randomtengureporter:

Really, an Oni can’t very well complain about a Tengu taking things too literally, can she? Comes with being a reporter. Daichi all but glowed at the simple praise and nodded his head excitedly. “Thank you, Honored! Your peoples’ instructions to mine were quite clear!” He began ticking points off on his hand. “Gather information and inform the masses. Never lie. And maintain the Mountain in your absence. It’s the first rules a Karasu hatchling is taught!” He nodded as sagely as he could.

Unfortunately, or fortunately if you prefer your birds on the confused side, Yurichi’s suggestion of a story left the reporter a bit perplexed, as the unconscious tilting of his head indicated. Daichi spent several long moments trying to make sense of the woman’s statement, but understanding slowly dawned on him. “Money. Ms Yurichi, you can’t really be ordering me to write the article about gold? Of all the interesting things going on in the Underground, you think people want to read about money trading systems?” The level of exasperation in the male’s voice danced dangerously close to disrespectful as he pointed towards the front door of her shop. “I mean, this is the first article written about current yefallos-Oni-luth affairs in… In a damn long time, and I can’t very well waste the opportunity! Money?” He crossed his arms and tried to look stubborn. “I won’t do it. There must be something else.”

It didn’t take too long before the Tengu’s chattering on drove Yurichi back into slumping back and nodding without really listening too much. Alright, she thought, I get it. Not gold. It was wise, in her book, to leave the subject to the expert, anyway. For once she accepted he was right, and yielded as she should.

“Yeah, you have a point. I guess I’m mostly trying to keep things on the down-low… Maybe a little too much.” A brief moment of hesitation, and likely contemplation, prefaced her immediate change in expression. A wicked demons’ grin spread across her face, full of mischief and maybe a bit of malice. “You know… What’s the point without making it really interesting, right?”Putting her hands together and cracking her knuckles loudly, she got up off the stool and rounded her counter, right past the Tengu. “Maybe… We ought to make a story! Something on edge, something controversial to distract from this other- you know, whole thing we got going on.”

She scooped up two armfuls of bottles and supplies and dropped them back on the counter, setting about arranging them excitedly. When she was done, she had a row of smaller, cardboard cubes, a winding trail of juniper seeds, and a set of three pointed bottles that led up to an architectural arrangement of four square bottle-towers around a dish, on which sat a pickled olive.

“We could lead this little story over to the mind-witch. You can’t tell me that wouldn’t make for something good.” Everyone loves a good revolution.

randomtengureporter:

“An Oni child caused the eruption that nearly wiped out my people?” While one may assume such a statement would come as an accusation or an angry outburst, the Tengu’s was simply awestruck. Surprise never stopped a well trained Karasu’s hand though, and Daichi’s pen continued its dance across the page, only stuttering slightly at the order to not publish. He kept his mouth shut, but everything about his body language said that he was less than thrilled at the reminder. That quip about his refined and artistic language- You know; the one that Oni gave them- being nasal was almost enough to make him grumble, but she wasn’t wrong. Of course it’s nasal and difficult, Daichi groused as his eyes fixed onto the emblem at her neck, you try making hard consonant sounds without lips.

It would probably please Yurichi to know that her punch was probably the hardest he’d even been hit. In a single blow anyway… Also discounting lacerations and punctures. Or parasol related blunt trauma. But definitely the hardest punch!

“Daddy’s little flower?” Even his hand stopped writing to contemplate that statement. Laughing at an Oni was not only foolish, but probably very likely to cost him valuable points in Yurichi’s book. But, come on… This was an Oni woman who could punch through, well, probably anything really, and her father calls her a little flower. When the cruel gods of irony blessed you with situations like this, you had to simply laugh. When Daichi got his breathing back under control, and the laughter was reduced to mere giggle fits, he dipped his head in an apologetic bow. “Jisen, Ms Yurichi, I’m sorry…” He cleared his throat for good measure and tried to look somber. He failed, by the way.

