expiationlogs | [training mingle] Let's get down the business!

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[training mingle] Let's get down the business!

Who: Everyone out there!
Where: Outskirts of the Aldrip - Training Grounds
What: It's time for the Boot(y) Camp! The Chosen of Aldrip have all been invited to train, learn and spar!
Warnings: Other than the general violence? TBA..!

It is early morning on the 9th of September. The sun is shining, the air is fresh and nicely brisk, which means that it is just perfect time for Aldrip's first ever group training! How did you find your way there? Who knows! Maybe you were one of the people who saw the original announcement on the network, or noticed posters about it around Adlrip. Or maybe you were brought here by friendly white boar. Well, whatever the reason is what matters is that you are here. Welcome.

The empty field near the outskirts of the City has been transformed into a makeshift training camp. There are couple of tents set up around the camp. Some of them work as rather simplified armories containing pretty limited amount of blades, axes, armors, firearms, bows and arrows and what have you. Feel free to pick your poison, so to speak, but be sure to return what you borrow. Richard is keeping an eye on the weapons and will notice if something goes missing. Of course, characters are more than welcomed to use their own weapons and armors etc. Other tents are for resting, ER practice and dining. The lunch is sponsored by the Sandwich Hut.

The official training areas and their respective teachers/staff are the following:

Spiritual training/magic: Kurama, Douman, Kakashi
First-aid: Ethlyn, Morph, Bones
Rescue training: Morph, Bones
Hand-to-hand combat: ~~Jirk~~ Jim & Spock, Kakashi
Tech support: ~~Jirk~~ Jim & Spock
Fire arms: Caitlyn, Levi
Swords & Melee: Richard, Hiei
Archery: Richard
Survival skills: Richard, Kurama
Military training: Jim & Spock, Miller, Richard
Endurance training: Bones
Lunch: Junpei (and Whitey the Albino Boar)

If there is an activity a character would like to do that isn't included in the list that's no problem. Feel free to create your own top-level with said activity or you know! Just the usual stuff that varies from silly hang-out to whatever your heart desires.

Also for references sake: here is the OG ooc info post about regarding the mingle

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Douman's part of the training area is rather anti-climatic. An field the size of a small obstacle course has been fenced off with some small pegs and ribbon, low enough for people to hop over it if there's a need for it. The terrain inside looks absolutely inconspicuous, except for the many molehills(?) that seem to litter it haphazardly.

In front of it there's a sign:

SET 1: MAGIC TRAINING

⛤ recognizing malignant magic
⛤ evading & first aid for curses
⛤ protective spells
⛤ communication shikigami (SALE)

SET 2: COMMON SENSE

⛤ avoiding the most common pitfalls
⛤ personalized coaching
⛤ enhance your skills and special powers
⛤ spooking

Free Beginner Courses! Reasonably priced Advanced Classes
available upon request.

What's curious is that there are several small paper dolls strewn around. They're even perching on the sign! At first look they appear like decorations, but if your character shows any interest in the sign or the training area they will come to live and wave at you and generally try to entice you to get closer and consider their offer - Pretty please?]

[In recent days, Dara has chosen to stay deep in the woods since having an angry "fit" and thoroughly "cleansing" herself ~~of clown germs~~. The residual miasma she gives off has increased with her poor mood, so the self-imposed banishment makes sense to not mess with the still-glitching city. However, the training grounds has pulled her out from the shadows with all its commotion. Curiosity killed the cat...but she can bring it back as a bakeneko, so what's the harm?

It should be fine to take a quick look around in with her human mimicry in place, right? Who would notice a curse god strolling about, leaking traces of dark energy here & there?]

Fuck.

[Busy enough scoping the place out has her wandering to a stop in front of the sign. Like walking unknowingly into the enclosure of some guard dogs, Dara freezes. "recognizing malignant magic...evading & first aid for curses..." Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. She's really not in the mood to handle a possible exorcism in the middle of a busy place.

So Dara does a quick 180 to speed-walk in the opposite direction of those shikigami.]

[Douman actually notices her a lot sooner than she does his little setup, ridiculous as it is. (But that's the point of it. Be so out there that people just have to stop and gape.) Or better said - it's her aura that tips him off. It's not all that unfamiliar, yet at the same time this particular scent of misery and curses is all new and alien enough that it has him raise his head and subtly shift his mask as he cranes his neck to find the source of it.

When he spots her he has to admit that her disguise is good. Not perfect, but more than serviceable around your average common man. Only those specialized in the arts with a certain amount of power as well as their own kind and gods would catch that something's going on. .......But that's what makes him curious. He hasn't exactly been subtle about broadcasting his persence here, so if they're the same kind, then why hasn't she sought him out? Or does she lack the means or knowledge (history?) to do so? It's all most curious.

