Author Topic: Weekly Writing Challenge Thread the First  (Read 474235 times)

Esifex

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Re: Weekly Writing Challenge Thread!
« Reply #150 on: May 15, 2010, 01:17:30 PM »
I applaud use of the Pichunaffect.

Hello Purvis

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Re: Weekly Writing Challenge Thread!
« Reply #151 on: May 16, 2010, 09:49:51 PM »
"Hi, I'm Purvis," I said to the winged woman at the stand. "Man, that meat you're cooking sure smells good. What is it?"

She grinned at me. "Man."
« Last Edit: May 17, 2010, 06:01:16 AM by Hoboverlord Purvis »

FinnKaenbyou

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Re: Weekly Writing Challenge Thread!
« Reply #152 on: May 16, 2010, 11:27:48 PM »
I had bigger plans for this, but whee panic attack forced me to close up shop a little earlier than usual.

-----

Eientei was a wonderful place to be at night. The clouds never seemed to hang over it whatever the weather, so every night there was a clear sky with dozens of stars in view. The moon shone down on the little manor, bathing its residents in a cooling light.

These were the nights that Kaguya Houraisan savoured. No Eirin to boss her around, no Tewi pulling pranks on everything that moved, and no Mokou to pummel to death. She was by herself, away from the people who she'd been force to live with by circumstance rather than choice.

Only now could she feel that cold feeling in the back of her heart. The feeling of loneliness, the one emotion she had that convinced her the years hadn't totally whittled away her soul. Men had fallen head over heels for her, but none of them had ever seen a living breathing woman beneath her perfect complexion and fantastic figure. She was tired of being just an object to men, but it was only when she felt truly alone that she had a chance to contemplate it.

"AAAAAAAAAAA"

What was that? A faint noise coming from above her. Kaguya looked upwards, seeing a brilliant comet come down from the sky with a twinkle.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"

"...Wait."

Comets didn't make that sound. This sounded more like a young man screaming as he burned up on re-entry, shortly before colliding with a very solid piece of ground.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-"

Crash.

Her analysis proved to be very, very accurate, as the small garden she'd been standing in suddenly received a new decoration in the form of a crater. In its midst, a young man in what must once have been modern clothing managed to muster the strength to lift a hand upward.

"H...Hi..."

---

"He was very lucky to have landed here. With injuries like his, I doubt any other doctor would have been able to help him."

Eirin left Reisen to take care of the post-op formalities, stepping out of the OR to talk to a concerned Kaguya.

"Really? That seems awfully convenient, doesn't it?"

"He says Miss Yakumo was the one to bring him here, so I can hardly be surprised. He seemed rather surprised when I started talking to him, too - thinks for some reason we're all speaking something called Inglish. I assume the fall did more damage than I can hope to cure."

Kaguya nodded along with Eirin's diagnosis. She grimaced at the mention of 'Miss Yakumo' - the two had only met once, and it had been an unpleasant experience.

"Anyway. He'll have to stay here for a while until his wounds heal. Give it a few weeks, maybe."

Eirin sighed to herself. Doctors didn't get much sleep as it was without having emergency patients practically land on their front door. She hauled herself back to bed, muttering something about how Gensokyo needed to get some goddamn coffee already.

For a few minutes, Kaguya sat outside the OR, undecided over whether or not to enter. This man's timing was too much of a coincidence - arriving just as she wondered about her own loneliness? Perhaps this was Yakumo's way of apologising for the full moon incident.

She'd would have preferred a simple sorry, honestly, but she decided to take the leap anyway. She opened the door in to the OR, where Reisen was finishing up the last touches in the surgery.

"Good evening, princess. Our guest was asking for you, believe it or not."

This was enough to surprise Kaguya as she entered the room, her guys quickly falling on the newcomer. His looks were plain enough, saving a few black marks on his arms and legs where the burns had been more severe, with short brown hair and simple hazel eyes. In terms of looks, he was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Oh, hey! You're Kaguya, right? This is Gensokyo, and not just some sorta screwed up dream!"

In terms of information, though, he was something else entirely.

---

After a few minutes of confirming that he was indeed awake, the young man introduced himself as Roukan. This introduction soon fell to the side as he moved focus onto the stories of the world beyond the border, ridiculous as they were.

"No, seriously, you've gotta believe me. There are games about you guys all over the place, and they love 'em outside the border! Pretty much everyone in Gensokyo is a pop culture idol nowadays!"

His ramblings seemed almost too insane to be fake, and while Reisen stuck her nose up and wrote him off as crazy Kaguya was willing to believe him. She walked by his side as Reisen trailed him into a waiting bed, bandages still running across a good chunk of his body. His stories of the outside world fascinated her, stories of a world she had only experienced for the briefest of times before her journey to Gensokyo.

There was something strangely likable about him, in spite of all his normality. He wasn't handsome, or ingenious, or wealthy, but when he smiled amidst the pain Kaguya felt something grow warmer in her heart.

"Just about done, Mister Roukan. Just need to apply a little antiseptic, and-"

"Wait!"

His eyes suddenly turned to the bottle in Reisen's hand, hovering cautiously over his bandadged arm.

"...That's not antiseptic."

Reisen looked at him, puzzled, as he made a nigh impossible claim. Testing the theory, she placed a drop on her finger and immediately let out a little squeal.

"Aah! T-This is acid! Tewi must have been messing with the labels again!"

Reisen stormed off to the sink, running her finger under a cold tap before looking for the real antiseptic. Kaguya watched the entire affair with mild bemusement.

"But...Mr. Roukan, how'd you know that things had been switched around?"

Rou winked.

"I know a guy outside the border who's kinda like Tewi. Call it intuition."

---

Kaguya had difficulty sleeping that night. She'd deliberately taken a room closer to his than her ordinary one; for some reason the urge to be near him had convinced her to go through what she'd normally consider an inconvenience.

What was wrong with her? What she was going through was so irrational, so ridiculous, so hard to believe, but...she liked him. She had known him for all of two minutes, but already he was slowly winning her over. She should have been more than wise enough to know that love would inevitably bring her pain, especially loving a mortal who would leave her a widow, but her heart called on her to be close to him in spite of that.

Her heart, huh. Perhaps the soul of a young woman still dwelled in her after all these years.

Without being fully aware of herself, Kaguya started to stroll through the rooms of Eientei again. Her feet carried her unconsciously back into the patient's room, finding him lying in bed staring out of an open window.

"You couldn't sleep either, I see."

His voice carried a tone of understanding in its midst, as if he already knew her feelings before she even so much as spoke a word. He turned to her for a moment, wincing from the pain but smiling regardless.

"You know, one thing I never understood in the games is what they said about you. They always said that Kaguya-hime was beautiful beyond compare, but the art that the game had of you didn't seem spectacular."

She initially thought she was being insulted, her eyes widening in horror, but Rou's smile stayed firm and genuine.

"But that was before I met you in person. Now I understand why people would fall head over heels for you. And yet..."

He turned back to the window, out to the moon again. His brow furrowed.

"The moon has many faces, but only one side of it is ever visible from the earth. I have to wonder - is the beautiful young woman the real Kaguya, or simply the Kaguya that the world sees?"

In a single sentence, he had touched on the one point that had plagued her for centuries.

When was the last time she had cried like this? Held herself against the body of a man, her head beside his chest, letting tears flow freely like she had never wept before?

Had she ever let a man be this close to her? Hold her this tightly? She had no need to tell him her story - he already knew everything about her, supposedly, and he accepted her regardless. She allowed him to wrap his arms around her, the effort no doubt still agonising with all of his injuries.

"It's okay, princess...you can cry all you want now..."

Kaguya felt him patting her on the back, as she rested her head on his shoulder. She felt close, closer than she had ever been to a man. It was tragic and beautiful all at once.

"...I...I need to ask you something."

And yet, the two of them could be closer still, she thought to herself as the words slipped out of her mouth.

"...Tonight...can the two of us-

---

"Princess, what are you doing?"

"Ah?!"

Kaguya quickly shifted the windows on her computer, retreating back to her wallpaper of the moon. Eirin walked into the room, noting the princess's sudden shuddering in her chair and covering the monitor with her hands.

"Uh, n-nothing, Eirin. I'm fine in here, and those panting noises were, uh...the computer! Yeah, this thing overheats like crazy!"

Eirin could make out the blush of excitement on Kaguya's face, though, and immediately discarded the princess's claim. She walked with intent over to the desk, grabbing the mouse and immediately fiddling with it.

"H-Hey! As my vassal, I demand you give me some privacy!"

Kaguya let out a pathetic yelp as Eirin double-clicked on Nitoricrosoft Word, bringing up a work in progress. Immediately the princess's attempt at rebelling came to an end as her head alchemist scrolled up to the top of the page and started reading. Her face contorted into a grimace as she worked her way through the story.

"...Really, princess? He just so happens to land on your doorstep-"

"Yukari did it! That's a good reason for anything to happen in Gensokyo!"

"-his name is Roukan, which is pretty damn familiar to that sword from Hakugyokurou-"

"It's a cool name! And most people don't know about it anyway, so it's okay if I copy!"

"-and the two of you go from total strangers to...making love...in a single night?"

"T-That's how love works, Eirin! It doesn't have to make sense, because true lovers don't have to worry about logic!"

Eirin slammed a palm into her face as she came to the end of what had been written so far. She noted that the story had yet to be saved, a fact she took advantage of by hastily pulling the plug.

"H-Hey! Eirin, what the hell are you-!?"

She then grabbed the swing chair, still holding its lunar resident, and turned it 180 degrees towards the doorway before pushing it along.

"I'm taking you outside, princess. This new obsession of yours is going too far."

The chair rolled along the floor, too fast for Kaguya to jump off.

"D-Dammit! Eirin, seriously, I'm fine! I don't need sunlight! I, um, burn easily! Please, just let me get back to writing! STOP HELPING ME, EIRIIIIIIIIIN!"
« Last Edit: May 16, 2010, 11:29:58 PM by Roukanken »

Bias Bus

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Re: Weekly Writing Challenge Thread!
« Reply #153 on: May 17, 2010, 03:02:45 AM »
Rushwrite YAY

----------

I looked at the screen of my Game Boy Advance SP, seeing the same screen I gazed at so many times in the past. I had just completed Kirby and the Amazing Mirror for...I honestly can't remember how many times I finished it, but I've long since cleared it with 100% and let me tell you...it wasn't easy. I let out a drawn out sigh as I flip the handheld off and close it up, the thought of battery conservation had suddenly kicked the back of my head and reminded me that I shouldn't needlessly play this thing. The reason why is because I couldn't charge this bitch as much as I wanted anymore...the house I resided in didn't have outlets TO charge it with. You see, I now lived in a place called the Scarlet Devil Mansion after some kind of inter-dimensional assfuckery that old hag Yukari pulled on my a couple days ago. At first, I was pretty stoked on being here, you would be too if you realized a place full of hot young women actually existed.

...Then I started living here. At this damn mansion.

Don't get me wrong, it's a nice place to crash and all that, but I didn't want to come here...I have only one place I wish to live. Makai.

After finding out that the world I thought was fiction actually exists, now is my chance to devote myself to the the goddess I loved oh so very much. That's right...Shinki. That wonderful, demon goddess I put my heart and soul into following is within my grasp. The only problem with getting to Makai is...

"Wake up."

That bitch...Sakuya. Who does she think she is tellin me what to do?

"In a minute, geeze..." I mutter as I rise from the bed sheets and place my only source of technology under the pillow.

"No, you have to wake up now." Sakuya remarks. "As a servant to the Scarlet Devil Mansion you're-"

"-Obligated to wake up early to serve the mistress." I conclude for the maid in a snappy tone, having heard it more than once already before. I haven't met Remilia in person yet. To be honest, I don't really want to. I just want to get my shit and head to Makai, for all I'm concerned this mansion is but a stepping stone to my ultimate goal in Gensokyo. Like hell I'd tell the mistress of the house I'm planning an sweetass escape plan, that'd be just retarded. "You say that every morning and I don't know any less of it than these other maids do."

"I hope you're in there getting ready while you have the time to back talk." Sakuya says from behind the door, her voice sounding like she's putting everything into not breaking down the door and stabbing me in the throat.

"Why don'tchu look and find out." I shot back as I put on the daily wear of most maids and suddenly look over my shoulder to see the maid standing right in my face. Ah fuck...I forgot she could bitchslap time...

"As I thought, not even close to being ready and yet you have the gaul to mouth off to your superior." Sakuya commented looking me up and down as she circled around my position like a shark. I paid her no attention and simply slipped on the dress (yes, I said dress) and looked her straight in those cold, blue eyes. "Now then, it's your turn to fix breakfast for the lady of the house, the other maids should be there to help you since I'm sure you can't cook."

