awashlogs | June Catch-all

[It was later than Duo had intended to get to Bluo with the supplies to meet the man who contacted him via Nyx's forum post, but gathering and hauling said supplies had turned in to something of a project on its own. He wasn't exactly gifted with strength, and though his wound from March had healed plenty he still felt twinges of pain when doing a lot of heavy lifting.

Thankfully by now he'd raided enough unused and abandoned places in town to find a good number of both supplies for the wall, and something to help him out with getting it all there. It was a rusted old kid's wagon, the red long since chipped away leaving the bare metal beneath. It wasn't the most efficient thing around, but once he had repaired the simple axle and one of the wheels it made carting things around that much easier.

He walked up to the designated starting spot in Bluo, dragging the wagon laden with salvaged wood, tools and old but still usable nails as well as a small box tucked under one arm with other supplies that may be useful.

To keep it out of this way, his long chestnut braid was wrapped around in to a bun, but it was pretty obvious there was length to it that indicated this was the person Nyx had been talking to.

He stopped and set the box down, letting out a relieved breath now that he was finally here.]

[When Tonbokiri sensed, and heard, someone approaching, the first hint that this was Duo-dono was his load of materials. So the hint of the hair became completely secondary. He's a little amused to see said defining feature curled up in a bun, though. (Tonbokiri is a little proud of his own long ponytail, himself.)

As the young man lets out a relieved breath, Tonbokiri approaches with a welcoming smile.]

Thank you for your hard work, Duo-dono. I am one of the Three Great Spears of Japan, Tonbokiri. It is good to meet you in person.

[He bows his head sharply, his sheathed spear held smartly to the side. Today he is wearing his 'work yukata', the orange fabric showing signs of being worn in the fields. The sleeves are tied back and he's clearly ready to go.]

I was just surveying this part of the wall. It seems like it won't be too much trouble to mend, so let us talk as we work.

[He gestures towards where the rusted nails have caused the wide wooden slats of the fence to fall off. Some of the boards are rotten too, but given what Tonbokiri can see of what Duo-dono brought, it should not be hard to replace them.]

Hey~

[Duo gives a cheerful wave with a smile, tired but excited to actually be doing something of use for Chroma. He normally would leave the braid down because it does stay out of the way most of the time, but he was doing a lot of bending and rising earlier and the end kept getting dragged in the dirt.

He probably won't keep his hair like that the entire time. That much up is going to give him a headache.

The introduction was... odd, but he figured it was a title of some sort, rather than being literal.]

Already said it on the forum, but I'm Duo Maxwell. Nice to meet you, buddy!

[That 'dono' thing is still happening, huh? Welp.

Duo comes up to the current fence, bending to study the rusted nails.]

Glad I found nails then. The ones I grabbed aren't perfect but they're not gonna disintegrate any time soon.

['Buddy'? That's a new one, he thinks.
Grinning slightly at how casual the young man is, he nods at his comment.]

It will likely be better the further we get from the water, at least. As well, in Flavo, some of the walls are of stone and so have eroded less than this.

But, first things first. If I may make use of your tools?

[Duo is the kind of guy you could put in to a three piece suit and still worry about how much he's going to make an ass of himself through the night.

Luckily they're not in that sort of situation, and likely won't be any time soon in Chroma.]

Yeah, of course. That's why I brought them. Go ahead.

[Stone was going to be harder to work with. He'll have to look in to some sort of cement substitute.]

My thanks.

[Taking up a tool for removing the nails, he sets his spear against the fence within arms reach, and starts carefully pulling the rusted nails. Although it's been a while, he's used to this kind of work, so he can easily turn his mind to other things.]

If I may, I'm a little curious about the worlds that others have come from. Would you be willing to tell me what you did in your home world that you are skilled with repairs?

[Duo starts taking out the nails he'd put in to a small box as well as some of the wood he brought to replace the rotten planks.]

Uh, well. I guess I just sort of became a jack of all trades out of necessity. Either I learned a lot of potentially useful skills, or I starved.

I am sorry to hear that your environment was so harsh to you, however it seems you have become stronger for it.

Does your world happen to have a country called 'Japan'?

You could say that.

[Not as strong as some of the other pilots, but he has a lot of skills they don't, so its a decent trade off.]

Yeah. They were the ones who launched Colony L1, actually.

[Oh. That should. Be explained.]

We have space colonies. I lived on L2.

[He's glad Duo's world has a Japan but-]

Sorry, a what?

[His knowledge of things beyond his time period is slow to put together this one.]

'Space', as in-- [He points up to the sky, his eyes round as he tries to imagine such a thing as a colony-- people in space.]

[There don't seem to be many people here from worlds with enough technology to even consider space colonies, let alone get there.]

Mhm.

