The New Generation (Story) (May contain TD spoilers)

[Reisen-tanith]

"Well it still needed more taste to it." The wolf responded following kotohime up the stairs and into the mess that is the main floor.
 "Kami... that is a mess," Aref said looking into the piles sniffing a little, "where did you find it all?"

[Marokuu]

(OOC: It's cool bro, I've been sorta busy lately either way. I'm just gonna keep posting stuff without relevance to give you more work
But seriously, you can just ignore my posts or save them for a later time if you wanna.)

Ohuku stuck close to Momiji as they flew over the village, giving her a slight push to make her get past the crowds below faster. Had she paid more attention she might have noticed that people rarely looked up and while she did not register this, the fact that it was so was probably for the better, her clothing was not quite designed to be viewed from below. As she flew next to Momiji she thought she felt something touch her leg, it caused her to twitch and accidentally brush her hair against Momiji's arm.

[Hanzo K.]

So she promised she wouldn't steal any huh? Only time would tell she supposed.
"Yeah, I'm ready~!" She remarked with a cheerful, yet oblivious grin as she picked up the swords and daggers she had set down earlier.
"You'd better take off first, don't wanna get bopped do you? Gotta be careful around things with a big wingspan~"
And if one were to take the time to look, they'd notice that she's not kidding about a big wingspan.
For her wings are truly large, if she were to spread her wings even a third of the way while still in the cave, she could very easily serve as a rather good barricade.
Of course, most Tengu generally keep their wings retracted and hidden by magic, likely to keep maneuverability up, but Hotaru? She's barely even a day or two old as far as Tengu go, so how is she to know?


(OOC: Yeah, as far as Tengu go, she probably could hold the record for "Largest Wings". And Ravens actually are larger than Crows, and she was an abnormally large example of the species, roughly 4 times the size of a normal raven.)
{Another OOC(Ornithology Ver.): Crows come in at around 17 inches long, Ravens clock in at around 24-27. Wingspan-wise, Crows have around 2.5 feet, Ravens have about 3.5, to 4 feet. Now multiply those figures by four, and you've got Hotaru as a Raven. Clocking in at around 8-9 feet, and a wingspan of 14-16 feet, If my math's correct... Now scale that to a teenage human with an average build of 16-18 years....Biiiiig wings, eh?)
(Another Another OOC: Yeah, I forgot to add that to her description. :V)

[Wolfsbane706]

((OOC: Sorry about falling two updates behind.  Life got in the way.))

Ark descended and touched down on the ground, although she plopped face-down when she did, not used to landing yet.  That didn't exactly "stop" her in terms of motivation, but it certainly brought her movement to a halt.  "Ow." she muttered as she pushed herself back up to her feet.and waited for Cirno and Rumia to land.  "I think we should chat with the person in front first." she said when they were in earshot.  "I wanna know more about this place, so who better to ask?"

[Dorakyura]

Hilde didn't notice that someone was coming from behind... Alarmed by the voice, she immediately reacted. Hilde turned around, swinging her weapon, to defend herself, towards Yuugi. But Hilde stopped when she saw Yuugi's grinning face.
Yuugi wasn't really impressed by Hilde's reaction and took a sip of her sake.
"Oh, it's you." Hilde lowered her defensive stance. "Good that I didn't hit you with that", she was pointing on her helberd.  The cutting edge  of the weapon was glinting in the smooth lighting.
"I was looking for you but I got lost in the streets."

[Aya Squawkermaru]

Berzul

Eventually, the two reached Hakugyokurou at the center. Youmu turned to Yoshiko. ?You can stop following me now.? She turned back as abruptly as the first turn, and entered the large shrine, closing the door behind her. Ghosts began crowding around the door.


Crow Cakes

Koishi shook her head. ?It's not that. Big Sis told me about your problems with hearing all the voices. Of course, she's learned to cope with it, but...? She looked down at her own third eye. ?...Well, I'm sure you'll be fine. Unless, do you want to stay behind??


Sour and GuardianTempest
(OOC: Thank you, sir. I'm not going to try to top it right now, so have a boring title.)

Byakuren's eyes widened slightly. ?...That's a new one.?

Shou nodded. ?Well, I'm sure that will be useful. Anyway, we should get going.? She ascended, and waited for Minako to do the same. ?Since this is just surveillance, we'll want to remain unnoticed. Try not to draw too much attention to ourselves.?

