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 Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 1:24 pm
Nahumar tried his best to keep himself contained. The comment about being a "Youkai" was more or less true. He was never given the Youkai label until he came to Gensokyo with the others. He accepted it as a means to escape the past and the knowledge that humans in the real world are devoid of any true emotion.
Though now was not the time to talk or think of that. He floated behind Reimu, observing the area with her. Hearing her idea and threat made Nahumar question her true loyalty.
"Well there is one method though it requires consuming a large amount of Cocao beans. So far the only thing remotely close to such a thing are Brownies." obviously he didn't speak up before for some reason but the entire answer was sitting on a plate before them the whole time. Oh how he always found a way to activate this death sentence.
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Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2013 10:36 am
Reimu let out a deep sigh as she walked, listening to Nahumar's confession. Judging by today's luck, the revelation wasn't surprising.
"And... you didn't tell me this why? Right when, moments ago, there was an entire plateful right in our grasp?" She paused to rub her temple again. It was then that she realized the the half piece of brownie she had not long ago was missing... she must have dropped it when she almost received a donation. Almost. Oh well, that wasn't something Nahumar needed to know about...
"You know that woman well, don't you? Why not just find your way back to her to get your fill? She could create plate after plate of brownies for you."
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Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2013 3:49 pm
Nahumar felt the need to exert his weird ethnics. "I couldn't just suddenly ask her for brownies like that. She knows full well that I hate interrupting people when they are in the middle of a conversation. And troubling Ran to make some seems kind of rude." he turned his body around as he noticed a small rabbit, giving it a quick fright for himself.
"Yukari left me here for another reason...yet I can't quite pin myself on it." Nahumar sighed as he began floating around the grounds. His mind somewhere else as he tried to figure out his own plan.
"This is all kinds of torture to me. I was always the easiest to make fun of among the others. Sure Sorina was fragile but her emotion was never questioned. I use to get nicknames back then... 'Puff Ball'. 'Occular'. 'Beholder's Trash'. All because I exempt and consume the fear of man. Today has just been nothing but trouble for not only you but me. If it will make you feel better about yourself, priestess. I will leave this shrine no problem." Nahumar said in such a cold tone, floating over to the gate once again but not before feeling a sort of power shoot through his body and forcing him to fall back on the ground. At his power, he was considered a lesser Youkai. So the protective barrier around the shrine sealed him inside unless guided out.
"Stupid security system!" Nahumar roared, tapping the stone path in anger. Not to break it or anything...just tapping it in frustration.
This is possibly the reason why Yukari left Nahumar at the shrine. She knew full well of this and with the barrier able to block out many, if not all kinds of Youkai around them It would protect Nahumar for the time he would be inside.
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Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2013 2:31 pm
"...Maybe that's the reason." Reimu said, watching as Nahumar rebounded off the shrine's barrier. She had been following as he recounted his tale, pondering herself while listening for any clue he might have unwittingly mentioned.
"While I'd prefer it if you DID leave, it seems you're trapped inside. If Yukari left you here, then it was probably for a specific, if eccentric, reason; I know her well enough to understand that." She spoke as she walked past the orb, passing through the barrier fluidly and stopping just on the other side, turning to look at him. "So, there must be a reason why you need to be here, in this exact location... Sure, I could let you leave, no problem. But that would more than likely create more problems for us in the future. Think back; has Yukari mentioned anything you need to change about yourself? Perhaps physically, or mentally? This transformation back into your base form could represent more than one change for yourself... or something." She folded her arms, staring at the ground in thought. "Honestly, that woman works backwards to achieve her goals..."
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Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2013 5:32 pm
"Any changes...Well at first I thought this was punishment for calling her a Relic of the past. Though now that you mention it...she could of easily fed me brownies anytime she wished." Nahumar pondered, listening in to the Priestess's words. It slowly started to hit him.
"Perhaps she is trying to ease me off of brownies! That could only be the reason. After eating all of the brownies when I came over, she must of had some kind of grudge!" Nahumar was definitely thinking out of the box on this one. He continued to think of more reasons. His little tendon tapping the path as if it was a foot.
"But that doesn't explain the reason for keeping me here...Wait." Nahumar tried thinking once more.
"Well I should not be telling you this but I have no choice at the moment. This could be why she put me here. As a mass of fear, I am more or less dependent on humans and others. What I siphon in becomes my source of food, like eating dried potato slices...or to better compare with, a grain or ten of rice per living thing. I can be cut off of my main sources through these means. The tendons unable to siphon for me, The lack of emotion in the land...or-" Finally he realized something was wrong indeed.
"Incubo! Sogno! My Parasites!" he cried out, now acting like an idiot as he charged headlong into the barrier, harming himself as he pushed on it before shooting back towards the donation box. Halting himself just before touching it.
"Something happened to them. The parasites help create fear and protect the darker portion of the Youkai Forest from wandering humans or other beasts. Inucbo and Sogno are like my children and are a more advanced version of said Parasites. Maybe that is why I didn't feel their presence so early this morning. It wasn't just them walking into the forest for a few minutes..." Now, Nahumar was acting like a worried parent.
