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"Jack!" The blonde fox-girl shouts. "Jaaack?! Are you in there?"

You stand up, and greet the familiar face.
"Good morning, Atsuko!"

"Good morning, Uh, Kayda. Did you spend the night here?"
"I did, with Keiko."
"That's nice of you, is that why you're wearing her clothes?"

"Uh, mine fell in the mud."

"Where's Keiko right now?"

"Still sleeping."
"Lazybones, she's supposed to do the morning rituals-"
"Wait!"

You try to stop Atsuko before she opens the shrine's door, but it's too late.

The door slides open, and a mountain of mud, dirt, twigs, water, and footprints is exposed to the morning light. In the center of the chaos; two girls are fast asleep in their muddied and wrinkled clothing.

>"Uh So it was good seeing you thismorningbutIgottagobyeIgotimportantherothingstodo"
>Stay and see what happens.
>She did it! Not me! Louise! right there!
>Other?

>>48713482
>Stay and see what happens.
>Other?
Sigh and explain.

>>48713482
>>She did it! Not me! Louise! right there!

>>48713482
>She did it! Not me! Louise! right there!

>>48713482
>She did it! Not me! Louise! right there!
Hero or not, no way a little kid will react in any other way to this situation.

>>48713482
>"Uh So it was good seeing you thismorningbutIgottagobyeIgotimportantherothingstodo"

>>She did it! Not me! Louise! right there!

Writing!

>>48713482
Any chance the scene confounds her long enough that we can make a dash for the treeline?

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You blink.
Atsuko blinks.

Louise snores.
Keiko grunts softly, before pulling her muddied-tail out from under her.

Your mouth falls open as Atsuko turns to glare at you.

"Wait! I know this looks bad but hold on! She did it! Louise!"
"Are you _sure_?" Atsuko eyes you with disbelief.

"Yes! It was her stupid idea to go camping! I was uninvolved!"

"Kayda, come here."

You uneasily take a step toward her, and she reaches a hand out for your head.
Something, all of the sudden, itches on your scalp. You didn't realize it before, but it feels like a tiny weight was just removed from your hair.

Atsuko's hand pulls back, and in it is a fist-sized glob of dirt. Along with some loose silvery-strands that came off with it.

"Uninvolved, huh?" Atsuko bites her lower lip.
"M-Maybe a little, look, I'm sorry if I made you mad- but-"

"I'm not mad." Atsuko frowns, "Just disappointed that you can't lie any better than that."

That shut you up, right quick.

"Oh don't give me that look." Atsuko sets down the groceries she was carrying. "You pick up Louise, and I'll get Keiko."
"Pick her up, why?"

"Bath, all of you, right now." Atsuko steps into the shrine, careful about grinding dirt into the bamboo floor, "I can scold all of you later."

"Uh-"

>Okay?
>I'm good, thanks!
>I just remembered that I have to be far, far away from here!
>Fine. Bath.
>Other?

>>48714150
>Fine. Bath.

>>48714150
>Fine. Bath.

>>48714150
>Fine. Bath.

>>48714150
>Okay?

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You slowly turn your head down, and notice the mudstains still adoring your legs and your chest. The clothes are clean, but nothing else is.

"Fine." You mumble. "Bath."

"Right, bath."

You follow her lead into the shrine, and pick up the sleeping, blonde girl.
This is all her fault; you should just drop her back into the mud.

--

You finish hanging the last of the clothes out on the line.
Washing boards are awful, isn't there a better way? You seem to have a newfound respect for maids.

Well, all of them except for one maid. She can rot in fire.

"Ahem." Atsuko tosses her clothes off, and steps into the river with Keiko in tow. "Don't forget your clothes, too."

Right, your outfit.

"How are you two still tired?" Atsuko grabs a half-dazed Keiko and applies a glob of ashen soap to her hair. "You're both acting like you got no sleep last night. What were you doing?"

"I told you." You hang the last of the garmets up on the line, and gently step into the river. "Camping."

"You look just fine, though. Why is Louise still asleep?"
It's true, the blonde girl lays unconscious on the bank of the river.

"Well, I don't know." You let Keiko's borrowed garment off of your body.
"Take this." Atsuko breaks half of the bar in half and tosses it toward you. "Wash Louise."

"What? But she got herself dirty!"
"Just do it, Kayda, and we can all go home by the hour."

You huff, and grab the nude figure off the bank of the river. You dunk her, and gauge if that managed to wake her up at all.

