Game of Touhou

Chapter 36

Mokou

Cold. Whenever there wasn't a fire to burn, the snow of the Woodlands made Mokou chatter her teeth and become pale where she hadn't wrapped up warm. While she wasn't happy about it, Liege Lady Kaguya had been convinced by one of the Kirisame bastards that instead of pursuing House Makai in the Sea of Demons without the Kirisames' help, they instead needed to deal with a traitorous faction of the Kirisames with a good amount of them at their side, and so, the Fujiwaras, Lunas, and Kirisames were marching through the oak forests, towards the keep of the infamous, frightening Doll Girl, Alice, as one army.

Mokou scowled as she rode her grey stallion with her brother riding alongside her on a black horse he had only recently tamed. She hated her fool of a brother, partially because of his inability to send a scout party to the Rainbow Fort without having the party killed while he got captured, and also for bringing the Kirisames behind their lines. She knew as well as the Kirisames what their plot was, and had adjusted her troops accordingly.

Mystia Woods' troops were suspiciously prominent and on the northern side of the group. At Mokou's insistence, she and her brother's armies were on the southern-most side, dragging great trebuchets loaded with pots of wildfire, while the Lunas were in-between the two factions, like a sword being held in a great clamp. Glancing over to the Luna army, Mokou grunted in mild disgust as she saw who was leading the assault- not Lady Kaguya herself, but her Maester instead, riding a horse with a bow in hand, her mare flanked by giants of men streaming the dark blue cloaks of the Lunas.

Craven. Mokou thought to herself, She has supreme rulership of the Woodlands, yet she cannot fight with her men, and has to hide behind a Maester's skirts. Probably afraid of hurting her pretty face. Let's see how pretty it is when I burn it from your skull...

Mokou smiled slightly at the prospect of something being burnt, however, she knew that, like all good things, she had to wait before she got it. The Kirisames being on their side was the major thorn in the side that had delayed this matter, however, she knew that it wasn't long before they would switch sides...

"Mokou?" Iwakasa suddenly asked, snapping Mokou from her trance of thought, "Mokou? What are you thinking about?"

Mokou glared at Iwakasa, "...matters that don't concern fools. The Lunas are just as foolish as the likes of you, following a woman that is worse at fighting than her own Maester."

Iwakasa nodded, but his pride appeared to be singed, "...you... you speak true, sweet sister. Mystia... Mystia Woods is a good woman, saving me as she did. And look at her now, leading her troops so they're closest to the enemy... I hope she lives."

Mokou couldn't help but laugh in a scornful manner, "Why? So you can celebrate surviving the battle together? Marry the girl, have some blonde-haired heirs to House Fujiwara? She's not being brave, you fool."

"She is! Alice's troops are to attack from the north." Iwakasa said, his voice full of simplicity.

"I should dress you in motley." Mokou muttered, "Keep to the southern part of our army. Do not try to join your lover girl in case you think you can save her life as you think she has saved yours. You'll be the first she kills..."

Iwakasa's face contorted, almost looking like he couldn't believe his sister, "What... what are you saying?"

"We are not going to use the wildfire today." Mokou mused, "We need the Kirisames. But they do not know what side we are on yet. Hence, I have placed our men far from theirs. The Lunas shall feel the Kirisame's wrath, not ours..."

Iwakasa, for some strange reason, still did not comprehend the situation, "Do you... do you mean Alice's doll-men? Because..."

Mokou sighed to herself, "This is futile. You are the most inadequate successor I could possibly have. Go and fight by the side of your young 'true love' if you wish, all weak links to the succession need to be weeded out, one way or another."

With that, Iwakasa turned away from his sister, his charred dignity silencing him, to the quiet satisfaction of Mokou. The march continued for a good three miles, before finally, they began to reach the sandy areas with the occasional oak, the sign of the border between the Sea of Demons and the Woodlands. Mokou had actually been hoping that Alice's army would meet them in the forests, where she had an excuse not to use her wildfire to avoid burning down the whole forest, but here, her slight yielding would be noticeable.

