(Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 8)

[Oldmansour]

>That was the whistling of a wind blade, wasn't it?

[DracoOmega]

>That was the whistling of a wind blade, wasn't it?

>It was.

[Oldmansour]

>Does it sound like it's coming towards us?

[DracoOmega]

>Does it sound like it's coming towards us?

>In a general sense, though it might well be aimed at Chisato; she is rather closer to it.

[Oldmansour]

>Guess we must have missed again.
>"If your boss has hurt Miyuki, you're a very long way away from fine."
>Are there any kunai in grabbing range?
>Are we as good at throwing regular knives as we are throwing kunai? Like the one in our tail, specifically.
>Are we as good at throwing knives with our tail as our hands?

[DracoOmega]

>Guess we must have missed again.
>"If your boss has hurt Miyuki, you're a very long way away from fine."
>Are there any kunai in grabbing range?
>Are we as good at throwing regular knives as we are throwing kunai? Like the one in our tail, specifically.
>Are we as good at throwing knives with our tail as our hands?

>Perhaps.
>"Should've thought of that before you started this," the tengu in front of you counters. "Can't say we didn't warn you."
>No.
>You are slightly less experienced with them, but you don't think it should be a problem.
>Unfortunately no, but you can probably manage if the shot isn't too tricky.

[Oldmansour]

>Transfer the knife to our left hand.
>Firmly, "I don't roll over for thieves, and I refuse to be bullied. Not by the likes of you."
>How far ahead of us is our opponent?

[DracoOmega]

>Transfer the knife to our left hand.
>Firmly, "I don't roll over for thieves, and I refuse to be bullied. Not by the likes of you."
>How far ahead of us is our opponent?

>You flip your tail around and transfer the knife to your hand.
>"It's your blood," she replies coolly as Fuuka moves past her and down the hall, glancing back at you with a loathsome expression. You hear something clatter light against the wall behind you. Chisato lets out a pained grunt.
>Just slightly beyond weapon's range.

[Oldmansour]

>"Not just mine."
>Lunge forward, pressing off with our good leg, angling towards her left side.
>Stab forward towards her gut with our knife. And when she moves to block it, slash down at her arm with our saber.

[DracoOmega]

>"Not just mine."
>Lunge forward, pressing off with our good leg, angling towards her left side.
>Stab forward towards her gut with our knife. And when she moves to block it, slash down at her arm with our saber.

>You lunge forward and are unable to suppress a groan as fresh pain stabs through the wound in your side.
>You try to keep your aim straight regardless and stab your knife at her gut. Rather than attempt to block the attack, however, the tengu instead takes advantage of her longer reach and drives her blade towards that arm. Too far yet to aim for her own, and in no shape to twist and roll beneath the attack, you're forced to slash your sword at her weapon instead to ward it off. Steel rings sharply against steel and she pulls away from you again.

[Oldmansour]

>All right, that didn't work.
>Press the attack, keep working to her left. Try to push her back against the wall.
>Come in low this time with our saber, sweeping a slash at her legs. She can't slash our arm if we use the longer weapon.
>Angle our sword to try and force her to dodge to her right. If she does, give her a stabbing, preferably in the legs, or wings, if the opportunity presents.

[DracoOmega]

>All right, that didn't work.
>Press the attack, keep working to her left. Try to push her back against the wall.
>Come in low this time with our saber, sweeping a slash at her legs. She can't slash our arm if we use the longer weapon.
>Angle our sword to try and force her to dodge to her right. If she does, give her a stabbing, preferably in the legs, or wings, if the opportunity presents.

>You continue forward, sweeping your sword at the tengu's legs. She simply springs off the ground as you start the motion and lunges towards you with sword extended. You raise your knife and catch the edge of her blade as it dives towards your shoulder, but she twists her body aside as the weapons scrape against each other and... pitches awkwardly to her left, suddenly losing much of her altitude.

[Oldmansour]

>Must have hit her deeper than we thought before.
>Is she still in the air?

[DracoOmega]

>Must have hit her deeper than we thought before.
>Is she still in the air?

>Perhaps.
>Yes, though what you assume was meant to be a precise aerial maneuver has become anything but. The expression on her face strongly suggests this was not intentional.

[Oldmansour]

>Well, let's give her an even worse day, shall we?
>Close in and launch a two-pronged attack, knife and blade! Go for a wing, or her sword-arm. Or both!

[DracoOmega]

>Well, let's give her an even worse day, shall we?
>Close in and launch a two-pronged attack, knife and blade! Go for a wing, or her sword-arm. Or both!

>You step in as the tengu falters, slashing your sword at the nearer of her two wings and readying the knife in your other hand to strike. She tilts her blade and brings it crosswise in front of her side as she attempts to regain stability. Despite her awkward posture, the parry is quick and solid, but the angle she was forced it make it at exposes the arm itself. Although she recovers quickly from her stumble, it is not quickly enough to evade a second strike. As your sword clangs against hers, you shift into the opening and stab your knife firmly into her wrist. The tengu does an impressive job of stifling a cry.
>You hear another sharp whistling behind you, followed quickly by a second. Chisato snarls bitterly and there is another heavy thump against the wall.