The barrier was protecting him and halting his siphoning powers down to a crawl. Yukari placed him here possibly because of whatever was making him smaller.
"Hakurei priestess. I do not ask for much, especially from humans...but I must beg of you to at least let me stay around the grounds for a little while longer until I can regain some power to find them. If you do, we could have a Spellcard Duel later so you can enjoy beating me with your bullets." he pleaded to her as his body was on the ground as if kneeling.
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Posted: Wed Sep 25, 2013 11:02 am
Reimu watched, nonplussed, as Nahumar collided with the barrier for the second time. She let out a low, exasperated sigh. "If these, er... 'children' of yours are so important, why don't we just go find them? They can't have gotten too far, and are probably up to some form of mischief of their own."
She raised the palm of her hand, pressing against the intangible spiritual barrier separating the shrine and Gensokyo. A section of it wavered and began to break apart, like glass shattering and collapsing into itself. The hole opened was large enough for Nahumar's current spherical body to escape through. "It isn't like we have any better leads. Beside, if you are meant to stay inside the barrier, this will test that, too."
She turned and began to walk away, assuming that Nahumar would take her offer, or at the very least be able to hear her as she left. "As for your sources of power, perhaps Yukari is simply keeping your level of power in check? It's not unlike her to meddle in the greater machinations of things, especially if it is to safeguard Gensokyo as a whole. Our jobs are similar believe it or not, even if she is a lazy old hag. She just likes to work behind the scenes, whereas I take a more... direct approach, you could say."
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Posted: Fri Sep 27, 2013 12:07 pm
Nahumar plopped himself on the steps and heard Reimu out. Thinking it over, Yukari did work in a weird way. "You...are right. I really can not act so recklessly without knowing the truth. I heard about the incidents you were involved in along with that black and white witch. You do seem to work up front and personal." but as he talked, something hopped through the hole she made. A purple rabbit? It looked like a rabbit and hopped like one, but the odd color was only a shroud to which was easy to see pass. Just seeing it made Nahumar light up with hope. "A parasite!" he happily exclaimed.
Just then, a second one hopped through...and then three...and ten- wait! As if an entire army of purple rodents just suddenly filled the grounds, they all eyed Nahumar. He got up from the steps and hovered in the center of the crowd, laughing and cheering just before being tackled by a few into the mob below. All giving him their version of a hug, a rub. Clearly to Reimu this meant that the horde of parasites were looking for him the entire time. Two voices also suddenly appeared.
"Nahumar-sama!" Two house like cats dashed through the barrier without issue, no doubt stronger than Nahumar's current state. They changed to their human forms, one a male and the other a female. Looking like near identical twins as they both picked up the orb in their hands while crying. "We were so scared when we couldn't feel your presence!" the female cried out first.
All while this happened, one lone Parasite hopped his way past Reimu and up on the donation box. In his mouth was a hundred yen coin. it gently placed the coin in the box, hopped on the rope that dangled there to ring the bell before performing a sort of back flip back on the box. As if it was thanking Reimu for "saving" Nahumar. Though the minute it caught eye contact with Reimu, it bolted back to the crowd.
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Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2013 11:51 am
"That's right, and I'm not one to wait around for problems to be solved either--...huh?"
Reimu paused as she felt the first "rabbit" brush by her foot, sneaking it's way into the hole. She recognized the oddly colored beast and, as more of the same began to pour in, simply stepped aside to allow them passage - and to avoid being ran over. Truly, she was a bit surprised herself; the creatures must be very good at hiding their presence, as she herself hadn't even felt them until the sudden stampede.
"Well, it seems you were missed!" She said bluntly, folding her arms. She pondered for a moment, her eyes following one of the rabbits as it made its way towards the donation box, dropping something inside and ringing the bell. "Say... Aren't these things a part of you anyway? Or at least, contain a part of your magic?" Reimu walked through the barrier again, though left the hole open for any other of Nahumar's creatures to pass freely. "Why not just absorb some of these, erm... 'cute' rabbits and take back that power?" She eyed the two children cradling the eye-orb, "Naturally, they would be exempt from the idea."
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Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2013 3:15 pm
The twins looked at Reimu with the suggestion and then to Nahumar with a sort of angry glare.
"...Hehe I guess I should of thought of that in the first place." he tried making light of the mood for them as he looked at the little so called rabbits. "I am truly sorry to worry you all. I never meant any harm by it."
As they spoke, A familiar sight appeared behind Reimu. The sinister looking smile yet relaxed posture as she hung from the gap. "Though there are beasts of emotions out there, the essence of said emotion is always misunderstood. Saying that joy is never serious, or that sorrow is weak...and that fear is unapproachable. At it's heart, once you overcome the fear, you will find that it's not so scary. To balance the land, one must balance their emotions. In doing so, the essence of said emotion becomes less and less powerful. However, though you must balance the emotion you must never toss them away. That is what makes humans so varied from one another." she turned to Reimu with a happy glare. "And in Nahumar's case, he had to be taught a lesson. That there will be a day when people will no longer fear him, but it is not to kill him but rather to understand him. To understand fear is to break the illusion that turned you away in the first place." but saying that, she showed Reimu the coin from the donation box that she snatched. "Also I will take this as payment for the brownie you ate. Ta ta!"
