It’s a special time of year and the sword army is invited to come down from their citadels and celebrate. What? A summer festival, an offering to the gods, or perhaps a special ceremony of sorts. A normally quiet, rural village at the foot of the mountains will transform for the night with lanterns, fireworks, and music all around but first! Some preparations need to be done. Did you really think you would be invited down here without having to do some work? Prepare to dance, prepare to sing, prepare for a night of fun.
1. CEREMONY PRACTICE
At the citadel, a new chore has been added to the list: ceremonial practice! The swords selected to perform at the festival will have to practice their song and dance or else they'll risk embarrassment in front of the crowds. Or maybe this entire thing is embarrassing... either way, this is your duty! Saniwa's orders! Where and when is up to you but you better be ready.
2. SPECIAL CLOTHES
You can’t wear those same old clothes. They’re all torn and worn or just not appropriate at all for the type of festival you’re going to. The government has all of your measurements and has sent special robes for the spirits and saniwa to wear. It even comes complete with accessories! What’s taking you so long? We should have left twenty minutes ago. Do you need help? Or are you trying to perfect your appearances for your big debut?
3. PERFORMANCE
Everyone is dancing and everyone is singing. Are you one of the performers? Or are they dancing to you? What kind of songs are you hearing? What dances are you watching? Did you see the ceremonial sword dance? Or maybe you were invited to dance in a special performance with your saniwa! When the performance is over, make sure to congratulate the performers on a job well done… or tease your friend.
4. OFFERINGS AND PRAYER
After the festive ceremonies, there are more serious things to do. There is a sacred fire and you can take a moment to pray to the gods. Remember, we are fighting a war and it’s important to remember those that have fallen. The swords that were broken and damaged beyond repair are gathered up and taken to a sacred fire so that their spirits can be purified and reborn. Later, all of those offerings you have been saving are offered up to the gods for their blessings. It's also a chance to hopefully pray for a turn in luck. Maybe you'll pray for an old friend to return to the citadel. It's been a long time since you saw them, right? They'll come home eventually.
5. FESTIVITIES
The ceremonies are finally over! Wow, that sure took up a lot of time, huh? There are still a couple of more hours left in the night so enjoy the festivities. Try the food, play the shooting games, win a couple of prizes. How many goldfish can you catch? Or maybe the important question is: How are you going to take care of this goldfish? At the end of the night, you can catch the fireworks before the night ends.
6. SURPRISE ATTACK
With so many saniwa and sword spirits gathered in one place, it's the perfect time for the enemy to make a major blow against the Time Government. In what should have been the fireworks finale, there's a loud explosion and lightning strikes. The Time Retrograde Army strikes without warning. It's nothing the Touken Danshi haven't taken care of before but this time, they'll have to protect their saniwa too.
7. WILDCARD
Pick your own adventure. Maybe you have to help make offerings or tonight is a special night for a special summoning.
What if the saniwa had to perform other duties besides just summoning swords to fight? What if they had to take part in special ceremonies? What if they had to invite their swords to perform with them? Feel free to get as creative as you want with this prompt as far as things like: Why are they celebrating? How often do they get to leave the citadel? Etc
[She stops herself short of saying 'a problem', because that's not true. He is not a problem. But he has been the causes of quite a few headaches.]
He's just having a hard time. He came in swinging calling Manba a fake, and no one has really forgotten that, see what I mean?
[Satori hasn't, even though she has calmed down. But she gets tired of the attitude sometimes and they're both too strong-headed. She can't be a quiet, soothing presence like Noa.]
I want him to feel at home, but he's just awkward. It helps now that Manba has been back from his trip for a while, but sometimes, I just wish Chougi wouldn't try so hard? Like, he's sort of sabotaging himself by doing that, but I don't know how to make him understand.
... And it wouldn't hurt if he stopped insulting the others and he realized they have been cutting him a whole lot of slack.
[ Poor Satori. They've talked about that particular headache before, and it's a shame to see things are still pretty much the same as they have been. ]
He'll get there, Sacchan, he'll get there. Hana-chan had trouble with hers at first, too, didn't she? Maybe it's something in their nature?
[ She pauses and puts a finger to her lips, smiling mischievously at her friend. ]
But you knoooooow...if you get too annoyed you could always just send him to me!
[ As if Satori ever would. Noa knows her too well to ever think she'd just give away any of her swords, especially one she worked so hard to get. ]
[ Oh. With that kind of reaction, whatever Satori has to say is nothing good. But fortunately, even though Noa hasn't played the TG's game as long as Satori, she's still well versed in politics (damn you, university bureaucracies) and she picks up on Satori's meaning quickly, changing topics with ease. ]
Of course, of course, I wanna hear all the gossip, but before that, I want to see how bad I am at that shooting game. Join me?
[It's a bit weird at times, the fact that Noa is older than her but has been a Saniwa for a shorter times. Satori has had more time to navigate TG politics and come to hate them, but Noa has more real life experience than she does.
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[She stops herself short of saying 'a problem', because that's not true. He is not a problem. But he has been the causes of quite a few headaches.]
He's just having a hard time. He came in swinging calling Manba a fake, and no one has really forgotten that, see what I mean?
[Satori hasn't, even though she has calmed down. But she gets tired of the attitude sometimes and they're both too strong-headed. She can't be a quiet, soothing presence like Noa.]
I want him to feel at home, but he's just awkward. It helps now that Manba has been back from his trip for a while, but sometimes, I just wish Chougi wouldn't try so hard? Like, he's sort of sabotaging himself by doing that, but I don't know how to make him understand.
... And it wouldn't hurt if he stopped insulting the others and he realized they have been cutting him a whole lot of slack.
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He'll get there, Sacchan, he'll get there. Hana-chan had trouble with hers at first, too, didn't she? Maybe it's something in their nature?
[ She pauses and puts a finger to her lips, smiling mischievously at her friend. ]
But you knoooooow...if you get too annoyed you could always just send him to me!
[ As if Satori ever would. Noa knows her too well to ever think she'd just give away any of her swords, especially one she worked so hard to get. ]
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I'm not annoyed!... well, no, yes, I am, but it's fine. It's just...
[Suddenly, she looks around. Here is not the best place to talk about this.]
Something happened, I know it. But I'll tell you later.
[Not here while surround by TG officials.]
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Of course, of course, I wanna hear all the gossip, but before that, I want to see how bad I am at that shooting game. Join me?
no subject
She quickly smiles at the suggestion.]
Sure. It can't be worse than last year, right?
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You know what? Mucchan missed.
[ Just once, but it still counts. ]
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[That's clearly the only logical explanation.
Satori rarely brings Mutsu here unless she has to. She'd rather take him to an arcade in present day Kyoto if she has to.]