thenearshore | We climbed up to the top in worn out shoes

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We climbed up to the top in worn out shoes

Who: Sanae and Lu Meng
What: Prayer no. 12
Where: In a countryside town
When: Backdated to May 3rd (~~I know the dates don't match oh well timing in Heaven is weird~~)
Warnings: N/A

"Maybe people are forgetful or maybe it's something causing them to lose their things. Not just keys and money but lost keepsakes and one of a kind mementos are really dragging their spirits town."

[It's fascinating, to think that they could travel so far in such a short amount of time. What would be a day's journey even by a fast horse is easily conquered by two hours on the train, and in so much more comfort. The tickets they bought weren't luxury ones, but just being able to sit comfortably on a cushioned seat in an air-conditioned environment is an extremely welcomed change from the fatigue that comes with riding a horse. If he wasn't so absorbed with observing the passing sights, it'd be easy to be lulled to sleep by the gentle swaying of the carriage, the muted clatter of the wheels over the rails forming a comfortable background noise to fall asleep to.

It's his first time going out of the city, and the first time they're taking a train that goes out into the countryside. He'd kept a cool and calm front, but every now and then there's a soft gasp when something new comes into view. Goats on a grass-covered roof, for example. Wind turbines to generate electricity. Huge road flyovers and highways.

What really takes his breath away though is the initial burst of green when the train finally started to run through the countryside proper, the long carpet of beautiful green unfurling as far as the eye can see. And sometimes, even robots! Robots tending to the fields, without a human in sight. Frankly speaking, he wishes he could get off the train right there and then. He wants to know how that's done, if the crops grown by a robot can taste just as good as any that's grown by a human. But sadly they're not on this train for a field trip; they're actually heading out for a prayer today, following a trail of lost mementos and keepsakes.

It makes some sense to him why the trail would lead them out to a small, sleepy town; didn't young men and women leave their villages to search for fame and fortune in the major cities, bearing well-wishes and good luck charms from their families and loved ones? And so many desperate pleas for help too. Enough that it was getting suspicious enough for him to wonder if this was not just simply a case of everyone getting a little careless.

If it's an ayakashi again, they'll have to rend it. What an unpleasant business that is, because it's actually a perfectly beautiful day, better suited for a peaceful day out. Hopefully they'll settle it without any further incident...or lectures. Heavens know both he and Sanae would like a day when solving a prayer doesn't end with some form of disagreement or another. Not to say that they argued a lot, but it'd be nice to wrap up a prayer without any need for him to put on the "teacher-voice".

He's drawn out of his thoughts when an announcement is made through the train's PA system, a woman's voice cheerily informing them that they would be arriving shortly. If there were any messages to his BBS post, then he'd best reply to them now before they get started. Pulling out his phone, he scrolls for the post. Not many bites, huh? Well, it can't be helped. He should at least respond to the ones who were kind enough to reply--

--...wait. He squints at one of the "anonymous" replies. And then he looks up from his phone and raises an eyebrow at Sanae, clearing his throat to catch her attention before he points out one of the "anon"s to her.]

My lady, is this you?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ The land is as green as her hair and as rich as her smile. For all of her joy at being back in a big old ~city~ with ~modern technology~ and out of the boondocks of 1800s Japan, she seems excited to be taking a short trip to the countryside on the train. Of course her joy is supplemented by the fact that she gets to tell Lu Meng exactly how a bullet train works with electromagnetic forces. Which means that she gets to explain what magnets are and how they they work, which turns out to be a lecture on her part that lasts for practically the entire trip. She's taken a break from her little science raving to allow him some time to himself to collect his thoughts-- as well as rest her voice, because boy are magnets a complicated topic.

That's when he brings up the message on the BBS. ] Eh...?

[ At first not knowing what he's speaking of, she leans forward to look at the screen on his phone. ] Oh-- what... whatever do you mean? [ She says, awkwardly looking away, a smile twitching at her lips. How could she have been found out so quickly?! Is she that obvious? ] Clearly, someone agrees with me!

