| ~Hakurei Shrine~ > Kosuzu's Grand Bookstore |
| Weekly Writing Challenge Thread the First |
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| Dead Princess Sakana:
Now that you mention it... ^^; I blame Ruro for not putting it in the OP ;P *runs off to edit OP Edit: Though I should probably let Ruro clarify the deadline. It may be midnight at my place, but that's due to timezones... |
| Tengukami:
That's a good point - midnight in what time zone? I hadn't thought of that. |
| Alfred F. Jones:
I wanted to write down a specific deadline, by midnight at Mountain Standard Time or something, but I knew that I might be late every now and again, and I'm not the sort to disqualify someone if their submission is two minutes late or something. That's what I was trying to get at with "You have a week to complete a challenge and submit it. In practice, this means 'right up until the next challenge is posted'. " Eh, I suppose I'll have to specify 12:00 AM Monday, MST in the opening post. :/ |
| IcedFairy:
"What!?" Reisen found herself staring at her master in shock. "Sorry, was I not clear? I want you to run the clinic for today," Eirin said with a light smile. "This is the next logical step in your apprenticeship." "But today's when you go to the human village isn't it? I've never done that with you, much less solo! I was always out selling medicine while you did the doctor's work." Reisen knew her pleading was futile, but she had to try. "Exactly. You have all the knowledge you need. You just need experience. And that is best gained in real world situations." Eirin continued, "Having me as a security blanket would only cause you to second guess yourself. Only practicing on your own can you perfect the medical arts." Reisen's face fell. She was stuck. "Don't worry too much though. I've sent Tewi to help you. She'll be your nurse assistant." Reisen buried her face in her hands and began to cry. ----- Reisen had recovered most of her composure by the time she reached the building that housed Eientei's temporary clinic. She unlocked the door and began setting up for the days work. Tewi was nowhere to be seen. She wasn't sure if that was a good sign or a very, very bad sign. Still there wasn't much Reisen could do about that. She made sure all the supplies were in their proper places, then grabbed the the doctors coat from the hanger. After a moments hesitation she grabbed the glasses sitting there and put them on as well. Eirin claimed they were to keep her from accidentally driving patients insane. Reisen figured her master just had a meganekko fetish. Still, she knew if she didn't wear them, that somehow Eirin would know. Reisen was just finishing getting ready when someone knocked on the door. "Just a second!" Reisen quickly flipped the sign in the one window to 'Open' then opened the front door. However instead of a patient there was a large doll in a nurses outfit instead. "Hi!" Medicine exclaimed happily while skipping into the office. "I'm here to fill in for the other rabbit!" Reisen looked down at the poison doll youkai. With Tewi involved she should have expected something along these lines. "So how'd she'd rope you into this?" "She promised to pay me ten times her salary!" Reisen sighed and shook her head. "We don't pay her." Medicine's smile didn't waver. "Yep! I guessed that. But I figured I could steal what was in the petty cash drawer while I was here!" Reisen gave the doll youkai a long look. They grew up so fast these days. "All right, fair enough. Just remember you can't poison any of the patients, okay." "Okay!" There was a pause. "What am I supposed to be doing anyway?" Reisen considered the matter for a moment. "Do you have any medical training?" "Nope!" the doll cheerily replied. Reisen pointed to the front desk. "Then stand there and look pretty." "I'm good at that! I did that all the time when I was a doll." Medicine nodded and rushed over to her appointed spot. "I didn't realize I had experience at this job. This'll be great!" ----- The early morning hours weren't that bad. A couple of broken bones and a few colds. Nothing that Reisen hadn't dealt with while selling medicine. Medicine had acted cute, and barring the one recruitment incident, had been generally more helpful then Tewi. Sadly the simple times were not to last. ----- 11:45 AM "So these aches and pains seem purely random?" Reisen asked, trying to ignore the dark