Game of Touhou

Chapter 38

Utsuho

The taste of dead aurochs and the occasional wolf was beginning to become a boring taste for Utsuho. Recently, she had been doing nothing but visiting King's Landing through her birds, seeing nothing but the barren lands of the Plains of Death. This time, however, she had managed to join crows that were free of warging and feast on the remains of a great battle between Sanzu, Shotoku, Hijiri, and Houjuu forces. She even saw a few warged wolves and raccoon dogs, ones that appeared to have been controlled from afar, all the way from the island of Sado.

At the moment, Utsuho was returning, knowing that her true body was most likely starved. She had heard from Ser Yuugi that although she was still recovering from her blue-eye, Suika had gone to Death's Gates to take her liege's sister home. As she glided above the border between the Plains of Death and the Minelands, Utsuho saw for herself that at the very least, Suika was returning to the Palace of the Earth, as her instantly recognisable army of ogres were stamping through the grounds, with four people holding a litter of some sort.

Deciding to fly downwards and perch on top of the litter, Utsuho cocked her head and looked over the army with slight admiration. They were dressed as poorly as the wildlings Utsuho herself was raised with, but their skin was tough, calloused, and each member of the 'tribe' could be considered as tough as a piece of jet.

So tough, in fact, that one of them decided to pick up a piece of jet and throw it at Utsuho, making her remember that not all men were wargs, and so, she began to flap her wings and leave the crowd. However, something... something was drawing her to the litter. A pleasant smell, one that reminded her of... food.

Keeping to the side of the army, Utsuho quorked and crowed as she walked along the ground to save her strength, occasionally hopping. However, a shock made Utsuho instinctively begin flapping, as a pure white direwolf suddenly ran past her and the crowd, causing Utsuho to stop walking for a moment to think over the situation. As far as she was aware, direwolves did not go as far south as the Minelands, and tended to stick to the Woodlands, occasionally doing into the Plains of Death and the Waterlands. Not only that, but the direwolf was not attacking the large crowd of humans, something it would have undoubtedly done, and otherwise would simply run in fear, rather than along the line of it. This direwolf was either tame, or... warged.

Not knowing what else to do, Utsuho decided to take wing, and keep watch from a bird's point of view. The direwolf had now managed to run ahead of the marching wildlings and lumbering ogres, and within hours, it had reached the walls Palace of the Earth many leagues ahead of Suika's army, however, had now stopped, most likely pondering how it was to get inside the city.

Utsuho flew in circles, wondering whether or not the warg controlling the huge wolf was friend or foe, however, the fact it was stopping and wondering how to enter the city instead of merely mauling the guards suggested the warg was at the very least civil. Landing herself to be near the pacing direwolf, Utsuho landed her raven and crowed out a few words, hoping they would be suffice to make a message.

"Warg! Warg! Wolf! Warg!" Utsuho crowed, "Utsuho! Corn! Utsuho!"

The apparently albino direwolf turned its head, staring at Utsuho, not with pink eyes, but haunting green eyes, ones Utsuho knew... all too well. Koishi? she thought to herself, Can... can Koishi be controlling this wolf? But... surely Koishi is in the litter Suika's bringing to the city. Is she playing? Warging to entertain herself on the journey? Surely not after what she's been through...

"Koishi? Warg! Koishi? Warg!" Utsuho asked to the best of her ability, prompting the direwolf to whine a little.

Deciding that the wolf must have been Koishi, Utsuho decided to fly up to the guards of the city, making sure the direwolf followed, cocking her head and hopping a little, crowing out, "Guard! Utsuho! Wolf! Friend! Corn!"

While the guards most likely had little patience for her ravens and their incessant crowing, they stepped aside, letting in both Utsuho and the direwolf, and with that, Utsuho crowed, "Tower! Corn! Tower! Corn!"

