Fairy Tales - Misty Lake Secrets
A Touhou Project fanfic by Achariyth
Disclaimer: Touhou Project belongs to ZUN
That long haired rabbit princess never caught anything interesting. Cirno pouted as she watched the woman and her rabbit girls fuss with a bamboo pole. Someone needed to tell the princess that it was called fishing, not booting. Only leather and trash dangled from the line after the beautiful princess's long struggles, yet she didn't seem to mind. Cirno just wanted to see the little rabbit push the bigger one into the water. At least that was funny.
Summer had come again to Gensokyo, and as the hours grew, so did the crowds that visited the Misty Lake. Cirno never liked that they scared all the frogs away, but the picnickers always seemed to have yummy treats for fairies. Those that didn't, well, a picnic basket often became a fairy's treasure when no one was looking. Others came for the fishing. Monster fish lived under the waters, and although Cirno had noticed that the fish in stories grew bigger with every telling, she knew it to be true. One tried to eat her last year. The ice fairy didn't need to exaggerate its size, Aya had snapped a picture of the fish so all Gensokyo could see.
Cirno floated along the lake's edge, drifting from group to group until she saw a brilliant flash of red against green further down the shore. The young woman in green Chinese clothes knelt by the water, fiddling with something silvery in her hands. "Meiling!" Cirno shouted. The fairy's eyes lit up as she dove towards her.
Cirno liked Meiling. The exotic guard was pretty and proved that a girl could grow up and still be cute without having to give up running through the forest, sleeping in the grass, and climbing trees. The fun stuff, like being better than boys. (Cirno didn't know any boy fairies personally, but she knew she had to do everything better than them.) Meiling knew great secrets, told only in whispers and giggles. That didn't mean that the fairy would be caught wearing pants like the Chinese woman. Everyone knew that girls in Gensokyo wore skirts.
"What are you doing?" Cirno asked, fluttering to a stop by the guard's shoulder. She glanced around the lake. Those three words would bring any fairy who heard them running. Secrets like that begged to be shared.
Meiling smiled as she picked up a wooden fishing rod. Pulling it over her shoulder, she whipped it out towards the lake. A baitfish flew through the air and splashed into the water. Cirno stared at Meiling. That fish was big enough for a meal. "Fishing," the Chinese woman said. She set the pole into a cleft in a nearby pile of rocks. "For giant catfish." She knelt and patted the ground next to her.
Big bait for big fish. Cirno nodded as she sat down and then her brow furled. "Wouldn't that cause an earthquake?" She thought she remembered Kosuzu telling a story like that last week.
"Sakuya pulled one out of here last year. Wasn't an earthquake then," Meiling said with an easy smile. She leaned in closer to the ice fairy and whispered, "Of course, she cheats." The Chinese woman cast a worried look over her shoulder and laughed.
Cirno clapped her hands together as she laughed, basking in Meiling's confidence. It made her feel important, just like her strength. "Can't you cheat as well? Even better, can you show me?"
Meiling shook her head. "Sakuya used her power. Everyone else has to do it the old fashioned way." She pointed to the fishing rod.
The fairy tapped a finger against her cheek just as her eyes flashed. "I could freeze one out."
"This way's more fun. Besides, the big ones are really deep. No one's dove that far. Sakuya's cheating almost didn't work." Meiling frowned as she watched the line drift in the water. She stood up, took the rod in hand, and reeled in the line.
"Why do you want to catch one?"
Meiling turned her face towards Cirno, still working the reel as she watched the ice fairy through slitted eyes. Cirno wriggled under the cold stare. She hated when people gave her that look, almost like they were comparing her to something and she didn't measure up. Just like a child.
Melting ice! She wasn't a kid, she was a fairy and the strongest of them all as Marisa and that giant Miss Alice had at her place and that freaky pretty fire crow underground had found out. Cirno stopped shifting under Meiling's gaze, straightened her back, and gave the Chinese girl a frosty glare right back. Although it was event colder than that. Glaciers! What was colder than ice? She'd figure that out later.
The fisherwoman turned away from the staring contest as her hook rose from the water. The silvery fish still flopped at the end of the line. A quick cast flung it out farther into the lake. Meiling set the rod back in the rocks and returned to her kneeling place. This time, she faced Cirno and showed her that easy smile that made her a friend to fairies. "Once upon a time," the Chinese guard began.
Cirno leaned in closer, her frosty resolve melting. Meiling told some of the best stories. This one, about some foreign calamity god and his catfish servants, was one of her best, made even better because the scarlet-crowned woman swore that each word was true. Then Meiling told her the strongest secret that the fairy had ever hear. The pretty Chinese guard had vowed to beat this god, and because of this fight, he had sent a catfish servant against her friends. Of course, Meiling would confide in Cirno, she was the strongest, after all.
