1842/IT'S SPRING!!!1!1

IT'S SPRING		!1!1
Date of Scene:	20 March 2015
Location:	The Realm of Gensokyo
Synopsis:	Social in Gensokyo's Human Village, NO FAIRIES ALLOWED.
Cast of Characters:	234, 434, 619, 678, 691, Reiji Arisu, 707, 709, Duke

---

Fujiwara no Mokou (709) has posed:
    The Human Village, so-named because mostly humans live there, is what some people might call the heart and soul of Gensokyo-- please disregard aggressive shrine maidens who would claim their shrine is. Located in the center of the small-ish land (Gensokyo isn't TOO big all told, probably not even the size of Japan), with a Warp Gate nearby, it is a small (roughly a thousand or two individuals) Japanese-styled village with a relaxed, safe atmosphere. A few youkai could be identified occasionally-- maybe they have horns, or wings, or other animal traits, but it seems everyone here lives in peace.

    Tales of a celebration for spring (and the departure of winter) may have reached people at random, while others (at the very least, Reiji) have been invited more directly by Mokou.

    It is early evening, with the Sun still bright in the sky. The center of the village has banners, kiosks, games and activities of various natures, basically something for everyone. There's plenty of food, all free, and tea and sake in large quantities.

    FUJIWARA NO MOKOU herself, with her extremely long white hair and bright red contrasting pants, is manning a large grill with enough chicken to feed a dozen people on it. And by manning, we mean that she's occasionally throwing more fire in to keep it right.

    GM'S NOTE: No actual pose rounds, this is for the most part low-stress social. Drop in, chatter with people or o things, no pressure. Will be some actual GMed actual in a hour or two.

Fujiwara no Mokou (709) has posed:
TYPO FIXES BECAUSE I'M TOO LAZY TO UNDO THE POSE: GM'S NOTE: No actual pose rounds, this is for the most part low-stress social. Drop in, chatter with people or do things, no pressure. Will be some actual GMed action in a hour or two for a round or two.

Rock Lee (678) has posed:
Rock Lee heard that the people who live in this place are all female. This may or may not be true, but until he's confirmed this, a proper ninja has to do proper ninja things!

So Lee has put a simple red sundress over his green jumpsuit, clunky vest apparently hidden somewhere. He has no womanly curves at all. Aside from the dress, all he's done is put a red flower into his hair, and smeared lipstick on like some kind of clown. He also has a little black purse.

Now he heads off to the large grill, holding up a hand. "Hello! My name is Diamond Lee! I am here for the festivities. I am a girl by the way." His eyes are wide and intense, and he's straining his voice very poorly and is very clearly a guy.

Reiji Arisu has posed:
    Reiji has been informed that there are fairies that need to be disciplined. While he's not exactly an expert in the fey, these aren't threats that one needs to have a particular degree of expertise to deal with. A couple of guns and a few clips of ammunition should do just fine.

    He arrives from the warp gate half-expecting a flurry of fairy activity. Or at least a rabbit trap and another pit of whipped cream. Thankfully, neither are happening quite yet. Indeed, there seems, instead, to be a festival of some kind! Given the time of year, it's probably some kind of Spring Festival.

    Despite being armed nearly to the gills, it seems that Reiji doesn't cause /too/ much of a stir. At least he and (half of) his arsenal looks Japanese, even if his clothes are quite a bit more western than eastern.

But then, he's also a guest from beyond this world's boundaries. So maybe the villagers just overlook most of the details.

    The exorcist makes his way through the festival, looking ALL TOO MALE, ROCK. It doesn't take him long to find Mokou, considering the smell and the CROSSDRESSING NINJA. Reiji tries not to leer as he takes a seat at the bar. "Mokou," he says, jarringly businesslike given the otherwise festive atmosphere, "I hope I'm not late for the operation."

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Centurion Yari Takane has finally taken that leave her Legatus has given, mostly at the point of a gun. Here? She doesn't even have her magitek armlet to stop her temptation from filing reports or taking aetheric readings.

No, she's here in a red and white floral-patterned kimono bought locally, all dolled up with her hair somehow yanked into one very long braid. She might easily be mistaken for one of the locals this way, with her horns and tail shown so promnently. Though how many residents are missing an arm? Must've been those damn rabbits.

Making like a certain tanuki resident, Yari is currently devouring sake at a rate that would kill lesser Au Ra, and amusing herself with one of the various stall games. Namely, a 'ringtoss' type game. As it turns out, even half-way to being utterly smashed, the ninjette soldier has emptied out about half of the carnival prizes. She keeps a particularly cute stuffed little rabbit, but the rest are given to passing children, youkai or human alike, or couples out on dates. The latter she drunkenly reverse-pick-pockets many a boyfriend.

Today might just be Yari's 'do good things' day.

But she /isn't/ drunk enough to not spy Rock Lee. Clink. Her toss misses as she spies the horrid abomination of a 'girl'.

"...You applied too much lipstick!" critiques Yari as gently as she can.

Duke has posed:
There is a party and everyone is invited?? Well, maybe those who should know about this place and perhaps were friends with those from this world, as for the red dragon-dino Digimon with his black markings, white under belly, and gold eyes, he just--- stumbled on this place really. Stumbled on it and was now lurking around through the back allies of these Japanese styled homes.
When a person would walk by, the little four foot Guilmon X would attempt to hide, ducking out of site, before sticking his head back around a corner with his ear fins up and his eyes blinking for a moment. The smell of food lingers in the air though and his nostrils flare as he closes his eyes, sniffing at the wind that passes by.

He smiles faintly and licks his chops, because who doesn't love grilled chicken! Those eyes open up once more and he peers about, before attempting to stealthy make his way toward the party cook out. This may entail finding a box or a basket, depending if they have cardboard boxes here, and trying to Solid Snake his way over to the party.
The only problem with this stealth attempt was that his draconic like tail was stick out the back end of what he was using and would move side to side when he was not moving. This little Guilmon X apparently had failed his stealth checks... badly.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    Straight out of that era right between the peak of feudalism and modernization, the Human Village isn't completely devoid of conveniences, but hopefully noone needs to charge their cell phone while they're here. The point is, every now and then - and especially now, with a convenient warp gate bringing traffic from the multiverse in - something finds its way in, especially things that the world outside passed by. One such thing is on display as Sanae Kochiya makes her way in on a small step scooter, the kind that was such a fad on many modern Earths just a few years ago. Briskly stepping forward and coasting on the mostly-paved thoroughfare, she's even got a bicycle helmet strapped on for safety, but before she can become a hazard herself in the gathering proper, she parks the contraption against a building. Probably someone she knows: Gensokyo is the kind of place where you can know everyone else, if you put in the effort.

    Unbuckling the helmet and resting it on the handlebars, and probably giving fairies license to steal it later in the process, she steps the rest of the way in, smiling warmly as a few of the villagers recognize her and greets them in return, before taking a deep breath of all the smells of the festival. But for the most part, she's just ready to be done with the winter and move on, which is presumably why despite it still being a bit brisk, she's dressed in her usual shrine maiden wardrobe. Speaking of smells. One in particular draws her attention, as she wanders over towards Mokou's grill, giving a glance over her wares before beaming broadly at the girl, herself. "Good to see you out of that bamboo forest! How are things going with your new 'gig'?" The latter is somewhat strained, as though she were trying to use some hip word, but is a bit out of practice with it. Reiji also gets a glance and warm smile. She remembers him from their little safari, as well!

