lostcarnival | MUSHI DISASTER

Entry tags:

MUSHI DISASTER

Who: Anyone and everyone; it’s a mingle-style log!
What: A sudden spike in the mushi population brings some trouble to the carnival.
When: Around day 87-90
Where: All around the carnival
Warnings: Illness, potentially some minor body horror, and so on

[Following the recent disappearance of Ginko and Tanyuu’s mushi repellent, there will be a sudden increase in the number of mushi in the carnival this week.

This is a mingle-style log, so just post a toplevel, tag out, and have fun with mushi disasters! Event information and questions are here.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[What Ginko would give to have some paper and a pen to give to Lambert right now. Well, alright, he can work with pantomimes if that's what they've got.

It also helps that a lot of mushi have some... oddly specific symptoms and modes of infection.]

Your ear...? Are you saying you heard something odd before you lost your voice?

[ The idea hasn't occurred to Lambert yet, since this is a point before he's run into many of the Carnival's resident nerdy magicians, who seem to have no shortage of writing implements on hand ... at Ginko's understanding, though, Lambert nods, tapping one of the flasks strapped to his belt.

... Look, don't question why he chose to listen to some weird thing coming out of an empty alcohol flask, all right? After that, he stares at him expectantly, waiting for Ginko to actually show off those mushi master chops and tell him how to fix this. ]

It was... in a bottle? ...Dammit. [Ginko sighs and pushes his fingers through his hair, but doesn't wait too long before starting in on his explanation.]

Sounds like you ran into a yadokaridori. The good news is, this should fix itself if you just go about your business like usual; the bad news is that it will take a few days. And there... isn't really a way to hurry it along, unfortunately.

[ Lambert does not take this news particularly well. His expression trips from mildly frustrated to apoplectic all over again, muscles in his neck standing out as he gesticulates and silently shouts, the are you fucking kidding me needing no translation. Eventually, however, the silent diatribe comes to a stop, the effort clearly too much to keep up, as Lambert is left pinching at the bridge of his nose.

Fine. Not fatal, not permanent, just a minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things. There are worse ways to be cursed. That doesn't mean he's happy about it, though, so without any further word of explanation, he literally walks away, leaving Ginko in his dust.

Not that, for practical reasons, he can really stay away for long. There are mushi around the Carnival, and like it or not, Ginko's a mushi master. Lambert still has to seek him out to ask for clarification on how to deal with something or other, and fortunately at some point he starts showing up with paper, so he can communicate other than with increasingly obscene hand gestures. He seems less angry than the first time, though it ratchets up again when he has to bring his snow-plagued horse to be diagnosed.

There is one bit of news he can offer Ginko on locating the mushi repellent, which he scrawls on a notepad and thrusts under his nose impatiently the next time they bump into each other. ]

Tracked the smell of the repellent to the lake. No trace of where they came out, so either they can fly or they drowned. I keep catching the scent of it around the carnival, but it doesn't lead anywhere, so I think they've got an accomplice fucking with us.

[ And then, well. He actually takes a look at Ginko's current state, which makes him blink, scrawl on another piece of paper, and shove that under his nose as well: ]

You look like shit.

[Ah. There he goes again.

...And there he goes. Bye, Lambert???

Ginko keeps going about his business after Lambert's departure, pausing to answer his questions as necessary - and giving an apology in advance for the likely difficulty of curing his Pokemon's ailment. It could be hard enough to get humans to put up with the heat exposure necessary to cure a tokoyuki infection, but a horse would be another story entirely.

He looks over the writing on the notepad when Lambert brings it to him again, brow furrowing.]

...Right. I know some of us can stay underwater longer than others... have you told Sans about this?

[...Wow.]

Yeah, I know. Thanks for the reminder.

[ The question's going to get Ginko a bit of a dry look, Lambert turning a hand palm-up, tapping the radio, and resting a hand against his throat. He's not going to waste the energy to write that thought out, but Ginko probably recognizes that Sans is hard to get ahold of at the best of times as it is, and Lambert doubts Sans is checking his mailbox right now. Raising him on the radio isn't currently an option for the obvious reasons.

But hey, let's go back to looking at Ginko critically! ]

Is it going to kill you? [ It's a practical question. Ginko's answer rather determines how much more urgency the search needs. ]

Right, right... well, I can relay it to him, then.

