March 10th, 1945
3:00 AM
Captain Momiji Inubashiri had not had a good day. She'd been given an extra long shift that morning, having to patrol the entirety of the mountain herself to verify that the new patrol routes were 'efficient' enough for the higher-ups, whatever that meant, The various routes were split up to be patrolled by different squads, but she had to do the whole circuit herself, and it'd taken up her entire day. It was a complete waste of her time, but having your time wasted was just how life went for the White Wolf Tengu.
Besides, her rank of Captain was hardly as prestigious as it sounded. While she was theoretically in charge of a fair amount of the White Wolf Tengu, in practice she was often treated as just another trooper by those above her. The only real benefit she got out of it was her own private home rather than being forced to sleep in the barracks, although the size and quality of the place left a lot to be desired, with it being more like a hut than a house.
By the time she'd limped back to said home, she barely had the energy to drag out her futon before she collapsed, being denied yet another day of Shogi. Of course, even that was too much for her to be allowed, and it wasn't even an hour before there was a knock at her door.
"Captain Inubashiri!" A voice called out, pulling her from the merciful oblivion of sleep and back to the waking hell of the living world. Groggily, Momiji forced herself to her feet and willed her legs to not buckle beneath her as she dragged herself off of her futon and back to the never ending call of work. As she approached the door, the knocking only grew in intensity, as whoever was on the other side seemed to be getting agitated. Whatever it was about, it was clearly important, as much as she wished otherwise. Banishing her reluctance, Momiji opened the door, and was met with a fellow White Wolf Tengu.
"Yes?" She asked, masking the fatigue that coated her face with the skill of a centuries-old veteran.
The Tengu saluted her as he spoke. "Orders from headquarters. There's some strange machine in the sky, we aren't sure what. and the higher ups want you to report in."
Momiji gave a small nod, followed by a brief internal scream, before she responded. "Very well. Thank you for the report. I'll be along shortly." She had no clue what could be so important about something in the sky, but orders were orders.
Closing the door, Momiji quickly put on a new change of clothes and, after gazing longingly back at her futon, walked out the door of her small home and into the cool night air. The streets of the Tengu village, which were still active even in the middle of the night, were paved with stone, unlike the dirt and gravel roads that were much more common throughout Gensokyo. She remembered hearing plans from the higher ups to try and "pave" the roads at some point, although what that meant, and how feasible it actually was she had no idea. It had apparently been one of Lord Tenma's ideas, and even the higher ups had seemed confused about what it entailed.
As she walked through the village, she greeted those she passed by, receiving a salute from her fellow White Wolves, and an occasional dismissive nod from the Crows. Eventually, she arrived at her destination, that being the headquarters for the Mountain Defense Forces. The building was still in the midst of renovations, with the back half having been taken down entirely to have its wooden frame replaced with metal. Once the back half was completed, the front half would be as well. The planned design looked odd, to put it mildly. She'd gotten a glance at the envisioned result, and it was very clearly foreign. All of the strange changes made her feel a bit uncomfortable, and she had little doubt she was alone in that feeling.
"Good morning, Inubashiri-san." The long-nosed tengu at the front desk said to her with a nod as she entered.
"Good morning," Momiji lied, continuing to hide her exhaustion the best she could, which after centuries of practice, was quite well. "I'm here as ordered."
"Yes, I can see that." A voice called out from behind her, startling her.
"Lady Iizunamaru!" Momiji exclaimed, quickly recognizing the voice of a superior officer.
Megumu Iizunamaru was one of the Great Tengu, a caste amongst the Tengu that stood above the normal subdivisions of Tengu society. Tengu society was split into four main castes: the Crow Tengu, who were the scouts and information gatherers; the Long Nose Tengu, who were the bureaucrats as well as being in charge of information processing; the Yamabushi Tengu, who were the religious caste as well the ones who printed the vitally important paper that sustained Tengu society; and finally, the bottom caste of the White Wolf Tengu, who, supposedly served as the muscle and guardians of Tengu society. In reality, they were often the weakest caste in terms of actual combat strength, made up for by their relatively large population in comparison to the others.
In theory, any of the lower castes could be promoted to a Great Tengu, but in practice the vast majority remained Crow Tengu, such as Megumu, with most of the rest being long-nosed and Yamabushi Tengu. The Great Tengu were separated from the lower castes by their signature blue outfits, particularly their blue tokin, which contrasted with the standard red tokin that Momiji and the rest of the lower castes were forced to wear as part of their uniforms. For Megumu in particular, this almost seemed like it had been predestined, with her dark blue hued hair standing out from most of the crows, whose hair was predominantly black.
