舞-YOUKAI

CHAPTER ONE: Oshogatsu

by Harmonium-Kruger

and Twisted Eternal Wolvetta

藤02年01月01日

It was the New Year Festival of the Locked Country, Zipang; the second year of the Fuji period and it was the time of celebration for the people of the nation. A time to forget their worries of the previous year and start afresh.

The blinding, golden sun rose above the curved arches of the buildings and imperial palace, flooding the sky and painting the land in bright, warm colours.

Perhaps it was ironic more than anything for what Oshogatsu really symbolised for the people of Fuuka, to finish, forget and to start, especially when three strangers stood by the gates of the central city, the wooden structure connected to sloping walls which surrounded the nobles residence.

"Hm, now what is this?" The one on the far left tilted their head, a sweeping of soot that had an odd permanence as if it were truly coal brushing along the back of broad shoulders. Ivory claws made neat work of a leaf billowing by, discarding the shreds behind them. "Seems there is a celebration going on… Without us."

Nothing adorned arms of the same paleness, though rough fabric made sure to clasp over the shoulders and flow downwards to cover entirely, a tight sash made and tucked at the waist, raised sandals not letting another set of claws brush dirt or destroy stone.

For the three women which were present behind the gates, this detail to clothing never faulted, the material of hakama skimming across their legs, the folds creased downwards to fray slightly outwards.

They were youkai, more precisely, ignoring the cautious stares of humans which were scattered amongst the area.

"Oi!" The black-haired okuri-inu barked at the gate-guard, the soldier jumping. "We're the youkai from the mountain, let us in."

The guard hesitated, and the blonde of the group grunted, her arms also sleeveless, toned muscles flowing down her form with a pair of sharp, angled horns jutting from her head. "Hurry up!" She towered over the poor guard, her morning star mace propped to her bulky shoulder, "Or I'll smash through it!"

"No one wants that, especially not during this celebration." The soot-haired youkai spoke again, a sort of smirk coming to her lips. The guard stared down at them, very confused but also afraid. With a bow of his head, he hastily ordered the gates open.

"Well that was easy," the redhead muttered, strutting in through the large, wooden gate, her own clothing shoved down, revealing her fairly large cleavage. The nekomata spun around, snickering over to the okuri-inu and oni, leaning down slightly, the blonde frowning at her chest unconsciously.

"Put them away already!" The oni snapped.

"But they're so happy to see you." The first one snickered, nose scrunching as she did so. Permeated coal hair sweeping as she stepped through the gates next, the okuri-inu noticed the guards staring at them, as if on edge from their presence.

Which would be their best option, had they not come in peace… Still.

"Whatever," the violet-eyed blonde grumbled, setting her eyes towards the looming imperial palace, the grand building decorated at the arches with snakes. She arched a brow at it, the crimson and white of the tall palace strangely contrasting finely with the surrounding sakura trees, their blossoms pink and white in colour.

Those cherry blossoms had bloomed early...

"Ah… Got one." Holding a palm out, a blossom resting in the center, the inu stared at it with a faint grumble. "Eh." Bored, she tilted her hand and let it spill out, casting bright forest eyes towards a stall. "Hey, give me some."

"So rude," the fiery redhead muttered, hooking her fingers into the collar of the fellow youkai's hoari, dragging her away from the stall and terrified woman. "Come on, you idiot dog!"

"Nao!"

"Natsuki," Nao rolled her eyes, shooting them towards the guards who stared evermore suspiciously at them, hands tensing upon naginata, yumi and katana. "You're going to get yourself killed."

"I wanted food, I should get food!" Natsuki snapped, saving herself from strangulation from her own collar, huffing as she fixed her haori-jacket. She gave a soft growl, muttering under her breath as she followed.

Why had she got landed with these idiots? The blonde wondered, narrowing her eyes towards the guards, tapping an index finger against the handle of her mace mindlessly. "Let's just get to the palace."

"Palace?" A guard blurted out, drawing his katana to protect.

"Good job." Natsuki sarcastically huffed to the oni, violet eyes rolling with an intensity to give a weaker one a headache.

"Hey, put that away, we're going whether or not."

Seeing as they were here for a peace calling which had been organized by the empress in the first place…

As they made their way up the grey steps of the palace, the guards followed them either way, the stairs worn with age, slanting into the soil of the hill and scattered with the blossoms of the sakura trees.