My eyes narrow and I refrain from letting a sarcastic remark slip out of my mouth. Instead, I just let my face do the talking to which Sakuya picks up on and merely dismisses it. "Why aren't you going to cook, you and Remi always do shit together." They honestly do, at least that's what all the fairies say. I'm glad I didn't hear of any lesbian-ish moves. I swear for god I would have killed both those fairies if I heard that...

"I have other duties at the moment, if you have any objections I can let you sleep outside with the gatekeeper."

"Would you now? I'm sure Meiling could use the MALE company." I smirk, the way she set herself up for that was just perfect. Although the reaction was something I didn't expect.

"I'm warning you, one more wise crack and I'm putting you out, regardless of what Remilia has to say about it." Sakuya glares at me with an icy stare that's a sharp as the knife she's holding in her hand. I feel an unfamiliar chill run up my spine and I stay my tounge for the next couple minutes. The maid then seems to cool off and takes her leave of my room, leaving me to realize that I could have been in some serious trouble had it not been for my reason kicking me in the ass. It's not like I didn't want to leave...it's just I need time to sort shit out and get some stuff ready, you can't just go out into the wilds of Gensokyo alone with no supplies and shit! You need to be prepared and that's exactly what I plan on being when I get ready to flip these bitches the bird and running off. First...I had to cook breakfast for Remilia...

"Man fuck this shit..."

------

I hate to admit it, but Sakuya was right in saying I couldn't cook. Although as far as breakfast goes, I simply tried to imitate what my dad did when he cooked breakfast back home and I managed to fix eggs for the first...wait, no second time (I fixed them before up grandma's house). The rest was increadibly tedious to get right, the fairies who were assigned to kitchen duty were very little help at all. If one wasn't talking to the other, then another was panicking over me burning down the mansion with my lack of cooking skills. Eventually I managed to come up with Bacon and Buttered Toast...being what they had planned to give to Remilia was too much of a god damn hassle to fix...

"She's not going to eat that you know..." One of the fairies said to me as she gazed at the plate I had prepared with my own two hands.

"You wanted something different? Well tough shit, you should have helped me out instead of yapping about me burning down the mansion." I replied in a repressed tone of frustration as I place the plate onto a tray. "Alright, how do I get to Dining Room?" I look up and to the fairies surrounding me, the lot of them looking as though I had spoke spanish to them. Damn...these whores really ARE incompetent...

"Oh come on, you all live here, how could you not fucking know?"

"We're thinking!" One fairy blurts out before she and her friends gather round as if discussing something. "The dining room isn't far from here, just take a left down that way." Ah, that sounds simple enough to follow. With that said, I nod to the fairies and head out of the kitchen in the direction she had told me. It's a real wonder how I'm not entirely bothered by the fact that I'm trotting around these lavish hallways in a fucking maid's uniform. Sakuya claimed they didn't have any butler outfits being they didn't have male servants, so I had to make due with this uniform instead. I honestly don't care at this point, I won't be staying here long anyway so it's really nothing to get used to. But shit if these shoes are tough to walk in...I swear I won't have a dick after all this...

I walk on a bit more having grown bored of the surroundings already and have now pretty much resorted to thinking about random shit to keep my mind occupied as I tried to locate the dining room. As I do so, I catch a glimpse of something in the corner of my eye and turn to see a door that looks as though it was once borded up. I pause for a moment and wonder to myself as to why the sight of this door lacking any sort of locks is a really bad thing...then I remember that Remilia isn't the only vampire living here. There was a younger vamp here...and she was someone I know I couldn't fuck around with, in fact, I knew my entire plan to escape this place would be fragged if I only so much as saw the visage of Remilia's little sister.

It was a real shame that the unlocked door in front of me was a sign that something very dangerous had got out...

"Hm? Who're you?" A child like voice asked to me as I turn and see the weird crystalline wings of the blonde vampire, Flandre Scarlet. She appeared to be just waking up what with her pajamas still on and what not. I can only ponder as to how (or why) the door that kept her sealed in the basement has suddenly failed to hold her in her prison. Damn it all to hell, I wasn't prepared for this shit!

"Fucked..." I reply, my brain telling my mouth to speak the thoughts that ran through it. The odd response evoking a confused tilt of the vampire's head, before she tossed it to the wind and proceeded to take note of the tray I held in my hands.

"Oh, is that for me?"

"N-no, this is for Remilia..." I look around, knowing that I should be trying to end any conversation with Flandre and try to find the dining room. Fuck it all, if Sakuya finds out about this shit. "...If...I can find where the fuck the dining room is."

"Dining room?" Flandre repeated before she pointed down the hallway. "The dining room's that way. You were going the wrong way, silly!"

My face prunes up as I hear these words. Those fucking fairies, telling me to go in the wrong direction like that, if I ever find them it's going to be BigMan Fist Party all over their faces! For now though, I reacted to this news like I would any other, "THOSE CLIT CRUNCHING, MOTHER FUCKING PISSWHORES! THEY TOLD ME THE FUCKING SHITTY ASS DINING ROOM WAS FUCKING THIS WAY! FUCKDAMN SHITCUNT!" With an explosion of uncontrollable rage.

"Hehe, you said a bad word!" Flandre giggled, finding some amusement out of the long string of vulgarities I jammed into those two sentences. "Pisswhore!" Greeeeat, I not only meet the most dangerous vampire in Gensokyo, but I also seemed to have taught her some cuss words too. Although, part of this does make me think that this will only result in hilarity down the road...

"You! What are you doing, all the way down here!" Oh god dammit, why do I keep forgetting Sakuya can catch up to me in an instant? Shit man, this is day is turning out to be a real faggot. "The mistress wants her breakfast and you're over here playing with Flandre...wait, Flandre!?"

"Hey, Sakuya~" Flandre cooed with a naughty smirk on her face. "You're a Clit-Crunching Pisswhore~!"

Sakuya gasped at the vulgar insult, her hands covering her mouth in astonishment of hearing Flandre say such a thing. "M-Miss Scarlet, where did you learn such foul language?"

"Mr.Chocolate Maid." Flandre replied innocently pointing her finger to my position. I don't even make eye contact with Sakuya...

"Look THAT...was an Unknown Unknown, I had no knowledge that she would repeat my words of rage." I say in my defense, which probably isn't worth a damn thing at this point. "Besides we all repeat shit-oops, I mean-stuff that we shouldn't."

"Right now, Lady Remilia wishes to have her meal, so just...give that to her and I'll forget about you teaching Flandre the ways of your dirty mouth..." Sakuya sighed in exasperation as she points down the hallway. I turn and head down the hall before I look to Sakuya for a minute.

"You're..."

"Yes, I'll take care of Flandre..." The maid finishes for me, letting me know to get on down to the dining room before Remilia started throwing a tantrum. Yes, Remilia throws tantrums...I was more surprised than anyone else was at the revelation of this fact...

------

"Hmph, had it not been for the fact that you've given me a nice, but simple, breakfast I would have to use your flesh and blood as a substitute." Remilia told me having now finished her meal and came to look me over with those red eyes of hers. Just like I had thought, Remilia is no bigger than a child but she makes up for this with a pretty imposing aura, one that speaks volumes of how fucked I would have been if she had decided to use my flesh and blood as her breakfast. "Now then...where's Sakuya, I thought she would have been back by now."

"She's takin' care of Flandre." I answer, having to force these very words out of my throat. "You...uh, want me to go get her?"

"I would like you to, but first...I want to know why you didn't end that sentence of yours properly."

"Wha?" I drone in confusion.

"All my servants call me either Miss Scarlet, or Lady Scarlet but yet, you do not." "I can tell...you have a rebellious streak resting with in you. This facade you put on, the one you have on now, is all a mask to try and fool me into thinking you're going to remain my servant."

Shit, how did she know? "Ah that's not true at all." I have to find a way to make her think otherwise, if I don't, I'm positive Remilia will no doubt try and fuck up my plans to escape to Makai later on.

"What? You don't think Sakuya tells me about how you give her such a hard time?" Remilia says with a chuckle. "Then again, you're still "wild" you need a bit of house training before you're as obedieant a dog as Sakuya is." Remilia then pushes herself away from the table and walks towards me, the sound of my pulse pounding in my ears as the thinking muscle in my head flips through a million responses a minute, only to come up with 'Stay put and look stupid' response.

"Say it." The vampire demands to me as she reaches up and grabs me, bring me down to look into those eyes of hers.

"Say...what?" I'm playing dumb for some reason...like that's going to get me out of this...

"Say, I will obey your every word, Lady Scarlet." I know that Remilia wasn't going to ease up until I appeased her with the response she wanted, but...for some reason beyond my knowledge, I don't submit. As retarded as it is to oppose the vampire that was exponentially more powerful than me, I don't give in to her.

"Oh, there's that rebellious streak again, hmm I have just the thing for dogs who don't obey their master." Remilia strikes me across the face, the impact of her palm stinging way more than I thought it would. "Now be a good boy and say what you should. It'll only get worse if you don't." This is bullshit...

"Tch...I'll obey your every wor-" Another strike across the face, this one much harder than the last. "Ow! What was that for!?"

"I don't want any back sass in this." Remilia said to me, her expression looking none to happy. "Now say it, or I'll guarantee the next hit will take your head off." Shit! Is she for real!? Would she really off me, just because I didn't say what she wanted? Apart of me knew this was a bluff, being I was positive she wouldn't kill her own servants, but then I remembered this was Remilia I was dealing with.

"Shinki, help me... I thought as I swallowed my ego for once and put reason first. If I wanted to get to Makai...I had to deal with Remilia until I get ready to escape...and if that meant being her 'dog' until I was able to leave...then give me a collar. "I...I will obey your every word, Lady Scarlet."

"Good, I knew you were a good dog under all that back sass." Remilia said as she released me and headed back to her chair. "You may leave me."

------

The rest of the day didn't prove to be any better than the beginning, I did manage to meet Meiling again when I was sent outside to work on the hedges of the mansions courtyard. Just as I thought, the chinese gatekeeper wasn't as much a bicth as Sakuya or Remilia and was just as pretty as she was in those pictures I masturba-I mean, admired back home. Hell, if she'd have me, I'd tap dat ass til she couldn't walk straight. I'd rock her body like an earthquake. I'd eat her chinese buffet. I'd hit it with the force of a Tōmon Ketsu Hashisō*. I'd...well you get the idea. I even made plans to at least get a good fuck out of her before I left this place...but, my gentlemen side is putting all sorts of brakes on this plan. Even so...I could only wonder why I never took up residing outside with Meling instead of being inside where all those dykes liked to boss me around...

"So, I'm guessing, Sakuya's giving you trouble?" Meiling remakred, the both of us having engaged in conversation whilst I worked. The act proved to make things go along a bit smoother than usual, and take my mind off that damn slave driving maid.

"More or less..." I sigh as I continue work on the last hedge in the courtyard. "Honestly, I don't see how folks were fans of her back home...she's such a bitch." Different strokes for different folks, I suppose. Still if any of those fanboys could meet this whore in person...

"Well, it's true...Sakuya and Lady Remilia can be a bit...erm, bitchy, as you would say. It's just something you have to deal with as a servant to them." I was expecting her to say that. Someone who's worked underneath them for so long maybe SHE was used to it, but not me. I go by my own rules and only give up my wills to someone I truly love...and that someone was meant to be the divine demon goddess, Shinki. NOT Remilia.

"I was afraid of that..." I mutter to myself. "I don't see how you put up with it everyday..."

"Well, I always think of my duty as a gatekeeper. Sakuya can be overbearing at times, but so long as I know I'm keeping everyone safe, her words mean nothing to me." Meiling told me, still facing the lake that surrounded the period stained mansion.

"I see...in that case, I'm going to have to continue my time preparing to leave here." I'm not sure why I let that slip out...but I suppose, I trust Meiling enough with my secret plan.

"You're leaving?" Meiling asked, sounding rather surprised by my words for a moment. "Does Sakuya know?"

"The fuck she does. She'd be the last person I'd tell..." I chuckle to myself, apart of me fearing that Sakuya may actually be watching...or worse, Meiling could be ready to snitch the moment I leave her. "I'm going to Makai. I belong with Shinki...she is the only one I would gladly give all my freedom to...I'd gladly do anything, kill anything, to be by her servant..."

"That's...some crazy determination..."

"I know...but it's what I'd do for the woman I love." I'm really starting to sound gay here...I'd better stop. "Listen, Meiling. Sakuya nor Remilia can NOT know of this. I have only one chance to get to Makai and if any of them find out..."

