Author Topic: Gengetsu's Counterattack (feat. Ran)  (Read 8337 times)

日巫子

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Gengetsu's Counterattack (feat. Ran)
« on: July 17, 2011, 12:43:21 AM »
heh heh 

The idea was too good to pass up.

I won't let this go uncompleted.



Part 1



Sanae propped her elbows on the table and laced her fingers together.  ?Hm?so, what brings you all the way to the surface, Parsee?  Actually, it?s nice to see that you were able to leave the bridge.?  She wears a rather unsuspecting and unknowing smile, which just makes Parsee want to explain her situation all the more.
?Well, lately?I?ve just been having nothing but nightmares.?  She paused to catch her sleeve, which had just slipped off her shoulder.  ?I figured, since this was kind of your domain you could do something to help me.  Since, y?know, I like sleeping without interruption.?

?Hmmm??  Sanae stared at the clearly sleep-deprived girl sitting across the table from her.  She briefly wondered why she didn?t just go to Eientei instead and get the Butterfly Dream Pill; after all, the Bamboo Forest was much closer to the entrance to the Underground, but she wasn?t complaining.

That was when an idea popped into her head.  ?I know!  How about a dreamcatcher??

?Eh??  Parsee blinked.  ?That?s kind of a normal solution, don?t you think??

?Not just any normal solution!?  Sanae slapped her palms down on the tabletop, causing Parsee to jump in surprise.  ?I?ll personally bless the dreamcatcher for you, so as long as it?s with you, you won?t have to worry about having nightmares anymore!?

Parsee couldn?t help but smile a little in relief.  ?Thanks.?

?Oh, but I don?t have any on me right now.  I?ll have to make one from scratch.?

Parsee felt her heart sink like a stone.  ?How long will that take??

?To make it?  Twenty minutes, tops.  It?ll take much longer to get all the materials I need, though.?  Sanae drummed her fingertips on the table.  ?Um?Let?s see?if there?s anything you want to put on the dreamcatcher, you?ll have to get it to me as soon as possible.?

Parsee immediately thought back to the Seeing Stone, which was in the pocket of one of her dresses miles and miles beneath the Earth?s crust, and decided against it.  It was too precious to be attached to anything.

Parsee shook her head.  ?No, I don?t have anything.?

?Really?  Well, in the meantime, do you want your fortune a charm or something?  A charm won?t last as long as a dreamcatcher, though??


~

??And that?s the situation.?

Parsee was now back underground, sitting at her table in her own house.  She held out a crumpled slip of paper to the kitsune sitting at the table with her, digging into a plate of fried tofu.

?I thought you?d have been through with those by now,? Ran mused, and set down her chopsticks to take the paper.  ?Catastrophe??  She squinted at the kanji written upon the fortune, as if she couldn?t believe what she was reading.

?Yeah.  I need to do something about this.?  Parsee shivered and drew her knees to her chest.  ?After we agreed on making a dreamcatcher, Sanae told me all these stories about lucid dreams she had, so that gave me an idea.?

?And that would be??  Ran set the fortune down on the table and continued eating.

Parsee reached into her pocket and pulled out a small wooden tablet in the shape of a rectangle.  There was a red ribbon looped through the hole drilled through the top, and there was an inscription written on it in ink:

明晰夢

Ran stared at the charm and blinked.  ?I?m afraid you?ll have to be more specific than that.?

?Oh.  Remember Wingly??

?Yes, you showed me the picture you drew of her.  What about her??

?She?s there every time I have a nightmare, so I was thinking if I beat her up in a dream, she?d stop bothering me.  Can?t do that consciously, though??  Parsee dangled the charm absentmindedly and sighed.  ?I got this in hopes that I?d have a lucid dream, although I wonder if I should?ve just asked Sanae to bless me or something.  Y?know??

?I think I see what you?re getting at,? Ran said.  ?If you get rid of the source of your problems, you?ll finally have some piece of mind.?

?Exactly.?

There was a lull in the conversation during which Ran finished off the rest of her food.  ?Are you sure you won?t eat anything??

?I don?t have an appetite.?

Ran frowned a little as she watched Parsee turn the charm over in her hands, and reluctantly went to the kitchen to put the dishes in the sink.  Gensokyo was vast.  The Earth was vast.  The insides of the gaps Yukari-sama used for teleportation were vast.  Dreams were probably even vaster, and Parsee was going to look through them just to find one girl.  It was impossible no matter how she looked at it.  Ran glanced back at Parsee, who was still sitting in the living room, staring at the charm with a dull expression and dark circles under her eyes.  Even if it was going to be a dream, would the hashihime really be up to the task?

Suddenly, Ran had an idea.

~

Parsee was lounging around on the floor, holding a shiny green can and swirling it around, listening to its contents slosh against the sides.  Yuugi had dropped by earlier and gave her the drink, saying that it was commonly used in the Outside World to ease upset stomachs.  Parsee had no idea how she got her hands on this, but it was fizzy, non-alcoholic, and surprisingly good, so she didn?t even care.

She sat up and brought the can to her lips, ready to take another sip, but then she heard the door knocking.  A number of people ran through Parsee?s mind as potential visitors at this hour, and she sighed and set the can down on the table.  Reluctantly standing up, she headed to the front door and opened it a crack.  When she saw Ran standing at her doorstep with a drawstring bag in her hands, she was completely caught off guard.

?Ran??

?If it?s not too much trouble, may I spend the night??  She sure didn?t beat around the bush.

?Spend the night?  Why??

Ran swished her tails around.  ?Well, I was doing some thinking??

~

Parsee watched absentmindedly as Ran set up a spare futon on the floor.  The kitsune smoothed out the covers and then took a seat, fluffing the pillow.  Those nine tails of hers looked so soooft?

?Hm??  Ran glanced over her shoulder as she felt a sudden weight on her tails, and saw that the Parsee had leaned against them, and was now dozing away.  Ran sighed a little, but smiled and curled up on her side, taking care not to disturb the hashihime.  Before long, she too would fall into the abyss of sleep.

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[21:12] <OneLoveOnePurvis> *Black as hell and bitter as love. That is coffee.*
[17:42] <Amra> Himiko's one of the people that's really cute but sometimes art shifts into like hard jojo-style
[17:42] <Amra> as she does something out of character

Aya Squawkermaru

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Re: Gengetsu's Counterattack (feat. Ran)
« Reply #1 on: July 17, 2011, 12:50:01 AM »
I'm no literary expert, so I can't really say what I like about this exactly; I'll just leave it at the fact that I'm enjoying this in general.

But, I'm a tad bit confused about the Ran and Parsee thing. I'm not sure how they know each other. Is this some sort of spin-off from something else you've written?

Tamashii Kanjou

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Re: Gengetsu's Counterattack (feat. Ran)
« Reply #2 on: July 17, 2011, 12:57:01 AM »
They know each other from the events of Parsee Quest; Parsee rode around Gensokyo on her several times. XD

Well, I can safely say I'll be watching this with great interest. I hope Parsee actually punches her this time. It'll make me smile.

Aya Squawkermaru

  • "You furnish the pictures and I'll furnish the war." - William Hearst
  • Relevant quote is relevant.
Re: Gengetsu's Counterattack (feat. Ran)
« Reply #3 on: July 17, 2011, 01:07:35 AM »
I see. In that case, I'm going to assume that Parsee Quest is a prerequisite to this (as far as understanding a few things goes), so I'm going to go read that.

Edit: Oh, it's a Role playing game. I was sort of hoping it would be fanfiction. Oh well, might as well read it anyway if it means not missing things like that.
« Last Edit: July 17, 2011, 01:09:09 AM by Squawkers23 »

日巫子

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Re: Gengetsu's Counterattack (feat. Ran)
« Reply #4 on: July 17, 2011, 01:20:12 AM »
You don't have to read the quests or anything to understand this, that's not what I'm trying to do :ohdear:

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[21:12] <OneLoveOnePurvis> *Black as hell and bitter as love. That is coffee.*
[17:42] <Amra> Himiko's one of the people that's really cute but sometimes art shifts into like hard jojo-style
[17:42] <Amra> as she does something out of character

Aya Squawkermaru

  • "You furnish the pictures and I'll furnish the war." - William Hearst
  • Relevant quote is relevant.
Re: Gengetsu's Counterattack (feat. Ran)
« Reply #5 on: July 17, 2011, 01:35:28 AM »
Too late; they have intrigued me.

Although, that's good to know that prior knowledge from the quests isn't mandatory.

Re: Gengetsu's Counterattack (feat. Ran)
« Reply #6 on: July 17, 2011, 01:52:37 AM »
Unfortunately, Himiko, this actually requires quite a bit of background knowledge to understand, unless you're going to go into it during the story: Ran and Parsee knowing each other, Parsee's relationship with "Wingly", and Parsee referencing dreams as being Sanae's domain and the bits about lucid dreams... If they were just throw away lines, that'd be okay, but these will form the entire plot of your story, I think.