    Before she can speak on the matter, though, Diamond Lee makes her grand entrance. This leads to a curious, but understanding, glance from Sanae. This is that 'identifying' thing she's heard is so popular on the internet lately, isn't it? There also seems to be some kind of..presence, ducking just in and out of sight, but she'll keep it in mind unless it comes to trouble!

Rock Lee (678) has posed:
"Whoa! You are a male. I was told that there are no men in this world!" Lee points at Reiji, looking around. "Unless you are just a woman who looks like a male, in which case I apologize for my rudeness!" He puts his hands together, then bows politely. "My lipstick was applied with expert grace!" He reaches into the top of the sundress and suddenly pulls out a book, holding it out. The Savvy Clown's Guide To Lipstick. "I followed all of the instructions to the letter!"

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    Something that would probably earn a few odd looks from some of the obvious, local men attending the festival, no doubt. This mistaken belief earns a light scratch of Sanae's cheek, before she begins thinking of the movers and shakers of Gensokyo, that would be the most likely to be encountered in the multiverse at large. "I guess it would be easy to get that impression, Miss Lee," she informs, "But there are many men here in Gensokyo. One even runs the store where I bought this scooter!"

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari watches as Rock Lee pulls out that book. She slowly raises a finger, opens her mouth, then looks at Rock Lee. A little bit of her faith in humanity, or at least green-jumpsuited crossdressing men, dies.

Then she proceeds to drink more, and finish cleaning out the poor ring-toss man's stall. Leaving the poor guy sobbing, she's off towards the next (increasingly horrified looking) stall attendee before she spies somethingout of the corner of an eye.

A tail. A familiar one. Yari frowns, and ninja-wobbles over to the tailtip peeking out from the box. She looks from grill, to tail, to grill. Finally, in the festival's spirit, she's walking over to the firebird and her grill. Sanae as well gets a bow.

"Are you the organizer here? It's lovely." She comments to Mokou, before she's getting a chicken. From there?

Back over to that tailtip.

"If you're trying to hunt, why not try prey suited for you?" Then there's a whole chicken being offered to Duke.

Rock Lee (678) has posed:
"Huh..." Lee looks around, observing the men he previously overlooked or may have assumed were women. "In that case..." He grabs the sundress, then suddenly pulls it up, tossing it into the air. Somehow his lipstick is also removed in the process, and his chuunin vest has returned. "It was really me, Rock Lee!"

Reiji Arisu has posed:
    "I am a man," Reiji deadpans at the ninja and his clowny book. His face is pulled into an invincible, unmoving. "And," he glances at some of the local men of Gensokyo, most of whom certainly do not seem female at all, "I'm pretty sure those are guys, too. Before you run up and ask."

    Sanae does get a nod in greeting, though. And actual conversation! The exorcist isn't just a heartless mound of business and gunslinging! "Hey, good seeing you again," he says, "You here for the festival, I'm guessing?"

    Kind of a dumb question, given that Sanae is both a local and a shrine maiden of some stripe. Reiji only realizes it after the fact, but doesn't seem too perturbed. Instead, he asks a different question to distract from the first, "Did you come here to help deal with those fairies?"

    Reiji pauses, then glances back towards that thing that's wiggling right in his peripheral vision. A red... Tail? Well, he supposes that Youkai are pretty common around these parts. And as long as it's not a fairy, it should be fine for today. Right?

Right.

Probably.

Fujiwara no Mokou (709) has posed:
    The villagers, for better or worse, don't question Rock Lee. Although some do edge away and stare a bit. His FOOLPROOF DISGUISE must be working.

    Mokou slaps her face with her hand and grumbles about offworlders, as if they were somehow weirder than people here tend to be. ... well, right now, they sure are being, anyway.

    "Hey Reiji. Nope! Stick around, enjoy the fun. I don't kow that the fairies will even show." There's fairies in the crowd, sure, tiny little girls, some a foot tall, some actually children-sized, with bright wings made of light or elemental attributes. They aren't hostile in the slightest though.

    Sanae's appearance makes the phoenix-girl wave, although she pauses a moment. "Wait, can't you fly? What's the point of... that?" Looks like a bike? Except not really too. "Oh, nevermind. I'm alright! How's the miko life, any awful incidents?"

    Yari will easily obtain chicken from the grill overseer, who will answer: "Me? Nah. I just grill grill chicken. I mean, I invited some folks, but that's it, really."

A-ko Magami (434) has posed:
    A-ko has never been to Gensokyo before, so this should be a unique and interesting experience for her. With little knowledge of this place, she made sure to get some information on it, before getting a decent outfit to wear so she doesn't look too out of place. Although, she'll probably draw a lot of attention with her silver bands on her arms and the way she rushes into the area rather quickly. Then again, when you're the daughter of superheroes, super speed is something you learn to accept.

    Once A-ko arrives, she leans over and catches her breath, then looks around. "What an interesting place," She comments to nobody in particular, almost like she's forgotten that she didn't bring C-ko with her tonight. She's wearing a blue and white kimono to try to fit in properly, but her hair hangs down in its bushy style, a sharp contrast to her attire.

Duke has posed:
Once Yari walks over with a whole chicken, that tail stops moving as if the Digimon inside is trying to go 'shhh, I'm not here, really'. However when Yari speaks to him, he realizes that the gig is up and the small Guilmon X lifts up the box. Those gold eyes looking directly up at the lizard woman, then to the chicken, then back to her. "Really?" He asks as if trying to confirm that its alright.
He pushes off the box entirely and stares at the chicken, back to her once more, then with both of his clawed hands takes it from her. He sniffs at the chicken, looks it over closely, and then bites down. Those razor sharp, dinosaur like teeth just making easy work of anything that gets in his way. Skin, bone, whatever, it gets devoured.

At least he isn't hiding anymore.

Rock Lee (678) has posed:
"I would like to have food as well! Hello, Mister Duke!" Lee heads over to the Digimon to drape an arm around his neck. "This Digimon is my friend! I am teaching him discipline, but today we are just going to relax."

Lu-Mey (234) has posed:
    When you are a wandering, itinerant, dancing murderer you pick up some neat ways to gather information about things that ar happening in places.
    Contrary to popular belief, Lu-Mey does not spend all of her time looking for people to kill to advance her vaguely nefarious goals-- not that she has many of these anymore- or those of the Confederacy.
    Actually on her off time she is... You know.
    A wandering itinerate dancing murderer.
    Well there's no murder to be had today, but when she ofund out there was going to be free food, and warm weather in a certain phoenix's home haunts she just had to show up and--
    Lu-Mey proceeds to drape herself all over Mokou's shoulders. "Helloooooooooo~."

Reiji Arisu has posed:
    And then Rock uses his awesome Ninja Power to change clothes and also strip away makeup in the same span of time it takes for most normal men to unzip their pants. Reiji just shakes his head. Man. Ninjas, man.

    Mokou answers, then, and Reiji replies with a nod- and a bit of a frown. "I guess it was more bodyguard duty than actual extermination, huh," Reiji asks, crossing his arms over the counter. "Might as well take it easy until then. You got any sake back th--"

A... Horned girl?

Squint.

    "...Didn't know this stall had two chefs," the exorcist muses. He inclines his head at the woman hanging off of Mokou's like some kind of overly affectionate narwhal. Or unicorn. Or maybe-- something else? "Well, whatever. I'll take some yakitori too."

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
There's the slightest of smirks towards Duke. She kneels down a bit, tilting her head. "All yours. What are you?" She asks rather openly, half due to booze and half due to potential intelligence. Does he remember her?

