isleofavalon | May Adventures

WHO: Hijikata and ✨YOU✨
WHAT: Training, Questing, Attempting to Prevent Dark Web Quests, Hanging out with the Ghosts at Loch Manor, Getting Lost in the Brocéliande at Night
WHEN: Throughout May
WHERE: Red Springs' Training Grounds, City of Camelot (Castle and Loch Manor), Brocéliande, Lakeside close to the Silent Shore
WARNINGS: Probably Violence for the Quest Threads

Time Top Training

[When the Elphame traders came to Camelot City last month Hijikata purchased a nifty little item: a time top. This morning he hitched a totem teleport trip with someone else headed to the Red Springs, and now he's getting the hang of spinning the top, aiming to make it rotate for as long as possible. The only problem is that it's hard to gauge how much time he has to deal damage when there are no actual moving targets... and that's why he's glad to see a fellow off-worlder nearby. Time to rope this unsuspecting person into his efforts.]

Hey, would you mind helping me out with something? It shouldn't take too long.

No Buccaing Out (Quest)

[When Hijikata reads the QuestBoard post about the man-eating nudibranchs he's aghast. Having one's skin eaten off one's body while paralysed is something straight out of a horror movie, and he doesn't want that to happen to anyone. So he loses no time in renting a wetsuit (complete with swim fins) and buying a big net, a helmet, and a strong underwater lamp. One trip to a local metalworker later the lamp is affixed to the front of the helmet, leaving both his hands free to fight the colourful skin-eaters. Come dusk he's by the lakeside, tugging the wetsuit into place here and there before inspecting the potion he was given by the eel naga community.]

One hour, hm. Well, it'll do.

[Of course the mission will be more easily accomplished with help - even someone who can't swim and wants to stay on land would be more than welcome since Hijikata has several ideas of how to deal with the deadly molluscs.]

A Polite Pyro (Quest Prevention)

[Honestly, what is wrong with the people posting quests on the dark web?! Hijikata really hopes to get his hand on the pyromaniac who posted this instigation so he can throttle the living daylights out of them. Alas, he has absolutely no idea where any takers may strike, so it's only when he sees the smoke rise into the sky that he grits his teeth and rushes to the site of the fire. He better not catch any suspicious figures nearby, or else there'll be hell to pay! But even if the only other off-worlder in the vicinity is visibly distressed at the sight of the flames, or else likewise rushing in to help, he'll bark at them.]

Hey, you!! Go find me a water hose-- or a water mage!

[Never mind that he could be a water mage if he had ever tried to gain control of more than one element... details!]

Incubabes (Quest Prevention)

[Seriously, why are there so many scummy characters on this island?! Blatantly admitting that the sole reason for putting a bounty on several people's heads is an impending inheritance..! Whoever that shrewd woman is, Hijikata intends to cross her plans. He not only warned the castle's head chef of the assassination plot but also took it upon himself to guard her (she insisted that she'd be safest in the castle, and seemed overall reluctant to be pulled away from work despite the situation).

Usually off-worlders don't just get to waltz into every corner of the castle at their leisure, so Hijikata had to field some questions and was initially accompanied by a guard to deliver his warning, but ultimately he was allowed to stay and protect the head chef. He's currently stationed outside the kitchen (she gently threw him out after he got in the way one time too many), and once he sees someone who doesn't appear to be part of the castle staff he narrows his eyes, hand on the hilt of the sword at his belt.]

And what would you be doing here?

Revisiting Loch Manor

[Now that Hijikata is back in full possession of his fire- and death magic, thanks to those who went through the trouble of aiding his familiar's intervention last month, he needs to make good on some promises. He only returns to the spooky Loch Manor with hesitation, but he can't let his death magic mentors down... or the ghosts. One more deep breath, and he enters the old house. Anyone who wanders in later on will find him in one of the rooms on the upper floor, quietly sitting with the ghost of a young man and writing down information in a small notebook.]

