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

[Roxas never had a chance to get much older, barely even got to see his first birthday, so seeing him grown now... Well, it's not enough to make him unrecognizable, but it's trippy.

The hug, however, is enough to make Axel momentarily freeze up. How do you feelings. But after a second or two he manages to get a smile on his face and his arms around Roxas's shoulders, and hug back, even though one hand is still holding the apple.]

Hey, you ok?

[The only reason Roxas knows he got a little taller was because suddenly he wasn't the same height as the new Sora he met here. The other didn't seem bothered when he explained why.

When he pulls away, he rubs his eyes, nodding.]

I'm fine! I just missed you. It's been a while since I saw you last.

[That's a relief. Axel's smile only gets wider and more real at Roxas's words. He rests a hand on the young god's shoulder, and gets a good look at him.

It's still hard to believe this is actually happening.]

Yeah. It's the same for me. How've you been? Had any adventures, met anyone interesting?

[You're getting the very short version because uh... Roxas can talk for days about some of the stuff he's been through.]

A lot better than now. Tons of adventures, yes, and Sora's here!

[Based on how much the kid's grown? Axel expects numerous stories.]

He's here too, huh? Well, that'll be interesting.

[Understatement of the century there. Last thing Axel remembers is dying for the kid and Roxas's memory both. He wasn't really expecting a chance to see either again.]

So it's not always like this, right? This... crazy and chaotic?

[He gestures at the injured people around them, who are, by and large, ignoring them, and outside at some nearby wreckage. Seriously, this is hectic.]

He came here the same night I did.

[If Axel wants to know more about Roxas might know, that will be a conversation the blond might try to avoid for now. Bad experience with telling the last Axel anything.

He mulls it over before shaking his head.]

No. This is pretty average. We've had worse.

[Axel can definitely hear the warmth in Roxas's voice, and it makes something in his chest squirm. Jealousy, that's what it is, or at least sort of is, anyway. He misses being your most important person, Roxas! But then again, he accepted that was a loss a long time ago. It's not hard to hide his not-quite-feelings, preventing them from entering his voice.]

How long have you two been here? And what kinds of worse? This is... pretty bad, y'know?

[There are so many wounded people around, it's ridiculous. And besides that, there are destroyed buildings, and hungry children... This is post-disaster.]

[You're still important to him, Axel. Sora is just important in a very different way. It's more of a "I'm never leaving his side" important than a best friend. It'll be pretty easy to pick up on if the conversation turn to Sora again.]

Almost three months? [He sighs.] Another god created an ayakashi that made a huge mess, I almost killed Sora during that fight because of one of my shinki-[He touches his cheek, massaging it lightly.]-and found out that even Curaga can't heal bones after that fight. Just everything else.

[Yeah, he'll figure it out, but he's still overprotective of you, Roxas. It's not likely to change unless he dies and forgets everything. And he would die for you - or for Sora. He's already proved that.]

Right... What's with this god thing? They only gave me the barest of summaries. What's an ayakashi besides a monster? And what's up with the whole shinki business, too?

[He was kind of rushed (to the near shore), and so was his introduction to this world. He runs a hand through his hair, expression showing the barest hint of frustration. He's used to being out of his depth, and to following orders, but that doesn't mean he likes it.]

[Eventually Axel will learn about the one that was here previously. The one without memories, and how hurt Roxas had been. Before he thought that he deserved it for having forgotten his best friend.

But that's for later.]

We're here to take the place of the real gods, I think. Like placeholders. Unlike them we can interact more with our followers and the people of the Near Shore. [Now comes his second least favorite subject.] They're like Heartless and Nobodies combined, so more like an Unversed. They're solid negativity than can blight us when we touch them, and can affect humans badly. They made some people suicidal, and one time they made them super sick.

[Now comes Roxas' least favorite topic of conversation.] ... Shinki are our weapons to fight the ayakashi with.

[For now, they can be grateful that Axel's a god. That he remembers his friends, if not his previous time here.]

Unversed, huh? [He's not sure what those are, but apparently they're like a mix of Nobody and Heartless.] So don't touch them or let them touch normal people. Use shinki weapons instead. Got it.

[He's still a bit confused on one point, though.]

