The story of Huziwara no Mokou (Updated 1/13)

[Smallfry]

716: Awakening

Mokou was standing face to face with 3 beings about to kill her. Having just been in a fight with Keine, she was rather tired.Okay..stay calm...stay calm...RUN!  She spun around and sprinted into the forest. An unnerving screech sounded behind her as she disappeared into the trees. Keep running...keep running.. A shape landed in front of her with a thud. She couldn't react in time, and ran into it. The shape picked her up by her throat and eyed her curiously.

"Pretty fassssst, for a human," It hissed. It had a long tail with what looked like a knife on the end. It flicked back and forth like a snake. "But not fassssst enough." She heard 2 more thuds behind her.

"Well, put her to sleep. It's the least we can do, since she's only a child." A voice from behind said. The tail disappeared, and was flung towards Mokou's stomach. It pierced flesh and muscle, and flicked back out again. Mokou screamed in pain. "It...it didn't work? Normally, they are knocked out instantly.. Hit her again." The voice spoke again. Mokou as stabbed several more times before it stopped.

"Thisssss isssn't working. Letsss jusssst eat her now." The one grasping her inquired. Mokou couldn't believe it. She was about to be eaten by monsters.

"Th..that..won't...that won't be happening." Mokou said weakly.

"Oh? And who'sssss going to sssstop usss?"

"I....I am"

The 3 monsters looked at each other, and burst into laughter. Mokou looked at the ground. A strange feeling developed in her stomach. I'll show them. She clenched her fists, and she began to shake.

"What'ssss she doing?" Mokou looked into the eyes of the youkai holding her. She blinked once, and her eyes went from a dull gray, to a burning red, easily visible in the darkness. The youkai let go, and she fell to the ground.

"What's this?" The second one asked. "Why did you drop-" Mokou began to levitate, floating gently into the air. The youkai watched in astonishment. She held out her arms, creating a bright flash of light, giant wings made of fire had sprouted from her back. The air was crackling around her. She looked directly into the eyes of the snake youkai.

"Now...you die."

[Smallfry]

716: What goes around....

Mokou was angry now. These youkai had tried to eat her, and she was going to make them pay. The snake youkai tried to escape, and Mokou held up her hand, and let loose an inferno. The snake youkai was reduce to ashes without another sound. She slowly turned around to see the other 2 youkai staring bug-eyed at her.

"Heh heh heh...." She chuckled softly, "Who's next?" The other youkai turned around and ran for their lives. Mokou simply snapped her fingers, and the 2 youkai were incinerated. A savage sense of pleasure in the form of an icy grin crept across her face. She floated slowly to the ground, and the wings of fire disappeared. A smokey scent wafted up her nose. What's this? Smells like something's.....oh no.... She turned around to see a small patch of grass alight with flames. Oh no..oh no...What do I do??
 The flames spread to a nearby tree, and to more grass, soon an area as wide as 6 feet was engulfed. Mokou panicked. What do I do?? What do i do?? Then, she stopped. She looked at her hands. Well...only one thing I can try. She held out both her hands, and concentrated, but in a different way. She was thinking of things coming towards her...raindrops falling from the sky, leaves falling from the trees...

She felt a tingling feeling going up her arms and into her chest. When the tingling dissipated. she looked up. The fire was gone. The ground and plants were charred black, but the fire was gone. I...I don't believe it. I put out a fire....using my hands. Mokou used her knowledge of the starts to find her way back to Hiro's hut. She Silently entered the hut, and lay down on the bedroll. She drifted almost instantly into a deep sleep.

[Smallfry]

784: Death

For many years, Mokou had been living with Hiro. But today, he couldn't get out of bed. Mokou was sluggish as she awoke. She noticed how Hiro had changed since many years ago. Hiro's face was lined and pale. His hair was white and very long. Mokou on the other hand, hadn't changed very much. Her hair, once brown, was now silver, and grew passed her shoulders. Hiro had taught her how to sew and make clothing. She made a baggy pair of overalls, she dyed them red, and a white shirt. She had tied paper charms into her hair, and plastered these same paper charms on her pants. She knelt beside Hiro's bed.

"Hey, come on, get up." Mokou said in a soothing voice.

"Ah...Well..It looks like......my time....has come." Hiro replied slowly.

"Your time for what?" Mokou asked, worried.

