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Kochiya Sanae
Aventon — Forest Outskirts

"Fujiwara no Mokou..."

Sanae mulled over the name that Remilia had provided for a few moments, eyes closed as she dug through her memories, before something fianlly clicked for her.

"Oh! You're the one that, uh... What was it that the rabbit said again? 'Snuck out with the princess for a night on the town' or something?" she said, clapping her hands together at what had to be correct. After all, why would a resident of Eientei lie to her about something like that, especially when they had been so helpful during that whole lunar invasion incident?

Never mind what the truth was, though, more help was more help, even if she hadn't been part of any sort of team to pick them up and bring them back home.

It didn't take long for the group to begin to move again, though, and the smell of that decaying corpse hit the young woman's nose well before she saw it. To say it was nauseating to her was a bit of an understatement, and seeing the thing was far worse for her psyche.

"That's wretched," she choked out as she held her nose and mustered up the courage to look at the thing again. "In what world would someone even think of trying to eat that?"

This was, of course, no time for being grossed out—not when Remilia had brought up the possiblity that whatever had poisoned the boar she and Lewa had encountered could have encountered whatever this unfortunate one had.

"...It's not unlikely, though. I'm no expert in stuff like that, but if whatever ate this thing carved through it's stomach, it couldn't have been that strong. The boar we met was pretty durable if a bunch of danmaku didn't leave much of a dent in it's hide."

At this point, though, there was little else to gain from staring at the decaying corpse beyond a growing sense of disgust and physical revulsion. If anything, though, the fact that it was still fresh enough to be rotting meant that they were probably on the right track...

And that probably explained why the other boars had showed up in the area. Fun.

Moving further into the forest would come with the loss of a lot of the ambient noise they had been dealing with prior. While the leaves still rustled in the wind and plants still crunched beneath their feet, no longer were there any of the bird cries that had come in every so often. It was almost as if anything that could move away already had, which was not exactly the most encouraging of things to notice.

It was then, though, that Remilia would feel something somewhat sizable fall onto her head from the branches above. The sound of the impact was enough to cause Sanae to turn to look at what had caused that, and seeing what that was...

Well, it was enough to elicit a rather heartfelt scream.

A massive centipede, at least as long and as thick as her lower arm, had fallen onto the vampire's hat. While that was immediately concerning, of course, it didn't take long for her scream to alert... More of them.

From the underbrush, more centipedes—some twice as long as the one that Remilia had encountered, began to appear from every nook and cranny of the forest at her accidental provocation.

With a bunch of prey right in front of them, it would have been difficult not to expect the swarm to lash out at them.

Naturally, Sanae's first reaction was to fly upwards, only for more centipedes to reveal themselves in the trees above. That only resulted in the secondary response in her arsenal: fire ofuda at anything and everything in the vicinity to get those massive bugs away from her as they attempted to attack the group.

Momoyo had been one thing, but she at least looked mostly human!

@VitaVitaAR@EchoWolff@Izurich@Lugubrious@Raineh Daze

Aventon — Hunter's Lodge

With Kendrick having left the pair to go and find Alvin, the uncertainty and confusion that was already peeking through Millie's voice was beginning to show on her face. That much might have been expected, given the situation; the last thing she had remembered was Alvin running away with her in his arms, and everything hurting all over before things went black. Waking up back in town was... Confusing, to say the least.

Hopefully, though, "Uncle Ken" would bring her brother back—and maybe with Papa too, if he was at home.

"Thank you, Miss Anne," Millie said as the unfamiliar woman brought her some water to drink. A small sip would leave her coughing, however, and the young girl would take a few moments to recover before putting the mug to the side for a bit.

Maybe she would try again later.

"Um... Miss Anne?" Millie asked, turning towards Anne with wide eyes, "Uncle Ken said you saved a lot of people. Does that mean you're super strong, like those heroes in the stories Papa told us?"

@Drifting Pollen

Aventon — Town Streets

As the pair continued their conversation in the middle of the street, a young man—one lucky enough to have survived the chaos with only a few bruises and scrapes to his name—quickly scrambled into the area. There was cause for concern written plainly on his face, and given how out of breath he was it seemed as if he was in more than a bit of a rush.

