乙巳 004: 大寒

[singlemilletgrain]

[video broadcast]
Greetings again, Corsairs.

[As usual, following a bow, Shu addresses the video feed with perfect poise and elegance.]

After the... challenging events of the New Year's mission, I wish to call for some levity. In Yan, as the year changes, we visit the temples to have our fortunes told for the coming year. It is just for fun, of course. In Dahuang, I keep a place of worship to... [a faint pause] a Xian of agriculture, Shennong, and occasionally run the festivities.

Please come by. There will be traditional New Year's food, of course.

[If anyone has learned anything about Yan at this point, it is that they have Too Many Holiday Traditions and Too Much Food.]

[option 1: just for fun]
[Shu's doorway is vibrantly decorated in red and gold, and when she ushers you in, the most immediate sight is the table filled with plates and plates of food. Mostly dumplings, for dumplings are easiest for visitors, but also whole fish, noodle dishes, and sticky rice.

To the side, there is a little chest with two sets of burning incense at either side. Fortune seekers are invited to kneel, burn incense if they wish, pray for luck from whatever deity or the general karmic wheel of the universe, and then reach out for a container of what look like sticks. There is a little sign explaining this is the tradition of 'qiu qian,' beseeching insight from the gods.

One must ask a clear question, shake the container a few times, and pull out a stick.]

[option 2: the real thing]
[Shu sits at her 'priest's seat' and laughs lightly at the interpretation of the fortune received. Perhaps she sees something more ponderous in your eyes, for after a moment or two, she clasps her hands together and exhales lightly, bowing her head.

Her red pupils have constricted to tiny dots when she raises her head once more.]

...I could give you a better fortune, if you wish.

((If you pick option 2, Shu will either tell you in very vague prophetic terms something that may or may not happen in the future of your canon, something that happened in the past of your canon, or give you a random item that might be useful to you this year. If you pick option 1, it will be total nonsense.))

Comments

2: The Real thing

[bearsperminute]

[Call Kanna superstitious; she won't deny it. Call Kanna a follower of the old gods, and you'd be right.]

[Call her ether a well, or more accurately, a geyser, and you'd not only be correct, you'd know why she's done what she does.]

[So of course it's only natural that she shows up, and that her reading... Has her dwelling on the circumstances of leaving the Flower Division, and if they'll show up to haunt her, later; not only that, but on how they're doing in finding and keeping the Undead down.]

[She insists, mostly to protect them as still stuck in the Imperial Army, that the truth of the rumors about her and Sumire having been in a relationship were immaterial-- the suspicion was enough to force her hand before the entire division were declared traitors.]

[Does she doubt it's necessity? Regret its necessity? Regardless--]

By all means, tell me more.

[singlemilletgrain]

[It is the warrior who piloted the armor who saved them. Shu smiles warmly in invitation as she gestures for Kanna to sit across from her.]

Kanna, isn't it? Thank you for your assistance that day. I was afraid we would not make it intact with all the townspeople.

May I have your hand?

[bearsperminute]

Wow, you remembered my voice, huh? Yeah, that was me.

[She laughs, easy-going, and pulls off her glove to extend her hand.]

Sure.

[singlemilletgrain]

[It was hard to forget the excited shouting.]

Not exactly. I wanted to know who to thank, so I looked up your information later with the other Corsairs on board the escape ship. You have my deepest gratitude.

[She takes the hand between her own and turns it palm up. Unsurprisingly, it is calloused and hard, the hands of a warrior. Shu's hands, dyed ochre-green, are cool and light as a spring breeze upon Kanna's finger tips.

Her initial words are characteristic of fortunes, vague enough to apply to almost anything.]

...A heart of blazing fire pulses strong. With every beat it seeks to quell its foe. A new companion, doubt, has settled close. Your choice has sunder'd all that you once knew.

[bearsperminute]

[She nods along as she listens. Vague as it is, it's accurate, and probably no more or less than what her interview might have revealed, or even looking up whatever propaganda play they made about the 'Red Demon' she styled herself as and connecting the dots.]

Yeah. It's been a rough few months.

[... Surely they didn't dissolve the Division over this? Even if she had to fight them, she still considers them friends.]

starting with 1

[purplexing]

[Let's be real; he's here for the food. And at least he knows that when Shu's around, food's never in short supply, and he won't have to be fighting anyone for the last dumpling.

...and most likely even with his plate piled high and an overflow one besides, he figures Shu probably would still think it not enough.

Donnie doesn't really believe in fortunes so for the time being he's content to simply watch people try to gain insight from a random stick while he stuffs his face.

[singlemilletgrain]

Reunion, dreaded, desired, comes at the end of ten thousand li. Upon the promontory of godhood, the seeds of what were sown will flower, divide.

[There is a quiet hum in the air around them as Shu's voice becomes distant.]

The conflict ends; the demon dormant, rests. Beside her lie the remnants of the past. Whole or shattered, split or new, the burning heart shall herald what is come. Alack! Quicken'd steps lead to final grief. Heed - watchful lips shall know when truth to speak.

[After that, she falls into silence for an unbearably long period of time.]

[singlemilletgrain]

[Hope Donnie's got a good grip on his overflow plate for when an entire fried flounder lands on top of his already ample stack.]

Try this.

Fresh out of the fryer. It will not taste so good if even 5 minutes have passed.

[Obviously, he has lost weight from his ordeal and needs to eat up. (Actually, he probably gained weight from Shu making him three meals a day for a while.)]