(OOC: It has been brought to my attention that this barrier thing is pretty much an ability. As such, I believe I will need to decide between allowing abilities for all, or ending this one. I should have an answer by tomorrow on this matter, but for now I'll keep their reactions as is.)

Youkai Jesus

The fairies looked at each other, concerned, then nodded. The one with red hair pointed at herself with her thumb, grinning. ?The name's Sunny Milk.?

?Star Sapphire,? said the one in the blue dress.

?Luna Child,? said the last fairy.

Sunny's grin grew. ?We're the Three Fairies of Light. I'm the leader. Don't you worry, we'll get that shrine maiden back!?

?...We will?? the other two asked, turning to her. She just nodded.


Sonae

Keine scratched her cheek, looking up. ?Um, that depends. Sanae performs rituals, cleans the shrine, things like that. Reimu was... different. There's no real way to describe it.?

?She did, however, exterminate Youkai...? Futo added.

?Not really. She beat them in danmaku battles. I don't think she ever actually exterminated any Youkai,? Keine said, correcting her.


XinXin

Koakuma shook her head. ?Miss Patchouli is already asleep. Has been for a few hours. I don't have to sleep, so I take care of the Library while she sleeps.? She went to the door. ?Well, follow me.? She left the room and stepped out into the hallway.


Reisen-tanith

Kotohime shrugged. ?It was fine.? She grinned at Aref's question. ?Everywhere. I have the largest collection of things in all of Gensokyo. Probably the whole world.? She beamed with pride. ?I even have some stuff from the Outside World in there.?


Marokuu and Hanzo

Momiji pulled her arm up, shaking it. ?Ow ow ow...?

---

Utsuho nodded, and took off, carrying what she could. Hotaru followed soon thereafter. Two figures could be seen off in the distance; they were getting closer. Utsuho was apparently spacing out, as she brushed by one of them, before noticing the affect on her wings, slowing her down. Hotaru stopped next to her. They turned to see two girls, one with a jacket, and the other was shaking her arm. Utsuho scratched behind her arm. ?Um... sorry.?

Momiji shook her head. ?No, it's alright. Just watch where you're going.? She then squinted a bit. ?...Aren't you that crow the kappa are always talking about??

?Eh? You know the kappa?? Utsuho asked, tilting her head.

?yes, we were just going to visit Nitori, in fact...? Momiji said, trailing off.


MFZBdude
(OOC: It's fine. Real life is more important. You think you're bad? Look at how inconsistent these updates are. )

Cirno grinned, landing. ?Nice one, servant.?

Rumia ran over to the gate, Cirno and Ark following behind. ?Miss Meiling!?

The girl at the gate turned to them, and let her guard down, smiling. ?Hey there, kids. Who's your friend??

Cirno clapped a hand on Ark's shoulder. ?This is Ark, my new servant.?

Meiling looked down at Ark. ?It's nice to meet you, Ark.?


Dorakyura

Yuugi grinned. ?I could have taken it. But yeah, the streets are pretty crowded this time of day. Well, they always are, but that's beside the point.? She clamped a hand down on Hilde's shoulder; it felt like a vice grip. ?Walk with me, kid.? She began walking down the street, Hilde in tow. ?I've heard that something's going down. Nobody's really sure what, but something big is happening, kid. And I've heard you're involved.?

She stopped, and turned to Hilde. ?I don't mean that in a bad way, of course. I just figured I should ask you about it is all. You'd know better than anyone else if you were involved in something.?


---

In front of them was a shack by the river. Kanade turned to Hina. ?This is it??

Hina nodded. ?Yes, but...  There's a lot of misfortune here. More than what Nitori usually gets.? She bit her lip, and made eye contact with Kanade. ?I have a bad feeling about this.?

Kanade nodded. ?I know. It doesn't seem right. But... We have to find out for ourselves.? The two nodded, and walked towards the shack.

[Berzul]

Yoshiko would first try passing though the door, then floating over it, then knocking on the door. She would not leave the side of the door until she would come in.

[GuardianTempest]

(YEah, and I thought you'd allow it as you said on the OOC...but that depends on the character. Besides, a rule of adventures is that all participants are imba by the end of the journey.)

