Fairy Tales - To See the Ocean's Shore
A Touhou Project fanfic by Achariyth
Disclaimer: Touhou Project belongs to ZUN.
Cirno hated the salt spray that stung her eyes. It made her job more difficult. The ice fairy wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "There's too much. I can't do it." Her lower lip quivered as she stared at the white breakers crashing against the shore.
Daiyousei hated the salt as well. And she wasn't much fonder of Mamizou Futatsuiwa, either. She wrapped an arm around her friend's waist, taking care not to ruffle the girl's ice crystal wings.
"I don't see what the big deal about this place is," Cirno said, her bravado rising like the waves on the beach. Then, as quickly as her confidence gathered, it ebbed away. "I can't make an ice cube here."
Daiyousei cringed at her friend's whisper. "But now you've done something that Reimu never has."
Cirno's smile failed to reach her eyes. "You know that I'm better than any silly shrinemaiden." She snapped her fingers and a thin sliver of frost hung in the air, melting away into steam. "Stupid raccoon girl."
"Silly girls, you haven't even seen the ocean's shore." Mamizou's taunt haunted Daiyousei's memory. Didn't that ring-tailed trickster know that her words had issued a challenge to the strongest fairy?
The journey itself had been simple. The Hakurei Barrier might not have existed for the two mischievous fairies. Children always knew the myriad ways out past their backyard fence. After that, a short flight took them to where the iron horses passed by. Mamizou had called them trains when she awed little and not so little girls with tales of the outside world.
Yet, neither fairy could help but feel lonely. Millions of Reimu's kind bustled about on the outside, but Daiyousei and Cirno had yet to see any of their sisters flying around. If being lonely in a crowd of people was what it was like to be human, the humans could keep it.
"I think it's beautiful," the fairy queen said with a shy smile. She led her friend across the sandy beach down towards the water. "There's nothing like this in Gensokyo. Mamizou's stories never said it would be anywhere this big." Deep blue water roiled against honeyed sands as far as the eye could see. Blues, whites, greens, all the colors danced vibrantly, livelier than even the most magical hideaways inside the magical land of Gensokyo.
"It is," Cirno whispered. She drew in a breath as she stepped into the last ebb of a chill wave retreating from the beach. "But I can't do anything to it. My power isn't enough."
Daiyousei sighed. "Then you'll have to get stronger. Show the world just what a fairy can do."
Cirno's smile lit up her eyes. She slipped out of her friend's hug and splashed through the water before spinning around. "Of course I will. I am the strongest, after all." A wall of water crashed into her, leaving the ice fairy shivering and sputtering.
"Let's play," Daiyousei said, mirth lighting up her eyes. She held her hands out before her and pushed forward. Another wave surged into Cirno, knocking her off her feet.
"Don't think you'll get away with that," Cirno said, spitting salt water. She spread her arms wide on the water's surface and clapped her hands, drenching Daiyousei in the ocean's tide.
The air grew thick with the laughter of fairies. For those fortunate enough to visit the beach that day, the ocean surged with a life seldom seen. And if the vibrant and joyful winds and waves danced mischievously about, showering the unwary, it only added to the magic of that perfect day.
"Let's go back," Cirno said, after a few hours of play left the two fairies lounging in the warm sun. "I want to show Reimu and that bossy raccoon girl what we can do."
A week later, during the hottest months of summer, the surface of the Misty Lake froze over for the first time in living memory.