002 // A TRIUMPHANT RETURN (Video)

[bladeisme]

[Today, a face that hasn't been seen in a while pops up. Orange hair and his brown, eastern style looks-like-a-honedge's-scabbard clothes can be seen, before he adjusts his hair 'hand' that has the band on it in order to see his face more easily. Behind him are the familiar sights of Union, although he's clearly more close to Ninetails Vale than anything else. He also doesn't seem bothered by the cold at all]

Ah, hey!

[He smiles briefly, jerkily raising up one of his arms in order to mechanically wave at the camera.]

I'm back. A lot of you probably don't remember me, but...I kind of spent a month up in the mountains after the whole dream thing. Trying to get a little stronger...you know.

[He reaches up to scratch at the back of his head, and while the movement is slow and mechanical, he at least seems much more comfortable with it than he was when he first arrived.]

So, uh....I guess I'm asking if anything happened while I was gone. Yeah, I should've kept checking the band, but...I guess I just forgot.

[Something attracts his attention, and he turns his head automatically - and there's only a little jerkiness as he does so.]

Oh yeah, what's with all the lights? Another holiday? Man, you guys sure like your holidays...

[After a moment, he shakes his head.]

I think that's it for now. -OH, yeah! Maya, is it still alright if I stay with you guys? I still haven't figured out how to go back to being a pokemon yet, but...if your rooms are full up or something, I'll figure something else out.

Comments

[Video]

[biteoutofcrime]

...You.

Do you have any idea how long you've been missing, you braindead numbskull?!

[Ignoring the fact that Ichigo literally just said it's been a month.]

[Permavid unless otherwise stated]

[bladeisme]

[Nice to see you too, Kuzu. Ichigo blinks, then slips into his 'Are you serious?' face.]

...I just said it's been a month.

[Please don't tell him Kuzu's gotten hard of hearing while he's been away. That's all he needs.]

Sometimes I need 85 more icons yo

[pocketmobster]

Yeah, a month without stopping back in or sending a message or any fucking shit. You could've been dead, asshole!

[...said the man to the Ghost Shifter.]

You know what I mean!

shhh u good

[bladeisme]

[He can't stop himself from grinning just a little bit, because wow, Kuzu. What a slipup to make when you hang out around Maya all the time.]

You almost sound like you were worried about me.

[He was totally worried. And somehow...that kind of makes up for all the fights they've had. At the very least, it makes him feel...happy.]

[kickboards]

[Oh, it's you, Ghost-Honedge-San. Rei was wondering what happened to you.]

Yes, it's another holiday. This one commemorates the acts of the Savoir from generations ago...and it's another holiday where people spend time with friends and family.

[He smiled brightly, clearly enjoying everything about this holiday already.]

[bladeisme]

[There's a moment of silence as Ichigo stares at Rei, as if...

...he's completely forgotten who this is. Which he has. Whoops.]

Acts of the savior? Mind filling me in? I've heard them mentioned a lot, but...

[...Yep he doesn't know about this important as hell event. Whoops.]

[kickboards]

[...That's right. Honedge-san was completely new to Union, in many respects. He seemed to be understanding what it was like to be a human, but he was lacking in his understanding of Union's culture.]

It's a lot to remember if you're new. [He said, offering an understanding smile.] The simple answer is that we celebrate this holiday to honor the Savior's actions that ended the war many generations ago. Without her, it's doubtful that our city would have survived.

[Even though much information from that era had been lost in the wreckage, and much of what remained was buried under layers of misinterpretation and misrepresentation, that was the core of the holiday.

Rei would definitely be curious if some dedicated teams of delvers and historians gathered more details from the ruins...but, it wasn't a necessity for any of them to worry about.]

[bladeisme]

[Well, he is from 500 years ago, just before the war broke out. Of course he wouldn't know about the selfless act of the Savior. Still....

He blinks at the explanation, tilting his head slightly with a certain jolt that's reminiscent of some pokemon and their robotic movements.]

