Post by Kireon on Oct 6, 2015 15:46:14 GMT -5
"This feels like a lie." Her fingers plucked and pinched the stiff red fabric of her hakama for emphasis as the scowling face of her cousin continued to stare holes through her face.
"You and I both know that your abilities are the furthest thing from a damn lie; and you can quit trying to duck out of your responsibilities as heiress to go play magical girl in the ruins of Karakura." He returned succinctly and without even batting an eye at the indignant look she shot him. "You can see things they can't, you can hear things they can't, and you know things they never could dream of."
"As do you." She pointed out, not unkindly but with a good deal of pointed emphasis to let the snowy haired boy know she was on to his line of thought and planned on thwarting it if she could.
He tried not to smile at the subtle challenge. "But I'm not the one who can make rocks follow her like puppies and speak to the spirits of nature, now can I?" He held up his mobile with a widening grin at the black glare she sent his way. "Technomancy is my gift, oh daughter of Okuninushi." Cheeky arrogance and false worship in his tone as he bowed from his place in the seat across from her, mocking her all the while.
An ice cube bounced down his collar in retaliation, sliding a cold, wet trail down his back and into his hakama. The yelp he made was enough to make the glare fade and her lips curve into a mischievous, if small, smile. "What am I even doing at this shrine, Seiichiro?"
"Rock slide did some damage and uncovered something weird. They have a bad feeling about it all and decided to contact us since we serve Okuninushi as well as Chikap Kamuy." he shrugged, finally shaking the mostly melted ice from his left leg. "You do your weird thing and I'll handle the rest, that's pretty much the long and short of it."
Scarlet eyes stared out the window at trees rushing past. "...who do they serve?" She asked softly.
He tried to figure out what it was she was looking at from the window. "Officially? Same as us. Unofficially? They focus on Chikap Kamuy, Shiramba Kamuy, and Hash-Inau-uk Kamuy, but you know how the government is about the Ainu..."
Her brow furrowed and she glanced back at him at the mention of the last goddess. "That is not an insignificant trifecta, Sei." Worry clouded her voice and her eyes returned to the world outside the sleek black vehicle.
Any humor he might had faded. "I know. That's why I tracked you down; if there are gods involved, we'll need you to mediate and make amends."
She fell quiet for a long duration of time. Stayed that way until the car rolled to a stop at the bottom of the hill leading up to the shrine hidden in the pine forests and jagged mountain. "Get them to the car if possible. I don't want anyone getting hurt." Sekai slipped out the door before he could respond, shut it with a thunk behind her as she smoothed the long white haori, eerily reminiscent of those Shinigami Captains wore, settled atop the white kimono worn beneath the hakama matching the color of her eyes and headed directly for the stairway.
--
Even the birds had fled from the site of the mountain's collapse. No animals called, no chirping, no insects buzzing in the unnatural silence that covered the mountain shrine and loomed oppressively overhead. Sekai's eyes narrowed as she stretched her senses outward in search of the source. Hollow, perhaps? Or rogue Shinigami? Perhaps neither and it was something else entirely that had no right to sacred ground.
No matter. Shrines fell under her purview by adoption and by blessing; she would protect the sacred sites to the best of her ability so that they would retain their peace and knowledge for generations to come.
A long rope of simple milky-white stone beads interspersed with comma shaped jewels in black slipped free from the swaying sleeve of her kimono, into her hand. Woven much in the manner of a rosary about her fingers, the white haired miko stood before the base of the disaster site, bowed her head, and began to pray.
"Spirits of light and purity, created in chaos to restore order for the Mother who dwells in that in which we call the Sky eternal..." A thrum within her soul, skillfully plucking threads of her power and weaving them into her words, into each of the beads she brushed her fingertips so gently over in preparation. Her power seeped through her feet into the earth itself, restless rustling of the trees as clouds gathered to shield the sun and cast the light filled clearing into shadow. Her eyes remained closed, voice strong, sweet, and determined in completion of her prayer-- a variant, given the deities reportedly enshrined there. "...ask that they heed our intent with sharpened ears and swift judgment, together with the Spirits of Sky and Land together, take heed and seize the source of the wickedness defiling these lands, the disasters in which our follies summon forth, and the sins in which we commit in our very existence unto the day we are cleansed. Spirits of Sky and Land, this humble servant asks that you seize this defiled land, and return it to the purity in which you created!"
