thenearshore | 010 | Relief and Rescue

Entry tags:

010 | Relief and Rescue

Who: Everyone!
What: Cleanup and moral support
When: All day May 16
Where: Just outside of Tokyo
Summary: It's time to get rid of the mess that that demon made!

The attack by the demon recently has left the surrounding area in a very sorry state. Not only are some people still hospitalized or slowly recovering from the affects of the draining of their life force, but a lot of nasty accidents happened during the time that people were walking around like they were dead to the world. It's been attributed to an odd natural disaster, and many think it may have been an illness that caused it.

The Heavens have decided to send any available gods and shinki down to help out in the relief efforts. If they try hard enough, they should be easily seen for the times when they are helping people out, so it shouldn't be a problem.

On top of that, some new arrivals have suddenly appeared. Amaterasu has left them little handwritten notes pinned to their shirts:

'These people need your help! I'm sorry to throw you into things like this, but please do what you can.

☼ Amaterasu ☼'

And yes, she has doodled little suns next to her name.

Care

There are a lot of people who were left hurt because of the incident with the demon and they are still trying to recover from it. From broken bones all the way to mental trauma, these people have seen a lot of crazy stuff and they aren't feeling so hot. Any kind of care is viable, but you might also want to just be an errand-runner in order to help the qualified people who are already doing a pretty good job of helping these poor folks out.

Food

A fair number of homes and stores managed to get destroyed amidst everything going on with the demon, so there's a lot of work for the neighborhood to do in helping them out. Whether by helping to rebuild what has been broken or by just handing out some free food to the people who need it. Of course, you might also take some food for yourself. Hopefully you're not a horrible enough person to just steal from the homeless~

Literal Cleaning

And here's where the fun comes in. The buildings that need to be rebuilt and the streets that need to be cleaned up are all under works and you can help in any way you deem worthy. You might carry loads or actually put forth the effort to help rebuild some lost homes, it's up to you. Of course, if you set about helping out in this way, you might notice little fairy-like spirits flitting around each of the Near Shore residents who are working hard to help each other out. The little spirits shine brightly and seem to shy away if approached, but they titter happily anytime the person they're following does something nice.

Banquet

After the day is done, the Heavens have a special treat set up for anyone who helped out - a large banquet in the Meeting Hall back on the Far Shore. Just like any other banquet, there is food and booze of every kind available. But also, the small tittering bright white spirits are in attendance, following around any Far Shore resident who helped out today. You might find yourself with a new friend or two who won't leave you alone, who keep giggling anytime you're kind, and who don't seem to be able to talk and only exude delight and good feelings.

In Summary:

Help out the people affected by the demon
Give out food to people who need it
Clean up the messes
Eat some good food, drink some good booze
Have fun~

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

don't you want a balloon

[ A man, a Near Shore resident, is standing around in badly-affected neighborhoods wearing a full-body bunny costume. It looks heavy and uncomfortable, but the man in it seems not to mind. He's even painted on a nose and whiskers, and he's wearing huge fake teeth, bless him. He's holding a bouquet of balloons (in various exciting colors and shapes, if it matters). Once he's been standing in the same place for a while he'll move on, to a park, or another street, but he never runs out of balloons, and he'll offer one to anyone brave enough to approach him. Is this really helping? Who would actually do this? Did someone.............................convince him?

In unrelated news, Ukoku is never far from the guy—sitting on a bench, playing with his phone, scuffing at the ground (as if looking for something), and occasionally swatting at those cute little happy spirits. ]

Edited 2016-11-16 18:28 (UTC)

[Haven't these people been through enough? A pair of children start crying loudly when the bunny man approaches them, prompting Sharak (who had been a safe distance away with barely disguised horror) to walk over and usher them away.]

There, there, don't look...

[ Ukoku, standing some distance away and busily working something out in his head while staring at either the ground or his phone, notices her in two parts: the first is genuine, when he gives her a long, bland look; the second is a big hey girl I didn't know you were here too smile, and he raises his eyebrows, gesturing to the balloons.