Megumu smiled softly upon seeing Momiji. "Apologies for the early wake up call Captain, but I have orders directly from Lord Tenma."
"May I ask why I was requested specifically?" Momiji asked, suppressing a yawn.
"It was decided that your eyesight would be of use in dealing with the current situation." Megumu explained. "Normally I would be fine with just having some of my direct subordinates deal with this, but there's no disobeying Lord Tenma's orders."
'Nor can one disobey Lord Tenma's representatives', Megumu left unspoken. It was a fact that was central to Tengu society, as those who spoke with Lord Tenma's voice were granted authority over all others without question. At least, without any vocal questions, as most quickly learned to keep the complaints to themselves.
"I understand." Momiji had long since learned better than to try and argue. "What is it that you require of me, Lady Iizunamaru?"
"I assume the messenger already informed you of the strange flying machine?" Megumu asked. When Momiji nodded she continued. "From what we can gather, that flying contraption is some sort of outside world technology. What kind, we have no clue, but seeing as it's capable of flight, it's noteworthy for that alone."
"Is it really that impressive?" Momiji asked. "I suppose it would be for the outside world, but flight is not exactly rare in Gensokyo." Flight was practically universal in Gensokyo. Even a fair number of humans were capable of that much.
"You're right in that its flight isn't very useful for us." Megumu explained. "Rather, Lord Tenma is more interested in the inner workings of the machine. The thing must have an engine of some kind, and if we can obtain it we can reverse engineer it."
"And we'd finally have a leg up on the Kappa." Momiji said, as she caught on to Megumu's plan.
"Exactly." Megumu's face broke into a devious smirk. "We've always beaten them in production capabilities, but those annoying little turtles are always ahead of us in terms of technology, and the Yamawaru won't sell us any of their more advanced stuff, no matter the payment we try and offer. Finally turning the tables on them would solidify Youkai Mountain under our influence much more securely."
"So why wait so long before trying to capture... whatever this thing is?" Momiji asked, still unsure of what, exactly, she was getting herself into.
"We needed to be sure that this wasn't some sort of easy to fix mistake made by the Yakumo or one of the other sages." Megumu shrugged. "It probably is, but evidently it's one that they can't solve very easily, so we have a valid excuse for taking care of it ourselves."
"I understand." Momiji said. Even Lord Tenma had to be wary when dealing with the Sages of Gensokyo, particularly Yukari Yakumo, the only one that was still active. While the others had been remaining dormant for some time now, Yukari had solidified herself as the central figure within Gensokyo, and she knew how to wield the influence she had gained well.
"Your priority is securing the machine." Megumu explained. "If you have to shoot it out of the sky, so be it. Just try and leave it intact enough for us to pick through."
"And if we are unable to secure it?" Momiji asked.
"Destroy it. Better nobody gets their hands on it than we risk letting the Kappa or some other group get a hold of it. Then we'd have a major headache to deal with. That said, please try and avoid letting that happen if you can. I already have to deal with Lord Tenma's complaints enough as it is." Megumu said, a shudder running through her back as she thought of what nonsense she'd be given to deal with next.
"The crew of the machine?"
"Try to capture them alive if possible, but judging by the fact that they're in Gensokyo, I doubt anybody would be concerned if they went missing." Megumu grinned. "Just don't be too messy if you get hungry."
"While a midnight snack would be nice, it would probably be better to at least try and keep them alive, would it not?" The offer of something to eat was tempting. She couldn't remember the last time a human had been stupid enough to venture near Youkai Mountain while she had been on patrol. But even then, it felt like it'd be a waste considering the circumstances.
"I'll leave the call up to you. Do what you can to secure them alive, but don't worry too much about it. We aren't sure what those on board are capable of, after all."
"They are outside world humans, so it is doubtful that it would be that much." Momiji noted, which got a chuckle out of Megumu.
"You're not wrong, but better to play it safe. From what I've heard, the outside world is not in a good state right now, so they might very well be armed." Megumu explained. "For now, head outside and try and get a good look at the thing. See if you can find any entrances or weak points, and then gather up a few others before you head off. Am I understood, Captain?"
"Yes Ma'am." Momiji said with a salute.
"Very well. Dismissed."
