aterat | Inari in July! Log times!

Entry tags:

Inari in July! Log times!

Who; Yusuke and whoever is around!
What; Beeeeach tiiiiiimes
Where; See above
When; All through July!
Warnings; None, but I will update if it comes up!

Prawndering New Shores - OTA

Yusuke wasn’t particularly fond of the heat, it had to be said. Nor was he fond of the idea of sun-damage, so summer was always particularly challenging for him as seasons went. Whether that had any bearing on the element of his persona was uncertain, but hard to not consider once in a while. On the one hand, a sweltering sunny day was better than being caught in a massive downpour of rain you didn’t see coming (it happened), on the other… He had the complicated task of staying cool while also avoiding sunburn. The teen did not tan, after all. He only burned, and while he was fond of lobsters, he had no interest in having his complexion match their colours.

Since he did not arrive with his favourite summer-weight hooded sweater, this meant that the only wait to beat the heat while enjoying the sandy shores of this lovely new beach was to get creative. Yusuke had managed to beg a (ridiculously) oversized, wide-brimmed summer hat from one of the people who worked at the orphanage, and managed to find a light cotton shirt to wear open with a pair of shorts. Regardless of how it might look, it worked rather well, if he did say so himself. The brim shaded not only his face, but even his shoulders as it flopped down over them at a careful angle.

As he wandered the shores with the curious eyes of someone looking for something, but not knowing what… It wasn’t long before Yusuke happened upon a large, delightfully lively tide pool. The teen could be found, chin resting on his knees that were drawn up to his chest, staring in awe at the varied life in the shallow, sheltered waters. Lobsters, of course, were a particular treat. Smaller juvenile ones scuttling around the floor amidst little fish that had gotten trapped when the tide went out. So many little creatures in such an unexpected space, enduring the low tide until the waves came crashing back in. “Magnificent, never have I seen such beautiful beings before!” He murmured, fingers itching for his sketch pad.

The pad was present, of course. Settled in the coloured bag that he received when he arrived, preferring to leave his leather satchel home rather than drag it to the beach... But the teen was truly captivated as usual, by the many little creatures going about their day in their own unexpected ‘home away from home.’

So if anyone happened upon what appeared to be an oversized beach hat with its back turned to the public while observing things… They are welcome to distract him!

If they didn’t find the massive hat that was Yusuke there, they might also find him later on, sitting on the shore while he resumed watching the shoreline for interesting sights while attempting to build a particularly impressive looking sand castle that appeared to have been decorated with shell and the odd sand-sculpted lobster. Humming to himself and occasionally stopping, to make his fingers into a frame to observe the progress thus far… “Yes…! Perfection.” He commented before a pleased chuckle escaped him, and he resumed working.

(Find him while he’s wandering the shores, while he’s hanging out at the tide pool, or while he’s building a sand castle!)

A Kriller Storm - OTA

Sometimes one had to muse that things were going too perfectly. A day spent enjoying one’s self to the fullest, plenty of good food and fun to be had… Not a cloud in the sky… Until there was. Creeping in over the horizon and spreading more quickly than one might notice as they were focused on something in front of them instead of what was above them.

This was the case for Yusuke that day, as per usual, settled on the shoreline as he worked on some sketches that would be drafted for paintings at a later date. At least they would be once he had a chance to finish getting the rough outlines down. Instead? Instead, he was frowning lightly as he felt something lightly beginning to hit his oversized hat. The tap-tap-tapping only increased in frequency as what could only be described as a flash rain storm began coming down quite hard. He let out a displeased, undignified groan as he hurried to close his notepad and hugged it to his chest, angling his hat down to shield him better as he scrambled to put everything in his bag and get up to leave.

Looking more and more like a drowned rat than a person as his hat was weighed down by the water and the wind blew the rain more at an angle, which meant less protection. He could almost hear Ryuji’s eloquent eff this! in his head that would be voiced in these moments if he were here. Instead, he could only frown severely and let out dramatic huffs and sighs as he hurried away from the shoreline to look for nearby buildings for shelter.

