[ action | open ] if you meet Buddha, kill him

[againstthestream]

He had his sutra.

He had his gun.

...It was loaded.

These were the things Sanzo checked, even before he gave the box he'd woken with a single glance, sitting up in the cocoon in the damp cave of the Bay. The priest flicked his wrist to the side to close the revolver with a satisfying click!, and slipped it back into his sleeve.

Then, and only then, did he give the box now resting in his lap a withering look...

"..."

...And promptly reached into his other sleeve for his cigarettes and lighter.

He could be encountered either still sitting in the cocoon, a pair of narrow reading glasses perched on his nose as he scoured the pamphlet, or outside the Bay staring with seeming impassiveness at the talking hologram. Either way, if anyone approached him with the intent to do him harm, the priest would level his gun at their face before even seeming to see them properly.

It just was the way it was.

Comments

[sarcastass]

Harm? No of course not. Curiosity didn't immediately mean harm. Oh sure there was potential, but not immediately! At the moment though, a pair of blazing, orange and gold eyes were point blank staring at Sanzo, set in the face of a small, fat, rolly polly corgi.

In a very stupid sweater.

Valentines day themed, of course, bright pink with a ridiculous fur ruff around the neck, because we're classy.

An excellent introduction to the man coming up behind the little dog, never more than a few feet away, dressed to the nines in some stupidly expensive Italian suit, his gold tipped cane lightly tapping against the pavement as he came to a halt beside the animal, his head... generally directed towards Sanzo. Within the realm of 'looking at'. A moments pause and-

"... So, new here?"

[againstthestream]

Violet eyes met orange-gold for a moment over Sanzo's cigarette, the priest slanting a look over at the dog first. That... wasn't a dog. An animal, maybe? But not a dog.

With no outward indication of having noticed anything out of the ordinary, Sanzo's attention shifted up to the guy following the animal.

"I guess so," real helpful, Sanzo.

Though to be fair to him, who felt like being helpful the moment they arrived in this place? The priest was still trying to figure out just what sort of illusion this all had to be.

[sarcastass]

Midge didn't blink, nor look away, merely sitting down and appearing to get himself comfortable as the demon nudged his blacked out glasses a little higher up into place.

"At least you're listening to her. Most of our newcomers immediately take to the network to scream about not knowing where they are or what's going on."

[againstthestream]

...Yeah, the not-dog wasn't exactly selling it here. Sanzo glanced down at the staring creature again, squinting slightly.

That was a lot of chi for an animal. But something about it didn't click with being a shikigami either. Something he couldn't quite place.

"Screaming about a detour doesn't make it end any sooner," although anyone who'd traveled with him would have choked to hear him say that. And back went Sanzo's focus, idly scanning Szel for a limiter of some kind. He could feel that guy's energy, too. But demons passing as humans wasn't weird; his own crew did it all the time.

Maybe those glasses? That wasn't any weirder than Hakkai's ear cuffs.

Either way, he wasn't exactly alarmed.

"You trapped in this too?" Or was he behind it? Seemed awfully fine with the whole thing, didn't he?

[sarcastass]

"I mean you can say that, but apparently it's extremely cathartic."

Midge, as Sanzo squints at him, lets out an ever so gentle, itty bitty boof, before that nub of a tail twitched. Fight him, motherfucker.

"Me and everyone else here. Well, everyone with an amulet. What is your color, by the way, they all have different ones."

[againstthestream]

Have more squinting, Midge. Demonic, clearly, but why was it in that shape?

Sanzo answered Szel's question with a grunt, rummaging in a sleeve for a moment and producing his necklace. A little over half blue, with the majority of the rest red but with splashes of green and yellow. From a world with variety, clearly.

"It looks like a rainbow took a shit."

[sarcastass]

Because he's fuzzy wuzzy adorable, that's why. The tongue just lolls out of his mouth, nub starting to wag like the wind.

There's a snort.

"Looks like a fairy threw up on it? Well at least it's interesting then, I guess, most people just get solid colors.

By the way, the color doesn't really matter. It's only a suggestion."

[againstthestream]

"'Tch," Sanzo flicked the ash off his cigarette, before taking a longer drag. "A suggestion for what?"

This was all very involved for an illusion.

...Stay away from him, pooch.

[sarcastass]

"Where to live. The color, you see, reflects what town you would... fit in best with I suppose is the best answer. Depending on the place you came from, or your personality.

It's very interesting."

A pause.

"Presumptive, but interesting."

[chocobosnap]

The only intent he had, despite the fact it was winter, was getting a good jog in and he was wary and alert, because he was keeping his eyes open and aware for danger.

There was someone standing by the bay. It wasn't someone he recognized, it wasn't the person that had him on edge, so he relaxed a little, his own weapon remaining out of sight.

He jogged up on his route behind the new arrival and stopped, panting to catch his breath. "H-Hi." He raised a hand. "D-Do you need help?"

He wasn't the best person, perhaps to give a tour considering he was nervous, twitchy and his anxiety was sky high, but he was willing to try to talk to the strange man.

[againstthestream]

Sanzo's gun remained tucked away in his sleeve and out of sight, the newcomer not tripping any alarms in the paranoid priest. He turned to look at the speaker, long having tuned out what the illusion was saying on its fourth or fifth repetition.

God it was annoying to have to handle this sort of thing himself. Normally he was content to be quiet and let Hakkai and the others do all the chatting with locals.

"I guess," Sanzo removed his cigarette from his lips just long enough to flick the ash off the end and into the snow, before replacing it. "..." Sanzo, you're on your own here, use your words. "Are you someone else trapped here?"