With a weary sigh, Momiji stepped back out into the cold, crisp spring night, rubbing her eyes as she went. Lifting her head to look up at the sky, she was greeted with the familiar sight of a crescent moon and countless stars, although she couldn't ignore the eyesore that was slowly drifting through the air. It was a large tube, with two wings that each seemed to have a taketombo placed within two separate shorter tubes. She wasn't sure how something that big, and more importantly that heavy, could stay in the sky, but it wasn't her job to have to figure that one out.
For anyone else, trying to make out further details would likely have been impossible in the dark. For Momiji, it was only a slightly frustrating endeavor involving a fair amount of squinting and grumbling as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. It was made of metal, and there seemed to be a window at the front of it, with two figures that seemed to be arguing with one another, although from this angle she couldn't see anything behind where they were seated.
"Oh, what's going on here?" A truly smug voice spoke up, the one that Momiji dreaded hearing every morning she woke up, even more than whatever new marching orders she'd be given for the day. Aya Shimeimaru was Infamous for both her speed and her skill at invading people's privacy. It was impossible not to be able to identify Aya, despite her looking similar to many other Crow Tengu with her short black hair, short height, and inability to properly understand what the term 'personal boundary' meant. But none of the other Crow Tengu could ever hope to match Aya. Not in speed, not in invasions of privacy, and most definitely not in pompous attitude. There were many in Gensokyo who could be said to be 'smug' especially in terms of how they smiled, but there was not a single being that could match Aya Shameimaru's shameless smirk.
Amongst the higher ups, Aya was known for being very good at her job of gathering intelligence for the Tengu. Momiji was pretty sure she just preferred getting what she viewed as work out of the way sooner so she could get back to her hobby of gathering intelligence for her own amusement.
"Ayaya, does the doggy need some help as usual?" Aya teased. Much to Momiji's frustration, however, she was perfect for the job, which meant having to put up with her. Seniority in a lower caste meant nothing to somebody of a higher caste, and so Momiji grit her teeth and sucked up her pride. It was not a new experience for her.
"Your help would be appreciated, yes." She eventually settled on.
"Oh, I'm sure it would. You'd just love to get to order me around wouldn't you?" The smirk never left Aya's face as she spoke. "If you really want my help, don't you think you should really show i-"
"Shameimaru, just go and help her!" Megumu's voice called out from within the building. There was a quick pause, as Aya seemed to have not been expecting her own superior to have been present. Her smirk strained in response to the revelation, but it did not leave her face. In Momiji's experience, it rarely, if ever, did.
"Really, boss?!" Aya yelled back.
"Yes, really! Now shut up and get to work, or I'll have you writing this bullcrap!" Upon hearing that, Aya froze up, the smirk finally falling off her face as she imagined having to deal with whatever whim Lord Tenma was having. Last Momiji had heard, it'd been outside world legal systems, and just the thought of having to deal with that likely made Aya's skin crawl.
"Will do!" She called back, before sighing. "Just have to ruin my fun." Aya muttered to herself. She turned back to Momiji flashing her signature smug smirk back at full force. "Well, looks like you'll be getting my help after all. I'm sure you're very excited. I mean, who wouldn't be?"
"The only thing I'm excited about is getting this over with so I can go back to sleep." Momiji couldn't help but grumble, before she turned her weary eyes back to the weird contraption in the sky. "There might be a way into the machine on the top or the other side. I can't really tell from just looking at it from this angle." She said, annoyed at her limited perspective. Amazing vision could only do so much.
"So you want me to get in close and see if I can find a way in?" Aya asked.
"You're by far the fastest, so getting in front of that thing shouldn't be an issue for you." Momiji said, narrowing her eyes. "At least, that's what I assume."
"Please, I could go faster than that thing in my sleep. In fact, I think I did once." Aya said with a grin.
"I'm sure you did." Momiji said with the resigned sigh of somebody who had long since grown used to dealing with Aya's nonsense. Well, she had one, but a full squad would probably be best in this situation. While Aya alone could probably take care of this, Momiji knew that, no matter how much effort it'd save everyone, that wasn't going to happen, and regardless, protocol demanded at least a minimum sized response force.
"Now, what to do about the rest?"
March 10th, 1945
6:11 AM
It had taken them two hours to get a large enough group ready, mostly by conscripting whichever White Wolf Tengu returning from their night shift passed by. Getting some of the higher ups to assist would've been preferable, but Momiji was stuck in the bottom caste, and none of the crows would ever listen to her orders, let alone Aya. The only one she could get was the aforementioned bird who was only doing so because she'd been ordered to by her commanding officer. Even then, she was likely doing it more so to amuse herself, because she knew that Momiji couldn't refuse her help, no matter how much she wanted to. At least, that was what Momiji figured; it was impossible to tell with Aya.
