Ah, speaking of honey, have you ever tried the honey apples at the shrine festivals? They are simply to die for. Hmmm, I'd kill for something sweet to eat right now. Say, are you sure you don't have diabetes? No?
What's that? The Nameless Hill? Oh yes, you can see it from here. It lies on the far side of the Genbu Marsh. If you squint, you might just make out that purplish glow in the sky out there between the trees. That's the glow of the Suzuran, the Lily of the Valley, through the haze of their own poison.
It is a strange place, lying out on the edge of the human map of Gensokyo, unmarked and unnamed, almost beyond knowledge, beyond memory. Being on the edge of living memory means it might as well not exist. This is true of a lot of things in Gensokyo. Gods, youkai, everything only exists if acknowledged, whether by faith or fear. As such, very strange things happen there, on the edge of existence. Rumour has it that those who fall asleep under the lull of the suzuran disappear without a trace. Some legends say they are spirited away by youkai. Some say they get eaten. Some say they themselves become youkai. Parents used to abandon their children there. Some were even left unnamed. Perhaps that is where the name originated. Maybe they ran out of food to feed their children and hoped their children might be able to live better lives as youkai? Who knows? Now, however, it lies forgotten by most of Gensokyo. You could probably even say it has become truly nameless.
Goes to show how sad having no food is. Especially sweets. Absolutely lamentable, our current state is. If only....what's that? What happened there on the Nameless Hill? Oh, right, my story. Apologies, apologies, distractions abound! Well....
Chapter 3 The dark violet haze glowed ominously over the dark crest of the hill beyond. Akyuu shivered. Between the biting frost of the cold wind billowing down from the youkai mountain looming behind them or the dark legends surrounding the Nameless Hill, she couldn't tell which was causing her to shiver more. It was her secret whimsical wish to come here, to test the youkai myth. But now that she was truly here, in person, feeling the full force of the cumulative sum of centuries of legends all in one place....
The flight over didn't help either. While she had always dreamed of flying, there was a definite difference between flying freely and being carried through the air. The latter involved a tug of war between merciless gravity and the ruthless azure hermit with her in the middle, not a comforting thought when one was cruising a few hundred feet up in the air. While she was indeed going to die, leaving a splattered mess across half the great youkai forest was not the way she wanted to go.
Well, neither is this, come to that. But here she was, climbing the up to the first hill overlooking the Nameless Hill itself. As she and her hermit companion reached the summit, a cold, bitter wind blew glowing purple pollen into her face. It was like liquid fire rushing down her lungs. She doubled up, coughing violently, as the fiery pain spread out from her lungs, suffusing every bit of living flesh in her body. Fear, cold, heavy, gripping fear took control. Her body froze. Her heart stopped. Here she was, on the edge. Before her, certain death. Behind her, certain death.
OST - Song of Storm and Fire - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Atc51MxhoAE
"Are you ready, Akyuu-chan?" Seiga asked, snapping the young sage out of her stricken stupor, her voice breathless with anticipation she could no longer hide.
"Yes." Akyuu was surprised to hear her own voice reply, "Yes, I am." She took a deep breath and...without another thought for the world, for herself, she straightened up, charging forwards into her plan, straight into the Suzuran field.
"Akyuu! Wait, what are you...?!" She heard the azure hermit cry out behind her. But the rest of what she shouted was drowned out by her heart beating in her own ear drums. She ran. She ran and she ran. All of a sudden, she was free. The pain simmered into a seething roar inside her but it bothered her no longer. She was going to die. This was the end. And she was racing through it on wings of freedom, pure and fierce. For perhaps the first time in her short life, she was not acting as a Child of Miare. She would not die from the 'Curse of Miare'. She would die not with a pen in her hand, with the Gensokyo Chronicle by her side. She had chosen her own death, defying fate, defying Seiga, defying the kidnapping youkai, the Nameless Hill, everything.
She ran, further and further up the hill, trampling down suzuran underfoot. She had lost her bamboo sandals somewhere behind where they had caught on a rootling, but she ran on in her tabi socks, now ripped and shredded beyond recognition. Just above, beyond, she could see the hole in the poison towering into the sky. There the missing children lay, waiting to be rescued. And she would save them, one way or another, so she told herself over and over, ignoring the painful beating of her heart, the heaviness setting in her limbs.
But while her spirit was willing, the flesh was succumbing. Her heavy legs slowly gave way, felling her frail little body. With a soft thump, she found herself barely holding herself up by her hands and knees. Trembling feebly, even those gave way. The ground claimed her prone form. Thick, spring mud embraced her.
Not here, she thought to herself furiously, thick hot tears streaming down her muddy face. She clenched her teeth, tasting blood in her mouth. Not HERE!
Propelled by sheer will, she raised her face, threw an arm out forwards, clawing into the soft earth. And with a painful heave, she dragged herself forwards. Inch by inch, she moved on through the choking Suzuran. Blinded by tears, by death, she could only move onwards up the hill. Finally, she felt the ground level out. The summit! Was she there? Was she....?
