The Elements Of Gensokyo - Act One: Borderful Infestation Parasite

[[Y]oukai [J]esus]

Current Time: 6pm. WHAT? HOW CAN THIS BE?
---

The first to arrive was Rhiseza along with Youmu, standing in the outskirts overlooking a big shrine. Forests of lush greenery surround a big, red temple. At it's entrance, two large, aggressive-looking stone lions stand upon pillars of stone. Their paws outstretched, each atop a ball. In their mouths, lies a gold ball. They stand, guarding the large entrance, which are two big red wooden doors, that are now wide open. The sun is setting, and atop of the red roof of the shrine, one can see the sun at it's tip, just like how one can see the sun's rising and setting in stonehenge. It's large wooden main structure seems to resemble the Hakurei Shrine, but the onoshiburas along the walls remind some of Moriya Shrine.

Why it took the group so long, who knows? But now, time for business. Aesera, Kanako, Alice and Alyssa arrive next, following shortly by Mokou and Ranna. They admire the shrine's majestic beauty, but only for a short while. There are still people in the shrine, saying their prayers and talking to the mikos. Behind the people, there lies a donation box looking much like the one in Hakurei Shrine. Standing behind it is the only monk in the shrine. Kanjou. Kanjou Tamashii.

Almost after noticing Kanjou, Kanako spots something atop the roof. Something green, waving in the wind, and a pink parasol. There stands Yuuka Kazami, the Youkai of Flowers. The sun sets behind her, giving her body a kind of grand aura of sorts. Looking like you're from a movie there, Yuuka.

Nanaya, Newan, Nazrin, Gale and Orin arrive, with Orin running up first to the group. The breeze comes and flows through the area, along with a flying Mystia from the east, who doesn't seem to care about the people in the shrine. The people can't see her, anyway. On the ground walks Vante, spinning one of his bamboo sticks.

Time to set their plan into action...

Or not?

Kasen waits in the trees, her eyes completely red, hiding... Lurking... Stalking...

---Nobody is allowed to post until the Surprise comes.---

[[Y]oukai [J]esus]

---The Elemental Plane
--Voids Of Mystery
-Cove Of Enlightenment
Meltdown Genocide
-----------------------------------

No! Rinnosuke! You can't!

But I must! Gensokyo will fall after this... I have to...

You may be God. You may be god and my partner, Azeri, but nothing you say will change what I shall do!

...But... You'll fail! Chaos will take over you...

There is a chance. There is always a chance, Azeri. Believe in the me.

But that hope of yours is only a flicker.

As long as I can achieve what The Original One has failed to do...

Hybrid confronted Chaos! The Original One sought out an alternative...

Alurmi is gone. So is Acinaces. The Guardian perished. Even Destiny failed! What can you hope to achieve?! Rinnosuke?!

But I have the blessings of all of the Children! I can succeed!

All of them had our blessings! But look what has happened... Chaos took them all. Their souls, their bodies. And they turn our friends against us!

Trust me, Azeri, like how you trust your embodiment.

...Fine then, go. I wish for your success. I will withstand the pain.

"Then I shall go upon this endeavor. I will bring back the Blade Of Alexstrasza. I will awaken the guardians of the world."

"Be wary. If you fail, Gensokyo is lost. And what drove Chaos insane, will emerge. There are much greater evils than Chaos."
---

Rinnosuke walked out of the cave, pushing the floating, metal chains away as he swung his sword, cutting the air with a zing-like sound. He had much to do. Much to gain, much to accomplish. But the problem was this... Could he do it?

Outside of the cavern, Rinnosuke pulled off his clothes, revealing a shining, blue crystal armor that encased his entire body. It stuck to him like another layer of skin instead of something you put on yourself. Lightweight and extremely hard, this was one of Katelin's finest armors. Blue Crystaskin. Pulling up a small crystal from his robes, he pressed it on his forehead. The blue crystal grew and grew, completely covering his head, taking the form of a helmet. After a little stretching, Rinnosuke swung his sword in the air, rippling the energy in the atmosphere.

