Despite it being near midnight, the moonlight still shone down bright enough to illuminate the lone figure emerging from the forest and into the Eientei. Carrying two large sacks of fresh rice, Reisen had finally managed to get back to the mansion after her prolonged nightly walk, carrying her load of rice proudly. Being as late as it was, the other rabbits had stopped work for the day, their tools still laid haphazardly around the yard. Dragging her delivery, she deposited it near the emptied bags of rice from today, before having to drag herself off to her room, pulling her sheets over her, and trying desperately to sleep. As tired as she was from the day, it didn't prove too hard.
She awoke later than was normal the next day, the sounds of working rabbits already filling the air outside her room. Quickly bathing and pulling on a fresh set of clothes, she stepped outside, still groggy and half-asleep.
The yard looked largely the same as the day before, everyone present working fervently at making mochi for the festival. She took a short moment to stand in the shade of the small porch outside of her room, before stepping down and beginning her search for Tewi. Hearing a loud voice shouting at a group nearby, she smiled and made her way towards what was obviously her.
Her guess proved correct, as she found Tewi standing upon a large stump in the center of a group of workers, shouting orders and words of "motivation" to them as they labored. Reisen weaved between them, desperately trying not to run disturb any of their work.
Upon seeing her, Tewi ceased her yelling, stepping off her stump to greet her. "Udonge! And here I was getting worried if you'd been… ya know. Glad to see you're still with us though!" Despite her words, her tone was more annoyed than worried, like she'd cared more about the deliverey of rice than the one delivering it. "And you got the rice for us, so even better!" She smiled brightly like it was all some great joke. "Though I'm not so sure that we'll get too much use out of just 2 bags, try as we might…"
Reisen sighed deeply. "I guess that means you'll want me to bring back some more, then? And more than two this time as well?"
"Well, if you're offering, I'd be ever so grateful for the assistance!" Tewi replied with a playful grin. "Make sure you get as much as you can carry! And try to not get lost this time!" She climbed back onto her stump, and resumed her shouting of commands at the workers, ignoring any refusal or rebuttal on Reisen's part.
She was left with no real choice now, and seeing as she had nothing better to do with her time, she sighed one last time before reluctantly heading towards the forest entrance.
Once there, she stopped and leaned against a tall post for a moment. She knew that they really needed the rice, and she was logically the best choice to get it for them, but the way Tewi had told her, the tone of her voice and how she was so prepared to send her away again… It was like they didn't want her around. Like she was more of a burden to them than anything else. She didn't doubt that at all. She'd been living here for close to a year and a half now, but it was almost no better than when she'd first arrived in Eientei. She tried to recall her arrival here, to this land of Gensokyo.
It had been dark, she remembered that quite clearly. Extremely dark, as it had been close to midnight when she'd arrived. She'd had no idea how she'd managed to convince one of the older Lunarians to open up one of the old paths to Earth, but she was endlessly thankful to them. She'd have likely ended up dead in the crossfire of that damn war otherwise. She had been meant to come back with two others that night, but things had gone horribly wrong. They'd somehow been found out, and were hunted down right before they could flee. The other two had been too slow, they'd been caught, and… she tried to put those thoughts out of her mind. To flee the war effort was seen as treason, and treason had been punishable by death under their desperate leaders. They hadn't caught her though, she'd somehow managed to outrun them in a mad dash for freedom. She'd arrived to the destination alone, terrified and out of breath, nearly incoherent. The older man tried to calm her down, rushing to prepare their escape path. She'd had to fight and run through all manner of guards to get here, she'd thought, and she would finally be free of it all, free of the war. Free of the guards and free of the ever present fear of death that had loomed over her head for months. But in the end, it almost proved to be too good to be true, for as soon as the pathway had been forced open, 3 more of the guards slammed into the room they had been hiding in. She'd been frozen in fear, knowing that she'd come so far for nothing, that she'd never escape from here. The other Lunarian there hadn't locked up in fear, and with this last act of desperation, he pushed her aside, leaping into the guards before they could train their weapons on Reisen. He screamed back at her to go, to just escape, the gateway he'd opened still open, but rapidly closing. Grasping the last bit of strength she'd had, tears in her eyes, she'd ran, forcing herself through as it the link between freedom and the horror she'd somehow managed to live through.
She'd never fully understood how the long-distance gates had worked, only that the secret to making them work was closely guarded, and only a handful of Lunarians could open them. All she knew was that she heard a loud 'POP' and felt as if she was being forced through a thick tube of some sort, until she'd arrived at the other end. The gate she'd taken had been rushed and imperfect, and she reappeared almost three feet above the ground. She fell hard into the wet mud below, as the heavy rain poured onto her back. For a while, she just laid there in the mud, her tears mixing with the blood from the numerous scratches on her face and the mud she was lying in. She couldn't stop her tears, at all that had happened. Three others had died for her to get here, three others that had just as much right to escape as she did. Why the hell had she been the one to survive? It was… it was unfair, she didn't deserve this, the others should've lived, and she should've been the one to die back there. She knew this had to be the case, that it had to be true, that this was all wrong, and she continued to lie alone in the mud, crying to herself, still afraid and confused.
