>I was thinking of writing this more like a short story than an CYOA, but I might add choices later.

I hope you do. We've been needing an injection of grimdark, ever since SoG in /others/ stopped updating, and Yukari dropping a train on Gensokyo just to see what survives is pretty fucking grim. The narrative is terse and visceral, with action favored over abstraction; it looks like a perfect survival-horror setup.

I say continue it, just try to be consistent with updates, same with anon keeping up as well, and it should survive what befalls many CYOA's.

Looks very promising...

>>24173
>>24187

Couldn't have said it better myself.

I've never written anything survival-horror before, much less read/played it. I'll be having a second look at SoG later. Anyway, second part.

-----

You wake with a start, quickly swinging your knife in a wide arc and jumping to your feet, ready for a second strike, but you hit only air. A dream. Wiping the sweat from your forehead, you curse silently. The fire went out.

The next few hours are spent finding dry grass and branches and dragging them back onto the ashes of last night's fire. It takes some time, but with the help of the lighter you manage to get it going again. Filling one of the beat-up pots with water from the stream, you set it over the fire to boil and sit back against the tree trunk.

As the water begins to bubble and steam, you begin your next task. Carefully unwinding the bandage on your arm, you wince as the crusted blood peels away.

You take a small bowl, and, filling it with some water, proceed to gentle pour it over the wound, gritting your teeth against the pain. After some moments, you cut a fresh strip of cloth with your knife and rebind your wound. After tentatively flexing your arm a few times, you sit up, satisfied with your work.

Absentmindedly, you look at your reflection in bowl. Your eyes look glazed and tired, your cheeks gaunt. Your hair is short and unevenly cut, tangled and matted with dirt and dried blood.

You dip your hand into the water and splash some on your face, breaking the reflection. The sun looms low on the horizon. Only an hour or so left before nightfall.

-----

As the last of the sunlight fades, you trudge back to your campsite. In a stroke of luck, you were able to catch a large fish only a short ways downstream. You quickly set about gutting and cleaning it, then hold it over the fire on a short stick. It gives off a tantalizing aroma, and you waste no time in eating it. As you finish, a voice comes from behind you.

"Now that you've enjoyed your meal, perhaps I can enjoy mine~?"

Your blood runs cold at these words, and you immediately launch into a sprint, not even caring to glance at the speaker.

Run. There is no choice, you don't have the tools to fight them this time.

You empty your thoughts, running frantically between trees. Your foot catches on a stone, you stop yourself with an outstretched hand, feel a sharp sting in your palm. Keep running.

A voice in your ear, barely a whisper. "Caught you~"

A small hand grabs your arm tightly, near the bandage. It squeezes, hard, and pulls you back. You cry out.

"I didn't forget what you did, you know. It took a long time to regenerate from that." Her eyes are narrowed, teeth bared. You struggle, but her grip tightens again, slowly crushing your wounded arm. Her voice drops to a hiss. "Should I show what it feels like?" She twist her grip, eliciting a small yelp of pain from you.

"First, I'll-."

She stops, her eyes going wide as you drive your knife through her wrist. You twist it, hard, and then pull it back as she lets out a scream, something between a human wail and a bird. You turn, ignoring the fresh blood running down your arm, and run into the forest. You see a low space under the roots of a tree and dive for them. Crouching in the small, dark space, you wait, frantically fighting to hold your breath. Eventually, the sound of her screeching dies out, and silence falls. Pressing yourself back, deeper into the tiny burrow, you take deep breaths, allowing your heartbeat to slow down.

Safe

-----

After what seems like an eternity, morning comes. The first rays of dawn touch the ground just outside your hiding spot.


Still no choices for now, I'm trying to practice writing longer sections without them. This story probably won't be very long, even if it does get choices.

>I've never written anything survival-horror before, much less read/played it.

Don't worry about it then. You seem to have it down well enough already.

This is good.

Damn.

Keep it coming.

It's like I'm reading Island of the Blue Dolphins.

Except with monsters trying to eat you.

It's fucking good.

I want to see a part where the girl gets so hungry she seriously starts to consider eating one of the corpses, only to find that someone already has. And moreover the attack that made her clear out from her most likely nearby shelter, the train itself.

Hell you could even make this semi-permanent. I could see the protagonist becoming a feral child who hides from anyone she sees, fearing that they're all youkai, and who surrounds herself with so great an array of simple traps that they stay the hell away.

x

>>24206

Since when is the main character female?

Well, it's nice to see some more people noticed it. Sorry about not updating, but I spent the last few days reading comedy manga. Not productive to grimdark. I will attempt to rectify the situation a little later today.

>>24206
>I could see the protagonist becoming a feral child
Pic related.

>>24207
Female? You're mistaken. Pic related.

>>24241
Oh wow. That's... mildly distrubing.

Anyway, I got a bit of a grimdark overload while planning out the rest of the story. I swear, the next story I write will be all about Chen doing happy things and stuff.

Sage for being slooooow~

>Not productive to grimdark

you could update your other story instead

>>24241

holy shit this is awesome

Victoria, Wild Girl of Aveyron?

>>24243
>Oh wow. That's... rather awesome. And fuck yeah, Queen.
Fixed.

>>24260
Not a bad idea, for when you can't grim it up.

Sorry for all the delays. Laziness and life kept intefering.

-----

After what seems like an eternity, morning comes. The first rays of dawn touch the ground just outside your hiding spot. You crawl out, wincing as you move your now-stiff joints. Taking a seat with your back against the tree, you examine yourself. Your arms and legs are covered in small scratches, and a nasty cut runs along one hand.

The wound on your arm is much worse where she grabbed you, and you notice a fresh set of punctures from her claws, though you unfortunately lack the proper resources here to clean and rebind it. In fact, all of the equipment you manage to take out of the train, except for your knife and the lighter, is still back at your campsite.

You shake your head slowly, trying to think. That monster will remember where it found you. If you try to spend another night there, it, or perhaps another, will find you. Sighing, you adjust the bandage on your arm as best you can, and set off in the direction of your camp.

Without the aid of adrenaline, it takes the better part of the morning to get back. The last embers of the fire are still smoking. You almost ignore them, but think better of it and throw a pot of water on them. You then set about gathering all the items you had salvaged. A few beat up metal pots, a ladle, a ceramic bowl, chipped and cracked but still useful, and a large mass of clothing and blankets, held together with yarn and buttons. Gathering it all up into a pile, you hoist it on to your back and set out.

-----

As the sun dips toward the horizon, you lay back, exhausted. A soft breeze blows past, making the trees rustle. You glance around at your handiwork. Your new camp is a slight clearing in the trees; it looks as though a single, massive tree once stood here. You allow your gaze to travel up to the edges of the clearing, where your things are carefully wedged into small alcoves and gaps under the roots.

Finally, you look up to the maze of thin wires and strings, faint lines and precariously bent branches. Creating it took the better part of the afternoon, and your stomach grumbled through the whole affair, but seeing it complete gives you a sense of confidence. You allow yourself a slight smile.

You fidget with the bandage on your arm again. The pain is less now than it was this morning, but it's not completely gone. Cleaning it will be more difficult now, since you had to put some distance between you and the stream. You don't particularly want to make a fire tonight either, as it seems some of the creatures aren't afraid of it. You shudder as you recall last night's encounter, hand brushing against your knife.

You stomach protests, and you briefly regret your inability to catch lunch today. It too late to hunt now, though, so instead you pull your makeshift blanket over yourself and crawl into the tree, wedging yourself between the trunk and a large branch. With a sigh, you lean back and prepare for a long night.

-----

A little short, and perhaps uneventful. Part two comes tomorrow.

Waiting eagerly~

>A little short, and perhaps uneventful. Part two comes tomorrow.

Hooray!

Next part. I didn't give this one as much proofreading as normal. Hope it's okay.

-----

You blink, slowly. You've been staring at the same scene for nearly an hour, and nothing has changed. You close your eyes and sigh, shifting your limbs around to get comfortable. You clench your hand, pressing your nails into your palm, and force your eyes open again. You can't fall asleep here. But this time, when you look into the clearing, you see... nothing? Is it getting darker?

As you start to rub your eyes, a familiar chill goes through you. Turning your head sharply, you pull out your knife, still hidden of the mass of clothing. Your eyes dart from limb to limb, searching for any signs of movement. Just as you prepare to look down, you hear something rustle. above you. You look up.

"Aww. You saw me." Your eyes go wide; staring at the strange, bird-like girl above you. She laughs, making an inhuman, almost birdlike sound.

"Wondering how I found you so soon?" She asks, flashing you a smile that shows all of her teeth.

You start to shift your legs, taking care to ensure the blanket doesn't move and give you away.

"Simple: I followed you." She begins to laugh again, closing her eyes. "it's sad, almost, how stupid everyone thinks we are," she begins.

But you aren't listening anymore. In a single motion, you toss the blanket into the air, dropping to the ground feet first, knife at the ready. You swing the knife hard, cutting through the now-invisible strings that run the length of the tree. A series of sharp snaps and the sound of rustling leaves and a single, inhuman cry of pain tell you of your success. You grin involuntarily.

No time for that now, though. Taking but a second to recover your balance, you run, harder and faster than you had ever run before. You don't have a destination. You just need to get as far away from here as possible. Maybe find a hiding place. And then, tomorrow, you'll repeat the whole thing over again. But now isn't the time to think about that. Now, the only thing that matters is running, with every ounce of force you can muster from your body.

Something catches hold of your leg, and you fall to the ground. The knife slips out of your grasp, and the grip tightens as you try to reach for it. The grip begins to drag you back, ignoring your ineffectual clawing at the ground.

"You... Do you know how much of a pain you've been? Why don't you just give up already?" She speaks through gritted teeth, voice filled with rage. "I could have done this quickly. It would have been better for both of us. But now? I'm going to watch you suffer." You feel her grip tighten more, cutting of the blood to your leg. She jerks hard, creating a sharp pain in your hip and forcing you to let go of the ground.

You swing your other leg blindly, feel it connect with something. You quickly swing it again, harder, pulling against her with all your might. You hear a muffled shout, and something collapses under your heel. Her grip loosens, just enough for you to break free. You scramble wildly for a few moments, at last managing to regain your footing. Plucking your knife from the ground, you charge away, diving between trees, stumbling, wincing every step from the pain in your hip.

A strange, eerie song cuts through the silence of the forest. It seems to slip into your head, changing your thoughts, drowning out caution. You feel yourself slowing down, your grip relaxing.

No! You can't stop!

You stumble doggedly onwards, breathing heavily from exhaustion and furiously trying to blink away the darkness and confusion. Your foot catches on a root as you lift it, and you tumble foreword, into pitch blackness. At once, the song stops, and your minds clears. You sit up and look about, warily. You can feel the ground beneath you, hear the rustle of the leaves as you brush against them, but your sight is obscured by darkness. A hand grips your shoulder, firmly, and an unfamiliar voice whispers in your ear.

"I can help you, but..."You can practically hear the grin. "there will be a price."

You can only nod your head dumbly.

-----

Next update coming maybe later today. Who knows.

>Next update coming maybe later today. Who knows.

Hooray!

Oooh, this is good.

Hoping for an ironic end, where the protagonist captures the youkai, with the apparent intention to carve her up and eat her for dinner.

>>24297
That would be kind of funny.

Update took a while, but I think it's long enough to post now.

-----

The voice beside you drops to a whisper.

"Good."

You a hear flapping, followed by the sound of footsteps and a small squeak of pain. You grin manically as the girl outside curses through her teeth. It seems your traps worked better than you had expected.

"Mystia?" The voice beside you calls.

"Huh? Rumia?" You hear a small shuffling as she turns toward you. You tighten your grip on your knife, praying silently that she can't see you. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing~? Next to you, the girl stands up, not releasing you from her grip.

"Hmm. Say... have you seen a human around here?" There's a hungry edge to her voice.

"Maybe~? She sing-songs. "What if I already ate it, though?"

"Then it'd be a pain. You know, Rumia..."She pauses, then continues in a hushed tone. "this human was the one responsible for that."

"Oh?" All traces of amusement are gone from her voice. She digs her nails into your shoulder painfully.