Heal started panting, "Why...thank...you..." then suddenly collapses. She lays flat on the grass as her mind is cleared from most conscious thought. "Oh dear...guess I get carried away. Would it...be acceptable for me to rest now?"

(OOC: Obligatory fainting...not exactly, often happens when I feel as if I did something taboo and recognize that I get carried away,)

[Sonae]

Sayuri blinked, picking up on a certain word. "Was...?" She asked, not quite understanding the situation.
As she listened to the rest of the discussion, she questioned more words. "Exterminate? Danmaku? Youkai?" She blinked, her eyes filled with wonder

[CrowCakes]

Well, she did forget about the fact that her third eye was still very receptive, but Chiseki was more than ready to think of a solution to it. She was pretty sure that she would fine, too.

"Well, uh, what do you know about the third eyes?" she asked Koishi.

Even with the lack of information, she began guessing ways in which she could hear thoughts less. Maybe if she closed it for a while, it would work, but a glance at Koishi's closed third eye made her shudder. What happened to Koishi's third eye, anyway?

If she focused the third eye on only one person, maybe it would drown out everyone else's. She did do that earlier, and it worked, but there were only two people near her at that time. There would be much more people in the city, that was for sure.

Leaving the third eye half open was also a way, she thought. The problem was, keeping it in that state took a lot of her attention, and she would need attention in the city. She could also just keep thinking; maybe that could distract herself enough from hearing everyone's thoughts too much.

Then there was listening with her ears. It was noisy in the city, regardless of whether the noise was caused by speech or thought. Maybe speech could drown out thoughts. She did that, too, but always ended up having her third eye receiving thoughts anyway.

I have to ask Satori about coping with this, Chiseki reminded herself.

[Hanzo K.]

(OOC:  well, Hotaru's ability wouldn't be very strong as far as abilities go if they were allowed. Something like...I dunno, inducing vibrations or something? Either way, we'd best wait on the verdict from Squawk eh?)

'Kappa? What're those? Who's Nitori? Do you get more than you pay for with her? And who're the two new folks? One of them looks funny. Ooh, what's wrong with her hair?'
Hotaru sure didn't know, but she was happy to be flying, soaring on grand and golden wings.
Of course, she was quickly distracted by the girl with the jacket, especially her bizarre-seeming hair. "...Your hair looks Gooey...That's a fun word to say, 'Gooey'." She commented while staring interestedly at Ohuku's 'hair'.
Of course, she then started looping and flying about before she could even get a response from the funny-hair girl, finally stopping in front of the girl who was shaking her arm.
Hotaru could feel that she wasn't too different from her somehow, but that can't be right, since this girl looks kinda like one of them furry things that she used to steal food from back in the old days, the days that are still quite fuzzy.
Of course, before said girl could likely get a word in, she just grinned and remarked, "The lunar clock that locks the night is the key to everything. It's the source of all the cheese! 42."
Then just started drifting around while rambling inanely, with occasionally-heard remarks of "chipwich!", and "I like trains.", and "No sir, I did not shave your rutabaga!", as well as other such outbursts, with some making a bit more sense than others, and some making less.
It's quite likely that nobody could understand her chatter, and it's a safe bet that not even she understands it completely either.

(Another OOC: here's Hotaru's First theme, Golden Wings. It's really an arrange of Kylier's theme from Yggdra Union, but I think it fits her well.)

[XinXin]

"Sleeping at this time of the day?" Mikan walked to the window to take a quick peek as Koakuma left the room before going back to her. It was decidedly odd, all these people who seemed to hate the day. "Is she nocturnal?" Mikan tilted her head to one side as she followed behind Koakuma. It never really did strike her as odd when Koakuma said she never slept, for some reason. Probably because she figured it was some sort of super power of some sort and then it was nothing compared to Sakuya. That reminded her of the Mistress.

"Is the Mistress afraid of the day?"

[Marokuu]

When Ohuku looked down to see what she'd brushed against and noticed that there were two people with wings really close to her she quickly made a loop and placed herself o that Momiji was between her and them, expecting them to act like Aya had. As Hotaru commented about her hair she opened her mouth but was cut off by the tengu starting to loop around in the air, stopping momentarily in front of Momiji and then drifting around making random remarks that all went above Ohuku's head.

