beauty should be eternalized that way, but secondly, that's totally what Minako would do too if she had her own temple. Arrange giant statues of herself. As always, Hibiki's taste is impeccable.

Hence why Minako seems like an excited kid on the annual school trip in Hibiki's arms, smiling super widely. Especially with the other also saying she's in Minako's care. Yes. That's right where she wants to have her!! Another succesful conquest!! ]

I have to say.. of course statues can't fully capture your beauty, but you have an amazing sense for decoration!

[junkyarddog]

"We were shinkis to the same god for awhile...we baked cookies with her and stuff. And I stayed with her for awhile when she got hurt. She's really nice, byon." Ken seems happy to talk about her, Ayumu's one of his favorite people, and has become a sort of mother figure for him and Chikusa. Granted, things are...tense with her and Chikusa right now, but...well, he's hoping that'll get fixed. He wants to fix it himself, but...he's scared to get involved in arguments between other people right now. It's backfired on him a lot. "She's a god now, but she didn't forget us."

He eyes Joscelin briefly. The boy looks light enough. "I can give you a ride, byon. I can channel different animals and stuff, so I can get you there really quickly." He tilts his head. "But you should cover your face like me or you're just gonna keep coughing, byon."

[letteropener]

[With a weary groan, Celestia cracks an eye open --]

[Then she's scrambling away in a flurry of hooves, heedless of the pain.] Aaaaah! Headless Horse!

[Her shoes kick sparks off the stone pavement as the ages-old tale leaps into the forefront of her mind, memories of a long-ago time when she and Luna stayed up far too late swapping scary stories and her sister had managed to terrify her silly with that tale. She doesn't want to die! She's not ready! She's --]

[Ow.]

[The pain that roars up her side breaks her fear, and it and the last dregs of adrenaline her system has to bring her back to full awareness. She blinks once, then flushes red.]

Oh my goodness, Shooter! I am so sorry!

[priforprince]

[ There is a sudden chill, despite the locale. And a sudden casting of shadows on the person up ahead.

What....what was that sensation....?

No, it was probably nothing. Hibiki should just. Keep walking. And not look. ]

[mithrarin]

[What -- oh, that's perfect. Dust lets go without a moment's hesitation, trusting himself entirely to the shadow net. Here's hoping he doesn't regret it!]

[mithrarin]

I never expected the ground could just -- collapse like that. [He looks over his shoulder, trying to make sense of it.]

The lava traveled under the ground and ate it away, I think?

[badassfreakingoverlord]

[Zetta turns to look at her curiously -- then his expression lapses into a scowl.] Oh, right. You humans notice things like that, don't you.

[He doesn't appear particularly inclined to DO anything about it, but he has at least acknowledged her sentence.]

[badassfreakingoverlord]

What about YOU?!

[It would be inappropriate to abandon a vassal to some mortal fate! Zetta won't have such a stain on his record!]

[sassywelshcatgirl]

Sure makes me feel optimistic. You hurt at all?

[He doesn't really LOOK it, but -- hey, maybe he's just good at hiding it.]

[reformedsinner]

[Hakkai's righteous indignation runs out all at once like water, leaving him fragile, featherlight. He closes his mismatched eyes.]

I mean I don't know how you can love me when you can't stand me.

[Because that's how it always seems to go, isn't it? They can be around each other if they keep it light, if they don't talk about their feelings, or their friends, or their needs, and every time any of those things comes up--

Love doesn't come out of nowhere, Hakkai thinks. Whatever could be built on a foundation as rotten as this, he can't believe it's love.]

[erogappa]

[ You don't listen, says Hakkai. You don't actually love me, says Hakkai. Let me tell you when you're wrong.

So maybe he's wrong. ]

Maybe I don't love you.

[ He thinks he knows what love is -- there has to be a name for this feeling, and it sure feels like what he hears in songs, and in movies. Kids walking down the street giggling to each other, he doesn't hear them listing the reasons why they feel the way they do -- they just seem to feel it. But maybe he's been wrong about that. Maybe he's missing something, something obvious, something that everyone else seems to get but that he just can't see. It wouldn't be the first time, would it?

Has he really been wrong about this, this whole time? God, it feels like somebody reached into his chest and pulled his heart out, replaced it with a block of ice.

If he turns around now, he's really going to lose it. Without another word he stumbles off, heading back toward the volcano. ]

[lookingforhead]

[Her shock and fear is understandable, especially considering her condition. Still, Shooter can't help but flinch slightly at the shout. Perhaps he knows a bit more about Celty's nature than she does at the moment, but he's as much a part of it as she is. Maybe later if Celestia tells him about Equestrian legends he'll even feel a bit proud about the confusion.