It didn’t help when the over-sized brim of his hat got caught up in a gust of wind and blew off, making him have to change course again to try to catch it. Considering it was borrowed, he wasn’t about to lose the darn thing! He wouldn’t even know how to begin to replace it!

Why did this always seem to happen at the worst possible moments?

Shellebration of Friendship - Closed for Ren, Haru and Yusuke!

Sometimes the universe had rather funny timing, if one stopped to consider it. Yusuke himself had just come to this place a short span of time after a beach party with his friends, and somehow, despite it being the end of summer then…? He found himself experiencing the season all over again. Only this time, it was in an entirely different world and the group was oddly smaller (but no less cherished).

It wasn’t long before he discovered that however far ahead the other two were; they had not arrived at another summer yet and one among them had not gotten to experience a beach party as the rest of them had. This came up easily enough in conversation as they discussed the fact that this world seemed to have changed again to somehow grow an entire stretch of beach with inviting scenery and businesses.

… And rumors. Rumors that, if one were prone to belief, indicated that this beach came with a creature none of them had yet to see. A sand shark. What did they look like? Did they truly move through the sands? How large were they??? All these questions sprung to mind, and more as the trio decided (with quite a bit of excitement on some parts) that a phantom thieves investigation (and party) was in order to both look into the rumors and to see to it that they all had gotten to enjoy a fun afternoon at the beach that they had sadly missed out on before.

Because, really, it would be a terrible shame to not. No one wanted to imagine the sadness that might grip their friend to miss another chance at a fun day in the sun looking for sand sharks!

The weather was beautifully warm and clear that day, not a cloud above to suggest any unfortunate downpours that might dampen the occasion. The sandy shores stretch out before them were lightly dotted with people who seemed to have had the same idea, and the sound of the waves gently brushing against the shore could be heard as they approached.

Yusuke turned eagerly to his fellow Phantom Thieves, adjusting the (absurdly) large summer hat he was using to shade himself in the absence of his hooded sweater. “Do we have everything?? I have my sketchbook-” You know… In case he wanted to sketch the sand sharks. Inspiration could be found anywhere! “And some of the snacks in my bag.” Also arguably important, what was a trip to the beach without beach snacks!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Picking bits of his sandwich off to eat, he found himself enjoying both it and the conversation as they began figuring out their fist steps. Listening carefully to the shared information, it seemed that at least the townspeople were consistent in their descriptions of the creatures. With some different theories and thoughts on them here and there depending on if the person believed in them or not… It put together an interesting picture, though, and a starting point! That alone was rather exciting, really. After the last few months, he’d begun to feel a bit idle outside of his art endeavors.

“Perhaps they burrow like some fish do? Although… I suppose that doesn’t particularly explain it either, if they’re burrowing though sand on the shore instead of in the water…” He mused thoughtfully, shaking his head slightly as he picked off another piece of the sandwich. If he knew Haru wished she could have a hat like the one he wore, and Yusuke had another or something else for shelter from the sun, he undoubtedly would have been happy to share it with his friend.

“This is quite delicious, Haru.” He added as an afterthought once he had another sip of coffee, before glancing at Ren to offer his agreement. “I believe we’re all in agreement, then? It does sound as though that would be the best place to start looking. Let us see if we can spot any fins poking out of the sand.” He voiced his agreement with an intrigued tone, wondering how odd even that might look. Did they blend at all, or was it quite obvious looking?

All the food Ren had enjoyed from the orphanage so far was delicious and he wondered about their funding, though a lot of the place seemed more than a little contrived. Sometimes the cynical part of him wondered if that meant there were plans for all those pulled here beyond just 'remake the place', but he could also identify when there was little to be done about something regardless of paranoia, and it was best to keep busy when things like that happened.

