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Strangers in a Strange Land (Open)
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Post by Judah and Agnusmon on Aug 4, 2018 18:14:40 GMT
"Don't forget to bring your Bible!" Judah heard his mother call out as the teenager opened their apartment door leading outside to Shibuya. Judah grimaced, realizing he had not, in fact, packed the leather-clad Good Book with him. Worse, it also meant he left his bag of other spiritual knick-knacks--his Catholic rosary, Orthodox triple-armed cross, Buddhist prayer beads, a quite literal grab bag of crystals he clandestinely purchased at a New Age store when his parents were out of town, and even a spellbag of Voodoo lineage, among others--out in his room. He raced back inside the house, past his mother making a late breakfast and his father who silently studied a book on the Shinto religion with his own Bible nearby (no doubt taking notes for apologetics work), and into his small bedroom. He scanned over the contents, passing over his Baseball posters, a laptop gathering dust on his desk, and finally locked eyes on a small satchel. Bingo! He grabbed the enclosed bag and stuffed it inside his larger backpack. That was close. As Judah left the room again, he was greeted by his mother, Bethany. She, like Judah's father, was in her forties, but looked younger. She wore a warm smile and a dangling cross. "You can't forget what's most important to you, right?" She asked with a warm but critical tone. "I was just testing you," Judah shot back with a smirk. "Where are you going today?" Judah's father, John, called back. He turned away from his religious studies to his son. Judah definitely inherited his father's looks: more charming and charismatic than conventionally attractive, but still attractive enough to garner quite a following within their Baptist community. The only physical trait Judah didn't seem to gain from his father's genes was his hair color: Judah bore a shaggy crown of sandy blond hair, just like his mother. "I'm going out to the river with a few guys from the school. They say it's beautiful down there, so I'm pretty excited," Judah beamed. Despite his best efforts to charm his way into the hearts of Shibuya teenagers around him, Judah had quickly learned that cultural differences had made that much more difficult than expected. He wasn't adjusting well to not having friends, so the prospect of making friends with some other guys in his school made the day feel brighter. Judah knew it would be a good day. "Good on you, son," John Fairweather smiled. "Don't forget: be the salt and light of the Earth. It's why we're here in Shibuya, in Japan," he added. Judah clutched at a cross he was wearing. "I know, Dad." * * * Judah made his way down from his apartment and toward the street leading to the river. He was told by the other guys--Kaito, Itsuki, and Sado--to meet them here. Judah scanned the street, realizing how different the scenery was to his hometown in Georgia, and then made sure it was the right meetup space. It checked the text message on his phone, looked up at the sign: yep, it was...so why weren't the guys there yet? It was the right time, after all...Hell, Judah got there a few minutes early, just in case. The missionary son sighed and leaned against the nearby post. He settled in, realizing he would likely be in for a wait...assuming it wasn't another prank. OOC: This thread is open for all. I'm completely new to the site, so Judah hasn't even obtained his digivice or Digimon just yet. My plan is to have Judah, and whatever group he's with, end up in the Digital World for a short adventure. Feel free to join up if interested! Next thread is HERE |
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Post by Judah and Agnusmon on Aug 6, 2018 16:15:00 GMT
Judah thumbed through his phone idly to occupy himself. His friends--Kaito, Itsuki, and Sado--were late for the planned trip to Shibuya's famed river, and Judah hadn't the slightest clue what to do about it. So, like any other American teen stuck in an awkward situation with an unforeseen amount of time on his hands: he played on his phone. Time flowed on by as slow as molasses before the blond-haired, green-eyed Judah heard the sound of laughter heading toward him.
A trio of Japanese teenagers were making their way down the street. They were laughing and chatting loudly among themselves paying no heed to the quiet stares from other passersby. Judah knew who they were just by the sound of their voices: Kaito, Itsuki, and Sado. Kaito wore typical black slacks, an unbuttoned white shirt, and a graphic t-shirt underneath that; Itsuki wore blue jeans, an untucked tunic-style shirt, and a buttoned vest over that along with a fedora crowning his head; and Sado wore a pair of loose-fitting athletic shorts and an overly large Japanese basketball jersey.
