Remilia Quest

[Oldmansour]

>"More like water doesn't like me."
>Fling a high-speed trio of crystals right at that forehead of hers!

>Rather than let the oaf let out another taunt, you flick a trio of crystals at her exposed head. While your aura may not be able to extend over running water, your bullets most certainly are. The youkai's head rocks backwards slightly as two of your shots make impact, the third missing the right side of her head by a few hairs.
>With a snarl, she ducks her head underwater again, only to surface a second later, discharging a hefty and high-pressure stream of water from her mouth, targeting you.

[Hanzo K.]

>Slip to the side, and return fire with a swarm of bat shots. But keep careful of her changing her firing angle too.
>"Didn't your mother ever teach you not to spit at people? You might find yourself in more trouble than you can imagine."

[Oldmansour]

>Slip to the side, and return fire with a swarm of bat shots. But keep careful of her changing her firing angle too.
>"Didn't your mother ever teach you not to spit at people? You might find yourself in more trouble than you can imagine."

>With a flap of your wings, you sideslip to starboard, the youkai's water stream slipping by you, it's course unchanged.
>Seemingly learning from her past mistakes, the youkai submerges again to elude your return fire. But her lesson seems to be short lived, as she immediately afterwards launches herself back out of the water and onto the bridge, a bit more than halfway across to the other side.
>She beckons you forward with a dripping hand. "Why don't you say that to my face."

[Hanzo K.]

>Smirk. "Touch a nerve there did I?"
> "I was saving this sort of show for the Cobalt Countess, but I can easily do it once more. However, why don't you come over here?" Reform the aura into a mass of writhing arms, hands, tentacles, beast heads, and the like, then send all of them to attack and drag her to us in a completely imprisoned state.

[Oldmansour]

>Smirk. "Touch a nerve there did I?"
> "I was saving this sort of show for the Cobalt Countess, but I can easily do it once more. However, why don't you come over here?" Reform the aura into a mass of writhing arms, hands, tentacles, beast heads, and the like, then send all of them to attack and drag her to us in a completely imprisoned state.

>Never one for half measures, you reshape your battle aura into a tower amalgam of nightmares and send it flying forward. Your aura may not be able to extend over open water, but it can cross the youkai's bridge just fine.
>You see the youkai mutter something as she turns to her side, and make a rising sweep with both her arms. The river rises to her call, and and arc of rushing water rises from the trunk of the river and washes over the rope and wood bridge, sheathing her in its concealing and protective liquid. Your aura retreats from the rushing water, and while you admire her control over the river, she didn't seem unfazed by the impact, making you question its overall effectiveness.
>When the arc of the river subsides, the youkai is no longer standing on the bridge, but rather dangles off the left side on it by one arm, her nose slightly bent at an odd angle, the lower half of her legs submerged beneath the surface.

[Hanzo K.]

>Smirk. "Impressive, you managed to avoid getting caught by that. You might not have come out of it intact if you didn't dodge that~♥"
>Pull the Nightmare Auraform back to around us with a devilish smile. "If I had more time, I might be able to fight you longer. But as it stands now, time is running short. I'll have to defeat you quickly, won't I~?"

[Oldmansour]

>Smirk. "Impressive, you managed to avoid getting caught by that. You might not have come out of it intact if you didn't dodge that~♥"
>Pull the Nightmare Auraform back to around us with a devilish smile. "If I had more time, I might be able to fight you longer. But as it stands now, time is running short. I'll have to defeat you quickly, won't I~?"

>"Says you." the youkai grumbles, her voice a bit different, stunted, somehow.
>Withdrawing your aura from the bridge, you and the brute exchange looks. Her eyes are not as dull as her carriage might indicate. They are the eyes of a predator, dull perhaps in intellect, but bright with instinct and simple wisdom. She seems to be sizing the situation up.
>Her eyes eventually settle on the handsome young lad, who's finally coming around, trying to sit up. "You gonna eat him, or not?" she asks you at last.

[Hanzo K.]

>Facepalm. Hell, make our auraform facepalm. Er, facetentacle? Whatever.
>"No, because he likely has information I seek." Disperse the auraform back to our usual Level 1 Aura, don't want to reduce our little friend to a gibbering wreck after all.

