Gensokyo was surprisingly peaceful in its later hours of the day, with humans turning in from their respective jobs for the day and joining their families back at their homes in the village, causing the settlement to quiet down from its earlier thriving amount of activity. The only ones still wandering about the town was late night shoppers, and a few of the more peaceful youkai of Gensokyo.
The youkai of the land did the exact opposite, as nocturnal youkai awakened from their slumber and began to search for any humans foolish enough to be out at this hour and make a meal out of them. Fortunately for the trio of travelers who were still wandering about the land at this time weren't human. The three kept on traveling, with no exact destination in mind yet, using the light from both the stars and moon to keep themselves from falling astray from the path they followed through the thick forest they were currently traversing.
Flandre and Koishi traveled ahead their other companion, looking at their surroundings with awe that only a child would feel from such a sight. Meiling slowly trudged behind the pair, as she carried all of the group's belongings. Her heavy breathing could be heard by her two childish traveling companions. When she was offered to take some of her load by Flandre and Koishi, she refused their help, insisting that she could do it herself with a cheerful smile on her face. The two just shrugged and kept on walking at the same pace as they had before, only slowing down to allow Meiling to catch up with the two of them.
"Wow…Look at how bright the stars are…" Flandre said as she gazed up at the star peppered sky with wonderment, "It's so pretty…"
At her comment, Koishi looked up to the sky as well with a similar expression as Flandre. "Ooh! You're right Flan-Chan! It really is pretty!"
"Look how pretty it is China! Isn't it beautiful?" Flandre called back to Meiling, who had once again slipped behind the group.
Meiling took a quick glance at the sky before returning her gaze back to the road, "Eh, nothing I haven't seen before…" she said quietly between heavy breaths of air as drops of sweat trickled down her face.
"That's such a weak reaction China!" Koishi shouted to the gatekeeper, "Where's your sense of wonder silly?"
"Oh I don't know…I must have misplaced it…" Meiling replied, snickering lightly at her own joke.
Koishi seemed to take her joke quite seriously, if her facial expression were any indication. With her mouth agape and her eyes wide. "M-Misplaced! How could you lose something so important China! How are you supposed to enjoy anything in life without your sense of wonder?"
Meiling shrugged, "I suppose I'll just have to live life without it now, won't I?"
"That's a horrible attitude to have China! I can't let you miss out on the wonders of life! Don't worry; I'll share my sense of wonder with you! That way your life won't be so bland and boring like it has been!"
"Hey! My life is not bland and boring! I'll have you know I've led quite an exciting and adventurous life!" Meiling retorted.
Flandre couldn't help but laugh at both of her friend's silliness. Unintentionally breaking up the two's light hearted argument in the process. Flandre was happy that Koishi had recovered from her depressed state; you wouldn't have been able to tell that the girl had been so melancholic just a few hours earlier with the way she was smiling now.
"Why are you laughing Flanny?" Koishi asked the giggling vampire with curiosity. "Ooh, did imagine China in her underwear?"
"Hey! That isn't funny! I've been told I'm quite good looking!" Meiling called from behind the pair, causing Koishi to join Flandre in her laughter. "It's true…" the gatekeeper muttered to herself as she began to pick up her pace so she wouldn't fall too far behind her companions.
The pair's laughter was cut off after the two leading the group tripped on something lying in the middle of the road that the two didn't notice in their laughter. The pair of youkai plummeted to the ground, falling on the dirt path painfully.
"Ouchie…Who leaves their things in a middle of a road…big meanies…" Flandre mumbled to herself as she slowly pushed herself off of the ground. The vampire quickly readjusted her mobcap before turning her attention to what she had tripped on. Surprisingly enough, she found that what she had tripped on was a person.
"Owwwwww…" the person Flandre and Koishi had tripped upon moaned quietly. She lied on the ground motionlessly as she stared up at the sky with a blank expression; she appeared to be taking a particular interest in the moon, as she her eyes remained focused directly on the planet. The group of three quickly exchanged puzzled glances before turning their attention back to the strange girl before them.
