Realmhopper !GGm7gCu8hs 2012/09/04 (Tue) 06:48 No. 46804 ▼ File 134674128235.jpg - (168.87KB, 850x1169 , sample-171700b1564637987570a4dbb42b04f1.jpg)
[X] You don’t want to upset the tengu, but at the same time you don’t want to have your morning efforts be for nothing. Isn’t there a more…indirect way to either get to the shrine, or else Kanako’s attention?
Despite all the interference that you’ve run into all morning, and despite the fact that Suwako’s offer is basically what you’ve been looking for the entire time, you can’t help but hesitate as the goddess asks for your approval to go.
“Hm? What’s up?” Suwako asks, walking over with a curious look on her face. “You seemed all set, so…”
“Ah, well… I’m just worried about upsetting relations with the tengu. I know that we should get going, but I can’t help but wonder if there is another way to do this that doesn’t end up with souring my business relations with them.”
“Whaaaat?” Suwako’s face takes on a look of annoyance, her lips curling into a small pout of anger. “You can’t please everyone, ya know. Sometimes you just have to choose a side and then pummel the other into submission! Don’t worry about what the others think, just beat them up until they do what you say!”
“That’s what I told him, but he wouldn’t have any of it.” Aya says, carrying the same annoyed pout as Suwako.
“Says the girl who is actively trying to get me to attack one of her comrades,” You say with a sigh. As you think of the white wolf tengu you met, your memory jogs back a bit to something Aya said when you first met. “Hey Aya, didn’t you tell me that tengu have really good hearing in general?”
“Hm? Yeah, that’s right. So?”
“So in theory, Ms. Momiji would still be able to hear us from here, right?”
“Not even in theory, Momiji can defiantly see and hear us from here.”
“And that means she’s more or less heard everything that you’ve been saying about trying to get me to attack her, right?”
Aya just stares at you with a blank gaze before tilting her head to the side in further confusion. “So?”
---
Up near the top of the waterfall, a certain white-wolf tengu was testing the limits of her willpower, attempting to keep herself from abandoning her post and slaughtering the black-haired girl standing near the waterfall’s base.
“THAT…DAMN…CROOOOOOWWWW!”
---
“Ah, it sounds like Momiji is having fun up there.” Aya says with a smile as she turns to face the waterfall. “Hi, Momiji!” Aya says as she gives a cheerful wave.
It might be your imagination, but you can’t help but think that you hear a noise that sounds vaguely like someone being strangled from the top of the waterfall. After a few moments of contemplation, you decide that you would probably be better off not thinking about it.
“I’ve got it!” Suwako exclaims, startling both you and Aya back towards her. “Yeah, yeah, this should work! I think I know of a way to get you to the shrine without upsetting the tengu!”
“Wait, really?” You ask, “That’s great!”
“Yeah, and it’s something that I’ve been wanting to try for a while now, so it works for all three of us at the same time! I’ll get started right away!”
“Awesome!” You say. You’re relieved to have a plan that will work to the benefit of everyone, right up until you consider what Suwako just said. “Wait, did you just say that you haven’t tried this yet?”
“Mishi!” Suwako calls out, ignoring you. “Time to come out and play!” Upon hearing those words, an odd look comes across Aya’s face, and she seems to decide to put some distance between herself and Suwako. Seeing the fleeing crow makes feel like you should do the same, but unfortunately you aren’t able to react nearly as quickly as Aya, and as such you are still in the vicinity of the goddess when the ground starts shaking. As the ground cracks and upheaves, you wonder if you should really be surprised at this point by the sight of the giant, white snake (made of what appears to be some sort of stone) slithering up from the ground. Soon enough the figure towers above you as it stares at you with one of its pure red eyes.
“Mishi!” Suwako says as she give the huge snake a huge, distracting it away from you for a bit. You attempt to edge away from the giant stone reptile, but unfortunately for you Suwako seems to have other ideas. “Alright Mishi, just like we planned! Go and get him!”
At Suwako’s prompt, the giant snake turns towards you once more and opens its mouth. It’s somewhat disconcerting to see that the inside of the snake’s mouth seems to be shining with a blood-red glow, but it’s even more disconcerting to see that same mouth hurtling towards you.
As the jaws of the giant snake close around you, the only thing that comes to mind is that, all things considered, it’s somewhat silly that this is the second time something like this has happened to you.
---
“Ok!” Suwako says with a small bounce as the giant snake dives back under the ground. “I’ve told Mishi to meet us at the shrine, so we should probably head on over now if we want to make it there before then, alright?”
To be fair, this wasn’t the first time that Aya has seen a giant animal gulp down a humanoid, so it was probably to her credit that she only needed about ten seconds or so to get over the shock of what she had just seen.
“Ah…sure.” Aya said as she blinked back into reality. Lifting off the ground, Aya sets the pace as the two girls head towards the Moriya shrine. “Um, is he going to be ok inside of there?”
“Probably.” Suwako says with a smile. “So long as Mishi doesn’t actually swallow him, there shouldn’t be any problems.”
“…and if Mishi does swallow him?”