Take a fucking balloon, they're fun. ]

[....... No, you know what, she doesn't see him. Ignore the long, bland eye contact when their eyes meet while she's looking around for these kids parents. It's your imagination.

She takes both of the kids, one tiny hand in each of hers, in the opposite direction, towards where some man is looking around frantically for them.]

[ Look, the costume was out of place and she was just curious. Now Trance has a balloon in hand and she's still looking at the bunny man with confusion and speculation. ]

That's really nice of you, but are you okay? Have you been staying hydrated?

[ Sir, please. It's the middle of May. This can't be healthy. Yet Trance doesn't really know all of that for sure.

But what do?

She approached this guy, but Trance is also looking around to see if any of the other people are aware enough to imply that they're from the Far Shore. They'd know better, right? But there's only this one guy on his phone. ]

[ Ukoku was going to ignore her—he's busy here—but at her prolonged silence he looks up to see what's wrong, and of course she's looking at him. ]

Hi. [ He gives her a big, late smile. ] I think he's fine. I noticed him with a thing from a juice bar a little while ago. [ It was a thing from a juice bar for Ukoku, but that's okay. He's fine, it's fine. ]

[ That was actually a surprise- Trance figured that he was a Near Shore person with how he was acting (because Ukoku seemed so normal. Surprise later, though. The response is more important, as the man in the bunny suit seemed to go back to what he was doing before. Which was... standing around. It was almost like they were in a trance or something. ]

What sort of thing? Wait, juice bars aren't like normal bars, so this isn't an alcohol related issue. Right?

[ This was an important thing to make clear, okay? There are so many cultural differences and she's trying to play keep-up. ]

[ An alcohol-related issue. It takes him a split second, but he laughs. ]

Well, not as far as I know, but everybody has their vices, right? He's been like this for a while. I haven't really seen him say anything. I think it's a performance art thing. [ He doesn't actually do air quotes, but they're in his tone. ]

Performance...

[ She doesn't know what, but something seemed off about the man. Enough for her to go back and take a closer look at his eyes. The man was certainly balanced pretty well, and she didn't know enough of the various alcoholic scents to judge whether or not it was a factor. There was just so much that she didn't get about this place, it was hard to tell what was and wasn't supposed to be normal. Meanwhile, she kept up the conversation with this person who may be a god or shinki. ]

You must really like bunnies or something though, if you've followed and been watching him this whole time. Honestly, I thought you were just a normal person trying to ignore that he was around. Until you spoke to me, that is.

[ She can be pretty (accidentally) observant. At times. ]

[ Oh, he's been found out. He hops off the bench, tucking his phone in his pocket, and shuffles closer. ]

I thought you were normal! I'm so used to everybody ignoring me down here, I don't even look at people anymore. It's too weird standing in front of someone who doesn't see you, you know? When I first got here I thought I'd go crazy.

[ Wait- That actually got Trance to stop peering so closely at this bunny man and to actually look at this person. Her expression has gone from curiosity and concern to being purely perplexed. ]

Me normal? Wait, am I being made fun of?

[ Trance knew that the 'youkai' usually thought she was like them, given the gold skin and pointy ears, but she knew the people on the Near Shore didn't really have that much variety among them. So she honestly didn't know if this was some kind of sincerity, which meant there was a large part of the local culture that was being missed, or if there was something else that she was missing. ]

And if you don't look at people, why were you following him?

[ You know that feeling people can get, in the pit of their stomach, when some part of their instincts say that something is wrong or can be dangerous? It's harder to be sure of that feeling when you don't have a stomach, but the instinct is still there. ]

[ Super normal, of course. He's never going to qualify it. ]

Well, this guy, I mean—

[ He pauses, gesturing helplessly to the bunny man. ]

I'd feel bad if I didn't notice him, you know?

[ But let's move on from the bunny man and never ask questions about him again. That's over, it's cancelled. Ukoku starts toward Anywhere Else, turning back to talk to her: ]

So are you, um, a god?

[ But she's Concerned. Someone should at least know to check up on him occasionally, right? Maybe a proper doctor, to make sure this wasn't some mental break from everything that happened.

