D11MM, It's Not Avon Calling (Closed)

[Miya Kisha]

Miya Kisha manages to return to her suite at the ryokan, still somewhat groggy from the previous night despite Taraka's help.

She's a good friend, that Taraka.

She's one of several, Kisha thinks.

It's been a good time, really. But this headache's an annoyance...

[Moto Shiwahime]

A shadow would pass over the lodgings, the light of dawn would not seem to not pass quite through the windows. Electrical lights would briefly flicker before a light chill began to breeze though.

Then comes the sound of a running horse, suddenly halting near...but oddly far

''Drink water, tea would be good...then go for carbs: bread is good...noodles would be better though" commented an echoing familiar voice

''You'd better suit up for tonight, Miya-sama, if you want to stand up to the crab in their drinking!'' it continued in a chuckle.

[Miya Kisha]

Kisha initially checks her communicator. "I didn't think I left this on," she mutters to herself as she does and finds that it is, in fact, not on.

She looks around, suddenly wary. "Who's there?"

The Miya moves to look under one of the potted plants and behind a wall-hanging, searching for some hidden speaker or camera or somesuch thing.

[Moto Shiwahime]

''Man...you really are hung over''

A ghostly Shiwahime replied, leading a pale white horse by it's rein through the garden outside. She was armored in white, the same unnatural white as the horse. They looked plucked out of time but not sure of which epoch...

''I don't suppose I can call for the services of a Shisha?''

[Miya Kisha]

"Moto-san..."

Kisha looks up, sees the spectral form of the towering Unicorn woman.

"No..."

She falls to her knees, tears welling up in her eyes.

"This...no."

[Moto Shiwahime]

The apparition came closer, to the edges of the threshold

''No? Are you refusing me the favor I asked'' she said teasingly, crouching to her friend's level

''It's okay dear''

[Miya Kisha]

"How?" Kisha stammers out. "When? I just saw you yesterday and you were, you were..."

She draws a deep, shuddering breath, tries to dab the tears away from her eyes.

"What message can a humble shisha bear?" she manages to get out, falling back on formality and bowing her head.

[Moto Shiwahime]

''The Karo and three others were taken hostage last night by pirates and turncoats inside the magistrature led by a woman called Yasuki Nagisa. I rode to battle to rescue and protect the hostages until the others could finish defeating the villains.''

she paused

''It was...a worthy death. Such is a bushi's rewards.''

The unicorn let go of the reins to sit by the door

''I do not know the rules of ghosting so I am not sure of the whom I can appear to or when...so...'' she inhaled ''Tell Shinjo-san and Utaku-san that I now wear an armor of white and ride a white steed. They'll know what it means. Also there is a certificate for an all-inclusive booth with service at the Pink Lotus Club in my lodgings at the ambassy as well as a rare vintage koshu wine bottle and a large bag of candies from Uomoto Co...I want you to use them for a girl's night out before y'all leave. No sense in wasting any of it!...oh...and I invited Sumie too. Her contact info should be in my communicator.''

She tried to recall something

''Oh yeah...there is a life size Kimen Tori plush, a real nice obi and kimono. Do with them as yo please...though the kimono might be several sizes to big for you. Though it might fit Dento-no-gimu if it wants to be pretty for a special occasion.''

The horse neighed, she sighed

''I am sorry if this is so sudden''

[Miya Kisha]

With head still bowed, Kisha will nod.

"Your words will be conveyed as you have given them," she says, falling further into formality for a moment.

But then she looks up at the apparition of her friend and smiles even as tears continue to well up in her eyes.

"I'll make sure to put on the fancy clothes for it, too. And I might be able to get Dento to wear the robes, but she can get ornery sometimes."

[Moto Shiwahime]

Shiwahime smiles ''I would not be surprised. Passing the legs in the sleeves might be a bit hard to do...you can cheat and wrap it around her neck like a fancy scarf.''

She looks down at the Miya

''I am not sure how long I can stay...but one last conversation surely is allowed.''

[Miya Kisha]

"I've never talked with a dead person before," Kisha says. "So I don't know what I'm supposed to say or anything. Maybe what it's like for you, now, on the other side of things? And did you get your arm back? I mean, is it still...or did it go back to what it was? Or is all of that stupid to ask you? Offensive?"

She raises her hands, palms up. "I'm not a Kitsu; I don't know the rules."