“Mishi’s a good kid, he wouldn’t do something like that.” Suwako says. After a moment, though, she turns a bit away from Aya, hiding her face. “And if he does… well, I’m sure we’ll figure something out.”
The two of them pass the white-wolf tengu as they head over the top of the waterfall. For some reason, Momiji seemed to be rooted in place, eyes wide open and looking ahead. What startled Aya was that she didn’t react at all when she passed by. Usually, Momiji was a lot more energetic and hostile than this when she passed by.
“Yo, Momiji, is everything ok?” Aya asked as she floated near the wolf-girl, a bit of concern showing on her face. The white-wolf turned slowly to face Aya, startling the crow girl with a face of forced neutrality. Turning past Aya, Momiji’s eyes fell upon Suwako, who seemed a bit confused as to what Momiji was up to. Shifting around a bit, Momiji got onto her knees as she continued to face Suwako, and soon enough the wolf-girl was prostrating herself before the blond-haired goddess.
“Lord Suwako.” Said the white-wolf girl from her prostrated position.
After a few moments, Aya and Suwako looked at each other before, giving one another a shrug as the two of them left Momiji to worship in solitude.
---
Soon enough, Aya and Suwako touched down in front of the main building of the Moriya shrine. The shrine itself was simple enough, a standard Shinto building constructed of basic materials, standing at the top of a large set of stairs and overlooking the large lake that was transported over alongside the shrine. A stone wall surrounded the shrine’s grounds, and near the top of the shrine two large shimenawa could be seen hanging. In front of the building, two figures were mulling about what looked to be some sort of stand.
“I’m back!” Suwako called out as she approached the other two residents of the shrine. As she approached the building, Kanako and Sanae turned to greet her.
“Yo, welcome back,” Kanako said as she turned to face her godly partner, “Though a little bit later than I expected. Did the tengu need you for something?” She asked, as she spotted Aya walking next to the small goddess.
“Nah. I ran into someone who wanted to get to the shrine, but he was having trouble getting past the tengu guards,” Suwako replied. “I decided to lend him a hand.”
“Oh, a pilgrim! Nice work, then.” Kanako said with a grin, before putting a finger to her lips in contemplation. “But I’m pretty sure I haven’t seen or felt anyone approach the shrine all day. Are you sure you sent him this way.”
“Positive!” Suwako says with a hop and a grin. “Though I’m guessing we may have beaten him here, considering the route Mishi would have had to take to get here.”
“Mishi?” Kanako said in confusion, before a look of slight concern came about her face. “Wait, Suwako, what exactly did you-”
Kanako’s question was interrupted as the shrine’s ground began to rumble, and soon enough the giant white snake burst from the ground, slowly rising towards the sky until it’s head was higher up than the shrine’s roof.
“Good job, Mishi!” Suwako exclaimed. The others could only stare at the giant snake, wondering what would happen next. “Now, spit him out.”
A large rumbling could be heard, and Suwako took on an air of annoyance. “I don’t care what he tastes like, you’ll spit him out right now!”
Another round of rumbling came about, and apparently it wasn’t something that Suwako wanted to hear. Pulling the rim of her hat over her eyes, Suwako began to talk in a slow, even sounding voice. “Mishi, are you trying to make me angry here?”
At this, the snakes entire body seemed to freeze, and for a few moments nothing seemed to happen, but soon enough the large snake suddenly bowed its head towards the small, blonde girl with the ridiculous hat.
“That’s what I thought.” Suwako continued in her even tone. “Now, spit him out this instant.”
---
The worst part about all this is that your entire surroundings seem to consist of a persistent red glow. If it were simply white all around you, you could probably cope for a little while, but the pervasiveness of all the red around you means that even when you close your eyes, crimson managed to push past your eyelids. The fact that you can’t really keep track of time in here doesn’t really do you any favors either, and to top it all off you seem to be in constant motion while you are inside of here. And to top it all off, simply being in here makes you feel like something is draining away at your strength, making you wonder if you’ll be able to stay conscious for much longer.
At some point, you think you can feel your momentum slow down, and you could swear that you can hear voices coming from somewhere. But by this point, you can’t really make heads or tails of what’s being said. And to be honest, you really couldn’t care less about what they might be saying at this point. It’s getting harder and harder to think; much easier to just lay back and let the crimson around you take you…
Suddenly, you feel yourself to a much faster speed and suddenly you find yourself facing the world from whence you came. You are able to fully appreciate being back for about a quarter of a second, right before you end up meeting the ground with your face.
“Mishi!” You hear an admonishing voice say. “You have to be gentler!”
“Aw geez, is he alright?” you hear another voice say, coming from above you. Unfortunately you aren’t really able to make out from whom the voice originated, as by this point your brain decides that enough is enough and shuts down your conscious mind.
---
Fortunately, your return to the conscious world seems to be much more relaxing than your exit. As you begin to feel your senses come back to you, you realize that you are in a laying position, with the back of your head positioned on something soft. You can hear some sounds around you, but unfortunately aren’t able to make out what they mean quite yet. As you open your eyes, the first thing you manage to make out is a shade of…
[ ] Green
[ ] Black
[ ] Blue
[ ] Yellow