"Yes. it's been causing problems since then, too."

"Really? In that case..."She pauses. You break into a cold sweat. You can hear her grin. "I've got it right here."

Your stomach turns over, and it takes all of your self control not to throw up. A series of soft crunches tells you that the bird- girl is close. You shift your grip on the knife and try to brace yourself to launch into a sprint. Your plans are interrupted by the voice of the bird-girl, now directly beside your ear.

?Got you~"

"Got you!"

At the same time, however, the other girl's energetic shout.

"Eh?!"

The grip on your shoulder disappears, and you feel yourself propelled through the air violently, landing on your feet and skidding a short distance in the dirt.

"Go."

The command triggers something inside you, and your legs begin to move, pushing you foreword.

"Rumia! Let go, it's getting away!"

"Eh? Mystia?"

You keep running ahead, summoning up every ounce of strength left in your body. Run. Run. RUN!

It takes only a matter of seconds before you hear a now-familiar flapping behind you, approaching quickly. It hurts to breath. You lean down, willing yourself to go faster, even just a little bit. Your legs start to ache in protest. You barely avoid tripping on another root. She's still getting closer. Ahead, you see faint lights, obscured by a haze. It takes a moment to realize that your eyes watering. Just a little more, and maybe you can...

You miss a step, striking the ground with your toes and sending you into a tumbling roll. Your pursuer gives a shout of triumph. Dazed, you attempt to stand, but your legs refuse to support you. Your breath comes in short, ragged gasps. Your try to lash out with your knife, but it slips from your hands and hits the ground. The winged girl walks closer.

No, no, no no no no! You can't die! You can't die!

You watch in terror as the winged girl raises her arm. You shut your eyes. A soft breeze brushes against your face, followed something wet and warm. You open your eyes. She stands there, eyes wide, blood dripping from the stump of her wrist.

As she turns her head, you feel another breeze, accompanied by a thin line of white. With a pathetic, gurgling sound, the girl's head falls from her neck and hits the ground with a soft thump. Her lifeless body slumps down soon after. You let out a long, shuddering gasp.

-----

Suspense! Already working on the next update, I'll post it tomorrow. I'm off to bed now.

I wonder if we're supposed to be Reimu, or something similarly absurd.

>>24305

I don't think Reimu ever rode a train.

>Suspense! Already working on the next update, I'll post it tomorrow.

hooray!

updates?

Sorry, sorry. Found the manga '20th Century Boys'. Just finished it yesterday. It's really good.

>>24314

Don't forgot to read 21st Century Boys as well as Monster and Pluto.

>>24316

As well as his newest one, Billy Bat.

However, bear in mind the first 2 or so chapters are very misleading...

>>24314
FFFFFFFFFFF

>>24327
I'm afraid I don't follow...

Short, yes, but I felt this scene should stand alone.

----

A woman, dressed in a long dress, silhouetted against the night sky. As she steps closer, you see the sword in her hand, its blade colored white with the moon's reflection.

She stops a short distance away. Her long hair sways in a breeze. She sheaths the sword, bending down beside you. You feel a hand on your shoulder. You try to struggle, but you can barely move. Another hand slips beneath your legs. You feel yourself lifted into the air. A voice whispers into your ear.

"it's alright now."

The woman cradles you against herself, holding you carefully. She begins to walk. You catch a glimpse of her face. She looks sad. Your eyes flicker as exhaustion sets in.

"You don't have to be afraid anymore." She whispers again.

This warmth... you shudder, and your breath begins coming in sobs.

For the first time in nearly a year, you break down and cry.

-----

It's not over. I'll start work on the next part later.

>>24339

Tenshi..."No one else has a sword in Touhou, right?

>>24341

Nope, Youmu does as well, but it's not her.

PC-98-wise, there's also Meira and Konngara, but what would either of them be doing here I wonder"...

>>24342
Oh, geez, can't believe I forgot Youmu... Mm, and I'm not too familiar with PC-98 games.

...It couldn't possibly be your mom, could it?

>>24343

Aside from the fact that her body is rotting away near the train wreckage, I don't see how it could possibly be her.

It's Keine. Regret over having to kill. Maternal aura. Notice the hair?

>>24354

The maternal part and regret may be true, but the hair color wasn't specified and since when did she use a sword?

>>24355
Isn't one of her spellcards Sacred Treasure "something with sword in it"?

>>24356

Land Sign [Three Sacred Treasures - Sword]

Huh, I guess you're right in that regard.
I'm still not absolutely convinced it's Keine though.

>>24355
>the hair color wasn't specified

Look at the goddamn picture. Silver-white hair with a blue-tinted fringe.

Her eyes are more red in her werecow form, but that doesn't remove the possibility that she might also acquire them when exercising certain power, in the same manner of Youmu and Sakuya.

>As she turns her head, you feel another breeze, accompanied by a thin line of white. With a pathetic, gurgling sound, the girl's head falls from her neck and hits the ground with a soft thump. Her lifeless body slumps down soon after. You let out a long, shuddering gasp.

White lasers? It's definitely Keine.

>>24367

Oh. Now I see the blue bits.
Ah well.

>>24371

Ah, I didn't see those until just now as well.

Nice observation, Anon.

So...update anytime soon?

Working on it. This was a less planned section, so it took a bit longer. The first choice is coming up soon, though.

Took a while, but here it is.

-----

Your footsteps make a persistent crunching as you walk across a layer of fresh snow. You exhale, creating a small cloud ahead of you as you pull your arms tighter around yourself. At last, your destination comes into view.

Even now, covered in snow, it looks all too familiar. You have to fight down the impulse to vomit as you approach. As you draw near to the entrance, however, you spot something in the snow. They look like tracks.

Awakened to the possibility that it may no longer be empty, you raise your stick in front of you, and, steeling yourself, pull open the hatch.

Nothing could have prepared you for what you saw inside.

-----

You awaken in a cold sweat. A dream? You sit up and rub your eyes, throwing aside the blanket. Morning light filters in through a window. Are you at grandpa's house already?

As you raise your arms and stretch, a sharp pain runs up your arm, causing you to flinch. As you look at the bloodstained bandages, then the numerous scars and small cuts across your body, you gradually recall the events of the past year. The train. The forest. Those monsters. The fire.

But... where are you?

The doors slides open, and a woman enters. She has long, silvery hair, and wears a blue dress. You tense up and reach for your knife, only to discover it's not there. The woman kneels down beside you.

"Good morning."

Her voice... it sounds familiar. Was she the woman from last night? She cocks her head.

"...Are you alright?"

You attempt to answer, though speaking proves somewhat awkward.

"Y-yes... I think?

Your stomach growls, reminding you that you weren't able to eat at all yesterday.

The woman smiles, slightly, and stands up.

"I'll make some food." She stands up to leave, but pauses in the doorway. "Put those on when you feel up to it, then come into the kitchen." She points, indicating a small pile of clothing on the floor beside you.

You nod.

It isn't until she's out of the room that you realize you were naked.

-----

With little trouble, you manage to put on the clothing she left. When you pick it up, you discover it to be a plain colored kimono. it's a little big, but it still fits. It feels clean, a welcomed change from your old clothes. You stand, shakily, and exit the room. You smell something cooking and your stomach growls again. Following the scent, you reach the kitchen.

You see the woman leaning over grill. She turns as you enter.

"Ah, it fits. That's good. If you sit down at the table, the food will be ready in a moment."

She points to a low table. You sit down obediently. A short time later, she sets a bowl of rice in front of you, as well as some kind of fish. You pick up your chopsticks and begin to eat. it's amazing how good plain rice can taste. The fish seems to be the same kind as one you had caught before, but cooked properly like this, it tastes much better. The meal passes in silence, though the woman glances at you from time to time.

As you clean the last of the rice from your bowl, she speaks.

"I have some questions, but first, is there anything you would like to know?"

[ ] freewrite

-----

First choice. Ask anything you want.

[X]"Who are you?"

[x] "Who are you?"
[x] "Where am I?"

[x] "Who are you?"
[x] "Where am I?"

[x] "Who are you?"
[x] "Where am I?"

[x] "Who are you?"
[x] "Where am I?"

[x] "Who are you?"
[x] "Where am I?"

Writing now.

Hooray!

Update

Aw, when I saw this at the top of the page I so expected an update...!

Sorry, been having internet trouble with my computer. I'll see if I can get the update moved to this computer later today.

>>24568

hooray!

Sorry about the wait.

-----

"Who... are you?"
"Oh!" She seems surprise. "I'm sorry. My name is Kamishirasawa Keine. I am the guardian of this village." She bows, and you remember to do the same.

"Where am I?" You look around the room as you say this. It seems to be a traditional Japanese home, with a noticeable lack of appliances. The only light comes from the windows.

"This is my house, in the Human Village."

Something about that bothers you.

?Human Village?"

Keine looks you in the eyes. "Yes. The only human settlement left, as far as we know." She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.

"You are now in Gensokyo. Over a century ago, it was sealed off from the outside world, as a refuge for youkai. There were humans here, of course. Most of them were exorcists. When the barrier went up, they were still inside. After all, youkai couldn't survive without humans."

Her expression is unreadable, and she averts her gaze.

"The humans held on for many years. But as more youkai sought refuge here, they were outnumbered. Many people died. Those who survived moved together and created the village."

"The youkai attacks gradually became less common, and people didn't have to exterminate as often. By the time I took over, Village Guardian was mostly ceremonial. I just had to warn off the stray youkai that come near the village."

She sighs audibly.
"Things are a little different now."

She looks at you again.

"Have I answered your questions?"

You nod.

"Then I would like to ask you something. How did you end up in the forest?"

You grimace at the recollection.

"I was on a train, and it... went into a tunnel with lots of eyes, and... it crashed." Your voice begins to catch in your throat.

Keine looks serious. When she speaks again, it is in a softer tone.

"How long ago was this?"

"Last year."

Her face darkens, and she looks away. Eventually, she closes her eyes and exhales audibly.

"Wait here a moment."

She stands up and disappears through the doorway. A short time later, she returns, a pair of wooden sandals in her hands. She gives them to you. At her urging, you try them on. They fit nicely, and you manage to walk in them without much trouble. Seemingly satisfied, Keine hands you a small bag and speaks.

"I have duties to attend to this morning, I'm afraid. You could stay here if you want, but you might do well to take a look around the village."

She smiles, placing a hand on your head.

"I'll be back this afternoon. Remember to stay away from the forest, and try to be back here before evening."

She ruffles your hair, then withdraws her hand slowly and turns to the door. As she leaves, you notice her put on an oddly-shaped object on her head.

You inspect the bag, which jingles as you lift it. Inside is a handful of very old looking coins of various denominations. You place the bag inside your kimono. Putting on the sandals Keine gave you at the door, you slide it open and step out into the morning light.

-----

I've already started work on the next part. Hopefully I'll get it up by tomorrow.

>?How long ago was this?"

>?Last year."

Awesome.

Girl is going to grow up to be an awesome youkai hunter someday.

Very nice. However, there's an error on the first line, I think...

>?Oh!" She seems surprise.

Otherwise, it was all quite good.

>>24571
Like I said, new Reimu. You think this story is in /shrine/ just for kicks?

But damn, yeah. The magnitude of her answer didn't sink in until you pointed it out.

Also, remind me again how it was known this was a girl so early on?

>>24573

There hasn't been any actual confirmation of gender as far as I know of.

>>24573

Which is more sympathetic, a lost little girl or a lost little boy?

>>24575

Both.

>>24573
>The magnitude of her answer didn't sink in until you pointed it out.

Huh? Did I miss something?

>>24578

She spent a year in wild, feeding herself and defending herself against youkai, yet possessing no magic, little in the way of weapons, and with no survival training. We're not talking about barely self-aware beast youkai here: These are proper Touhous she's been fending off.

We haven't had a 'youkai hunter' LA before, despite it seeming to be a rather common profession among village folk, so I'm interested in seeing how this turns out.

>>24581

WHERE DOES IT EVER SAY THAT THE MAIN CHARACTER IS FEMALE. GODDAMN.

