On an early morning in the Sanzu River, it was quiet and peaceful, as it always is in this pure land where the seasons never change.
The land could generously be described as a dreary place, typically devoid of anything that could be described as truly alive. Restless spirits of all sorts could be found, usually either wandering along the river's path, or being ferried down the stream towards their final destination.
Along a certain stretch of the long rock-covered paths was where one could find a specific type of spirit was known to linger indefinitely. Here was the place where the spirits of newborns, or even those who were never truly born to begin with, made their 'home'. These spirits spend their days in limbo and passed the time by stacking the endless rocks around them, watch those rocks be knocked over, and then repeat the process all over again.
What might have been an otherwise menial and mind-numbing task however, was made into a much more exciting events thanks to riverbed's resident idol, who called out to the many spirits around her.
"Everyone! You're doing good so far!" When Ebisu Eika cheerfully shouted from the centre of the rock-covered path, all the young souls in the area stopped and turned towards her direction with rapt attention. "Don't forget that the current round has extra special rules. Jagged stones earn you twice as many points as smooth ones, so higher risk means higher reward!"
The children, as Eika affectionately referred to them, cheered in response and apparent understanding, before carrying on with their stone-stacking efforts with renewed gumption. Eika herself was making good progress herself, smiling at the stack that was already close to matching herself in height.
Eika had organised many stone-stacking contests before with her fellow spirits, but the one currently playing out was what she considered her greatest and biggest game ever planned yet. Having started as early in the day as possible, and with a record number of participants, this contest featured a wide variety of changing rules as the rounds progressed, and was sure to be an exceptionally exciting time for all of them.
Though Eika wasn't dismissive of the efforts of the children either, as a quick glance all around her showed that everyone was excited trying all sorts of different methods for stacking their stones. It was enough to fill her chest with warmth and pride.
"Wow, I might actually have some stiff competition this time!" Eika beamed to herself as she continued setting stones on top of one another. This was how she happily spent her days, stacking stones with the company of her fellow stillborn souls, and greeting the occasional outsiders.
Those she welcomed included a pair of familiar, friendly passer-bys. When Eika noticed them approaching her together, she was the first to wave to them in greeting. "Oh, Urumi, Kutaka! I heard your roosters' crow this morning!"
"That means I've trained my little chicks well!" Niwatari Kutaka grinned upon hearing that. "And a good morning from me to you too!"
"You look in good spirits today, Eika." Ushizaki Urumi instinctively crouched down as she spoke to Eika.
Kutaka and Urumi both hailed from greener parts of Gensokyo, but were regular sights around Higan due to their work. Kutaka acted as a checkpoint guard who watched over the border between otherworlds, and Urumi often caught the unique fish found in the river to sell them off. Since they usually commuted along the same path, they often found themselves travelling together until they reached their respective destinations, sometimes encountering Eika along the way as well.
"Another contest today?" Urumi asked, taking note of the pile of stones already building near Eika's feet.
"That's right! We just got started, but it's not just any regular old stone-stacking contest!" Eika excitedly explained. "Today's a special multi-event contest, and we'll go through lots of different rules. I spent a lot of time planning this out, since we have the biggest gathering of children ever in a long time."
"It does feel like there's a lot more spirits lingering than usual." Urumi commented, glancing around and noticing that in whatever direction she looked, she would spot at least one spirit stacking stones.
"Well, that's not really a good thing..." Kutaka chimed in, depressed. "The roads between otherworlds have been getting more congested, and this won't help..."
"But that's not the children's fault. As long as they're still here, I want to make sure they experience the full wonders of stone-stacking." Eika said with confidence. "I don't suppose either of you two would make time to watch? You might see some surprising techniques on display!"
Urumi shook her head. "Sorry, but I can't. I've got quite the quota of fish to catch today. In this weather, the plesiosaurs should be biting especially good, so I can't miss the chance."
"And I'd welcome a break from my duties, but..." Kutaka let out a wistful sigh. "The checkpoint needs my watchful eye more than ever, or else every Hell might break loose!"
"Sounds like everybody's busy today, huh?" It was understandable, so Eika wasn't disappointed and instead gave a light-hearted laugh. "In that case, I'll be cheering for you two, as well as the children today."
The heartfelt encouragement elicited a bright smile from both Urumi and Kutaka, who each wished Eika the best for her contest before moving past her and allowing Eika to resume her activities.
They didn't move very far before stopping again, though. Urumi stopped first, on top of a hill, and Kutaka stood beside her as they both watched Eika in the distance, still stacking rocks with an expression that was both giddy with enjoyment and yet focused with determination to win.
Urumi watched with a pensive expression before speaking her mind. "For as long as I've been coming to this river, that girl has never gotten tired of stacking stones. It feels like she'll be at it forever, don't you think?"
"I don't know, but the Ministry probably wouldn't like that." Kutaka contemplated, tilting her head as she looked over the distance at Eika as well. "They say that souls have been piling up more in this part of the river in the last few years, and it might be because of her... All these contests and events she holds do go against the point of these spirit's limbo a little bit. After all, they're not exactly supposed to be having fun before moving onto the next part of their cycle."
"I've never thought about it like that... So by getting comfortable with stacking stones all day, you think it means those souls are stuck in place?"
"W-Well, thinking about that stuff is better left to the higher-ups in the Ministry!" Kutaka gave a half-hearted laugh. "Personally, I don't think she's doing anything wrong, and she keeps the souls around here from wandering too far elsewhere."
"I suppose if everybody is happy, then it's fine. It's just that sometimes I look at them and think... What do they do if they ever get bored of just doing the same thing every day?"
"I don't think that's a problem for them." From Kutaka's experience, spirits tended to be some of the most single-minded beings there were. "What's got you thinking about them so much?"
"I dunno." Urumi shrugged. "I've been doing the same thing everyday for a while now too, and I see Eika every other day and never thought about it much. But recently, I get this urge to do something when I see her..."
"Oho? Could it be... watching those children is tickling some kind of instinct of yours?" Kutaka cheekily asked, wondering if she was getting a glimpse of a cuter, protective side of Urumi.
"Um, maybe? To be honest, when I see them down there..." Urumi scratched her head, embarrassed at her own thoughts before even admitting them. "...I get the urge to push over their piles of stones, and see what happens! Ah, but I only think it! I wouldn't actually go through with it, of course..."
"Oh..." Kutaka deflated, having realised it was not a maternal instinct she glimpsed in Urumi, but a mischievous one. "I can't say I relate. I guess you are still that kind of youkai at heart, after all."
"Hey, don't make it sound like you're so above that. I know you've got a wild side of your own too. I've seen the way you wrangle spirits or give the oni a piece of your mind!"
"What are you saying? I just take my job seriously. A lot of folks don't seem to understand how important regulating the passage between borders is... It really bugs me when people try to just move back and forth the otherworlds like they're taking a walk in the park!"
"As always, it sounds like you have a pretty stressful time of it. You ever thought of becoming your own boss, like I do? Or even like Eika does?"
