Author Topic: Rou's Random Shorts  (Read 180188 times)

FinnKaenbyou

  • Formerly Roukanken
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  • blub blub nya
Rou's Random Shorts (The Diver Fairies)
« Reply #270 on: February 07, 2012, 10:53:45 PM »
New page, new story! :3

Didn't feel like writing DRK today. All that dark and serious stuff made me feel like writing something lighter to clear my palette. So I took an idea I semi-introduced back in one of my old stories and expanded it a little. Hope it brings some smiles to some faces. :>

-----

This bush was comfy.

Briar had slept in many a bush over the years, but she?d grown attached to this one. Its leaves felt softer than those of its neighbours, rubbing tenderly at her wings as she slumbered. She had the best dreams when she slept here, and she?d fought off a fairy or two to claim it as her own.

When morning came, her eyes opened in an instant. There was no feeling of sleepiness - fairies were part of Gensokyo?s lifeforce itself, so they woke up in time with the earth around them. Briar pulled herself to her feet, giving her wings a quick test flap. No, the bats hadn?t been nibbling at them during the night. It had happened once, and she?d been cautious about it ever since.

She pulled herself out of the bush. It was about as tall as she was, which was to say that it stood at a mighty four feet. More than once the frills on her long red dress snagged on the twigs, and she had to tug to free herself. It was an occupational hazard of sleeping here.

Her stash was sitting in front of the bush, and looking down at it Briar couldn?t help but frown.

?Aw, someone broke the tank again...?

Sitting at her feet was a pair of rubber flippers and a large pink cylinder with a very clear puncture in it. She picked it up and gave it a little shake, and heard the rattling of a pebble inside. Grumbling, she rolled it out and threw it to the ground. Probably another fairy playing a prank.

?Why can?t anyone appreciate how advanced this machinery is??

Briar curled her hand up into a fist, bringing it down on the hole that the pebble had left. The metal flashed for a moment as Briar felt a pulse of magic charge through her body. When she lifted her hand, she witnessed the metal reforming to cover the gap. Sadly, a quick look at the O2 gauge confirmed that all the air inside had been lost.

?Gonna need to get River to check that before we dive today.?

The fairy scratched her head, her fingers playing with one of the cogs she used to tie her short pink hair into twintails. Who could have done this? The more she thought about it, the more she realised it could have been just about anyone. There wasn?t a fairy in Gensokyo who could turn down the urge to cause a little trouble.

The snoring coming from a nearby bush served as a better hint.

Briar poked her head into the foliage. Another fairy in a long yellow dress had curled up into a ball, her wings fluttering up and down in time with her breaths. One of the nocturnal fairies, Briar thought to herself. She could do anything she liked and the girl would probably stay asleep.

This was an opportunity she planned to exploit.

After ten minutes of careful shuffling and tying, Briar had successfully wrapped half of the nearby twigs around the fairy?s wings. They heaved as she snored, but they remained unable to move against their newfound bonds. Briar let herself out, smirking as she slipped on her fins. She?d just got herself some payback for the damaged tank.

Maybe. If the fairy hadn?t been responsible - well, she?d played a fun little trick, so that was worth celebrating too.

?Alright. Better head to the spot, then. River?s probably mad by now.?

Briar leaped upwards, allowing her wings to keep her aloft. She gained height, soaring above the bushes and even the trees, before she began her journey towards the usual meeting place. She could make it there with her eyes closed now - the water called to her, with a quiet but alluring voice.

Come here, Briar...I?ve got some shiny treasure for you!

And that was an offer no fairy worth her salt could turn down.

-----

They called it the Crystal Waters.

She?d heard the name from a passing youkai while she was making preparations once. The name didn?t mean anything to her, ultimately. It was basically the largest puddle she?d ever seen in her life, and she knew a puddle when she saw one.

But it wasn?t just wide - it was deep, too. Briar honestly didn?t know how far down it went. Two hundred meters? Five hundred? A thousand? She had no way of telling, but the thought of it just got her excited. After all, the deeper it was, the better the reward at the bottom had to be.

Briar was later than usual when the waters came into view. She made out a pale green speck sitting at the side, and brought herself down to meet it. She spiraled downwards, arms folded for extra flair, before swooping down until her dress?s frills ran along the grass beneath her. She came to a stop inches in front of the green dot, which in truth was another fairy.

?Six out of ten, Briar.?

Briar?s shoulders drooped. ?Six? But that was awesome!?

River Moss didn?t go into detail on her marking system, simply shrugging her shoulders. She was tending to her own tank right now, blowing into the mouthpiece to fill it up. Briar wasn?t sure quite how she did it - River had said her power was manipulation of air pressure or something complicated like that, but whatever it was it worked.

?When you?re done with that, can you gimme a refill too?? Briar placed her tank on the ground, rolling it over until it prodded at River?s leg. River sighed, pulling her green dress out from under the cylinder. Her clothes were covered in vines, and she took care not to leave Briar?s tank punctured for the second time today.

?Let me guess. You dropped it again?? River asked, rolling her eyes.

?That only happened once,? Briar said, defiant.

?You only admitted it once. There?s a difference.?

?Just do it, okay??

River let out a long, heaving sigh. ?Alright. But you?d better pay me extra.?

?I told you, you?ll get an even cut with the rest of us when we find the treasure.?

River raised an eyebrow. A strand of her dark blue hair fell over her face. ?You mean you?re giving me the same cut as Dandy??

?Hey, if you wanna go home soaking wet tonight, be my guest.?

River?s face scrunched up, and she got back to blowing air into her tank. When she was done, she started giving Briar?s tank the same treatment. It?d take her a few minutes to get it up to full capacity, and Briar took a walk around while she waited.

The trees at the edges of the Crystal Waters looked comfortable. She?d tried to sleep in a tree once, but the branch couldn?t stand the weight of her tank and she woke up with her face pressed against the dirt. River had taken the opportunity to call her fat, of course. Briar would have kicked her out of the team if only her ability wasn?t so helpful.

?Eh??

The bushes besides Briar rustled. Briar was on edge, holding her arms out to scare off an attacker, but the shuffling stopped. She stepped towards the source nervously, watching her step up until she heard the whispers coming from inside the bush.

?I?m not late, I?m not late, I?m not late...?

Briar groaned. She plunged an arm into the bush, grabbed at its occupant, and tugged her out.

?Meep-!?

Dandelion made no attempt to fight back as Briar pulled her into the open. Her pure white dress was covered in fallen leaves and the seeds sewn into it were caked in mud. A quick dive would wash that all off. The flower on her head drooped as she looked away, murmuring in whispers.

?S-Sorry...someone hid my dress in the treetops while I was asleep...?

Briar gave the fairy a little pat on the head, opening up the petals on her flower. Dandy buried her face in Briar?s chest, sniffling and sobbing all the while. Normally fairies weren?t attached to their dresses, but they were an important part of a Diver Fairy?s apparel.

?Well it?s a good thing you found it,? Briar said as she gave Dandy one last headpat. ?How else are you disguise yourself as a jellyfish? Gotta keep those predators from eating us, y?know.?

Dandy nodded, wiping away her last few tears. She was already dressed in her gear, which was of course white to match her outfit. Briar had made sure only to ?borrow? tanks that were colour co-ordinated with her teammates. Fashion was one of a fairy?s top priorities, along with shiny objects and prank-pulling.

?You can clean yourself off before we get started,? Briar said, shoving Dandy into the water. The fairy only let out a little yelp before she splashed beneath the surface, vanishing in a cloud of bubbles before disappearing completely.

Thirty seconds later, she hadn?t surfaced.

?Eh, she?ll be fine,? Briar said to herself, shrugging. She looked back over to her other companion. ?Hey, River! Is that tank ready yet??

The cylinder flew through the air and hit Briar in the face. Given how heavy the tank was, she could only assume the answer was yes. She put it on after the world had stopped spinning, then did it again after realising she had the tank upside-down.

River was already prepared, sitting at the lakeside and scooping up water on her fin. As she came close, Briar could hear the fairy muttering something about meeting her contact. That?s silly. Why would she be meeting a contact lens?

Shortly afterward, Dandy finally rose above the water, soaked right through. Her dress was spotless, but her short white hair had drooped over her face. She spat out strands of it as she pulled herself ashore.

?B-Briar, that was mean...?

Briar put a hand on her shoulder. ?It was for the greater good, Dandy. You?re clean now, right??

Dandy gasped, nodded, and made no attempt to argue. She was loyal, useful, and willing to keep working no matter how many pranks Briar played on her. In short, she was the perfect subordinate. Briar was proud to have her on the team.

?OK, you two. You ready??

Briar took her tank?s mouthpiece and bit down on it. River did the same at her side, giving her a thumbs up. Dandy had to scramble around to find hers, but eventually followed suit.

Showtime!

Briar put her arms around her teammates as she tipped forwards, pushing them into the water alongside her.

The latest expedition of the Diver Fairies had begun.

-----

The surroundings were, admittedly, very pretty.

Briar?s first few expeditions hadn?t gone very far, because the sheer number of shiny objects floating around in the water made it impossible to focus on the job. There were fish with scales that ran through every colour of the rainbow, and pearls in oysters that glistened beautifully. (They weren?t to be taken, though. Briar had found that out herself the hard way. Even now, her fingers ached at the sight of the oyster.)

The three fairies swam downward into the depths, flapping their wings now and again for propulsion. If anyone had asked them how the physics behind the motion worked, they would have all asked what exactly a ?physics? was. Whatever it was, fairies didn?t need it.

There were larger fish in these waters they had to be wary of. There were eels that tried to slip under their dresses, jellyfish that poked them in the nose with stingers, and sharks who saw fairies as nothing but an afternoon snack. Dandy had never quite recovered after that incident, still clinging to Briar?s hand as the trio descended.

The sunlight fell away quickly, and the fairies were left with nothing but the sounds of their own gurgles. This was the small blind spot between the multiple levels of the Crystal Waters. A little further down, the walls were covered with pale green crystals that shone and gave them light to swim by - until they made it that deep, they were basically blind. It?d be fine as long as nothing else happened to be in the way - the blindness lasted for thirty seconds at most.

It was at this point Briar?s head collided with someone?s chest.

?Hey, watch it!?

A familiar voice snapped at Briar. Dandy yelped, letting go of her hand and charging off to the side. There was another gurgle as she swam straight into a nearby wall.

Right in front of her face, Briar couldn?t see much. She and whoever she?d crashed into continued downwards, and the light of the wall crystals let her see again. She could see two mounds, bouncing up and down slightly as their owner pulled back.

?Jeez, it?s like you?re aiming for me or something.?

Jozu Manou shielded her chest as she righted herself, blushing a little. She was one of the resident youkai - in fact, she was the shark who had left Dandy so traumatised a few weeks back. She?d promised not to do it again, noting that fairies tasted too much like glitter.

Briar took out her mouthpiece. ?Morning, toothie lady!? She gave the shark a proud salute, floating above her in the water to meet the shark eye-to-eye. River followed on soon afterward, giving Jozu a small nod. The shark smirked back.

?So are you three going on another adventure??

?Of course!? Briar puffed out her chest. ?We get a little deeper with every dive, so we?re gonna find that treasure eventually!?

Jozu chuckled. ?Without a doubt, kid. I believe in you.? She ruffled Briar?s hair roughly, forcing a squeak out of the fairy. At her side, River smirked behind her mouthpiece.

?Though, where?s the third stooge?? Jozu asked, looking around the water. ?I thought you divers came in threes.?

?Oh, Dandy?? Briar pointed to a nearby rock formation. A single flower poked over the top, along with a few strands of white hair. ?She?s come up with a few hiding spots on the way down. None of them really work.?

Jozu frowned. ?I said sorry, didn?t I? She doesn?t need to hold a grudge that long.?

Briar nodded in agreement. Honestly, Dandy had taken this whole thing a little too far. Jozu had apologised at length for swallowing her, but the fairy still wasn?t willing to come anywhere near her. It was becoming an embarrassment.

?I?ll have some words with her tonight,? Briar said. What she meant was ?I?m going to pull pranks on her until she grows a spine.? Jozu grinned again, seeing the meaning behind her words.

??Attagirl. Anyway, I?ll leave you three to get on with it. Good luck.?

Jozu broke for the surface, through the blind spot and up towards the sunlight. As Briar watched her leave, she noticed the shark looking down on her with an almost teasing smile. Briar lowered an eyebrow. What was so funny?

River spat out her mouthpiece. ?You should probably breathe soon.?

?Ah-? Briar gasped, grabbing her regulator and biting down on it again. She took several long breaths to make up for the five minutes she?d spent airless. It was strange, though. Wasn?t she meant to feel a need to breathe when she was running low on air?

Eh, whatever. I guess I?m just too awesome to drown.

Dandy finally emerged from her hiding spot and reunited with her teammates. She was still looking upwards, waiting for Jozu to swoop down and bite her arm off. She never did, though.

Anyway, where were we?

Briar pointed down. They had reached the second Stratum of the Crystal Waters - they had no idea how many layers the place actually had, but someday Briar vowed they would reach the last one. The best shinies were always at the hardest spots.

As she kicked her way further into the depths, there was a glint of avarice in her eyes.

-----

River?s eyes darted across the water as she dove deeper down. She?d played the part as well as she could. She had been worried that Briar might catch on after her conversation with Jozu, but as usual Briar was too headstrong to think it through.

Not like River. She?d caught onto the truth a while ago, and it made for a great cover story. She?d be fine as long as the other two stayed oblivious.

The second Stratum had a very different atmosphere from the first. The glowing crystals at the side gave the whole place an eerie aura, and if that was all there was for River to focus on then she might even have been scared.

The sound of fairies playing in the distance counteracted that fear.

?Got your tail!?

?Hey, I need those shells! Gimme them back!?

?...Eight, Nine, Ten! Ready or not, here I come!?

River?s face brightened. It was good to know that fairies could be found in every part of Gensokyo - even if down here they had fish-tails and shell-bras. The merfairies had taken ownership of a cave built into one of the walls, and their frolicking echoed out into the rest of the Stratum.

First of all, she would need to distract her teammates. That would be simple enough. She pulled out her mouthpiece, and pointing straight down.

?Hey, is that a brand new fifty-yen coin??

Briar?s eyes shone. ?Coin? Where?!? She flew downwards into the depths, tugging Dandelion along behind her. River allowed herself to chuckle at the sight for a moment. The poor girl was so exploitable.

Now that any witnesses were out of the way, River slipped through the mouth of the cavern. There were a few metres of tunnel before she reaches the actual cave - and right away, her eyes were assaulted with the shining of pearls that the merfairies had collected over the last few months. Pictures had been carved into the walls, drawings of sharks and eels with big googly eyes. One side of the room held a giant oyster - right now it was closed, and River could hear snoring sounds echoing from inside.

Hundreds of fairies swam about the water, playing with one another and giggling. This was their safe haven, where there was no need to fear a monster gulping them up whole. They could play and dance and sing without a care in the world.

If River had her way, the fairies would be doing something a lot more productive.

She swam through the room, eyes scanning her surroundings. She got one or two looks, but most of the merfairies were too busy with their own business to pay any attention to her. She squinted, trying to make out any distinct features, but when it came down to it most fairies looked strangely similar to each other.

?Psst.?

A whisper came from the side. Turning around, River saw a merfairy sitting in the corner of the room. The beret on her head was enough to separate her from the rest of the crowd. She beckoned River towards her with a finger. River swam through, pushing several fairies to the side, and took a seat across from her.

?Good morning, Jacqueline,? River said.

Jacqueline Cousteau - Jacky for short - didn?t respond right away. Her expression remained impossibly strict as she shuffled her beret, showing a hint of brown hair beneath. Her wings looked like a fusion between River?s long, soft wings and a fish?s fins. Her tail was a light blue, and it flapped up to slap at the ground.

?Bonjour, mademoiselle.? Jacky answered. Her voice was horribly accented, and sometimes she spoke in a language River could neither make head nor tail of. Regardless, she was one of River?s closest allies.

?How is the Resistance faring?? River asked.

?Eet eez difficult,? Jacky said with a shrug. ?Ze commoners are too busy with zeir jewels and zeir playthings. Zey cannot see we are being oppressed by ze youkai masses.?

River nodded, their eyes both blazing with intent. Until she?d met Jacky, River had thought herself the only sane fairy in Gensokyo. There were so many fairies compared to the youkai that taking over the country would be laughably simple. She had tried to arrange for a rebellion among the fairies above the surface, but she was out-prioritised by things like butterflies and kittens.

In Jacky, she had finally found someone who understood. Jacky could speak at length about her beliefs, although most of her speech was in that weird language that River didn?t speak. Whatever she was saying, though, she was saying it with a lot of emotion. The two of them had been meeting in private to make war plans.

So far, things had not been going well.

?Where are your friends?? Jacky asked. ?Are zey still unaware??

?Of course,? River answered with a smug grin. ?They still think we need to breathe like the humans do. Can you imagine?? She chuckled, and even Jacky managed a small smile. ?I?ll let them know when we have our army assembled. I almost managed to recruit someone yesterday, but at the last minute she got distracted by a four-leaf clover.?

?A shame. I will continue my work with zese fairies.? Jacky saluted. ?Glory to La Resistance!?

?Uh, yes. Glory to...Lah Rezeestonce.? River mumbled the words without knowing what they meant. What was she saying? They couldn?t arrange a war together if they didn?t share a language.