"I won't tell them." The gatekeeper said to me. "I'm not sure why you would give up a free home and food to journey to a land of demons...but you must really feel strongly for Shinki if you'd give it all up just to see her."

"I do. I finally have a chance to show her how much I admire her. I'm not going to fuck this up..."

"If I can, I'll see if I can get you to the Hakurei Shrine...but after that, you'll be on your own from there." Meiling informed me. I already knew she would be pushing it just by leaving her post, so I don't complain on the suggestion she made for me. Hell, I'm glad she'd be helping me escape at all.

"Thanks, Mei...I owe you one." I have no idea why I called her that just now. I blame my fondness of Meiling for this...

----

After I was finished with the hedges the sun was already setting and I was dead tired. Having said goodbye to Meiling, I made my way back into the mansion and trudged to my room, too tired to give two shits on if Sakuya saw me or not.

Even so, I reached the door of my room without incident and lazily pushed it open, yearning for my body to hit the soft mattress of my bed.

It was too bad that what I saw in my room was enough to snap me awake...

"Fl-Flandre?" I stutter as I see the vampire sitting on my bed, then look to see Sakuya standing across from her. "Oi, I thought you said you'd take care of her! The ffff-I mean...what the fudgecicle is she doing here?"

"Oh, I did take care of her. I simply told her that you would be her playmate tonight, normally, Patchouli would tutor her...but she's sick at the moment so I leave Flandre to you." Sakuya explained, the faint smirk on her face raising several flags in my, still tired brain that this...was actually punishment for earlier. Damn this bitch...damn her to Cocytus and back...

"This is punishment...isn't it?" I say with a bit of a snarl in my voice.

"You didn't think I'd let you get away with being late to deliver the mistress' meal, did you?" The maid says as she walks past me, whispering something in my ear the moment she got close. "Fall asleep and Flandre will suck you dry."

"What?" I turn and see the door is already shut and Sakuya is gone from the room, leaving me and Flandre alone. "Fucking shit..."

"So what do you want to play?" Flandre asks me as she takes in her surroundings, this being the first time she's been in my room.

I honestly have no bearing on dealing with children...even though the one sitting ahead of me is at least 500 years old, but I do know what kids like. Hopefully Flandre will like this as much as the kids back home do. "Here's a fun game for you Flandre." I say to her as I walk over to my bed and pull out the GBA SP from underneath my pillow. The moment Flandre laid eyes on was the moment I knew I had her attention. "They call this a Game Boy Advance Sp and it plays video games for you." I explain to the vampire as I flip it open and turn it on, the melodious sound of the device starting up evoking a smile from Flandre.

"I'm gonna let you play it, but...you have to promise me that you'll let me sleep...okay." Flandre's naive, this I'm sure of. All it takes is my adult experience for me to get her to let me do something.

"But...how'er we suppose to play with it if you're not awake?" Flandre said in a half pout, something I'd expect from her. "I don't wann play it alone, I want to play it with you so I can hear you say those funny words~!"

"You really shouldn't repeat that stuff...besides, can play this by yourself." I tell her, as I hand the vampire my GBA, Flandre curiously inspecting the handheld as the opening of Kirby and the Amazing Mirror began to play through. With the vampire at least occupied with the game, I plop onto the bed face first and focus on getting at least a few minutes of sleep to recharge my tired body. However...as I close my eyes and began drifting into dreamland...I hear Flandre speak to me with terrible news...

"Oops...I broke it."

--------

*Tōmon Ketsu Hashisō (or Still Gate Collapsing Cave Finger Strike) is a Hokuto Shinken technique used by Kenshiro to break all the opponents bones while maintaining their external body structure.
« Last Edit: May 23, 2010, 02:19:40 PM by ☠Mudoon☠ Erebus »
No Math Zone - Tumblr (slight nsfw) | Legend of a Hot-Blooded Pig

"The only guy you know to draw fat Touhous." - Erebus

Dead Princess Sakana

  • *
  • E is for Elodie, who swims with the fishes.
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge Thread!
« Reply #154 on: May 17, 2010, 05:49:34 AM »
Heh, so we do have four entries after all, eh? Very nice~

Now, since there is a lack of Ruro at the moment Not anymore, and we had actually decided to extend the deadline one more time to hopefully get a little more input this time, I'll declare

~ Another DEADLINE EXTENSION ~

for now. For those who had to rush their entries, feel free to polish them up a bit if you want.

Other than that, I'll have to wait for Ruro. Please wait warmly~

Oh, and also:
Oh god. @_@ And it just -had- to be the one that I was planning on entering since i'm done with school. Ah well, gotta get your self-insert badge some time right?
I'm still waiting for your entry Nobu~. And with the extended deadline, there's no more excuses~. You'd better not disappoint, or else...  >:D
« Last Edit: May 17, 2010, 07:19:34 AM by Moe Moe Remilikana Scarlet »

Hello Purvis

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Re: Weekly Writing Challenge Thread!
« Reply #155 on: May 17, 2010, 06:01:57 AM »
I improved my shit like the 2015 edition of Newspeak.

Alfred F. Jones

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  • y de la lucha que hizo por Madrid
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge Thread!
« Reply #156 on: May 17, 2010, 08:26:46 AM »
Other than that, I'll have to wait for Ruro. Please wait warmly~

Waiting for me? Whatever for? ???

Also, if Nobu does not follow through, I will take his broom away and smite him with it. >:(

Bias Bus

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Re: Weekly Writing Challenge Thread!
« Reply #157 on: May 17, 2010, 11:32:22 AM »
~ Another DEADLINE EXTENSION ~


I wonder if this would have happened if I didn't rushwrite...
No Math Zone - Tumblr (slight nsfw) | Legend of a Hot-Blooded Pig

"The only guy you know to draw fat Touhous." - Erebus

Dead Princess Sakana

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  • E is for Elodie, who swims with the fishes.
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge Thread!
« Reply #158 on: May 17, 2010, 01:02:32 PM »
Erebus! Don't post pics like that when I'm drinking, damnit  :V

We had planned to extend anyway since we honestly weren't too sure whether there would be any more than Iced's entries. >_>
Now let's see if some more people will show some guts and produce something in this extra week.

Iced Fairy

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Re: Weekly Writing Challenge Thread!
« Reply #159 on: May 17, 2010, 05:46:10 PM »
Another week?  My death(s) were in vain?  Truely we have offended the library deities to receive such punishment.

Oh well, I can use the time to complete my half of the deal with a small devil....

Chaore

  • Kai Ni Recipient Many Years Late
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  • You Finally Did It, Kadokawa.
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge Thread!
« Reply #160 on: May 17, 2010, 07:02:09 PM »
Well huh. Guess I didn't need to worry about getting that vote in then.  :V

Esifex

  • Though the sun may set
  • *
  • It shall rise again
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge Thread!
« Reply #161 on: May 18, 2010, 06:26:35 AM »
Fuck.

Sorry for the foul language in WWC, but just.... rage.

Three. Bloody. Times.

THREE TIMES. I had a story going. And literally, each time was a little further than the last.

And each bloody time, my goddamn laptop decided to just up and LOCK UP. YAAAAAY I GET TO START OVER.

No thanks. It was a novel idea, but short stories aren't my forte and I didn't have enough time to plot it all the way through. Probably would've fallen on its face.

Hello Purvis

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  • Hello Jerry
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge Thread!
« Reply #162 on: May 18, 2010, 07:04:59 AM »
Make a throwaway google doc is you don't want to put it in a proper text file. They autosave pretty often.

Tengukami

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Writing challenge
« Reply #163 on: May 18, 2010, 04:54:19 PM »
Blogspot also autosaves every few seconds.

Which reminds me ...

"Human history and growth are both linked closely to strife. Without conflict, humanity would have no impetus for growth. When humans are satisfied with their present condition, they may as well give up on life."

Esifex

  • Though the sun may set
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  • It shall rise again
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge Thread!
« Reply #164 on: May 18, 2010, 05:42:36 PM »
I'm typing it up on my alt-laptop. The one I use explicitly for writing, word documents, and school notes.

Be warned - I'm on a roll, and in typical Esifex fashion, there's a massive chunk of exposition before it gets into the story.

Alfred F. Jones

  • Estamos orgullosos del Batall?n Lincoln
  • *
  • y de la lucha que hizo por Madrid
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge Thread!
« Reply #165 on: May 18, 2010, 07:00:28 PM »
[12:57] <Sakana> Ruro.... I just noticed a fatal flaw in the WWC rules
[12:57] <Sakana> We never specified that it should be 'short stories'
[12:57] <Sakura-Rurouni> lmao
[12:57] <Sakana> theoretically, someone could enter with a giant story...
[12:57] <Sakura-Rurouni> That's not a flaw
[12:57] <Sakura-Rurouni> That's intentional
[12:57] <Sakana> Oh damn >_>
[12:57] <Sakura-Rurouni> :3

There is no rule that anything has to be a short story. The submissions are short stories because a week's deadline forces obvious time constraints upon the entires. But there is no hard and fast rule concerning them.

<Sakana> I'll hold you personally responsible for the possible consequences of this announcement >_>

[ruro]Neener neener :3[/ruro]

Esifex

  • Though the sun may set
  • *
  • It shall rise again
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge Thread!
« Reply #166 on: May 19, 2010, 03:23:52 AM »
I hereby declare a Spell Lock on this declaration. I refuse to let it be undone for the duration of this challenge.

Nobu

  • Serendipitous Youkai
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Re: Weekly Writing Challenge Thread!
« Reply #167 on: May 21, 2010, 11:13:16 PM »
D:

* Nobu bites the bullet
Tumblr (sometimes NSFW) | PM for Facebook

Nobu

  • Serendipitous Youkai
  • *
  • i post while naked
    • My Tumblr
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge Thread!
« Reply #168 on: May 22, 2010, 11:25:21 PM »
Here, take it damn you, and leave me alone. ;___;

Reference pictures for Iji-Nobu: 1 2 3



Nobu tossed and turned. His body ached, a remnant of the night of drinking he had gone through. Luckily he didn?t have to work that next morning, so he buried his face trying to eek out as much sleep as humanly possible. The grass was beginning to irritate his face.


It wasn?t until a good hour of self-induced snoozing had passed did he realize that he usually didn?t sleep on a bed of grass. He cracked opened his eyes, making out the faint outlines of blades of grass dimly illuminated by the rising sun.

He groaned. ?Ugh, I knew that last drink was a bad idea.. though passing out outside is a first.?

Nobu momentarily considered closing his eyes again and dealing with this later, but thoughts of having to explain to law enforcement driving why he was sleeping on a front lawn drove him to at least sit up and investigate his surroundings before snoozing again. 

Nobu pulled himself up to a sitting position, and rubbed his eyes with his sleeve. It took Nobu a minute to realize that something was off about this. He examined his sleeve more closely. ?White sleeves?? His eyes followed the sleeves to his torso, and noticed the black ribbon wrapped around white fabric that encased his now-slender torso. Past his waist, the fabric billowed out around her, making it obvious that she was wearing a dress. A bit of shuffling and patting down (combined with the abrupt shift in pronouns) confirmed her nagging suspicion. Before she could fully process this newfound information, Nobu noticed something green out of her peripheral vision, and turned to face it.

?Hssssss.?

The large snake head suspended inches from her face idly flicked out its tongue, as it gazed into her eyes.

?HOLY $# *@!# %&$@&@!? Nobu yelped out as she fell backwards on her ass, and scrambled backwards to escape from the large constrictor snake wrapped around her. Her back collided with a nearby tree trunk, hard. The momentary shock distracted her long enough to realize that the snake wasn?t actually touching her, even though its body seemed to be wrapped completely around her. Nor did it seem the least bit interested in her crazed antics, idly swishing its head back and forth while darting its tongue out occasionally, looking away.

?Hah? hah? What the hell is this.? Nobu?s heart raced, and she took a minute to unwind and clear her head, closing her eyes. Once her heart stopped beating a mile a minute, she started to process her newfound discoveries. ?Alright then.. So I?ve got white dress, black ribbon, female plumbing..? She paused for a second before adding, ?..high voice..?

 She put a hand up to her chest and squeezed. Or tried to at least. ?Tsurupettan, check.? She peeked one eye open and noted the snake still there, along with the silver bangs that came down past her eyes. ?Bigass snake, check. Silver hair, check. Then there?s probably also a..? She reached one hand up, and brushed a finger along what felt like a petal. A tingle ran through her body. ?A-Ah? what was tha--? Her words were interrupted as she locked eyes with the piercing gaze of the snake, who didn?t seem too pleased. She drew her hand away from flower atop her head. The snake seemed satisfied with this gesture, and returned to gazing out at the scenery. ?Snake is overprotective of the flower. Noted.?