"Even if I wanted to, I don't really have that privilege, you know?" Kutaka slouched forward, her daily burdens and a little bit of envy towards her friends weighing down on her just a little bit. "It's not like I get all that much faith on my own as a god..."
"Er, sorry if I hit a sore spot..." Urumi offered an uncertain pat on Kutaka's shoulder, who fortunately didn't seem put off by it, at the very least. "Let's both keep working hard?"
"Yes, let's!" Kutaka straightened back up, forcing resolve and confidence back into her voice. "I'm going to head to the gates early, before they start inspection. Nobody will respect the checkpoint if I don't make a good example, after all!"
"Wow... You really don't let anything keep you down long." It was such an impressive turnaround that Urumi wondered if she even needed to say anything at all. "I hope some of your enthusiasm rubs off on the fish too. It'll make them take my bait easier."
"Thank you, I think! I really should hurry now if I'm going to make it early." Kutaka turned towards the other direction. "I hope you meet that quota and then some!"
"Thanks. If I got enough of a haul leftover, I'll treat you to a seafood lunch."
"Hey, don't go making such nice offers so offhandedly, because I'll definitely hold you to that!"
Kutaka gave one last wave before rushing off towards the checkpoint, while Urumi headed off in her own direction at a much more relaxed pace along the river's path, each heading towards the start of another typical day for them.
Eika, meanwhile, continued focusing on the contest. She hummed to herself as she had already built herself quite a lead, currently on her fifth stack and still going strong. She even started to believe that if she put her mind to it, that today could be the day she even beat her personal best record of fifty-seven stacks in one contest.
"I should try for more variety. Maybe for the next pile, I'll try stacking ovals first, cross-patterned style!" With so much competition around her, Eika was ready to tap into the full wealth of her stone-stacking knowledge.
She scanned her surroundings, if only to get a quick idea of how well the other children were doing. There were a few who were struggling with getting even flat stones to stay on top of one another, or others who just haphazardly cobbled stones together. Of course, that was no excuse for Eika to take it easy, since there was always a chance one of the children might suddenly overtake her when she least expected it.
However, it was while she was looking around when she noticed an unfamiliar figure standing among the nearby hills.
The lone figure had blonde hair done up in buns tied with white ribbons. A cute style that managed to not clash with the yellow plated armour she was wearing. As invested as Eika was in her stones, she couldn't help but be intrigued by the unfamiliar person and whatever they might have been doing.
Although all the figure had been doing was in fact just standing and watching. She had watched the proceedings as she had been doing so all day, observing the children stacking their stones and having a merry time even when they struggled. She watched it all with a stoic expression, deep in her thoughts as she did so.
"All these souls... they're very different from the human spirits from the Animal Realm. I don't really understand these strange games they're playing, but is this really how they spend all their days? I can't say I understand it... but they'll surely all know even brighter lives once we haniwa get to work on development here!"
The thoughts of Joutouguu Mayumi often circled back to her mission. Not satisfied with just bringing salvation to the residents of the Animal Realm, the ambitions of both her goddess and herself now also extended to their 'neighbours' in Gensokyo. And on this day, they had set their sights on establishing their territory on this 'Sanzu River', ready to warmly accept all the odd souls who lived along these parts with open arms.
"It's taking all my willpower to contain my excitement! Lady Keiki couldn't have picked anyone better for this task. Nobody else is as faithful, capable, or as observant as-"
"-Helloooo?"
"Eep!" Mayumi nearly jumped when she heard the voice from right beside her. She looked down to see that a petite figure looking up at her curiously.
"So you can hear me!" Eika said in relief. "I was starting to think you were a statue or something."
"To have caught me by surprise... That's no small feat." Mayumi carefully studied the diminutive girl, deciding after a second or so to let her guard down. "Are you... a spirit?"
"I'm Eika! Do I look that strange to you?"
"None of the other souls have spoken to me, even when I tried to communicate. I had concluded they simply weren't capable of it."
"Oh, is that it? Please don't think badly of the children, there's just a certain way to communicate with them. But it might be hard for anyone other than myself."
"What are they all doing, anyway?"
"They're just really invested in today's competition! Today's an unprecedented stone-stacking event, after all. ...But what about you? The way you were staring at everyone else... You're not some kind of oni looking to knock down their stones, are you? I worked hard on setting up today, so you better not be up to anything suspicious, or I'll get mad."
"Suspicious? Hardly!" Mayumi cleared her throat, and addressed Eika once more with greater poise and clarity. "Miss Eika, was it? Allow me to introduce myself properly."
Now that Mayumi had made contact with one of the river's resident, and one she was able to exchange words with at that, she wanted to make sure to make a good first impression. She represented the Haniwa Army Corps, which in turn represented her goddess, after al.
"Joutouguu Mayumi, representing the Haniwa Army Corp. Let's get along, for the sake of a prosperous future together." Mayumi said, more so stating than requesting, as she extended a hand to Eika.
"Uh, sure...?" Eika moved to return an awkward handshake. When her own hand grasped Mayumi's, however, Eika glanced down at the other's arm and her eyes widened with unexpected realisation. "W-Wait, your hand? No, your body..."
"Hm? What's the matter?" Mayumi tilted her head. "Is shaking hands not a familiar gesture in this land?"
"Even though your hand is sturdy, it also feels... hollow! Could it be..." A surprised Eika continued to shake Mayumi's hand as she spoke, scrutinising every inch before her gaze went back up to the other's face. "Are you boneless just like me?!"
"Boneless?" Mayumi wore a thoughtful expression as she looked down at herself. "Hmm... I don't think I have anything like bones, but I'd have to ask to be sure. All I know is that I'm far from hollow! I'd say I'm filled with vitality, and power that stems from my loyalty!"
"Uh huh. Uh huh." Eika nodded along, not understanding at all. She was still interested in shifting the topic back to bones, but while wondering how to do that, another voice suddenly called out from nearby.
"Ah, there you are, Mayumi! This place is even more wonderful than I expected!"
When Eika glanced towards the nearby hill, she saw someone skipping towards them. A colourfully-dressed woman, adorned in a variety of sculpting tools. Eika couldn't place it right away, she immediately felt a distinct, impressive, and oddly familiar presence emanating from that person as they approached.
"On top of being ripe with materials, this relentlessly gloomy atmosphere is igniting my inspiration. ...Oh, and I see you're already getting along with the locals!"
"Lady Keiki!" Mayumi quickly and properly showed her reverence by bowing her head. "I've been surveying the area, and no signs of those beasts just yet. Though I'm sure it's only a matter of time."
"You mean even more friends of yours are coming?" Eika asked. "Where are you all coming from? And what's her bone situation?"
"My what? ...Well, I can answer your other questions, little one." The goddess, Haniyasushin Keiki, smiled down at Eika before offering an elaboration. "The two of us hail from the Primate Spirit Garden, in an other realm from this one. We come here today to bring salvation to the souls of this land, for you are all in grave danger!"
