Fuedal Community

The pathway is clear and Tylo, Moho, Miyu and Skye has enbarked on their journey on this strange land known as Gensokyo. Moho and Skye has already headed off around the giant misty lake while Tylo and Miyu has begun to scout through the forests by the crash site. Their journey is going to be a long one. This was their first step.

"Sir, are you sure you can walk?" Miyu asked Tylo concernedly as they put on their armour.

"Yeah, I am fine. The bio-foam dispenser in the boots have already begun treatment."

"Alright Ty...Sir. Just do not over exert yourself."

Tylo and Miyu left the crashed pod fully equipped in their graphene made Buzzer Battle RIG. It was basically a full body suit, designed more for aerobatic combat than traditional warfare. It was made entirely of graphene and the insides were padded with poly-silicate foam compounds. It came with a carbonite tanto-edge blade and a fusion jet pack. The bulky fusion jet packs strapped to their backs offered them some flight capabilities at high speeds. The main downsides to it was that the fusion jet pack was highly un-maneuverable and could only hold enough water-fuel for 10 minutes of low power flight and slightly less than a minute of combat power flight. It had to be used sparingly.

"I am still surprised as to how our tiny lockers could hold all of these equipment." Tylo absent mindedly commented as the two soldiers walked into the dim foliage.

"Well, that's NanoTec engineering for you." Miyu replied.

The march into the forest did not last long before they encounter some more of Cela's native creatures. Humanoid creatures, slightly smaller than Rumia, but wearing more colorful and some, frilly articles of clothing with wings protruding from their back. They crossed Tylo and Miyu's path so quickly that the two soldiers barely had enough time to dodge the resulting balls of light shot at them. Before they could return fire, the "fairies" had already flown away.

Another encounter they had were with strange white fluffy ball-like furry creatures. They attacked them so viciously that Tylo was sure he would have been mauled to death by them if it were not for his armor. A quick swipe of his sword made them burst into white clouds of fluff, sometimes revealing blue or red crystal flakes. He kept them for future reference.

It was not for another seven attacks when Tylo and Miyu decided to turn on their infra-red cameras to detect the creatures hiding within the undergrowth. This proved to be useful, until the "fairies" learnt to lower their body temperature enough to blend into the surroundings. It was as though they had a "second life" and knew how to avoid death before it even happened.

This continued for nearly three hours and thankfully for them, their armor was strong enough to deflect any glancing hits from the commonly shot light balls and able to disperse the heat efficiently from those that struck home. Tylo and Miyu eventually came across a small clearing in the forest. They had traveled nearly 12 kilometers within that time and were well out of range of accessing what was left to the escape pod's RIG functions.

"Miyu, look over there. Is that a village of some sorts?" Tylo said as he poked his head through the clearing.

"I can't quite tell. If it is a Lolite military base, then it is very primitive looking." Miyu replied. "What are your orders sir?"

"On me. You are weapons free."

"Yes sir. On you."

The forest cleared into a hilly grassland where the "village" could be seen at nearly two kilometers. This time, without the obstructive trees and forests, their progress would be much quicker and event-less.

Drawing closer to the "village", Tylo noted that it was indeed a village and not a military base as they had previously suspected. A small river lay before them and there was a bridge across. At the other end, sat a single person at the foot of a hill by the bank of the river wearing a casual haori.

Tylo blinked. Indeed. He was not a Lolite but an actual human. He was sitting by the river fishing and did not seem to notice the two. Tylo unfolded his helmet and lowered his weapon before calling out to him. Miyu stayed behind as Tylo walked forwards.

"Hey you there. You are a human yes? What are you doing here?"

He looked as stunned as a fish out of water and as pale as one too. It took him a while before he answered back.

"Umm… Hey… Yeah I am human… I err… You are not going to eat me are you?"

The man looked as though he would run at any moment. Tylo was confused. Very. Why would he want to eat the man? He thought to himself. Wasn't it cannibalism? He cleared his throat and spoke.

"No! Of course not. Do I look like the kind of person to do that kind of thing?"

"Well… Actually you do."

"W-What?"

"You see… I have never seen you around. You dress strangely and speak with a strange accent."

Tylo was about to cross the bridge already, with Miyu following closely behind.

"Well, that's because I came from up there." Tylo pointed towards the sky. "From space."

"Space? What is th..."

"Yeah." Tylo interrupted him. "Now tell me… What is this place? And how did you get here?"

"I have been here all my life!" He spoke as though it was blatantly obvious.

"We call it *error *."

Translation error. Tylo cursed silently. "I beg your pardon?"

"*error *"

"Say that again." Tylo quickly turned off the translator.

"Gensokyo. Rika maishi sumawata?"

