Mori Quest ~ Or That Other, Other, Other Adventure in Gensokyo?

[Max]

You are... who?
Wow, what a great start to the day.

[Please enter a name]
>_

[Sh-Rumia]

Our name?

>Isn't it.... Tatsuya Shiori, class 3-C.

>Put our hand up to block out that sunlight... it's realy bright. Did we fall asleep during lunch?

[Max]

Your eyes open wider, and then shut again abruptly. You raise your hand to block out the sunlight so you can see.

Maybe you fell asleep during lunch at school... no, summer break just started, didn't it?

And the grass on the school grounds didn't feel this... fresh... Like the grass you would find far in the wilderness.

But what could that mean!?

>_

[Sh-Rumia]

>Look around!

>Wait, our twin is okay right!?

[Max]

You turn your head, taking in the scenery. Luckily you're sitting atop a small hill, giving you a fair vantage point of the foreign area.

Green-grass fields and plentiful trees sweep across the land as far as you can see, with the odd lake or river here and there.

The only thing sticking out is a large and wonderous mountain, quite a little distance away from your current position. You've seen larger mountains, but this one seems more splendorous. Maybe that's just because of it being the only mountain here.

In your more immediate area, however, the low hill you're sitting on slowly declines, with a light forest surrounding its base.

[Sh-Rumia]

>A light?

>Can we see it if we squint our eyes?

[Max]

Light/sparse/not thick or dense/loosely spread out

You squint looking for lights.

It is the middle of the day, and as such you are temporarily blinded by looking directly at the sun.

>_

[Sh-Rumia]

Goddammit I was tired.

>Oops. Rub our eyes till our vision clears up.

>Is there even any... like, civilization around?

[Max]

You squint again, this time not directly facing the sun. You think you can see some type of rural village some long way away from you. If it is a village, it's an odd place to put it, being so close to a large and imposing forest next to it, which seems to radiate the feeling of oddness.

Is that...

You think you can see some large, western styled mansion a mile or so away from the village. Who would build a mansion in the middle of this place anyways?

>_

[Sh-Rumia]

>Does the village look like is has a bus stop we can use to get home?

> What do we see if we turn around?

[Max]

THERE ARE NO BUSES IN GENSOKYO

It's nigh impossible to tell from here if there is a bus stop.

You turn around, noticing something glimmer in the air as your head rapidly moves.
Hmm?
You look more directly at where you think you saw it, far above the ground and very far away from you, looking as if something invisible suddenly caught the sun's light.

Not being able to see anything, you are about to continu- there it is again!

Nope, maybe not.

Anywayyyy... Not much this way either, there are next to no landmarks visible as far as you can discern.

>_

[Sh-Rumia]

>Oh well, to the village!

[Max]

Totally didn't forget this was here

You begin walking towards the direction of the village, entering the canopy of trees.

After walking for what seems like a while, and your feet are beginning to ache, yo-

SMACK
"Oops~"

Something powerful thuds into your chest, knocking you onto the grass, luckily not blinded by the sun this time due to the leaves overhead.

[Sh-Rumia]

>Blink.

>Look around for whatever hit us, and for the souce of that voice.

>"Sorry, I should have been watching where I was going..."

[Max]

>"Sorry, I should have been watching where I was going..."

A hand grasps yours, pulling you to your feet.
Standing before you is...

a wierdo, dressed in shorts, a white dress shirt, a black cape with red interior, and... bug antenaes? You aren't even exactly sure of the gender until a tomboyish, yet definitely femine voice speaks out again.

<"Ah, no, no need to apologize, I need to look at where I'm going when I jump out of trees... You're not the first I've accidentally kicked like that..."
She reaches back and rubs her head, clearly not too proud of her past 'incidents'.

>_

[Sh-Rumia]

>Blink.

>"O-oh, where are my manners!" Bow and then introduce ourselves, "My name is Shiori Tatsuya, it's very nice to meet you!" -and straighten back up with a smile!

[Max]

"O-oh, where are my manners!"
You perform a sweeping bow.
"My name is Shiori Tatsuya, it's very nice to meet you!"
You straighten back up, smiling all the way.

She seems slightly taken aback by your high levels of politeness.

"A-ah, yes, well my name's Wriggle Nightbug. That is..."
She suddenly flourishes, hands on her hips and chest pumped outwards.
"Wriggle Nightbug, firefly youkai extraordinaire!"

She's... confident, to say the least.

>_

[Sh-Rumia]

>Stirke a similar pose!

>"Well wriggle, I'm a bit lost! Do you happen to know where we are?"

>Relax our pose a bit.

>"Eh, and here I can get a phone?"

[Max]

Wriggle practically beams as you mimic her pose of bravado, but then turns into a curious frown as she thinks about your question.

"I don't think there's a name for this particular location, I mean, it's just a plain, ordinary forest after all... But if you could tell me where you might be headed, I can try and point ya in the right direction!"

>"Anywhere I can get to a phone?"

Her curious frown deepens.
"A phone? Sounds like something the kappa would keep around them... but maybe someone from the Human Village would know? Perhaps that Hieda lady, I hear she knows alot. And you could try asking Keine-sensei, but she's protective of the humans so if you want to go anywhere near the village, you'll have get her approval of non-threatening-ness."

>_

[Sh-Rumia]

>"Kappa aren't real! They're just something made up to make sure little kids don't go into deep water!"

[Max]

"What? I've seen them myself! Kappa as are real as the tengu that also live on the mountain, and the fairies in the forests, and the youkai at that temple, and the aliens in the bamboo forest, and the vampire in her mansion, and the ghosts that are supposed to live past that huge gate, and the humans in the village, and, and, uh, as real as you!"
Wriggle punctuates herself by pointing directly at you, barely missing your face due to how close you two are standing to each other.

>_

[Sh-Rumia]

> Let our mouth hang open for a moment before closing it.

>Stick a defiant pose and inhale deeply.

>"Prove it."

[Max]

This time Wriggle is the one with her mouth hanging open.

"Er... well... that is... uhm... AHA! I'll just guide you to there... somewhere... anywhere, really."
Wriggle looks away as she akwardly attempts to form her sentence.
"That is to say... I guess... Well anyways, where do you want to go, or what do you want to see?"

>_

[Sh-Rumia]

>"Well, I should probably get to the village so I can figure out how to get home...."

>Shrug.

[Max]

"Rightio! That would be..."
Wriggle turns around a few times, obviously unsure of where she's going.

"One moment please..."
And with that, she jumps, disappearing into the leaves above you for a few moments, then hops back down with ease, pointing and starting to walk off in one direction.
"It's this way! I knew it all along..."

<Wriggle has joined the party!

>_

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