Author Topic: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 15)  (Read 93017 times)

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 15)
« Reply #60 on: January 13, 2016, 06:14:47 AM »
>"Think we're done for the day."

>"Did you..." She hesitates a moment. "When you said you didn't have any more days left to take off... do you really think that's true?"

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 15)
« Reply #61 on: January 13, 2016, 06:26:08 AM »
>"Uh... I said that? Oh right I did."
>"How long were we going?"

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 15)
« Reply #62 on: January 13, 2016, 06:29:25 AM »
>"Uh... I said that? Oh right I did."
>"How long were we going?"

>"Um... maybe 15 minutes?" she says.

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 15)
« Reply #63 on: January 13, 2016, 06:40:31 AM »
>"Balls."

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 15)
« Reply #64 on: January 13, 2016, 06:41:39 AM »

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 15)
« Reply #65 on: January 13, 2016, 06:42:53 AM »
>"Maybe you were right."

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 15)
« Reply #66 on: January 13, 2016, 06:50:29 AM »
>"Maybe you were right."

>"About what?" She seems a little uncertain.

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 15)
« Reply #67 on: January 13, 2016, 07:05:37 AM »
>"Should have rested more."

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 15)
« Reply #68 on: January 13, 2016, 07:18:41 AM »
>"Should have rested more."

>She offers a tentative smile. "Well, we still can."

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 15)
« Reply #69 on: January 13, 2016, 07:26:12 AM »
>"Okay. Let's."

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 15)
« Reply #70 on: January 13, 2016, 08:03:23 AM »
>"Okay. Let's."

>At your request, Kyouko lays you down gently against a tree, but looks oddly pensive when she lets you go. For a time, she says nothing, pacing a short distance into the fog and then back again. When she finally speaks, it nearly startles you from an exhausted reverie, though you could scarcely say whether a minute or an hour had passed.
>"If you didn't have to walk," she asks, "do you think you'd be okay to travel? Like, not stomach sick or all dizzy or something like that?"

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 15)
« Reply #71 on: January 13, 2016, 11:11:33 PM »
>"I'm not that great with horses. Or goats."
>Chuckle. "Heh. Goat rider. Funny fairy."
>Shake head and focus. "But it's not like we have any other options. Unless we find another helpful fairy with a herd of goats, all we got are feet."

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 15)
« Reply #72 on: January 14, 2016, 12:18:04 AM »
>"I'm not that great with horses. Or goats."
>Chuckle. "Heh. Goat rider. Funny fairy."
>Shake head and focus. "But it's not like we have any other options. Unless we find another helpful fairy with a herd of goats, all we got are feet."

>"Mine still work!" she says cheerfully as she rummages through her pack to produce a... small bottle? She pauses, and looks at you again. "So... that was a yes, right?"

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 15)
« Reply #73 on: January 14, 2016, 12:46:58 AM »
>Uh.... WAS that a yes?

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 15)
« Reply #74 on: January 14, 2016, 12:57:08 AM »
>Uh.... WAS that a yes?

>Well, you feel both a little dizzy and a little stomach sick, but that's nothing new; if that was going to stop you reaching the garden, you wouldn't have made it past the first day.

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 15)
« Reply #75 on: January 14, 2016, 02:21:42 AM »
>"Honestly, I'm both stomach sick and dizzy. But up until that little fall, it was managable."

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 15)
« Reply #76 on: January 14, 2016, 02:28:41 AM »
>"Honestly, I'm both stomach sick and dizzy. But up until that little fall, it was managable."

>"...is that a no, then?"

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 15)
« Reply #77 on: January 14, 2016, 02:37:53 AM »
>Think back.
>"You mean, could I still travel? Yeah. I could, I think."

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 15)
« Reply #78 on: January 14, 2016, 03:18:54 AM »
>Think back.
>"You mean, could I still travel? Yeah. I could, I think."

>"Okay, then!"
>And with that, she uncorks the bottle and tosses its contents down her throat in a single go, followed immediately by shuddering.
>"Uck, that tastes awful. Like... rotten cabbage mixed with plaster. Eugh..." She chases it down with a swig of water, though the expression on her face leaves you doubting its effectiveness.

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 15)
« Reply #79 on: January 14, 2016, 03:45:29 AM »
>"What's that do? Let you summon a horse or something?"

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 15)
« Reply #80 on: January 14, 2016, 05:07:17 AM »
>"What's that do? Let you summon a horse or something?"