[He'd love to be able to give a definitive answer to that, and with most mushi infections he could. But, uh.]

...I'm not sure. Hikarine don't normally attach themselves to living things, so there aren't any records of them feeding from humans. So far, we're keeping it at bay as well as we can, but I assume it could be fatal if the mushi managed to spread enough.

[ Lambert considers that response, cocking his head, before he writes back: ]

1. You don't seem too concerned.

2. What changed?

[ Whether he means Ginko or the mushi, his spareness with words doesn't shed much light on the subject. ]

[He shrugs and glances away, reaching up briefly to rub at the side of his neck. He's quick to drop his hand, though, when his fingers brush against a few of the leaves sprouting there.]

It's not that I'm not worried. But panicking won't help anything; all we can do for now is keep it from growing too much.

[Besides which, he's only got so much energy and he'd rather not expend it on himself right now. As for the second part...]

I did. Hikarine normally feed off of kouki, the substance in light veins; I found a few months ago that my blood has been replaced with kouki. Since there's no light vein here, I'm the closest thing available.

[ Lambert nods. It's ... a pretty professional attitude, actually, and one that puts a little more weight to the man's claim of being a 'mushi master' before. Still, if Ginko drops dead, all that expertise isn't going to do them any good, and if he doesn't know the possible consequences, Lambert sure as fuck doesn't have a clue. ]

Great. So you're a snack who's turning into a tree.

Is the blood why they're drawn to you? [ It's kind of skin-crawling, imagining what would happen if he suddenly started attracting monsters left and right out of nowhere. He's glad that isn't part of the witcher mutations. ]

That... is one way of putting it.

It's not the only thing; I've attracted mushi since I was a kid. It does seem to add to the effect, though. It's... kind of inconvenient.

[ Lambert makes a face at that; the no shit it's inconvenient is probably sufficiently implied there that he doesn't need to write it down. ]

Born that way or cursed? [ In any other line of work this would be a weird question; in his case it's just a standard question. One implies a vastly different thing from another. ]

[...See, this is a much easier question in theory than it is in practice.]

I was... most likely born with it. I've been told that happens every so often.

You don't know?

[ It's unlikely Ginko can fucking remember being born and all, but Lambert figures Ginko isn't enough of a dick or a smartass to be that pedantic about the question and will just answer what Lambert's getting at: wasn't there anyone who could tell him? ]

Ah... no. [Yeahhh this is gonna take some explaining. He's not a huge fan of telling people about this, but sometimes it's necessary - and it's better than some stuff he could be having to go over.]

I don't remember most of my childhood, and I don't know anyone who knew me back then, anyway. I can only say for sure that I've attracted mushi since I was about ten, and someone did tell me once that I've probably always attracted them.

[ Lambert's frowning, but he nods along with the explanation readily enough. Orphaned or abandoned, he wonders? It doesn't really matter in the end, probably -- the end result was the same. The lack of memories could be just as much the passage of time rather than anything more sinister.

He has a lot of questions about this whole thing, really, but he can only fit so many words without springing a dozen more questions. And so what he settles for, finally is simply: ]

Must have been shitty.

[He's pretty glad for the lack of continued questioning. With everything going on right now, he doesn't really want to get into his past on top of it.]

It... wasn't ideal, no.

Anyway, it doesn't matter now. Not much to be done about it.

Shit under the bridge.

[ No Lambert, that's not the expression. Whatever, he nods anyway, with a little shrug. While he's here anyway, thought, he does have something else he's here for... ]

Is there a mushi that causes blindness?

Blindness? I believe so... you know someone having trouble with that?

[ Lambert nods, sharp and quick. ]

Childermass. Light sensitivity, losing sight I think. [ All right, so it's not the textbook definition of blind and Childermass probably won't appreciate Lambert sharing, but whatever. It helped to tell Ginko who was afflicted with what before. ]

Light sensitivity? That would make sense... there might be an outbreak of manakonoyami going around. I could give you some medication to bring him.

[ At least there actually is something to be done about, unlike the 'wait and see' prescription Ginko's given before. Lambert nods, looking satisfied, and stares at Ginko expectantly, putting the pen and paper away and crossing his arms. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

MUSHI DISASTER

no subject

no subject

no subject

TIMESKIPPING AROUND, let me know if this works for you o/

WORKS FOR ME

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

no subject