Kiyoko momoe's Story

With the arrival of spring comes the well-anticipated blooming of the cherry blossoms. Throughout the country and throughout it's history, people have been mesmerized by the sight of cherry trues in bloom, as temporary as they may be. Perhaps it's their fleetingness that draws people to them. Some people look at them and think of death, whereas others just admire they're beauty without thinking too deeply. Indeed, there must be something supernatural about them that draws people to want to do nothing but sit under them and just allow themselves to be mesmerized.

The land between the mountains, almost forgotten by society, was definitely one of such mesmerizing sights. The pink and white treetops stretched out over vast tracks of land, most heavily clustered around the high ground where only a single shrine sat. The shrine was not the only place in bloom. Thousands of flowers bordered the Misty Lake, where fairies sung and danced. The Forest of Magic was somewhat lacking in terms of blossoms, with the exception of some notable clusters, yet rare flowers that only grew in the darkest jungles could be found within these shady woods. The various fields that sat between the forests of Gensokyo were covered in flowers as well. Even the Bamboo Forest of the Lost was in full bloom, an exceedingly uncommon event that only ever occurred once every sixty years.

It seemed as if the flowers were going to take over Gensokyo. Perhaps they were making up for the disappointing blooms of last year, when consecutive heavy rain quickly ruined the cherry blossoms in a period of a few short days, leaving no time for any decent flower viewings. Perhaps it was for this reason that the humans of the village were especially rowdy this year. In times of relative peace, the village people tended to host festivals that lasted as long as the cherry blossoms did, where they'd sing, dance, recite, act, drink and have a great time while viewing the cherry blossoms. There was no real meaning to these celebrations other than to simply forget all the bad things in life and have a good time while being surrounded by a breathtaking environment, and to admire the cherry blossoms, of course.

Still, even amidst all this festivity is that unshakable feeling of suspicion and dread that one gets used to when living in Gensokyo, the feeling that at any moment, a Youkai may appear and attack you. However, thanks to recent triumphs in Youkai extermination, such as a complete clean-sweep of all Tsukumogami within the village, the villagers have been able to enjoy some peace of mind.

The Youkai, however, are in a period of unrest. With the security of the village increased, attacking the village directly seems unthinkable for any lone creature. The Youkai, for the most part, are scattered and unorganized, none of them possibly brave enough to try to cause any real incidents. The organized powers are also in unrest. In secret locations, the Youkai leaders meet to discuss their concerns for the future of Gensokyo, but it seems as if such a future is going to be a grim one.

Among disunified Youkai, festive humans and a suspicious spring does our tale start. Let us all spin the tale that puts a close to all folktales. Let this denouement begin.

Kiyoko Momoe walked into the village to go to work. She would earn her pay and go buy some noodles. Every one around her were clamoring about something, distant, Some seemed to come back to mind and a little changed to about her, but still that one topic was spoken so softly and quickly that Kiyoko couldn't hear it. She strode into her workplace, the Herbalist's shop/home. A costomer was wispering to him about something. Dream pricked her ears so she could hear. Kiyoko looked at her, but after a minute or two the pair of gossiping people noticed them and dream nodded her head "No". The woman rushed out of the store and Goro Daisuke beckoned for her to come behind the counter. "Please, Sit down." she did as told. And he began to tell her what the woman told him, Goro was not one for gossip, so this was very unusual to Kiyoko. Kiyoko's eyes went wide as the news unraveled. After the news was spoken, Dream whined and buried her nose in her paws. "Its bad. Very Very bad!" Kiyoko wondered what this all meant to humanity. "You work for three to four hours today Kiyoko. Remember that." Goro stated. "yes-sir."

Kiyoko was told to get some food and eat it at the place, or go find a place in town to eat it. She got one bowl of pure meat for her "pet" as the owner called Dream. "No pets allowed" the chef told her sternly. "Then i will take it to go." she said back.
The other bowl was noodles with mushrooms and beef. Kiyoko found a bench in the middle of town, were there would be a gathering in a short while.

After they got done eating and returned their bowls kiyoko asked "Why is it bad? Might they just be wanting to try to make peace." "Or it could be an attack. I do not believe they wish to make peace with us, my dear child. I believe they mean war."

Kiyoko and Dream were wandering around the town, mostly around the Noh stage area, hoping to see a play. Kiyoko noticed two people fighting about something a short ways away, but they were too far for their words to reach. "We do not get into their buisness. They do not get into ours." The wise words of the wolf echoed around in Kiyoko's head. Around the area were a lot of mats around, there was a grandmother eating snacks with her grandaughter. There were also many kids playing games around as well. When they saw dream, they all ran to pet her. The large wolf sucked it all up, just not the noise. "Can she do tricks?" one child asked. Dream then stood up, and jumped six feet in the air, doing a backflip and landing in the same area.

