Keine Quest (Part 3): Broken History

[DracoOmega]

>"Damnit...not again..."
>"Rumia...shoot it."
>Try to lean against a tree.

>"Not again?" Mokou says. "What the hell's going on?" She takes another look at you, and then grabs you by the shoulders and starts to shake. You're not sure she's accomplishing much more than making you dizzy, though.
>"What's Rumia supposed to shoot?" she asks, looking around expectantly
>You prop yourself up against a tree, as best you can. You're nearly out of the woods, but every step feels like such an unnecessary exertion...

> Wonder what the possibility that sleeping would make you switch worlds with the other Keine.

>You... don't know. You didn't really fall asleep the first time, you don't think. At least until... whatever that happened, happened. You mind feels foggy. Maybe it would be nice to just dream of home. Maybe you could get back....

[Hello Purvis]

>"It's...in there. Shoot it...."
>Stumble onward. Almost out... Think about what an absolute monster Eirin was and what she would probably say about this, and let the rage impel us onward.

[DracoOmega]

>"It's...in there. Shoot it...."

>Rumia frowns and flies off deeper into the trees.

>Stumble onward. Almost out... Think about what an absolute monster Eirin was and what she would probably say about this, and let the rage impel us onward.

>You try to focus on unpleasant memories and your own righteous indignation. There is nothing pleasant here! You're not going to just drift off to sleep and pretend it never happened! You manage to move a few more steps forward.
>"W- what am I supposed to do?" Mokou asks.

[Kasu]

> "Keep...  Me....  Awake somehow..."
> Keep going.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Help...me...away...then Ru...mia."

[DracoOmega]

> "Keep...  Me....  Awake somehow..."
> Keep going.

>"Help...me...away...then Ru...mia."

>You continue to stagger out of the woods. Just one foot, in front of the other. That's all you have to do.
>Mokou look uncertain for a few moments. Then she slings your arm around her shoulders and tries to help carry you out. You move a lot faster this way, although you need to remind yourself that Mokou is not a good place to fall asleep against. Not right now. There'll be other times. Although it would be nice...
>You emerge from the tree cover, and Mokou puts you down and looks at you with concern, again. You can see her furiously trying to think.
>"Dammit, I'm sorry!" she says, and puts a hand on your leg. It burns! You bolt upright.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Ow fuck!"
>Do we feel any more wakeful?

[DracoOmega]

>"Ow fuck!"

>"Sorry, sorry!" Mokou says. She actually looks pained.

>Do we feel any more wakeful?

>Yes. You can't say that you don't still feel sleepy, but it's hard to actually nod off when your leg is throbbing like that.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Agh...dammit...thanks!"
>Look around, any sign of Rumia?

[DracoOmega]

>"Agh...dammit...thanks!"

>"I, uh... just give me some better ideas next time, ok?"

>Look around, any sign of Rumia?

>You don't see any sign of her at the moment.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Go find Rumia...please."

[DracoOmega]

>"Go find Rumia...please."

>"You sure you'll be ok, here?" She frowns. "What if you fall asleep and there's no one around?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Then I'll punch this burn."

[DracoOmega]

>"Then I'll punch this burn."

>Mokou eyes widen. "Uh, ok..." She turns and dashes back to the forest. "You better still be ok when I get back, you hear?" She calls out as she disappears into the trees.

[Hello Purvis]

>Try to find a good place to rest.
>How tired are we feeling?

[DracoOmega]

>Try to find a good place to rest.

>You find a comparatively comfortable looking rock and sit down on it.

>How tired are we feeling?

>Still not right, but you may be able to keep yourself awake for a bit. Your leg is still stinging fiercely.

[Hello Purvis]

>How confident do we feel that we could view the area's history here without slipping off for the evening.

[DracoOmega]

>How confident do we feel that we could view the area's history here without slipping off for the evening.

>You could try. You aren't certain that it wouldn't make you more susceptible, though. You tend to drift, a bit, when you're sensing

[Hello Purvis]

>Save it for now.
>Just try to fight off the drowsiness, and wait for them to return.

[DracoOmega]

>Save it for now.
>Just try to fight off the drowsiness, and wait for them to return.

>You decide it's better to wait, and try to focus on simply staying awake.
>If does seem to be taking them a while to return... you feel yourself lulling against the rock.

[Hello Purvis]

>Fight it! Fight it!
>If all else fails, grit teeth and smack the burn.

[DracoOmega]

>Fight it! Fight it!
>If all else fails, grit teeth and smack the burn.

>You try to force every last bit of your will into resisting the urge to sleep. You hold for a bit, but then feel yourself slipping again. The burn is already healing; you're significantly more resilient in hakutaku form. You find your eyes closed before you even notice that it's happened. That's it....
>You brace yourself teeth and hit your burn. Oh god, oh god! You stifle a yell through gritted teeth.
>"Shit, you actually did it," you hear Mokou say, walking towards you. When'd she step out of the trees? Did you actually slip off there for a moment? Rumia is with her.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Yeah... find anything?"

[DracoOmega]

>"Yeah... find anything?"

>"Not a thing," Mokou says. "Just her running all over the place." She jerks a finger in Rumia's direction.
>"Rumia didn't see any scary shadow monsters..." Rumia says, her face downcast.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Right. Then maybe it's just an area effect... Okay. I'm going to try to get a look at it. If I seem to fall asleep, well...whack me in the burn or something."
>Stand up, try to shake off the weariness, focus, and go for it. Delve into this place's history.

[DracoOmega]

>"Right. Then maybe it's just an area effect... Okay. I'm going to try to get a look at it. If I seem to fall asleep, well...whack me in the burn or something."

>Mokou frowns at this, but nods, anyway.

>Stand up, try to shake off the weariness, focus, and go for it. Delve into this place's history.

>You stand up and take a deep breath of the cool night air. You think you've got a little bit of time, anyway. You try to discover what happened at this place.
>You sense the mark of the original encounter you witnessed in the forest. Well, not exactly the same. You don't sense your own presence in it, but your participation might have been too peripheral. However, it is odd, in and of itself, that it feels like the very same event occurred here as occurred in your own time, seven years after things began to diverge.
>The two beings who were here with you... something is odd about them, as well. Or rather, while one's presence is fuzzy, the other... seems to come from literally nowhere. She had no history before she came here last night. Wait. You're not sure it's exactly that, but... there's something about it that doesn't fit.

[Hello Purvis]

>Would the very same event include our presence?
>Try to focus on the fuzzy one. She'd she come from?

[DracoOmega]

>Would the very same event include our presence?

>You don't know enough to tell. Looking at history isn't quite like looking at a playback of an exact event. You can sense pivot points in the course of events, and sometimes important players. But many people can be at the site of the event without being a part of its history in any strong sense. You'd need an actual comparison to be certain.

>Try to focus on the fuzzy one. She'd she come from?

>You think she came from elsewhere. Another place, another plane, you can't be sure. Her existence is rather wispy, but you don't think her history is abnormal so much as the fact that you just can't grasp it well.

[Hello Purvis]

>Focus on one who just came into history there. Can we find what caused it to do so?
>Try to examine the event of last night, and see what we can detect of ourself there.

[DracoOmega]

>Focus on one who just came into history there. Can we find what caused it to do so?

>You try to examine her more closely, but... honestly, you simply can't tell. She was just suddenly there. And then she stopped being there equally suddenly. But... the closer you look, you think there are some similarities between her history and those of the two fissures you've looked at.

>Try to examine the event of last night, and see what we can detect of ourself there.

>How do you propose to do this, if you're currently in a different timeline?