Chapter 9: Forever Fall
Reisen was flat on the ground with a grimacing face, the continuous blood seeping out of one of her wounds still bothering her. With a hand over that same wound, she tried to stop it. The other wound, however, was not major, as it was only a graze. She saw the grimalkin being escorted to wheresoever with the three Harpae.
Despite how she did bear witness to it, did it really matter to her? The intruder had gone and the further obtrusion had gone. What else did matter to her? There was nothing else to do except try to tend herself as best she could and move over to Eientei in order to get some form of administration from over yonder. For that reason, it mattered not which direction they moved anywhither, sobeit it were in the opposite direction.
As this was all taking place, the Scroll from Blake's waist began to rumble, which coincidentally created a stir between the Harpae. Coinciding with this was a barrage of plenteous red bullets aimed towards the Harpae and assailing the Harpy that had a tight hold of Blake. This caused it to flail and shriek, losing its grip of Blake, thereupon she promptly and directly fell to the ground beneath it.
The lagomorph saw the other person appear and remarked, "Oh, great… Why's she here?", still looking at the person, or thing, in question with the undertone. The other being, that being of yet another rabbit, only managed to see Reisen whilst humming in a heated sense, as if nothing really mattered.
The rabbit then saw notice of Reisen, "Oh, hi! I was looking for you!" she exclaimed most suspiciously. To this, Reisen responded with narrowed eyes and slightly vexed voice due to the before-apparent pain, murmuring to herself, "Why are you so jolly all of a sudden? And why are you even here, or is that a stupid question?"
The Harpy Grimm which she had assaulted consequently recovered itself and turned to look around at the environment, looking for whomsoever or whatsoever attacked it. It then saw the small, white-eared, animalistic person on the ground and began to shriek once more, thereout the other two Harpae then joining in unison by means of vocals and nothing else
The Harpy Grimm began to fly towards Tewi and she casually walked towards it, humming "Lord Usa's Elemental Flag" as she did, readying her kine, jumping and swingeing at the Grimm after it had got closer to her, causing it to fall backwards into the earth. The lagomorph then continued to walk on, quite genial, and thence jumping whilst spontaneously moving her kine beneath herself, jumping with it and using it as her foot support. Before the Grimm, whose vizard had been broken from the force, could begin to bring itself up with its vans and feet, she brayed at it, still humming the theme, continuously until it had completely dissipated.
"Tewi, why are you here?" shouted Reisen after she valiantly destroyed one of the Harpae Grimm, however despite all of that the other two stayed in the air , however, was acting oblivious and moved over to the cat known as Blake and examined her. "Hey! Are you listening!?" Reisen shouted once more, trying to now minutely and ostentatiously grab the impudent rabbit's attention, which she ignored natheless.
Tewi continued to look over the grimalkin, looking at her singular animalistic trait, causing her to become curious. She then became alerted by the Scroll that had fallen off from Blake's waist, the rumbling had already stopped. She then picked the Scroll, whereat she looked, up with her free hand, giving attention to the kine from elsewhere, and began to fiddle with it. "What's this thing?" she said, hitting it with the end of the kine and inviting certain, inimical disaster.
"HEY! YOU! STUPID RABBIT WITH NO CARE IN THE WORLD! ANSWER ME!" Reisen was becoming minutely angered at this point, shown by her wild outburst towards the similar. She finally took attention of her from her ad libitum talk, resulting in Tewi becoming null and void and turning to face Reisen, "Oh, you're still here?"
Reisen just grumbled, ""You're still here"... OF COURSE I'm still here! I'm wondering why YOU ARE here!" "Oh. OOHH!" Tewi replied, "Master told me to find you." Reisen's expression suddenly dropped and her eyes widened, "What, Eirin did?" Tewi gestured and made a sound of approval, placing the Scroll back down, "She didn't say much. All she said was, "Tewi, could you please fetch Udonge for me?""
