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The forest was quiet leading up to Youkai Mountain. Humans never dared to venture this far from the village, for it was at this point that the more dangerous youkai could be found. Because of this the trees held an ancient air about them, untouched by the encroachment of human civilization. Amid the sounds of the birds and insects, the rustling of leaves could also be heard as two youkai trekked through this pristine, untouched wilderness.
"Have you been out here before?"
"No. Normally when a human dies out here, other youkai claim their corpse before I can reach them."
"How far from the village do you think we are anyways?"
"Well, we crossed over a ridge about an hour ago, so I would guess we must be ten or so miles out. Maybe even more."
"…they won't be able to catch up with us, will they?"
Orin gave her friend a funny look.
"No, they shouldn't. Humans don't have anywhere near enough strength or stamina to keep up with youkai over uneven ground. Why do you ask, Okuu?"
"I… just really don't want to deal with humans right now."
Orin said nothing. There was nothing that needed explaining. The ominous tone in her voice said more than enough.
"Well, I don't think we'll have to worry about any humans out here!"
"Hey! You two! Hold it!"
No sooner had Orin spoken than a human just so happened to show up. And not just any human, but a rather incensed looking shrine maiden. The pair watched as Reimu flew in from over the trees, landing softly on the ground beside them. She crossed her arms, her gohei gripped tightly in one hand, and settled a glare at the two youkai.
Okuu made to approach her, but stopped as Orin, sensing her friend's agitation, immediately jumped in her path.
"R-Reimu!" Orin stammered. "It's been quite some time, hasn't it? W-What brings you around here?"
She didn't answer immediately and only narrowed her eyes. Orin could feel Okuu tensing up behind her and tried her best to keep calm. She had been hoping that spending some time together away from the village might help Okuu forget the humans and return her to her sunny, only slightly dopey self, but Reimu's unexpected appearance dashed those hopes altogether.
After a few more heavy seconds Reimu finally spoke.
"Yesterday I was minding my own business, enjoying a nice cup of tea, when Kosuzu comes barging into the shrine yelling about some commotion down in the human village. Apparently, some youkai wondered into town and scared the life out of some fishermen."
She turned her glare to Okuu, the hell raven saying nothing as she met her gaze.
"They said one had huge, black wings, a glowing red eye in her chest, and a strange device attached to her arm."
She looked back to fidgeting kasha.
"And that the other had cat ears and bright red hair."
She took a step closer, Okuu doing the same and coming to a stop against Orin, the smaller girl trying to hold her back.
"So, care to explain?"
"No."
"Sure!"
The two youkai spoke at the same time. Okuu made to approach Reimu but Orin spun around and put her hands on her shoulders, holding her in place.
"Okuu," Orin frantically whispered. "Let me handle this. Please?"
The taller youkai looked her friend in the eyes for a moment before relenting. She took a step back, letting Orin take over.
"Ahem," Orin began, addressing the stoic shine maiden. "Well you see, Reimu, Okuu and I were in the village looking for… someone."
"Someone…" Reimu repeated skeptically.
"Y-yes, our master-"
"Satori? What's she doing on the surface?"
"Um, no, not Satori. She's still down in the Underworld, and I don't think anything could get her to leave right now. We're looking for our other master, Koishi."
"Koishi?"
For a second Reimu furrowed her brows as if recognizing the name before returning to her normal, impassive face. Even so, Orin noticed this, and chose to elaborate.
"Yes! Koishi, she's Satori's little sister. She's the same height, has green hair, her third eye is blue, and she normally wears a yellow dress and wide-brimmed hat."
"Don't know her."
"Ah, well, could you help as look for her?" Orin asked hopefully.
"Do I look like a detective to you?"
"Ehe, n-no, you don't…"
Orin tapped her forefingers together and looked at the ground. This conversation was going nowhere fast. Behind her she could tell that Okuu was losing her patience with the shrine maiden as more energy seemed to thrum through the air. She needed to end this soon, but Reimu showed no signs of leaving until she got answers.
"None of that explains why you threatened the villagers," Reimu said.
"They were asking for it!" Okuu snapped, waving her control rod about for emphasis.
Before Reimu could even think about responding a new voice cut her off.
"Reimuuu!"
Orin and Okuu watched as what looked like a small child came soring over the trees and nearly crashed into the ground, stumbling for a few seconds before regaining her footing. While she may have looked like a child, the two large horns sprouting from her head and the drinking gourd she was currently chugging from revealed her true nature.
"Ahh!" she exclaimed after a long drink. She stumbled over to Reimu and latched onto her sleeve. "Reimu! Why'd you leave? I thought we were having a drinking party together?"
The girl in question sighed and pinched her brow.
"I told you, Suika, I had to go deal with something."
"You said no such thing!"
"Didn't I? Oh well, doesn't matter now."
"Hey!" The tiny oni tugged on Reimu's sleeve. "It matters to me! Come-"
She cut herself off to take a swig.
"-back to the shrine and drink with me!"
"Grr…" Reimu grabbed one of her horns and began shaking her head. "You stupid drunk oni! Can't you see I'm busy right now?"
With her free hand she gestured to the kasha and hell raven silently watching the scene unfold before them. Suika cast an unfocused eye towards them.
"Them? Here, let handle it for you!"
"Wha- Hey! Stop it!"
She took a step forward, dragging Reimu along with her like she wasn't even there.
"I don't think so."
