isleofavalon | May Adventures

Entry tags:

gintama: toshirou hijikata

May Adventures

WHO: Hijikata and... YOU?
WHAT: TDM prompts (Dusklight Woods excursion, casino/auction venture, craft fair), a bit of questing, and a full moon night at the Red Springs!
WHEN: Throughout the first half of May
WHERE: Dusklight Woods, Camelot City, Red Springs
WARNINGS: Gambling in Prompt 2A!

1) Prep-Tar-Ations (Prompts A,B and/or C can roll into each other for a seamless excursion if desired!)

A ⦿ Get Lost

[Enter the Dusklight Woods and follow the eyes of the shadlins, they said... he's only walked a hundred steps into the forest before slowing down to a stop as the treetops and other foliage around him seem to turn a deeper and darker green the further he heads inside. It's eerily quiet, not a single songbird can be heard. This place is so creepy!! It's bright daytime beyond these verdant shadows, so he's wearing his sun protection gear complete with the helmet hiding his face - hopefully this way at least the shadlins won't see how nervous he is.]

...

[Looking back he can still see the edge of the woods. Perhaps it would be wiser to turn around. He doesn't need to co-spearhead every adventure, right? Besides there's the matter of getting back out... he brought an enchanted cloth with him, but who's to say that his familiar, once called upon, will really work as a partner in a pinch? It's then that he sees another person not too far away between the trees. He waves and calls out, hoping he'll be easy to spot in his black clothing.]

Hey! Over here! You shouldn't go alone!

[More importantly, he doesn't want to go alone!]

B ⦿ Fountain of Yewth

[Well, then. Following the unsettling glowing eyes in the thickets of the forest led Hijikata and his companion to... a tar pit. Sure, this is what they were told, but it still feels underwhelming to stand at the edge of the toxic, smelly black sludge.]

So this is it? Great. Well, let's get it over with.

[He sets down his backpack and rummages for the container he was given... did one of the trees at the forest's edge behind him just move positions? No, right?]

C ⦿ Unseen Path

[With the danger from the tree people overcome and the polled-laden tar obtained there's nothing standing in the way of Hijikata and his companion returning home... nothing except the forest. Well, they were instructed on what to do (or at least he was). He takes out the magical cloth, along with a blindfold, and lets out a sigh of aggravation.]

This better work! Figures that they had to make it awkward... do you want to walk in front, or should I?

2) Betting on the Future

A ⦿ Safe Bets

[Now that they've got the main ingredient for the strength potion they'll be able to move the humungous sleeping snake blocking the entrance to the Bermuda Station, but what to do about the unstable time freeze energy inside? This time Camelot's criminal underworld comes to the rescue, but of course the all-important artifacts to stabilise the locale come at a steep price.

Hijikata frowns upon gambling dens - they waste men's potential, not to mention their money -, but alas, there's no way around this. In an effort to disguise his identity he's in civilian clothes on the night of the auction, a plain black turtleneck outfit, and slicked his hair back (sadly it's already reforming into its stubborn V-shaped fringe). It's highly likely that someone among the organisers already recognised him as the pesky knight who's been meddling in dark web quests ever since his arrival, but if so they seem willing to turn a blind eye tonight. If he wants to bid a kidney on the hourglass coins, let him!

He isn't adept at gambling, but he's quick on the uptake, so after observing a few rounds of poker he wants to try his luck... unless he sees someone in trouble, be it at one of the gambling tables or with the bouncers. In that case he's going to put in a word for them. They need every person they can get into the auction hall, so he won't see anyone thrown out on his watch if he can help it!]

B ⦿ Bidding Wars

[Did he actually manage to pokerface his way through enough rounds of poker to get the privilege of an auction invitation, or (more likely) did he manage to convince someone to let him hitch a ride with them as their bodyguard, romantic partner or otherwise indispensable evening companion? Whichever it was, he's now observing the mingling crowd in the suit the organisers gently pressured him to change into. He glances at the offered drinks and murmurs to his companion - or else to whoever he sees reaching for a glass.]

We should stay sober for this.