Nobu was too unsettled by the snake suspended around her to even think about taking her new body out for a ?test drive?, so she attended to other things.

?Alright, so I?ve been turned into my Ijiyatsu character. If this is a dream, this is one hell of a vivid dream.? Nobu pinched her cheek. It stung. ?Oww.  Ok, probably not a dream then.? She looked around. Trees. Nothing but sparse trees in every direction. She looked up, and noticed the clouds overhead. ?Hmm, I wonder if I have any powers.. I can probably fly at the very least, right?? To her surprise, figuring out flight was pretty intuitive, and it wasn?t long until she took to the skies, rising over the tops of the trees. She looked around at the rolling landscape, with treetops extending around her all directions, some mountains in the distance, faint wisps of smoke rising above the treetops some distance away, and a light morning mist obscuring her vision much beyond that.

Nobu turned to face the new figure that entered her field of vision. Either that was the best cosplay she?s ever seen, or she was now in Gensokyo. Nobu banked on the latter.




??well I guess that answers the question of where I ended up.?




?Yes, you ended up in my way. Now move aside, I don?t have the time to deal with small fry like you!?




?Umm.. ok then. Sorry. I?ll move out of your way.?




??.what??




?I said sorry, go ahead. I don?t want to fight you.?




?..as if I?d let a obviously suspicious youkai get away from so easily.?




?But I thought you just said you don?t have the time??




?It?ll take no time at all to beat a pipsqueak like you.?




?But it?ll still take more time than if you'd just--- y?know what? Forget it. I have a headache.?




?Y'know, the best cure for a headache is some danmaku upside the head.?




?I don?t need your folk remedies. Hey Reimu, your hitbox is showing.?




?What, really?"



*ZIP!*




?Hey, wait! As if you can get away from me!?




?Great, just great,' Nobu thought. 'I?ve only been here five minutes and I?m already getting challenged to a danmaku fight by someone with plot immunity. I wonder if I can hide in a bush or something until she leaves.? Nobu flew down to the canopy level and perched on a branch, then sat still. The snake coiled in midair around her looked bored.

?..some help you are.? Nobu turned her attention away from the snake and watched the skies. The forest was silent save the sound of birds chirping and the occasional rustle from the wind blowing through the trees.  And a whistling sound.

Nobu was too slow to react to the pair of amulets that impacted her back, sending a searing pain through her body that nearly knocked her out of the tree. ?FFFFFFFFFF------Owww. *mutter grumble* Stupid Reimu A.? She flew up from her hiding spot, to be greeted again by a familiar face.




?As if you can hide from the Hakurei shrine maiden.?




?You cheated. Those homing amulets are sooo cheap.?



?Think fast, Nobu. Those amulets hurt. Can?t stall with dialog forever y?know.?




?All?s fair in love and danmaku.?




?Um.. I think you got the saying wrong.?




?Whatever. Don?t you think you?ve stalled for long enough??




?Ugh, fine. So how does this work exactly??



?Wait, I wonder if I could--?




?You?ve never had a danmaku battle before? Are you new to Gensokyo or something??




??I guess you could say that.?




?Then I?ll be happy to demonstrate!?



And with that note, Reimu capped the dialog by throwing out a series of amulets that sailed towards Nobu. 

Nobu dodged left, and the amulets sailed past her. Unfortunately, she was too slow to avoid being clipped by one of the amulets, and the wound sent a wave of pain up her arm. The amulet sliced through her sleeve and tore a gash across her upper arm, and Nobu clutched the stinging wound as the red blood slowly began to seep into the fabric of her sleeve.

?Christ, those things are sharp?! I guess that means I don?t get a fancy small hitbox,? thought Nobu.

To her dismay, the homing amulets curved around in a wide arc, and zeroed back in on its target. Eager to escape the flying pain machines, Nobu flew as fast as she could will herself to in a wide circle around the shrine maiden. She could apparently fly pretty fast, but the homing amulets seemed just a bit faster. She had to think fast.

?If I can't even shoot danmaku, how am I supposed to beat her..? Maybe I could find something to hit her with..? A rock or a stone or a.. wait-a-minute. I am technically a boss, so.. Will this work??

While Nobu quickly tried to formulate a plan while circling around the hovering shrine maiden, Reimu hesistated to send out more amulets. Not so much out of mercy, but more out of confusion. She watched dumfounded as the snake-paired youkai flew circles around her. ?.. Why doesn?t she shoot any danmaku? This isn?t exactly much of a match.?

?Alright. I?ve got nothing to lose. Here goes--? Nobu turned her head to look at her assailant, and steeled herself.

?One? two? GO!?

Suddenly, Nobu switched trajectories, and sent herself hurtling straight towards the dumfounded Reimu. ?Wait, what are you?? was all she could say before getting elbowed square in the gut. Having the breath completely knocked out of her, she crumpled, and the pair was sent hurtling to the ground in a tangled heap.


*CRASH*





Once the dust settled and her head stopped spinning, Nobu attempted to sit up after realizing she wasn?t dead. Her hands planted down on something soft.

Nobu peeked open her eyes to see Reimu coughing underneath her, and she finally noticed just what she was resting her hands on. Her snake had coiled itself around the both of them, and seemed to have broken their fall. (Gotcha, pervs. >:3)

?Ah, whoops. Er.. thanks, snake.? The snake darted its tongue out and gave a faint ?hsss?, before uncoiling itself from around the two of them so they could rise to their feet.




??. Cheater. Ugh, my head's still spinning.?




?What? I didn?t really have any other options. Hitting you with my hitbox is completely valid. And besides..?




??All?s fair in love and danmaku?, right??




?Dammit, I can?t believe I lost against a stage 1 boss.?



*end*



Nobu narrowly avoids a beatdown by Reimu, but what now? What was the incident that Reimu was in such a hurry to solve? Does her early defeat at the hands of an apparent stage 1 boss spell doom for Gensokyo, or is it just time for Marisa to pick up the slack?
Find out next time on-- *RECORD EXPUNGED*

(Thanks to Halca for the original Nobuart, made the expressions myself. And no thanks to Ruro for coercing me to write this abomination. D: Does it make me a horrible person if I almost want to continue this?)


« Last Edit: May 23, 2010, 12:00:24 AM by Nobu »
Tumblr (sometimes NSFW) | PM for Facebook

Esifex

  • Though the sun may set
  • *
  • It shall rise again
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge Thread!
« Reply #169 on: May 23, 2010, 12:02:35 AM »
Oh good, someone else did a self-genderswap.

(No ill intent my brain is scrambled)

Was afraid I'd be the only one to do that.

Oh by the way I maaaaaay have to push the deadline :v Just a hair.
« Last Edit: May 23, 2010, 12:38:31 AM by Tactician Esifex »

Esifex

  • Though the sun may set
  • *
  • It shall rise again
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge Thread!
« Reply #170 on: May 23, 2010, 05:12:19 AM »
Hello Sunday morning. Well, actually, it's still Saturday somewhere, so TECHNICALITY





Panic can make you do stupid things. It can make you see the most unusual, fantastic things, too.

I just want to reiterate, though – it can make you do stupid things. Like, really stupid.

God, I don’t even know how long it’s been since I came from the… well, this is a ‘real’ world, too, so I can’t exactly call mine ‘the real world’.

Spoiler:
”It’s only been a week and a half, though.”

Hah. No, I don’t buy it. It’s got to be way longer than that. Feels like ages.

Spoiler:
”Nope. Just a week and a half.”

If you say so – I mean, I guess you’re right. Just feels like it’s been longer. Not like I actually plan on going back, anyways.
   
Spoiler:
”Maybe you should explain. I don’t think everyone understands what you’re talking about.”

You’re right, of course. Not everyone is psychic.

Allow me to explain. It all started… a week and a half ago! Hah. Doesn’t sound that dramatic when it’s that short. Ah – well. That doesn’t have anything to do with the story. Moving on.



I’m a rarity, a special commodity. A girl, working in an express oil-change shop. Automobile maintenance and women are rarely ever found hand-in-hand, but lo and behold, there I was.

Because of how unusual it was, most of the customers took an instant liking to me and trusted me. ‘If a girl is going to do something so un-feminine, obviously she’s researching it and actually believes in what she’s talking about’ was undoubtedly the reasoning everyone – sorry, not everyone, there’s always the exception – thought. All I had to do was look under the hood of their car, pick a few things apart, find out what needed servicing, and tell the customer. Instant sale. On top of that, I could read people pretty easily. Just by looking at them, greeting them, I could know instantly how far I could push them – how much is too much, and what I could get away with by way of needing to offer discounts or just charging full price.

To the district manager, I was a godsend. Originally hired on by my brother, just because I needed a job, I helped bring his store up from high-end to flagship status. It wasn’t because of me, alone, of course – the other hood techs that I worked with (the swine) were good enough salesmen to keep the store on top. I just made it better.

So it wasn’t all that surprising when I got transferred to Paradise Falls. The store wasn’t suffering, but it wasn’t producing well, either. I figured, do my time there, bring the store up, and maybe I can get management – then I won’t have to do the grease-monkey work. Just sell the product, make the peons do the dirty work for me, make sure none of the idiots tear each other apart – among other managerial babysitting duties – and make sure the shop runs just like the well-oiled machines we service twenty, thirty times a day. Long hours, sure, but goddamn the pay is good.

All was well for the first month – just me, Mrs. New Assistant Manager, and Mike, the shop manager, running Paradise Falls.

I really should’ve done my research before accepting the transfer. Paradise Falls would be better renamed Paradise Fallen, Shot, Stabbed, and Then Had It’s Wallet Looted.

The reason the store wasn’t making as much money as my old one was almost stupidly simple – no one in the area drove, and those that did barely had any money to begin with. My potential opportunity for advancement had become a Catch 22.

Still, grin and bear it. Show the first sign of weakness and this company will never give me another opportunity – just another girl who thought she could twirl a wrench.

All that came to a crashing end one night – and in proper ironic fashion, this night was almost exactly like the countless other nights spent closing the store.

Mike was handling the office paperwork while I counted the till. Once I was done with the till, I would go out to the bays, where the computer was, and print out the reports after it had finished compiling them.

As soon as the door to the office clicked shut behind me I felt something was wrong. I tried to brush it off, and continued towards the computer.

“Bitch.”

What? Who… Oh, shit. Someone snuck in under the bay doors. We didn’t close them all the way so there’d still be some ventilation going through the bays, so they wouldn’t be stifling hot while we were doing the paperwork. This could be a problem.

Behind me, tucked in the shadows, opposite the office door, was a man. I couldn’t make out much of him – it was too dark with the circuit breaker for the overhead lights turned off. The only light I had was the wan lighting from the office window and the glow from under the doors.

It was still enough to see the gun in the guy’s hand. Thankfully, he wasn’t pointing it at me. Yet.

I tried to play it cool. “You’re not supposed to be in here. We’re closed.”

For the sake of our more sensitive audience, my new friends dialogue has been edited.

“Don’t care. Give me the money you got.”

“It’s already sealed up in a deposit bag. Only about a hundred bucks in the till here.” I pointed at the register under the computer. In hindsight, I should’ve said it was empty, and made him turn his back on me, go to the office. He would’ve turned his back on me, and I could’ve taken a wrench to his head.

He gestured at it with the gun. “Open it.”

“Doesn’t have to be me. It’s just a push-button spring drawer.” God, why did I keep telling the truth? Well, it turned out to have worked anyways.

He glared at me as he pushed past, heading to the till. I shot a glance at the office window, hoping Mike had looked out and spotted me, or wondered why I was taking so long, or – God forbid – heard someone talking in the bays.

Nope. Nose stuck to the paperwork. Useless.

As my robber-apparent put his back to me at the computer, a thought raced through my head. Time to punish him for seeing me as a pair of tits, just a girl – not a mechanic who’s earned the calluses and burns on my arms.

I grabbed the hose attached to the washer-fluid nozzle, used to refill washer basins under the hood of a car, and swung it over my head like a lasso. I let just enough slack out of it on its forward swing to smash it into the thief’s head.

With a slight spurt of fluid to herald a successful hit, it rebounded off his head and came coasting neatly back towards me. I couldn’t’ve planned it to happen better. The handle landed in my outstretched hand, and I brandished the hose at the thug as he tried to turn to face me.

With a shout – mostly to alert Mike, but also to try to frighten the dirtbag in front of me – I put my finger over the nozzle and hit the trigger. The spray shot out and doused the thug as he brought his gun up to bear.