One bead detached, glowing brightly, and shot forth into the muddy heap as Sekai's eyes opened. "Kamuy of the Land; Chikap Kamuy, I invoke thy name!"
A second bead detached, landing a safe distance away from the other. "Kamuy of the Sky; Kandakoro Kamuy, I invoke thy name!" Sweat trickled down her back, heart beating rapidly against her chest.
What if she was wrong?
She pressed onward. "Kamuy of th-- damn it!" She swore, cut off mid-evocation as the earth erupted in a spray of mud and debris carried down. Hand not carrying the magatama rosary snapped out from her side as if to draw an invisible line, index and middle fingers lightly crossed together, as light burned from her finger tips and an answering roar of rage shattered the air alongside the unmistakable presence of a pair of Hollow.
Alright, two on one weren't terrible odds. Not with the depth of power she was able to sense from the--
Oh hell. Spectator? Interloper?
Sympathizer?
Someone else was there. Fainter presence, surprisingly so, but with the capacity for more lurking beneath the cold surface. Surprised, she retracted her senses and did her best to warn her away-- the aura certainly felt feminine-- away from the area. She didn't need to be caught up in this; human or other though she might have been. A heightened sense of danger accompanied by a dense spiritual pressure should be enough for such a thing, unless she was foolish enough to think of it as bait and come closer.
A third roar, Asgard forming silently at her side with wicked claws glowing brightly alongside the fangs and exposed quartz joints of his body. Shaking beneath the earth signaled the arrival of their masked assailants and she braced herself for the first strike to be made by shrieking, soul hungry Hollow.
Sad, really, that they chose to pit some minor control over Earth against what she had to offer.
--
WC: 1241
GP: 24
"You and I both know that your abilities are the furthest thing from a damn lie; and you can quit trying to duck out of your responsibilities as heiress to go play magical girl in the ruins of Karakura." He returned succinctly and without even batting an eye at the indignant look she shot him. "You can see things they can't, you can hear things they can't, and you know things they never could dream of."
"As do you." She pointed out, not unkindly but with a good deal of pointed emphasis to let the snowy haired boy know she was on to his line of thought and planned on thwarting it if she could.
He tried not to smile at the subtle challenge. "But I'm not the one who can make rocks follow her like puppies and speak to the spirits of nature, now can I?" He held up his mobile with a widening grin at the black glare she sent his way. "Technomancy is my gift, oh daughter of Okuninushi." Cheeky arrogance and false worship in his tone as he bowed from his place in the seat across from her, mocking her all the while.
An ice cube bounced down his collar in retaliation, sliding a cold, wet trail down his back and into his hakama. The yelp he made was enough to make the glare fade and her lips curve into a mischievous, if small, smile. "What am I even doing at this shrine, Seiichiro?"
"Rock slide did some damage and uncovered something weird. They have a bad feeling about it all and decided to contact us since we serve Okuninushi as well as Chikap Kamuy." he shrugged, finally shaking the mostly melted ice from his left leg. "You do your weird thing and I'll handle the rest, that's pretty much the long and short of it."
Scarlet eyes stared out the window at trees rushing past. "...who do they serve?" She asked softly.
He tried to figure out what it was she was looking at from the window. "Officially? Same as us. Unofficially? They focus on Chikap Kamuy, Shiramba Kamuy, and Hash-Inau-uk Kamuy, but you know how the government is about the Ainu..."
Her brow furrowed and she glanced back at him at the mention of the last goddess. "That is not an insignificant trifecta, Sei." Worry clouded her voice and her eyes returned to the world outside the sleek black vehicle.