With that, Utsuho decided to fly to her tower's window, and placed herself in and empty cage before finally rolling her eyes back, blacking out and seeing with her own eyes once again. However, this time, there was no Orin to greet her, only the lying of her recently release raven as it demanded food. Weakly getting up, Utsuho closed the open cage of the raven and instantly felt the growl of her starved stomach.

However, before she could feast, Utsuho had to meet with this direwolf. She walked down her tower's stairs in silence, and opened the tower's door to find the white direwolf waiting loyally at the opening. Now that her mind was free, she was able to warg into the beast, and perhaps communicate with the mind within it, to find out for true if it was Koishi within it.

Kneeling, Utsuho put her hands onto the direwolf's temples, hoping that she would be able to enter its mind despite it being a new creature to her. She breathed slowly, and then shot back as her eyes rolled upwards, and suddenly, she was looking at her own collapsed, eyeless body.

This is the hard part. Utsuho thought to herself, If Koishi's mind is in here, how do I talk with it?

It's easy! a voice replied, although, it did not sound like Koishi's, nor did it sound like anyone's... it was the voiceless speech of a thought, not the voice of a child. It continued in Utsuho's head, I've been hoping you'd find me. Utsuho... please tell Satori this. Whatever Ser Suika is bringing back is not myself. My true body was killed. What is coming here is not me.

So Satori was right. Koishi has returned, but not as she would think. Just like a green dream. Utsuho thought, this time knowing it was her own thoughts, Koishi, how are you feeling? There are whispers that wargs with no true body lose themselves to the animal.

I think I've killed seven aurochs in my time as a wolf. the thoughts not belonging to Utsuho replied, The first ones were controlled, I was just doing it to keep this body fed, but... I'm starting to like it. I almost killed the guards at the gates, but thankfully, you helped me before I could do that. I'm... I'm sorry, Utsuho. I don't know what I can do. I'm trapped here...

Utsuho decided to break out of the body at this point, and once her vision was restored, she stood herself up and put her hands on the wolf, "Do not worry, Koishi. I shall tell Lady Satori as soon as I can. For now, I shall place you into a kennel, that way the smallfolk do not get frightened by your presence and kill you."

The direwolf seemed to agree with this plot, and so, Utsuho took the direwolf to be taken care of by the kennel-master, who instantly noted how tame the direwolf was, wondering if it was one Utsuho had been grooming for warging. However, Utsuho could not remember the exact nature of the conversation, as she was rushing it along, wanting to run to Lady Satori as soon as possible.

When she finally reached Lady Satori's chamber, however, the lady wasn't there, only Ser Parsee, who was standing by the gilded tentacle throne of her liege, staring at Utsuho with her glowing green eyes as Utsuho entered.

"Ser Reiuji." Parsee said in her apparently spite-filled tone, "I sense fear and anxiety within you. What is the problem?"

"Lady Satori... I... I need to see her. Now." Utsuho demanded, "Koishi... Koishi's dead."

"Koishi... Koishi is returning. Ser Suika's army can be seen waiting outside the city gates. Lady Satori is in her bedchamber, changing into better clothes. She is finally happy again..." Parsee said, her tone ominous, "...what... what makes you say she is dead?"

"A wolf... a direwolf that has come to this city was warged by her. I entered the animal at the same time, and the warg within it said that her true body was dead." Utsuho replied, "I... I know this warg has to be Koishi. And... when I stepped on the litter which Ser Suika was bringing back in my raven's skin, I smelled... death. Something is wrong, Parsee, I must see Satori."

Parsee let her arms drop, and she walked to the window of Satori's chamber in a lethargic manner, gesturing for Utsuho to follow. She stared outwards, and looked over the city, where the mysterious litter, along with Ser Suika, had just entered the city.

The green eyes of Parsee suddenly dulled in their glowing, and she mumbled, "...if you wish to confront Satori about it in front of the smallfolk, please do, for I cannot. I sought my powers to manipulate emotions in the hopes that people would become fond of me, but it has transformed me into this. I cannot go with you. May the Gods speed your efforts."