[bearsperminute]

[Real shit, huh.]

[She sits with her thoughts about it for an equally unbearable long moment.]

So they're coming. One way or the other. Dad always said the scales balance eventually. Grandpa said Hel's reckoning can't be forestalled forever.

[She sighs.]

Guess I'd better start preparing, then.

[singlemilletgrain]

[Shu still seems to be spacing out, but as Kanna speaks, she blinks and looks up. Her expression is quite normal now, free of any preternatural suggestions.]

...They are doing well.

[She considers with a head slightly to one side, thinking about how to interpret the muddied lines of the river of time.]

She is... waiting for you in much the same way. You made the best choice possible.

[bearsperminute]

... Yeah, I'll bet.

[She considers how to breach the subject, and decides to leave the petard unexploded, for now-- lets the dread hang in the air.]

... Though, now that I think about it...

I don't suppose there's an Undead problem here, too? They've been cropping up all over, right? I know it's mostly the Church's problem, but...

2

[freearcadia]

[Once he decided he had slept enough, he had decided to see what Shu was doing - and well, there is the food, that was always a good incentive. The pirate had taken some dumplings, and while he wasn't one for fortune telling as a rule - perhaps curiosity, or maybe nostalgia for a different kind of new years fortune-telling had hit him particularly hard.]

[Perhaps being in a different world with different laws had made pensive - asking after Mayu's well-being, pondering his relationship to his godchild and to an extent her parents - Tochiro and Emeraldas - long gone.]

I suppose fortune telling and fate are two different things then?

1 + 2 (because why not both?)

[newmemorywhodis]

It's not a statue of Hylia, so it feels a little strange to pray before the burning incense. Sure, lighting incense for Hylia would make perfect sense, but...there should be a statue.

Except there aren't any statues of Hylia in this world. So he prays anyway. There's no question of what he wants to ask - when will he be able to go home? When will he see Zelda again?

He takes a stick. What does it say?

[purplexing]

[At least his reflexes are better. He still has to shift the angle so it doesn't upset the plate completely. ]

Gah! Warn a guy before you inflict fried fish on them! What if I snapped my wrist!

[Well now he has to put his plates down so he can actually eat, not that he believes the deterioration of flavor after five minutes but it looks really good and might not last that long anyway.]

[singlemilletgrain]

Not so much.

[As far as she can tell, there hasn't been anything of the kind cropping up in mission logs.]

I couldn't entirely understand. What is Undead, exactly?

[singlemilletgrain]

Oh? Now you are cautious about injury and health?

[Is it too soon to tease him? It's been three weeks since the mission, that's probably enough time.
Let it not be said that Shu has no sense of humor despite her occasional stuffy eloquence. Shu will pick up one of his plates for him and pull out a chair at the table.]

You don't wish to pull a qian? [meaning the sticks] I suppose the young do not believe in such things.

[singlemilletgrain]

Phantom Harlock.

[She smiles, though there is a bit of a curtness that is not usually there in her tone.]

Fate is preordained. Fortune telling merely shows the many paths that are available to you. Have you heard of the metaphor that time is like a winding stream?

[freearcadia]

[He detected the curtness, giving an apologetic nod of his head]

Let's see... that it constantly flows and changes directions... and it can't flow back on itself?

[Harlock isn't sure if the last part is part of the metaphor or he is mixing it up with something else]

Apologies, I had not mean to offend.

[singlemilletgrain]

As is custom, the qian sticks just have a number on them. This one says #67. When Link opens the divination book next to the shrine to look up the fortune, he will read:

Consider the bumblebee. Alone, he is worth nothing. But with his fellow bees, they create a swarm and make bountiful honey.

...

[singlemilletgrain]

That is a part of it.

[At his apology, she tilts her head in slight confusion.]

Oh -- no, that is hardly of any offense to me.

Is my vexation obvious? Indeed, I did not mean it to be. But I have been meaning to scold you for some time, you see.

[It does not seem very serious, if she is able to speak of it so lightly.]

[freearcadia]

[He laughs softly]

You'll have to take a number, I believe I'm overdue for scoldings from at least a dozen people.

[singlemilletgrain]

Since we are both here, I shall cut to the head of the line.

I hear you were instrumental in the Bluvink fight against the magician who ravaged our Flotsam fleet some months ago. Though I commend you on your success, I must protest the management of the operation. Indeed, to allow a child to face such a foe head-on is unpalatable to the extreme. One ought to have retreated.

Though no one was killed, it was close indeed.

[freearcadia]

[He exhales deeply, as he folds his arms across his chest.]

I didn't like the idea either. Admittedly, I think we were all concerned about the repercussions of any more of the attacks hitting the factory, and taking Miss Terra down with minimum harm to her given she was not acting on her free will.

And you're right - it was too damn close for comfort and we acted more on gut than planning.

[singlemilletgrain]

I understand the desire for a perfect success. However, there can be no success if it comes at the cost of precious lives. If we could not help Terra this time, there would be more opportunity.

There is no opportunity if you all are lost. ...You included.

[She bows her head slightly.]

Your survival, too, is cause to give thanks.

Please, in the future, do not act so recklessly. Some of your companions -- [...she will not name names] I know, their natures cannot be changed too easily. But I beg you to keep level-headed. For your own sake as well.

[purplexing]

[Oh the frown she gets at that. Which is really more of a pout. He will pout all the while as he goes to sit.

But as soon as he sits, he is digging in.]

Mmf? Oh, those things. Not really, no. Seems kind of silly.