Author Topic: Tempests of Distant Waters (Epilogue up; story complete)  (Read 18783 times)

Kasu

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  • This soup has an explosive flavour!
Re: Tempests of Distant Waters (Chapter 6 up!)
« Reply #30 on: September 29, 2011, 09:38:22 PM »
Kaiko is now my favourite out of your OCs. :3

Apparently, Thomas the Tank Engine isn't one to take crap from anyone.

Re: Tempests of Distant Waters (Chapter 6 up!)
« Reply #31 on: September 30, 2011, 04:55:01 AM »
Yay. Ducky's official debut~.

Oh, and there's an epilogue upcoming.

Esifex

  • Though the sun may set
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  • It shall rise again
Re: Tempests of Distant Waters (Chapter 6 up!)
« Reply #32 on: September 30, 2011, 05:20:45 AM »
Eh? Someone else is getting in on the precognition act? Oooooo, scary scary.

No but yeah I kinda hope there's an epilogue, too. Jozu and Sango antics are just too good to pass up.

Metaflare

  • Happening Cat of the Middle of Nowhere
  • Welp is not a good nickname
Re: Tempests of Distant Waters (Chapter 6 up!)
« Reply #33 on: September 30, 2011, 05:52:06 PM »
Can't wait for the extra stage  :3

FinnKaenbyou

  • Formerly Roukanken
  • *
  • blub blub nya
ToDW Epilogue: Community Service
« Reply #34 on: September 30, 2011, 06:17:01 PM »
Eh? Someone else is getting in on the precognition act? Oooooo, scary scary.

No but yeah I kinda hope there's an epilogue, too. Jozu and Sango antics are just too good to pass up.
Protip: Sect may be my proofreader. :V

-----

?So you?re not from around these parts either??

Meiling heaved the wall fragment up, lugging it over to its proper place. Luckily the mansion?s enchantments would let it put itself back together if they put the pieces of wall back where they belonged - no need for cement or any of the difficult stuff like that. Glass, sadly, would be another story. She?d already cut herself twice on what had once been a window, cursing in a language no-one else understood.

?Nae, I?m fae the bonnie highlands,? Rosalind answered, in an accent Meiling still had to think for a moment to decipher. ?Ran intae a priest who didnae want me aroond, so I ended up on somethin? ae a world tour. Russia wasnae where I wanted tae end up, but Kaiko?s a nice wee girl.?

She picked up the largest piece she could find, lowering her hair down onto it as well as her arms. Meiling watched on, impressed as the youkai hauled the mass of bricks back into its proper place. She herself had only found the strength to lift these thanks to centuries of studying the martial arts - this woman was strong, no doubt about it.

?Kaiko?? Meiling asked. ?That?s the little goddess, right??

?Aye. Turns out some Russian scholar wie his brains in the clouds tried tae summon a god tae Lake Baikal as an experiment. That?s how she ended up comin? intae the world, but you can imagine how lousy it mustae been tae be a god in a country that disnae worship ye.?

?And that?s why she came up with this Rippling World thing you?re always talking about.? Meiling had to float upwards to set a higher piece. Rosalind couldn?t follow, and waited for her to come down before she spoke again.

?Well, that?s what she was sayin?, anyhow.? Rosalind stroked her chin, grinning as she looked off at nothing in particular. ?The Ripplin? World was somethin? ae a meetup between all us faerie folk who lived in the water. Didnae really make it out ae Russia, but we were pretty popular fae a while. It wis the only chance any ae us got tae talk tae someone. We were sortae spread out across the country, so if it hadne been fae her I?d never have met my wee apprentice.?

Meiling nodded. She understood the feeling. A lone youkai in a country that didn?t know her? She?d been through that once, and she?d been more than grateful when the mistress had taken her in. That was why she was willing to break her back working for her while the rest of the mansion?s staff were digging in to one of Sakuya?s fine dinners. She?d help herself to the leftovers later.

