Chapter 41 – The Great Escape
"This is one of the craziest things I've done in my life…" commented Soudai as he trotted behind his friend.
"I told you that you could calmly stay and wait for the Ryuuken…" retorted Kyouichi as he turned left towards the staircase.
"Screw the Ryuuken, man! If they couldn't have protected me during work, they probably wouldn't be able to protect me even now… We'd just attract more unwanted youkai attention as a larger group…"
"That's an interesting change of opinion, compared to what you told me earlier…"
"Well, okay, I admit. I'd rather be leaving this place in their escort, since now I'm scared shitless to even go near the bamboo forest after what happened to me… But after hearing your story about Eirin and her shady injections, I got quite a strong urge to leave this place at all costs. Besides, letting you go into the forest alone would be… uhh… irresponsible. As your senior, I have to take the responsibility… and protect you, if need be." said the older outsider as he followed Kyouichi down the stairs. His words didn't sound convincing at all.
"Oh, so you took the responsibility for me." said Kyouichi with sarcastic tone. "That's reassuring… So you'll lead the way to the village…"
"Uhh… I… What?"
"Do you know which way we need to go to get there?" Kyouichi glanced at him briefly.
"Well, no, but neither do you… Oh, crap! How the hell are we even gonna get out of this goddamn forest?!" exclaimed Soudai in panic. "We should search this place a bit… There's gotta be a map around here or something…" he gave himself false hopes.
"As far as I know, Gensokyo doesn't have any official maps…" said the younger outsider, bursting Soudai's bubble.
"Then what do you suggest we do now, Mr. Know-it-all?" Soudai asked sarcastically.
"Give me a minute to think, will you?"
"Oh~! Sure… Stand around with hands behind our backs and wait while the aliens catch us and feed us to their pet mutated chimeras…"
"Where did that line come from?" asked Kyouichi after an outburst of laughter.
"Well, what else would you call those humanoid abominations with rabbit ears?" asked Soudai. "Some of them were quite sexy, though…" he murmured to himself.
"Earth and Moon rabbits? And I highly doubt they're carnivorous…"
"That's exactly what they want us to think!" continued Soudai with his crazy talk.
Kyouichi turned the topic to serious again. "Anyway… We both know that the Human Village is located north from this forest, right?"
"That's true," admitted the older of the two, "but we also both know that the forest stretches all the way from southeast to the western part of Gensokyo. At one point it's even connected with the Forest of Magic. If we headed north, we could end up anywhere between the Forest of Magic and… What was that place called again…? Road of Reconsideration… yeah, that's right…"
"Beggars can't be choosers." retorted Kyouichi. "We'll just have to take that risk. We'll keep heading north until there'll be no more bamboo obscuring our view. Once we're out of the forest, it shouldn't be so hard to determine the location of the village. There's a vast valley of crop fields between the village and the Forest of Magic and there also should be a road connecting these two locations. I once walked down that road from Kourindou, so I remember…"
"O-kay… I guess that sounds like a plan. Just one more thing… How the hell are we going to know which way is north?" wondered Soudai. "You have a compass or something?"
"Compass…? That's… that's a great idea!" exclaimed the younger outsider and praisingly tapped Soudai's shoulder. "We'll make a compass!"
"How, you genius?"
"Follow me! I think I just might know how…" said Kyouichi and hurried to Eirin's office, hoping that he'd find all the necessary things there.
"Hey, where are you running to? Wait up a little~!"
As expected, there was nobody inside the office and everything was left exactly as Kyouichi remembered it.
"Just what are you up to again, Ishimaru?" Soudai curiously watched his friend who was nonchalantly browsing through Eirin's lab equipment, as if it was his own.
"You'll see in a moment…" replied Kyouichi as he took one of the Petri dishes and put it on the table. He then took one random bottle filled with some unknown liquid and poured it into the dish.
"I sure hope one of us knows what you're doing… Oh, wait… Now I see…" nodded the older outsider understandingly. "Now you're going to magnetize a needle, right?"