A gash appeared where he swung his blade, growing in size as seconds past. Rinnosuke turned back to look at his partner. Azeri was shreding tears, tears of lava. One of his friends was about to be taken away, and he could not stop it. Rinnosuke would not listen, and he would learn the hard way, but he believed, deep in his rocky core, that Rinnosuke could succeed, along with the embodiments.

Rinnosuke turned back to the newly-made portal, glowing with blue and purple energy. With a smile on his face, gripping his sword tight, he stepped into the portal. Into Gensokyo.




Just as planned. The dark figure grinned in the moonlight.

[Tamashii Kanjou]

18:00


It?s times like these? where things seemed a little too boring.

Sure, his ability didn?t help the matter. He could relate it to things seen in movies or TV shows, but to actually use it? it made what normality he was used to, suddenly seem boring. He called it a curse at times; though he couldn?t help the fact it had helped him for the most part. But even then, it wasn?t something he liked doing. In fact, using it to gather more people to the shrine was wrong; so he never thought about doing it.
No matter who pushed him to do so.
It seemed pretty busy, regardless. People flocked to his shrine for unknown reasons; wishing aside, some were simply there to confirm rumours of such an ability. Of course, he never showed it. In fact, it was only those that had pushed with ?information? that got to see it. But they weren?t normal? They were more like him. Come to think of it, he hadn?t seen them for a while now?

Well, apart from the spirit.

?Just giving you a warning.? He remembered the spirit chuckling. ?I felt something a little? nostalgic.?

Had it come from anyone else, he would have just shrugged it off as another person wishing for something from the past. But this was from her? from a spirit that had seen so much. A spirit who knew what was chasing him? It was the sole reason he had trained with her; if anyone knew how to defend themselves, she would. But it was different for a variety of reasons. It wasn?t training to fight? it felt more like training to stay alive.

?If you can?t hold up against me, how do you expect to hold up against them??

He watched on as the shrine maidens went to their business; talking with visitors in such a gentle tone. To think he had come a long way from having only one shrine maiden? in fact, it seemed quite some time ago. Ok, so part of it WAS down to his ability; but he hadn?t had complete control of it at the time? in fact, he still didn?t; but it was certainly better then what it was. His family had seen the progress their shrine had made and, suddenly, he was performing roles that really belonged to people older then he was. Though, he often felt older then he actually was; so maybe it went hand in hand.

No? that?s because of my ability; isn?t it?

He couldn?t tell if it was the amount of concentration he needed to use his ability that made him feel older, or if it was the duties he was having to do as a result of what he had done. Either way, that mysterious lady who told him about Gensokyo? the spirit who insisted on training him?

Yes? this really isn?t a normal life.

A couple of visitors approached him from in front of the donation box. Today was simply a normal day.

Yet? He could shake that feeling he had. The feeling of something happening? something bad.

It was probably at that point he noticed it. Something that was certainly not normal. He wasn?t sure if it was the huge circular rope on the back of one person, or if it was the sudden increase of people appearing.

?Huh? seems like it won?t be such a normal day after all.?

[[Y]oukai [J]esus]

(All of you can resume posting... Now! Hope you liked the surprise. I have another one soon~!)

[Aya Squawkermaru]

(OOC: Welcome to the group, Kanjou!)

Newan turned to the group. "So... what next? I say we go up and visit the shrine like you normally would before going to scout, but someone else may have a better idea," he said, making sure to keep his voice low.

"I think we should get the scouting done first, then hold the false attack as soon as we can so we have a reason to talk to him," Nazrin said, doing the same.

After giving his input, Newan made sure to back away from the group a bit. He was on edge with Mokou being there. I hope I don't have to be around these people much longer...

Nazrin gave Newan a worried look. [You sure you're alright over there?]

[Like I said, I don't like being around people. On top of that, the fire girl is here...]

