Fandom Touhou (東方) ~ Otherworldly Train Line

[Glassred]

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Youkai Mountain, 20XX
Otherworldly Train Line
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Rain covered the side of Youkai Mountain in small puddles of cold water, its pitter-patter softened by the leaves of autumn trees. This time of the year, the greenery transformed to enchanting colours of red and orange, the rivers widening and lakes overflowing. Carried upon the back of the heightening wind, the scents of a quickly fading summer made their way to the farthest corners of Gensokyo, signalling the rainbow-hued transition between the seasons of cicada serenades, and the encroaching cruel winter. Entranced by such beauty, a lone, oftentimes bothersome spirit walked down a winding path leading to nowhere, taking in the sights with a mouth gaping open. Though their nature was that of a mischievous trickster, even the dregs of society felt the need to stop and appreciate the scenery from time to time, especially at times when it particularly stood out like now.

"Whoa!" The spirit yelped out, a gust of wind brushing past and around them, dozens of crunchy leaves in tow. They squinted angrily in its direction, but moved on knowing they couldn't find retribution. A thought crossed their mind, perhaps the wind was in a hurry to arrive somewhere important? Impressed by their own deduction, they bolted into a sprint after the leaf-decorated breeze, not considering anything around them. Whatever the gale was chasing, it had to be exciting, a force of nature wouldn't waste its time hunting ordinary things after all! The idea that a force of nature didn't necessarily think about where it went, such stupid thoughts vacated the spirit's head before they even entered it. Whizzing past trees, cliffs, rock formations and the rare solitary huts, they were only concerned with finding something fun to do.

"Guh! This ain't fair! Wait up you flying cheater!" Puzzling any possible onlookers, taking to flight themselves would eliminate an excuse as to why they lagged behind so much, though it's not impossible that they'd find another one. Spanning several miles and plenty of missed landmarks, the race ended when the gust, most likely not even the original one, dispersed against a rocky wall, leaving a clueless spirit standing alone on a plateau. They raised an eyebrow, visibly annoyed, and threw themselves into a nearby pile of leaves carelessly. Supporting their chin with their hands, they looked around their new surroundings, wondering what to do next as the realization they were totally lost finally dawned on them.

ShredKnives

 

[ShredKnives]

In a seabed of leaves and the beauty of fall, she collapsed herself under a world stupefying unlike reality. Her ears rang high-pitched tunes in a melodic white noise, her vision covered in black while the feeling of crushed litter rubbed her face. Leaves weren't the most comfortable thing to sleep under, but they made for great surprises.

Brilliance. Oh, darling, how the sun couldn't be any more full of love and joy. She wanted to break a kiss! If life was always like this rather than the emptiness of the peak of Youkai Mountain, she'd probably stay here; but alas, her passion had different plans.

CRASH!​

"Ow!"

How despicably rude! She rubbed her eyes, arms breaking out of the pile of leaves with a harsh rustle, tired eyes sharp with fury as she felt a bubbly oil broil from beneath her lungs. Oh, how she kindly and wishfully wanted to witness the world wither after her wonderous nap was interrupted. The whole world should bend its knees and beg for her forgiveness!

Or something like that. Dramatism was kind of her middle name, and she tended to rock a solid technique when it came to moving theatrically.

Needless to say, she was on the short end of slight infuriation. And her eyes matched up with the spirit's, liquid dust tastelessly spitting out of her mouth.

"HEY." She began, closing her eyes as she took a deep breath.

In and out. She bent her arms, ready to chop something as she shortly dropped her hands to her waist, pointed at the spirit.

...

"What are you doing? I'm trying to sleep here."

 

[Glassred]

Yawning, the spirit's demeanor immediately changed as they felt movement stirring beneath them, their quickly widening eyes blinking in confusion. Seeing a set of arms pop out of the leaf pile, they jumped back and landed on their butt, meeting the eyes of someone or something they had never seen before, and screaming out in bewildered terror.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaah!"

A shrill sound filled and reverberated through the plain, dangerously close to ear-bleedingly painful. Slowly subsiding in volume, the cacophony dispersed once the spirit realised they were facing a Youkai just like themselves, the realisation turning their horror to angry embarassment. Arms on their hips but still on the ground, they bit back at the stranger reprimanding them.

"You... You perverted leaf monster! What are you doing, lazying around like that?! I'll hang you by the neck for embarassing me, you hear!?"

Shouting unfounded threats was a sorry-looking creature, barely bigger than a fairy. As if attempting to make itself look bigger, the spirit's hair was an overgrown, bushy blue mess which currently hung all the way to the floor, crowned with a garland of prayer beads used like a flowercrown. Dressed in an over-sized Buddhist robe, their three first impressions were rude, monastery looter and blue.

"If only you knew with whom you had the honour, you'd already be trembling and apologising, hm! You should take that as a warning and not step any closer, cause you'll seriously regret doing that. ...Also you're looking kinda angry..."

 

[ShredKnives]

She flinched.

