[OPEN!] How nice it'd be if we could try everything

[holygrailed]

Who: Irisviel von Einzbern and YOU!
When: February 22nd through February 28th
Where: Around the Far Shore and Near Shore
What: Exploring the area, spreading some cheer, and getting chased by ayakashi; it's what you expect for a new shinki.


[02/22 - Far Shore - Around Giant’s Grave's]

[Irisviel is on a casual stroll around the grounds of her temple. Her pace is easy-going and casual, but there's a focus to the way she walks too. There's a small wicker basket draped over one arm. Occasionally she stops to mark a rock with a piece of chalk or scratch something into a tree or the ground with a small dagger. Once in awhile, she holds her hand over the marking, a soft glow emanating from it.

Her walk is disrupted as she yelps, her next step taking her into knee-deep water. The mossy bog swirls around her legs, the ripples the only difference between the ground she was standing on and the water she's now in.]

I suppose this is the source of blessed water for the temple.

[Her tone is a little more sour than usual.]

[After her unexpected walk into the bog, Irisviel can be found marking out the perimeter of water source with strips of fabric tied to sticks. Once she's done, her walk around the temple grounds continues, unperturbed by the slight squelch of her boots.]

[Any date - Far Shore - All Districts]

[With the abundance of wildflowers growing around the district, it'd be a true shame to not put them to use. Irisviel, wearing a long white and gold dress, can be found sitting in a field on a blanket, wrapping bundles of flowers with twine or weaving together flower crowns.]

Hello, would you like to help?

[Irisviel can also be found visiting temples directly with a basket full of flower bundles. With so many gods and shinki around, the only way to meet them is to put in some effort. It's also a nice excuse to see the different temples. Don't mind Irisviel as she wanders onto temple grounds in search of the entrance and/or inhabitants of the temple.]

[Any date - Near Shore - Window Shopping]

[The Far Shore is beautiful and impressive enough, but there's even more to see on the Near Shore. Irisviel is wide-eyed and full of joy as she walks along a shopping district, practically glued to the shop windows, though never entering the stores. There's one downside about being a new shinki to a new god; no income. No matter! The joy of exploration is enough! Find Irisviel wandering through shopping areas, strolling through parks, or even visiting shrines, all in the name of exploration.]

[Any date - Near Shore - Ayakashi!]

LINE!

[Irisviel backs away from the barrier, hand still raised in front, as the giant bat-like creature beats against the clear barrier separating them. Its numerous eyes twitch about as it hisses and claws, diving at the barrier. It holds, but its efforts draw more ayakashi in, some on her side of the barrier. They're smaller ayakashi, but they hone in on her.

Run. It's time to run. Irisviel flees the site, fear flooding hot as she tries to put as much distance between the ayakashi and herself as possible. Shrines are safe, where's the nearest one? She cuts through alleys and side streets, slowing to leave borderlines behind her, feeling them break as she moves too far away. But Irisviel can only run so far and as her breath turns ragged and her limbs feel heavy, patches of blight burning from where ayakashi manage to scratch or peck at her.

If running doesn't work, then fighting it is. Irisviel slashes another borderline in front of her and turns to face the ayakashi chasing her. A spell wells in her, survival instincts seizing hold. Slow them down, stop them in their tracks. Plucking hair from her head, she snaps her hand out, channeling energy into the thin strands to make them thicker, stronger, from delicate hair to thin wires.]

Shape Ist Leben!

[Her hand flings out as glowing blue wires snap forward, entangling the ayakashi in a web of wires. It can slow them down, but it won't hold forever nor will it rend them. Now what?]

Comments

Ayakashi

[curruid_coinchenn]

[ Berserker recognizes when his shinki is in trouble -- their emotional link is beneficial for that. It's not panic that fuels his running, but determination. He needs to protect his tools at all costs, especially one as valuable to him as Irisviel. His approach is not quiet nor subtle, his footsteps clearly audible.

