⇨ SHABONDAMASHII

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 92 - Day 99
Where: Shabondamashii Bathhouse
What: With the Silver Mirror claimed and the animals of Eden relocated, it's time for the carnival to kick back and enjoy an interdimensional bathhouse and the surrounding festival city. Meanwhile, the scattered shards of the Mirror have an unexpected effect.
Warnings: Dark/Light halves acting weird.

THE BIG CLEANSE↴ As the carnival recovers, the Ringmaster has brought it to the gates of a famous interdimensional bathhouse to rest. She won't be joining you for most of it, though she will be checking in frequently and available by radio. She's fixed a large portion of the Silver Mirror after it shattered, but it seems like pieces are missing. She doesn't want to rest until the missing shards are dealt with, and the Mirror itself is locked away safely. ► YOUR OTHER HALF: The shards missing from the Silver Mirror didn't just disappear - after breaking apart in Eden, fragments of the object embedded themselves in the spirits of those not already touched by its powers, and those that had been the most fae-touched. That means, your characters. The effect of this, explained in more detail on the plotting post, is that some characters will be splitting into two versions of themselves: the Light, and the Dark. This doesn't mean good and evil, of course, it's far more complicated than that. Splits can start happening at any time after arriving in Shabon, and initially characters won't know how to rejoin with their twins. Later on, it will become apparent that they need to reconnect via the shard of the Mirror they share... of course, in order to rejoin, you have to have both halves, and not all twins will be as eager to go back to the way things were before. This plot point is optional. ► SPA DAY: When you're not engaging in metaphysical division, you are free to enjoy the many luxuries that Shabon offers. Things will mostly have an east-Asian bend, like what you would see in the movie Spirited Away, but as long as it doesn't affect the setting much, you can honestly have whatever spa-type services available that you want. Food is served both in restaurants and 'buffet' style. There are also well paid sex workers here, if that is your thing, but make sure to tip well. ► FESTIVAL TOWN: The city surrounding Shabondamashii is largely meant to catch the business of interdimensional tourists. There are frequent parades and other events held, and the architecture is very closely packed. It's easy to get lost if you leave the bathhouse, but it's definitely worth it if you like party. You can pick out a few outfits for yourself and some fun nick nacks, but nothing that would normally require mod approval.

Comments

[anti_nonsense]

"Huh!?" Rita cries out in surprise when he starts pushing her, but she doesn't really resist. This whole 'having fun with friends' thing is still new to her. "Hey, what are you..."

She quickly gets distracted by the festivities in their path, however.

[hippocarnival]

Yuya laughs. He won't push her along for too long, once she starts going forward herself he'll let go and instead fall into step beside her. His gaze drifts along all the stalls, equally enamored with the bright lights and fancy displays.

Once catches his eye, and he points to where bright paper kites with fancy shapes and patterns are being sold. "Look--kites! Have you seen these before?"

He remembers her mentioning she grew up in a cave city, so... there probably isn't a lot of wind or room for kite flying.

[anti_nonsense]

Yuya remembers right; they sure don't. Not only that, but Aspio has a general lack of kids and fun things in general.

Rita shakes her head. "Only in books," she replies. "Didn't know they made so many different kinds."

[hippocarnival]

"You can get them in different sizes, too. Let's go look." He gently nudges her before swerving into the kite stall. It's brightly lit inside, putting them on display.

Yuya's drawn by the ones shaped like animals, mostly fish, dragons, there's an octopus in there. There's also lots of flat cuts cut out like animal heads, especially cats. Some really psychedelic ones...

Yuya flips through them, smiling nostalgically. "These are really cool."

[anti_nonsense]

Rita looks over the different designs, her gaze lingering on one of the cat-shaped kites. She seems to be thinking about something, when...

"W... we should fly some!" she blurts out at Yuya, but immediately, her face reddens and she seems to regret the suggestion. It's a stupid idea, isn't it?

[hippocarnival]

There's a pause from Yuya... and then he turns on his heels to look at Rita eagerly. "You want to? Yeah, let's!"

Yuya hasn't flown any kites since he was little. But this is something Rita's never gotten to experience, so he's going to completely support her adventure into lost childhood.

He makes a beeline for where she's standing, looking over the same kites she was. "Did you like these? Look, that one looks kind of like Francis."

[anti_nonsense]

"Does it...?" Rita looks them over, then seems to pick up on which one he's looking at. "Oh, yeah. It kinda has his eyes." By his eyes, she means that angry look Francis always seems to have, no matter his mood. It has a sort of striped fur pattern, too.

"...All right, I'll get this one," she decides, picking it up and handing a few coins to the vendor.

[hippocarnival]

"Great!" Yuya swings back around the other side. Despite staring at them, he doesn't pick one of the huge three dimensional animal kites. Instead he picks a smaller one, shaped like a red dragon head, and pays right after her, before immediately launching into a conversation with the vendor about the best place they can go to fly them. There's a bit of back and forth with the directions before he's pointed south, to get to the shore. It's a bit rocky, but coast winds are reliable and there's plenty of sky.

Yuya thanks the vendor before turning to Rita anne's gesturing her forward. "It's a long walk, so we should go now."