"Let me help," Cirno begged, clutching Meiling's hand.
The guard's face turned white. "C-cold!" she chattered, pointing to the fairy's grip.
Blushing, the ice fairy let go. "Sorry."
Meiling chuckled as she rubbed her hands together. "It's okay." She leaned in closer and glanced around. "Want to hear another story?"
Cirno cheered and then she heard about how that mean head maid had embarrassed herself in town and that the stuck-up Scarlet Devil was really just a little girl trying to act like a grown-up, and what Reimu actually said to Marisa that caused the witch to duel the shrine maiden for an entire day straight. Eventually, rumor turned into the stories that Meiling's mother had told her when she was smaller than Cirno, growing up on a river far away. The ice fairy sat spellbound, anxious to tell Sunny and Luna and Star what Meiling had told her. Even prissy Lily would be jealous.
The reel spun, chattering like the wind-up toys in that forest merchant's shop. Meiling grabbed the reel and pulled back on it, hoisting it high into the air.
Cirno thought that all a fisherwoman would need to do next was reel in her catch. That's what they did with the smaller fish, after all. But Meiling let the line run out and then cranked hard on the reel. She did this over and over again, as the rod bent and flexed. Sweat rolled down the Chinese's woman's brow in rivulets, yet still she fought on in the see-saw struggle with whatever was on the end of her line. The summer air grew colder and more agreeable as Meiling stayed locked in the back and forth with her fish. Finally, the line no longer ran out towards the lake's depths. Meiling wound it in, a tired but triumphant smile on her lips.
Cirno hovered over the line, looking down into the water. She wanted to see how big this catfish was. The fairy clutched a spell card in her hand. If this was the one that tried to eat her, Cirno would be ready. A dark shadow rose from the depths-
Thick clouds of danmaku shot rocketed from the waters like a wall rushing towards the ice fairy.
"PERFECT FREEZE!"
In the end, Meiling had to fish both her catch and a water-logged fairy from the lake. As Cirno regained her footing on the shore, she didn't see a giant catfish next to the fisherwoman. Instead, a young woman floated in the air next to Meiling.
"My name is Wakasagihime," the woman said. Two silver fins poked out from a mass of blue princess curls. She tugged on a metal hook tangled in a ruffled green robe that looked like a mix between maid's clothes and the traditional robes in the Village. A thin line ran from the hook, past a silvery scaled fish tail where her legs should have been, and up to Meiling's fishing rod.
"What are you?" Cirno said, staring at the feathery fins that passed for the woman's feet.
"A mermaid," Wakasagihime said, pulling the hook free and casting it onto the ground. She poked a dainty pinky through the hole it left and sighed. "An unhappy mermaid." She spoke in high, precise tones, keeping a measure of grace as she glowered at Meiling.
Cirno's brow furled. "Is that like a fish youkai?"
The mermaid made a moue of disgust. "I am a cryptid, not a youkai."
The fairy stared at her blankly. Meiling wrapped a towel around her and whispered, "I'll explain later." Cirno nodded, wrapping the fluffiness around her. The Chinese woman straightened up. "On behalf of my-"
"Did you have to hurt that fish?" Wakasagihime drew herself up to her full height or length or whatever. She was as tall as Meiling, even without her fin feet. Cirno was impressed, the fishy crypto-whatsit could do cold stares just as well as she could.
Meiling blushed and her mouth moved until the words caught up. "I was fishing for giant catfish."
Wakasagihime made another of those pouty scornful moues and shook her head. "They do make for terrible neighbors. You'd do the entire lake a favor if you could get rid of just one. Please, though, don't use other fish to catch them." She held up her hand. Red beaded in lines across her fingertips. "The fish you used is fine, by the way."
Meiling's typical smile grew strained. "It's how my father showed me to catch them."
"Use rice bran instead. The giant catfish isn't picky about what he eats." Wakasagihime fingered a ragged circle of frayed cloth at the edge of her robe.
Cirno nodded; she knew that first hand. "Why do you care about the little fish and not the big ones?"
"Someone has to look after the little ones. The big ones take care of themselves. I only wish that they weren't such bullies about it." Meiling and Cirno both nodded.
The scarlet guard cleared her throat and gave a quick bow. "My mistress would like to meet you. She has a fascination with cryptids of all kinds. She'd never let me hear the end of it if I didn't at least invite you to meet your neighbors over dinner." She smiled as Wakasagihime's fins fluttered nervously. "Don't worry, she's not a seafood kind of girl. More like a rampaging sweet tooth. You too, Cirno, you helped find our guest. I'm sure I can talk Remilia and Sakuya out of an ice cream sundae for your help."
Cirno beamed as the trio set off to the Scarlet Devil Mansion.