[He sets the nail box down, carefully picking up the severely rusted ones to put them aside where they wouldn't accidentally wind up in someone's skin.]

We've been in space for almost two hundred years.

[His nod in thanks at Duo gathering the nails is slow and distracted.]

Two hundred years. In space...

Did something happen to the Earth that you needed a colony in space? Or perhaps it was an expansion of territory...?
And you live there? In space? What is it like?

[Abruptly, he looks abashed.]

I apologize for all these questions. But your world seems to be unlike anything I have heard of before.

[He is but a simple spear from the Warring States Era...]

[Duo has to laugh at that, waving a hand dismissively.]

You're fine. I'm used to it. I always get a lot of questions about it.

[As for the questions themselves.]

To be completely honest, I went to school for maybe a year total, so my knowledge of our history isn't terribly detailed. I think I had something to do with resources and population? I do remember reading that it was something like fifteen percent of Earth's population eventually migrated to the colonies, and most of who were left behind were people of means and status.

[A shrug to that. He grew up in poverty anyway, so it wasn't like colony dwellers were well off to begin with. Anyone would look rich to a poor starving kid.]

Honestly? Once I finally got to see Earth for myself, I thought "I'd rather be here!". I was always gonna fight for the colonies because that was my home, but there's so much more to see on Earth. You can barely see the stars from inside, the weather is all controlled... and they were already having trouble with continuing maintenance by the time I was born.

[A shake of his head this time, with a wistful sigh.]

I've been here long enough, though, that I'm actually starting to get nostalgic for that place.

[There is a distant look in Tonbokiri's eyes as he works, trying to imagine all this.
Hardly being able to see the stars, controlled weather, only the privileged seeing the nature of Earth...
It is a mysterious world, for certain.]

I hope you can have the chance to enjoy Earth when you return. However it is true that home will always hold one's heart, no matter what it's like, isn't it.

[His smile is wistful.]

I long for home, as well. But perhaps everyone in Chroma does.

Very true.

[On both accounts. Home being home, regardless of the memories attached, and everyone in Chroma missing their places of origin.]

So how far ahead is my world compared to yours then?

Ah, that is difficult to say. It seems that different worlds have different calendars.

However it sounds like your Earth is more advanced than ours, to have the resources to send people to space. Or, perhaps it was simply that the two worlds had different priorities in their histories, and the years are actually close together.

That said, if it has any meaning, the year where I am from is 2206.

Mmm. We're going by the "After Colony" calendar back home, and last I checked it was AC 197.

[A shake of his head after a bit of thought.]

I think they were going by the Gregorian calendar before the first colony, but I don't recall what the year was. 19... 70... something? Maybe?

[He chuckles lightly.]

So it is possible that our years are relatively close together. There was a Gregorian calendar in our world, as well. That is fascinating.

I will admit though, I do not know much of what the year 2206 is like in my world. I have far more experience with the Warring States Era of Japan, particularly between year 5 of the Kyoroku era to the Tokugawa Shoganate--, that is, about 1530 to 1603?

Wait--

[Counting on his fingers.]

How did you miss... over six hundred years?

Time travel.

[Beat.]

Apologies. I suppose it is my turn to explain, isn't it.

Ah... perhaps I should start with my nature. Then the rest will be easier to explain.
Do you happen to know the term 'tsukumogami'?

[Duo mouthed the word a few times, crooked finger at his lips as he wracked his brain for anything familiar.

Unfortunately when the only guy you know that speaks Japanese gets annoyed at you for constantly asking for insulting phrases, it tends to cut any meaningful lessons short.]

... the only part I could really pick out was 'gami', which is... s... pirit... ? I'm probably totally off.

[Tonbokiri beams happily!]

Well done, Duo-dono! You are exactly correct.

A tsukumogami is the spirit of an object.
In 2205, a 'saniwa', a person with great spiritual powers, began calling forth tsukumogami from swords, giving them a physical human form.

I am one such spirit, the human form of this very spear, Tonbokiri.

[He puts aside his work for a moment to take up his spear again. Before he unsheathes it he warns,]

I was named for cutting a dragonfly in two without moving, so please do not touch the blade.

[He knows. Everyone is tempted to touch it for some reason. ;;

But then he can show the young man the blade, which has engravings that are mirrored by the ones on his chest. He shifts the neckline of his yukata slightly so that Duo-dono can see it better.]

Edited (the dumbest little typo ;A;) 2019-06-08 06:15 (UTC)

Oh. Hey, cool. Heero would be proud.

[For all of three seconds until Duo did something else to annoy him.

Ah, friendship.

What Tonbo is saying is a hundred times more interesting than any failed Japanese lessons, though, and Duo perks up to listen intently.

He'll be good and not touch the spear, though.]

That is so cool.