She felt her presence, looming up above her. She just about managed to peer out through her tears, a pair of feet, standing leisurely before her. Slowly, through a veil of tears and dying eyes, she looked up. Scythe gleaming in the violet glow, blood-red hair awash with moonlight, there stood...the reaper? Watching her? She blinked weakly. "Going somewhere, Akyuu-chan?" She heard the hermit's voice, both distant and close at the same time. "Why not hang around? The dirt suits you." As she blinked what tears she could blink out of her eyes, the reaper vanished, dissolving into the familiar form of the azure hermit.
"Sei...ga..." She wheezed, weakly, feeling cheated. Cheated of her brief, illusionary freedom. Despair set in, heavy and dark. "...Why...?"
"Well....the suzuran really do overpower my poor little immortal hermit body...with laziness." The hermit yawned, before leaning in close. "Now, between the curse and the poison, what will kill you first, Akyuu-chan? Hmmm? Well, either way, you will die. Now, why fight? At the very least you can become my Jiang Shi willingly."
"Come, become mine, Akyuu-chan. Become my immortal servant, forever and ever. You will be able to face the poison, saving the children, even death itself. All you have to do is accept my invitation." She said, lowering a Jiang Shi charm to the dying sage's face.
Akyuu gritted her teeth as she struggled to weakly raise a trembling arm up towards the proffered charm. She reached out, feebly, watching through her blurring vision the smile on the hermit's face widen.
She reached the charm....and smacked it away out of the hermit's hands. The slap resounded through the silent night air.
"Try...again..." Akyuu coughed, aiming a pained smirk at the azure hermit, "...next...lifetime..." She inhaled deeply. Burning pain flooded her lungs. This was it, but she'd rather die than become a Jiang Shi willingly. The wretched hermit could have her rotting body, but she'll never have her soul.
"Here I was trying to be nice, respecting your freedom of choice and all that." The hermit growled, her face more impatient than angry. She took hold of the dying sage by her hair, lifting her up into the air. "Now look what you've made me do. Now I have to be all wicked and do it by force." She sighed.
Groaning in pain, Akyuu could only watch, helpless, as another Jiang Shi charm flickering into existence in her captor's hand. "Aah, Akyu-chan, such a disobedient servant...looks like I will have to discipline you well..." She said, her voice silken with honey once more as she lowered the new charm towards Akyuu's forehead.
OST - Wind by FELT, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-8oA32Sq6Q&feature=related
Akyuu closed her eyes. Out of the frying pan and into the fire. From one ill-fated life to another. Maybe she won't notice the difference? Maybe Jiang Shi don't notice much at all? And who knows...maybe...brains....can be...sweet?
Her last slow, sluggish thoughts were interrupted by a resounding cry that pierced the deathly silence of the hill.
"Let go of my Kirrin!" "Argh!" She heard the hermit cry out. She dimly registered the hermit recoiling backwards, letting go of her hair. But instead of falling to the ground, the little sage found herself floating up.
So, is this what death is like? Floating up in a spiral of....thick red candy floss? She felt a strong, sweet, flower-scented breeze clear her lungs. The burning pain crushing her entire body remained, but she found herself breathing freely once more. Just on the edge of her vision she saw Seiga hovering in the air, recovering from the violent blast that had sent her flying backwards. Seiga's look of surprise and anger quickly disappeared from view, obscured by the thickening scarlet mist now forming a tornado towering up into the sky above. It encircled her, carrying her up higher and higher.
Akyuu's vision fought to focus on something, anything, in the spiralling crimson mist. It finally fell upon something....it was a shape in the mist...or perhaps a thicker bit of the mist itself?
And it spoke.
"Rin found you, Rin did~!" "....Ri-...n? Who...?" Akyuu just about managed to murmur weakly. Some old memory fought to surface in the young sage's sluggish mind. The name resonated with something deep down inside her, like a dream, a dejavu of sorts.
"Rin's name is...Rin's name is....Rin! that's it! Rin!" The thickened mist drew closer, seemingly trying to come together to form something, but having some trouble trying to remember what it was supposed to form.
"It's been so long since Rin spoke to someone...anyone...Rin's forgotten even Rin's own name!" "You're....a youkai?" Akyuu frowned, trying to focus on the being before her, but it was like trying to focus through water. The form swam in and out of focus, but she could just about make out something in the chaotic cotton-candy-like substance....a head, some hair, maybe limbs and a body? "But...you barely exist. You've been....forgotten?"
"Y-yes, it's a bit embarassing, actually. Rin even forgot about Rin's self." The apparition replied, chuckling lightly with what sounded like relief.
"Rin....Rin..." Akyuu fought to grasp onto the elusive memory, slipping through her hands like water. But slowly it grew clearer and clearer. As the memory surfaced, the figure before her swam closer and closer into focus. Purplish silver hair crowned by a frilly crimson bow, a light, peach-coloured dress laced with frills and ribbons, an ornate wooden string instrument and a bow, all slowly materialized out of the chaotic scarlet mist.