Without school work to focus on, they all needed a new project, and if sand sharks weren't a perfect substitute, he didn't know what were. "Away from the rocks is a good idea." He nodded. "Aren't there some fish that can walk on land? Maybe they're like that?" Sharks were fish, after all. He took a sip from his own iced coffee then and smiled at Haru. "Really delicious."

He nodded to Yusuke next, finishing off his sandwich in the next bite and then swallowing, his smile falling as something occurred to him. "We could use binoculars."

For most of Haru's life she'd been denied input in just about every aspect of her life. Logically Haru knew that each and every member of the Phantom Thieves would value any input she had to give. Still, she often found it a tad bit easier to simply listen while others talked. Changing that aspect of oneself was much more challenging than she could have ever anticipated. At least she listened with enthusiasm, facing each as they spoke while she ate her sandwich until it was all gone.

"Hmm...I wonder how thick their hides are if they're capable of burrowing through sand as though it were water?" That was a thought that made her miss her weapon even more. If these things were real, then they might be dealing with a rather difficult enemy. "Snakeheads!" she said with enthusiasm. "I mean, I believe that's what the fish that walk on land are called. They were an invasive species back home." Though, she wasn't entirely certain where the creatures had originally come from. They were simply something she had heard about casually as a minor problem that fishers faced due the impact they could have on the native fish population. Were these potential land sharks capable of breathing on shore like the snakeheads were? What a strange thought that was to have!

The compliments though were certainly unexpected and she blushed while shaking her head. "Thank you, but it really isn't anything too special!" Nothing worth calling delicious. "I think we are all in agreement of our plan of attack," at least saying that brought a smile back to her face. It was silly to be excited about it all, but she was. With that she stood up and put the drink container next to her bag. "I doubt anything will happen to our things if we leave them here while we search." Who was going to steal stuff from a bunch of teenagers at a beach that just magically appeared?

She did find herself frowning a bit at the mention of binoculars. "Oh, I knew I forgot something."

Finishing off his own sandwich, recognition dawned on his face as Haru confirmed the Snakehead fish Ren was thinking of. “That’s right, I had almost forgotten about them! They could even be an odd hybrid to grant them the ability to burrow through sand and not need to remain in the sea, I suppose.” He mused thoughtfully, brushing some crumbs away carefully. There were such strange creatures already in this place. It would not be odd to think such a thing might exist.

The more they hypothesized, the more Yusuke really hoped they could find such a creature to get a better look at. It was really rather exciting to think that such wondrous creatures might exist outside the metaverse here!

Smiling a little as he took another sip of coffee, he shook his head. He had come to realize that Haru was prone to not expecting compliments and thinking less of the things she made. Which was a shame, because so far Yusuke had found himself more impressed than anything. “On the contrary, they are just what was needed on a hot day at the beach.” He responded, reinforcing that there were excellent! He was glad that they had come to an agreement on the plan, though. As they finished off their snacks, it meant they were that much closer to their goal.

Glancing between the two of them, though, he realized that perhaps they had all forgotten binoculars. “Binoculars would have certainly made it easier to spot them from a distance… I had not considered them myself. I wonder if there might be anywhere nearby we could get a set among the newer locations that opened? Otherwise, we may have to rely on our eyes alone.”

"Snakeheads." He nodded. That sounded like what he'd learned in biology. There were also American fish called mudskippers if he was remembering correctly. He smiled at Haru. "And yeah, they're probably pretty thick-skinned or...scaled, if they swim through the sand." Though that didn't explain how they were able to breath or anything like that. It was all very perplexing and he chewed his sandwich thoughtfully for a moment. Sure, having binoculars would have been helpful, but his third sight would be just as useful, they'd just have to make sure there wasn't anyone else around who might catch wise to what the perfectly normal teenagers were doing investigating deadly shark sightings.

"I think we have senses that will serve us well enough." He nodded again, standing after he finished his meal. It had been a light one, but that was preferable. If the sharks were aggressive, they may need to fight and they'd need to be prepared to do that. "As long as we make sure we're not followed. The adults don't need to know what we can do." Because they could certainly take on a sand shark or two if they needed to, but the local constabulary, for what good they were, didn't need to know that.

