A Furry Fun New Year

Raid Event: A Clawful Caper

Epilogue

A Furry Fun New Year

Previous Quest

The Enemy Within

Summary

Ebisu makes up with Daikokuten, and Hanabusa puts on a fine dance—it seems Mitsuhide engineered this series of events to resolve her companions' personal issues! With her plan a success, Mitsuhide tries to nap, but is cajoled by the prince to join the New Year's festivities.

Dialogue

Meeeooww! Ebisu! Okay, time out! Look, are you...mad at me? Of COURSE I am mad at you! Look at all the trouble you've caused! Mrrraawwrr! Ebisu, listen to me. I do not think you were overlooked for the Great Twelve only because you overslept. Wh-what do you mean?! But whatever the other reasons may be, any who would interfere in the traditional delivery of good fortune is unfit to serve as one of the Great Twelve! Ah! The Great Twelve forge pacts with the leaders of the Twelve Wyrmclans and vow to serve them always. The trouble you have caused proves you to be utterly unfit for such responsibility. Meooow... Daikoookuten... I'm not worthy. I've never BEEN worthy. Oh, who am I kidding? I already knew that! But I still wanted it so badly that I didn't know what to DO with myself! I just wanted to see what it was like to deliver good fortune the way you do. A mistake uncorrected remains a mistake for all eternity. Mrawr? I speak of setting things to rights. And how could I possibly make ANYTHING right at this point?! After all, you're just gonna run back and tell Lady Amaterasu what I did! And then that's it for me! I'll be exiled...or worse. Stop worrying about what might happen and start worrying about what you can DO! I'm so sick of everyone fretting about the future till their stomachs give out! It's freakin' pointless! Pointless? Completely pointless. Life is short, you know? Short and cold and dark. You don't want to die holding on to any regrets—so you bury 'em and move on. If you make a mistake, make it right. If you want something, see it done. That's why I sleep as much as I want, don't do things I don't want to do, and surround myself with good people— even if they ARE a pain in the butt. That was a great speech until you went and started talking about yourself... Well, Ebisu? Are you just going to let your mistake stand? No... No! I will make it right! Then help. Meow? We haven't delivered any good fortune yet because of you, but that doesn't mean we can just forget about it. There's still work to be done. Do you mean I can...help? WILL you help? Of COURSE I'll help! Good. It may be a hair late, but I want you all to deliver a New Year's celebration full to bursting with good fortune. Yes, Lady Mitsuhide!

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We finally get to see Hanabusa dance! Oh man, this is gonna be WILD! I still worry about his stomach. If he were to cramp up... Yeah, I bet he's really feelin' the stress. If this goes sideways, we're all gonna buy a one-way ticket on the barf wagon. A failure at this point might truly crush his dreams for good. If you always worry about failing, you'll never accomplish anything. Hanabusa doesn't need to avoid failure. Then what DOES he need? He needs to be okay when he does. He needs to understand it's okay not to be at your best every single day. He needs to loosen up and CHILL. If he enjoys what he does, that should be good enough. Look! There he is!

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...... Oh my gosh... I know what you mean. It is Hanabusa, yet not the Hanabusa we know. I don't even know what to say... Guys, I feel all gushy inside... It is so regal. So refined. Almost beyond the power of words.

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"Sublime" is what we say in Hinomoto. What a beautiful way to put it. Heck, you've only scratched the surface of all the cool stuff we have in Hinomoto! It makes me happy we can share even a little bit of it with you as "good fortune." I can't thank all of you enough for what you brought to us.

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Hey, New Year's ain't over yet! Indeed not. A Happy New Year's to all. Oh man, the chow! All them little dishes, plus the soup, and the mochi, and all that fish... My gut's never gonna forgive me, and I don't give a damn! Slow down, Ranzal, or we'll be rolling you down the hallway to your room tonight. Hey, everyone! Let's go play hanetsuki! Join us, Ebisu. Really? You want me to play? Of course we do. Purrrrrr... Oh, I'm so happy! Between the food and Hanabusa's flawless performance, it's been another amazing New Year's celebration. But where are Mitsuhide and Nobunaga?

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There you are. What are you doing out here all by yourself? Oh, just plotting an insurrection. Not funny. But I thought a grain of truth made every joke funnier. I wouldn't put such a thing past you. After all, this entire trip was practically an insurrection against Amaterasu. What are you talking about? I'm talking about Daikokuten and Ebisu— and Hanabusa too. There's been bad blood between Ebisu and Daikokuten for years, while Hanabusa was a prisoner of his own anxiety. Each of them was weighed down by a most significant burden. Yet you always found an excuse to stay out of it so that they'd have to resolve their issues themselves. Or maybe I was just lazy. I AM very lazy, you know. Everything might have ended happily, but if your plan had failed, there would have been serious consequences. But it DIDN'T fail! Zing! Worrying about failure is a waste of time. If you've learned anything from this trip, that should be it. And if you DO fail, there's usually time to make things right. ...For most people, that is. Maybe not us so much. Still, even you must agree that time spent making things right could be better spent avoiding failure in the first place. Maybe. But ever since we forged our soulpacts, we gave up that luxury. Oh, Mitsuhide... But because our remaining time is so short, that's all the more reason to make sure we get things right the first time. So let's keep on keepin' on, girl! You keep on busting heads and chops until you've unified the whole damn world, and I'll keep on making others do the dirty work while I sleep the hours away. And on that note...good night! Now hold on just one second! Come on, Mitsuhide! You can't sleep now! Hmm? That voice... Your plan may be over, but the moment everyone's waiting for is still ahead! Uh oh. Did you hear all that? Er, sorry. I didn't intend to eavesdrop. It just sort of...happened. Look, we're all still having a great time, and I'd very much like you to join us. Our lives may be brief, but that's all the more reason to enjoy the time we all have together. Just ignore the truth and embrace the moment? Hmm. That's not a terrible idea. You're quite the optimist, aren't you? Come on! We're all waiting.

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Goodness! It's been the new year for some time now! I barely noticed. All thanks to a certain somebody. Mrrrawwrrr... Well, we're all together now, so let's make it official... Happy New Year! I hope I can count on you all for another wonderful year. Happy New Year, one and all. Meanwhile, in Hinomoto...
Chamber of Light
It seems Ladies Mitsuhide and Nobunaga have achieved a successful delivery of good fortune. However, the whereabouts of Master Seimei of the Ox Clan are unknown. If this is a case of foul play, and the party responsible is who I suspect, we may need to prepare ourselves...Lady Amaterasu. And prepare for your advent into a world of strife. ......