[anti_nonsense]

"S-sure," Rita murmurs, holding her kite in front of herself.

They start walking, and she remains quiet for some time, looking nervous all the while. This might have been her idea, but she can't help but feel unsure.

[hippocarnival]

Yuya walks on with much more confidence, though Rita's silence causes him to steal glances to her. She's not super talkative, but also the awkwardness is almost tangible. He wants to ask what's wrong, but... maybe not yet.

"Hey, wanna see who can get there first?"

He doesn't really give her a lot of time to confirm if she even wants to race before he's bolting again, taking an immediate lead. Cheater.

[anti_nonsense]

"What? ...Hey, wait--!" By the time Rita realizes what's happening, Yuya's already got a head start. Without thinking, she breaks into a run after him.

It's an awkward effort, as she's still clutching the kite close to her chest, and it doesn't take long until her bad form causes her to trip and stumble... but instead of falling on her face, she opens her wings and flaps them hard, sparing herself the scrapes and bruises. She proceeds to close in on Yuya by wing, flying just a few feet above the ground. Is it cheating? Maybe, but he cheated first.

[hippocarnival]

Yuya laughs as he bolts ahead, determined to win for nothing. And then he hears the sound of her wings and looks back curiously.

"Wh--hey!" His attention snaps around as she starts to fly right past him, scrambling to pick up the pace. "Not fair, I can't fly!"

[anti_nonsense]

"Should've thought about that before you challenged me!" Rita calls back with a laugh. She doesn't relent, and continues flying all the way to the shore, where she lands and takes a few seconds to gaze out at the water while Yuya catches up.

[hippocarnival]

Yuya comes up a few seconds after, stumbling to a stop and taking heavy, winded breaths. It takes him a minute to steady himself, hand in his knee while his other grips the kite, before he looks up at Rita. Good thing he didn't make any bets.

He straightens up, watching Rita watch the water briefly before he breathes out. "You ready to learn how to fly a kite?"

He's assuming she doesn't know how to do it, anyway.

[anti_nonsense]

It takes a moment for Rita to tear her gaze away from the water. Just now, she had this nostalgic feeling...

Well, whatever. She turns around and faces Yuya with a small grin. "Can't be that hard. But if you've done it before, then... go ahead. Show me how it's done."

[hippocarnival]

Yuya nods, confirming. "It's really easy. First you..." he trails off, getting and idea which way the wind is blowing before he comes up to Rita's side and points at her kite.

"First, you hold the string in one hand and the kite in the other. You can uncurl it a little, that way some of it's loose."

[anti_nonsense]

Watching Yuya, Rita nods and follows his instructions without issue. This sort of reminds her of when he gave her archery pointers, back at the Manor. Maybe she should give him a little more credit; he seems to know about a lot of things, even if they aren't things Rita normally considers important.

[hippocarnival]

Yuya smiles as he points to the distance. "Now you're going to run against the wind. When you feel it start to catch your kite, you let go and unwind the string all the way so it can go up in the air."

If she needs a visual example, Yuya can get his kite up first. But he's expecting she won't need it.

[anti_nonsense]

Another nod. "Okay... here goes."

She runs, holding out the kite until it starts to pull away from her grasp, at which point she lets go and gives it some slack.

It buckles and sways in the air, but manages to stay adrift in the uneven winds. "It's working!" she cries, as if there may have actually been some doubt that she'd succeed on the first try.

[hippocarnival]

"You got it!" Yuya shoots her a thumbs up, watching the kite find some stability in the air. Then he adjusts his hold on his own kite, running her way as he releases it to fly in the air as well, a little lower than hers.

He stops a foot away from her, holding the string firmly. "It's pretty windy, so it shouldn't be a problem keeping them in the air now."

[anti_nonsense]

Rita unravels the string until her kite's flying as high as it can. She stares up in wonder as Yuya's joins it, and continues watching in silence for some time.

"You really are the sort of person who'll try anything, aren't you?" she comments, perhaps abruptly.

[hippocarnival]

Yuya laughs at that. "Most anything! Actually... when I was little, my dad would take me to fly kites on New Year's. Since we live by the coast, it was always windy enough."

He smiles up at his kite wistfully. Those memories are feeling further and further away.

[anti_nonsense]

"Your dad? Must've been nice," Rita murmurs, her gaze distant. She can picture Yuya being the kind of kid who did stuff like that.

Some more time passes before she speaks again. "Hey... can I talk to you about something?"

[hippocarnival]

It takes Yuya a moment to pick up on her murmur, and then he flusters, waving his hand. He knows Rita didn't get to know hers, so he suddenly feels like he stepped on a sensitive topic.

But his attempt at an apology gets cut short at her question. "It--yeah, I mean... what did you want to talk about?"

[anti_nonsense]

"It's... about me, I guess," she says, uncertain. "Might be best if we can sit down for it."

Fortunately, this shore has lots of rocks that look like good places to sit and chat. Rita reels in her kite, wedges it between some rocks to ensure it won't blow away in the wind, and sits on one of the larger, dry rocks. She waits for Yuya to get ready to listen, then begins.

"So... something happened earlier. I don't know how to explain it, but... there's two of me now."