In any case he shrugs it off and nudges her again, whinnying in his ghastly way. He's doing his best to give her something solid to lean against while she gets to her feet. It's a good thing the two are roughly matched for scale.]

(ooc: Shooter is huge compared to humans, assuming basically same ratio for Celestia and ponies here. Also I feel like we should check with a mod if they can talk to each other properly.)

[reformedsinner]

[Fear shoots ice through Hakkai's veins as Gojyo stumbles away, not turning, ablaze with pain, and he's following before he has time to think.

(So much of this, he's done without thinking.

Hand closing on Gojyo's sleeve, he thinks: he should start.)]

Can't you at least like me?

[Does it have to be that choice: love without trust or understanding, or no love, no trust and no understanding? If Hakkai has to pick, it will be the latter, because at least he will stop expecting trust or understanding, at least it won't hurt so badly when he's surprised by their absence. But both options are awful, and he'd prefer friendship, even cautious and distant, over them.

Behind them, Jeep, frustrated past the last shreds of his patience, honks rudely, revs his engine, and swings around in a tight half-circle that sends the back left side of his chassis smacking into Hakkai's back with enough force to knock him off his feet. He twists like a cat, trying to avoid slamming into Gojyo, but he had been standing too close to dodge.]

[erogappa]

[ He can hear Hakkai running after him, and a not tiny part of him wants to run, too. Run as fast as he can, away from Hakkai and this conversation and all his obligations, find someplace where nobody knows him, nobody relies on him, nobody needs him. Just a hole in the earth, maybe, someplace dark and quiet.

But he can’t. He freezes, instead, when Hakkai grabs him, can’t you at least like me?, and Gojyo twists away. Maybe he can’t. He’s been a bad friend to Ayumu, to Tsuzuki, to Goku… maybe he can’t love, and he can’t like, maybe everyone really would be happier if he was—

But his train of thought is derailed, in order, by Jeep’s honk, Hakkai’s body slamming into his, and his face slamming into the ground. ]

What the...? [ Did… did Hakkai just get hit with his own car? He coughs, and tastes iron – his nose is bleeding, possibly broken, but he can’t help but laugh.

Hakkai just got run over by his own damn car. ]

I don’t think he likes you either! [ Wait, no, shit, this really hurts. ] Ow.

[reformedsinner]

[Trying to dodge Gojyo left no room for trying to soften his own fall, and it didn't even work; Hakkai comes up spitting blood of his own from a scrape where a rock caught his lower lip, and rounds on Jeep. The car is looming over them, rumbling with obvious discontent.]

I don't need your help with this!

[He's driven Gojyo to hate him, he's fought with his other shinki, he's fought with the Heavens, he might as well shout at his dragon, too. It's possible he's not thinking clearly. Jeep's engine noise rises to a threatening rumble, and he edges forward towards Hakkai, kicking up a fine dust of ash from the shoulder.]

Why don't you talk to him--

[...he's shouting at his dragon. Hakkai stops, and rubs his face, smearing ash and a streak of livid blood over his cheek to half-obscure the curled vine there. He looks over at Gojyo, whose nose is gushing blood, looks at his own clawed and filthy fingers, puts his head down on his knees, and starts laughing helplessly.

He's really so bad at all of this.]

[erogappa]

[ Pinching his nose shut hurts like a motherfucker, even just pinching it gingerly at the very bottom. It's definitely broken. ]

Ow ow ow fuck, [ he groans, rolling up into a sit and tilting his head back to wait for the bleeding to stop. ] Next time, just do me a favor and run me all the way over, okay Jeep?

[ But at least it's giving him something else to focus on. He owes the little dragon a big treat for that, later. ]

I'm runnin' out of things to break here, fuck.

[yasei]

Earthquake Warning
[ What an unpleasant wake up call he's getting. Obi likes to take cat-naps whenever he can get them, and he is nocturnal and generally only manages to fall asleep after the light of day can be seen crawling up above the edge of the horizon, and he's a bit of a mix between a heavy and a light sleeper- he's certainly not a restful sleeper.

But restless sleep or not, it's with a start that he wakes up, instincts driving him to grab the branch the sudden earthquake shook him off of. Much like a startled cat, he looks around where he dangles.

Hopefully he didn't accidentally kick anyone, but he's a bit busy to care even though he definitely would have noticed. ]

Mountain Climbing/Swamp Gas
[ Obi is slipping across the side of the mountain with the ease of a wild animal that may or may not have been raised on one. He doesn't know where he was raised, naturally, but he's a veritable mountain goat, or mountain lion (probably more the latter; he is a very cat-like person after all) and he's drawn up the volcano by curiosity and a need to simply do something, or maybe it's just that he wants to explore.

