“What did you think would happen?”

Gripping the sheath of my master’s sword, I turn to look at her. Her eyes are, of course, on the sky. She’s right. She was right, but...

“I won’t say I don’t admire you,” she says, lifting her tea cup from its top, drinking it with her eyes closed. “But I’ve told you. I’ve told you and told you: that age is over. What did you think would happen?”

“... I want to have a dream,” is how I answer. “Can’t I have a dream?”

“Hm,” is her reply.. until she calmly says, “no.”

She gazes on the sky again, and I follow her stare.

“You’re no Hakurei, you’re no Konpaku.”

Kon... what?

“You’re a Nakahara. Live with that.”

Nakahara... huh.

The sky is covered in pale cherry blossoms, so thorough it’s as if snow was never there. They scatter eagerly, covering Gensokyo with the warmth we’d been missing, missing. The long winter is over, spring returned by the Shrine Maiden. The human who set off before me. She’s human, so what makes us different?

Why couldn’t I have gone?

Under the moon, every petal glows with ghostly light. Even though we’d had so much trouble, even though this had driven so many of us near to death... seeing it, seeing the end... it’s so beautiful, I almost think everything was worth it.

I turn back to walk by my master, back into the dojo.

I’ll practice my swings, and then go home to bed.


What’s your name?

[] Taro.

[] Ken.

[] Ryousuke.


++++++++

Nannerwrammer, two days late, meaning a very short timer

“Alright, fellas,” you say. “Time to go drop in on that Noboru human and tell him the great news. I’m sure he’ll be overwhelmed, as humans do whenever youkai drop by, but it’s better that Daiki gets her family visit out of the way before dropping the whole ‘I want to be the village’s cat youkai-slash-protector’ bomb on the populace.”

“What?” Chen sputters out, shifting her gaze abruptly towards her fellow cat companion. “You’re gonna do… what?”

“Basically,” you say, “Daiki’s going to have the human village accept her as one of their own.”

Chen takes off her cap to frantically scratch the top of her head. The girl’s frustration spreads to her feet as she paces back and forth around the shrine’s front entrance, kicking stray stones on the ground.

“I’m no good at these kinda things,” she groans, “but isn’t that crazy?”

“That’s what I’m saying!”

“Think it’ll work out?” Tewi says. All things considered, she’s surprisingly composed.

“Me? If I’m being honest, no. But I don’t know those humans.” With a defeated smile, you shake your head from side to side. “Daiki does. Your opinion, cat?”

“This cat thinks it will be alright.” She nods shyly. “She believes in them.”

How deliciously sappy. “Let’s get a move on, then.”
__________

Noboru’s household probably wasn’t expecting an entourage of youkai to greet them come noon. And yet here is Daiki, bringing along a rabbit, another cat, and a wolf to Noboru’s home. To be fair, you’re not really a youkai, but you digress. Things get awkward, and quick.

A woman steps out from the home, only for her to go running back in, yelling Noboru’s name all the while. You overhear Noboru and the woman, presumably his mother, squabble for a bit before the boy unceremoniously peeks his head out the door, pulls Daiki in, and disappears with the nekomata.

A long moment passes before Noboru comes outside with Daiki.

“I’m sorry,” is the first thing he says to Chen as he bows low.

�

Men are all like that. Why would one be any different? Everyone should know why.

Whether you do or do not know, please begin by observing the girls who had to deal with them. The first three of six, each with a decision to make. Like songs of love, their fleeting stories resound with a lingering taste of life.

Sanae
Hey. Are you doing okay?
It’s been tiring for me.
Ever since we ended it, you know?
It was a break up,
but it was hard on both of us.

Sometimes, I hear you've been doing well.
You’ve found people you can be with, they said.
You have people who love you, they said.
People who really love you.
I didn’t ask, but they said that anyway.

That’s good, though.
That way, you wouldn’t have to endure
all the emptiness that comes after.

You like how it is now?

Yuuka
She’s still living her dream, never telling anyone.
She planted something in her life
tricking everyone.
But she didn’t see yet.

The young boy will show her
for the first time
that it can be seen.
That the door to her secret garden—

—can be opened.

Seiga
A long time has passed.
I am interested to know how much she has improved.
I created the greatest lie by removing everything.
I thought I had done so after my separation.
I regret that day deeply.

There is no such thing as a good separation.
But, if I had let her go more nicely,
maybe she would have found happiness.
Maybe she would have found someone else.
Has she become better than she was before?

Better than those days long ago?

Stage 1
[] Sanae
[] Yuuka
[] Seiga

Over the years, and they were many, you have been told a great many lies.

"Fairies are terrifying and will eat you!"

"I'm the strongest!"

"Okay, maybe fairies aren't as scary as I said, but youkai certainly are!"

"I'm totally human."

"I'm totally human."

"No, I'm human!"

"Okay, maybe youkai can look indistinguishable from humans, but they still will eat you at the first chance they get! Seriously, trust me on this, I've been writing about this for generations!"

...Thinking back, most people you know are also terrible liars.

"Is it okay if I eat you now?" The blonde peeks over your shoulder, licking her lips. She clearly assumes that you will let her sooner or later, but for now those bright red puppy eyes aren't doing the trick.

