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>>36945618
>"She was always having this weird smile, and a hat I think?..."

>"So, kind of like this?" as Ryuujou pulls her smile end to end with her fingers and does her impression of a toothy grin.

>"Yeah! Kind of like that!"

>Ryuujou shows off that funny grin.

>"I have no idea what you're thinking," you say, befuddled.

>"We'll have to catch her somehow, but I think I have an idea. We'll need Yuubari and Akitsu's help for this!"

"Wait! How'd you manage to figure out who's the kid we're looking for?" you ask, rubbing your temples at the thought of more trouble.

"...I don't have any idea. I just guessed at what kind of funny smile we might be looking for," Ryuujou shrugs.

"How do we take care of this mess now? Where do we even begin?"

"It's a small town, she can't be far, and she probably sticks out."

"Do you think she's looking for fairies?"

"Maybe or she's looking for her pets"

"We got one pet, and a couple fairies still left..."

>What do you do?
[ ] Let's toss our imp out and see where it goes
[ ] Bait our kid or some other imp with a fairy
[ ] Ask around town for a better idea of what this suspicious kid looks like
[ ] Another plan! (write-in suggestion)

>>36945793
Kind of quiet tonight.
>[x]Another Plan!
>try to make a leash with your head-antenna cables and let the imp go

>>36945793
I'mma go with...

>Ask around town.

>>36946323
>Going with this.
>[X][Ask around town for a better idea of what this suspicious kid looks like

With your handful of clues, the two of you backtrack and find those kids who gave a similar story about that kid. From the looks of things, this kid is some girl that seems to have a raspy, gravelly voice -- might be down with the cold. The other big thing is that this kid seems to be always be carrying a really huge, raggy sack on her back.

When you assemble this picture, the two of you seem to imagine some crazy homeless kid in the middle of an ice storm.

-Why would there be a crazy homeless kid this far out?
-How is this kid not frozen to death yet?
-Just what might be in that sack?

All these questions float around in your heads. All that's left now is how to bait this kid, or look in some quiet spots. She couldn't possibly get away with her scheme in public.

>What would you do?
>[ ] Throw a plane up into the air while the rest of you look around in the quiet, dark spots of town
>[ ] Lay low and do the search on foot only
>[ ] Dangle a fairy/Imp bait too good for the kid to pass up

>>36946558
>[X] Dangle a fairy/Imp bait too good for the kid to pass up

>>36946558
>dangle a fairy/imp bait too good for the kid to pass up.

>>36946622
>[X] Dangle a fairy/Imp bait too good for the kid to pass up

With Yuubari's help, you jam the unconscious imp into a tricky crevice and slap his butt to jolt it.

The move just about does the trick. From a distance, you watch the imp wriggle and whimper. Minutes later, the kid in question finally turns up. She gets on all fours, still sack on her back and like a kitty, paws at the crevice in frustration.

You and the other shipgirls get a good view of this girl.

Wacky grin, check.
Sack on back, check.
Funny hair and eyes, what?

---and to top it off, you hear a snarling, hissing sound alongside her sighs. The girl seems to gurgle and snarl so naturally....