[Sonae]

Overhearing Newan and Nazrin's conversation, she spoke up.
"A group go up and visit like normal. Say you're a tourist or something, and you happened to see a sign and decided to come and see the shrine for yourselves" She said with a gesture. "Since you'll be 'tourists' you have the excuse to look around. Explore any accessible place. If everything goes good we might not need to get inside the shrine." She said calmly. "It might be a better idea to take him to a more isolated place if Chaos is going to attack him. The last thing we want is to involve innocents who may be around"
She glanced around at the people in the group. "The ones who should go up shouldn't cause too much of a scene, So they should be people who wont stick out too much" She thought for a moment, looking around at all the faces here. She frowned, realizing there were many who would stick out too easily. She let out a sigh and spoke.
"Okay, First who's going to stay back here in our safety zone," She paused, looking at them all. "Mokou, you'll stay here"
Mokou looked confused and tried to speak but was cut off by Ranna.
"You'll stay here and guard Nanaya" She said. "Nazrin you'll also stay here, and act as a sort of communication line"
Mokou looked at Nazrin. "Couldn't Naz use 'er ability to determine where Chaos is hiding?"
Ranna shook her head. "We don't know who, or even what, is going to attack him." She looked to Alyssa and Rhiseza. "Ch...I'm reluctant to leave both of you here, because if something goes wrong, we'll need a healer...but if Chaos suddenly attacks you two, we wont have a healer at all...So I think it's best you two stay with Mokou"
Ranna turned her gaze to Mystia. Seeing her flying gave Ranna an idea. "Mystia, do you think you can watch the skies? Like fly up there and make sure nothing is coming that way. Just make sure you're not seen by people."
She gazed at the remainder of the group. "Gale....and Orin for that matter.....I don't know where would be best...Mystia shouldn't be alone..."
Ranna sighed for a moment, her expression becoming serious. "Aesera, Kanako, Alice, and Vante will head up to the shrine to scout. I'll be taking Youmu with me."
She glanced at each and every one of them before finishing her speech.
"Any objections?"

[Aya Squawkermaru]

Newan raised an eyebrow at her. "Uh-huh. And what do you propose I do? I'm not going to just sit around doing nothing, you know."

"Well, you've got no objections from me, anyway," Nazrin said, putting her hands behind her head. "Scouting around sounds boring. Besides, I'd rather stay here, where it's safe. Not that I'll turn tail and run if we have to fight, but as much as I want to save the guy, if I can help without having to fight, I'd rather do that."

"I'm not staying here," Newan interjected, suppressing the urge to shoot a glare at Mokou. "I'd rather have a look around than stay here." Even if Nanaya's here, I'll have nothing to do with Mokou. Besides, I can always take Nanaya with me. She doesn't need the fire girl to protect her. "Besides, I think I can handle protecting Nanaya, so she can scout around, too."

[Sonae]

Ranna's eyes sharpened into a glare. The violet in her eyes swirled, making her even more intimidating.
"You can go scout. But Nanaya is staying here. She's basically an innocent civillian. I'd prefer that Chaos doesn't take hostages this time around." The violet in her eyes swirledd as if mocking Newan. "Do I have to remind you about last time? Do you really want that to happen again?" a scowl crossed her face. "Next time, we might not be so lucky. Next time, we might not be able to save everyone..." She looked down for a moment then turned her sharp gaze back to Newan. "I don't care what you do, as long as it doesn't endanger the whole group." She loosens up a bit releasing a breath. She places her hands on her hips, "Remember, we're all in this together. We're the embodiments of Gods, chosen to fight against Chaos. Fate has us chained here. So rather than fighting amongst ourselves, we should get along." She says with the faintest of smiles.

[Aya Squawkermaru]

Newan winced a bit at the memory for a moment, but his blank expression soon returned. "Let me make one thing clear, girl. I have no obligation to work with you, or your little plan. Even if we have the same goals, you're just another person. I have no reason to 'get along' with you, or any of the people here for that matter. As soon as all this is done and over with, I'm forgetting any of you ever existed. Besides, your little plan doesn't even explain anything. You're just deciding who goes where. No actual plan, no demeanor, no real action, just placement." He turned away from the group. "...Nazrin. I'm leaving now. Let me know when someone thinks of a real plan." With that, he walked off into the forest.