morass floating above the patient's head. Most people couldn't see it, but Reisen's eyes could pick up the strange wavelengths of the grudge. "Yeah. They just seem to come outta nowhere." The dark cloud snapped at an arm and the woman began rubbing the spot. Reisen sighed internally. This idiot had managed to get herself cursed. The shrine maiden should be the one to deal with this, not her. Still she had to go through the motions. "Let me take your temperature." As Reisen went through the motions of searching for the 'illness' the curse swirled around more and more. It began to hiss laughter at her and strike just when it would be most inconvenient for the current test. When it got to forming obscene imagery in the haze Reisen's patience snapped. "After a careful examination I've decided you need laser eye surgery." "What? But there's nothing wrong with my eyes." Reisen took off her glasses. "I meant surgery with laser eyes." A concentrated blast of raw power sent the curse slamming into a wall where it solidified into a proto youkai like morass. "Medicine, that's not a patient." Medicine waved her hands towards it. "One dose of poison coming up!" The black morass was enveloped in a purple mist and proceeded to wither away. Reisen turned towards the stunned patient. "That'll be 24 ryo please." -- 2:38 Reisen put down the stethoscope and finished a few notes. "I'm afraid that we can't do anything for your condition sir." The farmer started slightly in shock. "What! Why not?!" Riesen sighed. "Because you are dead. You have no pulse, your temperature is negative 6 degrees and you lack a physical body. You are a ghost. No amount of medicine can help you there." The man's face twisted into an inhuman mask of rage. "How dare you say such things! All I want is some stitches for this cut! " Reisen took a deep breath before continuing. "That's not a cut. That's a hole. Specifically the one the kama placed in your chest. The one that killed you!" "I'm not dead!" The man stubbornly insisted. "You aren't breathing!" "It's just subtle." "You have no feet!" "It's a genetic condition." The ghost swung his fist through the desk. "I'm tired of this runaround. I demand a second opinion!" Reisen snarled. She was very tempted to just blast him. Fortunately the sight of Medicine giggling in the background at the mans stupidity kept her from giving into her violent impulses. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. After a bit she opened her eyes. "Fine. I'll refer you to a competitor." Reisen grabbed a sheet of paper and scribbled down an address before handing it to the man. "Hmph. Serves you right." The man peered at the note. "Where is 'wherever that lazy bum decided to slack off today?'" "By the Sanzu River I believe." "Well we'll see what Dr Onozuka has to say." The man floated off through the door. "Goodbye forever!" Medicine called after him. "And good riddance." Reisen muttered. -- 4:57 It had been all quiet for the past few hours. Medicine had taken to drawing flower pictures with the crayons in the lobby. Reisen had considered telling her it was unprofessional, but then decided the patients deserved the warning. The quiet was disturbed by the sound of voices arguing outside the door. The two youkai had just enough time to stand up and adjust their uniforms before the door opened, revealing a small family. The young man in the middle seemed to be alternating between cringing in pain and telling his relatives he would be fine. Reisen adjusted her glasses and waved them to the examining table. "Help him here please." "Thank you doctor," the lady of the family said before turning to rejoin the argument. Reisen guessed from the way the woman kept getting distracted by her ears that she was originally an outsider. That was probably for the best, since outsiders seemed to put more faith in modern medicine. The lunar rabbit grabbed a few instruments from the wall and scribbled some quick notes before interrupting the conversation. "So what seems to be the problem." "I'm fine." The man protested. "I just have some stomach cramps, that's all. It'll go away soon." The woman frowned and turned to Reisen. "He's been having serious abdominal pain for several days now." Reisen nodded then poked the man in the side. He crumpled before swearing violently at the pain. "Hm... I'll need to perform another test. Could everyone in the room be silent for a