Tenshi landed on the floating island known in these lands as Albion and looked at her surroundings with a discerning eye. She stood in a town of wood and stone. The streets of cobble were covered in leaves and dirt, and the houses were in shambles, many of them with broken wall, windows and roofs. Some had burn marks on them, while other looked like they had been torn apart by tooth and claw. Despite being a port, no boats sat in the docks, and the area around them felt dry, decrepit, incomplete.
Slowly walking down the towns streets Tenshi could sense movement all around her, hiding in the shadows and buildings. None of them were human, but all of them seemed to have a sense of self preservation, and unlike humans, could sense her power. They were keeping away in the hopes that they could strike her when she lowered her guard. They would never get the chance though.
Drawing Hisou, Tenshi placed its tip against the ground and smiled. "Come out to play. Let me see what you have!" Tenshi declared as she sunk the tip of Hisou onto the ground, sending a pulse across into the city. Within a second the land shook, and building shook with them. Un-smashed windows shattered into dust, damaged building fell to rubble that was consumed by the earth, and every creature lurking around was forced out of their hiding positions.
Most of the creatures were hulking masses of muscle and ferocity, greens, greys and similar colors covering their skin. They looked like creatures an unarmed human would have trouble against, but if a human was armed they'd have little trouble This was proven when two of them rushed toward her with their clawed arms outstretched to grasp her.
Drawing Hisou from the ground Tenshi merely swung it and both creatures were sliced in half at the waist. Almost immediately many of the other smaller creatures rushed forward toward. Whether it was to avenge their comrades or to take advantage of them didn't matter, as soon as they got in range, each one was killed with a single slice.
It took only a matter of moments before the majority of the crates were nothing but masses of pulp and flesh. Only then did two of the largest monster step forward to strike. One was like all the others about, a humanoid mass of rippling muscle. But unlike the others its eyes gleamed with a modicum of intellect and strength, while the ones before only had ferocity. The second creature had a massive body of a lion with great wings of leather coming out of its back and a segmented tail topped with a stinger. An Ogre and a Manticore, that's what Tenshi thought they most looked like to her. Even without having seen such creatures before their image was one she had read of in the past, she knew what they would be capable of.
Without giving either of them a chance to move Tenshi rushed forward and thrust Hisou's tip into the ogre's chest. It didn't go as deep as she would have hope, showing just how tough the ogre's skin was, but it still caused it to reel back in pain. It was the only opening Tenshi needed. "Scarlet Sword of Temperament!"
The ogre's body blew apart in a blast of red light, leaving only the manticore. The manticore though, did not move forward but instead turned tail and ran off into the darkness, leaving Tenshi alone again.
"Some of them have an idea of self-preservation it seems. That one seemed more like an animal though, so maybe its instinct." Tenshi muttered to herself as she sheathed Hisou and heaved a sigh up at the darkening sky. "I'm almost understanding what Yukari was meaning. The creatures here are violent, but they fall over too easy. Compared to Youkai, they have no intelligence."
"No intelligence, yeah, but they have numbers." the young and strangely powerful voice of Suwako Moriya said as she walked out from some shadows accompanied by Alus.
"When the hell did you get here?" Tenshi asked in surprise as she looked at Suwako, ignoring Alus completely for the moment.
"I've been here for a few days, actually. Alus has been showing me around Halkeginia, and we've been pooling our knowledge so to speak. There's a lot to share and know for the future after all!" Suwako said with a smile as she and Alus walked up to Tenshi. "What are you up to though, I wonder?"
Tenshi flinched at Suwako's words. They sounded innocently curious, but hidden in her voice was the kind of power people shouldn't get in the way of. "I'm here on orders from heaven. I'll look for proof that this land has dangers at least comparable to Gensokyo's youkai."
"Oh, why is that? It seems like a strange thing to do." Suwako said with an all too friendly smile.
"Heaven doesn't agree with Yukari's idea of killing off a significant portion of Gensokyo's youkai. So I'm finding proof one way or another." Tenshi admitted; sweat slowly sliding down her neck. She hated Yukari with a passion, but Suwako, she was honestly afraid of.
"Oh?" Suwako said with a smile that suddenly seemed far too vile for her small form. "That's interesting. I wonder why heaven cares about Gensokyo's youkai. . . . Or is it that heaven doesn't want to be a part of mass genocide if it goes through?"
"S-something like that, I guess." Tenshi said with a shiver
"South of here, near Albion's southern tip lies a cave system where feral dragons often roost. You would find them a greater challenge than ogres, trolls and manticores." Alus said suddenly, catching Tenshi off-guard.
"What? Oh, I- thank you. Dragons, huh. . . . . . ," Tenshi muttered as Suwako took a step away from her.
"Is something the matter?" Alus asked as Suwako stepped up beside him.
"Err no, not really."
"Dragons are considered the highest being in Gensokyo." Suwako suddenly explained, "And in heaven they are great and powerful beings, even greater than Tenshi and her people."
"Ah, I understand. Do not worry. Dragons of Halkeginia, while powerful, are rarely more intelligent than dogs. Those that are more intelligent are easily recognizable." Alus added his voice still as hollow as before.
Tenshi swallowed as she looked at Alus. She knew nothing about him. Sure she knew he was a land god like Suwako, but she knew nothing of his abilities, his power, or his goals. Until she knew at least one of those she couldn't, no, she wouldn't trust him for anything. "I see. Then I'll go check them out, I guess." Tenshi finally replied as she turned away from them and began walking.
"Oh? You don't want to stay and chat with us, Tenshi?" Suwako spoke up just as Tenshi was preparing to fly away.
Tenshi stopped and slowly turned her head so that she was just barely looking back at Suwako. "I'll pass. I wouldn't want to intrude upon whatever you're doing."
"We are just talking and learning. You could use with a bit of knowledge yourself, right?"
"I'm fine, good day." Tenshi said in a huff just before leaping into the sky and flying off, leaving Suwako and Alus alone.
"She is quite the . . . how would I say it, Unfriendly one?" Alus asked calmly.
"That's one way of describing her, yes. Back to what we were talking about before, though. You said there's some sort of phenomenon happening in that country of Tristania?"
Alus nodded as he pointed at the ground, a small wind quickly drawing out a precise map of the continent and countries in the dirt. "Yes. My brother, Tristain used one of his greatest powers before dying. The people of these lands have taken that event and named it the void storm. Because of it, small portions of his energy has dispersed about and settled in many of that country's people."
"For what purpose?"
"Originally its purpose was to allow Tristain to regenerate himself, but he was completely destroyed, of that I am sure. I am worried though about what his energy will do to the people it inhabits."
"Well, just wait and see right? Isn't this the kind of change you were telling me could help these lands?"
Alus smiled to Suwako. "Indeed."
