With love~ (open)

[Augen]

It was a warm misty morning in Gensokyo, and it was around this time that the birds started chirping. A pleasant sound, silent to those who still rested yet musical to those who were awake at this time of hour. And indeed, one of the little mockingbirds came down from the trees to sit upon an old stump, sipping her tea and admiring the forest's beauty. The beauty of nature, beauty of the kami...

However the moment was short lived, as a group of tentacles sprang out of a bush and wrapped around her arms and legs, and another one reached into her mouth as a gag before all pulled her into the bush. Followed, the struggle. The bird was squirming. Hard. Takoto didn't think she could hold the beast still.

The other birds just watched the shaking bush for a moment, scared and confused and finally scattering into the sky. But Takoto managed to hold this one for a moment. Not long enough, though. The bird broke free before Takoto got a chance to play with her. And off the bird flew. Takoto tried to fly after her. "Wait! Don't go," she yelled, tears in her eyes. But the bird was too fast. Takoto lost sight of her.

And so, she gave up on that one. Takoto might just have to go hungry tonight. So she returned to the forest floor. Sitting on a treestump, sipping from an abandoned cup of tea, thinking about how she would handle this. She hadn't had a good "meal" in a while... And she feared that at this rate, she would become malnourished. Unattractive. Oh, whatever would she do?!

"... Of course," she said, slamming her fist into her palm. "I will find a powerful beast! One with a lot of energy... And secrets! And upon them I shall feed. Oooohhhh, I can taste it now! Even the thought of it makes me feel all cold inside!" And then she let out a black-widow sort of laugh. An "Ohohohoho" with a hint of evil to it.

[ataru]

The Grimoire was not in the best of states. Several things were happening at once to cause him to be upset. First of all, day was dawning. Soon the hot sun would dispel the wonderful gray shadows of mist. And, even though the shady mist was preferable to the hot day it was still wet. Dew clung to the boy spirit's clothes as he snugged the book close to his chest to protect it from the moisture.

"Master's tower wasn't like this..." he murmured miserably, then let out a sudden sneeze 'Hatchin!... Uuuu~' It was only natural he would have a bit of a cold, having wandered around without shelter all night in the deep mist. He had thought it would be easy to go into the deep fog and find some powerful foes lurking there for him to conquer with his shadow magic, but nothing had appeared! Now he was just looking for a place to curl up, get warm, and sleep through the hot part of the day.

'Hatchin!... Uuu~' he wiped his nose on the sleeve of his long white coat and huddled down within himself trying to find warmth. Maybe he would stay out in the sun today after all... though that would leave him weak.

Well, if he could just find someone whose energy he could take before the sun rose completely then he wouldn't have to worry! With this fragment of hope he continued exploring the deep woods in search of 'prey'.

[Augen]

'Hatchin!... Uuu~'

"Hmm? Well what was that noise," Takoto asked herself. She definately heard something, but... It was just far enough for her to not be able to discern its direction. But surely if she could hear it then it couldn't be very far... Right? Well, might as well look into it. Or so Takoto thought.

And with that she stood up and flew into the canopy, scanning the forest from the branches of a mighty tree. Surely there must be something around she could have for "breakfast".

[ataru]

The warmth of the sun began to permeate the area, and The Grimoire began to feel at least a little more comfortable... if not less harried. The mist wouldn't last much longer, and being caught in the middle of the forest at a disadvantage without his shadows suddenly seemed like a very, very bad idea.

However, with a sudden flick of his cat-like ears the feeling passed through him that he wasn't alone anymore. He closed his eyes, trying to sense the presence, but he was too wound up. His own rapidly beating heart was all he could feel.

Gritting his teeth, he decided it would be now or never. Fight or flight. He opened the book and scanned his finger along some of the lines written there. The lines glowed with shadow energy as he recited them. One by one cards appeared from the book, which The Grimoire took in his hand. He was ready... he hoped.

"Show yourself, whoever you are!" he called out, to the forest at large. "I'm not afraid of you! Come out and fight me face to face!"

[Augen]

"Face to face, huh? But we only just met," Takoto said, appearing behind the cat-eared boy. He was young, indeed... But Takoto wasn't picky. Especially considering how hungry she was. She'd best hurry this up a bit.

"I'd like to get to know you a little better first," she said as a tentacle slowly slithered along the ground, moving in a circle around the Grimore's feet. "First... I'd like to see... HOW YOU SQUIRM," and with that another four tentacles flew forward, wrapping around a pair of trees.

[ataru]

Though the Grimoire had tried to prepare his heart for battle, the sudden appearance of his foe and the sudden attack caught him off guard. As the tentacles entangled him he had to hold on desperately to the book to keep it from being dropped as he was dragged by the tentacles. At first he let out a yell and tried to struggle free. However, after the initial surprise wore off the Grimoire realized that this was a real, honest-to-goodness fight. He had to be serious, now.

Drawing in a deep breath, he freed one of his arms enough to draw out one of the cards from the pages of the book. As his mind calmed the shadows of the forest were drawn toward him and began to distort and crackle like electricity.

"Shadow Seal! Shadow Bolt!" the Grimoire exclaimed, activating the card. The shadow electricity swirled around the Grimoire's body and his face grew determined as he looked for the source of the tentacles. He decided to take a wild guess and pointed where he thought they were coming from, letting a bolt of shadow energy fly.

[Augen]

A sharp bolt ran through Takoto's body, sending her flying upwards before gravity kicked in and she plummeted to the ground. It was super effective. She layed on the ground for a moment, smoke sizzling above her. It appeared that she had been fried...

... That is, until a few moments later. She stumbled to her feet and looked up. "Oooh... This ones got some fight to him... I like that," she said, with a grin. "But next time," she continued, as she pushed off of the ground and started to fly torwards the Grimore. "... Next time why don't you warn me? A 'Danger Danger High Voltage' would've been nice." As she spoke a pair of tentacles rushed forward, bouncing torwards the target like bloodthirsty serpents.

[ataru]

Freed from the first tentacle lock the Grimoire wasted no time. As soon as his feet hit the ground he again drew in the shadows around himself, creating another bolt of dense dark energy. He caught sight of the tentacles wriggling toward him and gave a little hop backward. While still in the air he took careful aim with his arm and let another shadow bolt fly toward where he assumed his enemy was.

"I won't lose to you!" the young spirit yelled out, as the force of the bolt shooting out knocked him back a bit.

[Augen]

"Uh-oh," Takoto said as she jumped upwards to narrowly avoid the bolt, which killed part of the rim of her skirt. Then she switched her jump into flight, retracting her tentacles and flying towards the Grimore, pulling her daigama out and wielding it in both hands.

"Naughty, naughty little boy... Do you know how much it costs to get this thing sewn," she chuckled, pulling her kama back and preparing to sweep. She didn't really wish to harm the boy... But if he wanted to play rough, she wouldn't object. Takoto liked rough more, anyway.