The girl was quite pale looking, almost deathly so. Her hair was a greyish hue of blue, and wore a purple hat that had a star pinned to it; similar to the one Meiling was wearing. Oddly, she had a thin slip of paper stuck to her forehead; it reminded Meiling of the ofuda charms that the Hakurei shrine maiden was fond of using. The strange woman also wore a red Chinese styled shirt that had oddly baggy sleeves, and a black skirt. She held her arms out in front of her for some reason, making her look out right silly. The gatekeeper quickly identified her as a Jiang Shi, an undead creature that originated from her homeland.
The lady slowly began to lift herself up from the ground using only her legs amazingly enough, with her arms staying firmly in place in front of her. She stiffly began to turn to the three before her, giving each of them a deadpan expression before speaking. "…You see someone hit me?" she asked monotonously, cocking her head slightly to the side as she looked to the three for an answer.
"Noooooooooo…" Koishi replied, "But we did trip on you. It's not a good idea to lie in the middle of the road like that; someone might think you're road kill!"
"…What's road kill?" the pale stranger asked, looking utterly clueless.
"It's when an animal gets squished on a road!" Flandre answered cheerfully.
"…Oh…Hey, do you have any spare souls…? I'm really hungry…"
"I don't think so…Hey China! Do we have any spare souls?" Flandre asked, looking to the gatekeeper longingly for an answer.
"No." Meiling replied firmly as she glared at the peculiar stranger before them warily.
"Oh…Okay! Sorry, China says we don't have any spare souls…"
At her response, the stranger began to moan rather loudly, causing the three wince from the sudden eruption of noise. "Ohhhhhhhh…I'm so hungry…" she whined, "Oh master Seiga…where's dinner…?"
Meiling felt like she had heard that name before…but she couldn't quite remember where she had heard it from… She quickly disregarded the name and returned her attention to the moping stranger before them.
"Look…Miss…?"
"I'm not Miss…I'm Yoshika…" the sulking girl corrected.
"Right…Yoshika, we don't have anything that you Jiang Shi eat, so why not just be on your way?"
"…Because…Master told me to wait here for someone and take them to her…I can't let the master down and disobey her…" Yoshika replied monotonously.
"Well how long ago was that?"
Yoshika paused for a few moments, as if trying to formulate an answer to a particularly difficult riddle. "…About…seven days…"
"Seven days? That's a really long time to lie on the ground for!" Koishi said with amazement, clapping her hands to her face as if to emphasize her surprise.
"…Master has been gone longer than that before…She always returns though…Always…"
"She doesn't sound like a very good boss if she just leaves you all by yourself for so long!" Flandre said with a hint of outrage in her voice.
"…Master is a great master…she's just busy…busy and forgetful…Master is a great master…"
"Why don't we help you find her then?" Koishi asked the Jiang Shi cheerfully, looking up to the taller woman with a bright smile on her face.
"Help me find master…?" Yoshika asked with a confused look on her face.
"Yeah! Come with us! We'll find that boss of yours in no time!" Koishi said happily, offering her hand to the Jiang Shi. "Right Flanny?"
"Yeah! Come on! You shouldn't be sitting out here all by yourself!" Flandre agreed, urging the Jiang Shi to join them.
"But master said to wait here…"
"Well…What if she forgot to tell you to wait here…and she's really worried because she can't find you?" Flandre asked with a sly smile on her face.
"Wh-What…? I don't want to worry master!" Yoshika cried with concern, with her face looking pained with guilt.
"Then we better find her then, huh?" Koishi asked with an equally cunning smile as Flandre's.
Yoshika nodded vigorously to answer, looking completely concerned only with her master's wellbeing and nothing else. Meiling on the other hand, looked completely awestruck at her companion's cleverness; she never took them as being skilled at the art of deception. They seemed…too innocent to be good at such things.
"You don't mind if she comes along, do you China?" Flandre asked the gatekeeper, looking up towards her taller friend with large pleading eyes.
"Not at all. So long as she doesn't cause us any trouble, I won't object to her coming along." Meiling replied.
Flandre began to jump in place happily from her answer, causing her wing crystals to jingle from the action. "Thanks China! You're the best!" the little vampire then ran back to Koishi and Yoshika happily to inform them the good news. Meiling couldn't help but smile at her friend's great amount of excitement, as she began to walk up to the group and join them.