[Moto Shiwahime]

Shiwahime chuckled ''Don't worry girl, I am in no mood to be offended and I don't know the ruled either'' she pointed to her horse

''Nagisa here is the one who knows the most and will make us know if we do something wrong'' the ghost horse stomped one foot, seemingly in agreement.

''As to your questions: this form is a representation of who I was in life so I think I might appear with either my original arm or the fleshcrafted one...or they might alternate.'' she paused thinking ''Otherwise...I feel...at peace? It's an odd feeling, like a burden being lifted. My worries...my insecurities...are all but gone now. An echo remain but it is like I am just the best version of who I was now.''

[Miya Kisha]

"You were already pretty great," Kisha says. "Might be why you don't look so different."

She continues to force herself to smile, to show her friend a happy face, but she cannot stop the tears.

"I wish I could have gotten to know you more."

[Moto Shiwahime]

''And I you.'' she paused and smiled genuinely ''But we must be content to have met each other. Where will you go after tomorrow?''

[Miya Kisha]

"I still haven't been told," Kisha says. "My guess is that I'll have my choices waiting for me tomorrow, maybe the next day. Or maybe I won't have a choice this time."

She shrugs. The smile remains. So do the tears.

"But I'll be better for having been here. And some of that is from you."

The Miya dabs at her eyes again.

"I still have to put your interview footage together, you know."

[Moto Shiwahime]

Something like mischief appeared on the dead Moto's apparition

''Choices aside...what do you want to do, Kisha? Where do you want to go?'' She pointed at herself ''You are receiving an visit from Meido and one who shall join the honor guard of the e Shi-Tien Yen-Wang at that..." she let that linger for a second

''...if such an apparition would tell you that you should do something. It would be hard for your superiors to argue against it, yeah? If that honored dead just happens to tell you that you should do something you really wanted to do in the first place then that's a happy coincidence. Is it not?''

[Miya Kisha]

The tears don't stop. Nor does the smile. There's even something like a laugh that comes out of Kisha's mouth.

"I think," she says, "I'd like to go somewhere quiet for a little while, ride Dento out, and see if I can't do some longer-form reporting. I still want to do my stories, but it would be nice to do more than just the Comments. Something that gets a little deeper into people's lives than just the games we play for each other.

"Maybe. I think there's an audience for it, anyway. I just have to get the time to get one good one done, get it out into the Empire, and then the rest will follow."

[Moto Shiwahime]

''Allright'' Shiwahime stands up and goes to mount the spirit horse ''Check this out''

The duo pauses for a second before the light dim further and further as this ghostly rider from Yomi appears to grow in size proportionally.

In a few instant the world was under a blanket of shadow where the only Kisha and Shiwahime still shun brightly, the latter having grown to the size of a mountain and bathed in an halo of silver flames.

''Hear me, Daughter of Miya. Hear these words spoken from beyond the veil of death.''

The horse reared on it's back legs for extra dramatic effect

''The Empire has grown fast and strong but too many stories, great and small, have gone untold. Too many songs have been condemned to silence. Too many words of love have gone unspoken. Too much of the ebb and flow of humanity has gone unnoticed. These tales, these stories are yearned for. Miya Kisha, you are hereby asked to seek these out and give them back as stars to a darkening world"

The fiery mountain that was the Unicorn pointed sternly at the small woman

''Thou shall begin thy travels on the world of...huh..'' the horse neighed ''...oh, good idea. Ahem...On the world of Rakuen, the Blessed World.''

And in a fraction of a second, everything returned to normal

Aside form the ghostly rider

''Not bad, huh''

[Miya Kisha]

When the dimness fades and the mortal world returns to itself, it finds Kisha in full zarei. Shiwahime is and has been her friend, and she, herself, has stood in holy places before, but for what is now an ancestral spirit to show forth in full glory...that is something else.

Were she a Seppun, she might know better what ought to be done. Were she an Otomo, she might have words more fit to enfold such things. But she is a Miya, and a small one, and what she says is "Then I will go to Rakuen as soon as can be done."

She looks up, and she gives a small smile, and says "No, that wasn't bad at all."

[Moto Shiwahime]

''Oh geez'' Shiwahime waved a hand, trying to be dismissive. I was clear she was a bit embarrassed by the display. She might have love theatre but she never was the performer.

''Thanks...no need to rush though. It's your path Kisha-chan, walk it as you wish''