Dust's Day [Open]

[mithrarin]

Who: Dust and OPEN
When: 1/20
Where: Around the Far and Near Shores
What: Another day in heaven; battle, business, and mischief.
Note: I'll match your tagging style.


Morning

Though Dust had mastered many elements of his cell phone, he had never bothered with his alarm. In his eastern-facing room, the sun did the job just fine. After all this time he'd grown accustomed enough to a bed, indoors, that he no longer woke up early and restless -- in fact, these days he didn't feel in much of a hurry to get up at all.

That was a dangerous precedent, and he knew it. Which is why when the sun at last rose fully, to cast long but distinct shadows from the buildings and temples of the city, Dust jogged down the street at a steady pace, his tail and cloak streaming out behind him and occasionally to one side as a gust of wind tugged them this way or that. He was far from his living days of running across Falana, after all. Now, even if he didn't seem able to gain weight from eating and he certainly wasn't getting his heart any exercise, he still found this ritual soothing. Maybe it was more to put him in the right mental state for the day, kind of meditative. It felt good, that was all he knew.

And if other people were out here in the morning, he didn't hesitate to offer a wave and a hello.

Lunch

Not far from Fortuna's shrine in the Near Shore, a small ramen shop had a line out the door, its hot offerings too popular by far on a cold January day. And at the end of that line stood Dust, arms crossed and fingers drumming impatiently on his own sleeves. The cold didn't seem to bother him, thanks to ample clothing and fur beneath it to hold in plenty of heat -- but even he might end up half-frozen, the way this line was or rather wasn't moving. 'Glacial' felt a little too uncomfortably accurate a description here...

He wasn't even that committed to ramen! But from here he couldn't spot a good other place to eat, even as he turned in place to look. Maybe take pity on him...?

Early Afternoon

One of the few things Dust had asked for, when Marinette named him, was a place to train. Luckily, Fortuna's temple had no shortage of space, so he had a fairly large room on the ground floor to use for the purpose. It wasn't anywhere on par with Bishamon's temple, of course, but it was comfortable nonetheless, and certainly far less awkward for him to use than going over there outside of scheduling training days.

Now the room was a flurry of activity as Dust twisted, whirled, and spun about, the staff in his hands striking with sweeping blows or powerful thrusts leveled against imaginary targets. His movement with it had become quite fluid, his control much improved from his first efforts at wielding this new weapon.

Anyone who came to Fortuna's temple would hear him practicing the moment they came in the doors -- and anyone who knocked, well, he was closest to the door right now and pretty resigned to answering it.

Late Afternoon

On this side of the heavenly garden: Dust, fingers wrapped around his staff, teeth gritted, crouched slightly in combat readiness.

On the other side: a boar spirit, pawing at the ground and tearing up the turf with its tusks, determined to drive off this interloper and return to its destructive rummaging.

The boar moved first, unsurprisingly, launching itself into a charge seemingly without warning, its sharp tusks gleaming with menace as they caught the sun. Even the Sen-Mithrarin couldn't take a spirit of this size and strength lightly; even a stationary slash with those tusks could do great harm, and a charge would likely put one or both of them clean through his body. Not a joking matter.

But Dust didn't stick around to let the boar win; he vaulted to the side, spinning to deliver a sharp whack to the boar's flank with his staff. Had he been using his sword, he might have ended the contest there, but he wasn't out to kill the creature, just drive it off. That wasn't enough, though; quicker than expected, the boar spun, its hooves churning up the cold dirt as it plowed towards Dust and forced him to dodge once again.

The battle was then well and truly joined, the boar's grunting and snorting mixing with Dust's own hisses of breath and the snap of his cloak, easily audible in the crisp air. But what Dust didn't see was another boar spirit wandering towards the garden, its own intentions of claiming the plants there clear...

Evening

The sun was setting somewhere behind a thick cover of clouds, but that was almost unnoticeable; swiftly-falling snow was of far greater interest. Dust paused to watch it in one of the small parks that dotted the Far Shore as the snow drifted down, swiftly coating the grass and then the walkways.

It was pretty. And pleasant. And -- actually, it gave him an idea.

People walking by the park who he didn't know get a warning -- a call of "Heads up!" and a snowball whipped at them intentionally wide, a warning shot from the grinning Warmblood even as he scooped up another handful of snow to shape into a ball. People he DID know (and thought would be good sports about it)? They didn't get the call, and his first snowball aimed to hit.

Game on.

((Or if you want any other scenario with Dust, let me know and we can wildcard it!))

Comments

Evening

[myblueskies]

Romeo had been out and about all day as he was want to do. Helping Elfnein, visiting friends, learning new things.

It had gotten colder and that meant that it was important to run around lots to stay warm! Romeo was currently running through the park, heading back to Elfnein's temple when he heard the call and saw the snow ball fly past his head and explode on the floor in a flurry of white.

He laughed and bent down to scoop some snow up, packing it into a ball. He doesn't know the man who had thrown the snowball but it looked like he wanted to play!

"Heads up!"

Romeo's snowball also flies wide, but mostly by accident rather than intentional.

[mithrarin]

Ha! Dust settled in to not try very hard, winging his second snowball back without a lot of effort into it. The fun was in the exchange of fire, not the victory, after all. "Better get to cover!" he called out.

[myblueskies]

Cover! Romeo ran towards a bench and ducked down behind it. Once there he could make more snowballs! He packed the snow between his hands and grinned as he looked over towards where Dust was.

"Be ready!"

And he began flinging his three snowballs in quick succession!