The group continued to traverse the forest, now with Yoshika in tow. The Jiang Shi walked in an odd fashion; she never once bent her knees in her steps, with her legs remaining completely stiff as she walked along with the group, despite this, Yoshika never once fell behind the group. Her arms were also kept in front of her at all times, looking just as rigid as her legs were, the girl was one of the more peculiar people the trio have met in their journeys…
"Hey Yoshika?" Flandre said, breaking a momentary silence between the four of them.
"Hmmmmmm…?"
"Why do you keep your arms hanging out like that?" Flandre asked while pointing to Yoshika's arms, which remained as stiff as a board while her hands dangled freely from them.
"Oh…Master said I have ummmm…R…R-rig…Rigor…Mo…rtis…She said I have rigor mortis..." Yoshika struggled to pronounce, looking relieved that she had completed the word.
"Oh…What's rigor mortis?"
"Erm…I forget…" Yoshika replied sheepishly.
Luckily Meiling had the answer to the question, "Rigor mortis is when your limbs become stiff and hard to move, it occurs in corpses after about after three or four hours after death. It's not surprising that you have it, Yoshika, you are a reanimated corpse after all…" Meiling said in a rather informative fashion.
"Wow! You're smart China!" Koishi said enthusiastically at Meiling's display of knowledge. The young satori looked very impressed by her short explanation.
"Ah shucks, I'm not that smart…" Meiling said modestly, scratching the back of her head as she spoke. "Anyways…I could probably fix that for you, Yoshika. It wouldn't take long, I'd just have to snap your arms a bit and they should work as good as new."
Yoshika didn't seem pleased by the prospect, and her skin seemed to turn into an even paler shade of white than usual. "No, no, no, no…" Yoshika moaned as she shook her head vigorously, an impressive feat considering how stiff the rest of her body was.
"Why not?" Meiling asked, sounding more curious than insulted if anything.
"Master says I'm perfect just the way I am…If master thinks I'm perfect, then I am…" Yoshika answered, with her eyes downcast.
At the mentioning, Meiling's thoughts returned to wondering about just who this master of Yoshika's was. She knew she had heard the name Seiga somewhere before…she just couldn't put her finger on it…
Soon enough the small group reached a small clearing in the forest, allowing the light from the moon to be seen completely without any tree branches to block their view of the orb. It was a clear night, allowing many stars to be seen. Before the group could take in the full sight of the sky they were only able to see glimpses of in the forest.
The ground in the immediate area began to shake lightly abruptly. Meiling gave the ground a wary look before a small hole appeared right in front of her and without any sort of warning a woman's head quickly popped out of it. "Yo!"
The sudden appearance of the woman surprised Meiling, causing her to almost fall over from the shock. Meiling recovered from her initial shock and began to get a better look at the woman who had come out of the hole. The woman had blue eyes and hair equally as blue that was done into two hair loops. As the woman slowly lifted herself out of the hole she had popped out of, Meiling was able to see her clothing more clearly. She wore a light blue dress with a white and blue vest that had several Chinese patterns on it, reminding the gatekeeper of her homeland.
The strange woman put a golden hair pin into her hair as she got up from the ground, dusting dirt off from her dress as she got on her feet. She suddenly gasped in surprise as she took notice of the sole Jiang Shi among the group, "Yoshika!" she cried as she ran up to her.
In turn, Yoshika cried, "Master!"
The two quickly went to one another, with Yoshika's master hugging her with a motherly smile on her face as she did so. "Oh my little Yoshika-poo, I'm so relieved to see that you're doing well!" The woman said cheerfully as she lightly stroked the jiang shi on her back. "Oh! And you even did as I asked and brought the ones I wanted to speak with! Such a good girl you are!" she complemented as she ruffled the girl's hair, and gave her a small kiss on the cheek.
Yoshika looked oblivious that she had accomplished any task, but seemed to appreciate the affection her master gave her. For the first time since the three had encountered the Jiang Shi, Yoshika's face filled with a color as she blushed from her master's actions, growing a big grin on her face.
"Excuse me? What did you say?" Meiling asked with a stern expression, interrupting the pair's heartwarming reunion.