Orin suddenly found Okuu's control rod beside her head, aimed directly at the encroaching duo and glowing bright, and had she blinked she would've missed what happened next. Suika grabbed Reimu and shoved her aside just as a blast of superheated plasma shot from the control rod, but rather than dodge Suika stood still and turned to mist, the blast phasing harmlessly through her and vaporizing a hole through several trees behind her. Next thing she knew Suika reformed right in front of them, fist pulled back, and Orin found herself being shoved aside as Okuu took the blow head on, crashing through quite a number of trees from the sound of it.
Reimu and Orin laid in the dirt and watched as Suika jumped into the wrecked forest after Okuu. There was a beat of silence before they slowly turned to each other, the same wide-eyed expressions on their faces.
This wasn't good.
Quite a distance away Okuu finally came to rest when she crashed into a sheer cliffside. She took the blow directly to the stomach and had to try hard to keep from empty its contents onto the ground. Although it had hurt like nothing she'd experienced before, the pain was quickly washed away by soothing warmth as her divine powers got to work healing her. She looked at the path she carved through the forest, just in time to see Suika charging straight for her with another fist raised.
CRACK!
Suika paused, trying to focus her drunken gaze to see what stopped her. Okuu had her arms and wings spread out, bracing her against the cliffside, with her right foot raised against her fist. Only, instead of a shoe or sandal, what looked like stone encased her foot, which would explain the stinging pain in her knuckles she was just now feeling. Okuu kicked out with her right leg, sending the oni skidding back.
"Whoa," said Suika, pausing to take a drink. "You're not just another random youkai, are you?"
Okuu rose to her feet and stared down her attacker.
"No, I'm not!"
She fired off another shot, but rather than let it phase through her Suika pulled back a fist and punched it, creating a small yet powerful explosion that sent her flying backwards, shaking her unburnt hand to cool it down. Okuu felt anger bubbling up in her chest as she glowered at the sight.
What? Why are you unhurt!?You little- Ugh, fine then, if you can take a beating, then take this!
She raised her left hand, index finger pointing up, and created a small star. Suika, in a rare moment of clarity, briefly wondered if she was really seeing this or if the cheap booze was playing tricks on her. Okuu threw the star forwards, losing sight of the oni behind it, only to stand back and gape as Suika grew in size, growing bigger and bigger until a house sized foot came down and snuffed out the star like it was a tiny flame.
The now giant oni stood tall and took a swig from her equally giant gourd. With a flap of her wings Okuu took off, all shock and awe gone as she felt the overwhelming need to just squash this annoying adversary flat. She flew up and circled wide, putting a great amount of space between her and Suika before letting lose with a massive torrent of burning plasma. Suika saw the incoming wave of fire, breathed deeply, and let out a windstorm of a breath that blew the plasma back and dispersed it harmlessly across the sky.
Gritting her teeth Okuu raised her control rod and fired off a salvo of stars, only for the giant oni to bat them away with her hands. She lunged forward to grab Okuu, but like a tiny fly evading a human she was able to easily dodge her clumsy hands and circle back around, pelting her unguarded sides with stars as she went. Suika grunted as they stung her side and swung around with frightening speed to swipe at Okuu, missing wildly but the sheer force of the wind being enough to nearly knock the hell raven from the sky.
Okuu caught herself above the tree line and looked up to see Suika's foot coming down on her. With a mighty flap Okuu shot to the side, dodging the stomp and using the whirlwind it kicked up to gain some altitude. Suika continued trying to grab her, though, forcing Okuu to stay on the move and take weak potshots at her.
Slowly but surely Okuu felt herself growing angrier. Everyone else she ever fought failed to standup to her might, so how was this size-shifting drunkard giving her so much trouble? After another near miss that almost blew her from the sky, Okuu decided that she had enough and was going to finish this, right here, right now.
Focusing on the power burning within her Okuu forced it into her wings, her black feathers glowing in tune with the eye on her chest. She flapped her wings and shot towards the sky, rising high above the cloud line until she was a second sun in the sky. Suika leaned back and squinted at the sky, idly taking a drink as she watched what the hell raven was doing. Okuu hovered there for a brief moment, alone in the bright blue void of the sky, before twisting her body and shooting downwards with another flap. Like a meteor she descended, burning bright and with inhuman speed, and spun her body around so she was leading with her concrete-encased foot, aimed right for Suika's forehead.
Down on the ground Orin could only watch in horror as her best friend faced off against the titanic oni. She had her suspicions about Suika when she first heard her name, and seeing her grow in size only confirmed her identity, but she highly doubted Okuu knew just who she was fighting. And although Orin knew firsthand how powerful Okuu could be, she wasn't sure if she could win this battle. Perhaps if she let loose all control like when she first acquired her powers, but that would lead to a whole host of other problems.
She wanted to go and stop them, but Reimu was quick to hold her back, claiming it was for her own safety. Reluctantly she listened, and watched with baited breath as the two continued to duke it out high above them. When she saw Okuu shoot for the sky she got her hopes up that maybe, just maybe, she was choosing to flee rather than continue fighting, but as she descended from the heavens so too did Orin's hopes fall.
Orin looked to Suika and saw a faint blurriness in her form, the same blurriness she saw right before she became mist.
Her eyes widened.
Without warning she grabbed Reimu by the waist, ignoring her cries of protest, turned, crouched down, and took off with as much speed as she could in the opposite direction. They shot through the trees, and Orin cast a quick glance back, just in time to see Okuu blast right through Suika's misty form and impact the ground with a thunderous boom, the shockwave tearing apart the ground and rapidly approaching them.
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