Juuhachi: River of the North.
- Location
- SV's Only Complete Persona Quest
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Scurrying through the closest shops, the three of them grabbed as many food packages and caskets of clean water as they could carry, or afford, with most of them being assigned to a grudging Vivi to carry. That first step taken care of, the three of them hurriedly looked around for any fast exits out of Shibori City, as wanted posters for Sachiko were being put up fast.
"Over there!" Nagisa pointed out a local pier with several boats already docked at it. She then quickly clasped her hands over her mouth, in case she'd accidentally given her companions away.
"Ah, the mighty Kuchini River of the North! Hmm, but these kinda look like cargo boats, not ferries" Sachiko said eyeing the boats, even spotting a brand new steamship among them. "Well, in the eyes of this City we're already criminals, I think I can risk adding one more little crime atop that pile" she then giggled.
Vivi furrowed her eyes. "And just what're you thinking, Sachiko?" she glared.
The fox maiden, her eyes on one of the men at the docks, twitched her nose and snapped her fingers, and right away she'd become cloaked in the illusion of that one crewman she'd seen. She strolled up to that steamship and told its Oni guard to "Ahem, let them pass" in her gruffest voice, making him nod and step aside for Vivi and Nagisa to then board the ship.
The minute Sachiko herself had climbed aboard, Vivi went up close and whispered to her "Are you sure, if we have to steal at all, that it wouldn't have been far simpler to just take a regular sailing boat, one we could easily steer ourselves without a bunch of other sailors aboard?".
Sachiko just shrugged and said "I was just curious, that's all. I mean, I've never been on or even seen a steamboat before!".
"I see" Vivi gritted her teeth, then said "Anyway, let's just get below decks one of the unfooled crew spots us".
The three of them then spotting some crates to hide by, in the dark grey storage rooms of the hulking, rusty iron ship, they ran their way down the creaking steps and scrambled into the darkness.
"Sheesh, pretty gloomy in here" Nagisa muttered, then putting her hands over her mouth again as another precaution.
"Well Sachiko, seen enough of the ship?" Vivi gave a cold laugh towards the ronin. But before Sachiko could come up with a reply, the whole iron boat shook, then with a great hiss started to sail off.
The three sat somewhat awkwardly silent for a while, having to resist the urge to start delving through their supplies, with only footsteps above and the piping of the engine below for background noise.
But the three tensed up when they heard the whispers of sailors directly above them. "Er, might be a good idea to hide deeper in" Nagisa whispered, as ronin and reporter then nodded and started edging their way along a shadowy wall.
Feeling a hatch below her, Sachiko then opened it only for a large cloud of steam to gush up from what she guessed was the engine room. More alarmingly, once said steam had faded away she found herself looking into the the screwed-on eyes of a Karakuri doll.
"Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!" it instantly whirred and flashed red, before Sachiko silenced it with a well-placed thundershock. Not like that helped much, as by now any other robots working below decks had already gotten its message.
"See, told you this was a bad idea" Vivi scowled.
In a flash, Sachiko leaped down into the engine room and started hurling any thunderbolts she had left at the Karakuri robots down there. "Coast is clear! Let's get going before anyone else finds we've stowed away" she called up, with Nagisa flapping down and Vivi sighing and slowly lowering herself.
The steamy engine room was no easier to see in than the dark cargo hold, with the short-circuited robots and kanji glyphs for 'steam', 'water' and 'heat' being the only things they could make out. Nagisa though was luckily able to clear the steam with a fair-sized gust of wind created from a... leaf of hers.
"W-what was that?" Vivi stared and mumbled.
"That, Vivi, was a Tengu Leaf, Conductor of Clouds, Administrator of the Air!" Nagisa congratulated herself. "Well, it's nice to have something familiar to me in here, for the most part all I've been sensing here is the crushed-up soul of countless metal ore kami".
"Right, a pleasant image" Vivi muttered.
Leaving the engine room and having to fumble their way through another dark corridor, the three came upon a door that, from the outside, seemed to pulse with an eerie energy, a bright red rune glowing over it.
"Sachiko, I believe it's obvious we should stay away from that" Vivi was first to speak.
"Yeah, I'm with Vivi on this one, I'm not feeling anything the least bit holy emanating from this door" Nagisa spoke second, her voice shaking.