She had no idea how long she'd lain there wallowing in the mud and her own pity, but she eventually felt a light tap on her side. Trying to pull herself together, she attempted to push herself back upright, knowing she had to do something other than lie here forever. As she began to push herself back upright, she saw that the something that she had felt tap her was in fact someone's foot.
The owner of the foot was a woman in a pair of dark red overalls, covered in small paper charms, with a brown shirt underneath, and a large red and white ribbon tied in her silver white hair. Upon Reisen stirring from her place on the ground, she gained a mildly shocked expression. "Oh, you are still alive. Here I thought I just had a dead body lying in my yard." The way she talked made it sound like finding what she had believed to be a corpse in front of her home wasn't as much of a surprise as it should have been. She extended a hand down to help Reisen up, before making her way back towards her home, gesturing back at Reisen. "C'mon inside. Lay out there much longer, you may actually end up dead." Without any other real choices, Reisen followed her inside.
Her home turned out to be a small, simple house situated in the center of this forest clearing. She didn't have much in the way of belongings, just a table, chairs, and a fireplace occupied the main room, with doors leading to what she assumed to be a pantry and a pair of bedrooms on one wall. She took Reisen's muddy and stained clothing, giving her a few simple articles to wear while she washed them for her. They both sat at her table, still sopping wet as the woman lit the small fireplace, seemingly without any sort of tool, much to Reisen's surprise. Turning back to her, she asked a few questions about Reisen herself, and how she'd ended up here in what she'd called "Gensokyo". She told her about the war, and what all had happened tonight, and how it had driven her here. She tried to keep her composure as she recounted the events, but couldn't help but tearing up a bit. The woman sat and listened to her with her eyes closed, taking it all in as she talked. After she was done talking, the other woman opened her eyes, and began to tell her about where she'd ended up. The land was known as "Gensokyo", and more specifically, she'd ended up in an area known as the Bamboo Forest of the Lost. Quite the coincidence, as she was very much lost here, this entire world different to the one she was used to. The woman, who had told her she was named Fujiwara no Mokou, offered Reisen her free room for the night, since it had already gotten so late. She accepted gratefully, before quickly entering her room, and lying down, hoping to be able to sleep.
But sadly, sleep would not come. She lay there through the night, unable to rest or to even close her eyes for too long. She was still on edge from earlier, and her body felt like it refused to adapt to this new world. The very thought sounded odd when she ran it through her head, as if every part of her refused to accept that she was no longer anywhere near her home, and would likely never see it again.
Had it even been worth it, to have sacrificed so much to get her here? She had wanted to think so, but she couldn't help herself from agonizing over cruel the reality of it actually was. She had never been very important, never had any important rank or position, and no major skills beyond soldiering. She was nothing, a nobody, and somehow it had been her to live. She kept trying to justify the events in her head, but she knew that it was futile, as she felt the tears stream down her face.
She cried through most of the night, shedding her silent tears over, and feeling no reason that she should try to stop herself. She had no idea how long she'd stayed like this, only that it had been at least a few hours before she'd been able to calm down. She'd wiped her face off with one hand, as some voice in the back of her head had spoken up, telling her that there was no point in continuing to cry, that it wouldn't bring any of them back, and that if she kept agonizing over their sacrifice like this, then she was dishonoring their memory with her own despair.
The voice was right. There was no point in treating this series of events like it was some horrible crime she'd committed. She was alive, and more importantly, she was finally free. She forced a small smile at this thought, as her eyes slowly shut, and she finally managed to get some much needed rest.
Her brief rest didn't last long, as a short while after, the sun began to rise and the sound of a tea kettle forced her awake. Yawning deeply, she had forced herself out of the bed, stepping out of the small bedroom and into the small kitchen area. She found Mokou there, sipping a cup of freshly made tea, a plate of some simple biscuits laid on the table.
"Morning." Mokou said as she looked up at disheveled girl in front of her, as she gestured at the tea and biscuits. "Help yourself." Reisen wasted no time in accepting her offer gratefully, only now realizing how hungry she'd been. Mokou watched her eat, quietly sipping her tea as she did so.
Having sufficiently had her fill, Reisen looked up at the woman opposite her, her gaze flat and almost uncaring. Having waited long enough for Reisen to finish her breakfast, Mokou finally spoke up. "So, Miss Reisen, I know you aren't exactly the most… prepared traveler, but I feel the need to ask where you plan to go from here. I can't exactly house you forever, and I'd doubt you'd want to live here for any extended period."
