Start of #Youkai buffer: Thu Apr 02 22:04:45 2009 [19:00:29] [Thursday, after school...] [19:01:01] [You meet up at the school gates. Daisuke's headed back to the Cryptozoology club today, so he won't be able to accompany you] [19:01:04] [Session Start] [19:02:41] * Kentaro is standing by the gates, checking himself in his pocket mirror, before putting it away and standing straight and confident [19:03:33] * Berny stands by Kentaro with her usual school bag. Her hands are in her pockets, and she looks thoughtful. [19:04:38] * Megumi jogs up. "Alright, so let's go do this thing. I sure hope I'm not missing any fights today." [19:06:11] * Berny nods. "Okay. Maybe we'll find some fights there. Who knows. Things've been strange recently." [19:07:03] Alright, let's hit it. [19:07:30] * Kentaro begins heading for the train station, assuming the train station is the quickest way to the fields. [19:08:25] [Sure, why not.] [19:09:17] [A few steps of transportation later, and some walking, you find yourselves a little ways out of town, in front of some large fields.] [19:09:59] * Berny steps into the fields. Cautiously. [19:10:35] [Along the train ride, you noticed trees and other plant life becoming slowly worse the closer you got to your destination] [19:11:10] [Out here, even clover is thin and papery, crumbling at a firm squeeze.] [19:12:27] * Kentaro frowns, looking around the field. "Something's definitely gone wrong, here." [19:12:34] Yeah. Definitely. [19:12:49] I hope it's not toxic waste. Or...I dunno. Poison gas. [19:13:05] * Berny shivers. [19:13:29] Man, even I can tell this is messed up. [19:17:40] ...so. Uh. What now? [19:18:11] * Berny takes a look around. [19:23:05] [Berenice takes a glance around. Any kami she's able to see appears weak and malnourished, in spite of every effort being taken to take proper care of the plants.] [19:23:53] * Berny frowns and kneels by one. "What happened to you guys?" [19:24:20] [More distressing is what she doesn't see. Some of the plants have no kami at all, including some that are still growing.] [19:25:38] * A talking zucchini that only Berenice can see and hear pipes up in a dull droning associated with lower level kami. "Cannot feed." [19:27:56] * Berny , for all intents and purposes, looks like she's kneeling in the grass talking to herself. "Do you know why? What do you need help with?" [19:30:28] Unknown. Cannot feed. [19:31:21] ...who the hell are you talking to? [19:33:42] Well, we did come out here to talk to the kami. [19:34:00] * Kentaro 's tone of voice is more one of shared confusion than correction. [19:35:07] ...wait, you're serious? [19:37:19] * Kentaro shrugs. "I can't hardly tell." [19:48:28] * Megumi eyes Kentaro suspiciously. [19:49:18] * A young boy passes by on his way likely back from school. He glances over at you. "What're you doing?" [19:51:15] * Kentaro looks over to the boy. "We're trying to find out what's wrong with the fields." [19:51:41] * Megumi rolls her eyes. "We're obviously talking to cucumbers." [19:52:48] Uh huh. Did you find out anything? [19:55:21] Not so much yet, I don't think. [19:58:04] Yeah, cucumbers don't say a whole lot. I'm not sure what's going on. If a plant comes here, and it's still growing, it won't be growing for long. Not without being weird. [20:00:41] Why not? [20:01:46] I dunno... it's not the soil, else it wouldn't be happening to potted plants too. And I don't smell anything funny in the air. [20:04:55] It's like... you ever heard about what happens if you cover a leaf in vaseline? [20:05:11] Nope! [20:06:09] ... seriously? [20:07:11] Well, it just kind of withers off. Even if you give it everything it needs. [20:09:19] Think they're ungrateful? [20:09:27] ...huh? [20:10:35] Well, we give them water, plenty of sunlight, the best soil we can, but we don't get a whole lot in return. [20:11:59] Well, I don't know. We eat them [20:12:54] But that's the whole point of life as a vegetable, isn't it? What else are they gonna do? [20:15:31] * Megumi shrugs, and replies sarcastically "Rebel against their masters? If I was a cucumber that was capable of being ungrateful, I don't think I'd stand for being eaten either." [20:16:26] So it's like a strike? [20:17:43] ...sure. [20:18:32] Come to think of it, I haven't seen you around before. Where are you from? [20:25:07] * Megumi tells him the name of the school, scowling a bit. "What's it to you?" [20:25:42] * The boy shrugs and grins. "Just curious." [20:26:22] Wait, you said it's like the plants were covered in vaseline... What's covering these plants, then? [20:27:23] As far as I can tell, nothing. They take in the sunlight, they suck up the soil and nutrients