C ⦿ Knot a Problem

[Hijikata slept for half the day after the long night at the auction, but he still shows up to Camelot's craft fair, now again in his protective gear. Honestly, his mind is entirely on the upcoming mission at the Bermuda Station, but given that preparations will still take a while he may as well try to distract himself a little! He observes the rope enchantments with interest - this could come in handy to incapacitate criminals -, but once he sees where it's going he quickly turns to the massage area instead.]

A massage would be nice right now...

[He just said that to himself, recalling last month's rude awakening at the Realm of Restoration and Relaxation with vexation, but if anyone were to offer one he wouldn't say no (and at least try to return the favour)!]

3) Quest - Scary Sea Shanties (for

mithrarin)

[Fishing boats not coming back from the sea is a problem, so Hijikata feels compelled to get to the bottom of the matter. He confidently marches up to the docks in his sun protection gear, but with the addition of inflatable armbands around his arms and a matching pool ring around his waist. He looks positively ridiculous; why is his posture so confident?! Also he has a massive ham slung on his shoulder like an oni's club. When he spots Dust he calls out to him, remembering well how he saved his ass after his unfortunate run-in with a fuath last year.]

Are you going out to investigate what happened to the fishers, too? I was thinking of taking a deinosuchus!

[So that's what the ham is for. Still, is that really a good idea?!]

4) Flower Moon

[By the time the middle of the month rolls around Hijikata, once again on his night patrol schedule, is sound asleep in his camp when his perimeter alarm goes off in the middle of the day. The booming, joyful sound of the Wellerman shanty wakes him up, and since he's used to sleeping lightly he loses no time dashing out of his tents in full gear, sword in hand. Despite running in the direction of the music as fast as he can he only just arrives in time to see three hooded figures scurry into the smoke generated by a totem, which burns out before he can pursue them to the other side.

The strangers left no evidence behind, but he strongly doubts that they had good intentions towards him, so he decides to finally take his affliction more seriously - it has been making his life a lot harder for 3 whole months already - and avail of the hot springs' increased healing properties during the next three nights. Conveniently this month he has no quest scheduled that would particularly require his weredog strength and invulnerability, so he can afford to take the time off.

That's how he ends up at the Red Springs Resort under the full moon in the evening, black dog ears and tail showing his werebeast affliction as he soaks in the water. He whines a little under his breath; it's too hot!! He doesn't normally overheat this quickly! He flattens his upper body against a rock to cool down a little... he'll still heal if only his bottom half is in the water, right?

As he rests and tries to relax he suddenly hears the fluttering of wings. He carefully lifts his head and sees that a small swarm of 10 medium-sized red birds has landed at the far side of the spring. How odd... surely they're not going to come in here? It's only now that he notices that there's someone else present besides. Maybe the other person is also in dire need of healing? If they're quiet perhaps the birds will stick around, but he doesn't really care. Suddenly he feels self-conscious for his state; what if he the newcomer feels grossed out at the prospect of him getting dog hair in the water? He quietly addresses them while pointing at his extra set of ears.]

Sorry about this, it's just... you know, it always happens at the same time, this and the spring being at its best.

[OOC: If you'd like any additional prompts please hit me up on my plotting post! Also here are Hijikata's permissions.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Dust is silent for a moment, as he deeply and sincerely contemplates just at what moment this had become his life.]

Probably better than trying to run back, anyway.

[Hijikata gives Dust a grateful nod for agreeing to the less-than-dignified transport method. He'd have hated to leave him to run or swim! His eyes briefly wander over to the hag, who sure enough looks to be a goner... well, there won't be any space for her.]

We'll let the quest-givers know that the job is done first thing. I don't think they'll doubt a knight, but the proof's going to be in the pudding, anyway - when they next go back out by boat they'll see for themselves that there'll be no more songs or storms.

[It doesn't take long until the feathered dinosaur arrives on its large wings, and while it needs several attempts to land on the rocky outcropping it does manage. It eyes Dust, already used to having to carry an additional passenger from a previous quest in inaccessible terrain, and once its helmeted knight is settled on its back it takes off, grabs Dust in both claws (gently, to its credit), and soars back towards the land.

Quest goal accomplished (okay, technically they'd already done that, but once should never say it before having ensured a way back home)!]

[Or dying. It's okay to accept that you've completed your quest as you're dying.]

[Dust would know.]