It's not a bad thing, but it's going to be hard for people to get into it without reading Parsee Quest and Sanae Quest. JUST AS PLANNED.

日巫子

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Re: Gengetsu's Counterattack (feat. Ran)
« Reply #7 on: July 17, 2011, 02:09:56 AM »


Part 2



Somewhere in the Dream World, there was surreal world where the sky was black and the daytime sky would forever resemble a sunrise, cycling for eternity between night and dawn, never quite becoming day.  Tiny white dots covered the sky, creating countless constellations and glittering clusters in the sky.  The sky loomed over the unkempt, weed-choked grass below that swayed in the perpetual wind.  It was an unending, unchanging world that never experienced any changes in weather, and the only two living things there did not stray far from the huge glass dome right at the center of it all.

The glass dome was framed like a jigsaw puzzle, each peace an elaborate mosaic of an even that happened in the past.  It had long since become outdated, but the lightshow that was cast when the sun rose or set was breathtaking.  Of course, the floor was also made of glass.

Sitting on the floor of the dome was a girl with a red ribbon in her golden hair, her pinkish-white skirt bunched up around her as she sat with her legs and hands pressed to the cold floor.  Her feathery white wings were folded slightly around her shoulders, which shook with every whispery laugh.  The girl was staring down at a spot in the glass, watching a dream start to unfold.  She reached over and smoothed the reflective surface as if it was a piece of fabric, and it expanded.  It felt a bit tacky, like glue that wasn?t finished drying yet.  When she slipped her fingers into it, however, they slid in as easily as water.

Once the reflective surface was properly adjusted for maximum viewing pleasure, Gengetsu crossed her arms around herself and let her laughter echo throughout the vast space she was in.

She couldn?t quite pinpoint why exactly, but watching a girl with nine huge, fluffy fox tails force herself from the doors of a subway was just too damn funny.  It reminded her of the time she watched someone dream about rush hour traffic in Cairo, when all the cars were squeezed together and trying to round a corner in one honking, metal mass.

When the fox girl finally pulled herself free, she stumbled into the crowd, accidentally knocking over a few unlucky passerbys.  Gengetsu clutched her sides and guffawed loudly, almost missing the sight of another girl with pointed ears, jumping up and down as she waved to the fox girl.

When Gengetsu saw this, she suddenly remembered something and leaned forward towards the reflective surface, letting her hair and forehead brush against the surface.  She contemplated leaning forward even more and careening into the dream entirely, but she decided against it.  She was more content with watching, for now.

~

?Ran!  Over here!?  Parsee tried to stay standing in one place as she called out to the kitsune, who had just managed to get out of the train they were in.  There was a huge crowd around them of human men and women, all wearing strange clothing that made Ran and Parsee stick out like sore thumbs.  Strangely enough, however, no one even seemed to spare them a second glance.

Ran, on the other hand, seemed to be more accustomed to this, even if she had trouble with the doors.  Her tails gave her a wider girth than if she didn?t have them, and therefore picked her way through the crowd easily and reached out to grab Parsee?s hand.  Even if there wouldn?t be a problem finding one or the other in this crowd, getting separated wasn?t the preferable course of action.

?Where are we?? Parsee shouted over the din as she and Ran made haste through the crowd.  Ahead of them was a tunnel, seemingly made of rock but very smooth and giving way to a set of perfectly smooth stairs.

?We?re in a subway station!?

?What?s that??

?It?s where humans?oh, this is going to have to wait until we get out of here.?  Ran sighed in frustration as she half-dragged Parsee through the crowd of strangely-clothed humans until they were on the stairs.  Only then were the two able to let go of each other?s hand.

?Phew?As I was saying, this is one of the many places where humans go to transport themselves around.  We just ?woke up? on one of the trains that they ride in.?

?They can?t fly?  Sucks for them.?  Parsee shrugged and started hopping up the stairs.  ?It looks like there?s something nicer up there!?
The tunnel, oddly enough, kept going at a perfect angle until it gave way to an opening leading to the outside.

When Parsee finally cleared the stairs and got to this point, she stared up in awe at her surroundings.

It was quite different from what she was used to; all the times she had broken out from the Underground to go to the surface, she was always met with quiet and calm, surrounded by trees and grass and not what she was looking at.  The ground was still very hard here, and in place of trees there were tall metal structures stretching higher and higher.  Judging by the black sky, it was obviously night, but there were no stars to be found.  Instead, thousands of tiny lights were coming from the metal structures, lampposts on the streets, and even from the people themselves.  Except for the sky, the place was overflowing with light.

Not to mention sound, of course.  Parsee?s eardrums were being assaulted from all directions by a cacophony of noise, loud music and talking and the roar of boxy devices zipping past on the street ahead.  Her ears drooped, overwhelmed.

Ran?s ears had also flattened against her head as she watched the scene in wonder.  ?I?ve never actually been in a city,? she mused.  ?It?s even more incredible being here than having it described to you.?

?City, huh??  Parsee stared at her surroundings some more, dazed, before shaking her head once.  ?Anyway, we have to find Wingly.?

?I highly doubt we?ll be able to find her in a city this size.?  Ran furrowed her brow in thought.  ?Even youkai have control of their dreams if they?re lucid.?

?So, we can do whatever we want, right??

?To an extent.?

?Maybe there're clues or something?  I mean, we could try reality warping right now if we wanted to...?

?Hmmmm??

Ran and Parsee paused to think, both of them wishing that it would be quiet for just a moment so they could hear their thoughts.

That was when a woman passed by, her red, red hair a stark contrast among the sea of black and brown in the crowd.  Even her clothes stood out: flowing robes the same color as her hair.  She walked down the street with purpose, and disappeared around a corner.

Parsee and Ran looked at each other, until the former broke the silence.

?Close enough.?

And then they took off after her.

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[21:12] <OneLoveOnePurvis> *Black as hell and bitter as love. That is coffee.*
[17:42] <Amra> Himiko's one of the people that's really cute but sometimes art shifts into like hard jojo-style
[17:42] <Amra> as she does something out of character

Tamashii Kanjou

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Re: Gengetsu's Counterattack (feat. Ran)
« Reply #8 on: July 17, 2011, 05:12:25 PM »
Did... Did they just see who I think they saw? If so, then oh gosh! This is going to be awesome.

I loved that scene; welcome to the 'real world,' Parsee, even if it's just a dream. The opening part of Gengetsu watching them was also a nice touch. More, MORE! XD

日巫子

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Re: Gengetsu's Counterattack (feat. Ran)
« Reply #9 on: July 18, 2011, 12:01:43 AM »


Part 3



?There she goes!  She?s headed for that building over there!?

Parsee and Ran pushed through the crowd on the sidewalk, trying not to lose sight of the woman in red.  Only when they broke through did the woman disappear through the door.

Parsee ran up to the building that the woman went into and looked up at the eye-searing sign overhead that read ?Convenience Store?.  Upon looking through the windows, she saw some humans milling about among very neatly-stocked shelves of?something.  It was hard to tell what exactly was in there, because everything seemed like it was in a package.  Curious, she headed for the door, only to find that it opened by itself when she walked near it.

?Whoa!?  Parsee stepped back, and the door closed again.

???

She grinned and stepped near it again, and it opened again.  She repeated this process a few more times before Ran walked past her and through the doors, looking happy that her tails didn?t get caught.

The convenience store was even more impressive on the inside.  One thing was for sure: whoever owned it was very, very organized.  The shelves were lined up in perfect alignment in the middle of the room and along the walls.  Every shelf was packed full of items: all the ones in similar-looking packages were next to each other.  At the doors were stacks of baskets, one of which the red-haired woman was carrying as she made her way to the back of the store.  The shelves back there were covered with glass doors.  When the woman opened one, a cloud seeped out.

As Ran made her way towards the red-haired woman, Parsee headed over to the nearest shelf and looked at its contents.  There were pictures of food on all of them.  In particular, pictures of all sorts of noodles that would be made instantly, according to the labeling.  Further down the aisle were packages featuring pictures of sweets, and Parsee?s mouth watered.  She picked up a tightly sealed cup bearing a picture of noodles with vegetables and beef and tried giving it a shake.

To her surprise, she heard a rattling sound rather than the sloshing of noodles and broth.  This wasn?t what she was expecting.  Still, this made her all the more curious, and she tried picking at the plastic covering the cup of noodles.

~

"Gosh, Chen, you don't eat it straight out of the cup like that!  You're supposed to pour boiling hot water into it first and stir it, okay?  It'll taste much better like that, trust me."

"Heh heh, sorry~"


~

Meanwhile, Ran was watching from behind a shelf as the red-haired woman reached into her dress pocket and extracted a cell phone.  Ran?s fox ears perked up from underneath her hat, but she wasn?t surprised.  Even she had one of those; Yukari-sama had given one to her when they first came out, so that it would be easier to keep in touch when they were far away from each other.