?Speaking of which,? Meiling said, taking a moment to stretch, ?where did your little apprentice go? I saw Sakuya pulling her away earlier.?

?Well, apparently she was wantin? tae see what sortae foreign dishes Inna knew aboot.? Rosalind looked through the wall towards the kitchen, sighing deeply. ?Trust me, lassie - you should be glad yer naw at that dinner table tonight.?

-----

?...So when he asks the farmer why the creature is covered in green plants, the farmer shrugs. What else would you expect from a Mosscow??

Inna laughed again, battering one hand against the dinner table as her ear fins flapped. After helping Sakuya with the recipe for tonight?s beef stroganoff, she?d earned herself a seat at the head maid?s side.

The maid was currently glaring at her with a look sharper than any of her knives. Maybe she didn?t get it.

?You see, where I come from, Moscow is a city, and-?

?That?s very nice,? Sakuya responded in a tone that was not very nice at all. ?Now I?d start on your dinner if I were you.?

Inna frowned. Another tough crowd. The fairies had liked her routine earlier, although they seemed to laugh at just about everything. Some of them were sharing some sniggers at the Moss Cow joke - or were they laughing at the fairy who?d had her face dunked into the stroganoff? Hard to tell sometimes.

Surrendering, Inna started at her dinner. She couldn?t help but notice that half of the upper table was empty - in fact, now that she looked, the only people seated at the higher end of the table were herself and Sakuya. The maid caught the question in her eyes, answering it before Inna could commit the cardinal sin of speaking with her mouth full.

?The mistress and her sister eat later in the night. Patchouli never attends dinner - she prefers to eat as she studies, and her meals are usually smaller than the normal serving anyway. Meiling is helping your master with the reconstruction work outside.?

Inna made to ask another question, but got a painful stare from it. She swallowed, and Sakuya?s look lightened enough that she found the courage to open her mouth.

?Rosa will be great help out there. She has always been helpful to me when I first became a rusalka.?

?You mean you weren?t a youkai to begin with?? Sakuya raised an eyebrow, seemingly very curious. Inna smiled. She liked talking about herself. All good comedians built their jokes around their own history, after all.?

?I am...a ghost, I suppose. I was a human once, studying to become a ballerina. It was like something out of a dream, thinking about it now-? she looked towards Sakuya, grinning suddenly- ?but please don?t pinch me.?

Sakuya turned stone-faced again. Bad idea. Jokes weren?t working. Time to move on.

?S-So, I do what all girls my age do and make a lot of stupid mistakes to mess it all up. I fall in love with the son of a rich man, I drink a little too much, and when he takes me out for a boating trip I tip over into the water. He does not even try to save me, and instead of claiming responsibility he tells people that I ?disappeared?. They believe him - or at least, they believe his wallet. Some advice - do not marry a man for his money.?

?I?ll be sure to keep that in mind,? Sakuya said, with a small smile on her face. A fan of dark humour, it seemed - unsurprising for a servant of the devil.

?A few days later, I wake up looking like...this,? Inna continued, motioning towards herself. ?I wanted to have some sort of payback on the upper classes. I would try many times to lure them to the lake and drown them, but it was too much fun and I found myself laughing too much. No-one ever fell for my traps.? She sighed. It was always a little tough thinking about the past like this.

?That was before I met Rosa. She is much older than I am, and she has been training me for decades on how to be a better rusalka. How to be stealthy, how to be seductive, and how to keep my laughter to myself. I have not had a chance to test my skills yet, but I am certain I will be able to get a human at least close to the lake before I start giggling again.?

?Well, progress is progress,? Sakuya said, taking in another mouthful of the stroganoff. The beef had been slightly strange, Inna thought to herself, not the sort she used to eat at home. She decided not to press the point.

?The other youkai at the Rippling World thought it was great progress, too. They thought I would make a great youkai given a decade or two. But then they...disappeared.?

Sakuya?s brow furrowed. ?Disappeared??