She tore her eyes from the golden tengu and looked at the Raven behind her. The thing spinning around her left foot almost made Ohuku dizzy but what really caught her eye was her cape. It contained the same starry sky that she had seen when she first woke up. It had been the first thing she had ever seen, even before Momiji, and she had wondered where it had gone this morning.

She leaned forward past Momiji to get a closer look, brushing against her with her sleeve as she stared at the inside of Utsuho's cape.

[Aya Squawkermaru]

(OOC: Okay, first up, the verdict on abilities. Putting this up front because it affects everyone. For now, I'm going to say no to the barrier thing. However, there may be a time in the future where I allow everyone an ability. Of course, this will require heavy policing on my part to keep the abilities from being overpowered, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there. So, I'll explain more on that later.)

Hina knocked on the door to the shack. ?Um, Nitori? You in there??

After a few seconds, the door opened. A pale, sickly girl stared at them. She had aqua hair, and wore a green cap and backpack, along with her blue dress. She spoke after staring for a few seconds. ?...Hello, Hina.

Hina shook her head. ?You alright? You look sick.?

Nitori nodded. ?I've been a little under the weather lately. Please, come in.? Kanade and Hina looked at each other nervously, then entered the shack. Nitori closed the door behind them. ?Hina, I have something I'd like to show you. You remember wen I made Marisa go underground??

Hina nodded. ?Yes, you told me about that.?

?Well, I helped her with missiles. Since then, I've been working on them.? She turned to face the two, as a large array of circles expanded out from the wall. She was grinning like a mad man. ?And I think I've perfected them.?


Berzul

Yoshiko floated over to the door, but found that she was having difficulty getting past the ghosts. As such, she decided to float over them, only to have them follow her up. It was as though the ghosts were trying to keep her out. Everywhere she went, the ghosts followed, keeping between her and the shrine.


GuardianTempest and Sour
(OOC: Since the barrier thing has officially been un-happened, and the events of GuardianTempest's most recent post relies directly on that, the events of said post are being voided.)


Sonae

Keine sighed. ?Even my students know more than this... Youkai are the anthropomorphic creatures that adorn Gensokyo, such as yourself. It has usually been a shrine maiden's job to exterminate, or remove them, but tolerance has grown over the years, and such actions are no longer desired. And danmaku is a system of battle by which disputes are usually solves here in Gensokyo. I would demonstrate, but danmaku is prohibited in the village, as stray bullets could harm innocent bystanders.?


Crow cakes

?Well, when a third eye is open, it makes the owner able to read others' minds. Of course, this tend to intimidate people, so it is undesirable, as useful as it may sound. That is why I closed mine. You aren't supposed to be able to, but I did. I also know that, early on, the user has almost no control over the third eye, which makes encounters with large amounts of people painful. Even when you learn to control it more, this can still occur in places with large amounts of people, which is why Big Sis only goes into the city in case of emergency.?

Koishi sighed, and looked down once more. ?Regardless of whether it is opened or closed... having a third eye is nothing but a curse. I hate it.?


Hanzo and Marokuu

Momiji raised an eyebrow at Hotaru. ?...You have an... interesting friend there, hell raven.?

Utsuho nodded. ?Miss Satori asked me to bring her back to the palace underground. We're on our way right now, actually.?

Momiji nodded. ?Then, I'll be-?

but Momiji was cut off, as an explosion erupted in the distance. All four looked to see it, as smoke rose from the are of the explosion. Momiji narrowed her eyes. ?...That's...!? She turned to Ohuku. ?Ohuku, whatever you do, stay here. I'll be back soon.? She brandished her sword and shield, and flew off in the direction of the explosion.

Utsuho looked between the two young Youkai. ?um, I'm going to go check it out, too. I hope that kappa isn't hurt...? She then flew off, leaving the two Youkai behind.


XinXin

?Well, Miss Patchouli's schedule is similar to that of the Mistress's. If their schedules were opposites, they would not be able to interact much, and they are close friends. So, they decided to compromise. The Mistress wakes up in the evening, except on days when it is necessary for her to venture outside during the day. As a vampire, of course, the sunlight is harmful to her. That is why the windows are heavily shaded during the day, and there aren't many.? Koakuma sighed, tired from the long explanation.