>>24583

WHERE DOES IT EVER SAY THAT THE MAIN CHARACTER IS MALE. GODDAMN.

>>24583
>>24584


In other news, writing now.

Update.

-----

You lift your hand to shield your eyes. it's still cool in the mornings, but you barely notice it any more. In fact, you feel warmer than usual, since the yukata covers you better than your old clothes did. Returning your gaze to the street, you set off at a brisk walk.

The village is enormous, larger even then some of the cities you saw Outside. The effect is amplified by the architecture; as Keine said, it really looks as though a bunch of settlements moved in together.

All of the buildings look more or less Japanese, but they're wedged closely together and at odd angles. The street winds and meanders, branching off in countless directions. It takes less than a minute for you to get thoroughly lost. This fact doesn't bother you in the least, though.

The streets, at first devoid of people, slowly begin to fill up. Men come out of doors and alleyways, some pushing carts or stalls, and the stores begin to open their doors and windows.

The silence is broken by footsteps and sliding doors, creaking and rumbling as wooden carts settle into place, shouted greetings and the general murmur of conversation. A pair of children run past, barely younger than you, laughing. You feel a pang in your chest. You walk on.

As the morning wears on, you see more and more carts and stalls. Some are parked in alleys or in front of stores, while other rumble slowly down the street, their owners constantly scanning the crowd for potential customers. Not wanting to be singled out, you allow yourself to blend into the crowd, carefully avoiding eye contact.

As you to move away from the center of town, the crowds begin to thin. There are fewer stalls here, as well, and the few you spot are moving the other way. You exhale. The sheer number of people here is overwhelming. You slow to a stroll, no longer feeling self-conscious, and take the chance to admire the buildings a bit more.

As you pass a particularly narrow alleyway, you hear noises. Turning, you see a familiar sight. One boy on the ground, curled up. Two boys standing over him. One of them kicks the boy on the ground and speaks, but you don't hear what he says.

[ ] Help the boy
[ ] Ignore it

-----

First real choice. What will you do, I wonder?

I want to say ignore it, but my morals say

[x] Help the boy

[X] Help the boy.


Curse you Dr. Q, for taking advantage of our morals!

[x] Ignore it

I get the feeling Dr. Q wants us to pick Ignore It...

[x] Ignore it

[ze] Ask the thuggish little bastards what the problem seems to be. Be slightly but quietly menacing.

Not outright helping him, but we sure as fuck aren't ignoring the situation.

>>24593
I'm backing up her (?) ability to menace with the fact that this girl (?) survived for a year in the Forest of Magic on her own. I think she's at LEAST got the stones to face down some punk kids, no matter how old they and she might be.

[O] Ask the thuggish little bastards what the problem seems to be. Be slightly but quietly menacing.

[x] Help the boy

[x] Ask the thuggish little bastards what the problem seems to be. Be slightly but quietly menacing.

>>24599
>>24597
>>24595
>>24594
>>24593

Idiot, dumbass, moron, don't do that. Why would you announce your presence? Don't do any of that stupid posturing that media and instinct have taught you is effective, just go in and do it. Don't say you're going to kick their asses, let it dawn on them that they got their asses kicked!

Element of surprise, for God's sake!

[x] help the boy

[x] Help the boy

Calling it. 'Help the boy' wins with five votes, compared to 2 for 'ignore it' and 3 for the write-in.

Writing soon.

>>24605

Hooray!

>>24600
>Idiot, dumbass, moron,
Hey, maybe next time you want to convince somebody to do something, don't start by insulting them, and then bluster on and on like a know-it-all prick.

For various reasons, I wasn't able to write today. Tomorrow may be problematic as well. Hopefully I'll be updating on Saturday.

Darn. Oh well, take your time.

Surprise update!

-----

You can't just ignore it. You walk towards them. At this distance, you can see the boy on the ground better. His clothes are dirty, and you see bruises on his exposed skin. His eyes are red and swollen. You grab one of the thuggish boys by the shoulder.

"What are you doing?"

The boy half turns, his expression panicked. You feel his body tense. Upon seeing you, however, his panic fades. His expression becomes irritated.

"it's none of your business."

He turns violently, jerking out of your grasp. He raises his foot. You grab him again, harder, and forcibly spin him around.

"I asked what you were doing."

Not bothering to look you in the eyes, he shoves you back, hard. You lose your balance for a moment and land against the wall. A soft thud. He just kicked the boy again. You feel anger rise up inside you. Slowly, you stand to your feet. You step forward, throwing your entire weight into your fist. It catches him across the side of the head, and he drops to the ground.

The other boy finally tales notice of you. Turning from the boy on the ground, he runs at you, swinging his fist at your stomach. You bend double as his fist connects-

-and wrap your hands around his arm. With a quick twist, you force him to the ground. You stand up, but before you can do anything a sharp kick from the first boy connects with your knees.

You fall, releasing the second boy's arm is surprise. A fist strikes your face, and you recoil. A foot hits you in the stomach, and you cough. You pull back your foot and kick, hard. You feel something soft give way under it. You hear wheezing. You drag yourself upright and kick off your sandals. The other boy tries to grab you, but you avoid him and grab onto his head. A pair of arms grab you from behind, try to restrain you.

You drag your nails along the boys face, leaving red lines. Losing your grip, you frantically attempt to break free.

Blood runs down his face.

You twist and pull, but you can't get free.

He lowers his hands from his cheek, sees the blood. He swears at you. Pulls back his arm, and punches you in the stomach.

You cough and wheeze, trying to regain your breath. You see him draw back his arm again. You jump, catching him under the chin with your foot.

He falls.

You crouch when you hit the ground, lifting the person on your back. You throw yourself sideways, ramming him against the wall with your shoulder. He lets go, and slumps to the ground as you move away. You stagger sideways, then sit down. The adrenaline pumping through your system slowly fades.

The boy on the ground gets up shakily and walks over to you. You look up.

"Are you... a youkai?"

You cough, clutching your stomach in pain.

"No."

He stares at you.

"I'm Yuji." He says at last.

He offers you his hand. You take it.

-----

I might manage another update tomorrow, but I won't promise anything.

So that's how you survive a year in the wild while being hunted by monsters.

>The boy on the ground gets up shakily and walks over to you. You look up.
>?Are you... a youkai?"

Fuckin' A.

I'm heading out of town for the week. Updates resume next Saturday.

>>24629
...damn.

>>24637
...damn.

I'm back and writing.

>>24689
Hooray!

It seems I got sick. No updates here for a few days, but I might post one of the oneshots I've written.

>>24725
Well, shit.

Okay, then.

>>24725
>I might post one of the oneshots I've written.

You have my attention.

The first of the oneshots. Technically a teaser, though.

-----

I waited.

I sat on the steps, waiting for her.

I knew she wouldn't come. From the start, I knew.

But still, I waited.

I blinked. At some point, it had become light again.

It started to rain.

-----

I walked down the road, one are raised to shield my eyes from the bright sun and blowing dust.

I stopped and closed my eyes. Images and sounds flood through my mind, stronger than before. I open them again.

"Here... is it?"

I sat down. Here, I would face my fate.

I looked up.

Light, coming toward me.

-----

It continued to rain, growing stronger by the minute.

Still I waited, shivering and drenched.

I coughed, suppressing a shudder.

I knew... I knew she wouldn't come, but still...

I had to wait. I'd promised. I'd wait as long as it took.

It was a promise.

-----

I opened my eyes. I sat among grass and trees. A soft breeze blew past, rustling the leaves of the bush beside me.

"Where... is this?"

Before me, a gate. Beyond it, a staircase.

I lay back and closed my eyes. There were no images, no sounds.

"it's over, then?"

I hear footsteps, coming towards me. I hear their voices as they talk among themselves.

I opened my eyes. I saw three, figures, walking through the gate. Three women.

The shortest of them looked at me. She ran towards me.

"Are you alright?"

She held out her hand as the other two came up behind her.

-----

"I sat on the steps, shivering in the rain. I had decided, even if she never came, I would wait."

The girl before me leans foreword, listening intently to my tale.

"What happened next?"

I smile.

"I met god."

-----

Fever broke last night, so I'm fairly lucid today. I might post another later.

That was cute. I've always loved that pic.

It seems I got Fallout 3. Etc, etc.

>>24736
sdalfakjldfkhjawlehfjwejzfxfjxqazehfefefdawljnfzqwefjawelknfd

A slight revision to the earlier post, now that I'm actually coherent.

-----

I waited.

I sat on the steps, waiting for her.

I knew she wouldn't come. From the start, I knew.

But still, I waited.

I blinked. At some point, it had become light again.

It started to rain.

-----

I walked down the road, one arm raised to shield my eyes from the bright sun and blowing dust.

I stopped and closed my eyes, listening. Images and sounds flood through my mind, stronger than before, drowning out all other sensations.

A piece of broken iron red red running sand wet black earth broken down-

I opened them again.

"Here... is it?"

I sat down on the road, looking down to protect my eyes. Here, it seemed, I would face my fate.

I heard a roaring, rumbling sound, barely audibly above the wind. I looked up slowly.

A pair of lights rushed out of the wall of sand, bearing down upon me.

-----

It continued to rain, growing stronger by the minute.

Still I waited, shivering and drenched.

I coughed, suppressing a shudder as my wet clothes clung to me.

I knew... I knew she wouldn't come, but still...

I had to wait. I'd promised. I'd wait as long as it took.

It was a promise...

-----

I opened my eyes. I sat among grass and trees. A soft breeze blew past, rustling the leaves of the bush beside me.

"Where... is this?" I sat up and rubbed my eyes groggily.

Before me, a gate. Beyond it, a staircase.

I lay back and closed my eyes, still exhausted. There were no images, no sounds. Only silence.

"it's over, then?"

I heard footsteps, coming towards me. I heard their voices as they talked among themselves.

I opened my eyes. Ahead of me, I saw three figures walking through the gate. Three women, dressed in fantastic outfits.

The shortest of them looked at me. She ran over, practically bouncing over the ground.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

Holding out her hand, she looked at me.

-----

And so I waited, for three days...

The girl before me leans foreword, listening intently to my tale.

"What happened next?"

I smile.

"Then... I met god."

-----

I lay awake, sweating. Breathing is difficult, and it comes in dry, shallow gasps. Images, sounds, motion, bits of color- they flash through my mind, like a thousand movies running at once.

roaring cracking tearing red red red stained rock tearing rising burning burning running rising-

My vision flickers, and I feel my body start to convulse. Frantically, I roll on to my side, clawing ineffectually at the futon. My breath catches in my throat, and I feel something rushing up inside me. The iron-taste of blood fills my mouth.

Burning pain covers my mouth, my tongue, my throat. I try to bite back the words in vain. Despite my resistance, the voice of the not-me rings out, low and rumbling, hollow and ageless.

"In thirty-seven days... in thirty-seven days, a great cataclysm will occur."


-----

Ending on a slightly different note this time.

>>24744
Donnie Darko in Gensokyo?

The next update is almost done, but I'm having trouble with how to transition it to the next scene. Also, reading manga like no tomorrow.

You still alive?

Umm... I might not be?

But... You still might be, right?

You'd better be alive. I need grit--can't update Fallout without it.

Wow. I'll see what I can do later today. Short-sighted scene planning is the cause of many woes, mark my words.

Sorry about the lateness.

-----

You limp out into the street, followed by Yuji. You turn to him, and speak bluntly.

"What is it?"

He flinches, speaking quietly.

"I wanted to thank you."

"What?"

"You helped me."

You shift, feeling uneasy. You did help, but...

Pain runs through your chest as you begin another racking cough. You bend over, clutching your chest. Yuji runs over to you and puts his hand on your back.
"Are you... alright?" His voice wavers.

You begin to nod in response, but wince instead as your stomach makes an audible growl.

"I could get you something to eat..."He smiles hopefully.

You sigh and nod your head.

-----

The place he shows you turns out to be a noodle stand, wedged back against a building, at the point where two streets join. As Yuji helps you over, an old man comes to the front of the stand. He waves when he sees you.

"Yuji! it's been a while since you came last, hasn't it? Oh, and you brought a friend!"