Now Inna was frowning a lot deeper. ?Humans stopped believing in the old folk tales. With no-one to believe in them, many of the youkai just stopped existing. Maybe they came to Gensokyo at some point, like we did, but if so we have not found them. We may be the last three members of the Rippling World...?

Sakuya was silent for a while after that, staring down into her dinner with a strange look of contemplation. Inna wondered what the history behind those eyes was. Sakuya had spoken very little about herself, and had made no effort to change that fact. Perhaps she had her own little tragedy to bear.

Inna shrugged the thought off. All tragedies became comedies if they were given long enough to simmer. She would be laughing about it some day.

But that wasn?t worth thinking about right now. Inna had an audience to satisfy. She just had to find the right joke to win them over...

-----

This was humiliating.

What was she doing here? She was a god, a divine being. These vampires were supposed to be bowing to her, offering her endless helpings of praise. They would respect her and love her and give her everything she could possibly want.

Instead, she was tending to the pool of a lowly magician.

?Small waves, enough to give a small gust of wind,? Patchouli reminded her, sitting on a chair at the edge of the pool. ?I don?t want to see a drop spilled on these floors.?

Kaiko growled beneath her breath, rustling around the water as she was told to. It was tempting to just ignore the order and splash the woman as fiercely as she could, but that would probably make the scary maid with the knives angry again. Better to lick her wounds for now. She?d find some way to get her back.

?So, you were the result of a Shinto summoning in foreign lands? Very curious. I imagine it must have been lonely there.? Patchouli was taking notes as she spoke, nodding to herself, but her expression never shifted from nonchalant.

?Lonely? Of course not.? The answer jumped out of Kaiko?s mouth immediately. ?I had the Rippling World, right? Hundreds of youkai all worshipping me.?

Patchouli put the book aside, frowning.

?Worship? Somehow, I doubt that. If you had a group of worshippers that large, you?d have worn away the lakeside in a matter of hours.?

Kaiko glared at the magician. She was asking questions that Kaiko didn?t feel like answering, so she pretended to be lost in her work, humming a folk song to herself as the waters twirled about.

?You never wanted worship in the Rippling World. Your companions consider you a friend, not a deity. You were lonely, weren?t you??

?Why are you asking me this?? Kaiko asked, pouting as she glared at Patchouli. The magician was unfazed.

?I am curious. Curiosity leads to knowledge, and to progress. Forgive me for being so brazen as to ask a question.?

With that, Patchouli was back to her notes. Now Kaiko wanted to hurl every drop of water in the pool at her, but the mental image of Sakuya stopped that idea short. She dipped beneath the water, insistent on avoiding eye contact from this point onward.

A few minutes later, a pair of footsteps made their way down the corridor. Kaiko heard the librarian speak to the newcomer.

?Remi? Either my mind is going, or you?ve actually thought it worthwhile to visit me.?

?I?ve heard this is where the ringleader of that little youkai group is,? another voice replied - young, but filled with pride. ?I wanted to meet with the girl who had the gall to undermine my establishment.?

That sounded bad. Very very very bad. Kaiko looked left and right for some sort of escape route, but the vents taking water in and out of the pool were too small for her to pass through even in current form. The steps came towards the edge of the pool, and Kaiko saw the vague silhouette of a young girl standing above the surface.

?Are you so cowardly that you would hide when I have no intent of attacking you?? The figure motioned upwards with one finger. ?Let us speak as equals. It would be a poor strategy for me to anger the pantheon any more than I already have.?

Kaiko tilted her head, her ear fins wavering. Was this a trap? No, the girl sounded genuine. But maybe she was just deceptive? She didn?t want to be eaten by a vampire, that wasn?t how gods were supposed to go. She stayed put, cowering into the furthest corner of the pool.

The figure above the surface sighed.

?Give me a minute. And I?ll want a drying spell ready the moment I?m out of the water. Understand??

