Flandre woke up drenched in a cold sweat, gasping for air. She slowly looked down her nightgown, checking for any sign of injury, gingerly rubbing the spot where she had been impaled in her nightmare. Meiling just remained sleeping peacefully next to her, snoring quietly as she mumbled in her sleep. Once Flandre had calmed down and realized it was all a terrible dream, she flung off her blanket and left the tent, no longer able to sleep. She sat down by the slowly diminishing fire, which was now much smaller in size than it was before, staring at it with a solemn expression.
The only sounds that could be heard were the sounds of insects and other animals doing their nightly activities before the morning came, which was now only a few hours away. As Flandre sat by the small fire, she tried keeping her mind off of her terrible nightmare, but to no avail, her mind slowly kept going back to the words her sister had spoken and the images of her being impaled by her. Her thoughts were interrupted by a quiet mumbling noise, sounding like someone was talking to themselves in the forest. As the voice got closer, the words became much clearer, and Flandre make out everything the voice said.
"Hmmmm, a tent? What human is dumb enough to set up camp in a forest here?" A voice asked. "Heehee, maybe I should prank them, that'd be lotsa fun!" The voice said with gleeful excitement.
The voice got closer and closer until a short green haired boy came into Flandre's sight; he had short green hair with small antennae like things coming out of his head and wore a white long sleeved shirt and a pair of baggy blue shorts. Around his neck hung a weirdly shaped black cape that had red lining, it's shaping almost made it look like the wings of some sort of insect. He also had several fireflies flying alongside him, seemingly following him wherever he walked.
"Oh, it's a youkai camp…I guess humans aren't as dumb as I thought then…" The boy mumbled to himself.
Flandre gave the unusual boy an odd look as he stared at her back, as if studying her before she asked. "Who're you?"
"Huh? Me?" The boy asked as he pointed to himself.
"Yeah, you." Flandre confirmed.
"I'm Wriggle Nightbug!" The boy shouted squeakily, revealing himself to actually be a girl, while pointing to herself with her thumb. "And who the heck're you?"
"I'm Flandre…"
"Flandre huh? Y'know…That's a really weird name." Wriggle said as she approached her. "So what're you doing here? I don't remember ever seeing you around here before." Wriggle asked as she plopped down next to Flandre.
"Ummm…Me and my friend are going on an adventure…and we're sleeping here for the night." Flandre explained timidly.
"An adventure? That's so…AWESOME!" Wriggle exclaimed in awe. "I wish I could go on adventures too! I'd go beat up super villains, and save damsels in distress and go to all kinds of places…Man you're lucky!"
"Th-Thanks, I think it's cool too. My friend and I are gonna explore Gensokyo and have lotsa fun..." Flandre replied.
"So…Where is your friend?" Wriggle asked as she looked around the forest. "I don't see her anywhere, is she hiding?"
"No…She's sleeping." Flandre said as she pointed towards the tent where Meiling rested.
"Oh, so why're you up then?" Wriggle asked curiously as a firefly perched itself on her outstretched finger.
Flandre quickly grew nervous from Wriggle's very simple question, with memories of her nightmare quickly resurfacing. "I-I can't sleep is all…" Flandre replied nervously, too embarrassed to give her the details.
"Hmmmm, alrighty then…" Wriggle replied suspiciously. "Hey, if you can't sleep then how about I keep you company then?" Wriggle asked excitedly.
"Oh um…You don't have to…I'm used to being alone…" Flandre replied sadly.
"All the more reason to keep you company then!" Wriggle exclaimed cheerfully. "It's my job as a defender of peace to help people, no matter how small their problems are!" Wriggle insisted.
"Defender of peace?" Flandre asked in confusion.
"Yeah, cool name right? I came up with it myself!" Wriggle said cheerfully. "Me and my bug friends go all around Gensokyo helping those in need and stuff like that, pretty neat right?"
"So you're like a super hero?"
"A super dooper hero! I mean…I haven't done anything big yet like beating up bad guys or solving incidents, but I help our fellow youkai out with small problems." Wriggle explained ecstatically.
"Wow, that's really cool!" Flandre said in admiration.
"R-Really? No one's ever said that before…All of my friend's think I'm stupid when I tell them about it…They think it's dumb to run around helping people when you could go and prank them instead." Wriggle said sadly. "But I gotta keep helping people to give insects a good name so people will stop squishing them!"
"What do you mean?" Flandre asked in confusion.