It was an odd experience, almost as if they were entering the grounds of an old shrine, the echo of a souzu sounding, the water flowing into the bamboo to hit the edge of the stone bowl, the water spewing into it.

Nose in the air, Natsuki closed her eyes and took a long whiff, inhaling sharply. She could have sworn she smelled incense; Perhaps even melting candles as well? That wouldn't be surprising, of course, but the scent… Lilac.

As they headed further up the steps, the blonde paused, Nao and Natsuki doing so also.

"Haruka?"

"Monkey statues," the woman snorted, nearing one in particular which barely reached her waist. It was sat down, its small arms keeping a bowl close to itself, the contents soybeans.

The guards behind them held their breath, a tension rising as they stared at the oni, the blonde taking one of the light-brown beans to lift it closer to her face. Haruka narrowed her eyes, huffed, threw it back into the pot then propped her hands to her hips. "Pathetic!"

Nao snickered, heading up more of the steps, "Oni go away!"

"Shut up."

Natsuki snickered at the other two, taking a bean and flicking it into her mouth to chew. "Bleh." It was hard, as expected, and therefore not that tasty.

"I'm starving." She complained to the other two as she brought up the rear, lifting a hand to scratch at a drooped folded over ear poking from soot just barely.

"As you've been saying for the past hour," the nekomata shot, Natsuki glaring over at her in response. Nao merely shrugged, studying her pointed nails before she directed her feline lime eyes towards the entrance of the palace, two more guards positioned either side of the double doors.

"What's the name of this dumb empress anyway?" She grumbled, the trio reaching the top of the eroded steps.

The guards stiffened in obvious offence, to which Natsuki merely grinned, wolf-ears now stock-straight and perked. "Probably something to do with the sun, you know how some are always on about that." She licked her lips, a bit eager to get something to eat.

Idiots. Haruka shook her head and headed to the guards, the two awkwardly staring at her. "Oh, calm down," she grunted, dropping her mace down onto the floor next to them, the heavy weapon standing perfectly on its spikes as she rummaged inside the bag which was strapped around her shoulder and waist, bringing out a bound scroll which she then handed to one of them. "Your empress requested us."

"Is she in there?" Natsuki jabbed a clawed finger towards the doors they guarded, one reading the scroll slowly. "Oi, she sure keeps a lot of men around…" She waggled thick brows to Nao, snickering softly.

The guard who wasn't reading frowned at them, lifting his naginata just slightly higher, edging the blade just barely closer to them as if in warning, the light of the fully risen sun reflecting from off the blade, sunlight washing across the walls of the palace.

"You may enter," the other grumbled, rolling the scroll closed, rebinding it and hesitantly handing it back to the oni, Haruka taking it and hauling her mace back atop her shoulder.

Now standing straight, Natsuki hummed and preened a little, making sure her dark ears were standing up and able to be seen. Nao noticed this, and snorted while also making sure her nails weren't filthy.

"Preening pretties, we don't have all day."

The two huffed, Haruka quirking a brow to them as the guards heaved the doors open, the inner quarters of the palace being revealed, a long path heading straight for the palace's main entrance, stone lanterns marking the way with sets of gardens and statues. A small pond even followed the pathway for a small while, a red bridge jumping up and across it close to them.

Fuuka was… beautiful at least, which said something at least.

"More walking." Natsuki huffed, crossing her bare arms as she took the lead this time. It was pretty, and everything smelled… Vividly, as if they matched their colors. Nose scrunched up to that thought, she shook her head and sniffed out, catching more of that lilac scent.

All except for them, the place was absolutely abandoned. There wasn't a human soul around, only birds fluttering about and singing, koi fish floating around within the pond which Nao instantly took a fascination to.

"No." Natsuki muttered, snatching hold of the redhead's sleeve and dragging her away.

"Tch, fine, but if we find some little piggies and you want to eat one, you can't!" Nao hissed softly, turning her nose up from the inu as Natsuki made an offended noise.

"...Do you think she has piggies running about, though?"

"Don't mock me."

"Urgh… shut up," Haruka groaned under her breath, still wondering how and why she had got dragged into this, momentarily scuffing the underside of her geta against the slab of stone.

At least those annoying guards were nowhere in sight now. Although judging by this empresses protection she wouldn't be surprised if there were ninja or kunoichi prowling around.

