(Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 4)

[Hello Purvis]

>"How do they do that? What, you planning on abandoning them, now? You can talk, you can think. You can work on their behalf."

[DracoOmega]

>"How do they do that? What, you planning on abandoning them, now? You can talk, you can think. You can work on their behalf."

>"I won't stick them in a cage and feed them scraps you feel like letting them have," she says, glowering at you. "They have a right to be free and follow their nature. There's nothing wrong with that."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Didn't say anything about being stuck in a cage. Just as long as they leave our stuff alone. Then again, if we're talking about nature, what did you even gather them all for to begin with? That's sure not natural, is it?"

[DracoOmega]

>"Didn't say anything about being stuck in a cage. Just as long as they leave our stuff alone. Then again, if we're talking about nature, what did you even gather them all for to begin with? That's sure not natural, is it?"

>She scowls at you. "We've lived together since before I was born. Don't you say it isn't natural."

[Hello Purvis]

>"And would they stay together without you? A bunch of large predators of a bunch of different species; with food issues?"

[DracoOmega]

>"And would they stay together without you? A bunch of large predators of a bunch of different species; with food issues?"

>She looks at you for a moment, and then with a look of determined calm answers simply: "Yes. Maybe your kind turn on each other when they're hungry, but we don't."

[Hello Purvis]

>"You're right, they'd just disband probably. Go their own separate ways without a leader to hold them together. Pity if they cross paths again after that, though. But that's all beside the point, it's useless for you to whine about things being unnatural when you've already got them in an unnatural situation. So you might as well use that brain and that voice to make the best of it, it's why you have 'em in the first place."

[Oldmansour]

Purvis, I'm not sure you're on the right track with this 'unnatural situation' bit. She just said they lived together before she came along. That means she wasn't the one that gathered them like this, and that probably means they wouldn't disband without her.

[Hello Purvis]

But we've also established she's not the first of her kind, but is apparently the last. She may not have started the fire, so to speak, but there's a pretty good chance it'll burn out once she's gone.

[Oldmansour]

What are you basing that on? If they were here before her, they'll be here after her.

[DracoOmega]

>"You're right, they'd just disband probably. Go their own separate ways without a leader to hold them together. Pity if they cross paths again after that, though. But that's all beside the point, it's useless for you to whine about things being unnatural when you've already got them in an unnatural situation. So you might as well use that brain and that voice to make the best of it, it's why you have 'em in the first place."

>"You don't understand at all," she says, scowling deeper. "We're not like you. We'll never be like you. I'm not their leader; they're my friends! You and your kind are the only unnatural things here."
>She tries to pull herself to her feet again. "I'm done listening to you; I don't know why I even bothered."

[Hello Purvis]

Sour: Last Earth Spider. Meaning once she's gone, the intelligence at the center goes away. Given her reactions to when we pointed out that she wasn't there for whatever happened in the past, we can safely presume that she's not the first. Just the same as the cows wandering off after the herder is gone.

>"You are the same as us. You can talk and think and plan for the future, however much you don't want to do it. And the only thing that stops us from sharing those similarities and benefiting is you. You'd rather have all your friends suffer and die because you refuse to work with the other people on this continent, because you want to blame us for some bit of ancient history neither of us even had a role in. So, should your friends suffer for the sake of that? Do you want them to lose you, too? Is that how you want all of that history to end? Killed because you refused to live in harmony with your neighbors?"

[DracoOmega]

>"You are the same as us. You can talk and think and plan for the future, however much you don't want to do it. And the only thing that stops us from sharing those similarities and benefiting is you. You'd rather have all your friends suffer and die because you refuse to work with the other people on this continent, because you want to blame us for some bit of ancient history neither of us even had a role in. So, should your friends suffer for the sake of that? Do you want them to lose you, too? Is that how you want all of that history to end? Killed because you refused to live in harmony with your neighbors?"

>"Harmony?" she sneers, slowly standing up. "You mean going back where you can't see us again; locking them away so they don't bother you and living off whatever you're willing to let us have."
>She flexes her grip on the kunai in her hand. "We've been trapped down here for a very, very long time. We won't go back. I won't let you or anyone else make us."

[Oldmansour]

>Raise our sword and prepare to deflect that kunai, in case she throws it back at us.
>"So that's how it's gonna be?"

[Hello Purvis]

>Raise our sword and prepare to deflect that kunai, in case she throws it back at us.
>"So that's how it's gonna be?"

>Don't do this just yet.
>"Who said anything about locking you away, or being unseen? No one is going to mind if you roam the forests and stuff, we just don't want you stealing our cattle or attacking us! Hell, you'd be welcome in town. You could walk in there right now and no one would bat an eye as long as you behaved yourself. Once we get a proper agreement in place, you could probably bring some spiders with you as long as they don't cause problems."

[DracoOmega]

>"Who said anything about locking you away, or being unseen? No one is going to mind if you roam the forests and stuff, we just don't want you stealing our cattle or attacking us! Hell, you'd be welcome in town. You could walk in there right now and no one would bat an eye as long as you behaved yourself. Once we get a proper agreement in place, you could probably bring some spiders with you as long as they don't cause problems."

>"Even if I believed you," she says, "or wanted anything to do with you, it doesn't matter. They weren't stealing, they were hunting. That's their nature. I don't care what any of your kind thinks of me if they can't also be free."

[Hello Purvis]

>"And they attacked me. And I beat them. That's nature. Yet you're still pretty pissed off about that, aren't you? Why the double standard?"

[Oldmansour]

>Raise our sword and prepare to deflect that kunai, in case she throws it back at us.
>"And those cows. The people. They're the only things they can hunt?"