Beep?beep?beep?The cell phone in the woman?s hand was red, just like the rest of her outfit, and bore cute little charms in the shapes of strawberries, UFOs, stars, and?an ICBM missile with a cartoony face on it.  How endearing.

The charms jangled as the woman held the phone up to her ear, waited a few moments, and began to speak.

?Hello!  I?m making a snack run right now, anything you want??  The woman balanced the phone between her cheek and her left shoulder as she turned a carton of ice cream over in her hands before depositing it in her basket.  ?I?m near the ice cream right now, I?m getting strawberry flavored?Vanilla?  That?s kind of boring?Strawberry is not boring!?  The woman laughed a little.  ?Okay, fine, you win??  She picked out another carton of ice cream.

??Ehh, is that so?  I, on the other hand, will have to grade those tests tomorrow?Well, no, we?re busy all the time??  As the woman said this, she turned away from the shelf and came face to face with Ran, who was standing mere feet ahead of her.  They both stared at each other for a good long minute, before the woman started stuttering into the phone.

?Wha?!  No, I mean, yes!  Oh my gosh, you have fox tails?!?  The woman?s eyes were as wide as plates, and only by some miracle did she not drop her phone.  Her mind was running a mile a minute, and she couldn't quite grasp anything she wanted to say.  ?Not you, her!  Um, by her I mean??

The woman looked back to Ran, only to find that her fox ears and nine tails had disappeared.

?Huh??  She blinked in surprise, but her only response from Ran was a puzzled look.  ?Uhh, nevermind.  I?ll, uh, see you later, Chiyu.  I?m taking the shortcut home so I?ll be there in half the time.  Bye!?  The woman slammed her phone shut and stared at Ran, who stared back curiously.

?What?s the matter?? Ran asked.

?Wha?you?what??  All the woman could do was stammer, and her face started growing as red as her clothes when she realized that her outburst had attracted many pairs of curious eyes.

When Parsee had tried to open the cup of noodles to see why it was rattling once and for all, she heard someone squawking about fox tails and almost dropped what she was holding.  No one else had even seen the two of them or even said anything about Ran?s tails, so why now?
However, when she looked over, she noticed that Ran was lacking said tails, not to mention the ears on her hat were droopy.  She looked like any other human now, albeit a strangely-dressed one.  Parsee was admittedly disappointed; Ran?s tails were one of the main things she used to identify her, and one of the things she liked to imagine Ran was known for.  Well, she?d ask later?

The woman barely glanced at Parsee before hastily making her way towards the counter, thus missing the fact that Parsee?s ears were pointy and moving up and down.  In fact, the woman avoided all eye contact with just about everyone but the cashier until she had her bag and was out of the store.  She kept walking until she was at an alley sloped down into a staircase, leading into a dark tunnel.  It was a passageway that would lead under the city and out the other side, where she could go back to the quiet suburbs.

Then, she stopped and wheeled around to face Ran and Parsee, who were still following her.

?What?!?

It was then that Parsee realized that this might be a little harder to explain than she originally thought?at least, it would have been then.

?Well we?re kinda looking for something and we thought that maybe you might be some sort of clue or marker since you really stick out like a sore thumb,? Parsee explained without missing a single beat.  ?Oh, and I?m Mizuhashi Parsee, who are you??

?Okazaki Yumemi??  Yumemi answered almost immediately, but then realized what Parsee had said to her.  ?Hey, wait a second, I don?t stick out that badly!? she cried in frustration, her cheeks flushing red again.  Sure, she loved red more than any other color, and even her eyes and hair were just the right shade, but to go that far?

Yumemi sighed and, feeling humiliated enough, turned and started down the stairs.  ?You know what, nevermind.  I?m going home.?

Parsee watched as Yumemi walk away.  It was very dark, but she could still see each individual stair, leading down into the stone tunnel, but that?s where it became a bit hazy.  There were thousands upon thousands of what looked like urchin?s spines, pitch black and bearing a scrolling pattern of the stars.  That was all Parsee could make out, that and the tunnel seemed to just keep going down.

Just looking at it made her dizzy.

?Wait!?  Parsee started down the steps after Yumemi, vaguely noting Ran?s footsteps as the kitsune pursued the both of them.  However, Yumemi was already in the tunnel.

Standing there among the spines, but completely unharmed, she looked into the abyss.  ?Huh?  That?s strange, I?m pretty sure this tunnel doesn?t work like this, but...this is definitely the way to go, I think,? she said to herself as she continued walking.  Looking at the sea urchin spines around her she felt a little claustrophobic, but all that was forgotten when she turned back to see Ran and Parsee following her.  ?You two are still here?  Leave me alone.?

When they didn?t leave, Yumemi turned away from them, deciding to ignore them completely.  Up ahead, she could even see a small, purplish light at the end of the tunnel.  She was almost out, and maybe if she ran, she could shake them off.  With that in mind, she put a little hop in her step as she cleared the tunnel and skipped out into the open.  When she looked at her surroundings, however, her heart sank.

??A cave??

~

I think I belong here.  Why does the moon feel so familiar?  I was wondering why I was staring up at a pitch black sky, but when I finally reached the end of my journey, you were here, standing at the doors and saying, ?Welcome home?.  When I go past you and through the doors, I see many smiling faces before me, the cause of their joy being my return.

Somehow, going home feels not like reaching the future, but being in the present.

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[21:12] <OneLoveOnePurvis> *Black as hell and bitter as love. That is coffee.*
[17:42] <Amra> Himiko's one of the people that's really cute but sometimes art shifts into like hard jojo-style
[17:42] <Amra> as she does something out of character

Re: Gengetsu's Counterattack (feat. Ran)
« Reply #10 on: July 18, 2011, 12:07:07 AM »
Yeah ... the first chapter was kind of incomprehensible, and it also seemed to bounce around a bit without really focusing on any given idea long enough to make sense of it in and of itself. I also haven't read the RPGs, because they tend to get billions of 1000-post-threads long, and I'm particularly not interested in reading it just for one fanfic. The other chapters are internally-consistent, at any rate; I could roughly follow it in and of itself, it's just the premise that's leaving me completely behind.

And if it's an outright "counterattack" to something which happened in the RPGs, I'm completely lost.

日巫子

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Re: Gengetsu's Counterattack (feat. Ran)
« Reply #11 on: July 18, 2011, 04:40:18 PM »
Windows has encountered a problem and needs to close.  We are sorry for the inconvenience.

☆ Check my profile for links to my sites! ☆
[21:12] <OneLoveOnePurvis> *Black as hell and bitter as love. That is coffee.*
[17:42] <Amra> Himiko's one of the people that's really cute but sometimes art shifts into like hard jojo-style
[17:42] <Amra> as she does something out of character

日巫子

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Re: Gengetsu's Counterattack (feat. Ran)
« Reply #12 on: July 20, 2011, 05:58:09 PM »


Part 4



Yumemi stared up at the cave ceiling that stretched high, high above her.  All around her was the a barren wasteland.  The ground was not flat but gave way to various little hills and dips in the ground.  High above a bronze moon stared down at her, giving way to a sickly purple glow that made the place seen downright hellish.

All she wanted was to get some food and go home.  Was this karma for eating too many sweets?  Surely it wasn?t that bad?

Meanwhile, Ran and Parsee were sliding out of the tunnel and into the open.  Ran?s tails had reappeared, and she used them to soften her landing.  Upon getting a good view of her surroundings, her brow furrowed.  She instinctively looked to her right, and saw in the distance the faint glow of lights.

Parsee followed Ran?s gaze, and her ears pricked up.  ?I know where we are,? she said.  When she had a better look around, she thought she knew where specifically where they were, but Parsee somehow felt in her comfort zone at the moment.  She looked up at the cave ceiling, and frowned at the sight of the moon.  It was still underground, so this was before she and Ran met.

?Well, I don?t!  What did you do??  Yumemi wheeled around to face Parsee, visibly distraught.

?Nothing, calm down??

?No way!  Explain what?s going on!?

?Um??

Girls are trying to explain?
~

Deep in the bowels of the biggest castle in Makai, the demon army restlessly waited in the mess hall, where they were to be given the details of the invasion.  Their armor clanked noisily with every movement they made, thus making it hard for one to even think, given the huge number of soldiers crammed into the room.

It was at that moment that the doors to the mess hall swung open, smacking against the walls loudly enough to get the army?s attention.  They watched as a woman with flowing blonde hair walked up to the podium at the front of the room, smoothing out her short red dress and white apron as she went.  No doubt did many eyes linger down at her legs, but the sound of her harsh clapping brought their attention to her sharp red eyes.

?Gentlemen, I?m sure you?re all at the edge of your seats in regards to the invasion,? said Yumeko, the right-hand woman of the goddess of Makai.  ?However, I am here to inform you that the invasion has been cancelled as the date coincides with the eighth birthday of Shinki-sama?s daughter, Alice.  You may feel free to wear a party hat for the rest of the week.?

And with that, Yumeko stepped off the podium and walked right out. 