Beside you, Yuji nods and makes a small noise of affirmation. After giving it a cursory glance, you sit on one of the wooden stools at the bar. It creaks, wobbling slightly under your weight. The old man leans over the counter, peering at Yuji's face.

"Those boys again?"

He speaks in a low, displeased tone. Yuji looks down a little and nods his head. The old man straightens up and turns back into the cart. The smells drifting from the cart make your stomach growl again, louder. You hear him chuckle from inside.

"I'll get you something in a minute, just sit tight. The usual, I take it?"

"Yes, please!"
"Alright, coming up." You see movement, and hear the clatter of dishes, followed after several moments by the slosh soup. The old man turns back to you, carrying two bowls. He places one in front of you, and the other in front of Yuji. You carefully pick up your chopsticks and start eating.

"It doesn't look as bad as normal. Are they softening up, maybe?"

You glance sideways at Yuji as the man talks. He doesn't respond, instead dedicating his attention to his noodles.

"But, it really is rare to see Yuji bring a friend. Where do you live?"

You look up.

"I'm staying at Miss Keine's house."

"Ah. You're new here, then?"

"Really? You mean, you're an Outsider?" Beside you, Yuji looks up from his noodles, evidently surprised. You nod, leaning away slightly in surprise.

"Still, it's amazing you were able to make it here, what with all the..."He glances at Yuji seeming to remember something, and trails off.

You decide to remain silent, and return to eating your food. After a few moments of awe, Yuji does as well.

-----

You set down the bowl, exhaling as you do. it's been a long time since you had a meal like that...

Yuji takes out a few coins and sets them on the counter. As you reach for your bag of coins, the old man stops you, shaking his head.

"You don't need to pay. Everyone in the village owes Miss Keine a great deal, so I wouldn't dream of charged a guest of hers," He smiles, "Besides, Yuji is one of my best customers."

You withdraw your hand, awkwardly. He turns to Yuji.

"Yuji, why don't you go get washed up? I'll keep your friend entertained for you."

Yuji nods, sliding off the stool and running off down the street. You watch him go. After some time, the old man turns to you.

"If you'll pardon my asking, how much do you know about this place?"

You look him in the eye.

"Enough. I know about the Border, and about the Youkai. Miss Keine told me that much."

"Good, good."

He looks away, not speaking. After several moments, you follow his gaze.

"You know..."

You turn back to him.

"You know, Yuji, he... well, he doesn't make many friends. Most people, they either ignore him, or, well, you saw what happened to him with those boys." He clears his throat. "I'd like to give a personal request, if you don't mind. Please," he removes his hat, bowing low enough that his head nearly touches the counter, "be a good friend to him."

You sit for several moments with your mouth hanging open, surprised by his sudden formality. You manage a nod.

"Y-yea..."

He sighs with relief.

"Thank you."

Placing his cap back on his head, he straightens up.

"Ah, another customer! What can I get for you, Ma?am?"

You turn in your seat. A woman, tall, buxom, blonde, is walking toward you, no, walking toward the stand. She casually twirls her parasol between her fingers, hidden by white gloves. A puffy white hat rests atop her head. You make eye contact, and a coldness wash over you.

Can't he see it? No, he can't. He probably hasn't seen one like this. You would have ignored her, but every hair on your body is standing on end. Your stomach is twisting into knots. You fight to control your breathing.

Reaching down, you feel for your knife. Gone, along with the rest of your things. It might still be at Keine's house, or maybe it was lost in the forest that night. Your eyes dart left and right, searching for another weapon. The old man takes the woman's order, casually.

You mentally curse yourself for letting your guard down. At the very least, the thing hasn't noticed you yet. You turn more, facing down the street. As carefully as you can, you let your feet touch the ground. Your toes dig into the dirt. You take a deep breath.

And you run.

-----

Since I got a new fedora yesterday, I was able to complete the next update as well. I'll try to post it later today.

Yukari. Our heroine will learn you shouldn't try to run from or fight every youkai.

Also, she seems to have developed and inherent detect monster ability, which is kind of cool.

Hope this doesn't negatively affect her relationship with Yuji though.

>new fedora
Ahh, the power of silly hats~

>>25118
Indeed.

Also, Akikan is possibly the weirdest anime I've seen in years.

Curiouser and curiouser.

>>25119
>Also, Akikan is possibly the weirdest anime I've seen in years.

I watched the first episode. It was like Hare Nochi Guu and Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan had a child, and that child was an actor in a soft drink infomercial. So you may be right.

Okay, next update.

-----

You run, pushing yourself as hard as you can. It takes a few moments for your thoughts to catch up.

You curse under your breath, panting slightly. She knows about you now. You look around. The village... You need to warn them. But normal people wouldn't listen to you, would they? After all you're a kid, and an ?outsider? at that...

Miss Keine. She would believe you. And she's the village protector, isn't she?

You pause for breath, glancing around. Even if they won't listen to you, one of the villagers could probably tell you where she was...

It dawns on you with a sickening chill. All this time you've been running, but...

You haven't seen a single person. Not a soul. You run up to an open door. There's no one inside, not even in the back of the store. Your breathing becomes erratic. No, no, no-

Dashing out of the store, you pull open another door. A butcher's shop, a piece lies of meat on the cutting board, untouched. You shakily walk foreword, grasping the handle of cleaver stuck in the counter. It comes free with a sharp tug.

Something moves into the doorway, casting a shadow across the room. You turn, carefully concealing your weapon behind your back. Raising your free hand to shield your eyes, you look at the new arrival.
You can't make out the details, but even the silhouette is enough.

"Don't worry. it's merely a precaution, to prevent undue panic."

Tall, apparently female. A strange hat on its head, obviously concealing some kind of ears.

"Now... if you will come over here, we can make it like this never happened."

Some kind of round projections, probably tails, emerging from behind it like a cloud.

"..."Are you deaf?"

A fox, maybe? it's not one you'd seen before, but it is unmistakably a youkai.

"...It seems force may be necessary. How unfortunate."

A strange tingle passes through your body as it comes closer. An urge...

As she takes another step closer, you feel something like a spring uncoiling inside you. Moving almost instinctively, your hand comes out from behind your back, swinging the cleaver in a swift arc. The thing moves to the side an instant before it connects, grabbing your wrist tightly and lifting you up. It speaks directly into your ear.

"That was a mistake."

You twist against its grip, bringing your fist into its stomach with as much force as possible. It doubles over for a moment, loosening its grip. Taking the opportunity, you jerk your wrist free, bringing the cleaver around toward its head. Again, it moves at the last second, the razor edge of your weapon only removing the tip of its ear. You feel its claws strike you forcefully, tearing through your shoulder and sending sprawling to the ground.

The monster doesn't speak, uttering a pained growl and clutching at its wound. You struggle to sit up, thoughts muddled by the pain in your arm, which now hangs limply as blood runs down it and stains your sleeve. It turns to you, and its growl becomes a snarl.

The thing leaps at you, moving with incredible speed. The moment before it hits you manage to grasp hold of something, thrusting it out in front of you defensively. You hear a high-pitched howl, and something warm splatters across your arm. In the dim lighting, you can barely make out the shape of its hand, split by a wickedly long knife, clutched tightly in your hand.

It pulls its hand back with incredible speed, hurling the knife away. Before its hand can descend again, however, a voice rings out.

"Ran, stop."

Immediately, it complies. Framed in the doorway is the woman from the noodle stand, some kind of hellish crack writhing in the space behind her. The thing atop you turns slowly, its rage subsiding.

"It seems she has taken notice. We'll have to leave for now."

The thing growls, softly, and then staggers towards the strange woman.

"Yes... master."

The two of them turn and step into the crack, which contorts for a moment, then closes. Before it does, though, you catch a brief glimpse of eyes, staring out of a black void...

-----

This update comprises roughly one-tenth of the total story thus far.

Next update probably coming this afternoon.

So Yukari has you marked because you're the only living witness of the atrocity she caused with the subway? That would explain why Mystia seemed to change her mind about eating us so readily when Rumia told her that we were 'that one'.

Keine naturally makes things difficult for Yukari. She can't simply kill you, because then Keine would get suspicious over your disappearance and revert history. She needs you alive, so she'll attempt to brainwash you or otherwise blank your memories of the event, so that when you to return to Keine she won't know the difference.

Not a smart move, really, since now we'll know it was her who is responsible for the death of our mother and trapping us in a living nightmare for over a year.

>>25146

I normally try to resist, but I'd like to clarify one point for you:

>That would explain why Mystia seemed to change her mind about eating us so readily when Rumia told her that we were 'that one'.

Mystia told Rumia that you were 'that one'. Mystia still tried to eat you afterward, also.

I wonder who Yukari would be so wary of to the point of that it merited her using a tiresome, irritating, and unnecessarily vague way of referring to something a writer doesn't want exposed or mentioned yet italics.

Not hating you for that, Dr. Q; just the practice of doing it at all.

Last update for today. The next part isn't quite finished yet.

-----

You run, gasping for breath, eyes screwed shut. Breathing the cold air is painful. You hear screams behind you, of the dead, of the dying. The ones you killed. You hear a soft rumble, another explosion. Heat washes over your back, and the sudden light turns a dull red through your eyelids.

Red...

A picture flashes into your mind. A girl, her face contorted in terror, in rage, in pain. Her bloodstained hands... no, claws. Her teeth? sharp, pointed, brilliant white dulled by red, by blood and meat? revealed as her lips curled back.

She screamed, didn't she? She cried, didn't she?

You press your hands against your ears. You had to. There was no other choice.

She wasn't human. She didn't deserve to live.

You had to kill her.

It would have done the same to you.

Killing her was unavoidable.

You had to. You would have died.

You cried too.

It didn't deserve to live.

-----

Sorry about how short it is.

>>254169
I see what you mean. I'll see how well I can avoid that in the future.

>>25169
>I wonder who Yukari would be so wary of to the point of that it merited her using a tiresome, irritating, and unnecessarily vague way of referring to something a writer doesn't want exposed or mentioned yet italics.

Who else is going to notice someone creating a parallel demiplane in her own village? Who else has the ability to reverse anything Yukari might do, and hide anything she wants to from her sight? Who is the woman most likely to be concerned about the protagonist's well-being?

'Her' is likely used not to confuse the reader, but so our young hunter isn't revealed the scope of Keine's powers prematurely.

>You run, gasping for breath, eyes screwed shut. Breathing the cold air is painful. You hear screams behind you, of the dead, of the dying. The ones you killed. You hear a soft rumble, another explosion. Heat washes over your back, and the sudden light turns a dull red through your eyelids.

>Red...

>A picture flashes into your mind. A girl, her face contorted in terror, in rage, in pain. Her bloodstained hands... no, claws. Her teeth? sharp, pointed, brilliant white dulled by red, by blood and meat? revealed as her lips curled back.

Assuming this was the initial escape from her shelter, after it was finally by overrun youkai who were likely drawn from all around by the smell of decay. The little girl seems to know what she's doing at this point, crippling one monster while it's busy gorging itself. Then as she walks away from the wreck, the fuel tanks on the train have ignited, and she hears their screams, unsurprised when they're snuffed out for good by the resultant explosions. I find it very likely she had planned to draw them in and destroy as many as she could in one go, additionally preventing any further desecration of the dead. I can see more and more why the youkai regard her as so dangerous.

>>25188
I know, man.

But I still hate it.

>>25186
More

>>25217

yeah, more

still hoping for some choices sometime though

>>25218

Next update.

>>25219

Hooray!

Here it is. Next update, and the next choice to boot.

-----

You open your eyes, and stare up at the ceiling. Unclenching one of your hands, you slowly dry your eyes with your sleeve. You sit up and look around, trying to recall how you got here.

This is Miss Keine's house, so?

Miss Keine! You have to warn her!

The sliding door opens, and Miss Keine comes in. She set down a bowl of water and some towels, then takes a seat on the floor beside you.

"Miss Keine! There-"

"Are you alright?" She asks, cutting you off.

You nod. "I... think so."

She sighs.

"You were found in the middle of the market district, curled up on the ground. One of the shopkeepers saw you, and went to see if you were alright. When he saw the blood, he called for help. Luckily, I noticed the scene on my way back and recognized you."

