A deep breath through the nose fills your lungs with air and your mind with the smells of the forest around you. In the distance, you can hear the chirping of recently awoken birds, broken only once or twice an hour by the roaring of the various beasts that inhabit these lands.

A ray of morning sunshine pierces its way through the shady leaves above, the final straw in bringing you to fully awaken. You open your eyes and take in the surroundings, to the left, right and all other directions there are trees hundreds upon hundreds of them. Their amber and orange leaves stretch on for miles. Forming a literal ocean of autumn color all about you. No matter how many times you've seen this sort of a sight, whether you were in Gensokyo, Africa, Europe or the Americas it never cease to be breathtaking. You can only hope that such things never begin to bore you, as compared to this splendor, what else could possibly bring as much amazement?


You are of course exactly where you were the night before, over thirty feet above the ground on the branch of a tree, leaning back against the trunk of that very same tree. It's one of the taller ones you've ever seen, there's still at least ten feet more above you...and like all the others it has nearly all of its leaves turned that wonderful autumn color.

Yet more captivating than the forest itself is your target for this journey: the mountains surrounding Gensokyo, and the ever shimmering barrier which stands atop them. According to legend, one of the oldest Youkai in the land makes her home somewhere within that barrier, and if you want to get out of here before the winter sets in and traps you for the rest of the year, she's the one to see.

It's such a shame that the only reason you're able to enjoy this lovely sight is because...well, you don't really have a choice. Do you?
Or, maybe you do...it all depends on the odds, your wits, and a heaping helping of blind optimistic courage.

You push yourself up, carefully balancing against the trunk as you rise to your feet. You grip one edge of the tree as you lean over the other side, getting a look at the ground far below.

At the base of the tree the same three creatures, some sort of large cat of a species you've yet to see await. From what you can tell they're asleep for now, but getting down without waking them up might be next to impossible.

Snapping off a small piece of bark from the tree, you drop it to the ground below. Upon impact one of the beasts immediately stirs from it's slumber and roars in the direction it landed. Though they rest, at least one is entirely alert.

So, yes. Climbing down will not be happening anytime soon. This, like many things recently is a severe problem.
What other options are available, though? Off the top of your head your backpack contains several useful items. Trinkets, tools and weapons gathered throughout your travels. Though many have proven useless against the more supernatural natives, some may yet aid you in this situation.

For starters, you have the flare gun and three flares that Tengu, Shameimaru Aya had given you. Though she'd told you it was strictly for alerting her should you witness an interesting event, but she probably won't mind saving your life if you give her something in return.

Then, of course, your assortment of ropes. Almost all capped with a ring allowing them to easily be attached to the grappling hook attached to your arm. These can make climbing even the most insurmountable of obstacles childs play...though using it in this situation may just leave you in the same situation, but on a different tree.

The rest of your inventory is taken up by the neccesities of travel. Provisions, tools, you have some knives that could be useful in a pinch, but its unlikely you'll be able to properly defend yourself for too long if you rely on it.

Most everything else, including your spare clothes and actual weapons are back at camp, Even if you make it along the trees to avoid the beasts below, you'll have to go down eventually to retrieve your belongings. Or else take the risk of leaving it all behind.

With a glance below you confirm the creatures have all returned to resting. If you're to make a choice, it should probably be now.

[] Fire the flare (-1 Flare for each)
-[] Down at the creatures, make a break for it if they're sufficiently distracted
-[] Up into the sky, lets call for some help.
[] Toss some food down at them

Assuming you want to try and leave immediately, you'll need to choose a path.

-[] Get to ground and run for it
-[] Make your escape along the trees

But perhaps more important than how you get down would be where you go.

[] Make your way back to camp, reassess things from there

[] Heading back would be pointless, it's best to head immediately
-[] Toward the mountain range, to begin the search for Yakumo Yukari.
-[] Abandon the journey for the time being, we're barely past the halfway point and it's already gone straight to hell.