[Marokuu]

"Stay here?" Ohuku Knew exactly what Momiji meant by those words but she did not like it. She glanced at the golden tengu next to her and then back at the two leaving figures. "No." She said the one word silently to herself more than anything else. "No!" She said it again with more emphasis as she dove after Momiji.

"Momiji helped me, now I can help her." She came up behind Momiji as they approached the area of the explosion.

"Don't tell me to stay." She said as she fell in next to the wolf tengu yet again.

[Sonae]

Sayuri stared at her blankly. She blinks a few times. "Oh..." she mumbles. Keine's explanation going right over her head. However she didn't give Keine time to realize and began asking more questions.
"Are you a youkai?" She said, gazing at the woman's hat curiously. After a few seconds, she turned and looked back at Futo, then back at Keine. "Is Futo a youkai too?" she asked, pointing at the girl.

[Hanzo K.]

After watching the girl with the sword and shield take off towards the cloud of smoke in the distance, then seeing Utsuho fly off after her, Hotaru was throughly puzzled.
Then it dawned on her, Utsuho still had some of her swords.
"Hey! She's still got my treasure! Oooh......" Oh man, did she ever look angry....But then her expression turned to one of cheer and amusement as Ohuku took off after them.
"Guess I'll tag along then~" And tag along she did, though a few stray gusts made her do more than a few barrel rolls. 'Barrel roll, barrel roll, do a-do a barrel roll~ Do a Barrel Roll~!'
Eventually she caught up with Ohuku, Momiji, and Utsuho. "Hey, I'm coming too~! Leaving me behind like that's no fair y'know~ What if a giant tuna showed up? And we don't have any pliers, we should remedy that problem in case giant squirrels show up too!" 'No fair! Norfair! Squids are violent.'
Truly, her mind is a strange and mysterious place.

(OOC: Sounds logical enough I'd say.)

[Aya Squawkermaru]

Marokuu and Hanzo

Momiji stopped, and turned to Ohuku. ?No. You stay here. I don't want you to get hurt. Whatever caused that explosion is dangerous, and there's no way I can let you get hurt like that.? She then turned to Hotaru. ?... Don't worry, Helepolis is not here, so we don't need to worry about him. Um. I'm not really sure what to say, except that you're also staying behind. You look way too young for this.?

Utsuho nodded her agreement. ?We can handle this, whatever it is. You two can just stay behind. Besides, I don't want to accidentally hit you when I fire off a Peta Flare, or something.?

Momiji turned to Utsuho. ?Um, please don't use that. I'm not sure the land would take it very well. This isn't your reactor, you know.?


Sonae

Keine shrugged. ?Well, I'm a Were-Hakutaku. I turn into a Hakutaku on the night of the full moon, but that only happens once a month, and only at night, so it's more that I'm one-sixtieth Hakutaku.?

Futo shook her head. ?I am immortal, but I am human. I am a Shikaisen, which is still considered human. I would much rather be a human than a Youkai. No offense intended.?

?Speaking of, I'm surprised to see you getting along so well with a Youkai,? Keine said, turning to Futo.

?I have reasons. Namely, we don't really intend on wiping out Youkai any more. Besides, she's one of us,? Futo said, shrugging.

[Sonae]

"Haku...taku?" Sayuri repeats, her eyes drifting back to Keine's hat.
As Futo speaks, Sayuri turns and looks at her with intrigue. "What's an immortal?" She asks, innocence reflecting in her eyes.

[Dorakyura]

Dorakyura

Yuugi grinned. ?I could have taken it. But yeah, the streets are pretty crowded this time of day. Well, they always are, but that's beside the point.? She clamped a hand down on Hilde's shoulder; it felt like a vice grip. ?Walk with me, kid.? She began walking down the street, Hilde in tow. ?I've heard that something's going down. Nobody's really sure what, but something big is happening, kid. And I've heard you're involved.?

She stopped, and turned to Hilde. ?I don't mean that in a bad way, of course. I just figured I should ask you about it is all. You'd know better than anyone else if you were involved in something.?

'Kid'...Hilde didn't like being called that way. She bent a brow. "I'm not a kid... even compared to an Oni..., I have my pride." (Yuugi told her about the Oni's the day before)
Her words came without thinking, but she thought right. She felt a little weak next to the oni but she had her pride.