You glance at yourself, noticing for the first time the large mass of stitches winding across your shoulder. It starts to hurt just from looking at it.

"The wound was deep. It nearly took your arm off." She continues, looking at you seriously. "A wound like that... it's not from a normal weapon, is it?" Despite her question, you get the feeling she already knows. Without waiting for an answer, she stands and walks to the door.

"Miss-"

She pauses on the threshold and speaks to you.

"Get some rest. We'll talk more in the morning."

The door slides shut, leaving the room in darkness once again.

-----

Getting to sleep proves troublesome. A small noise causes you to jump awake, hand reaching where your weapon should be. You can almost feel the things lurking in the shadows, on the edge of sight, waiting for a chance.

You start to nod off, letting your mind wander.

In an instant, you sit bolt upright, biting down as hard as you can to hold back a scream and stifle the pain in your shoulder. You glance around frantically, straining your ears for even the slightest trace of motion or breath. Nothing. You lay back warily, clenching your chest to slow your heartbeat. A steady ache forms in your wound, as the adrenaline spike starts to wear off.

Eventually, exhaustion takes you.

-----

"Mom! Mom!"

You burst into the kitchen, cupping something in your hands.

"Hmm..."What is it, dear?"

"I found a bird!"

Setting down the kitchen knife, she walks over to you. She leans forward, looking into your hands. Certainly, a small bird lays within them, curled up, its eyes closed. Your mother's face darkens, looking at you sadly. She looks back in surprise, though, at a weak chirp.

"Ah!"

She hurries off, returning shortly with a shoebox full of bedding.

"Put him in here."

You carefully lower your hands into the box, pulling the away to reveal the bird, sitting feebly on the bottom. It makes another pathetic chirp, and its eyes flicker open. It tries in vain to flutter its wings.

"Will it be okay?"

You watch it with anxiety.

"I'm sure it will."

You feel your mother's hand on your shoulder.

"I'll do everything I can."

-----

You open your eyes, expecting to be greeted by morning light. Instead, you see only the faint outline of a wood ceiling. Why did you wake up?

Thump.

You kick off the blanket, leaping up and quickly pressing yourself against the wall. Yet again, you curse yourself for being unarmed. You suppress your breathing and close your eyes, focusing on every sound.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

It moves closer. It feels like footsteps.

Thump. Thump.

It stops just outside your room. You hold your breath, pressing your hand against your heart, willing it to slow.

Why can't you hear any breathing?

You hear a noise like tearing paper, and something cold and bony wraps itself around your head. You don't scream, instead shouting a single, drawn out curse. You feel fingers pressing against your head, trying to grab your hair. You start to claw at them, bits of cold, damp flesh coming away under your nails. The arm pulls your head tight against the wall, squeezing.

'White' runs through your arms and legs, leaving behind a tingling sensation.

You twist around, grasping your unknown attacker by the wrist. In a single motion, you pull your head free of its grip, twisting its hand violently at the same time. With a sickeningly wet ?crack," the hand comes free, and drops to the floor, where it convulses for several seconds before finally coming to a stop. You take moment to get your breath back as the thing tries ineffectually to pull its crippled arm back through the wall.

[ ] Fight. You should be able to find a weapon of some kind in the room.
[ ] Run. The window should be good, and you doubt this thing could follow you.
-----

I wasn't actually expecting it to be this long.

[x] Fight. You should be able to find a weapon of some kind in the room.

If this thing came through the wall, there may be more outside.

I'm guessing a zombie raised by Chen's nekomata powers. Probably a revenge act, for injuring Ran. Chen's also stupid enough to attack a human inside Keine's home.

[x] Run. The window should be good, and you doubt this thing could follow you.

Nice. Still, when do we know if the main character is a male or female.

>[ ] Run. The window should be good, and you doubt this thing could follow you.

Instead of running outside, wouldn't a better idea be to wake up Keine?

>>25230

I expect that Q's made the gender ambiguous just because he likes watching us squirm.

>>25231

To clarify a bit here, the thing didn't just come from outside, it came from the hall, and is therefor right outside your door. Hence, why escaping is through the window.

[x] Fight. You should be able to find a weapon of some kind in the room.

[x] Fight. You should be able to find a weapon of some kind in the room.

[x] Fight. You should be able to find a weapon of some kind in the room.

[O] Fight. You should be able to find a weapon of some kind in the room.

[x] Fight. You should be able to find a weapon of some kind in the room.

If we can survive on our own for a year we can handle whatever this may be.

Calling it here for '[Q] fight.'

I'll start writing later today.

>>25247

Hooray!

WHERE ARE THE UPDATES WRITEFAG YOU SAID THERE WOULD BE UPDATES

>>25295
I operate on the 72-hour day, so I think I'm still good.

>>25296
Meanwhile, back in Realityville, we don't. Make better excuses or get cracking.

I am eagerly anticipating a wall of such epic proportions that it has taken three days to write.

>>25322

Hahahaha...

*cough*

Sorry about the wait, and the fact that it's not an epic wall.

-----

[Q] Fight. You should be able to find a weapon of some kind in the room.

You glance around the room, squinting through the darkness. it's almost completely empty, save for the futon you were in, the bowl of water Miss Keine brought in, and a small table. You run to the closet and throw it open. Nothing.

"Tch!"

A tearing sound causes you to turn. Where the crippled arm was is now instead a wide, ragged hole in the wall. The hall is too dark for you to see anything outside.

Thump.

Creak.

You hear footsteps as the thing moves down the hall, towards? towards your door. Your heart misses a beat.

Why!" Why did it have to be now!?

You turn your head quickly, glancing again across the room, searching for something you missed. Your eye lingers on the bowl for moment, and an idea strikes you. You move quickly, hopefully, and kneel on the floor beside it. Glazed pottery. You grin.

-----

The thing staggered, slowly moving toward the door. Its vision, a blurry circle, rocked and tilted and it walked.

From inside the room it heard a muffled crash. It could hear someone breathing, see their heart beat.

It reached the door. It fumbled, swatting at the handle with its remaining hand, eventually settling for punching its fingers through the thin paper and tearing the door off its track.

Almost immediately, a hand cam flying toward it, balled into a fist. Its good arm, moving with surprising speed, caught it before it connected. It started to squeeze, but was interrupted as the other hand rose up from below, wrapped in cloth. For a moment, something glittered white.

There was a loud snap, and then it was dark again.

-----

As the thing's grip weakens, you wrench your hand free. You can clearly see the outline of the seal on its forehead as it curls up on itself, like a withered leaf, and finally crumbles to dust. Grunting, you press your foot against it and pull the shard of pottery from its head.

As you absent-mindedly wipe the gore off with the towel, you stare at the thing. What exactly is it? Unlike most of the Youkai you'd seen, this one looked like... well, a corpse. A zombie? But why would it be in Keine's house?

A bolt of panic runs through you. You begin to walk faster, and then finally break into a run down the halls. As you round another corner, a small tingle goes down your arm, making all the hairs stand on end. Another of the corpses is standing ahead of you, it's back turned.

You don't hesitate, stepping forward quickly and placing your hand on the back of its head. You bring your other arm around, ramming the pottery sharp through the seal and into its forehead. It slumps down, rapidly dissolving scraps of paper fluttering down around it. Casting a glance at the thing's head, you curse. It seems you lost your weapon.

Moving quickly, but now more cautiously, you make your way back into the part of the house you know, and finally reach the dining room. There are no corpses here, thankfully. You step into the kitchen and look about.

Ah, good, a knife block. You smile to yourself as you pull out the largest, sharpest knife you can find, an impressive billhook. You select a second, smaller knife as well, wrapping it in the towel and slipping it into your kimono. Satisfied, you quietly exit the kitchen.

-----

That's all I've finished so far, but I'm part of the way through the next part already.

>>25382
The billhook is kind of unrealistic, but carry on.

>>25382

Some call it a sling blade. Others call it a kaiser blade...

I did a bit of research, and was able to find the correct name of what I was thinking of. The large knife is in fact a boning knife. It's fairly long, and has a straighter edge than a bread knife.

Sorry about the error there.

>>25403
Got a picture?

>>25417

Like that, only a little longer.

updates?

>>25447

Maybe. I just got Daggerfall, so make of it what you will.

>>25429

I'm 90% sure I own that knife IRL.

Paging Doctor Q.

Anon needs his GRIMDARK fix.

I'm sorry. I've been playing Persona 4 obsessively.

Though after seeing Teddie's Shadow, I might be able to do something.

Waiting for an epic wall.

>>25558
>Teddie's Shadow

Prepare for epic.

Fuck yes, Teddie's shadow
I really should get round to finishing P4. Halfway through Magatsu Inaba

>>25535
Fallout anon?

>>25568

How could you possibly guess that?

>>25589
Can't tell if you're seriously asking that or not.

Where are the updates Q.

I need my grim dark.

>>25632

he speaks for all of us, man

Updates?

God Dam it Q I know you made the transition so where the hell are the upadtes!
Even if its just to let us know your alive fucking do something!
I dont want this story to die damit!

In truth, I didn't realize the site was back until today.

I won't promise anything, but I will see what I can do in my free time.

Sorry for the long time, everyone! I got distracted by things, then the site went dead, etc.

But I'm back! Hahahaha!

-----

It seems Miss Keine isn't in the house. Dreading the worst, you already searched through all the rooms you could find, but the entire place was empty. As you reach the entryway, your suspicions are confirmed. Keine's shoes, along with her sword, are missing. Quickly retrieving your own sandals, you step out into the street.

The village is eerily silent. You hear none of the usual sounds a city makes a night, the whine of children, or the muffled snoring that pierces through the buildings thin walls. It feels as though the city itself is holding its breath.

A soft breeze picks up, and something makes your nose twinge. You experimentally sniff, then wrinkle your nose. The scent of disturbed earth, decay, and blood. Your grip reflexively tightens on the knife.

-----

You wipe the sweat off your face with a sleeve, exhaling as another old, wrinkled paper crumbles on the dirt. With a sharp tug you free your knife from the face of another corpse, stepping back as it collapses to the ground. The uneasy tingling in your back gets stronger.

The tree branch above you shakes. A leaf drops slowly, and seems to hang in the air in front of you.

All your senses scream red.

You gasp, blood flowing from numerous small cuts. It stands on the branch over, gloating, teeth bared, as its tails swish to and fro. The hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. Without looking, you can feel two more of the corpse puppets approach.

You grit your teeth, adjusting your grip on the knife and taking stance again.

"You didn't fall down? Aww."

It moves again, blurring. You focus quickly, eyes trailing after her.

Left!

Your arm jerks forward, carrying the knife into its side.

"Gah!"

A blood pours from your other shoulder.

"W-what was?"

"Hahaha! Wow! And I thought you-Hahaha!-already saw through it!" Laughter. It doesn't sound monstrous, not like the bird, it sounds? like a girl. She's genuinely laughing.

it.

You raise your knife again and focus on her. She smiles, showing her teeth.

it.

She vanishes, almost like blinking. Her tails flick past through the corner of your vision. You prepare to swing your knife.

Cold, earthen hands wrap around your wrist, twisting the knife out of your hands. Another flurry of small, razor-like nails run across you.

Blood and sweat soak into your clothing. You exhale slowly and look up. Your shoulders droop.

"Hm? Giving up?" She brandishes her nails. "If you've realized your sins and repented, I might let you off easy!"

[ ] Try to get off easily.
[ ] Do something. Struggle.

-----

Felt a choice would do well here.

[ ] Do something. Struggle.

Fuck you Chen.

[x] Do something. Struggle.

Try to attract some kind of attention; I wonder how Reimu'd react to news like this.

That and defending yourself isn't really a sin.

[x] Do something. Struggle.

[x] Do something. Struggle.

I guess this will have to do. Calling it for "struggle".

An update!

-----

[Q] Do something. Struggle.

...You won't let this end that easily.

You jerk up your leg, neatly severing the corpse's leg at the knee. For once, you're grateful of the unwieldy sandals. You put your whole body into the twist, throwing the newly-crippled corpse face first into the dirt.

The cat blurs, charging in for another attack.