"That's right....RinRin...Kirrin...." Akyuu murmured, "I never forget anyone, anything. And you...I remember you. I still remember you."
"Y-you d-do?" The new apparition quavered, her voice full of hope.
"You really really remember Rin?" She asked, her voice pleading, hands reaching out for the young sage as the two slowly drifted closer and closer.
"Yes...." Akyuu reached out, mirroring the girl before her, "You came to me...you bit me...you made me the next kirrin..." She recalled.
"Yes...Yes! You're....you're Rin's Kirrin!" The girl gasped, her eyes suddenly brimming with tears as she clasped Akyuu's hands in her own, drawing her close.
"Rin's little Kirrin~Eheh~" She giggled through tears of happiness as their foreheads touched.
"You still remember Rin~ Rin is...Rin is happy...so happy..." For the first time in a long, long time, Akyuu felt safe. Safe in the flower-scented warmth washing over, safe in the Kirrin's hold.
They held each other close for what felt like both the longest time, the briefest moment. But it didn't last. The warmth dissipated. The pain returned. Slowly, the spiralling crimson mist slowed all around them.
"We're...we're falling...?" Akyuu murmured, suddenly feeling gravity take hold of her.
"Rin's....Rin's disappearing...." The youkai said, her form dissipating,
"Rin can't hold on for long...But...but...Rin still wants to help! Rin wants to save you, little Kirrin." "Please...please save...please save those children." Akyuu pleaded. "I'm going to die, but...those children...they have to live! They must!"
"Rin wants to...Rin wants to so much...but..." The apparition shook her head, helpless,
"Rin can't. Rin barely....barely exists." "You have to try! I will remember! As hard as I can, as long as I can, until you get them to safety!" Akyuu gasped, clasping the youkai's hands tighter, willing her not to leave, not to disappear.
"You remember Rin." The youkai echoed Akyuu's words,
"So if Rin joins you and absorbs your memories of Rin, Rin can exist again!" "...You...you can...you can do that?" Akyuu asked, hope rising.
"Rin will become one with you! And you'll become one with Rin!" The Kirrin said, excitedly.
"I'll....become a youkai?"
"Yes, and together we'll be able to save those children!" "...."
"You...You don't want to become a youkai?" The Kirrin asked, suddenly seeming concerned.
"...." Akyuu broke into a sudden mad smile of determination, "I...I want to become the Kirrin." She declared, embracing her companion tightly. "Let us do this, Rin."
She felt Rin return her embrace in kind. All around them, the fiery crimson storm intensified as it drew closer and closer to them, engulfing them both, glowing ever brighter. Before the light blinded her, she saw Rin smile at her,
"Thou art Rin and Rin art thou...." She felt life flood her very being. Something deep within surfaced, welling up like a fountain, permeating every bit of her, dissolving her pain, diluting her weariness, until all she felt was life, strong and fierce, flowing through her. She felt light. Lighter than she has ever felt in her life. She felt her very spirit lift up, inflated by some strange, newfound confidence.
OST - Japanese Saga - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRfZ85hLcf0
Outside, the violent scarlet tornado burst outwards across the Nameless Hill, showering the entire hill with cherry petals. The swirling spire unfolded into a pair of majestic wings, shedding sakura petals as they waved gracefully through the air. Floating in the middle of it all was Akyuu. Slowly, the young sage opened her eyes, raising them up towards the adversary hovering above.
"Akyuu! What in the name of Tao has....?" Seiga demanded, before gasping in abject horror as their eyes met.
Glowing red eyes, diamond-shaped pupils, gazed intently back up at the hermit. "No....those horns....those ears...that tail....you're a....you're a youkai....how?! How is this possible?! Is...Is this...is this the power of the Nameless Hill?!"
Akyuu slowly curled and uncurled her hands, testing the unfamiliar new feeling coursing through her body. It was something alien to her once-weak constitution. It was strength, flowing, overflowing. It was in her. It was all around her in the scarlet mist spiralling about her. She felt the mist, the flowers, the very wind around her bend to her will like cotton candy. She felt something swish behind her and found, much to her astonishment, a long, fluffy tail glowing crimson in the dark. Something twitched in her hair. Through them she heared anything and everything, from the wind blowing through the sakura trees far, far away to the rustle of the Suzuran below. New fluffy ears? And what was this crackling above her head, almost roaring with pure energy? Horns? Flaming crimson horns?
So....this is it? This is how youkai felt all the time? So...in control? So overwhelming? So all-powerful? So much a part of everything as everything was a part of herself? It was almost....intoxicating, like a chocolate milkshake bubblebath.
"You....Akyuu....Child of Miare...youkai, whatever! You will die tonight. You will become my Jiang-Shi. You will become mine." The Taoist hermit declared, pulling a spellcard out of thin air with a broad sweep of one hand, pulling her prized hairpin out of her hair with the other.
"Kyuuu...." The little youkai wavered before the brandished card and hairpin.