Getting out was as easy as getting in, luckily. No-one paid River any mind as she left. She could try convincing them to join her cause, but she didn?t imagine it would be any more successful than her efforts on the surface. Best to focus on her natural habitat and let Jacky deal with the merfairies.

As she came to the mouth of the cave, River bit her lip. A figure was floating around outside, twiddling her thumbs and mumbling to herself.

?Uuuu...River, where are you??

Dandy had come back for her. How had she broken away from Briar?s grip so quickly? River took a moment to calm down, then focused on acting natural as she swam back out. ?Sorry, I lost you guys. Did you find the coin??

?Uh-uhh.? Dandy shook her head. ?Briar is still sure it?s down there, so she went ahead on her own. But we had no idea what happened to you, so I came back to check.?

It would have been endearing if only it hadn?t been so frustrating. River had to keep her recruitment strictly secret. If the youkai overlords found out what she was doing, she knew that The Man would come down on her like an iron press.

...Why did they call it The Man, anyway? Given the power balance in Gensokyo, The Woman seemed more appropriate.

?Um, River,? Dandy said, looking away as her headflower twirled about. ?Can I ask you a question??

River gulped, glad that Dandy couldn?t see her sweat while she was underwater. ?Sure, go ahead.?

?W-Well, the thing is...? Dandy picked up her mouthpiece and looked at it. ?I sort of forgot about this for a while, but I don?t feel like I?m drowning or anything. Why is that??

Crap.

Dandy was onto her. For all of her typical incompetence, she had a strange ability to realise the obvious. That was a rare gift among fairies, and exactly what River was most afraid of.

Luckily, Dandy was as manipulable as a ball of clay. River put on her serious face.

?That?s because you don?t feel anything. For ages you?ll be able to talk and it?ll be just fine, but then suddenly your whole body will feel really really warm...? She brought her hands close together, and Dandy?s eyes were trained on them.

?And then, BOOM!? River pulled her hands out as she screamed, forcing Dandy to flinch. ?Your whole body goes pop! They?ll be scraping little bits of Dandelion off the walls for weeks.?

Dandy squealed, and promptly put her mouthpiece back on. After taking a quick breath, she took it off again, looking at River with misty eyes.

?T-Thank you, River...I might have blown up if it wasn?t for you...?

River gave the girl a little pat on the shoulder. ?Hey, we Diver Fairies have to stick together.? She grinned darkly while Dandy wasn?t looking. Sucker.

Their little embrace was interrupted by a stream of bubbles coming up from below. River looked beneath her with a frown. That was more than just the exhaust from Briar?s breathing.

?So she?s busted the tank again.?

Dandy nodded, lips forming a little ring as she looked into the depths. A pink speck came into view, rapidly growing larger.

?...crap, crap, crap, crap, crap!?

Briar?s tank had a massive scratch in it, and air was bubbling out freely. She didn?t even notice her teammates as she whizzed by them, charging towards the surface. River shrugged, casually swimming up behind her, with Dandy following suit for lack of anything better to do.

River had what she?d came for, anyway. Jacky was still hard at work, and one day Lah Rezeestonce would make fairies the most powerful force in Gensokyo.

Whatever Lah Rezeestonce was.

-----

?Haaaaaaah!?

Briar took in a huge gulp of air as she broke the surface. The journey must have taken her ten minutes, and she hadn?t been able to breathe for the whole time. Her life had flashed before her eyes - all the friends she?d made, the kittens she?d snuggled, the pranks she?d pulled - but against all odds, she?d made it out in time.

?Haah...hauu...I forgot how dangerous this job could be.?

She?d been so busy looking for that coin that she accidentally dragged her tank against a sharp rock. The wreck of a tank was still clinging to her back as she pulled herself ashore. She unstrapped the tank, rolling it about to look at the puncture. If anything, it was worse than the damage she?d had to deal with this morning, to the point where any sensible engineer would have written it off.

Briar was not an engineer, and she was most definitely not sensible.

?Work, dammit!?

Her way with machines usually involved convincing them to co-operate with threats of violence. For some reason, whenever she struck an object that wasn?t working, it seemed to come back together again. River had called it ?percussive maintenance? once, but Briar didn?t know what either of those words meant. She just knew that if she punched things, they got fixed.

As she smacked her palm against the crack, the metal slithered out to repair the damage. It took a couple of minutes of focused hammering, but eventually the tank was as good as new. She planted it down beside her, beaming in satisfaction at her own work.

She then promptly wrapped her arms around herself as the water chill struck her.

?Jeez, that?s cold...?

Briar?s dress clung to her body, and she shivered as she flapped her wings dry. Dandy surfaced just in time for the spray to catch her in the face.

?Hyauu!? She put up a hand to shield herself before climbing up on shore. River appeared moments later, also hugging herself to protect from the newfound cold.

?Dandy, feel like working your magic?? Briar asked once her teeth had stopped chattering. Dandy nodded, and the three fairies came together in a huddle. Dandy puckered her lips up and blew, letting off a soft whistle as a breeze came to life around them. The wind blew at every inch of their bodies, passing through one of Briar?s ears and out the other. By the time Dandy stopped whistling their clothes were completely dry, and the grass around them was much damper than it had been thirty seconds ago.

?That?s more like it.? Briar stretched her arms and flapped her wings before planting her empty tank at River?s feet. ?Y?know the drill. We?ve still got time for two or three more dives before the sun sets.?

River groaned. ?Can?t we have a break? I have some people to convert-I mean, converse with.?

Briar waved a finger inches from her partner?s face. ?Don?t you remember the oath you swore when you became a Diver Fairy? You promised that you would do all that you could to find the treasure at the bottom of the Crystal Waters.?

?Yeah, and you promised to give me a lifetime?s supply of candy if I joined you.?

?Politics is a harsh mistress. What matters is that you swore the oath and now you can?t take it back.?

River grumbled, sitting down and working on refilling Briar?s tank. Fairies didn?t make oaths often, and when they did they had to stick by them no matter how unpleasant the circumstances. Now that Briar thought about it, maybe that was why River didn?t like her that much.

Dandy poked her on the shoulder. ?Uh, Briar, can I ask a question??

Briar grinned, puffing out her chest. ?Shoot.?

?This treasure we?re looking for...what is it??

Briar blinked. She hadn?t thought about it. She scratched her head as she tried to give an answer.

?It?s...awesome.?

Dandy tilted her head. ?Awesome??

?Yeah, too awesome to describe. It would blow your ears off if I tried to put it into words.?

Dandy nodded, letting out a small oooh. She was easily impressed, but then again Briar was cool enough to impress most of her fellow fairies. Even the toothie lady liked her, although Jozu did seem to laugh at her a lot for reasons she hadn't figured out yet.

That said, Dandy?s question did leave Briar thinking for a while. She really had no idea what the treasure at the bottom of the Crystal Waters was. In fact, it was possible that there wasn?t even any treasure there at all. What would she do then?

A moment of thought was rare for Briar, and when it ended she felt content about it. Maybe there wasn?t any sort of treasure in these waters. But even if there wasn?t, she was having fun looking for it, and she had two good friends to go searching with. (Well, one good friend. She wasn?t sure where River sat in the equation.)

She felt a new wave of enthusiasm as River handed her tank back. She didn?t even throw it at Briar?s face this time around.

?OK, Briar. We?re ready to go when you are.?

As Briar strapped the tank back on, she looked to her other side. Dandy was taking deep breaths, readying herself for the next dive. There was a small smile on her face up until she bit down on her mouthpiece.

For an instant, Briar wondered if it would be best if they never reached the bottom Stratum. That way they?d be able to continue these adventures together forever.

She quickly turned down that thought. What if there was something shiny down there? Like, really shiny, shinier than any other shiny Gensokyo had ever seen before?

?Alright, ladies,? Briar said, picking up her mouthpiece. ?Let?s go for another dip!?

She bit down and fell forward, splashing into the water again. Two splashes came from her sides as River and Dandy fell in tandem with her. The trio began on another mission to visit the deepest point of the Crystal Waters. In truth, they would probably fail, just like they?d failed every other time.

But an expedition that didn?t get to the bottom wasn?t a failure, Briar thought to herself. It was just a bonding exercise.
« Last Edit: February 07, 2012, 11:00:48 PM by RouNyanken »

Drake

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Re: Rou's Random Shorts
« Reply #271 on: February 08, 2012, 01:12:54 AM »
Quote
Jacqueline Cousteau
ear-to-ear grin right here

A Colorful Calculating Creative and Cuddly Crafty Callipygous Clever Commander
- original art by Aiけん | ウサホリ -

Tamashii Kanjou

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Re: Rou's Random Shorts
« Reply #272 on: February 08, 2012, 05:35:32 AM »
I'm not sure if I've ever said this before...
But I love River; smart little fairy. ^^

Jozu laughing at a completely oblivious Briar just continues to get a giggle out of me.

And where do I start about the 'Rezeestonce?' This is fun! I need more diver fairies! XD

Re: Rou's Random Shorts
« Reply #273 on: February 08, 2012, 05:48:05 AM »
These fairies charmed my socks off. Actually, y'know what, I just really liked everything about this fic. :3

FinnKaenbyou

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Re: Rou's Random Shorts
« Reply #274 on: February 10, 2012, 08:59:21 PM »
BONUS FEATURE:

So I'm really quite liking the diver fairies, and I asked Stuffman if he felt up for some requestin'. He went above and beyond, and I'm pretty much loving these. (They're a little too large for size limits, so I'll have to link them.)

First off, a trio of designs! From left to right it's River, Briar, and Dandy.

Second, another request I asked for after the first - footage from one of the team's first dives. Briar would go on to insist the entire thing was a learning experience.

Thanks again, Stuff. These are awesome. :D

Re: Rou's Random Shorts
« Reply #275 on: February 10, 2012, 09:44:09 PM »
They are made of dorbl--

...

Dandy's flower. how did I not notice it when I first clicked X3

FinnKaenbyou

  • Formerly Roukanken
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  • blub blub nya
Re: Rou's Random Shorts
« Reply #276 on: February 11, 2012, 07:53:12 PM »
Another pic! This time from Aoshi.

Yeah, I'll stop now. I think I'm getting awfully carried away with these fairies. :P

FinnKaenbyou

  • Formerly Roukanken
  • *
  • blub blub nya
Rou's Random Shorts (A Breath Of Fresh Air)
« Reply #277 on: March 03, 2012, 01:51:33 AM »
Note: If you haven't read this, the story might make a little less sense. But considering it's the same OC-laden stuff I usually write, it probably doesn't matter that much. :V

-----

Sometimes Sango wished she wasn?t so good at her work.

She?d been the self-proclaimed guardian of these lakes for longer than she could recall. For months, she had made it her duty to keep these waters clean and fresh, and she had done her job brilliantly. With every day she found a new shortcut, a better route, a way to get her work done a little bit faster.

The only problem was that at some point, she?d become too fast. She would have the lakes in tip-top shape before the morning was over, which meant she was left to her own devices. Food wasn?t an issue - she just helped herself to some of the kelp and seaweed growing along the bottom of the lakes. She had spent a few weeks trying to become a connoisseur on the subject, able to identify every branch and type of weed the lakes had to offer.

She had caught herself halfway through that idea, realising that it was the most boring thing she?d ever thought of.

?Why is there nothing to do around here??

Sango muttered to herself, kicking up small splashes of water as she sat at the side of the lake. She looked down into the water, every little rock and pebble engraved into her head. She had seen everything there was to see. Not just in this lake, but in every lake surrounding it. She?d met every fish, tried every delicacy, looked through every nook and cranny. The lakes didn?t have much left to offer her.

She?d tried taking a walk around the mountain, but ultimately there wasn?t much to see. The kappa had made their homes around the foot of the mountain, but after she?d seen one crackpot invention pouring steam out of the roof she?d seen them all. Most of the kappa were too caught up in their own studies and experiments to pay Sango any mind. Nitori was the main exception, but that was because she was trying to make business with the dolphin, blissfully unaware that Sango hadn?t made a single penny in her entire life.

The mountain itself wasn?t an option either. Sango was...well, she was a dolphin, and she was more at home in water than in air. This was doubly so when said air was several hundred feet above solid ground. She?d never been a fan of heights, and even looking at the mountain could make her dizzy if she focused too hard. She preferred to keep to the earth. Or the water. You couldn?t fall in the water.

She could try out Koishi?s vagabond routine and explore the nation on foot, but that had never appealed to her. Gensokyo was too large for her liking. There was too much to see, and it was too easy to get lost. And besides that, she always felt a little out of place on dry land. Water was where she belonged, and she kept to it when she could.

That left only one possibility in Sango?s head. She had met a shark youkai some time ago who came from well beyond the lakes of the mountain. Sango had heard about her home many times in the past - a new area known as the Crystal Waters, full of sparkling water and fish of every colour. It was deep enough to make Sango?s lakes look like puddles, and the thought of seeing all those new animals was enough to bring a smile to her face.

The smile quickly faded when she remembered how long a trip that was. It?d take her an hour of walking, and that was assuming she knew which way to go. And even if she did take the journey, her need to breathe every so often made sure she couldn?t stay under for long. It wasn?t worth the effort, she decided.

So she was left with nothing to do but engage in staring contests with the fish of the lake. None of them were looking back at her, but she considered that a victory by default on her part. She was so focused on her one-sided staredown that she never heard the footsteps coming up behind her.

?Um, excuse me-?

?Phweeaah!?

Sango flinched, pushing herself forward just enough to shift her centre of gravity. Her arms flew out to try and stop herself, achieving nothing as she fell into the water with a plop. She surfaced a few seconds later, turning about towards the mystery voice.

?Don?t sneak up on me like that, okay??

The girl looking back at her wasn?t a figure that Sango recognised. She wouldn?t have forgotten hair like that - long and green, running down to her waist. She was in her teens, dressed in a shrine maiden?s formal garb, and a long snake hairpiece was slithering about on one side of her head. That caught Sango?s attention, and for a while she could only look at the twirling snake. The girl either wasn?t aware of it, or was ignoring it entirely.

?Oh, apologies,? the girl said, backing off with her hands outstretched. ?You seemed very focused, and I wasn?t sure how to get your attention. Can I assume you are Sango Tororetsu??

Sango raised an eyebrow. ?Who?s asking??

The girl?s eyes widened in disbelief, her expression silently asking ?can she REALLY not know?? A moment later the look vanished, and she gave Sango an honourable bow.

?I am Sanae Kochiya, faithful servant of the mountain goddess Kanako Yasaka. I?m to understand we owe you our thanks.?

Sango gasped. She?d heard stories of the gods that lived at the top of the mountain, but she?d never met any of them in person. Sanae knelt down, cupping her hand and scooping up some water. It glinted as the light struck it, without a hint of impurity.

?Lady Yasaka?s influence doesn?t make it this far down the mountain. You?ve been keeping it clean of your own volition, correct??

The dolphin nodded. Somewhere at the back of her head she felt like this was the sort of recognition she?d been seeking for a long time, but the desire seemed to have faded away at some point. She shrugged. Either way, it was nice to feel respected.

?That?s about right.? Sango pulled herself out of the water to stand eye-to-eye with Sanae. ?I don?t exactly tell everyone about it, though. How?d you find out??

Sanae sighed. ?A strange young girl came to the shrine a few days ago and told us about you. I think she may have been a satori, if that means anything to you.?

?Oh.? Sango grumbled. That was all she needed to know. Koishi, couldn?t you have at least told me about this...?

?Anyway.? Sanae dug into a small bag she carried over her shoulder. She squirmed about as she searched, and Sango noticed her hand falling in further than space should have physically allowed. Eventually she pushed her entire arm into a bag that was only large enough to fit her hand.

?Lady Moriya keeps too many of these trinkets in here. She really needs to clean it up once in a while.? She stopped, and her eyes lit up. ?Ah, here we are.?

Sango was too stunned by Sanae?s magic trick to see what she was pulling out. Sanae had to click her fingers to get the dolphin?s attention and show her the flower currently sitting in her palm. It was violet, spreading out to a clear white at the edges of its petals.

?This is a present from the Moriya Shrine as a boon for all of your efforts.?

Sango tilted her head as she picked up the flower. It felt alive, even though it had obviously been cut from its stem. It was still damp to the touch, and as she put it to her hair it fit snugly into place as if there was a hole in her head for it.

?Uh, thanks. But why a flower??

Sanae giggled. ?If you blow on it, you might understand.?

That just made Sango even more confused. Regardless, she did as she was told, taking the flower off and blowing at it. As she did so, the petals folded inwards, stretching out and taking on the form of a small tube with mouthgrips at the bottom. It was a snorkel - Sango recognised the design from something Nitori had been trying to sell her a few days earlier - but rather than having a hole at the top for air, it had another, smaller flower.

?Give it a try,? Sanae said, unable to contain her own excitement. Still not sure what the fuss was about, Sango bit down on the snorkel and took a breath.

She couldn?t hide her gasp. Just to be sure, she blocked the lid of the snorkel with her palm. When that changed nothing, she jumped into the water and took another breath. The flower on the tip of the snorkel shuffled up and down in time with her breaths, but every breath was as full and fresh as the first. She surfaced, looking to Sanae for an explanation.

?We thought that as a dolphin you might feel a little left out from all the underwater antics,? the shrine maiden said, sounding almost as happy as Sango was. ?You can dismiss it by pushing in the flower at the top. The other form?s much easier to carry around. Either way, this should take care of your air-breathing problem, shouldn?t it??