"S-sorry to bother you, miss!" he said towards Rayne, taking a moment to catch his breath as he held a hand up for a moment, "But there's been a bit of a situation out in the fields, and I heard that you might be able to help? A bunch of livestock got loose and with everyone busy trying to help clean the town up, I've been running around like a headless chicken all morning trying to catch them. Some of the people working near the gates said that you were helping clear the rubble out, and I don't want to impose, but it'd be a real help if you could... Well, help."

Given the state of repairs and what could be done, though, maybe this situation was something worth looking into...?

@DracoLunaris@Rezod92
Richard Evans
Route 2

With some spare time to kill as he waited on Laurel's reply, Richard knelt down next to Luna and checked over her wounds from their brief excursion into the cave. As far as he could see, the damage from her scuffles with the Nacli were fairly superficial—a few bruises here and there from the stones thrown and a bit of mud stuck on her, but nothing too bad beyond that.

After flicking the latter off of her body, though, Richard soon found his Pokedex firing off with a notification. A quick glance over to it confirmed that Laurel had indeed stuck around; all the better for him, really.

"C'mon, let's not keep her waiting too long," the young Trainer spoke as he beckoned the Snivy to follow him to the beach.

Upon seeing Laurel, though, Richard responded in kind with a brief wave as he and Luna made their way over.

"The caverns could have been worse, honestly," he remarked before pulling out the newly-filled Pokeball at his waist and tossing it's resident—the somewhat roughed up Nacli he had caught earlier—out onto the warm beachside sand. "Found a new team member in there, though. Meet... Sara. Yeah, that feels about right."

Instead of having any reaction one way or another though, the newly-christened Sara seemed to be content burrowing halfway into the sand and relaxing there to heal off her wounds. Luna, too, seemed to be taking the time they had now to sunbathe a little and relax.

"Going to take that as an 'okay'. Right, well, I think these two need some time to shake off the damage they've taken, but once they're done with that we should be good to head out."

Route 5

Once Luna and Sara were rested and ready to go, Richard returned the latter to it's Pokeball before following Laurel's lead. When beaches gave way to rolling plain and hills, though, the young man was more than happy to take a deep breath of air.

Salty sea breeze had lost it's novelty a good two weeks ago, after all.

At Laurel's declaration that she would break away and continue training on her own—coupled with a little reminder to keep training—Richard gave a nod and waved to her.

"Catch you in a bit, then," he said as Luna followed soon thereafter, giving the young woman a wave goodbye of her own. "Well, Dark-type... We've got options, but let's scope the place out a bit first."

Hopefully the place would have something his team could square up against well enough...

@Rune_Alchemist
Kochiya Sanae
Aventon — Forest Outskirts

With how fast Youmu had dispatched the boar earlier, Sanae found Remilia's and Lewa's swift return somewhat surprising. There wasn't anything inherently wrong Lewa's inclination towards trying to nonviolently pacify the boar when they had first split up, but given how the one the three of them ended up staring down was more than ready to send them flying, the shrine maiden had expected them to at least take a while longer in their efforts.

...

Or maybe they had come to a similar resolution to theirs?

Remilia's recounting of the events that had proceeded on their end, however, proved counter to her beliefs—a fact that did leave Sanae at least a bit surprised. What was concerning here, however, was the mention of venom. Putting aside the possibility of the boars themselves being venomous (which didn't exactly seem likely due to their prodigious size), the fact that the injured boar the other pair had encountered was left debilitated from something that wasn't physical exhaustion or injury was worrisome at best.

Any immediate desire to see what it was that Remilia had found, though, was quickly overtaken by the arrival of yet another somewhat-familiar face. Though she wasn't exactly any sort of acquaintance towards the white-haired woman who began proceeding by immediately pointing fingers, that immediate reaction towards both Youmu and Remilia meant that she had to have been a resident of Gensokyo, too. The half-ghost's reaction only further cemented that fact, though absolutely nothing in this situation gave her any indication of who the person in question was.