"My...time to..." Hiro drifted off, closing his eyes. He left out a final, slow breath.

"Hiro?? Hiro!! Wake up!!" She screamed. "No..." She said quietly, tears streaming down her face. "Don't leave me..."

Mokou sat near the fireplace, which wasn't lit, the hot sun beating down on her. She was staring at her hands. Why did Hiro grow old, but I stay the same? She examined her hands for any signs of aging. Do I belong in this world?

What am I?

[Blitzer]

Hoo boy.

Time for some existential angst.

[capt. h]

Hoo boy.

Time for some existential angst.

It depends on the author.

In real life, a person usually begins with too much shock/denial to mourn and be angsty. You tend to be detached during the early phase, so the loss doesn't hit hard until a few months later. Which is rather unfortunate, because a few months later most your friends think you should be over the mourning, but instead you've only just gotten over the shock. It makes the experience much more lonely than if all the mourning was done right after the death, when friends are more sympathetic.

[Smallfry]

Time for some existential angst.

If you hadn't aged in over 60 years, and the only person you love just died, what would YOU be thinking?

[capt. h]

If you hadn't aged in over 60 years, and the only person you love just died, what would YOU be thinking?

That's a good question.

At 50 years old, I would be in denial about not aging, since my hair was still chaning colors. But once I hit 70 without a wrinkle, I would know something is weird about my health well before my lover died. I would have been asking questions about my lifespan for years at the current point in the story.

Immediately after the death, I would be kind of detached and unemotional - in shock. Once the mourning started a few months later, I would probably blame the world for everything. After about a year tops for me (but five to ten for some people), I would probably be trying to figure out what to do with the rest of my life. But there would be a good chunk of time devoted to hard questions (in terms of years, not decades or centuries), followed by a conclusion.

I think, ultimately, Mokou must have come to the conclusion that there is nothing she wants to do more than battle Kaguya for the rest of unending eternity.

[Blitzer]

If you hadn't aged in over 60 years, and the only person you love just died, what would YOU be thinking?

I didn't say existential wangst, and I said that in a neutral tone.

[Smallfry]

wangst

Uhh... what?

[capt. h]

Uhh... what?

Wangst:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Wangst


To avoid wangst, here is a guide on angst dissonance:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AngstDissonance

Personally, I'm not very good at angst; it's a difficult concept for me to grasp. If you are about to make characters feel sorrowful and express signs of depression, I highly advise asking people who have lost their spouses what the experience was like and doing some research into how people react in similar situations, as well as considering what you yourself would do in the same situation for a while to give it thought. At least that would be necessary for me (keep in mind that I am unusually bad at understanding some of these things).

If there is anything I would find tougher than writing comedy (which I doubt), it's writing tragedy. Even the suggestion of mourning can lead to accusations of "wangst" no matter how well written the story, and there are very, very few stories that have an accurate representation of how a person feels and acts when they lose someone they love.

[Smallfry]

784: Cast Away

There was a village to the northeast of Hiro's hut that he and Mokou often traveled to. They would buy fruits and bread. Mokou tried going there once more the next morning.

She was attempting to buy some food from a merchant.

She asked, "I'd like three loaves of bread please." as she handed the merchant the money. The merchant took the money without looking at her and handed her three loaves of bread. "Um...hello?" She tried to talk to the merchant again. He didn't look up. What's going on here? Let's try asking this woman

"Hey! Excuse me! Do you know what's up with that bread merchant?" The woman kept walking.

Mokou tried a stocky man this time. "Hello? What's going on here"? The man ignored her. Finally, she walked up to another person and put her hand their shoulder. "What is going on?"

"We don't want you around here any more." The person replied with no emotion. Several people had turned to look.

"What? Why?" Mokou was confused.

"You are too different. Leave at once, before we are required to use force." She and several other people pulled out large wooden sticks. Mokou backed away, and people cleared away several meters around her. She turned and left without another word. She did glance over her shoulder to see people staring at her, hatred in their eyes.

"I hope you all burn." She muttered under her breath.

She returned to the camp to visit Hiro's grave one more time. She gave a long, respectful bow, picked up her bag, and walked away. She didn't know where she was going, she only knew she didn't belong here.

[Smallfry]

(Ahh it was nice to have a break for the holidays. Back to work I suppose. Happy new year, for what that's worth.)