The vampire didn?t even wait for a reply before stepping forward, splashing into the water as if it was air. Now Kaiko could see her properly - a young girl with pale blue hair and blood-red eyes, in a light pink dress that was swirling around along with the waves Kaiko had created. Two large bat-like wings came out from her back, swooping lightly as she sank to the pool floor next to the young god.

?I hope you appreciate the inconvenience you?ve put me through,? she said, arms folded. Bubbles flew out of her mouth for the first few words, but none followed after that. ?I quite like breathing. Not necessary, but it adds a bit of routine to my day. Taking a breath every few seconds keeps me focused.?

Kaiko was still sitting in the corner, turning away in case the vampire tried to attack her. Remilia Scarlet walked towards her without a care in the world. More than once she heard the vampire try to breathe, remember she couldn?t, and mutter some sort of demonic curse.

Eventually, her footsteps stopped a few steps away from Kaiko. This was it, Kaiko thought to herself. She was dead. Dead dead dead dead dead. The vampire was going to eat her and turn her into some zombie god thingy and-

?What?s the matter? Manners aren?t going to kill you.?

Manners? Confused, Kaiko looked towards Remilia at last. A hand was being held out towards her, waiting to be shaken.

?Your plan was ingenious, if I say so myself. An underhanded tactic that even a devil would have trouble thinking of.?

For a few seconds, Kaiko just stared in awe at the hand being offered to her. She had to convince herself that this was real, that it wasn?t an elaborate trap or a ridiculous dream. Someone was really congratulating her and offering her a handshake, and it wasn?t Rosa or Inna.

Had she...made a friend?

?When your companions have finished repairing the damage, I?ll have to ask you to return to your home waters,? Remilia continued, still smiling broadly, ?but you?re welcome to visit any time. A cunning mind like yours will serve as good counsel for any plans I consider in the future. Besides, with you around I can defend against that damned weakness to running water...?

Kaiko?s eyes were welling up. She looked like a kid right now, not a god. But she didn?t care. She clutched Remilia?s hand with both of her own, shaking it up and down violently.

?O-Of course! You can count on me, Miss Scarlet!?

This was a little backwards, wasn?t it? Kaiko was supposed to be the god, but she was the one offering her services to Remilia instead of the other way around. It felt strange, unnatural.

She didn?t care, though. She?d made a friend. And that made her happier than anything else in the world.

-----

?We took out all of the monsters in the basement!? Flandre declared, saluting. ?Koishi couldn?t have done it without me, either! She said so herself!?

Sango gave the vampire a pat on the shoulder. Lightly, so as not to set off any unpleasant moods. Koishi had already wrapped an arm around Flandre?s shoulder, as hysterical as she usually was.

?There I was, staring death in the face, about to be brutalised by an evil dust mite, when KABLAM! Cutie Crusher Flan-chan comes out of nowhere to save the day! I?ll tell you, sometimes I wonder who the real hero here is.?

She broke away, moving over to Sango?s side instead. Flandre held an arm out towards her, pouting.

?Do you have to leave? I wanna fight more evil...?

Koishi put two fingers to her own forehead, with her other hand resting on her hip.

?Flan, a hero cannot stay in one place forever. All throughout Gensokyo, there is evil to be vanquished - and as the world?s only Dolphin Rider, the responsibility for vanquishing it is mine alone!?

?What about the shrine maiden who beat my big sis up once?? Flandre asked, tilting her head. ?Or that witch who keeps bothering Patchy??

?They help. Sometimes.? Koishi?s answer came out perfectly naturally, and if Sango hadn?t known better she would have believed her. Flan, it seemed, was taken in entirely.

?I...I understand. Come back soon, alright??

Koishi waved at her apprentice. ?Of course! Hold down the fort while I?m gone!?

?Yes, ma?am!? Flandre saluted with one hand, waving Koishi away with the other. The pair made their way back out of the corridors of the mansion, towards the main entrance.