Her eyelids are fluttering, but she just squints and lets her eyes rest once more.
With a huff, you start on her hair. This soap is terrible for cleaning hair; it's not sticking to the strands at all.

>Talk about your night, what little you remember.
>Maybe now is a good time to bring up the voices. You did promise Louise you would talk to an adult about it.
>Wash in silence.
>Try to interrogate Louise or Keiko on what happened.
>Other?

>>48714593
>Talk about your night, what little you remember.

Maybe Atsuko knows things?

>>48714593
>Talk about your night, what little you remember.
>Maybe now is a good time to bring up the voices. You did promise Louise you would talk to an adult about it.

Maybe I started a bit too late.

>Talk about your night, what little you remember.
>Maybe now is a good time to bring up the voices. You did promise Louise you would talk to an adult about it.

Writing!

>>48714957
Sorry, was eatin'

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Rargh, this stupid soap. It's just causing all the hair to lump together. It's not bubbling at all. It's more like a grease that you just slather onto things.

You give up on the hair for a few moments, and focus on the much easier parts of her body to clean. Her back and her legs.

Dumb girl, stand up and stop squirming around. Louise keeps sitting on the river's floor and undoing all that hard work.
Meanwhile, Atsuko looks like she's finishing up with Keiko. Something tells you that this is no the first time she's had to bathe her before.

You start to think about things. About what you were doing, about why you woke up, and about-
"So, last night." You recall something interesting, "Louise took Keiko to the woods to teach her not to be afraid of the dark."
"How did that work out?" Atsuko seems calm, almost like this is a relaxing experience.

"I woke up on the shrine's floor, so poorly I guess."

"You don't remember coming back to the shrine?"
"Nope." You manage to wrangle some of the twigs out of Louise's hair. "I remember making a shelter, and falling asleep next to Louise."

"Mm, how far away were you?"
"Pretty far, we were near the beach."

Atsuko blinks, "No wonder they're so tired. They must have been walking half of the night."

"I just, wonder why." You manage to apply some of the soap to Louise's scalp, "Everything was great when I went to sleep."

Your mind races about other things that happened last night.
Something else, a conversation you had?
"..Atsuko. Is it normal to hear voices?"

She looks toward you, worried.
"No, probably not. That is a sign of spiritual corruption. What are the voices saying?"

You try to think back on something they've said recently.
Then you shiver, and realize that you don't want to think about them at all.

>Uh, not good things.
>Mostly confusing things that I don't understand.
>They want me to hurt people.
>Change the subject
>"Oh, right, we found a whole bunch of silver, too."
>Other?

>>48715265
>Uh, not good things.
>Mostly confusing things that I don't understand.
>"Oh, right, we found a whole bunch of silver, too."

>>48715265
>Uh, not good things.
>They want me to hurt people.
>"Oh, right, we found a whole bunch of silver, too."

We should just get it out of the way.

>>48715265
>Uh, not good things.
>Mostly confusing things that I don't understand.
>"Oh, right, we found a whole bunch of silver, too."

I'm just thinking of that one scene in Psychonauts now

>Uh, not good things.
>Mostly confusing things that I don't understand.
>"Oh, right, we found a whole bunch of silver, too."


Writing!

>>48715537
Funny thing is: She could probably use one right now!

>>48715265
Missed the last couple threads, just to be clear the voices she's hearing isn't us, right?

>>48715714
Well, she'd need a good one like Raz. I can't imagine the poor girl having someone like the Milkman inside her head

>>48715771
Unclear.

When she got her accuracy powerup, I thought she was talking with spirits. She mentioned that the trees, the rocks, the woods were 'telling her things'.

>>48716080
Didn't seem the same to me

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"Uh." Your hand stops scrubbing Louise's body, "Not good things.-OOF!"

Splash.
Before you know it; Louise falls backwards and takes you down with her. The whole time she's on the edge of sleep.
The lazy girl sits up; and, as if to add insult to the injury: she leans back and rests her head on your chest.

You don't notice it right away, but you're pouting. How does Charlotte deal with her?

"-Not good things?" Atsuko seems genuinely worried, now.

You raise one of Louise's arms and start scrubbing the grime off from under them.
"W-well, more confusing things. Things I don't really understand."

That's only sort-of a lie. You sometimes do understand what they are saying, but you wish you didn't.

