Beach party beach party

[youhearthebells]

Who: Hazmat crew!
Where: Aquatica Paradise (and sailing to it if you'd like)
When: appx Sept 24-30 (or, for sailing, anytime the 14-23)
What: VACATION. They've had a rough summer so it's time for some downtime. There are water parks, beaches, and an obligatory onsen, so mix and mingle with the super-happy (and young and pretty) locals and have some fun!
Warnings: not likely
Style: anything you want
Status: closed to Hazmat crew only unless another crew is on the island?

[Gan Ning promised his ragtag crew a party, and by god, they were going to have a party. It might have been worth it to hold on Isla Empieza, to mingle with other crews there, but there wasn't much going on there to stick around for. He heard from someone in the harbor about this island and decided it would make a great place for a party.

Somewhere along the way Raphael disappeared, sadly, but the rest of them continued on. They had already put off partying for too many reasons - a poor showing in the race, other crewmates disappearing, Cynthia's rescue from the clutches of giant spiders, and so on. No more. This time, they were just going to put down anchor, hang out on the beach, make some ice cream, and have a good time. Besides, with Tsuzuki joining the crew, they had to show him that they knew how to stick together, right?

((ooc: for all your info needs the island is here. Date your threads in the header if you need!))

Comments

[amethystsregret]

"It was a long trip here, and you guys have been through some rough seas in the past few weeks, I heard. For once, I'll be an old man and soak my bones. Hm-hm!" He slumped backward in the bath, following his hand together on his chest with a sigh.

"I'm all for drinks later though, Captain."

[youhearthebells]

"Later, then." Gan Ning snorted a bit. "Old man? Just how old are you? Ya don't look too much older than me."

Though, if Tsuzuki was anywhere near the same age as Lu Meng, he wouldn't have a problem teasing him just the same.

[amethystsregret]

"Hm!" Tsuzuki looked at the man with one eye open with a smirk. Oh, wasn't that an odd topic. He doubted the captain would hold it against him, but it was still difficult to explain...

"If I told you, you'd never believe me. Looks aren't always what they seem, especially where I live back home."

[youhearthebells]

"That so?" Ning shook his head. "Suit yourself, but I've been all over, I've seen a thing or two. Maybe I'd believe more than you think."

[amethystsregret]

"Well... have you heard of Purgatory?" Just a stab in the dark with that question. It sounded vague enough to leave out the Ministry for now. He could be honest about where he was from and why at 98 he still liked 26. That wouldn't jinx anyone, right?

[youhearthebells]

"...nope." Gan Ning put his head to the side to think. The beliefs common among his fellow Han did have the heavenly bureaucracy, complete with providing for and paying off ghosts so they wouldn't return, but he didn't know it by that name. Nope, didn't sound familiar. "Some place you live, back home?"

[amethystsregret]

"It's one name for it," he shifted around in the water as he groaned. "Some call it Limbo or the Afterlife. Where I'm from, we call it Meifu, and time pretty much stands still there." He didn't sound too happy about it, but what could he do? He was technically dead... just with a new body courtesy of the Judge of the Dead.

[youhearthebells]

"The afterlife?!" Gan Ning sat up sharply, sloshing water around the bath. "Does that mean you're a...ghost?"

There was a time when he would have smirked at any peasants claiming that ghosts were troubling them, making them sick or unlucky. Not now, not after being in Orochi's realm and seeing gods in the flesh. A real ghost...how should he take that?

[amethystsregret]

Tsuzuki looked at the man. Was that really what people looked like when they saw a ghost? Blinking a few times, he made a blank face...

"Technically, I have a body," he lowered his voice a bit, "but I have to shift energy to be physical. It's not hard after all the time I've had to practice. It's like breathing now. I promise I don't haunt people though."

[youhearthebells]

True, he could see Tsuzuki rather well, he wasn't invisible or anything. But Gan Ning had to be sure. He glided through the water to poke at the man's arm just to be sure. Yep, nice and solid.

"Huh. So...is it true, then? If ya don't have the right papers and passage, you don't get into the Jade Heaven and get stuck down here?"

Far from scared, he was curious. Pirates weren't as superstitious as some, outside of their healthy respect for the gods controlling the waters.

[amethystsregret]

"Um..." Crap! He gaped at the thought of how things could go wrong from here. Every time he came out about either being a shinigami or being with the Ministry of Hades someone usually died, a very not nice death, and he was trying to avoid doing that at all costs ever again. Still, if he continued to make this panicked face up at the guy, it might be obvious that he was hiding something. Dodge, Asato! Dodge the Ministry topic, man!

"You mean stuck in the World of the Living... or here-here?" He even added the pointed fingers at the bath water for added awkwardness...

[youhearthebells]

"World of the Living, I guess." Funny, his people called it that, too. "Here, there, anywhere. I never met an actual ghost, I didn't think they really could come back."

[amethystsregret]

"Well... I know back in the day the system wasn't as smooth as it is now. Souls got stuck in the World of the Living if there were strong ties binding them. There were also more people dabbling in forbidden arts to do lots of trapping. Truthfully, the "stuck" problem boils down to either crappy shinigami not guiding the dead to Meifu or your regrets are too strong to release your soul. As far as papers go, that's on the judges and other clerks to sort out your transgressions and soul quality, but still, you have to stay in Meifu until your soul can be released. I know people that have such strong regrets from life that they are giving the chance to walk in the World of the Living to resolve them, but that doesn't always help."

You are looking at one Gan Ning, but he won't admit it till he's sure you won't kick the can for knowing.

[youhearthebells]

"Whoa..."

That was more than any would-be Confucian had ever explained to the likes of a lowly pirate. Ning had heard about the bureaucrats and the whole shebang, but having it confirmed? Wow. Means the Yellow Turbans were totally wrong all along, hah!

"It's a little different from what I remember hearin', but...eh, not like I'm bound for the Jade Emperor's Palace anyway."

[amethystsregret]

"Well, you could always get reincarnated. Better luck next time, right?" The guy shrugged. He had to smile. The Emperor was a topic that had come up a lot back home lately, only this one was golden. Knowing what little he did about his captain, he didn't think he was one to be sentenced poorly. No one was perfect... anymore.

"Besides, wouldn't getting another life be more fun than transcending to a place like that? Hm!"

[youhearthebells]

Oh, just you wait, Tsuzuki. You'll learn.

"Reincarnated? What...no, wait, I remember now. That's the idea them newfangled Buddhists were tryin' to teach, I heard."

For Buddhists to be "new," it might have given some picture of just what time period Gan Ning actually hailed from. He wasn't terribly interested in religion himself, neither Confucian nor otherwise, but he was curious. Knowing he was talking to someone dead, or formerly dead, or a ghost, something, made it okay to wonder.