I nearly dropped the hose when he fired; the noise scared me, and I wasn’t expecting him to fire a reflex shot. The noise, however, alerted Mike, who looked up through the office window.

May Mike die a thousand deaths; the persistently useless slime – well, no. I take that back. Calling him slime would be an insult to bacteria everywhere – jumped up and bolted for the front door, abandoning me to my fate.

The thief started to push his way through the ceaseless spray of washer fluid I was dousing him with. He groped for the hose, trying to wrench it from my hands. I let him take it, pulling a wrench that had – thankfully – been abandoned on the hose-rack and clipped him in the face with it.

He yelled and spun around from the blow, slipping and falling because of the now-wet floor. I thanked my work-safe boots for not delivering me to the same fate.

I stepped over him, kicking his gun away as best I could, and dashed for the computer podium. Mike always left his keys there – I could use them and get the hell out of here and never come back and tell the regional manager to stuff it.

Sure enough, Mike’s keys were sitting there. I snatched them and dropped to the ground as the thug started to crawl towards his gun.

As he grabbed it, I rolled under the barely-open bay doors and jumped out of his line-of-sight, being careful not to let my shadow show where I was. I dashed for the line of cars parked behind the shop, hammering the buttons on Mike’s keyfob to make his car unlock.

With a chirp, it yielded to me, and I jumped in as I heard the bay doors rattle. The larger body of the thug had bumped the aluminum doors, and they made a loud racket.

Problem. Mike’s car was a manual transmission, and I didn’t know how to drive it. Oh well – turn it on and figure it out on the go, I thought.

Later, I would remember that you have to hold the clutch to turn on a manual. In my panic (remember, stupid things) I forgot, so I was stuck useless trying to crank the engine over and noisily giving my position away. The thug rose up and stalked towards the cars, clutching the side of his face.

Good. The wrench hurt. Eat it.

Bad. He was still coming towards me. Thankfully, he wasn’t brandishing the gun – I guess he was waiting till he was closer so he wouldn’t waste his bullets on shooting blindly without any depth-perception.

He got up to the door and started to bring the gun to bear. I kicked the door open as hard as I could, bowling him over. That’s what you get for seeing me as just a woman. I’ve got PLENTY of fight in me, you sonovabitch!

I lunged for the passenger side of the car and tumbled out.

Once more – panic. Stupid things. And, most importantly, tumbling.

My ankle twisted out from under me. Fuck. Just what I need. I could almost hear my odds of getting away safely laughing at me as they dwindled. I searched my pockets for anything I could use as a weapon, something to throw – but all I had were my wallet and cellphone. Maybe he’d be distracted by my wallet, and no way in hell was I going to pitch my wonderful cellphone at anything or anyone.

God, save me… I know it’s kind of blasphemous and selfish to pray for help when I – what the hell?

A purple fog had coalesced in front of me, and then sucked itself into a thin line. It looked like a thick piece of thread with two red ribbons, one on either end.

The thread opened up impossibly into an oval, and a white, gloved hand lunged out and grabbed the collar of my shirt. A blonde head followed the arm, and the woman looked up at me. I was too busy staring at the hand on my neck and the white beret on her head to notice that she was looking me up and down.

“Hmm. Female. Not what I need, but from the looks of things, you’d be best off coming with me. You are now officially dead to this world, young lady. But you are not yet dead.”

I blinked and looked her in the eyes now. Somehow, she wasn’t supporting her self on anything, but she still managed to lift me up and drag me through the air as she sank back into the purple oval she’d come from.

I blacked out before I hit the swirling cloud of purple.



That was my last day in the mundane, human world. Here, though, I’ve been changed. The nature of this place – Gensokyo – will change you if you’re different enough. Turns out my ability to read people means I was a latent psychic back in the human world. Here, it’s been developing steadily since I got along, and now I’m even more receptive to the thoughts of those around me.

Anyways! That’s jumping ahead. Back to where we left off, after of course I wake back up. Describing me being unconscious wouldn’t be very interesting, after all.



“Aaaaaaugh!”

Despite being a ‘mechanic’, I didn’t have a very manly scream. In fact, it’s best classified as a wail. A kind-of-high-pitched yell. My apologies to anyone who may have sensitive hearing, much like a cat.

Yeah. Still haven’t said sorry to Chen for that. ‘Course, I didn’t know who Chen was at the time.

First I saw of her was when she dashed out of the room, knocking over a small table. Unfortunate, that was, because it apparently had some food on it that was destined for me. I didn’t initially notice the tails trailing behind her.

“Ah!” The white-capped blonde from before watched as the sub-table toppled over, and the tray on it spilt.

I sat upright and gasped for air.

The blonde looked back at me calmly. “Good morning. You would do yourself a large favor if you went ahead and assumed that everyone in the human world thought you were dead.”

I gaped at her. A random woman who made me black out while I was running for my life was telling me I was dead.

“…what?”

“You’re in a realm that exists parallel to your own. You won’t be able to get back without someone helping you. There are only a few people who actually have the ability to help you, and I’m one of them. In my opinion, you shouldn’t try to return. Not immediately, at least – the man I saved you from wasn’t just a random street-thug. He was a low-ranking member of a particularly large gang in your area – but not low enough to be punished for failing to rob you. The gang is on the lookout for you, and you’ll have many unsavory things in your future if they find you, and then the myth of your death will become a reality.

“You’re welcome to stay here for as long as you need, but don’t bother with your original clothes. They won’t fit in here, and I’ve already disposed of them. Your possessions are safe.”

“…what? Hang on. Wait. Who are you?” First order of business – interrogate the person who saved your life. Say it with me now – panic makes you do stupid things.

“I am Yukari Yakumo, Sage of the Youkai, and custodian to the Hakurei Barrier. Now, you know who I am. May I ask who you are?”

I narrowed my eyes at her. It would’ve probably been more intimidating if I weren’t naked. “Sara Fransisca Xiao. Call me Esifex – it’s my initials.”

“Esifex, huh. Welcome to Gensokyo. It’s your home for now – and you’d best deal with it. I’m going to prepare you something to eat – you’ve been out for a day.”

With that, she left. I sank back down, and noticed I wasn’t in a bed of any kind. Some kind of cushion – a futon, it’s called. Thankfully it came equipped with a blanket, though.

What the hell? Am I in Japan or something? I took a deep breath and tried to relax, doing my best to absorb everything I’d just been told. My nudity wasn’t making it easy, though – I felt vulnerable. I pulled the blanket up and fastened it around my chest, toga-style, and got up. Gotta be something around here to wear.

Sure enough, as though this Yukari had planned for me to go a-wandering, there was a single outfit hanging from what looked like a coat-hook pole. A red blouse, yellow ribbon-bowtie around the neck, a black belt and a red skirt, and atop the pole was a green beret. Looks like what that girl who ran off when I woke up was wearing.

I pulled the blouse and skirt on, but opted to leave the hat behind. Never really liked hats much unless they were light. I wouldn’t be able to wear it as well as Chen, anyways.

Wait a second. How’d I know that name?

What the hell is going on here?

I froze in the middle of the room, suddenly tensing up and alert. Tae Kwon Do classes that I took when I was eight – nearly a decade and a half ago, by God they’re probably useless to me now – started flitting through my head as I ran myself through a situational checklist. I felt like I was going to be jumped at any second.

I recognize the name ‘Gensokyo’. I know who Chen is. I feel like there’s more about what’s going on that I know, that I SHOULDN’T know.

I undid the buttons holding the sleeves tight to my shoulders. I didn’t want any restricted range of motion. Looking around, I grabbed the hat off the pole and let it rest on my head, not pulling it down tight. I imagined it looked silly, with my long hair in a ponytail and it just barely sitting on my head. I wanted it light so I could snatch it off my head and throw it as a distraction if I had to.

Footsteps were approaching. Sounded like bare feet on the wooden flood. I forced my body to relax as best I could, but kept my mind racing.

A tall, pale woman came through the open door, bearing another tray similar to the one that had been knocked down. Behind her, I could see a mass of fur. A forgotten voice in my head – akin to instinct – told me that it was actually nine tails, and this was a demi-god ‘Kitsune’ standing before me. That same voice told me this, then made absolutely certain I knew better than to try to piss the kitsune off.

“Ran!” I blurted. Again, a name I knew that I shouldn’t have.

Ran blinked. “Yes. Did Yukari tell you I was coming?”

“…Yeah. Is that for me?” I gestured at the tray and the small bowl on it. Despite my attempt to distract her with my hand motions, she noticed the wild look in my eyes.

“Calm down. Humans are protected in Gensokyo. And besides – you’ve been unconscious for a day. If we were going to attack you, kill you, eat you, whatever you’re afraid of, we would’ve done it already.”

“So you say, I’ve been out for that long.” Idiot! Idiot! IDIOT! DON’T BACKTALK HER!

Instead of taking offense, she just grinned. “Then I guess you’ll just have to take our word for it. I imagine you’re hungry?” She held the tray in one hand like a waitress, and lifted the bowl off it, offering it forwards.

A small chorus of voices in my head started screaming at each other. Run! Fight! Kill! Hide! Eat! Sleep!

A voice in my stomach started to contribute to the cacophony in my mind, and the ‘Eat’ suggestion won. I reached forward and took the bowl, bowing my head – I hoped the gesture looked gracious, but I didn’t want to look into her yellow eyes. They were creepy as hell.

“There aren’t any solids in it. Drink the soup at your own pace, but drink it slowly. You’ll –”

I held my hand up, forestalling her cautionary lecture. “I’ll cramp my stomach and clog up my system. I’m a little bit learned in the workings of the human body, though I thank you for the caution and concern. May I leave the room?”

Ran shook her head. “No. You may not. One of us will be back shortly. It may be me, Yukari, or another one, named –”

“Chen.” I interrupted her again. Still had a bunch of ‘stupid’ left over to use up, it seemed.

Ran stared at me intently, one eyebrow twitching upwards just barely. “Yes. I suppose Yukari explained more to you than I thought.”

I shrugged at her and tipped the bowl to my lips. It was warm and bitter, slightly salty tasting. Could’ve sworn I tasted mushrooms in it, too.

Ran stepped out of the room, keeping her eye on me as she went. I barely noticed her multitude of tails twisting and wrapping around each other as she lead herself through the door.

I nursed the bowl of soup for about two minutes. Despite her warning – and the fact that I really did know better – I couldn’t help but drink the soup quickly. Holdover habits from working in that damned oil-change shop; if you didn’t eat fast, you didn’t eat at all. Customers had a nasty habit of knowing when you got lunch and would come piling up in the bays. Food never had a long life expectancy around me anymore.

As time crawled on and I was left alone for God-knows-how-long, my thoughts began to dwell on the reality I’d left behind. Surely my brother – and by extension, the rest of my family – had been told by now via Mike (if he’d returned to report in that Paradise Falls had been robbed) that I was ‘dead’.

The thought of my brother grieving over me, combined with what would undoubtedly be insurmountable imagined guilt for having been the one to get me into that job in the first place, was depressing. He shouldn’t have to go through that. It wasn’t fair.

I examined the room I was in, and noticed that the things I had in my uniform pocket were lined up neatly next to the futon I’d been rest in. Wallet, cellphone, two pens, a Sharpie magic marker, and a rag. The first two, definite keepers. Might keep the pens and Sharpie.

The rag was getting lost first chance I got, of course.

I slid my phone up, opening it up. Still had a full bar of battery charge – no one ever called me, and I didn’t have texting, so I never actually used the battery power except for playing music. I fired up one of my playlists to occupy myself while I sat there and flipped through my wallet.

Things I wouldn’t need any more… Folding money, library card, Librarian Assistant I.D., driver’s license, GameStop, Amazon, Barne’s and Noble’s, and B. Dalton discount cards, a credit card.

The sheer absurdity of actually stopping and realizing - just how nerdy it was that I had a videogame store, and three bookstores’ discount cards to a single credit card – hit me like a ton of bricks. Stuck in a world, trapped away from home with no immediate prospect of getting back, and I’m thinking about bookstores?

I’d rather have an Xbox 360. Never managed to get one, though, so I guess I won’t ever be getting one now.

Like Yukari said, though, at least I’m still alive. Being alive somewhere foreign is better than being dead at home.

The music on my cellphone clicked over to a piano/violin duet. I passively IDed it in my head as ‘Clockwork, Lunar Dial’ by TAM.

Wait.

Lunar Dial. That song was an arrange of a theme-song of a character in a game called Touhou. Sakuya Izayoi, if I wasn’t mistaken.