Just then, the Harpae soared out of the area ever so suddenly, which had Tewi's attention averted and moved into that direction. "She's wanting me?" asked Reisen, whereto the mischief responded withal a finger pointing in the direction of where those two Grimm were, with a blank expression, "Yeah, but what were those things?"
Reisen neglected to answer her promptly. Instead, regarding her slight ordeal from before, she wanted some help and convalescence. "That doesn't matter, now, does it!? Just come over here and…" But before she could finish talking, Tewi intervened with a look of disapproval, "You're not really hurt. Stop pretending, you pretentious bunny…"
With herself trying to hold her anger in with a puffed-up facial expression, Reisen collected her composure and breathed out with closed eyes, reopening them shortly after, "Alright, fine. I was just grazed." she announced, steadily bringing her body back up into place, "But I actually was…"
Once more, Reisen was interrupted before she could succinctly finish her talking, but this time with an inanimate Blake thrown straight towards her and prompting her fall. Reisen rubbed her head whilst bringing her body up, "What was that for?" she asked.
The other anthropoid moved her kine back to her side, in an angle that caused it to go behind herself, after same had used it to indirectly shoot Blake in Reisen's direction, "Are you coming? Master's waiting for us!" she said in a manner so glee, with her eyes then closed and posture bent over to shew for her genial position.
"I will when I get this dead-weight off" she responded, but not retorted. She shoved Blake's body off of herself and forthwith began to stand up, brushing her midriff of any dust and the such.
As this was all going underway, there was an eerie feeling as winds blew over through the bamboo with rustling sounds. Suddenly, a Harpy lunged straight at Tewi with a frontal assault, causing her to just about obviate it using her own kine as support, jumping and using it as leverage to move herself away slightly… save an ear…
"Tewi! Are you alright?" Reisen had shown slight concern for Tewi regarding this little mishap as she then let go of her kine to tend to her hurt ear, "Ow…" Another Grimm was moving towards Tewi with its pounces out. Reisen then alerted the elder rabbit of its presence and she hopped onto it and straightway bounced off, forcing it to sink into the ground with continued movement due to how fast it moved.
She retaliated by grabbing back her weapon and attacking its side, throwing it straight into the mass of bamboo trees with a strident cry. Tewi held the fell of an ear with a free hand and looked at Reisen with yet another facial expression inviting disapproval amongst her uncertainty, "Now are you going to tell me what those things are?" she prompted.
Reisen just sighed, moving slightly towards her subordinate, "Look, I honestly don't know. All I know is that cat woman telling me that it was something called a "Grimm"." Tewi closed her eyes with a faint smile and a sigh, "You're useless." she retorted.
The Grimm soundly recovered and began its assault on the rabbit, the other Harpy first flying past her and catching her off guard as her eyes lit up in surprise with only the side of her head facing it. Luckily, the Grimm missed as it passed her considering she was without its reach. This caused Tewi to be on standby, watching as the other Harpy, the one that got knocked into the forestry, made its attack and this time, Tewi was prepared. She instantly jumped out of its line of attack as it lunged straight at her and continued its route.
Both of the Harpae began to attack in unison within their illusionary dominance, attacking from the side as they danced through and swarmed her, attacking in a back and forth motion or relentless sweeps. The helpless rabbit kept dodging them, even skilfully or craftily, trying to also counter with an attack but they were moving too speedily. To this, Reisen took out her gun and tried to aim it towards one of them, firing a few bullets and having fewer hit it, only for it to act upon persistence and continue.
Reisen brought her gun down. "If only I could help her." she said, running her forehead with her free hand. Tewi was still obviating their attacks and tried to use her Spell Card, Rabbit Sign: "Inaba's Elemental Flag" , within the enclosed area, but they were gaining too much momentum and she had to cease. She was having problems and could not talk to her similar as she was occupied with them.