Then there's Rock Lee. She blinks, and nods to the man. At least now he's not in that /horrid/ outfit. STill, that bowl cut's creepy.

"You know this...person, Mister Rock Lee?" She inquires before she finds a convenient box of her own to sit on. Hopefully Lee doesn't remember her as that bartendress that got him smashed!

To Mokou, though, she mmm's! And even snaps a half-salute, before remembering herself.

"The chicken is excellent." Compliments the woman, having grabbed herself some. Nom nom. Much more graceful than Duke, even with only one hand.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    It's important to not let mistaken impressions become something that would be unduly embarassing for their guest. Though honestly Sanae wouldn't have minded, even if Rock Lee had not revealed the nature of the clever disguise. She makes a good show of being impressed, with a clap of her hand and clasping them together afterward, "I was truly surprised!" Those familiar with the local umbrella spirit would recognize she probably had practiced this to perfection on Kogasa. After a moment, though, she turns to face Mokou and Reiji again, the latter getting a reply first. For what it's worth, she doesn't seem bothered by his seemingly pointless question, or it just went by her, "Oh, yes! There's only a few times of year you can see this many different people in one place. I wouldn't want to miss it! Gensokyo festivals even draw the recluses out of hiding." She probably isn't speaking about Mokou with her right here.

    Her head tilts at the notion of her being here on fairy patrol, sending her green hair swaying, before she gives a shrug of her bare shoulders and a smile. "If any cause trouble, but I'd prefer not to bother with them today. Even fairies should be able to enjoy gatherings." Of course, it seems that the subject of spring festivals and fairies are itching a memory in the back of her head, but she's too busy soaking up the faith generated by the party atmosphere to really pay it any mind. It's not so distracting that she can't respond to Mokou, either, and in a manner timely enough to not be considered rude, hopefully, "Hmm, incidents? Oh, goodness no! Honestly the most I've been doing lately is helping Miss Kanako close some deals with the Tengu." She glances back at the scooter as it's mentioned that she can fly, causing her to give a light, sheepish laugh, "Well, yeah. But variety is the spice of life, you know! Plus my kind of flight is a bit flashier. I wouldn't want to knock down anyone's cute festival booth."

    She notices that the shape that had been in her peripheral vision has decided to make itself more obvious, and her eyes brighten visibly. "So that's a Digimon? It's cute!" But something soon snaps her out of any embarassing doting she might have done, as she visibly bristles slightly, turning around to see Lu-Mey draped accordingly. Her eyebrows furrow, but she does smile, "Aren't you just making all kinds of friends. I'm impressed, Miss Mokou!"

Fujiwara no Mokou (709) has posed:
    "GAH!"

    She had not noticed Lu-Mey until now. Mokou barely avoids unnecessary use of fire and instead just turns to glare at the INSECT-FILLED THING, for a lack of better qualifiers. Now, bugs don't entirely freak her out, she lives in a forest with bug youkai, so she's seen and fought some stuff. Still wouldn't, you know, HUG any of it.

    "Hi! Please don't do that. Say, I never caught your name last time, what with all the... fighting, and everything. Fujiwara no Mokou. I don't really live here, just visit sometimes."

    Rock Lee FINALLY gets a reply, after Mokou's had enough time to let his appearance sink in. "I don't know who you told you that. I guess it's true almost every noteworthy youkai or person of interest is female here... kind of a weird coincidence. But as you can see, there's no lack of men and boys here." The village's population is pretty 50/50, at a glance.

    Sanae gets an agitated reply: "N-No, it's not like that! Someone threw her at me once and we both died. It was awful." Reiji gets the same look of 'there are not two chefs here at all!'. He does ALSO get a stick of chicken, because he asked.

    "Thanks," Mokou answers Yari as well. "I'm not a chef, but it's a hobby I picked up. Where are you from? It's the first time I see horns like that."

Duke has posed:
When Rock Lee slides over and places his arm around the much, much smaller Digimon, more correctly around his neck. Duke peers up at him as he crunches a bone between his teeth. It snaps around in jaws a few times, before he swallows. "Hi Rock Lee." Confirming yes that Duke does know the cheerful ninja. Those gold eyes look over to him, then back to Yari. "Thank you for the Chicken, as Rock said... My name is Duke." He then peers back at Lee, "...and could you let go of my neck, it makes eating uncomfortable..."

The Guilmon X's tail twitches slightly as if he feels someone looking at him, even an earfin raises up slightly as he almost makes eye contact with Sanae, but his attention is drawn back to Yari. "I'm a Guilmon X or um, a Digimon. Alexis has been taking care of me for some training, Lee here seems to want to train me in discipline, and Ferham is teaching me to focus by means of meditation." Seems the Digimon's instructors are all over the place.

Lu-Mey (234) has posed:
    That's right, a horned girl. Though not another chef. A flutter of lashes is shot Reiji's way before the oni flashes a sharptoothed grin. "Oh no, I'm not here to cook, I'm here to eat."
    It's probably a good thing Mokou does not resort to burning things on reflex though, as Lu detaches- mostly. Though she keeps her hands on the immortal's shoulders, while flashing a huge grin. But then she's nodding. "Oh yes, with was quite an interesting little first meeting, I was gutted from throat to belly, and sailing through the air. She was kind enough to catch me, even though I'm pretty sure it broke every bone in her torso." She joins in the explanation to Sanae.
    Well. They got better.
    Introductions though! "Oh right, things were a little hectic. I'm Lu-Mey~."
    Pause.
    "Now food me~."

A-ko Magami (434) has posed:
    "I'm A-ko Magami, nice to meet everyone," A-ko says as Lu-Mey makes her introduction. She's not too familiar with the others here, but hopefully after spending some time here she'll have made some new friends. Or at least some new social connections! Anything's better than having to deal with B-ko nearly every single day!

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Mokou gets a rather neat deflection. "I couldn't really say. Orphan." She states with a shrug, then latches onto the fire-bird's talents. She /grins/.

"Cooking is a passion of mine too. I'll swap some recipies some time." Still no name either! Strange, this one!

"A pleasure, Mister Duke, Mister Lee." She offers to both.

"My name is Ashley." she finally offers the pair.

A raised brow. "I see you have many friends. Why are you then sneaking around like that? Fear of humans? Look around. The ones here are more than comfortable with me."

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    A dismissive wave of the hand gives Mokou license to have all the friends, acquaintances, or whatever she wants to call them, that she wants. No matter how the relationship is forged! "No matter how you meet someone, what's important is what comes after. And it seems she's definitely taken a liking to you." That smile on her face, a perfect contrast to what is likely Mokou's annoyance, is just so annoying understanding and accepting. Especially once the oni herself fills in some more of the gory details, causing the smile to fade, scant degrees on the edge of visibility. Her eyes pivot just slightly to Mokou again, a trace of pity, before she clasps her hands again, "It seems you've both recovered, at least! Hmm, are you an oni from the Old Hell?" She gives a slight bow at the waist, before rising back up, "I don't remember having met you before, Miss Lu-Mey, though I'll admit to not having met many oni in general!" Most of the ones she knows would be drunk by now, anyway, so having an actual conversation is interesting.

