1st SPARK. ( VIDEO. )

[sparkcold.livejournal.com]

[ Here’s a face of utter discontent. Those who have never met him may believe that it’s the entire situation that has gotten him so upset, but… No, he is not. Not exactly, anyway; this is just his expression by default. He’s still trying to get used to the device, eyes searching for the place to look at when talking into it. He settles for the screen instead of staring into the camera as others would have. You can't blame a man from the 16th century, though!

It’s not like he wants to talk to anyone, but it seems as though it is an essential tool for information gathering. ]

It is my understanding that we have all been brought here without so much as a forewarning, but judging by the volume of new arrivals as well the as the announcements of such, I am certain that much is already established. [ Pause. ] You have read the letter, you have found shelter, you have picked up and utilized this device. By doing so, you have all silently agreed abide by our captors’ will… just as I have. There is no use to resist a force that is capable to bend the very fabrics of time, and you would be a fool to believe that you have any chance of succeeding.

The majority of you may have to decide on which path to take from here on out, but perhaps you will take my advice into consideration: you may choose to panic and demand that you be sent home, and do so without triumph, or you may choose the path of common sense. Know your place. Understand that you are at the mercy of our captors. Take those factors into consideration and serve under these deities faithfully for the time being. Do not waste your time in idealistic plans to escape; it will not work.

Choose wisely. [ Exhale. ] That is all.

[ Drop device. Exit stage. ]

Comments

[sparkcold.livejournal.com]

He will not have grown at all if the Kuroda line had been eliminated then.

[ Bluntly said, as always - he hadn't expected to see his family at all when upon his return, but it'd been all thanks to Hanbei, and a simple gift may never be able to even up with what the other had done for him. Now that Hanbei has been brought back to life, he figures he can at least make amends when Hanbei still has the time...

He doesn't want to regret like he had back home (even though regret in itself is a feeling that is met with much complexity when it comes to Kanbei; he doesn't want to admit that much).

But right, it is cold, isn't it? He may be able to withstand it, but a sickly individual like Hanbei will probably struggle if he stays out here any longer. So, he nods. ]

Show the way.

[shigeharu]

["Even up," as if it's all a matter of reciprocation. Kanbei is his friend, and that's all the reason Hanbei has ever needed. (And even aside from that, it was an awfully rash order on Nobunaga's part - better not to leap right on it and do something that could never be reversed.)

He leads Kanbei inside, stopping in the living room and dropping onto one of the couches. And after waiting a moment for Kanbei to take a seat, Hanbei turns his attention to the wrapped package in his lap, and starts to open it up.]

[sparkcold.livejournal.com]

[ He would argue that what Nobunaga had done was a logical course of action; he'd seen Kanbei as a spark, and he'd set out to extinguish him. It'd been rational of him, and of course, that is one of the reasons why he serves Nobunaga. They see things similarly.

He sets himself down stiffly next to Hanbei when he receives indication that that's what he should be doing. Right, they have things called couches here. He doesn't pay attention to Hanbei as he unwraps his gift, but he will notice upon untying the secure knot on top (which happens to be the pillow case he'd ripped up, by the way. He doesn't need pillow cases) and opening the flaps of the cloth that it's a simple, folded and warm cloth. Unfolding it will reveal that it's actually a blanket with the family crest of "Black Rice Cake" that Hanbei had "created" shortly before his death.

Kanbei had intended to bring this to his friend after he'd escaped Arioka Castle, however... well. He'd been too late, as he keeps on reminding himself.

He'd been on his way to bring this to his grave when he'd been kidnapped to Asgard. At least he can finally put that thought to rest now. Even if he leaves here and Hanbei doesn't come along with him, he will at least have the closure of a true thank you. ]

[shigeharu]

[You'll sit and you'll like it, bro.

That argument would probably just go in circles forever, anyway. Nobunaga might've seen Kanbei as a spark, for some brief period of time, but the simple fact remains that it's a hasty judgment and it would've been wrong. Kanbei is an asset to the Oda cause, if anything, and to so quickly discard an asset on a whim - well, it's one of the things Hanbei can't stand about Nobunaga, that's for sure.

He pauses as he tosses aside the pillow case wrapping (though it amuses him, even if he doesn't say so) and then lifts out the blanket to take a look.

And smiles.

That's so cute, Kanbei.]

Thank you, Kanbei-dono. It's...very utilitarian.

[Utilitarian here, at least, where it's snowing outside...but back home where he had to have prepared it, it would've been summer, and Kanbei wouldn't even have that excuse to hide behind.]

[sparkcold.livejournal.com]

[ It may not seem like a gift that's compatible with the seasons back home, but he doesn't see it as so. He had expected Hanbei to be bed ridden by the time he made it out to the castle, having heard that he's fatigued from his illness - he'd only been lucky that Asgard seems be six months ahead of what it had been back home.

He doesn't say anything in return - rather, he fixates his mind instead on his memories, as if to try to figure out why Hanbei is here in the first place. It seems surreal now that he's had his "closure." ]

Do you feel any different, Hanbei? Are you still ill?

[shigeharu]

I...feel a bit better.

[It's the truth, technically. He doesn't feel like he's about to keel over, and towards the end of that battle, it was getting to be a near thing. (And if Kanbei's reaction to seeing him is anything to go by - well, not even a near thing, actually.)

But on the other hand, he definitely doesn't feel like a new man, either. He's going to have to tread carefully, isn't he?]