Any humor he might had faded. "I know. That's why I tracked you down; if there are gods involved, we'll need you to mediate and make amends."
She fell quiet for a long duration of time. Stayed that way until the car rolled to a stop at the bottom of the hill leading up to the shrine hidden in the pine forests and jagged mountain. "Get them to the car if possible. I don't want anyone getting hurt." Sekai slipped out the door before he could respond, shut it with a thunk behind her as she smoothed the long white haori, eerily reminiscent of those Shinigami Captains wore, settled atop the white kimono worn beneath the hakama matching the color of her eyes and headed directly for the stairway.
--
Even the birds had fled from the site of the mountain's collapse. No animals called, no chirping, no insects buzzing in the unnatural silence that covered the mountain shrine and loomed oppressively overhead. Sekai's eyes narrowed as she stretched her senses outward in search of the source. Hollow, perhaps? Or rogue Shinigami? Perhaps neither and it was something else entirely that had no right to sacred ground.
No matter. Shrines fell under her purview by adoption and by blessing; she would protect the sacred sites to the best of her ability so that they would retain their peace and knowledge for generations to come.
A long rope of simple milky-white stone beads interspersed with comma shaped jewels in black slipped free from the swaying sleeve of her kimono, into her hand. Woven much in the manner of a rosary about her fingers, the white haired miko stood before the base of the disaster site, bowed her head, and began to pray.
"Spirits of light and purity, created in chaos to restore order for the Mother who dwells in that in which we call the Sky eternal..." A thrum within her soul, skillfully plucking threads of her power and weaving them into her words, into each of the beads she brushed her fingertips so gently over in preparation. Her power seeped through her feet into the earth itself, restless rustling of the trees as clouds gathered to shield the sun and cast the light filled clearing into shadow. Her eyes remained closed, voice strong, sweet, and determined in completion of her prayer-- a variant, given the deities reportedly enshrined there. "...ask that they heed our intent with sharpened ears and swift judgment, together with the Spirits of Sky and Land together, take heed and seize the source of the wickedness defiling these lands, the disasters in which our follies summon forth, and the sins in which we commit in our very existence unto the day we are cleansed. Spirits of Sky and Land, this humble servant asks that you seize this defiled land, and return it to the purity in which you created!"
One bead detached, glowing brightly, and shot forth into the muddy heap as Sekai's eyes opened. "Kamuy of the Land; Chikap Kamuy, I invoke thy name!"
A second bead detached, landing a safe distance away from the other. "Kamuy of the Sky; Kandakoro Kamuy, I invoke thy name!" Sweat trickled down her back, heart beating rapidly against her chest.
What if she was wrong?
She pressed onward. "Kamuy of th-- damn it!" She swore, cut off mid-evocation as the earth erupted in a spray of mud and debris carried down. Hand not carrying the magatama rosary snapped out from her side as if to draw an invisible line, index and middle fingers lightly crossed together, as light burned from her finger tips and an answering roar of rage shattered the air alongside the unmistakable presence of a pair of Hollow.
Alright, two on one weren't terrible odds. Not with the depth of power she was able to sense from the--
Oh hell. Spectator? Interloper?
Sympathizer?
Someone else was there. Fainter presence, surprisingly so, but with the capacity for more lurking beneath the cold surface. Surprised, she retracted her senses and did her best to warn her away-- the aura certainly felt feminine-- away from the area. She didn't need to be caught up in this; human or other though she might have been. A heightened sense of danger accompanied by a dense spiritual pressure should be enough for such a thing, unless she was foolish enough to think of it as bait and come closer.
A third roar, Asgard forming silently at her side with wicked claws glowing brightly alongside the fangs and exposed quartz joints of his body. Shaking beneath the earth signaled the arrival of their masked assailants and she braced herself for the first strike to be made by shrieking, soul hungry Hollow.
Sad, really, that they chose to pit some minor control over Earth against what she had to offer.
--
WC: 1241
GP: 24