Red spear in hand, he sees the restrained ayakashi and runs them through. It's disturbingly efficient as he pins them further to the wall. Gae Bolg won't kill them, but the damage is done. It buys time.

He turns to Irisviel and doesn't say a thing, except for what's necessary. ]

Come, Miruki!

[ No wasted motion, no wasted efforts. An efficient machine. ]

[holygrailed]

[A god can always feel their shinki, but a shinki has no similar awareness of their god. When Beserker barrels her way, spear impaling the snared ayakashi, relief replaces fear. She doesn't let it distract her though, hand clutched in a fist, wires taut.

At the sound of the command, she's surrounded by light, traversing the distance between them in an instant and materializing onto Berserker's body in place of his armor.]

You came.

[The words aren't surprised, but grateful. Irisviel allows the brief moment of sentiment, smiling at him. Blight burns, but she can ignore the pain as she focuses on the ayakashi still wrapped up in her glowing wires. She reaches out and focuses on grabbing the wires in her mind, pulling the smallest ones together. Her motions are mirrored in reality, wires vibrating as the ayakashi twitch and struggle.]

Shall we destroy them, Berserker?

[curruid_coinchenn]

I would never leave you in danger.

[ The garment still feels strange to him, but he can't complain too much because of the protection offered by it. Irisviel's blight would need to be taken care of as soon as this battle is over, but that's a thought pushed to the back of his mind. For now, the only focus is destroying the ayakashi, the things that put his tool in such danger. He couldn't fault Irisviel for getting in to the danger, either -- he wouldn't count it as a mistake.

He grabs Gae Bolg, readying himself to tear it from the wall and loose the speared ayakashi. ]

Destroy them until there's nothing left.

[ A strong feeling of bloodlust flows through him. Fighting like this is nothing but paperwork, but if it needs to be done, it should be done right. He rips the spear from the wall and lets it fade away. With his hands covered by the cloth of the long sleeves, he could find a way to rend them...A brutal way. ]

[holygrailed]

[Irisviel is not one who relishes violence or finds enjoyment in a fight, but she does not shy from it. Fighting ayakashi is their job and having experienced firsthand the speed and relentlessness they honed in on her, she cannot let them attack and hurt anyone else. They are beings of negative energy, they will not be missed.

At Berserker's side, confidence surges through her. She holds her head high, feeling the slight grip of his fingers around her sleeves. They are long, but that only means there is reach from the sleeves.]

As my god wishes.

[An ayakashi cannot withstand the force of a god and vesseled shinki working in tandem. The smallest and weakest, when Berserker grips or slashes them, will crumble under the slightest pressure, fading into dark ash without leaving a speck on Irisviel's pure white sleeves. The larger, that one will take more work as it manages to work a wing free, shielding itself with a leathery wing tough as steel.]

[curruid_coinchenn]

[ Berserker finds no joy in battle, either, it's simply what must be done. It's as tedious and mechanical as paperwork. The violence within him is simply a consequence of making sure his task in complete. Total annihilation is the only answer.

There's a surge of some kind of strong emotion within him as the smaller ayakashi are destroyed. It can't be described as joy or anything really positive, more like war lust. It's cold and calculated, brutally efficient.

To use his bare hands or to call forth that spear again...He chooses to use his hands. It's just the easier option and the more direct. He tears at that hardened wing, undeterred by its strength. If anything it makes Berserker just that more determined to tear it apart with his own hands, continuing his relentless assault. ]

[holygrailed]

[Irisviel focuses more magic into the wires, willing them harder and stronger, to keep the ayakashi from thrashing about so Berserker can get a better grip. Do ayakashi feel pain or do they work solely on instinct? As Berserker tears and rips at the wing, hands protected so efficiently from blight by the thin layer of fabric, the membrane of the wing tears and splits, joints crack and pop. The inky dark red skin of the ayakashi with its twitching eyeballs is revealed, flesh gouging with each attack.