"Quick! We need a snappy comeback!" A voice shouted in her head, setting her priorities straight.
"Uhh....Y-You! Yes, you! Ummm...You start learning to listen or....or....or I will come up there and clean your ears out for you with your own hairpin!" Akyuu was shocked to hear hearself shout. It was frightening, more frightening than anything she has ever experienced, including that one time she thought that kappa would steal her shirikodama from you-know-where. It was more so now that she was no longer just a human bystander - she had the actual strength to fight.
It was also...exhilarating. Not only could she answer back to these beings, she now has the strength to back her own words. "Then...Then perhaps you might learn the meaning of 'NO'!" She declared at the top of her voice, swinging her arms out to her sides in a show of force. As if obeying an unspoken command, the scarlet mist all around her swirled and gathered, thickening as if flooding an invisible mould. As she pulled her arms out of the arc, the scarlet mist gathered in her hands exploded in a flurry of cherry blossoms, leaving behind some kind of wooden string instrument in one hand, its bow in another.
"What's this?" She asked the world in general.
"An erhu. Oh, and a bow." The helpful voice answered from somewhere inside her head.
"Careful, you can take people's eyes out with those...and then some.""Oh, Rin, you're still here?" Akyuu asked the open air.
"Of course, silly! What do you think Rin meant by becoming one?" The voice inside replied, matter-of-factly.
"It's nice and roomy in here too. Rin didn't think there'd be this much empty space in such a small head, sure didn't.""Err...I didn't think you'd move in and settle in my head. And what I meant was, what do I do with these?" Akyuu asked, waving her erhu and bow.
OST - Old Yuanxian Arrange by Demetori - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZO0dHKs2Ic&feature=related
"Evil Sign 「Yang Xiaogui」!" Seiga declared, raising her spellcard skywards. There was a flash. And then there were light beams. Massive menacing beams of light arching out from thin air, spiralling out towards the young youkai.
"W-W-What is that?!" Akyuu gasped, recoiling.
"Trouble!" Rin said,
"Laser trouble!" "What do I....?" Akyuu shut her eyes, instinctively flinching. As if following her queue, her wings of scarlet mist folded around her protectively. Just as the wings furled around her like a shield, the entire world shook violently for the little youkai as what felt like an oni battering ram slammed against her wings, sending her spinning head over heels, "Kyuuu.....UMPH!", until she crashed into something hard and familiar. She immediately recognized it as her arch nemesis, the ground. "Kyuuu...." She winced, feeling bits of her she didn't know she had protest in agony.
"Continue?" Rin asked, pleasantly, seemingly unperturbed,
"10....9....""Yes Yes Yes!" Akyuu shouted, leaping onto her feet with a mighty flap of her wings, taking off across the field just as a laser blast incinerated the bit of suzuran she had just occupied. She rushed forth, the field rushing by inches beneath her feet as she sped faster and faster across the field. Just as she was getting to grips with flying straight, more laser bolts arced straight towards her.
The shrinemaiden and the witch make this bit look so easy but.... "How do I turn?" She asked, realizing she lacked the most fundamental of flight controls.
"Oh....err.. it's time to bring out some shot options, yes it is!" Rin declared.
"What's a...." Akyuu was about to ask before she was interrupted by her scarlet mist gathering together underneath her, growing denser and denser, glowing brighter and brighter, until the light burst into a storm of sakura petals, revealing underneath a golden mane crowning a massive crimson and gold beast.
The ground trembled violently as four muscular clawed legs dug into the earth at full gallop.
Familiarity struck the young sage. Memories of the massive creature leading the Kirrin dance surfaced. But this, this was...."Ah, that's a shot option." Akyuu observed, noting the massive, majestic Kirrin she was now riding at full gallop across the Suzuran field, trailing sakura petals in its wake.
Akyuu looked up towards the oncoming laser bolts. She took hold of the creature's mane and, as if reading her thoughts, it leapt aside beyond the laser beam's reach. No, she realized, more than simply reading her thoughts, the being was a part of herself, an extension of her own body. She felt every motion, every powerful paw striking the earth, every bit of velvety fur bristling in the breeze.
The next moment they were galloping on the other side of the field, watching the lasers strike empty ground. They went on dodging volley after volley of laser blasts, leaping from side to side across the field as they closed the distance in a flash.
"G-Get closer so I can...ummm.....swing this erhu at her?!" Akyuu shouted into the wind.
"The Kirrin protects!" She heard Rin reply inside. With a lunge, the Kirrin leapt off the summit of the hill, straight up towards the hovering hermit above. Akyuu felt her stomach drop away as they sailed up, and up.
"Evil Sign「Guhun Yegui」!" Seiga declared, waving another glowing spellcard at them.
"Kyuuu!" Akyuu cried as a barrage of Akyuu-sized orbs, glowing threateningly like holes in the fabric of the night itself, rushed out of the air at her. She struggled, pulling up a ton of kirrin out of the way of the first wave. She herself just about managed to evade it, but her poor Kirrin erupted into a mass of sakura petals under the onslaught of the glowing orbs. She kicked off what remained of the Kirrin, propelling herself skywards.