Nahumar turned to look at Reimu, never seeing Yukari there in the first place."Priestess. I had been such a burden to you today, and troubled you without end. I was hoping I could make it up to you with a spell card duel perhaps? It should only take a moment to return to my home and dawn on my human shell." He asked. The Parasites were already heading out of the hole again and scattering around. Now showing how they managed to stay undetected. Incubo and Sogno bowed to the priestess. "Thank you so much." paying their respect before they shifted and ran off as well.
"...and Reimu? I owe you some money. I will do my best to repay you for what little you did for me. Otherwise I may never see the light of day again."
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Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2013 8:38 am
Reimu waited, listening to Yukari's exposition. She wasn't surprised to see the Gap Witch again, nor would she be surprised to learn that she had been watching them this whole time.
"What a lonely existence..." Reimu began, after Yukari and the rabbits had long since left, as did the shape shifting children and once Nahumar spoke his piece. "I suppose it is in your nature to live in such a state? As something unknown personally, and only known memetically. Fear is hardwired into us, humans and Youkai alike. But to understand fear is also to understand yourself, isn't that right?"
She turned back to Nahumar, hands resting on her hips. "Right. A duel. You did trespass, unannounced, in my shrine without warning and attempted to couple with my head - fruitlessly I might add. I could take that as an offense, or a... uh, an attempted assault! Not to mention an invasion of home and personal space." She raised her hand; the Yin Yang orb from before floated into view, as did three of its brethren, each one slowly beginning to orbit Reimu in a circular motion.
"Collect yourself and return when you are prepared, Youkai of Fear. I will be waiting." The Priestess turned to walk towards the center of her shrine, the orbs retaining Reimu as their axis. As she passed, there was a small hint of a smile on her otherwise stern features.
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Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2013 8:57 pm
Nahumar took his time to prepare. His choice of cards this time would be new than before. He felt that he should make it up to her someway.
Once he arrived back at the shrine, he slowly walked up from the steps with the two cats beside him. Nahumar's body was always the same with the long white coat and mist like properties at his feet. He gave a light bow to Reimu. "The last time we dueled, it was our first encounter if I remember. Since then I had time to learn new patterns. All to freeze you in fright." he raised one arm towards her with a card between his finger. A smile on his faint lips. "Don't hold back one bit just because of my true image."
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Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2013 7:22 am
"I hope you will forgive me if I do not recall our last duel clearly," Reimu began, standing at the head of the shrine's steps, her own arsenal poised. "And I had no intention of witholding a single ounce of my power."
She lightly kicked off the ground, held aloft like a feather caught in the breeze. The Yin Yang Orbs continued to encircle her, and she held a spell card in one hand. "Come! If you truly have something new, why not show me? It's impolite to keep a shrine maiden waiting." She raised her hand, holding the spell card high in preparation. The card shone brightly, as did the Yin Yang Orbs, their magical power beginning to amass.
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Posted: Mon Oct 14, 2013 12:07 pm
With a standoff like this, a few patrons came by. Yukari especially. Sitting out of sight long enough or keeping their distance, it wasn't that rare to see a spell card duel now and again.
Nahumar gave chase as he shot up as well. "With pleasure, Hakurei Priestess." He started the duel off with a spread shot of bullets, but those that past Reimu made a quick U-turn and came back in the same direction. Giving Nahumar the chance to fire another spread in another direction. As if weaving in and out. An easy pattern. Nahumar was smiling as he dueled her.
His first intent was to have fun, the second was to win.
"Sometimes It's okay to be afraid at first, but then when the truth is revealed...we will all laugh back at how they were so scared of something so small."
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Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 8:19 am
Reimu weaved between the first spread of bullets. She sensed their return and bolted forward, the spell card in her fingers fracturing and releasing its intended design.
"Persuasion Needle!"
A simple counter-spell to begin with, a measured retaliation to Nahumar's first card. The magic surrounding both Reimu and the Yin Yang Orbs changed to a soft purple light. They revolved around her with increasing speed and soon began to fire off volleys of glowing violet needles in somewhat of a spiraling pattern. She peppered Nahumar's trajectory as she adjusted her own, diving through the second curtain of bullets. The Priestess knew he was going easy for now, but that more than likely wouldn't last for long... The look on her face was determination.
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Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 3:41 pm
Nahumar grazed the pattern, not well skilled in avoiding so well as much. Though he could take the punishment unlike his sisters. He did his best to go along with the pattern till he countered with a new card in his arsenal.
"Terror Card: Eye of the Beholder!"
The image of a strange being with a single large eye faintly appeared around Nahumar. His tendons extended like wings but grew out above like stems as the bullets came. Firing five lazers in diagonal directions then four in the missing holes then three more to fill the bigger gaps, leaving a wall of stationary bullets and small holes to ease through. From there, the 'Eye' aimed for Reimu and would fire a thick lazer at her current position with delay in between the next one. The delay would get shorter and shorter until it fired rapidly with thinner lazers. Seemed like a mix of some patterns met before, but the faded image was a nice touch.
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