Reisen then had a think on as to how she can interrupt the duo and ascended into the sky marginally, beginning to use her "Scatter Sign: "Luna Megalopolis", sprouting red circumjacent bullets which dissipate about the area and hitting both of them and slowing down their processive episode. This then gave Tewi the window of opportunity to finally strike back, moving into the sky and using her Rabbit Sign: "Inaba's Elemental Flag" to spray red bullets diagonally over the area and into the bodies of both Grimm, pushing both flat onto the ground.
The Grimm being of now-inaction, she moved down gallantly and forcefully onto it with the kine facing downwards and her feet firmly on it, pushing against the Grimm with immense force and pressurising it to oblivion, defeating it.
The other Grimm saw what had happened and arose from the ground without any hesitation. In its haste, it flew towards Reisen with a sounding screech, with its dight pounces out. Reisen prepared her own weapon and shot out a purple ray which shone at the Harpy, causing it to frail and move eccentrically, moving downwards as if it were intoxicated. Tewi came forth and wracked it heavenward, annihilating the third of the Harpae and thenceforth ending the threat entirety.
- Message imminent -
Muenzuka…
… A treacherous, enclosed space that is unsuitable for neither humans, nor youkai, despite its scenery…
Areas of interest: The sheer beauty of the cherry blossoms…
Danger level: Abnormal…
Proprieties: Graveyard for the lost…
Moving away from the abundance of bamboo trees that being the Bamboo of the Lost, and the success of the anthropomorphs who were able to defeat all Harpae, there is a location of a comprehension of red. It is a rather morbid location with its own contradictory factor, which is that of red flowers as well as cherry blossom trees. The location itself being enclosed by environing trees and the location itself being a graveyard for humans, causing it to be a rather unfortunate place to reside within.
But, howsoever morbid, deathly and potentially pernicious it may be, this is where Jaune found himself. Alongst with the other people who had teleported to Gensoukyou spontaneously, he had been sent to a graveyard, much similar to the Netherworld. "Where… am I?" said Jaune, moving slowly within the area. After walking for so long, he stopped and raised his voice marginally, "Is anyone here? H-hello?" After not receiving a response, he then sighed and came to the conclusion that no one was there, "Guess not. It's… It's just me…"
He was not even sure as to where he was. He noticed that there were trees about and saw the cherry trees. He averted his attention from his sour thoughts and took this time to have a proper look at his surrounding environment.
After having his attention promptly dragged, he began to troll towards a cherry tree in order to properly examine it, putting a hand onto it after coming close enough to it and thus rubbing it gently. "We don't have anything like this back at home. This feels strange." He then stops moving his hand and looks up to its leaves, watching them sway in the breeze, "And yet… something seems familiar... What am I looking at?"
Just then, the air began to feel cold around him, although he was giving off a smile at this point, "I could stay here all day, just looking at this. I bet Ruby would love this." Whilst he was caught in the moment, he was interrupted by a "Jaune…", after which responding with a "Huh?" and whereupon turning to immediately witness a phantom in front of himself. "AHHH!" he yelled, falling down to his backside from his startle, only for him to instinctively move from the ground and run away, kicking back the many foliage that were on the ground.
Meanwhile, over elsewhere, there was a humanoid mouse figure with nun-like clothing and with two oddities looking like they were taken from a weather vane; both bent, one with "N" and "W" indicated and the other with "S" and E". "Hmm… Hmm... " muttered the stranger, preoccupied with a current situation of its own. She had her implements out and turned to face a position, apparently performing something.
This was when the sound of Jaune could be heard, as he was breathing in and out from that sudden freight, running straight into the position and causing it, well "her", to fall to one side and drop a dowsing rod after they collided, Jaune himself falling down the opposite direction.
Jaune groaned infinitesimally, casually, yet slowly, moving his arms and bringing himself up, but bent, with his hands on the ground and shaking his head vigorously. "Not again. Why does this always happen?" he said, frustratingly. He got up and moved his left arm about, ensuring that his bones were in place. He then came upon the look of the person into whom he ran. "Oh, someone's here? Someone's here!" he said in delight, speaking more, "Hey, er… Can you tell me where you are?" he asked the person, who moved herself a little bit and began to repair her condition.
