Keine Quest (Part 4): Broken History

[Hello Purvis]

>Look toward the bucket!

[DracoOmega]

>Look toward the bucket!

>You turn around to where the bucket landed, and just barely catch it vanishing up towards the ceiling behind a stalactite.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Don't do that!"

[DracoOmega]

>"Don't do that!"

>You hear the sound of a young girl giggling. The way the sound echoes in this area, it's hard to tell exactly where she is.

[Hello Purvis]

>There went that plan.
>Quietly: "Keep an eye down low, Mokou. I'll watch the ceiling."
>Do so, and proceed.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>There went that plan.
>Quietly: "Keep an eye down low, Mokou. I'll watch the ceiling."
>Do so, and proceed.

>You grumble in your own head.
>Mokou nods, and starts to keep a careful eye on the terrain around her.
>You move forward, keeping your eyes on the ceiling for any signs of falling buckets. The ceiling is fairly high here, although you can see it clearly enough; the main issue is stalactites blocking your view of things. Still, no sign of anything so far...
>You hear another splash to your right.

[Hello Purvis]

>Glance right, be ready to move.

[DracoOmega]

>Glance right, be ready to move.

>You glance to the right, but see nothing more than a plume of water in a pool, where something must have hit it.
>You hear a loud impact to your left, and see Mokou roll out of the way. "Son of a-!" The bucket is already ascending before she can even turn about.
>"Oh no you don't!" she cries and flicks her hand towards the bucket. The wood suddenly ignites, and you hear a little shriek. The burning bucket tumbles back towards the ground, and a small flailing figure tumbles out of it, landing on the ground with an yelp. The white robe she's wearing looks singed.

[Hello Purvis]

>Level hand at her with intends of Danmaking!
>"Hold it!"

[DracoOmega]

>Level hand at her with intends of Danmaking!
>"Hold it!"

>You aim your hand at her and call out for her to stop. She makes a noise somewhere between a shriek and a whimper and stumbles back into a sort of crouch, wrapping her arms around her  legs and pulling her knees practically up above her chin, as though she were trying to hide behind them. Her eyes are wide and terrified looking; they dart back and forth between you, Mokou, and her burning bucket.

[Hello Purvis]

>Do we know of bucket youkai?

[DracoOmega]

>Do we know of bucket youkai?

>You do. While you've never been down here before, you're familiar with most of the youkai that have been encountered by people on the surface and eventually documented.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Kisume, right?"

[DracoOmega]

>"Kisume, right?"

>She nods very tentatively, still stealing glances back at her bucket.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Mokou, dunk the bucket in the lake, please?"

[DracoOmega]

>"Mokou, dunk the bucket in the lake, please?"

>"Uh, sure," Mokou says, walking over to the bucket and casually picking it up as though it weren't currently engulfed in flames. She dunks it in a nearby pool. There is a sizzling noise as the flames are quenched. When she pulls it out again, the bucket looks a little charred, but still solid.
>"....thank you," Kisume says, her voice barely more than a whisper.

[Hello Purvis]

>Nod. "You're welcome. So...what was that all about?"

[DracoOmega]

>Nod. "You're welcome. So...what was that all about?"

>"...just playing," Kisume says. She attempts to gingerly sidle towards her bucket.

[E-Nazrin]

>"Who do you usually play with, then?"
>Who's closest to the bucket? If it's within reach, put a hand on it for now.

[DracoOmega]

>"Who do you usually play with, then?"
>Who's closest to the bucket? If it's within reach, put a hand on it for now.

>"...whoever comes by," she says, still sidling. "Faeries sometimes...."
>Mokou's still currently holding the bucket. She's a couple feet away from you.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, I guess if you were playing a game, this means we won, right?"

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, I guess if you were playing a game, this means we won, right?"

>Kisume nods timidly. "...can I have my bucket back?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Gonna try to hit us with it again?"

[DracoOmega]

>"Gonna try to hit us with it again?"

>Kisume shakes her head.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Up to you, Mokou."

[DracoOmega]

>"Up to you, Mokou."

>"Eh, well..." Mokou looks down at Kisume, who continues to slowly edge towards her, and frowns. "Ok, fine. But if you pull that again, there ain't gonna be enough left of this to start a campfire, got it?" Kisume nods. Mokou hold the bucket out to her, and she reaches out a tiny arm to grab hold of it. The moment Mokou lets go, she slams the bucket down over herself, like a turtle withdrawing into its shell, then manages to roll the bucket over with herself in it. She is inexplicably right-side up in the bucket when this process is complete.
>Kisume beams. "Nice to meet ya!" And with a giggle, zooms back up to the ceiling again. "Next game, you're it!!~" she calls out once she's out of sight.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Wait! Since we won, you have to tell us how to get to the city."

[DracoOmega]

>"Wait! Since we won, you have to tell us how to get to the city."

>"Left at the big pillar!" she calls back. "Then right at the lake!"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Thanks!"
>Continue onward. Keep an eye out for bucket youkai and the big pillar.
>Should the former be seen, pause, and consider tagging her.

[DracoOmega]

>"Thanks!"
>Continue onward. Keep an eye out for bucket youkai and the big pillar.
>Should the former be seen, pause, and consider tagging her.

>"You're welllllcomeee!" Kisume's voice merrily echoes around the chamber.
>You continue forward, past the pools and small waterfalls, keeping an eye out for a reprise of Kisume or something that could pass as a 'big pillar'. The tunnel widens again after a short distance, and you find yourself in a large chamber with an abundance of stalagmites and stalactites, as well as other irregular rock formations. It's relatively drier than the areas you just went through, but visibility is much obscured by rocks. There also seem to be a few rather large spider webs spun between some of the stalactite formations. The chamber winds and spreads out in such a way that it's eventually difficult to determine which way counts as 'forward', but eventually you see something which catches your eye. At one point, a bunch of closely positioned stalagmites have mostly merged together into a column which is notably bigger than anything around it.