thefarshore | [Video]

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Posted: June 4th
From: Hachiman

[The video feed shows a rather spartan room in what appears to be a simple, old-fashioned Japanese building -- dark-stained wood framing, tatami with a hint of green left in the grass, a shoji screen that's been pushed open to reveal part of the gardens. Hijikata sits in the middle of the screen, dressed in a plain black yukata with a simple crest embroidered into the shoulders. Those familiar with Shinto mythology might recognize it as Hachiman's, though it's common enough to have been used for a number of different groups and households, including Hijikata's own in life.]

This is Hijikata Toshizou, the current incarnation of Hachiman. I apologize if any of this has already been said on the BBS. I'm still not as accustomed to this sort of technology as I'd like to be, so I'm sure I've missed a number of previous discussions. That said, I have a couple of open announcements.

Regarding the recent incident at a festival on the Near Shore:

It strikes me that the creatures we fought there were, in a sense, not unlike many of us. Souls taken from their proper time and place, and brought here. It doesn't seem beyond the realm of possibility, or even likelihood, that the incident had a connection to whatever force disposed of our predecessors and has been bringing us here to replace them.

[His expression, already serious, hardens into something outright murderous for a moment.]

If that's true, then on the off-chance that whoever is behind it monitors this network, I want them aware that my opposition to them is now a personal matter.

[He pauses, calming himself a little.]

I'd also like to discuss more generally the concerns that have come up in recent weeks and months about the treatment of shinki. If a shinki has no power to reject an unwanted bond with a god they never chose, then it seems to me that gods are going to need to be responsible for policing each other's behavior towards their shinki. Anyone interested in being part of such an effort should discuss the matter with me. I'm especially interested in hearing from shinki about what sort of systems it would be helpful for them to have in place.

That will be all, for the time being.

[[OOC: tl;dr of what's behind the cut: Hijikata is pissed about his theory about the zombie incident, and interested in brainstorming about forming some kind of Shinki Defense Squad with any other gods who think the shinki situation is pretty BS, hit him up!]]

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I understand what you're saying, but my main concern with it is that not all shinki are capable of expressing those preferences. Those who find it difficult to stand up for themselves, or those who can't speak up because of a god's aggressive or violent tendencies, don't deserve to be abandoned to their fates. There are shinki who are children, or who don't understand any relationship besides being kept and abused, or who have been hurt before and are afraid of being punished again, and I will not turn my back on them.

Having generally agreed-on standards, even if there's flexibility in them to allow for shinki's individual preferences, will help us learn about situations that might warrant intervention if a shinki is prevented from reaching out for help, or could help some shinki who are unhappy but feel trapped or resigned to understand that they don't have to tolerate the lot they've been dealt. In addition, enforcing those standards internally will ensure that none of the gods involved in this effort end up taking advantage of the shinki who come to us for help -- in that event, they won't be allowed to claim ignorance as an excuse.

That said, I do expect that those who keep shinki who don't want to be kept by them will be a top priority. That's why I'm focused on finding people who are willing and able to be part of any interventions that are necessary. Gods, specifically, since we're not vulnerable to being forcibly named if a god resists.

I don't like to see children or the meek mistreated, either, but you can't save anyone against their will. Whether we are or are not happy, the choice of whether to remain or leave must belong to the shinki.

Of course, if you're simply planning to give offending gods a beating, that's a different story, and I have no objections.

A single chance not to get beaten, and then a beating. I've gone a little soft in my old age.

That sounds very reasonable!

Returning to the original topic, I don't think there can be any doubt that the same force bringing souls here to become gods and shinki brought the souls that were trapped in those corpses as well. I don't know if it was entirely intentional, though. If you'd like to talk about it somewhere other than this board...?

That sounds similar to my own conclusions on the matter, but I'd like to hear your thoughts in more detail when you've got the time. I can provide you with detailed directions to my shrine, or meet you at a neutral location of your choosing, at your discretion.

I'd be happy to meet you at your shrine. I'm free today; would you be available if I headed over shortly?

That will be fine.

[He attaches a file including the directions to his shrine.]

[Hakkai scans the file, squinting, before slipping his phone back into his pocket and starting out onto the dusty road of Heaven. It's a little drizzly today; not pouring, but just wet enough to dampen the edges of his shaggy hair and chill the points of his ears. He's tempted, for a moment, to slip his limiters back on -- but no.