Tylo turned it back on. "Yeah. I do."

Strange. His speech has some Japanese mixed in with the Loa. Lower pitch than usual but I know it is a Loa dialect. What was strange however was the Japanese.

"How long have you and your ancestors been here? I am getting rather confused."

"Well, I am not very sure about the history of *error *, but you can ask Keine. I am su..."

Before the man could finish his sentence, a massive wave of water from the river swept upwards and straight towards Tylo. The force was great and very powerful. It knocked him off his feet and soon enough, he found himself underwater. His RIG's helmet immediately folded back onto his head and drained the insides from water, leaving Tylo's face wet, uncomfortable and himself staring into the eyes of a ghostly spirit wearing what seemed to be a school uniform.

"This one is new..." The spirit's voice echoed within Tylo's head. "I can't seem to drown you. Who are you?"

Tylo was immediately surfaced after that. By the river bank, sat the same spirit holding a giant ship anchor and a ladle balanced on her lap. The man he was talking to previously was nowhere to be seen and Miyu was behind him on the bank opposite the spirit, looking very shocked.

"Well, well, aren't you an interesting one? I haven't seen you around before. What's your name?"

"Tylo. NNT SF Squad-04. How about you? And what were you trying to do to me?"

"I am Minamitsu Murasa, Ship Phantom. I was trying to drown you!"

"And, why would you do something like that?" Tylo asked again as he gestured for Miyu to have her weapon on standby, while wondering what a 'ship phantom' was.

"Well… I guess you could say for entertainment. And after all, you are an outsider… right?"

"That still doesn't give you reason to drown others right? It kills people you know."

"Actually, it does. Nobody mourns them anyways."

Miyu had her weapon raised as she slowly began to cross the bridge. Minamitsu did not seem to notice.

"Well then, I guess I will choose my targets more carefully next time. Sorry!"

With that, the ship phantom dived into the water and disappeared beneath the surface. Tylo swam to the bank of the river and climbed out slowly. Miyu ran over to assist him.

"Well I guess that was to be expected. Let's go. I'll walk it off." Tylo said. Miyu nodded silently.

The two climbed the little hill that was before them and at the top, about three meters high, Tylo and Miyu could see the village in greater detail. Tylo lay flat on his stomach and deployed his rifle's extended barrel and scope. The village looked sparsely populated but populated nonetheless. They could see humans and Lolites mixed amongst each other walking about the edge of the village, going about their daily routines. Enhancing the magnification of his HUD, Tylo was able to spot out store vendors, blacksmiths, tailors and whatever kind of people one would find in a feudal Japanese village.

Miyu nudged Tylo's shoulder and pointed. Looking a little closer, there were actually Lolites mixed in with the human population. There was one with rabbit ears, there was another with fox tails. Tylo nearly thought he was seeing things.

"Let's go in for a closer look, and maybe we can find this 'Keine' person he was talking about." Miyu commented. She seemed really eager to go on.

"Alright. Hopefully we don't draw too much attention. And I am going to tweak my translator too. The bloody thing is irritating me."

Miyu could not help but giggle.

They arrived at the entrance of the village in about ten minutes, or at least, the beginning of the main "highway" of the village. The moment the two soldiers set foot into the village, they immediately felt the eyes of the twenty or so people in the area, turn towards them. Ignoring the stares, Tylo looked around in curiosity.

"Wooden/Paper buildings… Sign posts in Loa… Translate… Kirisame-ya Second Hand Shop."

Isn't that a Japanese name? And "Ya" a Lolite slang? Tylo thought to himself.

"Miyu."

"Huh? Yes sir?"

"Go on without me, I am gonna visit this place for a moment. I'll call you when I am done."

"OK. Noted."

Tylo separated from Miyu and turned into the old but well maintained store. The ambiance was quiet and after surveying the store for a brief moment, his helmet folded away. Sitting at the store counter was an elderly man. He looked well in health and seemed to be deep in thought.

"Excuse me." Tylo began.

"Oh, sorry sir." The old man replied. "I didn't see you there. How may I help you?"

"I'm just browsing."

"Oh, OK. Take your time sir."

Tylo acknowledged him and looked around, this time in greater detail. There was nothing out of the ordinary. Which meant that the shop wasn't selling any weapons of mass destruction or anything along those lines. There was however, a good amount of dusty cards lying around. They had many markings written on them, seeming like spiritual seals. But as far as Tylo was concerned, there was no such things as 'spirits'. At least until his encounter with Minamitsu.

"How much do these… Paper things cost?"

"Oh, those are useless. I intended to give them away, but nobody wanted them."

"What do they do?"