[chocobosnap]

He paused to consider his question, he supposed technically he was, but he wasn't in a hurry to leave Noct's side and as long as Noct was there, there was little to be gained for trying to return home.

Nevermind the precarious position it would put him in.

"Y-Yeah, technically I guess." He smiled sheepishly. "Do you n-need help getting to somewhere you can stay?"

[againstthestream]

"Technically?"

That seemed out of place to the priest, who turned his head to look back to the talking illusion behind him for a moment before fixing his attention back on the stranger.

How long had people been trapped in whatever this was, that housing was such a concern?

"The booklet mentioned temporary housing."

Which doesn't guarantee he knows how to find it, of course.

[chocobosnap]

"Yeah, w-well my job is kind of to protect my king, Noctis, a-and he's here." Prompto smiled and shrugged helplessly. "So I should stay. N-Not that anyone knows how to leave willingly."

He was skittish, but still holding his friendly smile.

"Come this way, it's not too far." He pointed in the direction towards the town proper. "It's not too bad, a-and you can stay a month before you get kicked out."

[againstthestream]

"...A month, huh?"

That was a long damn time for a detour. He had to find a way out sooner than that, surely.

Still, Sanzo wasn't terribly hard to prompt; the pointing garnered the priest walking forward accordingly, snow crunching under his boots and smoke trailing from his cigarette. He gave the stranger a long look as he drew nearer accordingly... assessingly.

Someone else who protected something -- or someone.

Sanzo tried his best to make sure he himself wasn't protecting any someones, anymore.

"Your reason for staying makes sense, at least."

[chocobosnap]

"Yeah, but even people who are trying to go h-home, they can't get out either. We're all technically stuck, so I guess if he went home and I didn't then...th-then I'd be stuck here."

Prompto mused as they walked slowly, his hands in the pockets of his jacket.

"I've been here while, since October? Maybe September? I d-don't remember when I first got here."

[againstthestream]

"...Something I'm supposed to protect isn't here," Sanzo said at length.

So of course he'd be one of those people trying to leave. He had to.

Never mind that his friends weren't here to keep him sane.

[stillsmiling]

Shi hardly had bad intentions. He wanted to justify his being there by also being helpful. So as he passed the familiar Bay, the 'Kami' paused to stare at the stranger and the hologram.

After looking around to be sure no one 'better' was there, he approached the priest.

"Um, good afternoon. Are you... new here?" Despite an intention to be polite,
Shi is too shy to make eye contact. He keeps looking at the hologram as a distraction. "... It's amazing, isn't it? I've never seen a hologram like that in real life before this place."

[againstthestream]

The first question just got a grunt in reply, which was probably an affirmative. Sanzo glanced over at the stranger, but went back to staring at the hologram after he noted that was where this person was looking as well.

"...Hologram, huh?" Sanzo had assumed illusion, but this was science instead? "Like something out of a book."

Shangrila's technology level changed drastically depending on who you were and where you were. The Minus Wave was at least half science, according to the talking heads, but in most of the country even things like televisions and iron vehicles were super mega rare.

It all existed on his version of Earth, at least. As did science fiction novels.

[stillsmiling]

"Yeah... I can't believe it's real. I wonder if it'll be real back home someday, too?"

Shi tries, and fails again, to look the stranger in the eye. This person is so quiet and gives off such a serious aura... The spirit boy feels intimidated just standing near him...!

"Everything she said is true. Did you um... pick up your key and necklace? Those are really important, so..." He goes quiet again, then yelps softly. "Sorry, I'm being so rude. I'm Shi Yamato-- Hello!"

[againstthestream]

And another grunt, accompanied by Sanzo reaching into a sleeve and drawing out his necklace. The stone was a cacophony of the four colors; mostly blue followed by red, but the yellow and green were still easy to spot.

The priest spent about half a second contemplating not introducing himself in case it caused a ruckus, then shrugged at himself. "Sanzo." If people here knew what that meant, they already would know what he was thanks to his clothing, never mind the sutra draped over his bony shoulders.

"They have this kind of stuff out to the west," Sanzo tucked the necklace back away, and gestured at the hologram again, "but not so much in the east." Not even in Chang'an, which was a far cry from the broken down, remote little villages his group rolled through these days.

[stillsmiling]

"I see... So it's a bit familiar to you?"

That was a relief. Anything familiar is probably good and comforting, right? Though, this person hardly looks like he needs simple comforts. Sanzo is still incredibly intimidating to Shi. Especially with the sutra.

"Are you, uh... a priest of some sort, or...?"

[againstthestream]

"First time seeing it in person," Sanzo kept his gaze on the hologram, reaching up to briefly pluck the cigarette from his lips and flick the hot ash off the end before replacing it.

Couldn't quite place why he wasn't looking at the kid; he just seemed nervous somehow and the priest could be quietly accomodating that sort of thing. To a point. Mostly with kids and animals.

"...I am, yeah."

A couple years ago, he might have denied it or simply not answered, in case the kid wanted him to do some inane thing or other like 'teach' buddhism. He'd gotten more mellow about it over time, although he still tensed a little in the shoulders while waiting to hear what brought that up.

[stillsmiling]

"I see..."

Admittedly, this bad Shi even more anxious. Some priests would treat spirits like him kindly, but others wanted to get rid of him. Sanzo hadn't made any move to eliminate him yet.

"I think you're the first priest that I've met here. I'm, um, a spirit. It's nice to meet you. "

[againstthestream]

With no immediate requests for anything particularly priestly out of him, Sanzo's posture relaxed again.

"That so?" A brief pause as Sanzo considered that. "Guess that makes you the first spirit I've met."