"Danger? You mean like the oni? It is a bit annoying when they come to knock over our hard work."
"I don't know anything about that, but I was referring to the malicious beast spirits from the Animal Realm." Keiki let out a sigh as she referred to these beasts. "I try my best with them, but they're still an unruly bunch who seek to turn this wonderful, inspirational space into their own playground. So that's why Mayumi and I are here to protect you all."
"You needn't fear, Miss Eika." Mayumi declared. "Once we haniwa are finished setting up our stations across this river, you and all your friends will be under the protection of the Haniwa Army Corps."
"That's right! I'm thinking to start..." Keiki scanned the surrounding scenery, plans and ideas already stirring in her mind. "A couple roads here, a base over there... And definitely a convention centre over there to give everyone a taste of my craftsmanship!"
Eika stared between the two people, both their grand statements almost literally going over her head. "Well... As long as none of you disrupt today's stone-stacking contest, it's no problem for me."
"Contest, you say?" Keiki's interest was piqued, quickly forgetting anything else for the moment.
"It's as she describes, Lady Keiki." Mayumi said. "It is some sort of custom involving placing stones on top of one another. Miss Eika here apparently is in charge of it."
"Not just in charge, but I'm also winning!" Eika boasted, before gasping when she realised something urgent. "Ah! I also need to get back to it! I've spent so long talking here, I'm sure my lead has been overtaken by now...!"
"Wait!" Before Eika could run off, Keiki quickly called out to her. "Would it be alright if we were to observe you up close during your activities? It might help all of us adapt to one another once we've settled in."
"I'm curious too." Mayumi added. "I feel I might learn more watching you as opposed to those other souls."
"Hmm, I guess it's alright. I need to hurry back to it though, I've taken far too long of a break already!"
Eika hurried over back to her latest stack of rocks, with Keiki and Mayumi following shortly behind. When Eika resumed her stack from where she left off, Mayumi politely situated herself across from her, watching with intense focus.
"...You don't need to stare that hard. It's a bit hard to work like this."
"I'm just... intrigued, is all. I'm still unsure how you hold any kind of contest with something as simple as stacking stones."
"Hmph! You just don't get it yet! But I suppose since we're fellows in having no bones, I can help you learn a bit. I'll show you a few basic techniques first." Eika said, casually picking a few stones of varying shapes, and lining them up as she spoke. "With smooth ones like these, the best idea is to arrange them next to each other first. Now these longer ones, despite how it looks, you can actually stack them in a couple different ways..."
"Uh huh..." Mayumi nodded, a stern expression on her face as she did her best to absorb this information as Eika continued to explain all manners of eccentric techniques to put rocks on top of one another. "Why do you not just use the most efficient methods to begin with, though?"
"But that'd get boring after a while, wouldn't it? And there's tons of other factors to consider too. Like style, technique, or variety in shapes!"
Mayumi frowned, and could only come to one conclusion. "I think I might just lack the imagination for this activity."
"Anybody can find the fun in this! You just need a bit of creativity."
"That's right, Mayumi." Keiki's voice suddenly rang from somewhere behind Eika. "Why, just look what I've managed with a little bit of creativity of my own!"
"Huh?" Eika turned around, and gasped at what she saw. "Huuuh?!"
Right beside Keiki stood a large, structure that was twice as tall as the goddess and thrice as wide. It was shaped like a castle with multiple towers, all made entirely of stones arranged on top of one another. All the surrounding stones were used up, leaving a large, circular yard of bare sand. It could not conceivably be called a 'stack' by anybody.
"W-W-Wha... How?" Eika's jaw was still left hanging, and she nearly fell backwards multiple times from trying to take in the thing's entire silhouette.
"Wow! Amazing as always, Lady Keiki! Was this another case of inspiration striking from thin air?"
"Not entirely from thin air, this time!" This praise from her loyal servant was nothing new, but Keiki still beamed with satisfaction as she spoke. "Watching these quaint little games of piling stones just happened to get my sculpting arts flaring to go."
Even though she was only half-listening to the conversation around her, Eika shook herself out of her stupor when she heard what the others said. "Sculpting? Hey, wait just a second..."
Now narrowing her eyes at the stone castle with suspicion, Eika approached it and tentatively poked at one of its pieces, before giving it progressively stronger nudges. Her suspicions were proven when none of the pieces budged or showed even the slightest danger of tipping out of place.
"Hey! These stones are stuck together with glue or something!" An outraged Eika exclaimed. "That's cheating!"
"Well, of course?" Keiki blinked in confusion. "It wouldn't make for a very stable sculpture otherwise."
"That goes against the whole point! And I was all impressed for nothing..." The whiplash of emotions Eika experienced in the last thirty seconds left her deflated. "And you wasted all these stones too! Take it apart!"
"I couldn't do that even if I wanted to. It's quite well fortified, so it would take a long time for the hold between pieces to loosen."
"Ugh. Now all these stones are unusable now. I'm going to go look for some more..."
With slumped shoulders, Eika grumpily stomped away, leaving Keiki and Mayumi by themselves for the moment, who watched her go with mild curiosity.
"It looks like..." Having observed for a while, Mayumi shared her insight. "...that one has trouble expressing her gratitude. She must not be used to being in the presence of generosity like yours, Lady Keiki, but I'm sure she's just in shock that you did that just for her."
"Thank you, Mayumi. I don't know if I'd have bust out this level of craftsmanship for just anyone on a whim." Keiki said, still gesturing proudly to the stone castle she created. "I happen to feel a certain connection with that little one, and felt like impressing her."
"You do? What kind of connection?"
"It's a bit hard to explain, and she probably doesn't realise it yet... But I could tell from a glance that she and I are similar aspects coming from the same place, even if we ended up on very different paths"
Mayumi didn't entirely understand, but Keiki wasn't in a rush to explain her reasoning. Instead, the goddess' features broke into a wider, more excited grin.
"And now that I've gotten an idea of what the souls of this land are like, I'm even more inspired now to turn this whole stretch of river into a beautiful, artistic garden! Now then..."
Keiki clapped her hands once. A moment later, haniwa appeared from all directions, lining themselves up in orderly fashion around Keiki and Mayumi.
"Let's get to work, everyone. Those beasts will have another thing coming if they think I'll just let them take such a wonderful opportunity from me!"
Despite the high spirits she set off with, Urumi's day may have been easygoing so far, but it was far from productive.
She was sitting inside a small boat that floated idly along the river's waters, and floating was about all Urumi had done so far, since she didn't have even one catch to show off so far. The boat was usually only pulled out of storage when Urumi was confident her bait would get the fish biting, but she was starting to wonder if she'd be better off just diving in herself and catching something by hand.
Urumi brushed off the thought soon enough though, chiding herself for it for good measure. She reminded herself that she was too mature to just give into whims like that. "Just be patient... You're not that kind of youkai anymore, remember? You can't go picking fights with wildlife at the drop of a hat."
