...I solemnly swear I'm up to no good >.>

[shunshinoshishi]

[ Shisui had always wondered what it would be like to carry out an actual conversation with 'the other side'. Sure he's spoken twice to Libitana, but she doesn't count. Not really, no.

And so, to test out his theory and try and carry out a conversation with people on the other side, he has drawn up a Kokkuri board, which is basically the Japanese version of the Ouija board. Holding it up in front of the PDA, he grins, one arm still in some sort of makeshift sling, still recovering from getting shot all over. ]

So who wants to come with me to the graveyard and play with this?

Comments

[counterintel]

You're an idiot

[shunshinoshishi]

You're no fun.

[ Pause. ]

Please?

[ Pause. ]

Pleeeeease??

[counterintel]

In place like this, you're just asking for trouble.

[It's not a no. Not yet.]

[shunshinoshishi]

I just wanted to know what happened to the people who lived here. I mean, we've heard the stories and the rumors. I just wanted to find out for myself.

[ His gaze darts in every which direction as if he's been followed or listened to. ]

Wouldn't you like to know?

[counterintel]

[He doesn't. He really doesn't.]

What language do you suppose they would communicate in, Shisui?

[text]---Private

[azrthmtrnznthos]

You DO realize that you're asking for trouble. Witch boards, which is what I'm presuming that's a variant of, are imprecise at best. They don't really care what spirit they contact, and have no safeguards for the protection of the querants.

You talk about 'playing' with it, but you might end up being the one played with.

What's your actual goal?

[text]---Private

[shunshinoshishi]

I meant 'communicate'! [ Yeah right >.> ] I just wanted to find out what happened to the people who used to live here.

Not sure if I want to be on the receiving end, though.

Re: [text]---Private

[azrthmtrnznthos]

There are better ways to communicate with them, and the ghosts around here don't seem to be the kind that are able to communicate easily with us as it is. I've tried. They're more...echoes, of what the people used to be.

You don't. At best, you'll get a prankster-type spirit having fun with you, at worst, you make it easier for less nice things to communicate.

Believe me, you're not the only one who'd like to try and find out what happened. If you're serious, and not just in it for laughs, I'll take you ghost-hunting when things are 'normal' again.

[shunshinoshishi]

[ Shisui actually stops to read the message over twice, only now beginning to weigh the pros and cons of his intended actions. He wasn't too keen on communicating with another someone like Libitana, honest.

But really, he wanted to know... And so he types back: ]

Do you think we could communicate with those that died after being brought in by you-know-who?

I'd like that. I don't like not knowing...

[azrthmtrnznthos]

I don't think there has been anyone who's died, other than in the recent conflict, who Libitina brought in. Unless you're referring to former residents--who went home for good. Even then, we don't know that they're 'home' or dead.

I agree, I don't like not-knowing either...but there's only so much we can do. And we should be smart about it, at least.

[doctor_dragoon]

[Want another lecture about how dumb you're being, Shisui? Too bad, you're getting one.]

That's not something to be played with.

[shunshinoshishi]

[ Damn it. ]

...I didn't mean 'play' play >.> I meant 'use'. [ Right. ]

[doctor_dragoon]

Nor is it something to simply be 'used'. In a place like this with so much demonic activity, reaching out that way would just be foolish.

[shunshinoshishi]

How do you reach out to them, then?

[doctor_dragoon]

If you want an encounter, all you need to do is enter the haunted parts of the city and wait, but I doubt the... spirits here will be doing much talking.

[hebi]

It's best to let them be, Shisui.

/makes major edits |D

[shunshinoshishi]

I just thought it'd be fun... [ Resting up is so boring you have no idea okay?

But then his tone changes to something a little more... distant. ]

And-- I just want to know what happened. To them. Like it happened to us... [ He can't stop thinking about how similar it is to the massacre of his own clan in the future. Did anyone come back to ask them what really happened? Did anyone care...? ]

/pets

[hebi]

It's not something to be messed with blindly, Shisui.

[Pun not intended.

But no, no one asked. People just gossiped. Especially when they figured he couldn't hear them, within earshot or not.]

[shunshinoshishi]

[ Glaring at you with that one eye. Enough with the blind jokes, oi. ]

Then enlighten me, oh wise one. [ Nope. Still not happy about the jab at the blind...thing >.> ] Has anyone tried before this? [ To communicate with the dead, that is. And did they survive <.< ]

[hebi]

Mind you, this is an assumption, but if they can restore areas of this city, places as big as the recreational center and the hospital, what makes you think that they're safe to talk to?

[1mistress_nomaster]

Do you think that is even remotely wise given how the spirits here treat us already? Would you bring more of them down on our heads?

[She thinks he's a nice enough young man, but this is more foolish then she can put words too.]

[shunshinoshishi]

If you're talking about Libitana, I don't think she was initially one of them. [ He has his 'theories' about why Libi couldn't be one of the original residents, but mostly, it's just a hunch. ] The others might actually be nice. I just want to hear their story.

[1mistress_nomaster]

Nothing that comes out of this place is good -- whatever goodness there was has been long since corrupted by death. Have you not suffered the same as the rest of us to learn that already?

[She grits her teeth, it's the fear from the last week getting to her. She kept waking up shivering from the clinging death that had followed her waking hours.] What if you anger the girl? What then? Have you even thought this through? This place is cruel enough without her vengeance for prying into the past.

[because that little incident with her hair hasn't been forgotten from the last time you decided to poke and mock a ghost, Shisui.]

[shunshinoshishi]

[ There is a moment in which he opens his mouth to retort, but he shuts it again, frowning, looking away. ]

If I anger her, I will be punished. Killed, even. But that wouldn't make much of a difference to me anyway, because it's what I will be doing when I return home.

[ When he glances up once more, all the playfulness has disappeared, something pained taking its place. ]

I want to know their story. I want to know-- I-- [ Stop, no. The lump in his throat needs to get the hell out, or back down where it came from. ] You have no idea what it's like, to be a ghost of the past, and still suffer. Knowing it was never enough-- [ Woah wait, time out. He was going to stop rambling now if he can help it. ] There is some good in everything; there is always hope. There is always the middle way.

[ Perhaps he wasn't talking about the ghosts of Nesreca anymore. Perhaps he was referring to something closer to home... ]

[1mistress_nomaster]

She's a child, her rage will not be singular directed at you. It will be directed at us all. Or do you not remember the last time?

[She does halt at his words though, taking them into consideration. She cares for them, all of them. She cannot help it. It hurts to hear, even if she is long accustomed to death.]

You may do, but there are better ways of going about it then summoning things you cannot hope to control and possibly bringing all of unholy hell upon us. [she shakes her head at him.] I would also advise you to not make assumptions of people's lives, my lord Uchiha. [last names, because he's hit too close to home. Because she has no hope and death to so much of her mind, would be almost a relief to knowing how bitterly lonely the rest of your life was to be.] No, sometimes there is not. Sometimes there is nothing but to swallow your hope, your pride and keep going and never look back. Dredging the past in such a way only turns tainted waters even murkier.

[Neither was she, and she dearly wished he would just listen.] Sometimes the only hope that you speak of is accepting and moving on.