How are you so good with lightning, anyway? [This is what Dust has taken away from the encounter -- that he still has way too much to learn with his magic, that he isn't as good enough as he should be. As he needs to be, if he's going to be any sort of helper to this world.]

[Fortunately, his voice carries amazingly well, never mind the wind of their flight or the occasional flap of wings.]

[Dying in action is okay, too, but definitely not Hijikata's favourite outcome.

He lowers his head over the archaeopteryx' neck to respond.]

I may not seem like the type, but meditation helped me get a better grasp on the elements I struggled with - recalling my memories of them and trying to summon them up based on the feel I get from that!

[He'd never have thought of trying that method himself - Lavellan, now long gone from Avalon, taught him that. Beforehand only fire came easily to him, really.]

[Oh.]

[That's -- that might be trouble. Thinking about lightning, and he's thinking about Fidget... and he's not sure what would come of that. He misses her very badly, still, though he manages to forget about that most of the time. Water is Lady Tethys, and memories not only of that battle, but the struggle that resulted, and the failure...]

That... might not be the best idea for me.

[Luckily Hijikata doesn't associate elements with people, otherwise he'd probably have struggled in a similar way. As it his he misinterprets Dust's reasoning.]

It's not easy for me either, just sitting and focusing... but it gets into your muscle memory - or magic memory, whatever - pretty quickly! By now I just want the element, and it comes to me as readily as my body does what I want it to.

That part I get. The more I use them, the easier they are... it's just getting them to come out in the first place. And since I'm mostly used to attacking...

[He's gotten better with wind, because he's also accustomed to travel across broken terrain and around dangerous enemies. Wind can help him move. But fire and earth tend to just blast and smash more than anything, whereas water is a struggle in general -- it's not much of an attacking element, after all.]

You've just got to learn how to use the other types offensively! Lightning is honestly one of the easiest types for that; I've never done anything with it that wasn't offensive. Same with fire. Water is great for sweeping enemies away, ideally down a ravine or into some spikes - and if all else fails you can just drown them with a bubble around their head! Wind works for those first use cases too, or else you can just raise them up and drop them to get crushed on impact. And soil is best used for sudden pits or landslides!

[He sure is talking about this like a fun hobby... meanwhile the archaeopteryx is approaching the beach, and since it can't land with Dust in its claws it's going to simply let got of him once it's low enough to almost touch the ground. Sorry once again, Dust!]

I guess... I've been trying to avoid exactly that. [Dust breathes a low sigh, wondering just how much to say.]

[But not saying things isn't getting him anywhere.] Before, in Falana, I spent my entire life fighting. There wasn't any time, like now, to slow down. To do things like we do in Avalon. So the more I think about things like fighting, the harder it is for me to adapt.

[After the archaeopteryx lands in the sand Hijikata simply jumps down and takes a moment to pet its head and neck as he addresses it.]

Sorry, I've got no treats on me! Thank you, though. You really helped up out!

[It lets out a screech that, with a lot of goodwill, can be interpreted as a happy sound, while Hijikata turns his attention back to Dust.]

I understand, to a point... I'm also a warrior back home. But then again I've still had time for some leisure and fun there. Sounds like you got no downtime whatsoever.

[He'd love to light himself a cigarette, but in the closed helmet he'd definitely poison himself, so he sighs as well. He'll have to wait until nightfall with that.]

So you don't really want to fight anymore? Is it that? You fought well enough just now out there.

[Dust drops the couple inches to the ground lightly when the beast releases him, lifting his free hand in a gesture of thanks.] Are you kidding? I love fighting! But there's not enough of it here. There's days of doing nothing, and I'm not good at those at all. But I'm trying to get better.

[Oh, that makes him grin.]

So it's the other way around! I should be glad you hadn't cleared the whole QuestBoard on your own already! Honestly, there's always some monsters to fight... but if we overdo it we'll probably mess up the ecosystem or something.

[He thinks for a moment.]

Have you considered travelling back to the part of the lake where that huge monster battle happened? If they're still hanging out in the area getting rid of them could clear up that pathway to Elphame. But those are probably a number too big for us, huh... besides the way through the Land of Maidens is shorter at this point, much shorter even, if you use a totem.

