Hatate Quest Nelja

[Oldmansour]

> Nod.
> "I'll keep all that in mind for later, then. Right now, we have a fox to catch."
> Leave the shop and head toward the school.

>"You've got me thinking now." Aya says as the three of you take your leave of the others. "What are you up to, kiddo?"

[Hello Purvis]

I swear to almighty fuck that last post didn't show up for me.

>"What do you mean?"

[Oldmansour]

>"What do you mean?"

>Aya nods at your newly elongated locks. "New do isn't enough?"

[Kilgamayan]

> "We'll see. It makes sense to keep options open now that I know it's possible, y'know?"

[Oldmansour]

> "We'll see. It makes sense to keep options open now that I know it's possible, y'know?"

>"That is true, options are always good. But you don't really need any work for yourself, if you don't mind me saying. You're still young, after all."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Besides, it's a fun change. Once I get tired of it, it's easy to fix."

[Oldmansour]

>"Besides, it's a fun change. Once I get tired of it, it's easy to fix."

>"Just make sure you can pay for 'em. Folks don't work in that field for free, y'know."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Did you seriously just say I couldn't afford a haircut?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Did you seriously just say I couldn't afford a haircut?"

>Aya laughs. "Defensive? No, of course I didn't mean that. I was thinking about more exotic areas. Longer legs, different eye colors, even extra eyes... It's easy to get carried away if you're not careful. I've seen it before."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Okay now you got to tell me about how you've seen it before."

[Oldmansour]

>"Okay now you got to tell me about how you've seen it before."

>"Are you suure?" she asks with verve. "I've scared more than one person around the campfire with that story."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Good thing there isn't a campfire, then!"

[Oldmansour]

>"Good thing there isn't a campfire, then!"

>"Well all right, but remember, you asked for it." Aya says with an exaggerated ominous tone. "This goes back about four hundred years or so, back when the Tokugawas were still in power out on the human world. A woman wandered into Gensokyo, was easier to do that back in the day. Apparantly she was suffering from a disease of some kind, I think it was TB. Used to be a lot more common. Anyway, it didn't kill her, and neither did the youkai she met. In fact the guy cured her. Apparantly made her healthier than she'd ever been before in her life. Even threw in a little youkai-style toughening for her. The guy really liked her."
>"But see, all that did was give the girl a taste. Imagine living your life, and you go from frail to diseased to dying slowly, and then all of a sudden you meet this handsome guy who fixes you all up and more. After that, being human wasn't quite good enough. She had a taste of our life, and she wanted more. So she started- Oh, we're here."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Right at the good part."
>Look around to get a sense of what "here" looks like in this particular...world? Unworld? Illusion? Reflection? Bleh. Maybe see if we can catch a glimpse of Ran, too.

[Oldmansour]

>"Right at the good part."
>Look around to get a sense of what "here" looks like in this particular...world? Unworld? Illusion? Reflection? Bleh. Maybe see if we can catch a glimpse of Ran, too.

>"Don't blame me for making good time."
>Seeing Keine's school in pictures only before, you can tell it's had an extension built onto it in this... whatever you want to call this place. Not a huge one, just two stories, but enough to accommodate another schoolroom or two. Through a window in the second story of this extension, you spot Ran Yakumo, with her back to the window and her head down.

[Hello Purvis]

>Let's try to get a sense of whether or not it's the real Ran, or illusionary.

[Oldmansour]

>Let's try to get a sense of whether or not it's the real Ran, or illusionary.

>Despite the window and wall between you and her, you get a sense from Ran. Bizarrely, you smell sushi from her.

[Hello Purvis]

>"You see her? I think that might be the real thing."
>What does she seem to be doing?

[Oldmansour]

>"You see her? I think that might be the real thing."
>What does she seem to be doing?

>"Yeah, that's our Ran, all right." Aya confirms.
>From her body language, you believe she is reading something.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Doesn't look like she's too busy, at least not with anyone else. Let's go have a word before she gets away!"
>Head into the school! See if we can figure out how to get to her from the way the external layout is.

[Oldmansour]

>"Doesn't look like she's too busy, at least not with anyone else. Let's go have a word before she gets away!"
>Head into the school! See if we can figure out how to get to her from the way the external layout is.

>Not spying an open window, you and you two cronies elect for the old-fashioned way: the front door. There's a number of interesting smells in this place, you notice straightaway. Children'll do that, though. In fact, one of them makes her presence known to you almost as soon as you enter. A handful of seconds after you pass through the doorway, into a large porch that opens into a split hallway, a blue-haired fairy in a dress and beret that match her hair color flits around the left-hand corner barreling towards you, then skids to a stop when she spies you and your two partners. "Big birds!" she cries, the promptly turns and hauls back the way she came.

[Hello Purvis]

>Offended: "Hey!"
>After a moment to process things, just shrug. "Kids. Well, faeries. Same thing."
>Proceed and try to find our way toward where Ran is.

[Oldmansour]

>Offended: "Hey!"
>After a moment to process things, just shrug. "Kids. Well, faeries. Same thing."
>Proceed and try to find our way toward where Ran is.

>"You said it, kiddo." Aya agrees, pointing back the way that fairy went. "Stairs're that way."
>"Been here before?" Ranka asks her.
>"'course I have. I'm even welcome now. Mostly." she adds with a grimace. "That hakutaku can really hold a grudge when she wants to. Even after all these years. Keep that in mind." she advises you. "Don't let Keine catch you. She'll never let you live it down."

>The rest of the people present, and there are others you can hear, do not make their presence known to you as you follow Aya's lead up a flight of stairs, down another corridor, to a solid teak door, which Aya knocks on. "Enter." Ran's voice calls from within.

[Hello Purvis]

>Enter!

[Oldmansour]

>Enter!

>The door admits you into a small bookcase-lined office, furnished additionally only by a low wooden table, a small oil lamp and a globe. Ran is currently kneeling at the table poring over a very old-looking scroll covered with a script you do not recognize. Several more scrolls are nested at her right arm, and a few books are to her left.
>She looks up to see you as you enter. "Ah, the two aces of the Tengu journalism world. I've not seen this for many a year."

[Hello Purvis]

>Let the others in, then take care to close the door.
>"Just a month or two, really."

[Oldmansour]

>Let the others in, then take care to close the door.
>"Just a month or two, really."

>"I beg your pardon?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"You haven't been gone that long, Ran. Time's just weirder here."

[Oldmansour]

>"You haven't been gone that long, Ran. Time's just weirder here."

>A couple of the kitsune's tails swish behind her, and she gives Aya an amused smile. "Am I missing out on a private joke?"
>"Probably, but, not from Hatate here."
>Ran seems a bit dissatisfied, but seems to mentally shrug it off. "Is there something I can do for you ladies?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"We'd like to talk for a bit, if you don't mind. But I'll just lay my cards right on the table. We're going home, and we want your help."