Massive Tool !9KBRSqbdLs 2018/03/11 (Sun) 16:01 No. 198778 Ah, good 'ol laziness finally strikes this story.
No image this time because I was being hasty. Again.
Reassure: |||||
Threaten:
Panic: |||
Smile: |
"Vengeful bad!": ||
CHUUNI TIME BOYS: |||
---
You gulp - or, you would have gulped if you were capable. You sort of just stare at the glaring young lady in front of you with your one eye, mouth agape and tongue gently blowing in the moonlit wind, before you attempt to croak something out. Your first word (well, first 'sound', you suppose,) comes out in flutters of paper and wet muscle. You intended something like, "Vengeful bad! Lamp good!", but it came out more like several instances of "Flbtpfh!!" at varying pitches and frequencies. Hot spittle flicks onto the lady's unamused face, obviously not hot as the searing stare she's drilling right through you, or the tense whiteness of her knuckles gripping the umbrella. You're spooked! She looks like some frightful youkai!
"What was that? Are you unable to speak? Are you trying to mock me? What?" She suddenly flicks the umbrella around (goodness that's a lot of dexterity for a child), tossing you about in the air for a moment before you suddenly find her face nearly pressed up against your eyeball, letting you see her tensed, youthful features sending shivers through your own lightly orange-colored ones. She warns again, in a quiet voice, "No matter how powerful of a spirit you might be, you will be exterminated if you trouble the townspeople here. So. Out with it. What are you?" This prompts you quite strongly to try your hand (tongue?) at speech again. You don't want to be exterminated! You just got your first breath of life, you don't want it snuffed out so soon!
"Wwwff- wffphh, mmwwee?" Mouth control tentatively acquired. Vowels down. Language commencing. "Meee... goodffww," you squeak. You're unable to really get the sound of "paper flapping about in the wind" out of your voice, but it's a start. You sound raspy and high-pitched. You thought you'd sound a little deeper, but, oh well! That's the way fate deals out it's gifts, isn't it? You, blessed with wit, charm, and intelligence, should only fairly be given such a character flaw as having a voice not unlike a particularly old mouse. At least, that's your perception of how you sound. What were you doing again? Oh, right. "I am nofww badf spirit! I li-lightff. Ligfww." You'll have to work on that.
To your credit, the girl doesn't immediately send you to be executed, no matter what her stare says, or the stares of the crowd of people gathering around you two. You look around. You're currently on a dirty street corner near one of the walls. Judging by the straw hats and worn bodies of the people here, you could probably visit some farms if you continued on this road. As was previously mentioned, a crowd has gathered around to stare at you like you were some oddity. Though - they offer the girl those same bemused expressions. She returns a quick glance before focusing her attention back to you.
"Right," she begins, letting the umbrella tilt away from her face and move you back into a distance that, while still making you shiver to and fro a little, is at least a little more comfortable. "If you're not a bad spirit, why did you scare all those people? That's not a very 'good' thing to do." You can tell her glare lightens, as if she were settling into a more familiar mood. "Tell me what you wanted to do here. If you wanted to scare people, do it outside of town." The evening wind nudges a strand of purple hair to rest down across her nose, and she blows it back into position. "There are plenty of travelers for a youkai like you."
Wait, youkai? Her words seem to unsettle both you and the crowd alike, though for, you imagine, mostly separate reasons.
"Yoow... kwai?" you chirp, blinking twice. Before the girl can respond, the crowd rings out for her, a firm wave of deep and hostile sounds from all sides of you.
"We don't want any youkai here!"
"Send the Hakurei!"
"Exterminate it!"
"Enough!" The violet-haired girl swings you about like a flail, which, while leaving you intensely dizzy, seems to be effective at stemming the outcries of the farmers. "We will not need to bother the Hakurei with this if it simply stops bothering everyone." There's a moment of awkward silence. You look at her as if to say 'I'm right here, you know.' She ignores you and continues.
"For one thing, I'm looking to check something important..." She inspects you a little closer, eyes apparently not set to 'intimidate' and more 'scan every part of your body'. "... Not dilapidated..." she mutters, before turning back to the farmers. "... That will be all. The situation has been taken care of. This little one won't bother you anymore," she gives you a little shake, seemingly for emphasis, "and I'll make sure of that. Return to your homes." She turns and leaves, you still hanging on by her umbrella.
It's more than a little surreal to see the still-grumpy crowd of burly men (and like one or two women) all slowly disperse with grunts at the small girl's insistence, but that's what you see. Just who is this sassy child? And where is her brisk, calculated walk taking you to, through the shadowed streets and buildings? You shake a little in the air, and she mutters a "quiet down," slinging you over the shoulder like you're the latest catch hanging off her paper-umbrella-fishing-pole. You're starting to feel like a fish out of water, too.
---
After a few bumpy minutes, you feel your carrier suddenly stop in her tracks. She must know this town very well, having gotten to her destination several magnitudes faster than you. Where is this place, anyways? You look - hey, that building's familiar! You realize you're being carted back to where you first awoke, some hours ago. The violet-hair raises you up and points you toward the leafless tree in the middle of the street. Once again, it's more than a little imposing from down here.
"As I suspected, the lantern's gone," she says. "You, ah... you know this tree, don't you?" You nod vigorously, not that you can see her, and you can hear a careful 'hmm'.
"So you're not really an evil spirit, then. The old lantern finally woke up." You're moved around, and flipped once, before you're turned to face the girl as she sits in the shade of the tree, cross-legged. She hooks you, finally, off of the umbrella, staring at you seriously. "I always suspected it might happen soon, but no one did anything about it just because you were seen as 'sacred' and 'important' for hanging there since before the barrier." A tiny hand moves to scratch her hair. "But you're just like a toddler..."
She puts you down on the ground, examining you expectantly, as if waiting for you to hop away. You don't. The two of you sort of just sit there, a sudden moment of quiet. After a while, you gain enough wits to speak. "A-ahmm, yowwkwaii?"
"Mm?" She tilts her head, a surprising amount of expression. "Oh, are you a youkai? Yes."
Well.
You're already beginning to get familiar with this girl's bluntness, and you don't even know her name.
You're a youkai... this feels like it should be some sort of explosive, emotional revelation, maybe one where you break down going "NOOOOOOO", but it was revealed in such a lame way you can't help but simply focus on the facts. It made sense. Normal lanterns don't go around hopping across the street and getting nearly mistaken for spirits. It's disconcerting, though. You were meant to keep scary beasts and strange creatures away with your light, and now, you've become one of them? Would you have to run from your brothers and sisters of light? You glance at the few lanterns still lit and the moon hanging overhead, perplexed. The violet-hair notices your expression and coughs.
"Right, you must be confused." She stares at her chest for a second. "... Well, it's my duty to educate villagers of this town, and, technically, you're part of it, so..." She sighs. "Ask me any questions you'd like."
Huh. You didn't expect her to be so hospitable, considering how barely half an hour ago she was threatening to have you killed. You're thankful for it, though - you've got more than a couple of questions in your head. Lamp. You think.
(Choose two)
[ ] What am I?
[ ] Who are you?
[ ] Where are we?
[ ] Why are you acting so nice?
[ ] When's dinner?
[ ] Hop upon the girl.
[ ] Write-in