He ignores how the gas stings his eyes, though it is irritating, but he can breathe well enough after pulling his scarf over his mouth. He's not particularly in the mood for idle chatting right now, and he isn't wearing any cheshire mask; instead, to those capable of sensing such things, Obi oozes danger, and there is a sharpness that he usually keeps at bay glimmering in this eyes. ]

[smilingbullet]

Falling Rock
[ A volcano eruption! Somehow, D2's heart won't stop pounding with excitement; he knows he grew up on a volcanic island, but is this some form of home sickness that he had not expected to encounter? He loved that group of islands, even if his circumstances while living there had been bad. Well. Whatever it is, he is doing his best not to seem too excited because this is an absolute disaster. Poor Forrest will still be able to feel the strong emotion through their bond, but good humour is better than fear, right?

D2 is going to gear up, because of course he is, but first he wants to do some assessment of how bad it is and, well, breathing in the fumes is both making him even more excited. He's headed into the affected area, ]

Swamp Gas
[ Sometimes, the fumes also makes him see things. Those sights makes his heart pound hard for a totally different reason, as he stops and stares with an expression that's unusually blank and closed off.

Wrapped in mists obscuring faces and disabling him from even discerning silhouettes properly, the sound of screams and indiscernible words are heard, the images of battle flickers. He's used to the battle field and he knows that he would never quit being a soldier no matter what, he knows for a fact, remembers, that he's stated that he's going to be a soldier until the day that he dies. (Which he probably was, but it's not like he can dwell on that.)

But the hazy memories replay while he is awake, same as when he is asleep and wake up with sorrow for lost comrades whose faces, and often, names, that he can't even remember. It's like he's having nightmares even though he's awake, and he longs to return to the battlefield proper, because when he fights, when he keeps busy and go to sleep after a long day of activity, he has a bigger chance of facing a dreamless sleep. ]

Mountain Climbing
[ Finally he's paid a quick visit to a couple stores in the Near Shore that sells some useful equipment, and like a reckless idiot who knows how to prepare himself and needs to do something, who needs to keep moving, he's definitely on his way up the side of the volcano with sure footing and a mask that protects him from the fumes the volcano is emitting. He's humming some incoherent song that's wholly out-of tune, and he's practically buzzing with excitement. It's as if the hallucinations he was previously plagued by never even happened. ]

[lightblooming]

... Okay. [ She does notice that he seems a little anxious. ] Whatever happens from here, I'm with you.

[unlucky7]

Bats, similar to ones that were in the forest when we were investigating after the fact.

[Lights, not ayakashi bats. She stares at the flapping forms, trying to will reality back into place, but the mind keeps what it wants to see. Her fingers slash a borderline in front of the group, shielding the two of them and causing the spirits to scatter.

With that taken care of, Ginia releases the borderline and turns to address the other question.]

We've fought ayakashi together, humans together, even executed a man. I know how you work, you know how I work, and I like and respect you. Being your shinki makes it easier to help, by that logic.

[incinerators]

It's alright, don't worry about it.

[ at nia's question, pyrrha nods. she's tired and sweaty, but otherwise she's holding up just fine. ] I'm doing fine, thank you. I got separated from my team, but I figured that I can use this time to try to help anyone else who may need it.

[veiledflame]

"Do you think I'm dumb or something?" Sotero inquires, staring at the older man with a wary expression.

Let me help, indeed. Who'd believe that some random shinki was going to help them instead of turning them in to his god as soon as he got a chance?

"--Who's your god, anyway? Since you were lying about Votelli."

[veiledflame]

"I guess. What's you keeping me secret have to do with whether I'm allowed to keep secrets, though?"

He can admit, privately, that it does sound unfair. But not that unfair. Anyway, it wasn't in the deal.

[chibisu]

"If I don't know everything about my secrets, how can I keep them so well?" Checkmate, other small child. And don't worry, he's working on the 'not in the deal' part, which is why he gestures for Sotero to come over.

"Come on, we'll work on this contract together. I have the bases written up for most of mine, so it won't take too long."

[veiledflame]

[She's not, but that doesn't seem to be stopping Sotero, whose expression ricochets from shock to annoyance to real anger in a few seconds of staring at Hibiki and her dramatically upraised glove.

He balls his hands into fists, and stomps one foot, hard. The stone opens under his foot, a crack zig-zagging its way towards Hibiki and widening as it goes to reveal an ominous orange glow in its depths. By the time it reaches her, it's almost wide enough to swallow down a motorcycle.]