Yoshika's master backed out from the hug with the Jiang Shi and turned her attention to the gatekeeper, "Oh how rude of me! I forgot my manners after I saw my adorable wittle Yoshika…" she said as she lightly pinched the Jiang Shi in question's cheek, "I'm Seiga Kaku, a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ms. Meiling." She held her hand out to the Chinese gatekeeper with a wide smile on her face. Meiling took it and shook it warily.
"Now, how exactly do you know my name, Ms. Kaku? I don't remember introducing myself." Meiling questioned, giving Seiga an untrusting look.
Seiga ignored the question and turned her attention back to her minion, "Oh Yoshika dear? Would you mind taking your new friends aside for the moment? Ms. Meiling and I need to discuss some grown-up issues~." She said sweetly.
"Huh…? Alright master…" Yoshika replied sadly, going off to the edge of the clearing along with Flandre and Koishi, leaving Seiga and Meiling alone.
"Spill it." Meiling growled, crossing her arms across her chest as she glared at the woman, once the three were out of earshot.
"I'll be candid with you, Ms. Meiling. I find you and your companions to be quite interesting, some of the most interesting youkai I've seen in quite some time…" Seiga began.
"Interesting how?" Meiling cut off, with a scowl planted on her usually cheerful face.
"Oh don't play dumb with me, Ms. Meiling! I know all about that little bounty…" Seiga laughed, putting an arm around Meiling's shoulder as if they were old friends. Meiling quickly shook the hermit's arm off, Seiga mocked disappointment at the rejection, while barely trying to suppress a smile.
"So you're just like the ones from Eientei then. Can't resist the temptation of some easy money?"
Seiga just laughed, "Oh heavens no! Material things don't interest me at all, I just wanted to speak with you…I'm not like those Lunarians at all. I don't lose sight of my morals over some petty cash…It's truly amazing what money will do to mortals, isn't it? Or should I say immortals? Even I was a little shocked at what things they did just to try and catch your pretty little vampire, I mean goodness, senseless destruction of a graveyard, violence against an unrelated party, and emotionally traumatizing that little satori? Tsk, tsk…"
"Wait…What do you mean? Traumatizing Koishi? I knew she was in a bad mood after the fight but…"
"Oh yes…That moon doctor sure can be quite nasty if she really wants something…I suppose the same could be said for the princess as well. I must say, I never took those two as the violent type, but I suppose when given the right motivation, even the most peaceful of beings will sacrifice others on the altar of their ambition…" Seiga's smile slowly grew bigger and bigger as she continued to speak. Her grin began to unnerve Meiling, something about this woman…just wasn't right.
"Wait just a moment here…I understand that attack on the temple has been the talk of the town, and those Tengu have already started writing stories about it…but tell me this, Ms. Kaku, how would you know that Eirin had traumatized Koishi? Unless you were there…"
"Oh dear me! I've been caught!" Seiga said mockingly.
"How long…" Meiling growled.
"Pardon?"
"How long have you been following us!?" Meiling roared. Seiga didn't even so much as flinch at her outburst, and managed to keep her cool.
The other three within the vicinity didn't seem to notice her booming voice, as they continued to play with one another. Both Flandre and Koishi swung by Yoshika's arms, giggling happily as they did so. Yoshika also seemed to be enjoying herself, regardless of the vampire and satori that were using her as a jungle-gym.
"To be honest, my memory is a little fuzzy…" Seiga scratched her head in thought, "I believe I began following you around the time you met that doll maker…"
"Wh…What? For that long?" Meiling asked in disbelief.
"Well, it wasn't like I followed you twenty-four seven…I do have a life you know, Ms. Meiling…" Seiga replied, taking a sudden interest in her finger nails, which looked almost flawless. "I mean, I didn't follow you to the Sanzu River, such a dreadfully dull and depressing place…Plus I wasn't exactly a fan of seeing a shinigami…or the Yama for that matter. Really, you should take other people into consideration next time you decide to go somewhere..."
"Well excuse me! Next time we'll go somewhere more convenient for you!" Meiling shouted back. Never had the gatekeeper ever met such an infuriating person, it took all of her will power not to punch her in her smug face right there and then.