Douman watches Dara nearly fall over his business ad from his nearby perch, allowing a quick grin to himself when he sees her blanch only to frown at what she's doing next. Trying to run away? No, no, that won't do at all!

So he uses Divine Step and his lack of a presence as a Nurarihyon to materialize right behind her the moment she'll stop to check if she'd been seen.]

Now, now~ Hasn't anybody ever told you that trying to run from the Uncanny is the worst thing you can do? It'll attract their attention.

[Dara only stops when she's out of the training venue and far enough away from prying eyes. Or just...any living thing in a certain radius. Not that she cares if her tail comes out and squashes someone to death, but she hates that kind of limelight. Not her jam.

But hey, it helps that he's given up the obvious chance of trying to hit her with a curse-killing beam or whatever this stranger might have up his sleeve. And the man's sudden appearance helps her to reevaluate what he may be; any sort of anxiety she portrayed earlier disappears in a heartbeat.]

ANNOYING!

[Layers of skin unfurl from their wrapped state around Dara's arms, and then suddenly there's six in total. A set crossed over her chest, two hands on her hips, and one making a jabbing motion at that stupid mask! Poke, poke, poke motherfucker!]

Y'know, things haven't already been terrible enough for me, and now I have to deal with one of you guys?! [POKE. POKE.] Damn it, this world's out to get me, huh? [POKE.] Giving me a heart attack with that sort of setup back there.

[Before she can break the poor mask, the curse god gives a loud huff of discontent as she folds those pokey hands on top of her previous folded ones. Obviously someone is letting off a bit of steam here, but Douman isn't the real target of her anger.]

[Poke poke poke she goes, and each time a small anger mark pops up in response. Doesn't she know that he still feels it when she's literally pushing his mask against his face? That thing's painted wood, not some squishy mascot head!

She's lucky that she's still too curious for Douman, because otherwise she'd have a couple of exorcism-singed fingers by now. Instead she'll get treated to the full-on 'Principal, 0% affinity' experience.]

My apologies. You suddenly turned pale and ran away, so I felt it prudent to see if you were alright.

[His voice is smooth and absolutely not worried about her as he crosses his arms in a casual manner in front of his torso, indirectly mimicking hers. That Douman's fingers are hidden beneath his sleeves that way is just a by-product, he assures you.]

I'm not aware of what guys you are talking about, but I must say that you are the second-most skittish bad-lucky-bringer that I have seen so far.

[For her part, Dara disregards the mismatch of tone & words because she immediately clocks where his hands are placed. A classic move if he was an onmyoji. The god feigns ignorance. Still, the observation leaves a bad taste in her mouth-- he's a little TOO similar to her, huh? Maybe another human onmyoji taken too deep to the other side...She's not sure if she likes that possibility. Yet the pieces seem to be matching up based on those training lessons and shikigami from earlier.]

Second-most? [The flabbergasted look on Dara's face is genuine.] That'd be a major insult if "skittish" didn't come first.

[Another huff and a single hand waves dismissively:] Anyways, I mean you guys as in yokai. I would've said you better not eat any of the souls here on my watch, but I guess I don't have to worry too much since you were helping out back there. Ugh, if there's more of you... [Grumble grumble.] ...This isn't even my mountain, so why'd I gotta... [grumblegrumblegrumble]

[Dara muttering to herself is certainly not the first impression she'd want to give anyone. Then again, it just goes to show how little she regards yokai. She had exorcised them when she was alive, and she has executed them even in godhood ~~when she felt like it~~. Douman may or may not be an onmyoji, but he is also unmistakably more of one identity than the other. To her, at least.]

Yes, the second-most. I fear another one has you beat to it, although that's hardly a win to congratulate anybody on.

[It'd be also hard to beat the terror a kid had felt when he was discarded as a god and tossed into the world of youkai instead, just because his particular powers hadn't fitted in with the rest of his fortune-commanding family and had thus gone tragically untrained until the inevitable had happened. Sano-kun made a commendable recovery from it over time, but Douman had seen how he had been at the beginning. He doesn't blame him for wanting to discard both his original name and his pedigree at all.

And of course this one seems to be some god as well, go figure.]

Ahh. I should have guessed. [No matter how often he encounters it, the supremacist species thinking of gods never fails to be annoying. Douman clicks his tongue under his breath before moving on.] Unfortunately for you, there seem to be others of my ilk about, although I have nothing to do with them. And shouldn't I be the one to question your motives with the way that just seeing my offers have send you running?