just as if they were healthy. It just doesn't DO anything. [20:32:25] Don't tell my mom, but I tried giving one of her flowers some extra water, just in case. It didn't drown or anything, it just sucked up the excess. It was weird. [20:35:03] * Kentaro looks puzzled. [20:39:00] * Megumi scratches her head. "How the hell would we even tell your mom?" [20:39:59] I dunno [20:41:38] * Berny wanders over to rejoin Megumi and Kentaro. She waves tentatively at the new boy. "Hi." [20:42:48] Uh... hi... [20:44:45] * Berny doesn't say anything in particular and pretends she didn't do anything unusual. [20:45:09] * The boy suddenly looks uneasy. [20:45:24] Hey, kid, wait. [20:46:01] * The kid pauses [20:47:07] You know more than you're saying, and that's not unusual around here, but I'm going to give you my word that if you tell me what's up, I'm not going to bust whatever you've got going on, okay? [20:48:02] ... you really wanna know what I think? [20:48:40] * Berny nods. [20:49:55] Yeah. [20:50:03] Something's wrong with the feeding. You pour in water, they take it all and they don't grow. Fertilizer, absorbed and gone to who knows where in hours. The soil used to be a lot darker, too. [20:50:32] * Berny murmurs almost inaudibly, "That's what the zucchini said too." [20:50:40] Hm. [20:50:48] What if the earth is taking it, instead of the plants? [20:50:50] I'm scared to see what happens if you drop a steak on there. [20:51:03] Might give the plants a taste for the wrong thing, if you understand what I mean. [20:51:14] * Berny gulps. [20:52:28] * Berny digs out the bag of gummies that she bought at the cafe yesterday, takes out one gummy fruit, and sets it on the soil experimentally. [20:54:32] * The gummy fruit lies on the ground. Maybe it's a trick of the light, or the packaging, but it doesn't look quite as colorful on the ground as it did in the bag. [20:54:47] * Berny picks it up again to examine it. [20:57:28] * The gummy looks just as bright as it did before. It doesn't look like any dirt stuck to it either. If it was on the ground for fewer than five seconds... [20:58:23] * Berny turns it over a few times in her palm, dusts it off anyway, and eats it with a shrug. "I guess the earth doesn't like gummy fruits. I don't know about steak, though." [21:00:02] * Kentaro frowns. "If only there was some way to ask the earth itself. This is all really weird, but I think that's where the problem is." [21:00:41] * Megumi stares suspcicously at the dirt. [21:01:23] * Berny stares at the dirt, too. [21:02:37] * The dirt doesn't do much. But Berny can see the kami. It looks drained. [21:03:18] * Berny wanders over to the kami. "Aw, what happened to you?" [21:04:35] Sustenance drained. [21:04:50] What's draining it? [21:05:20] Unknown. Not plants above. [21:05:39] Hmm. [21:05:50] No idea at all? [21:07:53] Source: Near, but distant. [21:08:41] * Berny puzzles over that. "'Near, but distant'? Where would that be?" [21:10:31] * Megumi stares at Berny, then looks over at Kentaro, eyes wide. "She's...she's fucking serious, isn't she." [21:11:14] Looks like it. Why not? [21:11:20] * Berny seems to have forgotten that other people might be listening and is crouching by a clump of dirt, whispering. [21:13:14] Distant but close... [21:13:54] I wonder. If the kami aren't draining the land, I wonder if someone else is. [21:19:08] * Berny stands up and suddenly looks self conscious. She sheepishly returns to the group. "Sorry." [21:20:40] * Kentaro shrugs. "No problem." [21:21:14] Do any of you know anything "near, but distant" that might be draining the dirt? [21:21:21] * Megumi still looks a little boggled as she stares at Berny. "Were you...really...talking to..." [21:21:51] * Berny hesitates. "I was...you know...um, well..." [21:23:02] I've never really talked to anyone about this stuff before, but sometimes... I dunno. I see stuff. And I can talk to them. [21:23:31] * Berny looks pretty embarrased about it, and her cheeks have gone pink. [21:23:35] (embarrassed) [21:27:11] * Megumi scratches her head. "Man, what're the odds." [21:27:58] * The kid's presumably wandered off by now [21:28:31] I hope you guys don't think I'm weird or crazy or anything... [21:33:11] Well, you ARE weird, but...wait, uh, that came out wrong. [21:34:29] * Berny blushes a deeper shade of red. [21:35:24] Erm, uh, I mean, I hope you're not crazy, cause I might be crazy too then? [21:35:29] * Megumi laughs nervously. [21:35:54] * Berny smiles faintly. "It's okay. I think I know what you mean." [22:00:05] * Berny is now known as Cheeseball [22:00:45] * Megumi is now known as Yon [22:04:20] [Session Pause] End of #Youkai buffer Thu Apr 02 22:04:45 2009