[Trespassers V2 Subplot] Okami: Stains upon the Canvas

[DragonRage]

Lexiel stares at the shrine contemplatively, and draws upon her mana once again before letting the bonds formed during battle fade away.  A small army of generic Soldier Tokens appear before her, looking a bit confused at the lack of enemies to fight.  "Do what you can to fix the shrine up."  She orders the aether constructs, who produce an assortment of entrenching tools that can double as saws, hammers, wrenches, etc in a pinch.  

 

Lexiel has chosen to sacrifice use of her spell "Decree of Justice" during the next encounter in order to produce 10 Soldier Tokens to help fix up the Shrine of Amaterasu in the party's absence.  The soldiers will defend themselves if necessary as they work, but otherwise don't have the independence to do anything except repair the shrine to the best of their ability before returning to the aether.

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Lexiel

 

Once the constructs began going to work, the area seemed to brighten up a bit, almost as if the land was brimming with happiness by Lexiel’s act of kindness towards the shrine. Or maybe it was just the clouds moving out of the way sun slightly. Regardless, they opened the shrine's gate without difficulty, closing it behind them and getting to work on the shrine, the sight of which was covered up by the illusion Ako had put up. Unfortunately, not the sound.

 

Ako

 

What was obvious was Ako’s gratitude, letting out a heavy sigh of relief as the constructs went in, “I’ve never really had anyone else help make the shrine. I wondered what it would feel like seeing others work on it” she commented before clearing her throat, “Well, the sun isn’t going to wait for us, and I’ve wasted enough of your valuable time as it is, great Kami. Let’s go, Taka Pass isn’t too far from here” she added, putting her supplies back to wherever she held them and heading down the path that the merchant from earlier had gone down.

 

Overall, the walk towards Kamui wasn’t that eventful, only time consuming. The only true thing of note was the multitude of large areas almost untouched by human progression, preserving the beauty of nature and giving everyone a great view of Nippons natural wonder. At least, for the most part, until they reached a giant bridge that presented the only path across an even greater drop to the sea below, flaming phoenix statues marking both sides of the bridge… With the side they stood on covered in scorch marks and bits of metal, as if a war had been fought here before.

 

“So, a long time ago, it would’ve been a hassle to get through the Checkpoint here. The guards were really picky about lowering the bridge, and it took sending word the rulers of the capital in order to lower the bridge. Now it’s just down for good since, from what I heard, an archer was practicing his aim by firing into a cannon, only for his arrow to mysteriously catch on fire and cause a chain explosion through the entire system. It’s apparently too expensive to repair the bridge, so it’s just been left like this” Ako explained as they crossed the bridge. She wasn’t much for history, but she felt the need to comment on that part at least, if only to quell any questions before they came up.

 

Taka Pass

 

It only took a bit more walking for the group to wander into yet another area of Nippon. Specifically, a sparsely populated ravine filled with trees and bamboo, overlooked by a particularly gigantic tree with pink leaves that rested atop a waterfall. The path that the group were going on split off into two areas, one that led to what seemed like a gated village, and another simply leading towards a thicker area of bamboo. There was a third path, but all it went towards was a bare mountainside. A bit further down the path, the group could see a run down house sitting in the middle of a large pit… Giving off an aura of menace despite it being clear that no one lived there anymore. That, and there were large, green scrolls floating around off the main paths, seemingly content to just float around in peace.

 

Aside from that though, there wasn’t much to really ruin the view.

 

“Alright, before we move on, there’s a bit of a crossroads that I should mention” Ako began as the group moved past an archway placed right in front of a small, bridged pond, pulling out her map from under her sleeve, “The Sparrow Inn is in this area, not much of a detour either. We’ll be passing it once we head to Kamui, and I’m still positive that one of the demons is there-” she continued, turning to face the rest of the group as she pulled out the demonic slip once more, double checking one of the areas she had pointed out earlier and nodding as soon as she got a positive result, “Right, still there. So yeah, I was wanting to go there and deal with the issue, partly because it’s on our way, and… Partly because I still owe the Sparrows a favor after a certain incident” the shrine maiden explained, rolling up the map again and sliding it under her sleeve, “Of course, as companions of one of the Kamis, it’s only natural that I leave the decision making to you.”