She wanted to ask if the bunny man was in that suit the entire time, way back at that juice bar. Or if it mattered if the guy didn't know that he was being noticed in the first place. However the conversation was solidly steered away for the moment with a completely different question. ]

Oh- No, I'm not a god. Just going around to see where I can help. Are you one?

That's what they tell me! It's kind of a weird concept to self-apply, you know? Feels arrogant.

[ There's an emphasis on arrogant in the same way that some people say scandalous, like a little joke. ]

What's your god like? Nice?

I don't see how when it's more an assignment position than anything else.

[ Which may or may not attribute to her having no memories that give things like gods any weight. ]

But yes- As far as I've experienced and know, my god is very nice. I've learned that a lot of them are.

[ He's not rushing, but he's leading them around the corner of some building, into a less-affected neighborhood where any recovery efforts seem to be well in hand. Also, the bunny man is out of sight forever and ever. ]

I think you're right, but I've heard a few horror stories. Total disregard, some other stuff. [ He waves vaguely, as if it's not worth talking about. ] So it's always good to hear.

[ The bunny man may be out of sight for forever and ever, and Trance might not remember it, but she's exceptionally good at finding things. Like, literally finding someone that could be anywhere in a galaxy with a button. Though really, with a balloon, she'd probably go around everywhere and find herself around this guy again.

Because he seemed nice enough, though her gut was dropping major hints otherwise, she followed with only a single glance back at the bunny man before they were around the corner and further away. ]

Like the report of events that had been posted yesterday of Susano'o and this Axel person having turned into an ayakashi at another point? It's only normal that some are 'bad,' and that just a couple would be at such an extreme. Just mean, or maybe lazy.

[ To put it in a simple terms.

Honestly, if Trance thought about it, all the gods being good would be... boring. It'd make her uneasy if that had been the case. This was a comfortable variety. ]

Susano'o, yeah, that's the worst one I can think of.

[ He turns to her, frowning a little. ]

Did anybody ever say what made him—Axel?—turn into an ayakashi? I heard it'd happened, but I don't remember seeing anything about why. I was kind of under the impression that the Heavens investigated this stuff. Maybe I just missed it.

I thought it was best that I didn't look too far into it so soon after arriving.

[ Which didn't mean that she wouldn't, but there was so much that could entertain a relatively new arrival. It was easy to behave when everything was new. ]

Do you usually miss things like that?

I hope not! Once wouldn't be bad, but more than that and I really wouldn't be paying attention.

[ He starts to say something else, but evidently thinks better of it, fiddling awkwardly with his sleeves. ]

Well. In any case, you're right; it's a good idea not to stick out too much, at first.

I guess it'd be easier to get away with it if you've been here quite a bit longer than two weeks.

[ Especially when you arrive as a big ball of nebula and light. ]

How long have you been around the Far Shore?

Oh, let's see—about a month and a half, I guess. I understand how it all works a little better than I did, but as for looking into things…

[ He trails off with a reluctant how do I put this gesture. ]

They don't like it when the new gods ask many questions. It doesn't really seem to matter how long we've been here.

Hm. Well, that's not very nice of them. It's only natural to have questions if you're new, and only fair to have enough of them answered.

[ The definition of 'enough', though... Actually, the question of where they were going comes to mind. ]

Are we heading to somewhere in particular, Mister...?

[ Oh yeah. She has no clue who you are. Whoops. ]

Where are we going?

[ He pauses to look around, scanning the buildings without recognition. ]

I don't know! I just started walking.

[ And ended up conveniently on a street where there's no need to carry construction supplies or whatever else—he's over it, not that any part of his day has been spent actually helping people. ]

Well, anyway, I'm Ni. And you are…?

Trance. Trance Gemini. It's nice to meet you, Ni.

[ She- She thinks??? But if it sounded like none of them were familiar with their surroundings, the blonde starts to take out her phone to bring up the map. ]

At least we still have ways of finding out. Now for it to just load up.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

010 | Relief and Rescue

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