The entire army face faulted.

?Shinki-sama!  You cannot be serious!?

Hours later, after news of the cancelled invasion spread, a young woman with a red ribbon tying her golden hair back was walking hastily through the corridor.  She donned a long purple dress with a red cloak of an equal length, both billowing with each step she took.  Her wings, leathery and batlike, were fanned in anger, and her knuckles were white from clutching her staff.

?Shinki-sama!?

The woman walking in front of her slowly stopped and turned around.  Her robes were of the darkest red, and her hair was of the lightest lilac.  Six demonic-looking wings sprouted from her back, but everyone in Makai unanimously agreed that she was positively angelic.

?Yes??

?With all due respect, milady, but if we don?t do this now, then we?ll never have the chance to invade again.  This is our only opportunity!?

?It is.?

She felt a vein bulge in her forehead.  ?And you?re cancelling it to celebrate??

There was a small smile on Shinki?s face.  ?Wouldn?t you prefer to have a party rather than to go off to war, Elis???

~

??We?re in a dream??

Parsee nodded.

Yumemi heaved a sigh and turned away.  ?I don?t even?Maybe if I find my way home somehow I?ll wake up.?  She started to walk away.

?She has given up quite easily,? Ran remarked as she and Parsee watched the woman leave.  ?Well, this is happening too fast for her to properly react to, anyway.?

?Yeah, it?s going way too fast,? Parsee agreed.  She took one more look around the cave.  ?If we walk straight through this wasteland, we?ll be able to find the tunnel leading to the Current Hell.?

?I?ve never been to the Current Hell, this will be interesting,? Ran mused as she and Parsee started to walk.  From there, the conversation ended and they walked quietly forward, towards the end of the wastelands opposite the city.

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[21:12] <OneLoveOnePurvis> *Black as hell and bitter as love. That is coffee.*
[17:42] <Amra> Himiko's one of the people that's really cute but sometimes art shifts into like hard jojo-style
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Re: Gengetsu's Counterattack (feat. Ran)
« Reply #13 on: July 20, 2011, 06:03:13 PM »


Part 5



?I?m being serious!? Yumemi cried, desperate to make herself heard over the roaring laughter.  ?There was a shrine maiden on a flying turtle and everything!?

She was on the verge of tears when she felt a comforting hand on her shoulder.

?Give it a rest, Yumemi.  They?re not going to believe a word we?re saying??


~

Yumemi continued to trudge along the barren ground, wondering when she would wake up.  She knew that as soon as she did, she would make sure to tell her friend and no one else about it.  She had done that before, and as usual she was laughed at.

Come to think of it, it was strange that she had been talking to her friend on the phone about grading university papers in the first place, when that same university had let her go all those years ago.  Yes, this was most definitely a dream.

Since it was a dream, why wasn?t she waking up?

Yumemi looked up at the ?moon? at the cave?s ceiling again.  When she squinted, she could see the faint figure of a woman carved into it.  Her eyes were closed, and there was a peaceful expression on her face, as though she were sleeping.  Yumemi absentmindedly pinched her cheek, only to find that she was still walking through some cave in God-knows-where.

She sighed.  ?Normally I?d be so happy to have a dream like thiAAH!?  Her musings were cut off as she tripped over something and fell flat on her face.  The convenience store bag she was carrying fell out of her hands, and the cartons of ice cream went rolling across the ground.  This was accompanied by a thud and then a clattering sound.

Yumemi rubbed her head, making no move to get up off the ground.  This dream couldn?t get any worse.

?Uuuhh??

Yumemi?s eyes shot open.  Unless she had somehow lost control of her vocal cords, she did not make that sound.  She turned her head to see what she had tripped over.  It was a little girl with a red ribbon in her long, purple-black hair.  She was wearing a light blue yukata with a dragonfly motif on it, and on her feet were straw sandals.  To Yumemi, who was used to seeing children wearing school uniforms or shorts and t-shirts, found this very strange.  Was there a festival going on?

The little girl whimpered as she sat up.  There were already tears in her eyes as she put a hand to her forehead.

?Ah, I?m sorry!?  Yumemi sat up and hastily gathered the food she had dropped on the ground.  ?Are you okay??

The girl started to nod, but stopped herself.  Yumemi watched in curiosity as she picked up a small wooden bead from the ground.  The girl wiped her eyes with her sleeve but didn?t say anything.  Yumemi was curious, but stood up and held out a hand to the girl.  ?I guess I should?ve been watching where I was going.  Are you hurt anywhere??

The girl refused Yumemi?s hand?causing the latter to wonder if the girl was just shy around strangers?and pushed herself off the ground on her own.  She then stared down at the bead in her hand, and then looked around at the ground.

?My bracelet??

?Hm??

?It broke.?  The girl looked at the bead again as though it were a dead goldfish.

?Oh.?

Yumemi was admittedly not good with children, seeing as she had more experience in teaching adults and people in their late teens and not elementary schoolers.  She considered telling the girl the ?it?s okay? line, but if something of value to someone broke, was it really okay?

An awkward silence followed, during which the little girl hesitantly looked around for signs of any other beads, but to no avail.  Her eyes started to water, and that was when Yumemi decided to break the silence.

?Hey, even if you can?t find all the beads you dropped, you can always get another one, right??

?Eh..?  Ane-chan made it for me, so it won?t be the same.?

??Ane-chan???

?Yeah.?  The girl?s eyes brightened a little.  ?Ane-chan is Ane-chan.  Although I really liked this bracelet.?

Yumemi stood up.  ?Then I?m sure she?ll be happy to make you another one.?

The girl smiled.  ?Uh-huh!?

Guuuu~

The girl?s face fell.  ?I?m hungry.?

Yumemi held up her bag.  ?I have ice cream?do you want any??

She shook her head.  ?No!  If I do that, then I won?t have any room for dinner!?  With that, she turned on her heels and started running off into the wastes.  Yumemi was taken aback; she was expecting the little girl to jump at the prospect of ice cream.  Well, whatever was for dinner, she was certainly looking forward to it.  As she was thinking about that, a sudden thought sprung into her mind.

?Wait!  Don?t tell me you live out here!? Yumemi called after her.

?Of course I do!  See ya!? the girl called out, waving.  Before Yumemi could say anything else or go after her, she disappeared.

Almost as soon as Yumemi had met the girl, she disappeared in the blink of an eye.  What a strange child.  What was she doing all the way out here, anyway?

?I guess it?s too late to chase after her now.?  Yumemi shrugged and kept walking.  As she was checking to see if they ice cream had melted or not, she felt something crunch beneath her foot.  Upon stopping and moving back to see what she had stepped on, she saw the shattered remains of a small wooden bead.  It must have been extremely brittle, or at least some weak type of wood, if that even existed.  Then again, this was a dream.

But since that was a bead, it must have been part of the bracelet that girl had dropped.  Yumemi felt a little bad for stepping on it, but what was done was done. 
However, as she continued on, she found that she was hearing the crunching sounds more often.  She tried passing it off as some gravel or something, but after a while she finally looked down to see what was going on.

It was a trail of wooden beads, lined up one by one in a winding path that led towards a huge tunnel.  Remembering a story she had read as a child, Yumemi broke into a run.  Convenience store bag gripped tightly in her hands, she sped towards the tunnel until her footsteps started echoing.  She didn?t stop or even slow down until she had been completely obscured by the darkness.

The ground dipped down, and Yumemi suddenly lost track of which way was up.

~

Thud!

Yumemi groaned and tried untangling herself from the blankets, her eyes squinty and unfocused as she tried to figure out what just happened.  Last thing she knew she was running through a tunnel, but before that?What happened before that?  She remembered meeting someone, but she completely forgot what she looked like.

Trying to shake the sleep out of her head, Yumemi looked up at the clock on her nightstand.  The red symbols ?4:16am? glared down at her.  She groaned and got up from the floor, swaying, and collapsed back on her bed.

~

When she came home today, she had an empty bucket with her.  Apparently she took my comment about it being impossible to find a bucket without a tsurube-otoshi in it literally and went to prove me wrong.  I?m curious as to where she was actually able to find a bucket big enough to hold her, but if she plans to sleep in that thing, she should at least line it with some blankets or something.  She?s still developing, that can?t be good for her back?

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[21:12] <OneLoveOnePurvis> *Black as hell and bitter as love. That is coffee.*
[17:42] <Amra> Himiko's one of the people that's really cute but sometimes art shifts into like hard jojo-style
[17:42] <Amra> as she does something out of character

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Re: Gengetsu's Counterattack (feat. Ran)
« Reply #14 on: July 24, 2011, 03:42:29 AM »


Part 6



The wall of the tunnel was cold and rough.  Parsee kept a hand on it as she walked, somehow unable to see through the dark.  She found it strange, given that she had lived underground for so long, but now it was like she had been blindfolded.  She couldn?t even see her other hand when she held it up in front of her face.  In the face of this sudden lack of night vision, Parsee kept close to the wall, using it to guide herself through the dark.  Her footsteps were close together and hesitant as she felt for signs of a possible drop into a chasm.  She had heard many a tale of foolish adventurers who had run off to the depths of hell to fight oni, only to take one misstep into an abyss.  Youkai immortality or not, dream or not, as a cave-dwelling youkai she would not risk that.