What did she do?

[Idly, he wondered if it were in any old writings or something...or even if he would be able to read something from that long ago.]

[evokedorpheus]

Welcome back. [A smile and a wave.] You got back just in time for Salvation--it's another holiday, yeah. This one's honoring what the Savior did.

... You'll have to get used to the music. It's charming the first couple times but it wears on you after a while.

[bladeisme]

Hey.

[At least he remembers Minato, although it's not...well. At the very least, he'd have difficulty remembering Minato's name.]

So they just keep playing this music the entire time? That sounds...kind of annoying.

[At least mix it up, geeze. There's also something to be said for the wonderful sounds of silence and nature, too.]

[evokedorpheus]

They switch between a few songs, but a lot of them are different renditions of the same ones.

[He sounds about as thrilled as he looks (which is to say, not at all).] At least it'll stop once the holiday's over.

[bladeisme]

Still, that'd get grating really fast.

[A sigh, but then-]

So, how've you been?

[Since. You know. He hasn't seen him in a month.]

Video.

[future_sight]

You're staying with Mayocchi? I didn't realize.

[bladeisme]

Uh...yeah. I am. And you are...?

[SORRY HE HAS A BAD MEMORY FOR NAMES AND FACES WHOOPS]

[future_sight]

I don't think we've met. I'm her cousin, Nozomi.

[bladeisme]

Oh!

[Wow, Maya has a lot of cousins.]

Nice to meet you. I'm Ichigo- Kurosaki Ichigo, but just Ichigo is fine.

Video.

[ladyofluminosity]

[Oh, hey, it was the guy with the hand for hair!

...Yes, she remembers weird things like that.]

How long have you been gone? Just a month? Were you around when everyone got pulled into the Dream World?

Video.

[bladeisme]

[Well, it's a good thing that she remembers! Because...unfortunately, he doesn't.]

Yeah, about a month-

[But at the mention of the dream world, his face falls.]

...Ah. Yeah, I...I was.

[Sometimes, he still had that nightmare he'd had back in the dream world - full of fire, pain, and death. And it always ended with him staring up at a huge, vague pokemon...]

Video.

[ladyofluminosity]

[Oh, she said something wrong didn't she? It was probably best to just continue on with the conversation and not draw too much attention.]

Let's see, in that case, there was the Soulfasting festival, and now the Salvation holiday. Other than that, I'm not sure you missed much.

Oh! Right, Refuge! You probably haven't heard about them, have you?

Video.

[worldmother]

It's a holiday to celebrate the Savior. From what I understand, people use the time to give presents to loved ones.

[bladeisme]

Presents, huh...?

[That...could be a problem. Not only that he really...didn't have loved ones, beyond his pokemon and the few friends he'd made here, but...he also didn't have any money for presents.]

Do you have to give them presents?

[worldmother]

[Elly frowns a bit.]

I'm not sure. I just moved here recently myself, so I don't know much about the holiday.

[missleadingquestions]

Mmm... I wanna say yes, but are you sure you wanna come back to Fuyuhiko biting your head off?

[A little smirk-- she's not too serious. It's not a big deal to her, y'know.]

We've still got room. Welcome back, stranger.

[bladeisme]

Pssh - I think I can handle him.

[He gives her a smile in return, though - he's really quite thankful to her for letting him stay at her house and basically mooch off of her.]

Thanks. ...For the record, I'm sorry about leaving without saying anything.

[He looks a little melancholic, remembering the dream world and how it unnerved him. He'd left in order to calm his frazzled nerves over the whole thing, even though he did keep having the same nightmare over and over again.

Ah well. Who really needs sleep?]

[missleadingquestions]

Hey-- don't worry about it. Guys leave around here all the time.

[She honestly, truly doesn't sound or look the least bit bitter about it. Shrugging, she even goes as far as to yawn.]

I wonder, though, if I should get you to sweep the main hall or something...

[Maya you can't assign chores as punishment when you already said it wasn't a big deal.]