When the guidepost is away...

[tossmealifeline]

WHO: Yatogami and you!
WHAT: Exploring the ship, meeting new people
WHEN: Rest of November
WHERE: All over the place

[Note: Yato has some passive powers at play because he’s a god. Unless he draws attention to himself he cannot be noticed by humans who don’t have some sort of connection with him. They will also not remember his name nor the fact he was part of an interaction until they have a connection. Other creatures though, are fair game. If you have questions don’t hesitate to ask.]

To say he was disoriented when he opened his eyes was a bit an understatement. Yato opened his eyes and found himself resting comfortably on a couch of some kind. He couldn’t remember. He was fighting and then... did he die?

He drew in a deep breath and let out a low, pained groan. It didn’t feel like he was dead. Yato sat up slowly, he could already tell under his clothes he was bandaged in a few places. That didn’t stop him from unzipping his track shirt and pulling his t-shirt away to look down. He could feel another up under the fringe of his hair. Bandages, no blight. Okay, he could work with that.

“Rekki!” He called, holding out his hand, presumably to catch something and...nothing.

I. Deck

Catching Yato early in his voyage around the vessel would have him looking around and calling out for someone. “Kazuma?”

At both ends of the deck he’d hold out his hand and call again. “Rekki!”

Nothing. Absolutely disappointing. “Bishamon is going to kill me.” He muttered under his breath.

Presumably, those he would run into would be humans he had yet to draw their attention and he would offer a smile. “Hello!” He greeted, literally out of nowhere. “Don’t suppose you’ve seen a guy, about twenty, glasses?” Hopefully he wouldn’t startle them too much.

II. Fate’s Design

“How can you be so stupid and eat all my chips!” Yato lamented, using his fist to pound lightly on the slot machine, like it’s the slot machine’s fault he’s just unlucky. It was a good thing there were many chips in abundance really.

“I swear, if she’s thinking of me right now-” He banged on the slot machine again as he lost, again. It was somewhat noisy and easy to attract people’s attention like that at he rate he was going.

III. Atrium

It was there that Yato was melting into the background, collecting his thoughts while perched on a banister. How it was he got in that exact position might be a mystery.

Humans wouldn’t catch sight of him sitting there, drooped with exhaustion and his brow furrowed in worry.

IV. Everywhere Else

This was a less than ideal situation really, he appeared to be trapped on a ship disconnected from everything the best he could tell and completely unarmed. Again.

Yato had on his biggest smile in that moment. He didn’t have a pen or paper in hand, nor did he have a phone number that he knew of so it was going to have to be old school.

He would approach everyone and anyone, no matter what they were doing. “Hi!” He chirped brightly. “I’m Yato, local god of fortune, let me know if there’s anything I can do for you.”

Yato was very much not in the mood for this. He was tired, his body ached and this was not the best day. All the same, he would do his best to smile and engage the public, seeking out human connections.

Comments

[decohere]

"I do... cherish what time we have, and I'm grateful for it. But." Ava looks at him, knows he mentioned hearing about the possessions already, wonders how much this newcomer really knows about how things work on the ship and their looming fate.

"What happens after, to our souls. It's beyond my control, you're right. But I can't give up and accept that everyone I love is going to suffer, alone, forever in the Nothing. I'm just me, and I don't have all... the powers and knowledge of magic and..." she looks frustrated. Confidence really solves none of this either.

[tossmealifeline]

He didn't really know enough to confirm or deny this belief. If he were back where he came from he would have better answers for her, but he isn't. Yato thought for a moment, being quiet.

"I don't know what's facing them after this place." He said softly. "But I do know humans have incredible power they're not aware of. You might not have knowledge now but maybe what you can do is wish for something better. After all, Heaven and Hell and the gods themselves are creations of humans. People don't know the kind of power they have just by existing...so...maybe hope they find peace instead."

Would it work? He had no idea. He didn't know if he could even find out. It wasn't like he had access to the Far Shore from this ship, or whatever passed for it in this place. Not yet anyway. Perhaps not ever. That didn't mean he wouldn't try.

[decohere]

"Nothing, that's what we all face. However long we last here. A month, or... I've made it nine. And most everyone I know in that time is gone. Replaced, like they never existed at all," Ava buries her head in her hands.