"Well all my insect friends…They get killed by people every day…I try to keep them safe, but it's no use. No matter how hard I try one of my friends die every single day…Just today Greg and Lulu were killed by insect pesticides…" Wriggle said sadly, looking down at the ground in grief. "So you see…If I can make a good name for insects by being a defender of peace, then insects will have a better reputation here in Gensokyo and no one will want to hurt them!"
"Wow…That's an admirable goal…"
"Thanks! I was inspired by this guy named Spider Man, I read about him in a weird outside world book I got from this weird store…Anyways he swings around using these web thingys like a spider, giving insects everywhere a better reputation!" Wriggle explained gleefully. "I just wish I could do that…It'd make my entrances so much cooler. I guess flying on to the scene will have to do for now…Maybe Miss Yamame could help me… " Wriggle mumbled under her breath.
"Wow! That's amazing! I didn't think humans could shoot webs like spiders!" Flandre said with eyes full of awe.
"That's what I thought too! I'm glad there's a human in the world who knows bugs aren't bad! I wish all humans were like Spider Man…Anyways I gotta go, sorry. I promised my ant friends I'd go and help them rebuild their anthill, some human kids keep destroying them…It was nice meeting you Miss Flan!" Wriggle said as she gave her a salute. "If you ever want to join Wriggle's defenders of peace, just give me a call!" and with that, Wriggle jumped up on a tree branch, nailing the landing without a hitch.
"Bye Wriggle! Thanks for keeping me company, I hope I see you again soon!" Flandre said as she waved off her new friend.
"No problem! It's what we defenders of peace do! May we meet again!" Wriggle said as she waved back, then jumped off onto another tree's branch, and then another, jumping from tree to tree until she was out of sight.
"Sakuya, is there any news on the hunt?" Remilia asked the head maid as she brought her a dish of cookies and tea, with Remilia sitting in a comically oversized chair at the head of the dining room's long table.
"No unfortunately not milady." Sakuya replied, all the while retaining her neutral expression as she set the dish of treats before her. "But I shall inform you of any news regarding the bounty."
"Hmmmm, Very well Sakuya." Remilia said as a discontent expression made its way on her face. "Now, how has the search for a replacement gatekeeper come along?"
"Well milady…There has only been one person interested in the position, but there's something a little…off about her." Sakuya replied as she poured her employer a cup tea.
"I could care less if there's something "off" about her Sakuya, just so long as she does her job. Now bring her to me at once." Remilia grumbled impatiently as she began drumming her fingers against the table.
Sakua paused before replying, "Yes mistress…" and exited the room, a few minutes passed before Sakuya had returned, now with a girl draped in black tailing her. Sakuya stopped before the table, giving a bow to her mistress before returning to her side, with the girl in black taking a seat across from Remilia.
The girl wore a white blouse with a black vest over it, and a just as black skirt. She wore a small red ribbon in her shoulder length blonde hair and her eyes, like Remilia's, were red.
"Rumia reporting for duty boss!" The girl shouted, giving a salute to Remilia from across the table.
"Sakuya…Who is this girl?" Remilia asked in a whisper.
"Rumia milady, she's a friend of that ice fairy that lives nearby…She was the only one interested in the job. Otherwise I'd never consider hiring an associate of that idiot." Sakuya replied in a hushed tone.
"Hmmmm…Nothing seems to be off about her besides her choice of friends…I don't see what you meant Sakuya…" Remilia whispered back.
"You'll soon see what I mean milady." Sakuya replied with a sigh.
"Ahem, so…Miss Rumia, I hear you're interested in a being a gatekeeper here at my humble abode. Now tell me, what qualifications do you have?" Remilia inquired as she took a sip of tea
"Rumia's qualifications? Rumia needs no qualifications! Rumia fights like tiger! Like bear! Rumia has strength of ten men! We don't need Meiling, because Rumia is pretty amazing." Rumia replied proudly.
"Hmph, now I see what you meant by "off" Sakuya…" Remilia mumbled to her head maid. "Well those are…quite impressive skills you have Miss Rumia."
"Rumia agrees! Rumia is impressive! The impressivest! Rumia will guard gates with the eyes of a hawk! Because Rumia is pretty extraordinary!"
"Yes, that's a word for it…" Remilia said under her breath. "Very well Rumia, we'll see how you do as our gatekeeper for the time being…Sakuya, please give our new employee her uniform and explain to her how we do things around here, will you?"
