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
[Tsurumaru Kuninaga does not usually volunteer for such things, or so it is said. Tsurumaru Kuninaga is a free spirit, who keeps his distance, and lives on surprises.
Tsurumaru Kuninaga has been practicing his dance for weeks, now, in preparation for both the festival, and the surprise.
And Sachiko? Well, she's never been one to pressure her swords into doing anything but following their own whims, so long as they behave and listen to her when it's important. Perhaps that endeared her, in a way, to Tsurumaru. Perhaps it hadn't, and this was one more thing to try and surprise her. Whatever the case, when he stops, poses, grins, asks if she's surprised...
She blinks. Lets her head tilt to the side ever so slightly, as if she's considering... something. The question, perhaps? The execution? The pose itself?]
Were you... intending for your practice to be secret, Tsurumaru?
[So. Not surprised. Pleased, yes, as indicated by the shadow of a smile on her features, but not surprised.]
[While, yes, ideally she would have been the one surprised, she knows that if Tsurumaru is one of her representatives then many, many other saniwa and government officials will be the ones surprised, and that would surely count for something.]
I was merely checking your progress, Tsurumaru. You may carry on, if you'd like.
[So... she'd known what he was up to for a while now, yet refrained from peeking in at him before he had a chance to work most of the kinks out of the performance. She only wanted to see her swords at their best, after all, if she could help it.]
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Tsurumaru Kuninaga has been practicing his dance for weeks, now, in preparation for both the festival, and the surprise.
And Sachiko? Well, she's never been one to pressure her swords into doing anything but following their own whims, so long as they behave and listen to her when it's important. Perhaps that endeared her, in a way, to Tsurumaru. Perhaps it hadn't, and this was one more thing to try and surprise her. Whatever the case, when he stops, poses, grins, asks if she's surprised...
She blinks. Lets her head tilt to the side ever so slightly, as if she's considering... something. The question, perhaps? The execution? The pose itself?]
Were you... intending for your practice to be secret, Tsurumaru?
[So. Not surprised. Pleased, yes, as indicated by the shadow of a smile on her features, but not surprised.]
no subject
It would have been a wonderful surprise, don't you think?
( And he breaks his position, shifting into a resting position and standing tall in front of her. )
Did you need something, aruji?
( Had she come looking for him? )
no subject
[While, yes, ideally she would have been the one surprised, she knows that if Tsurumaru is one of her representatives then many, many other saniwa and government officials will be the ones surprised, and that would surely count for something.]
I was merely checking your progress, Tsurumaru. You may carry on, if you'd like.
[So... she'd known what he was up to for a while now, yet refrained from peeking in at him before he had a chance to work most of the kinks out of the performance. She only wanted to see her swords at their best, after all, if she could help it.]