>Kyouko giggles. "That would be kinda nifty. Hmmm... would a horse even be able to move around here with all these trees and hills in the way?" She surveys the terrain thoughtfully for a moment, then bends down beside you.
>"But no. What it lets me do is... this."
>And with that, she scoops one arm beneath your legs and another beneath your back and gently hoists you off the ground. Once your face reaches level with her own, she grins at you.
>"Kasodani Delivery, at your service!"

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 15)
« Reply #81 on: January 14, 2016, 05:33:06 AM »
>Blink. "Strength potion?"

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 15)
« Reply #82 on: January 14, 2016, 05:47:30 AM »
>Blink. "Strength potion?"

>"Fortitude, too!" she says. "We've still got a lot of ground to cover, after all! I picked it up before we left the city - just in case we might need it for something. Always pays to be prepared!"

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 15)
« Reply #83 on: January 14, 2016, 06:25:15 AM »
>"Clever girl."

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 15)
« Reply #84 on: January 21, 2016, 06:28:06 AM »
>"Clever girl."

>Kyouko beams. "I said we're going to get you better, and that's what we're going to do! Let's go!"

>It is a strange feeling, being carried in the arms of another like this. Once, you think you would have felt embarrassed by it, too prideful to depend on anyone else so completely. Perhaps it's surrender. Perhaps you're simply too far gone now, too desperate to care. But rather than feeling shame, the sensation of Kyouko's arms beneath you is... comforting, like a blanket against a bitter wind.
>Your eyes, half-lidded, rest across her face. There is a fierce determination there, yet also brightness, despite everything ? it is the look of someone utterly convinced that what they're doing is important. That it matters.
>And she's doing it for you.
>You try to voice your thanks, but your tongue feels too heavy to move. Instead, you drift asleep to the sound of the brush rustling beneath her feet.

>The hours pass, or maybe days, or even weeks ? it is impossible for you to tell the difference any more. Kyouko sets you down occasionally to eat or stretch or to reexamine the map. The passage of time is so muddled to you now that you cannot be sure she's sleeping at all, though you're starting to have doubts. It has been dark and light and dark again, and still you have not seen her idle for a moment.
>Her appetite is more voracious than ever, all but inhaling a loaf of bread and pining wistfully for seconds. The best you can manage in the same length of time is a single cracker and a few nibbles of cheese and even that is unpalatable to you now.
>Kyouko smiles at you when she lifts you in her arms again. She always smiles. Even when the sweat starts dripping from her face, she smiles. For a moment, you are struck with a profound sadness that there is no color left in your world. The green of her eyes was so vivid....

>You awaken to the splash of raindrops against your face, each a tiny moment's respite from the furnace that burns beneath your skin. It is dawn, or maybe sunset, a line of murky light shrouded thickly beneath clouds. The world is oddly quiet around you, leaves dancing silently upon the wind. Where did all the birds go? You can feel yourself rising, a sea of treetops receding slowly into the distance below. One of Kyouko's sleeves is slick with mud, though you don't remember falling.
>Your breath comes in rasps now. The air is too raw and there's never enough of it; even in the rain, your lungs feel like a desert.
>"We're getting close," Kyouko says. That's what she always says now. You don't know if you can trust it anymore, but it's all you have.
>You try to nod, try to speak; even this is no more than a hoarse whisper, too quiet to hear. Your hand fumbles blindly for hers, eventually finds it, feels the fingers still holding you firmly. You squeeze. Hopefully that's answer enough.

>There is a long pause, and then you hear her call your name. Once. Twice. Her voice seems distant, somehow unsteady.
>...has the rain stopped?

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 15)
« Reply #85 on: January 21, 2016, 07:02:22 AM »
>Look around. If we can.

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 15)
« Reply #86 on: January 21, 2016, 07:13:04 AM »
>Look around. If we can.

>You take a quick look around. It's hard to see much of anything in your surroundings that would draw attention, though you can still see Kyouko's face easily enough with as close as she's holding you. She smiles when you look at her, but the gesture seems halfhearted. It takes a moment to realize how rapidly she's breathing. Her face is flushed, even haggard, and you'd swear she was drenched with sweat if you didn't know it had just been raining.
>...except you feel completely dry, now that you think of it. Did you fall asleep again? How long were you out?

>"I... I think we made it," Kyouko says.

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 15)
« Reply #87 on: January 21, 2016, 07:22:30 AM »
>"You okay?"

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 15)
« Reply #88 on: January 21, 2016, 07:26:24 AM »
>"You okay?"

>"Kinda. Sorta. I'll be alright," she says, pausing for breath between every other word.

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 15)
« Reply #89 on: January 21, 2016, 07:37:52 AM »
>Is she still holding us up?
>If so, "Put me down, Kyouko."