"You stubborn, childish little horror!" She heard Seiga shout, hurling more orbs down at her.
Akyuu ignored her. Her wings of scarlet mist and sakura petals flapped mightily through the air as she weaved through the rest of the barrage, rising higher and higher. An orb came hurtling straight for her. Still lacking the ability to turn, she did the next best thing - flinch, with bow in hand. The orb and bow collided, resulting in an explosive burst of flower petals, grazing her arm. "Kyuuh!" But, limp arm trailing blood through the air, she flew onwards, upwards, determined gaze trained on her target.
"Now!" Rin cried in her ears excitedly,
"Shout out a really cool technique name!" "Akyuuuuuuuuu!" Akyuu cried, as she began to spin round and round through the air, "Rider....Rock Candy" She declared the first thing that came to her mind, putting all her momentum behind her one final blow, "KIIIIIIIIIIIIIICK!" She roared, sailing across the final distance between her and her target.
There was an almighty twang as erhu met hairpin, showering the sky with magical sparks.
"That wasn't a kick!" Rin pointed out, urgently, as the young youkai and the hermit clashed, both propelled further skywards by sheer momentum. The erhu, glowing crimson, swung through the air once more, leaving a trail of glowing scarlet mist in its wake, before clashing with the hairpin yet again. Akyuu held onto the erhu tight, hands shaking, as she struggled to force the instrument down upon her foe.
Locked in a fierce deadlock of erhu on hairpin, the two vied for supremacy, fighting to stare down their opponent. "You...you hard-headed little...." Akyuu heard Seiga growl at her.
"You're right." Akyuu agreed, a mad idea dawning, courtesy of Keine "I do have a hard head." She nodded in agreement, putting all her strength behind her nod.
Their foreheads met. Violently. The crash boomed across the Nameless Hill. Something cracked. Something gave.
For a moment, the world was still. Two figures spun away from each other in the night sky. One spun around and righted itself, dizzily. The other flew on into the darkness.
"Kyuu....come back...if you think you're...hard enough...." Akyuu said, dazed, watching the limp, unconscious form of the hermit spiral away towards the youkai mountain, "I'll...be....err...waiting...umm...here...yes...."
"That still wasn't a kick." Rin pointed out.
"I doubt...Seiga noticed...the...the difference." Akyuu said, shaking herself out of her daze.
"You pulled out of the spin at the wrong moment, Little Kirrin." Rin criticized, giggling.
"It was all just as planned." Akyuu shrugged, before wincing in pain, "Kyuuuh! That hurts!" She looked down at the wound in her arm...and found the deep gash the orbs left in her arm was already healing, leaving little but smarting pains. "Oh, that's convenient."
"Then how do you plan on solving that?" Rin demanded, drawing her attention down to the little circle in the poison cloud where the children were.
"Ummm....pi r squared....?" Akyuu blinked, trying to wave the Seiga-shaped stars out of her eyes.
"No, silly. The hole's closing." Rin pointed out.
"Oh....umm...I knew it was a problem with r." Akyuu nodded woozily. "Err.....Akyuu Rider Kick again?" The little youkai suggested.
"How do you plan on kicking miiiiiiiiiist....?!" Rin gasped as, suddenly, the young youkai dove towards the clearing.
"No! Don't headbutt the ground! Pleaaaaaaaase!!"She stretched her arms out. As if mirroring her, her wings stretched out behind her, catching the air as they fell. She rolled around in her descent, this time heeding the mental note to pull out of the spin feet-first. "Akyuu Rider Candy-Floss Kick!" She shouted as she began spinning round and round like a top.
As if following her queue, the wind and mist whirled around her, coursing faster and faster into a spiral of mist and flower petals. With a loud whoomph, she landed kneeling in the grass in the middle of the hole. An explosive burst of wind and mist arced outwards across the hill, expelling poison mist before it.
"....how...did you know that would work...?" Rin asked, in disbelief, as they watched the glowing poison mist clear away.
"You did it. I thought I'd be able to do it as well." Akyuu said, simply.
"....we can work on the naming later." Rin sighed.
"Note to self - when in doubt, Akyuu rider kick solves everything." Akyuu nodded to herself approvingly as she bent down to check on the children.
"That still wasn't a kick." Rin muttered.
"I don't see the poison mist complaining, do you?" Akyuu shrugged, turning her attention to one particular child dressed in a rather modern checker-squared wa-kimono, complete with a creamy frilly apron. "...Kosuzu-chan..." She sighed, brushing aside the bright red hair from the young bookkeeper's childish sleeping face.
"No big hurry, Little Kirrin, but the poison mist looks kind of lonely and eager to get to know you." Rin pointed out the circle of poison closing in on them once more.