"Hmm…." She hadn't considered where she would go once she arrived on Earth, only that she had to get there. And having finally made her way here, she realized she knew almost nothing of where she truly was, or of any of the towns or cities nearby. And even then, she doubted most of them would allow someone like her to live there. "I-I… I don't think I really thought that far ahead when I left. To be perfectly honest with you, I'm not sure I have any idea about this… Gensokyo place at all."
Mokou let out a heavy sigh, as if she was expecting just that. "I can't say I'm surprised, though it is a bit of an issue having no place to go…" She paused, the look on her face suggesting she had just thought of something, and wasn't too sure if she was happy or annoyed with it. "Actually… there is one place I know of that may take you in. It's not too far from here either. Though I can't say I'm exactly fond of the residents there."
"Oh? If it's somewhere that will take me, I don't really have much of a choice, do I?" she replied, her ears perking up in some slight excitement at this news that she may not be as hopeless a cause as she'd thought.
"Yeah, they'd probably take you in gladly. They're Lunarians, like you. Not rabbits, mind you, but Lunarians all the same. Fugitives as well, so you'll have that in common." While she was trying to explain about this place to Reisen calmly, something on Mokou's face suggested that they weren't exactly cozy neighbors. "Came here a few years ago and took up residence in an old mansion here in the forest."
"Other Lunarians? Here, really?" Reisen was in disbelief, she was sure she'd never see another Lunarian again after coming here, but now it seemed like she'd found another refuge for escapees like her. It was all she could do to keep herself from breaking into a childish grin.
"Yeah, like I said, other runaways. I'd show you the way myself, but… it'd be better for everyone if I kept my distance from the place. I can have Keine take you that way if you're set on heading out there." Mokou stood from the table, making her way outside, tossing a bundle of fabric back at Reisen. "There're your clothes. A bit cleaner than last night, though I'd try to avoid falling in them like that anymore."
Catching the bundle of clothes, she nodded before changing out of the ill-fitting ones she'd had to borrow from Mokou. She tried to control her excitement at the news that there were others like her so close by, but remained a bit suspicious at how Mokou referred to them. Something about her manner of speaking made her think that she had a bit of bad history with them at some point.
It wasn't long that she had to wait before the woman Mokou mentioned earlier arrived. She was a human, like Mokou, but wore a blue and white dress, along with a strange blue hat covered in glyphs, obviously of some importance. Whereas Mokou had a very emotionless, almost monotone demeanor, Keine seemed much happier and livelier. She had a smile across her face as she arrived, handing Mokou a large basket, presumably full of food and other things she needed living out this far in the woods. They talked for a short while, obviously enjoying each other's company, before Mokou began to explain the events of the previous night, gesturing for Reisen to come over.
She made her way to the chatting pair, smiling awkwardly and trying to be polite. Keine smiled back warmly at her, bowing and extending a hand towards her. "You must be Reisen, Mokou here just finished telling me of the interesting series of events that saw you arrive here last night. My name is Keine, Keine Kamishirasawa."
Reisen bowed back, before taking the proffered hand, shaking it in greeting. "It's nice to m-meet you, Miss Keine." She held her small bag of clothing and other belongings tightly to her chest, perhaps a bit too tightly.
Keine laughed as she shook her hand, seeing how uncomfortable Reisen was. "Please, just Keine. Only my students call me Miss, there's no need to be so formal about it. So, Mokou told me you were interested in going to Eientei, correct?"
She nodded. "Y-Yes, she told me there were other Lunarians like me there, and that they might allow me to take up residence there. I was hopeful they'd do that, since it doesn't seem I have much other choice of where to go."
"Ah, of course, of course. I'd offer you a place in the human village, but… something tells me you'd prefer Eientei. Eientei it is then!" Smiling she said her farewells to Mokou, who walked back to her own home with an exhausted sigh.
Reisen and Keine began making their way through the forest, quickly putting the small home behind them as they made their way towards the mansion of Eientei. As they walked, Keine talked to her, telling her about Gensokyo, the human village, and other things. She told her of another mansion, larger than the one they were currently heading towards, occupied by a pair of vampires, as well as some other wonders of the land. The more she talked, the more Reisen's head spun, trying to take in all this raw once.
It turned out not to be too long of a walk to Eientei, and the pair soon reached a large clearing in the forest, occupied by a large, traditional Japanese building, with a large number of what appeared to be young girls running to and fro about the front yard. They made their way towards the mansion, Keine saying hello to some of the girls, who Reisen now noticed were rabbits similar to her, albeit with smaller, rounder ears.