It was then Jaune noticed an oddity: a protruding tail with a basket at the end. "You're… a Faunus? What's a Faunus doing way out here?" When the stranger, Nazrin, brought herself plumb upwards, Jaune saw that she had more than one animalistic feature; she also had mouse ears. "Wait… you're… not really a Faunus, are you?" talking with narrowed eyes and of uncertainty.
"Can't talk. Must seek treasure…" she said in a monotone fashion, grabbing her other dowsing rod and being on her way and repairing it to its previous state, "Where is it, now?" "Where is, what, now? Maybe I could help. I'm great at keeping things." boasted Jaune.
A mouse exhumed itself from out of the ground by means of hole, moving onto Nazrin's right foot and crawling up herself, travelling to her tail and moving along to find its way into the basket, at which the Nazrin heard it squeak, having her own ears flap, "The mice say you don't. Go away." After that little rude response, she began to walk forwards.
- Message imminent -
Nazrin…
… A disciple of Bishamonten sent to a pre-existing ship as an overseer, having a habit of looking for lost treasures…
Mutual level: Low...
Danger level: Moderate…
Abilities: Finding sought-for items…
Jaune talked to himself, "Well, that was rude…", the mouse also talking to herself, "Shed… Shed… Shed…" she kept repeating with the dowsing rods becoming more animated, pointing to in front of herself and towards a shed. Supposedly, the mouse had shown her the way to something. She continued to walk on until she came to the shed, opening it and looking inside, only to find a big piece of cheese resting on a shelving. She closed an eye halfway, going "Hmm?" and then feeling very disappointed and sighing with her head down. "You could have just asked." she said, ripping off a slight piece of cheese and putting it into the basket, having the mouse begin to nibble at it and ingurgitate it. "Now can you PLEASE get on with it? I don't want to waste time."
Jaune swayed his thoughts over. "Looks like she doesn't want me to help her. Looks like she doesn't really want me around." He sighed wrong more, growingly disappointed. "I'm just a burden. That's all I am…" he said, moving into a direction and kicking the leaves on the ground as he was not making much effort in picking his feet up to work normally and thus moving much like a trudging manner.
However… leaves blew right into his face as he then began to moving the odd one or two away from it, to sustain his vision to to get rid of any nuisances. "Jaune… Jaune!" an eerie sound called, which was also heard by Jaune. "Who's calling me?" he lifted his head up and opened his eyes wide at a sight. Apparently, in front of him, was an apparition of Pyrrah.
"P-Pyrrah? Is that really…?" Jaune was astounded by this was felt like he was going to cry. Pyrrah then responded, "Yes, Jaune, it's me. It's Pyrrah." Moving her hands to her chest. He then started to unsteadily move weakly forwards, "I've… I've missed you so much… But how are you…?" "You've grown so much. I'm proud of you, Jaune... " she said with a face of contentment.
It was then he began to cry, being more forward in his steps and going up Pyrrah, putting his arms around her after he had a due sense of astonishment and delight, tears trickled down his face. "I thought I would never be able to see you again! When you left, just… just…" He spoke in a wavering tone and Pyrrah tried to calm him down, putting one arm around him and a hand on his head. "Shh… It's going to be alright."
He then raised his voice in his emotional medley, "No it isn't! Why did you do it? Why… Why did you go after her when you knew…? You knew you would…" Pyrrah responded, "It wasn't meant to be. I chose my fate. It was all because of destiny. It was always going to happen…"
This riled up Jaune's emotions even more, becoming more angry in his speech, "No… No, it wasn't! You know what you did and you threw me away! I could have been there for you. I needed you and you needed me. It…", he then began to talk more quietly before continuing, "It just didn't have to end that way.", moving his head from side to side before continuing once more, his voice quavering more, "How could it!?"