Sango was dumbstruck. This was the perfect gift for her - it opened up all sorts of paths she couldn?t have taken before. Definitely Koishi?s fault, she thought to herself. She pulled herself out of the water again, following Sanae?s instructions. As she pushed the flower in the snorkel collapsed inside of it, and it grew in size until she was holding the original flower in her palm again.

?This is...I really have no idea what to say. Thanks a lot.? She almost hugged Sanae right then, but realised at the last minute it?d be awkward to hug a girl she?d only just met. ?Though, can I ask you one question??

Sanae nodded. ?Ask away??

Sango felt a wave of determination rise in her. ?Can you tell me how to get to the Crystal Waters from here??

-----

Neither girl was paying much attention to their surroundings. Even if they were, there were certain things that the people of Gensokyo had learned not to pay much mind to.

Fairies were one of those things. Even so, the fairy poking her head out from behind a bush would have seemed a little out of the ordinary by fairy standards. The oxygen tank on her back and flippers on her feet accounted for that.

River Moss had been in a foul mood when she had happened upon this conversation. She had stepped away from her duties for a ?lunch break?, which was of course an excuse to find more followers for the upcoming revolution. As always, she?d been unsuccessful. Sometimes she wondered if she was the only sane fairy in Gensokyo. Why didn?t anyone else want to bring down the youkai populace in a rain of cleansing fire?

This discussion had caught her attention, though. A youkai with an artifact that let the user breathe underwater, and she was on her way to the Crystal Waters right now? It was a massive opportunity on two counts - it would help the diver fairies reach their goal of plumbing the depths of the waters, and an artifact with that much power would be sure to win the revolution some followers.

The human and the youkai finished their discussion, and the dolphin set off on her way. River rose to her feet right away, feeling a leaf lodge itself between the hem of her dress and her neck. She didn?t have time to get rid of it. She had to get back to base and warn Briar before this chance passed them by.

As an emerald blur zipped through the air above her, the dolphin didn?t so much as turn her head.

-----

?Huuu.?

Briar surfaced for the third time today, water dripping from her hair. She spat out the mouthpiece, falling backwards and floating across the surface of the water. Technically the weight of her tank should have pushed her under again, but she had never considered the idea and thus it didn?t affect her.

A few seconds later Dandelion?s head popped up at her side. The flower-headed fairy immediately turned to Briar for guidance. When their dives ended Briar was the one to offer an official debriefing on their progress. There wasn?t much to report today - as usual, they?d run out of air somewhere in the Second Stratum, and made one long break for the surface. By now the fairies were so used to being without air that the feeling wasn?t even scary anymore.

?Dandy,? Briar said, reaching out and patting her companion on the head. ?We need to talk.?

Dandy?s eyes widened, and she dipped her head back under the water. The flower on her head still poked above the surface, drooping so low that it almost folded in on itself. Briar bit her lip.

?Ah, no, I?m not firing you! We just need to have a serious strategy meeting. I had an idea after that last expedition.?

A pair of eyes rose up from the waters. Dandy nodded, following right behind Briar as they headed for the edge of the water. They pulled themselves to shore for the third time in a day. Morning had finally come to an end, and Briar pulled off her tank and fins as she sat down. Even the mighty leader of the diver fairies needed a break once in a while.

Dandelion did her job without being asked, letting out a small whistle. A wind blew through Briar?s dress, lifting the water that had soaked it through and sending it spiraling across the grass in hefty puddles. Briar gave her a nod, then motioned for Dandy to sit down beside her.

?So, um, what was your idea?? Dandy asked, looking away. She was allergic to looking people in the eye, and Briar was used to looking at the side of her head. She was a great addition to the team for her magic alone - and given that most fairies were too busy with serious matters like counting the leaves on every tree in Gensokyo, Briar was grateful for every teammate she could get.

?Well, I?ve been watching our progress,? Briar started, standing up again and stomping about. She fluttered upwards, her feet ?standing? on air as she walked around Dandy. Being tall made her look more important, but four feet wasn?t quite tall enough in her opinion. ?We?re making decent progress through the first Stratum. The toothie lady has put us on good terms with the fish around there, so they aren?t a problem.?

She raised two fingers into the air. ?It?s the second Stratum that we?re having trouble with. In particular, it?s all those shiny crystals they?ve got in the walls. How are we supposed to resist their shinicity?? She?d been learning all the big words that leaders were expected to use.

Dandy tilted her head. ?But isn?t it just you that?s getting distracted? You always pull me along and-?

?Dammit, Dandy!? Briar shouted, knocking Dandelion back a few inches with her voice alone. ?I?m not here to crunch numbers and deal with details. I just wanna figure out what?s at the bottom of that lake, and if we wanna do that we?re all going to need to make a few sacrifices. Do you have a problem with that??

Dandy clamped her mouth shut, shaking her head wildly. Briar smiled. It was good to see her charisma at work.

?OK, so the plan is that we make the next dive blindfolded.?

Silence.

?...Eh??

?Think about it,? Briar continued, in awe of her own genius. ?If we can?t see the shinies then we can?t get distracted by them, right? We?d only need them for the second Stratum onwards, maybe less if it turns out there aren?t any shinies to look at.? She had to bow at her own brilliance, though she nearly whacked Dandy in the head as she bent down.

Dandy still seemed unsure. ?But, uh, doesn?t that mean we won?t be able to see? We?ll swim into walls and stuff.?

Briar shrugged. ?Collateral damage.? She spoke with such force, such conviction, that any other concerns Dandy had faded away in her throat. Briar took that as a sign she agreed. ?Now, there?s one problem - I think blindfolds loosen up when they?re wet, so we?d need to come up with some other way of doing it-?

?Briar!?

A voice from above caught both of them off guard. River swooped down between the pair, landing in a spot no more than two feet wide. She brushed off leaves on her dress that she?d acquired some time ago.

?Your landing was a five at best,? Briar said, sticking her tongue out. She never gave anyone a higher score than they were willing to give her. That was why Dandy scored eights and nines in spite of her clumsiness.

River didn?t even give her a glance as she caught her breath. ?I?ve got some important news for you. There?s a youkai coming this way that you?ll be very interested in.?

Briar?s eyes widened. She lowered herself to the ground. ?Go on.?

?Well, I was at the youkai mountain, and there was this fishy youkai person who said she was coming here. The thing is, she?s got a snorkel that lets her breathe underwater.?

Briar couldn?t hide her giggling. ?Oh, River, you?re so silly. Snorkels only work on the surface. And fishies can breathe underwater anyway.?

?I know that!? River?s face crumpled up. ?But this is a magical snorkel. It turns into a flower, which means it?s got to do something cool. And like I said, she?s on her way right now. She?s only walking, so it?ll take her about half an hour to get here.?

Briar lost control of her jaw as her mouth hung open. This was a game-changer.

?So you mean...if we get hold of that snorkel, we won?t have to worry about air ever again??

River nodded. Briar could barely believe what she was hearing. It was like the gods of Gensokyo had come together to create an artifact that did everything she could have asked for (which was technically true, but not in the way she was imagining).

?Umm...? Dandy, as usual, was the only one to try and inject common sense into the discussion. ?So do we ask her nicely??

She got two blank stares straight back at her.

?No, you dummy, we?re gonna take it from her,? Briar said.

Dandy pouted. ?But that?s stealing. Only bad little girls do that.?

?We?re not stealing it. We?re just borrowing it indefiminably.?

?Indefinitely,? River said.

?Yeah, that word.?

Dandy still didn?t seem keen on the matter, so Briar reached out and put a hand over her shoulder. ?Look, Dandy, the fishie lady won?t even need the snorkel anyway. She can already breathe underwater, so it?s just going to an owner who can actually use it. What?s wrong with that??

That was the argument that won the day, and finally she nodded in agreement. Briar gave her a pat on the back strong enough to displace a lung.

?Great! Now, if she?s on her way, we?ll need to come up with some sort of plan. Anyone have any ideas??

River smirked. ?Actually, while I was on the way over I took the liberty of coming up with an attack strategy. First of all, I have to give both of your tanks a refill. You?ll need to be in the water for this...?

-----

Sango was starting to wonder how Koishi managed to live like a vagabond. She had been walking for about an hour, and felt like her legs would snap off at any moment.

Swimming for an hour wasn?t a problem, but walking involved a set of muscles she really hadn?t practiced with. Once or twice she?d stopped to take a breath, and she couldn?t shake the feeling someone was watching her. There was dense foliage on all sides, with plenty of room for someone to hide. The lakes didn?t offer hiding spots like that, and this was her first time feeling so exposed.

And then there were the fairies. She walked past at least two dozen of them, minding their own business and flying around without any concern who was in their way. Sango was almost run over twice, and she was covered in the glitter their dresses seemed to give off. She was looking forward to taking a dip and washing all of this away.

At last the Crystal Waters came into sight, and Sango was just about ready to fall into them. She took a look into the water, and immediately felt a pout come to her face. It was as clean and beautiful as the name suggested, and she counted more fish hanging beneath the surface than she?d seen in three of her own lakes. She briefly considered moving, but she decided that it was a bad idea to quit her job on the same day she?d been praised for doing it so well.

She put a hand on the flower she?d placed in her hair. It felt so natural that she wondered if it had been made for her. She blew on it, bringing it out into its true form. She took a few breaths from the snorkel just to be sure that it really did its job.

She was about to get into the water when she heard the voice.

?Help! Someone, help me!?

Sango?s head jerked to the side. A fairy in a long green dress was running towards her with a look of horror on her face. It was the sort of look that Sango couldn?t allow herself to look away from.

?What?s wrong?? she asked.

?Oh, a youkai?? The fairy pointed out into the water. ?Please, you have to help my friend! She crashed into the water by accident, and she can?t swim! If you don?t help her, she?ll-!?

Sango didn?t have time to think. Sheer instinct kicked in, and she leaped forwards with a perfectly executed dive. She hit the water with barely a splash, not losing a moment of speed as she headed towards the disturbance. She saw a figure flailing about, barely keeping her head above water. The flower on her head was flapping about as she tried to gasp for air.

?Haah, aah...hel-ppplbl!?

She wouldn?t be able to stay above water for more than a minute at that rate. Sango came to a stop a few feet away, trying to reach out for her. The fairy kept swiping her away, her hands swinging about in all directions and keeping Sango at bay.

?C-Calm down, okay? I?m here to help!?

She wasn?t going to get anywhere like this. The first priority was to make sure that the fairy could breathe. She looked at the snorkel still hanging in her hand, thinking it over for a moment, before nodding to herself.

?Just take this!?

She brought the snorkel forward, and the fairy bit down on it right away. Sango was surprised at how quickly she took it when she?d been panicking five seconds ago. She calmed down right away, as if she was aware that the snorkel would help her even if she fell under the water. Both of those left Sango a little confused as to what was going on.

Before she could get any further than that, she felt something grab at her ankles.

?Phwee?!?

Sango was caught off guard entirely, losing her grip on the fairy. The girl she?d been trying to rescue dipped under the water, and Sango pulled under to follow her. She found a third fairy in a long pink dress holding her by the ankles, breathing from a tank on her back.

?Briar, dive now!?

The girl in the green dress had grabbed her own tank, and gave Sango a snarky wink as she leaped into the water. At that moment, Sango remembered seeing a green blur in the corner of her eye on the way to the Crystal Waters.

A setup?!

The girl holding her in place let go and swam straight down. Sango chased after her at the first chance she got, but the fairy had more speed than she expected. Clearly she?d done her fair share of swimming, and those fins she wore gave her an extra boost.

Sango would have been able to catch up to her if it wasn?t her first time in these waters. Schools of fish stormed her, eager to meet a newcomer and totally unaware that she was in a hurry. The fairies dived downwards, fading away until they were out of sight entirely. Sango tried to keep up the chase regardless. She glanced at her surroundings - if she had been here in any better circumstances, she would have taken the time to appreciate them. The fish, the coral, the beautiful water - it was a wonderful sight ruined by the fact she had just been robbed.

?Mmh-?

The fairies had just come into view again when Sango felt a pain rising in her chest. They hadn?t just robbed her - they?d robbed her of the one thing she needed to chase them. She grit her teeth, turning around and breaking for the surface again. She brushed past something silver, but she was too busy rising up to pay attention to it.

?Haah-!?

One breath of air later, Sango had decided she didn?t like fairies. The glitter was already frustrating, but getting mugged was another thing entirely. She thought for a moment, looking for a way to catch up to them, but her air-breathing tendencies had got the best of her again. It was time to think of a good excuse in case the mountain gods wanted to know where their artifact had gone.

When someone poked her in the back, she was about ready to turn around and punch them. She stopped herself at the last minute - which was a good move, because punching a shark in the face would have been a terrible idea.

?So that?s how they say hello where you?re from?? Jozu said, frowning. The shark was only poking her head just above water, her gills still churning beneath the surface.

Sango dropped her arm, going bright red. The pair had met during an incident some time ago, and while she wouldn?t call Jozu a good friend she was an acquaintance at the very least. This was not the best way to re-introduce herself.

?Sorry. I just got pickpocketed by a bunch of fairies, so I?m not in the best mood.?

Jozu raised an eyebrow. ?What, Briar and her merry band? Why would they wanna rob you??

?They stole this artifact that would?ve let me breathe underwater, so...?

The shark nodded. She seemed to know the fairies responsible, and she looked regretful as her eyes jumped between Sango and the water. Eventually, she let out a hard sigh.

?Sorry. This is giving you a really bad first impression of my home waters. I think I owe it to you to get your trinket back.?

She raised one hand above the water, offering Sango a thumbs-up. ?Sit tight.? She slipped back beneath the water, diving down in pursuit of the burglars.

Sango spent half a minute treading water, still a little lost with regards to what had happened. She took a deep breath, and with a shrug dropped back into the water again.

If I?m going to have to wait on Jozu, I may as well look around while I?m here.

-----

?Celebrations all around!?

Briar gave high fives to her two companions. River returned the gesture, and Dandy offered a weak flick of the wrist to match. Dandy had been using the snorkel for the whole trip down, and she?d been breathing with perfect ease the whole time. River?s intel had been spot-on, and they made it to the second Stratum without any incident.

?Good work, River,? Briar said in between breaths from her tank. ?That was genius. Hell, even I would have had trouble thinking of that.? From Briar, that was the best compliment imaginable, and River smirked in response.

Without a blindfold to work with, Briar covered her eyes with her hands instead. She assumed her subordinates would follow suit - obviously she was too blind to check. Unlike every time beforehand, she was swimming straight down without a care in the world. They were making three times the progress that they usually made. At this rate, they?d finally make it into the third Stratum.

?Hey, Dandy, is it cool if I take a shot at the snorkel? We?re gonna have to share it anyway.?

She pulled her hand away, looking at Dandy with one eye. The flower-headed fairy gasped, and suddenly turned crimson red. She backed off, looking set to flee at any moment.

?Eh? Dandy, what?s wrong?? Briar asked. Dandy responded by blushing even harder, and just when Briar thought she?d never answer she took the snorkel off and began to speak.

?T-This snorkel...I have to put my lips on it. So if I give it to you, it?s like I?m...indirectly, I?d be...?

She couldn?t finish, and she looked set to cry. Briar felt the blood drain from her face. She hadn?t thought of this.

?Really?? River muttered. ?Come on, it?s just a snorkel. It?s not like you?re really kissing her.?

Briar raised a hand to stop her. ?River, this is serious. This could put our entire mission in jeopardy.?

?...You?re kidding. You agree with this too??

?The Diver Fairies are a respectable group working together for a common cause. This sort of romantic irresponsimability is something I refuse to stand for.?

?But I have to breathe into your tanks to refill them. Isn?t that the same thing??

River?s statement had exactly the opposite effect from what she'd intended. Both Dandy and Briar cringed, their faces glowing as they blushed. The three of them hung in place, and even River couldn?t stay stern with two pitiful expressions coming back at her. Their relationship had reached a new level of awkwardness.

?...We might have to give that snorkel back to the fishy,? Briar said. River and Dandy nodded along with her. For once, the three of them came to a genuine agreement. None of them was willing to make the first move and move towards the surface. They were probably in for a long lecture at best.

Or a charge from a shark at worst.

?Wha-?

Briar was rushed from behind, pushed forward and knocked off balance before someone grabbed her by the edge of her dress. She turned around to see Jozu looking at her with the expression of a disappointed mother.

?You three are gonna come with me. You have some explaining to do.?

Jozu swam up towards the surface, pulling Briar along as her hostage. The two remaining diver fairies followed on behind her, neither of them willing to mess with the dreaded toothie lady.

Briar made a small attempt to fight Jozu off, and made sure to do her fair share of complaining. But in all honesty, she was grateful that Jozu was hauling her in to face judgement. It meant she didn?t have to apologise willingly.

And if there was anything fairies hated doing, it was saying sorry.

-----

How does this place stay so clean, anyway?

Sango raised an eyebrow as she swept around beneath the surface of the Crystal Waters. This place was unnaturally clean, on the same level as the lakes she had to work daily to keep clean. Magic was in play here. She wondered if she had a secret protege at work. Maybe a doppelganger? She?d have to ask Jozu when she showed up.

She stroked at a passing eel, feeling it shiver at her touch. She smiled, feeling like she?d already made a new friend. There was a brilliant coral reef on one side of the water, though she took care not to touch it. She suspected it was sharper than it looked, and if she cut herself Jozu was going to be less sane than usual.

?Hey, lemme go already!?