"Okay, but really Vivi?" Sachiko did say taking steps back from the door. "Didn't you say you were interested in gripping stories? What could be more gripping than something so clearly labelled 'Do Not Touch', especially when it makes this ship seem so suspicious all of a sudden, hmm?".
"Well yes, my job does require me to find the best stories" Vivi did admit "However, it also requires me to, y'know, be alive to report them".
"Scaredy-cat!" Sachiko giggled, but then said "Okay, in that case you and Nagisa head on out of here, I still want to take a look at what's behind the door. This is just to, well, fishy for me to ignore".
"Sachiko, don't!" Vivi automatically winced.
The fox maiden then had to bust open the door, her then heading inside to find...
A towering crystal vial, its inside shining a bright crimson, with the roars of some monster echoing out from it. The red aura was so bright that it was hard to make out much, but Sachiko could spot the telltale signs or scales, horns and fangs.
Yet what ended up getting her attention most of all, was a sign at the bottom of the giant vial. "To be delivered to Yasogami Setsuna" she read out "W-wait, I've heard that name. She's one of the Kugyo, the Empress' closest confidants! w-what could she want with something like this?!".
But Sachiko wouldn't get more time then to ponder that question, as she could pick up the sound of pounding footsteps coming her way. "Quick, let's get out of here!" she called out to Vivi and Nagisa before scampering away.
The three soon found themselves up on deck again, with them seeing that this part of the Kuchini passed right through a gaping gorge looming above them. Just atop this gorge they could spot what looked like ruined castles.
However, it turned out the three'd picked the wrong part of the boat to come up out on to, as they soon found themselves cornered as its stern by squadron of armed sailors, most human but a few Oni and Ryu among their ranks.
"Well well, stowaways have we? And sneaking into off-limits areas too!" the Captain snarled as she approached them, her being a Yuki-Onna/Ryu hybrid with long dark blue hair, a sharp white uniform and a fanged smirk.
[ ] Make a break for it by swimming away, then try losing them in those ruins.
[ ] Try taking on all of them, even if they are quite a few.
[ ] Though she and her sailors don't look like the negotiable type, try reasoning with her and getting some answers out of them.
[ ] Just let yourself get captured, they're likely going to Azuryu City anyway, which would be your next stop on the way to Muro Shizan.
[ ] Write-in.
"Over there!" Nagisa pointed out a local pier with several boats already docked at it. She then quickly clasped her hands over her mouth, in case she'd accidentally given her companions away.
"Ah, the mighty Kuchini River of the North! Hmm, but these kinda look like cargo boats, not ferries" Sachiko said eyeing the boats, even spotting a brand new steamship among them. "Well, in the eyes of this City we're already criminals, I think I can risk adding one more little crime atop that pile" she then giggled.
Vivi furrowed her eyes. "And just what're you thinking, Sachiko?" she glared.
The fox maiden, her eyes on one of the men at the docks, twitched her nose and snapped her fingers, and right away she'd become cloaked in the illusion of that one crewman she'd seen. She strolled up to that steamship and told its Oni guard to "Ahem, let them pass" in her gruffest voice, making him nod and step aside for Vivi and Nagisa to then board the ship.
The minute Sachiko herself had climbed aboard, Vivi went up close and whispered to her "Are you sure, if we have to steal at all, that it wouldn't have been far simpler to just take a regular sailing boat, one we could easily steer ourselves without a bunch of other sailors aboard?".
Sachiko just shrugged and said "I was just curious, that's all. I mean, I've never been on or even seen a steamboat before!".
"I see" Vivi gritted her teeth, then said "Anyway, let's just get below decks one of the unfooled crew spots us".
The three of them then spotting some crates to hide by, in the dark grey storage rooms of the hulking, rusty iron ship, they ran their way down the creaking steps and scrambled into the darkness.
"Sheesh, pretty gloomy in here" Nagisa muttered, then putting her hands over her mouth again as another precaution.
"Well Sachiko, seen enough of the ship?" Vivi gave a cold laugh towards the ronin. But before Sachiko could come up with a reply, the whole iron boat shook, then with a great hiss started to sail off.
The three sat somewhat awkwardly silent for a while, having to resist the urge to start delving through their supplies, with only footsteps above and the piping of the engine below for background noise.