"So, no pressure and all that.""It can be lonely all by itself." Akyuu said, her newfound confidence speaking for her. With a little flourish she raised a hand into the air and pulled her bow out of the air before waving it like a baton. As if heeding an unspoken order, the scarlet mist curled around the children, thickening and coalescing. They thickened to form the broad, muscular form of the Kirrin, climbing out of the ground, heaving the children onto its expansive furry back between its feathery furled wings.
"Your Kirrin-half isn't exactly a kiddy tourist bus." Rin added.
"It doesn't have baby seatbelts for starters.""Oh, I'm sure the children won't mind. They're still asleep." Akyuu said, making sure the children were nicely secured atop the Kirrin.
"Let's hope they remain that way. We don't want them getting airsick. Not on us." Rin muttered.
"Oh, this'll be your proper maiden flight, won't be, little Kirrin?" Rin suddenly giggled,
"Go on, you take flight. Rin will take care of the Kirrin-half.""....Wait a moment...you can drive the Kirrin-half?" Akyuu turned to face the Kirrin-half, an incredulous look on her face. "Then you could've...during that battle..."
"Rin'll race ya!" The Kirrin-half leapt into a running start before launching itself into the night sky.
"Last one's cleaning up all the airsick bags!""R-Rin!"Akyuu panicked, willing her wings to spread out as she spread her own hands out wide. Her majestic wings of scarlet mist burst out to either side of her in a shower of crimson sakura petals. "Wait...I...How do I...?" She bent her knees and lowered herself. As if bowing to her whims, the wind swirled and gathered about her feet. "KyuuuuUUUUH!"It came almost naturally. With an almighty beat of her wings, she launched herself into the air, leaving a blast of wind in her wake.
進め！万年置き傘調査隊, Arrange by Golden City Factory - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLk3alNiYGc
She soared.
The ground rapidly shrunk into nothingness behind her. With a few more powerful beats of her incandescent wings, she spiralled on heavenwards. Freezing cold air rushed about her, but nothing could stop her now. She burst through the canopy of clouds, trailing wispy sparkling condensation in her wake as she rose up, reaching up for the stars and the moon.
She was alive. She was free. And nothing could be better.
"Kyahahahaaah!" Her high-pitched laughter echoed loud and clear across the night sky. "I'm flyyyyiiiiiiiing!"
"No, really?" Rin asked as the Kirrin-half pulled level with her.
"You're easy to please, aren't you, little Kirrin?"
"Kyahahahahah!" The little Kirrin trailed a hand through the clouds below. With another burst of speed she zoomed onwards towards the starry horizon. There was nothing to limit her here in the endless sky. It felt like all eternity, all infinity, was in her grasp.
"If only Keine could see me now!" Akyuu cried, giggling madly with euphoria.
"Hmm..." Rin murmured, suddenly thoughtful.
"Well...""Thank you..." Akyuu suddenly said, "Thank you, Rin. Thank you for saving me...and...well...you know....all this..."
"Tehehe...well..don't thank Rin yet, little Kirrin." The kirrin said, sounding a little bitter all of a sudden.
"What is it, Rin...?" The change in tone didn't escape Akyuu.
"You should focus on finding the village first, little Kirrin." Rin prompted,
"We don't want these children to wake up here in midair. We're not insured for that.""Oh...oh yes!" Akyuu gasped, remembering their little passengers. "Uhh...the village... the village....Rin?"
"Yes?""....are signposts up here a little too much to hope for?"
"..." A moment of thoughtful silence, before,
"Well, we just cleared a stage so a helpful subtitle with the next stage's location and bgm name will probably pop up soon.""....Pardon me?" Akyuu blinked.
"Rin said to just look for the big random cluster of lights in the dark.""Clusters of light that don't try to shoot you down?" Akyuu asked, recalling her first ever fight with a little shiver.
"That helps." The Kirrin conceded.
"My advice is not to fly into them if they happen to be of the shooting variety."Finding the human village in the night proved a greater challenge than the young youkai anticipated. Especially from a vantage point she wasn't quite used to -i.e. from the back of an airborne Kirrin galloping through the air, mighty fiery wings flapping, trailing glowing scarlet mist and sakura petals through the night sky.
Especially especially that particular night.
"I'm sure it's around here somewhere." Akyuu sighed, scanning the ground once more. Much to her frustration, despite her glaring at it with all her might, the ground below remained very stubbornly villageless.
"Maybe someone misplaced it?" Rin suggested, helpfully.
"Common sense says that's nonsense, but common sense is a weakness in Gensokyo. I guess Keine must have hidden the village during the attack." Akyuu said, finally deciding to land the behemoth of a beast. Much to her surprise, it touched down on the soft grass quite lightly, barely disturbing the grass, let alone make a sound. "...that's quiet."
"We at Air Kirrin believe people shouldn't have to suffer noise pollution...unless they deserve it, yep." Rin said.
"Hmm...? What's that?" The young youkai said as she touched down herself, noticing a small, dark patch on the ground.
"Whatever it is, that person over there is leaking it." Rin said, pointing out the trail of dark patches leading away from it, trailing off towards a tree against which a figure seemed to be resting.