"Jaune, you must let it go. The past is the past. This is now. Look into the future." "The future?" Jaune said, opening his eyes a bit more and beginning to have his mind cleared up, "What?" Jaune responded, "You are hurting yourself by only thinking of me. Forget about me and think about the people you are with, your friends…"
"This… No, this isn't right. You're not really Pyrrah, are you?" he protested, to which the apparition itself insisted, "Jaune, it's me… It has always been me." Jaune then removed himself from Pyrrah's grasp, moving backwards and still looking at her, "Pyrrah… would never say anything like that. Pyrrah was my mentor, she helped me… She made me who I am. No, she was more than a mentor, she was my friend. She…", Jaune began to move his head from side to side at this moment as he continued, closing his eyes forcefully, "She would never tell me to just abandon her!"
"Jaune…" she said, moving her hand out with a more saddening face, but Jaune responded violently, opening his eyes and shouting again, "STOP MESSING WITH ME!", punching her forthright with a cry and causing the apparition to fade away in a veil of smoke, falling to his knees with his hand on the ground and sobbing rather loudly in immense pain, his tears falling down to the ground, punching the ground with the bottom of his formed fists and altering his crying to sound sharp in brief intervals. Much to his dismay, a cloud was forming near him as it began to emerge a ghost figure, much like the one seen as Pyrrah, opening its mouth wide and beginning an assault at Jaune's direction, only to become extinguished by a sudden yellow laser.
"Why are you still here? This isn't a good place to be in, human." said an unwarranted tone from Nazrin, "You need to leave." Jaune continued to cry only to stop suddenly, "Fix it… You have to fix it…"
Nazrin closed an eye halfway in a perplexed manner, ""Fix it"? I don't fix things, I look for things." "You know something that I don't, don't you?" he said back, becoming more and more mysterious in his choice of wording. "I wouldn't know. You stumbled into me out of nowhere and I don't know where you came from. Are you from the Human Village? You can start by telling me who you are."
Jaune stood up and turned swiftly, putting his hands gripped tightly to her shoulders and acted more fiercely, "What was that thing!? Why did it look like someone I know!? TELL ME!" Nazrin then began to talk in a more alerted manner considering this sudden display, "I don't know! This area is a haphazard area that is full of ghosts. It's just a graveyard for humans, nothing else!"
He then began to shake her aggressively and continued to talk in a manner most raised, "Is that why it looked like that!? Why it came to me pretending to BE her!?" "Get off of me, you impertinent pest!" A bullet was fired straight at Jaune and caused him to remove his grip of Nazrin to fall back. She then brushed off her shoulders with her hands, one after the other, to cause her clothing to become fine again. "I'm not going to act like a doll for some crybaby. I'm leaving." She turned to face the opposite direction and began to move.
Jaune moved hastily towards her and put an arm around her neck, keeping her in place as he locked her, "If you don't tell me what everything, I'll make you!" Nazrin then acting more panicky from the threat, "You don't scare me. You're… just acting the part so you get what you want. You wouldn't actually…" she made a guttural sound after Jaune tightened his grip on her neck, he was gritting his teeth with a still-angry expression. "OK… OK… Fine!" she said in a strained way, "Just let me go!"
He released her and she moved forwards a few paces, bending herself into a more curvature manner and coughing, with followed wheezing. "I'll tell you. Just… not here…" she said whilst breathing in and out deeply, with Jaune responding, "Why not!?" "I said… that this area is a graveyard… Maybe you saw… someone you knew because… they died here…" Jaune was more puzzled than ever. Pyrrah had never been in Gensoukyou or Muenzuka before. She lived in Remnant, a distant world which inheres alongside this one. "What are you talking about? Pyrrah has never been here."
Nazrin managed to finally calm herself and regained her composure, beginning to talk to Jaune normally, "Come with me, then. I was on my way out anyway before I saw this incident." She began to walk on after saying that, hoping to not stay in that wretched place any longer. "Well, only if it gets me answers.. I'll gladly come with you." he obliged, walking with Nazrin as she walked out of Muenzuka, making her journey towards the area that Yang had been asleep in: Myouren Temple.