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>>36946921
"̷̷̡̨͡C͢͞o̶̕m҉͞e̷̴̛͢͟ ҉̀o͟҉n̷̛ ̶̵̡́͢ń̡̕͟o̵͟w҉,̷̨̕ ҉̡͠c̷̨̢͟o͢͡m̸͞҉̕ę̛͠͝ ̴̵͡o̡͞n̶̴͠!̴̵͢͝͞ ̵͘F̷̕͢͞ì̢̢͝n͡͞͞͡g̶̨̧҉̨è͢ŗ̶͘͘͞s̕͜͢͠.̵͘.̨͏͡.̴̨ ̷̧͡t̨͘͢o͢͝o̧̕ ̀͢ş́͘͞h̛̀͘͝ơ̷̢͜͞r̴̨͝͞t̶̵͠!̸̶̡͞ ̷͢D̡̡́͠a̢͏m͘͠n̴̨̛ ͟͞͏̧ţ͜h̢̡́̕͢i҉͠s̷̕ ̶҉̴s҉̴͜n̡̢ơ̷͜ẁ͜͜!͢͡ ̡͢Á̸̧͜͡w̷̷ẃ̴͢͢͝!́͘͝͡ ̸̀̀͠͏j̀ų̷̀̕͢s̵̡͡͡t̸̶ ́͜͜͞͞h҉̷̡̛͘á̵͘͞n͟͠g͝҉̶͢͜ ̸̢̀͘͝í̴̶̕n̵̵͟͡ ̵̸̵͜͢t̵҉͝h̡҉ȩ̀͘r҉́͠e̕͞!̀̕͝ ̵̡͜͠Y̴̨͠͝o҉̷̀̕͘ų̶̶̵̡ ̶̢c̴̵͟͢͝a̷̷n͘͞'̴̢̀͡t̴̸̢͘ ̵̵̸́b̶̷e̶̢ ̷̨̡́͟c̸̨a̢ù̵̴̢g̵̨͢͜h̡̕̕͢t̷͟ ̶̷l͟͠ì̕͝k̴̀͟è͜͠ ̢̧t̵̀̕͘h̵́í̵̕ś̸͞҉!̶͘͘͟͢ ͞͞C̶̴̢͡o̢͏̨m̢͜͢e̷̡ ̵͝o̡̨͡͠n̡̛ ̴̶͟͢a̶̷̧͘͝n͞͝͏d̶̨̧͟ ̡̨͜͡g̶͢҉̕e͏҉͡t̶͏̵͞ ̶̨i͏̨͞҉n̛͟͡t̶̨͜͞͏ơ͘҉̷͟ ̷̵̡̧̀m͜͜ý͢͞ ̸͡h̷҉͠a̸҉̴n̵̢͟͏͢d̴͏͡ ̷̨̕͏á̷̢̀ļ͜͡͠ŗ̸͘e̷̡͢a̸̸̧͢d̕͜͝y̢͞͏!̸̕͡"͞͏̨͟͝

That did not sound like some country accent. This girl is certainly some Abyssal ship sneaking around humans!

You follow her again, quietly, to some barrels stuffed with fairies, arranged in rows, like a bundle of rocket tubes.

"͟T̴͝h͘͢i̕s̶ ͡r̸o̧̢c͏k͞e͜͠t̕ ҉ì̢ś͠ ͡a͝l̴̨m̵͝o̕s̵̴t̴ ͏͟͠d̵o̴né͢!͜ ̸Re͢v͠éǹg̕͠e ̸͡o̴n̨͞ S̀͡an͜t̶a̶̢ ̡͡C̨̧la͟ù͟s̴ ̶̧is̸͠ ̨̕͢s̷͠͞o҉ ̵͠ć̀l͘ờs͡͞͝e!̢̀ ̡Fo͏r̶͞ ̡̕͡t̴͟͝he ͝҉͏f̨́͢i̛͠n̛͝a̡l͜ ̨t̷͟͠ǫ̴ú̷c̷̛͟h͏̶͘,͞ ͘t̵̕͡he͟ ̴t͘͡o̧͠ẁ̵ń͞ ͠sq͏͡u͝á̢҉r͟͞e̵͠!͞"͠

>>36947052
Without many guns, and with Christmas so close and unwary people, this has to be finished off!

"Really? Santa Claus? This Abyss ship has a rocket, and we have no weapons," Ryuujou says.

"What if we get her out of town with the rocket?" you wonder.

"Use a trap and tie her to the rocket?" Yuubari asks.

It's like a lightbulb just went off.

