The month drags on and on. Every morning someone casts Fireball. Every night, someone’s summon bursts through a window, steals your food, and runs. Luckily, the chaos starts to slow as the magic flowing through the leylines is finally used up, and the Grove’s natural magic — and your own native abilities — start to listen to you again. It makes resting easier, at the very least. No longer do you have to wait for your window to automatically repair itself after something smashes it.
You know, unless someone wants to start throwing completely mundane stones at it.
With everything settling back into a sense of normalcy again, Ydalir is… still doing things. She never apologised for her candies setting off a chain reaction of chaos, but this time, she’s not feeding you. Kind of.
“If you want to stay connected to the leylines here and maintain some of the magic native to this place, here’s a spellbook for you to write your spells in, and—” she slams a leather-bound journal into your lap, a quill on top of it next to a small crystal that looks like it’s made of quartz.
“A star shard! You’ll need to eat that to anchor yourself to the magic here. It’ll taste like sugar, uh… and it won’t do anything weird to you this time, I’m so sorry. Anyway, you should go out and practice with your peers! It’ll make all of this easier.” If you head out, it looks like you aren’t the only person who’s been snagged for a bit of a magic lesson. It might be worth asking the more experienced spellcasters to help you with whatever new school of magic you picked up, or you could grab a study-buddy that’s on your tier… or you could just rawdog it and see what happens. Surely it won’t be as catastrophic as when you tried to do that throughout the month.
-New characters that app while this TDM is good (March + April) & existing characters already in the game will be grandfathered into the magic system, automatically gaining one Tier One Blessing of their choice without the initial 10-thread buy-in. The rules on the page must still be followed.
-Existing characters with ties to Beiwe & Ourania are free to pick up Gifts of the Sun & Moon at this point, instead of a Blessing.
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sticksandbonesmods) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
sticksandbones2026-03-06 10:57 am
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Thankfully I have had at least one of those parts mended. [He motions to his formerly cast off eye, scarred and strange with its black sclera, but back nonetheless. It's one of many things that will need to be explained in time.
But it can wait, he thinks.]
It is good to see you as well! [He returns the favor, wrapping his fingers around roughly a quarter of Tengen's bicep.] Have you found the others yet? What have you discovered since arriving?
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[Is it out of pocket to ask him if his eye is swappable, now? Because if so that's pretty cool, actually, and he has some Ideas about much prettier and flashier eyes that he could pop in. Ruby, maybe, or some flame patterns to match his usual aesthetic...
He supposes he'll find out sooner or later, and can decide to shelve or bring up the topic then.
Others - plural - tells him that he ought to do a little fishing himself, rather than answering outright. Sorry your bestie is cagey, Kyojuro, you knew this.]
Who else is here? Should I be out discovering something instead of slaying errant monsters? Tell me~
[Fishing fishing-]
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Thankfully, unlike somebody, Kyojuro doesn't feel the need to dance around the truth or obscure what information he does have. Granted, there is one name he continues to be hesitant about mentioning, but they can ease into that particular minefield, right?]
My brother is here, to start us off. [Of everyone, Kyojuro worries the most about Senjuro. The rest of them were equipped for combat. Senjuro... is a different story.] We also have many of our number. Young Tokito and Shinazugawa. Our dear Kocho. And of course, myself!
[He flashes another smile, but there's a hint of tightness here. A fact unspoken.]
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But, see, this is why you're the sun to his moon, Kyojuro. Bright and open and honest and hey wait one second, there's something being held back. Hmm.]
Yes, I nearly fell on Kocho when I arrived. [
It's raining men and all-] Are there any not of our number I should be aware of?[You know, noteworthy people from other worlds, or unflashy civilians or demons. Surely not demons, though right?]
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Kyojuro's expression visibly tightens the moment Tengen presses him further. He glances off to the side, staring through trees as if he might be able to escape into them, rather than answering any sort of question. When that fails to happen, he sighs.]
There is one other, you are correct. But we have entered into a truce, of sorts! [The kind of truce where you stick your tongue down their throat.] Regardless of his... nature, he will pose no threat to us!
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Kyojuro is fast, he could escape into the trees if he was facing down anyone else, but that would be running away... and Tengen is faster anyway. Best to own up to things for better or worse.
Worse, apparently, as his grip tightens just a shade and his expression turns serious. And he doesn't even know the half of it, yet.]
A demon, then. Which one?