"We should be careful, though. I haven't found a weapon yet." Which meant in a pinch, he'd have to rely on his various Persona. They were certainly formidable, but they weren't exactly discreet.

"A hybrid hmm...I wonder if they're native to this place or created by something?" she mused more to herself than to the two of them. It would be quite interesting to know where they came from. If they were in fact real that is! They hadn't found proof of their existence quite yet so perhaps Haru's ponderings were a bit too rushed. She couldn't quite help it though, it seemed so intriguing to find such strange sounding creatures outside of the Metaverse. Who would have ever thought it would be possible? It was all terribly exciting.

"Thank you, Yusuke," Haru said with a smile that was practically beaming. He really was very kind to insist despite how simple the coffee was. Had Ren not been here they more than likely would have ended up in another cycle of her denying the compliment and him insisting, just as they had with apologies.

"Mm, if we decide we need some perhaps one of us can come back and have a look around to see if there's a location that sells any." Though she didn't precisely have an unlimited supply of funds at the moment. She nodded at Ren's assessment that they should be careful about making certain people didn't see. "Eye see your point." To make the bad attempt at a pun even worse she laughed at her own joke. Or more so she giggled, complete with a hand over her mouth in an attempt to hide it. At least she managed to move on quickly.

"Is it strange for me to miss mine?" she said as she started to move towards the direction they had decided on. She wasn't going to lead the way, but she did think they should probably get a move on now that they'd settled on a plan. She didn't want to waste the chance to potentially see one of these mysterious sharks.

Yusuke nodded as he pushed himself to his feet and glanced down the shoreline. “That’s true… I have arranged for one, but it would seem it takes time.” He responded with a small, disappointed frown. As easy as their persona would be to use, a weapon would be far more discrete considering the magnificent spectacles that a persona could be. He offered Haru a small, sympathetic smile. “I believe after the time we’ve spent using them, they’re practically an extension of ourselves in situations like these. It would likely be strange if we didn’t miss them.” Maintaining his katana had become as important to him as maintaining his brushes and art supplies, so it didn’t seem so strange that they would miss their preferred weapons when the possibility of a fight was looming ahead of them now.

He nodded, though. That sounded like a good plan. They were here now, after all. To delay any further would be disappointing, and should they need to reconvene at a later date with tools to assist in spotting the sharks, they could. He opened his mouth to agree, only to find himself laughing with some obvious delight at Haru’s pun. Oh, that was a good one! At least, in his opinion, it was. “Let us prawnder the shore for these sand-sharks and we’ll revisit at a later date with binoculars if we must!” He responded between chuckles, chiming in easily enough as he followed the other two down the shoreline.

"They could also be native to some other world." He hadn't been in Aterat long, but he was under the impression things bled over here from time to time, just like they themselves had when they'd come here. They fact they could even use their powers outside the Metaverse spoke to the uniqueness of this world.

He shook his head at Haru's question even as he smiled at her pun. She was adorable sometimes. Oh, who was he kidding? She was adorable all the time. "It's not. This place makes me feel...exposed." It was the best way he could think to put it. He felt as though they should be armed all the time, and that was probably partially due to how many monsters wandered the place as though it was normal. The guard didn't do anything about them, either, which left him wondering who would? They always could.

And they were starting with sharks. He shook his head affectionately at his friends combined antics, nodding and heading in the direction of the southern reaches of the beach, where they would hopefully validate these rumors of sand sharks, though for the moment, all his enhanced senses were telling him about were hermit crabs. The day was young.

"How disappointing," she gave a thoughtful little frown. "It does makes sense that it would take time to make one, though." It occured to her that finding one of her own preferred weapons might be somewhat easier than it would be for Yusuke. This place seemed rather antiquated and medieval style weaponry seemed as though it might be more common than the katana he favored. Money would, once again, be the issue. Of course that was a thought for another time. "A good point. We have spent a lot of time with them and I have to admit I became attached. Plus...it was a nice release." There had been something both exciting and freeing about swinging it.

