Hatate Quest Kolme

[Hello Purvis]

>"Yeah, her."

[Oldmansour]

>"Yeah, her."

>"Well, you don't have to worry about that from our Ranka. Uh, most of the time." she says with a wry smile. "She doesn't always think before she talks."

[Hello Purvis]

>"We'll see if she has anything nice to say about me in good time."

[Oldmansour]

>"We'll see if she has anything nice to say about me in good time."

>"What, you plan to steal Honoka from her or somethin'?" your twin asks lightly.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Heh. I mean more, I stick out like a sore thumb, don't I?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Heh. I mean more, I stick out like a sore thumb, don't I?"

>"Oh, that'll change with time. A lot of this place seems weird to you, I know, but that'll change."

[Hello Purvis]

>"I...am not so confident. Frankly, I'm horrified that it lead to tengu being exiled from the mountain, let alone thrown to the oni. It's...monstrous."

[Oldmansour]

>"I...am not so confident. Frankly, I'm horrified that it lead to tengu being exiled from the mountain, let alone thrown to the oni. It's...monstrous."

>Your counterpart leans forward in her chair, a supportive smile on her face. "Would it make you feel better to hear that they can come back?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"No, because it doesn't change the fact that people though it was alright to do that. This whole thing, not just Aya, it's pretty much the end of what made the tengu great, isn't it? All the things our ancestors worked for and built up gone in the space of a couple years. Tengu don't fight tengu like that, and they sure don't just cut people off from their home and soul! How can anyone be proud of themselves after that? Can you really say you wanted it this way, or that what happened was worth it?"

[Oldmansour]

>"No, because it doesn't change the fact that people though it was alright to do that. This whole thing, not just Aya, it's pretty much the end of what made the tengu great, isn't it? All the things our ancestors worked for and built up gone in the space of a couple years. Tengu don't fight tengu like that, and they sure don't just cut people off from their home and soul! How can anyone be proud of themselves after that? Can you really say you wanted it this way, or that what happened was worth it?"

>"Completlely." your twin says casually, seemingly unmoved by your outburst. "The system we had before made us great unto ourselves. But there's an old saying among the humans, 'No man is an island'. But that's how we thought of ourselves, and except Aya, who was the Dai-tengu's official spy on the outside world, that's all we were allowed to be by the Dai-tengu. We were stagnant, unchanging. Ranka was right about us, you know, her and the rest of the air spirits. Now, we can be great again, greater than we were before. And now, we don't have to be afraid of the other races. I didn't like having to fight the old guard, no, of course not. But they were the ones who wanted it."

[Hello Purvis]

>"I'm pretty sure none of them wanted to be exiled or enslaved. And how is it worth having greatness of the back of people being thrown off the mountain? That's like tearing out their souls, isn't it? We didn't become great by infighting and turning on our own; our ancestors lived and died by that idea and it's carried our people through the ages. That's not stagnant, it's basic decency, and that's what made us great. When humans and youkai were going to war with each other, we lived in harmony. If people were abusing that, and I'm not convinced that was a widespread problem, the answer wasn't to abandon it, it was to fix the problems."
>"This is greatness like a someone robbing their neighbors is rich, if you ask me. What's the point of it if you give up the important things?"

[Oldmansour]

>"I'm pretty sure none of them wanted to be exiled or enslaved. And how is it worth having greatness of the back of people being thrown off the mountain? That's like tearing out their souls, isn't it? We didn't become great by infighting and turning on our own; our ancestors lived and died by that idea and it's carried our people through the ages. That's not stagnant, it's basic decency, and that's what made us great. When humans and youkai were going to war with each other, we lived in harmony. If people were abusing that, and I'm not convinced that was a widespread problem, the answer wasn't to abandon it, it was to fix the problems."
>"This is greatness like a someone robbing their neighbors is rich, if you ask me. What's the point of it if you give up the important things?"