Sango heard the voice rise up from the depths. Looking down, she saw Jozu coming into view, hauling one of the fairies along by the edge of her dress. Her partners in crime were lagging along behind, and both of them looked completely docile. Sango?s eyes widened. She hadn?t expected Jozu to have that much influence, but the more she thought about it the less it surprised her.

The dolphin and the shark surfaced at once, with the head fairy poking her head out of the water as well. She was pouting so hard Sango almost expected her jaw to fall off, and she couldn?t look the dolphin in the eye. She looked like a child who denied robbing the cookie jar with her hands covered in crumbs.

?OK, Briar,? Jozu said, putting her hand on the fairy's shoulder instead. ?You?ve got something to say to Sango, don?t you??

Briar muttered something so quietly that neither Sango nor Jozu could hear her. Jozu gave her a little shake to try and force the words out of her.

?Right, right, I?m sorry.? Briar looked at Sango with a look of bewilderment. ?I don?t get it. You don?t even need that snorkel. You?re a fish. Why would you need to breathe underwater??

Sango raised an eyebrow. ?Uh...y?know, I?m a dolphin. I still need to breathe air.?

Briar?s face went pale, and Sango heard her mutter ?Crap.? She must not have known about it after all. Sango felt her frustration towards the fairies fade, but only slightly.

The other fairies surfaced - the green-dressed girl who wasn?t willing to look her head-on, and the flower-headed fairy who seemed ready to wilt at any moment. She was brushing off the snorkel, trying to wipe the mouthpiece as if to clean it. She handed it back to Sango, her head bowed so far that she was almost under the water again.

?S-Sorry. We didn?t know you were friends with the toothie lady. We won?t do anything like this to you again, so...?

Briar made no attempt to disagree with her teammate?s apology, but she looked grateful that she didn?t have to say it herself. Jozu let her go as Sango took back the snorkel, moving away and giving the fairies enough room to vacate the premises. The three of them swam off into the distance with their metaphorical tails between their legs. Sango heard Briar mumbling something about how they needed to ?work on that blindfold strategy?.

When they were well out of the way, Jozu turned around and rubbed at her head. ?I?m real sorry about that. They?re harmless most of the time, but you just happened to have something they wanted. Now they know that you?re with me, they?re not gonna mess with you.?

Sango nodded, taking a strong grip of her newest possession. Now she didn?t have to worry about explaining this all to the Moriya Shrine when she got back.

?Thanks, Jozu. Sorry for making you work like this out of nowhere.?

Jozu shrugged. ?Don?t mention it. I?m meant to look after these waters, so it?s just part of the job description.?

The pair smiled at each other for a moment.

?Anyway...? Jozu grinned. ?You wanna take a look around??

Sango nodded, put on the snorkel, and gave Jozu a thumbs-up. This was what she?d come here for, and even if there had been some slight complications she was going to make the most of it. She?d made a long walk to get here, after all, and she wasn?t doing all that work for nothing.

Jozu shared the thumbs up as they both sank under the water. Sango took long puffs from the snorkel, reveling in her newfound ability to breathe. She let Jozu take her by the hand and lead her around.

?Good afternoon, and welcome to Jozu Manou?s official tour of the Crystal Waters. Now, if you look to your left...?

-----

Like I said, I'm really taking a liking to the fairies. :P

This fic also let me resolve something that's bugged me for a while - ever since PLotSS Sango has had a flower in her hair, but I never really explained or used it. Well, here's your explanation for it! :D

Now if you'll excuse me it's coming up to 2am. Man, I haven't done this with a story in forever. x_x
« Last Edit: March 03, 2012, 01:53:17 AM by RouNyanken »

Re: Rou's Random Shorts
« Reply #278 on: March 03, 2012, 12:49:45 PM »
Great Rou, diver fairies are awesome.  Maybe someday their plan will come to fruition, in time the may overcome such childish weaknesses (if they weren't fairies). Overall, this was really nice and cute story, and despite the amount of OCs you come up with, it all fits together and still feels very Touhou.

BT

  • I never talk to you
  • *
  • People say that I should
Re: Rou's Random Shorts
« Reply #279 on: March 03, 2012, 01:57:34 PM »
>the flower

"But didn't she already have one?" :V

By the way, is the reason behind the waters being so clean staying a mystery for now, or was it explained by how "Jozu's the one looking after the lake"?

Re: Rou's Random Shorts
« Reply #280 on: March 04, 2012, 12:00:04 AM »
Ahhh, the blindfold strategy. Gotta love fairy-logic. Quite clever in its own way, while at the same time utterly devoid of anything resembling wisdom or common sense.

It's the kind of thing that inspired me to make this post.

Stuffman

  • *
  • We're having a ball!
Re: Rou's Random Shorts
« Reply #281 on: March 05, 2012, 02:00:08 AM »
Rou requested a Jacky/River so here you go.



If you're going to use a stereotype you need to go whole-hog.

Also:


Esifex

  • Though the sun may set
  • *
  • It shall rise again
Re: Rou's Random Shorts
« Reply #282 on: March 06, 2012, 09:00:31 PM »
I thought sharks made a GASHUNK noise when they rammed things?

Metaflare

  • Happening Cat of the Middle of Nowhere
  • Welp is not a good nickname
Re: Rou's Random Shorts
« Reply #283 on: March 06, 2012, 09:03:34 PM »
Not when ramming fairies, apparently

Re: Rou's Random Shorts
« Reply #284 on: March 07, 2012, 01:00:08 AM »
Nah, it's only when they knock down doors.

FinnKaenbyou

  • Formerly Roukanken
  • *
  • blub blub nya
Rou's Random Shorts (The Dolphin and the Dragon)
« Reply #285 on: March 10, 2012, 10:02:43 PM »
The weather showed no signs of improving. The clouds above were only getting darker, and the first crackles of thunder resounded in the distance. The rain battered Gensokyo without relent, and most youkai took shelter under trees or caves.

As a dolphin, Sango didn?t have that luxury. Instead she floated just beneath the surface of the lake, looking up at the miserable weather. These storms were uncommon, but when they did hit they were devastating. They never happened more than once a year, and Gensokyo was grateful for that.

The waves picked up, knocking Sango around a little. The winds were even strong enough to push the lakes about. Sango sighed, diving further down beneath the surface. She was thankful for the snorkel she?d received as a present from the local gods a few weeks earlier. The flower at its tip shifted up and down as she breathed, letting bubbles out but giving her more air than she was putting in. It was a convenient artifact that let her hide from the storm.

It?s pretty boring down here, though.

She?d been planning to take a trip to the Crystal Waters and go on a real expedition, but that would have called for an hour-long trek in this weather. She?d even talked Nitori into lending her a proper outfit for the dive - a real swimsuit, and those plastic foot things humans used to kick. They didn?t make Sango any faster than she would have been as a dolphin, but she had to be in human form to use the snorkel.

The swimsuit and the fins were sitting in a pile at the bottom of the lake, still unworn, and Nitori was expecting them back first thing tomorrow morning. If Sango didn?t have a piece of plastic stuck in her mouth, she would have told the weather just what she thought about it. Another lash of thunder echoed through the water to return the gesture.

From down here, all she could see of the surface was a murky blur. Part of her wanted to just leap out of the lake and experience the storm for herself, embracing the fury of nature. Then she thought about the rain and the cold and the thunder and the wind, and sensibility won out.

The fish of the lake were circling around her, hiding from the storm as well. She reached out and stroked a passing salmon, its scaly side nuzzling against her hand. She smiled. Maybe she was bored, but at least she wasn?t bored and lonely.

Until the thunder roared again, and the fish darted off to the corners of the lake. Sango flinched slightly, but was mostly desensitised to the sound. It was going to be hard sleeping if the weather stayed like this.

On that note, what time was it? The clouds had made it impossible to see the moon, and Sango didn?t know any other way to keep the time. She approached the surface again, looking for a hole in the cloud cover to judge the sky by.

Instead, she saw something red jump out of the clouds. Something red that was getting larger very very quickly.

Wha-

She didn?t even have time to finish the thought before the object crashed into the water, sending the already churning waters splashing out of the lake. Sango had to pull backwards to avoid being crushed, turning around to look the moment she was in the clear.

A human figure was floating beside her, brushing off the sides of her blouse as if she?d simply fallen over. The shawl hanging over her shoulders waved about in the water, in perfect time with the ribbons protracting from her long-rimmed hat. She brushed a strand of violet-blue hair from in front of her eyes, straightening her hat before she turned towards Sango.

?Excuse me. You?re the dolphin youkai who lives in these waters, yes? I?d like a moment of your time.?

Sango immediately let loose with the questions. Who was this woman? What was she? How did she know who Sango was, and what exactly did she want?

Given that she was breathing through a snorkel, though, these questions all came out along the lines of ?blubblglubl?? The woman?s eyes widened, then closed as she nodded to herself.

?I suppose you?re entitled to your questions. I don?t have much time to spare, though.?

She broke for the surface, and Sango made a hasty pursuit. She noticed that the rocking waves of the lake had faded away the moment this woman had fallen in. Regardless, the rain was going at it as hard as ever, and Sango had to shield her face as she spat out the snorkel. She dismissed it, and it transformed into a flower as she placed it back in her hair.

?OK, so,? she started, barely able to hear herself above the storm overhead. ?First of all, who are you, and why didn?t you break anything with that landing??

The woman pulled down the tip of her hat. Rainwater drained off its edge, replacing the water she?d sent flying out with her entrance. ?I am Iku Nagae, an envoy of the Dragon Palace. I?d have to fall at twice that speed to be in danger of hurting myself, and that?s if I was landing on solid rock.?

Sango wouldn?t have believed that claim if she hadn?t just seen it play out in front of her. A messenger of the Dragon God was looking for her personally. This was beginning to get a little absurd.

?How did-?

?You were recommended,? Iku said before Sango could even finish the question. ?At the Dragon Palace we overhear much of what goes on in Gensokyo, especially among the deities. The Moriya gods spoke of a youkai with the power to purify water who lived in these lakes.?

Sango felt out of her depth. She was just an ordinary dolphin at the end of the day, but now the Dragon God - the Dragon God, the deity that all other gods in Gensokyo bowed down to - had reached out to her. She wondered if she?d fallen asleep at some point and this was all a dream.

Probably not. Dreams weren?t this loud. Or wet. Or uncomfortable.

?And what does the Dragon God want with me? I?m not gonna be served up for dinner, right??

Iku?s expression didn?t budge an inch. ?Miss Tororetsu, I?m not exaggerating when I say Gensokyo?s future may depend on you.?

Silence.

?...Seriously??

Iku nodded. She looked at Sango so sternly that the dolphin couldn?t believe she was lying. The sheer scale of her claim left Sango dazed for a moment. She gulped.

?What do you need??

?First of all,? Iku said, pulling close and lowering her voice to a whisper, ?I need you to promise that you?ll keep this incident to yourself. I?m going to have to break a few rules here, and if you start giving away divine secrets to every fish in the lake my superior won?t be very happy.?

Sango nodded. She figured she could keep a secret - as long as Satori didn?t return for another visit, anyway. That would be awkward.

?Alright. Now, I need to take you to the Dragon Palace so you can-?

?Wait a second,? Sango said, holding up a hand and interrupting Iku for a change. ?I?m not very good with geography, but isn?t the Dragon Palace at the bottom of an ocean??

Iku raised an eyebrow. ?Well, yes, but we?ll be using the-?

?One moment.?

Sango had vanished under the water before Iku could finish. She made no attempt to follow, which gave Sango plenty of time to recover her little stash. She shooed away any fish brave enough to take a look, and quickly changed into the gear she?d borrowed from Nitori. At least it wasn?t going to be totally wasted. She kept the belt - if they needed her for something, it probably involved her powers.

She surfaced again a few moments later, her shirt and skirt replaced by a much more aerodynamic swimsuit and fins.

Iku raised an eyebrow. ?I suspect it?s best not to ask.?

?It?d bore you.? Sango stuck her tongue out. ?So, how are we getting to the Dragon Palace??

The messenger?s face broke into a sly grin. Lightning lit up the sky for an instant as she drifted towards Sango, pulling her arms out.

?How else? We?re leaving the same way I got here.?

Her arms wrapped around Sango?s waist, gripping her with a strength her slender body shouldn?t have possessed. Sango had just enough time to figure out what was going on before she felt herself being jerked out of the water.

?P-Phweee!?

Sango squealed, kicking about as Iku lifted her further into the air. Heights had always been an issue for her, and as a dolphin it have never been one she?d seen a point in dealing with. She couldn?t fly, she never planned to climb the mountain she lived beneath, and she generally had no ambitions that took place far above sea level. As she was pulled up towards the pitch-black thunderclouds, she was understandably frightened.

?Don?t let go,? Iku said with a mischievous grin. ?It?ll be quite the drop if you do.?

You think?!

Sango tried to grab Iku in the same way Iku was grabbing her, but the envoy?s arms were locked around her elbows. Sango couldn?t do more than grab at her shirt for support. She looked straight up, well aware that looking down would just make her feel even worse. She started kicking with her legs, pretending that she was swimming through the air to calm herself down. It took her a while to notice that Iku?s legs were moving in time with hers, but from the glistening trail they left she knew that Iku wasn?t pretending.

?How do you do that?? Sango asked, poking at Iku?s leg with her knee. She?d point to it, but Iku?s grasp on her didn?t give her arms much room for movement.

?It?s the uniform,? Iku answered. ?It has the blessings of the Dragon God, and allows me to swim through air like it was water.?

Sango?s face flashed red for a second.

?C-Can I borrow-?

?No.?

?Dammit.?

The clouds were still a long way off, but Iku continued to ascend with her dolphin passenger. Sango couldn?t deny the feeling was exhilarating - the winds blowing through her hair, rain pummeling at her face as sheer adrenaline charged through her veins. She could hear her heart pounding like it was set to explode. She couldn?t even see the ground beneath her anymore, and the whole experience took her breath away.

Or maybe that was just a side effect of the height she was at.

?Ah-?

Sango was starting to feel a little light headed. She was aware that her breaths were getting shorter and shorter, drawing in less oxygen from the rapidly-thinning air. She tried to grab at the flower in her hair, but her hands were still locked at her sides. Iku continued upwards, unaffected by it. Maybe she didn?t need to breathe at all.

?Iku...? Sango wheezed. She could hardly find the air to speak. ?Need...flower...?

Iku tilted her head. ?I?m afraid you?re unlikely to find flowers at this altitude. Isn?t the one you?re wearing enough??

Sango began to kick about wildly, gasping and panting as the air continued to thin. She looked up towards the flower to try and get the point across. ?Can?t...breathe...?

The realisation hit Iku just in time. She loosened her grip so that Sango could squirm her arms out before clutching at her waist again. The dolphin quickly pulled the flower from her hair, blowing at it just hard enough to make it transform. She lodged one end of the snorkel into her mouth and savoured the sweet taste of genuine air.

?Huuu...haaa...huuu...?

The flower fluttered up and down as strength returned to Sango?s body. She wondered if Iku had been aware of it, or if the envoy of the Dragon Palace had forgotten about the troubles of mere youkai.

?I didn?t think snorkels did that,? Iku said, raising an eyebrow.

Sango pulled the snorkel away after she?d caught her breath. ?They don?t,? she said, before putting it back on. This time she bit down as hard as she could, unwilling to let anything pull her air away from her again.

Still, why are we headed this way? The bottom of the ocean should be...well, down.

The black stormclouds now hung right above Sango?s head. She could still see lightning jumping around inside the cloud, and the rumbling was ten times as loud here as it had been on the ground. She put her hands over her ears, relying on Iku to keep a strong grip on her.

?Get ready,? she heard Iku say. ?This is going to be rough.?

Sango felt Iku?s grip grow tighter, and she saw a brilliant glint shine in the envoy?s eyes. The pair charged into the thundercloud, and Sango clung to her guide for dear life. They had escaped the rain, but the lightning bounced around in all directions with deafening crackles. Iku picked up speed, grinning recklessly as if she was channeling the storm itself. She lowered herself to bring the pair within a few feet of a spark of lightning, and Sango reacted as any dolphin would in that situation.

?Mmmmh!? Are you nuts?! I don?t wanna be fried dolphin today!

Iku winked at her. ?I said it was going to be rough. I never said I planned to make it any easier.?

Sango considered letting go for a moment, only to remember that she was currently several thousand feet above the earth. She held onto Iku, deciding that Probably-Going-To-Die was still preferable to Definitely-Going-To-Die.

The lightning hung beneath them - or rather, they hung above the lightning as it danced across the cloud. Sango was relatively sure it should have struck them by now, but perhaps Iku had some sort of protective ward. She definitely hoped as much. She looked around the cloud, trying to find whatever it was Iku was searching for, when at last a shimmering light emerged in the distance. Hanging in the air in the centre of the stormcloud was a flickering doorway, made of the same lightning that was surrounding them right now. On the other side of the doorway Sango could see the briny depths of an ocean, and beyond that-

?That?s the Dragon Palace,? Iku said as she pulled in towards the door. ?You should be grateful - few youkai have ever seen it with their own eyes.?

The building was tall enough to outdo any building in Gensokyo, two jade dragons curling around its length. It was a pagoda with a dozen stories, black at the bottom but brightening to a sheer-white roof. Each of the roofs was covered in scale-like tiles, four jagged spikes sticking out of their corners. Lanterns hung from these, bringing light to what would have otherwise been a completely dark environment.