[Heero? Perhaps a Japanese friend? That is splendid.

Although modest, he is clearly very pleased by the (modern-style) compliment.]

I'm glad you think so.

So, going back to 'missing' those six hundred years. I was summoned to this form by Aruji in 2205, however my comrades and I are sent back in time to complete missions in past Eras.
I specialize in the Warring States Era, which was until 1603 as I mentioned. Sometimes I am sent to other eras, however, at the discretion of Aruji.

[Friend.

Though saying so to Heero directly would probably make him uncomfortable. He's still learning that whole social interaction thing.]

Whoa, time travel, too?!

Yes. I cannot tell you anything much of how it is accomplished, but Aruji's powers are tremendous.

[Resheathing his spear, he leans it back against the fence to continue his nail pulling work.]

I believe every world has something that makes it seem amazing to someone from a different world. Colonies in space is amazing to me, but ordinary life to you.

Must be!

[Seriously. Time travel. Even that was just a fever dream of mad men in his world.

Duo nods and starts taking away the rotted boards, setting up new ones where they had been to eventually begin nailing them in once the initial clean up was completed.]

I don't know why I didn't think of that before, but you're absolutely right.

[Indeed so.
He smiles nostalgically over Aruji as he shifts from pulling nails to making use of Duo's preparations.

He chuckles at the young man's admission, and places a hand on his own chest over where the markings are.]

Everyone has different ways of thinking about things. It is my nature to think this way.

[It is as simple as that, to him.]

If I may ask, the person you mentioned before, is he an acquaintance from Japan?

Heero?

[Oh, right. He'd made an offhand comment without really thinking about it.]

Well, yes and no? He's from the Japanese colony. I don't know if he's actually Japanese but he was raised there so he speaks both Japanese and Universal fluently, and a few other languages fairly well. He was named after a pretty famous pacifist from the colony who got assassinated well before either of us were born.

[Well, it was his code name, Heero Yuy, but if he had knowledge of his birth name he had never told anyone.

To them he was just Heero.]

[Ah- Japanese colony, but not Japan itself. How strange that is to him.
He grins a little and glances over at the boy.]

If I may say so, it sounds like you think a great deal of him. Although I am glad of your strength joining us here in Chroma, I hope you can return to his side soon.

Wh-what?

[Wow, he sure is turning red.]

Psh. Nah. Heero's a pain! He barely talks and always did the most reckless shit during missions. He was just... the first friend I'd had in a while. All five of us got pretty close during the war.

[And Duo absolutely had feelings for him, but he knew that meant absolutely nothing. They were going to stay friends and nothing more, and he was starting to accept that.

Slowly.]

[For Duo's sake Tonbokiri tries to moderate his expression, but he can't entirely smother his smile. He's heard the like before.]

The bonds forged in wartime are truly unique. It is good that you had sound comrades at your side through that time.

We basically had the same ideas, so it was better to work together than individually.

[That went for all of them, not just Heero and Duo. He had a better relationship with Quatre overall, but Quatre was friendly with all of them, even Wufei who would rather hide in a cave than deal with the rest of the team on a daily basis.]

I'm not in a hurry to get back, though. I miss home, but nothing is happening that really needs my attention. I'd rather be able to help out here.

That is admirable of you, Duo-dono. I certainly appreciate your focus and helping hands.

I feel that perhaps people in your situation are in the minority here. But I may be wrong.

People that don't have any reason to go back right away? Maybe. Chroma doesn't seem to like grabbing people when they're actually experiencing some kind of downtime.

[A shrug. Can't be helped. They have very little control over what happens here.]

It seems so.

[But there is a similar tone of 'can't be helped' in Tonbokiri's reply.]

Such a thing makes me wonder what the town is even thinking... Or Mr. White. Or the forest.
And then I marvel that two of those three even seem to have a mind of their own in this place.

Well, this mess with the forest proves it's got some sort of sentience.

[Which, by scientific terms, wasn't entirely against reality. Plants and trees do contain some level of it.

Not to the extent that the forest was showing now, though.]

Whatever its thinking... it can't be offering us any sort of kindness.

I have to agree.

Have you seen the story by Mr. White that is on the message board*? It has been added to slowly over the past year, and the forest's role in it is quite... sinister. Particularly the most recent addition.

I haven't read it recently, no, but I know of it. I'll have to take a look when I'm back home.

[Which would still be a while, given that there was a lot of fence to repair.]

By all means. It seems that what happened in the past of this place will be important to us in the present.

But, let us turn our energy to our immediate concern: the fence. Allow me to lift this board so that you can hammer it in.

[ooc: And so their work will go on~ Unless there was something more you wanted to bring up, shall we tie this up here?]

June Catch-all

Tonbokiri (June 4th)

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