"Well... That makes four now?" she asked, slowly landing on the ground before giving the newcomer a brief once-over. "Either way, I guess quick introductions are in order, just so we're all on the same page. Kochiya Sanae, resident of the Moriya Shrine. I'm going to guess you're not part of some rescue force to try and get us back home, right?"

It wasn't as if she had expected such a quip to result in anything meaningful, nor did she really want to head back quite yet—not with so many unknowns and so many more threats looming overhead. As long as Kanako-sama and Suwako-sama knew she was safe, she could work without worry.

While all of that was playing out, however, anyone wishing to examine the area further would find that there were more than simply traces of something being simply present. Sifting around in the nearby underbrush would eventually reveal a rather strange cluster of shallow ruts carved into the earth. Further into the forest than that, though, would only further emphasize what it was that had driven the boars out.

After all, the sight of the corpse of an earthmane boar that was no more than skin and bones lying among the underbrush, body hollow and eyes empty, would be more than enough reason for most things to flee. A very notable, roughly-shorn hole in the center of where the boar's stomach had been was front-and-center for all to see, but beyond that...

@VitaVitaAR@EchoWolff@Izurich@Lugubrious@Raineh Daze

Aventon — Hunter's Lodge

While displeasure was evident on Kendrick's face as Anne mentioned the possibility of the contents of the box being a peace offering, any further considerations of what deeper meaning they held was promptly thrown out the window as Millie began to stir for the first time since she had arrived. In the same instant that his eyes met Anne's, the guard gave a quick nod before rushing over to the young girl's side.

Millie herself seemed to be in stable condition despite being left in a comatose state for the better half of the last sixteen hours, though that might have been more due to how miraculously everything up until now had lined up. Regardless of that fact, though, the young girl shifted ever so slightly where she lay as Anne tested for her pulse. The woman's words, however, seemed to have a bit more of a profound effect. Hearing her name called, Millie unconsciously pulled her arm back before her eyes opened for the first time in what felt like ages.

"Who...?" she asked, voice weak and raspy as her eyes panned from Anne towards Kendrick. "...Uncle Ken? What happened...? Where's Al?"

"Alvin's... At home right now. He went to go pick something up," Kendrick responded, lying as best he could to cover up what had transpired the night before. "But he'll be back soon enough. Are you okay? Nothing feeling too out of place?"

"Mmgh... My arms and legs hurt, and I'm really thirsty..." she responded, to which Kendrick responded with a nod.

"Well, sleeping on the floor'll definitely do that," he spoke simply, nodding his head before turning towards Anne, then back towards Millie. "This person here—Miss Anne—helped you and your brother out yesterday."

"She saved us from the bad guys?"

"Yeah, she and her friends saved... A lot of people yesterday," he said, slowly rising back to his feet. "...Sorry, but do you mind looking after Millie a bit longer? I want to make sure Alvin... Didn't get distracted."

@Drifting Pollen
Tachibana Masaru
Abandoned Mansion — Nagano Prefecture


With how much they were being stonewalled by that eternally-regenerating group of soldiers, Masaru couldn't help but feel the slightest bit annoyed when Sakura simply teleported them past everything and right to what could only have been described as a boss arena... With an actual boss to boot. The fact that said 'boss' came complete with a dramatic cinematic entrance only pushed that feeling towards the forefront of his mind, and as he readied himself for combat the young man couldn't hold back the smallest of smirks that crossed his face.

Not that it would last long, granted—not with the giant centipede—who he could only assume to be A-188—barreling down upon it. Had the scale been a bit larger, the standoff could have easily passed for something out of a tokusatsu show; that mattered little, though, as it meant that he was far from any sort of position to make any aggressive moves.

Getting between a fight between Anomalies was just asking for trouble. As things were, it seemed more efficient to just let them fight.

Unfortunate, of course, but at least he could take a crack at a solo whenever the simulators updated. First kills were great and all, but sacrificing clears for his ego would've gotten him crucified long ago.

To that end, the Agent wasted no time in following in Zhao's lead, clearing out whatever trash seemed to be popping up to make sure that the others could continue their fight unimpeded. In between shots aimed at the soldiers' heads, however, Masaru began to fire arrows towards both the ground and the walls in a deliberate attempt to leave them lodged within.