"No."

"Pleaaase?" She give you her best begging eyes, which just makes you roll your eyes as best you can.

You offer her a worm, as you have innumerable times before. "No."

She sucks it up like the world's nastiest ramen. "Ish dat sho?"

"It is, yeah." Missing only one beat, you add, "And don't talk with your mouth full."

"Then I can eat you?"

"No."

"But you said yes!" Upon that maneater's face, a pout sprouts forth, as if that is all it will take to get a yes.

"I was saying 'yes, it is so' not 'yes, go ahead and eat me'."

She lets out a long-drawn sigh, as if you are the one making unreasonable requests here. "Fiiiiiine..." Then again, maybe you are. After all, it's possible that she asks complete idiots the same question, getting a far more favorable answer. However, be that as it may, you've still got a number of years left in your old bones, and you'd rather that they spend them under your wrinkles rather than in less pleasant locales among the detritu

Hello people of the threads and possibly beyond... I am new here...

Alright, introductions out of the way let's skip straight to the point, what are we doing here, in this thread right now.

Other then just typing, you guys are a dragon now, more specifically, taninim, if any of you are familiar with the In the Company Of Dragons by Rite Publishing. Yes, that, you guys are 'those.'

If it isn't obvious enough, first time doing this, hope I don't fuck up, you know, that'd be bad.

But I like options, so I'm giving you options... and lots of them, hopefully easy enough for me at this current point in time.

Let's run through the check list. First thing; difficulty.

Options:
[X] I'm just here for the story.
[X] Easy
[X] Medium
[X] Hard
[X] Lunatic

Or... [X] I'll carve my own path, thank you very much.

Now these options aren't as much as how hard or easy it will be, but a predetermined set of options will be picked if you choose one of the first 5, 6th option is custom.

Still, you have more options that don't just rely on those 6.

What kind of taninim are you?
Mind you, before we start this, each taninim has a compulsion, that gets harder based on your Charisma modifier... yes that means attaining a harem with your Casa-fucking-nova smoothness ain't going to be easy if you pick a red dragon who just wants to kill everything... or close to it.

Back to options:

[X] Adventurous (Cloud (Primal))
[X] Balanced (Sovereign(Imperial))
[X] Brave (Bronze(Metallic))
[X] Creative (Brass(Metallic))
[X] Curious (Lunar(Outer))
[X] Deceptive (Custom)
[X] Destructive (Red(Chromatic))
[X] Devious (Black(Chromatic))
[X] Diplomatic (Mithral(Custom)
[X] Gluttonous (Gare(Linnorm))
[X] Greedy (Underworld(Imperial))
[X] Heroic (Custom)
[X] Honorable (Silver(Metallic))
[X] Imperious (Green(Chromatic))
[X] Inquisitive (Dungeon(Custom)
[X] Insular (Ice(Linnorm))
[X] Intolerant (Custom)
[X] Just (Sky(Imperial))
[X] Militant (Blue(Chromatic))
[X] Narcissistic (Tor(Linnorm)

“Um, sure...” the fluffy-fluffy-fluffy fluff-head girl says with that look you get sometimes when you say too much like you think you probably did just then.

You get that look all the time these days, it seems.

All the time.

All those eyes, just looking.

Watching.

Judging.

“Ah! I mean, yes! Yes, I would very much appreciate it if you would help me, sir!” the girl says, with more cheer and enthusiasm than before.

Probably trying to hide how uncomfortable you're making her you think, possibly.

The quicksand might be doing it, too.

Bad way to go, quicksand. You certainly wouldn't recommend it. Not unless you want your death with a side of false advertising.

But that's neither here nor there.

What is here is someone in need of help!

Help! That you might provide! You!

Which you will not be providing if you just stand there, thinking things to yourself!

“R-right! Right! Help! I will help!” you say, shaking with enthusiasm.

Enthusiasm, and fear.

Terror, really.

Not from this, of course.

But from that other thing.

The thing you shouldn't can't won't don't don't don't don't-

Help.

You will help her.

You will help her, and then get away as quickly as you can.

Somewhere. Anywhere.

Just disappear.

It's been too long.

You know 'they' can see you, but can 'they' see you?

Doesn't matter!
Doesn't matter!

You're doing this!
You're helping!
You turn and run and dash and hop and jump and run some more through the forest, looking for anything that could be of use.

A rope would be too convenient, but a vine? Vines are good. Sticks are good. Even fairies are good, if you string them together just right.

Rocks, though? Not so good.

Not tha

Once more, you find the intercom and insert the key. The wave of exhaustion hits you as soon as the static, but you find that you’re able to fight against it this time.

“What do you want of me?” You ask the white noise.

“Don’t let her struggle be in vain.” You don’t hear the words so much as you feel them. “She deserves that much, wouldn’t you agree, dear?”

An image appears in your mind - of a woman with long, ink-black hair in red and white shaman attire, standing tall with her back to you.

“You’re talking about the Hakurei? Well, what would that entail?” You ask, muffling a yawn.

