Questing for Mutant Broccoli Monsters [Big EXP! And spices.]

-Continues to watch curiously, from a safe distance-
H-Hmm... weird people...

Having dealt with the last of the hostile youkai that had been eyeing his party while they travelled to their destination, Bass found himself left behind within the Youkai Forest, with the rest of his party out of sight. "Great," he muttered as he consulted his map and set course to the Untrodden Valley, hoping that he might find some kappa to help him find the rest of his party, if they weren't there at all.

"Bass? Are you lost?" Showa called out from his temporary store as he sharpened an Elven Rapier he had brought from his stock.

Lunasa appeared nearby, but took silent, glancing at the rest, merely raising a eyebrow in curiosity.

Lunasa Moriya wrote:

Lunasa appeared nearby, but took silent, glancing at the rest, merely raising a eyebrow in curiosity.

She flew next to her. "H-Hey Lunasa... What's with these guys?"

"I have no idea...." Lunasa muttered. "They're odd, I'll give 'em that...but otherwise....no idea..."

As Jade continued her search, she wandered off from Mia and the random shopkeeper. "KYOUKO! WHERE ARE YOAAAAH!"

She tripped over a large rock and tumbled down a somewhat steep hill before coming to a sudden halt thanks to a wooden post to the head. She moved into a sitting position and rubbed her head. "Oooh...owwww...that hurt...where am I n-...uh...uh oh..."

Looking up, Jade saw what stopped her fall. A wooden sign reading "Tengu territory. Keep out."

"Thank you very much for your patronage~!" Showa called out gleefully as he sold some medicinal herbs to a patrolling Tengu.

Lunasa Moriya wrote:

"I have no idea...." Lunasa muttered. "They're odd, I'll give 'em that...but otherwise....no idea..."

"I just hope they don't find my home and think it's a dungeon... I don't want to find all my stuff taken."

It was a rather long way filled with unfriendly youkai, but Bass managed to reach the Untrodden Valley alone and virtually unscathed. However, the kappa were not all too happy to see him; they were all hiding from sight, and none dare speak to him. He doesn't mind the silence. He was staying in the area just to see if the party would go there for a break.

"What if they take another path," he wondered to himself as he took a small flask from his pocket. Sipping the strong-smelling liquid from the flask, he heaves a satisfied sigh. "Eh, I'll find them later if not."

Kyouko looked around, she heard Jade call out her name from a distance. Her ears perked up and twitched, she closed her eyes and her ears began to vibrate as Kyouko opened her mouth and echoed Jade's voice "KYOUKO! WHERE ARE YOAAAAH!" louder than Jade had yelled it. In hopes of gathering back everyone to her she yelled again "YAHOO!!!" and echoed the yell throughout the forest.

Mia heaved a sigh after giving up on her search for her missing companions. A shameful, worried look plagued her countenance as she tapped her foot, wondering what to do now. Having been following her remaining teammate as she searched, the swordsman motioned to her panicking succubus of a companion to indicate she wanted share a word for a moment.

Before she could speak, however, Kyouko's echoing voice caught her attention and Mia perked up instantaneously. She called back, "KYO!!" and gestured at Jade to follow her, unaware of the sign she'd just found. The swordsman, now with little regard to walking lightly, acted on her friend's voice and moved toward it. Without paying much attention to the things she'd slain, she left a trail of cleaved inconveniently placed, small youkai behind her as she trod.

Although the kappa were initially weary of him, Bass had managed to have them open up after he decided to use his tacmap, wherein a very curious kappa approached him, fixated on his device. Soon enough, he was having a conversation with a group of kappa, talking about technology and the minimization of computing devices.

"KYOUKO! WHERE ARE YOAAAAH!"

The echo was audible enough from where the small circle had taken seat. Bass, guessing it was an echo, kept vigilant.

"YAHOO!!!"

It was apparent that it must be Kyouko. Bass immediately stood up, excused himself while promising to visit again with new devices, and went deep into the forest in hopes of catching up with the others.

---

"Hey, Kyouko!"

Having found one of his companions, he let out a sigh of relief. "Finally caught up wi-err, where are the others?"

Jade perked up at the sound of Kyouko's voice echoing throughout the mountain. She was going to run for it until she realized who just passed by her and how little care she was showing to her current surrounding area. In a desperate attempt to avoid invoking the wrath of some of the strongest youkai in Gensokyo, she charged straight at Mia and tackled her to the ground, covering her mouth with her hand and pinning her sword hand down.

"Shhh! We're in Tengu territory!" She whispered harshly into Mia's ear.

Out of nowhere, Showa had moved his store to Kyouko's location, waving them over as he spotted them. "Oi, come buy something! 'The Forum Branch' has all of your adventuring needs! We'll even go to monster-infested areas for our valued customers! ...Ugh, that sounded wrong. Anyways, please buy something! I'm afraid there isn't much, but please take your time looking through our wares!" Showa announced, trying to sound like a businessman.

Jade wrote:

Jade perked up at the sound of Kyouko's voice echoing throughout the mountain. She was going to run for it until she realized who just passed by her and how little care she was showing to her current surrounding area. In a desperate attempt to avoid invoking the wrath of some of the strongest youkai in Gensokyo, she charged straight at Mia and tackled her to the ground, covering her mouth with her hand and pinning her sword hand down.

"Shhh! We're in Tengu territory!" She whispered harshly into Mia's ear.

Making little serious effort to escape, Mia simply made muffled sounds as she lay pinned down on the ground.

"Mmmph! Mmph! Mmmm, mm, mmph!!"