... But aren't shinki people, too? How do they resist these ayakashi?

[He'll explain the Unversed if asked to. Roxas knew them a little too well from the place he was in before this.]

Gods can teleport in the Near Shore if they're near a shrine. Don't be like Sora and just teleport to every temple in the Far Shore. You can get away like that if you have to.

[You see, the thing is...] They're dead. All of them. Shinki are the souls of the dead that can be named and turned into a weapon to help the gods they serve. And they don't... not all of them. If it's a form like Raichi's is, a baseball bat, that gives them some protection. But my shinki, Senri, turns into a bear and he could get really sick from biting an ayakashi.

[Axel nods, but has his own opinions on the matter.]

That's messed up.

[He's dead too, after all, as far as he knows. Why is he a god and others at such a disadvantage? He is not, of course, aware of the past.]

[Roxas snorts softly.]

You have to see their deaths when you name them. Or you see their deaths before you name them. I saw Raichi die when I touched his hand. He came with a name, and I just kept it. Senri... I knew who he was before I met him. Kido and Nageki I named because they had trouble with their gods, so I didn't see how they died until I gave them a name. Kairi was the same as Senri... I knew she died before I knew she was even at my temple. [He swallows hard when it comes to that last part.] You can't tell them anything about themselves. They'll turn into ayakashi and you have to kill them.

[That last part sounds pained. It's still something Axel needs to know about.]

[That's... a lot to take in. But at least it proves his point.]

See? I was right. Messed up.

[He shakes his head, a little grouchily.]

And the heavens decide who goes where, huh? What gives them the right.

[It's rhetorical - clearly, if anyone should, it's the heavens. But it's still not fair and not ok.]

I hate seeing them die, but if it means I can take care of them, then I just have to live with it.

[That he'd like the answer to himself. People receiving their friends, loved ones, and even enemies as shinki.]

The gods here have 'families' or people from their pantheon. So that means the shinki are part of that family, too. If they want to be. I know some shinki hate their gods and don't want anything to do with them, but they would have to be released by their god to serve a new one. Some gods won't do that. I don't think I'd want mine to be forced to stay with me if they didn't want to be. Then there's godless shinki who haven't been assigned to one. Urashima lives at my temple and he hasn't found a god to take him in yet. I don't want to name him because he belonged to a really good friend of mine who's gone.

Huh.

[Axel frowns.]

This whole thing is really weird. Never asked for any of this, but they just can't let a guy have his peace, can they?

[He's not even met his shinki yet, isn't even sure he has one, he was so rushed out of his temple.]

So... They said my pantheon was... Greek, I think?

[He runs a hand idly through his hair. He's not positive, the messenger who gave him the information was kinda pushing him out the door at the same time.]

I've been on vacation till today. A lot of bad stuff happened and I just gave up trying to keep up. A lot of it was my fault.

[But that's not a conversation to he had out in the open. It's more of a "Hey, just come over to my place and we'll talk about stuff because it's a safe space" kind of talk.]

Yeah. Have you been to your temple?

... You wanna talk about it?

[He's got an ear open for his friends, at the very least. Always. Even if it's not until later.

He can also, however, recognize an attempt to change the subject.]

Oh? Was that where I woke up? I've got a sweet pad, then, huge, warm, it's just kind of... empty, right now.

[That might be an invitation to visit him.]

Not today. You just got here.

[I.e. there's a lot to tell, and Roxas will definitely cry.

He sees what you're doing.]

Want me to bring Sora with me, or just come alone?

You can both come, I guess.

[It's weird to think of them coexisting, to be honest.]

I've got a ton of room, it looks like. Probably have some spare bedrooms, if either of you two want to stay over some time.

[Certainly has more rooms than the outside of his temple betrays. What either of them does in them... Don't make him burn those sheets.]

[... All they literally do is sleep. Sora takes up most of the bed and Roxas steals all the blankets. No burning sheets required.]

.... Sora is gonna demand a sleepover.

[That's a relief, especially since he doesn't exactly know where the laundry room in his place is just yet. But it probably has a fireplace.]

Sounds good! We'll have to work something out.

[He's cool with the two of you, so it's good.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

010 | Relief and Rescue

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