Her thoughts on that are sidetracked when she finally sees a promising shadow approaching her line in the water. It was obvious just from a glance that it was an exceptionally big one. Urumi quickly sat upright, and tightened her grip on her fishing rod, getting ready for an intense battle.
Under the river's surface, the shadow prodded at the bait a few times, with Urumi tensing up more with each moment... But then it backed off from the bait and disappeared deeper into the water.
A large sigh escaped Urumi, releasing all the tension in her body in one big, disappointed sigh. Somehow, it felt like the shadow was mocking her, having sensed her indecisiveness and came to taunt her for it. Or perhaps it was just a sign that she needed to change her bait.
Just as she was about to consider doing just that though, Urumi noticed an odd stirring in the water. She watched in growing confusion for a few seconds, but was unprepared when a sudden, violent splash of water happened. Urumi was mildly doused by the sudden splash, but more surprising than that was the heavy thud of something landing right onto her boat.
It was a massive, once fierce-looking fish that now laid uselessly on the surface of Urumi's boat. She intuited that it was the same fish she had been trying to reel in just a few moments ago, and now it laid right at her feet.
After blinking at the fish for a few moments to make sure she wasn't seeing things, Urumi turned her attention forward. There she saw the one who had generously offered the prey.
There was a woman leaning over the side of the boat, crossed arms resting over the edge while the rest of her floated in the water. To Urumi, one of the first things she noticed was how the woman's gold-coloured horns glistened with a fine sheen after having emerged from the water. In terms of being eye-catching however, those horns came second to her face, sharp eyes alongside a magnetic smile.
"...What's wrong?" After a moment or so of silent staring, she spoke first. "I thought you might appreciate the help, or are you only satisfied from doing the catching yourself?"
"Oh, well... You just caught me by surprise is all. I've never met anyone who goes swimming in these waters just for the fun of it." Other than herself, Urumi thought. "You don't look like any youkai I've seen around here before?"
"I'm not. I'm actually not from this realm at all."
"This 'realm'? Well, either way, you should probably get out of there before one of the plesiosaurs swims by and eats you. They're really big!"
"I'm not worried. If anything, I wouldn't mind seeing just what matter of beasts this 'Sanzu River', has to offer before I take over."
"...Take over?"
Urumi narrowed her eyes as the gears in her head turned. The talk about being not from 'this realm', and the other's striking features were bringing to mind the bits and pieces she picked up from gossipers of Higan, mostly Kutaka and her shinigami friend. Said pieces includes stories about some troublesome and powerful beings from an entire different Hell.
"Oh! You're one of those beasts from the Animal Realm! Kutaka tells me you folks keep trying to cause trouble for everyone in Hell."
"Excuse you, I'm no mere beast. I'm the leader of the Kiketsu Family." The revered matriarch, Kicchou Yachie, took no offense and was delighted to properly to announce her title. "And you, are the friendly ushi-oni who rows by this river every day to catch your wares. I'm quite familiar with you."
"Huh? Why do you know that? ...Have long have you been hiding in these waters, watching me fish?"
"I'm not the one doing the watching. They are."
Yachie pointed past Urumi, who turned her head just enough to see a few, small animal spirits shyly floating about. They were otters, and upon being noticed by Urumi, they quickly floated over to Yachie's side.
"My unbeatable information network has been gathering everything there is to know about this river and those who pass by it." Yachie explained, one hand idly rubbing the top of an otter spirit's head. "It's only appropriate preparation before I expand my business to this territory, and it could only go better if I had the assistance of one of those local faces who already knows this area well. That's why I came to meet you, dear ushi-oni. I'm interested in your specialities, you're quite the famous one."
"You are? Well, I guess there's been decent word-of-mouth of my wares." Urumi was confused, but flattered. "If you wanted to buy fish from me though, this isn't really the place. I set up shop in this village some ways from here, so you could always come by there instead."
"I'm not interested in shopping for fish." An airy chuckle escaped from Yachie between words. "I want you to join the Kiketsu Family."
The look of confusion from Urumi only prompted Yachie to continue explaining in earnest.
"Expanding my operations means I'll naturally be in need of more agents, preferably those already familiar with this realm. But to do that, I only wish to work together with any like-minded beings I can find. Someone like yourself is a perfect example!"
"Now you've lost me." Urumi frowned. "How exactly are the two of us 'like-minded'? I just spend my days catching fish. I mean, you seem good at it too, but that doesn't seem like enough to-"
"You're being too modest. I'm making efforts to learn more about the inhabitants of the Human Realm each day, and my intel tells me you used to known as quite the fearsome ushi-oni. A truly wild beast who struck fear in humans as she mercilessly drowned them!"
"Where did even you hear those old tales? That's embarrassing..."
"Like I said, my information network is unbeatable." Yachie boasted, and the otters around her beamed with pride. "Are you interested? If you need some reassurance to how serious I am, you only need to keep watch for what I have in plan for this river today-"
"Wait, wait, please slow down a bit!" Urumi hastily said. "You've got the wrong idea about me. Whatever tales you heard about me being some fearsome youkai are all from a very long time ago. I've left that life behind firmly in the past, so I'm definitely not the kind of person you're looking for your... 'operations', or whatever it is."
"...Is that what you really think? And you even sound so certain too." Rather than disappointed, hearing all that only seemed to intrigue Yachie further, if the sly expression she now wore was any indication. "I'm not so sure of that myself, especially after seeing you in person."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Just a couple of things I've observed. I don't think you've truly left behind that life, at least not entirely willingly. Your horns, for one. They're quite impressive." Yachie's gaze focused on the other's red horns. "I can tell that instead of simply leaving them to dull, you've made an effort to keep them in proper shape over the years, haven't you?"
"O-Oh. Well, it's just more convenient that way, you know? Lots of uses for them..." It was rare for someone to take notice of Urumi's horns, and it made her feel self-conscious.
"And then there's that statue of yours." Yachie gestured towards the stone baby that Urumi held in her arms. "That's a tool only meant for drowning humans, is it not? The fact that you still hold onto it, must mean you haven't completely kicked the habit."
"This?" Urumi instinctively clutched the statue tighter. Whatever the reasons, she couldn't bear the thought of ever letting go of her precious stone for good. "Maybe I just don't think it hurts to indulge in the occasional nostalgia now and then. It's still a relic of a past life."
"You don't have to act coy around me. I understand that in Gensokyo, its considered uncouth for youkai to act too freely, isn't it?" Yachie shook her head in sympathy. "It's nothing like the Animal Realm, where beasts are free to run wild every single day to their hearts content. I suspect that deep in your heart, that's the kind of youkai you yearn to be."
There was a small, but strange conflict of feelings occurring within Urumi as she listened. If she had been asked just the day before whether she had any desire to go back to being a 'ferocious' ushi-oni, her answer would have been a dismissal of the idea without hesitation. And yet now, there was something about Yachie's words, whether it was the way they were phrased or perhaps simply the sound of her voice, that was making Urumi second guessing herself.