Sakuya, a resident of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, in Gensokyo.

I clicked my phone shut, turning the music off in the process. “No fucking way. Oooooh, fucking no. Just, no. You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

I fell to a sitting position with a complete lack of decorum and stared at the ceiling. Work had been eating too much of my time for me to bother with any of my former social or recreational habits; I’d completely forgotten about Touhou and Gensokyo in the course of the past five months.

I was chuckling deliriously to myself when I realized I heard Yukari’s voice coming down the hallway towards me.

“…ably a dreamwalker, like that Maribel girl in Japan. Otherwise… ha. Maybe she’s actually one of Ota’s fans. Either way…”

She stepped around the corner, rounding through the door and looking down at me.

“Yukari Yakumo. Sage of Gensokyo, also known occasionally as the Reality of Gensokyo. You work with the Hakurei Maiden on a fairly regular basis. Your shikigami is Ran Yakumo, who has a shikigami of her own, Chen. The three of you live together in Mayohiga among the mountains.” I didn’t ask.

She blinked at me. “That is correct. Tell me, how do you know all that?”

I laugh to myself a little. Okay, I really laughed a lot. I was delirious at the time.

“Do you know what ‘Touhou’ means?”

“Eastern Paradise. It’s also the stories set up by a friend of mine to help spread belief of this realm, to help empower it.”

I giggled. “I thought Gensokyo was supposed to be a Paradise for the Disbelieved? Wouldn’t actually ‘believing’ in it have an adverse effect?”

Yukari shook her head. “Not that the exact workings of the barrier will concern you, ever, but it is strengthened by belief that it exists. Everything inside the barrier takes shelter here from the actual adverse effects of being disbelieved. You have it backwards.”

This is too much. I share my opinion with them. “This is too much.”

“Nonetheless, it is fact. Deal with it.”

I get a sudden mental image of Yukari commanding me to ‘deal with it’ while glaring at me through dark sunglasses. I giggle some more.

“Well. Yeah, I can try that. But for now, I think I’m going to go absolutely insane. Can I go outside so I can scream some more?”

Ran snickers. “Better out than in. In both cases here, outside the house and out of her.”

Yukari narrows her eyes at me, and one of her portals slips open beside her. She turns to step into the portal, but continues facing me.

“Cast off your name. It’ll do you no good here.”

I blink. “What? Why?”

“There’s already a Sara of renown in Gensokyo. Go by your initials.” With that, she disappears into the portal.

“Hey! Wait! Why can’t we both have the name ‘Sara’?” I call after her, leaning forward till I have to support myself ‘on all fours’ style. Yukari doesn’t answer; instead, the ribbons slip shut and the portal vanishes.

Ran gestures to me, beckoning me. “Come, I will lead you outside. I recommend you don’t wander too far from the estate; the wilderness here is very feral, very wild. Not at all tamed or defeated like the nature of your outside world.”

I rise to my feet mindlessly and follow her. “So does she do this often? I mean, yank people from the real world and just dump them in Gensokyo?”

Ran sighs. “How much do you know about Gensokyo? Wait. Don’t bother; I’m not really interested. Yes, she does. There aren’t many humans here, and to keep a good selection of sturdy breeding stock available, to avoid in breeding, she pulls a selection of people through every few generations. Or every few weeks for her amusement. In your case, she was looking for more ‘breeding stock’.”

“And I’m guessing you’ve already reached your quota for women, then.” I look around as we pass through the house. Very plain, but comfortable nonetheless.

“Exactly. Yukari saved you, though, because of the situation you were in. Among other reasons.”

As I followed Ran, her tails mesmerized me; wrapping around each other, braiding through each other, or wriggling their way free of the large mass of fur. I reached out towards them, slowly closing the distance.

“You’ve got so many tails. They look so fluffy… and you’ve got fox ears, right?”

I pinch onto the tip of one of her tails, only grasping fur. She looks over her shoulder at me, feeling the restriction, and curls her tails against her back, plucking the captured tail free. I look up at her head; resting atop her golden-yellow hair is a poofy white and blue hat with two streamers coming off it.

“I do. And yes, they are… ‘fluffy’. Don’t pull on them, it hurts when you yank hairs out.”

“Do you have human ears too?!” I blurt out, practically hopping in place behind her as we reach the front door.

She just stares at me as she opens the door and steps aside politely. “I think you had some screaming to do?”

A blur of motion, a slight sensation of pressure, and suddenly I’m outside. She calls out behind me as I stumble to a halt halfway through the small courtyard, “Chen and I both have sensitive hearing. If you need to scream, please do so alone and away from the estate.”

The door closes. Well, nothing better to do but stop, think, and let it all come crashing down on me.

I scream.

I don’t know how long I was standing on the lawn, screaming at the sky, hollering at the Gods, cursing my fate and the unfair situation my brother had to go through. I never actually looked at the clock on my cellphone to see when I started; I just know that the sun was already on it’s way toward setting when I started, and it had completely disappeared behind the mountains when I finished.

I sank to my knees, and then fell over backwards. My voice was hoarse and my throat hurt now. Luckily, I felt a lot less stressed out. Crying was like vomiting, for the soul. Gets the yucky stuff out of you.

“Feeling better?” I ask.

What?

I pop my head up.

Yukari’s dress is standing before me, but wearing it is… me.

“I do not sound like that.” I look her up and down.

Poofy white dresses are not my thing. And I do not sound like that. Do I?

“When’s the last time you’ve recorded yourself and listened to it? How do you know what you really sound like?”

I remain silent. Truth be told, she had a point.

“Give me your cellphone.” She’s not asking me.

I fish it out of my pocket and hand it over. “I’m glad I’ve still got a full charge on it. I suppose finding a reliable source of electricity will be difficult here.”

Yukari-Me glances up at me as she fiddles with the slide-open phone. “Not really. Which one is your next-of-kin?”

“What?” I blink. “Uh. My brother. He’s speed-dial ‘2’. You know how to use a cellphone?”

Without looking up at me she waggles the phone. “Samsung Trance. I don’t live only in Gensokyo, you know. Aren’t you going to ask how I ended up looking and sounding like you?”

I let out a single laugh. “Yukari, I know enough about you already to know that reality doesn’t apply to you. Am I seriously getting signal here? I didn’t even look, I just assumed I wouldn’t.”

“You won’t. I will, though. Like you said, reality doesn’t apply to me.” She held down a button – I presumed it was ‘2’ – and then put the phone to her ear.

The look in her eyes demanded that I remain perfectly silent lest she murder me to death. I remain silent.

“Chris!” she says suddenly. How does she know his name?

“No! No, listen – shut up for a sec, will ya?” What the hell!? She’s even talking like me now?

“Look – shit happened at Paradise. Did Mike tell you?” WHAT?! How does she know all these names?! How does she know who Mike is?

“Yeah. Paradise Fallen sucks ass, man. Anyways, I get one call before they have to turn off my phone – I’m in witness protection now. I – hey – shut up, I know – shut up! I know it sucks. Look, tell Mom and Dad, okay? And if Mike thinks I got shot, the better. He’s shit at holding his tongue. Turns out the waste of flesh who tried to rob us is part of the Bulldogs, and not just a bottom-rung gangbanger. I gave him a good whack in the head and pretty much made a mockery of his thievery skills, but because – will you stop trying to interrupt me, dammit? Because of the gang-related nature of the crime, blah blah blah, cop mumbo-jumbo, the Paradise Falls P.D. is assigning me to witness protection and relocating me. I can’t tell you where I’m going or who I’ll be, and I won’t be allowed to contact you or anyone else I know – or should say knew – until like, God knows when.”

She falls silent for a few seconds while Chris talks to her. Fuck! Let me talk to him! I want to talk to him, dammit! He’s MY brother!

“Yeah, no. No, you can’t tell anyone else I’m in W.P. Just Mom and Dad. And the same goes for them. They’re not even allowed to tell each other after you tell them. I just wanted you all to know I’m okay.”

More silence. I want to cry. I want to talk to Chris.

“Yeah. Tell ‘em I love ‘em. This kinda sucks, but it’s also kinda cool at the same time. You know how much I hated Florida. Maybe if I’m lucky they’ll take me somewhere completely else. I mean, you know how gangs are – all big and huge and have territory from like, state to state. I get to travel now! … Yeah. I know. I’ll miss you – but not much. Hah!”

I turn around and pace away. I run my hands across my head, knocking the beret off and tousling my hair, chewing on my lip and desperately trying not to make a sound. A choked off cry of anguish threatens to leap from my throat, though.

“…Yeah. Later, man.”

Click. The phone was slid shut; she hung up.

I don’t remember falling to my knees, but there I was, wailing in agony. God, why didn’t I actually think to ask her WHY she looked like me?! Why did I just hand my phone over? I should’ve demanded to talk to Chris! I would’ve gone along with a script. I could’ve sold the act! Hell, I love acting! And as long as I could’ve spoken to him, actually heard his voice, been the one to reassure him that I was okay, I would’ve been happy, would’ve been fine with having to cut off contact for a while.

I fall over forward, then onto my side and curl up. Yukari walks over to me; somehow, she’s back into her regular body.

She tucks my phone back into the pocket it came from, conveniently exposed to the sky as I lay. “Come inside whenever you’re ready.” She turns and disappears back into her estate.



You know, me lying in the leaves crying and sobbing isn’t really exciting. Let’s skip ahead!



To my complete surprise, Yukari had power outlets in her home. After charging my phone back up and putting together a care-package for me, she was finally sending me on my way, three days later.

Leaving the shelter of her home to fend for myself didn’t seem like a grand idea, especially from what I remembered of the backstory of Gensokyo. I could only hope the vaguely defined spellcard rules were accurate – or at least the parts about ‘no human-eating’. Of course, that only applied to sentient youkai, not wild animals.

This thought reminded me that I was currently defenseless, and I brought it up with Yukari.

“Oh? You seemed to fair pretty well against that gangster with just your wits. And he had a gun, to boot.”

It’s hard to resist the urge to roll your eyes when it hits you, I learned. “I’d rather err on the side of caution and just assume that I got as far as I did because I knew my way around the darkened shop better than he did, and I knew what tools could be used and how. I need some way to defend myself – do you have any spellcards that a regular human like me could use?”

“I do, but remember; carrying spellcards also opens you up to duels. Would you rather have something to carry, instead?”

Oh. Weaponry. Oh oh! This is Yukari – she can pull whatever she wants from nowhere.

“You know… If you could get me the full Beastmaster Set from World of Warcraft, and that one Legendary tier bow from Ice Crown, that’d give me both offensive and defensive protection.”

“You can use a bow and arrow?”

I stop and think. Yeah, Dad’s taken me to the archery range a few times with him, and I liked shooting, but I sucked. Badly.

“Ah, yeah. That’d be the hard part. How about… the Cobalt crafted set of plate armor and a good sword-and-shield?”

Yukari snickered. “I find it amusing that you’re using a video game as a reference for this, but I do suppose it’s as good a resource as any. I’m surprised you didn’t ask for something that would’ve given you powers – Raising Heart comes to mind.”

Oh, God. Yukari watches anime – and Lyrical Magical Nanoha, to boot.

I realize my folly after Yukari conjures the armor up for me; without any proper underclothing to it, it was designed to look like a chain mail bikini on females. The under-armor had a good solid build to it, but it was see-through.

I think I’ll keep this outfit I inherited from Chen. Every good WoW player keeps a good shirt item for just this occasion.

After putting it on, I present myself to Yukari once again. “There! Ready for my journey, now.”

She blinks at me. “Journey?” she asks. “What journey?”

I pull the helmet off and tuck it under my arm. “I thought the whole reason I had this bundle here was so I could get out of –”

I look around and notice, mid-sentence, that we’re no longer in Yukari’s house, and instead atop a small hill overlooking a massive expanse of fields.

Take that, physics. Yukari, one; reality, zero.

“Just beyond those fields is the human village. I hope you’re ready to make yourself useful as a defender, with that get-up.” Yukari chuckles at me – undoubtedly I do look a little ridiculous.

“It’ll give me something to do, then. A way to pay for room and board.”

“Good. Looks like you’ve got your head screwed back on right. If you need to charge your phone, I’ve put my contact number in your list. Give me a call and I’ll charge it for you.”

“I thought I wouldn’t get signal in Gensokyo?” I fished through the bundle for the phone, producing it easily. Sure enough, no signal.

“You won’t. It’ll still connect to my phone, though, and you can still use it to listen to your music. Take care of it.” Yukari has a cellphone. Genius.