As Iku pulled her through the doorway, Sango came to a sudden realisation. She?d never ventured to any great depth before. The water pressure at the bottom of the ocean would be strong enough to turn her into a pancake. Given that Iku had forgotten about her need to breathe, Sango was worried for a moment that she?d be crushed the moment they passed into the doorway.

Instead, Iku clicked her fingers, and a sphere of flickering light surrounded the dolphin. Sango felt the water hit her, but it was with no more weight than the waters of her own lakes. She looked up at the envoy in bewilderment, and Iku simply smiled back.

?I?m not that bad, I?ll have you know. Now, right this way...?

Iku let go of Sango and took her by the hand as they approached the front door of the palace. Curiously, it was hanging open, but from the size of it the door would have been difficult to open and close on demand. The interior was as carefully designed as the exterior, with paintings of dragons on surrounding scrolls and impossibly well-kept wooden walls that glimmered with a magical sheen.

Dozens of other youkai were swimming about, in the same flamboyant uniform as Iku. They were all murmuring in hushed voices, but Sango didn?t need to hear them to know that they were uneasy. Something serious really was happening here.

But why do they need me?

She saw several of the passing youkai look towards her, with expressions ranging between confusion and relief. She felt her body temperature drop by a few degrees. No pressure or anything...

?Right, here?s the plan,? Iku said as she brought Sango further into the building. ?We?ve got some major impurities that need to be cleaned up on the bottom floor. It?s too strong for any of us to remove, which is why we sent for you. We don?t know how long you have, but if you?re too slow the consequences will be disastrous. Any questions??

Sango glared, pointing at the snorkel in her mouth again. ?Mmmmphhlbl.?

?Ah, right, I forgot. I?m sure there?s someone here who?ll take care of that.? Iku let go and pulled away, swimming towards a crowd of envoys and speaking in murmurs. Eventually one of their number nodded and looked towards Sango. She chanted for a brief moment, holding her hands out towards Sango, until with a pop a bubble came into existence around her head. Sango spat out the snorkel, checking that she could breathe in this newfound air supply. She was pleasantly surprised.

?Thanks,? she said, giving the magician a wave. The woman shook her head.

?No, Miss Tororetsu. Thank you.?

Before Sango could ask for any more explanation, Iku was pulling her along into the pagoda?s crooked corridors. The bubble bounced around in time with Sango, and like the snorkel it never seemed to run out of air. Sango had to wonder just how difficult this enchantment really was given that she?d seen it twice in a matter of weeks.

?So what am I cleaning up?? Sango asked, gripping one of the vials on her belt. ?Dirt? Curses? Demons??

Iku came to a stop in front of a large wooden door at the end of the corridor. She smiled again. ?You?ll figure it out.? She opened the door, and Sango got her first glimpse of her duty.

Hundreds of dishes and plates were floating about, each showing stains from use. Some were marked with flour, others with sugar, others still with butter. Some had burn marks that would need some heavy duty cleaning, and others were covered in a substance Sango couldn?t hope to recognise.

She felt a nudge on her back as she was pushed into the room. The door closed behind her with a final click.

?We still have some last-minute business to finish, so I?ll be on my way,? Iku said from the other side of the door. Sango could hear her drifting down the corridor already, her voice fading away. ?Remember - if you want Gensokyo to survive the storm, you?d best be quick...? From there she was too far away to be heard.

Sango charged the door, which unsurprisingly refused to open. The door was firmly locked, and her yelling didn?t earn her anyone?s attention. She heard one or two of the fellow messengers swimming by in a hurry once, and one of them sounded concerned, but his partner simply said Sango would ?calm down eventually?.

For about ten minutes, Sango sat in the corner of the room, glaring at the cutlery bouncing about. She?d been expecting a duty that could alter the fate of history, and in truth she?d just been hired as the world?s best dishwasher.

She thought of Iku, who?d hauled her into all of this. She remembered the stern look the envoy had given her when she had said Gensokyo?s fate depended on her. Could she have been lying? Sango tried to imagine it, but a look that stern could have only been honest.

?But still, how is dish-washing going to save the nation??

She didn?t know, and no-one planned on telling her any time soon. They?d locked her up in here and left her to do her job. A fork fluttered in front of her face, its tips grimy and coated in red.

She sighed.

?Either way, I can?t go home if I?m on bad terms with them...?

She rose to her feet, cricking her neck and flexing her shoulders. She pulled out one of her vials, filled with a liquid that could cleanse water of any impurity. It wasn?t large, and there was a lot of work to do with it, but they?d left her a washcloth as well. She poured a droplet onto it, and the cloth shone with a glorious light.

?Alright,? Sango said to herself, pulling over the first bowl. ?Time to show these youkai just why the gods were talking about me.?

-----

It didn?t take long for Sango to understand why she?d been sent for. This cutlery was in horrendous condition. She almost threw away two of the first dozen plates as lost causes, but with some thorough scrubbing she?d been able to wipe them clean. After about twenty plates the pure-water ran dry, and she was forced to reapply her magic to the cloth to keep up the pace.

The loneliness frustrated her more than anything. Being on her own for hours with nothing to do but clean dishes wasn?t her idea of a good time. She would rather have been braving the storm with her fishy friends than working cleanup for people she?d never met. When that thought came to her, she reminded herself that this was for the good of Gensokyo.

Yeah, I?m sure wiping the muck off of this plate will save thousands of lives.

It was a difficult idea to get into her head.

It took her an hour - or maybe two, she had no way of keeping time in here - but ultimately she had managed to clean up everything that she?d been left with. She?d even taken the time to arrange them in well-ordered piles, just so they?d be easy to put away later. It wasn?t like she had anything better to do.

When that was finished, she knocked at the door again.

?Uh, hey? I?m done in here. Can I come out now??

There was no answer. Sango frowned. They were still caught up in whatever it was they were preparing, most likely. She?d have to wait for someone to pass by.

It was only a few minutes before she heard footsteps stomping down the hallway.

?...Where?s breakfast? Hell, where?s the chef...??

A young girl?s voice traveled through the walls. She sounded too young to work here, but either way she probably knew how to open a door. Sango knocked to try and get her attention.

?Eh? Who?s there??

There was a click as the door creaked open again. Looking down, Sango found herself face-to-face with a youkai unlike any of the others she?d seen. Most obviously, she was dressed in a long green kimono, except rather than fabric it was made of scales. Her jade hair was tied by two jeweled ribbons, but it formed frill-like shapes behind her ears seemingly of its own will. A small fang hung above her lower lip, which was drooping like a weight had been tied to it. She looked about as ready to punch Sango as she was to say hello. Somebody had got up on the wrong side of the oyster this morning, Sango thought to herself.

?Uh, hey,? she said, waving half-heartedly. ?I know I?m not supposed to be here, but I?m kinda on a super-secret mission.? She was whispering for reasons she wasn?t really sure of.

The girl?s expression stayed as dark as before. ?A secret mission to clean the cutlery??

?They didn?t tell me that when I signed up.?

The girl sighed, crossing her arms. ?Whatever. I?ll find someone to take you home.? She looked around the corridor, muttering beneath her breath. ?...As soon as I can find anyone, that is.?

Sango?s eyes widened. ?You mean the envoys are gone??

?Yup. I just woke up a few minutes ago, and everyone?s missing.?

Sango pulled herself out into the corridor. Besides her and the girl who?d freed her, there wasn?t a soul to be seen. That was enough to worry her - they?d been flailing about in a panic only a few hours ago, and now they?d all vanished?

She remembered the stakes involved, and that just made her feel worse.

?Let?s look around,? she said with unexpected force, turning to her left and swimming down the corridor. ?They might just be having a meeting or something.?

The girl caught up with Sango easily. She didn?t even need to kick, Sango noticed - she just drifted along with the water perfectly naturally. She was looking off into the distance, just aware enough to turn when the corridor bent.

?I doubt it,? she said. ?They?re probably off to serve someone better than the lousy god running this place.?

?Eh? But I thought this was the palace of the most important god in Gensokyo.?

The girl put on a pained smile. ?You think Gensokyo?s the only country the gods care about? There are hundreds of Dragon Gods, all looking after different nations and different oceans. There?s a reason they only trusted this god with a couple of lakes.?

Sango bit her lip. ?And what would that reason be??

The girl looked down on herself, hanging her head in shame.

?It?s cause she?s...she?s...? She grit her teeth as the words forced her way out of her mouth. ?It?s cause she?s so damn short.?

Uh-oh.

Sango didn?t need to be a genius to make the connection. The girl was talking about herself.

Which meant that Sango was three feet away from the almighty Dragon God of Gensokyo.

To say she was nervous was something of an understatement.

?W-Well, come on,? Sango said, giving the deity a pat on the shoulder. ?It?s not like you?re that short. I mean, how old are you? Twelve? Ele-?

?Five thousand and twenty-seven, as of three hours ago.?

Sango couldn?t hide her groan. ?Oh.?

?I know, right?? Now that she?d started talking, the Dragon God didn?t look like she planned to stop. ?I mean all the other gods say I?ve got to wait until I?m at least ten thousand before I start worrying about adulthood. But ten thousand is aaaaages away. Why don?t I get to be a grown-up now??

Sango honestly couldn?t think of anything to say. She could practically see the clouds forming over the girl?s head, and knowing she was talking to the most powerful force in Gensokyo made her much less adventurous.

?Wait,? she said at last. ?If you got older three hours ago, doesn?t that mean today is your birthday??

The girl shrugged. ?Yeah, something like that. But I hate birthdays. Nothing like a reminder about how NOT-old I am.?

The pair searched throughout the first floor of the palace, but there was no sign of any of the Dragon God?s attendants. At several points they found letters from employees thanking her for the work but announcing their decision to take wing under a new deity. The young goddess responded by crushing each of these letters, the currents twirling around the scraps of paper to break them down to the atomic level.

?This is all Iku?s fault,? the goddess said to herself. She looked like she was fighting back tears. ?She was supposed to keep me informed if employee morale was getting low, but now everyone?s just walked out...?

Sango almost hugged her, but getting too close to an angry god could have led to all sorts of divine retribution. She settled for another pat on the back as they made their way back into the entrance hall.

?They didn?t even leave the lights on in here,? the dragon muttered. The lanterns that had been lighting the corridors and rooms came to an abrupt stop as they made it to the entrance. They drifted onwards for a few paces before the goddess?s eyes shone, and the lights in the room jumped back to life.

Dozens of voices called out at once.

?Happy Birthday, master Miryu!?

The Dragon God?s attendants stood around her in a semicircle, each of them holding out a plate. Each plate had a cake on it - some made with a master?s touch, others that barely qualified as edible, but every one stuffed with as many candles as they could fit. In the middle of the arc, Iku raised a finger into the air, and with hundreds of tiny crackles the candles burst into flame. Given that they were underwater, it was undoubtedly magical.

Miryu could only look on at what her followers were offering her. Sango, deciding her presence was unwanted, swam backwards into the corridors while the celebration played out.

?You guys...? Miryu hiccuped, fighting off the urge to cry in front of her subordinates. ?Why?d you do all this? Why would you wanna hang around with a little girl like me??

Iku smiled, stepping forward and taking the step Sango never did as she wrapped her arms around the Dragon God.

?Miryu...you may be young, but that doesn?t stop you from being our master. We?ll look after you until the day you become the greatest Dragon God of all.? She winked. ?And you?re doing a wonderful job looking after Gensokyo. Don?t you agree, miss Tororetsu??

Sango flinched as Iku called out for her, poking her head out from behind the wall.

?Yeah, I do,? she said, nervously at first but growing more relaxed with every word. ?Gensokyo?s a wonderful place to live. All sorts of colourful youkai and interesting locations...it?s great. So...thanks, I guess.?

Miryu shivered as the wave of emotions overcame her. She returned the gesture, hiding her face in Iku?s shoulder. Sango could hear her sniffling from here. Iku gave her a little squeeze.

?Now, be a good birthday girl and blow out the candles.?

It was a few seconds before Miryu had recovered herself enough to show her face again. She stepped backwards, turning towards Sango with a cocky wink. Sango saw the young god mouth ?Watch this!?

Then the tides started.

In all fairness, she did what she had set out to do. The currents definitely put out the candles, but they also sent Miryu?s attendants flying across the room. The cakes flew straight off their plates, slamming into either walls or any servant unlucky enough to be in their way. There were yelps and cries as Iku and her companions were knocked into each other, and no-one was lucky enough to escape unscathed. As the dust cleared, Sango decided that hanging back had definitely been the best idea.

Miryu frowned. ?OK, I think I overdid that a little. Can we try that again??

-----

?Sorry about that,? Iku murmured as Sango wiped away the last few stains of chocolate on her face. ?I wasn?t expecting the master to go overboard like that.?

?No worries,? Sango said. Iku was the last of her ?patients? - she?d taken it upon herself to repair the damage Miryu had done to her own palace. It was faster than the dishwashing, mainly because the cakes didn?t leave as stubborn a mark on the walls. She had magic to thank for that.

?So is your boss like that every year? She was pretty grumpy when she ran into me.?

?It?s been a problem for a few centuries now,? Iku answered, picking her hat off of the floor and putting it back on. She took care to straighten it. ?Master Miryu is rather...sensitive about her youth, and birthdays only make the problem worse. They make her angry, and when that happens Gensokyo feels the brunt of her wrath.?

?So that?s why you planned a surprise party for her??

?It?s something a little different from the norm. We thought it would cheer her up, but to get it all to work we had to make it look like we weren?t here. We were running behind, and if master Miryu found all of the leftover dishes it would give the game away, so...?

Sango nodded. As she?d hoped, it had all made sense in context, and she?d actually had done her part in saving Gensokyo. Not that she was allowed to tell anyone. She?d tried to negotiate that point with Iku, but the messenger was adamant that Sango hold to her promise of secrecy.

?I?d best be getting you back home,? Iku said, taking Sango by the hand. The dolphin would have wanted to hang around, but the anti-pressure ward Iku had cast earlier was beginning to flicker. Maybe it was best to leave while she still existed in three dimensions.

The trip back to Gensokyo held none of the mystery that her entry had offered, but the feeling of hurtling through the air wasn?t something she would get used to any time soon. She put on the snorkel before they departed this time, and given that her air-bubble burst the moment they were out of the water she was eternally grateful for her foresight. As the pair fell out of the stormcloud and dropped out of the sky, Sango saw the stormcloud fading away overhead. The sun was beginning to rear its head, the first rays of light striking the soaked earth.

Iku came to a stop just above Sango?s lake, dropping the dolphin in with a small plop. She removed her hat and put it to her chest, bowing her head.

?Allow me to thank you on the behalf of my fellow servants. You?ve done Gensokyo a great favour today.?

Sango shrugged. ?It?s not much, really. All I did was wash some dishes.?

Iku smirked. ?True. Then I can relax in the knowledge you have no reason to brag about it??

?Sure thing.? Sango gave Iku a salute. ?Now go make sure your boss enjoys her birthday.?

?With pleasure.?

Iku rose up into the sky, quickly fading into the red dot Sango had seen hours ago. She vanished into the remnants of the thundercloud, which dissipated entirely a few minutes later.

The storm had passed.

-----

?Bluggh.?

Nitori Kawashiro was just about conscious as she opened the shop for business. Last night?s storm had kept her awake, and it was only a strong shot of cucumber tea that kept her from collapsing into bed. She muttered to herself as she stretched her arms, reminding herself that a day wasted was a penny lost.

Only a few minutes after she?d opened the store, there was a ring of the bell as her first customer entered.

?Morning, Nitori!?

Nitori quickly found she?d been off the mark. Sango was not technically a customer. Customers bought things and gave her money for them. Sango just called in favours and borrowed things for a day or two. It was bad for business, but Nitori owed her for getting the shop started in the first place. The kappa were an honourable race first and foremost, though sometimes Nitori wished honour and profit didn?t have to oppose each other.

?Morning, Sango. I guess you?re here to return the stuff you borrowed yesterday??

She couldn?t imagine Sango had used the gear. Last night?s weather was far too violent for a dolphin to consider a trip to the Crystal Waters. Still, there was a definite spring in Sango?s step as she walked towards the counter, leaving the swimsuit and fins in a neat little pile in front of Nitori.

?Thanks again, Nitori. These were great.? Sango was grinning like an idiot, like she was laughing at the punchline of a joke no-one else was aware of. The kappa raised an eyebrow.

?Sango, just what were you up to last night??

The dolphin only gave her a wink.

?I?m afraid that?s classified information~?

Re: Rou's Random Shorts
« Reply #286 on: March 11, 2012, 12:21:51 AM »
This ... made me giggle. :3

FinnKaenbyou

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Rou's Random Shorts (A Little Weight Problem)
« Reply #287 on: April 08, 2012, 05:34:41 PM »
herro agen

Commissioned another pic from the usual suspect. Decided to colour this one and write a little story to go with it, so. As a warning I put this together in the space of half an hour, so don't expect brilliance. :V

-----

As Chen slowly came to her senses, she had an innate sense that something was wrong.

The first thing she determined was that this wasn't her bed. Harsh wooden planks pressed against her face as she struggled not to get splinters in her mouth. She tried to roll over, but something heavy was clinging to her back.

The next thing she realised was that these weren't her clothes. Her nightgown had vanished, and in its place someone had dressed her in a full skin-tight fabric in two shades of blue. A clunky plastic mask had been strapped in front of her eyes, and two floppy flippers were clipped to her feet. She kicked them about, the plastic dipping up and down in time with her movements.