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One that has already been dealt with. [Though he tries to add some reassurance into his voice, there's also a hint of warning there. Don't go chasing a problem that doesn't need to be one.] Several times over, as I understand it.
Kocho was equally as unhappy with his presence and took matters into her own hands. He has been working on repentance since the day he arrived. I, too, have overseen this.
[And yet, he does not reveal the name.]
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There's a warning outright. An admission that Shinobu has been handling things, but that really doesn't narrow down the options much. Of course she'd be involved, she and her sister both liked to say with enough work (and suffering...) a demon could be redeemed, but...
Well, it hadn't happened yet.]
Why are you worried about what I might do?
[Because you came in with bombs and poison and he knows you, Tengen.]
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We are slayers, Uzui. It is in our name.
[But, he cannot lie to the man. Even if he tried, someone would tell Tengen the truth. And that would only make matters worse.]
It is Upper Three.
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Or maybe not - clearly something had happened to stay Kyojuro's hand, and he'd heard of the strange circumstances of Upper Three's death in the castle, but he can't help how his blood runs cold at the news.
It's suddenly very, very clear why he'd been hesitant to tell him, and as if Kyojuro needed any more proof that he was right, the wind seems to pick up around them in that moment.
He doesn't even protest that he's no longer a slayer. That technically, neither of them are, considering their circumstances.]
Upper Three. What the hell are you thinking?
cw: suicide mention
I will tell you the same thing I told the others. When I found Upper Three just after my own arrival, I intended to strike him down. Rather than try to fight me, as he was so eager to do back then, he merely wanted me to move.
[His eyes open, locking on Tengen's face.]
I was between him and the sun, you see. He wanted what we both know it would bring him.
cw: suicide mention
[Even without knowing the full depth of the circumstances at hand, it feels cruel to throw his words back at him like this, heavy with the weight of the implications of what that could have - should have - meant.
Younger versions of them would have taken the win where it was offered. Would have watched the demon throw himself into the sun. Would have breathed a sigh of relief at the issue solving itself without further loss of life or limb. Let the demons cull their own ranks by their own hand if they want. Let them save their own fleeting, human energy for those that put up more of a fight.
There are still demons he'd gladly, happily, allow to throw themselves into the sun, and Upper Three is very near the top of that list and, apparently, the only one on it to have any desire to do so.]
Would you let Upper One or Two walk free, or was your own life the exception?
[There's no mention of Six... but he doesn't pull away from him, either.]
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Nevertheless, there is something reproachful in the look he gives Tengen.]
Do not mention Upper Two to me. [He does not know what Tengen is aware of, if he knows of what befell Shinobu. All the same, given how disastrously things went between himself and Shinobu back then, he cannot help but feel a sharp, hot knife of anger at hearing about that demon.] But - you are not incorrect. His actions resulted in my death, and thus I made the choice for myself how I would continue on.
Further, he already met his own end. It did not seem to be my place to slay an already dead man.
[But that isn't all. It's never the whole story, and yet people already grow so angry for his decisions, that it makes the second half all the worse. He doesn't blame them, not really. But it is getting rather tiring.]
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Or, perhaps there's still something he isn't sharing.
There's temptation to press the issue - to ask if the positions were twisted, if she pled forgiveness for that demon, if he wouldn't take up arms regardless, but... if she hasn't brought that to him, or if her doing so still hasn't swayed his resolve, it isn't his place to do so, either. Not now, when emotions are already running high. So he accepts the reproach, and crosses his arms over his chest.
Closed body language. Resignation. A painful twist in that bleeding heart Makio insists resides in his chest.]
You're a better man than I am.
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With Akaza, Kyojuro had left nothing on the battlefield. He had died knowing that his juniors were safe, and that his promise had been upheld. What else could he have asked for in that moment?
There was a reason, after all, that he had died with a smile on his face.
That smile is far from his lips as he studies Tengen. It smarts the way his old friend seals himself off, but is that not what Kyojuro had already done. And still he reminds himself that there is still so much more to broach.]
I do not know that it is true. [After all, he had been responsible for hurting his friends so deeply. Something he continued to do, even now.] There is more you should know. More that I would prefer you hear from me.
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And with Kyojuro... he might have left everything on the field, might have died with a smile on his face and the knowledge that his juniors - their juniors would carry his flame on, but Tengen, the other Hashira, their Master had all had to bury him.
And then they'd had to bury so many more.
He's alive before him, now, and it still aches.]