I look down at the phone. My only remaining piece of technology. Well, according to Yukari, electricity wasn’t actually rare here. Maybe I’ll be able to pick up some other tokens to help me stay sane. Can’t go all Wilderness-Girl instantly, you know.

“Right, I’ll – dammit.” Yukari had left once again while I was distracted. I swear, she’s just like the goddamned Batman. ‘Look! A distraction!’

Nothing better to do than shuffle off towards the village, then.

Now, lemme ask you something – have you ever been frightened so much you could’ve sworn you’d jump out of your skin? Only to have it turn out to be completely harmless?

Spoiler:
”Hey! What do you mean, ‘completely harmless’?”

Hush. Anyways – I’d been walking for about twenty minutes in the direction Yukari pointed, and had set my phone up to play a few songs for me; at this point, I was bored of admiring the scenery and had taken to rummaging through the care-package I had. I wanted to read the spellcards I’d been given.

Flipping through them, I noticed a certain sense of humor between each card, from Yukari. They were all based on ‘prot’ spec Warriors from World of Warcraft. Devastate, Shield Slam, Shield Wall, Last Stand, Shockwave.

I chuckled to myself as I shuffled them, meaning to stuff them back in my pouch.

“What’s so funny?”

“MIGHTY FUCK!” I scream, scattering the cards into the air and jumping in shock.

“Whoa! Language, young lady! Words like that shouldn’t come from a girls’ mouth. Although, judging by the sword on your waist, you’re no lady.”

Too startled to initially take offense at this blow to my femininity, I look around for the source of the voice.

“VIRGIN MARY MOTHER OF JESUS WHAT ARE YOU DOING THERE?!” I holler – apparently my volume was turned up to eleven – as I jump away from the fanciful hat at my elbow.

Right – hats. Gensokyo is full of ‘em – probably has more hats than people. This one was a black sun hat with a yellow ribbon wrapped around it, tied in a bow. The yellow and black tunic the girl wore was surrounded by… a heart-wire? No, just a tendril wrapping around itself in the shape of a heart.

I frantically scoured my memory for anyone in Gensokyo who matched this description, but sadly I was very far behind on my times. I’m lucky I knew who Yukari was – the only games I’d actually played were Imperishable Night and Perfect Cherry Blossom (and have never beaten either one successfully, much to my dismay).

I drop my pouch, letting it swing to my side on its sash, and draw the sword. “I’ll have you know, I don’t fight with danmaku or spellcards – uh, yet – so if you attack I’ll have to defend myself!”

The white-haired girl with the silly grin on her face stared at me for a second. “…Ha ha! No, you won’t. Well, you won’t, ‘cause I’m not gonna attack you, but two, because you’re holding that sword all wrong. Are you going to slash the flat of the blade at me?”

I look at the sword in my hands. Sure enough, I’m holding the sword with the sharp edge pointing off to my left, perpendicular to how I’m standing.

I roll the sword in my hands to face her properly. “Bad moment. Caught me off guard.”

Beat.

“And you’re not actually attacking me. Or so you say. I hope you won’t be offended if I don’t sheathe this immediately.”

“Not at all. Will it help me earn your trust if I help you gather up all your spellcards?” she asks.

“Well, if you tell me your name, that’ll help too.” I lower the sword, and let go of it with both hands, letting it hang in my right hand. I need to think about strapping the shield onto my forearm before the next time I potentially get into a fight.

And bloody hell, this shit is heavy! How in hell those human females manage to keep such huge boobs while lugging all this heavy-ass plate armor around is beyond me.

“Koishi Komeiji. Pleasure to meet you, Miss…?” She trailed off, allowing me to fill in the blank.

“Hmm. Well, apparently I can’t use my real name here, so you should just call me ‘Esifex’.”

She stoops over and gathers up a handful of the cards I’d tossed about in my panic (once again: stupid things are done whilst in a panicked state, y/n?). I stab the sword into the ground – in what I hope is a suitably dramatic, and not-uncertain-in-the-slightest-because-I-really-don’t-know-why-I-asked-for-a-sword fashion – and start to pick up what Koishi doesn’t.

“I’m afraid I’ve heard your name, but I don’t know much about you.” Attempt at conversation number one. Let’s see how this turns out.

“Heard of my name? Funny. I’ve never heard of you, nor do I know anything about you.”

“And yet you had no problem coming right up to hang off my elbow practically and scare the living bajeebus out of me.”

“You have bajeebus living inside you? You should get that looked at.”

“Har, har. Still… Those wires wrapping around you seem kinda familiar. Are they…?”

She stands up and turns to face me, revealing the floating eye suspended over her heart, connected by all the wires. The lid is closed.

“They’re attached to me, yeah. And my Third Eye.” She tugs lightly at one of the tendrils, making the floating eye bob up and down slightly.

“Third Eye! Hmm…”

I pull my phone out and start fiddling with it, paging through my music library. I find the song I’m looking for and start to play it – Ego Decay.

“Does this sound like anything to you, particularly?” I ask, hold the speaker out to her so she can hear it clearly.

“Sounds like music.”

“Hey, got it in one. But the singer – give it a second, she’ll start up in a second.”

Sure enough, the vocalist for the song begins singing. The original basis behind the song was one of the Komeiji sisters extolling the… virtues of not overstepping her social circles and over-reaching herself. I couldn’t remember which sister was which, though.

Koishi listens intently, while idly holding the sheaf of spellcards out for me. As I take them, she snaps her fingers. “That actually sounds a lot like gibberish!” she says.

I let both my hands just drop limp. Really? This girl is… a little unscrewed. Of course, to be fair, the song is in Japanese. “Had to get my hopes up, didn’t you?”

Wonder why she’s not curious about the cellphone. Does she have one, too? Is there a cellphone tower somewhere in Gensokyo that I just haven’t spotted yet?

“Well, I really don’t know why you’re letting me listen to it. That’s an interesting little music box you have, though. Never heard one sing before, though I can’t say if that’s singing or just… gibberish. But if you REALLY want to hear some music – well, live music, at least – the human village is planning a festival soon! You should come by. I’m going! I go every year.”

I shrug, and tuck the spellcards into my pouch – successfully, this time. “May as well, right? Good a time as any. It’s where I’m headed, regardless.”

She looks me up and down as I fetch the sword I stabbed into the ground. Don’t forget to wipe the blade off of dirt, I remind myself. I forget what show or anime it was that I saw where someone made it a point to carry a piece of cloth specifically to clean their blades so they don’t stick in their sheaths.

Or is this a scabbard? Ah, well. I don’t know. I do know, however, that she’s making me a little uncomfortable with how she’s staring at me.

“You sure you’re going to be received well at the human village? There’s something a little… off, about you.”

“You’re one to talk. What do you mean?”

Spoiler:
”WAHA!”

I blink and look around, confused.

Spoiler:
”OH, SO YOU CAN HEAR ME! YAY!”

I rub the side of my head. “Yeah, you don’t have to be so loud, either.”

Koishi nodded. “Yeah, the humans here can’t hear that. It’s called ‘telepathy’.”

I wave my hand at her lazily. “Yeah, it’s part of psychic powers and stuff. That’s what your Third Eyes are for, right? For perceiving intention and will of those around you?”

Shake, shake, the ribbon on her hat waves at me as she shakes her head. “Nah. Close, though.”

The slightest movement from the Eye catches my attention. As I stare at it, I noticed the lid start to quiver.

It splits open just barely, and Koishi disappears.

Immediately I draw my sword (properly) and brandish it in front of me. “Okay, stop screwing with my head, please. I don’t appreciate it.”

She reappears in front of me, right where she disappeared. “It’s okay, it’s not like I’m going to challenge you to a duel. You said you don’t use danmaku. Just wanted to see if it’d work on you.”

From jobless, to hood tech, to assistant manager, to thugbait, to wandering swordswoman, to guinea pig. Impressive chain in the past two months, no doubt. Have experience, willing to relocate, contact by mail as there are no cellphone towers in Gensokyo. I think.

“I guess yeah, it did. What did you do?”

She shrugged. “I can’t really explain it, to be honest. I kinda convinced your subconscious that I wasn’t here anymore, but you knew I’d been here and was still here so it worked halfway on you. I don’t think you’re a human – or at least, not one of the humans from here.”

“I come from a long and illustrious line of psychics and magicians and warlocks and other fanciful things. Not really.”

Her grin grows a little wider – no, it grows sillier. It can’t get any wider. “You’re weird.”

“You’re one to talk. So, take me to this village, then.”

“I guess I could. You seem interesting enough, anyways.”

I live to please. Perhaps I could paint my face and feet red, and walk around on my hands all day. Would that be interesting, too?

“Appreciate it,” I say instead.



So now you know how I got here – but what do you think I’ve done since then? Surely I haven’t just sat around, right? Right!

Spoiler:
”Nah, you’ve just walked around on your lonesome.”

Never alone when you’re involved. Can I tell the story?

Spoiler:
”You’ve already gotten this far and you just now ask my permission? Heh heh, I kid.”

Now, it’d be rude to just walk into the village and hang around without anything better to do. I had to make myself useful somehow! Koishi here didn’t hang around. She doesn’t like to stay in one place for very long.



The first inklings of my ‘otherworldly power’ started shortly thereafter. Right before Koishi patted me on the back to bid me farewell, I felt… well, the best way to describe it would be to call it a ‘shadow’ of a feeling. I felt her pat my back before she touched me.

I say ‘pat’ my back, but in reality she pretty much slammed an open hand into my back and knocked me forward. I imagine to a regular human that would’ve been ridiculously painful because of the armor I was wearing. She just grinned that goofy grin of hers, said ‘buh-bye now, I’ll see you around!’ and disappeared again.

By the way, Koishi, you really need to work on subconsciously convincing me I didn’t see your footsteps in the grass. That’s like, the first giveaway of an invisible person.

Spoiler:
”Hush you, I know you didn’t see anything like that.”

Of course, she abandoned me right in front of the gates to the human village. Bundle on my back, shield on my forearm, sword at my waist, and a pouch opposite to that… I don’t think the guardsmen have ever seen a wandering traveler quite like me, before. To their credit, though, they didn’t step down at all.

Course, they had long spears and there were two of them to just one of me. I wasn’t about to back down, myself, though, even though I had no real clue how to actually fight with a sword. According to Fire Emblem, they would’ve won anyways.

How’s the saying go? ‘A club swung like a sword will always be as good as a club, but a sword swung like a club is less effective than a club’? Ah, well, I don’t really know. But the guardsmen didn’t have to know I didn’t know how to fight.

“Who’re you?” they asked. I forget which one asked me. Like I said, there were two.

“I am Esifex… Champion of the Frozen Wastes.” Okay, so I never really even earned that title, even in WoW, but damned if it didn’t sound impressive. I don’t think anyone could’ve actually earned it in plain ol’ Cobalt gear anyways.

Oh, by the way – I was no longer panicking, but I was still doing stupid things. That side effect tends to last a while. I had no idea of the hole I was digging myself.

“Greetings, Esifex, Champion of the Frozen Wastes. What business do you have with our village?” the other one asked. Still don’t remember who they were, though.

“Well, as you can see, I’m a little out of my element. Not many Frozen Wastes around here. I was hoping to stay a while, see if I can’t fashion myself into a Champion of the… Village. Place.” Not nearly as awesome as I’d hoped to sound.

“You’ll have to leave your weapon with us as you visit the guardian of the village. She’ll decide if you can stay, or what you’ll have to pay.”

Choice A: Take the sword off my waist, hand it over, risk them skewering me on the spot and rummaging through my goods. Choice 2: Hand it over, they let me in, go about my business. Choice Charlie: Attack!

Turns out Choice 2 is the proper answer. After unbuckling my belt, stuffing my little pouch into my bundle, and handing the sword and belt over, the guardsmen just opened the door and let me waltz right in.

Neither one of them seemed too obliged to tell me where I was heading, though. I figured I’d just go straight down the avenue till I got to the big building and eventually someone would ask why the hell I was walking in the streets in armor.

About five minutes passed and I had completely forgotten I was supposed to be going towards the only landmark I could spot; I’d removed the helmet and tucked it under my arm again, and was busying staring like a kid in a candy shop at all the little stalls set up.

By no means a market street, but just the sheer niftiness of all the little things caught my attention like a shiny red ball.

I didn’t get long to admire the novelty of it all, though. Someone walked up behind me, from the guard post, and cleared her throat.

Who I would later remember-slash-learn was Keine Kamishirasawa was standing there.

“Hiya!” I say cheerfully, opening my free hand in a wave. She looks me up and down.

“A warrior woman. Don’t see that too often.”

“Surely, you jest. I’ve heard rumors that this village is guarded by a woman.”