"Exactly." affirmed Kyouichi and took one of the syringe needles and began rubbing its tip against the cotton fabric of his kimono. "Let's just hope this trick works in real life too…"
"You'll also need to put it on something that floats…" Soudai reminded him.
"Yes, I know that needles don't float on water." sounded Kyouichi's sarcasm again. "Hmm… how about the cork from this medicine bottle?"
"Yeah, that might work…"
And so, with Soudai's assistance, Kyouichi placed the magnetized needle on top of the cork and made it float on the liquid poured in the Petri dish.
Both humans held their breath for a while as they watched with great anticipation whether or not was their little experiment even going to work. Then after a few seconds…
"It's turning!" Soudai couldn't hide his elation. "It rally works! It's going to show us north!" And the needle really did make almost a 90 degree turn before it stopped. The makeshift compass was made.
"Alright!" nodded the younger outsider with a prideful smile as he stretched out his arm in the direction where the needle pointed. "We'll need to go straight that way and we mustn't make any turns or detours."
"Going straight in one direction… Yeah, I think I can handle that." nodded Soudai in agreement, and together with his friend, he left the office, ready to head out into the wilderness.
Just before they reached the main entrance of Eientei, Kyouichi suddenly stopped.
"Why are you stopping, Ishimaru?" Soudai growled at him.
"You know… It's true that we are running away… But…"
"But what? Just get a move on! We don't have much time before sunset and you DON'T want to be in this forest after sunset, believe me…"
"Don't worry, this will only take a minute." Kyouichi reassured him and one last time entered the reception office. "We have to keep in mind that Eirin saved our lives… We should at least pay for her services."
"Hmmm… I… uh… I guess so…" shrugged Soudai. "But I don't have enough money on me to fully cover my hospitalization."
"Then give her what you have and I'll pay the rest for you." the younger man volunteered. "Do you remember how much do we owe to Eientei?"
"I think about 25 thousand." replied the older outsider with a bit embarrassed tone. "And you… approximately 6 thousand, if I remember correctly. But I only have 7500 yen right now. Are you sure you want to pay the rest of my bill?"
"Sure, I'm sure!" responded Kyouichi with determination. "But I'll expect you to pay me back later."
"Uhh… yeah. Sure, I can do that… as soon as I find myself a new job here…"
"Come to think of it, I'll need one as well." remarked the younger outsider as he reached inside his pockets.
And so, both outsiders had put together enough money to pay for Eientei's services and left them on the reception desk along with a short letter addressed to Eirin.
"Alright, finish writing that letter already, you novelist!" Soudai urged his friend. "We've got a lot of ground to cover in a pretty short time!"
"Got it!" responded Kyouichi as he finished the last sentence and put down the writing brush. "Time to hit the road… or… the forest floor, for that matter, because I really doubt we'll find any roads here…" he added a humorous remark. "Do you still remember where the compass pointed to?"
"Yes, it was that way." Soudai stretched out his right arm to the said direction. "Come on already~!"
Obedient to his senior's command, Kyouichi followed Soudai out of Eientei and with a brisk tempo, they walked northwards.
"*whistle* This forest is much larger than I thought." commented the older outsider as he marched on. An hour has already passed and the two of them were still surrounded by thick bamboo with no end in sight. What's worse, the daylight was becoming dimmer as the sun slowly, but certainly neared the western horizon.
"Are you sure we didn't stray from our course?" Kyouichi asked him.
"I've tried to keep going as straight as I could, but it's possible that we might have a few degrees divergence… Though I can assure you that we are NOT walking around in circles… I hope…" he murmured the last words inaudibly.
"Say, Soudai…" Kyouichi addressed him after another longer moment of silent walking.
"Yeah?"
"What are we going to do when we encounter a youkai?"
Soudai shuddered a little upon hearing that question. "Don't even SAY that word here, damn it! I'm trying to convince myself all the way, that with positive thinking, we won't encounter anything… So don't try to invoke any misfortunes upon us, okay? I'm serious."