"I can arrange for an exorcism later if you think that might be the problem." Atsuko pours water over Keiko's head, and she looks amazing clean because of it! "I don't entirely know if it's spiritual in nature, but."

"T-that sounds scary, I think I'll have to pass."
"Oh come on, Kayda, it won't hurt."

"No! no, it's just, messing with spirits and spiritual stuff. That's dangerous business, Atsuko."

"It's not like I'm going to put a curse on you." Atsuko drags Keiko to the riverbank and lays her down. "It's just to ease any spiritual suffering that you may be-"

"Hold on, I don't-"

All this talk of spirits and witchcraft has you more than a little uneasy. Atsuko, probably isn't a witch, but this is very scary stuff.

Louise shifts again, turning backwards and resting her face against your shoulder.

"Hold her upright, I'll scrub." Atsuko takes the soap from you, as you lift the blonde mess off your chest.

"Oh! I just remembered." A flash of events unfold before you, "We found silver last night while we were exploring."

Atsuko drops the small bar of soap, her ears start to twitch.

"...S-Silver?" Atsuko's stare could pierce stone, "L-Like real silver?"

>Yes!
>..Never mind
>Uhh
>Is there a problem?
>Other?

>>48716541
>Uhh

>>48716541
>>Uhh
>>Is there a problem?

>>48716541
>Uhh

>>48716541
>Uhh
>Is there a problem?

Wasn't one of us carrying a bit of it?

>Uhh
>Is there a problem?
Writing!

>>48716682
You were, back at the shrine, covered in mud.

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"Did you say.. silver?"

"Uhhh."

Oh no, did you say something bad?! Is she mad now? You really screwed up this time, you big idiot!

Stupid Louise, stupid you, stupid Kayda!

"..Is there a problem?" Maybe it's because you're naked, but those eyes leave you feeling awfully exposed right now. Slowly, you feel your arms tightening around Louise like a teddy bear.

"S-silver." Atsuko repeats again, in a daze. "L-like a little, or- or a lot?"

"Well, um, I don't think that's-"

"Answer the question, please."
She's smiling now, why is she smiling?

"Um, coins. Lots of silver coins. We found them in an abandoned fortress off the coast we were exploring."

"R-real... Silver.." Atsuko whispers back to herself. "D-did you bring any of it back?"

Somehow, you feel like you shouldn't answer that question.

"There's some in the shrine." Keiko groggily answers, "Just as much that would fit in my pockets, tho."

Without another word, Atsuko immediately runs ashore and continues running toward the shrine. The whole time, she's completely naked.
"Wait! Atsuko! Your clothes!"

"Suki, what if Jack sees you!" Keiko yells after her.

Doesn't matter, she's already halfway up the path by the time Keiko yells.

Which just leaves Keiko, a still half-asleep Louise, and you. All in the river, all naked.

>Keiko help me finish scrubbing Louise and we can go.
>I think we're off the hook! Want to go get food?
>Um. Maybe I should go check on Atsuko.
>..I just remembered, I should report to my summoner this morning.
>S-should we go get more silver, or would that make a bad thing worse?
>Other?

>>48716930
>Keiko help me finish scrubbing Louise and we can go.
>I think we're off the hook! Want to go get food?
>What do you think will happen if Jack does see her like this?

>>48716930
>Um. Maybe I should go check on Atsuko.

>>48716930
>Keiko help me finish scrubbing Louise and we can go.
>Um. Maybe I should go check on Atsuko.

>Keiko help me finish scrubbing Louise and we can go.
>Um. Maybe I should go check on Atsuko.
>What do you think will happen if Jack does see her like this?

Writing last post of the night!

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You would say something to that.
But- no, you have something bigger on your hands.

Or, right now, trying to slump down back into the river.

"Keiko." You mumble. "Help me finish scrubbing Louise and we can go."

Keiko perks up, "Really?"

"Yeah, I think we're off the hook." You sigh, setting Louise down lightly in the water. The bubbles from the soap wash off the dirt and the grime; restoring her milky white skin to a wonderful shine.
She yawns, and rubs one of her eyes.

"..why am I naked?" She whispers.
"You were filthy, Louise." You find the bar of soap Atsuko dropped, and you continue scrubbing the last few spots off of Louise's back.

Keiko wades in, and helpfully starts washing the remainder of the grime out of Louise's hair. She's way better at using this soap than you are.

Louise gradually wrestles control away from the two of you. With another dunk, she's squeaky clean.