"I don't hear a 'no' so far." Yachie said, chuckling as Urumi glanced away.
"...Um, you said you had some kind of plan for today? I guess I might be a little curious, but that's all! Don't take that as an agreement to anything."
"As I said, the Kiketsu Family plans on expanding our territory." As Yachie spoke, her expression subtly darkened, but her confident tone didn't sway. "We wish to turn it into a land where someone like yourself may live to your fullest."
There it was again, Urumi thought. Her brain told her what she was hearing was a ridiculous notion, but she felt compelled to believe it upon hearing it from Yachie. Urumi assumed it was due to a truly overwhelming form of charisma.
"But we're not the only ones with our eyes on this river. Right now, there are forces all trying to beat us to the punch, but I intend to sweep them all aside like the insects they are."
In no time at all, Kutaka's wishes for a simple and typical day at her job were crushed. She had gotten wind of a ruckus happening just a little past the checkpoint gates that was holding up the traffic of souls to an outrageous degree, and now was on her way to see for herself.
"How is it that it's not even lunchtime and there's already some kind of disturbance?!" Kutaka whined to herself as she flew over the vast field of spider-lilies.
Glancing at the fields below her, she could already see that the usual trails of souls have slowed to a near halt. She grimaced as she imagined that if any oni were to appear at this moment and clog up the border even more, the chaos would be unbearable to deal with. The overtime and reports she would have to do in particular were an unpleasant thought, so she was determined to set things right.
"I could try and get them to organise here... but it might be better to find the source of the problem first! That's the smart thing to do, right?" Kutaka asked aloud, and was answered by a chirp from the chick nestled in her hair. "You think so too, right? Even I can have good ideas sometimes!"
After another half a minute of flying, Kutaka slowed as she finally spotted what she hadn't realised she was looking for. On the paths and messily crowding together and holding up all other queues, were a large pack of familiar-looking animal spirits. Specifically, they were wolf spirits, all loitering in the middle of the paths, uncaring of their immediate surroundings as they ran around flowers or rough-housed with one another.
"I should have known..." With a frown on her face, Kutaka lowered herself until she was hovering just a little bit above the pack.
As she did so, her light-coloured wings stretched as imposingly wide as possible to cast a shadow over the spirits, who all looked up upon noticing her presence. With hands on her hips and chest puffed out, she loudly addressed the wolves. "What do you all think you're doing? How many times I have warned you beast spirits not to take the checkpoint so lightly?!"
Ever since the Animal Realm was stirred by that sculptor goddess, Kutaka had lost count of the number of times that she has had to try and stop that realm's residents from treating the border between their world and Gensokyo like their own personal passageway. When either that goddess or these beasts got involved, it always led to a disruption at the checkpoint.
"You lot need to stop this at once, you're all causing a huge problem up ahead!" Kutaka's lecturing skills were honed from her watching the Yama at work. Though to her annoyance, the wolves had already stopped paying her mind and were going back to loitering among themselves. "Hey! Listen to me, or do I need to get really forceful?"
Kutaka threateningly raised her whistle. She was about to give a mighty blow into it, when suddenly noticed them all beginning to all stop what they were doing, and looking up at her direction.
"Hah! Afraid of the ol' whistle, are you? Ready to listen now?" Kutaka was ready to continue to lecture anew, she only started to notice something odd in the corner of her vision. The shadow she cast had grown wider.
"Am I imagining it... or did my wings get bigger?" As she pondered that, Kutaka suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. When she turned her head, she spotted a familiar face looking right at her.
"Now what's got you all worked up?" Behind Kutaka was the one the wolves were actually stood to attention for. Her large, majestic black wings spanned wide on either side of her, casting a great shadow over all below her.
"Ah! It's you! I should saved my lecture for the one behind this mess!"
The matriarch of the Keiga Family, Kurokoma Saki, smirked like nothing was wrong, which only irritated Kutaka further. "But I haven't even done anything yet. I was on my way to start a mess, though. Speaking of..."
Saki glanced past Kutaka, and shouted to the wolf spirits.
"The path's ahead all clear, so all you go wait for me at the border while I catch up with Miss Checkpoint Guard here." The wolf spirits howled in acknowledgement and excitedly began heading down the path, to Kutaka's dismay.
"Hey, I'm not going to allow that! All of you, stop right there!" Kutaka raised her whistle and was about to start furiously blowing into it. However, her wrist was lightly grasped by Saki.
"Hey now, you'll just hurt everyone's ears with that." Saki laughed as she effortlessly held Kutaka, who was angrily straining against her the whole time. "You seem more tightly wound than usual today! Your feathers will start falling out from the stress, y'know?"
"My feathers are just fine!" Kutaka grumbled. Not only were the wolf spirits off to cause more trouble, but her old insecurity over her white wings compared to Saki's impressive black ones were being provoked. "Let go! Do you want me to kick you?!"
"I mean if you're asking me honestly, I've always wondered how hard you can-"
The rest of that sentence never came to be, as the small chick from Kutaka's head hopped over and pecked Saki right in the eye.
"Ow! Hey, you- Ow?!" Saki raised her hands over her face as the chick angrily chirped and kept repeatedly pecking at her. "Relax! Tell your little buddy I was just kidding around...!"
"I wasn't!" Kutaka frowned, but gestured for the chick to return to her hands. She gave it a pat on the head before setting it back in her hair, before turning her attention back to Saki. "How many times have we been over this?"
Although Kutaka wasn't counting any more, she was certain the Keiga Family and their matriarch were the most frequent culprits of ignoring the checkpoint rules by a large margin. There were a lot of days when Saki would even enjoy flying overhead the plains of the border and terrorizing anyone who passed by. Naturally, she often did this when Kutaka was on duty, so they happened to see a lot of one another.
"Now I need to go stop your pack before there get too far-"
"Don't worry, they won't start any fights before I get there. Probably. They know I don't like it when they start the fun without me."
"And what 'fun' are you talking about? Do you know how congested the paths are on the other side of the gate? It's all because you lot are disrespecting the checkpoint. Again!
"Ah, come on. There's no reason to be mad, is there?" Saki said, her tone completely carefree and without remorse. "I mean I've already gone back and forth through the gates a ton of times without you noticing, after all."
Despite the laudable attempt to lighten the mood, Kutaka's trembling hand raised her whistle, and Saki gently pushed it back down while laughing.
"Okay, okay, but hear me out for real. The Keiga Family is only on our way to Gensokyo right now because everyone else is trying to beat us to taking it over!"
"Who is... 'everyone else'?"
"More like who isn't. The Kiketsu Family and those haniwa, and who knows who else? I only found out recently because they're all such a sneaky bunch, but they've all made their move your realm's river, on the other side of the border. Even though I totally claimed the place first. The nerve!"
"They're all at the Sanzu River right now?! ...Is this just some kind of trick to get me to look over your transgression?"