What a loud, obnoxious sound only fitting for that of the lowest class of youkai. So...Fitting, actually. Still loud and obnoxious, but it's not like she was that particularly far away from letting out a loud, obnoxious sound of her own.

Perverted leaf monster?

Well, it's not like she'd look very dashing being several feet under a bed of leaves. Or would she? She decided she'd take proper offense to this lost little weirdo. And even a threat! Now, that's just overkill. Quite ugly, in her forthcoming opinion. Even worse were the clothes.

How dare this spirit make a mockery of her arts. She had half the right mind to eliminate her. And for a moment, her body screamed that it would. She took a step forward.

Krsshh...

Arms sprouted from her vertebrae, gold-plated and gold-polished in a lustrous glowing metal as they pressed their hands together in a harmonious combination. Claps rhythmically rang the air as hands continued to grow, descending down before stopping right above her waistline. Five pairs total came out, palms pressing together in a perfect arrangement that gave off the "100 hands" dynamic.

She captured the image of a buddha, in some...Interpretive way or another. A yellow sundress reached down to her shins, flashing a sunflower-like color under a black-cape that conformed to the back end, wrapped around her in long white ribbons. She wore polished low-heel boots, and her hair a deep black mixed with a single white highlight, and curls running down behind her shoulders and her bangs waving across her eyebrows. Her hands have seen better days, ashy with dry skin and scars on across her knuckles and palms. An old gash ran across her arm as well, and the freckles on her face crunched as she looked at the spirit in a gaze of pure irritated fury.

"Yeah. I'm quite a bit angry right now, maybe it's because someone decided to intrude on someone's nice little nap, darling. Maybe next time you wanna hang someone by the neck, you'll start with figuring out whether or not you're messing with someone worth your size." One hand released from its calm clap, its finger large enough to cover half of the fairy up. It pointed, threateningly, as it jutted forward in a terribly-screeching hum. It hummed like the static of a radio, hissing in burning friction with every movement.

Another deep breath left her lips.

"Tell me, do you think a celestial likes it when you're threatening to hang them up by the neck? I know I don't, darling."
A celestial? Well, she sure had similar traits to that other celestial...

Shortly after, some of the fingers of her clapped hands fell apart as toxic purple stained the gold hues of her towering arms. Pieces fell off, hitting the ground and shattering into glittering gold dust before dissipating within the air. They felt and tasted like minced sandpaper.

Her gaze shot behind to her hands, narrowing as she turned her head back to the fairy, her normal hands clasped together in a tightening lace.

Her voice strained, she continued calmly, "Now I have to deal with this. Aren't you just such a happy-go-lucky, careless, little thorn. If you're trying to pick a fight, I'm more than happy to oblige."

 

[Glassred]

The blue spirit threw its hands in front of its face instinctively, peeking through the gaps in between its fingers at the display unraveling in front it. Inching backwards on their knees while cowering, they wondered whether this was enough to fuel the full extent of their elusive power, but decided against trying after recognising more fruitful alternatives were present. This person...

"No way, are you a real..?"

In a flash so fast one might miss it by blinking, the spirit's hands pressed against each other in the same way the supposed Celestial's did, bowing down and shamelessly prostrating themselves before her. Shuddering at the outburst of bizarre-sounding static, the overgrowth on their head practically obscured their entire body by bristling up to twice its original volume.

"I'm... I'd like to apologize! I'm sorry, so please don't shrink me by turning into hellfire! It won't happen again, promise!"

Displays of such pitiful intensity were nothing new to this particular Youkai, in fact it was half their job description. Pleading, crying, trembling, at any sign of genuine danger, the most important thing was for a possible threat to underestimate them... they couldn't fight back otherwise, after all. Usually, others let them be after hearing their ridiculous boasts, though.

Right now, they were torn on what to do. The one in front of them appeared to be deteriorating, but she was so cool! Plus, somebody descended from Heaven had to have a stash of impressive artefacts and baubles hidden somewhere on their person. They finished off their act in a hushed tone, looking up and brandishing an innocent smile.

"You're supposed to be pretty merciful, so you'll forgive me, right..?"

 

[ShredKnives]

Yes, sir/ma'am, a real tried and true Celestial. She's not quite as troublesome as the other one, but she clearly has a short temper that would only match the obnoxiousness of the other. How she was on the journey to achieve nirvana would be a mystery.

Her elbow rested on her hand, propping up her head. "What kind of demons do you take us for? Our place is called Heaven, you know?"

Just the absurdity of such a claim paved a great way in mitigating her initial irritation. She didn't have the energy to let loose on a pitiful tiny being. What ended up making it worse was watching it bend knee and heel. What a sickening display; not even a lick of hesitation and she was being shown prostrations.

"Hey. Get up. It's tasteless to bow down this easily."

She snapped her fingers, her glare shooting at the fairy. It seems clear she was keeping her distance, and the remaining disharmonious arms refused to fall, despite its gold glow slowly being overwhelmed by purple decay. "Answer me this, riddling fairy; how often do you do this? Enough to anger me, but you. You. You want me to forgive you, how about you start with telling me why you're over here?"