“Not rumors; it’s true. I’m Keine, the guardian.” She starts to walk a circle around me, intending to get a look at my backside.

For some reason I was compelled to walk opposite her, so we ended up looking like we were about to duel to the death or something.

“Keine… hmm. You’re not a human, are you? You’re a … were-bull? If I’m not mistaken.”

Only a moments confusion clouds her face while she tries to figure out why I’m circling with her. “Mostly correct. I’m a were-hakutaku; most of the time, I’m human, yes. On the night of the full-moon, I’m a hakutaku.”

Because I know what that means. I nod instead of offer up a smartass remark.

“So, what brings a warrior woman with letters for a name to our village, seeking a place to stay?”

“Excellent question. I hope the answer is just as excellent for you. I want to offer my presence in any way I can, earn myself a roof and some food.”

She stops circling. I lack the foresight to do the same, and I begin to walk around her before I realize what I’m doing.

She looks sidelong at me, one eyebrow raised. “You’re a very strange young woman.”

“You’ll have to forgive me; Yukari just yanked me from my homeland and dropped me here. I’ve been at her estate for the past two or three days, but apparently she doesn’t entertain guests for long. Rather than send me back, she told me to come here. I was pretty much obliged to listen to her.”

“She does that sometimes. Hmm. For now, I suppose you can stay at the dormitories in the courthouse. Your first task towards rent will be to take the first night-watch shift; I’m assuming you’re better at standing guard than you are scrubbing and cleaning.”

Actually, I’m better at massaging and changing oil, but I won’t correct the person giving me a roof over my head in this incredibly weird-ass land.

“Appreciate it. Could you guide me there?”

She gestures at the large building I was originally headed to. “Of course. It’ll give me time to explain your second task to rent.”

Oh boy.

“In three nights’ time it’ll be a full moon. At that time, a rather pesky youkai in the nearby woods is going to be put down. You will lead the hunting party.”

“How ‘pesky’ are we talking, here? I’m used to fighting with long fields of vision, plenty of line-of-sight all around you. Hard to be snuck up on like that – I’m not so hot in forests.”

“Think along the lines of a rabid wolf, stealing flock animals. Except it’s about five feet tall and seven feet long.”

Wolf claws can’t punch through plate armor. I hope. I wonder how thick and durable Yukari made this stuff.

“I make no guarantees as to the killing blow, but I’m more than willing to put myself in front of it and keep it off anyone who’s going with me.”

Keine nods. “I’ll be part of the hunting party – that’s why we’re going out on a full moon. If anything happens, I’ll be there to help as well.”

Oh good, I don’t have to do all the work. Now, why did I say I was an excellent swordsman, Champion of the Frozen Wastes, again?

Right. ‘Cause I’m a goddamn moron. Yay, delusions of grandeur!

“The dormitories are through this door. I recommend you try to get some rest now – you’ll be guarding the outside walls of the village, not the courthouse. Your weapon will be returned to you, of course. Good night, good luck.”



So for three days I patrolled the outer walls of the village. Everyone slept peacefully at night (for at least four hours) while I was on vigilance. Okay, maybe not all because of me.

It was easy enough to make me forget that I was suddenly the hunts-captain for a giant wolf on steroids on the night of the full moon.

Luckily, that night didn’t end in complete dismal failure. I did not in fact end up getting disarmed of my sword and have to fight entirely with my shield, nor did I nearly get knocked over before one of the villagers managed to scare the wolf thing with his spear.

Nor did Koishi have to come in and blast the thing with what looked like a giant pink heart.

Spoiler:
”Okay, the first part was fine, but now you’re just plain lying through your teeth. Stop that.”

Haha. Okay, she didn’t not have to blast it off me because I wasn’t not on the ground and it wasn’t pink anyways it was more like a light light purple.

Spoiler:
”No fair trying to use double negatives to confuse me! Just tell the story, you goober.”

Fine, fine. So Koishi shows up again and helps with the fight; her not-pink-mostly-light-light-purple –

Spoiler:
”Stop that, too. They’re pink. They’re so totally pink. They’re pinker than any pink you’ve ever seen until you saw my pink, pink hearts.”

–heart bullet thing doing a fine job spooking wolfyoukaibeastmonsterthing enough to give me time to get back on my feet.

“You’re forgetting the major rule in Gensokyo, Esifex!” She… flaps her arms, or something, and more purplish-pink hearts –

Spoiler:
”I swear I’ll make you forget how to do math if you try to say they’re not pink again.”

– come flying out of somewhere around her.

“Oh, let me guess. Spellcards and danmaku, right? I thought that was only for sentient youkai?”

“Nah. But I did happen to read your spellcards the other day – use ‘em! This is the perfect time.”

“Don’t have the time to pick and choose ‘em, you know.” I look around for my sword; still can’t find it, but the villagers are starting to fan out now, surround the wolf. Maybe one of them will spot it for me.

“Just shout the name of one of ‘em and it’ll come to you. Usually.”

You’ve gotta be kidding me. First, an omnipotent demi-god who watches anime conjures up armor for me from a video game, then she turns herself into me, makes an out-of-area phonecall in a place that shouldn’t have cellphones at all, then she dumps me into a village where I tell everyone I’m some champion swordswoman, then I get roped into a hunting party, and now I’m suddenly a ‘Magical Transforming Super-Girl’ who shouts out my attacks and poses dramatically?

Oh, hell. Why not.

“Shockwave!”

Something compels me to lift my leading leg up a little, take a half-step forward, then stomp down as hard as I can.

A huge blast of dirt comes rocketing up out of the ground towards the wolf, spraying it in the face and knocking its feet out from under it.

Oh, cool! “It should be stunned now! I’m going in!”

Koishi nods and sinks back, watching me fight.

Let’s see; sword on the ground somewhere, probably buried under all the dirt I just kicked up. Shield on my forearm, got two free ha
« Last Edit: May 23, 2010, 05:42:47 AM by Tactician Esifex »

Esifex

  • Though the sun may set
  • *
  • It shall rise again
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge Thread!
« Reply #171 on: May 23, 2010, 05:44:44 AM »
?What about Koishi? She helped.?

Keine shrugs. ?What about her? She?s welcome in the village whenever she wants, but she wanders. What would our hospitality mean to her??

I look at all the villagers I?d inadvertently stunned, knocked out, or thrown aside. Koishi had already come-to and was helping the lot of them up. ?Probably nothing more than ?thanks?, but I guess that?d be enough, too.?

Those fangs creep me out a little less when she just smiles instead of grins. The grin makes her look like she wants to eat me. The smile looks like she wants to hug me. ?Well, she?s more than welcome to join us for the festival we?ll be throwing for the successful capture and containment of this wolf youkai.?

Oh, cool. Koishi said something about ?

Wait. She said that like three days ago. Hmm?



That?s important. Remember that?

Spoiler:
?Hey, shut up and tell the story.?

Fine, fine.



Two days later ? that?s four days ago ? I ask Koishi, who?d been staying at the dormitories with me.

?Hey. How?d you know they were throwing a festival for the hunt when we didn?t even know about the hunt yet??

She shrugs. ?You know what deja-vu is, right??

?Clearly it?s when someone messes with the Matrix. Yeah, I know what deja-vu is; what?s that gotta do with you seeing into the future??

Oh, hey, there?s that silly grin again. Man, does she get some miles out of that grin. ?Not me. You. I can muck about in the subconscious mind ? and yours is ridiculously active. That?s also where the primary cortex responsible for ascended brain function sits. You have mild precognition, and since I was romping around in your head before I showed myself to you, I was able to see with better clarity than you what was in store in the next few days. That could come in handy for you.?

I sigh and roll my head back, staring at the sky. ?How?s the saying go??

Ha! Got rid of the grin. Confused head-tilt, GO. ?What saying??

I take a deep breath and grin my own grin. Hey, fresh country air smells nice. Never noticed that.

??You can?t be bound by common sense in Gensokyo?? And now I suddenly have mind-powers? HA! It?s like a story right out of my dreams.?




THE END zomg but maybe not.
Oh, by the way, the spoiler'd quotations would be Koishi speaking and psyker'ing at the same time, just because she likes the theatrics.

Dead Princess Sakana

  • *
  • E is for Elodie, who swims with the fishes.
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge Thread!
« Reply #172 on: May 23, 2010, 06:28:32 AM »
Wha....wha.... did you just.... go over the word limit for a single post? Oh damn....

*Sakana prepares to do a lot of reading tomorrow

FinnKaenbyou

  • Formerly Roukanken
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  • blub blub nya
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge Thread!
« Reply #173 on: May 23, 2010, 06:43:17 AM »
Esifex, write more often. Because this is awesome.

Esifex

  • Though the sun may set
  • *
  • It shall rise again
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge Thread!
« Reply #174 on: May 24, 2010, 11:23:09 PM »
I didn't break the judges, did I? :v

At this rate we're not gonna get the next topic till later in the week.

Alfred F. Jones

  • Estamos orgullosos del Batall?n Lincoln
  • *
  • y de la lucha que hizo por Madrid
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge Thread!
« Reply #175 on: May 25, 2010, 04:23:45 AM »
I didn't break the judges, did I? :v

At this rate we're not gonna get the next topic till later in the week.

A-hem.



My dear sir, are you implying that I, as the honorable judge of the Weekly Writing Contest, would merely disappear without giving an account of witherto or whyfore? I pray for your sake that it is not so, for if it were, I would have no-one to try out my spot-on Jane Austen impression on.

You did, however, slow us down, Esifex, and for that you shall be...

Granted the title of SM, for you are the winner of this three-week Weekly Writing Contest!

As Sakana put it, deciding on a winner here was pretty hard. Those works were all awesome, and each had their own special thing. But Esifex, that was simply wonderful writing. Bear your title of SM proud, you've earned it.

Honorable mentions go to: Nobu for the cut-ins, those were a really nice gimmick. Really hope you continue that~ And on my part, Iced, I loved your piece, and grats for being the only writer here who understands what a deadline is :P

Phew. With how long reading all that took, I think our plan to 'punish' the writers with the self-inserts might have backfired to punish us judges instead. :V Nevertheless, Sakana and I are still slightly vengeful. And so, this "week's" challenge is:

May 4, 2010: "If she's the sort that can't die, I can go all-out on her, right?"

Mortality is a neat concept to write about, no two ways about it. And in Touhou, where the definitions thereof are stretched every which way or outright averted, there's a heck of a lot of it to write about. There is one requirement for this topic, and that is this: no matter who you write about, the plot MUST BE about the death of a loved one. Apart from that, this is all in your hands, and Sakana's.

Also, notably: it's up to Sakana's whim if this challenge will take place over one week, two, or even three. It's a heavy topic, and we might get some amazing results for it. The only thing we could both agree upon is that we want to see your tears, writers~ :3

Hope you enjoy the challenge. Have fun writing, folks!

E-Nazrin

  • .... what're you looking at?
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Re: Weekly Writing Challenge Thread!
« Reply #176 on: May 25, 2010, 04:36:31 AM »
"M, Master, Flandre just visited..."

"Yes, and?"

"And she said Kaguya-sama was stealing her kills in Jotunheim Online."

BOOM

"Damnit, not again."
There was something here once. Wonder what...

nintendonut888

  • So those that live now, pledge on your fists and souls
  • Leave a sign of your life, no matter how small...
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge Thread!
« Reply #177 on: May 25, 2010, 04:45:01 AM »
Ufufu, I wonder if my Gengetsu in the outside world story could count? :3
nintendonut888: Hey Baity. I beat the high score for Sanae B hard on the score.dat you sent me. X3
Baity: For a moment, I thought you broke 1.1billion. Upon looking at my score.dat, I can assume that you destroyed the score that is my failed (first!) 1cc attempt on my first day of playing. Congratulations.

[19:42] <Sapz> I think that's the only time I've ever seen a suicide bullet shoot its own suicide bullet

Hello Purvis

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Re: Weekly Writing Challenge Thread!
« Reply #178 on: May 25, 2010, 05:18:38 AM »
Mus will be my only real competition.



"Hey Dai," Wriggle asks, "How long has Cirno been in the freezer?"
"Couple hours," says Daiyousei.
"Those things are air tight, you know."

Iced Fairy

  • So like if you try to hurt alkaza
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    • Daisukima Dan Blog
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge Thread!
« Reply #179 on: May 25, 2010, 05:20:37 AM »
Pah!  You latecomers!  If I'd spent another week on my story... It still would have sucked  ;) .  Though I am a little sad no one caught the meta joke.

Hm...  This one's hard.  I have one for killing people off, but for dealing with the deaths....