?So how much are you acting when you play with her?? Sango asked when they were out of earshot. The longer she spent around Koishi, the less certain she became of the youkai?s sanity. And her own, but that was another issue.

Koishi shrugged. ?I'm afraid that's classified information, Sango. Can?t let you in on something you?re not meant to know.?

Cryptic as always. Sango frowned. Was it too much for Koishi to give her one straight answer one of these days?

?So, when you were training her about weapons getting stuck in someone?s hair, you weren?t-?

?I taught her that?? Koishi jerked her head around, looking seriously puzzled. Now Sango had no idea what was going on in the girl?s head. She gave up with a long, hard sigh.

?Never mind. Let?s just go home.?

Koishi nodded, taking Sango?s hand as they appeared in the main hallway. The sun was setting in the distance as they passed through the entrance. From this side, the mansion looked like it hadn?t been touched - all the damage had been done to the rear wall, the one facing the lake. Already that whole incident felt like it had happened yesterday. Hanging around Koishi had a strange habit of making Sango forget what she had been doing beforehand.

?Hey. You done here too??

A voice made Sango pull her head to the left. Jozu gave her a nod in recognition, walking towards her.

?Just about,? Sango replied. ?Heading back home now.?

Jozu nodded as well, scratching at her face as she did so. Sango had trouble looking her in the eyes as she spoke.

?Y?know, you weren?t too bad out there. I mean, I thought you were gonna be dead weight, but you actually did a damn good job of not embarrassing yourself.?

She hadn?t expected a straight compliment from the shark. Even if they?d learned to trust each other, neither of them was willing to actually admit it out loud. Sango repaid in kind.

?And despite your best efforts to the contrary, you managed not to eat anyone today. Still not inviting you back to my lakes, though. Safety precaution. Hope you understand.?

?Eh. I figure if you?ve gotta spend half the day cleaning those lakes out, they aren?t worth visiting anyway.? Jozu shrugged it off, grinning like a kid on her birthday. Sango couldn?t help but smile as well.

The pair shook hands, both trying to squeeze as tightly as they could. Sango felt her hand give way slightly to Jozu?s. Of course her strength wasn?t going to match a god?s, but she came pretty close.

?Watch yourself out there, fin-face. I won?t be there to save your ass all the time.?

?Only if you promise to take a shower once a week.?

The handshake eventually broke off, and both girls went their separate ways. Jozu walked with Momiji in one direction, and Sango walked with Koishi in the opposite direction.

The first thing Sango did once Jozu was out of earshot was clutch at her throbbing hand.

?Jeez, she?s strong...I thought she was going to break something for a second.?

Koishi examined Sango?s hand curiously, one hand on her chin as she began circling around the dolphin.

?Hmm...you and this Jozu character have a very curious relationship, don?t you? Bitter rivals only by the irony of fate, when in any other situation you would have been the best of friends, perhaps even lovers-?

?Is this in your fantasy world where I work for Nitori and we?re trying to bring together seven girls who possess some ultimate power??

Koishi looked away. ?Maaaaaaybe.?

Sango sighed. The last thing she needed was for Koishi to be pairing her up with people she?d only just met. She?d had a long and stressful day already.

She decided she would sleep in for an hour or two tomorrow. There wasn?t a youkai in Gensokyo who would say she hadn?t earned it.

-----

By the time Jozu saw her native waters again, the sun had dipped beneath the horizon at last. Her legs ached from all this walking, and she took a moment to sit down at the edge of the water. She lay backwards, looking up at the star-filled sky.

?Well, that was quite a way to spend my first day on the surface.?

Momiji sat alongside her, stifling a yawn as she looked out into the water. Her shield was bent and battered, practically useless. It had been the key to saving the day, though, so she?d accepted it as a necessary casualty.

?And this was supposed to be my day off, too,? Momiji said, pouting a little as she looked out towards the water. She could make out three small humanoid figures coming up now, looking in their direction solely because there was nothing else to look at. ?I wasn?t meaning to work so hard, dammit.?