"…Yes milady." Sakuya replied as she dug out a green beret from her apron, looking exactly like the one Meiling wears. "Here you are Miss Rumia, wear this at all times while on duty. You will work from sunrise to sunset each day, with a one hour lunch break. You'll be provided three meals a day and nothing more. We'll arrange a living quarters for you here at the mansion as soon as we clear some space in one of our guest rooms. Now if you have any questions, ask them now." Sakuya explained in a professional manner. Rumia's hand shot up as soon as Sakuya's explanation was finished. The head maid gave an exasperated sigh. "Yes Rumia?"
"Do you serve human here? Rumia likes taste of human; it's like a party in Rumia's mouth!" Rumia asked cheerfully.
"No." Sakuya replied coldy.
"Oh…Rumia disappointed…Oh! Can Rumia get her hat in black? Rumia doesn't like the color of baby-barf green! It clashes with Rumia's pretty black dress!" Rumia said as she played with her skirt.
"…I'll see what I can do." Sakuya replied with a stressed sigh. "Go wait outside for a moment, I'll show you where your post is momentarily."
"Yes mam! Rumia shall wait patiently for your return like a faithful dog for his master!" Rumia said with a salute, now wearing the beret Sakuya had given her and exited the room.
Sakuya waited for the doors to close completely before asking, "Mistress, are you sure hiring her was a good idea?"
"I don't know Sakuya, but I'm in no mood to keep looking for a replacement gatekeeper, I have enough things to worry about right now the way it is." Remilia replied as she stared out the window. "Hmmmm, morning has come…I'll be retiring for the day Sakuya, be sure to keep things up and running in my absence." Remilia said as she got up from her oversized chair and strutted off.
"Yes milady, have a good rest." Sakuya replied as her employer exited the room.
"Ugh…Is it morning already…?" Meiling asked herself groggily as she wiped her out with her arm. "Well…time to get up Flan…" Meiling said as she rolled over to wake up her companion, but all she found was an abandoned blanket and pillow. "Flandre? Where'd ya go!?"
Meiling frantically crawled out of the tent in search of her missing friend. "Flandre!? Flandre where are you!?" Meiling called.
"Why are you yelling China?" Flandre asked, causing Meiling to jump in surprise.
Meiling turned around and found Flandre, who was sitting next to the now ashy remains of their fire from the night before, still in her nightgown. "Oh there you are. You're up awfully early today Flandre." Meiling greeted as she took a seat next to her.
"U-Um yeah! I-I guess I am!" Flandre replied nervously, not wanting to tell Meiling the truth that she was actually up still, not being able to sleep at all after her horrifying nightmare.
"Huh, you don't look so good…You've got bags under your eyes." Meiling informed as she pushed a few stray hairs from the small vampire's face.
"I do? I didn't even notice! I feel fine, really!" Flandre lied.
"If you say so…Anyways, have you thought of a place to visit next?" Meiling inquired.
"Oh why don't you pick China?"
"Really, are you sure?"
"Yeah…I can't make up my mind so go ahead and pick." Flandre replied.
"Hmmmm…Well Miss Sakuya once told me about this shinigami at the Sanzu River, she told me that she had worse work ethics than me." Meiling said with a laugh. "That could be an interesting place to see, and I kind of want to meet this shinigami she talked about…"
"That sounds like a fun place to go!" Flandre said ecstatically.
"Then it's settled! Next stop the Sanzu River!"
"Yeah! But um…I gotta change first." Flandre said with a blush.
"Oh right…Me too." Meiling said sheepishly. "Here you go change in the tent first; I'll make sure no one's peeking."
"Thank you Meiling." Flandre said happily as she entered the tent.
"No problem." Meiling replied as she stood at the tent's entrance with her back to the tent, making sure no bystanders were peeking.
A good ten minutes passed before Flandre came out from the tent, now clothed in her usual red vest and skirt with a cheerful smile on her face. "Sorry for making you wait so long Meiling…It's hard to change my clothes with my wings…" Flandre apologized.
"No sweat, I'll just change quickly and we can go after we take the tent down." Meiling replied as she entered the tent and came back out in five minutes, fully clothed. She then proceeded to quickly take down their tent and pack it in her bag for future use.
"Looks like we're all set to go now, are you ready to go Flan?" Meiling asked as she picked up their bags and lugged them over her shoulder.
"Yeah! Let's go!" Flandre replies.
"Alright according to our map here…The Sanzu River should be…That way!" Meiling said as she pointed off into the distance. "Off we go now!" Meiling said cheerfully, the two beginning their journey to the Sanzu River.