As her frenzied flight attracted ayakashi, so does their fight. As more ayakashi creep and fly in, Irisviel snares them with her wires or resets her borderline to keep them away. She winces a little at the violence, at the tug of his fingers digging into fabric and ayakashi, but remains silent as she focuses.]

[curruid_coinchenn]

[ Relentless efficiency is the best way to describe Berserker's method. He doesn't stop until the creature has been completely destroyed, simply moving to the next target. A beast that stops for nothing, his only desire to run. ]

You're doing well.

[ Genuine praise as he tore the largest one apart. It's needlessly brutal, but brutality serves as a warning. With his normal opponents, it drove away anyone else who might challenge him. The same logic might apply to the ayakashi -- a warning to avoid this god. Blight doesn't concern him for now, very little of his skin exposed to their touch and that which is is hard to get to. Pain is something he ignores, that he feels so strongly but it does nothing to deter him.

A machine built to kill. ]

flower crowns

[heptagram]

[Patchouli was kind of surprised to see anyone out here. Lovely place and all, but she didn't see a lot of people out here very often. So, she approaches, albeit cautiously.

Slightly cautiously.

The other figure is clearly sitting down. She doesn't look particularly dangerous at the moment.

...she's making flower crowns?]

I'm not sure that I was expecting that. But I don't see why I can't, either.

[holygrailed]

[The most dangerous thing about Irisviel in the moment is the small knife she has for cutting slits into the flower stems. She finishes weaving a flower into her crown and sets the knife down.]

Company will also do, if you wish to give it.

[She smiles brilliantly, genuine and ungraded.]

I'm Irisviel von Einzbern. I arrived recently.

[heptagram]

[Disarming and... kinda cute. She has a nice smile, Patchouli decides.]

It's nice to meet you, Irisviel. [She finally sits down.] Do you mind if I just shorten that to Iris, maybe? Oh, right. My name is Patchouli. I've been here for several months and am serving as the Egyptian god of wisdom and the sciences, Thoth.

[holygrailed]

Yes, that's fine, or even Iri if you wish.

[Someone else already called her Iri and it's a nice shortening of her name. She's not unaware her name is a mouthful, but her name is as it is. A basket full of already cut flowers is moved between them, a ball of twine also within the basket.]

I'm a shinki in the service of Berserker, here as the god Balor. Do you mind telling me more about Thoth or yourself?

[heptagram]

["Iri" is a nice choice, too. But she will stick with "Iris" for now.]

Certainly, I don't mind at all. What would you like to know first? Or did you not have something in mind?

[holygrailed]

I admit I did not something in mind. Everything is so new and interesting, I want to know more and more.

[A light giggle escapes. Irisviel looks down at the flowers in her hand, weaving in another to the crown. For some, the loss of memory is a cage onto itself, a barrier of uncertainty to smash against. For Irisviel, it's a freedom and second chance she will never know how fortunate it is.]

But one is not meant to know everything, especially when personal lives are concerned. I'll listen to whatever you wish to share, but please do not feel you have to share anything you do not want to.

Window Shopping

[dredefulchilde]

[Joscelin does a lot of wandering around the Near Shore. So much so that he's been noticed, occasionally, and made to answer awkward questions about why he is wandering around by himself during school hours. To avoid some of this, he stole a randoseru from a shop and now wears it in his jaunts amongst the living. People seem to be more comfortable with him if they think he's an elementary student headed to or from school rather than filling his boredom with petty crime.

That's what he's doing today.

He's wandering through a side street near Ueno park, and quickly swipes a couple of apples from a fruit vendor who is busy with a legitimate customer. Grinning to himself, he stows one in his coat pocket and takes a big, satisfied bite out of the other before going off in search of another store to rob.

He doesn't know he's being watched.]

