video | call out to the afterlife

[inuko]

[ Shino gets the camera rolling, and backs up, leaning forward and looking to where the light is, leaving him looking off camera. ]

The blinking light means it's on, right? [ He breathes out in a huff, straightening up and reaching for the table at his side. His fingers linger there, pressed against barely visible pieces of paper. ] Okay, so I don't know how to show pictures I've drawn except like this, and I have a few people that aren't here but might show up sometime, so if anyone sees them, I'd appreciate you letting me know.

[ He picks up the first, then shows each of them, one after another. ]


This is my little sister, Hamaji. And this is my older brother, Sousuke. They're the most important that I know about right away. Hamaji wears black dresses with lace and sturdy heeled shoes, and Sousuke is usually dressed like he's part of the church. You can find him in buttondown shirts, too, like this. [ He lets the drawings be lowered to show the white buttondown he's wearing. The pictures are set on the table, and he gathers up the next few. ] Then there might be one of these guys...


This is Kobungo, Genpachi, and Keno. They're the people who'd most likely want to find me. Genpachi might be in or out of military uniform? Kobungo is sometimes in his inn uniform. Keno always tends to dress traditionally.

[ These are set back on the table, his hand lingering on the surface. He looks to his last drawing, seems to frown, then picks it up to show the camera anyway. Once there, the dog is clearly given more depth to their eyes than literally any of the people, and that's... for reasons! ]


Then there's this guy, Rio Satomi, who'll probably be frowning and angry, because if I can't stand being here, he's going to hate it even more. I guess you could tell me if you see him, too.

[ All the pictures are now back on the table, and a crow, who had been off camera for most this, hops in camera and starts prodding at the drawings while Shino addresses the camera. ]

My name's Inuzuka Shino, and you can contact me on this weird phone if you see any of them in the future. Thanks!

[ He smiles, waving at the camera, as the crow picks up a drawing and attempts to fly away, over the camera, leading to Shino darting forward, hitting his comm, sending it flopped flat to film darkness as he calls out for Murasame to drop that, don't eat the drawing, you stupid bird, and then a fumbling click as the feed finally ends. ]

Comments

[lumberlady]

All the writing, really. Jinba weren’t allowed at the temple school in my village, so...

[As much as the words themselves sound discriminatory, Konoha says them as if it were just an unfortunate little bump in the road, nothing to be upset about or read into. Just an explanation for her jilted literacy when it came to kanji characters beyond ones she recognized from common signs, like “food”, “money”, or “jinba”.

He says “beautiful”, but she honestly doesn’t even think he means her, literally turning around to look at the people passing through the park behind her- and there was a very beautiful woman among them, a Prismal with glistening feathers. Only her husband ever called her “beautiful”... “Cute” she might believe, sure, but.

She turns back with another sheepish expression, one that said “different worlds, who’da thunk!”]

Yeah, Echigo... Tateyama village? I heard it was called Niigata in... the future? But it’s the sixth year of Genna for me... and I don’t think we’re an empire? I think we’re a... what’s the word- shogunate?

[inuko]

...

[ That's... ]

Why are they keeping you out? Was the building too small? That's not hard to fix, it's not like bigger buildings or outside doesn't work most the time.

[ He's frowning, for all she hasn't sounded like this is strange, he finds it weird. He's an orphan, a church orphan, and his education was addressed. Sousuke has helped educate brats before for the church as well, so what makes Jinba any weirder than church orphans?

As it is, the rest flows away from him, and he has no idea her looking around is related to his comment about her—he assumes she hears or scents something odd, but it seems to resolve into nothing with that sheepish expression. ]

Ah, yeah, that's a while ago. I'm from the Taisho era... [ he names some year within it, but considering his canon never bothers with a sensible era or actual date, lets stick vague! ] Back then everything would have been the shogunate, wouldn't it? So much happens in history over a few hundred years... it's crazy.

[ He says, like he remembers much of it; he remembers more than he lets on, but history is long stories about things which usually have little to do with him, so yeah, it's hard to stay focussed! ]

[lumberlady]

["Taisho" is one she hasn't heard before. She heard... "Heisei" and "Meiji" and some years... someone told her that Genna was in the "1600's" and that they were from the "2000's"...

So she assumes if someone says they're from Japan's future... she has to at least think in the hundreds of years... and she isn't creative enough for that, she thinks. It's mind boggling, hard to imagine... but she has to accept it. Has to nod... She can at least confirm it was the era of the shogunate.

But if he's from the future... Maybe he'll know about the Warring States period. If his world has demons, maybe he can assume what humans are capable of doing to those that aren't like them. She's reluctant to explain it all, the unbelievable cruelties inflicted on her kind that she may not have lived through herself... but she's seen the scars that remained.]