[mithrarin]

Hey, maybe he'd done some good, teaching a kid how to handle ranged combat. Dust laughed, turning so that the most accurate snowball hit his cloak instead of his chest, then dove to get behind a tree. In the same rolling motion, he scooped up a handful of snow, quickly shaping it to fire back at Romeo.

[myblueskies]

He got him! Romeo grinned and bent down to create another snowball! He stayed ducked behind the bench but tried to move so he could see the tree better!

Once his snowball was finished he stood up to throw another snowball at the tree where Dust was hiding behind!

[mithrarin]

Not inclined to get hit a second time, Dust ducked back behind the tree, letting the snowball fly wide. Going all out would be really unfair, so Dust contented himself by scrambling across the grass for another tree, slow enough that Romeo had a fair shot at him.

[myblueskies]

Missed! But that was fine! He would try again, as Dust began scrambling to another tree Romeo quickly made another snowball and this time ran out of his cover for a moment to throw it, trying to hit him before Dust ducked behind the second tree.

Romeo better find some more cover as well! He looked around, spotting a bush that could be a good hiding place and running towards it!

[mithrarin]

Dust dove for the tree, rolling as he did to come up with a handful of snow of his own. Of course, he got more snow on himself doing that than he would have from getting hit -- but that wasn't the point!

Ha! Time to get him while he's out of cover! Dust whirled, flinging the snowball in Romeo's direction.

[myblueskies]

The snowball hit, snow exploding over his chest. Romeo laughed as the cold hit him and darted behind the bush! Time to get him back!

He made another snowball, and a second one before jumping out and throwing them quickly, trying to surprise him!

[mithrarin]

Dust leaned out just at the wrong time, and threw a hand up to protect his face as he took a snowball to the stomach. "Nice shot!" he called out, ducking back behind the tree.

[myblueskies]

"Thank you!" Romeo called back, not coming out from where he had ducked back behind the bush.

His hands were really cold but this was fun so he made another snowball and crouched in wait to see if he Dust peeked out again!

[mithrarin]

Dust had the advantage there, thanks to fur. He might be wet, but even the think layer on his hands was enough to catch his own body heat and warm him up.

Dust did peek out after a moment, rather dramatically at that. He still wanted to make this a fair fight -- or even his loss. The point was the fun, after all.

[myblueskies]

There! Romeo threw a snowball in the direction he had seen Dust peek out from and then decided to run closer! There was another tree not so far away and judging his moment he darted out, running through the snow towards the tree grinning.

Evening

[redmare]

Chinatsu was on her way back to the temple, ready to get in her pj's and fuzzy socks. She rubs her gloved hands together, attempting to warm them up more. She could already imagine the nice warm bath waiting for her---

Until her blissful daydream was rudely interrupted by something rather cold hitting her right on the back of the head.

"What the HELL?" She hisses as she turns, glaring daggers that would have made Shun proud.

She almost doesn't believe who the culprit is--except she does. "Oh. Oh, remember. You asked for this." She says as she starts to scoop up some snow herself.

[mithrarin]

If Dust were mortal right now, he'd be giving thanks to whatever god of the Far Shore had given him this gift. He was so lucky! And he couldn't stop grinning, wild like an idiot, as he quickly ducked down to grab another handful of snow.

"Hi, Chinatsu!" he said, as irritatingly perky as possible.

[redmare]

Yes, she's said she prefers he not be his broody self, but this? This was not what she meant. Despite her furrowed brow, her lips tugged into a smirk herself. Not sure it was the same kind of glee he was feeling though. It was more of the I-will-wipe-that-cheeky-ass-grin-off-your face, kind of expression.

She starts to stalk over to him, snowball in hand, which eventually turns into a run.

"Don't you just 'hi' me!"

[mithrarin]

"I didn't just 'hi' you! I also hit you with a snowball!" Still grinning wildly, Dust turned to sprint away from her at speed, not about to give her an east shot. Snow crunched underfoot as he ran, and he quickly stuck out a hand to scoop some off a bush as he whipped by it, the wake of his passing sending up a cloud of light powder behind him.

[redmare]

Chinatsu chucks the snowball at him, despite being blinded by his childish snow screen. "That's cheating!" You can't use ninja skills in a snowball fight!

She waves her arm to try and clear the dust in front of her, looking around for him.

[mithrarin]

"What is it they say?" Dust said, popping out cheekily from behind a tree. "All's fair in love and war, and you wouldn't settle for anything less than war!"

Putting action to words, he flung his snowball at her, then ducked back into cover to shape up another one.

[redmare]

Chinatsu turns at the sound of the voice, only to be met with a snowball to the face. She goes to find her own tree, forming another snowball for ammo, peeking out to see if he was visible.

"You started it!"

[mithrarin]

"I sure did!" Dust had ducked out again to launch another snowball -- but instead was clutching at the tree, laughing madly into his hand at the success of his last shot. He couldn't have gotten that one more perfectly if he'd tried! Why couldn't he have a picture of it?

[redmare]

Chinatsu threw one right back at him, thankfully not getting hit this time now that she had cover.

"Did you eat something bad?!" Because Dust does not cackle. She was getting concerned.

[mithrarin]

Ack! The snowball caught him in the chest, and he ducked back behind the tree before she could wing another one at him.

"I had ramen! It was good! Though that was a while ago! Once I bury you in the snow, let's get something!"

[redmare]

"You mean after I bury you!" she makes another snowball, peeking out to check for that stupid hat.

[mithrarin]

"Sure I do!" Dust called back. Both his hat and his cloak were visible on opposite sides of the tree, which wasn't quite large enough to conceal him. In fact, even as she peeked out, Dust leaned out to wing another snowball her direction.