"Prawnder? Oh no!" That just got a complete burst of laughter from her. "That was fintastic of you." These were the friends Ren had found. Two awkward nerds that exchanged sea puns. Had it been anyone else around but Yusuke and Ren, Haru would have felt embarrassed at it. Luckily it was only them and she found herself truly happy for the moment. She kept her eyes peeled as they walked towards the southern reaches all while laughing to herself about both exchanges.

Yusuke offered his two friends a sympathetic nod as they described out it felt to be without their choice of weapons, it seemed that they all felt rather similar on the subject. But Haru was right, his own was not a common style of this world and it had taken some time and research for the smith to even decide they could take on such a project. But that said… “I shall have to take you buy the place that I was directed to for my own. I believe they even had some ready-made weaponry as well. Daggers and quite a few other weapons are available to choose from. Perhaps we might be able to fix this little problem of ours easily enough? We only need secure funds for them, I believe.”

Because, of course, everything did come at a price. He was still scraping together a small savings pile aside from what he spent on art supplies to put towards his own once they decided on a final price.

Oh no, that was absolutely delightful, and it gets more surprised laughter out of the teen, a hand wrapped around his sides at the pun returned. “Oh! Haru, thank you. I must say you have a krilliant sense of humor.” He managed to respond between chuckles, rather pleased with this new discovery of his friend. Poor Ren, stuck between two punny dorks on a beach. Yusuke at least did try to keep his eyes on the sand, picking out random sights like shells or the odd bit of beach glass that had washed up. It was rather pleasant, despite the disappointing lack of fins so far.

"Funds might be an issue...or not." They had options at their disposal, there was a ripe district of well-to-do people who seemed to have plenty of disposable funds they could glean, and with no modern security systems, it almost seemed too easy, but that was also a topic they could breech later, after they learned the truth about the sand sharks. "But we can deal with that later."

He chuckled to spite himself. He really did love his friends. They were a quirky bunch, but so was he, and they'd changed the world together. How could he not love them?

He shook his head as the pun-train continued, but not as a deterrent. He'd never stifle this level of creativity. Besides, it just meant he had to join in, and where was the fault in that?

"We should get going, though, or there won't be anything to shell-ebrate later."

"I would appreciate being shown the way! I tend to fight with battle axes or scythes." Her voice was chipper and clearly rather excited at the idea that she might have a chance at finding one of those. "Someone else mentioned a man that one could ask about things from home. Though I do not quite understand what sort of currency he uses." But that might also be something to look into. Especially with how difficult funds may end up being here.

Alright, alright, now they were just going off the rails with their puns. All three of them. Poor Haru was just going to be overtaken with laughter now. She does her best to try to manage the giggle fit by putting both hands to her mouth while she blushed. Oh no this was just too much.

"I think we're just going a little far here." Not that she minded, it was hilarious. A bit too hilarious for her giggle fit though. So, instead she focused on looking for the sharks when out of the corner of her eye she spotted...something? Did she? It looked like an ever so tiny fin that had just come out for a second. "Oh!!! I think I saw something!" She jumped up and pointed to the right off in the direction she'd thought something had made itself known.

“Then we’ll revisit that topic at a later date, after we complete our investigation of the beach and its mysterious sand sharks.” Yusuke responded with a pleased grin. If Ren had an idea, then perhaps it wouldn’t be so difficult as one might think to get what they needed. He would gladly show them to where they might need to go after once they had things sorted.

But for now? Yusuke was simply having fun with his two friends as they punned back and forth down the shoreline in their search. It was nice to laugh, and to hear the amusement in their voices as they returned one for another. His laughter eventually contained to small chuckles every so often instead as he followed them. “Of course, you make an excellent point, Ren. We did come here with a porpoise.” Okay, he had to allow himself one last one. He was finished now. Truly.

For now.