Quote
OST - Hear Our Prayer by Yuki Kajiura - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ-CLKqFScg
"Wait...that's....Keine!" Akyuu gasped, breaking into a run towards the schoolteacher. "O-oh my...K-Keine!" she cried, kneeling by the were-hakutaku where she lay against the tree. "Keine...." She murmured, raising a hand up to brush hair out of Keine's face. She was shocked to the core on feeling something wet, sticky, and, most horrifyingly, warm, on her hands. Blood. It was everywhere, streaming down her face, soaking her bright green schoolteacher's dress, pooling about her on the ground. "R-Rin! W-we have....we have to....what do we do?!"
"Ummm....uhh....let's NOT Akyuu Rider Kick her?" Rin suggested in panic.
"R-Rin doesn't know! R-Rin barely remembers anything at all!""Keine...." Akyuu murmured, tears welling up, "Keine...please...please be alright...." She pleaded, leaning in closer towards what was perhaps the closest thing she had to an adopted mother.
"Rin said NOT to headbutt her? Oh well..." Rin gasped, panicking, as Akyuu touched her forehead to Keine's.
"Please....please...you have to be alright....you simply must be alright..." Akyuu pleaded, in her heart of hearts. "Please....please..."
But the hakutaku remained seemingly lifeless. Tears brimming in her eyes, the little youkai reached out, clutching the blood-soaked hakutaku tightly. "Please...no...Keine..." She sobbed. "...I love you...you can't...you can't leave me here....not alone..." She hicupped, little hands clasped in desperation, "Mommy...please.."
A breeze blew across the empty plains, stirring the grass, ruffling the few sakura trees dotting the landscape. The wind picked up. The scent of flowers filled the air. Suddenly, the darkness receded, lit up by the flowers thronging the plains and trees. Glowing sakura petals flew up into the sky in the flower-scented breeze. Scarlet mist swirled between the trees, slithered across the grass, gathering together around them.
The mist and petals swirled around the hakutaku, glowing a bright crimson in the dark, before enveloping her, almost protectively. Akyuu gasped, recoiling backwards, as the glow brightened and brightened until it was blinding.
And then it receded. Another breeze blew what petals rested upon the schoolteacher away into the night sky.
"K-Keine...?" Akyuu whispered, hope rising.
"Hmmm, now Rin remembers. That is Kirrin Art No. 17 - Healing!" Rin announced, proudly.
Something flickered in the dark. The air about them seemed to shimmer. Then, as if colour began to flow into the world around them, walls and roads appeared. Where there was only an empty clearing, houses and stores now stood, an entire village alight with lanterns. And with them appeared the human villagers, all sharing the same worried, apprehensive looks.
There was a moment of silence as Akyuu found herself standing in the middle of the market square, surrounded by her once fellow villagers.
"That wasn't Rin." Rin was quick to deny all responsibility, "Rin did not just make an entire village appear out of thin air."
"That's Keine's spell wearing off." Akyuu murmured, cautiously looking about.
"I-Is that...K-Kamishirasawa-s-sensei?" One elderly man croaked shakily, pointing at the lifeless body on the ground.
"T-that...that stuff on the ground...i-is t-that b-blood?!" A woman shrieked. "Oh kami-sama...s-she's...she's dead!"
"Th-those horns...t-that tail....That's a youkai!" A man roared, pointing at the stunned Akyuu. "S-she looks...she looks just like..."
"It's the curse! The Hieda curse!" A woman screamed hysterically. "The curse got both her and Kamishirasawa-sensei!"
"She did it! She killed Kamishirasawa-sensei!" Another man shouted, pointing his torch at Akyuu.
"A-aaaah it-it's the ch-children!" A mother cried, pointing at the sleeping children atop the Kirrin-half. "T-that's...that's the youkai who took the children!"
"W-wait....I..." The shellshocked Akyuu squeaked, looking round in panic. But wherever she turned there were only looks of fear or anger or both. Cries of anger and calls for death swept through the villagers.
OST - Numb - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FAvWYv613I
"Nghh..." The Hakutaku stirred. She groaned wearily as she tried to move. Then, slowly, a pair of eyes opened up, blearily. A sudden silence drowned out the cries and shouts.
"K-Keine!" Akyuu gasped, relief flooding her...but only for a moment.
"Back for more, youkai...?" The schoolteacher suddenly laughed mirthlessly, before breaking into feeble coughs "Oh, you picked the wrong Hakutaku on the wrong night....heh....heheheh...."
"K-Keine...are you...?" Akyuu began.
"My sweet little Akyuu...gone...never...never even got to visit the poor thing. Because all you hellspawn...you all chose tonight of all nights. Get in line, I'll teach you some manners before the night is ov-..." Keine slowly looked up, blinking the blood and tears out of her eyes, until they fell upon the young youkai's form silhouetted against the moonlight "No....you...can't be..."
"Keine, I...." Akyuu began, reaching out.