If it was possible for a butterfly to shrug, you swear it would have. More figures appear before your mind, this time blurry and indistinct - flashes of a woman in red and a man in blue, both with silver hair - but the vision slides across your consciousness like suds on glass before you can see it clearly.

“I’m going to need more than that.” You say, earning an annoyed flick of antennae.

This time, you see them with plumes of light rising from their backs, reaching for the sky.

Your eyes widen despite how heavy they felt just a moment ago. “Angels? Two Angels? Are you fucking delusional? How do you even expect me to find them with what’s essentially... this weird... dream... mugshot...”

You finally run out of energy and slump down despite your best efforts.

“Seriously.” You mutter. “I’m gonna need a little help.”

“Very well.”

Something brushes against your eye, and you feel yourself slipping away.

---
ERROR: ILLEGAL DATA ADDRESS

1.

A little learning is a dang'rous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring

Hey-Hi-Hello-Is this thing on?

Welcome.

It’s disorienting, I know. I know what it’s like to slip free of burdensome definitions, like real and imagined. It hurts to become. It can be frightening - no sense of up and down, no mother’s hand to anchor you home.

But everyone needs to grow, and you run out of space far too quickly in a closed s

For a long, long time, all is silence.

All is dark.

You know nothing. You are nothing. Everything has passed - you are dead.

This is where your story begins.

For the first time in a long time, your heart clicks, gears skipping a tooth, before catching, the clockworks pumping your turbid blood as you awaken, slowly.

You stare, blankly, across the graves for some time before you realise that they've not been cared for.

Forgotten.

All you can bring yourself to feel at this realisation is a vague sorrow - you feel a bit sad, nothing more. You take a long, shuddering breath, your first that you can recall.

You should do something.

Another nameless interval passes, before you lurch forward, your position slumped down against the trunk of a tree preventing you from taking actually walking until you slowly stand, refamiliarising yourself with the motions for what might as well be the first time.

You step forward, lurching and uncertain, to the clicking beat of the clockworks which animate you.

And you begin to tend to the graves.

You're strong, it turns out, as you uproot small trees and bushes, clearing out the plants which have begun to reclaim this land of the dead in the name of life.

You're careful to replant them beyond the bounds of the graveyard, though. There's no need to add to the death.

It takes you...it takes you some nameless, unknown amount of time, as you clean and clear the graves with only your leathery, stiff hands, and refresh the engravings with a thumb, pushed into the stone.

"Rest in Peace"

"May 9 - May 13"

"Dearly Beloved"

Each engraving holding the feelings and hope of those who sent them off, and that satisfies you, somehow.

Eventually, eventually, you finish your task, and glance around. The graveyard is clean, and neat.

Once more, well attended.

You don't need to mourn.

You don't want to mourn.

You're not alive, but you're not dead, either.

Your tin heart clicks away, a soft rhythm, a clockwork zombie'

I am not sure if this is the right place to post this and if it is not, I sincerely apologize. I notice that there are many of you within this website that are quite talented when it comes to writing, especially in relation to Touhou material. With that being said, any of you are more than welcome to join Gensokyo Unlimited, which is the most active Touhou role-playing community on Discord! Use original characters or take control of a canon character as you embark on incidents that are made by yours truly! We are a very welcoming community dedicated to creating wonderful experiences for veterans or newcomers in relation to role-playing alike! The link is below!

https://discord.gg/NyQzdGn

“That’d be nice,” you say. This is where you’d don a pipe and forlornly look to the sky. But you don’t have a pipe, and you’d look silly staring at the roof. You wonder, though, how different it would be if you lived in a world that didn’t hate you—but you don’t dwell on it for long. There’s no use dreaming about what could have been. What can you do anyway? Change yourself? Hah, good one. Gods don’t change. People do.

Hieda’s definitely miffed because she doesn’t like your answer. Real hard to please, that woman. “Don’t make it seem like it’s not your problem,” she says.

“But it’s not?” you reply. “Why should I care about humans think about me?”

“Because you’re a god. Really, is it too difficult for you to stop acting so detached about everything? Don’t you suppose that life would be a lot easier if you stopped trying to alienate every human you come in contact with?”

“Nah. Because that’s how I am. It’s my nature.”

“She’s right, though,” adds Tewi. “Some humans are okay. Especially the kinds that you can sucker into doing something dumb.”

“I especially don’t like those types of humans.”

“You’re implacable,” Hieda says with a sigh, propping herself up with a hand on the desk.

“Then what do you think I should do, Tewi?”

“You’re putting the responsibility on me?” the rabbit says incredulously, taking a step back.

You take a step towards her, not letting her retreat. “Aren’t you my current priestess? You gotta shoulder some difficulties for me.”

“She’s—?” Hieda, in her fit of surprise, lets her hand slip out from below her chin, catching herself just before she loses her balance. “She’s your priestess?”

“Yeah. What did you think she was?”

“I—I don’t know.” She tilts her head slightly, losing herself in thought. “Your moral support?”

“You’re not too far off on that one.” Tewi then points to you. “So, if I get to decide, why not try and be a little nicer to humans? I mean, it can’t hurt to at least make an attempt?