[DragonRage]

"If the enemy is nice enough to give us its exact location, there's no sense in letting it stew," Lexiel opines, "Let us deal with it here and now, rather than have it at our backs while we confront something else.  I assume we'll need to go in there rather than simply knocking the building down, demon and all?  Clearing a house room by room is exceedingly dangerous."

[Chevaleresse]

Mitsurugi had been largely silent on the journey there, lost in thought. Lexiel's words were enough to finally shake the woman out of her own head, at which point she frowned. "Were you not just trying to lecture me on how I treat the people of this land?" She gave the angel a reproachful look. "An inn is a livelihood, destroying it is near tantamount to destroying the owners."

[StormLord]

At the beginning of the journey and during any breaks Spicy HG took time to etch words into the side of her glaive using a shard of the Gashadokuro's core as a sort of stylus.

Once they reached the fork in the road she listened to both Lexiel and Mitsu's comments before adding her own.

"Just as well, taking down the building may not directly destroy the spirit.  I think confronting it directly might actually be our best choice."

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Ako

 

"Yeah, destroying the Inn would cause a lot more problems than it would solve. But it shouldn't be too hard to get to the Demon in charge, and once they're gone, the effect they have on others and on the surrounding area should quickly dissipate. Depending on the situation there at least" Ako added with a rather upset expression at the suggestion of getting rid of the inn, before she brightened up once more, "Regardless, I take that to mean we'll dealing with them first, great Kami?"

[Chevaleresse]

"If my erstwhile companions do not object, of course." She glanced at the rest of the group. "A threat like this must be taken in the most expedient way possible; it would not due to leave a demonic infestation to fester." She had at least rebuilt her dignity on the outside, even if she was still not sure whether she counted among the number of their foes herself. Lexiel certainly seemed to have her issues with the goddess's conduct; she was surprised the angel hadn't commented on the incident earlier. They seemed to have very, very different ideas on many different things, though she still hoped she could find some mutual understanding with the woman. Contrary forces often formed a more harmonious whole than one might initially imagine.

[DragonRage]

"Do we have any flashbangs?  Or something else that might disrupt whoever's on the other side of the door without doing structural damage?"  Lexiel scratches at her chin, casting a concerned glance over the group, "Even in the best case scenario, clearing a house room by room is a dangerous pain in the rear, and a demon infestation is far from the ideal circumstances.  We'll definitely want some way to disrupt the aim of anyone who might be waiting to ambush us as we enter rooms, even if it doesn't last very long."

[StormLord]

"Hmm....flash-bang...." 

Spicy HG thought at Lexiels suggestion for several moments before coming to some kind of idea.

"Give me just a minute here, I might be able to make something better than nothing."

She pulled two of the Gashidokoro core shards out of the stock and started trying to bind fire to them, heating them to a glowing white-hot as close to exploding as possible.

Once she was finished she turned back, presenting the delicate shards to Mitsu, Lexiel, and Ako.

"Hmph, well this demon core is certainly uncooperative, ended up more like firecrackers than flash-bangs."

At just the moment she said the words one of them decided to explode in her hand with startling "POP!" and a small flash of light, but no actually considerable harm or fright.

"Aaannd now we only have one firecracker.  Great, guess it was worth a try."

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Ako

 

"Well, like I said, we might not even need to clear the inn room by room, depend on the demons. But I guess it's hard to say when we aren't even there, huh?" Ako replied, bringing her hand behind her mountain of black hair in an odd attempt to rub the back of her head, only to pause as Spicy got to work on her own project, raising her eyebrows in confusion, "... Flashbangs? I'm not familiar with that kind of phrase... Does it have something to do with gunpowder?" she asked. Soon enough though, Spicy presented the 'demonic flashbangs', at first making the Shrine Maiden even more confused, to the point where she even leaned in to see what had changed in the cores... Until one exploded with a loud pop, causing her to jump back with a shout of surprise.