[Oldmansour]

>Facepalm. Hell, make our auraform facepalm. Er, facetentacle? Whatever.
>"No, because he likely has information I seek." Disperse the auraform back to our usual Level 1 Aura, don't want to reduce our little friend to a gibbering wreck after all.

>At the moment, you can do either. Or both. You opt for both. That must make for a heck of a sight.
>"Well, hurry up and question him, then I can eat him. If he beats me."

[Hanzo K.]

>Facepalm yet again. "Insistent on that, aren't you? He's already coming around as it is."
>Let's spare a glance back to him. How's he holding up?

[Oldmansour]

>Facepalm yet again. "Insistent on that, aren't you? He's already coming around as it is."
>Let's spare a glance back to him. How's he holding up?

>"I'm hungry." she growls. "I was hungry before he showed up, brawling with you didn't exactly help."
>He's holding his head like he's nursing a massive headache, but he appears otherwise undamaged. Although your vampiric nose can detect a swelling of blood near the surface of the boy's skin. Likely his nose. He'll probably pop a nosebleed within the minute.

[Hanzo K.]

>The area's forested for the most part, no?

[Oldmansour]

>The area's forested for the most part, no?

>The area immediately around the river is flat, grassy and rocky. There is a copse of trees several dozen feet behind you.

[Hanzo K.]

>Smirk. "I think I have an idea that should alleviate your troubles. I trust you have no qualms about an alternative meal?"
>Glance over to the young man. "I suggest you mind your nose, I suspect you'll have a nosebleed soon, if you aren't already."
>Now, let's focus on sending an aura tendril or two into the copse to search for deer, or any other wildlife that isn't a youkai that could serve as a meal for our feisty little friend here..
>If we find a deer, or any other non-youkai wildlife, we'll impale it with the tendrils and reel it in.

[Oldmansour]

>Smirk. "I think I have an idea that should alleviate your troubles. I trust you have no qualms about an alternative meal?"
>Glance over to the young man. "I suggest you mind your nose, I suspect you'll have a nosebleed soon, if you aren't already."
>Now, let's focus on sending an aura tendril or two into the copse to search for deer, or any other wildlife that isn't a youkai that could serve as a meal for our feisty little friend here..
>If we find a deer, or any other non-youkai wildlife, we'll impale it with the tendrils and reel it in.

>"I've got one." the youkai grunts. "I'd rather have human, but if you're gonna claim him, then my river will provide." She releases her grip on her bridge, dropping down into the river, leaving her head above water. "Just leave him on my bridge when you're done with him, and we'll call it even for you messing with my river."
>The boy mutters something like "Down... What, bleed?" he raises his head to look at you and, sure enough, red blood flows down from his nose.
>The scent of fresh blood in the air gives you a better sample of what you were smelling before. The young man's blood is definitely not 100% human. It's faint, but, at some point in his family tree is a story to be told.

[Hanzo K.]

>"See what I mean? But at any rate, what did you find out?"
>Well, we can still just send out a tendril to drag a deer or something back from that forest. It should be simple enough for one of our power.

[Oldmansour]

>"See what I mean? But at any rate, what did you find out?"
>Well, we can still just send out a tendril to drag a deer or something back from that forest. It should be simple enough for one of our power.

>The young man presses his hand to the blood leaking out of his nose and stares at it, blinking owlishly. "THAT'S never happened before..." He presses his other hand against his head again and tries to focus his eyes on you. "Find out?" He pauses. "About her?"
>You snake an aura tendril back towards the distant copse of trees, but the youkai guardian of the bridge sinks her head underwater again, and you see her arms and legs pumping as she begins to swim upstream, away from you.

[Hanzo K.]

>Well, we can leave her a little surprise at the bridge. Youkai do need to eat after all, and it's quite likely that the dear hasn't had a chance to enjoy the taste of venison. She should be thankful we're even going to the trouble of procuring a little meal for her.
>"Indeed. Does this branch lead to the waterfall basin?"
>Point a thumb back at the bridge. "Also, she was wanting to eat you. I doubt she would have found it a satisfying meal though. She left though, I suppose she didn't want to endanger herself further."
>Chuckle a bit. "Then again, she was the one who insisted on not using Danmaku. And a proper lady always accepts her foe's terms of battle. But I am relatively impressed by her skill and resilience. She was actually able to not only withstand, but mostly parry something I've been keeping in store for the Cobalt Countess."