"....foul youkai scum!" Akyuu had but a split second to dodge the bullet that just barely grazed her forehead, shaving off her floral hair ornament clean off. "You dare?!" Akyuu just barely evaded another blind shot, staggering backwards in the process, "You dare befoul my poor, sweet Akyuu's form?!" The were-hakutaku roared, staggering onto her feet, lobbing another fiery blast of magic at her own adopted daughter. Akyuu lost her balance, falling out of the way of the blast.
"Keine, it's me!" She cried, waving her arms out before her pleadingly. "Please!"
"My little Akyuu...she's gone now. Someone...something took her. Those youkai animals must have her. She was only a little girl. My sweet little Akyuu. She didn't deserve to die, not so young. You demons! All of you! She loved you all! She loved Gensokyo! And how did you repay her love?! Damn you all! Damn Gensokyo to the deepest pits of HELL!" The hakutaku spat, consumed by blind, passionate rage.
"Keine, look at me! Please! I'm just...." Akyuu pleaded.
"I wanted to see her! I wanted to see her so much! I was too afraid! She was going to die! But now she's gone! GONE! My sweet little Akyuu! Now you taint her memories, you...you...you demon!" The Hakutaku bellowed, her chest and shoulders heaving with rage, "My...my sweet little Akyuu would never...ever be a youkai. Never look so hideous. She'd never become one of you wild despicable animals! How dare you toy with her pure, innocent face?! How dare you speak in her kind, honest voice?! "
"Keine! I....." Akyuu stopped. It was true...she was now a youkai...was this how she wanted Keine to know her? To remember her? As an evil child-stealing, human-eating demon?
She took a step back.
The Gensokyo Chronicle....it was humanity's only defense against the youkai. More importantly, it was the only thing that might one day help them understand and accept youkai. It was Gensokyo's only remaining hope for peace now.
If the villagers found out she had become a youkai, all faith in the Chronicle would be lost. Where would that leave the humans then, especially in such dark times?
Another step back.
No.
Another step, knees shaking.
She can't.
She'd...she'd never be able to face Keine or the villagers again. Not like this. Not as a despicable, hideous animal...a youkai.
Her feet almost froze, rooted to the ground. This would be a step she'd never be able to take back.
Hieda no Akyuu must die a human. For Keine's sake. And the chronicle's. And the village's.
She was better off dead.
She staggered.
Hieda no Akyuu is dead.
She staggered backwards, before rooting her feet in the ground, straightening up to her full height. Determination filled her fiery red eyes, enkindling them like burning embers in the dark. She sighed, wiping away the tears, before taking a deep breath.
There was no turning back.
"H-Hmpph....f-foolish...Hakutaku....that a y-youkai l-like me would stoop so low....hah!" She laughed, "Know this, Hakutaku! The girl...she's dead! Died before we could even...sink our teeth in. Dead meat's...not even...not even fit for dog food...far from worthy of our palates....haha...hahaha...at least...at least her kimono's nice and warm...yes, oh yes," She laughed bitterly, her heart threatening to burst with each heaving breath.
"You monster!" Keine breathed, anger and hatred welling up on her face. Murmurs ran through the gathered crowd. Slowly but surely it built up into a low roar.
"Not...not just any monster. Fear me, Hakutaku, humans for I am...I am the Kirrin," The little youkai bellowed, raising her arms up to the moon, "The Capricious Benevolent Moon (Sa-Tsuki), Rin!" She waved her arms, causing the Kirrin behind her to dissolve into the mist, allowing the children to slowly float down to the ground, "Now take your smelly little spawn! That little brat begging and pleading for them as she died ruined our appetite for them."
"She....she...no...no no no..." Keine sank to the ground under the weight of her grief. "No...no...not my Akyuu...."
"Hieda-sama....she..." A mother in the crowd sank to her knees in tears.
"She saved the children..." A man murmured, "Hieda-sama saved them!"
"Oh, she did have some last words for you, Hakutaku." The young youkai added. She took a deep breath, steadying her trembling self as best as she can, "She said, 'Keine, you've always been the best mommy ever, I love you...always...forever and ever'."
The bereft mother reached a pair of trembling hands out towards the floral hair ornament resting in the mud before her, the very same one she had tied on her little girl's head so, so many years ago. She clutched the torn flower, holding it close against her bossom, crying into it. Suddenly, she threw her head back and roared at the night sky "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" It was a hideous, ugly cry of a broken creature, of a tormented soul overflowing with anguish and pain, "AAAAAGH! AAAH AAAH AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
Unable to endure another moment of it, Akyuu took flight. She flew off into the thick darkness of the night, where nobody would be able to see the tears streaming down her face. She disappeared in a wisp of scarlet mist. The darkness claimed her. But she could not escape the screams. They went on and on, throughout the night, no matter where she ran. She never realized it was her own.
ED Song - Japanese Saga by Genmu (Vocal version) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei7g6y_9Idk&feature=related
EDIT: Quick little sketch of what I imagine Youkai!Akyuu looks like -
