Yin-Yang Orb Quest

[Hanzo K.]

>"It's all relative my fine fey friend, all relative. That said, isn't it weird that we could hear her yawning all the way over here?"
>Indicate Greeny over there in whatever way we can that doesn't involve Danmaku. Never know if she'll take it as a challenge or not, which would be bad.

[O4rfish]

>FLEE!
Edit: >Wait, do we need to flee? What do we know about the Kazami Yuuka?

[E-Nazrin]

>Regardless of our knowledge of the situation, we're in no condition for a fight if she decides to be hostile. We should go around the sunflower field if we can, since it looks like she might consider it hers.

[Tapsa]

>"It's all relative my fine fey friend, all relative. That said, isn't it weird that we could hear her yawning all the way over here?"
>Indicate Greeny over there in whatever way we can that doesn't involve Danmaku. Never know if she'll take it as a challenge or not, which would be bad.

>You try to indicate where the green-haired lady is by nudging in her direction, only to notice that Himawari isn't near you anymore.
>What the... did she get distracted by something? She was slightly trailing behind you before you noticed the lady pop out of the field.

>You quickly scan your surroundings in an attempt to figure out where the fairy went. Considering how distant both of the forests' edges to the west and east are from your current position near the sunflower field, and how the grass to the south isn't high enough to hide a fairy as tall as Himawari, there's only one direction where she could've went while you weren't paying attention...

Edit: >Wait, do we need to flee? What do we know about the Kazami Yuuka?

>It indeed is the Yuuka. Her red-colored and plaided clothes are unmistakeable, and so is her now unfolded parasol which has the likeness of a flower with pink petals printed on it.

>You don't know too much about her, other than that she's claimed to be one of the most powerful youkai around, despite her allegedly mundane abilities related to flowers and nature. There's rumors of her perpetrating wanton violence on unfortunate passersby, and some also say that she's not quite right in the noggin.

>Regardless of our knowledge of the situation, we're in no condition for a fight if she decides to be hostile. We should go around the sunflower field if we can, since it looks like she might consider it hers.

>While all the negative things that you know about her could be a bunch of slander coming from humans, exercising caution is never a bad idea while in the presence of powerful youkai.
>The sunflower field definitely isn't in your way. You could've circumvented it earlier, but you weren't expecting the flower youkai to appear out of such an ordinary field of sunflowers, and neither were you expecting Himawari to get distracted by something in the field while you were passing by it, since she's been acting rather smart for a fairy up until now.

>Yuuka doesn't seem to have noticed you. In fact, she's faced in an opposite direction from you, and you estimate that she's some 50 yards away.




>_

[E-Nazrin]

>Oh, well that's just lovely.
>... Hima didn't go up, did she? That can be easy to overlook...
>What do we know about fairy respawn mechanics, if Yuuka gets mad at her?
>... since she probably wouldn't be able to hear us explain the situation, let's go into camo mode while working out what to do about our missing friend. Unless that would be too draining or make us look suspicious?

[Tapsa]

>Oh, well that's just lovely.

>Sigh... If that fairy had stayed by your side for a little bit longer...

>... Hima didn't go up, did she? That can be easy to overlook...

>You scan the clear skies as well, but as expected, she hasn't gone flying.

>What do we know about fairy respawn mechanics, if Yuuka gets mad at her?

>You know that fairies reincarnate upon death, but as for where they respawn and what happens to their memories, you don't know.

>... since she probably wouldn't be able to hear us explain the situation, let's go into camo mode while working out what to do about our missing friend. Unless that would be too draining or make us look suspicious?

>If Yuuka is anything like her fearsome reputation claims her to be, you doubt she'd bother to reason with such lowly creatures like you two anyway.
>You deem camo a bit unnecessary for this situation. She won't be able to see you entering the field from this side.
>You head inside the field of sunflowers to search for your fairy companion. You weave through sunflowers as carefully as possible, in an effort to be sneaky and to hear where Himawari could be shuffling about.