"You know I wouldn't spin a tale like that! But don't you worry, I was just on my way there to clear those jerks out. They really ticked me off, trying to take over that land without me noticing."
"Why are you all suddenly so interested in Gensokyo anyway? It used to be that you Animal Realm folks knew to keep to your own lanes..." As Kutaka said that though, she realised she could no longer remember those more peaceful days.
"Ever since Kicchou made it so our worlds crossed paths, it just happened to catch all our eyes. And the law in the Animal Realm, the only one I follow, is that if you've got the strength to take something, then you don't hesitate to seize it!"
"Well, I wish you lot would hesitate a little bit for the sake of my workload..." Kutaka sighed, slumping her shoulders. "I'm sure I've warned you about it before, but there are a lot of people in Gensokyo who won't take kindly to that."
"That's exactly what I'm hoping for. It'd be boring if nobody tried to fight back." As she spoke, Saki's smile widened into an eager grin.
"Ugh!" Kutaka could only wince in response. Before meeting the residents of the Animal Realm, she never thought she'd encounter anyone more maniacally violent than the oni. "I can't understand you bunch..."
"...Say, I've been wondering about that. You told me before you're a god, aren't you? But you don't seem to care about being the top of the chain in your realm."
"Huh? I am a god, but why would I care about that?"
"Well, that's how that sculptor god is, and I figured all gods were like her. Wanting to 'save all human spirits', or 'bless every living being'... She spouts a lot of stuff like that." Saki said with a shrug. "The only part I relate to, is wanting to show off your power to as many people as possible! Haven't you ever wanted to do the same?"
"I'd rather you didn't get any strange ideas about me." Kutaka waved her hands and shook her head. Being treated as if such grand talk concerned her just didn't sit right with her. "I certainly do my best as a god to help humans and chickens. But wanting to save each and every soul there is? I'm too much of a birdbrain for that! If you ask me, the only one with the right to try and do that is the Yama."
"Well, in that case! You should forget about whatever rules you've got chaining you, and instead pledge yourself to the Keiga Family as soon as possible. I'll be sure to have a place for you once we've taken over the Human Realm."
"...How did you come to that conclusion?" Kutaka might have assumed it was a joke if Saki didn't sound so strangely sincere about it. "There's no way I'd do that, for a hundred different reasons! Why would you even think I'd fit in with your rowdy gang, anyway?"
"Why not? I mean you're gutsy, tougher than you look, and the way you start crowing when you get angry is cute..."
"H-Hey..." Kutaka kept her voice down, choosing instead to quietly pout while her face burned.
"...And I feel a connection as a fellow winged animal! Just that alone is enough reason for us to look out for each other. Even if I think your feathers could use more striking colours like mine."
"These colours are gentle like me! And also I'm still a god, not an animal..." Kutaka also didn't think horses count as 'winged' animals despite the exception in front of her, but held her tongue on that.
"Either way, I'm gonna go stop the other families and those haniwa in their tracks, but I'll probably get there faster if you just open the gates for me, as opposed to me forcing my way in as usual."
"I-I can't do that! Not for such a weak reason! Not to mention I also still have the feeling you're trying to trick me!"
"Trick you? I'm not like those cowardly bunch who always do things in a roundabout way. I'm too much of a musclebrain for that!" Saki declared, proudly at that.
W-Well, if there are others from the Animal Realm fighting at the river, I need to hurry and go see for myself! If you know exactly where they are, then... I suppose I can allow you through the border."
"That's great-"
"But only so you can lead me to where the trouble is!" Kutaka hastily added. "Can you promise you won't try to seize the river for yourself?"
"Haha... No!" Saki sincerely answered, eliciting a whine from Kutaka. "Haven't you been listening? That's the whole reason I'm heading there in the first place."
"...Then can you promise not to cause any wanton destruction in Gensokyo while you're there?"
"No can do." Saki shook her head. "There's ain't no way a brawl or two isn't happening the second I step foot there."
"Aaaah!" A desperate Kutaka clutched at her head, the hairs of which were likely to start falling off any second. "Then can you promise not to mention my name afterwards, so nobody blames me for whatever you do?!"
"You're always so modest. But I can promise you one thing... Doesn't matter if it's Kicchou, those haniwa, or whoever. If I run into anybody there who tries to get in the way of my fun, I'll crush them beneath my heel!"
It was now late afternoon in the Sanzu River, and all quiet and peacefulness had been destroyed in favour of the chaos that now ensued.
There was nary a patch of land across the riverside that wasn't filled with fighting between three factions. There was the haniwa soldiers, fighting with their various weapons fashioned from the surroundings stones. Then there were the otter spirits, seeking to outwit their enemies with the many traps they had set up all over the place. Finally, there were the wolf spirits, who bared their fangs and sought to overwhelm their opponents in the midst of all the noise by surrounding and mauling them.
The forces of soldiers and animals were so preoccupied with one another, that they barely paid attention to the hopeless checkpoint guard flying over them in the air.
"Stoooop, please... Oh, my whistle even broke from using it too much... "
Kutaka sluggishly whined, but nobody heeded her words. She had been tiredly trying and failing to stop the fighting, nearly getting skewered or bitten herself on several occasions.
"This is terrible! Why did I trust that black-winged track runner? I'm pretty sure she just made everything worse!"
While Kutaka whined to herself, a familiar voice suddenly called out to her. "Kutaka! Are you alright?!"
"Huh? Miss Urumi?" Kutaka turned around, and saw Urumi waving towards her from a distance. Kutaka flew over to her, the sounds of fighting still ringing loudly from behind as she talked. "I'm alright, but what are you doing here? It's not exactly safe for a stroll along the riverside!"
"I didn't come here for a stroll! This is worse than even an oni's drinking party... And I sort of feel responsible for all this."
"Eh? But why would feel that?"
"Someone really good with words told me there was trouble coming, and said they'd be able to handle it? So I gave them a few directions, and the next thing I know, everyone's brawling with one another."
"Huh. That... all sounds really familiar."
The sounds of fighting in the distance offered no sign of slowing down, and a few explosions could even be heard then. Urumi nervously glanced at several billows of smoke in the distance before speaking again. "Kutaka, what do you think we should do?"
"It might be out of our hands." Kutaka said with a sigh. "At this rate, the top brass from the Ministry of Right and Wrong is going to have to step in, and I'll be the one to have to explain all this..."
"That bad, huh? I can't recall the last time the higher-ups had to handle trouble on ground level like that." A part of Urumi was a little curious as to what that would look like, but kept that to herself for Kutaka's sake.
"I really don't want to tell them about this, but I can't see any way to fix this myself... You might want to get out of here before things become even more messy somehow."
"I'll be just fine. Really, the one I'm really worried about is Eika." Urumi said, looking across the expanse of the riverside, and thinking about the fact that she hadn't seen any of the stone-stacking spirits in a while.
"Ah, that's right! Do you think that contest of theirs is still going on?"