"They were dropped of by the Shrine Maiden of Hakurai rather recently. It apparently had no spiritual potential left in it according to her and she dropped them off here. And I don't sell magical goods so I am giving them away."

"I see… OK, give them all to me. I need them for… research." Tylo paused as he watched the old man gather the cards from the shelf and pass it to him. Tylo continued.

"By the way Mr…?"

"Kirisame."

"Noted. Mr Kirisame, do you happen to know a 'Keine' in this village?"

"Why yes, of course I do. She is a history teacher at the school just three rows down the road. Turn left at the junction there. You can't miss it."

"Thank you."

As Tylo turned to leave, Mr Kirisame called out to him.

"You are an outsider yes?"

"Indeed. Why?"

"Oh, nothing. Never mind. Say hello to Marisa for me will you."

"Yeah, sure. Good day."

Tylo emerged from the dimly lit store back out into the late morning sun. He brushed dust off his hair and folded his helmet back onto his head. Marisa… Tylo thought to himself. Who the hell is that?

"OK." Miyu replied through the RIG communications. The distance was short enough such that the strong magnetic fields did not disrupt it too much. "I will be over soon. Just caught my eye on a food store here."

"Noted." Tylo replied. "Make it quick will you?"

"Sure. The queue is not very long anyways."

"You have the money for it."

"...Right… I forgot about that. He he… I'm on my way."

Tylo cut the communications link and the instant after that, he could not help but laugh a little.

Following Mr Kirisame's instructions, Tylo eventually came across a large terakoya like building by the road. The road was wide, so there was significant traffic for a village of that size. There was nothing on its walls to indicate it was a school, but Tylo, having studied ancient Japanese history of the 15th century, was aware of that fact already.

Outside the school stood a young lady wearing a yellow-flower patterned sleeve dress with a green vest and short hakama skirt separated by a frilly, white and red obi. She seemed to be deep in thought, or at least waiting for someone. Tylo ignored her.

Miyu had not arrived yet and Tylo was getting a little impatient. I think I will enter myself. He thought to himself. After typing a message on his RIG and sending it through the link, Tylo took a deep breath before entering the building. All of a sudden and right out of the blue, the lady in the floral dress stopped him. Tylo instinctively folded down his helmet.

"Umm, excuse me..."

"Huh? Do you need something?"

"I know that this a little random but, you are not from this land right?"

Tylo nodded, half confused by the lady's sudden approach.

"Oh, where are my manners? I am terribly sorry. I am Hidea. Hidea no Akyuu."

Tylo examined her. From head to toe. Human. He replied.

"Well, nice to meet you. I am Tylo. As you asked, no, I am not from this place. Why?"

At about this point in time, Miyu had found her way to the school. She instantly saw Tylo down the road, talking to a strange lady in a flower dress. Miyu was instantly behind Tylo.

"So captain… The first thing you do when you arrive in enemy territory is talk to the first pretty girl you see. Aren't you a cheeky bugger."

Akyuu was obviously startled by Miyu's sudden appearance and her face flushed red. Before she could say anything, Miyu questioned her.

"Alright, games over. What do you want with my captain?"

Akyuu was stunned and lost for words. Tylo noticed from the corner of his eyes, Miyu had her right hand gripped onto her rifle's handle, and rifle itself set to full-auto. Things would get really bloody if Tylo did not diffuse the situation soon.

"W-Wait a moment." Tylo nearly squeaked. He paused, cleared his voice and continued.

"Miyu, stand down. She is a human. I don't thing she means any harm, or at least, has not shown any evidence for such intent."

Tylo turned towards Akyuu. "Right? Miss Hidea?"

"Y-Yes! That's right! I-I'm just a historian here you see?"

"I hope so." Miyu said in a huff. "Be warned I still have my finger on the trigger."

"Sorry about that." Tylo apologized. "My friend here is just… really tensed up. We only just got here. You are aware that the Lolites and us humans are at war yes?"

"War? I've never heard of a war."

"Your people, no, those big eyed people shot down one of our cruiser. We are, in fact completely justified in spraying down this village with lead for the losses. Not that we would do it anyways. At least until someone gives us a reason to."

"Oh, umm… Plea..."

"Don't worry." Tylo interrupted Akyuu. "I am not going to shoot you people."

"Oh, alright then… Sorry."

"No need to apologize. We are just passing through anyways."

Akyuu audibly swallowed her saliva and she nodded. She asked another question.

"I don't mean to intrude but, did you fall from the heavens?"

"You mean from space? Yeah."

"So it was you!"

Tylo and Miyu both looked at Akyuu questioningly. She explained.

"Well, the Hakurai Miko came pretty early this morning and she casually told me that she saw a brilliantly bright star fall from the sky last night. I kind of figured you two were related to it somehow."