You curse. The knife!

Dropping to your knees frantically, you reach for the handle, just as a flurry of red points surge toward your face.

It goes dark, but not all at once. Each object flickers for but a second before being reduced to a silhouette. The hissing of its nails and the erratic breeze against your face both cease abruptly.

The next moment can only be described as black. You can't feel the ground under you, or the clothing on your skin. There is no smell or sound, no taste, no light.

Sensation returns to you in a rush, washing over your body.

Before you, an inky sea recedes, leaving the ground unmarked. The paper seals on corpses? heads were not so unaffected, now mysteriously blank. A small girl steps out of the blackness, her short, blonde hair swaying as she turns to look at you.

She reaches out her hand as the darkness dissolves; the cat emerges, confused and bloodied.

"It seems you need a bit of help again, doesn't it?"

That voice?

"I can help you, but..."You can practically hear the grin. "There will be a price."

"Y-you..."

She smiles innocently, cocking her head to the side. Behind her, the cat has regained her senses, baring her teeth and claws. Blindly, you make another grab for the knife as she lunges, but your hand strikes only earth. Still smiling, the blonde girl steps back into another wave of the blackness and vanishes.

Barely a second later, a small but firm hand grasps you about the waist, almost effortlessly hoisting you into the air. You feel yourself pulled back quickly, narrowly avoid the cat's claws as it emerges from the black wave. You don't even have time to scream.

Your carrier darts quickly out of town and into the forest, avoiding roots and stones with trivial ease. You occasionally pass through patches of blackness, evading your pursuer's strikes by only a hair's width.

"Hold your breath."
Something in her whispered tone makes you obey. Seconds later, you hear a splash, and cold water rushes up around you. Your wounds, caught by the icy cold and the sudden contraction of your muscles, scream out, sending tiny rivulets of blood into the water. A violent shudder threatens to tear the air out of your lungs, and you vainly struggle to keep your mouth shut.

As you sink lower, your eyelids flutter, and you finally give in to exhaustion

-----

Next one coming sometime over the next couple days.

I would have voted, but didn't get back in time to do so. Sorry, Q.

>>25881
If only you showed that same enthusiasm in learning how to spell.

Please don't make his reader base look so bad.

Another one.

-----

The first thing you can feel is the sun, beating warmly down on your skin. Despite this you still feel a chill, and roll over. The damp grass presses against your skin. As you shudder and cough, painful itches cover your body. You open your eyes.

Bright daylight assaults you. Squinting through it, you look around. All around you is grass, the sparse, stringy kind that survives the forest floor. Beads of dew drag the stalks down and shimmer like glass beads. You sit up, painfully, forced to recall each and every wound you received last night. You examine one, noting thankfully that it isn't very deep.

As another chill passes over you, you realize what separates this from other mornings.

This morning, you don't have any clothes.

You quickly scramble to your feet. The clearing is empty, save for a small bird that immediately flies off. Above, though, you can see someone's clothes hanging from a branch.

Your climb is interrupted shortly by the arrival of another unclothed figure. You recognize her as the blond girl from last night, and not in the least by the darkened haze around her. She pauses when she reaches the clearing.

"Ah!"

She spots you on the tree and walks to the base. She makes a beckoning motion, holding out something in her hand. You quickly recognize it as a kimono, and your pocket knife. She's giving them to you? Letting go, you drop to the ground.

"Your clothes weren't doing too well, so I got some more for you~"

She smiles. it's unnerving. You take the clothes anyway. Dressing quickly, you slip the knife into your clothes.

"It seems you owe me twice, now." Her tone drops from cheerful to serious. You tense up. "No, make that three times."

She turns back to you, unsmiling.

"You've gotten in over your head."

In her open palm, you see something silver and square.

"That?s-"

"This? it's mine now. But in exchange, I'll tell you something."

She leans close, whispering into your ear.

"Youkai aren't all on the same side. Nor are all humans. Think carefully who you think of as your enemy... or your friend."

Just as quickly, she retreats, closing the lighter into her palm. She jumps, easily three, four times her height, grasping her clothes and pulling them off the branch.

"Good, they're dry now!" She laughs, softly, her voice returned to its usual, cheerful tone. After pulling on her vest and adjusting her skirt, she turns to you.

?Let's go!"

-----

Out of curiosity, how many people are reading this?

One here.

Reporting in

>Out of curiosity, how many people are reading this?

The move cost THP some people, some of your readers may be gone and i hope you don't mind to write for fewer people.

One here aswell

>>25931

I think a few writers read it but vote anonymously.

But is our savior Rumia? or some other youkai?

What a hint, wonder what she meant by not all humans, since I don't think Keine has anything asides from good intentions. Perhaps people like Sakuya perhaps?

But the Youkai bit is true, since there are various factions and such. And so far she's in trouble with Chen at least.

But the hint might also mean "don't definite all youkai as enemies or all humans as friends"

>>25939
She was referred to by name the first time she saved us. On that note, this version of Rumia is pretty damn awesome.

And again!

-----
The girl walks ahead of you, stopping at random with maddening frequency. It warms up as the day progresses, growing into a proper summer heat. The girl doesn't seem to mind as much, though you noticed the area around her getting darker.

Once, on a whim, you slid your hand in. It wasn't the same numb, empty feeling, but it was much cooler than the air around it. You resisted the urge to step completely inside, and withdrew your hand wordlessly.

-----

You labor by the river with your improvised fishing spears for nearly an hour, but with little luck. As you straighten up to wipe your brow, you see a splash. Is it... Could it be?

Trout. A big one, too. Your stomach growls at the prospect. Reversing your grip on the spear, you focus on the small ripples the fish makes. Focus- Focus- Focus-

There!

"Hah!"

You lunge forward, thrusting, driving the points into the water just ahead of the ripples. You triumphantly flip the spearhead out of the water to examine your prize.

The happy smile takes several seconds to fall.

Carp.

Your stomach groans painfully as you pull the near-inedible fish off the spear.

You turn sharply, readying the spear at the sound of footsteps.

The girl walks up to the riverbed, barefoot, dragging behind her a whole deer. You start to drool.

-----

As much as you would hate to admit it, having her around makes things much easier. That evening next to the fire, instead of the expected meager meal of fish, you had your fill of meat for the first time in years. Satisfied, you settle down into a tree, one hand resting on your knife.

The girl moves between you and the fire, casting her shadow on you. You notice her darkening bubble is nearly invisible now, merely dimming her surroundings. Taking a breath, you start to speak.

"Hey..."

"Hm~?" She turns to look at you calmly. In this light, you can clearly see how red her eyes are. Inhuman...

"Why are you doing this?" As you speak, you slowly tighten your hand around your weapon.

She turns away, looking up through the canopy of trees.

"Well... I wonder~? She laughs softly to herself. Her voice trails off, then continues softly ?Maybe... Maybe, you remind of somebody." She turns back, smiling. "I'm Rumia."

You relax your grip, and allow yourself the sliver of a smile.

-----

I'll start on the next part in a little bit, but it probably won't be done until tommorrow.

>>25931
1 more here

How interesting, Rumia having some brains, and I wonder if Keine's worried about us.

Still it's a stroke of fortune that Rumia's our friend and she doesn't see us as a meal.

But I wonder who we remind her of...

Add one here as well.

>>25950
Perhaps we remind her of herself~

Yet again, writings.

-----

As the sun breaks the horizon, you stamp the last of the fire under your heel. You stretch, yawning, and wipe the moisture off your eyes.
"Ah, Rumia wait!."

You take off your sandals and jog to catch up to her. Her walk is deceptively fast.

"Rumia... where are we going, anyway?"

She stops walking, then pauses with her mouth open. You crease your brow as she remains like this.

"I don't remember.."

The two of you remain frozen in place for nearly a minute. Finally, you let out a long, slow groan.

"You don't remember...??

"Nope~"

"Then... why don't we go back to the village?" After all, Keine could be worried.

"Nope~"

"Huh? Why?"

"Because it would be stupid~"

Somehow, you feel insulted. Then, something strikes you.

"Are we... lost?" You venture.

"Yep~"

It takes a while to sink in.

"How can you be lost!" Don't you live here!??

She turns to you, her red eyes gazing at you clearly.

"You lived here for a year, but you're lost too, aren't you?"

Her voice isn't cheerful. You flinch. Regardless of how she acts, she's still a youkai.

Turning away, she smiles again and starts to walk.

"We should get going, then~"

You release a breath you didn't know you were holding and wipe your forehead. You broke a sweat.

-----

I might get the next part written later today.

>>?Because it would be stupid~"

Perhaps she says that due to the fact Chen has her eye on the village, and it'd be safer in the forest.

Not bad logic, since it's harder to attack the Forest of magic than a village.

I wonder if Reimu or Marisa is investigating the incident by now since I know it isn't that easy to ignore a train being gapped into Gensokyo and the ensuing events.

>>25931
Yet another here.

Some thoughts:

--Next chance we get, we really need to [x] Inventory, and ask Rumia who is after us and why. We may know, but the protagonist doesn't.

--For those who hadn't noticed or lost track, we're accumulating something of a debt with Rumia:

-First time (Saved our ass from Mystia):
>>24292
>?I can help you, but..."You can practically hear the grin. "there will be a price.."

-Second time (Rescued us from Chen)
>>25918
>?It seems you need a bit of help again, doesn't it?"

-Third time (Presumably her return to the scene to get new clothes and the knife.)
>>25931
>?It seems you owe me twice, now." Her tone drops from cheerful to serious. You tense up. "No, make that three times."

The third isn't set in stone, though, so it could be something else. The retrieval of clothes and the knife just seemed the most likely thing, though.

> I wonder if Reimu or Marisa is investigating the incident by now since I know it isn't that easy to ignore a train being gapped into Gensokyo and the ensuing events.

They probably already did, and are finished by now, with Yukari just finding out about us.

The train was gaped a year ago. Reimu and Marisa are usually done in a few days. Including the Extra Stages.

Inventory wouldn't blend well into the writing now, so I'll just give it to you:

Pocket knife - It's a little rusted, but serviceable. You got it from the train wreck.

Clothes - plain clothes that do their job - keeping you modest. Rumia acquired them from God-knows-where.

Sandals - Clunky wooden sandals. The keep your feet safe, and make a decent weapon in a pinch. Not good for running.

The next story post is giving me a bit of trouble. Hopefully It'll be up tomorrow.

Another reader here.

Rumia maybe thinks you'd make a good youkai, has some particular reason for opposing Yukari (ideologically, she doesn't like the way Yukari is running things; or maybe it was Yukari who sealed her in the first place), or might even sees you as a good candidate for removing her ribbon.

On the other hand she may be lying and intending to sell you out: It's clear where you're headed, since Rumia is doing her best to become lost. Hopefully she'll confront Yukari, restricting her future movements by threatening to let the village or the Shrine Maiden know who attacked them (the easiest response for Yukari would be to blame it on Chen acting independently and promise it won't happen again). If she's claiming a bounty, it's obvious why she'd prevent Chen from doing the job.

Another update. Hopefully I can get on with the plot in the next update or so.

Also:
>speculation
This makes me happy.

-----

As chill runs through your body, you open your eyes to the unusually dim light of morning. Directly in front of you is a pair of red eyes, staring into yours. With a jerk you come awake, hands moving frantically for a weapon.

"Hehe~? Leaning back, Rumia laughs, amused. "Looking for this?" She holds up your knife.

You stand up nervously, and she hands it back, holding it by the blade. It feels ice cold. You close it and carefully slip it into your clothing. Rumia runs off ahead of you, arms outstretched like a bird. Her laughter becomes muffled as her dark bubble intensifies, nearly hiding her from view.

You can't help but laugh a little yourself as you catch up to her.

-----

"Rumia... we're still lost, right?"

She doesn't speak, instead making a little noise of affirmation.

"Then why are we travelling? it's not like we have a destination, and we'll just get more lost like this."

"Hmm~ Why not~?"

"Well, if we stayed in place, we could set up a proper camp... keep a fire going, build some more tools, set up a regular hunting ground..."

Rumia giggles, covering her mouth with her hand. She moves suddenly, silently, beside you.