With their newly increased numbers, numbering an additional five White Wolves of varying levels of exhaustion, they briefly went over the plan before they took off. It was rather simple: get in close, let Aya try to seize control of the machine, and respond to any threats if they try to fight back. All in all, not the worst mission she'd been handed, and the sooner it was over the sooner she could go back and get some sleep.
As they flew out towards the target, Aya kept her distance, as was usual for the higher castes to keep themselves separate from their social inferiors. Although in Aya's case, she tended to do this with her fellow crows as well. Momiji always assumed that she simply found enjoyment in watching other people, probably in hopes of spotting them screwing up.
"Damn, they're going fast. This is the state of outside world technology?" One of Momiji's fellow Wolves idly commented as they neared the flying machine.
"Don't let the Crows hear you, or they'll probably get mad." Snarked another, earning a few chuckles from their fellows.
"You hear the noise coming from it though? It's like the damn thing's roaring at us." A third pointed out. It was true, Momiji noted, the thing was loud as all hell, and was only going to get louder the closer they got to it.
"Oy, Shameimaru, you ready?" Momiji yelled out.
Without even a hint of effort, Aya appeared in front of Momiji with a raised eyebrow. "I assume you want me to go first?" She asked.
Momiji met her gaze. "I assumed you wanted to go first."
Aya smirked. "Well, you assumed correctly." With that, she vanished with a deafening roar as she blasted off towards the machine, leaving Momiji and the rest of the White Wolves to shake off the worst of the ringing in their ears before they could speak with one another. By the time everyone could hear one another again, Aya had long since vanished from their sight.
March 10th, 1945
6:16 AM
Aya was annoyed. First she'd been denied her fun by her superior. Then she'd been forced to help the resident stickler with some annoying task that she couldn't care less about. And now, the humans they had to deal with didn't even have the decency to be scared of her. Oh, they were screaming alright, but she could tell it wasn't out of fear so much as panic onset due to having their world view shattered. How she missed the old days. Tengu had never been considered the scariest of Youkai, but it had never been this bad. Maybe it was the glass screen that separated them that gave these humans such confidence?
With a sigh born of frustration, she drew her hauchiwa and with a thought the wind started to pick up an-
Suddenly, the giant machine went into a dive, rapidly picking up speed as it plunged downwards. For her, it was more like taking a leisurely stroll, but for something from the outside world, it was amazing they could construct something so big that could reach such speeds.
She tsked, before flying after the behemoth. If she really felt like it, she could easily catch back up with it, but she was curious to see how the Wolves would handle the situation.
March 10th, 1945
6:18 AM
The machine suddenly pulled into a dive, much to the surprise of the rest of the squad who had been trailing behind at a safe distance, unsure of what was going to end up happening. They quickly began accelerating to keep up with the machine. There was an undercurrent of nervous energy amongst the Wolves, who were both fascinated and worried the more they found out about whatever this thing from the outside world was capable of.
And then the humans opened fire.
A hail of danmaku, accompanied by a deafening roar, flew at the surprised Tengu, who hadn't been expecting such a thing coming from humans, let alone outsiders. That said, calling it danmaku wasn't really accurate, as became obvious when the first Wolf hit by it let out a scream of pain. Whatever it was, it was purely physical material being shot at them, although with enough force that the shots were easily bruising even the physically-resistant youkai on impact. It took Momiji a moment to realize that these must be more modern versions of the firearms humans once used.
It was baffling to compare the crude armaments that humans had fielded only half a millenia ago to this spew of rapid-fire death. She remembered that, back when the Great Hakurei Barrier had first been raised, there had been rumors of foreigners with strange, horrible weapons that had put the firearms of the Oda to shame. Such stores had reached even somewhere as rural as Gensokyo, but they had always remained exactly that: rumors. At least until now.
Three members of the squad were soon hit, and were actually injured, much to their own surprise. Instinctively, the squad of Tengu began firing back, their shots wide due to their shock at actually being under attack by outside humans of all things.
"Stop! We don't want to destroy the thing!" Momiji yelled out in the desperate hope of calming her fellow Wolves. Thankfully, they saw reason, and their fire decreased (somewhat) in intensity. Instead, they tried to focus on aiming for the weapons that were firing at them, but with the chaotic flight pattern of the machine, it was proving much more difficult to land shots on any of them, especially with how fast its shots were compared to their own.