[Oldmansour]

>Well, we can leave her a little surprise at the bridge. Youkai do need to eat after all, and it's quite likely that the dear hasn't had a chance to enjoy the taste of venison. She should be thankful we're even going to the trouble of procuring a little meal for her.
>"Indeed. Does this branch lead to the waterfall basin?"
>Point a thumb back at the bridge. "Also, she was wanting to eat you. I doubt she would have found it a satisfying meal though. She left though, I suppose she didn't want to endanger herself further."
>Chuckle a bit. "Then again, she was the one who insisted on not using Danmaku. And a proper lady always accepts her foe's terms of battle. But I am relatively impressed by her skill and resilience. She was actually able to not only withstand, but mostly parry something I've been keeping in store for the Cobalt Countess."

>You continue to snake your aura-arm towards the woods, an exercise of your generousity, as you bring the young man up to date. Or, at least try to, but from the somewhat unfocused look in his eye, you're not quite sure he follows your barrage of words.
>"One... ugh, one thing at a time. Please, my head's still swimming." He covers his eyes briefly, then looks out at the river. "In more ways than one."

[Hanzo K.]

>Chuckle a little. "Quite alright. After all, that was quite an ordeal, wasn't it? That power of yours was backfiring on you rather badly, so I had to cut you free with this Demonfrost Glaive."
>"But at any rate, let's start from the beginning. Does this branch lead to the Waterfall Basin?"

[Oldmansour]

>Chuckle a little. "Quite alright. After all, that was quite an ordeal, wasn't it? That power of yours was backfiring on you rather badly, so I had to cut you free with this Demonfrost Glaive."
>"But at any rate, let's start from the beginning. Does this branch lead to the Waterfall Basin?"

>"Backfire." He shakes his head, making droplets of blood trail in his wake. "No, it wasn't... wasn't a backfire, it was... overWHELMING." he says between breaths, coming back to his feet. Still looks a bit unsteady, but he stays upright. "I never tried anything like that before, I had no idea...." His eyes, though still slightly glazed, are wide, alive. "I only... But what I got... Ohhh...." He sighs and splits his mouth into a silly grin. "Oh, what I got!"
>He blinks again, lowering his eyes sideways, like a thought struck him. "Right. Right the waterfall. There IS a waterfall on this river, yes. Yes, there is, but there's another fork before you get there. I couldn't tell which way leads to that waterfall, not from here. At that fork, mayb- Forget maybe!" he interrupts himself, clenching his fist. "I KNOW I could tell from there. Yes, I could definately tell from there, she would know from there, just not here, her children are too far away."

[Hanzo K.]

>Raise an eyebrow. "'She'?"

[Oldmansour]

>Raise an eyebrow. "'She'?"

>"Didn't you..." He chuckles, more of an abashed snicker. "Right, sorry. I'm still trying to sort this out. She said she was sorry, by the way, I got that loud and clear."

[Hanzo K.]

>Keep that eyebrow raised. "Are you referring to the rather violent woman from earlier? Or perhaps..."
>This young man is quite the enigma, could he perhaps be born of a river spirit..?

[Oldmansour]

>Keep that eyebrow raised. "Are you referring to the rather violent woman from earlier? Or perhaps..."
>This young man is quite the enigma, could he perhaps be born of a river spirit..?

>"The who? OH, her?" He points after the somewhat distant youkai you brawled with. She swims fast. "No, she just lives here. Well, it's more than that, but, mostly she just lives here. I meant her." he clarifies, turning and pointing directly at the river in front of him. "She knew being around her makes you uncomfortable."
>He's certainly unlike any human you've met in Gensokyo up to now, whatever his lineage.

[Hanzo K.]

