While not particularly religious, he was familiar with shrines for certain architectural characteristics he'd studied a while back. But his run in with the Manaphy shrine with Tempest Quinn had reignited his interest, if only as a way to take interest in his friend’s culture. [break][break]

So while there wasn't much headway being learned for the Hoyeon people, it still scratched that itch of research he'd grown used to in his university days. Besides, he couldn't hog a gym leader's time, friend or not. He understood that. But he could totally hog ana fell ’s time. He knew she felt a little guilty for so severely beating his ass in the training room so he’d pressed that a little. Oh! Was that…perhaps a limp? Oh his faint, weak body! Traversing…alone…….in a dark wilderness. Terrifying. [break][break]

The only thing terrifying was how loud he was as he tramped through the underbrush, pulling the blonde along grinning. “Should be right around here! Not too far!” he assured her merely tripping on an exposed root. He announced himself with a yelp, unfortunately interrupting whatever ceremony jin hiragi had already started. “Oh- Cygne are you ok?” he said despite being the one that had nearly dragged the two down. His attention flickered back to the other grunt and he gave a casual wave. “Paying your respects?”


[break][break]

+ jin hiragi ana fell [break][break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Cyg collected interests like a lint-roller picked up pet hair and so architecture had, briefly, topped that list. It was more to do with the propensity of old churches and shrines to be places of possible haunting than any real affinity for structure, but still, old churches and shrines were cool. So when Mint proposed they go off into the wild unknown together, with her assistance as a form of apology for dropping him like a newborn giraffe on the practice mat, Cyg hadn’t hemmed or hawed in the slightest.

“Shall I fetch ye a cane, master?” she’d asked like the loyal flunky she was.

The old-growth forest was a steady weight above them, trapping a pocket of cool air beneath the thick, green canopy; there’s a layer of detritus on the ground and it smells like fall-- well, Hoenn’s brief, warm autumn, but still, it was a far cry from the salt-thick, body-odor-adjacent reek of the region’s long, tropical summers.

Cyg’s palm was sweaty where Mint had it trapped in his own. Every time she stopped to look at something his perpetual forward motion would yank her forward. She felt like a leash child. “Yeah, yeah,” she kept repeating, distracted. She was jerked back to the present when he tripped, and she lunged forward, wrapping her hand around his tiny, tiny waist to steady him. “Arceus, Mint,” she swore, straightening herself, “you’re as bad as a newborn fawn.”

She looked over Mint’s head to where the stranger was standing and felt a slimy wave of shame wash over her.

“Sorry for interrupting,” she added, feeling that Mint’s chipper inquiry was far too blase for how solemn the moment felt. She nudged the blue-haired boy’s shoulder. “Do what you gotta and we should go.”

jin hiragi mint frost

☉

the pair seem to stumble upon jin more than they encounter him, drifting from the unnerving hiss and scratch and sway of a forest at night to silhouettes wavering against the cloying oil sheen off the lanterns.

with the lamps lit, jin begins to chant, words of a cleanliness he is no longer expected to possess, to deities he is not addressing.

"南無妙法蓮華経 —"

his gaze flickers from the burnt head of the incense stick crumbling to the two now haunting his peripheral, tracing the nature of this intrusion; jin doesn't sigh so much as let his entire face weigh with an exhausted grace.

"—it's fine."

it comes pointed, the heaviness in his mouth suggesting otherwise; even if he hasn't protested outright.

"it's more of a rite. ...i'm uncertain of the rites for the spirits or ghosts here. but i've heard a way to pacify them is to honor their home."

mint frost ana fell

☉

"I never claimed to be graceful." Or coordinated. Or even capable. At the nudged from Cygne he nodded quickly, whispering back, "Yeah, yeah I got it but-" his attention moved back to the other trainer. He nodded at them as they explained what they were doing. A quick once over at the shrine proved it to be far different than anything he'd see with his friend. It's still...dirty and a little run down, but it kept its basic structure. No wild pokemon to chase out either. [break][break]

"Ah- Well, again, sorry for the interruption." he said before adding, "I'm Mint, this is Cygne. We're here just to study this old shrine, maybe takes some photos for research." It's not that important, especially when someone else is already aorund. "I don't mind waiting for you to finish- or if you need help we can probably do that too." he added turning to look at his companion to ask if she had any objections.


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+ jin hiragi ana fell [break][break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

‘Stumble on rather than encounter’ was an apt description for almost all of Cygne’s exploits, including but not limited to: fame, wealth, power, and friendship.

Disasters, Isaac Merlo had called them, and boy howdy, he was right.

The stranger tells them it’s fine and Cyg gets a brief but strong mental image of that meme where the dog is sitting in the kitchen and everything is on fire. Coincidentally, the dog is also saying the same thing.

“I’m not asking you to be graceful, you goof, just don’t fall and split your face open,” Cyg lectured, realizing she’s still holding onto Mint’s clothes. She lets go with just the faintest hint of a blush, wiping her sweaty palms on her khakis.

She nods along as Mint does a swell job of explaining away their intrusion. “Oh, Mint’s right. We could always help.” She puts her hands on her hips and looks around. Well, she cleaned out Elisabeth Fiorelli’s basement-dungeon-spiderpit, so, this shouldn’t be too hard.

jin hiragi mint frost

☉