"That's what I asked for. Peace. But he doesn't believe in anything after. And I..." she doesn't want to give up, but she's at a loss.

[tossmealifeline]

He wanted to reach out and offer her comfort, but he was not terribly good at that.

"They existed and you remember them. It's important." Yato told her gently. "It's a connection that people need and I'm sure they appreciated that."

He breathed. "As for what happens after...I..." He placed a hand to his chest a moment. It was too cruel, and it wasn't meant for humans at all. The Captain sounded more and more like a malevolent spirit of some kind. He couldn't do anything about it at the moment.

"Maybe he could be convinced of something better if he's truly in control..." Some things could be incredibly sinister and he dropped his head a bit to hide his face with his fringe, a tear sliding down his cheek.

[decohere]

"I do my best to remember," Ava responds sadly. "I... made a memorial. Of all the names of the passengers we lost." The ones she could get, at least. It was incomplete, but she was able to get some from others who were willing to help. And found out it really didn't matter much, that the ghosts were completely unaware. Couldn't even feel comfort in being remembered by their friends.

"But I don't know how to help somebody believe in something better, when I've never believed myself..."

[tossmealifeline]

He brushed the tear aside from his cheek and offered no explanation - not that he had one. Human suffering always hurt him from the inside out since he'd become aware of it.

"I can't say one way or another if what you've been told is true that there really is nothing." Yato said.

"What do you believe in?"

[decohere]

Ava figured as a god, he'd be accustomed to this sort of thing. But seeing him brush away a tear, she's somewhat relieved that he doesn't feel so far above the rest of them.

"I've been told, by the spirits that were trapped within it. I tried to help one, find a way to stay..." but she shakes her head. She had killed him, in the end. In order to stop the infiltration, in order to bring Sharky back to his body. But she doesn't feel any better about it.

"I believe in possibilities."

[tossmealifeline]

She might have more difficulty with other gods, but Yato has been that way for a long time and it really conflicted with his inherent nature.

"It sounds terrible. I wonder if there's a way to change it." He murmured thoughtfully, but that was one monumental task. He knew that to be true.

"That's a good thing to believe in, after all as long as people are alive they have near-infinite possibilities." He smiled warmly. "One can always rewrite their fate."

[decohere]

"If there is, it'll have to be the Captain's doing." Ava has no interest in encouraging anyone to meddle in altering this reality. Even though she's oblivious that Bash attempted such, after a discussion with her about the lack of afterlife. Trying to poke holes into somebody else's magic system seems like a sure way of causing things to collapse, at best.

"My fate was rewritten by coming here, yet it was only by chance. So do I live each day grateful, enjoying the time I have? Or do I struggle against the inevitable, try to find a different way? We all have to exist somewhere. Why not here?" It's where all her friends are.

[tossmealifeline]

"That could be true." Yato agreed, and he'd like to get more information before approaching the man for a variety of reasons. He'd also like to be armed, but that might be a bit much.

"Nothing wrong with that, I think. If this is where you want to be then be here." Yato told her with a small smile.

[decohere]

"So many people want to escape..." Ava sighs. She can't blame them, but where is there to even go? And she can't follow, not with her condition that's only kept stabilized within the Captain's realities.

"But recently they learned that there's no going back home. I felt a little guilty, because I've known the truth for quite some time. And I've told others, but it only hurt them."

[tossmealifeline]

Wanting to escape somewhere that couldn't be left was a natural reaction, but for Ava it seemed as though this was where she wanted to be. He wanted to escape as well, if he even could. He wasn't entirely clear about that, but he just knew what he wanted his future to look like.

"No one likes to feel trapped." Yato murmured slightly. "I can empathize with their situation and how they feel." That was certainly true.

"At the same time I hesitate to tell anyone to give up hope on what they want either, even if it is to leave. That's a wish I've heard more than once so I know a lot of people feel that way. Maybe there will be a way to escape. Maybe there won't and they'll carve out a place here. Unfortunately I don't have the ability to see the future. It would make things so much better if I could."

[decohere]

"I don't blame them," Ava admits. She was raised in captivity. But here she feels much freer than she'd ever be allowed elsewhere.

"And I'm sorry, for asking for more than you can... possibly give. I didn't mean to set you up for failure. I'm... just frustrated, is all." Ava gives Yato a wavering sort of smile.