The two of them finally reached the mansion, and Keine knocked softly on the door. It wasn't long before it was answered by another woman, wearing a long red and blue dress with a matching hat adorned with a cross symbol. She smiled when she saw Keine, as they shared greetings and chatted as they entered the mansion.
They came to a short table and sat, Keine beginning to tell the woman the story of how Reisen came to be here, almost word for word as Mokou had told her originally. She listened carefully, her eyes closed as she made sure not to interrupt, but nodding every now and then. Once Keine was finished, the other woman reopened her eyes, and smiled at Reisen.
"Well then, Miss… Inaba, was it? I can tell from what Keine here has told me that you had quite the evening. And moreover, that you were seeking a place of refuge, correct? I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Eirin Yagokoro." " She spoke with a quiet smile, seemingly very calm.
"E-Eirin… Yagokoro?" Reisen's eyes grew wide at the woman's name. She'd known the two Lunarians living here had fled like her, but he had no idea one of them was… her.
She laughed lightly at Reisen's startled reaction, as if she'd been expecting it. "So I take it you recognize the name then, child? The surprise is understandable, I suppose. Though… if you truly are a Lunarian, which I may add it's quite hard to doubt with those ears of yours, you'd be the first Lunarian to arrive in Gensokyo since, well, myself. It's certainly quite something to see you here." She spoke calmly, with an almost ladylike tone to her voice.
"So… we're the only Lunarians here then?" Reisen replied, a bit shakily. It was only now really beginning to hit her that she was well and truly in a world not her own. She wasn't quite sure how she felt about that.
"That's correct, at least to my knowledge. Just you, myself, and… oh, I do have someone else to introduce you to!" She grinned widely in some great excitement as she spoke. And frankly, Reisen wasn't sure if she should be excited, worried, or confused. And before she could decide, Eirin stood from her seat, and gestured for her to come with her as she said a few parting words with Keine. "If you would, please come with me Miss Reisen."
She stood as well, saying her goodbyes to Keine and thanking her before following quickly after Eirin as she took her deeper into the mansion, walking past door after door after door, seeing more of the girls who Reisen could only assume to be Earth's rabbits.
After some time, Eirin stopped in front of a door seemingly no different than the others they'd passed, before turning to face her. "Well, here we are. This is the mistress's room, and I'm sure she'd want to speak with a fellow Lunarian, and it's always refreshing to see a fresh face around here." With another of her off-putting smiles that looked so out of place on her face, she slid the door open and they both entered.
The room itself was incredibly plain, with only a bed, table, and a few odd belongings scattered about in a sort of organized chaos. And at the center, at the small table, sat a girl in a simple pink shirt and dark red skirt, her long hair hanging down well past her shoulders. She looked up at her two guests to her room in mild surprise, carefully sipping her tea before greeting them both.
"Oh, Eirin, you're back again. And… may I ask who your friend is? I don't think I've had the pleasure of meeting her before now." She spoke slowly, almost dragging her words out as she spoke to them.
Eirin bowed politely to the girl, Reisen following suit. "Ah, of course. This is Reisen Udongein Inaba, a Lunarian recent arrived in Gensokyo. And Reisen, this is my mistress, Miss Kaguya Houraisan."
The girl stood, smiling in an almost motherly way, so very much unlike Eirin's smile, walking towards her guests. Reisen held out her hand as to greet her, but was almost shocked when Kaguya pulled her into a tight embrace, like she the two of them were old friends. She held her like this for a short while before stepping back with a bit of a more awkward smile, as if she'd embarrassed herself. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Reisen. It's been so long since I've gotten to meet another Lunarian, that I fear I'd almost forgotten I'm not… well, from here."
Reisen fumbled for her words a bit, lost for what to say. Catching her silence, Eirin stepped forward, catching Kaguya's attention. "Reisen here is a bit… displaced at the moment, as I'm sure you can understand. She's expressed an interest in taking up a residence here, and I thought it only fair that-"
Kaguya raused her hand abruptly, interrupting Eirin. "You need say no more. If she's truly a Lunarian with no home, then she's welcome to stay here."
For the first time since she'd arrived in Eientei, Reisen smiled. "R-Really? Just like that, you'd have me? Thank you, oh thank you so much Miss Kaguya!" She'd been so worried that they'd turn her away without a second thought, but it'd been very well near the opposite.
"Think nothing of it, you're the first Lunarian here since the two of us, and I see no reason why you wouldn't deserve a home here. Though I feel it only fair that you to at least work to some degree while you stay here. I feel like I'm asking a lot, but at the same time I think it only fair."
"Oh, I'd be more than happy to work, anything you need from me! Though, I fear I'm not good at much of anything… But I can try!"
Kaguya smiled. "Wonderful. Then as of now, consider yourself a resident member of Eientei, Reisen."