Nazrin watched him go, then turned back to the group, laughing nervously. "Ehe... sorry about that. He... he doesn't like people very much, and he's kind of on edge today. Don't take it personally." [What the hell, man?] She tried to contact Newan again, but he never responded.

[Orphea.Russ]

"... Understood." Rhiseza sighed and sat down on the ground, pulling a sketchpad out of her bag and started drawing, mumbling to herself as she did so. Youmu simply nodded to Ranna, though she did seem a bit uneasy.
"Just tell me when you're ready, then."
... Something about this doesn't feel right...
I know. I feel it too. Just be careful, alright?

[Sampson]

"Sure," said Gale in response to the girl's suggestion.  "Although I hope you mean that we'll follow Mystia on the ground as she flies.  I lack the power of flight, sadly."

"I'm fine with that," said Orin.  "As long as I get to see Gale get a good, old-fashioned beating from the Chaos."

"Last time I checked," dryly stated Gale, "I'm the one with a weapon.  Can't say you contributed much to the last battle."

"If not for the fact that punching you would be counterprodutive--"

"And having the Chaos beat me up wouldn't?"

Orin rolled her eyes.  "Whatever.  Anyway, we're both fine with following Mystia," she said.

[Sonae]

As Newan began, the color in her eyes flickered. All kindness drained from her eyes and a bitter glare replaced the faint smile. As he finished saying he wouldn't work with them. Ranna brought her arm up with lightning speed. In her hand was a knife, the same one she had in Gensokyo. She pointed it directly at Newan, her eyes now entirely violet. She glared at him for a moment, then spoke.
"If you wont work together with us," She said, no emotion in her voice. She flipped the knife in her hand, the handle facing Newan. "Then kill yourself"
An awkward silence over took the group. Mokou was speechless, not believe this turn of events.

---After Newan's response to the above and his continued speech...

Ranna sighed and let her arm fall to her side, she put the knife away and closed her eyes. She crossed her arms and stood as if she was leaning against something that wasn't there. She reopened her eyes. They had returned to normal, but now they seemed a little...below the weather.
Mokou gazed at her worriedly.

As the others agreed to go along with the plan, Ranna seemed to cheer up a bit, giving a weak nod. She took a deep breath, clearing her mind of the event that had happened.
"Okay. Everyone should have atleast one Gensokyo resident with them. Since they can communicate with eachother, they can send warnings to the others if something goes wrong." She said calmly, not mentioning Newan or suggesting anyone to go after him.
She turned her gaze to Aesera. "One other thing. We'll need to clear the area once we've secured Kanjou, Preferably without causing issues"
She turned to the rest of the group. "I and Youmu will secure Kanjou, we'll be taking a more hidden route up there, as to not cause suspicion."
Her eyes flickered for a moment with an idea. She turned to Nazrin. "Hey, do you think you could search for Magic? Or youkai?"
"Oh..." Ranna said as she remembered something. "Also, no one draws their weapon until we've got the area clear. The last thing we need is the police hunting us down"

((Also no civillans see this or hear the groups conversation))

[Aya Squawkermaru]

Nazrin glared at Ranna a bit before shaking her head. "The thing is, I could find them, but the Youkai here would pretty much let block out any reason for me to do so. It's like asking if I can find hay in a haystack." I don't like this girl. Even if Newan was a bit rude there, telling him to kill himself just because he doesn't like them is way out of line. Honestly, if she's so set on us working together, she should be a bit less willing to kill us off.

---

Newan yawned as he leaned against a tree. Honestly... Telling me to kill myself because I don't like her plan? How juvenile... People like her are why I hate humans. They're all a bunch of childish idiots.

[Sonae]

Ranna stared at the mouse. Before She could speak, Mokou intervened.
"Ey ey! That's enough fightin' now. Keep 'er up and I'll 'ave ta toast yer rear!" She said, managing a weak grin.
She turned her head and looked towards the forest where Newan had went. she frowned.
['Ey Naz, what's wrong wit that kid?] She thought, looking at Nazrin.