"You still think so much like a human~"

Before you can turn in surprise, she's already running ahead again. Cursing under your breath, you pick up your sandals and run after her.

-----

At this pace, I should be done sometime before thanksgiving.

>?You still think so much like a human~"

He Who Hunts Monsters, huh?

And if you gaze long into the abyss, the Rumia gazes also into you?

>>25985

Might we become a youkai? I wonder what's our power.

Though we haven't been overcome by any cravings for humans.

>>25995

I would think our character would rather kill herself than ever become a youkai.

>>25996

Who knows? she might just resolve to her new powers to fight against Youkai.

After all in common fiction it's usually half-vampires and such that make the best vampire hunters. So a Youkai might make the best Youkai hunter.

>>25996
Probably, I imagine her trying to live through it while hating herself. I just don't see her taking her own life after trying to survive for that long.

>>25983
>On the other hand she may be lying and intending to sell you out: It's clear where you're headed, since Rumia is doing her best to become lost
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

And here's more! Now with 100% more choices!

-----

The sun looms low on the horizon, giving a red tint to the world. Your stomach rumbles a bit.

"Isn't it time to stop? it's getting late."

Rumia half-turns, smiling at you cryptically, then runs ahead again. Confused, you continue to follow. As you pass under some branches, you come up to clearing. You freeze in surprise.

Before you is a sprawling mass of buildings, curved and wedged together, some crawling on top of each other. The paint and plaster flake off the old walls, revealing weathered stone beneath. Roof tiles, cracked and jostled, coat the tops of the buildings like moss.

"Many youkai thought like you did, once. If they stayed in one place, they could accumulate wealth."

She walks as she speaks, raising an arm to the surroundings.

"But that isn't the nature of youkai. More and more of them came, until they built an entire city."

She turns around, facing you, her expression dark.

"This is all that remains of their folly. We needn't carve out our domain as humans do. Yet some still cling to their foolhardy notions."

Her pupils narrow to slits, and she raises one hand, pointing a nail at you.

The feeling returns, like pulling away a blindfold, or tearing through a sheet. Two silhouettes, white, burning. You can see them sketched brightly into your skin, like the feeling of sunlight.

Your knife is open in an instant, lashing out behind you faster than you can see. A few drops of blood hang in the air, trailing from the blade's tip. Bending forward sharply, you raise your foot, sandal connecting solidly with its stomach as it tries to leap over you. Switching hands in an instant, you turn to face your assailant.

it's the catlike girl from the village. She crouches on all fours, ears flat against her head, tails writhing aggressively. She opens her mouth, baring her teeth and hissing. Bloodstains show clearly on the front of her dress, old and dried.

"A foolish cat, cursed and cut off from its master. And so it flees to its old home."

The cat leaps backward, trying to face both you and Rumia at the same time.

"Is this all you can do without your shikigami spirit? Pathetic. The fox must be weak to choose someone like you."

Its presence is different, no longer confident and powerful, instead desperate and bestial. You see its hairs bristle, its muscles tensed, ready to spring. You know it without even thinking. It isn't aiming for you this time. it's aiming at Rumia.

[ ] Attack it from behind when it tries.
[ ] Let Rumia take care of it.

-----

Don't stress out too much over this choice.

[x] Let Rumia take care of it.

Let's see what she can do

[x] Let Rumia take care of it.

[x] Let Rumia take care of it.

Let's see what happens.

[x] Attack it from behind when it tries.

[x] Attack it from behind when it tries.

[x] Let Rumia take care of it.

Calling it for "let Rumia take care of it." Writing now.

[Q] Let Rumia take care of it.

As it leaps, you step back, allowing it to fly past you. Rumia's eyes widen in surprise. Her arm sweeps out in a wide arc, backhanding it away. Darkness quickly forms up around her, and her silhouette vanishes.

It leaps again, diving into the darkness, and the darkness expands to meet it. You hear only muffled noises from inside the sphere, and their presences have both vanished.

Without warning, the black bubble grows again, filling up the space like water. The inside is pitch black, silent, and cold. As quickly as it came it's gone, dissolving into the air without a trace.

In the center is the cat, very confused, with a fresh set of scratches across its face. Once again, it turns to you. You take a moment to regain your footing, holding out the knife as a ward.

It doesn't jump. Rather than a foolhardy lunge, it slowly circles you on all fours, growling and hissing. After several minutes you finally give in, striking out at its head. It slinks backward with surprising speed, dragging its claws along your back. In response you reverse your knife, practically throwing it sideways, and manage to leave a deep gash along its forearm. You disentangle yourselves, landing in stance, facing each other.

Before you have time to plan your next attack, it takes the initiative, rushing at you head-on with impossible speed. No time for your knife. You push off the ground as hard as you can, meeting its charge. It raises its claws, ready to tear you apart. You put one foot forward, leaning into it.

The blow hits hard, so hard you can feel its ribs crack. Those razor-like claws tear across your leg, but you ignore them. You keep pushing, bearing it to the ground, pressing your foot into its chest. You bring your hand up, sweeping the knife across its face, barely missing its eyes.

again

Turning, bringing the knife back, across the jaw.

and again and ag

A grin spreading along your face, the knife moving back and forth.

ain and again and again and again and ag / You laugh, whole-heartedly,
ain and again and again and again and ag / Unabashed, cutting
ain and again and again and again and ag / deep across her
ain and again and again and again and ag / face as her tears
ain and again and again and again and ag / run down, flowing crying
ain and again and again and again and ag / screaming like
ain and again and again and again and ag / that girl, the one
ain and again and again and again and ag / you murdered
ain and again and again and again and ag / murdered, killed
ain and again and again and again and ag / bloody like the
ain and again and again and again and ag / red bodies on the snow
ain and again and again and again and ag / she cried, didn't she,
ain and again and again and again and ag / like you did that day,
ain and again and again and again and ag / When you lost everything
ain and again and again and again and ag / Did she feel like you did
ain and again and again and again and ag / Laughing at the
ain and again and again and again and ag / contrast between the
ain and again and again and again and ag / two of you now?

[ ] ain and again and ag
[ ] What are you doing!?

[ ] What are you doing!?

[x] What are you doing!"

I think that's our youkai nature coming out.

[X] ain and again and ag
I like my characters how I like my parties, energetic and CRAZY.

[x] What are you doing!?

[x] ain and again and ag
Excellent

[x] What are you doing!?

Okay, calling it for 'what are you doing!?'

Writing very soon.

[x] What are you doing!?

[X] What are you doing!"

Well, damn. Definitely He Who Hunts Monsters, then.

[x] What are you doing?!

?!, not !"

>>26056
She.

In fact, like She-ki, you might say.

What ARE we doing?

If we continued, we would have ended up pissing off Yukari. Or worse, Ran.

>>26072
>Or worse, Ran.

We just cut up Chen's face. Ran is going to be PISSED.

Fucking awesome stuff here.

Can't say I feel sorry for Chen. Am wary on Rumia sending us down the dark path, though. The protagonist should remember her roots to retain some degree of humanity: She was on a train with Mother; they were going to visit Grandfather's house. It was her birthday.

However, this section needs interpretation:
>screaming like
>that girl, the one
>you murdered
>murdered, killed
>bloody like the
>red bodies on the snow
>she cried, didn't she,
>like you did that day,
>When you lost everything
>Did she feel like you did
>Laughing at the
>contrast between the
>two of you now?

Is this a rhetorical reference by the protagonist to herself--that she in effect murdered her human self in becoming a youkai?

Or is it literal? Meaning, was there another survivor, whom the protagonist murdered?

Or even more bizarrely, is it from the point of view of someone else, who killed the protagonist that day, only to find her to be resurrected as youkai?

[Q] What are you doing!?

You pause, ready for another strike, shaking, breathing raggedly.

The world comes back into focus as you sort through the past... seconds? Minutes? You don't know.

You lower your hand, letting the knife drop to the ground inaudibly. Blood covers your hands, your chest, your legs, even your face. Tears are rolling down your cheeks.

Shaking, you pull yourself up, quickly staggering to the nearest wall for support. You spit a mix of bile and her blood onto the ground.

It.

You slide down the wall, crying again, laughing, sobbing. Your arms hang limply at your sides as barely a meter away its head lies in pieces, a mass of bones and meat mutilated beyond recognition. You look up at the sky. Grey clouds cover what must be the evening sun.

Then it starts, one after another, a long, sad, wailing, coming from every rooftop as hundreds of small shapes come out of hiding. It begins to rain.

-----

You stare up into gray sky, letting the rain wash over you, take away the blood. Someone stands over you. It takes a minute for your eyes to focus.

"Rumia..."

Weakly, you raise one hand to shield your eyes. She reaches down, pulling you up. You fumble at first, managing to kick off your sandals and walk along side her. She leads you one of the houses, all but setting you in a chair. You blink, finally getting a good look at her.

Her clothes are soaked from the rain. She isn't smiling or frowning, she looks... sympathetic?

She meets your gazes, smiles, places a hand on your head, stroking it once. She says something you can't make out. She leaves, back out into the rain. Your eyelids feel heavy...

-----

Something shaking you. You awaken with a start, gasping for breath. Rumia is beside you, holding something. it's food. Fruit and bread. You eat it without really tasting. Rumia leaves again. It isn't raining so much now. You stand up and look outside. You don't recognize the area. You see your knife on the table. You ignore. You walk back inside and go to sleep again.

-----

You wake up that night. Someone is sitting next to you. Clothes are draped over you. They feel warm. You pull them around you and close your eyes. It feels nice. You don't think about the thing outside at all.

-----

Double checked the flow chart, and it seems there's another choice coming up soon.

>>26083
Chen's kitties don't have a mommy anymore. ;_;

>>26078

See:

>>25186

>>26084

At least until she revives one way or another; since it's believed that Youkai don't stay dead for too long.

That and I heard that a shikigami-type could just get resummoned.

Still our heroine is going to be in BIG trouble. Since I think Ran might try to kill her now, even against Yukari's orders.

But this story's rumia is quite interesting, since she's alot smarter than she's often shown to be. If she's indeed our ally or just using us is not known...

>>26089
Well, since most canonical material is suspect to one or another degree, who knows how it might go down in this story.

As for Rumia, I kinda got this feeling that maybe she's got more than our own interests at the forefront of her mind.

Especially since we owe her three favors, now, and all.

-----

Faint light comes in through the window. it's gray, everything is gray, gray and red, but it's morning. You slide out of the chair, stretching your stiff joints.

Everything in your head feels muddled, like it's underwater. Despite your layers of clothing, you shiver.

Rumia comes in, her hair damp, her feet muddy. In her arms is a loaf of bread. Tearing it in half, she hands one to you. Your stomach protest, but you eat. She sets the other half on the table, beside your knife. She looks at you sadly, forcing a smile, then leaves.

You gingerly touch your leg, resisting the urge to recoil at the pain. Slowly tearing off a strip of cloth, you wind it around, binding it with care. When it's done, you lie back and stare at the ceiling, thinking of nothing.

-----

After a few hours, you get up to move out of necessity. You ignore your sandals, stepping directly out onto the soft ground. The rain has stopped, but the clouds persist.

You breathe the open air, feeling your head clear a bit. The earth is squishy, oozing up between your toes. It feels pleasant. You close your eyes, recalling the feeling. You kneel, then lie on to your back, allowing the mud to rise up around you. it's soft and cool, and faint light filter in through your eyelids.

You laugh, at everything that's happened to you, at the absurdity of it all. A stinging pressure builds up behind your eyes, and the tears start, rolling down off your face into the mud, clearing off trails along your cheeks. You laugh louder, sobbing sometimes. As your voice dies out, you open your eyes.

"You shouldn't sleep in a place like this."

Rumia is standing over you. She offers a hand. "Are you alright?"

You nod, wiping your nose and sitting up. You take her hand, and she pulls you up, out of the mud. Leaning on her for support, you limp back into the house.

Rumia looks at you, apparently noticing the mud for the first time.

----

You stayed in the house, naked, for the rest of the day while Rumia tried to clear your clothes. You occasionally take a bite of the bread, to keep your strength up. Bored, you pace the room, stopping to look out the door regularly. You never once touch the knife.