That Hakurai Shrine Maiden person seems to be everywhere in this village, Tylo thought to himself.

"Is that so? I see. As the historian you are, I assume you want to know more about our past?"

Akyuu's eyes lit up. "Well, that was not what I had in mind but that's great! I would love to hear it!"

What a sudden change in attitude thought Tylo to himself. He shrugged the thought off almost immediately after.

"Well Miss Hieda, it is a long story but, I am a human, as you might have already realized. My homeworld is 'Sirrea', even though we were originally from a planet called 'Earth.'"

"You mean the world beyond the *error *"

"What?" Tylo asked again as he turned off his translator.

"Barasusushide Hakurai Riaab."

"Right. So… The… Ultimate something barrier?" Tylo asked as he turned the translator back on.

"No." Akyuu replied. "The *error *"

"Oh never mind. Where was I? Right..."

Tylo explained the entire history of NanoTec and Earth to Akyuu, especially about the late EarthGov and ICY Products. She listened with great interest, to the point of her eyes literally sparkling while listening. She prodded with some questions, most of which Miyu answered. By the time Tylo was done narrating, up until the point of The Pillar of Foundation, nearly twenty minutes had passed. Akyuu was not satisfied.

"You mean your people of the outside world fought so many wars? And your… Earth was destroyed in 2100 A.D? No wonder no more people have arrived in Gensokyo recently. And by recently, I mean the past 200 or so years."

Tylo's speech became horse after his long speech. "How old are you even?"

"Hey! It is rude to ask a lady her age!"

"Oh, sorry."

"So, Mr Tylo, that thing on your back, you called it a 'gun' right? What does it do?"

Tylo took a quick glance behind him before replying.

"You don't want to know. But all I can tell you is that it shoots bullets."

Akyuu's eyes lit up even further. "Ooh, you mean *error *?"

Tylo was about to ask Akyuu to repeat herself but Miyu put her hand on his shoulder.

"She said 'danmakyu', or was it 'danmakfu'… I can't pronounce Lolite words. They are too high pitched."

"OK… Miss Akyuu, do you really want to see what I can do with this?"

"Yes I do!" Akyuu exclaimed, nearly hopping on her toes.

"I hope you didn't say that… OK, you see that wooden board here?" Tylo said as he picked up a random wooden plank from the ground.

"Yeah?" Akyuu tilted her head slightly. "Can I see the bullet? *error * is supposed to be brightly lit and colorful like a lantern festival."

So that is what the 'fairies' were shooting at me previously. Tylo thought to himself. This 'danmakyu' thingy.

"No Miss Akyuu, you can't see the bullets. You will give away your position. Like I have explained just now, the way we fight, out of sight and overwhelming firepower."

"So will there be fire magic here?"

"Just watch."

With that, Tylo threw the wooden board high into the air. With one quick move, he pulled the rifle off his back and turned the safety off with a sweeping movement of his other hand. Taking aim, Tylo watched the wooden board turn and dance in the wind as it slowly began to make its decent. He held his breath.

Bang! The report of the single shot from the rifle ripped through the air throughout the entire village. Human and Lolite inhabitants of the village alike began screaming. Some dived for cover and some just crouched down, covering their heads with their own clothes. Tylo was sure he saw a young Lolite female sit down and cry.

Akyuu's face was paler than the white of paper. Her facial expression said it all. Her shock, confusion, fear and awe of the weapon Tylo had in his hands. The wooden board almost floated down from the sky a full four seconds after the shot. Not in one piece but two.

A stream of school children rushed out from the building in a panic induced frenzy. There was a fairy or two amongst them but that was not the main issue at that time. The school teacher followed them outside, shouting, desperately trying to calm the children down. The instant Akyuu saw the teacher, her face grew even paler. Suddenly, her eyes rolled upwards and she fell backwards. Miyu caught her in time however she was out cold.

The teacher suddenly turned towards the two soldiers standing by the school entrance. Her eyes flicked to the gun Tylo was holding, smoke still flowing from its barrel, and back to him.

"You caused this… Didn't you?" She questioned sternly, almost accusingly.

Tylo remained silent.

"I would like to have a word with you later. Stay right here. And don't you dare hurt that lady." and with an exasperated huff, she turned and ran after the scattered school children.

Tylo looked at the unconscious Akyuu, and then at Miyu. Miyu stared back.

"I think we may have brought unnecessary attention upon ourselves..." Tylo mentioned, almost casually.

"Yeah." Miyu replied. Her eyes flicked downwards to check on the unconscious Akyuu and back to Tylo. "Nice going smart guy."

To be continued