The figures surfaced - fairies, all in dresses and...were those oxygen tanks? Momiji had to rub her eyes to make sure she wasn?t hallucinating, blinking rapidly. The fairies didn?t go away - if anything, they started swimming closer to her.

?Hey, it?s the toothie lady!? their leader called out - the one in the red dress, with the cogs in her hair. She was pointing to Jozu, swimming over to her with a cocky smile.

?Evening, Briar.? Jozu said with a grin. ?How far did you three get tonight??

?All the way down to the second Stratum!? Briar answered, lifting herself out of the water. She was wearing fins as well, Momiji noticed, and a long red dress with blossom-like frills running across it. ?Then River ran out of air, so we sort of had to break for the surface.?

?Well, apologies for needing to breathe,? one of Briar?s companions growled as she pulled herself out. Her green, vine-riddled dress was sticking to her body, and Momiji could see a one-piece swimsuit underneath it. The tengu tried not to stare too hard at it as she walked past her. ?I?ll make sure to do less of it next time.?

Briar nodded, helping the third fairy out of the water. Her outfit was even weirder than her companions? - a white dress with seeds coming out of it, and another one popping out the top of her head. She looked at Momiji, a pitiful expression on her face.

?U-Um...hello, I?m Dandelion. W-would you like to become a diver fairy? We?re going to find the treasure at the bottom of the Crystal Waters-?

?Sort of not a Fairy,? Momiji said, trying not to laugh. ?I?ll pass, thanks.?

The girl in white looked heartbroken by that, looking away with a bright-red face.

?O-Oh, sorry. I just really want to have more members in the group so I?m not last in li-?

?Hey, Dandy!? Briar yelled. ?Do your thing over here!?

Dandelion gasped, darting away towards the pair of fairies waiting on her. She was soaking wet, just like her companions, and she huddled alongside them as if they were protecting themselves from the cold.

Then Momiji saw the girl blow, and within a few seconds the trio were bone dry. They split up, taking to the air on their now-working wings.

?Good work, you two!? Briar said with a salute. ?Same time tomorrow, got it??

River returned the salute. Dandelion just bowed towards Briar. The three fairies split apart, flying to three different corners of Gensokyo. Momiji watched them go, still a little lost.

?I...I thought fairies couldn?t drown.?

?They can?t,? Jozu said with a playful smirk. ?It spoils the fun to tell them, though. They?re kinda cute, don?t you think??

Momiji raised an eyebrow. She wouldn?t have called that cute by any definition. She rose to her feet, having rested for long enough.

?Anyway, I?d better head home. Aya will want to know how my ?research? has been going.?

?See ya.? Jozu waved as Momiji started on her trip back to the Youkai Mountain. ?Make sure to tell her that the Terror Of The Shining Depths says hi!?

Momiji smirked. ?Like I?d forget.? The look of fear on Aya?s face whenever Jozu?s name came up was never going to get old. The shark gave her one last wave before slipping into the water and sinking deep under the surface.

That gave Momiji plenty of time by herself to think about what she was going to tell the tengu. There had to be an incident or two in what happened today. Aya would love to spill the press about the latest god to join Gensokyo?s ranks, surely...

-----

?It?s been quite the day, hasn?t it??

Remilia Scarlet sat on the mansion?s stairway, looking out the open door towards a beautiful midnight sky. The sight always appealed to the bestial part of her heart. It made her want to soar into the sky, spiralling up and down like an acrobat. She resisted, though - such behaviour was unfitting for a noble.

?Most of the repairs are finished, and the culprits are returning to their home in the Crystal Waters,? Sakuya said, standing right behind her mistress. ?Though I must say, I expected your punishment to be much more severe.? There was a tone of uncertainty in her voice. That was unusual from Sakuya - she was usually the sort to accept Remilia?s behaviour without question.

She decided to fulfill the maid?s curiosity for now. These questions were so rare from her that she probably deserved an answer.