[Oldmansour]

>Hold on, Chisato....
>Give that knife a good twist, let's sever some nerves. That'll take some of the sting out of her fight.
>Sneer, "Told you."
>Aim a quick slash at her midsection with our saber.

[DracoOmega]

>Hold on, Chisato....
>Give that knife a good twist, let's sever some nerves. That'll take some of the sting out of her fight.
>Sneer, "Told you."
>Aim a quick slash at her midsection with our saber.

>You twist the knife in the tengu's wrist and her voice turns into a smothered rasp.
>"Suit... yourself," she hisses through clenched teeth.
>You aim another slash at her midsection, but she pulls away from you before it can connect, tearing her arm free of your knife with sickly squishing sound. Blood splatters wetly against the floor. Somehow she manages not to cry out, instead shifting her sword into her other hand and opening up some more distance. Her face is drawn tight with what you assume to be pain, but her composure is considerable nonetheless.

>You hear the lead tengu's voice speak firmly. "I promise neither of you will be harmed if you will just stand down!"
>"Like hell!" Chisato cries, then grunts in pain again.

[Oldmansour]

>Commendable pirate, not showing the kind of pain she must be in.
>Take a half step backwards, partially turn towards Chisato and her tengu, just a little. Keep our weapons raised defensively.
>"You can't seriously expect us to take the word of the people that invaded our ship to rob us, do you?"
>Are there any weapons on the ground within our tails' range?

[DracoOmega]

>Commendable pirate, not showing the kind of pain she must be in.
>Take a half step backwards, partially turn towards Chisato and her tengu, just a little. Keep our weapons raised defensively.
>"You can't seriously expect us to take the word of the people that invaded our ship to rob us, do you?"

>With more than a little annoyance, you suspect you would not be as stoic in her place.
>You take a half-step backwards and turn slightly to the rear without taking your eyes of the tengu in front of you. She is maintaining a defensive posture of her own, but doesn't look eager to charge again just yet.
>"What she said!" Chisato seconds.
>"I'd suggest asking your captain about that," the tengu replies with a note of exertion in her voice. You hear Chisato let out a small curse and then yelp. Miyuki groans.

>Are there any weapons on the ground within our tails' range?

>You see what appears to be a broken pole on the ground a couple feet behind you and to the right. It's about as long as your arm and maybe an inch and a half in diameter, and looks to be made of solid sturdy wood. Despite this, one of its ends is dramatically splintered. It's not quite inside grasping range, but it isn't much beyond it.

[Oldmansour]

>Do we still hear the sounds of fighting from above?

[DracoOmega]

>Do we still hear the sounds of fighting from above?

>No. Things have seemed quieter up there for a while now, and appear to be fairly quiet elsewhere as well, though you can hear some movement above and below and what might possibly be sounds of struggle towards the other end of the hold. It's hard to say for sure, though.

[Oldmansour]

>"Until the captain gets on the horn and tells us to stand down, I expect her to be doing the same thing we are: Defending her ship from robbing scum."
>We trust our ears to warn us if wakizashi-girl charges us.
>Spare a glance backwards.

[DracoOmega]

>"Until the captain gets on the horn and tells us to stand down, I expect her to be doing the same thing we are: Defending her ship from robbing scum."
>We trust our ears to warn us if wakizashi-girl charges us.
>Spare a glance backwards.

>"I am sure that she tried," the tengu replies.
>You spare a quick glance behind you in time to see Chisato narrowly block a slash of the tengu's sword with her pole. Her opponent gives no pause after the attack, lashing out immediately with sharp kick at her gut and then closing in to backhand her in the head with her other hand. Chisato stumbles away, clumsily trying to push the tengu back with her weapon. Miyuki is bracing herself heavily against the wall nearby. It looks like she's having trouble standing.

[Oldmansour]

>How much distance is there between that tengu and us?

[DracoOmega]

>How much distance is there between that tengu and us?

>Around two dozen feet.

[Oldmansour]

>Piss.
>Does that tengu look damaged at all, or does it seem like she's just been wailing on our friends willy nilly?
>Are there any discarded kunai between us and her?

[DracoOmega]

>Piss.
>Does that tengu look damaged at all, or does it seem like she's just been wailing on our friends willy nilly?
>Are there any discarded kunai between us and her?

>She seems to have a long cut running down the side of her face, but doesn't otherwise appear to be in bad shape.
>You see one on the floor, about 2/3 of the way towards her and another near her feet.

[Oldmansour]

>How banged up does Chisato look?
>Does Miyuki have any fresh wounds?

[DracoOmega]

>How banged up does Chisato look?
>Does Miyuki have any fresh wounds?

>She looks a little off-balance and you think you can see a cut on her arm, but you can't get a good look at most of her while she's back-on.
>Likewise with Miyuki, particularly so since she's not standing upright. You don't see any obvious wounds, but she doesn't look in great shape just the same.