One evening our favorite writer was chain-smoking, a mountain of crumpled papers behind him. He could not, would not write. Until some crazy spirit came to give him some help...:3
[15:45] <Kuruminut> Ichirin and Murasa are an old married couple who travel around in Gensokyo in a van solving mysteries
[15:46] <Kuruminut> With Unzan as comic relief
[15:46] <Roukan> Donut: ...I am...oh for the
[15:46] <Roukan> I should not smile at that
[15:46] <Roukan> It's stupid.
*TWO MINUTES LATER*
[15:49] <Roukan> "So she's still chugging along," Ichirin grumbled, her elbow pressed against the window as the engine chugged on beneath her. She twiddled at her hair with one finger, holding back a sigh. "Just like we are."
[15:50] <Roukan> ;~;
[15:51] <Roukan> Murasa turned away from the road, her stern face marred by wrinkles. "What's that supposeta mean? A captain's always in great shape. There's still ocean water flowin' through my veins!"
[15:52] <Roukan> "I'm pretty sure that's a bad thing. Besides, you were discharged 15 years ago." Sometimes Ichirin wished that Murasa would stop with the whole Captain act. When they'd met, it had been endearing; now whenever she saw it, she remembered the old days when Murasa really had been the strapping young lady in a uniform who'd won her heart. She remembered Nazrin, Shou, Byakuren, Nue, Mamizou,
[15:52] <Roukan> the whole gang.
[15:54] <Roukan> The fact was that those days were gone, and every day they moved a little bit further away from her. The group had gone their separate ways, and now Murasa was all she had left.
[15:54] <Roukan> "HEY! ARE WE THERE YET?!"
[15:54] <Roukan> Well, Unzan, too. But sometimes she wondered if he counted.
[15:57] <Roukan> "So what are we dealing with today?" Ichirin was disturbed by how still her own voice was. She'd been a cowering wreck when they'd started this business. Now she wasn't sure if there was anything inside her left to scare.
[15:58] <Roukan> "They found a kappa hanging from a tree branch halfway up the youkai mountain." Murasa's eyes were never really looking at the road, as if the thought of slamming into a wall and killing everyone on board didn't really concern her. "Relations with the tengu have been shaky
recently. Better be careful. This might spark something big, and we're shit outta luck if we get caughtin the
[15:58] <Roukan> middle."
[15:59] <Roukan> Ichirin nodded. Youkai fighting amongst themselves. They'd never have done that in the old days, would they? Back when Byakuren had been around, and she'd preached peace and unity for all creatures in Gensokyo. Ichirin had been behind her every step of the way, and she recalled every day of it with perfect clarity.
[16:01] <Roukan> Then she appeared, with her undead companions, and nothing was ever the same again. Byakuren and Miko stepped in to fight one another, and neither emerged from the battle. Shou and Nazrin left to preach their god themselves, and Mamizou fled to Sado along with Nue. There had been another one - only an initiate at the time, and her name had never lodged itself into Ichirin's head-
[16:02] <Roukan> "Hey, Itchy." Murasa put a hand on her shoulder, leaving the wheel perilously unchecked. "You spacin' out again? You gotta quit doin' that."
[16:03] <Roukan> Ichirin didn't have a reply. She brushed Murasa's hand away, then returned to staring out of the window. Murasa looked at her for a moment, but finally turned her attention back to the road. Throught their many years together, the most valuable lesson they'd learned was when never to speak at all.
AND THEN
[16:08] <Kuruminut> The three Prismrivers find God in their life and toss aside their sinful intruments to sing the Lord's praise in a nunnery
[16:09] <Kuruminut> They are...the Sisters Prismriver
Less than thirty seconds later!
[16:10] <Roukan> Donut: "Sis," Lyrica said, dashing across the courtyard at her sister's side, "you ever wonder if we're gonna get there?"
[16:11] <Roukan> Lunasa blinked, tilting her head. "'There'? Where is that, exactly?"
[16:11] <Roukan> "Heaven, you dummy," Lyrica said. "I mean, c'mon. We're ghosts 'n all. Doesn't that mean we're not allowed to go?"
[16:12] <Roukan> Lunasa sighed. It was a question she'd thought about herself many times, but she'd come to peace with it. "I think we should consider it a blessing that we remain among the living, and we haven't been condemned to the lake of brimstone for the sins of our past life."
[16:13] <Roukan> Lyrica's eyes widened. She had sort of tagged along when they moved into the nunnery, never quite taking in the teachings despite Lunasa's best attempts to teach her. It was Lunasa's greatest fear that she would be saved while her sister remained behind.
[16:15] <Roukan> "Well, in that case, we'd better get atoning," Lyrica said with a smirk, pushing ahead of Lunasa towards the main hall. "We've got some rehearsing to do! The hymns are how we speak on God's behalf, right? Well, based on the size of those hymn books, He's got a helluva lot to say!"
[16:16] <Roukan> Merlin was there when they arrived, on her knees and looking upwards with the serene look that most of the sisters of the nunnery shared when they were lost in prayer.
[16:17] <Roukan> "...and please keep my trumpet in key this time, Lord. I can't really praise you if I'm out of tune."
[16:18] <Roukan> "Amen." Her eyes came back down towards her sisters, and she almost fell backwards from the surprise. "Uwaah! Quit sneaking up on me like that, you two!"
[16:19] <Roukan> "Hey, you were busy talkin' to Jesus. What were we supposed to do?" Lyrica answered, walking over to the organ and sitting herself down. "Anyway, you wanna get started?"
[16:19] <Roukan> Lunasa picked up her violin, nodding along as she gave the tuning note for her sisters. Merlin took up a trumpet from the side, cleaning its blowhole slightly before she put it to her mouth.
[16:20] <Roukan> Lyrica raised her hands upwards, grinning. "Alright, girls! In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, it's time to PLAY OUR HEARTS OUT!"
[16:22] <Roukan> Soon afterwards, the sisters of the nunnery found themselves rocked from their beds once again. The spirits had returned, and no amount of exorcism had stopped them from their raucous midnight performances. When they stepped into the main hall, they found no sign that it had ever been entered by anyone other than the resident sisters.
[16:23] <Roukan> Defeated, they slumped back to bed. God moves in mysterious ways, each of them said to themselves as they fell into slumber. And loud ones, too.
More ideas for the burn pile:
[16:27] <Kuruminut> Rou: Letty desires to learn to dance, but no lessons are offered in winter. One brisk fall day she hears of two goddesses with moves as crisp as the leaves
[16:27] <Kuruminut> As they say, it takes two to tango...