The sandy plains stretched off towards the sky, as flat as a piece of parchment, and now, the 'enemy' was clearly in sight. The army flew a black banner, made to look like it was spattered in crimson blood, and seemed to shamble more than it did march, like something from the Westerosi legends of the Others and their blue-eyed wights. There was no mistaking it as Alice's army, even though, conveniently enough, Alice herself was nowhere to be seen.

Mokou by all means should have been ordering a charge by now, but instead was biding her time, waiting for Maester Eirin of House Luna to do the same. However, the first ones to begin charging were neither the Lunas or the Fujiwaras- but Alice's Dolls. The blood-spattered banners fell down, and the great shambling crowd became a running one, and Mokou decided that if she did not do something, the Lunas would begin to suspect the Fujiwaras of not killing their share.

Unsheathing her sword and pulling on her horse's reins, Mokou yelled out, "The enemy approaches! Charge, men!"

With that, Mokou let her stallion burst into a gallop, leaving Iwakasa in her dust and keeping her sword at head level, knowing that while Alice's army was horrifically numerous, they were neither skilled nor well-armoured. She looked behind herself briefly to see that her armies were running, however, the Luna armies were further ahead, and the Kirisames even further ahead than them. Mokou smiled wryly as the Kirisame and 'doll' army collided, but soon came to a stop, without a single sound of death and sword banging against sword.

This is it, Mokou thought as she began to slow her horse and turn it around to observe the bizarrely peaceful meeting of Kirisame and 'doll', Turn around and begin the slaughter of the Lunas.

It happened just as Mokou predicted it would. Soon enough, the Kirisame army began to eat into the Luna army from the sides, sounds of confused men being cut down filling the air, 'dolls' attacking men from the front while the Kirisames took them by surprise. This was Mokou's moment to play to loyal bannerman as she rode into the crowd of dolls and brought death to them from above.

Turning to Eirin Yagokoro, who had also rode ahead of her army and shot down a good dozen dolls from her horse, Mokou yelled, "Look back! The Kirisames, the treasonous whores! They're killing our men!"

Eirin shot a doll in the face as a Luna giant bisected four with a single stroke of its great-sword, and called out, "Giants, around me!" before she stopped to observe the situation, and added, "You're... you're right!"

Mokou rode towards Eirin and her group, decapitating dolls as she went, and once she entered the comfortable protection that the Luna Giants provided, said in a much quieter voice, "What do we do?"

Eirin fired another arrow, this time barely missing the head of a distant doll, but hitting one further behind in the leg, "We retreat. Unless... could you use your wildfire on the Kirisames?"

"The wildfire is for dealing with enemies from afar." Mokou lied, "The Kirisames are close enough to be within our ranks. If we set them alight, who knows how many of our own we shall take with them?"

"Then we shall retreat." Eirin relinquished, before calling out, "Men! The Kirisames have raised in mutiny! Kill all that you can, and retreat!"

Mokou decided to join Eirin, adding to their apparent unity, "My men! Slay every piece of Kirisame slime that comes our way! Show them that we are not to be made fools of! But if you can, let yourself live another day, so we can fight these traitors when they don't have their deceit on their side!"

With that, Eirin and Mokou ran away like cravens in a way which made them seem positively heroic. The Kirisame horde had killed a good portion of the Luna army, as was expected, but, as Mokou had found herself forced to order, the Fujiwara men had crossed the field sideways compared to their charging path, and had begun to slay the Kirisame men the same way they intended to slay the dolls. Fujiwara and Kirisame closed in on each other, like two jaws closing in on the space where there was once a significant Luna army. Eirin and Mokou galloped back towards the snowy forests of the Woodlands, barely outrunning the closing jaw and killing any Kirisame fool enough to attempt killing their horses.

When they finally escaped the brunt of the danger, Mokou suddenly found herself thinking about Iwakasa... and smirked. This betrayal will have broken him, Mokou thought, He'll be so incensed that his lady love betrayed him. He'll either be dead, or have fought impressively. I could actually be proud of him...