"What's your name again? Yato...?" She opens up her book, spelling it out with her best guess at the phonetic pronunciation. He asked her not to forget it, hadn't he? She believes everyone deserves to be remembered.

[tossmealifeline]

"You aren't." Yato said. "Because if I've been of any help to you at all then I can't really count this as a failure."

He reserved that feeling for when he inadvertently made things worse.

"Yato." He agreed with a little nod. It was written in a very specific way, but he wasn't going to make a fuss about it. "It's the name I prefer." He had a few names by now.

[decohere]

"Y-a-t-o?" Ava asks, turning the page so he can confirm. There's plenty of other notes scribbled upon the page, but most of it is in cypher. And a few lazy doodles of flowers and trees. Feels like it's been forever since she's seen any.

"Everyone seems to have many names, ones they're hiding from..." she mumbles.

[tossmealifeline]

"That's right." He said agreeably, although he wondered if she would remember the association of that name to him. He certainly hoped so.

"Ah, well, it's not that strange when it comes to gods. Gods have more names the more well-known they are. I'm not well-known but I've a couple."

[decohere]

She thinks there's a lot of titles and epithets associated with impatient people. So extra names doesn't sound too unbelievable. Even she has a codename. "What's your others, then? If you don't mind," Ava asks curiously.

[tossmealifeline]

He seemed to hesitate at that, but he could practically hear Hiyori and Yukine's accusations. Not that he thought he'd find himself in the pits of hell anytime soon, but one couldn't be too careful.

"I was originally called Yaboku." He couldn't hold back the grimace. "Yato is the name that my first shinki of choice gave me. She read my name wrong, but I liked it." So he'd adopted it.

"Heaven's taken to calling me Amagiri-no-Mikoto."

[decohere]

She doesn't know the meaning of the name, or what causes him such a grimace in response. But she decides not to write it down.

"What's that mean?" she asks of the final name he gives.

"I was called Ghost. Here it feels... hm, awkward at best." Given the presence of actual ghosts.

[tossmealifeline]

"He who rends Heaven." Yato said, and he was quite neutral about that name. It was just the other reading of his name that he found vehemently distasteful.

If he never heard it spoken again in his lifetime it would be enough.

"They're just holding a grudge. Splitting the heavens was an accident anyway...and would've been unnecessary if anyone had actually wanted to listen to me."

[decohere]

"Splitting the... how does that work? Like in conflict? Or... physically?" She's imagining a crack through space. Ava leans forward, peering at Yato closer. Trying to fully grasp what he's telling her.

"Listen about what?" It's difficult for her to get anyone to listen to her either.

[tossmealifeline]

"Well technically both but they did mean the physical aspect. Sliced right through the clouds and one of the structures." Yato answered. "Might've overdone it a little bit."

That was a mild understatement, but Yukine had some serious talent.

"They were accusing Bishamon of high treason and rebelling against Heaven and because I tried to help her and speak on her behalf, as well as get dragged into conflict to try and stop them from killing her, I was in the same spot even though neither of us were actually attacking Heaven. They had no intention of listening, they just wanted to kill us both because that's what they do with rebels. Clearly I'm not dead."

[decohere]

"Wooow," she comments, because that's so far out of her league. She's just a humble ghostly assassin, thanks.

"So when you split the heavens, they finally listened to reason?" She wonders if he could do anything of the sort here... Despite his friendly demeanor, Yato seems rather dangerous.

[tossmealifeline]

"Nope." Yato said simply. "They didn't listen at first but I told them off and they shut up and I asked to see her and she didn't listen to a word I said." He huffed a little bit. It was not difficult to see he had some level of annoyance towards Amaterasu.

"However, Tenjin knew what to do and my friends sacrificed their good names to get the two of us out of trouble. I'm in their debt, somewhat." He pressed his lips together.

They were probably going to be annoyed with him, running off like he did.

[decohere]

"Nice to have friends, huh..." She'd be willing to do anything for her own, not that she has a good name to sacrifice. But she's not so sure there's much she can even do, not on any grand scale. Just keep holding onto hope and keeping a careful eye on everyone else.

"Hopefully it doesn't come to anything like that here. But. It's hard not to feel completely powerless." Her abilities barely even register on the scale of powers here. Her faltering confidence aside.