>You finally hear rustling sounds nearby. You temporarily activate your camo just in case it's Yuuka...
>You go towards the origin of the rustling sounds and break through a wall of sunflowers, and see a patch of grass with no sunflowers growing on it, even though you're still in the field. And the person standing in front of you isn't Yuuka, but the fairy you've been looking for. What a relief!

>Himawari is startled by your sudden appearance as you turn off your camo.
>"Phew. It's just you." she says relieved. "This field is so nice, I kinda wanted to get lost in it for a while. Oh, did you wanna tell me something?"



>_

[E-Nazrin]

>"Well, I was going to ask how I managed to hear that youkai girl that came out of the sunflowers yawning earlier from so far away, but I think now I want to warn you that I've heard she can be very dangerous. We should probably leave so she doesn't get angry about us being here."
>"We were going to go meet up with your friend by the lake, right?"

[Tapsa]

>"Well, I was going to ask how I managed to hear that youkai girl that came out of the sunflowers yawning earlier from so far away, but I think now I want to warn you that I've heard she can be very dangerous. We should probably leave so she doesn't get angry about us being here."
>"We were going to go meet up with your friend by the lake, right?"

>"Huh? What did she look like?"

>"And yeah, we'll meet my pal if she's there."


>_

[O4rfish]

>Do we know which direction is directly out of the flower field, and which direction has the Kazami Yuuka?

[Tapsa]

>Do we know which direction is directly out of the flower field, and which direction has the Kazami Yuuka?

>West, south and east are obvious exits. You saw Yuuka on the west side, outside of the sunflower field.


>_

[O4rfish]

>"Let's go. Stay quiet, and no sudden movements. I'll explain when we're in a safer place."
>Go southeast.
>Do we know how to powerup playable characters; is it simply by orbiting them?

[Tapsa]

>"Let's go. Stay quiet, and no sudden movements. I'll explain when we're in a safer place."

>"Fine, don't tell me who it was, then."

>Go southeast

>You decide that you don't want to hear more pouting from Hima, so you start heading towards southeast in the sunflower field. The fairy follows closely behind you as you make your way through the sunflowers with her.

>Eventually, you reach the edge of the field and break through one last wall of sunflowers demarcating the field from its surroundings. There's someone standing in front of you a couple arm lengths away...!?
>...how did she...

>You hear Himawari finally coming through the flower wall behind you. "Hey Orby, we cleaAAAAAHHHH?!"
>Judging from the thump you heard soon after her exclamation of surprise, your fairy companion must've been startled so bad that she jolted backwards and came down crashing. But you don't feel like turning around to check her condition, because the someone standing straight ahead of you both is Yuuka!

>"My, my. What is a cute fairy doing here all alone, I wonder?", the flower youkai inquires. Her parasol casts a shadow over her eyes. You can only tell that she is smiling...




>_

[E-Nazrin]

>The strong ones are always smiling. Shit.
>... no, trying to bluff into intimidating Yuuka would be a bad idea. Our best bet is to guide Hima into not saying dumb things.
>"Feeling curious while going to visit her friend."
>Can Yuuka hear us, even if she can't see us?

[Tapsa]

>The strong ones are always smiling. Shit.

>That phrase certainly does have truth to it in Gensokyo!

>"Feeling curious while going to visit her friend."
>Can Yuuka hear us, even if she can't see us?

>You "speak", but Yuuka doesn't seem to react in any way to you. If she heard you, you would've expected her to glance at you at the very least. Talking orbs are unusual.
>You're pretty sure that Yuuka can see you. As to why she considers Himawari to be alone currently, maybe she thinks you're her familiar or something like that? You didn't exactly spot any other fairies nearby.