March 10th, 1945
6:19 AM
Aya quickly began to regret her decision when the machine began to spew out some sort of danmaku of its own. Whatever it was firing, it managed to move even faster than her, something which was an immediate blow to her pride as the fastest thing in the eternity of Gensokyo. The fact that it was also injuring the Wolves didn't help matters, but it was very much secondary in importance. Nothing went faster than Aya Shameimaru.
From what she could tell, the front seemed to be where the pilot of this contraption was, and while she wasn't sure what role the others present played, they didn't seem to be in charge of the weapons. With the slightest hint of effort, she surged forward to get a better look at the top of the machine, and noted what seemed to be a glass dome on the back side of the contraption. It seems like whoever controls the weapons would probably be near that end then, she reasoned.
With that in mind, she gripped her hauchiwa and flew to the rear end. Upon arrival, she was greeted with the pounding noise of firearms discharge, and the glare of the man handling them, separated by another layer of the glass-like substance she'd found at the front. With a whirl of the hauchiwa, and the slightest twinge of effort, the wind sharpened, carving straight through the cold steel of the weapon, and silencing the constant discharge that spewed from it.
"We can't be having that, now can we?" She said, although the man seemed more shocked about his damaged weapon than the actual cause of it. With a roll of her eyes, Aya redirected the wind once again, and it responded with its fury, scything through the outer layer of the machine that separated her from her target, She appreciated the look of disbelief on the man's face as the metal shell that protected him was sliced open. If only she had a camera she could bring around with her, she could have saved that moment forever. Apparently the outside world had them, but she was still stuck with older junk that was hard to move around, let alone use on the go.
While she was distracted with her thoughts on photography, the man stumbled back, falling off the chair he had been seated in onto the cold metal floor. The impact, although faint compared to the sheer quantity of noise from the ongoing fighting, was still enough to snap Aya back to reality. She was forced to lean into the machine to snag the man by the throat, easily lifting him up without any effort. The man tried to speak, but whatever language he was speaking was clearly foreign, and so Aya put a finger to her lips as she tightened her hand around his neck. The man got the picture immediately, and fell silent.
That would quickly change as Aya dragged the man out of the machine and into the open air, leaving him screaming in terror as he dangled helplessly several thousand feet in the air. Aya couldn't deny she felt a twinge of satisfaction at his reaction, but the fact that she had secured a prisoner gave her something much more important: leverage. After a few moments of enjoying the man's terror, she was kind enough to pick the man up and carry him in her arms instead of holding him by the neck. She figured at this point that he'd realize the pointlessness of resisting several thousand feet in the air, and even if he didn't, it's not like he could really do anything to hurt her. Smiling to herself, she made her way back to the rest of the Tengu, making sure to slow herself down enough to ensure she didn't injure her prize.
"Oy! Momiji!" She called out.
A frustrated looking Momiji turned to glare at Aya, dodging a burst of lead in the meantime, before blanching at the sight of what Aya had managed to secure.
"I know, I'm pretty great. I expect glowing praise in your report to the Chief." Aya said, preening. "Oh, and no mention of-"
"Please don't remind me." Momiji said, not in the mood to argue about whichever example of Aya's antics she was referring to, as several more shots whizzed by her. "Fine. Do you think you can take the prisoner back to headquarters for interrogation?"
"Oh, we're giving him to her?"
"Handling prisoners is her job, so why wouldn't we?"
"Really, because she always seemed to admire you so much." Aya covered her mouth in faux horror. This isn't nepotism is it?"
Momiji stared blankly at the Crow Tengu, ignoring several stray bullets that flew by her head. Momiji really couldn't tell if she was being serious or not. "Aya, it's literally her job, who else would we even give him to?"
Aya stared back at Momiji for a moment, before she pouted. "You're such a bore, you know that?"
Momiji sighed. "So I've been told. Now can you please bring the prisoner back to headquarters?"
"Will do!" Aya said in a sing-song tone. "Oh, and by the way, the weapons are controlled from the back."
Momiji's head shot back to glare at Aya. "And you didn't think to say that FIRST?!"
"I had to take care of what was most important!" Aya said with only a moderate amount of self-aggrandizement, before, with a flap of her wings and a gust of wind, she flew off.
With a growl, Momiji turned to her fellow wolves, or at least those who remained uninjured. She could see three had already fallen back to a safer distance, with one of those having retreated to lick their wounds, clutching their face as they hissed in pain; it seems something had happened to their eye.