Ranna didn't say anything to the mouse. She turned her gaze towards Aesera, the seriousness returning to her face.
"So are we ready to begin?"

[Aya Squawkermaru]

I don't know... I know that he doesn't like people, but that was still a bit much. Plus, he's never been that rude to Nanaya or I before. He's seemed kind of irritable ever since we came here, but I don't know why... Well, whatever. I've seen that he's a good person at heart. I'm sure he has his reasons.] Then, Nazrin realized something. She bit her lip as she remembered Newan's previous reaction to Mokou. ...And I'll bet Mokou's part of it...

[Sonae]

[Hmm...People that don't like people...] She followed her arms behind her head. [I don't think he has a choice with you...yer his partner after all.] Mokou sighed and looked up at the sky. The sun had already fallen behind the mountains, it's light still visible in the sky that way. Her eyes sharpened. They needed to hurry up and put their plan to action. Before it's too late.

[Sampson]

"Remind me never to get on her bad side," whispered Orin after hearing the girl's declaration.

"See?  There are worse partners than me," responded Gale with an even quieter whisper.

"Uh, so," said Orin loudly to the girl, "What way is Mystia heading?"

[[Y]oukai [J]esus]

(So many short posts. I guess we have to wait for the others till we can go rawr. And stuff. By Request Of Kanjou, his character's name will be changed to, Hitomi Kenshou

Nanaya had followed Newan into the forest in hopes of finding him. She had left abruptly from the rest of the group, silently enough that nobody noticed in their constant talking about plans and their fake attack on the head monk. Ranna was quick to anger her by saying... hurtful things to Newan, but all she gave Ranna was a side glance. She knew that Chaos never would obey deadlines, but maybe once or twice they would. It all depended on who was the commanding officer of the attack. Slowly following Newan as the treked through the woods for some random tree wasn't really worth it, but whatever.

To her, Newan ment everything, even if he didn't understand. He had gained his past memories from centuries ago, but hadn't really put them to use. Or to even visualize them. As Newan slumped down on a tree, Nanaya approached him from behind. After giving him some time for him to think about what has happened, Nanaya crept up and attempted to stuff herself between the tree and him. It works, although not perfectly, Newan felt something brush on his back, before an embrace. Nanaya hugged him from behind.

"Foolish boy. Arn't you?"

Newan was still silent, but Nanaya wasn't.

"You know you mean the world to me, don't you. You just have to look deep inside yourself to find out."

"And the truth will be known."

It was then where Newan felt something spark in his mind. Something that agitated him. Something horrible, before calming down.

Hello, Newan. That took longer then expected. I am Xera, and you are my embodiment.

[Aya Squawkermaru]

(For the record, I had Newan try to access those memories when Katelin granted him access to them, but you missed it or something.)

Newan tried to look back at Nanaya without hitting her head. "Hey. Sorry about flying off the handle back there. I was going to come back soon. Thanks for coming to visit me, though."

He then turned his attention back to Xera. For some reason, Newan wasn't startled by Xera talking to him. It was as though he were expecting it. As though this was how it had always been. It's nice to finally talk to you, Xera. I contemplated contacting you on the train, but decided against it. So then, might as well take this chance to talk, even if I don't know what to talk about. Or maybe I do? That's up to me to decide. Or is it us, now? Is the embodiment truly a separate entity, or just an extension of the original being? I do wonder.

He looked around the forest for a bit, too lost in thought to truly notice Nanaya. So then, I presume you have something you wished to talk to me about? As interesting as existential philosophy conversations are, I wouldn't contact you for no reason, which means I have something to ask you about, even if I don't know what it is. That, or you have something you need to tell me.

[GuyYouMetOnline]

OOC: I guess I forgot to mention it, but Kanako's wearing a somewhat less conspicuous outfit (she put it on before leaving the hotel, but I guess I forgot to actually put that part in). She's dressed in much more ordinary-looking clothing right now in order to avoid drawing too much attention.