>"Y-yeah... I... I'm just passing by." That was Himawari's voice. Sounds like she just imitated your line because she was unable to think of anything better to say to Yuuka. "Um... sorry, but I've places to go. N-now."
>Since Yuuka seems to be way more concentrated on the fairy than you currently, you decide to pivot to check Hima's condition. Huh, she really did trip herself. She gently picks up herself off the ground by utilizing her wings.

>"Oh, I can take your word for it.", says the smiling flower youkai standing before you two. "It doesn't matter if you're lying or not, I couldn't care less even if you did something to the sunflowers in the field."
>She steps towards Hima, and Hima backs off a little in response. She walks past Hima to get close to the edge of the sunflower field, almost invading Hima's personal space. Needless to say, Himawari looks quite terrified to have Yuuka even closer to her.

>Yuuka grasps one of the slightly taller than her sunflowers by its stalk and tilts her head up a bit to look at its flower head.
>"I'm embarrassed that I took a nap amidst these sunflowers. I was fooled by their attractiveness. I thought I had found admirable flowers. However..."
>The sunflower she's grasping suddenly starts drooping from its flower head. Its yellow petals dry up and turn brown before your figurative eyes. Yuuka releases her hold on the sunflower, and it falls limp on ground all withered up.
>"...it's all superficial. The sunflowers here are worthless, they're nothing but husks covered by misleading beauty. They're not deserving of my love."
>She steps on the dead sunflower with her sturdy boot, digging it into ground with her heel. She also turns her head to stare at Himawari. She's still got that smile that makes you feel uneasy about her...
>"They are weak and despicable, just like you are, Miss Fairy. Fufufu~♥"

>You bet Himawari, as a fairy, normally wouldn't just stand there and tolerate mockery like that, but she probably fears there's something worse than murder waiting for her if she is to incite Yuuka's wrath.

>"Ah... Just why am I talking to a fairy, anyway? This heat must be getting in my head as well..." She lets out a deep sigh. She then backs off and turns away from the sunflower field, before letting out a very loud yawn rivaling the one you heard from her earlier. Geez, how can somebody even yawn that loud?

>"Oh my. To top it all off, I didn't even get enough sleep while lying in that field. I would really like to see someone burn it down into a pile of ashes."

>She keeps speaking to you with her back turned to you both. "Now... weren't you supposed to be just passing by? What are you waiting for? Go."




>_

[O4rfish]

>"C'mon Himawari, let's go!"
>Fly away, assuming our fairy does the same.

[Tapsa]

>"C'mon Himawari, let's go!"
>Fly away, assuming our fairy does the same.

>She doesn't hesitate, unsurprisingly. Hima follows your high-speed flight near ground level.  You're still not confident that she can fly high in her current condition, so you decide to stick near ground while flying.
>You head towards west from the southern end of the sunflower field, as far away as possible from Yuuka. You're close to the edge of the western forest now.

>Pivoting around, you notice that Himawari is sitting on the ground. She topples over to her right side and assumes a fetal position. Well, almost a perfect fetal position, but her left arm isn't working.
>"...horrible. I... I t-thought that old trout w-was gonna h-h-hurt me bad..."
>Her voice is wavering and although her head is bowed in hard, you can tell that there are tears forming up in her eyes.

[E-Nazrin]

>"She scared me, too. Are you okay? We can take a break if you need it."

[Tapsa]

>"She scared me, too. Are you okay? We can take a break if you need it."

>"I.. I'd really l-love a hug right now.. if that's okay."

[O4rfish]

>"I don't have arms but I'll do my best."
>Gently nuzzle our fairy's torso.

[Tapsa]

>"I don't have arms but I'll do my best."
>Gently nuzzle our fairy's torso.

>You float closer to Hima. She starts to slowly wind out of her fetal position, and before long she is sitting wariza style on the grass.

>With tears still glistening in her eyes, she wraps her right arm around your spherical body and embraces you tightly against her chest. You can feel that her heart is still beating wildly after that uncomfortable encounter with Yuuka.
>"You're warm...", she says under her breath.