This led to her third revelation - namely, the clanging of chains that she heard whenever she moved one foot.

"Nyaaah?!"

Chen rolled around, heaving at the weight on her back. A ball and chain had been clipped around her left ankle, held in place by a lock on the clamp. The key for this lock was sitting in the hand of the woman hanging over her.

"Good morning, Chen. Apologies for the rude awakening."

Chen's master, Ran Yakumo, was in an outfit very similar to Chen's. Her suit was black with grey highlights in comparison to Chen's cheery blues. A large cylinder was strapped to her back - Chen assumed that the weight she'd been hauling around was something similar.

The fox sat down on the edge of the wooden planks, her multiple tails bouncing around. Chen looked over to see what had caught her master's attention. Her vision was quickly filled with the largest body of water she had ever witnessed. Chen pulled back, but the metal ball was sturdy enough to keep her from getting too far.

Ran frowned. "See, Chen, that's exactly the sort of reaction I'm trying to help with. I understand that you don't like water, but you're not going to get anywhere unless you face up to the phobia. I'm tired of having to hold you down every time you need to take a bath. I had to bring you to the outside world and borrow some human technology for this, so you had better appreciate it."

Before Chen could come up with a word of complaint, Ran had already leaned down and grabbed her under the arms. She hauled the cat over to the edge of the dock, the metal ball dragging along behind her. Chen fought back with all her strength, but there was a reason she was only Ran's servant.

"Don't worry," Ran said, nuzzling at her familiar's cheek. "I'm not going to make you hold your breath or anything. That's what this is for."

Ran grabbed at the weight on Chen's back, bringing around a small plastic hose with a mouthpiece at the end. She brought it up to Chen's face, and the cat reluctantly bit down on it. There was a loud hissing as she took a breath from the tank, the faint aftertaste of processed air hanging on her tongue.

"You'll want to hold onto that," Ran said with a playful wink. She lifted up the metal ball, visibly struggling with the weight as she dangled it over the edge of the dock. "Are you ready?"

Chen shook her head violently. If she'd had half a say in the matter she'd have demanded to go home right now. Maybe Ran had given her this mouthpiece just to shut her up.

"I'll take that as a yes," Ran said, her eyes glinting mischievously. The ball fell into the water with a mighty splash, and Chen was pulled in soon afterward. The cat managed a muffled yelp before she hit the water, bubbles exploding in front of her eyes.

"Nyaaggllbll!"

Her first instinct was to break for the surface, but the metal ball put an end to that idea. Even then, swimming was something Chen had never learned to do, for obvious reasons. The weight continued to pull her further into the watery depths.

She felt weaker in the water. The entire reason she avoided it was that contact with water broke her connection to Ran - part of her contract with the fox involved Ran passing her energy whenever they were close. Water nullified that step of the contract, reducing Chen to less than half of her normal strength.

Thankfully, her master had been true to her word. In spite of everything else, the tank on her back was keeping her alive. She took long, nervous breaths, streams of bubbles passing by her face on the way towards the surface. The mask stopped the water from blinding her. If she wasn't caught up in trying to escape, she might have taken the time to appreciate the view.

After about half a minute, the ball hit the bottom of the shelf with a mighty clong. Chen was thirty, maybe forty feet beneath the surface by now, the light still reaching down to this depth. She could make out an advancing figure from above, growing larger and larger until eventually she recognised the form of her master. Ran was breathing from her own tank in the same was Chen was, her flippers sliding up and down with the grace of a fish. Chen couldn't help but feel jealous at the sight of it - if she could swim like that, she'd have been out of the water in no time.

"Gllbbbllbll."

Chen tried to voice her frustrations, getting nothing but a muffled gurgle for her efforts. The mouthpiece was keeping her breathing, but it made conversation difficult. Ran smirked, pulling out a card and pencil and handing them to her servant. After a few minutes of trying (and failing) to pick the lock with the pencil, Chen simply resorted to writing out her train of thought. Her message was short and simple.

PLEASE HELP :(


She'd even said please, Chen thought to herself. How could her master turn that down?

Ran let out a gurgled laugh behind her mouthpiece as she took the card back. She flipped it about, writing on the other side. Compared to Chen's hasty, simple message, Ran's was almost a monologue.

Two hours should be long enough for you to acclimate. Then taking a bath once in a while won't be so bad, right?

Chen gave her master the sternest glare she could. As soon as they got home, she was going to make a scratching post out of every table leg she could find.

Iced Fairy

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Re: Rou's Random Shorts
« Reply #288 on: April 09, 2012, 05:28:48 PM »
Iced shakes his head sadly.

Silly silly Ran.  Don't you know you can't train cats?

Re: Rou's Random Shorts
« Reply #289 on: April 17, 2012, 04:45:44 PM »
Good Story, though I wonder if chen will get the bends when she gets back to the surface
human civilization has just been wiped out and your worried about donations!?

create.swf fallout gensokyo http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,13035.0.html

Esifex

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Re: Rou's Random Shorts
« Reply #290 on: May 03, 2012, 08:34:41 AM »
Characters and setting used with permission. All events portrayed within are fiction. Any likeness to any persons, living or otherwise, is completely coincidental.

* Esifex cackles maniacally
Let the fun begin!



A Day In the Sun



The Crystal Waters sat tranquil in the pre-dawn morning, the sky barely lightening up because of the early hour. Many of the nocturnal animals had already settled in for the day, burrowing into their dens or staking out a handy cave or clearing in the nearby area.

Until, that is, a small ripple formed in the surface of the lake, followed momentarily by a shockwave of water spray being shoved aside as a blast of magic shot out of the lake towards the nearest tree.

The tree shuddered from the impact, wood creaking, and began to ponderously tilt towards the lake. The birds that were roosting in it took flight with an angry chittering and squawking, rousing the rest of the lake from its slumber.

The tree finally gave out, pulled slowly but surely towards the Waters. Once the roots came completely out of the ground, it tipped, canopy crashing into the surface with a mighty splash. The trunk stayed mostly on land, preventing the tree from sliding deeper into the lake. It had, after all, been picked for that exact reason - it was tall enough to catch on land while still stretching into the lake a ways.

The initial cause of the ripple began to move towards the tree's canopy, snatching up the leaves that had inevitably been shaken loose. After the water had been cleared of any floating detritus, the ripple made for the trunk of the tree.

There, a woman in an over-large shawl climbed up out of the water and reclined on the trunk. She daintily popped one of the leaves into her mouth and sucked on it, then shook her shawl lightly. Drops of water flicked off it, and she relaxed against a branch that had, at one point, been parallel to the ground.

"This is a wonderful place to sunbathe," she chirped to herself.



Jozu woke up quickly. One moment, she was asleep, the next, she was awake, still in motion. Even if she slept in her human form, she kept moving, instinctually unable to stop swimming lest she suffocate.

A smile spread across her face as she shed her animal form. Most of her neighbors had gotten used to a shark swimming around in a lake, but there was still no reason to make everyone but the pilot fish panic at the sight of her shadow.

She stretched, then froze when her hand bumped into something.

"Wha-?"

It took her a moment to identify the tree branch - after all, trees were something that one didn't often find underwater. The occasional branch would fall in, or be kicked in, or some human kid would try to toss one as far into the Waters as possible.

But never one this large.

"Weird." She grabbed the branch and began pushing for the surface. It provided a fair amount of drag, and had soaked up a lot of water, increasing its weight, nearly driving her to shift back into her shark form so she could use her tail instead.

"Nah," she grunted to herself. "Always confusing as hell when I breach like that. Dunno how Wonder Dolphin does it all the time." Jozu paused for a moment to consider the mental image of a shark leaping out of the water and doing a backflip before coming back down. "And I might break it in half in my teeth." The less-pleasant image of suddenly using a hundred toothpicks at once didn't appeal to her nearly as much as doing a backflip. "And I might not come back down..." Suddenly, the backflip achieved escape velocity, and a shark was spinning away through the clouds, twigs and toothpicks poking out of its mouth.

"That'd be terrible!"

Jozu nearly brained herself on the tree trunk, focused as she was on not flying away once she left the water, and not focusing on where she was going as much as she should've.

"Another branch? No, this one's bigger..." She swam alongside it, following it towards the Water's edge. Once she poked her head above the surface, she heaved the branch she'd been dragging out of the water and tossed it ashore as best she could.

"Hmm?" a voice chirped at her.

Jozu looked around. "Hmm?" she replied. "Hello? Are you a talking branch?"

The voice laughed, and Jozu finally spotted the woman reclining on the tree trunk. "No, sorry, I'm not a tree. Who are you?"

Another person! Momiji, the faeries, and Wonder Dolphin stopped by regularly enough, but if someone else wanted to visit the Crystal Waters, that'd be loads of fun, too. "I am Jozu Manou, Guardian of the Crystal Waters!" She kind of hoped the woman could hear the capital letters from the inflection she was putting on them. It'd be more impressive that way. "I am an aumakua. Who are you?"

The woman reclined against the tree trunk again, turning her face to the sky. "O'tuim," she sighed, smiling at the rising sunlight. "So what's an 'aumakua'?"

Jozu tilted her head, nearly exposing one set of gills to the open air. "It means I'm a Guardian," she said, again injecting another capital letter into it. "I take care of these waters. Did you see what knocked this branch over?"

The woman rolled over onto her side, facing Jozu properly now. "It's a tree, not a branch. See, branches are the smaller parts of the tree, but the tree is the whole thing altogether. And, I knocked it over."

Jozu felt annoyed. "Well, why'd you do that?" She didn't have any fancy tricks or magic to keep the Crystal Waters clean, like Super Dolphin did, so she had to work twice as hard to keep the waters clear. Not that she'd ever admit that it was a massive effort.

"I wanted someplace in the water I could sunbathe. Do you wanna join me?" O'tuim didn't seem to properly speak, rather mumbling sleepily or clipping her words in a lazy tone. A warm smile seemed plastered permanently to her face, and her eyelids seemed to be incredibly heavy - they hadn't opened fully the entire time Jozu was talking to her, and gave her a kind of droopy expression.

"You made a huge mess! What am I supposed to do with a tee in my Waters?" Jozu flailed her arms out of the water, gesturing angrily at the tree.

"Drink it, I assume? Unless you meant 'tree'," O'tuim chirped back at her.

The steam left Jozu's engine. She tilted her head to the other side now, confused. O'tuim reached out and patted Jozu on the head. The aumakua noticed that O'tuim's hands seemed to be slightly longer than normal, and she almost recoiled from the weirdness.

She glared up at the woman. "You better clean this up when you're done. Why couldn't you just do your sunbathing thingy on the shore if all you're doing is laying there?" The excitement of having another visitor to the Waters was wearing off quickly if it meant a tree was gonna get knocked over into it all the time.

"I don't like to be on land. Easier to get around in the water." O'tuim rolled completely over, laying on her stomach now. She folded her hands under her chin and gazed at Jozu sleepily. Pale hair poked out from under a green cap of some sort, and though some of it hung in front of O'tuim's face, she didn't seem to care.

Jozu didn't have much to say to that. Being a shark made it hard to get around on land, too, even in her human form. If it weren't for that dolphin, Faster Than Lightning, and her friend's breathing apparatus, she'd never be able to wander around the area surrounding the Crystal Waters.

O'tuim pushed another leaf into her mouth, bits of greenery sticking out from her lips, and she just continued to stare at Jozu.

It was unusual, having such flippant disregard pointed at her. Most people were cautious, or a little scared around her, on account of being a shark with Many Sharp Teeth. This O'tuim didn't seem fazed by it at all. Jozu tried smiling widely at her, showing off her Many Sharp Teeth.

O'tuim calmly sucked the leaf clear into her mouth and chewed mindlessly on it, still staring at Jozu with her droopy eyes.
 
Jozu's smile faded, and she sunk down to her eyes in the water. What a weird lady. She nodded at O'tuim and withdrew back underwater properly.

Maybe Sleepyhead would go away and take her tree with her in a while.



An hour later, Jozu had her breathing harness - the fancy gizmo that Super Tuna's friend put together so she could walk around on dry land without having to worry too much about things like suffocating. She put it on, which, while she was underwater, felt incredibly odd, and made for the surface once more.

O'tuim was still there, but had at this point taken her shawl off and folded it up under her head like a pillow. She was reclining on the tree wearing a two-piece swimsuit outfit, with scarcely any decoration on it, the bright white of the bikini standing out quite starkly against her tanned skin. She didn't seem to notice Jozu this time, instead keeping her face turned skyward, eyes closed and smiling at the sunlight. She had her hands clasped over her belly, with more leaves stuffed under them.

Jozu felt a pang of jealousy towards O'tuim, laying there for all the world to see.

Such tanned skin...

She shook her head and made for the shore. As long as the tree was stuck in the water, constantly losing leaves and smaller branches, cleaning the Waters was going to be an uphill battle. Maybe Derpy Dolphin could help with the tree - and hopefully maybe with O'tuim, too. Jozu felt they had to establish some kind of watery dominance. They were here first!



Sango stared up at Jozu, standing at the shoreline of her lake. The shark youkai had, along the trip from the Crystal Waters to the Youkai Mountain, gathered an extraordinary amount of twigs and leaves in her hair, and her bare feet were caked in dust.

"You didn't dry off before you started walking, did you?" she asked the shark.

"Couldn't stand hanging around any longer than I had to. I need to ask you a favor; can you come and help me with the Crystal Waters? A tree got knocked over into it. It's making the waters all... leafy."

Sango pushed ashore and rose out of the lake, checking to make sure her flower was still firmly twined into her hair. "I dunno how well my purification salts will work on a tree, but at the very least I can help you get rid of the leaves." Water flicked off of her dress, misting away easily, leaving Sango drier than Jozu, despite the shark's time spent out of the water just walking to the Youkai Mountain.

Jozu didn't seem to notice the magic trick. Sango chalked it up to not being an air-breather, and thus not thinking of utility magic like that. She'd have to see about teaching Jozu some time, so she wouldn't track mud into either lake.



"It's good that you're taking care of the breather tank. I don't think Nitori exactly remembers how she made it - or that she was the one who made it. She's totally fixated on this 'aeroplane' thing right now - at least she's not trying to get me to test out all her new fancy underwater gizmos. For a while."

Jozu nodded absently. To be honest, she hadn't had much use for the harness, so its not like it was getting too terribly worn out. However, when tree-snatching sunbathing youkai decided to wander past the Waters, it made handy for escaping their annoying obliviousness. Seriously, people should be more afraid of Many Sharp Teeth. If something had Many Sharp Teeth and came near you, you should at least apologize for anything you could think of.

Then, maybe she could figure out who stole her conch seashell collection.

The Crystal Waters finally came into sight, and Turbo Tuna let out a whistle. "That's a pretty big tree. I can see why you're having troubles."

"Mhmm," Jozu grunted back, then began trying to surreptitiously recreate the whistling trick.

From the tree, a small commotion was being raised. The three faeries who had insisted on banding together to plunder the Waters of all its bioluminescent plant life or whatever they said they were after were floating around the tree's canopy, where O'tuim had been lounging.

O'tuim herself had sat upright, her legs dangling into the water, and one of the faeries - the leader of their little group, Briar - was sitting on her shoulders. The faerie with a small flower sprouting from her head was hovering a small ways away from the tree trunk, while the third was slowly edging closer to Briar and O'tuim, rubbing her hands together subtly.

"This'll be great, guys! If we could ride on this turtle, we'll definitely make it past the Second Stratum, no problems! Having our own turtle to get around on would be perfect!" Briar crowed, pumping a fist into the air enthusiastically.

O'tuim tilted her head to the side. Jozu noticed that her cap had been pushed down over her eyes, and her pale hair was still sticking out in front of her face. Undoubtedly the faerie had pushed it down in her excitement.

As excited as Briar was, she didn't notice one of O'tuim's long hands come wandering its way up to her ponderously, until it had seized the faery completely in its lone grasp.

"Hgrk!" Briar grunted and tried to pry herself free, but since only one fist was upraised when she was grabbed, she wasn't making any good progress. O'tuim pulled her down off her shoulders and held the faerie in front of her.

"I don't mind you playing around me, but I am not your mare to ride around on."

Without bothering to push her cap up off her eyes, O'tuim simply heaved back with her arm, faery and all.

"Briar!" the flower-headed faery, Dandy, cried out.

O'tuim threw the faery out of the area. The backwash of the faeries' passing forced ripples across the surface of the water, and the tree's canopy lost several of its leaves in the gusting wind.

Jozu and Sango forcibly clamped their mouths shut as a dull thoom shook the area, and the other two Diver Faeries tumbled through the air, almost being dragged into Briar's contrail.

"Briar is trying to ride off into the sunrise again, River! We hafta go get her, what if she's smushed up against the Boundary?" Dandy righted herself with a quick flap of her wings, and took off after the first faery. The third faery, River, had tumbled onto the far shore and sat there looking dazed, unaware that Dandy had flown off.

"I think... I think she can keep her tree for a while. You think she's earned it?" Jozu asked sidelong at Tiny Whale.

"She's the one who knocked it over? We should at least ask her to clean it up when she's done... using it, I guess?" Sango shook her head. "I know those faeries leave glitter everywhere behind them, but I've never seen one leave a contrail in the air quite like that."

And for the rest of the day, O'tuim managed to sunbathe in peace, interrupted only once by Sango asking if she wanted all the leaves she'd gathered up out of the water after Briar's sonic boom had knocked them free.