[And here comes a light mobile phone head bop! Tsk tsk, lying to your shinki? Someone's not impressed.]

Clearly, this anonymous individual must be you. This is nearly word for word what you told me a few days ago, the emojis are similar to the ones you send out, and you're giving yourself away right now by how you're acting.

[Triple reasonable combo!]

[ A wince. Not that the bop hurts, it's sort of reflexive of her to cringe out of embarrassment from being caught! ] ......Was it really that obvious?

Who else would it be?

[Yes. It was that obvious. But he's not gonna keep harping on that.]

I'm not surprised that you chipped in. It's very like you to do so. Still, I appreciate your reaffirmation of your earlier advice. [He takes a look at the other comments and begins typing out a response of his own, muttering mostly to himself.]

It seems most do not place much importance on proper shinki and god interactions. Honestly...

Edited 2016-10-29 12:24 (UTC)

[ She falls silent. And then after a moment, she asks almost cautiously: ]

You... really believe that the bond shared by god and shinki is sacred, don't you? [ Another pause, and then she hurriedly adds, waving a hand. ] Not that's that a bad thing...! And I think it's important too, obviously. [ A sigh. ] I'm just saying that if you want to pay respects to another god, that's okay with me.

Of course. [His response is immediate, and the typing stops so that he can face her properly.] There are some relationships that must be preserved. If a man can only swear allegiance to one emperor, more so should a shinki pledge himself to the god that grants him his name.

My lady is a priestess herself; would it be right for you to pursue other gods while serving your own?

[ She seems thoughtful for a moment. ] True, I was always in service to one god in particular, but that doesn't mean I couldn't beseech other gods for assistance from time to time.

[ Not that she did it often! Reimu asked favors of other gods more often than her; then again, Reimu didn't even know the name of the god of her shrine. Sanae mostly stuck with Kanako and Suwako, but even thinking back to that, Sanae realizes that she never really took either god's opinion on the matter. She was always a priestess of Kanako, first and foremost, not Suwako's. ] Besides even if you did pray to another god, it's not like I'd get jealous or anything like that--

[ But now that she thinks about it....

Surely either Kanako or Suwako would have said something to her if it bothered them, ...right? ]

...I... think.

[Her answer doesn't fill him with much confidence!!]

Rest assured, I will not be serving any other god than you. Unless I have committed some offence that would see you banish me from your presence, in which case I would not deserve to be your shinki in the first place.

[ Ugh ugh now it's going to bother her. Would she be jealous? Oh, sure, he can give thanks to another god, that's fine. But that he'd pray to another god is something else-- it means that she's not fulfilling her shinki's needs!

Maybe she's over thinking this. Maybe it shouldn't bother her. But it does bother her, and it bothers her that it bothers her. She's about to get into one of her deep, thinky-thought moods when he oh so casually mentions that if he did something terrible he wouldn't deserve to be her shinki in the first place.

Ha! Ha. As if he'd do anything terrible enough! ] Nonsense, Lu Meng. I can't think of one thing that would make you "less deserving".

...Unless you make me laugh while I'm drinking strawberry milk and it comes out of my nose. Then we'll have a talk. [ She's being serious, honest. ]

That's disgusting. [He wrinkles his nose. Eww.] I'll be sure to keep all jokes at a minimum whenever you're drinking strawberry milk.

[...that may or may not have been a joke. It's up to her to decide.]

[ Oho~

She does wonder if he's being serious or not-- or maybe he's not, but there's a little bit of seriousness-- because she's still getting used to the whole "Lu Meng can joke around" concept. He's just so subtle with his sarcasm and jokes that she has to keenly pay attention to them when they are given. ] Well that's the natural course to take, no? You're pretty much around me twenty-four-seven, so it would behoove you... to not have strawberry milk sprayed in your face as a result.

Such a pity. [He lets out a slight sigh, and begins to rummage in the bag he'd brought along with them.] I suppose this means that I'll have to give away all this strawberry milk I bought for you.

