Starring:
Reina, Emmi
Date: May 3, 2014
Summary:
Reina hears Emmi’s decision about joining Hakumei. It comes with an initiation test unlike any other.
"Drink With No Regrets"
Cliffs of Kirigakure
Reina has asked Emmi to meet her, with a final answer as to whether she'll join Hakumei. Regardless, even if Emmi says no, Reina still wishes to meet her…atop the cliff. There's not a visible way to walk up besides tree walking. Reina left a helpful marker at the base of the cliff where Emmi can walk up…and up…and up…it has an amazing view of the village and surrounding landscape, but the wall is jagged and crumbling in some places. A precarious climb to Reina who is already sitting happily up top, on a flat area covered in sparse grass. Waiting and watching from two hundred feet high.
- Having been asked for a final verdict on Hakumei, Emmi spent some time thinking. It was a big commitment, or so she figured, and it meant that she had to take it seriously. After a significant amount of thought, she decides that she would do it. For Emmi, tree walking was not a problem. She was more than capable of doing so, and so she did. Emmi ascended the cliff in an attempt to meet Reina. Despite knowing that it was something she could do, there was enough precariousness in the ascent that she found herself slowing down slightly on the way up in order to remain alive to reach the summit. Upon doing so, she gives Reina a wave. -
Reina nods to Emmi and says solemnly, "If you wish to join Hakumei, you must jump off this cliff and survive the fall."
She waits to see whether Emmi will do it, for about ten seconds. Then, she laughs and shakes her head. "Only a joke. So what have you decided? Will you try to get in? I've seen that you think this is some kind of initiation right. I made one, of sorts. But if you accept you /must/ do it, and you can't back out." Her grin is sly. "So are you willing to do an initiation that may make you fall down and pass out from the effort? It's something a person like you has never done before. Hehehe."
- Emmi steps over to the edge of the cliff and looks down before giving Reina an incredulous look. "Really…?" When Reina admits that it was just a joke, she smirks. "Well, I decided to join, but jumping off a cliff seems like a bit of… a leap of faith. But whatever else you have is probably more promising." She chuckles and places her hands on her hips. "Let's do it." -
Reina smiles slowly when Emmi says she'll join Hakumei. Then she takes out a summoning scroll. It bursts into steam and when it clears there's several things: a box, a blanket, and a package. She spreads the blanket out and places rocks on the corners so it won't be blown away. She unwraps the package to reveal a heap of crab legs to eat. And in the box there are about twenty bottles of shochu. She grins. "We're eating crab," she says. She taps the box. "And if you can finish your half of the shochu before you pass out, you get to join Hakumei." She takes one of the crab legs, opening it and just tossing the shell on the ground. She takes out her first bottle and gulps it down within a minute. "I have more crab, but don't get so full you can't get through the shochu. Hehehe."
- Emmi returns the smile, but it fades as she suddenly becomes suspicious of Reina's motives. Once the food is laid out in front of her, she plops down and prepares for the challenge. "Well… I suppose I cannot deny that I love crab, but I don't know how much I can drink." She chuckles awkwardly, obviously concerned she cannot handle it. However, the foreigner picks up a leg, snaps it off at the joint, slides its apart, then splits it open to remove the meat. "Itadakimasu!~" -
Reina smiles and says, "Eat some of these first. You'll need to pad your stomach to help with the alcohol." She grins. "Some like to drink all at once before it can catch up with them. Others like to take it slow and steady. Heh." So they began. Reina steadily eats through the crab legs, and then summons another package when the first runs out. Seems she bought quite a lot for the occassion. She drinks through her half, and within only ten minutes she's finished four of ten.
- Emmi is a slow drinker, but a hearty eater. She drinks periodically, but the majority of the time she is snapping crablegs apart and devouring the delicious interior. "Hmm… I'm not much for alcohol." She comments as an aside. "But… I will see if I can handle it." She then look at Reina. "So, I just have to finish it, but you've not stated how I need to finish it." -
Reina points to the box which once held twenty bottles. "Like I said. Finish your half. Half of these twenty bottles means you have to drink ten in full." She chuckles. "It's good shochu, I made sure of that. The crab legs are fresh." They really were, and they seem in abundant supply. As Reina grows full, she doesn't seem to be slowing on the alcohol. In fact, she's drinking more and after awhile she starts to talk. "We'll strike out and go on adventures. Whatever you wish…whatever you need…Hakumei is freedom. Life." She nods.
