"Okku!" Cirno cried happily, forgetting about Letty for a period, and flying over to Utusho. The twso then began to speak nonsense that only those of similar mental gifts could understand. Rumia caught the words 'Bacon Shoes' at one point, and just gave up.
"Thank goodness okku has someone to keep her entertained. I fear she would get bored and burn the village down with nothing to do." Satori said.
At this point, Rumia notices that while everyone else was keeping distance from Satori, there was one Kappa who was standing close, looking full of questions. Like all the other Kappa, she wore a large, puffy, multi-pocketed blue dress, which looked waterproof. She also had a large green backpack, although hers was larger than most of the others. Unlike the others, however, this Kappa had a green cap on, with a small, strange, white marking on it.
Satori closed her two eyes for a moment, and her third swiveled to look at the Kappa, before the eye closest to her opened, with a sly grin.
"You are one of those youkai who helped Marisa that time. Nitori, I presume." she said.
Nitori shuddered. "Still can't get over that mind-reading. Marisa said you were scary, thought you'd be taller."
Satori looked annoyed at the remark about her height, but stayed calm, as per usual. "Anyway, I hope Okku was no trouble during this process."
Nitori narrowed her eyes. "You already know if she was trouble or not, if not from my mind, from hers. You're just testing my honesty."
Satori closed her eyes again. "No, your intelligence. You passed." she said.
"Satori's being annoying as ever..." Mystia muttered, before Koishi appeared in the middle of the crowd of Kappa, tapping each one on the head, one by one. Clearly she was hidden to the Kappa, and just wanted Rumia and her friends to see her mischief.
"Ah, don't worry. The Kappa have thick skins. Shells. Whatever." Rin replied.
Aya flew over to Rumia.
"You know, it still bothers me. Usually people do anything to be given credit for something in my paper, but this person still hasn't come forward." she complained.
"Some things don't change. Hatate being one of them." Rumia replied, causing Aya to chuckle.
"I already explained about Hatate. Anyway, I heard a rumor before I came. You might be in for a treat." Aya said.
"Is that so~"
"Whispers say Lord Tenma himself is going to come to this unveiling, to show the Tengu's support of the Kappa's work. It's very rare for Lord Tenma leaves the village, and usually he only leaves the village when he feels an event is significant enough... to pose a risk." Aya explains.
"So... he thinks something is going to happen?" Rumia asks.
"Maybe. Or maybe the old man is just changing his ways a little." Aya sighed.
Rikako adjusted her glasses. "I for one, do not see what the huge fuss you Tengu make of your system is about."
"You wouldn't understand, Rikako. A scientist wouldn't understand tradition and the importance of the history of the Tengu on their society. We went through horrible things when the Oni were in charge, and Tenma saved us." Aya said, sounding patriotic and proud.
"You keep calling this guy Lord Tenma. Isn't that supposed to be Lady Tenma?" Rumia asked.
Aya gave Rumia a blank look.
"I mean, this guy you speak of sounds strong, right?"
"Your point..."
"Well, I've never seen a strong MALE in Gensokyo before." Rumia says.
"Well Lord Tenma is male, and he's strong enough to defeat Oni." Aya confirms.
Suddenly, four Wolf Tengu and four Crow Tengu appeared, the crows in the air, and the wolves on the ground.
"Ah, Momiji, you're here too!" Aya said happily towards one of the wolves, a white wolf, who had a maple-leaf on her sheild, and a large sword on her back.
"Quiet Aya, you know what this formation means, don't you? It's the escort formation." Momiji barked.
Aya suddenly nodded, and Rumia noticed she actually got into a curtsey position. The Kappa did as well, while the males among them bowed.
"What are they all doing?" Wriggle asked, as a huge, winged shadow covered the sun, before plummeting to the ground.
"All Hail Lord Tenma!" Momiji announced, as the Tengu and Kappa stopped their curtsies and bows, and repeated.
The man who landed between the wolves and crows was a mountain of a man, at least twice as large as Momiji and Aya, not just in height, but also shoulder length, and even wingspan. His body was muscular, and his nose long. His arms bore the scars of a long life of conflict, and his wings had silver feathers to match his hair. He wore the same style of hat as Aya. However, despite his wings, he also had a tail, and the ears of a Wolf Tengu. The man carried himself with a pose that commanded attention.
"L-Lord Tenma-sama!" Nitori stammered.
The huge Wolf/Crow Tengu hybrid folded his legs, and sat down, as the four crows landed around him.
"There is no need for respects today, Kappa. I am here simply for curiosity's sake. I demand that you proceed as if I was not here, I do not want to spoil the revelation." Tenma said, his voice that of a jolly old man, before he pulled a sake jar from his obi sash, and took a great drink.
Rumia and the others who had never seen Tenma before were in shock at this huge figure. Part of them said to run, but the other part said to stay. He seemed both friendly and dangerous at the same time.
Tenma's eyes suddenly looked towards Satori, and she clutched her third eye.
"Sorry, I cannot help it." she said. "It's natural, I'm drawn to new minds."
"I know how Satori work, child, I was around before your kind went undergound or died. I also have a mind far more advanced and strong than yours. You cannot read anything but what I let you. I just gave you a shock to prove it."
"Tenma-san? The same one who gave Kanako so much trouble when we arrived?" Sanae asked.
"The one and only."
"Wait... he gave a god trouble?!" Rumia exclaimed. "Then why didn't he come and help against Shinki?"
