mp_strikinglyblessed (
mp_strikinglyblessed) wrote in
spirits_and_such_offices2023-09-12 10:29 pm
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
Chapter 4: Cutting Algae Part One
Texting was a pretty neat function. It was widely adopted by every teenager except the one he, Reigen, had so generously gifted a phone to do it with. Mob was diligent to a fault about picking up his calls, but texting? Still a work in progress. Mob was getting better, though. After all, how else was Reigen supposed to give him a heads up about big jobs before the end of the school day? Excepting the occasional friendly lunch break chat.
That was of course assuming the phone was still intact. After their chat last night, Reigen wasn't so sure. It wasn't like Mob made a habit of texting him first.
Reigen squinted at the clock on his second-hand laptop he'd just replaced the shattered one with. 12:05PM. He had found a decent deal on one in a flea market but there was something off about the graphics. Parts of the screen were always slightly out of frame and most of his day had been spent trying to uselessly dink with the display options until it was righted, but instead he just ended up with a resolution that was too small.
'Ugh. New laptop, and if we're really unlucky, a new phone? I'll just garnish it...' Reigen pulled out his phone and fired off a text to his pupil. You didn't get washed away, did you? Your phone's still working, right?
That was of course assuming the phone was still intact. After their chat last night, Reigen wasn't so sure. It wasn't like Mob made a habit of texting him first.
Reigen squinted at the clock on his second-hand laptop he'd just replaced the shattered one with. 12:05PM. He had found a decent deal on one in a flea market but there was something off about the graphics. Parts of the screen were always slightly out of frame and most of his day had been spent trying to uselessly dink with the display options until it was righted, but instead he just ended up with a resolution that was too small.
'Ugh. New laptop, and if we're really unlucky, a new phone? I'll just garnish it...' Reigen pulled out his phone and fired off a text to his pupil. You didn't get washed away, did you? Your phone's still working, right?
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
Kona-ZanshÅ Castle. There, in the mists, it had snuck up on him somehow.
It stood as the stormy coast's lone sentinel, rising up out of the rock, it's base carved from stone. He tilted his head far back to assess it from it's base to the tallest tower, silhouetted against the sun. Reigen was struck by how isolated it felt--it was like everything else around it had been eroded. Usually castles of this type had beautiful complexes surrounding them, but there were only faint vestiges of what once was.
The swooping roofing--the shikoro-buki, named for their resemblance to samurai helms--framed the windows that looked out in every direction. 'Like eyes', Reigen thought.
no subject
Mob reached out with his psychic powers, trying to penetrate the field of emotion he felt beyond it. It pierced through and was struck with a wave of anger as
"And angry," he added. "That's kind of strange, isn't it? Usually the sadness is buried beneath the anger. I don't think I've ever felt it the other way around."
Mob may not have the slighest clue about the emotions of other humans. Spirits were always easier for him to read.
no subject
no subject
no subject
"Of course. We're not going to do anything unnecessary. Once we find the source of the unrest, we'll resolve it. That's all." Reigen began his ascent up the the south facing-wall on the rocky foundation, step by step. The winds whipped at them harder the higher they got. Not only that, did the air feel thinner? That was absurd, of course. They weren't that far above sea level. Reigen tugged at his collar once when they reached the top to face the gate. Then, he walked through--and suddenly overcome with a sense of vertigo, he took one step back right out.
no subject
no subject
no subject
"I don't feel anything."
no subject
no subject
"Maybe I should go in first."
no subject
Luckily, the sense of dizziness was faint, then it was nothing at all. 'Heh.' As if some musty old castle could get the better of him for long. He turned his light on and shined it at the floor first--yeah, it was steady-looking--and then at the rest of the room. It was an antechamber, but notable was the scaffolding. So, that restoration fund was going somewhere...slowly.
The next thing his light fell on was a lot more attention-grabbing. Fusuma paintings greeted them, and he approached one to get a better look. Every one depicted a red-crowned crane. Despite the faded linework, the red at the top of their heads was as striking as a fresh drop of blood.
no subject
"I'm not sure which way to go," Mob said, though his feet continued to carry him forward. "Do you have a map? I might have an easier time if we're closer to the building's middle."
no subject
Finally, he peeled his eyes away and lead the way down to the Great Hall. It was there that the sense of grandeur now long-gone really sunk in and he had to pause to take it all in. The light caught shapes and carved out shadows. What he could see right away were the elaborated grid ceilings and silhouettes of the paintings on the walls. The floor was raised after a certain point, which was surely where the reigning shogun sat. Reigen fixed his light on that spot to catch glimpses of the tokonoma--the way the art and architecture came to frame whoever sat there was fascinating. Even after centuries had passed, the effect it had on him spoke to the castle's power.
'Sorry I called you musty,' Reigen thought. He was drawn to one wall in particular where the door had fallen through, and down that way was another hall. For whatever reason, without saying a word, he was immediately compelled to venture into it. Candles flickered to life wherever he passed, but he didn't even pause to look.
no subject
"I suppose this means we're headed in the right direction," he observed as he followed along, just a scant step behind his Master.
no subject
Reigen mouthed something to himself and gravitated towards the west-facing wall in particular where the books were still neatly mounted. A scroll had rolled out to display a long poem and he started reading right from the top.
no subject
Maybe it was something important? It had to be if he was this deeply focused on it.
But the silence between them grew. Mob was accustomed to the silence. Until recently, he was alone a lot of the time. But he wasn't accustomed to silence when he was in the same room with Reigen. He had enough words to speak for the both of them.
"Master," he began, somewhat hesitatingly as he stepped in after him. "Is everything okay?"
no subject
no subject
"Is this necessary?" he asked. "We really should be focusing on the job."
no subject
It was like someone dumped a bucket of cold water on Reigen.
What the hell WAS he doing?
Still, even at his most perturbed, he wasn't about to appear uncertain in front of his student. He moved out of the way of the hanging scroll and gestured meaningfully towards it. "Mob, Mob, Mob, Mob. Mob. I certainly can't expect a rookie to understand the importance of this right off the bat. Come closer--read it. Really take it in."
no subject
Mob joined Reigen and began to read the scroll. But as much as he tried, he couldn't seem to find a connection. Then again, he wasn't really good at this kind of thing, anyway.
"I don't really get it," he admitted, turning to look at Reigen after spending a long moment absorbing what he read.
no subject
"Keep thinking on it. I would be stunting your critical thinking if I just handed you the meaning."
Reigen did an about face towards one of the doors to continue on his way. Sliding the battered door open was more of a formality but he was rewarded with lingering traces of sunlight shining down on an open courtyard. He could tell from the patches of thick shadow from the clouds that the sun wouldn't be there for too much longer.
In the courtyard, nature had reclaimed what history had left; moss and vines covered the ground, the walls, and even the trees like a blanket. Even one season of neglect from the locals unable their restoration would set them back dearly. If not for one sunbeam shining on it, Reigen could have missed the small structure across the way.
no subject
"Um, Master?" he called out, setting the scroll down. When he didn't get a reply, Mob's feet carried him out into the courtyard after him.
"Oh, a garden." Or at least it used to be. Now it probably couldn't be called that. It'd take a lot of work to get it back into the state Mob was sure it was in a century before.
(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)
(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)
(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)
(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)
(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)
(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)
(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)
(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)
(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)
(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)
(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)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)