[holygrailed]

[A woman with pure white hair flowing to her waist and bright red eyes should draw attention, but the veil that covers all from the Far Shore means barely anyone gives Irisviel a second glance. A child on occasion, pointing out in awe the "snowy woman" to their parents. Sometimes it's someone older, gawking her way as she passes by, only able to see them because they're sensitive to the supernatural or close to death. Sometimes Irisviel notices, sending a charming smile, engaging in light conversation if there's time and an opportunity.

She's admiring the bright and fresh fruit at a vendor's stall when a child passes by. The owner doesn't notice, but Irisviel certainly does as two of the apples disappear into the pocket.]

Ah, excuse me.

[Irisviel steps away from the stand and after the boy, her voice unheard by humans.]

You should pay for that.

[dredefulchilde]

[Damn, he's been spotted.

The boy turns around and looks at the woman, pointedly taking another large bite out of the apple.]

Why should I? So some old lady can have another ¥60? She won't miss it.

[holygrailed]

[Irisviel's expression is a patient neutral as she watches him take another bite, the loud crunch an impudent snap in the air.]

Well, if everyone was to take an apple or two, the cost would add up. It's rude, besides to take things that aren't yours.

[dredefulchilde]

[Another bite.]

We're not 'everyone' though, are we? They don't notice us. If I paid her, would she remember where the money came from the second I stepped out of view?

[holygrailed]

Even if she doesn't remember who paid her, the principle remains you're taking needlessly.

[A thought occurs to her and her expressions softens a little.]

Does your god not provide for you or do you not receive enough from your followers? Is that why you have to resort to stealing?

[artificialrose]

[Irisviel isn't the only one who like windowshopping. In such a big city, well, there's benefits. Garry in particular is fond of the huge array of people which are there, because more people encourages more variety. It must be a little bit like what New York is like, although Garry has never been. (Or maybe he has, and simply can't remember.) Something about some cities just... brings about the color in people. This one, here in Japan, is no different. Almost as much as he enjoys looking at what's in the windows, he enjoys looking at the people.]

[Right now, however, he's definitely looking at the clothes on display rather than any particular person. In fact, he's considering a deep teal dress that Irisviel might pause to glance at herself.]

I wonder if it's worth going into the shrine funds...

[holygrailed]

[How much time does one need to see everything? It feels like Irisviel could have a full lifetime - though what is that really? - and still not see everything there is to see. There's joy and laughter and wonder all around and truly the world is a wonderful place. She's glad to be in it, to help the people, though how remains to be seen.

She's admiring a lovely dress in a window display, the color so rich, the style very lovely. As the person next to her speaks, Irisviel turns to him with a warm smile.]

I think so. A dress like this might not be around much longer. Someone might buy the last one if you wait too long.

[artificialrose]

Oh-

[He genuinely wasn't expecting a reaction, and Garry startles a little bit. Still, if she can hear him, then... She must be from the Far Shore. In fact, he thinks he saw her at the training event... That sort of hair color is very striking. After calming down, he smiles tentatively at her.]

I suppose you're right. Better to take action instead of wonder and regret, right?

[holygrailed]

[There's been all sorts of half-started conversations today, mostly from people who ignore her words as she lives in the background of the world. Irisviel giggles as he replies back, happy to run into someone else from the Far Shore.]

Exactly! I suppose if the difference is between having a new dress and having a meal, one should go for the meal, but if you can afford both, why not have both?

[artificialrose]

I guess I'm just worried about being fiscal. [He folds his hands together.] Even though we're spirits, I can't help but think in the back of my head "What if we need the money for emergencies?"

Not that I suppose there are many emergencies that could be solved in our situation.

[After all, while half of his and Komaeda's home might be in ruin, well... it was always sort of like that. Literally.]

Were you thinking of getting it as well?

[holygrailed]

If an emergency arises, I'm sure others could help out too.

[The suggestion is genuine, optimistic about the state of the others around, but Irisviel also can't see the point in saving for a possibility that may never come when things could be used now.

She looks toward the dress and gives a tiny, wistful sigh.]

Oh no, I've only arrived so I don't have any money.