    In her own general introduction, she again bows, a bit more formally, face beaming, "My name is Sanae Kochiya. I'm a priestess at the Moriya Shrine, at Youkai Mountain." It doesn't really need to be said which mountain she's referring to, since it's pretty obvious from most of Gensokyo. Something else catches her ear, and her wider attention, and she glances back at this being they call a Digimon. So that is... "Duke!" She calls over and waves a hand, "It's me, Sanae!" Though she pauses a bit, and looks quizzical, "You're a bit bigger than I imagined, somehow. And your speech is a little different. But there's no mistake. It's good to finally get to see you!" Now that she's done not being the least bit embarassed at calling to him out of turn and from who knows how many meters away, she turns back as though nothing had interrupted. "It's so lively today. But it feels like I'm forgetting something important..."

Reiji Arisu has posed:
    Reiji acquires many things in a short span of time. Answers! Sake! Chicken! He takes care of each one in kind. "Mm, do they?" He asks, looking toward Sanae. Mokou doesn't really count as a 'recluse' in his mind it seems. She is sort of part of the Monster Hunter Club "Does this place have many of those? Recluses, I mean."

'Sleepy mountain villages' are the sorts of things you'd expect to find not far from 'super-powerful mountain hermits, after all.

    He makes a quiet, acknowledging noise at the idea of fairies enjoying festivals. It shouldn't be something that he finds odd- Shinra is full of Youkai. Maybe it's that they're so public about all of it? Reiji covers his silence with a couple bites of chicken. "Fair enough," he says with a shrug. "I won't worry about it unless it comes up."

Knowing his luck, it'll be right when it's as inconvenient as possible.

    He glances up from his chicken and booze to Mokou and Lu-Mey. Something about here just feels off. Just... /off./ It's a hard feeling to describe, but he hides it well. "Looks like you've recovered pretty well," Reiji says to Mokou. "From being dead, that is."

"And..." his gaze turns towards Lu-Mey, "You too, I guess? Another immortal, huh? The name's Reiji Arisu, exorcist." Because introductions are important, even if he has to ignore delicious chicken for a moment to make them happen. Sanae's question draws a glance, but it isn't long till his gaze flickers back towards Lu-Mey. About half a second, actually. "I admit, I'm curious too. Horns like that don't show up every day."

    Duke gets his attention for just a moment, then. Reiji nods in greeting- but he's not exactly sure what a digimon even is. Sanae seems to know, though, and she's not driving him away. So it's probably fine!

Duke has posed:
"Ashley?" Duke asks Yari back and gives a nod, before a happy smile, "Nice to meet you!" He then finishes the chicken about the time that Sanae calls over to him. It actually takes a moment for Duke to register the name, yet that smile becomes much larger, before his earfins lift up fully. Those gold eyes wide and bright before he calls back, "Sanae!"
He had never had a chance to meet the woman, but he remembers her kindness when he was very confused and his data was in horrible shape compared to what it was now. She alone was perhaps, in his mind, the kindness of souls.

If Rock Lee /doesn't/ let go by this point, the Digimon would wiggle his way free and bolt over to Sanae, then actually leap up at her in a tackling hug with a purr included! "Sanae! Its good to meet you at last!" He will not linger long, but his earfins are up high and his tail moving side to side in an almost dog like fashion-- just a bit slower of a wag. "Last we talked my data was really scrambled. Its getting better though, thanks to everyone's help!" He hops up and down full of energy. "I'm so glad to meet you! I never thought I'd have the chance! This is so great!"

Fujiwara no Mokou (709) has posed:
    "Oh. Sorry to hear, Ashley," Mokou replies to Yari.

    Lu-Mey gets a long sigh, and then Mokou sticks some chicken directly into her mouth. Via stick. Not so much as to be dangerous, just a straight answer to being told to food someone.

    Sanae also gets a long sigh. "I don't think she's from this world. I'd rather not meet people like that, really, it's pretty painful." As expected of dying. Immortality has its drawbacks.

    She shakes her head at Reiji. "I used to be a recluse, although nobody here would be old enough to really remember it. I mean, in the village." Youkai are another story. "There's quite a lot of youkai who intentionally seclude themselves in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost." Then a nod. "Recovering is what I do! I'm a health maniac, and all."

    That's when a young teenage of a fairy tugs on ROCK LEE's shirt from behind. She is dressed in very pale pink, almost white, a long dress with a shawl, with a nice pointy hat to match. Her wings are flowery, like three petals made of light on each side of her back.

    "Hey, hey mister. Which season is it turning to?"

    Uneducated, maybe? Cirno IS said to be one of the smarter fairies, and we're talking regular Cirno here, not the Confederate one. She pleads an answer out of the ninja!

Lu-Mey (234) has posed:
    "Hm? old Hell? Oh no, I'm from Tenra." Lu gives in reply, before crossing scarlet eyes up at her horn. "It's wayyyy over there."
    She points off in the best approximate direction that Tenra probably is. Maybe. But then she waves a hand lazily at Reiji. "Death happens. It's kind of annoying and it hurts, I try to keep from doing it too much." Chirruped with an easy grin.
    Mokou then hand-feeds her.
    he oni's dusky skin VISIBLY crawls, the dark etched tattoos all over her body shifting with eerie squirming motions into dark heart-shapes all over her body, for a moment. Before they return to their original designs.
    "Well of course they don't show up, you have to be born with them, silly." She does note regarding her horn, before unfolding a hand fan and fluttering it in front of her face.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Leave it to Xiaomu to get sidetracked when she's going somewhere to play tourist. Reiji might have noticed that she drifted away on entering the Human Village; he might also have picked up the characteristic scent of fried tofu.

Which explains just where the sage fox went, as she finally makes her way back over to her partner with a large box of fried tofu, still steaming from the pot of hot oil. In fact, the fact that it came straight from the fryer is easy enough to pick up on, just by virtue of the fact that the box is still full.

"Here you are, Reiji!" Xiaomu calls out happily, her staff's rings jingling as she hurries over to catch up with him. "Looks like the party's really getting under way ... hey Mokou!" she waves to the phoenix girl, followed by waving to everyone else here. With her staff.

Her other hand is holding precious treasures, after all!

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    Reiji would get an answer from Sanae, filling in even more from Mokou's explanations. "Definitely! We've got our share of hermits, of course, but also a lot of youkai that just like to live alone." She gives a thoughtful look, tapping the corner of her mouth with a fingertip, "Then there's the ones that have huge houses that aren't easy to travel to. Like that ghost princess. I've only ever seen her when she wants to bother people." She allows herself a hint of a frown at that. 'When she wants to bother people' is a distressingly common thread for seeing certain people, here in Gensokyo, as Mokou could no doubt relate to. Her mood quickly recovers and brightens, as she continues, "It takes all kinds, I guess. Youkai and spirits have just as much personality as humans do, after all." A fact she didn't appreciate when she first arrived here.

    Regardless of the state of asceticism in Gensokyo, or that important thing she has forgotten about, Duke has definitely made her day. She turns back just in time to almost get bowled over by the pouncing hug, but in testament of the strength of a shrine maiden(-ish), she recovers before fully losing her balance. She can't help herself, it's like a big teddy bear! Except, you know, nothing like a bear at all. Giggling, she pats Duke on the head freely, and she seems just as pleased at their unexpected meeting. "This must have been fated! Oh..yes your kind are digital, right? Digi-mon. It's good to hear you can fight the data corruption!" She seems content to allow Duke to hold on as long as he wants to, since it's not like she has any official duties here. She's almost as much of a tourist as many of their otherworldly visitors, today. Perhaps more than they know.