She could vaguely hear Ran on the other side of the tunnel, although her footsteps were so soft that Parsee couldn?t tell whether or not Ran was still in her human form.

Splish

Parsee took a step back, feeling her foot get wet.  She then realized that she couldn?t feel her usual shoes on her feet; instead, she felt as though she were wearing geta.  Come to think of it, her clothes felt a bit different, too.  Missing her arm sleeves, feeling a little lighter, and she could feel an obi wrapped around her waist.  It felt like what she wore in the summer.  Confused, she stood quietly and listened to the gentle lapping of waves.  She didn?t hear Ran?s footsteps anymore, or her voice, or even any splashing.

?Ran??  Parsee looked around in vain, for she was unable to see through the dark at this point.  Her only response was a chilly draft, coming from the direction she thought the water was from.  Maybe the Current Hell had a lake or a river, and you had to take a boat across?  In that case, shouldn?t there be lanterns and boats?

Then again, Parsee was sure Hell wasn?t kind enough to provide transportation.  Not to mention the water was freezing where it washed against her ankles.  Parsee stepped away from the water, and the cave was filled with the sound of a wooden echo.  She was definitely wearing geta.  She put a hand on the cave wall again to guide her back, only to find that it was now smooth.

Parsee was hesitant to enter the water fully clothed, but there didn?t seem to be any other way forward.  She could just take off her footwear and go in that way, but she?d need her arms and hands free for swimming.  Besides, she didn?t even know how deep the water was.

It could be ankle deep, for all she knew.

Parsee slowly walked forward until she was ankle deep in the water.  Chills instantly ran through her legs, and she started shivering.  Nevertheless, she gritted her teeth and kept going forward.  She was already aware that this was a stupid idea, but she knew she was okay: she couldn?t die in a dream.

By the time she was waist-deep, however, she was starting to regret her decision.  Her teeth were chattering, and she could feel goose bumps on her arms.  To top it all off, she still couldn?t see a thing.  She should?ve just felt around for a boat or something.

?Ran??  She called out again, but she was only met with silence.  Parsee grumbled, annoyed, and turned around.  She started to walk back through the water, towards the shore, when she heard a rush of water.  A small wave slapped her in the back, and she lost her balance and fell forward into the water.  She immediately closed her mouth to prevent water rushing in and kicked her legs to propel herself towards the surface.  Taking a deep breath the second she broke the surface, her heart sank when she realized that she was now treading water.  She couldn?t feel the rocky bottom of the pool.

Struggling to stay afloat in the open water, Parsee briefly thought back to the kappa, who could swim like fish.  Despite there being a flowing river under Parsee?s bridge, she was a slow swimmer at best.

Parsee stewed over this as her limbs grew too tired to keep her afloat, and she slowly sank under the water.

~

Parsee opened her eyes to find herself floating underwater.  As far as she could tell, it was just water everywhere.  Rays of sunlight shone down into the water, eventually giving way to a complete darkness far, far below.  Parsee?s mouth was closed tightly, and when she realized her lungs were hurting she struggled towards the surface once more.

She could see now, but the tunnel and Former Hell were nowhere in sight.  The water was still cold, although not to the point that she was shivering still.  Parsee looked around for any signs of land.  In the distance she could see what appeared to be a small island.  It was a start, so she ducked back underwater and started swimming along, coming back up every few seconds for air.  Even with the water being as cold as it was, the sun beat down with an intensity Parsee was not used to.  Perhaps that was why her clothes had suddenly become more fitting for summer weather.

The process took what felt like forever, and Parsee wished Ran were with her; she looked like she knew how to swim, and would probably ferry her across the water if asked.  While lamenting the lack of kitsune, Parsee finally reached the small island.

It was less of an island and more like a strip of land with a dirt path cutting straight across through the grass, from one end to the other.  A strange, box-like thing was standing next to the dirt path, along with a trash can.  Parsee pulled herself out of the water and onto dry land, panting, when she noticed a tall woman with long, blonde hair and a single red horn jutting out of her forehead.  She was standing with her back to Parsee next to the box-like thing, with one hand on the bicycle propped up next to her and the other holding something in her hand.

~

Yuugi stood under the open sky for the first time in what felt like an eternity, letting the hot sun beat down on her.  Water dripped from her hair, clothes, shackles, and even her bicycle, creating a puddle where she stood.  As heavier clothes would not be suitable for moving through the water, she chose a shorter version of her usual translucent skirt and a simple white t-shirt.  Even then she felt like the water dripping from her was like sweat.  Even though it was a cloudy day, it was still hot.

She took one look at the can she was holding and downed its contents in one gulp.  She let out a prolonged sigh in satisfaction, and promptly smashed the can against her head and threw it in the trash can.

?Hahhh?that was good.?  Yuugi took her hair in her hands and wrung it out, although it wouldn?t matter much since she would be going back in the water anyway.  ?Booze on the surface just doesn?t quite compare to what?s under the sea, though.?  She let go of her hair and combed her fingers through it to work out any tangles.  It was about time she headed back down.

?Guess who??

Yuugi suddenly found her vision obscured by a pair of smaller hands, as someone came up behind her and covered her eyes.  She stood there for a split second, and then smiled.  There?s no way she couldn?t guess who.

?Someone I ?aven?t seen in a while.?  Yuugi turned around to kiss Parsee?s forehead in greeting.  ?Hiya, Parsee~?

Parsee giggled a little.  ?What do you mean, you haven?t seen me in a while?  You were with me yesterday, weren?t you??

?No, I was still travelling to the vending machine up here??  Yuugi scratched her head, confused.  Was there something she missed?  ?Well, in any case, what are you doing here??

?I?m looking for Ran?and Wingly.?

?Who?s Wingly??

Right, how was Parsee going to explain that?  She had only briefly mentioned Wingly to her in the waking world.

Well, if she summarized it, it would be okay.

?There?s this winged girl who?s been giving me nightmares for months, remember?  I?m looking for her.?

?Ohh, are you going to get revenge??

~

Gengetsu laid on her stomach, idly kicking her legs in the air as she rested her head on her arms.  Eyes drooping slightly, she lifted a hand and dipped it into the pool.

?You?re really asking for it, aren?t you?? she murmured.

~

?I got separated from Ran, though.  Any idea where she might be at right now??

?Hm?no, sorry.?  Yuugi shook her head.  ?But you say this winged girl?s been givin? you nightmares, right??
Parsee nodded.

?I wonder?it?d probably fit under the category of supernatural phenomenon, wouldn?t it??  Yuugi grinned in the manner of someone up to something.  ?Even if it isn?t, I might know a place where that attracts a lotta weird stuff like that.?

~

I trailed at the back of the group, watching the seven men in front of me as they jested and laughed with each other.  The sun was close to setting, but none of them were worried as they continued down the dirt path.  With every little sound I jerked my head this way or that, trying to see through the thick web of trees that surrounded us.  I was honestly surprised that there was a path at all, but I suppose it was better than tromping through the grass like animals.  I suppose my male companions wouldn?t have minded that, either.

I wondered if I would have stood out a little bit to any hypothetical bystanders, tagging along like a sister wanting to join her brothers going out to play.  That gave me a bit of optimism about this strange place we were in: it was just like going out to play.  It?d be nice to go home at the end of the day and have coffee or tea with sweets, like we always do after our outings.  It?s like a sacred ritual.

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[21:12] <OneLoveOnePurvis> *Black as hell and bitter as love. That is coffee.*
[17:42] <Amra> Himiko's one of the people that's really cute but sometimes art shifts into like hard jojo-style
[17:42] <Amra> as she does something out of character

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Re: Gengetsu's Counterattack (feat. Ran)
« Reply #15 on: July 26, 2011, 07:56:08 PM »


Part 7



A light at the end of the tunnel didn?t always mean the end of life.  It could mean that something new was beginning.  That would have been from an optimist?s point of view.  Ran considered herself an optimist; there was no use feeling down all the time if she was going to be over 900 years old, anyway.

The tunnel was pitch black, but she could see a light at the end of it, washing over the rock as it gave way to moss and then grass.  She felt a pleasant breeze wash over her, and she hastened her pace.

?Looks like the weather?s good out there,? Ran noted, and turned towards where Parsee was.  When there was no answer, Ran stopped walking and listened.
There was not a sound of anyone else?s footsteps but hers.  Did they get separated along the way somehow?  Ran considered turning back to see what had happened when a strong gust of wind blew from inside the cavern, pushing Ran out into the open.  Taken aback, she tried to hold her ground, but before she knew it she had been pushed out into the open.  She stumbled forward, and her hat fell off and was carried away into the sky.