little while?" It took some doing but eventually the patient and all the various relatives quieted down. Reisen took off her glasses and began to focus. Her ears twitched as the ultrasound waves she was creating did their work. "You were right to bring him to me. He's suffering from advanced appendicitis. I'll need to operate immediately." Reisen opened up the doors to the operating room. "Medicine, can you create Ether?" Medicine jumped up and ran to escort the man into the room. "You betcha! Lemme guess, you want me to prove how good I am by just keeping the human unconscious right?" "Exactly." Reisen grabbed her gloves and a scalpel. "Alright, begin administering anesthetic." After a moment Reisen added, "That means poison him now." "Right!" Reisen didn't know exactly how many hours passed while she worked. She'd never done this before, but the knowledge seemed to come to her easily. Perhaps her master had been right, perhaps she needed this trial by fire. Finally she put in the last stitches. "Okay. That's it." Medicine nodded. "Okay. Should I leave him unconscious for a little longer?" Reisen nodded. "You've got it." She then walked out to the family. "He should be fine now. He'll need to avoid strenuous work for two weeks, and take one of these each every morning." Reisen placed two pill bottles on the front desk. "The stitches will dissolve automatically when they're no longer needed." "Thank you so much," the woman who had dragged the patient in said. She looked at the bottles. "So this one is for pain and this one is for antibiotic... Wait this one says it can just heal the appendix without invasive surgery!" Reisen nodded as she cleaned off her glasses. "Yes, but I've never had the chance to perform surgery on a human before, so I figured I'd give it a shot anyway." The woman looked at her with shock. "Haven't you heard of the Hippocratic oath!?" Reisen thought about it for a moment. "Oh right. That. Eirin tried to have me take it once but she couldn't get past 'First do no harm' without bursting into laughter." She shook her head. "Anyway that'll be 35 Ryo please." The family seemed to still be speechless. At this point Medicine decided to carry in the patient in her bloodstained nurse outfit. "Here you go. He'll be awake in an hour." The woman looked at the two youkai, tossed the coins on the counter and with the help of her family grabbed the patient and the pills and left. Reisen sighed and took off her coat. "Well that's it for today. Come on, let's finish up work." Medicine tried to wipe the blood of her outfit with little success. "Aren't we done? What more is there to do?" "The most important part. Drinking after the job." --- "Alcohol is the best poison ever!" Medicine said in a slurred voice as she placed her glass down. "Well second best," she amended after a thought. "Alright, I think you've had enough," Mystia stated, taking away the glass. "And don't try pouting at me. It loses all it's effectiveness when your covered in blood." Reisen put her cup in front of the doll youkai. "It's okay. You can help me finish off mine." As Medicine happily finished off the glass she stretched. "You did real good today. If you ever want to help out again just drop by. I'll teach you how your actually supposed to do things." Medicine thought about it a bit. "Hm... So what did I do wrong?" "Well the big one would be not getting a clean uniform. You aren't supposed to be splattered with blood." "Oh. That makes sense." Medicine began unbuttoning the nurse outfit. Reisen blinked for a moment before moving to catch Medicines hands. "Woah! Hold on. You aren't just a doll anymore, you can't change clothes in public!" Then there was a bright flash of light, along with a terrifying click. A sound feared throughout Gensoukyo. The sound of a camera. Reisen was chasing after the culprit within seconds. She already knew who was responsible and where they were headed. "TEWI!" Medicine took a little longer to recover before chasing after herself. "Hey, that looks like fun!" Mystia sighed and recovered the dishes. And people wondered why she demanded payment in advance. -- ?Master I'm telling you, that picture of Tewi's is completely out of context!? ?Don't worry. I'm not here to talk about that. I'm here to review your performance.? Eirin's smile did little to assuage Reisen's worries. ?Can I take of the glasses for this?? ?No." "Anyway, let's review.? Eirin