Mokou had lost track of how many years had passed. She walked endlessly, stopping only to rest and regain her strength. Occasionally A youkai or other being would try and attack her. Every time, this would end with Mokou and a pile of ashes. Her strength increased with every battle, and her tolerance for other people diminished. She began to just ignore everyone, because it was easier than destroying everything. It didn't affect her emotionally very much. They were stupid fro trying to attack her in the first place. The one time she can remember where she thought what she does might be wrong, when a boy from a poor village tried to duel her for a bravery test. She had been bored, and decided to go easy on him for a while. She casually jumped and dodged whatever he threw at her. He was very tired, and Mokou hadn't even broken a sweat. When she turned to leave, she felt a sharp pain in the back of her head, and collapsed.

She regained consciousness moments later, and found the boy rummaging through her things.

"You.." She began weakly and startled the boy so much that he fell down. "You tried to kill me?" The boy backed away and turn around to run. Mokou held up her hand and a wall of fie blocked his escape. He turned around, shaking, and dropped the things he had taken. he fell to the ground and lay still. She made the wall disappear and Knelt beside him, checking his pulse. Must have died from a heart attack.

She gathered her things and walked away. She began thinking about what the boy had tried to do. Maybe he was only trying to kill me to steal my things. Maybe he was a petty thief like so many I've slain. But maybe... what if he was just trying to get food? What if this was all he could have done to get help his village? What if I just killed an innocent boy?

These thoughts stayed at the back of her mind, though they constantly tugged at her. The next time a youkai attacked her, she simply dodged, all the while trying to talk it out of eating humans.

"Why do you do this?" She lurched to the side to avoid an attack. "What is the point of destroying innocent lives?" While the youkai wouldn't seem to listen, the gears began turning in it's simple mind. It stopped attacking. "Here," Mokou pulled out some meat from her bag. "Have this." She threw it on the ground the youkai immediately pounced on it. "How was that?" The youkai finished devouring the meat, and looked up, and nodded. "Did it taste like human?" It nodded again. "It was from a cow." It looked confused. "It's a big animal with four legs, and goes 'Moo'. Listen for that next time you are hungry." Mokou walked on passed the youkai, who was thinking about what she had said. Just then, it heard a distant 'Moo', and ran off.

[Smallfry]

Mokou encountered several more youkai. She gave them some meat, and told them all the same thing. Confident that she had changed how youkai lived forever, she felt self-satisfaction for the first time in a long time. I might have saved hundreds of humans in years to come. She let this thought fill her with happiness for a long time.

"Come to me......Come to me........Come to me........ Complete the task......Complete the task......Complete the task....." Mokou's eyes jolted open and she zipped upright.

What was that about? I can't even remember most of it..... And then, it hit her like a wave.

"Kaguya," She said aloud. "Kaguya Houraisan."


***

Mokou didn't know this, but Kaguya was an exile from the moon. She was exiled from the moon for the very same reason she was cast out from the village. They had both drunk the Hourai Elixir. Kaguya had since left the village where she refused Mokou's father, and was wandering aimlessly for days on end. Eventually, she had come to another village, and was hailed as a princess just like the first.

Of course, she grew tired of this, and set out in the vast bamboo forest located near the village, dubbed "Bamboo Forest of the Lost". After days of wandering, she came to an old abandoned mansion, which she named "House of Eternity". The Lunar Capital had located her, and sent a team during the full moon, led by the founder of the Lunar Capital herself, Eirin Yagokoro.

"Ex-princess Kaguya. We have allowed you to come back to the Lunar Capital. Please follow us." One of the rabbits said.

"But....I like it here so much...." Kaguya began. She noticed Eirin winking at her, and added, "Fine, I'll go." She walked in front of the rabbits, and Eirin pulled out a rifle. To Kaguya, it looked like a simple bolt-action with a computer attached to the side. She had seen many rifles. She was the princess of the Lunar Capital, after all. Eirin fired once, and both rabbits were dead. Kaguya, in shock, screamed.

"I've decided I'm going to stay here with you. Come on out, Reisen!" She called. A third rabbit emerged from a nearby bush.

"Yes, master?" She said politely.

"We are going to stay here with miss Kaguya. You are to treat her with utmost respect." Eirin said firmly. She looked at Kaguya and relaxed. "Come on then, let's go inside."