FinnKaenbyou

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Re: Rou's Random Shorts
« Reply #291 on: May 03, 2012, 10:31:19 PM »
This story comes with the Phwee Phwee Stamp of Approval. (Seriously the Sango nicknames pretty much cracked me up.)

Re: Rou's Random Shorts
« Reply #292 on: May 07, 2012, 10:52:37 PM »
This is pretty awesome, really.

FinnKaenbyou

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Rou's Random Shorts (Marin Gong, PhD)
« Reply #293 on: June 05, 2012, 06:41:35 PM »
So Sakana has been pestering me for ages to write about a platypus youkai, for reasons I can no longer remember. Either way, I got THE URGE today, and a few hours later this emerged from the ether.

Sakana, this is your fault. :V

-----

?Phweee...?

Sango was not the sort to do anything half-heartedly, even taking breaks. She bobbed along the surface of the lake, barely conscious enough to keep herself from bumping into anything. The sun hung over her head as she drifted, letting her mind wander. She?d done some good work today - a passing kappa had thrown a set of used batteries into the lake, and Sango had spent an hour cleaning up the mess they?d made. She felt like she deserved to turn her brain off for a while.

Birds fluttered over her head, and the fish of the lake circled her in curiosity. Sango closed her eyes, focusing on the cool water beneath her and the sounds of nature from all sides. She felt peaceful, relaxed, content. She wondered if she could stay in this trance until sunset.

Her reverie was shattered a few minutes later by a clunking sound in the distance.

?Ah??

Sango righted herself in the water, lying on her stomach as she swam towards the sound. She heard metal smacking against metal, and it was getting louder by the minute. She sighed as she brought herself to the edge of the lake and pulled herself up.

?If she?s back with another set of batteries, I swear...?

Sango cracked her neck. She wasn?t up for fighting, but she was definitely ready to give this kappa the lecture of her life. She looked towards the bushes, seeing them rustle as the source of the noise drew closer.

She was disappointed when the creature that stepped out of the bushes was something else entirely.

?Ah! Good afternoon, ma?am.?

A young girl emerged from the foliage, tipping her visor towards Sango in a greeting. She was almost engulfed in the thick brown fur coat she wore, looking ready to trip up over it at any moment. The clanking noise from earlier followed behind her.

Sango was lost for words. By the time she?d come up with something to say, the girl was already talking again.

?I understand my intrusion is somewhat sudden, but would you object if I were to use your lake for my research? I?ve heard you?re the local go-to girl, so to speak.?

She held a pen and clipboard - two handy inventions the kappa had brought over from beyond the border. Sango peered down onto the paper; its contents mainly consisted of doodles and scribbles that had no scientific value.

?Research?? Sango raised an eyebrow. When she heard the kappa use that word, it typically ended in something unpleasant. ?You?re going to have to clarify.?

The youkai gasped. Her short brown hair curled around the visor, like it was deliberately trying to get in her way. Luckily, the swimming goggles she wore kept the strands from poking at her emerald eyes as she ruffled through her notes. Sango watched her flip through half a dozen pages before finding the only sheet with actual words on it.

?Certainly, ma?am.? She squinted at the miniscule text. She adjusted her goggles as if they were glasses. ?I?ve been working on a machine that will produce efficient electrical power through the turbulence present in an aqueous solution.?

Sango blinked. That sentence had too many long words in it. The would-be scientist stuck up her nose.

?In layman?s terms, it?s an engine that runs on water currents. Should serve to produce energy without the pollution present in other methods, if my calculations are correct.?

That was a language Sango could speak. She was grateful for the translation, but the scientist?s snark was not winning her over. Still, an ecologically friendly power source would probably save her a lot of work in the long run. She sighed.

?Well, you can give it a try, Miss...uh...?

The little girl puffed her chest out, brushing at her hair with one hand. ?Professor Marin Gong, at your service.? She stepped out of the brush and towards the lake without bothering to shake Sango?s hand. Now the dolphin could make out the floppy tail trailing out from under Marin?s coat, and the bag that was tied to it.

Sango stared at it for a moment, walking alongside the girl until she took a seat at the lakeside. Her curiosity got the better of her.

?So, uh, Marin-?

?Professor.?

Sango frowned. ?Professor Marin. What exactly are you??

Marin looked up at the dolphin, eyes popping open. Instants later she was shaking her head and tutting. She reached up and patted Sango on the head - no mean feat considering she was a head shorter than the dolphin.

?Poor, poor you,? she said with a sigh. ?I can?t believe you?re so old, and this is your first time meeting a platypus.?

That clarified nothing. ?Platypus?? Sango said, pushing Marin?s hand away. The platypus looked hurt, but pulled the hand back to shuffle at her coat.

?Indeed,? she said, her tail lifting off the ground. She reached backwards and undid the knot that kept her bag of equipment tied to it. ?I?d like to think we?re something of a novelty with regards to evolution. The best parts of a duck, a beaver and an otter, all rolled into one!?

She opened up the bag, pulling out a fan-shaped device. The exterior was transparent, letting Sango see the gears and shafts inside. Attached to the fan by a wire was a voltage reader, which Marin promptly switched on.

?And as you?ll soon see, we?re rather ingenious as well.? She winked at Sango, dipping the fan under the water. ?All those kappa think they?re so intelligent, but they?ve yet to witness the wonders of the platypus!?

She looked down eagerly at her voltmeter. Sango hung over her shoulder - partially out of curiosity, and partially because she didn?t trust this girl on her own.

?Uhhh...? Sango bit her lip as she looked at the readings. ?Is the number meant to be that low??

Marin growled. ?No. No, it?s not.? She put her face closer to the meter, as if that would somehow make the voltage jump. It didn?t.

?Hm...maybe I broke the circuit??

She pulled her head back, grabbing at her visor. She brought the duckbill-shaped plastic down over her nose, blowing into it with a quiet hum. Sango tried her best not to giggle.

?Ummm...? She couldn?t help but smile as she watched the now duck-billed scientist glare into the water at the fan. ?What?re you doing, exactly??

Marin looked back at her, looking almost impossibly serious given what she was wearing. ?I?b scanneeng fer illictri-? The visor blocked off her nose, muffling her words. With another grunt, she pulled it back up over her eyes again. ?I?m scanning for electric fields to see if the machine?s working like it?s supposed to.?

?You don?t seem happy with the result.?

Marin growled again. ?That?s because it?s working. The machine is definitely functioning, but...? She lifted up the voltmeter, still showing no power coming from the fan. ?For some reason, the water?s not pushing it along.?

Sango put a finger to her chin. She wasn?t a scientist, but she could make a few educated guesses.

?Maybe you need to put it deeper in the water? If it?s running off of currents, you might get stronger ones on the lakebed.?

The platypus let her guard down for a moment. She looked up at Sango in wonder, like the dolphin had just offered her the secrets of the universe. Then she was back to the same hard-headed grin as before.

?Ah, yes. Of course. The old ?stronger current? trick. I was about to try that, actually.?
 
She pulled the fan out of the water for a moment, stepping away from it as she made to change. She pulled off her fur coat, revealing shorts and a tank-top underneath. Her tail flopped out from the top of her shorts, nearly as long as she was tall.

?Haaah, it feels good to take that off,? Marin said to herself as she stretched. ?It?s always so hot and stuffy inside that thing.?

?Then why do you wear it?? Sango asked.

Marin gave her another condescending glare. ?It?s a fur coat. What else am I going to do with it??

After checking her goggles were airtight, Marin pulled the visor over her face again. Maybe it was to keep water from getting into her nose. Whatever the reason, Sango had to look away to keep herself from laughing uncontrollably as the platypus picked up the fan again.

Better keep an eye on her, though.

When Marin dipped into the water, Sango followed soon afterward. The platypus was a faster swimmer than she?d expected - though most of the work came from her hands, while her legs and tail seemed to be there just for steering. All the while she was looking intently at the voltmeter, pulling the fan deeper and deeper alongside her.

From this distance Sango couldn?t see the reading, but from Marin?s livid expression it couldn?t be very good. The pair continued to descend for twenty, thirty seconds, Sango keeping a safe distance from the girl at all times.

This turned out to be a good move when Marin stopped in place.

?Blu??

Marin put a hand over her mouth as a bubble popped out. As Sango drew closer, she saw the girl begin to puff up her cheeks.

?Blubbllbuubl!!?

Seconds later Marin was bursting for the surface, leaving a trail of bubbles in her wake.

Huh?

Sango watched the platypus break the surface, still dumbfounded. How long had they been under? Thirty, forty seconds at most? Sango could keep going for another fifteen minutes if she wanted to.

When Sango surfaced at last, Marin was lying on the side of the lake, using her fur coat as a towel. She was still gasping and panting as the dolphin took a seat beside her.

?You?re, uh...? Sango looked for a polite way to say what she was thinking, but nothing came to mind. ?You?re not very good at this whole underwater thing, are you??

Marin didn?t answer for a while. It wasn?t a hard conclusion to make - she had to wear goggles to cover her eyes, and that hilarious visor to protect her nose. She was a decent swimmer, but her breathhold time was abysmal at best.

?I?ve been trying to work on it!? Marin said at last, sulking as she wrapped herself up in the coat. ?I came up with this tank thingy you could put air in, but the only gas I could get to work was an anesthetic. I nearly drowned when I tested it...?

A cold wind hung in the air, and Marin buried herself in the fur to protect herself. Sango heard the platypus mumble to herself, her tail slapping repeatedly against the ground.

As the dolphin looked at the fan, her face flushed.

?Uh, Marin...?

Marin pulled herself out of the coat. ?I said it?s PROFESSOR Marin! How many times do I have to tell-?

She stopped mid-sentence as she saw Sango point towards the fan. Marin turned around to see it twirling about in the wind, the voltmeter finally giving a real reading.

So in trying to make water power, she made wind power...? Sango was impressed for all the wrong reasons. She moved forward to give the girl a pat on the back.

Marin pushed her away.

?Aaargh, it happened AGAIN!?

She rose to her feet, glowering at the machine as she fumbled it back into the bag. Sango tilted her head.

?What?s up? Your machine worked, didn?t it??

Marin looked on the verge of a tantrum as she turned back to Sango. ?Worked? Worked?! It?s doing exactly what it?s NOT supposed to do, you dolt! How can you call that a success?!?

Sango was taken aback by the sudden aggressiveness. Marin pulled her coat back on, throwing her clipboard into a nearby bush.

?I swear, this happens with EVERYTHING I invent. I was working on an air conditioner and came up with a hairdryer, for crying out loud! How can this keep happening to me?!?

Before Sango could get a word in, the platypus had already started to walk away. Steam flared from her ears as she dragged her coat and tail along the ground.

?Back to the drawing board...again. Agh, why won?t anything work like it?s supposed to...??

The clunking and clattering of her contraptions faded as she headed off into the distance, leaving a speechless dolphin to figure out what she?d just witnessed. Sango stared in Marin?s direction for almost a minute before falling backwards into the water.

Once again, she let herself bob along the surface, letting her brain switch off as she floated around. This time, though, it was out of necessity rather than relaxation. If she thought about Marin for too long, it?d probably do some damage to her mental faculties.

Gensokyo is a strange, strange place...

Dead Princess Sakana

  • *
  • E is for Elodie, who swims with the fishes.
Re: Rou's Random Shorts (Marin Gong, PhD)
« Reply #294 on: June 05, 2012, 06:49:06 PM »
Sakana, this is your fault. :V
I regret nothing, as usual.

I am very amazed and amused how you managed to translate a platypuses main features into an outfit! And I like Marin's character too, interesting way to complement the kappa through another technologically interested race.

Re: Rou's Random Shorts
« Reply #295 on: June 06, 2012, 10:30:20 AM »
Damn shit, cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen!
Had to let that out, guess you could eventually write an entire series on Chen's bathing...
And the pic is nice too, nyaa I want to write about chen too.
Haunted by my thoughts, writing frees me from lingering fears.

(Intersecting lives)
Really? Your a cat now?
(I am Chen nyow!)

FinnKaenbyou

  • Formerly Roukanken
  • *
  • blub blub nya
Rou's Random Shorts (The Secretest Of Shows)
« Reply #296 on: July 01, 2012, 07:06:09 PM »
?Alright, ladies. You?re on in ten minutes.?

A kappa poked her head into the dressing room, the door creaking as she pulled it open. Mystia nodded, never looking up from her guitar as she gave it one last tuning.

?This looks pretty nice, actually,? Mystia said. The guitar was a special model the kappa had designed for the event, with a small amplifier built into the sound hole. The sides curved in with a smooth gradient, more for aesthetics than anything. ?Though does it sound kinda muffled to you, or is that just me??

Kyouko was going through some last-minute vocal practice, shifting from one note to the next in a fluid transition. Mystia had been surprised by the yamabiko?s voice control - most people could only hold a note or yell it, but Kyouko was one of the rare few who could do both at once. Mystia usually missed by an octave or two when she started shouting, but that was why she wasn?t on vocals.

That and the whole night-blindness thing.

?The kappa said it?ll work properly out on stage, right? They?re the brainiacs.? Kyouko stood up with a stretch, almost hitting her head against the ceiling. Considering she was no more than five feet tall, that said a lot about the size of the room. ?It says a lot that they went so far to get us out here, doesn?t it??

?Uh.? Mystia struggled for an answer. ?It?s nice and all, and there?s no way the shrine maiden will break up the performance like last time. But...?

Kyouko tilted her head. ?But??

Mystia knocked at the wall of their ?dressing room?. It clanged like the inside of a tin can. She pulled her wings out, nearly hitting Kyouko in the opposite corner.

?I?m not exactly feeling like royalty.?

Kyouko shrugged. ?I?m just looking forward to getting out there. I heard we had a big kappa fanbase, but I didn?t realise it was that big.?

She pointed out the porthole. Through the window Mystia could make out a crowd of hundreds, murmuring to each other passing around memorabilia of all shapes and sizes.

?Is he...? Mystia squinted at one fan in particular. ?Does that shirt have my face on it??

Kyouko gave her a pat on the back. ?Welcome to the big time, Misty. These people are all here to listen to the roars of our souls.?

Ugh. Mystia winced. That was one of Kyouko?s favourite phrases when it came to the band, and Mystia couldn?t imagine anything cornier. She?d have complained, but the yamabiko?s enthusiasm was so strong that Mystia couldn?t bring herself to put the girl down. She diverted her frustrations elsewhere.

?OK, I get that. But do we have to go out dressed like this??

Mystia was fine with most of the outfit. She liked the bikini top, and the skirt was a nice little touch. But the shoes - could she even call them that? - were some of the most impractical things she?d ever worn. They were plastic, flipper-like contraptions, and as she tried to walk in them she couldn?t manage anything faster than a waddle.

?It?s business.? Kyouko raised a leg, waving one of her own flippers about. ?The guys who paid for the event are looking to sell more of these fin-thingies. Having us wear them on stage will be a big boost to their sales.?

?Oh, great.? Mystia rolled her eyes. ?I?m going to inspire duck-feet as the latest fashion craze.?

Kyouko giggled, pulling up one of the shoulder straps of her jet-black one-piece. Frills ran along her waist like a ballerina?s tutu, and two spiked armlets were clipped to her wrists.

?Don?t worry about it,? she said with a smile. ?Just go out there and play.?

Mystia nodded. She gave the guitar another squeeze of affection. It wasn?t her guitar, but it was close enough. Kyouko played to vent her frustrations; Mystia performed for performance?s sake.

?Yeah, you?re right. But I?m going back to normal shoes next time, no matter what the higher-ups want.?

With their final checks done, the pair headed down the corridors towards the airlock. Mystia would have flown, but there wasn?t enough room for her to pull her wings out. She had to settle for walking, one clumsy footstep at a time. Kyouko made quacking noises as she followed behind, laughing to herself.

Mystia fought back the urge to punch her vocalist in the face.

?Ah, Ms. Kasodani! Ms. Lorelei!?

A voice popped out of a side corridor. A young kappa leaped out soon afterwards, sprinting to catch up with the two musicians. Mystia turned to face him as he caught his breath.

?Yeah, that?s us,? Kyouko said with a salute. ?What?s up??

The kappa was too busy panting to answer, simply opening the wooden box he had been carrying. Two inhaler-like contraptions sat inside, labeled K and M. It wasn?t hard to tell who was meant to take which, and Mystia picked up hers without being told to. She eyed it from all angles, brow furrowed.

?You?re sure this?ll work, right? I mean, if it doesn?t, I really won?t have time to regret it.?

This was the other part of the performance Mystia had been worried about. It was one thing performing in front of a crowd while dressed like a duck.

Doing all that while underwater was a whole other issue.

?The audience are all using these, and there haven?t been any problems,? the kappa said when he?d finally recovered. ?And we?ll have some safety divers nearby in case anything goes wrong.?

Mystia?s concerns still lingered in spite of the kappa?s promise. She looked to her side for Kyouko?s opinion, only to see the yamabiko already taking a puff from her inhaler. She beamed a grin at Mystia as she put it back in the box.

?Don?t worry, Misty. I can lend you some air if you get in trouble.?

She winked. Mystia felt her face catch on fire. She turned away from both Kyouko and the kappa, taking the deepest breath she could from the inhaler to cool herself down. Her chest tingled as she turned around and put it back in the box alongside Kyouko?s.

?Thanks,? the kappa said. He looked up at Mystia, his eyes glistening slightly. ?I?m, uh, a big fan, and I?ll be in the front row. So, uh, if the air doesn?t work out, I could lend you-?