Strangely enough the doors opened from the inside, two servants having done so, almost as if they had known they had been arriving, the women standing in the way of the door, blocking them for a few moments, dressed in faint beryl kimono, hats of the same colour atop their heads, cloth covering their faces from view entirely as they cupped their hands in front of themselves, bowing to then shift out of the way.

Natsuki held her arms out as if to catch the other two from bolting forward, Nao just shooting her a look. The inu's ears were perked, her eyes glued to the servants who had startled her. "Weird face hiding…" She lowered her arms, Nao strutting forward with a roll of her eyes, though she clearly deferred to Haruka to go first.

One of the women soundlessly gestured to their feet and Haruka's mace, then to the indoor step. Nao slipped out of her geta which the servant organized to point towards the exit, Haruka and Natsuki doing so awkwardly once the blonde oni rested her weapon against the wall beside the unmoving servant.

The masked women nodded, bowed again to fall in line with one another.

Slinking past the odd women, Natsuki eyed them suspiciously, the servants side-stepping them gracefully, manoeuvring to close the doors again, sealing the light from the chamber to quietly stand either side of the doorway.

They were creepy…

The three's eyes instantly made contact to a shoji wall, another pair of servants sitting seiza, planting their hands upon the tatami mats of the floor, purposely avoiding the seams of the mats as they bowed low, rising only slightly to slide the shoji open.

Ears rising, Natsuki shuffled a bit in the slippers as the three of them stood in a line. Somehow, she had become in the center…

There was definitely that damned lilac scent strongly in here…

Once the shoji was opened entirely, the servants shuffled backwards, and the one person who had even requested their presence was revealed, the empress sitting seiza also, hands cupped into her lap with a fan lying flat against the large crimson cushion, her figure clothed within a junihitoe kimono, the fine clothing layered intensively and splaying out around her and onto the cushion.

The layers peeked through at the sleeves, all gathering together with different colours in the order of the seasons, the layers of colour - kasane irome - the Fuji class, in a brilliant array of hues, the first three layers white until the rest morphed from pink until it reached the shade of purple.

Detailing didn't even stop there, the obi sash around her waist and stomach a broad white with violet patterns, the rest of the soft fabric hanging down her form to neatly rest before her on the cushion.

Around her hips and sprawled out behind her rested a mo, a sheet of fabric, and finally, her tawny brunette hair was bunched up and clipped into place behind her head, long strands of hair in front left to hang.

The empress slowly clutched the fan, lifting it upwards, unmoving for the time being as her crimson eyes darted between the youkai carefully.

Natsuki's ears inclined back in an odd motion, the youkai eyeng her up in return. That must be excruciatingly hot… She was nudged by the nekomata and in turn nudged the oni, the three of them slowly dropping into a formal bow before the empress.

"An oni… nekomata…" The empresses thick Kyoto-ben flooded the room, crimson eyes never landing upon purple, lime nor emerald for too long, else being rude. She gradually guided her eyes over towards Natsuki again, "... And an okuri-inu."

The daiyoukai had indeed brought an… interesting batch.

Natsuki stayed down, shifting her eyes from the empress and down to the floor. Why was she listed last? She was in the middle…

Nao inwardly snickered, knowing Natsuki must be grudgingly wondering why she was spoken of last. She nudged the inu, the inu nudging the oni, and the three of them rose slowly back on their knees.

Faintly, almost unseen, slender brunette eyebrows rose upon the behaviour, continuing to register the three youkai thoughtfully. The oni was most definitely the brawn, the nekomata was… agility but the okuri-inu…? She wasn't too sure.

"Do I have the Daiyoukai's word of truce? Youkai and humanity must co-exist in peace with law and balance."

"That is why we were sent here." Natsuki spoke up, head still bowed and ears stock-straight again.

"We have been chosen as guardians." Nao picked up, hands placed over her knees as she tried to not dart her eyes over.

Surprisingly all the mischievous attitude from the fiery redhead vanished, a serious expression plastered across her face which hadn't been seen for quite a while.

"And…?" The empress directed her bloody-rubies to Haruka, "Oni such as yourself d-"

A blur of black fired out from behind the kimono-clad woman, the ball of fur screeching and hissing. Abruptly it shot up into the air just as the three youkai tore upwards, puzzled, the entity face-planting Nao with its stomach.