>You figure that you should make up for your lack of arms by tenderly nuzzling against Hima's torso. You do so, and in response, you hear Hima let out a barely audible whimper.
>"This... this is getting a bit weird, isn't it?"
>She lets go of you, and upon hearing what she just said you respectfully back off a little from her.

>She keeps sitting still on the grass, avoiding looking at you for a couple of seconds before opening her mouth again: "Thanks... now, let's continue our journey... right?"
>It seems like she's gaining her composure back, since her voice is no longer wavering. Sounds like she's speaking with a lower volume than she usually does, though. Still, you'd rate this a very successful hug.




>_

[O4rfish]

>"To the lake then."
>Can we power someone up by orbiting them?

[E-Nazrin]

>"To be fair, it's been a bit weird ever since you were able to hear me."
>"Though that isn't always a bad thing, is it?"

[Tapsa]

>"To be fair, it's been a bit weird ever since you were able to hear me."
>"Though that isn't always a bad thing, is it?"

>She nods lightly. "Guess not..."

>Can we power someone up by orbiting them?

>You're a sentient being, not a power-up! If you were to try to power up someone, you'd imagine it involves more than just orbiting them. And you don't really know what exactly. But who knows, you might just be able to give a placebo effect to someone gullible if you orbit them!

>"To the lake then."

>As it is still not a good idea for Himawari to fly, you plunge into the western forest, this time letting Himawari lead the way. You don't want her to wander off again while you're not looking after her.

>You make your way through the forest with Hima. After a much longer time than it took to get through the forest between the sunflower field and the grassy field where you got beaten up by Reimu, you notice that it's starting to get misty around you.
>Going through that forest was a bit boring, actually. You two didn't spot a single fairy or youkai, or any creature for that matter. And the forest seemed to be coping well with the heat. No anomalies either, since it isn't Forest of Magic, just a plain ol' coniferous forest.

>It seems like you've left the forest behind. You can see a lakeshore straight ahead, which is covered by sedges and various wetland flowers. The visibility is tolerable here, except when going towards the lake, since a thick wall of fog floating offshore prevents you from seeing anything but the shore and its immediate shallow waters.
>If this place isn't Misty Lake, then you are the Dragon!




>_

[O4rfish]

>Fondly regard creation.
>"This place is really foggy."

[Tapsa]

>Fondly regard creation.

>'Fondly regard creation' is currently an unavailable action. We are sorry for the inconvenience caused. Here's a crustacean to fondly regard, so that you may alleviate your pain and suffering.

>"This place is really foggy."

>"Yup, it's about the time of day when things get REAL foggy here." You notice that Hima is scanning her surroundings.

[E-Nazrin]

>"Where would your friend be right now?"

[Tapsa]

>"Where would your friend be right now?"

>"Somewhere near my stash, I bet. Would be nice if she's there now."

[O4rfish]

>"You don't look like you have a 'stache."

>"Do you remember where it is?"

[Tapsa]

>"You don't look like you have a 'stache."

>You feel silly saying that to Hima, haven't you even noticed that she has one? Its size makes many politicians of the past and 80s English policemen feel inadequate about their facial hair. We're talking about a 'stache so large that when Himawari walks through a doorway, you'll first see only her 'stache for a couple of seconds while it arduously squeezes through the doorway, closely followed by the fairy. Absolutely humongous. Damnit, if only that parser hadn't omitted that detail while describing Himawari, you wouldn't feel so silly right now! Man, you don't even know what color her eyes are.

>"Do you remember where it is?"

>She smirks. "Heh. 'course I do. Follow me."
>She starts moving towards north along the shore, but she stays away from the flowers and sedges. You think it's north, since she's going right if you look towards the lake. You assume this is the east side of the lake, since you came from east... hard to say where the cardinal directions are right now, since it's misty and foggy.


>_

[O4rfish]

>Follow the fairy.
>What color are her eyes?