?Don?t you have somewhere to be?? Mystia said, glaring at him. The kappa got the point, hanging his head as he slipped away down the corridor.

Kyouko frowned. ?Misty, that wasn?t very polite.?

Mystia continued to stare in the kappa?s direction until he was out of sight. ?Last I checked, politeness wasn?t a virtue of punk rock. Besides, he?s going to sell those to someone for a killing.? She could imagine the advert now - Get A Second-Hand Kiss From Mystia Lorelei, or something like that. She trembled as she made her way to the airlock.

About halfway down the corridor, Mystia became aware that she hadn?t needed a breath since she?d used the inhaler. It was an awkward feeling to start with, but by the time she entered the airlock it was as natural as, well, breathing. Kyouko skipped along behind her, humming to herself without pause. The yamabiko could hold a note for a minute and a half now if she wanted.

Hopefully she didn?t realise that, or they?d never make it past the first song.

The metallic door clanged shut behind them. The room flooded over the space of a few seconds, but neither girl paid it much mind. Mystia was slightly anxious when the water slipped over her nose, but the lack of imminent drowning was enough to keep her from panicking.

She gave the guitar another shot, and this time the riffs echoed through the water with perfect clarity. Kyouko ran through the scales besides her, her voice traveling through the water like it was air. It was like they were performing on dry land, except a little colder and a lot damper.

Outside, the crowd began to chant in unison. The sound was like a switch that turned on the performer inside of Kyouko. Mystia saw her eyes shine with enthusiasm as she grabbed at the pouch on her waist. Mystia copied the gesture, reaching at her own waist and pulling out a pair of yellow shades. If these drifted off into the water mid-performance, she?d be very unhappy.

?You ready?? Kyouko asked as she put her shades on. She smiled like an animal on the prowl, lapping up every ounce of the atmosphere.

Mystia couldn?t quite match her zeal, but she could get close enough. She donned the glasses and grabbed at her guitar, ready to let the music flow.

?I was born ready.?

As if on cue, the airlock pulled open. A wave of raving applause washed over the night sparrow.

?Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for CHOUJUU GIGAKU!?

An announcer?s voice carried through the water as the two youkai took their places. In the short swim onto the stage, Mystia learned to appreciate just how agile these flippers made her. Her wings were already weighing her down.

Kyouko came to a stop in front of the mic stand, Mystia standing to her side. The yamabiko grabbed at the microphone, and for an instant she wore the smile of a child having three birthdays at once.

Then the beast was unleashed.

?ARE YOU READY TO ROCK THE FUCK OUT?!?

A roar of consensus came from the audience. Kyouko was manic as she screamed into the mic, so loud that she was almost deafening.

?WE ARE CHOUJUU GIGAKU!? she cried. ?AND WE ARE HERE TO ROCK YOUR GODDAMN FACE OFF!?

She raised a hand upwards as a cue to her partner. ?ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR!?

Mystia looked down at the guitar. The world around her faded away, leaving her alone with her instrument. Her fingers began to dance across the strings, chords shooting out one after another. She paid no mind to the crowd, to the water, or even to her outfit. Right now, the music was all that mattered.

Her sound was aggressive and violent, but with a hint of grace. Kyouko?s voice was her metronome, keeping her in time as she moved from one verse to the next. The music flowed in her blood, as much a part of her as her own flesh. Every note she hit was like a current through her body, flooding her with excitement and adrenaline.

Only at the end, after a solo that made the water itself tremble, did Mystia come back to the world of the living. Kyouko was hanging upside-down in the water, yelling a final ?YAHOOOOOOO!? into the mic. The crowd screamed in unison, their applause almost matching the sheer volume of Kyouko?s voice. For Kyouko, that was saying a lot.

?Huuu.?

Mystia sighed as the moment passed. It had been worth it after all: the dumb costume, the cramped sub, even the attendant who?d tried to hit on her. It had all been a hassle, but for the chance to play in front of a loving audience she?d be willing to do just about anything.

Kyouko held out a fist, still hanging upside-down in the water. ?Your soul is really loud today, Misty,? she said as she pulled the mic away from her face.

Part of Mystia?s brain still wanted to throw up at that choice of words. It was still corny as hell, but in the euphoria of the performance she couldn?t bring herself to care. She bumped her own fist against Kyouko?s.

?Betcha I can be louder than you on the next song.?

The yamabiko?s eyes blazed. ?You?re on.? She took her place in front of the mic again, cracking her neck as they prepared to work their way through the set list.

Mystia gripped her guitar like a weapon. The crowd tensed in anticipation. In a few seconds, the water would explode with sound.

And she was going to love every second of it.

Re: Rou's Random Shorts
« Reply #297 on: July 02, 2012, 09:25:52 AM »
YAHOOOOOOOOOOOO!

*Ahem* Very nice Rou. Very nice indeed.
>.>
<.<

FinnKaenbyou

  • Formerly Roukanken
  • *
  • blub blub nya
Rou's Random Shorts (Divine Guidance)
« Reply #298 on: July 04, 2012, 06:41:10 PM »
>Rou writing something canonical with no water
WHAT IS THIS

-----

Sweeping a courtyard seemed a little menial for a god.

Sanae Kochiya brushed at the leaves with care, bringing them together into an orderly pile in the corner. There weren?t many trees up on the mountain?s peak, but the few that were present grew in enchanted soil. Suwako?s blessing had caused the plants here to cycle through the seasons three times faster than normal, which meant three times as many leaves to pick up afterward. It was a neat trick to get the attention of passing youkai, but it was a nightmare to clean up after.

She considered cheating for a while. It wouldn?t take much to summon a breeze that would pick up the leaves for her. It?d cut the time she spent sweeping in half, if not further. Then she could spent the rest of the day gathering faith and spreading the word.

No, that?s not right.

She shook her head. Kanako had asked her in particular to clean this courtyard. There were a couple of tengu attendants who dealt with the chores around the shrine, but Kanako had explicitly asked for Sanae?s help. It was a lesson in humility, something to keep her from getting too proud. It would defeat the purpose if she took the easy way out.

What wisdom, Lady Kanako, Sanae thought as she smiled to herself. She started sweeping a little bit harder.

It had been a while since Sanae had tended to the grounds. As only a partial deity she had to devote more time to maintaining her faith than her gods did. In the past she would frequently made the journey to the human village to earn their praise with simple miracles and minor blessings.

But the trip had lost meaning for her. Ever since Byakuren and her Buddhists had arrived on the scene, they had tended to most of the little troubles the human village had. Sanae could no longer conjure up a farmer?s lost rake; whenever she tried, she found that a mouse had beaten her to the punch. Her visits were rare now.

She?d found other ways to maintain her power since then. They were less peaceful methods, but they worked well enough. The only fight she?d struggled with until now was against the Hakurei maiden, but with a few years of extra practice Sanae fancied her chances. Then she?d take Reimu?s place, and take in all the faith she let go to waste-

Sanae?

A voice jumped into Sanae?s head, pulling her from her trance. It spoke only a single word, but it carried the quiet dignity only a god could possess.

Sanae liked to call it her divine voicemail.

What?s up, Lady Suwako?

Sanae directed her thoughts towards her deity. Most mortals could only speak with the gods through devout prayer, but gods could communicate with each other much more easily.

?What?s up?? Really? Suwako replied, the whole quiet dignity act falling away immediately. A young god shouldn?t talk like that, y?know.

Sanae pictured the goddess she was talking to. She tried to imagine a stern look on Suwako?s face, but the googly-eyed hat she always wore made it impossible. She giggled uncontrollably for a few seconds before sending off a response.

Times have changed, Lady Suwako. Everyone talks like this nowadays.

The olden dialects of Suwako?s time had fallen away of late. Other than a few stragglers - like the monk who?d risen from the dead all of a few months ago - speech had become a lot more relaxed, almost in line with what Sanae was used to beyond the border. In fact, even Suwako was letting herself slip a little bit - ?y?know? wasn?t something she would have said in the feudal era-

I?m gonna stop that thought process now before it goes too far, the goddess said. She sighed, and Sanae almost felt the breath slip out of her ears. I was joking, okay?

Oh. Sanae hung her head even though Suwako wasn?t there to see it. Even back at home her classmates had considered her straightforward. The term she would have preferred was something like ?focused? or ?highly trusting?, but no-one ever seemed to use those words. A-Anyway, what is it?

Kanako wants to talk to you when you?re done with those leaves. Sanae heard the goddess shuffle her hat on the other side of the shrine. Breeze ?em together or something. This is kinda important.

Sanae gasped. Most girls her age would have considered a talk from their elders a bad thing, but Sanae was always eager to learn from her superiors. No-one became a great god without a great mentor, after all, and the two gods of the shrine had been endless supplies of wisdom.

Are you sure that?s okay, though? Sanae looked down at the brittle-haired broom in her hands. Lady Kanako wants me to train myself by-

A hearty laugh broke into the conversation, too deep and rugged to belong to Suwako. Sanae had to grab her ears as the sound echoed through her brain.

Sanae, what are you talking about? Kanako said. I just wanted you to do it because the tengu are busy setting up tonight?s service. Hurry up, already!

The voice faded away as quickly as it came. A vague humming in her skull told Sanae that Suwako was still listening.

...Uh, well, what she said, the goddess blurted. A moment later, the humming stopped entirely, and Sanae was alone in her head again. She looked down at the broom with a new feeling of reluctance.

Flinging it into the corner of the courtyard, she turned to the nearest set of leaves and pulled it upwards with a motion of her hand.

Maybe I?m trying too hard...

-----

The Moriya Shrine was much larger than its Hakurei counterpart, mainly thanks to Kanako?s handiwork. She had constructed a temple for the Buddhists in a single evening, so tending to her own shrine was almost a non-issue. Sanae stepped across the wooden floor without so much as a creak, every plank polished until it shone.

The shrine itself was not quite as ordered. Kanako had done her best with it, filling it with statues and paintings of her trademark animal, the snake. For the first week or so it had been an impressive sight, but then a mysterious vandal had drawn crude frog-shaped scribbles on some of the scrolls. The culprit was obvious, but Suwako had covered her tracks just enough that she?d never been caught in the act. Now only the odd unblemished statue remained, with the rest consigned into the back rooms out of shame. On the plus side, there was a lot more room for Sanae to walk now.

As she stepped into the main prayer room of the shrine, Sanae found her two gods already waiting for her. Kanako?s mature, imposing form was a start contrast to the almost-infantile Suwako. The earth goddess twirled her hat in one hand, beckoning Sanae in with the other.

?Took you long enough,? she said as she put the hat back on. Its  eyes jiggled around for a moment before focusing on Sanae. ?You weren?t busy dealing with that Shizuha girl, were you??

Sanae winced. ?That was three months ago, wasn?t it? I thought we promised to drop that.?

?We would have if you hadn?t given us reason to remember,? Kanako said. She stepped forward, the wooden floor rippling beneath her feet like water.

?Eh?? The shrine maiden blinked. ?What did I do? I?ve just been working on my duties at the human village and-?

?Youkai hunting?? Lady Kanako said.

?Yes, that.? Sanae nodded without a hint of shame. ?You said it was a good way to build up my faith.?

Kanako sighed, grabbing at her temples and grumbling. Suwako reached up and poked at her shoulder.

?Don?t get so stressed, Kanako. You?ll get wrinkles.?

The sky goddess retaliated by snatching Suwako?s hat and holding it above her head.

?Hey, no fair!? Suwako leaped as high as she could to grab it back, but Kanako always pulled it just out of reach. Even as Kanako looked back to Sanae she kept the hat out of its owner?s hands.

?Sanae, there?s nothing wrong with a little youkai hunting.? Without even looking, Kanako swapped the hat from one hand to the other to keep it away from the pint-sized goddess. ?Beating youkai in a spellcard duel is a great way to earn their respect, and their faith as a result. But you?re a little too...liberal about it.?

Sanae tilted her head. ?Liberal??

?She means you?ve gotta stop beating up everyone you meet,? Suwako said, jumping onto Kanako?s back and grabbing at the hat. She snatched it away and put it back on her head, puffing her chest out with pride as she sat on Kanako?s shoulders.

?...I?d have worded it a little differently, but Suwako is basically right.? Kanako poked Suwako in the chest, and the little goddess fell away with ease. ?There are a few unspoken rules you aren?t really following. For example, it?s bad policy to challenge one of our followers to a duel.?

?Eh?? Sanae scratched at her head. ?But if I beat them in a fight, won?t that just make our shrine look even better??

?That?s not the point.? Kanako bit her lip, struggling to hold back an outburst. ?Youkai are proud folk, and fighting followers is bad for business. If you beat someone down like that, they?re going to be too embarrassed to show their face around you.?

Suwako poked her head out from between Kanako?s legs. ?Most people, anyway. Some of them hang around and mooch off of you for free faith.? She pulled away before Kanako could trap her head between her thighs.

?Ah, right.? Sanae hung her head again. She?d never considered the consequences of a fight beyond gaining herself faith. ?Sorry. It?s just...?

Kanako?s eyes widened. ?What is it?? Her words were coated with concern.

Sanae was slow to answer. She?d done what she could to keep her problems to herself, but now she was backed into a corner. She played with the snake charm in her hair to calm her nerves.

?There doesn?t seem to be a place for me in the human village anymore. Byakuren and her followers are tending to their needs, so the only way I can gather any faith is by hunting youkai.? She shrugged her shoulders. ?Besides, if they want a shrine maiden, they just go to Reimu. What am I supposed to do??

She tried her best not to sound defeated, but her true feelings shone through in her voice. Was she just a bad god? Would Kanako have done better in her position? The thoughts bounced around in her head until a hand fell on her shoulder.

?Sanae, I want to ask you something.? Kanako had a mother?s smile, and her hand was from with surplus faith. ?When you visit the village, do you make the people smile??

The question stunned Sanae for an instant. She thought over her last visit, with the shopkeeper who needed some change and the mother who she?d reunited with her child. She had helped, but not in a manner befitting of a god.

?Well, yes, but-?

?There you go.? Kanako put a finger on Sanae?s lips, silencing her. ?You don?t have to do something grand like bless a harvest or end a drought to win faith. Something as simple as staying over for a drink or making them laugh is enough.?

That sounded almost too simple for Sanae. She tried to object, but Kanako still pressed her lips shut.

?Faith comes from trust, Sanae. Even if people just trust you to bring a smile to their face, that?s enough. The days of being a distant deity are over - nowadays it?s best to just be a friend to your followers rather than an authority.?

She spoke the words with such power that Sanae couldn?t help but believe them. She forced out a nod, and Kanako pulled the finger from her lips with a smile.

?I know you try your best, Sanae, but you need to lighten up a little.? She ruffled at Sanae?s hair. ?You?re still a little girl. Don?t be afraid to live a little, alright??

Sanae nodded again. She felt warm as her god?s faith seeped into her body, pouring strength back into her.

?Thank you, Lady Kanako.? She managed a grin of her own. ?But I have one more question.?

?And what?s that??

Sanae pointed behind her goddess. ?How does Lady Suwako get by??

Suwako was seated on the floor, locked in a staring contest with her own hat. A half-chuckle popped out of Kanako?s mouth.

?Well, Suwako is...a friend, I suppose.? Kanako scratched at her head, struggling to find the right words. ?Sometimes she?s a bit frustrating, true, but she certainly brings a lot of life to the shrine. I have a lot of faith in her, so in a way I?m sustaining both of us.?

Sanae?s mouth formed a tiny o. They must have been very close friends if Kanako had managed to deal with her all this time.

?Besides, what would happen if we let her loose on Gensokyo?? Kanako turned back to Sanae, her voice hushed. ?I don?t need to remind you about that robot thing she-?

Kanako?s speech was interrupted by Suwako?s hat landing neatly on her head.

?I heard that.? Suwako spoke with a wry grin. ?And last I checked, that nuclear reactor you built in the underground was a lot more dangerous than my overgrown blimp.?

Kanako?s reaction was delayed by a few seconds. Slowly she pulled the hat off of her head, ignoring the stare its taped-on eyes were giving her.

?Sanae, could you help the tengu prepare for tonight?s service? Suwako and I need to have a talk.?

Sanae knew her gods well enough to tell what that was a euphemism for. She nodded, rapidly backpedaling out of the room. The two goddesses stepped a few paces from each other, lowering themselves into fighting stances. Kanako clicked her fingers, bringing an onbashira into existence at her side. With another click she made the wooden pillar spin in the air to point at her opponent. Across from her, Suwako?s eyes glinted as a pair of iron rings formed in her hands.

?Try not to break anything!? Sanae yelled before closing the door behind her. The two gods came to blows every other day, but by the time the evening service came around they were back to being best friends again. Their relationship was unusual at best, but at least Kanako cleaned up after herself.

But do all gods fight that often? Sanae placed a hand on her chin, walking away as the sounds of battle erupted behind her. She had long since been desensitised to it. I should find myself a rival. Maybe Reimu would be up for a bout...

Esifex

  • Though the sun may set
  • *
  • It shall rise again
Re: Rou's Random Shorts (Divine Guidance)
« Reply #299 on: July 05, 2012, 04:53:12 PM »
>Rou writing something canonical with no water
WHAT IS THIS

Quote
?There you go.? Kanako put a finger on Sanae?s lips, silencing her. ?You don?t have to do something grand like bless a harvest or end a drought to win faith. Something as simple as staying over for a drink or making them laugh is enough.?

THERE, THERE, I FOUND THE WATER REFERENCE!
 :3