- Emmi frowns at the box of alcohol and picks up another bottle. "Ughh… I'd rather jump off the cliff." She quips before tipping it back and making an attempt at draining it. Finding success means she has finished off three, and a healthy portion of the crab. "Mmm.. I see. I think we'll have plenty to do. Maybe I'll go see Sunagakure, that place seems neat." -
Reina gives a burp. As delicious as the crab legs are, she finds herself getting full. She'd brought enough to feed four. She liked crab. The shochu was good, and it seemed to be getting easier to drink. She nods to Emmi. "I do like Sunagakure. I was there for the first time just a couple weeks ago. I lived in the Land of Wind…never been to Suna before, though." She tosses the shell off a cliff. Hopefully no one is standing there with crab shells raining down.
- Emmi nods. "Maybe we'll go check it out then. That little Okumo girl wants to go as well, and she is pretty cool, maybe we could take her with?" She comments as she tries to down another bottle, but it seems to be getting the better of her. The foreigner lets out a sigh and performs a quick handseal, activating some hidden seals along her arms that generate ash needed to form one of her puppets. It trickles to the ground and forms up next to her, generating the form of Shi Jianqiao, who then takes over drinking for her while the little foreign girl worries about devouring the crab that she apparently loved. -
A wave of fire burns the ash to…well, whatever it will burn into. But not before Reina snatches the bottle of shochu away and hands it back to Emmi. She grins. "Sorry, but no. It was a creative idea. But you have to drink it, not them." She looks curiously at Emmi. "You can always give up, but this is it. If you can't drink your ten then give up. But you won't be initiated into Hakumei, ever." She gulps down two more bottles then, and is soon on her ninth. She can't eat any more crab legs, but she's still packing the shochu down, albeit a little queasily.
- Emmi watches as the puppet… is unphased by Reina's attempt to burn something that is the product of being burned… seems illogical. However, Emmi seems to unerstand, then looks at the bottles. "I… I can't even fit that much. Its… not physically possible! The content outweighs the volume of my… my body!" She throws up her hands, accidently launching a crableg over the edge which she watches before it disappears from sight. "Well.. that was odd." She then turns back to Reina. "So unfair…" -
The Miira looks at the ash puppet curiously when it seems unfazed. Reina smiles to Emmi. "There is that possibility," she says. "And don't forget you have to walk all the way down the cliff eventually, regardless of what state you're in." She grabs her tenth bottle and drinks. "Your body digests it. It's not like everything you eat and drink is sloshing about your stomach right now, or you'd have crab legs poking out of your mouth. Heh." She finishes her tenth shochu. "Whew!"
- Emmi dismisses the the puppet and it bursts into ash before returning to its seal. "Pfft… it digests a lot slower than I'd have to consu-…" She suddenly sways to the side, then tips over, groaning. "I… I feel sick… I think the crabs want to go back to the sea…:: -
Reina flops down. "Ugh," she groans. She closes her eyes and for a moment she appears to have fallen asleep. But then she opens them and looks at Emmi curiously. And she says very plainly, "Emmi-chan, I have some advice for you. Walk down this cliff right now. You are not willing or glad to do as we do in Hakumei. You have the bravery, but not the ruthlessness. You have loyalty, but not to us. If you join and toss this aside casually, I'll hunt you down. If you choose to join…you must be with us. This isn't a club, it's not a hobby, it's a way of life. Do you understand?"
- Emmi sits up again and rubs at her temples. "I… I'm sorry… I never drink, its just… I dont know if I can consume all of this." She frowns, and then nods at Reina's comments. "Well…" She pushes herself to her feet. "I suppose if this is the test and I can't… can't do it… then maybe I am not the proper mater-material for this group." She takes a step towards the cliff and then falls flat on her face. -
Reina looks drowsily at Emmi on the ground. Then she glances wearily into the box. Hmm, the girl drank more than half. Reina smirks. She did better than Reina thought. Reina makes a few seals. Heat surrounds her and burns within, burning away much of the alcohol and leaving her with a headache that is about to split her head open. She winces and goes over to nudge Emmi. "How are you, Emmi-chan?" she says wryly.
- Emmi moves, a sort of shifting semi roll-thing before she lets out a groan. "I think I am going to hurl, and lying on my stomach isn't make… making it any… b-better…" She gets to her hands and knees and scurries to the edge of the cliff to hurl over the ledge. Now it'd be a good thing if no one was down there. -
Reina goes over to watch the epic fall of the vomit. She actually laughs. She pats Emmi's back. "You did well," she says. "Emmi-chan, I need to tell you something. "We all have things outside of Hakumei. But your mistress cannot be involved. You cannot speak to her about the jobs we do, or what our agenda is. If you choose to join, this part of your life will be separate and forbidden to her." She pauses. "Emmi-chan, I'll be leaving Kiri soon. Now that you've agreed to join, think of where your loyalties lie. And if you're uncertain you can keep our secrets from her, don't come to the dock. Just stay here and it will pass." Then she gathers her stuff and goes down the mountain.