Ran looked up in surprise, but upon looking into the sky she was met with a very strange sight.

It was a huge tree, with a thick trunk approximately four miles in diameter and 800 meters high.  At the top of the tree was a thick canopy of intertwined branches and possibly trillions of leaves, all different shades of vibrant green.  Somehow, it felt strange for an ash tree.

~

I noticed her standing a few feet away from me, and held out my hand to her.  Despite the language barrier, we could still at least communicate with body language.  I offered a small smile.  She was quick to return it as she reached out and took my hand.  At that moment I felt rather honored that she trusted me enough to let me guide her.  She was like a princess, after all.

I squeezed her hand gently, and we started heading down one of the long corridors.


~

When Ran approached the tree, she saw openings in the hundreds of huge roots jutting out of the ground, leading into an open space below.  She caught a faint glistening of water, a small stream running under the tree.  She was reminded of the river running underneath the bridge underground, and wondered where the hashihime went.

It really was odd that they knew each other, Ran thought as she started climbing under the tree, using the roots as footholds.  Of course, given the circumstances, their friendship started rather naturally.  Parsee needed to go somewhere, and ended up employing Ran?s help to get there.  That was by far the simplest way of explaining it, and Ran much desired to leave it at that and forget what exactly was going on at the time.  It was done and over with.

Now that Ran thought about it, though, it was strange to be associated with someone who was sealed away underground.

She sighed.

What brought this train of thought on was the stream.  How strange.

?Hey, you!?

Ran?s ears perked at the sound of an unfamiliar voice, and she looked down towards the stream.  There was a woman with long, flowing black hair sitting cross-legged on a rock at the edge of the stream, sporting a torn white blouse and green skirt that just barely passed as wearable.  Sitting in the middle of her chest was a large, luminous red eye; the skin around it was ravaged with scar tissue and was quite painful to behold.  Not only that, but her right arm was burned and cracked.  A pair of huge black wings sprouted from the woman?s back.

She grinned up at Ran with a pair of fiery red eyes and propped her chin on her hand.  ?Yeah, you.  Whatcha doin? down here, huh??

Ran raised an eyebrow.  The eye on the chest and raven wings matched the description of a hell raven Yukari-sama had told her about, one who had caused an incident, but she remembered being told that the girl was birdbrained and, well?Ran was in no position to make judgements when she hadn?t even met her in the waking world.

 ?I said, whatcha doin? down here, huh??

~

?There was once a day where the first oni to grace the surface of Gensokyo in hundreds of years made a trip to the Misty Lake located near the Scarlet Devil Mansion.  After stumbling around drunk for a few minutes, she challenged the local ice faerie Cirno to a duel which lasted surprisingly long for a battle between an oni and faerie, the strongest and weakest species in Gensokyo, respectively.  Hundreds of faeries came to cheer on their brethren as she valiantly dueled with every bit of strength she possessed.

When the dust had settled and the water stopped rippling in the lake, the oni Ibuki Suika came out as the victorious one, simultaneously garnering the respect of every faerie within a 20 mile radius and establishing her superior strength in the process all in the name of, as she put it later that day, ?the shits and giggles.?  Cirno, in the meanwhile, was impressed at having found a worthy opponent to one day defeat, and from that day forward all faerie kind considered all oni to be totally badass.?

Reimu folded up the Bunbunmaru newspaper and set it down on the porch next to her, and heaved a sigh.  Her freeloading oni had made a name for herself even among the faeries.  Whether this would be good or bad was something only time would tell.

She considered consulting Sakuya, but shook her head and laughed it off.  There was no way the Scarlet Devil Mansion?s chief maid would be able to tell.

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[21:12] <OneLoveOnePurvis> *Black as hell and bitter as love. That is coffee.*
[17:42] <Amra> Himiko's one of the people that's really cute but sometimes art shifts into like hard jojo-style
[17:42] <Amra> as she does something out of character

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Re: Gengetsu's Counterattack (feat. Ran)
« Reply #16 on: July 28, 2011, 04:54:32 AM »
Right, managed to catch up, Not that I mind, really. Sanae Quest and Parsee Quest were fun to read.  Plus, aside from why Ran and Parsee were in the same dream, those quests only make the first part easier to understand, along with a bit about Gengetsu, but that can mostly be inferred.

So yeah, like I said earlier, I like this.

...Yumemi Quest maybe?

Oh, and the italicized paragraphs are a bit confusing, but I'm sure you'll explain that at some point, so no worries there.

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Re: Gengetsu's Counterattack (feat. Ran)
« Reply #17 on: July 30, 2011, 04:44:46 PM »
I felt uncomfortable writing this, and I was afraid of posting this chapter at all.  I apologize in advance. 
Spoiler:
sorry, parsee ;_;



Part 8



?What?s wrong??

Yuugi was standing waist-deep in the ocean with her bike, looking back at Parsee, who was still standing on the island.

There were many things wrong with this picture.  Yuugi had walked into the water like it was the most normal thing in the world, and if Parsee didn?t call out to her, she would?ve been in over her head by now.

?Won?t you drown??

?Eh??  Yuugi blinked and looked down at the water.  ?No, anyone can breathe in this.?

?Uh huh??  Parsee braced herself as she followed Yuugi into the ocean.  The latter turned and continued walking until she was completely submerged, her hair fanning out behind her.  She didn?t seem fazed in the slightest.  Parsee took a deep breath and followed her, covering her mouth with her hands as water closed in on all sides of her.

Yuugi, on the other hand, was walking her bike calmly down the slope and into deeper water.  Further down, she could see hundreds of wooden houses built onto the rock and sand, ropes holding back rowboats, kites, laundry, flags, and just about everything else from the surface.  Among that were beds of coral, seaweed, and other ocean life.  Although the water wasn?t salty, it was definitely an ocean.

She kept walking at a leisurely pace, letting the view sooth her, when she heard a muffled gurgling behind her.  She stopped and turned to see Parsee with her hands clamped tightly over her nose and mouth, desperately trying to keep the water out.  Bubbles were starting to come from between her fingers, and her face was turning red.  Yuugi?s eyes bugged a little.

?I said before that anyone can breathe underwater!  You?re going to faint if you keep that up!? she cried, and at that moment Parsee?s hands floated away from her mouth as she went limp in the water.

Parsee?s lungs felt like they were on fire as water rushed in, and she started to sputter and choke.  This only made it worse, and she started to wonder why Yuugi was able to breathe underwater while she couldn?t.  Her vision blurred.

A sudden roaring sound filled Parsee?s ears, and her eyes snapped open.  She found herself staring up at a stormy sky that was almost black.  Wind ripped at her, and she felt herself laying on something dry and prickly.  The stench of blood in the air choked her.  She felt waves lapping at her from the waist down, and she pulled herself onto drier land.  That was when she saw why there was such a horrible smell in the air.

It was not water that she was half submerged in, it was blood.  The perfectly blue and pleasantly cool ocean had been replaced by a deep red, frothing as waves spilled over each other and washed up against the shore of the island, on which the grass was rotted and dead.  Parsee looked down at the blood soaking her dress, and her stomach churned.  Forcing herself to get on her feet, she stumbled away from the ocean?s edge and onto her hands and knees, where she proceeded to throw up everything she had eaten in the past 24 hours.

Parsee coughed before dragging herself further towards the center of the island.  She then hugged her legs to her chest and buried her face in her knees, screwing her eyes shut.

?What?s wrong??

It was her voice, but at the same time it wasn?t and she didn?t want to hear that voice right now she just wanted to wake up.

She heard the crunching sound of grass with each footstep that approached her until she heard someone kneel down next to her and bump their forehead against hers.

The girl?s bitter laugh rang in Parsee?s ears.

?You really are squeamish, aren?t you?  You?ve lived for hundreds of years; you should be able to take it, shouldn?t you?  That?s really kind of pathetic.?

Wake up wake up wake up wake up

 ?Yuugi would?ve been able to look at this without so much as blinking.  She was able to just go underwater without being afraid of drowning, too.?

Wake up wake up wakeupwakeupwakeupwakeup

?Did you think this wasn?t going to happen or something?  You?ve already had these kinds of dreams, at least come in here with a plan or something.?  Parsee felt her shaking her head.  ?I mean, really now.?

~

Yuugi, up until this point, had never heard Parsee scream.  It sounded as though she was being tortured as she lay clutching the sides of her head, curled up like a pill bug and visibly trembling.

The worst of it was already over; Yuugi looked around at the damage the cavern had sustained.  The ceiling had taken a few blows, and the river was already carrying away debris that had fallen from that and the ground.  The bridge above them was suffering from a few splintered beams, but nothing that couldn?t be fixed.

Yuugi rubbed her temples as she looked back down at Parsee, who was showing no signs of calming down.

?Parsee??  Yuugi tried calling out to the bridge princess again, but to no avail.  Sighing, she walked over and knelt down in front of her.  Not sure what else to do, she scooped Parsee into her arms and held her, gently stroking her back.  Her screams eventually deescalated into wails, which then turned into quiet sobbing.
After a while, it was quiet.  Parsee buried her face in Yuugi?s shoulder and shivered.