His eyes widened under the brim of his hat, though at the excited exclamation from Haru. “Hm?? Where- Oh! I believe you may be right, that patch of sand appears to have been disturbed somewhat compared to the surrounding area.” He commented as he followed her pointed gesture to look at the sand… It did have almost an odd line in it, didn’t it? As though it had been parted by something. Perhaps something had been there. “Perhaps we should take a closer look?” With caution, of course, as tempting as it was to run over and see if they couldn’t catch a glimpse closer up.

Ah, that's right. Yusuke and Haru were still getting reacquainted after having never met in Yusuke's world. He looked over to Haru at the mention of the man who could acquire objects from home, thinking of his own dagger he'd left behind. Something that specific wasn't necessary, of course, and a simple dagger would suffice for the time being. "Maybe we should stick to the basics until we're more familiar with how things work here." He'd only seen one type of currency so far. Another might be a bit more illusive. Maybe it was something cognitive, and if that was the case, they'd be rolling in it soon enough.

A smile stretched his lips at Haru's laughter and the twinkle in his eyes was clearly affectionate, but he was distracted quickly by her declaration, turning his attention to the southern beach and scanning the horizon, even as he chuckled at Yusuke's continued pun. He headed in the direction of the disturbed sand in question, eyes narrowed as he approached the rut, kneeling and touching a hand along the edge.

"Something big passed by here. I wonder..." He eased his sight into the hidden realm, wondering if his vision would allow him to see something--and there it was! It was far off now, but, "they're real! It's there, swimming in the distance!"

"Oh! They're real!" She jumped up and down at that with her hands balled into tiny little fists pumping up the air. "I was worried they would just be rumors!" How terribly exciting it was to know that they weren't simply rumors. She took a few quick skips forward (because of course she was excited enough to skip) and then jumped back as a much smaller fin appeared. Was there a baby to be found out there? Or a juvenile of some kind?

It certainly looked like one! Of course, the larger one was still out there slightly outside of Haru's field of vision. Which probably was a bit unfortunate considering she was rushing straight towards the small one leaving the other two behind. It was far too cute for her to not try to get closer to in order to investigate.

"Hello little thing! Are you there?"

Yusuke’s gaze snapped in the direction that Ren was indicating, knowing full well how keen his friend’s senses were when it came to seeing things that were easily overlooked by others. His eyes flitting around the sand in that area before he finally spotted a fin moving through the sand as well. A startled gasp escaping at the sight, “I see it too! How marvelous, I wonder what the rest of them look like??” He murmured, wondering if they might surface at all to be seen or if they remained below sand level for other reasons.

He hoped not. How could he hope to consider painting something he couldn’t see in its entirety??

But then Haru was rushing on ahead of them to get closer to what appeared to be a much smaller fin. With an alarmed expression cast at Ren, he hurried after their friend quickly enough. Perhaps best to stay together in case a larger one was closer, right? “That fin is quite small. It must be a juvenile?” At least that fin was smaller than expected, and leaving a much smaller trail in the sand than the one they’d found earlier… Yusuke’s eyes darted between the smaller fin and the rest of the sand to try to catch sight of the large one again.

Ren was no stranger to his friends rushing headlong into danger and he started off immediately after swapping a look of alarm with Yusuke. If his senses were correct, and they rarely weren't, there were at least 10 larger sand sharks milling around beyond the smaller one Haru had homed in upon.

"Haru, wait!" He kept his voice barely above a whisper, not knowing whether or not she could hear him but not wanting to risk alerting the hunting pack beyond on the off chance sand sharks hunted by sound. Wouldn't they have to? Blood spreads through water a lot more easily than sand, after all.

As if on cue, at the sound of their running, and at Ren's warning hiss, a few, three to be precise, fins thst had been circling in the distance paused the diverted course in their direction, including the smaller fin. He felt the Swell of Arsene in his mind, ready to surge forth to protect him if he needed it. This could, after all, get pretty bad without weapons.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Inari in July! Log times!

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject