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It’s new thread time! That means I can be proud to be doing this fanfiction than longer is probably considered healthy! I love strange obsessions!
[x] No need to make her do something she’s not comfortable with. If I have to nix the idea then so be it.
What am I thinking? Stray thoughts like that are begging for trouble. I need to read the writing on the wall and tell myself that Wakasagihime doesn’t want to do whatever she’s thinking, so I shouldn’t ask her to.
I lean over to the mermaid, and mumble in reply, “Pretend I never asked, then.”
I return to my position, leaving her some personal space that I’m now terribly conscious of. She doesn’t seem too taken by my statement. If she’s thankful, it doesn’t particularly show on her serene, if not placid, smile. If she’s for whatever reason disappointed… well, no. No, she wouldn’t be disappointed to not do something she admits to being embarrassing.
Nor is this something that I should linger on. Ran and I couldn’t wrack our brains for a whole day on how I could travel underwater, but that doesn’t mean I need to chomp at the bit when a convenient answer shows up. We already vetoed so many other ideas for how much I’d need to ingratiate myself to someone or other, this would be arguably worse.
I shake my head, trying to dislodge myself from internal waxing. Wakasagihime seems somewhat confused by my act, but doesn’t question it.
She does, however, ponder, “Are you sure?” Her concern is clear to see. It’s that of a samaritan who barely knows the line between selfless giving and reckless altruism.
“Yes, it’s not that important. If I really start dying of curiosity I’ll ask around,” I try to dissuade her, waving off the notion entirely. I need to at least try and learn from my mistakes with Kogasa. First and foremost, don’t debase my client whenever possible.
“V-very well…” she allows. Was my first impression two weeks ago so bad that she expected me to immediately agree?
I don’t dare to ask. I choose to instead pick my journal up from the dirt, pencil at the ready.
“Now onto the main point of today,” I start, “I’m here to learn about you, miss.”
Wakasagihime flushes a bit, crooning, “Oh my. So forward.” She pauses, losing her embarrassment as she more practically asks, “But why would you want to know about me? I don’t consider myself so interesting.”
“No need to be so modest,” I retort. “There’s definitely a lot to know about someone like you. If you want, we can start simple. Your name has the word hime in it, but what are you the princess of?”
She chuckles at the question, “Nothing, actually. That’s more like a nickname the villagers gave me some decades ago.”
“What?”
“What?” Ran also emits, taken aback. I look at my partner, hoping my skeptical brow is enough of a question for her. “Wakasagihime is what is on record for the Youkai census. The Yakumo name takes great care to keep that particular record accurate, even against more nominally troublesome individuals. Why did you not use your proper name when asked, mermaid?”
Wakasagihime flinches at Ran’s addressing, evoking a nervous response of, “I-I didn’t mean to. I thought it was the name everyone knows me by in this world and so it was close enough to a proper name.”
“Hang on, I feel like we’re opening a can of worms, now,” I grunt, rubbing at my forehead. I then realize, “Ah, forgive the pun. I might have fish too much on the mind.”
“Hehe,” the mermaid giggles, “I think I can understand. But as to the name… My name in the world outside of Gensokyo is Wakasa.”
“You mean… I was about to ask if your name really isn’t Wakasagi, but that’s a type of fish, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is. It’s quite the little story, though. When I first found myself in the lake I quickly realized I was stranded. The human villagers were very timid to talk back then, since only the passerby fisherman could be seen here. Eventually a very elderly man decided to steel himself and talk to me.”
“Why were they afraid?” I interject. “Did they not know what mermaids were?”
“Those well read on Youkai would have probable knowledge of mermaids,” Ran contextualizes, looming above me as always.
“Well, this is still a landlocked area. I’m one of the very few sea Youkai here. And definitely the only one that can surface.”
My pencil stops short. “There’s others down there?”
I glance at the surface of the lake, still calm and composed as ever. Swimming in it sounds less advisable by the second.
Wakasa sees my glance, and the horror therein, and adds, “Oh, they’re not so bad. They all live at the bottom, but don’t like stirring up much of anything these days. Truthfully they all act like my aunts and uncles with how old they all are.”
“Uhuh…” I mutter, uncertain what she could possibly mean by that. When I hear sea-bound Youkai my mind immediately goes to things like a kraken. Her mind must go somewhere else entirely. I realize the tangent I’ve set us on and correct myself, “Sorry, I interrupted you. You said an old fisherman talked to you?”
“Yes, we had a pleasant conversation, but he was hard of hearing. I think from there he misheard my name as wakasagi and the rest stems from there,” she explains.
“So where does the ‘princess’ part come in?”
“That is… probably this,” she says, showing off her flower patterned green kimono and purple obi. “My tribe loved and cared for our clothes. I’ve been told humans think we’re like royalty when they see our brilliant outfits.” She takes a moment to appreciate the pattern and texture of her kimono. Though there’s a sort of longing in her eyes as she does so. Obviously her dress means more to her than regular clothes, but even besides that she’s right about how beautiful it is. I would be hard pressed to deny her flawless beauty even if I were standing next to Keine.
I focus on the next question, one I find obvious. “Tribe? You had family in the outside world?”
“Yes, and I hope that is still so. I do miss my mother at times,” she permits the errant thought. She realizes her bleeding emotions and contains herself when continuing, “Ah, but don’t mind me, you probably want to hear about my tribe, don’t you?”
“I… if you could be so kind,” I confess, disappointed that I’m containing myself from being more sympathetic for her.
I don’t have folks outside, myself. Parents are long since gone, no siblings, and cousins are all too distant to matter, even in the information age. I couldn’t imagine the pain of having a tie to my old life that would never get resolved. It must be a homesickness that stabs worse than a knife.
She recounts her old family in detail. Mermaids, and mermen, if that’s what you’d call them, live in small communities at the bottom of the sea, generally partaking in hunter-gatherer lifestyles. Wakasa’s tribe were particularly interested in human made textile, the kind that could be used underwater without issue. In her youth her tribe would work tirelessly to obtain small rolls of silk. This would mean finding all forms of underwater treasure that they could barter, the extent of which is well beyond either of our understanding.
If I think the bottom of the lake is a different world then the bottom of the sea is purely incomprehensible to me.
She returns to the sweets as she continues her story of receiving her kimono when she came of age, being handed it directly from her mother, and cherishing it above all other things.
She becomes misty eyed when getting to her tale of being spirited away, describing the experience as losing herself in the open waters until realizing her confinement to the Misty Lake. It took her a very long time to come to terms with never seeing her family again, and still hoping that she might at some time later.
“I’m sorry to hear that, Wakasa,” I comment when she finishes.
“Oh, there’s no need to be sorry for my sake, mister Regis,” Wakasa frets, her hands waving about. “And please, just call me Wakasagihime. I’ve more or less taken to the name now.”
“Alright then, Wakasagihime,” I properly address her, silly as the name may be.
I wait a moment for her to pick up the conversation, but some stray thought seems to keep her pensive.
“Thank you,” she murmurs, so quiet that I question if I really heard it. Even more, I wonder if her mild choking of the words is also my imagination.
“Hm?”
“Ah, uhm, thank you,” she says more confidently, her air of elegance taking the reigns of her emotions. She checks the sweets bag again for something to distract her.
Unluckily for me there is something left, the mint that I stowed as a curiosity. Her heavy eyes give way to interested sparkles when seeing the colorful thing. She looks over the green chip, once more inspecting the article like something new and novel, and scratches the surface with a fingernail.
A small amount is flaked off, leading her to ask, “What sort of stone is this?”
I puff with amusement at her assessment and answer, “Not a stone at all. It’s a piece of hard candy. You put it in your mouth and let it sit. It’ll melt with time.”
She looks at me, the sparkle in her eyes remaining, but now clearly confused. She cautiously brings it to her mouth, worried about putting it straight to her tongue. Her instincts must be telling her that she’s about to stuff a pebble in her mouth.
The moment she closes her mouth on the mint I see some conflicting opinions on her face.
“It’s… like a sheet of ice on my tongue, and yet sweet,” she sputters, the mint on the tip of her tongue causing lisps in her words.
I get the bag of them from my pack, and pop one myself. The flavor of mint is strong, probably stronger than mints I’d get from home. I’d guess it’s something to do with how they have to make it more traditionally. That said, it’s nothing unusual to me, but it seems to be taking Wakasagihime for a ride. Reminds me of the time I had a burger without knowing the mayo was actually horse radish.
Whilst I’m busy spectating Wakasagihime’s internal debate of spitting out the candy or not, a hand comes in from behind me and steals from the bag. I turn to follow the hand as it pops the candy into its owner’s mouth.
“Cirno! Ask before you take something!” I reprimand the fairy’s whims.
She pays no mind to my nagging, instead appreciating the cold touch of the mint’s flavor. She seems to be at some form of peace with it in her mouth, as if understanding something greater in the world. I should say it’s no surprise that an ice fairy likes mints, but I’d sworn her childish nature would have repulsed her from the biting flavor.
Another hand rustles the bag. Wakasagihime takes another piece, this time more pleased than pained by the sugary icicle. I close up the bag with a sigh, knowing it’ll be gone quite quickly if left out.
“Oh, boo!” Cirno scoffs at the act, crossing her arms and puffing her cheeks.
“Maybe a thank you for what you already nabbed would be warranted? How would you like it if I took your food?” I retort.
“Mmm…” Cirno hums a repugnant trill, rocking back onto a leg. She’s wearing her crown once more, newly formed ice crystals encasing burnt flowers. “I wanted to see what you were up to, not get lectured… again…”
“I thought you liked my lectures?” I taunt the girl.
“Nope, they’re suuuper boring,” she murks, sticking out her tongue for good measure.
Wakasagihime gasps in understanding at our conversation, “So you’re the human that set Cirno alight!”
“… Phrasing?” I half joke, wondering what she means exactly.
She waves Cirno over, and pinches at the fairy’s cheek when she draws near. Cirno’s not the quickest to swat away the doting gesture, but she certainly fumes after. Wakasagihime giggles and continues with a smile, “Our favorite little idiot has been very eager to fight everyone around the lake. I’ve been quite beside myself since she freezes so much of the shoreline when it’s me and my friends she fights. It’s not easy to drag myself to the water, you know.”
She playfully narrows her eyes at Cirno, the fae awkwardly laughing off the legitimate complaint to her actions. I might not be in the wrong to lecture her so often, after all.
Something Wakasagihime just said catches my interest, though. “Wouldn’t you just fly back to the water?” I ask.
“Not everyone can fly, you know…” Wakasagihime states indignantly.
We all pause, letting silence fill in the gaps of the conversation. That and those fairies playing in the distance.
I glance at Ran, she glances at me, and we both glance at Wakasagihime.
“Really?” Ran is the one to ask.
“Oh don’t give me that!” Wakasagihime defends her dignity. She points to me and furthers, “He can’t fly, correct?!”
“I’m… also not something thought to exist in myth, you realize,” I lever back the argument. In my distracted state, I bring the pencil to my forehead, likely leaving a black streak. “So, wait. Does that mean you’re really bound to the lake? Not just Gensokyo?”
“Mostly..?” Wakasagihime ventures to answer, though she fingers a lip as she searches her memory. “Ah, there is the wheelchair Kagerou brought me once. We didn’t really like the arrangement so I haven’t seen it since.”
Cirno waddles behind her, hugging her from behind as she asks, “But you haven’t seen the top of the mountain?”
“I have not.”
“You haven’t seen the bottom of the underground?”
“No, why would I go there?”
“Adventure!” Cirno announces, leaping up high and pontificating the point with a finger raised skyward. She lands down with a giggly bounce, merry as can be at the idea.
“What are you on about, Cirno?” I beggar the fairy’s attention away from her imagination.
“We can bring fish lady out of her lake and on an adventure. A great adventure! Fit for a fairy king!” Cirno raptures, her arms valiantly raised in excitement.
“Queen,” Ran corrects.
“King! Queen doesn’t sound as strong.”
“The princess is sitting right here,” I josh. “But more than that, you should hear her thoughts on the matter before deciding anything. Trust me.”
Cirno halts at the very suggestion that Wakasagihime would decline the gracious opportunity her magnanimous self offers. And so, grovelling at the princess’s scaled lap, she implores her, “Please, please, please go on an adventure!”
Wakasagihime lifts the child atop her lap and replies in kind, “But wherever should we go, great king of fairies?” She looks over to me, Cirno following her gaze alongside.
Though not thrilled by the absurdity, I play along and question, “What am I in this scenario?”
“Royal advisor!” Cirno responds with impressive certainty.
“And why do you actually know what that is?”
“Daiyousei told me about it. She’s also a royal advisor. A good job, mhm,” she confirms to herself.
Does she understand what a job is? Does comparing me to Daiyousei put me high or low in her pecking order?
No, before that, they’re looking at me. Is Wakasagihime really expecting me to make the decision for her? Well… I mean I guess I can.
[x] The mountain. A place of tengu and gods, all of whom surely love visitors.
[x] The underground. The depths of truly dangerous and strange Youkai.
[x] Somewhere else! (Write-in)
ah yes, surely the tengu love visitors... lovely idea
...the gods however... that's a different question.
hmmm. and how is Satori with fishies I wonder?
Both of the suggested areas seem like terrible ideas on account of both being sorta off limits to outsiders. I suppose the underground is a better option. Personally I think it would be nice for her to see the village but I think Tanner's been there enough.
Maybe Muenzuka? There could be interesting junk there, although the flowers might be a problem.
[x] Somewhere else! (Write-in)
- Does Ran know where Kagerou lives?
Honestly, given that we have Fish Wife with us, going to the Underground which is supposedly super hot should be an immediate *no*. We already have bad rep with those on the mountain so *also* not there. My first idea was going to Kogasa but then I remembered that it ended up bad, so that was *also* a no.
And well, I had to check again to make sure that we know of Kagerou and that Fish Wife also told us about Kagerou, so maybe a change of scenery with Wakasagihime meeting Kagerou would be good for our reputation with both of them.
Awww, poor fishieeee!!! ;_;
And Cirno!!! :)))
[x] Somewhere else! (Write-in) Introduce her to the Kappa! Maybe they can use their tools and water manipulation to create an underwater pathway to their river so they can hang out! Or build a mobile pool! Or a mech!
[x] The underground. The depths of truly dangerous and strange Youkai.
[x] Somewhere else! (Write-in) Introduce her to the Kappa! Maybe they can use their tools and water manipulation to create an underwater pathway to their river so they can hang out! Or build a mobile pool! Or a mech!
[x] Somewhere else! (Write-in) Introduce her to the Kappa! Maybe they can use their tools and water manipulation to create an underwater pathway to their river so they can hang out! Or build a mobile pool! Or a mech!
I like this idea. Water gang!
isn't the Kappa included in the mountain option? they are a part of Youkai mountain... and if we go with mountain there is also Sanae that might be excited to meet and talk with a mermaid... we just would want to make sure to go via the cable car and not get the attention of the Tengu... or at least most of them anyways.
[x] The mountain. A place of tengu and gods, all of whom surely love visitors.
and stopping by the Kappa would also possibly open up a chance to get scuba gear. that and maybe opening options for wakasagi as others have mentioned!
[x] The mountain. A place of tengu and gods, all of whom surely love visitors.
The youkai mountain is the heart of gensokyo after all, there is a lot to see there that doesn't involve interacting with tengus
this idea would be more of the meddling that usually gets our character in trouble... but since we are in contact with not only Ran... but also if we do go to Youkai mountain, Moriya Shrine, doesn't that mean we have multiple people that have access to the outside world that could possibly locate and get in contact with Wakasagihime's family?
[x] Somewhere else! (Write-in) Introduce her to the Kappa! Maybe they can use their tools and water manipulation to create an underwater pathway to their river so they can hang out! Or build a mobile pool! Or a mech!
“We all ready to go?” I ask the group. They each confirm in their own various gestures.
Since yesterday, we’ve added a couple to our headcount. Kagerou was hesitant of our arrival at first, but came around to our cause after mentioning Wakasagihime’s interest in the trip. Her head might have inflated a bit when we told her she was needed to move Wakasagihime, admittedly.
As for the other…
“What?” Chen challenges my narrowed gaze.
“Nothing, just… What are you doing here, again?” I accept her challenge.
“What, is there some problem if I want to spend time with my friend?” she probes and prods me, stepping next to Cirno and resting an elbow on the fairy’s shoulder. “See? I told you he’d be mean to me.”
“I’d consider it your own fault, you brat,” I tut the kid. I take an instant to reflect on what I just said and turn to Ran to apologize, “Sorry, Ran. I don’t mean to parent her.”
The fox waves off the statement and replies, “Yakumo are responsible for their own antipathy.”
“Lady Ran, why are you letting him insult me?!” Chen pleads to her maternal figure.
Ran doesn’t even say anything in response, only looks at the cat with an obvious annoyance.
A trill from the other corner stirs us from our bickering. Wakasagihime, sat in her wheelchair with a blanket covering her tail, pats Kagerou’s arm and comments, “See what I mean? They’re so fun to listen to.”
Kagerou scratches her cheek, still looking a little stiff at the shoulders. “Y-yeah, I guess they do have some chemistry.” Her eyes shift about, unsure where to rest them around our temperamental bunch.
Cirno grunts and throws her arms up in defiance, tossing Chen from her shoulder in the process. “Aughhh, let’s get moving!” she whinges.
She starts to fly off in the direction of the mountain, but Chen jumps to grab her ankle, forcing her back to the ground.
Cirno turns to her friend and questions, “What was that for?!”
“What do you mean? We’re walking, you idiot!” Chen is quick to correct.
Cirno gives her a confused look and then glances to Wakasagihime in a wheelchair. Her eyes trail down guiltily.
I’m about to step over and comfort the girl but Wakasagihime points Kagerou to roll the wheelchair over before I do. The wooden wheels grind against the hardened dirt as Kagerou pushes her friend up next to Cirno.
Wakasagihime pats the fairy’s head and consoles, “Don’t feel like you need to be so mindful of me. In fact, wouldn’t it be fitting to announce the arrival of royalty in advance?”
Oh, she’s still on that gag. Or, well, it’s more like Cirno is with her crown so brazenly on display. Shouldn’t the arrival of royalty include herself, actually? Surely she’s not going to–
“You’re right,” the fairy perks up, a sort of fire in her eyes as she rears her feet into a sprinting takeoff.
I see Wakasagihime has had time to understand the ways of Cirno; gas her up and she’ll do just about anything.
Chen stares on in bafflement at how easily swayed her friend is, and turns back to us to ask, “Should I go after her? Like, she’s gonna be an issue, isn’t she?”
“I think she’ll have to cause a lot of damage to impress us at this point,” I counter. But thinking on it further, I double back and say, “We really should start walking, though. I don’t want her to impress in ways she shouldn’t.”
I move along the tree obscured path with the two Yakumo on my heels and the crunch of the wheels from the wheelchair at the back. I remember most of the way to the kappa’s hideout, having to pass by it on the way to Hina’s remote residence. Lucky for us, coinciding with a shrine’s route means the area is wheelchair accessible, regardless of how dilapidated it’s become. Not sure how true that stays for where we’re going, though.
In some hour or more of walking I stop, having to let Ran take the lead for me. I ask her how close to the right path we are, hoping that I kept my bearings correct despite the foliage covering even the top of the mountain. She tells me that I was seventeen point three degrees off and South-bearing for the last several kilometers. Not only that, but I was bound to step into the river in another kilometer.
Chen laughs at my misery for a few more kilometers after that. Overall, could have been a better walk. Kagerou as well starts to have some trouble getting Wakasagihime through the thickening foliage and tree roots. By the time we finally find where we’ve been going the wolf almost tosses our princess off a cliff side.
We stand above the Genbu Ravine, one of the few locations I’ve heard about that has a real name rather than something more akin to a nickname. Akyuu, or one of her ancestors, attempted to draw a picture of the area, but it hardly captures how strange the location is. I realize a ravine needs to be a steep drop for a long stretch of ground, but this is a straight cliff more like a small canyon. Furthermore, the rocks making up and immediately surrounding the walls look almost like they’re forming into columnar joints. I thought that was something usually reserved for volcanic areas. Is Youkai Mountain volcanically active?
The group continues up along the path of the ravine as I’m observing the walls, forcing me to put a pin in my thoughts and jog over to them. Some few minutes walking along the edge Ran and Chen stop in unison, looking out perpendicular to our position. Chen crouches at the edge and looks at the same point Ran points to, a small dark hole at the base of the cliff face, easy to miss with shade covering it.
“That is the only above ground entrance to the kappa’s hideout. Or lodge, or cave system, there is no official name given to their gathering space,” Ran explains.
“They don’t employ guards?” I question.
“Not outside of the entry. It would counteract the natural camouflage the cave opening has.”
“Makes sense.”
Kagerou leaves Wakasagihime for a second to look at the sheer drop to the bottom, and wonders, “How are we supposed to get Hime down there?”
“Or me, for that matter,” I addend, leaning over the side.
Chen grabs me from behind and lifts me off the ground, floating down into the ravine. Behind us I see Kagerou bridal carrying Wakasagihime down while Ran takes the wheelchair. I still forget this is usually the first option. Complete free flight isn’t something instilled in a human’s natural understanding.
Chen plants me nearly on my ass as we reach the bottom. I’m only on my feet because I expected her to. I slap her arm, fully aware it barely registers to her nervous system, and await Ran and Kagerou to drop off their cargo. Ran is careful to place the wheelchair down, mindful of the foot rests that Wakasagihime doesn’t make use of.
Kagerou returns Wakasagihime to her chair, lowering to one knee as she does so.
Chen snickers at the display, and comments, “You look like you’re used to sweeping women off their feet.”
A red glow crosses Kagerou’s cheeks as she pops back up, combating Chen’s jeering with, “Don’t put me as some brutish figure, you rodent!”
“Oh look, she responds to every little poke!” Chen laughs. I knock the bottom of my fist into her puffed up hat. I think that one registered.
“Don’t be rude, Chen. She’s under no obligations to be here,” I confute her attitude.
“That doesn’t mean you gotta–!” she starts to bicker, but pauses as Ran walks by into the opening of the cave. We all fall in behind her before she disappears in the darkness.
“Ran, what’s up?” I ask my partner, since she doesn’t take the lead unless something’s happening.
She continues her pace through the dark hall, taking up the entire cross section with her tails, as she reports, “There are normally two kappa standing guard at the sealed door, but they are currently vacant and the door ajar.”
“Oh my!” Wakasagihime exclaims. “Are they in danger?!”
“Surveillance dolls do not carry visual detail, only general information. In person inspection will be required to ascertain their circumstances,” Ran continues, fetching something that emits a dim bluish glow against the stone. “Chen! Move on ahead! A mass of people are in the main hall at the moment.”
“Lady Ran!” Chen returns in confirmation.
She slides low to the ground and shoots through the bottom of Ran’s tails as if they were a curtain, the clicking of her claws against the rock fading into the distance ahead of us.
“How far away is this place?” I ask, curious why we’re still walking through the dark.
“Approximately ten minutes. The kappa put this side entrance onto the opposite side of their system. It works well to dissuade fairies from wandering in due to boredom,” Ran informs me, adding bits to stave off my wandering mind before it acts up.
“Is this really the easiest entrance?” Kagerou complains. “Why would they have a dark cavern entrance in the first place?”
“It’s an emergency exit. The entrance they normally take is at the bottom of the river. Wakasagihime could make use of it, but my opinion is against you using it, Miss Imaizumi.”
I glance back to see Kagerou’s wolf ear twitch as she tosses the idea about. I don’t think any of us want to smell a wet dog, including Kagerou, by the looks of it. Ran’s projecting as well, mind.
We find the end of the path, or more like I run into Ran who finds it. Everything is the same color and texture in this dim light. I don’t know how the kappa would properly keep guard of this door normally. Night vision goggles? Do they have those? Do they need them?
Ran grabs a wheel handle on a metal hatch, something that looks like it was ripped off of a submarine. To my surprise, Chen left it open, and it creaks ajar with a cry for oil. Ran passes through the high door frame and starts down a hallway without so much as a word. Kagerou and I rush to lift Wakasagihime over the door into ship halls.
“Thank you, I know that mustn’t be easy,” Wakasagihime chimes when I go to stretch my back straight.
Soft incandescent lights line the roof in every direction, the cave walls have been replaced with sheet metal, and the floor is corrugated for traction. Thank gods they left out the extra doors and guard rails of a real ship, otherwise this would take a while to get a wheelchair through.
We start jogging up to Ran but are immediately assaulted by the sound of the wheelchair rumbling against the floor. The sound seems to hit us all the same, as Kagerou’s ears fold down and Wakasagihime covers her fins.
Down the many corridors and junctions we go, with occasional peeks into open rooms the kappa use for all manner of machination. It’s hard to tell what purpose a room serves when it looks like a workshop blew up in every one of them. The smell of shaved metal and various lubricants doesn’t help. Gods and whatever that terrible burnt smell is.
It’s stranger yet since the halls seem to be clean, if not spotless. I do wonder how that’s possible, but I’ll have to add that to the list of questions for later. Right now, I can hear a crowd of people gathered ahead, even over the rumbling of the wheelchair.
The hall opens into a grand chamber, the metal walls evoking the hangar of an air carrier. A large zero-two is painted on a bulkhead at the far side, suggesting there are more of these open spaces. There are full sized cargo crates in a corner. Many vehicles of varying completeness sit around with some hung high above by chains. In the center of the room a pile of scrap metal sits with a sheet of ice along the top formed into a throne.
I need not state who’s sitting at the top of said throne.
“Get down from there already!” A familiar voice pipes up from the front of the crowd of kappa surrounding the throne. There’s a lot of them, actually. This is probably all of them from the base, and they’re crowding pretty much the whole area from wall to wall. It’s a wonder Nitori is loud enough to shout over them.
We sidle up to Ran and Chen at the back of the crowd when Ran commands, “Chen, report.”
Chen turns to us and replies, “The ice fairy has made a commotion in the kappa hideout by freezing their water boiler over.”
“Why would she–?!” I stop myself from asking, knowing well enough that a fairy’s logical reasoning can be both meticulous and entirely inane in equal parts.
My outburst attracts the attention of a few nearby kappa. Their uniformly short statures make it obvious that we’re interlopers around here. And more importantly, the giant fox woman with nine tails is probably not here to mess around. They notify the persons next to them of our presence and the message passes as a ripple through the room until they all turn their heads our way. Cirno spots us and waves, though she doesn’t retreat from her throne.
“Uhm… hi?” I awkwardly greet the crowd.
“HIM!” Nitori practically screeches over the rest of the kappa. Clattering can be heard from each kappa’s backpack as they adjust to avoid her march. A march that ends with her lunging straight at my collar. She drags me to a knee, eyeing me down worse than any demon or Ran, and growls, “Get. Her. To fix this.”
She tosses me to my feet before I can get out a word and points to Cirno.
“Hi to you, too, Nitori,” I force the pleasantry while adjusting my shirt and rucksack back into place.
Why would she need me to fix this? It’s a frozen water boiler, isn’t it? What’s keeping them from rioting against Cirno?
…
Cirno can dissipate her own ice, right. And I can talk to Cirno, maybe.
But the last thing… “A water boiler, was it?” I ask the fuming gremlin.
“Try our gods damned generator!” she shouts in my ear. “What do you think keeps the lights on?!”
A thought occurs, and though it may be better left as a wandering thought unasked, I can’t help but tease, “I thought Youkai liked the dark?”
A blood vessel visibly bumps on her forehead, barely containing the rest of the irate kappa. It seems to take a lot of willpower for her to not throw a readied punch, and I’d bet that’s only because Ran is standing right next to me. She decides to grab my arm and hurls me into the crowd of kappa.
The few kappa I land on push me back into balance, though their voices suggest they wish they didn’t have to. The rest look at me expectantly as Cirno continues her cackling taunts to those below her. I begin sifting my way through, piecing together just how I’ll talk down Cirno from whatever nonsense she’s doing. We only just got here and Wakasagihime hasn’t even gotten the chance to meet anyone. Not gonna get kicked out just yet, even if pissing off Nitori is a lot of fun.
[x] Reprimand Cirno, her playing around needs to stop when it can cause serious damage.
[x] Meet Cirno with her madness. Getting a kid to do what you want can sometimes be about meeting them in their own little world.
[x] Something else, she’ll never predict it. (Write-in)
[x] Reprimand Cirno, her playing around needs to stop when it can cause serious damage. "This is not how one shows their strength. Freeze them all and then shatter them into a million pieces instead."
[x] Reprimand Cirno, [...] cause serious damage.
ehehe
[x] Meet Cirno with her madness. Getting a kid to do what you want can sometimes be about meeting them in their own little world.
[X] Meet Cirno with her madness. Getting a kid to do what you want can sometimes be about meeting them in their own little world
But heavily involve Nitori to antagonize her
Kappa is for bully
[x] Reprimand Cirno, her playing around needs to stop when it can cause serious damage.
- Get Nitori to make something that Wakasagihime likes in return or else, Cirno would do something worse
I get that lil baka fairy is having fun, but we kinda want Wakasagi to not have a horrible impression on them. But I'm not fully down to let Nitori just walk over us from there. Hell, add a lil bit of encouragement for Cirno to really get her on that deal. After all, the Kappa are business oriented, so they better get a good grasp of how business works from there. :)
[X] Meet Cirno with her madness. Getting a kid to do what you want can sometimes be about meeting them in their own little world
we did encourage Cirno with how Tanner and now Wakasagihime has been talking to her, and Tanner fully acknowledged the possibility whne he dicided it was time to walk, so it wouldn't be too fair to suddenly cut it off here.
also I do believe that this has been the first time Tanner has seen Nitori since the Hina incident? her name came up during the tournament but I don't think Tanner ever saw her, sooo.
-[X] while it has been while, check how Nitori has been since she needed to regrow her face.
[X] Meet Cirno with her madness. Getting a kid to do what you want can sometimes be about meeting them in their own little world
Hey, it worked for Wakasagihime on the trip over here. Besides, this sounds like the shenanigans option, which are always fun.
[X] Meet Cirno with her madness. Getting a kid to do what you want can sometimes be about meeting them in their own little world.
“You’ll know the strength of fairies, you evil kappa!” Cirno calls down at the crowd around her. She certainly enjoys the dramatics, her energy transferring into crossed legs, one bouncing on the other.
The kappa around me grumble all manner of inanities as I approach the pile of metal Cirno’s found herself on. The thing is a maddening mess of gears, cogs, screws, bolts, nuts, nails, and even a misplaced tool here and there. It’s hard to imagine what these kappa actually do with such a mass. For my purposes, though, it’s something dangerous to clamber up.
Cirno takes interest as I start climbing the man-made hill, careful of any sharp metal jutting out. While I can find all manner of dangerous persons on my day to day, I think tetanus would be an embarrassing way to go. Although Yagokoro probably has something for that, too.
I crest the top, Cirno’s ice mixing with the loose metal in a way that actually provides enough traction to easily hike along. The fairy looks up at me, diminutive in stature now that I’m standing on the same plane as her.
“And what is this peon doing here?” she questions. Who’s been teaching her these words? I may need to have a little chat with Chen later.
I kneel before her, cautious of the weight on my knee, and reply, “Your royal advisor, not a peon, oh king of fairies.”
“Ooh,” Cirno sounds in understanding. “What does my advisor want to tell me? Just how great I’m doing at invading these kappa?”
I chuckle, “You’re doing great at that, sire. But if I may ask, what have the kappa done to earn your scorn?”
“S-sco–…” she mouths out to herself, piecing together the definition of the word. “These idiots ignored me when I told them to stop what they were doing and get ready to greet the princess. I thought it would be right to do something that would get them all together, then!”
She grins to herself. As quick to dig into her own confirmation bias as usual, I see. Clearly they blew her off and she just lashed out.
But how to spin this? “Perhaps it would be wise to let the miscreants have another chance at showing my liege and the princess hospitality?” I chance an argument.
“Hospitality? What do you mean, we aren’t sick?” Cirno breaks character in confusion. I adjust my gaze, trying to confirm that she’s serious, and sure enough her eyes avoid me
“Hospitality refers to that which you may do in greeting, such as tea, my liege.”
She rounds back on me, a red tint on her cheeks as she flusters to correct, “R-right! I knew that! Let’s do that, then!”
Looks like I’ll need to have a talk with Cirno, too. She’s far too easily lead by the ear after being caught unawares.
“Well, then, you’ll have to unfreeze their generator, as they seem to need it to do things,” I conclude.
“What sorts of things?” Cirno ponders. Or is this some sort of test?
“Hospitality things.”
“Hmm…” Cirno parses intent from my tone, narrowing her eyes and rubbing her chin. “Alright, sure. I’ll do that, and then they’ll throw a big welcome for Wakasagihime!”
It’s at this point I truly wonder to myself, where is she going with this? Hopefully I’m not being a bad influence by feeding her little fantasy here.
She pops up from her throne, floating above the ice to avoid contacting the metal with her bare feet, and descends the hill. The kappa unanimously stare daggers at the girl, less than thrilled their base’s captor would even so much as dare to speak above them.
Cirno clears her throat, a volume nowhere near matching her personality, and announces, “All of you, send your leader to me! She will take me to the thing I froze! And then! Then we can discuss greeting the great princess Wakasagihime.”
The kappa look to one another, the obvious question on all of their minds. Who is Cirno talking about?
Cirno floats above the crowd, waiting for Nitori to make her way back across the room. Wakasagihime and the rest fall in behind the supposed kappa leader, whose path splits the mob before her.
I go down the hill careful as I can, forced to boulder lest the loose metal scraps give way like dirt. I can hear Nitori in all her usual vigor complaining to Cirno and the latter taking the complaints in stride, but I’m too focused on my movements to really pay attention past that.
By the time I’m on solid floor and checked for cuts and holes I turn to see everyone moving to a door perpendicular to where we came in. I force my way through the sea of kappa right as it starts dispersing.
I break through to one of the many identical halls, catching up to my group just as they round a corner.
Nitori speaks up, leading the conversation with, “So what are you even doing here, Yakumo? I’m still mad about that human of yours doing… things with my sister…”
“Which I thought I told you in no uncertain terms that that was a lie made up by Chen to harass me,” I cut in before anyone else comments.
“Yeah, sure, ‘cause that’s believable. Takane keeps evading the question when I ask her, so I don’t know what to think about that.” She continues her pace several steps ahead of us, quieting down at the admonition.
Am I being toyed with? Chen starting that lie is no issue but for Takane to not put it to rest is an altogether different problem. Is she doing it to mess with her sister?
Ran kills the silence with, “To your first question Kawashiro: Regis has been given the task of studying Wakasagihime, who’s idle curiosity led her to follow Cirno’s request of, in verbatim, an ‘adventure.’”
“So you’re here because you’re bored,” Nitori puts it lightly. “I should string you up for that, you little brat!” she directs at Cirno, now.
“The king does not like the way you’re talking to her,” Cirno retorts with a puffed up face. “You had better make a grand welcoming party for the princess and I.”
Nitori stops next to a doorway not much different from the others. It has a sign with ‘generator’ plastered next to it, but it’s hard to say where the hell we actually are anymore. “Stop whatever nonsense you’re talking about and fix it already!” she commands the fairy, opening the door and pointing into the room.
I watch Cirno waddle into the room and I observe the space before her. It’s no larger than the rest of the minor rooms we’ve come across but there’s a device covering the entire wall. In it’s current state it’s inoperable, ice stuck inside every crevice and potentially moving point. I can’t say I understand how such a device would generate power for the whole base, let alone any power at all. Cirno crouches down at the base of the machine and reaches her hands out, doing something to start removing the ice. It’s slow, but that only means we have a few moments to exchange words before she commandeers the situation.
“This is your generator?” I ask the kappa. “It doesn’t look large enough to power the whole place.”
“It’s more than enough to do that!” Nitori retorts, sounding offended by the statement. She puffs her chest out to continue, “This bad boy is my own make, and he’s capable of powering every invention in this base and then some!”
Ah, it’s hers. No wonder she’s so pissed off.
“Guess I should’ve figured. It’s you, after all,” I admit. “Change of subject, how’s you face feeling?”
“Wait, do you mean you punched this kappa, or something?” Kagerou asks.
Nitori rubs her cheek as she recalls, “My fa–? Oh, right. No, during that whole misfortune incident I was the first person to get injured. One of the wooden supports in a cabin came down on my head. I had trouble speaking for a week even after the bandages were off.”
Damn. It’s strange to hear just how durable Youkai are even compared to my unidentified healing. To her that whole thing was just a minor bother, like a cold sore that wouldn’t go away, and yet the actual injury had her entire face caved in.
“… Tanner, are you alright?” Wakasagihime notices my wincing.
… I should stop conjuring the memory. Even for me it’s a little too disturbing. “Nothing,” I pass off.
The lights all around show a bit more life as we hear the generator start to churn awake. I hear Nitori mumble to herself about a gas backup needing refueling as Cirno claps her hands to a job well done. If we ignore the fact that the job required her because she was the cause of the issue, then yes, it was a job well done.
“Now, a welcoming party!” Cirno dictates to all of us.
“Tanner, translate fairy for me,” Nitori sighs, rolling her eyes up in an already present exhaustion.
“She wanted the kappa to greet her and,” I gesture to the mermaid, “Wakasagihime. She’s on a little power trip, considering herself royalty.”
“That sounds like my royal advisor making fun of me,” Cirno pouts.
Wakasagihime giggles, “No, miss king fairy, that is him translating your words to the kappa dialect.”
Cirno nods in understanding, sounding out an, “Oooh…” Chen shakes her head with a low groan.
Nitori scratches at her head, thinking aloud, “Welcoming, huh? I don’t think you’ll want what we got. No offense, but kappa live pretty lean.” She’s not all too sorrowful of the statement, in fact she seems to take delight in the excuse.
“Shirikodama and cucumbers? I don’t think either are even slightly appetizing,” Kagerou counters.
“Oh, something we agree on. I didn’t think I’d agree with a dog,” Chen jabs at the wolf, much to the other’s chagrin.
“Very funny. We can make other kinds of food, you know. We just choose not to,” Nitori spits back.
“Then you’ll provide great food, I’m sure,” I half goad and half encourage her, not bothering with the slightest attempt of subtlety in the matter. “But what about the party part of this ‘welcome party?’”
“Huh? Sweets aren’t enough?”
“Why, of course not,” Wakasagihime interjects. “There must be tea as well for any high class party.”
My first thought would be wine but then I guess we’re both stereotyping.
“And something fun!” Cirno adds.
Everyone looks at Cirno, a sort of concern mixing into the air.
“I shudder to imagine what she finds fun,” Kagerou states without an ounce of amusement or sarcasm.
Chen snickers, loosely placing a hand over her mouth, “She’s more Youkai than fairy, so it shouldn’t be hard for any of you to imagine.”
“Yeah I think I’ll be the first to take offense to that,” Nitori can’t help but join in the banter.
“Hey! No ganging up on me!” Cirno rages towards the lot of us. “I’ll gang up on you and then you’ll see!”
I press on with the conversation in spite of Cirno’s very direct threats, “So we were talking entertainment, Nitori?”
“Cute diversion. But no, I ain’t got anything in mind for a gang of misfits like you all. The best I could possibly do is sit your butts down and tell you a–“
She freezes mid sentence. Everyone casts a glance her way as she shrinks inward with a pensive thought brewing.
“For them, though?” she inflects aloud, probably without intending.
“I must admit I’m curious, now,” Wakasagihime speaks up. She rolls her wheelchair over, dainty hands hardly concerned by the force required to move, and claps one of Nitori’s hands. “Please, tell us what you’re thinking of, dear kappa. I’d love to hear your thoughts.”
Her supple smile glows in purity, strong enough to banish all thoughts or ideas of ulterior motive. Even Nitori seems blinded.
“Uh… well…” the kappa flusters. “I-I was thinking of a project some of the base and I have been working on.”
I practically feel Ran’s eyebrow raise next to me. There are some obvious things that can pierce her stony face, and the kappa’s antics is very much one of them.
“There are a couple of very smart people here with us and I’m sure they could truly appreciate your efforts,” Wakasagihime mediates. “I know I’d love to see something you worked hard on.”
“Y-you think so..? I mean, I guess they’d do well,” Nitori scratches at her cheek, off kilter more than I’d ever seen her.
I mean, sure I’ve seen her at possibly her most emotionally vulnerable, but this display is like someone’s pulling a rug out from under her. That or pulling her along with that rug. Wakasagihime is more dangerous than I thought.
Nitori calmly leads us through the halls once more, mollified like a babe in its mother’s arms. I can’t even bring myself to perturb her from this state. She’s been enchanted in a way I’m sure sailors of ancient times would be envious of.
A short walk through the many similar metal halls leads us to an unmarked door. Nitori slides it open to show us a library. Not a library of books, but of old cinema records. Kinds far older than me which look as though they could service as car wheels. These are honest to gods film reels.
It’s a dingy room, the light barely functional, maybe by intent or maybe not. The shelves are numerous, and it’s clear this room, same size as all the rest, is filled wall to wall with these things. They’re in all shapes and sizes, and hold titles that I’ve only ever heard about. I wander down a row as Nitori splits the group off, explaining the objects to them in extreme detail.
I think only I and Ran would know what these are off hand, but in my case these are like relics of a bygone time, never seen in person. It’s hard to not be nostalgic of the film reel, of what was once the crowning of American culture above everyone else. If only I were still that young and naive boy that could feel such nationalism. But that is no fault of these reels containing the work of countless people into run times of under an hour.
“Tanner?” I hear Ran whisper next to me.
I feel my face turned down at the corners, getting all moody away from the rest of the group. This room is a sight I couldn’t have imagined, and not in the unimaginable way that Gensokyo commonly invokes.
“No, don’t mind me. Just… feel a little strange seeing this. These. In a place where forgotten things go.”
I’ll choose to believe that Ran’s look is sympathetic.
“So, has anything caught all of your eyes?” Nitori pipes up, finishing her explanation of the technology she so painstakingly wrought into fantasy. “Come on, I don’t think I need to tell you that these were all made with the desire to be watched, and we know what happens to tools that don’t get their desires met.”
“Moving pictures that hunt people to be looked at doesn’t sound too abnormal, if we’re talking Youkai standards,” Chen pricks a hole in Nitori’s bravado.
There was one title that spoke to me as I passed, and I pace back over to it, through the disorderly state the films are stored.
At a random shelf, on an arbitrary side of the room, I pick up a reel with a title etched into its metal. It reads,
[x] Shirley Temple’s Storybook: The Little Mermaid
[x] Silly Symphony - The Big Bad Wolf
[x] We can go deeper than that! (Write-in)
The Little Mermaid: https://youtu.be/0KQ6Bkd93To?si=Y4_LXsStyrl-Ia5y
The Big Bad Wolf: https://youtu.be/e4Lx5Bmpojw?si=4TaGeSl89G7gqnyo
Your links, goodman. And yes, I did watch both of them. Did you have to look these up for the story, or do they have a place in your memories? Tom & Jerry and Pop-eye are my favorite classics.
[x] Shirley Temple’s Storybook: The Little Mermaid
I think Wacky-soggy-lady will have some strong emotions towards it that I wish to see.
By the way, speaking of animations of Little Red Riding Hood, I think Hoodwinked! is a great movie!
I did indeed look these up as part of the story. A funny thing with early cinema I noticed is that so much of European fairy tales and tales from the Brothers Grimm are directly adapted to the medium. It's kind of impossible to imagine any film/tv of today doing an adaptation instead of derivative work with these nuggets of cultural history.
The little mermaid was a very obvious one, I felt, and was pleased to see it's a real children's story that Disney took to animating. The real cherry was that it was Shirley Temple's Storybook, something that was quite possibly on my grandmother's shelves. Never watched them, and it's likely something else from Shirley Temple, but it's still a little melancholic to imagine that I never watched those VHS tapes.
As for Silly Symphony... I mean, how could I not use red riding hood for Kagerou/Banki?
Funny you mention that about Shirley Temple, I decided to stream that one to the discord call I was in 'cause it's an hour long so why not, and one of them is letting his mom play Hogwarts Legacy on his computer. So he asks what I'm streaming, and someone says Shirley Temple, and his mom says, "You know about Shirley Temple?!" and she goes on to talk about how she has two high quality Shirley Temple dolls, one of which was, I believe, her grandmother's. I could see her expression perfectly in her voice; it was hilarious!
It kinda reminds me of this post on twitter I saw of a black and white picture of the Egyptian pyramids. A relic of a relic.
Absolutely, about Silly Symphony. I realized, too, how that was a synonym for Loony Tunes, so I have to wonder about that connection.