Once he had landed enough to feel "sufficient", though, the archer's bow began to spark and crackle as small bolts of electricity began to fly out.

"Well, if I'm on crowd control duty, might as well make it count," Masaru remarked offhandedly before firing an electricity-laden arrow towards the floor behind him. As he took a step forward, the lightning bound within quickly began to cascade outwards, forming a net of electricity that covered most of the area where the ashigaru were constantly forming and reforming. "Giant electric bug zapper seems like it'll do for now, no?"
Richard Evans
Seasalt Caverns — Entrance


Marzana's cryptic ramblings gave Richard little peace of mind as they continued back on their path out of the cavern, but that seemed to be balanced out well enough by the fact that the other wild Pokemon weren't anywhere near as inclined to attack a group of people as they were just one.

In the end, though, that did mean that the group had left the area with no further interruptions, and that meant that regardless of if he actually chose to help his two odd saviors out with whatever it was that was troubling them, he had essentially done what he had set out to do in the first place.

"Aah...I'll think about it. Thanks for the escort," he responded, waving his hand in in farewell before realizing something distinctly more unsetting as the pair of women left.

"...Wait, how did she know my name? I don't think I ever said it..." he muttered to himself before the beeping of his Pokedex pulled his attention away from that for the moment. In a single fluid motion, the young man pulled the device out of his pocket to see what had caused it to go off.

The message he had received from Laurel wasn't one that seemed particularly concerning beyond the fact that she was more or less ready to move on from the area, and that some of the others were in need of aid. Given how far they were from the town by this point and how much longer it'd take to go back, heal, and head over to wherever the problem was (and how likely it was that other people were to go and help anyways, given how quickly the groups had broken up), though, it didn't seem like a great idea. Wasting the rest of the day to find that everything was already solved would also feel pretty bad no matter how he cut it, which really only meant one thing.

"I think the others probably have it handled, so I'll probably continue following after you if you don't mind. Still in the area, or am I too late replying?"
Richard


If Laurel was already long gone, though, then there wasn't much else to be done except head back anyways.

@Rune_Alchemist
@Rezod92: Fair enough then. Fran accepted.
@Rezod92: I think Fran is okay for the most part, but my only concerns are the lack of verbal communication (which is fairly minor in the grand scheme of things) and the way you might choose to handle Blasted Tree if Fran's forced to use it. This is more with regards to the drawbacks, as we either go Apo (which more or less shuts her down) or something more in line with how FGO presents it (debilitation into she recovers).
@Rezod92: Rejected. Reasoning is as follows:
  • Size. This thing's just way too big to work around, which would naturally force me to be exclusionary when it comes to scenarios. Anything in closed spaces indoors would thus have to be designed to accommodate something 8 meters tall (which is huge, obviously).
  • Being a purely mechanical entity. This is a fantasy world with fantasy elements, so repairing an existence like this would require magic capable of recreating and manipulating complex and delicate parts, at which point the character naturally gets outscaled because question of "why would we repair this when we could just make it but better" starts to pop up.
  • Heavy reliance on firearms. In a world like this, you have no way of repairing ammunition stores without making it yourself or some external out-of-universe cheat method (at least when it comes to traditional firearms). This is before we get into the problem of magic, because if you can't break through magic shields, you're a giant target that'll get blown to smithereens in no time. Anything else you could probably just bulldoze through, sure, but at that point there's either zero threat or the character may as well be DOA. No real in-between.


Also, your image is broken, but that's an aside compared to the more pressing matters at hand.
@Raineh Daze: Mokotan ok. Gotta figure out how to handle the Saria stuff, but we can probably do what we did for Lily or something.

Do believe that we're at capacity for Touhou characters now though. Honestly did not expect this many to begin with, but, well, here we are now.

Only thing to note might be how the possession in this case isn't a one in the traditional sense and doesn't take direct control of the possessed, but regardless.
@Rezod92: Aye, still open. Would like to be aware of what's cooking, though.
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