"Chi-Chi," Chou exclaimed with a part of her riceball in her mouth, "did you see that? That dog jumped in the air!" Chiyoko turned her head toward where Chou was pointing and saw what the large wolf. The wolf proceeded to perform the trick a second time. Then Kiyoko told the kids, "Hey, watch this..." and Kiyoko climbed on Dream and then, Using a wind rune, made them both levitate. Chou was mesmerized.

"Chou, that isn't simply a 'dog'," Chiyoko corrected, "we must give our respect to deities." Chou pleaded, "I wanna go pet it!" Kiyoko heard chou's words. "You can, She loves it." The young girl then walked over to the wolf and sunk her hand into the long, thick fur.

"We give you our most sincere gratitude," Chiyoko said, placing her hands on the ground and bowing to the young woman, "as it is a great honor to bear witness to a living god. Please accept our most honest respect." Chou didn't seem to care for respects as she happily ran her hands through the large wolf's white fur.

"Oh, it's nothing. If she wants to ride with me, its fine. I need to get out more anyways." Then the other kids started pleading to ride with her. "One at a time, for safety, maybe" Dream forgot about the dangerous 'war' and just relaxed and played. Being a god in wolf form wasn't bad, it was fun!

"Can I?" Chou asked her grandmother? "It is bad practice to refuse the blessings of a god," she said, "but when accepting a blessing, one must give an offering to their deities." Chou looked somewhat troubled as she didn't really have anything on her to offer. "Here Chou," Chiyoko offered, holding a riceball in her hand, "give her your mother's snack. I'm sure your slowpoke of a mother won't mind." Chou giddly ran to Chiyoko and accepted the riceball in her hand, before beginning to sprint back.

"Hold it there, Chou," Chiyoko called, "you must offer it to her properly. Remember, slowly now." Chou bit the corner of her lip as she went over the proper stance from memory. She straightened herself up and slightly bent her knees, riceball cupped in her hands near her stomach. Then, she began to walked slowly, keeping her body level and her footsteps even. Approaching the wolf, Chou got a nervous feeling. She stopped and brought her cupped hands out. Chou hesitated, before remembering something. "Please accept my offering," she said in a clear tone.

Kiyoko was a bit confused at this but went with it. "Thank you, and may your teachings be very well recieved." she said as she looked Chou in the eye. Kiyoko put it in a basket she purchased while wandering. "Come now, we may float!" and dream rolled on her side. Kiyoko instructed Chou to grab a clump of fur and hold it tightly. Once that was done, the wolf layed like she usually did. Kiyko climbed up like she usually did so she could get Chou into a comfortable position. She pulled the wind rune out of the bag and wrapped her arms around Chou. "Now, this might be a little scary.." "Don't worry," Chou assured, "Mom is scarier than anything!" And then they went up! Dream went in a circle, Just one as to not make them dizzy (or herself for that matter), and then back to solid ground. Then they dismounted, sliding down the fur as if it were a modern day fire pole.

"Chi-Chi! Did you see that?" Chou called, running toward her grandmother with her arms out, "I was flying! I was flying really high!" Chiyoko chuckled as Chou flew into her lap. "You weren't flying, silly," Chiyoko told Chou, patting her head, "You were on the back of a flying wolf. Did it feel like you were flying?" Chou nodded her head. Chiyoko ruffled up her hair affectionately. "Hold onto that feeling Chou," Chiyoko said, "that's an important feeling."

Kiyoko gave the other childeren a ride, all of them screamed when they went up, unlike Chou.

After all that, Kiyoko asked Chou if she really wanted to fly. "Flying is really fun, I really like it" Chou answered, "There's this pond behind the shrine that Genji lives in. Genji's a turtle, a big one, and he can fly! Chi-Chi sometimes calls him for help, but Mom doesn't. Chi-Chi says Mom's afraid of heights. I wanna fly like a turtle!" "Then watch me." Kiyoko told the young Chou in a low, excing voice, and began to float on her own, without Dream. And then she made Chou float a bit as well. 'You have full control. But, there is a limit, and that is a few miles just before the heavens."

Chiyoko whispered to Chou, "Do you want to try flying?" Chou nodded. "Then there you go!" Chiyoko released Chou and Chou instantly began to leviate, as if gravity had completely lost it's hold on her. Chou began to squirm about in every direction as she slowly drifted up. She moaned in anxiety."Try thinking about were you wish to go." Kiyoko instructed.

"I wanna come down now!" Chou called nervously. She had drifted about 5 meters in the air now. Her long, flowing robes twisted and turned about in relation to gravity as Chou flailed about. Chiyoko stood up. "Don't worry, dear," she assured, "I got you."