-------------------------------------------

"My original plan was to scout now, but wait until tonight to actually make our move," Aesera said. "That's be smarter than starting while so many people are here, I think. Alice, remember, send dolls inside to look around, but make sure you bring them back to yourself. Kanako and I will distract Kenshou as originally planned. I'll want a couple others coming in with me and getting a good look around the public area of the shrine while Kanako and I speak to Kenshou. Alice, let Kanako know when you're done, and we'll make our way out naturally and regroup. We'll assess our information and decide on a course of action at that time, so for now, let's hold off on grabbing Kenshou unless we find evidence that he's in immediate danger. I'd prefer to wait until tonight if we can, and assuming we do, I already have a plan to get in and get him to come with us. But that can wait until later. Regardless of what we do, Kanako and I will distract Kenshou, so even if you all decide you'd rather grab him now-which, again, I advise against-Kanako and I are going in. And Kanako, keep whatever magical and spiritual senses you have open. And make sure to do a thorough check of Kenshou."

"Of course," Kanako said.

"In that case, let's move." With that, Aesera entered the shrine, Kanako following right behind her.

--------------------------------

OOC: Yeah, so that's Aesera's preferred plan. Go with it or Ranna's or whatever; Aesera's distracting Kenshou either way. And YJ, it is, of course, up to you if Kanako detects anything relating to Kenshou having some sort of ability, but if she does, well, I'll most cetainly enjoy writing Aesera's reaction.

[[Y]oukai [J]esus]

(If you remember, I said that Kanako noticed Yuuka Kazami on the roof of the shrine, with her Parasol. Also, Kanako does detect Kenshou having an ability similar to all of you, but on a much more larger scale with much more potential and energy.)
---

Nanaya stuffs her head in Newan's back, rubbing her head constantly, making muffled noises. She hugs him a little tighter.

Neither, If I may say. You are not an extension, or a separate being. You are me, and I am you. I just ripped half of my entire existence. My being, my energy, my mind, my memories. Everything, ripped in half, and given a form. We share the same feelings, and everything else - That is why you can't love, and yet, you must, and will. Katelin and Nanaya are ours.

You are everything which is mortal about me. All I am left with is what that a God has. Mortals have a way of thinking. A way of speaking, of doing things which can drastically change the world. I can see, that as a mortal, all of you; Every embodiment, will break down once. And that is when Nanaya comes in. To pull all of you out from that endless sea of despair. We're here too...

Newan shudders at the thought of everyone becoming halpless in the mind.

You may contact me at any time - any moment, but do not use me for power in front of Nanaya. You'll make her angry that you haven't overcame... Our fear.

[Aya Squawkermaru]

I see... so then, you could say I'm not really an individual... he looked up at the sky. I guess I'm alright with that. I just want to live my life, even if it's not mine alone. Although, it does make me wonder what happened between you and Katelin to make Nanaya so... forceful... he thought, recalling all the... experiences he'd had with Nanaya. He went a bit red, but dismissed the thoughts.

A-anyway, I'll try not to use your power in front of Nanaya if I can help it. And the thought of everyone losing it is kind of... frightening, I guess. I suppose it comes with the territory of being us. He could feel something nagging at the back of his mind- something he had forgotten to do, or something he should keep in mind. He dug at it for a moment, but experienced pain, for some reason. It was as though it was a thought that didn't want to be dug up. Or that he didn't want to dig up? He wasn't sure. He waved the thought off, and the pain subsided.

"Anyway, we should probably get back to the others soon," Newan said, remembering that Nanaya was still there.

[[Y]oukai [J]esus]

...Forceful? You mean dominating, don't you. Ahahaha... Xera's laugh slowly subsides into just a faint giggle.

I didn't know that Katelin's... primal lust is in Nanaya. Most likely not, but perhaps maybe a little...

Nanaya pulls her head off Newan's back, and ruffles his hair a little. She begins walking back to the shrine, while grabbing his hand and pulling him along. Eventually, the two reached back into the group.