"In the midst of all that?" Urumi looked again, and several more smoke billows had appeared. "No chance!"
"Oh no, and she was looking forward to today so much, too..."
"I just hope she's alright. Who knows where in all that mess she could be...?"
Eika had not actually moved much from her original position. After all, it was important for her to watch over the competition by remaining in vicinity of everyone's work. Unfortunately, the contest had ran into quite the snag.
"What is going on?! Where did you all suddenly come from...!?"
Eika cried out in the midst of all the animal spirits and haniwa fighting, and was promptly ignored by all of them. To the credit of the children, they had mostly been doing their best to continue focusing on stacking stones, having assumed all the distractions around them might have been part of the game, though it was becoming increasingly more difficult to ignore.
A short distance away was Keiki, standing and smiling as she was flanked by haniwa. She stood across from Yachie, who wore an unconcerned smirk of her own as a couple of otter spirits hovered around her.
"Did you really think I'd just let you do as you please, you wicked god?"
"I expected you to show resistance, Yachie. But I'll just keep reminding you that you and your fellow beasts will be welcome to the salvation I bring."
"That attitude of yours never fails to make my blood boil. Maybe this will wipe that smile off your face!"
At Yachie's command, otter spirits that were lying in wait under the sand nearby unveiled their hidden tricks. Pitfalls and tripwires were revealed all over the ground, with several haniwa falling over themselves.
Meanwhile, several of the children nearby whose stone piles had been sorted in a neat line, watched their work suddenly topple when the suddenly appearing pitfalls destabilised the ground.
"Cute tricks..." Keiki said, only slightly annoyed at the minor repair work for her haniwa she would have to do later. "...But I've been busy crafting some of my own!"
Keiki gave a command of her own. From many different spots on the ground came bursting out the surprises she had in store. Fully-equipped ballistas and catapults appeared with haniwa soldiers operating them, and they wasted no time in firing on the beast spirits.
The sudden onslaught of falling objects were also startling for the children, who ran around in a panic as their rock piles were utterly wrecked by the makeshift weaponry.
"Aaaaah! What are you all doing?! You're destroying the children's hard work!" Eika yelled as loud as she could, but her voice failed to reach to the preoccupied forces engaged with their fanciful tactics.
Just on the other side of that field at the same time, Mayumi was walking along the perimeter at a slow pace, slapping aside any beast spirits that foolishly got in her way and ignoring the traps as they failed to slow her down in any meaningful fashion.
"Lady Keiki is looking forward to that convention centre! I won't let a single one of you disrupt our designs!"
Getting so into the rhythm of swatting away the beasts who couldn't so much as scratch her, Mayumi was taken surprise when an unexpected force hit her from behind. It was the full weight of somebody delivering a full-body drop-kick on her.
Mayumi fell face-first on the ground. She picked her head up and turned to glare at the one responsible. "You lousy horse..."
"Today's the day we settle things!" Saki brazenly said with full vigour, despite the many small cuts and bruises all over her, as well as bits of broken clay still sticking to her boots and her knuckles. Using her impressive speed, she quickly jumped onto Mayumi, putting her in a headlock. "I'm not like Kicchou. The only way to face one another is head-on!
"You and your mangy mutts never get tired of being beaten down, do you?!" Mayumi gripped onto Saki in turn, though not before receiving a knee to her stomach.
"Hah! The time has never been more right." Saki said, in-between delivering more blows with her legs between words. "Both our crews and that blasted army are all here, so this is the perfect opportunity for all of us to settle things against one another with our full strength-"
This time, Saki's sentence was cut off when Mayumi managed to to lift her up. Saki's legs and wings both flapped fruitlessly in the air as Mayumi angrily charged forward. "Raaaah!"
"Woooah!?" Saki was unable to do anything before Mayumi slupexed her into the nearest object available, in this case a large pile of stones.
Said pile also happened to be the last stack of Eika's that was still standing, and the stacker herself watched from nearby as her craftsmanship was so cruelly destroyed.
"My personal record! Nooooo...!" Eika fell to her knees and screamed towards the sky, feeling like the world was crumbling around her, not unlike her stones crumbling to the floor.
With the last trace of her work today crushed to bits, it had finally settled into her that the day's contest could not be salvaged. After taking a few more moments to curse and cry, Eika slowly picked herself back up.
"...Okay, I'm fed up now." Eika muttered, before clapping her hands once. "Everyone! Gather up...!"
Elsewhere, while all their forces are engaged, Keiki and Yachie were still standing off across from one another, with most of their forces having dragged themselves elsewhere in their struggle.
"Looks like you had a plan for almost everything..." Yachie's cool smile she had been maintaining as of yet was on the verge of giving way to a nasty grimace. She raised a hand, gesturing towards Keiki in a threatening manner. "I wonder if you have one for if I wring your neck."
"Oh? I don't think I'd need a plan for a beast that acts so crudely." Keiki smiled coyly while holding her arms out, almost invitingly. "Care to give it a try and see what happens?"
As the two traded threats ranging across vague and blatant, their conversation is halted by the sound of an impact from nearby. They both turned to see Saki lying face-first on the ground, having been thrown there from across the field.
"Argh, cheap shot going for my hat..." Saki grumbled, halfway to getting up. However, she didn't get the chance before Mayumi came running in, and jumped right on top of her back. "Oof!"
"You really ticked me off this time!" Mayumi shouted, a ruthless smile on her face as she pushed Saki's head further into the ground. "I'll ask Lady Keiki to turn you into a rocking horse! How's that for 'settling things', huh?!"
It was only a few seconds after her loud taunting that Mayumi looked up, and noticed Keiki and Yachie staring her way.
"A-Ah, Lady Keiki! I'm just finishing up here!" Mayumi cleared her throat. "Is that lousy tortoise bothering you? I'll handle her in a second!"
"I'm fine, Mayumi. Don't let me spoil your fun, you looked so excited just now!" Keiki said while beaming a delighted smile at Mayumi, who softly let out a wail of embarrassment.
Yachie meanwhile, just scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Kurokoma, can't you go get beaten up and accomplish nothing somewhere else? I'm on the cusp of putting this wicked god in her place."
"Hate you, by the way." Saki said, her voice muffled due to her face still being against the floor. "All of you."
"Great, I've made a fool of myself, and it's all your fault!" Mayumi pouted, and wondered how she'd make Saki pay for this latest transgression.
...Until her, and everyone else's attention was instead drawn to what sounded like some nearby commotion. Mayumi turned her head to see a crowd in the distance, and she picked out what looked like her fellow haniwa approaching.
"Is our squads returning?" Mayumi wondered out loud. "That was quicker than I expected!"
"Oho, so much your grand plan against me, dear Yachie." Keiki said, shrugging her arms. "Seems like my army have claimed victory."
"Wait, I see my agents coming this way as well." Yachie spotted her otter spirits among the crowds as well. "I ordered them to hold positions until I said so, and yet..."