-----

Wall.

-----

You stand outside, leaning against the wall. The sky is clear, finally, and you can feel the sunlight warming you. Rumia comes out and stands next to you, once again wrapped in her darkened bubble.

"There won't be a moon tonight."

"Huh?"

She walks back inside without another word, leaving you confused.

-----

Sunset approaches quickly. A familiar itch tells to prepare a camp and hunt for food, but you ignore it and eat some more of the food Rumia brought. There was fish this time, which she cooked outside. Rumia doesn't eat anything, instead looking up at the sky anxiously. it's odd; you don't think you've ever seen her worried.

"What's wrong?" You lean your face in front of hers. Her eyes flick down to you, then back up to the darkening sky.

"They'll be here soon." Something in the tone of her voice makes you uneasy.

"Who?"

"The cat's masters, the ones from the village." Your blood chills. An all-too-familiar fear emerges. "I can't hide us for much longer."

You sit down heavily, knees weak. Already, your hands are shaking.

"Could we run?"

"No. They'll find us tonight, no matter where we go."

This... This is just too much.

I won't die. I won't let them kill me.

You stand up.

"Then... we're going to face them."

Rumia looks at you, surprised. You continue.

"If we can't run or hide, then we might as well. Right?"

Your voice wavers even as you speak, but you clench your fist.

Rumia smiles at you.

-----

You stand in center of the town, Rumia beside you. Behind you is the corpse. In your hand is the knife.

The handle feels familiar, natural. You wish it felt it alien instead. You wish, with all your heart, that you never need to use it again.

The sky darkens. Stars emerge. No moon appears.

Rumia's bubble flickers, shrinking, tearing at the edges. In an instant, it vanishes all together.

Once again, you can feel Rumia's presence. All around you as well, small, lithe shapes, more silver than white, watch you expectantly. Symbols descend into the town, flowing through the streets. They swirl around you, constricting. Without warning they all stop, and the tight ring about you unravels, trailing off into the sky. The other marks fade. You close your eyes, trying to control your heartbeat, and wait.

----

It only takes a minute. A writhing tear appears, filled with monstrous eyes, all staring at you. Two figures emerge. The fox, and the blonde woman from the village. You feel them as luminous figures, wreathed in an almost angelic haze of light. The fox looks behind you, and its eyes go wide with horror and rage. The blonde woman simply looks sad, though you can see anger in her too. She speaks levelly.

"You've been causing quite a few problems, haven't you."

She sighs almost theatrically.

"I suppose every plan as its flaws, as odd as they may be." When she opens her eyes, you nearly lose it. You avert your gaze.

"Ran... crush it."

The fox doesn't speak. Its face shifts, contorting from loss to pure, sadistic rage. It grins wide, wider than a human possibly could, bearing dozens of sharp teeth. It utters a single phrase, hoarse and whispered.

"With...pleasure.?

It rushes at you, claws outstretched. You try to match its rush again, but it easily sidesteps your kick. You jerk to the side just as its nails rake along your leg, leaving shallow cuts. You hit the ground and roll.

Jumping up, you narrowly avoid a second blow aimed at your head. You swing the knife quickly, aiming at its fingers.

ain and again and ag

You recoil, barely avoiding being decapitated by another powerful strike. The attacks come, one after another, giving you no opening. You quickly accumulate dozens of shallow cuts. You still haven't managed to hit her.

It strikes again, a swift uppercut aimed at your neck. On impulse, you bring your foot down as hard as you can. The wood collides with its claws, threatening to throw you off balance. Instead, you kick off with your other foot, somersaulting through the air. You ball up your hand in to a fist and swing it as hard as you can into its face.

Its other hand whips around, slicing deeply into your side and hurling you to the ground. The impact knocks the wind out of you, and you scramble to get up. It turns to face you again, unaffected by your attack.

The fox puts its hands together, eyes closed, and begins to chant. You throw yourself back as a flurry charms and symbols fill the air. They seek after you, winding around in circles. You feel a sharp sting as one of them stick to you, sapping the strength from your body. More and more of them gather, covering you.

You collapse, gasping for breath. Even as you struggle, you know it's in vain. You can't win this. The blonde woman looks on, smiling faintly, and does nothing. The fox continues to chant, binding you tighter and tighter.

Rumia kneels beside you.

"If you've given up... I can fight for you."

She takes your bloodied hand in hers, placing it on her ribbon. She lets go, and looks into your eyes.

You grasp it.

With a sharp tug, it comes free.

-----

I'll start working on the next one now.

>>26117
I am eagerly awaiting the next update.

>>26117

I suspect your EX Rumia would be easily a match for many in both brains and power (considering how Rumia in her normal stage rather clever and devious)

Ha ha ha, ohhhh shit~

Shit just got real!

Okay, the update might be delayed for two reasons. One, I'd like to make this the best update I've ever written, and two I just had a breakthrough with something I've been working on. Oh, and I overslept my alarm by an hour.

In the mean time, if you have any comments, general feedback, or suggestions on how to improve the style (was I doing something you liked, but stopped?), please tell me. Hopefully this won't take longer that a day or two.

>>26138
Feedback? Besides "holy shit!"? Sorry, I'll give proper feedback once the awesome stops flowing in.

As of right now, anon is pleased. Continue as per normal.

Wall 2.0~

-----

The effect spreads out, like a ripple. The auras disappear first, then your senses, one by one, sound, sight, taste, touch, until at last you're floating in a void.

A wave shoots over you, stripping away the darkness. You gasp for breath, struggling to focus.

The blonde woman is still in the air, one hand outstretched as though having pushed something away. Barely two meters away is Rumia, taller than before, a sword easily as tall as she is held in one hand. Small shards of black coalesce on her back into a pair of wings.

The wings on her Rumia's back suddenly grow, enveloping her completely. Her opponent eyes the dark mass incredulously. Before she can attack, the darkness sprouts dozens of thick, swirling tendrils. They reach out with lightening speed, grasping at her. Despite the suddenness and intensity of the assault, she easily sidesteps all of them with a blank expression on her face.

An enormous blade slips silently out as one of the tendrils reaches behind her, swinging at her neck. Without even looking, she simply floats down, grinning in triumph as it whirls harmlessly over her head.

"You'll need to be cleverer than that, little girl."

She half-turns, firing a bolt of purplish light from her hand that tears through the darkness.
"Good thing I am~"

Rumia's claws shoot out of the darkness behind the woman, whose expression quickly falls. She spins with surprising speed, a jagged tear trailing after her hand for a split second. She deflects Rumia's attack with a newly-seized parasol, the clash sending ripples of power into the air around them. Rumia plunges her free hand into the darkness, pulling out her sword with a great deal of force.

Rumia grins as she brings down the blade with both hands. The woman swings the umbrella up, striking it with the side. A sound like cannon rings out, and the two weapons repel, but just barely.

Her opponent takes the initiative, sending a burst of violet at her. She deflects it with one hand, sending her own strikes of darkness and white light from her sword with the other. They ascend quickly, spinning around each other and exchanging great bursts of power with little effort.

They dive in close again, attacking directly with their weapons. The other woman neatly stops Rumia's uppercut with a slash, at the same time stepping back for another spell.

"Lady Yukari!"

Neither of them turns at this voice, and Rumia simply reaches behind her, capturing the fox's claws with her own.

"Using your familiars now? That's low of you, Yukari~"

Demonic-looking red circles form around both of Rumia's arms, and you can see her muscles tense. With a sudden burst of power, she sends both of her assailants backward, immediately engulfing them in blackness. Rumia's wings grow again, surrounding her and splitting into dozens of arms.

Flashes of light come from both sides as the darkness surrounding Ran and Yukari dissolves into a shower of black feathers. Yukari makes an exaggerated sigh.

"Dear, dear, you really should learn some more tactics."

She waves her parasol, striking the writing black mass with an incredible wall of energy, and it dissolves instantly. Rumia holds her sword in front of her, blocking the attack with the side of her blade. Spinning in mid-air, she lunges at Yukari with an overhead strike that she easily reflects. With a dismissive wave of her hand, she fires a multicolored ball nearly three feet across. Rumia cuts it in half with an uppercut, shreds of darkness trailing after it.

Ignoring the remains of the attack, Rumia charges with a thrust. Yukari matches the thrust with her umbrella held in both hands. They connect, the tip of the sword against the point of the umbrella, sparking and crackling with black, white, and purple. The air around them begins to swirl and distort dangerously, and both of them look strained.

With a twist of her wrist, Yukari deftly spins her parasol, releasing a shockwave that pushes Rumia back several feet. Taking the opportunity, Rumia once again hides herself in her wings. Two tendrils shoot out, reaching behind Yukari.

"Tut tut tut, what did I tell you?"

She makes a slicing motion with her hand, opening dozens of writhing holes in the air. Objects fly out of all of them, impaling both sides dozens of times. As the darkness clears away, you see her eyes widen in shock for the first time.

"R-ran!?"

The body of the fox, stabbed by Yukari's projectiles, hangs in the air. A look of realization crosses her face and she spins, swinging the umbrella overhead like a hatchet at the center of the darkness. Violet light swirls around it, making almost tangible ripples. It connects with a sound like a thunderclap, firing a beam so bright that it makes the stars vanish.

As the haze of light dies down, Yukari stands, victorious but exhausted. She starts to laugh.

"Hahahaha... ha-ghk-ha..."It quickly degenerates into a coughing fit. She looks at her glove.

blood

"W-what...?"

Her gaze travels farther down, to the blood-covered claw reaching through her stomach.

"Is this tactic better?" Rumia whispers into her ear.

Yukari's face contorts into one of pure disbelief. With a sharp tug, Rumia tears her arm free, leaving a gaping hole in the gap youkai's stomach. She casually tosses Ran aside, pulling her sword out of her corpse's back. The remaining shadows gather around it as she lifts it over her head. Putting two hands on it, she brings it down with all her might, shearing Yukari in two. Ripples of black, white, and purple spread out through the village.

Rumia lands gently, her sword dissolving into her wings.

"I win~"

-----

Next update comes a while later, in a new thread.

There's only two things I can say about this: HOLY and SHIT.

But I wonder if this would have major effects like Gensokyo collapsing....

>gap youkai
When did the protagonist learn this? I don't see anything in the thread that would lead her to that conclusion.
>The wings on her Rumia's back suddenly grow
Also, this.

>>26177

>When did the protagonist learn this? I don't see anything in the thread that would lead her to that conclusion.

Yukari used her gaps a few times prior. I figured it wasn't too much of a step.

>Also, this.

Crap. Should have done more proofreading.

Well then, Yukari's gonna be pissed when she respawns. Yes, I said respawn. Border between Life and Death anyone?

>>26183
I don't think anybody doubts she'll resurrect, but I do doubt she'd be so hostile afterwards. After all, she'll have had plenty of time to think and not just react. I hope. Otherwise this story will become a rather boring feudfest.

>>26184

Well the question is if Ran and Chen are coming back or not... But I think Yukari's going to rethink things since it seems her little experiment seems to have taken on a whole new tangent.

But we must find out WHY she did such a thing to a bunch of innocent people. Since if she didn't do that, none of this would have happened.

A better question: how are things going to progress now that Rumia's unsealed? Since she might have been using us to do that or not.

Whatever the case I'm sure Reimu's going to get involved. One doesn't basically kill Yukari without anything big happening.

>Whatever the case I'm sure Reimu's going to get involved. One doesn't basically kill Yukari without anything big happening.

I'm more worried that Yuka and daredevils like her will start looking for the one who was able to kill Yukari Yakumo.

The protagonist personally need to confront Keine on why she left us behind when she hid herself and the rest of the village from Chen and her zombies. After avenging her mother's death and becoming somewhat confident in her ability to fend off random youkai, the village would probably be the next thing on her mind, seeing that she'd be seeking to confirm her own humanity after Rumia let out that she wasn't.

Most of all, I'm wondering what the protagonist is to Rumia now that she got what she wanted out of her. Rumia's on top of the world now, so I wouldn't be surprised if she abandons the fledgling youkai to her own devices, like she has many times before.

Continue in >>26187.