"I told you before, I don't know much." Hilde's expression turned into serious one. "Technically I shouldn't be here..." hers thoughts got drawn into the darkness she felt for a long time (god my english) ", but something brought me back. I meet Miss Satori as you said. She couldn't give me information but she plans to go to the surface tomorrow, to the human village and she's taking me with her... She said that she wanted to go to the town hall for today.
I actually didn't refuce to come with her, it may show me the reason why I'm here and maybe I can restore my memories in the meantime".
Hilde came in mind that she might have to fight sooner or later  "I would like to be prepared for what's coming. Could I ask something? You told me something about 'danmaku duels' yesterday. I haven't asked yet, but what is that."

[Oldmansour]

(OOC: Gonna wait on Temps. As I recall, my last post before his 'ability' one still stands, so I'll wait for either Squaks to respond to that one, or Temps to come up with something. Whichever comes first.)

[Aya Squawkermaru]

(OOC: Gonna wait on Temps. As I recall, my last post before his 'ability' one still stands, so I'll wait for either Squaks to respond to that one, or Temps to come up with something. Whichever comes first.)

(OOC: Actually, I'm fairly certain I already responded to that one. I could be wrong, though. But yeah, for now I'm just waiting for a few more people to post. That last one was different since important stuff was happening, but now I want to wait for a few more people to post.)

[Hanzo K.]

"Peta Flare? Reactor? ....Swiss Cheese! Salad." How her mind reached that conclusion is a riddle for the ages.
...Then something clicked.
"Hang on, what if whatever did that can beat you guys? Wouldn't it make more sense to have more folks helping out if it comes to a fight? I don't have all these swords for nothing y'know!"
Then a look of realization dawned on her, and she turned to Utsuho. "Oh yeah, you still have the swords you were carrying for me too! That's pretty much most of why I came out here after you in the first place come to think of it~"



(OOC: I dunno when I can get the next post out, I'm having health and computer issues...)

[Wolfsbane706]

((OOC: Has XinXin's character met with Meiling yet?  Reason I ask, is because if she hasn't, I wouldn't mind waiting in order to have Ark meet another player character.))

[[Y]oukai [J]esus]

"...Alright, fair enough." Faries that are oblivious that the shrine maiden is gone.... Who now want to find her back for their own plans. Well, this is interesting. Arasoi stood up, stretching and yawning. Slowly, he opened the door and walked out, little sparks of lightning bouncing around about on his clawed fingers. Turning his back slightly, he smiled and asked the faries to come over.

Arasoi sighed to himself as he walked towards the area where Mima and Marisa were.

(SHORT BECAUSE IM POSTING IN EOG)

[Aya Squawkermaru]

((OOC: Has XinXin's character met with Meiling yet?  Reason I ask, is because if she hasn't, I wouldn't mind waiting in order to have Ark meet another player character.))

(OOC: Yes, she has. Meiling is actually the one who found Mikan in the garden.

Also, don't worry about it, Hanzo. Hope you get better soon, buddeh. Being sick sucks. :x Or, at least, based on your earlier description, I'm guessing that's what it is.

Will update some time soon. Not really sure when. You know how it is.)

[Berzul]

As the ghosts would follow her, eventually she would try to to force her way though them, float down back slowly a little and then go back as fast as possible to trick them. If that would not be enough she would start to pick one ghost after another trying either to persuade them not to block her path, by words or by simply gently pushing them away.

[Wolfsbane706]

((OOC: Well that particular idea just flew out the window for now.))

Ark nodded and opened her mouth to introduce herself, but found herself more interested in Meiling's hat than anything else.  "What's that thing on your head?" she asked, pointing at Meiling's choice of headgear.  She'd heard Cirno mention something about "bows" during their long flight, and Ark had figured it was just Cirno talking to herself.  She made a mental note to ask Rumia about it later.  For now she was more focused on Meiling's starred cap.  More interested, too.  She reached up to trace the lines on the star with her finger, not really caring about how close she was getting.

[XinXin]

"VAMPIRE!?" All else paled in comparison to that one fact.

[GuardianTempest]

Heal regained consciousness minutes later, but remained immobile. "How...damn...embarrassing. Hope she doesn't giggle or anything."

[OOC: Short, I did mention that in the CS, but I need to make a good plot point. I forgot to tell you that, I don't just start out with my full abilities. And yes, I really suck coming up with an explanation for it.]