"You heard her, prioritize the back end of it!" She yelled.
"Are you sure Captain? Didn't you just say to be careful with shooting it?" One of the wolves shouted over the roar of gunfire and the whizzing of bullets.
"I was hoping we wouldn't have to shoot it out of the sky, but we can't capture it with them constantly firing at us." Momiji growled. She was getting sick of this. Seeing as they were physical projectiles, they were likely going to run out of ammunition eventually, but when that eventuality would be, she had no idea, and she didn't plan on waiting around all day. "We were given permission to shoot it down if the situation demanded it, but try and keep your fire restrained, to avoid damaging the machine too much."
"Yes Ma'am!" The squad of Wolves yelled out before they got to work. Aiming may have been Momiji's strongpoint, but for the rest of the Wolves that often wasn't the case. They were by no means bad shots, but it's hard to compare to somebody who can see the individual petals of a flower from several hundred miles away if she tried hard enough. It didn't help matters that they were all rather worked up, and thus things such as discipline or restraint weren't exactly on their minds, especially not when they had bullets flying at them.
"I said keep your fire restrained, damnit, what are you doing?!" Momiji tried to yell over the roar of the gunfire and the engine. Gritting her teeth, she could only watch as a stray shot pierced through one of the taketombo, causing it to cease its whirling. With that ,there was a loud groan as it began to lose altitude.
"Captain, it's going down!"
"I can see that!" She yelled back. Well, it wasn't the end of the world. As long as they can secure the wreckage things should turn out fine. They only needed one of the engines, after all.
She turned her eyes to the ground below the machine, and she did not like what she saw. Below, there was what looked like a green-haired woman strolling through a vast field of flowers, a parasol in her hand and a confused look on her face as she noticed the rapidly descending aircraft.
"Looks like we'll have to secure the wreckage and see what we can scavenge. Serves those damn humans right." One of the Wolves said with a cheeky grin on her face.
"Think the Flower Youkai'll leave enough for us to pick through?" Joked another, a matching grin on his own. Momiji was doubtful that would be the case.
She watched as said Youkai lifted a hand, and knew that there'd likely be nothing but scrap metal and ash left afterwards. Before it could crash into the ground or be utterly annihilated, however, the unforgettable sight of one of the Yakumo's reality gaps swallowed the entire thing whole, leaving what seemed to be an amused looking Yuuka Kazami to wave at her from the ground.
"Ah, crap." Momiji muttered, unsure whether this was an improvement or not. What she knew for sure was the pain she was going to deal with having to explain this to HQ.
Woods had absolutely no idea what was going on. One minute, he'd been half asleep at his post in the tail of the plane after hours of flying in circles. The next minute, a bunch of flying people of all things showed up and started trying to attack their plane, and he'd been given permission to open fire for the first time since training. Unfortunately, the .50s barely seemed to have scratched the targets, and even worse they seemed to be able to fire back. The next few minutes were a complete blur as one moment he'd been concentrating on trying to hit small, flying targets, and the next he was holding on for dear life to deal with the plane's erratic flying.
Soon he'd found himself dangling in the air being held by what seemed at first glance to be a young woman with the tightest grip of anyone he'd even seen, let alone met. Of course, as soon as he noticed the fact that she had wings and was floating (and that the two were seemingly independent of one another) he began to wonder how accurate that actually was.
The worst part of it all was just how helpless he was. Woods was by no means weak, as to be expected from an active soldier. However, despite being a fully grown man, he somehow couldn't match the strength of what seemed to be a girl maybe half his size. Hell, he could barely offer any resistance at all. That wasn't too surpsing, consid4ering he'd scored several hits on some of the other creatures, whatever they were, but despite being hit by .50 BMG, they'd suffered only relatively minor injuries at most.
If he wanted to do anything besides be dropped to his death, he had to wait for a chance. Of course, it was much easier to say that than to actually act on it, considering his present circumstances, as he was completely at her mercy. If she felt like dropping him, he'd be making a one way trip to the ground at terminal velocity. So instead, he engaged in every soldier's favorite activity: doing absolutely nothing. It wasn't as comforting as it would ordinarily be, but there wasn't much he could do about that besides wait.