    "Hmm..ah, I see," she accepts of Lu-mey. A look of understanding is given to Mokou, but it seems that her own fate won't change, at this rate. Face it, girl, you just attract this kind of meeting. To the oni lady's gesture, she actually looks in that direction, almost as if she might actually be able to see it. You never know in this world. "So many places I still haven't seen," she marvels. "But I'll get to them all, eventually." She glances down to the possibly still-attached Digimon, "We might even get to see some of them together, Duke!"

Reiji Arisu has posed:
    "I'm not so sure about that," Reiji replies to the maybe-Oni, "I've heard stories of ordinary humans turning into Oni and other things. Never pre--" And then Lu's skin writhes with tattoos and other things that frankly make Reiji's eyes hurt a little. He blinks, squeezing at the bridge of his nose. "...Well. Anyway. Death is... Pretty inconvenient, yes."

...Yes. Inconvenient.

"Especially if you don't usually come back afterwards--"

    Wait, Reiji knows that jingling. His train of thought derailed a second time, Reiji glances over his shoulder at the noise and... smiles a little? First time tonight! "Xiaomu. Hey, glad you could make it."

    Reiji sees Duke pounce Sanae out of the corner of his eye. His hand twitches and reflexively slides towards one of his many weapons, but he stops himself from doing anything unwise well on time. "I see," Reiji says, "Well, that'd make sense. Isolated Youkai, I mean." The exorcist shrugs, munching at his chicken as the digimon continues to cuddle the priestess. "Not all youkai can be as outgoing as your average oni. Or youko."

He certainly does not peer toward Xiaomu when he says that. Nope.

A-ko Magami (434) has posed:
    When A-ko spots Xiaomu, she does a brief double-take. She can't believe what she's seeing at first. Then she remembers she's in the Multiverse, and she tries to remain polite. "Hi, Xiaomu is it? I'm A-ko Magami, it's nice to meet you!" She smiles in a friendly manner.

Duke has posed:
Duke purrs at the head patting and if she doesn't force the four foot Digimon to let go, the Guilmon X will remain where he is. Letting her pet his head, scratch behind his earfins, whatever. He is very content right now with an individual he has never had the honor to meet until now. Those gold eyes look at the others near by, judging them all most as he clenches his jaw for a moment. He didn't mean to interrupt and that becomes obvious as he looks about, then back up to Sanae, then to others.

When Sanae looks back down at Duke, he smiles up at her and gives a happy, 'Mm!' In agreement to her statement about seeing other places. It seems he is in agreement to do such things which is only confirmed as he speaks up, "And I'll protect you from any harm that may come, Sanae!"

Though as the conversation plays out around him, his ear fins move a like, before his eye ridges furrow then looks at everyone, then back to Sanae, "Who is an Oni and Youko?" The Digimon asks seeming very confused by some of these terms being thrown around and then his ear fins go back, "...or... maybe I shouldn't ask, um, sorry!" He quickly bows his head, remembering that he walked into this--- well--- pounced into this conversation.

Lu-Mey (234) has posed:
    It's only a moment before Lu-Mey's skin and tattoos resume their original positions and she snaps her fan closed. Unfortunately for Mokou, the oni is still practically all over her, as 'by Mokou' is where the food is coming from. Though she does furrow her brow.
    "Humans becoming oni? Don't be prepostrous. I mean sure they can interbreed, but no one likes it when they do, and everyone just gets so mad and it's really not worth it." She scoffs. "At least that's how it is in Tenra. The oni came first, then the humans, then the humans tried to wipe us out-- and now we're monsters because we kill humans to protect our homes and families. Isn't it funny how history works out?"

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Xiaomu bows slightly to A-ko, and introduces herself in turn, "I'm Xiaomu, and it's nice to meet you too, A-ko!"

She looks to Duke next, "Oni are a 'race' of ... I guess you might call them ogres or something. They're typically - but not always," she amends with a grin at Lu-Mey, "big and brawny and usually have one or two horns. I guess the oni of Tenra don't go the 'big and brawny' route as much, though ... ?" Not that oni where Xiaomu's from can't come in smaller and cuter forms than the stereotypical horned ogre with bulging muscles, but that's another story.

"And 'youko' like Reiji just used it would mean 'mystic fox,'" Xiaomu continues. "I usually call myself a 'sage fox,' though."

She nestles her staff in the crook of her elbow for a moment, tapping a fingertip to the topmost piece of fried tofu in her box - and immediately pops her fingertip into her mouth, wincing. Yep, still too hot to eat.

Reiji Arisu has posed:
    "It's hazier in our history," Reiji says with a shrug. "But there /are/ some cases of humans becoming Oni. Usually when they've been overcome by powerful negative energies. Or if they piss off the wrong god." Or drink the wrong alcohol. Or enter the wrong cave.

Really, there's bad shit everywhere if you really look hard enough.

    "That situation does sound like it sucks pretty bad though," Reiji says with a shrug, "You have my condolences, for what it's worth from a human."

    He glances toward Duke, then, and shrugs again. "Oni are--" Xiaomu cuts him off and answers quicker than he can! That's just fine too, though. "What she said," he says instead. "Oni- or things like oni- can be worshipped as gods sometimes, too," Reiji explains, gesturing vaguely with his yakitori stick, "The ones that are strong enough and relatively friendly to humanity, that is. Likewise for Youko, and whole lot of other things, actually."

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari is currently devouring more booze from a refreshments table, harangueing the poor person running it!

"...Stored in a sub-optimal temperature Sir!" Glug glug glug!

"And this rum has too much caramel, and not enough spice. You're masking a sub-par liquor!" Poor refreshments man. She does peek back at the party curiously, however, in between trying to out-drink the locals. Or possibly Lu-mey.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    "Oh, you don't have to worry about me, Duke," Sanae begins to explain, but she thinks of how determined the Digimon sounded when he said the words, and she thinks better of letting on with more than that. No need to overcomplicate things! Instead, she smiles warmly, giving him a break from her patting but allowing him to remain where he is for now, "But if it comes to it, I'll make sure to lean on you! That's what friends are able to do, right?" As ridiculous as it might look, she doesn't seem to have much difficulty moving with the extra load, either, since she steps back a few paces from Mokou's stand, finally. It's becoming quite the crowded attraction, despite how much annoyance the immortal girl had tried to show being in such company. She doesn't speak more on that matter, though, instead just giving a wordless but pleased grin while eyeballing the scene around her. It's seriously good to see Mokou forming bonds, regardless of how they came. It also conveniently gives Reiji some more breathing room.

    There is a subject she knows about, though, at least in regards to their own oni! Well, at least a little. For the general benefit of disclosure, and for Duke's curiosity, "Hmm..oni. Miss Yuugi is pretty beefy, but Miss Suika is - usually - tiny. And then there's this one woman I think might be an oni, that always gives out advice when it's not asked for." She pauses after that, blinking blankly, as if realizing she might not really know as much as she thought she did, but some of the other particulars she does remember, "Most of them seem to like drinking a lot, and I hear arm wrestling is popular." Tsk, persisting stereotypes, how unbecoming of Sanae. "They do all have horns, though, so far. Some one, some two! Don't think I've heard of a human becoming an oni, though." A look of realization is given to Xiaomu, as well, with further descriptions, "Ahah, you were there that night, too! So your tails are on your head?" She seems more genuinely curious than finding this strange.

    Lu-mey drops a right emotional load there, causing her eyebrows to furrow slightly. And she suddenly falls silent, in stark contrast to her usual exuberance, a practically visible dark cloud falling over her. That's right, when she first arrived in Gensokyo..that could have just as easily been her 'purifying' any oni she came across.