Ah, pardon me my lack of manners, too. I am Nurarihyon.

[This is definitely the most sketchy ass training advertisement he's seen in his life. Scott's not sure if it's because the training is just labeled as 'common sense' or the fact that little paper dolls are begging him to come closer in order to participate in whatever this is. Both is probably the correct answer. He should probably go to the one of the other instructors, especially the ones for hand-to-hand combat, but look he's curious.

Maybe he just wants to see whoever the hell put something like this up. He doubts that they'll be able to actually help with his optic blasts, so this is just for fun, probably.

So, with a shrug and resisting the urge to roll his eyes (mostly at himself), Scott shoves his hands in the pockets of his jacket before heading towards where the dolls are pointing him at.]

Yeah, not weird at all.

[Weird? It's not weird at all! Their caster has put a lot of smart thoughts into it when he cast the magic that is giving them their little paper lives! Like a set of "if --- then" rules for what they are supposed to do when anybody seems to show genuine interest!

One of the little paper doll shikigami perks up at Scott's remark and- is it blushing?? In any case it looks as happy as a slip of white paper with some little string hairs that make it look like a wayward bookmark can look.

It performs a couple of happy jumps to greet Scott - Hello big man! - before it clambers towards a knotted string that's hung down the front of the shield. The shikigami slides down its miniature ladder using the knots as footrests while it points at the two listed offers. What will it be big one? Set A or Set B? Please let them know so that they can tell their caster!]

[It's honestly kind of impressive that small pieces of paper can be so expressive?? Like Scott can clearly tell that it's happy that he's giving his attention to this at all. Maybe it shows that whoever is in charge of this is actually pretty skilled, despite how silly the course description is. Well, guess it can't hurt, right? Maybe he'll actually learn something. Not like he's paying shit to do this, at least not this part.

Besides, he's already gotten this far.

So, pulling one hand out of his pocket, Scott points to set 2, the common sense course.]

That one. [...] Not that I need common sense or anything.

[JUST MAKING THAT CLEAR OKAY.]

[The little shikigami salutes before it jumps into the air and blows away as if carried by a sudden gust. It vanishes behind a nearby tree. Less than a minute later soft footsteps fall right behind Scott, even though there is no sense of a physical presence at all.

When he turns around he will be greeted by the sight of Douman, wearing a purple kimono and his usual heeled shoes and gold-painted noh mask. Once he is sure that he has the other's attention, he holds the shikigami that just came to alert him up between his fingers.]

Hello. I was told that you're interested in my second offered set of courses? They are- Mn? Have we met somewhere before? You seem faintly familiar.

[Heh that's kind of cool-- holy shit.

Scott nearly jumps when Douman steps right behind him, barely stopping the surprised noise from passing through his lips as he whirls around to face the mysterious man. What the hell?! He just appeared out of nowhere! And what hell is up with that mask??]

You didn't have to appear right behind me!

[Although as he calms down, he can't help but notice that the guy's voice sounds vaguely familiar. Unfortunately, with the mask still covering his face, Scott can't immediately pinpoint the memory that's associated with it but it's there, crawling in the back of his mind. There's a distinct feeling of being annoyed though, but whatever the case, the mutant does his best to shove it down so that he can face the newcomer with a mostly unbothered look. He's trying, anyway.]

Yeah, you seem familiar too, don't know why. [He holds back the comment that he doesn't normally hang out with guys in weird masks.] So, you're the instructor.

[Cool. Yeah, is what he gets for following paper guys.]

[Douman doesn't manage to fully keep his smile out of his voice as he lifts his hands in mock surrender.]

My apologies. It's a bad habit that I just can't shake.

[He probably couldn't even if he did want to, which Douman frankly doesn't. It's always entertaining to him when he ends up making people jump or yelp stuff they didn't actually meant to say because his youkai powers tend to mask his presence until he willingly makes it known.]

It was probably during one of those glitches, then. Please just forget that ever happened.

[It's already bad enough that he has Mr. Giggles-and-Doom gleefully call him by his real name thanks to it. Douman really doesn't need or want another one doing the same.

He spends a moment to look Scott up and down and lightly shrugs his shoulders while he's dropping his hands.]

I'm Nurarihyon. I know that it might seem paradoxical for a youkai to offer to help humans, but I figured that we're all in the same boat right now. Especially since I have never been much of a predator anyways.

[That's both the truth and a boldfaced lie. But as far as his personal youkai lore goes he is indeed more of a nuisance than any real danger to those he happens to.]

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do what you will with this

I hope this works! if not just lmk! o7

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