>Chuckle a little. "Well, it can't be helped you know, it's just how things are. Vampire and all that."
>Then make a slightly interested and impressed expression. "Still, that's rather interesting...From all the information I've been able to gather, I think I've come to a few possible conclusions about you, and your nature. I couldn't quite put things together until just recently, when you had that nosebleed, Vampires are quite good at telling things from the scent of a person's blood you know. And then, the next clue fell into place when you referred to the river as 'She'."
>Hold up one finger. "Scenario one. Sometime in the past, the spirit of this river fell in love with a human male, and eventually your ancestor was born, eventually fathering or mothering children, and continuing on down the line until you were born."
>Hold up a second finger. "Scenario two. The spirit of this river is, in fact, the one that birthed you."
>Hold up a third finger. "And then we come to Scenario Three, the slightly implausible, but nevertheless equally likely scenario of you being descended from a River Goddess, or something of the like."
>Smile just a bit. "My apologies if any of that offended you though, you're a rather interesting individual, filled with potential. As the young oft are."

[Oldmansour]

>Chuckle a little. "Well, it can't be helped you know, it's just how things are. Vampire and all that."
>Then make a slightly interested and impressed expression. "Still, that's rather interesting...From all the information I've been able to gather, I think I've come to a few possible conclusions about you, and your nature. I couldn't quite put things together until just recently, when you had that nosebleed, Vampires are quite good at telling things from the scent of a person's blood you know. And then, the next clue fell into place when you referred to the river as 'She'."
>Hold up one finger. "Scenario one. Sometime in the past, the spirit of this river fell in love with a human male, and eventually your ancestor was born, eventually fathering or mothering children, and continuing on down the line until you were born."
>Hold up a second finger. "Scenario two. The spirit of this river is, in fact, the one that birthed you."
>Hold up a third finger. "And then we come to Scenario Three, the slightly implausible, but nevertheless equally likely scenario of you being descended from a River Goddess, or something of the like."
>Smile just a bit. "My apologies if any of that offended you though, you're a rather interesting individual, filled with potential. As the young oft are."

>Rather than be offended, the young man simply looks... confused. "Huh?"

[Hanzo K.]

>Sigh in a slightly amused way. "Simply put, there was something about the scent of your blood what wasn't quite human, and those were my best guesses as to what the source could be. I know how touchy some people descended from Youkai and the like can get about that sort of thing, rather like that device from the outside world called a Land Mine. Set one foot wrong and they explode."
>"But at any rate, we should probably find an ally of mine that I split from at the earlier fork before we proceed any further with things. She's a Moon Rabbit you know, lives in a charming little house in that Bamboo Forest people have a dreadful tendency to get lost in. It wouldn't be safe to go much further without a medic after all."

[Oldmansour]

>Sigh in a slightly amused way. "Simply put, there was something about the scent of your blood what wasn't quite human, and those were my best guesses as to what the source could be. I know how touchy some people descended from Youkai and the like can get about that sort of thing, rather like that device from the outside world called a Land Mine. Set one foot wrong and they explode."
>"But at any rate, we should probably find an ally of mine that I split from at the earlier fork before we proceed any further with things. She's a Moon Rabbit you know, lives in a charming little house in that Bamboo Forest people have a dreadful tendency to get lost in. It wouldn't be safe to go much further without a medic after all."

>The handsome young man's grin changes subtly, becoming a bitter expression, a mocking and loathing curl of the mouth. "Tell me about it. I've lived around that kind of ignorance and fear all my life. It's one of the reasons I left the village. One of many."
>The mention of a lunar rabbit brings a smile back to his face. A genuine smile, this time, but when you tell him of her job, he seems confused again. "I didn't think that you got hit during that scrap you had, why would you need a medic?"

[Hanzo K.]

>Smirk a bit. "Oh, you never know when you might need one. Besides, she's rather reliable. And what's more, even a powerful one such as myself may have need of one later on."
>Then sigh a bit. "But I suppose we aren't so different in a way. Back in the old days, in the Outside World, people tried killing me, and many of my kind. Simply because of what we are."
>Smirk just a tad. "Not that it did them any good against myself, given how powerful I am. I would show you some of what I used in the little tussle with the woman from earlier, but I fear that you might become a gibbering wreck for it. Most people tend to end up that way when a Vampire of my caliber uses such a technique. ...Or you might end up with terrible nightmares, I never did find out which happens most of the time."
>Note to Self: Remember to use Nightmare Auraform as a means of disciplining the Fairy Maids. Fear is an excellent motivator!