continued, picking up a notepad and checking off some items. ?There were no critical mistakes in your medical performance. However, you need to work on your personal interactions with the patients. You get frustrated far too easily.? Reisen's ears twitched. ?I'll keep that in mind master.? Eirin put down the notepad. ?You made a few small mistakes during surgery that'll we'll go over later, but for now we'll concentrate on the training I forgot to give you.? Reisen looked at her in confusion. ?What training is that?? Eirin stood up slowly. ?When seducing your assistant it's best to pick a secluded area and have a solid work excuse. I personally tend to use 'performance evaluations....'? |
| Tengukami:
Mystia's Magic Sand 1. Mystia sat by her grilled eel stand, leaning against it dejectedly one late summer night, looking up at the stars and trying to invent her own constellations. As usual around this time of night, Wriggle came by to visit her. ?Hey, Mystia,? Wriggle greeted her warmly, then paused, looking at her a moment. ?What's the matter? You seem down.? ?I am down,? grumbled Mystia. ?I blinded eight people tonight, so you'd think I'd be in a good mood. But you're the first person I've seen tonight.? ?Huh, that's weird. You think they might've gotten lost?? ?Nah, they didn't. Normally when they do, you hear them get attacked by youkai, crying out in terror, at some point in the night. It's pretty hilarious. No, Alice and Marisa probably got to them before I did.? ?Marisa and Alice are killing people?? ?What? No. They're curing their blindness. I've got no business. You think people would eat this stuff if it wasn't to cure blindness? Forget it. I'm going to have to close up shop.? Mystia sighed. Wriggle thought about the situation a moment, hoping to offer a suggestion that could cheer her friend up. ?Well,? she thought out loud. ?You know how to do other things, right?? ?You're right.? Mystia considered, nodding. ?There has to be another way to make money off of people by blinding them.? ?You could just rob them. They can't see you.? Wriggle shrugged. Mystia looked appalled. ?Touch one of those things? Are you kidding me? Never.? ?Hm. Do you know any magic?? Mystia laughed wryly. ?Apart from blinding people, I can dance, and that's really about it.? ?Well, you also got pretty good merchant sense,? Wriggle offered. ?You could open up a shop somewhere. Of course you'd have to consider where, and what you'd sell, who would buy it. And you couldn't really blind people. Or, maybe you could, after they bought something. If you really wanted to.? Mystia didn't appear to be listening. She was staring at a point a few yards behind Wriggle, an idea congealing. ?Wriggle ? I think I know what to do. OK. You have to swear not to tell anyone this, but the sand of the shores of the Misty Lake has magical properties.? Wriggle started back a little, surprised. ?What? I never heard that.? Mystia paused. ?Well, actually it's not true. But it doesn't matter. We can sell it as magic sand, tell people it's a secret where it's from.? An owl hooted. ?What?? said Wriggle at last. ?We tell people it's magic sand, and that it can do all kinds of things like ? like cure headaches and stomach aches, and heartburn, and fevers and ? yeah. Anything.? ?Hang on a moment.? Wriggle cut in. ?How- Why magic sand? Won't people find out it's not magic?? Mystia chuckled. ?Are you kidding? You think what Marisa and Alice do is something special? I'll tell you what ? almost all magic is just making someone think you used magic on them.? ?Eh? Really?? Wriggled laughed. ?Wow. Anyone could do it.? ?You know it. And if one or two people say it doesn't work, we'll just tell 'em they didn't use it right. Ha!? Mystia stood up, her eyes gleaming with joy. ?Alright, Wriggle. Guess we're going to the lake. 2. Wriggle and Mystia spent the better part of the night on the shores of the Misty Lake, a half-moon lighting their work, as they scooped handfuls of sand, one by one, into little cloth swatches of brown cloth, which they'd bind up with string. The following evening, Wriggle and Mystia covered the unused eel grill with a cloth and arranged the little pouches of sand on it. There were forty in all. While they waited for customers, Mystia practiced dancing, and Wriggle watched her. About two hours later, Rinnosuke stopped by. Mystia was dancing, and Wriggle sat with her back to