??you saw.? she murmured.  Her voice was filled with dread.

?Yeah.?


~

The young woman with gold hair and eyes smoothed out her apron as she stood up from the grass and turned to walk back towards the dome.  Small clouds of dust billowed with each step she took, rising and falling.  When she reached the door, she very delicately pushed it open and looked inside with an almost sheepish cautiousness.

There, inside, her sister was curled up on the floor, asleep.  Her fluffy wings were folded on either side of her body, providing warmth as she slept.  Her breathing was even and calm, and her expression was that of one having a peaceful dream.

?Ha ha.?  She couldn?t help but smile a little as she backed away from the door.  ?I wonder what kind of dream you?re having.?

☆ Check my profile for links to my sites! ☆
[21:12] <OneLoveOnePurvis> *Black as hell and bitter as love. That is coffee.*
[17:42] <Amra> Himiko's one of the people that's really cute but sometimes art shifts into like hard jojo-style
[17:42] <Amra> as she does something out of character

日巫子

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Re: Gengetsu's Counterattack (feat. Ran)
« Reply #18 on: August 08, 2011, 03:52:51 AM »
I will be afk from the 10th to the 15th.



Part 9



The wood behind Ran crumbled against her weight as she was slammed back into it by the winged woman.  Gritting her teeth, Ran dug her foot into the woman?s stomach and kicked her back; the force of the kick sent the woman stumbling back and into the stream, where she sat up, sputtering.

Ran wouldn?t allow any time for recovery, however, and she sprang forward while drawing back her left fist.  The woman reached out with her non-burned hand in turn to catch the uppercut, only to be met with a swift punch in the side of the head by Ran?s right fist.  She fell back into the water with a gurgling splash.
?Here?s a question for you.?  Ran pinned her shoulders down to keep her from getting up again.  ?Why did you attack me??

??Cause you?re trespassing.?  The woman tilted her head back to keep water from entering her mouth and nose.

?Huh??

The woman wriggled out of Ran?s grip and sat up.  As she wrung her hair out, she continued to talk.

?It?s the tree of the gods.  You?re no god.?

Ran furrowed her brow a bit.  ?And you are??

?Yup, the Yatagarasu.  That?s me.?

Yatagarasu?Yatagarasu?Ah!  That was it!  Ran remembered now.  Reimu had gone underground to beat back the hell raven girl who had swallowed the dead sun god Yatagarasu.

?Of course, I remember bein? a guy once but now I?m stuck with this form.?  Yatagarasu raised her burnt hand.

?Wha??

Ran opened her mouth to speak when her vision was suddenly filled with a bright flash of white.  She stumbled back into the water, only to find that it wasn?t there.  Instead, her palms hit dirt, and what felt like a massive wave of heat slammed into her.  Instantly every inch of her body felt as if it were on fire; her arms stopped supporting her body, and she fell on her back.

Yatagarasu stood up and started squeezing the water out of her skirt.  She looked back at the kitsune, who was sprawled out in the water, unconscious.

~

?So she?s asleep here, too?A dream within a dream, huh?? I mused as I watched the IV drip, drip, drip into the needle attached to the girl?s arm.  Could it be possible to dream while you were dreaming?  I wouldn?t be surprised at what could be accomplished here.

~

?Well, I guess that wraps things up.?  Yatagarasu flapped her wings and took to the air, flying into a gap in the roots and disappearing.

~

I tapped the writing end of my quill on the table rhythmically as I frowned at the dozens of scrolls and documents spread out on the table before her.  Hundreds of years? worth of information that may be destined to remain disorganized, information that my predecessors had tried and failed to arrange in a coherent timeline.  If this wasn?t the reason why I kept reincarnating, then I didn?t know what was.

The history of the Hakurei Clan was long and complex, after all.  Even before the Great Boundary had been set up they were a prominent family.  They used to be many but now their numbers had dwindled down to one lone girl, who didn?t know a lick about her own family.  Even if I were to show her these documents, she still wouldn?t understand anything about her ancestors.  After all, it was just excerpts and cryptically-written little stories about their various exploits.  I scanned over the dates of a few of the papers and checked for dates, wondering if I could start from there.  This was quite the daunting task I had set myself up for, but perhaps I could start by arranging the ones with dates from oldest to newest, and then look over them for common content from there.

I set my quill off to the side?I wouldn?t be needing it at the moment?and picked up a scroll.  This one was more recent, telling of Hakurei Kaname, the valiant shrine maiden who, with the help of the Gap Youkai Yakumo Yukari, sealed away the Youkai of Darkness, Lumia.  This was over a hundred years ago; I had written this myself.  In fact, I had written all of these papers myself using what little information I had about the Hakureis.  I never got much of a chance to document them properly; I grimaced as I remembered there being a twenty year gap between one of my deaths and reincarnations.  Playing catch up was a nightmare.

Before I realized it, I became lost in reading the parts of the scroll were still legible.  Kaname-san was the only member of the Hakurei Clan I knew on a personal level besides the current shrine maiden, and she was quite the character.  She was hot-blooded enough to eventually forsake Yukari?s advice and take on Lumia by herself.  And she succeeded.

[alt]  From what I gathered, it was about the girl who had sealed away the Youkai of Darkness.

That was maybe a hundred years ago?

I shook my head and rolled up the scroll.  It was no good to be distracted.  I continued leafing through the papers, picking out the ones with dates.  I was quick to notice that the ones with the older dates were more faded and less detailed, some even being smudged.  I could use this to pick out the other ones that were old?

[Hypothetical situation]


~

Ran was jolted out of unconsciousness by the sensation of someone grabbing her arm and shoulder.  Her eyes snapped open; almost on cue, she heard a girl?s gasp.  There was a splashing sound, and Ran saw a young girl darting away from her, towards the river bank.  From the back, all Ran could tell was that her hair was long and dark brown, and she was wearing a dark colored coat over a plaid skirt.  Her clothes were reminiscent of a school girl from the Outside World?At least, Ran remembered as much based on the clothes Yukari had brought in to sell to other people.

??A human??

The girl, who was fetching her shoes and socks from the grass, paused and whipped her head around.  Ran stood up and moved to join the girl at the bank.  Her tails were soaking wet, anyhow.

?I hope you have a good explanation as to what you were doing all of the sudden??  Ran sighed as she took one of her tails in her hands and started to wring it out.

?Uh?uh?what??

Ran shook her head.  ?Forget it.  Anyway??  She perked up a little.  ?Ah.  Now I remember what I was doing again.  I?m looking for a girl, blonde hair, pointy ears, her eyes are green??  Ran glanced back at the girl, who was busy adjusting her socks.  ?Green like yours.  Have you seen anyone like that??

The girl stopped fussing over her socks and furrowed her brow.  ??Uyo hwta idd wno ysa sjtu??

That was not Japanese.  Ran stared back at the girl, wondering what in the world she just said.  For whatever odd reason, it reminded her of English.

?What did you say?? she asked as she started wringing out her second tail.

The girl?s jaw gaped a little, and she started to stammer, perhaps in realization of the language barrier separating them.  After a few moments, she took a deep breath and started to speak again.

?Ah?I?m sorry?I do not understand Japanese well.  Um, do you understand English??

So maybe there wasn?t as much of a language barrier as Ran first thought.  She spoke in Japanese this time, albeit heavily accented Japanese.  Ran sighed a bit out of relief, however: she seemed to possess a basic understanding of the language, at least.  She?d have to keep this simple if she wanted to communicate efficiently with this girl.

?Yes.  However, I didn?t understand what you said just now.?

?Ah.?  The girl nodded, and fidgeted with the sleeve of her coat.  Ran took this opportunity to try asking her about Parsee again.  At this point she had already started wringing water out of her third tail.

?I?m looking for a girl.?  The girl nodded, and Ran continued.  ?She has blonde hair, green eyes, and pointy ears??  She stopped talking when she looked at the confused look on the girl?s face.

?Ahhh, n?tdo dnsredtnau rwdo a I h?sse gniysa?? she muttered to herself.  ?Um, what is your name??

?Yakumo Ran.?

The girl?s eyes widened, and she let out a small squeal of delight.  ?Re?you Kuomay Rna?!  Hmyodgo, vnee v?euolwd I efrdpere ro Espare ro Meiru Angkonra Reima ybmea ro Esane ro Sarima ro Kyauri ro Rsta Eripshpai Irukki ro ngthimeos ro ngteemi htsi llist lcoo os!  Rae Engkyoso fmor?  Eht lrea Rna fmor Engkyoso?  Ybmea Engkyoso I dclou og!  Oooos lcooo~~~?

Ran?s fox ears drooped as she listened to the girl prattle on incoherently.  ?What?s your name??

The girl cut herself off and giggled sheepishly.  ?Hi?Hirenko.?

