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newyearcntdownTitle: Trimming the Tree
Author/Artist:jordannamorgan
Length: 300 words.
Summary: The Kabaneri help make a traditional New Year's decoration.
Rating: G.
Warnings: None.
Notes: The title is the prompt used. (Though granted, this is a different take on "trimming the tree".)
Fandom: Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress
Disclaimer: They belong to Kabaneri Committee. I'm just giving them love. :)
“Ikoma! Come help us make the kadomatsu for New Year’s!”
Leaving off his endless technical notes, Ikoma smiled and approached Kajika’s orphans as they wrestled with several thick, leafless bamboo poles. He had seen the stalks being cut down during one of the train’s recent stops, but he hadn’t realized what they were intended for.
“It looks like you could use some help cutting those,” he observed wryly. As he took a knife and set to work trimming the bamboo into short lengths, each with a sharply angled end, the children began dragging other vegetation out of a sack: pine boughs, red leafless twigs, sprays of bright orange berries that managed to survive the winter’s first snow.
After a few minutes, he felt Mumei’s shadow fall over him. “What are you guys doing?”
“We’re making kadomatsu with bamboo and pine branches for New Year’s Day,” Ichinoshin said earnestly, squinting at her. “Haven’t you ever done that?”
Mumei frowned. “I… kinda remember it? …But not really. What are they for?”
Kotaro grinned. “You’re supposed to put them outside your door. They bring good luck and drive away demons.”
“That’s silly,” Mumei muttered. “There are no demons, just Kabane. And people make their own luck…” Catching a reproving glance from Ikoma, she squirmed. “But still, this stuff is pretty. So what do you do with it?”
Soon the children were happily demonstrating to Mumei how to make a kadomatsu: how to group the pieces of bamboo in threes and tie them with rope, how to tuck in several pine branches around them, how to decorate them with the more colorful twigs and berries. Ikoma watched with satisfaction as his fellow Kabaneri lost herself in the creative effort.
Good luck charm or not, the kadomatsu had something to teach her, all the same.
2021 Jordanna Morgan
Author/Artist:
jordannamorganLength: 300 words.
Summary: The Kabaneri help make a traditional New Year's decoration.
Rating: G.
Warnings: None.
Notes: The title is the prompt used. (Though granted, this is a different take on "trimming the tree".)
Fandom: Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress
Disclaimer: They belong to Kabaneri Committee. I'm just giving them love. :)
“Ikoma! Come help us make the kadomatsu for New Year’s!”
Leaving off his endless technical notes, Ikoma smiled and approached Kajika’s orphans as they wrestled with several thick, leafless bamboo poles. He had seen the stalks being cut down during one of the train’s recent stops, but he hadn’t realized what they were intended for.
“It looks like you could use some help cutting those,” he observed wryly. As he took a knife and set to work trimming the bamboo into short lengths, each with a sharply angled end, the children began dragging other vegetation out of a sack: pine boughs, red leafless twigs, sprays of bright orange berries that managed to survive the winter’s first snow.
After a few minutes, he felt Mumei’s shadow fall over him. “What are you guys doing?”
“We’re making kadomatsu with bamboo and pine branches for New Year’s Day,” Ichinoshin said earnestly, squinting at her. “Haven’t you ever done that?”
Mumei frowned. “I… kinda remember it? …But not really. What are they for?”
Kotaro grinned. “You’re supposed to put them outside your door. They bring good luck and drive away demons.”
“That’s silly,” Mumei muttered. “There are no demons, just Kabane. And people make their own luck…” Catching a reproving glance from Ikoma, she squirmed. “But still, this stuff is pretty. So what do you do with it?”
Soon the children were happily demonstrating to Mumei how to make a kadomatsu: how to group the pieces of bamboo in threes and tie them with rope, how to tuck in several pine branches around them, how to decorate them with the more colorful twigs and berries. Ikoma watched with satisfaction as his fellow Kabaneri lost herself in the creative effort.
Good luck charm or not, the kadomatsu had something to teach her, all the same.
2021 Jordanna Morgan