Okay, I'll see what I can find out. Thanks for the description. I'm sorry, but I can't promise you that any of them is still around.

[His voice is surprisingly friendly. If the newcomer joins him and the ghost he won't mind, but otherwise he'll bid the spectre farewell before noticing that they're not alone - again being way more polite than usual.]

Following the Will-o-Wisps

[Interacting with the ghosts at Loch Manor has been going better than expected. So far Hijikata tried to talk to two in particular: the poltergeist who scared the hell out of him and made him hide behind Emet-Selch, and the young murder victim he first encountered by Thanatos' side. He also looked for the ghost lady he encountered with Klaudia, but didn't find her again today. At least he can really understand what they say now. But...

It's a bummer to talk to people who found a violent end and be unable to bring their killer to justice. It really pisses him off. He's a policeman! He wants to put the murderer behind bars, if not see him executed, but it all happened so long ago, there's nothing he can do anymore. Yet the spirits find no peace, and they're so detached from the world of the living that he's at a loss of how to proceed here. So he ends up mulling over it over a few mugs of mead, to change things up from the beer, and it ends up hitting him harder than expected. When he leaves the pub he's properly smashed and ends up taking the wrong "shortcut" home. Before he knows it he's wandered into the outskirts of the Brocéliande. He sort of realises that he's lost... however isn't that a soft glowing lantern light between the trees, just a little ahead? He follows it and waves clumsily.]

Heyyy~! Are you going home too? Let's go together!

[Alas, it's only a will-o-wisp... luckily for him they are amiable faeries, but he's not really cutting a cool figure, stumbling through the woods with all the grace of a newborn cow.]

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Ghosts?

[Ghosts aren't real --]

[...]

[Ghosts, oni, gods, magic.]

[OKAY, THEY ARE A LITTLE REAL. Let's just ONCE AGAIN, accept the idea that ghosts are real. Here. Even if his mind insists there is probably some other explanation.] Different from the ones in the cave with the slimes? [Because those didn't talk to him, just tried to eat him until he beat them up with clever uses of healing magic, pain in the ass as THAT was!] Can anyone see them or just...?

[Hijikata wishes they weren't real. Perhaps the worst part is that he can't only see human ghosts, but those of animals as well (not plants, though... perhaps they don't have souls or something; he needs to look into this more deeply one of these days). He shakes his head.]

Only people like me who've got death magic get "lucky" enough to see them. I have no way of showing you, but this forest is full of ghost bats. They're just flying around like the living ones.

[A month or two ago he would still have freaked out at that, but he simply can't afford to get spooked so many times in a day (or night), so he ponied up to the best of his abilities.]

I see. [Well, the opposite. He doesn't, but yes.]

How do you know the difference? [Other than Nobunaga doesn't see them, but...]

The ghost ones have that pale blue-green glow about them. Otherwise they're see-through. What's your magic types again, say? We didn't talk about that the last time, did we?

[Both times they met now he's been more or less drunk... not the greatest first impression.]

Healing. I wasn't using it last you saw me. I still don't want to get reliant on it. Just good enough to do what I should.

You don't need any now, do you?

Healing! Oh, that's so useful.

[Perhaps Nobunaga might have liked a more offensive type better, Hijikata presumes, but ultimately it's the healers who have the power to save lives.]

I'm okay, though. I didn't get into any fights.

[By now the trees are getting more sparse as they've reached the fringe of the forest and can see the lights of the nightly city a short distance away.]

Do you want to go home? I shouldn't have any more drinks, I guess, not if I want to work tomorrow.

[It's not like anyone tells him to do his morning warm-ups and go on patrol every day - his commander isn't here, and he has no formal leader or employer -, but he needs the routine to keep his sanity.]

It's boring. I mean it's useful, but it's not fitting at all. Whoever heard of a healing Demon King? And I hate not getting to be on the front lines punching things in the face, and getting bloody myself. Bad enough when Hideyoshi is around, always going wild before Masamune and I can do anything. [Huff.]