?Anyway, I?m looking for a girl.  Her name is Parsee.  Do you kn??

?Espare?!  Espare uyo nwko?!?

?Um??

?Ah, sorry.  I haven?t seen her.?  Hirenko shook her head.  ?I am also looking for someone, though.?

?Oh?  Who is it??

?Ummm?.?  The girl paused in thought.  ?Heterochromia.  Right eye is green.  Left eye is blue.?  She then pulled on her ears a little.  ?And, her hair is white.?

Ran mentally ran through the list of people she knew, and no one who fit that description came up.  ?No, I?m sorry.?  She shook her head, and Hirenko seemed to wilt.

?Dgniommgd?I have to find Ceridwen??  Hirenko looked up at the huge roots blocking the view of the sky above.  ?What should I do??

Both Ran and Hirenko went quiet.  Ran, on one hand, wondered if Hirenko would know her way around this tree; she assumed so given she hadn?t asked Ran where she was, and she looked completely uninjured.  Speaking of injuries?Ran started wringing out her fifth tail?Yatagarasu was still probably lurking around.  She didn?t want to go back where she came, that would just be backtracking.  Perhaps Hirenko could help her find some other exit, hopefully one leading closer to where Parsee was.

The problem was how she would ask Hirenko to give directions.  She looked confused enough when Ran was describing Parsee, and she only showed a basic understanding of vocabulary and grammar?

Hm, an exit?An exit would be?

?A door.?

?Hm??

?Can you find a door?? Ran asked.

?Uh?.uh?yeah.?  Hirenko nodded as she slipped on her shoes.  ?Follow.?  With that, she turned and darted off along the riverbank.  Ran let go of her tails and followed her; she might as well let herself dry on her own rather than go through the trouble of wringing out her tails like this.

The two kept running, and Hirenko eventually stopped at the edge of the river, facing towards the intertwining roots at the center, which lead up to the tree above.  Taking a few deep breaths, she hopped into the air and glided across the river, sliding on her stomach like a penguin when she reached the other side.  She stood up and brushed herself off, catching her breath, then motioned for Ran to follow.  The kitsune took a single leap across the river, landing much more gracefully and earning a dismal look from Hirenko.

?Jealous??  She pouted for about a second, and then she and Ran continued on, walking until they reached the edge of the roots.  There was an opening big enough for the two of them to fit through, leading into darkness.  Ran couldn?t even tell if there was a path from there, or if it dropped down, or if it just led into another root.  Hirenko put a hand on one of the roots and muttered something unintelligible, and then poked her head inside.  She patted the root she was touching and quietly snuck in, beckoning Ran as she went.

Ran didn?t have a good feeling about just walking into the roots, but she went in anyway before Hirenko could completely disappear from her sight.  Almost immediately her vision was cut off, and all she could see was pitch black.  She held her hand in front of her to no avail; she couldn?t even see it when she held it an inch away from her face.  The walls?which were roots tightly woven together, she guessed?brushed up against her shoulders and head the further she walked in.  She could hear Hirenko?s footsteps as the girl crept along, and she put her hands on the ?walls? and started to follow her.

After a while, when it was completely silent, Ran felt the walls closing in on her tails.  She closed her eyes and shifted to a completely human form, forsaking her fox ears and nine tails in favor of more space.

?Hirenko??  Ran took a shot at calling out for Hirenko, to make sure she was still nearby.  She couldn?t hear her footsteps anymore, after all.

?Yes??

?No, it?s nothing??  Good, she was still there.

~

Mugetsu lay atop the dome, staring up at the sky, when she felt a slight prick in her ear.  Sitting up quickly, she looked left and right, as if looking for something.  She felt the prick again and frowned a little.

??Huh.  I just felt a disturbance,? she said aloud.  She lifted off the dome and into the air, where she adjusted her headband and closed her eyes.  ?Let?s see??
Mugetsu squeezed her eyes shut and concentrated very hard.  She imagined running through the darkness swimming in front of her eyes, reaching out for a tiny point of light that was very far away, running, running, eventually reaching out?

?Her hand was outstretched and breaking through the darkness, and she closed her fist around the point of light.  She imagined the roar of waves and a stale, foul stench in the air, her hair whipped this way and that by a strong wind.  The ground beneath her feet crunched, and she thought she heard a girl nearby crying.

Then she was in a cave, cool with smooth walls and water gently lapping against her feet.  There was a chilly draft.  It seemed to push her forward, and then she could feel herself standing on soft grass.  There was yet another wind, much more pleasant and inviting.  In the distance she could hear a loud rustling, much like thousands of hands clapping or thousands of little waves washing over a sandy beach.  She was then surrounded by silence, feeling herself standing completely still on a rocky surface, with no sound but her own heartbeat.  There wasn?t even a wind.  The silence was broken when she heard small, quick footsteps, headed towards some unknown place.

She felt compelled to follow the footsteps, but she felt her surroundings change again.  This time she felt cobblestone under her feet, and the gentle sound of someone sweeping with a broom.  Above her she heard a pair of wings flapping, followed by a sudden gust of wind that shook the trees on either side of her.  Then there was someone calling out a greeting, but who did that voice belong to?

Through her closed eyes she could feel it, but she didn?t dare open her eyes.

Mugetsu?s eyes snapped open, and she was back home.  She let herself float down onto the dome until her feet were touching the glass.  She then put her hands to her heart and doubled over, laughing every so quietly.  A warm, euphoric feeling was bubbling up in her chest, and she felt as if her very soul was being purified.  She felt as if she was going to burst.

?I think I understand.  Something?s being manipulated.?  Mugetsu took a deep, deep breath and hovered off the dome.  Once she had enough momentum, she rocketed off towards the horizon.  She?d pick a random place to start, and from there she?d continue investigating the disturbance.

~

Creak, creak, creak, creak?

I swung back and forth on my hammock, listening to the satisfying creaking sounds it made.  I stared up at the hinges that attached it to the ceiling, and noted that they looked a bit rusty.  I?d have to oil them sometime, and maybe see if I could find a rope that would work just as well as chains.  Sleeping at night was nigh impossible unless I lay perfectly still.

Without thinking, I did just that, and marveled at the silence that it brought.  As I lay there, I concentrated on my own thoughts.  My room was pretty messy.  A few changes of clothes I had were strewn on the floor, and there were papers all over the floor surrounding my desk.  A few towels from the bathroom hung on the desk chair.

I phased through my hammock and floated down to the floor; that would have to be cleaned, too.

I stood up and floated over to the closet, sighing in dismay.  Maybe if I picked up a hobby, I could avoid cleaning my room.

The second I opened the door, however, I was met with a loud screech.

?Gyaaahhh!?

?Ahhhhhhh?!?

We both screamed at the same time, and I instinctively flinched.  The action caused my hand to bump into a mop, which fell, knocking over a bucket and a broom in the process.  Amidst the screaming was a cacophony of clattering.  This was coupled by a scuttling sound as someone quickly moved to the back of the closet.

When the noise died down, I shivered and looked into the closet through the gloom.  Backed up against the corner, surrounded by cleaning supplies and spare sailor uniforms was a petite girl wearing a short black dress, black thigh-highs, and red shoes.  A curly ahoge stuck out of her black hair.  A snake charm was wrapped around her right wrist while a black wristband was around her left, but even stranger were her six wings: three were pointy and red while the rest were blue and arrow-shaped.

I pushed the closet door all the way open and stared.

?Nue, what the hell are you doing in my closet.?

?Uh.?  Nue fidgeted, clearly uncomfortable with the situation at hand.  ?Hiding.?

?Why??

?Murasa??  I was interrupted by the sound of knocking.  ?Are you all right??  It was Hijiri-san?s concerned-sounding voice.

?I?m fine, I?m fine, nothing?s wrong.  I just, uh, slipped!?  I quickly tried to make up an excuse for the noise when I realized that there was no way I could trip.  I hardly ever walked; I just floated all the time.  Great.  She?ll definitely believe that.

There was an awkward silence during which I assumed Hijiri-san was contemplating whether or not I was lying.

?Is that so?  Be careful, okay?  You made quite the racket.?  Phew, she bought it.  ?Don?t hurt yourself, okay??

?Okay.  Sorry for worrying ya.?  Even though I was already a ghost, she was worried about my well-being.  That was so considerate of her.

I waited until Hijiri-san?s footsteps faded away, and then I turned back to Nue, who had gone quiet.  ?Anyway, why my closet and not, say, the basement?  No one would ever find you down there.?

?Well, I know I wouldn?t have anything to worry about if it was you who found me.?  Nue grinned and fanned out her wings.

I couldn?t help but grin back.  That was true, after all.

☆ Check my profile for links to my sites! ☆
[21:12] <OneLoveOnePurvis> *Black as hell and bitter as love. That is coffee.*
[17:42] <Amra> Himiko's one of the people that's really cute but sometimes art shifts into like hard jojo-style
[17:42] <Amra> as she does something out of character