Fujiwara no Mokou (709) has posed:
    "Hey Xiaomu, welcome to Gensokyo again. Sans rabbits, this time," Mokou greets the NOT A KITSUNE, before looking at Lu-Mey. "Well, some humans can become youkai here. I think if you're willing to dabble in magic and awful things, you could probably turn into an oni too. I mean, oni's just another sort of youkai when you think about it." Oh Gensokyo, where youkai means ANYTHING NOT HUMAN, basically.

    When Sanae was wondering what she's forgetting...

    GM Pose: The fairy that was bothering the ninja evidently gets an answer, or perhaps does not-- truth be told, there's nothing Rock Lee could say, or not say, here that would legitimately be able to avoid the catastrophe.

    "IT'S SPRIIIING! SPRING IS HEEEERE!"

    Lily White's wings glow much brighter as she hovers off the ground. Mokou pre-emptively dives behind her grill. The villagers ooh and aah, most taking cover-- but in a way that lets them watch, explicitely. They don't seem to panic, this is pretty much normal. It'll get messy, but things get messy all the time in Gensokyo.

    Thankfully it's not like Lily White has Spell Cards, right? She's just a fairy, even if this is the day she's strongest on, it's not like she could just--

    ~~ SPELL CARD: Seasonal Herald - "IT'S SPRING!"

    Spreading out in a MASSIVE pattern in the shape of a lily, a curtain of small energy bullets and flower petals smothers the village square. It's non-lethal! It'll bruise and sting a bit, but it can't kill. It sure does knock stuff down though, but it also makes the snow melt, and brings flowers and trees to blooming almost instantly.

    It's totally annoying because of the whole bullet hell thing, but you can see what's left of winter instantly turning into mid to late spring in seconds.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari then glances over to Sanae. There's actually some sympathy here as Lu-mey goes full-on Lu-mey at the shrine maiden. Yari grabs three jugs of sake, and starts walking over.

"Miss, the local sake is excellent! Here!" Cue the smashed Yari trying to drown poor Sanae in booze.

Too focused on trying to defile a shrine maiden with alcohol, the ninjette only catches the fairy at the last moment. Her eyes go wide as that curtain of 'bullets' goes flying, and the ninja is suddenly tossing kunai to try to deflect them as fast as possible! She's even playing a good 'tank' for Sanae, taking the blows of stinging flower petals on limbs and tail.

"DOWN!" She yells.

Duke has posed:
Xiaomu goes into explaining what these things are and Duke listens with keen interest. His tail actually stops moving as he listens to the explanations and even to what Reiji has to say added onto this. His eye ridges furrow as he processes this in his head and then taps his claw to his muzzle's chin. Then his eyes look over to Lu-Mey in a questionable manner. Perhaps fully trying to match up the explanations to what he is seeing, he even does this with Xiaomu as well.
When Sanae though gets a distant look from what Lu-Mey said, the Digimon gets down and then pulls at her hand gently, "Sanae..." He seems sensitive to the fact she has lost that joy in her eyes. This also about when the Faries happen.

At first Duke was caught off guard by them, watching them in wonder as they reminded him of a few digimon types long ago in his home world now gone, but strange stuff starts to happen! Snow melts, bolts of magic thrown around all over the place. Things get knocked over, some people go hiding from the spells. Oh yes, beauty comes from it, but when one or two sting the Digimon on impact, he snarls and then suddenly with a flash of digital light he Digivolves.

Anything electronic around him may be effected for a moment, going on the monetary frets as if being super charged by something. Though it doesn't last long and what was a four foot digimon is now a six foot five towering over Sanae and using his far more humanoid form to actually protect her. That white mohawk hair of his bristling, but he tries to keep her safe by putting himself in the way.

Lu-Mey (234) has posed:
    Lu-Mey points right at herself. "I'm an oni." That's for Duke's clarification. Before she sucks her teeth in a small 'tsk tsk tsk', "Ara ara... Oh no, I'm just petite~." She does not clarify this.
    For the record, good luck outdrinking her, Yari, she hasn't even started yet.
    But when she does there will be hell to pay.
    She is however helping herself to more food. ... Lots more food.
    A lot...
    Like three plates worth. The frightening thing is she will eat it all and likely ask for seconds. And thirds.
    "Well while that is nice, unfortunately, it's a bit too little too late at this point and--"
    And then it is spring.
    And then Lu-Mey tumblerolls under the nearest table or piece of cover she can find.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    Thankfully(?) for any worries Duke might have gotten about her, a sudden look of realization snaps Sanae out of her momentary funk. That's right, spring festivals in the past have sometimes been... 'IT'S SPRING!' Ah yes. Seasons have their own kind of magical nature, here in Gensokyo. Nature spirits and even gods somehow become intwined with the flow of time, and are as much a part of ushering in new phases of the year as anything else. Sanae doesn't make a real move to seemingly avoid at first, instead taking the moment to slap a hand to her forehead, admonishing herself more than anything.

    Even then, she doesn't seem too worried. This being a part of nature here, it's not like Lily White's work could truly be interrupted. She quickly tries to explain to everyone else that might not understand (from all the melting snow and blooming foliage), before the barrage can truly start buffetting things, though time is of course short, "Don't be alarmed, she's -- relatively harmless! It's like this every Spring." The spell card is definitely a new feature, though. But that also means there are certain rules in play. She just has to outlast it and she'll eventually get bored and move on to some other part of Gensokyo that needs spring-ing. Assuming she doesn't have any more new surprises, that is!

    Sanae starts to take flight, since that's the instinctive way for a playable character to deal with this situation, apparently, before being reminded that she has a sizeable Duke still attached. It's easy enough to carry him around, but flight is another matter-- Just as it seems she might have to hope for a graze of Lily White's brilliant shots, though, Duke takes his own agency to not only free her of the weight, but he..changes? She looks puzzled by it, since the concept of Digimon is still so very new to her. But in the end, it seems he really intended to protect her like this. "Duke," she calls! It's, well, not exactly mortal worry, since spell cards are also inherently non-lethal, but they can certainly still sting. It's a bit too late for dodging for her, in any case, since the wave has really hit, "We just have to wait it out!"

Reiji Arisu has posed:
    Simple conversation is interrupted in the most spectacular way. Reiji has a feeling that this sort of thing happens pretty frequently here, but he doesn't say that out loud. He does, however, wince at the sudden announcement of spring's official(?) arrival to Gensokyo. "I guess that's my cue," Reiji mutters, biting away the last of his chicken. He rises, setting his portable arsenal on the table as he draws the longer of his two blades from its sheath.

In his other hand, there's a gun. It's a big- egregiously so- golden gun.

    The Exorcist dashes out of the safety of Mokou's shack and rushes out right into the middle of /BULLET HELL./ Reiji grunts as he collides with a couple of orbs in his rush to contain damage. But it isn't long until he begins to familiarize himself with the pattern- and there /is/ a pattern. If this were nothing but a storm of bullets, it would be much harder to deal with.

Even so, there are a /lot/ of bullets, and Reiji can't dodge them all.

Fortunately, he doesn't have to.

    "Ki wa hi wo umi--" Reiji mutters. His blade whirls through the air as Reiji weaves through the unfolding springtime patterns. Flame dances in his wake, swirling clouds of fire coiling and whirling in hot eddies through clusters of bullets. The pattern necessitates some kind of rhythm in Reiji's defense. He falls easily into it, the plumes of fire and flashes of sweltering heat becoming as much of a part of the show as the spell card itself. Something about the flame is able to consume the shots, enabling Reiji to try and ward most of the bystanders and their stands from enduring too much damage.