Ah... it's not about the building. The wars ended a few years ago in my world, but... there are still some humans who think poorly of jinba.

[She's still wording it very gently, knowing it was a long, long story, not wanting people to think poorly of her world, but-]

The monk in my village said it was pointless to teach letters to a beast, and that we couldn't reach enlightenment anyway, so, I just didn't go. I don't really need to write back home, though, so it's not so bad.

[inuko]

[ Oh, no. That's more than enough for him to fill in the blanks, and his eyes drift downward, lips thinning out as he listens. There's nothing he can do about it, both a world and hundreds of years removed, but it's not a new behaviour: humans find reasons to other each other. Species who look obviously different? It's even harder to find mob mentality compassion.

Not impossible, because peace is possible, but difficult. And when it comes right down to it, according to Murasame, all demons are a product of humans, and humanity's darkness. The parts of them that most don't want to talk about. ]

I'm sorry that's the kind of situation you had to deal with... and that humans have been so cruel to jinba. Not that apologising changes anything, but... [ he looks up again. ] Wars bring out the worst in too many, and memories are long when they should be short.

[lumberlady]

No, you don't have to apologize... You're not even from my world.

[She hated to see people feel bad about something they couldn't do anything about, let alone didn't have anything to do with in the first place, and she's quick to rush to say that, waving her hands.]

There's plenty of good humans, too, like my parents... and... it's much better than it used to be, really.

[No more breeding stables, no more Armless being created to be made completely dependent on human masters, no more battles fought astride jinba mounts...]

My boss says... a decade or so more, and it should be even better!

[Once memories begin to fade, and the old guard to die.]

[inuko]

Mmm, yes! There's got to be good people, the world isn't made up of just the mean ones. Like your parents. [ ... she's adopted? ] Most people are good at heart. Even if they mess up, they're not just one thing or the other... but that's why it's frustrating when people choose to be small.

[ When they see reasons not to, when prejudices are shown as being incorrect. He has a personal stake in this, he knows, but he wrestles with the idea as a whole. ]

The longer peace stretches, the more memories can fade... that kind of a thing, huh?

[lumberlady]

Mmm. I believe that, too.

[Very adopted. Though more than one person has heard that and given her a look that definitely implied they were imagining lewd things between horses and humans, so thank you, sir, for not...]

I hope so, anyway... It's still... really fresh for some people. I know I had it easy... I was too young to remember most of it, but. There are some people who still do... and I know scars don't heal that quickly, but.

[But she tries to smile through it the best she can. Tries to do her part to bridge the gaps.]

It's not like that for your friend, is it... ?

[Murasame, that is...]

[inuko]

[ People are so weird... ]

Scars are scars. It's not always something that heals to be unnoticeable, but it doesn't mean it's something that can't be better than it was.

[ Nations have that too, he thinks. Scarring that makes it hard to do what needs to be done, but that must be done. Healing isn't always seamless, is what he means, though he doesn't find an at all elegant way of putting it. ]

Murasame?

[ The crow in question, or more the demon in question, fluffs up his feathers and snorts. He leaps from Shino's shoulder, launching into the air and flapping overhead, only to circle three times, four... times... and come in for a landing on Konoha's back. Or the harness or anything else he finds there. ]

Hey, Murasame, don't!

[ Shino exclaims as soon as he realises what's happening, throwing himself forward to futile ends. Murasame doesn't intend anything by his deciding to try and land on Konoha; if he succeeds, he'll examine her for a moment, then settle in for a word: ]

Hearts scar. I remember.

[ What kind of answer is that, Murasame... ]

[lumberlady]

[That way sounds pretty elegant enough to Konoha. It makes her expression soften a bit, nodding in agreement as her fingers lace together and squeeze.]

I- I think the same. I know it will take time, but... If we can just recognize the good in each other, what we can accomplish together...

[Maybe she won't see it, not when she was heading deep into the mountains with her new husband, a jinba who had been hurt deeply by wars and still found it somewhat difficult to trust humans... but who had at least learned not to hate them all for the sins of others of their kind. But... surely by the time their children are grown...

When the crow takes wing Konoha is a touch startled just by the sudden movement, following it with her eyes only to blink in surprise when it ends up landing on the comfortable leather perch of her work harness. What he says was sad, but...

She can't help but laugh a little at Shino's overreaction, trying to hide it with her hand.]

I've never had a demon on my back before... or a crow. He's fine.

[A new experience!]

[inuko]

... Yeah, if people can do that, so much more can happen than does when everyone's working on their own.