>What do we do, shipgirls?
>[ ] Beat her to the town square and figure how her last bit of the plan might be like
>[ ] Buy time with fake footprints
>[ ] Other

>>36947200
>>>[x] Beat her to the town square and figure how her last bit of the plan might be like

>>36947200
Let's go with:

>Beat her to the town square and figure how her last bit of the plan might be like.

Although I do agree with Yuubari.

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>>36947360

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>>36947204
>>36947360
>[x] Beat her to the town square and figure how her last bit of the plan might be like

"Do you remember all that cargo I brought with me?" Yuubari asks.

You sigh. "Food, supplies, medicine..."

"---also a few things to light up"

"Searchlights?"

"Fireworks! That huge rocket launcher I've brought on the way here could hold a lot of fireworks!"

"You want to stuff this Abyss' face with fireworks and run away?" Akitsu Maru asks. "Not very sporting or helpful!"

"We're just running away, really?" Tokitsukaze chimes in.

"No, no no! We're gonna mask the rocket with fireworks. If everyone things there's a fireworks show, they won't ever catch on that something bad nearly happened tonight!"

"Hoho, we're gonna turn around this Abyss girl's plan on her head!" Ryuujou says. "Does this mean that the town square has something for a rocket?"

---

At the town square, the giant Christmas tree stands decorated in all its radiance. At its base are a stretch of metal supports; this tree wasn't meant to stand here all winter after all.

Yuubari and Ryuujou prod around seemingly casually, brushing aside snow around the base, revealing that there is something actually attached to the tree, and there's something jammed inside.

"There seem to be some odd bolts around the supports that seem to just lead into the tree," Yuubari says. "Something like a torpedo... this tree might be like, the tip or body of a torpedo... no, I mean a rocket and our troublemaker's going to provide the fuel by sucking fairies dry."

You imagine fairies lumped like coal, burning away in the light of fairy dust. That must probably hurt, you think.

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>>36947695
Yuubari straightens up. "We'll need time to turn this rocket around. If we do this right, we'll shake the fairies right off, and with our munitions and fireworks, make a lightshow that sends our fairy-kidnapping Abyss to who-knows-where!"

You ponder. "We'll need a volunteer to distract the Abyss ship while we're busy. When we're ready, you can lure her over here!"

Everybody looks at each other. You on the other hand, elbow Ryuujou on what you've got in mind. She grins at this.

So, I think we have two volunteers!

"Who?" Tokitsukaze asks.

You pat Tokitsukaze and Akitsu Maru on the shoulder.

Akitsu Maru's eyes go wide. "What? Us? We don't really have anything... and we'll be blown up!"

"Nah, you just have to run and get her on a wild chase!" Ryuujou says.

"You see here, I've kept a stash on this trip. Won't you do it for a Mamiya snack, or two?"

Tokitsukaze and Akitsu Maru's eyes glimmer with eagerness, as you waggle one of the bean cakes over their heads. You wave it back and forth, seeing the two's heads follow your movement.

"Now then, go!"

Meanwhile, the three of you left get to work on this. Ryuujou eyes a middle-aged man who's going around looking like he's in charge. She tugs on his sleeve, tilting her head with pleading eyes, buttering him up, "Excuse me sir, but one of the Mayor's aides said that the tree's tipping over. Could you step aside and let us handle this?"

---

YOU are Tokitsukaze, a pint-sized Destroyer of the Kagerou class. Short as you are, sometimes people forget you're there, and you sometimes just have to nag on them.

In sight is the Abyssal girl, with her sack on her back...but it seems her sack seems to cover something... coming out of her butt... like a giant tail. She stuffs the improvised rocket end into another burlap sack.

>What will you do to buy time?
>[ ] Pretend to get too chummy like you're one of the town kids
>[ ] "Hey, why do you have those fairies?"
>[ ] Throw a snowball at her
>[ ] Other (write-in)

[z] Throw a snowball at her

grenaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaade

>>36948001
>>>[X] Throw a snowball at her

>>36948324
It can't be helped. Defaulting.