"Well, I did receive a kind of a blessing that should grant good luck for a while." Kyouichi recalled. "Unless it was just another mischief on Tewi's part…"
"What the hell are you talking about now?" Soudai gave him a curious look. "Isn't Tewi that thief who stole your potion?"
"Yup." nodded the younger human. "But she's friendly… And it was her, who just helped us escape by distracting Eirin and Reisen."
"So that's how it is, eh?"
"She said that she has the ability of uncanny luck or something like that." Kyouichi kept explaining. "Don't know what that means exactly, but if it's true, it should keep the dangerous youkai out of our way for the time being…"
"How long exactly?" inquired Soudai.
"Uhh… I have no idea…" Kyouichi shrugged embarrassedly. "If it wears off after an hour, then we've got a problem…"
Soudai suddenly stopped and looked his friend straight in the face. "We are NOT going to encounter any damn youkai! Understand?!"
"What makes you so certain?"
"Because if we do, then we're both screwed!" exclaimed Soudai with a mix of anger and fear in his voice.
"If you keep yelling like that, then we'll be screwed for sure." Kyouichi tried to hush him.
"Shut up, Ishimaru! I'm done talking to you… Just keep going and pray for an end of this goddamn forest!"
"I only brought it up so we'd stand at least a bit of a chance if that happened…" muttered the younger outsider.
"Oh… And what are we going to do when we meet one? Throw sand it its eyes? Or are we going to beat it with bamboo sticks? The only chance we two have against a youkai is to run. And even that chance has only about 30% success ratio…"
"That's true, but I have something that might increase this chance by a few more percent." said Kyouichi and pulled out the five ofuda amulets he bought from Reimu quite some time ago.
Soudai took one in the hand and gave it a once-over. "What are these? More good luck trinkets?"
"Close, but no…" Kyouichi shook his head. "I've bought these from the Hakurei shrine maiden… She uses those amulets as a sort of weapon against the youkai. She said that it causes them pain upon contact. However, they also disperse upon contact, which makes them a one-time means of defense… And I've only got five."
"Hmm…" Soudai made a doubtful scowl at the amulet in his palm before he turned his face to Kyouichi again. "Fine… Give me two of those. I'll pay you back later when I earn some money… IF we make it to the village alive, that is…"
"What happened to your belief that we're not going to encounter any youkai?" Kyouichi asked him teasingly.
"S-shut up… Better safe than sorry… That's what my dad always told me… That and "never trust an alien"."
"Your dad met aliens?"
"Hell if I know!" shrugged the older outsider. "Just keep going and stop making stupid remarks."
"Alright, but you started it." Kyouichi talked back. "That stuff about aliens, I mean."
"That's because I really didn't expect the kind-looking Eirin-sensei to try something like that... And all for some stupid healing potion... And since the two of us are friends, she might have even attempted to pry the information from me if you left Eientei on your own."
"Hmm… I haven't thought about it that way." admitted Kyouichi. Soudai might have had a good enough reason to go with him after all.
The older outsider slowed down his pace as he kept looking closely at the two ofuda amulets that Kyouichi had given him.
"They look a bit… weathered. Are you sure that the shrine maiden hasn't sold you some rejects?"
"Ehh, yeah… There's quite a story behind that, ehehe…" Kyouichi let out an embarrassed chuckle as he recalled his first visit to the Scarlet Devil Mansion and the subsequent "boat incident" that occurred to him on his way back.
"I hope they're as effective as you said they were." said Soudai with doubt in his eyes. "Maybe I should stick one of them to my chest to help ward away the youkai, eh?"
That's when Kyouichi remembered another important thing that could help them avoid danger.
He reached inside his pocket to take out a small magnifying glass-shaped object – his very own magic detector.
"Hey, what's that thing you got there?" Soudai turned at him with a face full of curiosity.
"This may help us perhaps even more than those amulets."
"Is it a weapon or something?" guessed the older of the two youths.
"No. This…" Kyouichi stretched out his arm to let Soudai have a closer look at the eye of the detector, "…is our youkai radar."
"Huh? And you're pulling that thing out of your pocket just NOW?!"
