thirst(open)

[recon5]

Mokuko got up, not bothering to check himself this time. It was strange that there were no creatures in the cave but perhaps they'd just had another stroke of luck. He sat down on the floor and looked at Tal. "It's alright. I wanted something to do, anyway."

Well, now that things had settled he was beginning to get bored again. He began to play with the bones littering the cave floor and had the idea of trying to arrange them into a new kind of creature. As he placed the bones, he realized that he still didn't know too much about his new friend. Better to ask when he had the chance.

"So, tell me a bit about yourself."

[zapy]

"i paint for a living"
tal smiled
"i practice martial arts..."
then he sighed
"and about three months ago i was bitten by a vampire.....the rest you ether know or it's not importaint"

tal quickly stood up and looked deeper into the cave
something was running toward them
tal stepped into stance and the thing jumpped at him ready to bite
tal leaned back and brought his foot up kicking it into the ceiling
as the creature fell back down limp tal heard more coming

Clicky

[recon5]

Mokuko forgot about his bone art when he saw the creatures. There were plenty of nasty things he'd only heard about but he was sure he hadn't even heard of these beasts. He was a bit disappointed when he saw Tal kill one with a kick as it meant that they weren't really that powerful, but there were many of them and that might make the battle a bit more challenging. He carefully took aim at the nearest one and cored a neat hole through its head with an Astral String.

====================\META INFO\============================

At full power Mokuko's Astral Strings behave like lasers. See his profile for more info.

[zapy]

the beasts began to eat he one that was killed by the astral strings
this fueled their hunger and some seemed to get bigger

tal looked at mokuko
"we can't let them eat each other...fry 'em again where their dead"

the beasts rushed the two intruders
tal braced himself and then drove forward with his palm hitting one of the larger ones as it came at him
it fell back and then got back up
tal sighed
"crap"

[recon5]

So they would have to keep the beasts from eating their dead. Mokuko didn't see any way to do that other than to kill those that were about to eat. Making sure that Tal was out of the way, he swept ten of his Astral Strings over the area at once as if swinging a pair of giant swords.

He got many of the creatures but missed almost as many. The ones attacking him and Tal suddenly became interested in their new food and rushed at the carcasses. Mokuko realized that he might have created an even bigger problem.

[zapy]

tal ran over to mokuko and put his hand on the puppet's shoulder
"spell card: reverse aura"
tal used his anti magic aura but because of the spell card it amiplified magic instead
"fry them all"

[recon5]

Suddenly Mokuko's Astral Strings became much thicker and much more powerful. They were etching grooves into the walls and ceiling of the cave and making the creatures literally evaporate in their wake. It wasn't quite enough, however, so Mokuko decided that he would have to do something a bit more drastic.

"I'm going to use a spell card so stay out of my way."

He stopped his right hand Strings and took the card from his bag. It wasn't something he normally used because it held him in place while it was active, which made him vulnerable if his enemies were too strong for it to hurt them. Seeing what his Strings were doing now, however, he decided that he wouldn't really need to dodge much once he used the card.

Some of the remaining creatures were already biting into the dead ones, which left him no choice.

"Hazard Sign: [Astral Web]"

The power of the spell card caused Mokuko to float into the air, Astral Strings blazing from all his fingers and toes. He couldn't aim them at all while the card was active, but with the next effect there would be no need to aim.

The Strings reflected crazily off each other, the walls of the cave and even the air itself, creating a chaotic web of blue-white beams. With Tal's spell card in effect the web was almost a wall, a solid sea of magic death with none of the usual safe spots. Even the largest of the creatures lasted less than a handful of seconds in the barrage and all of them were gone in less than ten.

After thirty seconds the beams faded almost instantly and Mokuko lowered himself to the ground. Using that much power had been quite an experience.

"Somehow I don't think that's allowed in duels. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted."

[zapy]

now it was over...and the next youkai exterminator that came by would be in for a huge suprise
tal sat down again but this time fell into one of the holes
"ahhh"
he layed in that holed stunning for a moment
"that...wan't there before"

[recon5]

Concerned, Mokuko went over to Tal and looked down at him. He wasn't sure if the hole had been made by his spell card or if it had been there in the first place but it was quite deep, and with the floor being made of stone a fall wouldn't feel nice for someone who wasn't made of wood. After being around humans and Youkai for so long he knew that it would be 'painful', whatever that meant. He just knew that nobody liked it very much.

"Are you alright?"

[zapy]

tal laughed nervously as he got up out of the hole
"should have payed attention"
he looked at the ash that was left of the things that attacked them
"guess we over did it"

[recon5]

"We sure did," replied Mokuko. With his hands on his hips he looked around the cave. It was deeper than it had seemed when they'd first arrived and there must have been quite a bit of room in the back for all the creatures to have hidden there without being seen. It was big enough to be a comfortable home for Tal but it might not be safe with the kind of things that came to it every now and then. In any case, Mokuko believed that Tal would have to find somewhere to stay during the daytime. That was what the Scarlet Devil sisters did and they were vampires too. He decided to let his friend make the decision.

"If you want to stay here I can help you fix the place up."

[zapy]

tal looked around the cave for a moment considering the idea
he smiled and looked back at his new friend
"sounds like a plan."
tal did a thumbs up and then turned deeper into the cave
"we just need to make sure there are no more suprises"

[recon5]

The cave ended in a large chamber with pillars of stone reaching all the way to the ceiling. There didn't seem to be any other entrances but with the number of creatures in Gensokyo that were good at digging new passages might be made later. At the far end of the cave there was a pool of water that Mokuko thought might be flowing in from a nearby stream or lake. It looked like a good place as it was quite dry apart from the pool, and if Mokuko remembered correctly vampires weren't too fond of water.

At the moment, the only problem with the cave was the massive amount of bones littering the floor. They were of all shapes and sizes and Mokuko thought that some of the bigger ones were from creatures that no longer existed in Gensokyo. There were human bones, too, lots of them. Some rotting bodies also lay among the bones and they were those of humans and ordinary animals, which meant that the creatures that he and Tal had killed earlier must have been preying on the Human Village.

It looked like it would take some time to clean the cave but Mokuko decided that he would help out if Tal really wanted to stay there. He turned to look at the vampire.

"So, shall we begin?"

[zapy]

tal looked at the bones for a moment
"if you can grab some of the larger bones with your strings and use them to push the smaller bones out"
tal began to pick up bones and carry them out of the cave

[recon5]

Mokuko wasn't completely happy about someone else telling him what to do with his powers but he wasn't the type to ignore a good suggestion just because he didn't like it. He attached his Strings to two of the largest flat bones he could find and used them as a sort of broom and dustpan to sweep up the smaller ones. His 'dustpan' filled rather quickly and he brought it out with him as he went to see where Tal would dump his own load of bones. The vampire would probably have to leave them somewhere near the entrance for now because the sun was still out.