The three of you emerge onto the bank and start getting dressed. Some talk is exchanged about what happened last night.

"So, Kayda, did you see the ghost?!" Louise beams, happily.
"Ghost?" You blink.
"Yeah! There was a ghost last night! It came up to us and kissed us! I- I mean, I was all brave and everything, but Keiko wanted to come back, so that's what we did!"
"That's not true!" Keiko objects. "You were running even faster than I was! You almost lost me!"

"Eh-heh, Nope!" Louise smiles, "I was just.. leading the way! That's all!"

"A ghost, out in the woods?" You whisper back to yourself. "Do you know what that was?"
"I think it was a forest spirit, but I don't know. I'm gonna ask Suki later." Keiko tightly ties her robe around herself. "It means something, but I forgot."

"Oh, that-"

You have a sudden thought. Maybe you should go check on Atsuko. She wasn't quite acting right.

"Hey, you two get dressed, I'm going to go make sure Atsuko isn't doing anything weird."
"Suit yourself, but be sure to take your clothes with you."

>Cont.

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Oh you hurt.
You're walking with a limp, and you feel almost like there are some places which blood can no longer reach.

That's what you call "One hell of a good night".

You are Jack Albator. You would normally have a funny quip about the situation. Unfortunately, it seems your funny bone has been crushed sometime between last night and now.

Just.. keep walking, try not to think about it, take a drink from the nectar of life every now and again!

Next to you is a beautiful woman. She just happens to not have any legs.
Madeleine slithers next to you, carrying an entire pouch full of wild-picked berries.

You, too, hold your coat out aloft. Lots of tiny, red and blue dots filling the makeshift basket.

"..Sorry about last night."
"Lass, would ye quit sayin' that? Because aye'm not."

Ahead, the shrine comes into view. It's always beautiful, this time of the morning.

"If I get started now, I can make that muscle strain remedy by lunchtime." Madeleine smiles, "Plus a little extra snack for Keiko."
"Aye, good. If ye can manage."

"No, no, I can do it. Just rest." Madeleine takes the outstretched coat from you, gently folding it as to not crush the berries. "Just focus on not straining anything."

Aye, good advice, Lass.

>Cont.

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Weird, you didn't know Kayda was here. Why is she naked? What is going on?

"Aye Kayda."
"Ah!" She spins around, holding her clothes to her chest. "J-J-Jack! What are you doing here?"
"-bout to sleep the pain away, that's what." You step onto the porch and grab the door to the shrine. "Now get dressed and go play with Keiko, we'll have some treats at lunch later."

"Wait, Jack! Don't!"

You gently pull the shrine door open to be met with a curious sight.
Inside, there's a blonde, naked fox-lady sprawled on the floor. Merticulously, she's counting to herself. The whole time, her bare body is caked head to toe in twigs, mud, and dirt. Her tail flaps wildly, slinging water in all directions with each flick.
"Twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two-" she counts. Every time she slides a muddy token over the once-clean bamboo mat.

You slowly slide the door shut.

"Hey Jack, I have a personal question." Madeleine asks, completely unaware of the scene unfolding inside. "Why did you never fall for Atsuko anyway? You both lived alone here for several months, right?"

"Ye know lass." You reach into your pocket, pulling out your now-empty flask. "Damnest thing, aye have no idea."

>Thread End.

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Thanks for the thread everyone.

Hey, we ended at a good time. I get to go to bed, and tomorrow I get to figure out why this device is reporting no disk space. Weird, huh?

Anyway, in the meantime; Everyone have a nice night and let me know what you thought of this silly thread. Sorry it's more of an aside (filler) than anything, but I just wanted cute tonight considering the stress I had today with an important decision.

plus, I miss writing CPM a little more than I would like to admit

Thanks to everyone for the thread, let me know what you thought of it.

>>48717828
Now the question is, will Jack ever let her live it down or will it be endless teasing?

>>48717880
Are you sure all the porn you have isn't at critical capacity?

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>>48717905
This is the device I have all my questing stuff on. So it's all quasi-porn at best.

if I had any on here, you guys would be the first to know.

>>48717880
Thanks for running, I really hope things worked out or are going to work out with your important decision.

I also miss CPM

>>48717828
I think Atsuko is a bit too passive for Jack. Like she'd be receptive probably but I can't see her taking the lead at all. She didn't, at any rate. Still, I feel a little bad for her.