After the bird girl that had grabbed him was finished speaking with what seemed like a wolf girl (which just raised more questions) he got to once again enjoy a not at all relaxing trip through the air towards a huge mountain off in the distance. If nothing else, Woods could at least appreciate the undeveloped land below him. Even in the current situation, it was hard to not bask in the beauty of this place. A sea of tall green trees coated the rising hills that crested up towards the mountain proper, broken up by meadows and grasslands. Even the mountain itself wasn't immune to such a sight, with the brown and gray rock-face interspaced with the green of plantlife. Off in the distance he could see a large lake, what looked like a small rural town, and a huge forest of bamboo, all of which would have made fascinating destinations.
Sadly, the place that he was brought to wasn't nearly as beautiful. It was another small town, this one built into the side of the mountain practically hiding it from view. It wasn't ugly by any means, but it had neither the beauty of raw nature, nor the splendor of a full city. It looked nothing like the great urban jungles one would find back home, but there was still that chaotic mess of energy permeating the place that even Woods, who had only visited a city a few times in his life, could recognize. Still, the architectural style was at least interesting to his eyes, being nothing like what you'd see back in the States, although that wasn't surprising considering the location. Wooden buildings with curved roofs and thin walls dominated the settlement, although this was interspersed with an occasional out of place building made of stone or iron in a more western style.
The building that he was brought to looked like it was in the middle of being renovated. The building had originally been constructed out of wood, but part of it had been knocked down, and was in the process of being replaced with what seemed like iron, although where that was being sourced from he had no clue. The woman dropped him off at the door, before not so subtly gesturing for him to head inside. When he hesitated, she started pushing, and with how absurdly strong she was, Woods quickly got the picture and started moving before he began sliding across the ground instead.
The inside of the building was rather plain, with a simple desk in the front room. The woman seemed surprised by the absence of anyone else, and with a look of annoyance began dragging Woods to the back room, where a couple of what looked like jail cells were set up. She motioned for him to get inside the first one, which he had little choice but to comply with. Sighing, he heard the metal door close and lock, leaving him trapped. The crow woman, seemingly satisfied, walked off with a small smile, which seemed to turn into a devious smirk as she got lost in her own thoughts and left the room.
He was left alone in the cell for some time, perhaps an hour he'd guess, although he didn't really have any way of keeping track of time in here. There was a window, but he couldn't see the Sun's position in the sky from the angle he was at. Eventually, however, somebody else entered the room he'd been thrown into.
"Ah, you must be the prisoner." The person he assumed to be his captor said as they walked in. She was similar to the other wolf people he'd seen earlier, with short white hair and the associated ears, as well as what seemed like a fluffy tail.
"You can speak English?" He asked, perplexed.
"Is that the name of this language?" The woman responded, before she sat down at a table in the corner of the room. She seemed to fumble around for a moment, pulling out a bottle of ink and some sort of brush. Satisfied that she had a writing instrument, she noted down what he assumed to be the name of the language on a piece of paper in front of her."Ing-lish." She muttered to herself.
"You're speaking it right now."
"I suppose it seems that way to you." She said, although she annoyingly moved on rather than elaborating in any way.. "Now, who are you and what are you doing here? I need this information for the records."
"And why the hell should I tell you?" Woods replied, narrowing his eyes.
"Because if you don't, then you'll likely be gutted and served for lunch tomorrow."
"Gutted?" Woods asked, unsure whether this was a joke or not. "What, are you all a bunch of cannibals now?"
The woman laughed. "Cannibal? To be a cannibal, we'd have to be the same type of being."
"I get that you all have animal accessories and weird hair colors, but beyond that you don't look much different from anyone else."
"Accessories? What part of me looks like accessories?" She asked with a glare. "But yes, to your unaware eyes we probably look alike, foreigner. Besides, it wasn't always like that, from what I've been told."
"From what you've been told, huh? So you all used to be full wolves? Or were some of you birds?" He asked with a hint of mirth.
"Alright, enough. Just answer the damn question already."
Woods glared right back at her, before sighing. Not like giving out the information after the fact would change much of anything. "Technical Sergeant Regen Woods of the US Army Air Force. We were en route for a bombing run over Tokyo."
The woman stared blankly at Woods for a moment. "Alright, already you've lost me. Firstly, You-Ess you said?"
"The United States of America. It's where I'm from. Shouldn't you know this?"
The woman continued jotting stuff down on the piece of parchment, seemingly ignoring Woods' question. While Woods couldn't recognize anything that she wrote, he had to admit that her handwriting was actually rather impressive, even if he couldn't recognize the meaning behind any of it. Impressive calligraphy could transcend language, it seemed.
"Next, Army Air Force?"
"Yeah, it's a division of the Army. Don't the Japanese have a similar structure?