You should definitely get some sleep. It's a tough job, and someone should catch all the serial arsonists.

I don't think Kitsuno is waiting for me, but I don't want her to feel lonely either... [FAINT BLUSH.]

[Usually Hijikata isn't one to tease others half as much as most other people from his world, but Nobunaga's mild flusteredness puts a little grin on his face.]

Oh, you two are properly together already? Hah... different worlds make no difference between some people.

[He knows he would almost assuredly still gravitate towards other worlds' versions of the people he cares for the most back home, too, so he's happy for Nobunaga and Kitsuno.]

See, this is why you shouldn't be upset about your healing magic. Imagine if she gets hurt somehow. You'll be able to help her when no other magic could.

[Double facepalm!!] If she was the Kitsuno from my world she wouldn't stand a chance. As it is, I called her a ghost and told her to stop haunting me. [SIDE GLANCE AWAY.]

[But then his eyes dart back!] If she gets hurt enough to need healing I'll be more than a little furious with myself. [Luckily he can do shielding with the healing too, or legit he would be pissed. The kind of "burn down Mount Hiei" angry.]

I promised to protect her freedom. That means her safety too.

[Hijikata turns more serious when he hears how determined Nobunaga is (even though that ghost accusation anecdote is amusing). He was pretty fired up about protecting his lover even the first time they met, and how could Hijikata blame him?]

I remember you saying that the other time at the bar already. She's lucky, you know, to have you here.

...

[His thoughts drift off to his own loved ones... particularly to his Mitsuba, whom he tried to protect by staying as far away from her as possible, only for her to keep looking back at him from afar. Even when he was lucky enough to meet her again on Prismatica he kept hoping for her to find happiness with a more suitable man, and now... well, now he can't even go visit her there, what with the time freeze preventing interdimensional travel and such. He stops to light a cigarette.]

You have exactly the right idea. I'm sure all she really wants is for you to stay close to her.

[Hypocrite much???]

Hahhh... Isn't it unlucky, having the Demon King around? [Stops with him and just looks off into the distance for threats or anything else. He doesn't want her to be lonely. But he's also so restless, there's so much to see and do and try, and he feels like his hourglass is already run out, so everything is being crammed in while he has the chance.]

I don't think you bring bad luck.

[He offers him the pack of cigarettes, just in case he wants one too.]

And if you do, then I do too. I'm the 'Demon Vice-Commander' after all. Isn't it good for the people here to have us demons on their side?

[Hijikata is a lot more relaxed than Nobunaga, knowing that it'll likely take a long time to resolve the time freeze. That isn't to say other threats may not loom over Avalon, but he'll meet those head-on with the same determination as always.]

[He glances at the cigarette. Hijikata-sama is super cool, but he has never seen this in his life. Hideyoshi smokes a pipe though! It smells a little more acrid than the pipe, but he wouldn't know what to do with it. He assumes the goal is not to inhale the smoke, just let it linger nearby, as with incense, but nah. He holds up a hand to politely refuse!]

[Demon Vice-Commander.]

[And just like that Nobunaga's all on board with this. His boundless confidence comes from simple things like that. Others having similar enough goals so that he's not fighting for himself alone.]

[And just nods!] Yes. After all, it takes a Demon King to conquer the other demons. [And it's what he's good at. Holding back? NOT SO MUCH LIKE AT ALL OR EVER!]

[If only the goal were to not inhale the smoke... really, let's not think too deeply about the state of Hijikata's lungs, given that back home he sometimes goes through an entire pack per day. He puts the cigarettes away and grins slightly, feeling heartened by Nobunaga's indomitable spirit, then looks up at the night sky.]

Damn right. We'll get these stars moving again and sort out any troubles on the way.

[Somehow he doesn't feel so drunk anymore... but it'll still be better for him to not overestimate himself, else he may wake up on top of a drink vending machine again. Home they go! After all Nobunaga really shouldn't keep his Kitsuno waiting either.]

May Adventures

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