Hatate Quest Kolme

[Hello Purvis]

>Nod.
>"Maybe. I have to admit, that longnose is pretty good at it. Though I wonder what her ancestors would think of it. Maybe I'm just overly wary of teaching people about weapons when the era of weapons is more or less done with as far as anyone civilized is concerned. It's...bad form, you know?"

[Oldmansour]

>Nod.
>"Maybe. I have to admit, that longnose is pretty good at it. Though I wonder what her ancestors would think of it. Maybe I'm just overly wary of teaching people about weapons when the era of weapons is more or less done with as far as anyone civilized is concerned. It's...bad form, you know?"

>"Yeah, I can see your point. Especially with the Hakurei's about, I can just picture Reimu getting a bit upset if she came along and saw this going on." Turning to Honoka, she says, "Actually, HAS Reimu been up here since these classes started?"
>"As a matter of fact, she has." the cloaked youkai replies. "And you are correct, she was not pleased at the idea of the tengu seemingly expanding their interest in armed combat. I think she may in fact have taken it as something of a personal insult, a slight to the spellcard system, which she had a hand in creating, after all. But Aya was there at the time, and she explained to Reimu just what the intent of these exercises are, and that no one meant any hard by them. I believe she had to do a bit of fast talking, but whatever she said seemed to convince Reimu. She allowed the classes to continue, though she did make several threats about what would happen if it ever became something other than a bonding a defense exercise. And I think thrashing me at a game of danmaku helped improve her mood, as well." Honoka adds quickly.

[Hello Purvis]

>"I can only imagine. Has anyone else expressed that kind of distaste for it?"
>Let OtherMiji finish her duel.

[Oldmansour]

>"I can only imagine. Has anyone else expressed that kind of distaste for it?"
>Let OtherMiji finish her duel.

>"I believe there has been some dissent among some of the more conservative Dai-Tengu who allied themselves with the rebels, but not that many. The other races have actually embraced the idea. For the Kappa, it presents them a new field of objects to tinker with. Which has had varying results." Honoka says wryly. "If for no other reason than to firmly establish the fact that the words 'rocket' and 'sword' do not belong attached to each other."
>"No kidding." Momiji remarks.
>"For the Oni that have come above ground, it's a new way to challenge people, though such challenges have been very few thus far. As far as I know, most oni that seek a challenge use the spellcard rules rather than their clubs. And for the rare oni that does seek an armed challenge, they have the sense to seek out someone skilled, such as Momiji or Kohebi, rather than picking on one of our trainees."

>The duel doesn't last long beyond Honoka's speech. After less than a minute more of exchanged thrusts, parries, ripostes and crashes, the green-haired Kohebi hisses, "Time." But while her voice is loud enough to be heard by you, it doesn't have power enough to divert the two combatants from their fight. Momiji's sword flashes out, turned aside by the Long-noses dagger, while the answering strike clashes harmlessly against Momiji's shield. And then a large glowing green snake materializes between Momiji and the Rat, driving the two tengu apart. Acting quickly, you take a picture of the two being driven apart by the energy serpent, and of Momiji's surprised face. Curiously, you hear another camera shutter clicking from above and behind you.
>"I did call the time." Kohebi says slowly, her arm slightly raised and a faintly sinister grin on her face.
>Momiji's doppelganger nods and sheathes her sword. "So you did. And let that be another lesson." she adds in a louder voice. "Try not to cross a snake if you can help it. They have ways of surprising you." A chorus of chuckles rises from the crowd as Kohebi's energy snake fades from view..

[Hello Purvis]

>Look back toward the other shutter noise.

[Oldmansour]

>Look back toward the other shutter noise.

>A look in that direction reveals... You. Albeit with a different camera, as this Hatate holds a larger, older style camera, not unlike what Aya often wields. With the exception of that object, she's your mirror image.

[Hello Purvis]

>Has she seen us?
>If so: "Well hello there, gorgeous!"

[Oldmansour]

>Has she seen us?
>If so: "Well hello there, gorgeous!"

>Given where she's hovering, and the direction you assume she came from, she had to have seen you by now. Especially if her eye is as keen as yours. So you extend your greetings to her.
>Your twin grins broadly. "We really DO have the same face. Cool!"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Yep! Hope you don't mind I have it too, things are pretty complicated right now..."

[Oldmansour]

>"Yep! Hope you don't mind I have it too, things are pretty complicated right now..."

