a writer's workshop.

[Ariyasu]

This is an invite-only thread. Looking for plot? PM me!

---

As a child, her grandparents used to take her to "Wacky Watanabe's Water World", on the outskirts of the Land of Hot Springs. This was, of course, before war had ravaged the lands. When buying a ticket to sail from Cha no Kuni to the mainland was as easy and safe as taking a trip to the grocery store. She remembered those days fondly, her summers spent at the water park. And as the dimly-lit cabin she was in rocked and groaned with the waves of the storm that passed beneath it, Erihana couldn't help but immerse herself in those memories of yore.

She released a brief sigh, pausing from her work at the desk and letting her pencil fall flat on its surface. This weather was absolutely distracting. Her muse was shot, and her mind wandered far too often. What usually took her minutes to write was now on the verge of taking her hours. So, finding the entire attempt pointless, the slender young woman slid off of her seat and approached the coat rack beside the entrance of her rented room. There she retrieved her long brown trench coat, zipping it up over her frame before sliding on her hood. Wavy brown locks of hair stood out from the shadow of her cowl. Ready to embark, the girl set off to leave and ventured out into the mist-plagued rainfall.

The wooden platforms that constituted as streets in Mizu no Miyaku, unlike the establishments that built up this part of the floating city, where far more stable and unmoving. Which, Erihana reasoned, was better than having to hire a boat to get around. Lamposts lined these wooden streets, illuminating the paths as the Shikigami walked through the downfall of rain and past the waves of mist that cascaded over the municipality. The wooden railings that bordered the platforms, crafted in a traditional Japanese manner, were very beautiful. Well, not just beautiful- but reassuring. As anyone who stumbled off the wooden platform would most likely fall into the deep, cold abyss that was the sea beneath the city. These precautionary measures prevented a lot of that, thankfully. But Erihana wondered how far the railings went before touching solid ground. It was all very interesting.

Crystalline blue eyes, curiously peering out from the shadows of her cowl, caught sight of a bright inn afar. A two-story complex, windows boarded up due to the storm, but the bat-wing doors open to entry. Eager for a hot chocolate, Erihana briskly moved towards the establishment- her trench-coated figure moving swiftly in the rainy night. When she reached the entrance, she didn't bother taking her hood off. Instead, she walked into the relatively empty place of business, striding through its lounge and past the myriad of wooden chairs and tables. And when she reached the bar-kitchen, she slid her frame onto a stool and politely waited to catch the waitresses attention. The blonde woman in her forties behind the counter, tending to the dishes in her sink, looked over her shoulder at the Shikigami. And it was then that the writer smiled, facial features masked in shadow as she spoke.

"Hello~!"