?I did not want to frighten them away,? she said with a shrug. ?Their leader, the young god - she seems like an interesting sort. I would like to see more of her, in fact.?

?So you would consider her a friend? I remember you mentioning that the mansion was a little too spacious, and we could do with some new residents...?

Remilia shook her head right away. ?Nobles do not have friends, merely acquaintances. Perhaps if she was as respected a member of society as myself, I could call her a friend without disgracing my own name.?

Sakuya let out a low hum, nodding along. Remilia knew her well enough to know that she hadn?t accepted the answer. The vampire turned back, now as curious as the maid asking all the questions.

?What do you want from me?? Remilia asked, standing up. ?A formal list of all the levels of intimacy I expect to reach with her? I?m the one who?s meant to make demands of you, Sakuya, not the other way around.?

?That is not the case, mistress,? Sakuya said with a bow, ?but I still find it curious that the youkai managed to make their way to this mansion with no guidance. That is remarkably fortunate. In fact, one could go so far as to say it was as if fate decreed they came here.?

It was an accusation - a veiled one, but an accusation nonetheless. Remilia batted it away with her hand.

?You?ve already asked me enough questions today, Sakuya. I can?t be a worthy master without a hint of mystery about me, can I??

Sakuya frowned for a moment, and Remilia saw her consider whether she should press the point further, but in the end she dropped it. She bowed again, lower this time.

?Understood, milady. Now, if you?ll excuse me, I have your dinner to prepare.?

Sakuya clicked her fingers, and she was gone. Remilia always like that about her. So prompt in her travels to and fro within the mansion. She?d been a wonderful servant, and she?d serve Remilia happily until the day she died.

The vampire stepped forward, out of the hallway and into the moonlight. The moon was waning, a thin crescent on the verge of fading. Remilia frowned at the sight of it. It had never suited that shade of silver. Scarlet would look much better, but the powers above would never listen to her. A shame.

Still, that meant a new moon was due soon. The imagery brought a smile back to her face as she walked out into the garden. A new moon meant a new beginning, after all.

And a new friend who would bring colour to the dull days around the mansion.

Fate was a wonderful thing to control sometimes.

FinnKaenbyou

  • Formerly Roukanken
  • *
  • blub blub nya
ToDW: Afterword
« Reply #35 on: September 30, 2011, 06:24:49 PM »
Well, that was a fun little story to put together.

This was sort of different from everything I wrote up until now. The original idea came to me when Sect (as a joke and possibly while very drunk) mentioned Sango being a maid at an underwater mansion that Remilia made for a summer home. Like all of my ideas, it lead outwards into something more serious - but what was different this time was that I had all the main points and scenes prepared before I made a start on writing. That helped a lot for actually keeping me writing, and it's why I got this story done in the space of a few weeks rather than a few months.

However, it brings up a point that I feel I need to make. One that's regrettable, but I think it's been waiting to happen for a while.

It's a simple fact that when I stepped into most of my other stories, I did so with no real idea what I was going to produce. Dolphin Rider Koishi entertained me to begin with, but it's getting really difficult for me to write nowadays. I don't think I have it in me to write something like FoFF consistently, either, and RotER is too big a change-of-universe for me to deal with in full given that I haven't planned anything.

So, as much as it hurts to say it, I'm putting my continuing works on hiatus for now. This is a combination of a lack of inspiration and the second year of my university course starting up.

Hopefully this isn't going to be the last nail in my artistic coffin - I'll try to write here when ideas come to me, but I'll be trying to lay out stories in full before I begin so I don't end up stuck on a route I don't want to touch, like what happened with DRK. Apologies, especially to those who only read my stuff in the hope that you'll get more Koishi antics. :V

Anyway, I also wanted to take a moment to thank Sect again. He basically proofread the whole damn thing for me over the space of a few weeks, made suggestions, helped me flesh out some ideas. Probably wouldn't have even got the story started without him.

That's just about all I can think of saying now. Till next time, I guess. o7