"Because while I was aware of the incident, I knew my assistance was not required, Sealed Darkness Daemon from Makai. I hope that one day you are able to control your powers. Who knows, maybe you will be strong enough to give me a good spar for a change of pace!" Tenma answered, laughing heartily for a few moments, before he raised his hand.
"No more questions please, let the Kappa do what we came here to see, or else we shall be here all day long, and frankly, it's a little chilly."
Everyone followed the old Tengu's words, and Nitori scurried over to the covered object, as well as Rikako.
"With assistance from the Hell Crow, Utusho, from the Underground, with the power to command Nuclear Fusion, we had a vision of how we could control a simple sample of her power to make an infinite supply of power, self-sustaining. With this power, we can provide many things to Gensokyo! For example, the ability to make a fire to cook or keep warm without having to cut down trees. The ability to light a home at night. But this is just the surface. With this power avaliable to us, we hope to contruct the Gensokyo Grid. This energy is not just for the Kappa, or the Tengu. It is for everyone. From the from Hakurei Shrine to the Moriya Shrine, Human Village and Eientei, we plan to supply this infite source of power to everyone in Gensokyo, to make their lives easier!" Nitori announced, before Rikako grabbed the cover, and pulled.
Underneath the cover was a large, metal device, that looked complex. It was huge, bigger than even Tenma. There was a thick, glass section, however, which showed a glowing orb, like a miniature sun, surrounded by many glowing, devices that looked fragile.
"Behold, the KappaTech Nuclear Reactor! Bringing power to Gensokyo for the future, without any waste, or resources used!" Nitori said.
There was a huge round of appluse, Tenma's in particular like claps of thunder, causing the nearby wolf Tengu to cover their sensitive ears.
"Are there any questions?" Nitori asked, as snow started to fall heavier.
"Just one." Tenma asked. "Is there any potential for this device to be dangerous in the wrong hands?"
"Yes." Nitori said flatly.
"Oh, Oh, Nitori-sama! Activate the Danger sign!" Utusho pestered.
"Fine..." Nitori said, sighing, pressing a button, before a hologram appeared above the machine fron a small light, of the Nuclear sign, with WARNING! moving above and below it, as a loud, blaring siren sounded.
"Awwww yeah. That was my idea." Utusho says.
"OK. It's decided then, I will have the Wolves set up a watch over the reactor, to ensure it's safety." Tenma said.
"Thank you, Lord Tenma." Nitori said.
There were other questions, of course, ranging from Utusho forgetting she helped make the sun, so asking who did, to Kappa asking technical questions no-one but Satori understood, and Koishi asking a question about how hot the mini-sun was, but no-one hearing but Rumia's group as well as her family and pets. Howver, eventually there were no more questions, so Nitori let Aya take some pictures, such as Tenma standing next to the Reactor with Nitori, before everyone started to leave.
"That was BOOOORING." Cirno complained.
"You weren't even paying attention, you were playing tag with Okku." Mystia said.
"Dosen't mean it wasn't boooooooring." Cirno repeated.
"Gotta agree with Cirno." Wriggle said.
"Yeah, but we met that Tenma guy." Rumia said. "Apparently he rarely leaves the Tengu villiage, so we were in a special event!"
"Tenma's wings are so..." Mystia began sighing, before getting a strange look from everyone.
"What? Ain't a girl bird allowed to be a little attracted to a man with large wingspan?" Mystia asked.
"Not when he's half mammal..." Wriggle said.
"Makes me wonder if he came from an egg or not." Rumia commented.
"Isn't the Platypus a mammal that comes from an egg?" Wriggle asked.
"Yeah, but he's a wolf and a crow." Rumia said.
The snow got heavier, like a blizzard, and Cirno suddenly started bouncing about in the air.
"The snow's getting harder! Letty's nearby!"
Sure enough, a few meters further on, Letty was visible in the snow. Cirno flew to her, and hugged her, blubbering about how happy she was to see Letty.
The Yuki-Ona looked sweetly at the remaining three.
"Stay warm, little ones. And be careful. I have seen some strange things during the year, and from what I saw today, danger approaches." Letty said, before looking at Cirno.
"Cirno, it we're going to make you even stronger, we need to go it quickly this Winter. There are a few other things we must do soon, and you need to be stronger for them."
"Oh yay! I love getting stronger!" Cirno said, flying off after Letty.
Msytia looked at Wriggle. Wriggle looked at Rumia. Rumia looked at Mystia.
"Danger approaches." the three said at once.
"But where?" Mystia asked.
"Wait, Tenma asked..." Wriggle quipped.
"Aya said he only comes when he thinks something may be dangerous for the Tengu..." Rumia said.
All three exchanged looks again, and spoke in unison.
"The Reactor!"
Author Notes: Tenma was originally not met until mid A5, but I hadn't even intended to introduce Tenma into the story until just before then, so I added him here.
Tenma is half-crow, half-wolf. I couldn't decide which of them he'd fit better, and ultimately decided to make him a hybrid, so he connected well with both sides. You'll learn more about Tenma in Arc 5.
Silly Okku, couldn't resist putting her spellcard warning on the reactor.
A little hint at MystiaxTenma got thrown in for good measure, but will it happen? I'm not telling :3. A reminder that this overall story has two major ships that are 'canon' for the story. Everything else is up to any shippers reading to theory-craft. Just don't start naval wars :V
Also I clearly have too much time on my holidays, churned out two chapters again today...