>"Are you kidding?" Your twin says with a big grin. "Two of me means a heck of a story!"

[Hello Purvis]

>"That it does."
>Glance around to see what the others are up to.
>"Hey, is there somewhere private we can talk for a bit?"

[Oldmansour]

>"That it does."
>Glance around to see what the others are up to.

>Your Momiji is giving the other Hatate a curious look. "You're a bit more receptive of us than the others were at first."
>"Not surprised, since you look like Momiji. But that'll change, give them some time."

>"Hey, is there somewhere private we can talk for a bit?"

>"I think that can be arranged. Momiji's place isn't far from here, and the door's always open to me."

[Hello Purvis]

>Nod, and look back to our Momiji. "Mind if we meet up where we're supposed to meet with Celes?"
>Presuming she's down with it, let's follow that doppelganger!

[Oldmansour]

>Nod, and look back to our Momiji. "Mind if we meet up where we're supposed to meet with Celes?"
>Presuming she's down with it, let's follow that doppelganger!

>"Uh, where was that again?" Momiji asks. "I don't think she mentioned before she went off to deal with that Oni."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Let's call it the Moriya Shrine, then."

[Oldmansour]

>"Let's call it the Moriya Shrine, then."

>"All right." your Momiji says with a nod before turning her face up to Ranka, who'd been idly stretched out in the air above. "Ranka? Would you mind doing us another favor?"
>"Mmmm?"
>"Could you head back down the mountain and find Celes, let her know that we plan to meet up at the Moriya Shrine, please?"
>"Mmmm. Well, all right, hun." the wind spirit drawls as she idly plays with a loose curl of her golden hair. "Since you asked me nice." Giving Momiji a wink, Ranka flickers and dissipates into the wind again, to the sound of a camera clicking.
>"I wish I could do that." your doppelganger says enviously as she lowers her camera. "That's just cool."

[Hello Purvis]

>"It'd be useful! So, lead the way?"

[Oldmansour]

>"It'd be useful! So, lead the way?"

>Your ersatz twin gives you a little bow and turns in a northward direction. "But of course, madame." she says exaggeratedly. "And maybe you can tell me a little bit about this Celes on the way?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Sure!"
>Make with the following.
>"Celes is the third person with us. Far as I know, she doesn't have any duplicate here. Um, I'm guessing you know about Ran and Aya?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Sure!"
>Make with the following.
>"Celes is the third person with us. Far as I know, she doesn't have any duplicate here. Um, I'm guessing you know about Ran and Aya?"

>"What, they're dating?" Your opposite giggles at her own joke. "But no, you mean the whole twin thing. Yeah, I do. I was the one who broke the story about Ran's twin, after all."

[Hello Purvis]

>"You better have been! Anyways, I think this case is roughly the same? Though what do you know about the other Ran?"

[Oldmansour]

>"You better have been! Anyways, I think this case is roughly the same? Though what do you know about the other Ran?"

>"Honestly, not as much as I'd like. Neither one of the Rans can explain the other one. I've talked to Yukari about it more than once, but that old woman's slipperier than a whole school of eels. I've got a theory, though. It's never shown in my paper, since neither one of us runs theory without any backup, do we?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"At least not outside of some juicy gossip. What is it?"

[Oldmansour]

>"At least not outside of some juicy gossip. What is it?"

>"I think Yukari's testing Ran." your twin says in a conspiritorial voice. "That woman just doesn't think like the rest of us, but I do know that she likes testing Ran, since Ran likes passing her tests."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, that's possible. But, here's the thing. Where I come from, Ran and Aya were up to something... And Aya's been missing for a month now."

[Oldmansour]

>"Well, that's possible. But, here's the thing. Where I come from, Ran and Aya were up to something... And Aya's been missing for a month now."

>"And you were thinking the other Aya that was here for a while is the Aya from the past?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"I'm thinking one of them is our Aya, yeah."

[Oldmansour]

>"I'm thinking one of them is our Aya, yeah."

>"Well, there's just the one of 'em left here in Gensokyo. The other one went out into the Outside world a few years ago."

[Hello Purvis]

>"...Huh. Now that's weird. Which one?"

[Oldmansour]

>"...Huh. Now that's weird. Which one?"

>"I don't know. I couldn't really tell them apart after a while." She chuckles. "I don't know that THEY could tell themselves apart after a while. Kinda like the two Rans, actually."