(EPIC SHORT POST EVER. MOST SHORT POST IN MY LIEF)

[Aya Squawkermaru]

Primal lust? That worries me...

Nazrin turned to the two as they approached the shrine. "There you are. Oh, I didn't notice you left, Nanaya. Anyway, I was just about to contact you, actually. It seems everyone's in agreement with the plan, but we won't be implementing it until later tonight, when this place is less crowded. For now, we're just going to scout around a bit."

"...I see. I guess it can't be helped, then. I'll go scout around on my own, then. If Nanaya has to stay here, I want you to stay as well. You're the only person I trust with her safety," Newan said, shooting a quick glare at Mokou at the end before looking back at Nazrin. [Did she say anything after I left?]

[You mean Ranna? No, she didn't say anything about you after you left. ]

[I see...] "Anyway, I'm going to go scout now," he said, before heading off to the shrine to do some looking around.

[[Y]oukai [J]esus]

(Everyone is offline. Unable to continue FUUUU-)

[GuyYouMetOnline]

OOC: Missed the part about only Kanako noticing Yuka. Assume she shared that with the group.

--------------------------------------------

The pair made their way through the shrine. They didn't move particularly quickly; the idea was to blend in, so they acted like all of the other visitors.

They approached a shrine maiden first. The maiden greeted them appropriately, but when Kanako began asking about mythology, she was soon out of her depth. "You're, um, very knowledgeable," she said to Kanako. "I'm afraid I don't know quite the level of detail you're asking about."

"Not surprising," Kanako said. "I'm something of an expert on Japanese mythology." [Which is to be expected, since I'm a part of it,] she remarked to Aesera.

"I see. Well, I think Kenshou might be able to answer your questions."

The maiden directed the pair to Kenshou. [Aesera,] Kanako sent as they approached him, [I'm getting something significant from Kenshou, and it's not anything that was added. It's similar to what I can feel from you, although the potential seems much greater.

Aesera paused for a moment. [Okay, this just got serious. Change of plans.] We need to get his attention. Let's hope he has some idea he's not normal, because this is our best chance. She walked right up to Kenshou. "Kenshou. I know this is improper, but we need to talk in private, and right now. You don't know who my companion and I are, and we know little about you, but we know this: you are in danger, and it involves your power."

[Sonae]

Ranna looked down towards the ground. I guess no one will sleep tonight... She thought, feeling slightly drowsy due to the lack of anything to do. She refused to let her body show it though. After a bit, Kanako and Aesera made their way up the long stone steps towards the shrine. It was dark now, and it seems the mikos had lit the laterns. However despite the tim they'd spent sitting at the bottom planning, Ranna didn't recall seeing anyone come down the stairs...odd.
The lack of activity began to take it's toll on her. She was getting impatient. She had wanted to take the monk to safety long before the attack had begun. But it seems the rest would prefer to wait. Ranna frowned. This isn't going to work...

Mokou had made herself comfy, figuring this would take a while. She laid with her arms behind her head, eyes closed. She remained like this for a while.
As she heard rustling in the bushes, she lazily opened one eye. Seeing that Newan and Nanaya had returned. she stretched her arms up into the air and yawned loudly. She sits up and looks around at the group. Eeh....no one mo- She's cut off by a needle like feeling in the back of her mind. She quickly turns to gaze around, but sadly sees nothing. A bad feeling begins to nag her. With a frown she ignores it and lays back again.

---

As Mokou heard about Yuuka being here, she nearly jumped right to her feet, gaining a strange gaze from everyone. She laughed and smiled weakly, as if she was saying sorry.
Ranna. Yuuka's here.
Ranna's eyes widen in shock. then she became serious. "Youmu" She said as she faced the half ghost girl. Her eyes shone in the pale light of the moon. "It's time to head up."

[XinXin]

Alyssa waited worriedly next to Mokou. She could not stop staring at the shrine, looking around for everyone. It was a sense of duty that she wanted everyone to be safe, an instinct of sorts, especially Alice. After all, it was as if they shared a body. If anything happened to Alice, Alyssa would not know what to do. In fact, she would probably be dead if that happened.