Utsuho became angry at the woman, and said, "If Satori is your only friend, you would brave the people to tell her the truth before..." Utsuho stopped her speech as she noticed Satori had just walked out of the building, towards Suika and the litter, "...there is no time!"

With that, Utsuho ran out of the chamber against her stomach's protests for food, and charged out of the palace to meet with her lady, who was dressed in a long, beautiful blue dress that didn't suit her thin body in the slightest. Upon her face was a great, genuinely joyful smile that made Utsuho pain to even consider telling her the truth.

When she noticed Utsuho, she turned to her and embraced her wholeheartedly, saying, "Utsuho! I told you! Koishi would return! She's here!"

"My lady, I... I don't know how to say this, but..." Utsuho muttered as they continued their walk towards Ser Suika and the litter, "...that litter does not contain Koishi. Koishi has returned, but she is in a direwolf at the moment..."

Satori simply smiled wistfully, "Koishi was always playful, warging into animals for mere jests... hopefully she'll be able to go back into her true body for her sister?"

Utsuho stumbled over her next words as Ser Suika and the litter grew ever closer, not sure how she was going to say the words without shattering Satori's joy into a million pieces.

She's dead. Utsuho thought, Tell her. Koishi is dead, but trapped in a direwolf. She will still love her sister within a direwolf...

However, by the time she had steeled herself for telling her liege, they had already reached the two things Utsuho had feared to reach- Ser Suika and the mysterious litter. Satori's eyes lit up, and she said to Ser Suika, "Ser Suika... did the Saigyoujis yield as expected?"

"Yes, they did, my liege." Ser Suika replied, "Not a drop of blood was spilled. Do you wish to see her?"

Satori seemed to be on the brink of joyful tears, and rushed to the litter, opening the door, stepping back to let her 'sister' out. The creature that stepped out was both... Koishi, yet not Koishi. Her skin was pale, as usual, but a different sort than usual. Her hair was white, but was verging on greyness. And strangest of all, her eyes... were not the peculiar green of the true Koishi, but a deep blue, bluer than the sky itself. Utsuho looked to Suika, noticing a similar colouring to her eyes...

"Koishi? Koishi? Are you well?" Satori asked, her eyes a mixture of hope and confusion.

The girl masquerading as Koishi remained silent, and simply hugged Satori, causing the Lady of the Minelands to burst into tears of joy, returning the brace and muttering, "It's over now. You're safe, my sweet sister. I will always protect you..."

Utsuho turned to Ser Suika, and whispered, "...Koishi... doesn't look right. Have you noticed anything wrong with her?"

"She might have picked up blue-eye from Death's Gates, or perhaps from me. They say a lot of folks have blue-eye in Death's Gates." Suika replied with an equally quiet tone.

Once Satori released the facsimile of her sister, she turned to Utsuho, and declared, "A feast should be held in honour of my sister's return! Ser Reiuji, do you want extra food for all your days of loyal warging? You must be starved..."

"My lady, I..." Utsuho began to say, before the false Koishi interrupted Utsuho.

"I think a feast's a wonderful idea, sweet sister. It's so good to see you again... Death's Gates was a most frightening place." 'Koishi' said in a voice trying too hard to appear childish, "Ser Utsuho saw me when I was locked up, I saw her in the raven she sent. Thank you, Ser Utsuho, for finding me and making Ser Suika come and rescue me..."

Utsuho didn't know what to say. Satori would frown upon her if she were to treat what she clearly believed... or wanted to believe was Koishi with coldness.

So, in an attempt to show her gladness of her return, Utsuho simply said, "If you like, we shall sit next to each other, my young lady. Perhaps we can talk of warging, like times before this unpleasant business of hostage taking..."

'Koishi' smiled, and looked into Utsuho's eyes with her own unsettling, dead blue eyes, "...I... would enjoy that very much..."