him. Mystia waved to him happily, and ended in a half-hearted split. Wriggle clapped gleefully. ?Well, what brings you by here?? Mystia asked. ?Eyeing up the competition?? Rinnosuke looked at the little cloth bags, then looked at her. ?No. I don't sell eel. I heard you're not selling it anymore, either. Or rather, that 'we ran that little squab out of business', as Marisa put it to me today. So I was just curious to see what you'd be-? He looked down at the cloth sacks. ?What are these things?? ?Magic sand,? Mystia chirped. ?Magic sand.? Rinnosuke repeated. ?Is that right?? ?That's right. And it can do anything,? said Wriggle, punctuating it with a nod. Rinnosuke suppressed a smile. ?Anything?? ?Well, not anything of course,? Mystia shrugged. ?But it can take care of, uh, headaches, and fever, and bad stomach. That kind of thing.? Rinnosuke picked up a bag, weighing it in his hand. It was no bigger than his palm. He turned it over in his hand, and then put it down. ?And how did you get this magic sand?? Mystia cleared her throat. ?It's a trade secret. Sorry.? ?Hm. Of course.? Rinnosuke rubbed his chin. He saw an opportunity take shape. ?You know what? I'm going to help you out. I'll recommend people stop by here.? Mystia's eyes widened. ?What? Really?? ?Of course,? Rinnosuke smiled. ?It's not easy starting a new business. I admire your entrepreneurial spirit.? He picked up the same bag he'd inspected before. ?May I have one? How much?? Mystia and Wriggle froze. They hadn't actually thought of a price. Rinnosuke reached into his pocket, dropping a one yen coin onto the cloth over the grill. He turned, walking away. ?Good luck, you two,? he called back. This ought to be fun, he thought to himself. 3. The next day, Rinnosuke paid a visit to the human village. He brought up Mystia's magic sand frequently in conversation. As outlandish as Mystia's claims of the sand's power were, Rinnosuke offered that at one yen a piece, it wouldn't hurt to try it. Worse thing that happens is, it doesn't work, he'd say. Which is what he imagined would happen, as one person after the next would invariably ask for their money back, teaching Mystia a little lesson in swindling people. At Rinnosuke's recommendation, dozens of people visited Mystia's stand. Mystia couldn't believe how well business was doing. She and Wriggle spent the first few nights digging sand until dawn, busy making the little pouches of sand under the stars. And then business began to really pick up. Much to Rinnosuke's surprise, people began to claim that the sand worked. Headache gone, stomach calmed, dandruff cured ? all because of the sand. He couldn't believe it. Did it actually have magical properties? Did that stupid sparrow stumble upon it due to sheer luck? Stranger things have happened in Gensokyo, he had to admit. Still, he had to be sure. 4. Marisa stood outside her home one afternoon, airing out a blanket, flapping it in the air with both hands. She'd had a lot of free time lately, and got bored enough to give her place a cleaning. She smiled, a bit relieved, to see Rinnosuke approaching. ?Hey there, Rinnosuke!? Marisa said, letting the blanket drop. ?What brings you by?? Rinnosuke took the bag of sand from his pocket, holding it out for Marisa. ?Mystia has been selling these. It's supposed to be magic sand.? ?Magic sand, eh?? Marisa smiled, snapping it up. ?Hm.? She smelled it, then opened it, looking inside. She shrugged. ?Looks like regular ol' sand.? ?Would you mind ? checking it?? ?Check to see if it's magic? Sure, I've got nothing better to do. What's it supposed to do?? Rinnosuke sighed. ?It's supposed to be a type of medicine. Cures an array of symptoms.? Marisa chuckled, looking into the bag. ?So Mystia's still a con artist.? ?Well, probably. But you know, I'd like to be sure.? Marisa considered Rinnosuke a moment. He rubbed his nose. ?Why do you care, hm?? Marisa asked, smirking. ?People not buying your roots and berries?? He folded his arms across his chest. ?There has been a ? not insignificant drop in sales in that area, yes.? Marisa nodded. ?Yeah, alright. I'll check it out. You head on back and do whatever it is you do all day.? With that, she turned, and went back in the house. Rinnosuke watched the door close. Shaking his head, he turned and headed back to his shop. 5. As Marisa had discovered, the sand had no magical properties whatsoever. It was just regular