(Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 9)

[DracoOmega]

>"If anything goes wrong, I think I'll know before you."
>Still, let's not go whole hog on this god-forsaken experiment right off the bat, however competent this priestess is.
>Release our grip on the sword, then return our grip to it in a fraction of a second. Release-regrip. Then gauge the result.

>"Well, maybe...." she admits. "But let's just hope it doesn't come to that in the first place, hey?"
>You decide to test the proverbial waters in a very cautious fashion, releasing your grip on Kumokirimaru for just a fraction of a second and then returning it. ...you don't feel any different. Well, aside from a nervous lurch in your stomach. You do it again. Still nothing. At least, you don't think there's anything.
>"That almost doesn't count..." Karu says with a frown. "Besides, you were further away from it when it was just hanging at your side."

[Oldmansour]

>"Hey, if your life depended on this thing, you wouldn't be in a hurry to let it go, either."
>Just to make sure, that lurch was more just reacting to 'taking the plunge', as it were, wasn't it?

[DracoOmega]

>"Hey, if your life depended on this thing, you wouldn't be in a hurry to let it go, either."
>Just to make sure, that lurch was more just reacting to 'taking the plunge', as it were, wasn't it?

>"Yeah, I get it," she says. "But you'll probably be fine, really!"
>You're fairly sure. Never can quite be certain, though....

[Oldmansour]

>Very comforting.
>Well, fine. Go for a second release. One second, that is. Or slightly less.

[DracoOmega]

>Very comforting.
>Well, fine. Go for a second release. One second, that is. Or slightly less.

>Or not, alternately.
>You let go of Kumokirimaru for just a little longer this time. Not much longer, but a little. Nothing disasterous seems to happen. In fact, not much at all seems to happen.
>"You can do it!" Karu says encouragingly.

[Oldmansour]

>"You didn't sense anything weird that time, did you?"

[DracoOmega]

>"You didn't sense anything weird that time, did you?"

>She shakes her head. "Not a thing, I promise. Go on."

[Oldmansour]

>"I didn't, either. Just had to double check."
>She asked for two, and it... SEEMS safe. Give her that, then.

[DracoOmega]

>"I didn't, either. Just had to double check."
>She asked for two, and it... SEEMS safe. Give her that, then.

>She nods.
>You let go of the hilt for a whole two seconds this time. The results are similarly unremarkable.
>"Can you put some distance between yourself and it?" she asks. "You're still not really any less in contact with it than you were when it was sheathed."

[Oldmansour]

>"Still nothing outta whack on your end, either, I'm guessing."
>When she agrees, let-
>Wait a second, that means she'll be holding our sword and we won't. And it doesn't matter how harmless or helpful seeming she is, she's still on the other side of this battle.
>Still, that doesn't mean continuing this experiment isn't worth doing. Just need an extra precaution.
>Let go the sword again, then take.... oh, say a quarter step to the side. And keep our hand close to that thing, and be prepared to go evasive if she starts to swing it.

[DracoOmega]

>"Still nothing outta whack on your end, either, I'm guessing."
>When she agrees, let-
>Wait a second, that means she'll be holding our sword and we won't. And it doesn't matter how harmless or helpful seeming she is, she's still on the other side of this battle.
>Still, that doesn't mean continuing this experiment isn't worth doing. Just need an extra precaution.
>Let go the sword again, then take.... oh, say a quarter step to the side. And keep our hand close to that thing, and be prepared to go evasive if she starts to swing it.

>"Nope!" she says lightly.
>As you consider letting go and stepping away, it occurs to you that this means leaving Kumokirimaru in her hands. Not exactly the most comforting thought, given her loyalties. Still, you decide to go ahead, albeit without letting your hand stay far. And you brace yourself for a possible attack. Neither form of unpleasantness seems to manifest, however.
>Karu looks chidingly at your hand. "That's still not really any further away, you know. It would be better if you, say... tried walking to the other end of the deck and back. You can take it slow, if you'd like, and I'll rush this back to you if anything happens, I promise."

[Oldmansour]

>Chuckle despite ourselves, a short laugh.
>"How about we start with something a bit less?"
>As we say that, take a full step to the side. Keeping wary for bad surprises form both us and her, of course.

[DracoOmega]

>Chuckle despite ourselves, a short laugh.
>"How about we start with something a bit less?"
>As we say that, take a full step to the side. Keeping wary for bad surprises form both us and her, of course.

>You take a nice full step to the side. Nothing bad seems to happen.
>Karu looks at you expectantly.

[Oldmansour]

>This is fuckin' bizarre...
>Check the black spot on our arm, just to make sure it's not getting bigger.