It is. [Even now, with Kyojuro pressing his thumbs into soul-deep bruises, he can't help but think so. Who else would so easily forgive his own murderer?] ...I'm listening.
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Simply put, he does not understand the sort of loss the rest of them have suffered.]
Mm... [Even knowing that he should, Kyojuro still hesitates. It has gone wrong so many times before, this conversation. But he would not be able to forgive himself, were Tengen to learn the truth from anyone else.]
When we arrived, it was just the two of us. And we both suffered rather daunting visions of the threat at hand. As a result, we allied with one another to ensure the Grove remained protected. For myself, it was a matter of duty. For him, it was penance. [Simple enough, and yet Kyojuro shuffles his feet.] From there, working close as we did, our bond... ah. Grew, I suppose!
we listen and we judge a lot, actually
The hesitation speaks volumes.
The context - as much as he can give, anyway - fills in some of the gaps in context. There's a logic to it, in a way, Tengen can see that much, and if it was between sacrificing the lives of who knows how many innocents and sacrificing his pride to ally with Gyutaro, he'd choose the latter every time.
He would not, however, go further, to where Kyojuro seems to be implying.
So he's at a crossroads - condemn the choices of a dear friend, turn his back on him, be the one to create a rift between them that for all he knows this demon of his would be all too happy to see widen... or endure this apparent shaky truce in solidarity with Shinobu, and try to understand with time - or, failing that, be close enough to strike a decisive blow where Kyojuro either cannot or will not.
Is it even a choice?]
You can't be implying what it sounds like.
[Say sike right now.]
sometimes someone deserves to be judged
Especially knowing that neither of them would raise a hand to harm the Hashira for the attempt.]
He has not harmed anyone since his arrival. He has not consumed flesh. [Not the flesh of anyone living, that is. And, well. Blood doesn't count, right?
None of this answers Tengen's question though. Which is likely an answer in and of itself, but:]
There is much I have come to know about him. Perhaps you will too, in time.
100%
Which is an answer on its own, in a way, but... while he doesn't want to hear it, he needs to.]
Kyojuro.
[Reluctantly, he'd come to terms with the idea of blood not exactly counting, but that was for demons that helped them, not for demons that killed them. Some exceptions were more difficult to make than others.]
How close are you with Upper Three?
[Better to just. Ask.]
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But Tengen has asked, and so he must answer.]
We share a home with one another. In another life we were wed. And in this world - [He steels himself, knowing that the full force of a storm is only seconds away. But if he must face it, then he will do so without hesitation.]
We are courting, is the term he used! [And very quickly, Kyojuro holds up his hands.] He is a very honorable man, you see! He must be, considering the era he came from.
But do not let him fool you! He is younger than I!
[KYOJURO NOW IS NOT THE TIME.]
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Courting? Honor? The latter is almost a bigger offense than the former when speaking of demons.
He hopes the silence he lets stretch between them is deafening.]
I am going to kick his ass.
[HE DID NOT SAY KILL THIS IS A STEP. FOR YOUR SAKE.]
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[Panic briefly grips him, before logic jumps in right after. Tengen did not say "kill," and Kyojuro highly doubts he would mince words right about now. It's an important step. He knows he cannot expect out and out friendship, so tolerance is the best he can hope for.
And demon slayers tended to tolerate one another by beating the hell out of them. Case and point:]
If you are that desperate to get your energy out, perhaps you could spar me!
[Who could resist such a wonderful offer.]
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...And he does also just kind of want to kick his ass. He's allowed a selfish motive or two as a treat for putting up with playing nice, he thinks.]
Hope you've improved since last time. We've both taken out an upper moon, but only one of us in a way that matters right now~
[Taking Akaza out on cutieful little dates will not help you now, sir.]
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Very funny, Uzui! [His voice sounds a little strained, and he tries to cover it up by reaching for his sword. He doesn't draw it right away, since Tengen hasn't fully agreed. But he has to show that he's serious about the fight, right?] I will have you know that I have been training vigorously since I arrived here!
[And when you have an Upper Moon who loves to fight, well. Maybe all those "cutieful" dates will prove to work to his advantage.]
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I hate him so much
god same
also this is the tag I remind you he's in a yukata because we need more reason to hate him
who needs smoke bombs when you can show off your balls
is it working tho
of course it is
thunderclap and flash indeed
testicle torsion no jutsu?
lordt he hopes not
he's no fun
he does not want to take that kind of injury to shinobu okok
you know what. fair. terrible fate.