'Wood fuels fire' indeed.

He hasn't used the gun yet. This is probably a good thing, all things considered.

    But then, Reiji does recognize that the change in seasons is something both natural and necessary. Firing Gold here and now is something of a last resort. For now, he simply continues to try and contain as much of the damage as he possibly can. Even if all this is part of the natural order, that doesn't mean a guy has to take it lying down!

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Yep, it's definitely spring, isn't it? That certainly is a most vernal spray of magical bullets that Lily White is launching all over the place.

... and somehow, even as Xiaomu practically dances her way to safety, dodging bullets as she goes, she's able to keep her box of tofu from tipping over or otherwise spilling. If that means taking some bullets to the face instead

(Which it totally DOES, she takes one square on the forehead and her head rocks noticeably from the impact)

then it's worth the sacrifice to protect her precious fried tofu. She'll wind up with some extra bruises to show for it, too: one on her forehead, a few where her clothes cover them, and one or two on her legs, even as she winds up weaving back into the 'shadow' that Reiji's creating by slashing and shooting down Lily's bullets.

"Gotta hand it to Gensokyo," she remarks, watching the rest of Lily's floral arrangement *OF BULLETPOINTED DOOM*. "Spring sure leaps out at you here, you can't miss it even if you tried ..."

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari isn't dumb, especially when there's kunai being wasted as Duke suddenly becomes a huge pillar to hid behind. So the ninjette does just that, stealthily sneaking behind him, and then trying to leap upwards upon the large digimon's shoulders!

Then the drunken ninja is swiftly putting little bits of kimono cloth into her booze jugs. One zippo lighter later? There's four such jugs tossed at poor Lily White.

"DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE RESOLVE OF..." Pause.

"A CULINARIAN!"

Cue tactical boozebombs.

A-ko Magami (434) has posed:
    A-ko tries to avoid the bullets but a few of them hit her... and bounce off of her. After all, she is a supergirl! Still, she scowls at these bullets. "What have I gotten myself into?!" A-ko wonders, nearly stumbling as one of her geta come off. "I knew I shouldn't have dressed up like this!"

Duke has posed:
Duke growls as each impact hits him, his gold eyes noticing for a moment that Sanae was planning to leave, until she realized he was going to protect her, perhaps himself not realizing just what /was/ going on here. He rumbles softly as another bits of magic dance across his body, before he speaks. His voice a bit older, but the aggressive nature was also easy to pick up in his words. "Protect you. Its worth it."
The only reason he hasn't just spun around and perhaps launched a fireball in the direction of the fairy is because it seems the locals are being, well, rather calm about all this. Though his tail lashes in annoyance. "How much longer?" Seems to be the next question on new Growlmon X's mind.

Then Yari uses him for a stepping stone and he growls in protest to this, only to suddenly hear explosives behind him wince causes him to wince a little. His tail lashes again before he snarls his teeth. "Ashley!" he snaps out her name, as if to say 'calm down'-- hilarious he knows, coming from him that could any point like this go into a bestial rage.

Reiji Arisu has posed:
    Reiji growls his displeasure as MOLOTOV COCKTAILS start going off all over the damn place! "Xiaomu," he grunts to his nearby partner. "I know you just got that tofu, but I'd really appreciate if you took care of those fires before they spread." Karin roars with elemental flame as Reiji sweeps away another wave of bullets, "Kind of busy containing this thing."

Fujiwara no Mokou (709) has posed:
    Given the fact Lily White is still a fairy, not a full-blown youkai or anything of the sort, the pattern of her Spell Card is... primitive, and full of blind spots. It is however circular and flowery, so most of the little energy balls and petals don't travel in straight lines. It might make cover a BIT more difficult to find, but it's not like the Danmaku is especially powerful or even lethal. At best, it's like getting slapped. Lightly.

    The main purpose of the fairy's show is evidently to announce spring has arrived-- not just to people but to nature. By now, the Human Village and its surroundings are effectively in spring. It's warmer, the flowers and trees are in bloom, the air is ripe with pollen and the smell of nature, and the snow is all gone.

    It would probably be beautiful, seen from afar.
    The villagers are on to something.

    The fairy starts darting around, shifting the source of the bullets everytime she moves. She wanders over to different booths, to fairies that have stayed in the heat of things, and even to people themselves, stopping a few feet away from Duke.

    "DINOS! DINOS SHOULD HAVE SPRING TOO! WHOOOO!"

    This puts Duke (and Sanae) in the direct line of fire and spawning of the colorful arrival of spring, but really this isn't... that deadly. Just annoying. Reiji and Xiaomu find out that it's indeed very easy to intercept and destroy the bullets with basically anything, creating safe zones.

    With careful air dashes, Lily White manages to avoid the first wave of molotovs, only for one to slam right into her afterwards. The fire doesn't quite take hold (possibly because of a magical shield), although it certainly seems to singe her outfit and make her wail in pain for a moment.

    And then she... flops to the ground.

    The barrages stop! And Lily White just whines. "But it's spring! I have to make sure everyone knows! Aww." She dusts herself, evidently calmer now. "Maybe if I wrote everyone letters instead..."

    There's some fires to contain now, courtesy of Yari and grills that may have tipped over, but the villagers come out of their hiding spots to cheer and chant... Lily White's name, of all things.

    Mokou peeks her head out. "Man, I hate spring. This is going to go on ALL SEASON, ugh." Gensokyo-wide random encounter.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari, atop Duke's shoulders, proudly puts her arm on her side and nods in satisfaction as the great 'attacker' falls to her booze-fueled tactical supremacy.

"GLORY AND HONOR TO THE VICTORS!" Pause. Yari is /loud/ today. Hopefully Duke doesn't have sensitive ears.

"AND TO SPRING!"

Duke gets a head-rub.

"It's fine. Look! Our opponent is felled. Time to get victory booze." Then the ninja leaps down, and runs with ninja-speed back towards that booze-table, acquiring even more alcohol before the growing fires she's helped start grow. Chug chug chug. She'll throw one to Duke.

"Drink up! It is important for morale."

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    "Ah..eesh, fighting back will just make even more of a mess!" Fighting fairies was ultimately pointless, anyway. They'll just come back, and they'll bring friends! Still, this truly isn't just any fairy, and as an embodiment of Spring's first bloom, she's particularly determined and emboldened. After having used Duke's larger form as cover for just the moment she needed, she finally gets a chance to spread her arms, wind whipping around her as she begins to lift off the ground. In this condition, she's in more of a condition to defend herself. This is particularly good, because Lily White has decided that they're going to get the first good taste of Spring! "Thank you, Duke," she smiles, though then gets a determined edge to her cheerful look, "Be ready, because here she comes!" The whirling patterns are familiar, even if the Spell Card is new. She's definitely seen enough in the general vein in her day.

    Not opting to join in the fairy assault, herself (knowing how counterproductive it would be), she instead glides around. Keeping a watch on Duke as well as herself, in case she needs to call out any particular warnings to him, especially with that extra load on his back as an added distraction! Every now and then, one of the shots will stray uncomfortably close, causing threads to visibly fray on her sleeves and the extremeties of her skirt. Thankfully for her, wardrobe malfunctions from displays of danmaku are only something that happened before spell cards. "Gosh, you're so persistent," she half-hisses, but somehow good-naturedly, as one globule actually manages to sink into her skin. Ultimately doing little damage beyond what in a manga might be represented with a cross-hatched pattern. "Don't you have other places to spread Spring to, already?"