[Hello Purvis]

>Raise our sword and prepare to deflect that kunai, in case she throws it back at us.
>"And those cows. The people. They're the only things they can hunt?"

>Don't raise the sword, that would be provoking. We can dodge, and she has almost certainly never used a kunai before.

[DracoOmega]

>"And they attacked me. And I beat them. That's nature. Yet you're still pretty pissed off about that, aren't you? Why the double standard?"

>She smolders angrily, but does not respond.

>"And those cows. The people. They're the only things they can hunt?"

>"They hunt what they want," she says. "These were big and slow and easy. After what your kind forced on us, it was like paradise. I won't let you take that away from us."

[Oldmansour]

>"No. I don't suppose you will. And when all the big and slow and easy meals are gone?"

[DracoOmega]

>"No. I don't suppose you will. And when all the big and slow and easy meals are gone?"

>"We'll manage," she says.

[Oldmansour]

>Sigh softly. "Yeah. Maybe you can. But at what price?"
>"I'm going to pick up that umbrella, and then walk back to this spot. I'm telling you this because I don't want you to attack me, and I'm not about to attack you. Okay?"
>Be prepared in case she throws that kunai or attacks us again, but hold our breath and retreive our umbrella. Then return to this patch of 'clean' air. And keep our sword down, so as not to antagonize her any.

[Hello Purvis]

>"And when the people who had ownership over those big, slow, easy meals come and burn the place down after you refuse to stop robbing them?"

[DracoOmega]

>Sigh softly. "Yeah. Maybe you can. But at what price?"
>"I'm going to pick up that umbrella, and then walk back to this spot. I'm telling you this because I don't want you to attack me, and I'm not about to attack you. Okay?"
>Be prepared in case she throws that kunai or attacks us again, but hold our breath and retreive our umbrella. Then return to this patch of 'clean' air. And keep our sword down, so as not to antagonize her any.

>You offer a proposal to the youkai. She gives you gives you a long look, mingled with traces of uncertainty, but makes no reply.
>You take a deep breath and slowly walk over to the umbrella, keeping a careful eye on the youkai as you move. She grips the kunai tightly and shifts her position as you approach, enough to make you suspect she may be preparing to strike again. At the very least, you're almost certain she's contemplating it. But then she glares hard at the sword and backs off towards the northwest tunnel, groaning slightly as she moves her injured leg. You bend down and retrieve the umbrella without incident, then return to your former position.

>"And when the people who had ownership over those big, slow, easy meals come and burn the place down after you refuse to stop robbing them?"

>"Then they'll wish they'd never come here," she says coldly.

[Oldmansour]

>Wasn't the northwest tunnel the dead end we encountered earlier?
>For that matter, examine the exits of this chamber, see which ones if any lead up, or at least don't go furthur down.
>Small smile of relief at the fact that she didn't attack us. She might not want to listen to us, but maybe the fight's gone out of her. For now at least. Hopefully we can avoid goading her into attacking again.
>"I think both sides will wish that. Well, whichever side is left."
>"There's still one thing I want to ask you. You said these spiders were gathered before you were born. Was it someone like you that gathered them all?"

[DracoOmega]

>Wasn't the northwest tunnel the dead end we encountered earlier?
>For that matter, examine the exits of this chamber, see which ones if any lead up, or at least don't go furthur down.
>Small smile of relief at the fact that she didn't attack us. She might not want to listen to us, but maybe the fight's gone out of her. For now at least. Hopefully we can avoid goading her into attacking again.
>"I think both sides will wish that. Well, whichever side is left."
>"There's still one thing I want to ask you. You said these spiders were gathered before you were born. Was it someone like you that gathered them all?"

>No, that was the northern tunnel; you have not explored the one to the northwest.
>Examining the exits of this chamber, the northern and southeastern tunnels look roughly level, though the former is a known dead end and the latter would be a tight squeeze at best. Only the southwest tunnel, through which you arrived, visibly ascends.
>You let out a small smile of relief at not being attacked again. Though you may hold the advantage at the moment, you're in no shape to relish any more acrobatics. You hurt from a dozen places, are still bleeding from only a moderately smaller number of them, and feel truly weary. Not to mention still nauseous, the current mostly-clear air notwithstanding. You really need to lie down somewhere for a while...
>She holds your gaze silently.
>"We've lived together as long as anyone remembers," she says. "That's just the way things are."

[Oldmansour]

>Take some comfort from the fact that she's got to be in worse shape than we are.
>"So that's it, then? There's nothing I can say to convince you that I want both sides to end up content? Or that I'd like to help a young youkai, like someone once helped me?"

[DracoOmega]

>Take some comfort from the fact that she's got to be in worse shape than we are.
>"So that's it, then? There's nothing I can say to convince you that I want both sides to end up content? Or that I'd like to help a young youkai, like someone once helped me?"

>You have to imagine she is. For all your injuries, your legs have manage to escape nearly unscathed, and despite the crimson streaking your arms, they're both still as long as they were when you woke up this morning.
>"I don't want your help!" she cries. "Everything would have been fine if you'd never come here!"

[Oldmansour]

>"Everything might have been fine, if you'd listened to me. But now? Guess we'll see. You say you wish I'd never come? I wish I don't have to come back."
>"But do us all at least one favor. Something good for your spiders and you. Tell them not to attack me anymore on my way out. I don't really want to hurt them, either."
>On the other hand, if conflict is truly and utterly inevitable, then every one we kill here is one less to menace our home later. Maybe we SHOULD have destroyed those hatcheries. Not that she needs to know that.