Better to keep his habits the same, no matter what he remembers now.

Instead, he crosses his arms, and speeds his steps. He's not too soaked when he arrives at the door of Hachiman's temple, and raps his knuckles neatly against its frame. Drizzled-on or no, he at least looks better than he did the last time he'd met this god; it's just rainwater, not rotten blood, and as it dries it leaves no stain on his pale green shirt. The only new mark on his body is a fresh red name written on his throat, just half-visible above his shirt collar.

He folds his clawed hands politely, pulling on a smile as he waits for someone to answer.]

[Hijikata is still in his yukata when he comes to open the front door of the residential building, his feet bare on the wooden floor of the entranceway.]

Come in. I've been expecting you.

[And it's no sort of weather for having their conversation out in the gardens, lovely though they are.]

[Hakkai inclines his head, bending to untie his shoes and leave them in the entranceway before he follows Hijikata.] I'm sorry to keep you waiting.

[He's silent for a moment, listening to the hiss and drip of the rain from the edges of the temple roof, and then adds, in the same polite tone:] You must have seen someone there you knew, too.

[Hijikata pauses to be certain that Souji isn't around at the moment, and even when he's certain, he still lowers his voice, as he slides the door shut and leads him inside towards one of the tea rooms.]

I saw two old comrades. My shinki saw something that upset him far more than the rest of the battle, so I have my suspicions about that, as well, but it's not as if I can safely investigate that matter.

[Hakkai lowers his own voice, matching Hijikata's tone -- his shinki must be around, then, and he doesn't want to risk bringing up the thought.] No. A number of the souls called me by a name I don't recognize, but it's not something I ... care to think about too hard.

[He's silent for a moment before adding, in a tone that's trying a little too hard to be offhanded and casual:] It's a wonder we didn't lose any shinki to the event.

I did ask a few friends of mine with more spiritual perception to look around, a day or two after it happened.

Small blessings, but I'm glad we didn't.

[Because it outright horrifies him to think what could have come out of that helpless, terrified feeling that washed over Souji for a little while there.]

What did your friends have to report?

That it felt as though something had torn through there. It seems too poetic to say, "the fabric of reality," but -- I'm not very sensitive, as those things go. The energy there felt a little wrong to me even after a few days had gone by.

[He shakes his head slowly.] As for the bodies, it seems at least some of them came from hospitals nearby. It's just the souls that came through that rip.

I see.

[The tea kettle over the fireplace begins to whistle, and Hijikata takes a moment to busy himself with a couple of cups as he thinks.]

In your opinion, with what you know... how likely would it be for a "tear" of that sort to occur naturally?

I don't know. I'd need someone with expertise on the subject to confirm, but I found myself wondering... [He trails off, watching Hijikata pouring tea for a moment while he arranges his vague suspicions into concrete phrases.]

If so many souls among that group were connected to us, it seems we have to accept that those of us who are here as gods and shinki are only a fraction of the souls who have been captured in all of this. We appear and disappear, some rapidly, some more slowly. Could that mean we're still connected to whatever magic is being used to trap those souls?

If so, and that magic trapping them was beginning to weaken after the months it's been in place, I would expect a tear like that to happen near where all of us had been told to gather.

[He lifts one hand, and then the other, as though weighing two options.]

And if it were deliberate, and the Heavens knew in advance that there would be an attack meant to cause chaos in the human world, it would make sense to send us there.

Either option makes sense, unfortunately.

[Hijikata's quiet. He doesn't, at present, have a satisfactory alternative explanation, not as weak as his knowledge of magic and so on is. He's going to have to really think this one over, because if there's not a better way to explain it, it's the most damning thing he's heard about the Heavens so far.]

In that scenario, there would be "spares" gathered up in advance, kept somewhere until there's a vacancy for them?

[He pauses, then sets the cups a little further from himself and reaches for his cigarettes.]

Yes. I think there must be.

[Hakkai's hands settle on his knees, clasped together. His face stays impassive, but his knuckles whiten as he continues. It's hard to contemplate this in the cool light of reason, hard to make it abstract. He can't stop remembering that he's talking about Elsa's fate, and, almost certainly, about Gojyo's as well.]

And for people who had been here as gods to be among those spares... perhaps the 'disappearances' are just souls being returned to storage.

I suppose it's better than thinking of them as being dead.

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