"Okay," Kiyoko said and she gently willed Chou down before realeasing the effect on her. Chiyoko caught the nervous little girl in her arms and held her tightly. "My same reaction when I first learned." Kiyoko told them as she herself floated down, about an inch off the ground before putting the rune in her pouch, releasing the effect on herself and anything else that might of had the effect. "My teacher." Kiyoko said, motioning to the large wolf, fast asleep. Chiyoko nodded in acknowledgement.

"Am I to understand that she," Chiyoko motioned to the wolf, "is your patron deity? Yet you yourself have become a living god. It's not unheard of, one's blessings being mistaken for another. How does she feel about it, I wonder?" Kiyoko turned to the wolf, still half asleep. "They must not know, what I really am, I am okay with it..." Dream told the girl, the only one that could hear her besides humans that are under the influence of gods. "S-she is okay with it. But she seems sad to me all the time. This is the happiest I have ever seen her today. I do remember, though, falling from the sky, into a lake. ANd she brought me ashore and took me to the local herbalist. I grew up with him, and now I work for him." Kiyoko said, staring past Dream, at the sun high in the sky. Suddenly, Kiyoko remembered. "Have you heard?"

"Heard what?" Chiyoko replied. Kiyoko told the old woman what the Herbalist told her. Chiyoko pursed her lips. "Here, Chou, why don't I put you down, so you can go have a seat" she said, "you're getting awfully big for me." Chiyoko gently placed Chou onto her feet, who proceeded to run back to their mat compliantly.

"If that's true," Chiyoko responded to Kiyoko more sternly, "then we will have to be cautious in the near future. I have no doubt in my mind that the Youkai are plotting for trouble. Are you absolutely sure these rumours are true?" "The town sounds very serious. And I found the maker of the rumors. He had not told a lie for some time." Kiyoko replied. "I looked through his soul." Chiyoko closed her eyes and took a deep breath, crossing her arms.

"We'll look into this issue as promptly as we can," Chiyoko told her, "As soon as tommorow, perhaps. We'll figure out what they're plotting." "May I be of assistance?" Kiyoko asked, "you are of the Hakurei family, correct?" Chiyoko nodded.

"If a god could possibly gain insight on what the Youkai are doing," Chiyoko explained, "that would be greatly appreciated. We would be sure to present you with great offerings if you were able to accomplish that, both of you that is." Chiyoko bowed respectfully. "Oh, no need for offerings. I am meant to make peace, and if peace fails, I can be destructive. But only if needed." Kiyoko replied, making herself invisible with the air rune. "I'm going to Youkai Mountain soon." and then she reappeared.

"A thousand blessings of gratitude for you," Chiyoko told her, "and a thousand prayers for your good health, your untainted soul and your safe return!" "And the same for you and your granddaughter." Kiyoko responded, with a big smile. She as just about to head home, she went to Chou.

Kiyoko always had extra runes, along with messed up ones that were just as powerful with what they did, but they only did one thing, and she handed Chou an air rune, but it was messed up so it could only make you fly. "On the back are the words to you need to whisper to levitate, or fly. It with make it easier for you to learn how to fly. But do it in a roofed area for starters untill you can make yourself go down." Kiyoko squeezed Chou's hand a little, "Be carefull, dont break it. I advise you get a small pouch for it and keep it with you at all times." Kiyoko knew that Chou was going to like flying once she got used to it. And if she learned how to do it, it would help her a lot in the future.

Kiyoko said her farwells to chou and Chiyoko, and went home with Dream to prepare for the hike to Youkai Mountain tonight. They would pack a lot of food to take, for it was going to be a long journey.

Kiyoko packed the rice ball that Chou gave her, and a lot of meat, vegetables and bowls, along with a pair of Chopsticks. She made a few extra runes, and left the messed up/broken runes at home. They packed a few cloths and planned a route: 'The easiest, fastest, and most hidden route' is what they wanted. They ended up taking the longest one, but because it was so much longer it was rarely used, and had a lot of undergrowth and bushes to go into and use air rune to spy on anyone that comes across their path. They went to get blessings and also decided to eat a little before they went, so the minute they got on the mountian they wouldn't need to eat.

"It is a very long journey, are you sure you are up to the task?" the herbalist asked her when she stopped by to get medicines, creams and bandages. "I am very sure. This is an important mission for me right now." Kiyoko assured her boss/caretaker. "I promised Chiyoko Hakurei i would at least get the information needed." The herbalist sighed "Well in that case, Take care of yourself and be careful. You have a good plan and a bit of food?" "yes," Kiyoko told him, "I also have a few more cloths, and my very best runes, With backup. We will not attack unless it is in self defense. We are taking the longest route, and that is because very few are likely to come up that way." Kiyoko smiled. "We've got it all figured out. It may be the worst path to follow, but it is the safest."

After saying their farewells to the town, The Shrine maidens, And cleaning up their house, making sure they remembered everything, Kiyoko and Dream set off to Youkai Mountian. This will be one journey for them to remember for the rest of their lives... that is if they make it out alive...