The woman shrugged, apparently not knowing how her own military worked. Then again, were they really her military? This place was clearly Japanese, but he was starting to doubt whether it was actually part of Japan or not.
"So only part of your army can fly? I guess that makes sense, considering you're just humans." When Woods remained silent, she looked back up at him and glared. "Hello?"
"What the fuck kind of question is that? None of us can fly, why the hell would we be able to?"
The woman paused from her writings to stare at Woods in confusion. "What?"
Woods stared right back, even more lost than she was, before the absurdity of the situation finally started to hit home, and his frustration started to boil over. "What the hell kind of place is this that your response to being told people can't fly is confusion?!"
The woman's eyes changed, and for a moment, it seemed like she was looking at Woods with pity more than mere condescension.
"I mean, I knew it wasn't exactly common amongst humans, but to think the entire population can't fly without aid is almost heart-breaking to hear. Do you get around just by walking?"
"I mean, we have things like cars and horses and what not. How the hell do you not know any of this?!" Woods all but screamed, before a realization came over him. "Wait, you're just screwing with me, aren't you?"
"Excuse me?
"Is this all just some joke to you?"
The woman gently placed her brush down, narrowing her eyes at Woods. "No, this is very serious to me. This is, after all, my job. And why do you think that we would care about the outside world?"
"Outside world?"
The woman stared at Woods' confused expression, before she seemed to realize something.
"You really have no idea the situation you're in, do you?"
"Beyond being captured?" Woods asked. "Absolutely no clue. I feel like that should have gone without saying."
"I suppose it should have." She said with a sigh. "Now, the last part, Tokyo, I think you said?" The woman seemed to pause, as if racking her brain for something.
"Uh, yeah, the name of the capital of your-" He paused, "or, well, the outside world country?" Woods tried to explain, not really comprehending how this worked. He could roll with the punches well enough, but he felt like he was just getting smacked in the face here.
"No, wasn't that Kyoto... no wait, they changed the capital right before the Barrier was raised to Edo, and then renamed the city, I think."
Woods stared at her, befuddled by her seeming confusion at what, to him, should have been something completely obvious.
"Look, I was just a kid at the time! Cut me some sla-"
"Chigomi!" Another woman's voice called out from the front hall, interrupting the wolf girl's excuse. Formality quickly set in as her posture straightened and she quickly calmed down.
"Tai-i Inubashiri!" His captor called out in response, seemingly switching to what he assumed to be Japanese. She stood up from her seat and saluted what he assumed to be her superior officer as she entered.
Another white haired wolf woman, the same one he'd been dangled in front of earlier in the day, stepped into the room. She was taller and much more well-built than Chigomi, as his captor was apparently called... Unless Chigomi was some sort of greeting, in which case he was back to square one. The newly arrived woman seemed, first and foremost, absolutely exhausted, a feeling he couldn't help but sympathize with. Even then, however, there seemed to be something else bothering her. The two started speaking with one another, but what they were talking about, he had absolutely no idea.
While at first Chigomi had been excited, her tail even wagging, much to his amusement, It wasn't long before the two had descended into what seemed to be an argument. After a bit of back and forth, he recognized the tell-tale signs of an admonished soldier backing down to their superior. Whether this was out of a genuine concession or because it simply wasn't worth the argument was usually irrelevant.
Finally, the taller woman handed her subordinate a sheet of paper, which she spent a minute or so reading over, before reading it again seemingly out of confusion. She looked up and asked a question, to which the other woman seemed to shrug at, before she stumbled her way almost drunkenly out of the room. Judging by how she looked, he could only guess at how long she'd been stuck awake.
"Well, looks like things aren't going to be so simple for you." Chigomi finally said after a third read through, her eyes squinting at the paper as if she were hoping to find some hidden fine print.
"What is it now?" Woods asked, wondering how his situation could possibly get any worse.
"By the decree of Lord Tenma, you will be facing trial for crimes against the Tengu."
Author's Note: Chapter 2 is here. I had most of this already done along with Chapter 1, so as to be able to get it posted sooner. I apologize to anyone who has any familiarity with Japanese naming conventions, but I genuinely put more effort into trying to make it work with the style that Touhou has for named characters usually being Kanji puns than I really should have. That being said, with this chapter most of the original characters of the story have been introduced, with the rest being comparatively unimportant in comparison. Most of the rest of the characters will be actual characters from the canon, although with how loose Touhou canon is in terms of characterization that might not be saying much.