At the hermit's mentioning of the Sanzu River, Meiling finally realized why this hermit was so familiar to her, and where she had heard of her. "Wait a minute…You're that hermit that caused all of that trouble at the kappa's place a few months ago with that tower of water…the Yama was after you…You're the that hermit that managed to escape death…You're the wicked hermit…"
"Oh my, it'd seem my reputation has grown quite handsomely in my short time in this land…" Seiga muttered to herself.
"This conversation is over. If you continue to follow us, I'll do the job that the tower failed to do. Am I clear?" Meiling said viciously.
"Crystal!" Seiga replied cheerfully, with a large beaming smile on her face.
"Flandre, Koishi, say goodbye to Yoshika. We're leaving…" Meiling said to the playing pair of youkai.
Both groaned sadly that their fun was coming to an end. Flandre and Koishi swung off from Yoshika's arms. "Sorry Yoshika…we gotta go…" Koishi grumbled sadly.
Yoshika seemed to be just as saddened as Koishi and Flandre, "Ohhhhhhh…I hope we see each other again..." Yoshika said in her monotone voice, though her disappointment was evident by the frown on her face.
"I hope we see each other again sometime…" Flandre said to the Jiang Shi. "Take care…"
Meiling then began to lead her two companions along, away from the hermit and her undead minion. The gatekeeper took one last angry look at the hermit, who was giving her a pleasant smile in return. She waved them goodbye as the three of them left the clearing.
"It was nice talking to you, Ms. Meiling! I hope we may do this again sometime! Take care, Gensokyo can be quite a dangerous place!" she called to the three before disappearing into the thick forest. Once the three were out of ear shot, Seiga faced her loyal disciple. "Oh Yoshika darling, I have a little task for you to do for me…"
"What is it master? I'll do anything for you master…Anything." Yoshika answered, looking eager to set out and do Seiga's bidding at the best of her ability.
"So eager! That's my adorable little Jiang Shi…" Seiga began to ruffle her hair adoringly, causing Yoshika's smile to grow ever bigger. "Now Yoshika, you know those people we just met?"
"Yes, of course master!"
"I want you to attack them." Seiga said casually, with her smile unwavering as she gave the command.
"Huh? But master…They were nice to me…"
"I know dear, but regardless I want you to do as I ask…Just rough them up a bit! Just a friendly little battle, nothing too gruesome! Besides, Ms. Meiling was just telling me how much she would love a good duel with someone…especially a strong Jiang Shi like you…It'll be a nice big surprise for her!"
"Are you sure master…?"
"Of course I'm sure! Ms. Meiling was absolutely hankering for a good battle! Just do this for me darling, you wouldn't want to disappoint Master Seiga, would you…?" Seiga asked as she pouted sadly at her servant.
Yoshika gasped in surprise, "No, no, no! I don't want to disappoint you Master!" Yoshika cried. "I'll do just as you told me to master!"
"Such a good girl! Here's a little something for good luck…" Seiga bent down and kissed Yoshika on her forehead, causing the former to grin happily. "Now go give Ms. Meiling a good fight! I'll be rooting for you in the sidelines!"
"Yes master! I'll make you proud!" Yoshika responded loyally, before running off after the three, determined to follow her master's orders.
"Oh silly Yoshika…I'm already proud of you…" Seiga muttered to herself as her minion eagerly trampled through the forest in hot pursuit of her target. "Now…Let's see how you handle this, Ms. Meiling...don't disappoint me now…" Seiga's soon grew a great big smile on her face as she slowly began to walk out of the clearing, and into the darkness of the night to observe the battle that would soon unfold.
A/N: And after a short break, here we are with chapter nineteen! :P Just one more chapter til I hit the big 'ol number twenty! I hope you enjoyed this chapter despite its somewhat short length...Well, I suppose there have been shorter chapters in this story...eh. Personally, I loved writing Seiga's character. After Kyouko and Mamizou, she's my favorite TD character.
Just as a small note, the water tower thing that Meiling mentions is a reference to the events of chapter twelve of the official TouHou manga work, Wild and Horned Hermit. So...Yeah. Spoilers.
Anyways, sorry to say, but the next chapter will be a while before I post it...I'm kind of juggling to stories right now, and want to work on that one as well. Hopefully you'll enjoy that story as well. Anyways, until next time.