I travel around a lot. [To put it mildly. Dust doesn't have a home, or a place to stay. He'd abandoned the one he'd had for a short time, way back when, when his roommate disappeared abruptly. Getting comfortable around someone just isn't going to happen, he figures.] And I fight a lot. But it's nothing compared to needing to stop an encroaching army basically single-handed. Any amount of leisure is... too much.

Damn... yeah, that would be a tough adjustment.

[An entire army?! No wonder Dust feels like he has too much downtime here!]

It's an unkind multiverse. It should've pulled you into a world that needs someone to stop a war or something!

[He starts leading the way up the cliffside path - in hindsight couldn't the archaeopteryx have landed them up at the top?! But by now it has comfortably settled in the warm sand, apparently content to watch the waves while the two of them use their legs.]

I've really got no advice for you... but say, isn't the battle in your homeworld also going to be over at some point? Then you'll face the same problem, right? So I guess you may as well try to get used to it here, hard as it is.

Not unless Falana faces another crisis. I was made to go where I'm needed.

Someone didn't tell me that till after I died and then appeared here. [Dust shoots a look down at his sword that could be anything, half-hidden behind his hat as it is.] But it's the same either way. I was created to be a warrior, I don't know anything else.

Oh, so you died back home...

[On top of all else! But Dust isn't the only one here with that fate, as far as Hijikata knows. He seriously dwells on it for a few moments as they trudge up the cliff.]

I'm pretty sure that at least a couple more outwordlers also lived for battle only back home, or died before coming here, or both. Maybe you guys can open a support group or something?

...

Or have you tried watching some movies? At the theatre, on the big screen?

[Surely that'll leave him well-adjusted in no time... but seriously, what's better than getting all engulfed in some action flick with a comrade, or watching a heart-wrenching ~~children's~~ all-ages story alone on one's off day? It's cathartic!]

A... support group?

[Dust's attempt to imagine this turns out more like an adventuring party than a therapy circle. Which he supposes is good practice, but he's used to a partnership at best...]

Watching some what now?

[Misinterpreting Dust's bafflement as disapproval, Hijikata is happy enough to let the support group idea go - honestly, if someone suggested that sort of thing to him he'd be the first to scoff. But he doesn't even know what a movie is?! Sure, there are enough worlds that don't have the kind of thing, but what a tragedy!]

You've never been to the movies? You should go! Or at least to the old-fashioned live theatre! There's even an outworlder troupe putting on plays in Camelot, they're not bad at all!

I understand the concept of theater at least. I was starting to wonder how long we'd go before I comprehended anything again. [His smile is wry and faintly self-deprecating.]

[Hijikata offers a little grin in return. Dust's situation is a tough one, but he's confident that he can expand his horizon!]

Can I take a look at your sword? I've never seen one like it before.

Ahrah?

[Dust directs that question to his sword. The sword answers, its blue runes flickering.]

I have no objections, Dust.

[That decided, Dust brings up his hand to offer the blade over. The hilt's long enough for a second hand to grip it, so no need to flip it or finagle it.]

[Okay, he didn't see that coming... but given his isekai experience at this point he manages to take it in stride without letting too much surprise show on his face. He carefully inspects the weapon. It definitely is different from any he's seen, something he'd expect an Amanto to carry, maybe. He addresses it directly, because why not?]

So you could talk all along, hm? I hope you're not a spirit trapped in there?

I am a Blade of Elysium, destined to the side of the Sen-Mithrarin.

Pretty literally. Ahrah's been with me since I first woke up.

[The fact that Dust's first memory is literally a flying sword coming up to him and having a chat might explain a lot of things.]

[He passes Ahrah back, feeling a little weird about touching and inspecting something that's self-aware.]

It's got to be nice to always have a partner by your side. So you two were meant for each other? Like in a prophecy?

[This is cool. The closest he got to something like that was when his cursed sword first bonded with him and rendered him into a useless coward for a while, and that was a crappy experience!]

It's... just part of the deal. The Sen-Mithrarin gets the Blade of Ahrah. As far as I can tell, that's just how it works.

[Or is supposed to work, anyway. Presumably, if the situation goes sideways enough, the Sen-Mithrarin could awaken and Ahrah could somehow fail to make it to him. But that didn't happen.]

May Adventures

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

and vacation is done!

Welcome back!

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)