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Xiaomu looks out from behind Reiji again, noting the fires where the Molotovs were used. "Ah ... yeah, that's probably a good idea. Good thinking, Reiji!"

Gods help anyone who takes advantage of Xiaomu's distraction to deprive her of fried tofu, although it's STILL a little too hot to eat. Still, Xiaomu puts the box down, trusting Reiji to defend it with his life while she's busy. Then she grasps her staff's shaft with her left hand, the headpiece with her right ...

And draws her own sword, Suiren, water/ice magic surging as she focuses her qi into the blade. A sweep of the sword clears some more bullets - almost the last batch that Xiaomu needs to worry about, since Lily's getting pegged by a Molotov - and then ..

"XIAOMU SURFING!!"

She conjures a nice big block of ice and rides it towards the first of Yari's stray fires, the ice block sliding over it - and then backwards, as Xiaomu 'steers' with Suiren's staff part sort of like a gondolier might. Then she 'reverses' to go forward again, banking around to put out the second fire. Fortunately, alcohol doesn't burn all that hot, so it's fairly easy to quench them.

Plus, the sudden and aggressive onset of spring means there won't be any lingering frost from the ice block's passage. Xiaomu looks a little wobbly by the time she finishes all that and hops off the now much-diminished sheet of ice.

But she's right next to Yari and Duke by that point, and favors Yari with a glower. "Do you realize what a waste of good sake that was?" she scolds mildly, sheathing Suiren once more. "If you're going to chuck Molotovs, you make them from cheap beer or something nobody's gonna miss."

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari pauses mid chug, puts down her bottle, and turns to Xiaomu.

The horned woman scowls.

"'Good'!?" Froown!

"There are a number of impurities! The sake has a slight sour taste from using out-of-season rice! It's also been kept at a temperature that's far too high! Chilled sake is far superior! Overall, I would grade this sake as a 'C minus'." Someone is a very intoxicated booze conniseur. Xiao even gets a poke on the nose with her tail for the scolding!

Pause. "...Besides, I didn't bring the 'Buddy Light'."

Duke has posed:
Duke growls at the continued Fairy nonsense, but with his eyes closed and deep inhale, he keeps it together. Watching Sanae leave and snarling in mild protest to all of this insanty. Once the chaos ends though, he rises up to his full height and glares at Yari, until she tosses him a booze bottle. He catches it with his claws and sniffs at it in question, before wrinkling his snout at it. Doesn't seem Duke right now has an interest for such a strange smelling thing that has no source of 'food' to it. Though he does hold onto it for a moment as his gold eyes scan around.
The Growlmon X looks to the others, then to Sanae. "Crazy weather." He says with a rumble before watching Yari down the booze. "Crazier woman." He says snorting at the Au Ra. He shakes his body a bit as his mohawk bristles before flattening down a little. "All trouble."

Reiji Arisu has posed:
    It's the moving around bit that really give him trouble. But right now, a few impacts are really not that big of a deal compared to the possibility for an alcohol-fueled firestorm. "Yeah," Reiji answers, taking up a defensive position in front of the Box o' Tofu. "Just concentrate on the fires. I'll keep track of your snack."

Besides, it's not like he really has much more work to do. Not after that molotov goes and knocks the fairy right out. Cheers rising from the human audience leave him just a little bewildered though, admittedly. Reiji peers over towards Mokou, raising an eyebrow. "...Fujiwara," he grunts, frowning, "When you said that you'd needed a bodyguard, did you just mean you specifically?"

Reiji's still watching that Tofu, by the way. If there are like, tiny fox-girls here, he'll know! And he'll catch them in the act!

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    As Lily White stands down, Sanae's demeanor softens again. If not held back, or interrupted by the fairy, and after giving a look to Duke to let him know she's fine despite the light scratches, she'll actually float over in Lily White's direction. This time, it isn't Ye Miko's Anger to worry about, but instead aiming to give a light pat to her conical hatted head. "Sorry for snapping at you. You did good here. But there's still a lot of places that still need to be told it's Spring, right? You'd better get to work!" She rolls up a detached sleeve, since with the sudden fires, she has some work of her own to do, it seems like. "Duke! Let's help sort out some of this mess with the festival." She's in a much better mood, now, settling on the ground so that her breeze doesn't help fuel the fires even more, and beginning to work minor miracles to extinguish some of the smaller spot fires. More like cantrips, really.

Fujiwara no Mokou (709) has posed:
    Unless someone wants to stop the efforts it will take a grand total of ten seconds to get all those fires under control. They're not magical or supernatural or especially big.

    Mokou scratches the back of her head at Reiji's question, before answering: "I dunno, you sounded like you needed an outlet. And a party to go to. It's better that you guys handled it than I did anyway, there'd be a lot more fire everywhere. And no one to take care of it." That part is really fortunate, even if it was technically Yari that caused those fires instead.

    To Sanae, Lily White exclaims with joy: "YES! So many places to go! SPRING HAS ARRIVED EVERYWHEEEEERE! Oh no, I'll be late!"

    Mokou shouts: "GO TELL THE RABBITS!"

    The fairy grins and starts flying in the general direction of the Bamboo Forest. She starts firing bullets EVERYWHERE again but she's on her way out, just steel yourselves for five seconds. What an absurdly unsafe fairy. Oh well, she's not your problem anymore!

Duke has posed:
When Sanae asks for help with the fires, that is what the adult digimon will do, at least to the best of his abilities! This probably means throwing dirt on the flames to snuff them out, because don't you know? Guilmon's and Growlmon's--- even as X type Digimon--- are excellent diggers! Thanks to those massive claws they have and he is making sure they get put to good use.

He is also holding onto that booze bottle. Maybe he'll try it out later... or give it to Alexis as a gift.

Also thankfully these are not massive fires as GM has stated so there wont be to much dirt flinging.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Xiaomu frowns thoughtfully at Yari. "C minus, huh? Who'd you get it from, lemme give it a try myself ..."

Assuming Yari points her in the right direction, Xiaomu will indeed procure a cup of sake - getting Reiji to attest to her age if the merchant tries to card her, but THAT shouldn't be a problem around Gensokyo, right? - and tastes it for herself ... then makes her way back towards Reiji and the tofu, considering how her grade on the sake would compare with Yari's.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari, if nothing else, if always good to toss booze at people. She certainly gives the good foxess directions. As Xiao sips the booze, it's likely not as bad as Yari paints it; she's just one hell of a perfectionist.

"Local brew." Pause. Then she's offering a flask of Au Ra sake from a hip flask.

It's likely better than the other stuff. If nothing else, she has /reason/ to be all snooty about booze.

"From my 'homeland' of sorts."

Reiji Arisu has posed:
    Reiji peers silently at Mokou for several seconds... then he sighs, holstering his gun. "Needed an outlet, huh?" The exorcist rests his hands on the pommel of his sword, and sticks its tip into the ground as Xiaomu comes back for her tofu. "People tell me that a lot, I'm beginning to think I come off as perpetually strung out," because he kind of does.

    "Well, I guess, maybe," he shrugs. "I'll be able to actually enjoy it now that that fairy's off harassing those damn rabbits," Reiji pulls his sword from the ground and makes his way back to the yakitori cart, "For now, more chicken would be good."