"Yo, Judah!" Kaito called out from down the street, a wicked grin spreading across his face. A dozen or so people between the two teens looked up with judgmental glares. Judah waved, trying to remain silent.
"What?!" Sato shouted. "Can't hear you!" He grinned. Now, the crowd was starting to fixate more on the American than the loud Japanese teens.
"I thought we were meeting at 10?" Judah called back, smirking. The three dropped their playful demeanor and replaced it with looks of indignation.
"That's foreigner time, idiot," Kaito spat as the three drew near to Judah.
"We're here now, and that's what matters. Right, Judy-chan?" Itsuki flashed a grin.
"Thanks for noticing my girlish figure. No one's even complimented my hair yet," Judah shot back with a grin matching Itsuki's.
Kaito huffed, but Itsuki and Sado laughed defiantly. "Come on. It's a rite of passage for foreigners to see the Shibuya river in all its glory. Trust me, you've never seen something as beautiful as this," Itsuki continued, this time pointing the group along their trajectory down the street.
"Where are they going to fit a majestic river? Between these apartment complexes?" Judah asked, more sarcastically than he intended.
"You insulting our pristine Japanese landscapes, huh?" Sado whipped as the foursome walked down the street toward the river. Judah bit his tongue, thinking silence would be golden at that moment.
* * *
A short walk later, the quartet of teenagers crested over a slight hill between two concrete apartment complexes. Running between two of them, as Judah unintentionally predicted, was the Shibuya river. It was flanked with heavy concrete walls that were coated with grime and creeping mold. The river was low, but the water still looked like a barely moving trail of sludge.
Itsuki guided the others into an alley behind one of the adjacent buildings. The alley was littered with garbage and other refuse. A cracking staircase led from the alley to the river's walls, and the heaps of garbage and litter only seemed to grow the closer they got to the river.
"So, whaddya think? Isn't she a real beauty?" Itsuki called back. The three waited for Judah's response.
"The real Jewel of Shibuya, if you ask me," Judah cracked.
"Hey! No one insults Shibuya to our faces!" Sado growled, then kicked a bag of trash into the river out of anger. He fumed at Judah for a few seconds before the trio burst into raucous laughter.
"You really had him going!" Kaito howled, then kicked a plastic cup into the river.
"Okay. Judah, if you want to roll with us, then you've got to be part of our crew--you've got to act how the crew acts, you get it?" Itsuki announced. He nodded to a pile of overflowing trash bags. "You know what to do. And, it's not like anyone's gonna care. This place is a dump, so get to dumping."
Judah paused and took in the situation. He wanted friends here, but these guys were tough contenders. Starting out with light polluting and littering, sure, but where would that lead? "Doesn't it say not to litter in Shintoism? Like, aren't we insulting the Shibuya river kami?"
The trio's mouths fell agape then, in unison, they burst into laughter. "Oh no, not the kami! Do you think every Japanese person practices Shinto? You idiot!" Kaito roared with laughter. Judah's face burned; he traced his finger along a cross hidden in his pocket to sooth the embarrassment.
"Joke's over, foreigner. Are you with us, or are you against us?" Itsuki and the others loomed overhead.
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Post by Judah and Agnusmon on Aug 8, 2018 16:58:31 GMT
"Dude, why are wanting to mess with--" Judah sputtered, his options for how to handle the situation dwindling before his eyes.
"Dude!" Kaito mocked.
"Duuude!" Sado mimicked, and the two laughed at Judah's expense.
Itsuki rolled his eyes. "If you don't want to be seen as such a foreigner, then just do what we say? It's not even that hard."
Judah cringed. For one, Judah had always been able to talk his way out of situations like this. He had his father's natural stage presence and a youthful charisma all his own. It didn't help that he would often walk his way into those situations with his big mouth, but at least he knew how to handle himself. He felt like a stranger in a strange land here, surrounded by customs he didn't quite understand and people he couldn't quite read. Judah was out of his element. He knew that polluting the river was wrong no matter how dirty it already was, yet he was forced into some rite of passage for foreigners that involved him betraying his moral code. It felt more like a hazing.