 

Thankfully it only took a second for her to recover, all the internal questioning ending with a nod of understanding, "Okay, I get it, another kind of miniature fireworks. Well, once we deal with the Inn, I'll be glad to help you work with that core. I think it's a problem of it being a bit to unstable with its demonic energy" she explained, before spinning around on her heel, "But THAT requires us to get there. So let's go, we've got some exorcising to do" Ako said in a bit too cheerful of a tone as she lead the group down the path once more, the one that lead straight into the straight side of the mountains,

 

"So, I don't think I've gotten most of your names. I know the Great Kami's name, but not really anyone else's. Which I should apologize for, formally, because that was rather rude of me. I'm still a bit tired from this entire situation. But I'd love to hear some of your stories, as companions of a Great Kami. Like how you can handle demonic materials without too much trouble-" Ako says during the walk, gesturing to Spicy, "and why one of you have a Yurei following you around" she continues as she points at Kino, finally forcing attention to one of things that had been bothering her since first meeting this group, yet things had progressed too quickly for her to actually do so. Or had she just kept forgetting to do it?

 

Crap, she didn't even know if she did anymore. She needed some more sleep.

[DragonRage]

"I am Lexiel.  Formerly of the Boros and Izzet guilds, and current Strike Commander of Overwatch," Lexiel offers.  Her story would have to come out some time, and some of the team already knew it, but...  Even if it was painful to tell, every time made it a bit easier.  "I was born human on Ravnica, an ancient city encompassing every part of the world it rests upon.  I was orphaned, I know not by what, and taken in by an old Nivmagus of the Izzet guild, arcane scientists and keepers of the city's public works.  However, one of his experiments ended in disaster, and instead of dying in the collapsing laboratory, my Spark ignited, sending me hurling through the Blind Eternities.  I fell in with an... undesirable group, and sold my skills wherever among the worlds they would be best compensated with gold.

 

"Until I found myself on the war-torn world of Alara, recently restored from the effects of a cataclysm that had torn it into five shards.  In the Bant region, I happened upon a school being beset upon by a demon, and his army of undead.  For all that I was not at that time what I would call a good person, I found I could not stand by.  And as it so happens, those who die in Bant in defense of the innocent, having not committed crimes or heinous actions on that plane, are transformed instead.  They...  We become angels, or should our magical potential be great enough as mine was, archangels.  Beings of elemental law and order to safeguard the defenseless for all time.  But, as the magic could not see what I had done elsewhere, the transformation was flawed.  Or perhaps it was not the magic that was flawed, but myself.  My magic carries concepts unrelated and even antithetical to the mana of law and order; chaos, passion, creativity, and a thirst for knowledge and understanding.  It did not always get along with the new infusion of power.

 

"The conflict between who I had been and who the magic shaping my new form believed me to be was... unpleasant, but thanks to the efforts of Feather, former guildmaster of the Boros police guild on my home plane, my old friend Marisa, an expert in magical contracts and laws, and the philosopher-sage Zenyatta I have found a balance of sorts.  I've battled for the fates of a dozen worlds, rarely with success, and taken part in countless police actions.  This fight against the Trespassers has been by far the most important yet, and thankfully, the most successful."

[StormLord]

"I'm afraid my story isn't nearly as long or impressive as Lexiel's.  I'm what my world calls a Maker, otherwise ordinary people with an abnormal magical or martial potential.  I'm a skilled pyromancer and I'm immune to the fire and flames myself."

She sighs, getting to the part of the story she really didn't feel like talking about.

"In my homeworld I unwittingly rule a small island nation."