>>36948324
this

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>>36948001

Akitsu Maru is stunned as you decide to prank this Abyss ship, not like there's no better time ever to pull it off.

You scoop up the snow nice and tight, folding it all in, filling in all the gaps until you can get it all round and packed, repeating it until you've gotten an armful of frozen hurt ready to go. Akitsu Maru, perplexed does likewise anyway. Taking the lead, you heave the now-dense snowball at the strange Abyss girl.

Impact.

The snowball slams squarely into her face, with follow-up snowballs pelting her rocket engine sack off-balance.

"̧͜N͠͏̕o̧!̢͠ ̷̨Yo͝u ̵f̛͜͜a̸i̶̷r̶i͠e̷s̷͝ ̷̡b̶̡͞e̶̸l̵̢͘o̸n̷̡g̴͞ ͜͏̶w͢į́͘t͜͝h̵ ͢͜M̕͡͏E͏͟!"̶̴̧

She struggles to keep her stuff together.

She staggers in the snow, pawing off whatever's stuck on her face, to get a good look at you. She bellows an unintelligible scream, upon which you get her on a wild chase through the town.

"We gotta make this last longer!" you tell Akitsu.

"Where?"

"Just follow me! To that house with lights!"

The two of you duck, bob and weave through passing crowds and dart across rowdy kids who you nearly tumble into. The Abyss girl is shoved and knocked around in the hustle and bustle, trying to get a bead on you. At last, you make it to the front of this large, noisy and well-lit house...

...right into a party.

They're sure quick to celebrate getting out of the cold, aren't they?

"I wonder if there's any of our seamen mixed up in here," Akitsu wonders.

"Oh! You're just in time!" a grown-up man approaches you. Have you had a taste yet! Don't be shy, it's our native specialty in this part of the world!

He hands you a plate of what seems to be cubes of cheese and some other thinly sliced stuff.

>What do you do?
>[ ] Blend in, take a bite
>[ ] Nah, let's try the dancing crowd
>[ ] Pretend to be lost

>>36949024
>Blend in, take a bite

Followed by

>Blend in with the dancing crowd.

>>36949178
Defaulting.

>>36949024
Blend in, take a bite. Save some for the abyssal with the big grin when she appears

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>>36949386
>>36949178
>>Blend in, take a bite
>Followed by
>>Blend in with the dancing crowd.

You snatch a couple jabbed in with toothpicks and pass some to Akitsu Maru. It smells like the strongest of che- no, the strongest cheese you might have ever known in the world. You take the leap, and down it goes into your mouth.

...
...
...
It's chewy alright.
...
...
...What the hell did you just eat? The world spins in a flurry of color.

You hear the old man glow with delight. "There, there, chew it good! It's good texture, yes? Shark meat, aged and hung for weeks! Hakarl good to wash down with our Brennevin, local drink too! I won't tell anyone you drank! Here, here!"

Anything to wash out this crazy taste, you reckon.

You take a sip of their booze, and boy does your head feel funny. Moments later, you see the figure of that Abyssal girl barging in. She looks confused, tottering about until she too gets offered some Hakarl.

You jump at the chance to shove as many chunks down her mouth, plus the booze.

Her mind just explodes in seconds. Seeing you, she tries to reach for you, chasing again. Among the dancing crowds do you hop and spin and twirl, exchanging hands and switching again. Somehow, the abyssal girl is swept up in the dance too, and at some point do you hold onto her clammy, pale hand as the dance continues on -- until she remembers to chase you again!

>>36949595
The two of you finally stumble out of the mix of merrymaking and back into the cold streets. Everything melts into blobs of colors and then there are the lights --so many pretty warm lights everywhere!

You hear a voice calling you, but you can't make it out. You're probably sure you ought to go there, but that other girl is gaining on you, that is, drunkenly stumbling her way through, just like you are.

A hand reaches and pulls you in. It's Maya.

