I Can No Longer Bare Wings, and so I Shall Walk

[protectorofsmiles]

⌛ Who: Genbu and whoever bumps into his sorry ass
⌛ What: After a return to his home that is brief for the locals and refugees but felt like an eternity for Genbu and all he's been through...he returns to Nippon.
⌛ When: January
⌛ Where: mainly Nihonbashi, but out and about
⌛ Warnings: Endwalker spoilers will definitely be mentioned, up to the end!!



Was it truly over? Has the Warrior of Light finally conquered the evil that had threatened his world for ages? In the past moon or so, Genbu had gone through a great trial, a mighty ordeal that pushed his limits and brought him to the brink of death so many times. And yet, it felt like it was all done in the blink of an eye. And now with Hydealyn finally returned to the Star, and the other Ascians, no, Ancients finally at rest...the world is at peace, right? After all, it's enough for the Scions of the Seventh Dawn to finally disband. So...what now? Genbu supposes it's time for him to start a new journey, continuing where he originally left off. To be an entertainer and carry on his parents' legacy. Even if the world is at peace, Happyily Ever Afters don't come back overnight. People are still suffering and dealing with sorrow. Genbu is still needed.

Right. His parents. Before Genbu sets off to start a new journey and travel the world, he decides to visit their graves in Yanxia, to share amazing stories of his trials, and to obtain their blessing once more before he heads to Anywhere. He knows they're listening.

Night was soon to come, if the sunset was any indication. Genbu feels it is best to have one final sleep next to his resting parents before he heads out on his new old journey. After all, who knows when he'll ever see them again? But nightfall never comes. Genbu panics, but once he notices the same cloud resembling a lucky cat float by over the mountains for the 9th time...he realizes. A tired smile forms on his lips.

"Heh...guess I still have unfinished business..." He laughs quietly to himself, before standing up and approaching the door that soon appears.

Skipping orientation and check-up to immediately exit the premise where he woke up, a bewildered giant wearing what appears to be metal horns on his head slowly drags himself around the streets of Nippon, taking familiar yet nostalgic sights. It was like this when he first came here, was it not? It was the new year, and festivals were out and about, just like they are now. But back then he was a mildly surprised au ra in a rabbit costume, but still keeping his chipper optimism. Now he was a weary soul, covered in fresh and new scars and hurts.

After some bells of wandering aimlessly, wondering if this was perhaps a dream, Genbu takes out a certain amber crystal, now just a mere object with no significant power, and holds it in his hand. He clutches it to his chest.

"Emet-Selch..." ...Should he still call him that? Or...Hades? Ah, what did it matter? At least he was at peace, his soul freed from this place. And Genbu wasn't going to see him ever again, not until he too one day goes to the Aetherial Sea. "Hope you're restin' well, buddy."

Genbu is in the middle of the street when talking to himself, and people give him annoyed glances as they walk around him. But all he can do is stand there, smiling weakly as he lingers a bit longer.

Before collapsing from exhaustion onto the ground.

[ooc: feel free to decide if you want to find him before he collapses or right when he does!]

Comments

[unsundered]

While Emet-Selch would categorically deny feeling any such pang of regret on noticing Genbu's absence from this foreign star, it would be with more honesty that he could claim not being particularly worried. Where had the man gone but back to where he belonged? Back to familiar sights and a world that yet needed its heroes. Whatever the future held, it was one that belonged to the younger races, and the Ascian thought himself content to leave it at that. His part had been played, after all, and while he might watch from the eaves for a time, lingering on his own in the Underworld....

Sleep here had brought with it recollections- ones more vivid and lingering than anything he might claim as a dream. A clarifying of the haze that had immediately followed death- and then some. More than he'd asked for, and with everything to follow--

And then to be alive again, once more. Right at the moment of letting go, of preparing to commit himself to that sea, to move on... instead, he woke, to one day after another. And now it was complicated. Where to be and what to do... it was something that would take him more than a few days to even begin to address.

So in the meantime, Emet-Selch... lived. Though he had passed on Azem's crystal to its rightful bearer, and felt little call to explore, to witness the wonders of the world in his stead- old habits did ever die hard (and it had always been about remembrance in the end, hadn't it?).

Not that there was much to see now, beyond these streets he'd walked before. Nor did he walk them in expectation of finding anything in particular, or with an intention beyond easing some of his own restlessness. Had he heard anything of Genbu's muttering to himself, no matter how fortuitously timed and suspiciously relevant? No. Nor had he caught sight of the tall man while he yet stood, an upright boulder interrupting the flow of people, only that there was some sort of disturbance up ahead.

One that he discovers the source of by nearly tripping over him, though he stops just in time, even managing to avoid kicking him as a mercy. And for all that he wasn't expecting it, when Emet-Selch looks down... there was a part of him that wasn't surprised at all.

"Once again you deign to bar my path... and I thought we were long past all that."