The nekomata yelped, being thrown onto her back.

All was deadly silent within the chamber, the empress slowly lifting her fan to her lips, hiding her mouth as glee invaded her eyes.

Standing, Natsuki stared down as a cat rubbed against the nekomata's face, and the inu barked with vicious laughter as she pointed down at her. "Nao! You've got a cat on your face!"

"Oi, shut up or I'll find a dog and shove it in yours!" The redheaded youkai hissed, all while Haruka covered her face in idle shame of being near the other two.

"Mikoto! Mik-!" Another servant burst into the room, hurriedly sliding the now damaged shoji from behind the empress aside, confused she quickly bowed down to the crimson-eyed woman. "I'm sorry, Kisaki-sama! I couldn't st-"

The empress lifted a hand from the fan, silencing the shorter woman, the amusement still traced within her eyes, mouth still deftly covered.

The woman's eyes widened when she realized the nature of the three visitors, trying soundlessly to beckon the cat over to her.

Natsuki snickered, pulling Nao back onto her knees and letting the cat flop where it may. "Just can't stay away from your own kind, can you?"

The cat slumped across Nao as if it was dazed, grudgingly staring at the ocean-blue eyed woman, the servant maskless. Hissing at her, the cat bolted again, swerving past the empress to fly through the shoji again, sliding through the large hole it had caused.

Groaning, the servant slouched, spinning on her heel to quickly press her hands to her lap, bowing to the empress before flying out after the obese cat.

"That cat seems like it needed the exercise." Natsuki snickered again, watching after the woman chase it before she faced the empress again. Haruka was glaring at her, well, at her and Nao, the oni glowering with an anger unrestrained.

"… Guardians."

COLLAB NOTES

What do you think? Harmonium and I are focusing more on Japanese culture, mannerisms and comedy at the moment. It makes a nice change from the genres we usually concentrate on. On another note, if the kanji appears to not be showing up for you can you please tell me?

Kisaki = empress/queen.

DATE

藤02 (Second year of Fuji) This derives from the kanji of Shizuru's name (藤乃 静留). Shizuru is the ruler of Zipang, so naturally the era is known as the Fuji Period.

年 ( toshi/year), 月 (gatsu/moon/month), 日 (hi/sun/day).

So if in Zipang the date is written as "藤02年1月1日", then in a country such as Windbloom it would currently be the 1st January 1402 (A.R) in terms of the Requiescat Universe (so any large impact from Renascence could have a chance of effecting 舞-YOUKAI!).

JUNIHITOE

The junihitoe is a layered kimono of the Heian period (794-1185). Empresses and noble women alike have worn the junihitoe in the past, so naturally it was an instant decision for Shizuru to wear it. In itself the junihitoe is a monster of a fashion statement researching took quite a while. These junihitoe usually consist of four-twelve layers of kimono which follow the "layer of colour" based upon the seasons. However it has been heard of for some junihitoe to reach forty layers; just imagine Shizuru in that, she'd look like a caterpillar!

'Course before then she'd probably die from the heat...

I suppose it'd work well for tea ceremony though, all those slow and graceful movements would be ingrained within your mind the moment you were helped into a junihitoe.

YOUKAI AND HUMANS

In western terms a youkai would be a demon, however these youkai can be anything from beings to inanimate objects which have gained enough spiritual power thanks to humans.

One of the most famous youkai, the oni, are like trolls or ogres. Their skin can be any colour, but you usually see them with either red, blue or yellow skin tones. Their hair is incredibly messy and they have bulky muscle - the oni is also referenced within a lot of the Japanese language, from anything to warding them away from a house or even playing tag. "Oni! You are it!"

For an inanimate object, something such as an old kasa (Japanese umbrella) can become a youkai. If they are around enough spiritual power for at least a century they can come alive and begin to cause mischief (usually consisting of opening up in front of humans to surprise them).

Humans aren't left out when it comes to spiritual power and worship however. Many shrine maidens throughout the centuries have "become" arahitogami due to humans believing they were doing what instead the gods of their shrine were doing instead. An arahitogami is a "living god" who if they continue to gather faith can even become a god/dess eventually. Throughout Japanese history the emperor/empress has been considered an arahitogami, so Shizuru would class as one currently.