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Ako

 

"So... Another Kami and a Queen. Or the equivalent of one at least. Well, I can see that Amaterasu spared no expense in sending help" Ako stated after a long pause to decipher the two's story. Mostly Lexiel's, because there was a lot to unpack there, "It sounds like you've had a tough time, however I have to ask, what are these 'Trespassers' you refer to? I'm assuming they're a sort of demon, considering you've been fighting them, but the only kind of trespassers I've dealt with are people trying to rob the shrine or kids sneaking in."

[Chevaleresse]

"The worst sort of beasts." Mitsurugi gazed out into the distance for the moment before turning her eyes to Ako. "A threat beyond mortal comprehension. They creep into the seams of the world and corrupt what they can, feeding and growing until they begin to feast on reality itself." The goddess paused for a moment; while it was difficult to tell, she was collecting herself. "I have fought them before."

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Ako

 

"... Oh. So they're world eaters..?" the shrine maiden replied shortly after Mitsu explained, "and here I thought Orochi was the worst kind of demon" she continued, finally leading the group to the the end of the road, marked by a plain torii. For those that didn't immediately follow Ako, they would see her (and anyone else with her) go through the gate... And promptly disappear before they even stepped through the other side. For those that did follow, the lighting of the world changed to a calm white glow the instant they passed through the gate, along with the mountainside quickly fading away to reveal a smoothly carved path that led further into the mountain, open to the sun and marked sparingly by unlit lamp posts.

 

Yet even with the peaceful scenery, there was an ominous wind that blew from the pathway. There definately was something dark waiting for them.

[Chevaleresse]

Mitsurugi raised an eyebrow at the approach. A pocket realm like this wasn't what she expected, though it wasn't entirely foreign to her, either. "Interesting. . ." More unusual was the unwanted presence. Places like this were typically hard for a demon to breach - though if it was an inn simply placed along the road, it likely didn't have many safeguards. But then, why go through the effort of placing it in such a way? Perhaps Lexiel had been right; this place did seem to function differently from her home, even if many things were the same. "But we should not stop to gawk."

[StormLord]

Spicy HG didn't have much to add, it wasn't exactly a normal occurrence, but "natural" pocket dimensions weren't unheard of in her world.  Though, those were usually holes into the edges of the world with narrow pathways over an abyss of infinite magical destruction.

Spicy HG shrugged and carried along.

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Sparrow(?) Inn

 

Spoiler

 

 

Despite how long the path seemed, it didn't take long for the group to make their way through, the white glow slowly fading into a dark fog. Though despite this and the looming sense of dread, the end of the path was rather tranquil. In a small opening in the mountain's path, the Sparrow Inn stood, protected by a closed gate made of large bamboo chutes and wood, flanked on either side by walls made by impossibly large bamboo. The Inn itself rose high above the gate, a purple flag bearing the illustration of a black and white sparrow face hanging stiff in the air. Small bamboo fountains stood in front of the walls, but no longer had any water flowing through them.

 

"Well, if this doesn't confirm demonic activity, I don't know what will" Ako muttered to herself as the group made it to the middle of the opening, moving ahead rather quickly in order to test the gate. As she expected though, it was locked tight, barely even budging as she put her full weight into pushing it open. "Figures, locked as well" the Shrine Maiden added as she stepped back, looking at both the wall and the gate, eventually coming back to the group, "So, gate's locked. I don't there's any other way for us to get into the Inn without just going over the walls or... Busting down the gate. As much as I'm afraid of dealing with having to pay for damages, I get the feeling that the situation may call for a bit more direct force. I don't know, this is all very abnormal for the Inn. Normally the Gatekeepers would be on post and yell at me about coming unannounced. But they aren't, so..." Ako trailed off, feeling as though she had said enough already. They had probably gotten the gist of the situation by now, and she was already giving them the choice to approach this situation.

[Chevaleresse]

Mitsurugi pondered the gate for a moment. She could request entry on the grounds of being one of the Yaoyoruzu no Kami, but that might fall embarrassingly flat if the residents of this place were otherwise occupied. Instead, she took a graceful flying leap up towards the top of the barrier, landing atop it to more easily assess the situation.