At that, he pauses, frown taking on a more thoughtful aspect as he stands, arms crossed, observing the possibly-unconscious, otherwise-discomposed au'ra (and becoming one more obstacle in the road). When he'd last spoken with Genbu here, he had shown no sign of recalling their future (and past) endeavors- and he rather doubted the man possessed enough guile to deliberately hide it from him. So more likely... he had yet to see, to live through what the future had in store. What was waiting for them both, as it turned out.

So there was no reason to assume he yet knew anything more. Sighing to himself, the Ascian crouches down next to this rather large heap of a man, finding a shoulder to nudge with a hand, and a head to peer at with an exasperated expression (if faintly amused as well... trouble as this would all inevitably end up being for him, that was nothing if not familiar).

"Surely someone used to life on the road can find a better place to sleep than the middle of it." Could Genbu even hear him? Irrelevant. "At least roll yourself to the side before giving up on it all."

[protectorofsmiles]

There is sounds of muffled voices and ringing in the raen's horns. Murmurs, whispers, all manners of voices overwhelming him as he tries his hardest to come to his senses. But his body had taken quite a toll in the past few moons, traveling from aetheryte to aetheryte, to unattune aetherytes, from the ground to far below, to even further downward into the Aetherial Sea, and even to the ends of the goddamn universe where he was pushed to his very limits fighting....so many things.

And now, as he is recovering from everything, he travels to another star through means of an unknown power, and his body all but gives up. But the murmurs of the locals still hit his horns, reminding him where he was. To lie down here, no matter how exhausted, was not the best idea. But he was so weak...

Weak enough that he was sure he was hallucinating a familiar voice. One that he never thought he'd hear again. It was all muffles, too, but there was one word he could pinpoint.

Roll.

Not really sure what was going on, Genbu moves subconsciously, using every ounce of what strength he had left to roll over onto his back, looking up into the crowd...and the man currently hunched over him.

"{Ah...Emet... you're all...old again.}"

[unsundered]

Some disorientation could be forgiven, if Emet-Selch were feeling gracious. If Genbu was as newly arrived as he seemed to be, it was something of a tiring experience, coming here, no matter that it wasn't the first time. And who knows what he'd been up to in the hours, days proceeding this traversal between stars. Was there ever an opportune moment to be snatched away?

Not that it excused collapsing in the very street, placing himself at the mercy of people less charitable than himself. One more thing to judge Genbu for (there was a list... one that picked up where Azem left off, really).

Fortunately, he didn't have to spend time considering what to do should the taller man remain as responsive as a rock. Somehow the energy was mustered for rolling over, sparing the Ascian the effort (of continuing to speak to the back of his head, that is; he wasn't about to try rolling him anywhere himself, regardless). So there was some life in this adventurer yet- something Emet-Selch thinks, but doesn't say, commentary interrupted by what Genbu decides to greet him with.

A comment that gets a flatter look, as he sits back, sparing the downed raen a shake of his head.

"As old as I ever was. I dare you to look any more spritely on repeated calls back from one's rest."

Yes, he knew it was just a statement on the appearance of his current host. An appearance entirely malleable for that matter, and for all that it wasn't quite right, in comparison to his original form, it would do for the time being. (Now that he was properly retired though, he had less patience for everything that was different. As hosts went, it wasn't a terrible one, though. Reasonably tall, no scales or tails or strange ears....)

"Not that you look very well yourself. Is resting such a foreign word to all adventurers...?"

[protectorofsmiles]

"{I was resting! Anyroad, I meant...I mean your hair is....and your face is all...}" Genbu does his best to make sense, vague gestures formed by his hands in the air as he garners all his strength to talk. But words fail him, and he all but gives up trying to sound coherent until his eyes widen as if by an epiphany.

"{Oh yeeeeeaaaaaah...if you were to be your real self, you'd be like...}" and Genbu once again explains through gestures, this time his palms pressed against each other, before being pulled apart until Genbu stretches his arms out as far as he can.

...Indicating length. Indicating Emet-Selch would be a long boy.

slides in a canon update so they can be canon update buddies

[sweetsleuth]

[It's been a long while since he's seen Genbu, but somehow it feels even longer than that. Ranpo may not have gone home when his own memories decided to jump up, but it was disorienting, and not something he's keen to talk about. Perhaps that's why he finds himself in Tokyo, stepping away from the familiar to give him time to clear his head.]

[And it seems at least some of his instincts are right on point, as the moment he sees people huddled around someone on the floor, he immediately knows who it is even before he sees him. Without any sense of urgency to his steps, he pushes through the crowd before kneeling down by Genbu's head. Even if he didn't want to know about everything he's gone through, with just a glance, he learns so much...]

Hey, big guy. No one here's gonna be strong enough to move you. Think you can get up, or do you need a minute?

[protectorofsmiles]

I need...so many minutes. I need days. Gods just let me sleep forever.

[Genbu whines, using all his strength to props himself up on his arms and get himself up.]

I travel through ages, I travel to the ends of the universe to stop the End of Days, and finally when I think it's all over and I'm finally given my long due rest, I-

R-Ranpo!? AGGH!

[So thrown off by a familiar face was he...that he lost concentration and his hold, and his arms collapse, causing him to fall face first onto the ground.]