But the three tensed up when they heard the whispers of sailors directly above them. "Er, might be a good idea to hide deeper in" Nagisa whispered, as ronin and reporter then nodded and started edging their way along a shadowy wall.
Feeling a hatch below her, Sachiko then opened it only for a large cloud of steam to gush up from what she guessed was the engine room. More alarmingly, once said steam had faded away she found herself looking into the the screwed-on eyes of a Karakuri doll.
"Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!" it instantly whirred and flashed red, before Sachiko silenced it with a well-placed thundershock. Not like that helped much, as by now any other robots working below decks had already gotten its message.
"See, told you this was a bad idea" Vivi scowled.
In a flash, Sachiko leaped down into the engine room and started hurling any thunderbolts she had left at the Karakuri robots down there. "Coast is clear! Let's get going before anyone else finds we've stowed away" she called up, with Nagisa flapping down and Vivi sighing and slowly lowering herself.
The steamy engine room was no easier to see in than the dark cargo hold, with the short-circuited robots and kanji glyphs for 'steam', 'water' and 'heat' being the only things they could make out. Nagisa though was luckily able to clear the steam with a fair-sized gust of wind created from a... leaf of hers.
"W-what was that?" Vivi stared and mumbled.
"That, Vivi, was a Tengu Leaf, Conductor of Clouds, Administrator of the Air!" Nagisa congratulated herself. "Well, it's nice to have something familiar to me in here, for the most part all I've been sensing here is the crushed-up soul of countless metal ore kami".
"Right, a pleasant image" Vivi muttered.
Leaving the engine room and having to fumble their way through another dark corridor, the three came upon a door that, from the outside, seemed to pulse with an eerie energy, a bright red rune glowing over it.
"Sachiko, I believe it's obvious we should stay away from that" Vivi was first to speak.
"Yeah, I'm with Vivi on this one, I'm not feeling anything the least bit holy emanating from this door" Nagisa spoke second, her voice shaking.
"Okay, but really Vivi?" Sachiko did say taking steps back from the door. "Didn't you say you were interested in gripping stories? What could be more gripping than something so clearly labelled 'Do Not Touch', especially when it makes this ship seem so suspicious all of a sudden, hmm?".
"Well yes, my job does require me to find the best stories" Vivi did admit "However, it also requires me to, y'know, be alive to report them".
"Scaredy-cat!" Sachiko giggled, but then said "Okay, in that case you and Nagisa head on out of here, I still want to take a look at what's behind the door. This is just to, well, fishy for me to ignore".
"Sachiko, don't!" Vivi automatically winced.
The fox maiden then had to bust open the door, her then heading inside to find...
A towering crystal vial, its inside shining a bright crimson, with the roars of some monster echoing out from it. The red aura was so bright that it was hard to make out much, but Sachiko could spot the telltale signs or scales, horns and fangs.
Yet what ended up getting her attention most of all, was a sign at the bottom of the giant vial. "To be delivered to Yasogami Setsuna" she read out "W-wait, I've heard that name. She's one of the Kugyo, the Empress' closest confidants! w-what could she want with something like this?!".
But Sachiko wouldn't get more time then to ponder that question, as she could pick up the sound of pounding footsteps coming her way. "Quick, let's get out of here!" she called out to Vivi and Nagisa before scampering away.
The three soon found themselves up on deck again, with them seeing that this part of the Kuchini passed right through a gaping gorge looming above them. Just atop this gorge they could spot what looked like ruined castles.
However, it turned out the three'd picked the wrong part of the boat to come up out on to, as they soon found themselves cornered as its stern by squadron of armed sailors, most human but a few Oni and Ryu among their ranks.
"Well well, stowaways have we? And sneaking into off-limits areas too!" the Captain snarled as she approached them, her being a Yuki-Onna/Ryu hybrid with long dark blue hair, a sharp white uniform and a fanged smirk.
[ ] Make a break for it by swimming away, then try losing them in those ruins.
[ ] Try taking on all of them, even if they are quite a few.
[ ] Though she and her sailors don't look like the negotiable type, try reasoning with her and getting some answers out of them.
[ ] Just let yourself get captured, they're likely going to Azuryu City anyway, which would be your next stop on the way to Muro Shizan.
[ ] Write-in.