[ Frankly, this all feels more like a concern for people who see the big picture; he's content if he can remain with his important people, living a decent life, and stopping that person spreading the illness that had wiped out his village and harmed the little monkey on the Monkey God's mountain from spreading any further.

And if he can finish Rio's assigned task without further incidents, even better! Get the stupid beads located, then be done with it.

Anyway, in his overreaction, he's all but waving his arms at her side, not wanting to touch her without permission, but glaring at Murasame, who looks perfectly content on his new perch. He even takes to preening feathers on his back.

Shino lets his hands drop back to his side, cheeks puffing up for a moment as he breathes in, holds his breath, then breathes out again. Haaaa. ]

He's being rude. You can tell him to knock it off whenever you're tired of it.

[ Murasame might just fly off in the meantime anyway, but Shino's calmed down some, now suspecting Murasame just wanted a closer look at someone with features of both humans and horses. She wasn't a demon, so there should be no reason why he'd be interested in anything other than puzzling over her... how many new things has Murasame seen in the last five years? Or the last five months? He has to wonder. ]

He usually only bothers people when I've sent him to deliver a message, so I'm sorry about him.

[lumberlady]

It's really not a problem.

[Konoha is quick to reassure, for a moment it's just them both waving their arms at each other, probably much to the amusement of anyone else in this park watching.]

Some jinba don't like it, but I carry my parents sometimes, it's not a big deal.

[Though she can certainly understand why others would be offended, when their kind had once been forced into being mounts for warlords and generals. But even if she was, this was a crow demon, not a human, so she's actually kind of curious, too, twisting about to watch Murasame preen.]

I know you're still looking for your other friends, but... It's good you have someone here with you.

[Even if they're not human shaped!]

[inuko]

Ah—yeah, well. It's a personal decision.

[ He states, though he also thinks it's about if you really can or not... but it's not like he can't see how that gets complicated, people being forced to carry others around because of a particular body type they possess.

Her reference to Murasame as someone he has around is... met with something of a half smile. ]

Yeah, it's... it'd be hard to imagine if he wasn't.

[ Mostly because he imagines he'd be dead. ]

Still, it'd be much easier if anyone from home was around. Better for conversation.

[ The preening demon bird seems unconcerned by this, finishing with his feather before looking at both of them... and then returning to his preening. ]

[lumberlady]

[Konoha can nod for that. A personal decision... that’s right. One most definitely informed by whether a jinba had lived through the wars or not, but still.

Plus, it wasn’t like the crow was heavy. She’s used to hauling logs for work, so even a human or two isn’t much trouble.]

I know it’s really nice to have someone from your world around who can understand things you say without having to explain... so I’ll keep an eye out, okay?

[She smiles, hoping to be encouraging.]

And until then... you can talk to me whenever you want! I know it’s... I guess a different Japan and a few hundred years, but. It’s better than nothing, right?

[inuko]

[ He smiles in return, shedding off what's hanging off his metaphorical shoulders to give her a clear, open expression. Her kindness is something to respect and hold onto, and so his innate, sunnier nature finds a way past his worries to shine as warm and bright as he is in his best and better moment.

He even goes into a proper bow, something he indulges usually under duress, because that kind of offer is important. ]

Thank you, Konoha. I'll take you up on that offer! We're both from the same home, past or future, right? That's important.

[lumberlady]

[She can't help but smile even wider to see the change in him, the bit of the clouds clearing from his expression. She didn't consider herself capable of anything that could actually help get them home from here, but...

This, at least...]

Yeah. We have that, so-

[She returns the bow, looking up with a small laugh and doing her best to fight past the instinctual way their words changed into the Prismal tongue to speak their native language.]

I'll be in your care!

[inuko]

[ His eyes brighten even further when she's using a language that's not the perfect mirror to what he knows, but that's more than understandable enough for him. It's that oddity of speaking in the Prismal tongue that he doesn't think on too hard most the time, until something like this happens.

He makes the shift, too, holding out an arm to invite Murasame back to him. His demon takes the invitation, leaping into the air off Konoha's harness, and glides to Shino, landing in a practiced move. ]

We'll be in your care!

[ Is, essentially, also parroting, but it's equally polite and true: they will be. ]

And if I meet any others who look like you, but aren't blond like your husband, I'll call you and tell you. I promise.

[lumberlady]

I'll do the same for your friends.

[After all, he might not be the best artist, but she's pretty sure she got the point! And oh- Maybe it was a bit too overprotective of her, but... She can't help herself, hooves shuffling a little self-consciously, hoping she didn't come off as too much of a nag.]

If you do see my husband, though- I hope you get along. I want him to meet all sorts of nice humans, and you know Japan... That's even better.