Iku Quest Dos - A Z-Machine Adventure

[DracoOmega]

>"Very well. I'm sure we can manage to deter it, one way or the other. And thank you for your offer. It means a great deal to me."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Very well. I'm sure we can manage to deter it, one way or the other. And thank you for your offer. It means a great deal to me."

>Minoriko nods. "In the meantime, I'll see what I can do for what's left of your harvest."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Thank you very much. Be well, Minoriko."
>Head back towards Youkai mountain

[Hello Purvis]

>"Thank you very much. Be well, Minoriko."
>Head back towards Youkai mountain

>"You two as well," says Minoriko.
>How will you be heading there?

>_

[DracoOmega]

>How will you be heading there?

>Walk out through the forest, and aim for the side of the mountain, like Sanae indicated. Angle away from inhabited areas and keep a low profile.

[Hello Purvis]

>You turn eastward, leaving Minoriko behind, and start toward the mountain again.
>As you do, the trees grow more and more bare, becoming more twisted and gnarled. Their barks become darker and more knotted. You can feel a kind of tension in the air. The trees also grow closer together, entwining their branches together and managing to blot out much of the sky despite their lack of leaves. In this murky atmosphere, the ground is without leaves and mostly barren; only sparse and anemic-looking patches of scraggly grass here and there. You  feel a sort of apprehensiveness here.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>What do we know of Hina, and have we had any personal interaction with her?
>Continue onward

[Hello Purvis]

>What do we know of Hina, and have we had any personal interaction with her?
>Continue onward

>You had pleasant exchanges with Hina, but she is a light acquaintance. You know she is tasked with dealing with misfortune and keeping it from spreading too far out of control.
>You continue onward. Tenshi follows behind you, not saying a word.
>You think you see motion among the trees here and there, and you have the sensation that something is watching you. You find yourself jumping slightly at odd sounds, which are usually just Tenshi stepping on something.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"A day like today does wonders for making one jumpy, doesn't it?"
>Continue onward

[Hello Purvis]

>"A day like today does wonders for making one jumpy, doesn't it?"
>Continue onward

>"I don't think it's the day..." says Tenshi.
>You continue onward, trying not to let the forest get to you. Then you hear the sounds of danmaku and see it coming from both sides! Tenshi shouts some surprised profanity.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Quickly assess incoming bullets and shift out of their path
>What seems to be shooting at us?
>Must there always be something shooting at or around us today?

[Hello Purvis]

>Quickly assess incoming bullets and shift out of their path
>What seems to be shooting at us?
>Must there always be something shooting at or around us today?

>They are coming from both your left and right, about average speed. They seem to be mostly aimed at you, coming from a fairly wide array of angles, but there's also some shots that seem to be just being tossed out to be an obstacle. Most of the bullets seem to have an odd purple color.
>You see some of the shots are coming from faeries. They look a little different than other faeries you've seen, you can't quite put your finger on what is odd about them.
>So it seems. Maybe this is why Reimu is so grouchy?

>_

[WHMZakeri]

>Did we get our spellcards back from Sanae?

[Hello Purvis]

>Did we get our spellcards back from Sanae?

>You did not.

[MysTeariousYukari]

> Isn't this just dandy.
> Unleash some danmaku at the fairies, preferably the thunder/lightning danmaku we used, or some arrow-head shaped danmaku.
> Do we see any gaps in the pattern?
> If so, slip through the gaps when available while keeping distance from the attackers.

[Hello Purvis]

> Isn't this just dandy.
> Unleash some danmaku at the fairies, preferably the thunder/lightning danmaku we used, or some arrow-head shaped danmaku.
> Do we see any gaps in the pattern?
> If so, slip through the gaps when available while keeping distance from the attackers.

>Why do faeries always get riled up when things go a little haywire?
>You should pick one of those.
>You could move to the side to get away from most of it, but the random shots drifting in the air could be a problem.

>_

[MysTeariousYukari]

> Fly off to one of the sides, whichever one seems to have less danmaku.
> Throw out some of our Danmaku Lightning/Thunder(whatever it is) at the nearest attacker.
> Gracefully dodge around the random shots that come near us, heading away from the cluster of aimed shots.

[Hello Purvis]

> Fly off to one of the sides, whichever one seems to have less danmaku.
> Throw out some of our Danmaku Lightning/Thunder(whatever it is) at the nearest attacker.
> Gracefully dodge around the random shots that come near us, heading away from the cluster of aimed shots.

>You fly toward the side that seems to have less danmaku. This forces you toward Tenshi, who is being forced toward you. You are also left with the problem that you can't see what's going on behind you; meaning you'll have to turn your back toward either your attackers, or Tenshi and the stuff coming at her.
>You send lightning toward a nearby faerie, striking her and sending her to the ground.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Tenshi, you take the ones on your side. I'll take these!"
>Turn back to our attackers
>Shift laterally, attempting to move perpendicular to the two groups pinning us on either side
>Fire lightning towards the fairies on our side. Aim for the ones shooting the more random obstacle bullets that can't be dodged as easily by simply shifting

[Hello Purvis]

>"Tenshi, you take the ones on your side. I'll take these!"
>Turn back to our attackers
>Shift laterally, attempting to move perpendicular to the two groups pinning us on either side
>Fire lightning towards the fairies on our side. Aim for the ones shooting the more random obstacle bullets that can't be dodged as easily by simply shifting

>"Got it!" Tenshi says.
>You turn your back to one of the lines of attackers, and keep moving, trying to circle around them. You hear Tenshi dash forward, and faeries cry out.
>Targetting the faeries sending out random bullets, you are soon able to clear the air a bit. As you circle, you can glimpse Tenshi putting the Sword of Hisou to use among her attackers.
>Soon, you are perpendicular to your attackers, having taken down a few of their number; leaving five left.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Continue to take down the rest on our side
>Shift aside from incoming streams, now that we have more flexible room to dodge

[Hello Purvis]

>Continue to take down the rest on our side
>Shift aside from incoming streams, now that we have more flexible room to dodge

>You continue to fire on the faeries, taking them down one at a time while shifting away from their fire. With the sky mostly clear of random fire, you are easily able to keep out of the stream, and soon the faeries break and flee.
>Looking over toward Tenshi, you can see she is sending keystones after her own retreating faeries.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, at least that was relatively painless, although I admit I'm growing tired of being fired upon, today."
>Once the fairies are sufficiently scattered, carry on towards the mountain

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, at least that was relatively painless, although I admit I'm growing tired of being fired upon, today."
>Once the fairies are sufficiently scattered, carry on towards the mountain

>You resume heading eastward.
>"Yeah, it stops being fun after awhile," says Tenshi, "You should have seen what it was like when the evil spirits came up here and Utsuho was doing her thing, though. Gotta admit, it was kinda dumb to just walk through a forest when the faeries are all riled up."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I would be flying, if we weren't trying to keep a low profile. I'd much rather have the fairies shooting at us than Kanako."

[Hello Purvis]

>"I would be flying, if we weren't trying to keep a low profile. I'd much rather have the fairies shooting at us than Kanako."

>"I'd take care of her, no worries," says Tenshi.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Oh, so you wouldn't mind her shooting at us?"

[Pesco]

> Frown

Just wanted to get post number 97300. It has no relevance to me whatsoever

[Hello Purvis]

>"Oh, so you wouldn't mind her shooting at us?"

> Frown

>You frown.
>"Like I said," says Tenshi, "They want to start something, I'll finish it."

[DracoOmega]

>"Let's cross the bridge when we come to it, shall we? Or, rather, let's hope we never come to that bridge."
>Continue onward