>"We did fix the problems." Hatatwin says calmly. "And the fighting wasn't our idea. But it was better than the alternative. And it doesn't surprise me that you'd say you didn't think the corruption that had seeped into the Dai-tengu wasn't that bad. I didn't know either. If it wasn't for Aya, there'd be a whole lot of things I wouldn't know."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Exiling tengu is a way worse problem than anything that was fixed, though! Training up armies is a way worse problem than any corruption! It's like dealing with a wart on your hand by cutting off your arm! You're avoiding the question now, in what way is any of that greatness? All it's doing is destroying everything beautiful about our society! If there was corruption, you don't sever the people involved from their soul and send them off to some oni prison, you expose them and shame them, and prove they aren't worth listening to. Strip them of their wealth and make them into servants if you have to, but you don't exile them from the mountain, you might as well be killing them! You don't lower yourself to that level, you might as well just be some bandit if you do. What's the point of even being a tengu if you're doing that?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Exiling tengu is a way worse problem than anything that was fixed, though! Training up armies is a way worse problem than any corruption! It's like dealing with a wart on your hand by cutting off your arm! You're avoiding the question now, in what way is any of that greatness? All it's doing is destroying everything beautiful about our society! If there was corruption, you don't sever the people involved from their soul and send them off to some oni prison, you expose them and shame them, and prove they aren't worth listening to. Strip them of their wealth and make them into servants if you have to, but you don't exile them from the mountain, you might as well be killing them! You don't lower yourself to that level, you might as well just be some bandit if you do. What's the point of even being a tengu if you're doing that?"

>"Keep your voice down, will ya?" your counterpart asks with a worried look on her face. "You're gonna get someone wondering what all the shouting's about in a minute."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Sorry. It's just...stressful. I'm not mad at you or anything. Just, at all this."

[Oldmansour]

>"Sorry. It's just...stressful. I'm not mad at you or anything. Just, at all this."

>"And after half a bottle of good mead, too." she says, offering you a smile.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Heh, maybe."

[Oldmansour]

>"Heh, maybe."

>"And chances are, I would be too, if I was you. Well, in your boots. You know what I mean. I mean, getting dragged out of your own world into another, any other, that's a heck of a shock by itself. And then to find all this different, yeah, I'd probably be shouting and stressed myself."
>"But you have to admit, it hasn't been ALL bad from what you've seen, right?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"There's been some good bits, yeah. Gonna have to think about how maybe we can export 'em home."

[Oldmansour]

>"There's been some good bits, yeah. Gonna have to think about how maybe we can export 'em home."

>"I don't know if you can, not if the Dai-tengu back where you come from are like ours used to be."

[Hello Purvis]

>"I honestly don't think they are. I mean, Tsubaki is a shame to all tengu, but most of them aren't like that."

[Oldmansour]

>"I honestly don't think they are. I mean, Tsubaki is a shame to all tengu, but most of them aren't like that."

>"That's what I thought, too, for all my life, really. But I didn't know then what I know now.

[Hello Purvis]

>"I suppose we'll see."

[Oldmansour]

>"I suppose we'll see."

>"I suppose. Though that probably depends on what Aya does over there. She was the one who started all this after all."

[Hello Purvis]

>"All I can say is, if she tries half the stuff you told me, I'll discredit her so bad she'll die of shame."

[Oldmansour]

>"All I can say is, if she tries half the stuff you told me, I'll discredit her so bad she'll die of shame."

>"Really?"

[Hello Purvis]

"Oh yeah, but she won't be the only target. You can bet on that."

[Oldmansour]

"Oh yeah, but she won't be the only target. You can bet on that."

>"And... while you're here?" she asks cautiously.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Need to figure out what happened and how to get back. And maybe jimmy the lock on whatever prison camp our people got shoved into."

[Oldmansour]

>"Need to figure out what happened and how to get back. And maybe jimmy the lock on whatever prison camp our people got shoved into."

>The second part of your reply makes your counterpart wince noticeably.