[Alice, please be careful! You're the one in the position of greatest danger with your doll strings giving the largest range of attack for the enemy, always make sure they don't go astray!]

[Alright.] The doll master replied, her dolls scouting the area dutifully. She made sure that she covered every inch of the shrine that she could, and while doing so made sure that she knew everyone's locations. As the one being able to cover the largest and most varied areas, she took it upon herself to make sure everyone was alright. Everything down to the slightest detail was being watched. Still, the inability to use a mass of dolls made it quite difficult for Alice to scout every area. She had to make do with the few dolls she had and exploit them well. She had covered all ground, all except the roof. Where Yuuka Kazami lay in wait.

[CrowCakes]

(OOC: I'm very sorry for not being able to post earlier.)

"Okay, I'm heading outside the shrine grounds. Come along now," Mystia walked towards the entrance of the shrine area. There was no one to the side of the torii, so from there she took flight.

Not long after, she spotted Yuka Kazami in plain sight standing above the shrine itself.

The panic that Mystia felt was so great she abandoned flight entirely, wildly flapping on her way down. This was the fear youkai fed on. Her senses were heightened, urging her to flee. Her body told her that there were more predators hiding and lurking about. Where?

 "...in the forest," Mystia's eyes began to widen in realization. The forest surrounded the shrine completely. They already knew. If they were all waiting there, then...

They had been played into this.

"Vante, if you haven't realized already, we have just walked into a trap. We're surrounded. One slip up, and we're as good as dead!"

"...yes, this is a trap. They have just forced us into their terms of playing. Now that I think about it, it's going to be really hard to get out of this. Stay where you are- no, scratch that, fly as high as you can. I hope that brilliant plan you had works at high altitude, too.

Remembering the previous experience, Mystia retorted. "You're going to use me as bait?"

"Two things can happen, if I listened correctly. Either they get attracted to you, or to Gale and Rin. Now, think. Maybe you can start the plan if the enemy comes either way. Maybe it'll attract both parties. If that happens, who gets the jump?"

"It won't change anything, genius!"

"Bzzt! Wrong. It will put both groups on equal ground. Since we have just walked into their trap, they have the advantage, but if we strike first, we get the advantage of first strike. Those two will cancel out."

"Why are you so out of your mind? Your just relying on 'if.' If it doesn't work-"

"The first can still work. Just do it. I'll tell the others."

"You are insane, you know that?"

"Yeah, we'll see." Vante stopped mentally talking and went to find Aesera and Ranna to inform them of the situation. We're playing into each other's traps.

[Tamashii Kanjou]

In any normal day, a sudden rush of people would have been fine. In fact, he was sort of used to such things. But this felt different...

Like it was the calm before a raging storm.

He wandered to the side a little; trying to get a grasp on a situation he knew nothing about. Amidst the people, he was sure some just didn't belong... but he couldn't put his finger on it. Yet... He couldn't shake the feeling that they weren't just here for sightseeing.

Maybe she was right... Perhaps THIS was what she was warning him about.

He moved back to the donation back; waving at a couple of people who bowed towards him. It seemed like everyone was going about their usual business at least; disregarding anything else that was happening. That was when he noticed one of the maidens gesture towards him.

Well, let's see what problems they bring; shall we?

The two who had spoken to the maiden approached him; the time seemed to take longer then it should have. One of them approached him the second they were close enough; almost any normal manners had gone by that point. He was about to bow towards her, but no sooner had her words came out, he knew he didn't need to.

...

He remained silent for a few seconds; letting the words sink in. He glanced at her partner, then back to the girl who had spoken.

"...I don't know how you know... But I'll guess this is about 'them,' isn't it?" He whispered.

He didn't need to wait for the reply; if they were indeed here to warn him about those that were after him, the least he could do was move to the back of the shrine.

Slowly of course; no need to cause suspicion to the maidens.