You brought strawberry mi--

[ Wait. ]

[ OOOH Sneaky, sneaky. She sees what he's trying to do here! WELL SHE WON'T FALL FOR IT. ] Oh, please. There's no need for that! [ She smiles. ] It's not like you're a comedian yourself. I think we're safe.

[ She secretly hopes so at least. ]

No no. I value my relationship with you too much to risk leaving your side due to a disgusting shot of strawberry milk to the face.

[Looking around. Oh there's a young woman over there? Lu Meng's standing up to walk over there, strawberry milk in hand. He's gonna offer it to her!]

[ RED ALERT, HE'S GOING TO GIVE AWAY THE STRAWBERRY MILK! ] --Wait..!

[ She leans over the edge of the seat, reaching to grab his arm. ] That strawberry milk-- [ Hdu give it to some other woman, too!! ] --You can't just give it away...!

Why not? We're going to have to discard of it somehow. Better to give it away than to simply throw it. [Welp, if he wanted a reaction out of her he got it. He's not trying to shrug her off him, but if this is still an act then he's got quite the authentic, slightly confused expression practiced and mastered.]

[ She can't tell! Not at all! ] Then give it to me right now! [ Leaning over the seats, grabby hands are a god for it. ] It's not funny anymore, and if it's not funny anymore I won't get the strawberry milk anywhere..!

[ Weh no not her strawberry milk ]

[OK she's taking this a lot seriously than he expected! He'd be alright with giving her the strawberry milk, just that-!!]

My lady, wait--!!

[Oh. Whoops. In her haste to snatch it from him, he might have been gripping the packet drink too hard. There's an awful sound of crumpling carton, a pop, and strawberry milk all over his hand and making a mess on the seat next to him. Thankfully he'd been leaning away from her when that accident happened, otherwise he'd be getting pink milk all over his pants.

But yes. Such a waste. Fare thee well strawberry milk, the unfortunate victim of a prank gone too far...]

[ And the precious contents are spilled before she can even have a taste....! ] The... the strawberry milk....

[ She looks to the spill, and then to him, and then back to the spill.

And then she says a short prayer, clapping her hands together twice for the poor milk. RIP, strawberry milk. ] ...May your next life be filled with happiness in someone else's belly.

...it's alright my lady. I packed extras. [With a sigh, he gets up to try and flag the attention of a train attendant to the pink sticky mess and to wash his hands. Thankfully the next stop is theirs already, because then they don't have to deal with the embarrassment of creating a scene. To the train attendant's credit he doesn't look too displeased, though he does sternly remind them to not play with their food the next time their on the train.

They exit the carriage and step onto the quiet platform. It's a simple stop, deserted except for the ticket attendant who's dozing on the job.]

[ About to protest, she then ends up shaking her head. ] I suppose it's as they say-- there's no use crying over spilled milk.

[ Not to mention it was her fault he spilled it in the first place.

She steps out of the train, following him to the platform. ] And, well.... you do know I was joking around to begin with, right...?

Of course. I do hope you know I was joking as well. [It got a little out of hand, but oh well. There will be plenty more strawberry milk drinks to come in the future!

First off though, they need to hunt down that ayakashi. The bus-stop is right outside the little station, and as they wait for the next bus to arrive it might be a good idea to go over their strategy one more time.]

About this incident. We both suspect an ayakashi may be involved, given the specific nature of the missing items. I've prepared the bag of keys you've asked for; do you plan to scatter them around the town to get the attention of the ayakashi?

[ And now it's time to get right to the reason of why they're out here in the first place. Sanae pauses, looking out towards the small country town settled in the foothills, bringing a hand to her chin. ] That's right.

[ It's like he read her mind! ] Really, we probably could just get away with planting a few keys here and there. It should be more than enough to attract some. [ She begins setting out towards the town. ] And it'll help lure them away from other "prey". [ As in, other innocent person's keys.

She places a hand on her hip, looking determined. ] Right...! Let's get to work.

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