The Great and Wonderful Escape

[3ho]

Lanterns sway overhead as the evening sun fades beyond the shrine gates, painting the festival grounds in gold and crimson. The scent of grilled yakitori and sweet teriyaki drifts through crowded streets while laughter, music, and the rhythm of taiko drums echo through the night.

Stalls line the pathways with masks, charms, games, and prizes, while performers gather beneath strings of glowing lights to celebrate another unforgettable summer festival. Whether you’ve come for the food, the fireworks, the dancing, or simply the atmosphere, tonight promises memories worth carrying home. Both nationals and internationals were all partaking in the festival to experience Japan in its fullest.

Atsuta Festival was here in Japan.

There were somethings that were just special and to Morgan this had to have been one of the most.

At one of the breakaways from the main festival grounds was a staged set up of musicians and dancers performing some traditional song and dance, heavily based around the thrum of a large drum centered in the tower. Yet the drummer was a special guest, apparent by her long blonde hair.

Morgan, as a special guest performer, was given the honor to whack away at the large percussion instrument as the night wound down. The crowd had gathered observing and dancing along with the music. Yet there was a little surprise in store for the grand finale. Something to end the night and the festival with a bit of shock and awe...

[CyanDimitrik]

It was with much hesitation and reluctance that Camille found herself leaving the apartment this evening. She didn't like the idea of leaving Nana Lola behind with Diego and Marisol, but it was at the grandmother's firm insistence. And as much as she was grudging to admit it, there was a point behind it.

Go out, get a feel for the people you're supposed to amaze.

A performer is only as good as they can connect with their audience.

Whether it was a showcase of whip skills, dancing, or even professional wrestling, it's true. And coming from a family of entertainers, Lola wasn't the first one to put that to her. But the people of México were easier - those were her people. She understood them. Literally! Here in Japan, it's all different. And that has never been more evident to her than the moment they had stepped off the plane.

So it's true. She needs to get a sense of the people. At least watch them. Maybe try to practice linguistics - or at least even understand what they're saying. That's an uphill battle, too. So with a heavy sigh and an assurance that she's just a phonecall away, Camille ventured out into the golden rays of the setting sun.

Night had already fallen by the time she found the festival. Her phone was out, periodically scanning signs and flyers around her for her translation app to make sense of the mysterious moon etchings of the far east, and it eventually lead her here. But what a sight it turned out to be. The glowing lanterns hung by string, the people, the outfits, it was all so magical and beautifully alien to her. She'd pause to stare with openly excited interest and admiration for the displays, she'd inspect from a (safe) distance the curious and extremely local cuisine, and found herself drifting along with the throngs of bodies.

She definitely stood out as a foreign girl. But people weren't paying her any mind. Camille had a way of vanishing into crowds; something about her minimal, edging on mousy demeanor. And finally, she found her way to the very back reaches of an audience watching a combination of exotic music and dance. Hands clasped together beneath her chin, unabashedly enthralled smile worn on her unblemished face, hazel-green eyes wide with fascination.

The girl with the long blonde hair is noticed, but it's difficult to see too much of her from this distance. She clearly stands out as foreign, too! But no doubt she's fully assimilated, given she's up there and doing the thing in this obviously important gig!

[3ho]

DOOOM! DOOOOM! DOOOOOM!

The great percussion thundered with life as Morgan smacked away at the large drum reverberated through the small plaza. She loved it. It wasn't very often for Morgan to find herself smacking away at instruments like this, surprisingly. Sure, she often saw a few things like giant gongs and drums backstage on some of her performances but other than a playful tapping at some of them, she had never played them. Not like this.

Okay, yeah, this wasn't exactly playing an instrument. She wasn't a musician, but this was easy as she had been taught a little bit to play to the rhythm of the whole show. The dancers surrounding the side of the stage were chanting and Morgan knew Japanese enough to know when in their melodic tale that they were chanting to provide the 'oomph' of bass. It was simple but it was rather beautiful. All the more reason that she'd appreciate such an opportunity as an obvious foreigner. As the show continued it seemed to pick up in pace in a foreboding sense. This was, after all, a story about death!

Morgan pounded away until finally she had her cue and she leapt up onto the railing of her tower. She held a hand over her chest and seemed to weaken, acting her heart out which was internally funny to her so she played it up. She appeared as if she were going to faint. Several of the other performers marched over with a casket, opening it for her just underneath and then...

She fell.

Plummeted right into the open casket with a dull thud as the pallbearers dipped it down upon impact. The crowd gasped, recoiling verbally as if they were the ones to fall.

The casket snapped closed and the pallbearers marched around the lower platform as they continued to chant and sing only without the drum, it seemed something was missing. There was still a melody but it felt almost silent without the thundering booms to carry the performance along.

Of course, that was the point and while the crowd watched the casket and the performers, there was a blonde stirring just not in the place you'd expect.

The casket made another lap and then they set it down, sullen faces and expressing sorrow as if the blonde had her funeral right then and there. Yet mere seconds later...

DOOOM! DOOOOM! DOOOOOM!

Morgan was up in the tower pounding away at the drum again. Exclaims came from both the performers and the crowd and the show entered its final song, a cheerful end!

[CyanDimitrik]

The whole thing was met with the open fascination of an extra-terrestrial observing alien culture. Of course, Camille's inability to speak Japanese was part of the reason she was being pushed (and pushing herself!) to get out there and try to absorb. But it comes with some complications. Namely, in this moment, that she doesn't comprehend what the heck she's witnessing within any kind of context. She just thought this was a musical diddy!

The blonde hops up, and Camille's eyes widen in surprise. Then.. oh no. Oh no! Is she having a heart attack? Why is there a casket!?

The blonde falls right into it, and Camile quacks out a startled, "Ua!"

Maybe whatever they're saying in Japanese would make this turn of events make sense? She has to believe it would. Everyone else seems thrilled and not missing a beat! Aside from the beat clearly missing from the stage now, anyway! Quick, ponytail-flopping checks to her right and left confirm that this is totally a normal thing and not at all a bizarre public sacrifice with music and dancing. So, she turns her focus onto the stage again, a touch more nonplussed.

And suddenly, as if God were correcting a glitch, the blonde was back in place again! Pounding away! How did that happen? She was in the coffin earlier!

The teen laughs, despite herself, and offers cheerful applause. It's a show, whatever it is! And she'll have to find out what the heck it's all about! But after the performance! Who knows if the singers might all 'die' dramatically like dominoes? No way she's going to miss that!