"Shhhh…" the younger lad hushed his friend, so that his voice wouldn't attract any youkai in the area. "If you keep yelling out like that, I'm leaving you're here!" he threatened him with a hushed voice."
"I was just expressing my displeasure of you not using that thing sooner. What would happen if we ran into some of those nasty creatures?"
Kyouichi realized his mistake and accepted Soudai's complaint. To make himself look less guilty, he flashed a smile and shrugged. "I guess we were… lucky…" he emphasized the last word, hinting at Tewi and her temporary gift.
"Sheesh…" Soudai shook his head, unable to understand his friend's carelessness. "Fine… From now on, keep your eyes on that thing and give me a shout at the first sign of danger."
"Of course I'll keep a lookout." affirmed Kyouichi. "But about that shouting part… uh… I think I'll just give you a silent tap on your shoulder instead. We don't need the whole forest to know that we're here."
"Alright, alright. Do as you see fit. Just keep us out of harm's way, will ya?"
And so, the journey through the forest continued with Soudai still leading the way, trying to stay fixed on heading directly north and Kyouichi right behind him, keeping an eye on the magic detector.
The use of that little device was not as easy as Kyouichi had thought it would be. Since the Bamboo Forest of the Lost was naturally enchanted and full of magical beings, there was a strong magical resonance, rendering the detector less trustworthy. It was picking up positive, if somewhat faint readings even from the very bamboo trees. Spotting a youkai among that field of yellow dots could be a bit tricky.
"Any danger ahead of us, Kyouichi?" Soudai murmured at his companion.
"None that the detector would see." came a reply from behind his back. "Why do you ask?"
"Because I think I see something ahead of us…" the pathfinder pointed directly forward. "There, about 150 meters… Looks like… a house maybe?"
Kyouichi focused his eyes right above Soudai's index finger and in the distance he saw a trace of brown among the ocean of dark-green.
"Good eyes…" he quietly praised his senior. "I'm not sure if that's a good sign or not, but we need to go in that direction, lest we want to lose our course."
"So… you're saying that your little gizmo doesn't pick up any youkai in there?" Soudai asked once more to make sure.
"Unfortunately, the detector's scrying radius is only 50 meters, so I cannot say unless we come closer."
"Only 50 meters?" asked the older outsider incredulously. "That's too little! You could barely call it useful."
"However," Kyouichi continued, "it also has an alternate mode…"
He put the glass right in front of his eye and looked ahead. He was able to see the magical auras more clearly and into greater distance, but he still didn't see anything suspicious.
"It looks like there's no danger ahead, but let's just proceed slowly and quietly here." advised the younger of the boys.
"Okay… We'll keep going." nodded Soudai. "But somehow, I don't have a good feeling about this. So far we're not even sure if it's a house."
With mixed feelings of paranoia and curiosity, they slowly and quietly approached what they thought was a small house. Once they got close enough, they figured that they were right. It was a small wooden cabin. Kyouichi's magic scan revealed nothing suspicious around or inside this small hut, but the two outsiders still proceeded with caution.
"Don't know about you," Soudai whispered to his comrade, "but I think it would be best if we just ignored it and kept on going. I'm not going to knock on the door and risk figuring out that we stumbled upon the home of a vicious youkai."
He had a point. Neither he, nor Kyouichi could be completely sure whether or not was it safe for them to let their presence be known to whomever lived in there. The hut's location was a suspicious factor enough. They crouched down when they were just a few meters away from the mysterious dwelling. Once they passed under the windows, they straightened up again, and hastened onward. That's when suddenly a bright-orange flash of light coming from the nearby bamboo thicket diverted all of their attention.
"What the hell is that?!" whispered the older outsider frightenedly as he froze in motion.
Kyouichi likewise stopped as soon as his friend did and took a glance at the light source through his magic detector. It flared up just as brightly as the fiery light itself.
"Oh crap…"
"Oh crap?" repeated Soudai. "What do you mean, "oh crap"? Don't tell me that…"
"We've run into something very powerful…" Kyouichi quietly finished Soudai's sentence, confirming his greatest worries.