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Sparrow(?) Inn

 

Although the atmosphere had been saying otherwise, nothing stopped Mitsurugi from simply jumping up to the top of the gate. From there, it was relatively simple to get a bearing on the situation of the inn, even with the darkness and silence. However, what was quickly noticeable was what stood in front of the entrance to the Inn, all thanks to the surprised shout that revealed two Green Imps with dull naginatas, one leaning against the door's frame asleep and the other recovering from a near heart attack from Mitsu's sudden appearance,

 

While most Demons would've attacked immediately upon seeing a Goddess enter their domain, the Imp that stared up at Mitsu through its paper mask was currently frozen in place, shaking in fear as it attempted to figure out what to say or do. The other Imp simply continued to sleep, not even twitching from the shout from its companion.

[Chevaleresse]

Mitsurugi stared down at the demons for a moment. It wasn't strange for youkai to stay put in a god's presence in her home, true, but in this sort of era it was something else. . "Youkai, you must have a very important reason for not fleeing one of the Thousand Gods. And to be in this place of refuge." They might have been guardian youkai not too dissimilar to herself, like many oni formerly were, but that didn't stop Mitsurugi from tensing up in preparation for a strike where she stood atop the gate. "Name it or suffer my judgement."

[DragonRage]

Lexiel spreads her wings and hops the fence behind Mitsu and raises an eyebrow at the sight of the imps.  "Alright, you goons are clearly not worth our time.  But since we're in a bit of a hurry, I will give you this one chance to scram.  Beat it while you can, punks, you're not going to like doing this the hard way."

[StormLord]

Spicy HG bares her Vorpal Glaive, preparing to start cutting through the gate should Mitsu and Lexiel be drawn into a fight.

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Imp(?) Inn

 

Although the sudden appearance of the goddess had left the Imp quivering in speechless fear, the arrival of the angel Lexiel spurred it into action, the reality of the situation fully hitting it as hit smacked its companion across the arm. Needless to say, the other guard was jolted awake by this, turning to yell at the other Imp before it caught sight of the two figures on top of the gate, jumping back in surprise as well, "Uhm, ah, our deepest apologies, o'Destructive One" the first Imp began, dropping to a knee as it almost fumbled over its own words, "We were not made aware that we would be receiving visitors. We are but humble spirits, wishing to make use of our existence by assisting in running the Vulture Inn" they continued, raising their head slightly, only enough to look at the gate itself, and not even at the top of it, "If you wish, o'Terrible Harbinger of Ruin, we may notify Lady Akari of your arrival and set you up with a room as soon as possible."

[Noir]

Kino and Enma

 

The receiving Imps seemed to provide a polite, if not the most warm reception, to the sisters and her band of otherworlders. Kino's dispassionate expression remained on her pale face, though she sensed that her ghost sister was feeling tensed as the Imp mentioned the name of the inn. Vultures were known to the siblings back in their times as nuns, for their were ominous harbingers of death and preyed on the decayed...part of the thin divide that Kino walked on. Enma in particular feared the idea of vultures preying on corpses in the past, for it was their former duty to put the unfortunate deceased to rest, and though the younger twin now had no flesh to speak of, she found herself fearful over the suggestive name. Kino and Enma were perhaps the only ones amongst their group--their massive kin of spirits aside- to have any semblance of...being dead. And though the idea remained that the group could very well be walking into a butcher's haven, there seemed to be no immediate cause for alarm given how timid the Imps were, or perhaps it was the particular strength of the Goddess, that seemed to be more familiar with this area than most of the other groups members. Kino could not tell which of these was the more accurate guess of the two. The aching wails of the kin continued eating away at the ominous atmosphere, something that did not seem to fade even as Kino followed the others through the gates, though they also did not intensify due to alarm or hunger for the moment, another suggestion that nothing seemed to be too immediately threatening. 

 

We're not offering ourselves as main courses for birds, are we? 

 

It's just a name, Kino assured her, in a voice only she could hear. You needn't worry, though I suppose we'll find out why it's named as such if we decide to get in.