The preacher's son grabbed a nearby bag of trash tentatively. He peered inside, trying to prolong the inevitable. It was filled with scrap electronics: old phones with cracked screens, old wall-mounted telephones, broken motherboards, and a few other gadgets and gizmos he couldn't identify. "Better this than anything, I suppose," Judah muttered and hoisted the bag upright.
"Now you're doing it," Itsuki announced, grinning.
Judah shot a glance from Itsuki, to Sado, to Kaito, and then to the Shibuya river. This stretch of river, even compared to up- or down-stream, seemed particularly ill-managed, like it had been forgotten about just like the rest of the tenants living around it. Bottles and cardboard McDonald's containers visibly floated atop the sludge-filled canal. Judah knew that he wouldn't be causing the problem, but only adding to it. He sighed. He knew what he had to do.
Judah pulled out his cell-phone, bag of trash still hanging loosely in his other hand. He pulled up an app on his phone, then grinned into the unblinking camera eye. "Howdy, folks! Judah here streaming on Facebook Live. Do y'all miss me back in the States? I miss y'all, don't you worry about that."
Ituski looked to Kaito and Sado before angrily whispering: "What the hell are you doing?"
Judah pointed the camera in their direction. Sado and Kaito turned away, hiding their faces; Itsuki stared back in fuming paralysis. "I've made some new friends here already, though. Nice guys, just shy is all. Though, they've got some strange customs here in Japan, and I'm not just talking about wearing goggles when you don't need them. These guys want me to throw this bag of trash in that nasty river back there. Whaddya say, folks? Should I do it, or should I stand up for myself?"
Likes, hearts, and angry-faces began to float up from the screen. Judah's eyes locked with Itsuki's.
"Yo, Judah!" Itsuki cracked. Judah turned the camera to face him. "Don't throw that garbage in there, dude. We were just messing with you. It's what we do: we tease each other. Now you've gone and made us famous, huh?" Itsuki's face remained placid. "Get off your phone and let's go grab some ramen."
"Well, it looks like I've been had. Sorry for the drama, folks. I'll keep you in the loop. Until next time, friends!" Judah signed off of Facebook Live, then put the phone in his pocket--
--Well, he would have if Sado hadn't rushed him from behind. The large Japanese teen easily wrapped Judah's arms in his own, restraining his movement, while Kaito simply plucked the phone away. He opened it, found the recent livestream, and deleted it. Then, he snapped the phone in half.
"Judah," Itsuki started, a grin curling across his face. "You could have been a good addition to our crew. But, do you know what your problem is?"
"I tend to associate with negative peers. That's a big one, I think," Judah shot back with a dumb smile.
Kaito jabbed Judah in the stomach causing him to invisibly vomit the air in his lungs.
"Your problem is: you're not loyal. So, we're going to have to cut you from our crew. No hard feelings. Hope the smell comes out easy." Itsuki nodded to Sado, who then dragged Judah to the edge of the concrete ravine. Then, without any further fanfare, the large teenager threw Judah down into the muck.
Time felt like it was slowing down with each inch the preacher's kid fell. It was a deep fall, maybe 8 feet before he would cut through the river's stinking skin. The ironic thing about the whole turn of events was that Judah had apparently forgotten to drop the bag of trash he had picked up. It now opened up and cascaded down past him and into the river, all while Kaito and Sado laughed from the concrete walkway above. Then, something else fell out from the bag: something that the three bullies didn't see. It looked like an old, handheld GPS device with more curve to it. It was thick with rubber protective strips, a stubby antenna, and a screen flanked by a few large buttons. The screen's perimeter was adorned with symbols he hadn't seen before: letters in a language he did not know. As he plummeted, the strange device seemed to float alongside him. Judah reached out to grab it out of instinct, pressed one of the buttons on accident, and saw the screen light up for a moment: "L O A D I N G"
Then, an explosion of light and data surged out of the device and enveloped him. Judah was gone before he touched the river.
OOC: Judah is off to the Digital World! If anyone wants to meet him there, I'll post a link to the next chapter here. Feel free to join up any time!
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