[DracoOmega]

>This is fuckin' bizarre...
>Check the black spot on our arm, just to make sure it's not getting bigger.

>It seem hard to reconcile your current position with the doom that's been hanging over your head these past few days....
>You pull your sleeve up and take a look at the blight mark on your arm. It appears unchanged from the last time you did this. You note Karu peer in your direction as you do so, though you think the angle prevents her from getting a good look.

[Oldmansour]

>Take another step, pause and gauge, then another.

[DracoOmega]

>Take another step, pause and gauge, then another.

>You take another step and pause. Nothing feels wrong - you aren't dizzy or feverish or in any more pain than you were a few minutes ago. Well, maybe a touch dizzy, but that's probably nerves. Right? Karu nods encouragingly. You take another step. Nothing else appears to change.
>"Everything looks good so far!" she says. A little further away, you can see Murasa keeping a wary eye on the pair of you.

[Oldmansour]

>"Says you. I just had a flash of dizzyness."
>Step back towards the blade, to the point when we first noticed the dizzyness.

[DracoOmega]

>"Says you. I just had a flash of dizzyness."
>Step back towards the blade, to the point when we first noticed the dizzyness.

>She frowns. "Really? Everything seems the same to me."
>You step back towards Kumokirimaru. Nothing changes dramatically. You may feel a little better, but it's hard to tell.

[Oldmansour]

>"It sure doesn't to me."
>Get our hand back on that sword.

[DracoOmega]

>"It sure doesn't to me."
>Get our hand back on that sword.

>Her frown deepens. "Really?"
>You quickly get your hand back onto your sword. You feel relieved, if nothing else.
>Karu examines you with a look of concentration on her face. "What happened?"

[Oldmansour]

>Do we still feel dizzy, or otherwise bad apart from our injuries?

[DracoOmega]

>Do we still feel dizzy, or otherwise bad apart from our injuries?

>Apart from that little rush of adrenalin? Probably not. For all you know, that might have been all it was in the first place. That thought irritates you for some reason.

[Oldmansour]

>"After I got a few steps away, I got dizzy."
>Pause a beat.
>"It... SEEMS to have passed."

[DracoOmega]

>"After I got a few steps away, I got dizzy."
>Pause a beat.
>"It... SEEMS to have passed."

>She scrutinizes you with a concerned look for a moment, then closes her eyes again and makes a hand seal. You feel the charm on your head start to tingle more strongly.
>"Are you sure you couldn't have been imagining it?" she asks. "Because nothing looks different to me."

[Oldmansour]

>"I'm not in the habit of imagining dizzy spells. On the other hand, since I'm neither feverish, nor wracked with pain, nor anything else, it might just have been an adrenaline rush. I admit, I'm not certain."

[DracoOmega]

>"I'm not in the habit of imagining dizzy spells. On the other hand, since I'm neither feverish, nor wracked with pain, nor anything else, it might just have been an adrenaline rush. I admit, I'm not certain."

>She gives you a nervous frown for a moment, then asks timidly "...want to give it a second try, then?"

[Oldmansour]

>If that really was just us, some reaction to our injuries, a manifestation of out trepidation about this whole affair, something... Then we can beat that.
>After letting out a long breath first. And we do have at least one cause for relief, at least. She didn't try to slash us. This was probably unlikely anyway, but still, confirmation is good.
>"All right."
>Let's be cautious, but not nervous.
>Release the sword, take a second to gauge, then take a couple steps away, back to where we first noticed the dizzyness. If it does not return, take another couple of steps.

[DracoOmega]

>If that really was just us, some reaction to our injuries, a manifestation of out trepidation about this whole affair, something... Then we can beat that.
>After letting out a long breath first. And we do have at least one cause for relief, at least. She didn't try to slash us. This was probably unlikely anyway, but still, confirmation is good.
>"All right."
>Let's be cautious, but not nervous.
>Release the sword, take a second to gauge, then take a couple steps away, back to where we first noticed the dizzyness. If it does not return, take another couple of steps.

>You take a few moments to try to gather yourself, letting out a long, slow breath. If you're not going to like the Blight beat you, than you're sure as heck not going to let you beat you. You can give this one more try....
>You release your hold on the sword, and wait a moment to see if anything happens. Nothing seems to. So you take a couple steps away. So far so good.... You take a few more steps. It's harder to fight back the nervousness within you than you'd like to admit, but you still seem to be in one piece; no symptoms manifest that cannot be attributed to your own state of mind.

[Oldmansour]

>No sign of anything going pear shaped from the caster? Good then.
>About how far away are we from the sword now?