sand. She'd seen this happen before. When she was a girl, there was a man who claimed to have discovered a tree bark that could cure colds if you chewed it. One by one, more and more people began noticing that it worked, and soon they started looking for the trees themselves. When the miraculous healing trees were unfound, the man who sold the bark confessed that it had been a hoax. Mystia was trying to do the same thing with her sand. It boggled Marisa's mind just how short-sighted the idea was, but she wasn't surprised by the source. Neither was Rinnosuke to hear it. Mystia's comeuppance is going to be sweet, he mused. And yet as the week passed, the number of customers only built and built. At first, Mystia was delighted, but as demand grew, so did she and Wriggle lose more and more sleep, digging into the sand of the Misty Lake for hours on end. Her back ached from the work. Her nerves frayed from lack of rest. Their clandestine operations were starting to leave a dent in the sand about half a meter deep and a meter wide. She knew it was only a matter of time before this had to end. And then what? When she was able to catch an hour or two of sleep, she dreamed of angry mobs of people, chasing her. Mystia had to sneak out of this situation somehow. After giving the matter some thought, she decided she would again ask for Rinnosuke's help. Only this time, to tell people that the sand was all finished, and that was that. Mystia would lay low for a while, and try to come up with another idea. The matter decided, she made off for Rinnosuke's. Being human, Mystia reckoned he lived in the human village. On the outskirts of the village, early in the evening, Mystia moved furtively behind the trees, eyeing up the houses and shops for any sign of Rinnosuke. She didn't see him, and couldn't read any of the signs. She made her way into the village center, looking around. ?There she is!? a voice called from behind her. She spun around, startled, and saw five men standing in front of a noodle stand. ?That's the youkai I was telling you about,? said one of the men to the others. ?The one who sold me that sand that got rid of my bad back.? They looked at her, impressed, and began to approach. ?Where's it come from?? asked one of the men. Mystia laughed nervously. ?It's a trade secret, ha. Sorry.? ?Come on,? said another. ?Tell us. It's not fair. Why should you be the only one to know?? ?Yeah,? the one with the bad back added, his tone hardening a little. ?Who are you to stand in the way? People get sick, you know.? Mystia could feel her heart pounding. If she ran, she knew the whole village would be after her within minutes. Her eyes darted around. ?OK, a- alright!? she stammered. ?Listen, it's ? it's just regular sand.? The men stopped. A stray dog barked somewhere. ?What do you mean?? asked the man with the bad back, his eyes cold. They began to approach her again. Mystia could feel her wings beginning to tense up for flight. Fear pounded in her veins. Marisa stepped up from behind Mystia. ?She uses special youkai powers,? the magician said. Mystia turned, looking up at her with a pleading expression. The men stopped. ?Youkai powers?? asked one. ?Yep,? confirmed Marisa with a nod. ?She takes ordinary sand, holds it, and shines her special magic youkai power light into it, and just like that ? it's magic sand.? The men appeared incredulous for a moment. Marisa leaned against her broom, smiling. Mystia could feel her stomach trying to curl up into a tiny ball. ?Oh,? said one of the men at last, cautiously. ?I ? don't really know anything about youkai. But you know your stuff, so ?? Mystia could feel every nerve in her body relax. She looked at Marisa. The magician really did have a good heart after all. A smile grew across the sparrow's face. The man reached into his pocket, taking out an iron key, he held it out to Mystia. ?Show us.? Mystia looked at the key, then looked at him. ?Excuse me?? ?Make the key magic,? he said matter-of-factly. ?Make it do what the sand does.? Marisa put a hand on Mystia's shoulder. ?Well, night sparrow, this bird's gotta fly.? She mounted her broom. ?You have a really, really good evening, hear? See ya!? Mystia watched as Marisa zipped off into the sky. She turned back to the man with the key. Marisa Kirisame, Mystia thought, reaching for the key, I will get you for this. |
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