 

[Glassred]

The blue Youkai shot up at the snap of her fingers, standing at attention and dangerously close to throwing a salute. Placing a finger on their chin, it appeared as if they were seriously in deep thought about the incoming questions, nodding to themselves to the sound of a deep exhale. Words like shame and tasteless weren't part of their dictionary, but they still understood the kind of picture of themselves they painted. Not that they could afford to care, of course. Painting pictures was the entire point.

"Umm, about once or twice a week? The other Youkai tend to pick on me, for no reason whatsoever!" They incidentally skipped over the part where they provoke them by talking big every time. "Not like they ever stand a chance though, ehehe." At the first promise of tensions lifting, the spirit already started growing overconfident again.

Sliding their arms down to their hips, the creature suddenly shifted to a lecturing expression.

"And I'm not a fairy either!" They turned around, looking over their shoulder while swaying their hips from side to side in a fidgety and awkward gesture, peering down to showcase their plain, or plainly wingless back. "See? I'm way more complex than those little things. They only get to be taller than me when they wear weird pompon hats."

They spun to face the Celestial once more, scratching the back of their neck as if they knew the thing they were about to say was stupid.

"I was chasing the wind to its hidden treasures! It riled me up by bumping into me, so I thought I'd rightfully take what I deserved as compensation. All I ended up doing is getting lost, though." Failing to disappoint, the Youkai said all this in utter seriousness.

"Woah," they suddenly became awestruck by their own thoughts. "Meeting a Celestial at the bottom of a pile of leaves... Gotta be good luck for me, right?! We were led here for a reason, and now we're about to find something totally amazing, I can't wait at all!" Reading the room, it seemed, was a skill rarer and more valuable than one might initially assume. The creature's attention instantly shifted to scanning around for anything peculiar.

 

[ShredKnives]

Oh. She was still a bit ignorant about the youkai in Gensokyo. A trivial correction. This thing was still an idiot, so the difference was less than worthless.

"Oh, well, that's just so rude of them, now, isn't it, darling?" She said with a fake smile. "Well, first off, what makes you think I hold any good fortune for the likes of anyone, let alone someone who decided to unfortunately divebomb me?"

She grabbed the spirit by the collar. A harsh grab that wasn't too different from a bully grabbing a kid by the shirt.

"Fine then, darling. Since you seem all about that confidence, maybe I can hold you up a favor. You seem like you won against those youkai after talking some big words, and I love a good fight. I might think about the reasons that led you here and maybe you'll find something more amazing. But if you don't win, then I think you can suspect that you'll start looking like a fairy at the end of a fight."
Her glare pierces the spirit. "Real soon."

"Or you could back down and just tell me the truth, darling. A fight's a fight. Lasts a few minutes, maybe. You know how long trust lasts? As long as you can keep it."

She held the spirit closer to her face. "And do I look like I trust you in any regard?" She pushed the distance away, frowning. "So, darling, let's just say the only treasure you'll see is your head on a damn picture frame, lined with my hard-earned gold."

 

[Glassred]

"Wuh... wa--" The spirit yelped and cried out with every swing of their body, as they hung limply from the Celestial's grasp. Each passing word caused their eyes to tear up and their lips to start wobbling, their mind racing and caught up in their current situation. The last course of action, when everything else fails...

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

They began bawling like an infant which had just left the womb, giant crocodile tears falling down their cheeks in an almost comically surreal deluge of water. Snot dripping from their nose, they continued releasing a noise far more loud and grating than the scream from before, as if attempting to summon a concerned parent from half-way across the globe. Covering their mouth by moving several thick locks of their indigo hair in front of it, they began choking out whimpered words slowly.

"I don't... Wanna be decapitated! I- I just got lost and wanted to take a reeeeeesttt! My head isn't worth anything at all, so... please let me keep it!"

Thrashing from place to place, the Youkai seemed to be begging from the depths of its miserable heart, totally killing any atmosphere that might have built up until now. At both first and second glance, they were having a bad time and were at the end of their wits, not sure what was actually required of them anymore. As far as they knew, they were telling the truth of what happened to them and expressed their sincere thoughts about the matter.

"Everybody treats me like this! Leave me be if you're gonna be a meanie..!"

If the worst came to worst, they'd just have to risk hitting her already.

 

[ShredKnives]

...

"Darling, the more you cry, the more I want to tear it off."

But fine. It seems the spirit was learning her lesson, somewhat. She let loose a sigh. "You want me to be a meanie, invade my space. Very hard, isn't it?"

She watched the spirit for several moments longer, musing over her next action. "Alright."

And she let go. And her harmonious hands began to reshine, resprout and restore it's former golden glory; purple decay was hissing away as she crossed her arms.

"What do you want? With me, anyway. Clearly the breeze meant something to you, and whatnot. Why do you even want to be here?"