"Hey, I see my crew too." Saki managed to lift her head enough to spot what looked like her wolf spirits running over as well.
It took a few moments for all of them to realise that the large groups of haniwa, otters and wolves, all in bad shape and covered in either cracks or bruises, were all collectively fleeing. None stopped or even slowed down as they ran past the four of them.
"I didn't give the order to retreat!" Mayumi stood up, and yelled after them. "What happened? We haven't won yet!"
Saki stood up as well, just as confused as everyone else. "Where are you all going? The fight is just getting started!"
"...Huh?" Yachie turned her head towards the direction all their forces were running from. "What is that?"
Everybody present turned to look toward the top of the hills. Appearing over was a large gathering of souls. The many children, the stillborn spirits of the river, were all gathered in this one spot. The faces on their ethereal forms were difficult to read, but they possessed an exceptionally serious aura at this moment.
And standing at the front of all of them was Eika, much easier to read with her angry expression. The children, as if by some silent cue, all picked up a stone or two in their hands.
"I tried to warn all of you not to disrupt our contest, but none of you listened!" Eika shouted, pointing accusingly at the four visitors. "Now we're going to have to deal with you troublemakers! Either get lost now, or get ready to suffer!"
After taking in the surreal sight for a moment, the first to respond was Mayumi, who couldn't help but chuckle as she confidently smiled at the odd gathering of souls. She concluded that her haniwa army must've just retreated due to encountering an unfamiliar group.
"Miss Eika, I understand if Lady Keiki's ambition was a bit hard to understand, but there's no reason to get so angry and waste your energy like this. I mean to begin with, there's no way for your friends to possibly harm someone like-"
In the middle of Mayumi's boasting, a stone from the children was thrown, and it hit the haniwa right in the head.
"Wha..." It took a few moments for the feeling of impact to register. That's because when Mayumi raised her hand to the side of her head, she realised a chunk of it was now missing. "A-A-Aaaaah?! Lady Keiki...!"
A teary-eyed Mayumi ran over to Keiki, who looked over the other with alarm. "I don't believe it... To have damaged Mayumi like this so easily, could the makeup of the stones around here have a unique physicality to them?"
"Hahaha!" Saki laughed at the sight of the goddess fussing over her crying soldier. "Seriously, you can't stand up to a bunch of rocks? I'd like to see them try that trick with a properly trained body like mine!"
Saki turned towards the stone-wielding souls, and immediately got a wish when a stone was thrown directly at her head... and upon impact, it exploded like bomb, causing her to tumble the floor in a daze.
"...W-W-What just happened?" Saki was seeing stars, and barely noticed that she was now bleeding.
Upon observing this, a shocked Yachie voiced her conclusion. "Those souls and the stones they wield carry a deep grudge. That kind of thing must be especially effective on spirit-based beings like us..."
The four of them all looked between themselves, half of them already injured to an absurd degree. They all looked up at Eika, who didn't have a drop of mercy left in her, and at the large gathering of the children who were now coming off equally as merciless.
There was no more warning given, before all of them began throwing their stones.
The goddess, her commander, and the two matriarchs immediately started feeling from the hailstorm of stones that came falling down upon them. All of them yelling and shouting among themselves as they did so.
"This is all your fault, you wicked god! You and Kurokoma don't know how to act with discretion!"
"Oh shut up, Kicchou! If you don't do things head-on, then there's just no fun in it!"
"This is incredible, though! I feel my inspiration burning from this unexpected turn...!"
"Lady Keiki, now is not the time for that! Stay in front and I'll shield you with my- Aaah! That one nearly took my eye!"
While the visitors from the Animal Realm were running away from the pursuing souls, watching from on top of a far side hill was Urumi and Kutaka.
For a good long while, they were both at a loss for words, but at some point Kutaka managed at least one. "...Wow!"
"Yeah, I know." A nervous chuckle escaped Urumi. "I'll have to remember not to mess with any of future stone-stacking contests around here."
"I'm just glad everything turned out okay without me having to do anything!" Kutaka was relieved to the point of feeling giddy. "I'm happy to just forget all of today's trouble too."
"You know what? I think I am too." Urumi nodded. "Watching all that violence might have been a little nostalgic, but I don't think I miss that kind of life. I think I'm pretty content with how I am now."
"Hm? Where's all this coming from all of a sudden?"
"Oh, you weren't around for all that, but... Actually, how I about I tell you over a meal sometime? I got this huge fish as a gift that I'm looking forward to cook."
Kutaka happily agreed, and she and Urumi were more than happy to resume their days from where they left off.
Meanwhile, Eika had not followed after the children as they chased away the visitors. She trusted them to handle it at that point, and was just glad for the moment of peace.
"I guess I'll have to go back to thinking up a new and more exciting event for everyone. It'll be boring if I just tried the same thing again." Eika sighed. "I'm pretty sure I was going to win today, before all that happened..."
There was however, still a few of the children that lingered around Eika, and had a few questions for her.
"...Hm? What was that?" Eika looked down at the souls, and listening to their words that only she could understand."Wasn't I being a bit harsh? And after what I said earlier?"
Eika finally recalled that before all the conflict and chaos unfolded, she had privately spoken to a few of the spirits about a connection she felt with one of the visitors, but didn't have time to elaborate before everything got hectic.
"Oh, right... That weird god and her animal friends probably didn't notice, but I thought right away that she felt familiar, like we're fellow aspects who stem from the same source... But that's exactly why I needed to be strict! It's my job as the senior to teach others a lesson. Isn't that what I do for all of you kids?"
Eika grinned at the stillborn souls around her, and only she knew that their low humming and bubbling movements was their way of smiling back at her.
Unbeknownst to everyone, another mysterious figure had arrived. Hailing from the Animal Realm, and having crossed the checkpoint that was strangely unoccupied, and reached the Sanzu River. The figure was accompanied by a flock of eagle spirits, to whom she began bragging to.
"Kehehe... I bet all the families and those haniwa are all tearing each other apart right now after subjugating the locals. They'll never expect the Gouyoku Alliance to swoop in and clean them all out at the last second!"
After climbing to the highest vantage point she could find, the Alliance's leader took in the sight of the expanse ahead.
"Yes... Soon, all of this will belong to me. Everyone will learn about how very square of land and river is claimed under the name Toutetsu Yuuma!" She cackled, and the eagle spirits around her crowed in shared excitement. "Now, let's go see how everyone is... doing? Wait, isn't that them down there?"
While watching the wide expanse before her, Yuuma was quick to notice several familiar figures in the distance. The matriarchs of the Kiketsu and Keiga Families, the sculptor goddess and her haniwa commander. All of them were running away from the deeper parts of the river, while having stones thrown at them by a large group of odd-looking spirits.
Yuuma traded confused looks with her eagles, who were all at a loss of words as well. "...On second thought, let's not get involved in whatever that is. I've got other plans to fall back on."
The eagle spirits all cawed in agreement with the wise decision, and they followed Yuuma back the way they all came.