---

YOU are Maya and you just got two drunken, dazed shipgirls within arm's reach. What the hell happened? Getting drunk wasn't in the plan to begin with. In front of you is a hooded Abyss girl with carrying two sacks -- one of which is probably holding all those captive fairies.

The trap is set; all that's left is to get this girl close enough to the tree. You lean over and make a sudden move to the tree; the Abyss ship begins to figure what you might be doing.

"̶͟Ǵ͠͞e̸̡͢͠t̶̵̢ ̴̸̡̛͘a̵̶̢͜ẃ̴̴̨̛a҉̕͢͞ỳ̡̨͠͠ ̴f̵̧̡r͢͜ớ̸m͘͜͟ ̵t̶͟h҉͟á҉̨́̕t̶ ̷t҉̡́ŕ̶͢͞e̡̧͟e̴̢,͝҉͡ ͞í̀́ţ̷͠'̴̷͡s̛͘͘ ̸͢͢m̵̶̷̶i̢̢̕̕͞n̡̢͟e͏͘!̶̢͟"͢͏ , she snarls.

"Yours?" you ask. "But it's Christmas!"

"̵͝Í̢̧͝t̷̡͘͞ ̵̛̕͟͡ẁ̸̢̀o͞͞ǹ̢'̴t͏̸ ͏͞b͟͢͠e̕͜͞ ̵̶́̀͞w̷̛͢h͘͡͠e̸̸͝n͜͞ ̡͘͜͝Ì͘'̸̡͢҉̴m̶͘͞ ̴̧͝d̵̢̛̕͡o̵͟ǹ͘͘҉̡e͢͢ ͏̧́͟w̨̕i͏̴͢t҉̨́͠҉h̛҉̀ ̶̴͜͜t̷͟h҉̴̨̡̡i̛͟͏̡ş̶̡͝͠!̧̡́"̶̶͠͠

Right. You narrow your eyes, and mock her with a wry smile.

The Abyss girl runs straight for you, right where the rope is poised to snare her. In a flash is she dragged right up the tree, but, the Abyss girl, thinking her little plan is still working, she just laughs at the whole bunch of you, as the other sack begins to glow fiercely.

In a loud roar, the tree starts to lift off. No good, time to cover it all up...

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>>36949969
You wave to Yuubari to set off the fireworks -- as many of them as you can.

As the crowd is mesmerized by the light show, the ignition of fairy dust reveals a piston-like engine to the drums holding captive fairies. With a mighty push, the base of the tree flashes with brilliant colour as it frees itself off the ground. The plan to use munitions and other supplies are finally working to do this -- and not the force of burning out the fairies.

You run up to the tree and try to snag all the drums, but you fall as the drums come down. A couple planes -- Ryuujou's -- sweep in to break the fall of the drums, several planes moving up to catch each one and lower them to safety.

As you fall, you see a red streak across the sky --- but you know it to be one of the fireworks -- pretending to be Santa. The tree-turned rocket is slowly forced toward the streak by determined, and drunken effort of the Abyss girl. It becomes for nothing, as the tree-rocket soars wide, and continues ascending as a brilliant speck in the wintery sky, disappearing behind the fireworks display .

A couple of your friends manage to catch you-- and break the fall. All around you, the mesmerized townsfolk are celebrating the continued approach of Christmas -- surrounded by the warm lights, and none the wiser to what really went on.

---
Early next morning, you're a little tipsy from the native booze. The townsfolk wave you off, but an old man hurries over with packages wrapped in paper.

"Hope I wasn't too late! Take home our local delicacy!"

It would be rude to turn down such hospitality, especially after drinking the night off. Whatever could possibly go wrong with bringing home the local flavor for Christmas?

--- THE END ---

>>Thanks for sitting in tonight! Merry Christmas!

>>We might be looking at a proposed Kancolle New Year's Special, somehow!

>>From here on, my new quest schedule will regularly be 10 pm EST onwards once a week at least, with possible Friday afternoons or Saturday brunch hours for added runtimes.