“From what I’ve gathered, Honored, you are what many would consider a rebellious youth. Probably from a noble family… If nothing else, your grammar and word choice hint at better than normal education,” the Tengu explained, “even through the veil of casualness you speak with. I’m not sure exactly how much money one of the Honored usually carry, but the indifferent way you tossed the coins back at the cafe would imply you’re not terribly worried about making ends meet. Makai, did you even count it before dragging me off? If so, I didn’t notice.” He began to pick up energy and momentum as the speculation poured forth. “But you haven’t flaunted it either; never saw you push anyone aside, or issue orders like you expected their service. Other than to me, of course. You also never made a big point of your family name. So, you’re not just trying to ride the thermal it would provide, right?”

Daichi crossed his arms and grinned widely. “So, you’re a young woman, trying to make a name for herself, rather than just being a family pawn, but not afraid to use what resources you have available.” He snapped his fingers and pointed triumphantly. “And I’ll bet you still end up having to attend functions as a family representative, don’t you? How am I doing so far, Honored Yurichi Ajisubete?”

     She playfully threw up her hands, lacking the excitement that one might expect from that. “No, it wasn’t a child. I said child of two families, that just means…” And, falling silent out of exasperation, she let him continue until he’d finished. “You nailed it.” Taloned it, maybe. Her cuffs made a quiet jingle. “I’d all but forgotten how astute you Tengu can be, and you seem clever, to boot. Now that you’ve all but Holmes’d me up, let’s get you a decent story to stick with… We’ll need something with enough subtext that it would warrant a second interview, or at least a second trip underground. Let’s go with…” She adopted the classical Thinker’s pose, eyes playing from the wood sandals of the Tengu across her floor, to an assortment of bottles stacked against the wall, empty. “Uh, maybe something regarding food and supplies?”

     After another moment of silence, she shrugged. “That could work. Or the different community workings; Factions, economics, the income cycle… I don’t know if you’re familiar with political systems, but so far we’ve proven to be pretty capitalistic, for a small community. Strange, when you think about it.” She leaned back in her seat, relaxing again, and fondly regarded the bird. “Last I learned, most smaller communities stick to socialism of sorts. I could give you all the info you’d need, provided we don’t particularly talk about the Mafia too much.” She scowled. “I’d hate to attend any functions with a sudden bad twist to my name, should your trepidatious press manage to make it down this far.”

chireidenraven:

[Well, I won’t be here tomorrow, and Sunday will be busy buuut… I’ll try and do a bunch Sunday night, after I rush through my project. Since I won’t check it until then, might as well drop in whatever requests you’ve got for Sunday!! Goodnight!!]

randomtengureporter:

“European? Interesting.” Truth was, Daichi had read a few fairy tales from Europe, but was always somewhat put off by the lack of Tengu. I mean, he mused in an annoyed tone, how can someone write about magic so incorrectly? And not include Tengu? Blyth tier…He shook himself from his thoughts and decided to give the book a try anyway.

“Oh, sorry, I guess I wasn’t clear,” he said carefully and bowed to the Oni. “To be honest, I’d been interviewing you this whole time, for both.” As the Tengu straightened up, he flipped open the notebook to the spot where he’d started writing about Yurichi, and then flipped through several pages of observations. “It’s often in the things one doesn’t say that the most information is revealed, Honored.” For just a moment, Daichi felt terribly wise until he realized that the line he’d quoted was from an Oni philosopher.

The Tengu nodded and remembered reading about the cataclysm. “The Day of Fire? Long before I hatched, Ms Aijsubete… Can you tell me about it? And what other major events have you witnessed?” Other than when your people left mine behind, he added mentally, the thought sour and unpleasant, especially given what he knew now.

“Let’s go with that and stick to it for now, as uninteresting as historical interviews might be… Ones that are common knowledge, I mean.” She leaned back on the barstool behind her counter, resting the back of her head against the wooden wall. Her ponytail made for a good cushion, in most situations. “You birds called it the Day of Fire, we called it something that’s easier to say in your tongue; It was something like ‘Gar Thoras Vitchiie,’ or something like that. You birds have such a nasal, tricky language, but at least the linguistics let you express things that would otherwise be tricky. Metaphors and stuff have always helped. Anyway, what it basically meant was our Families’ Pride day. Something like that. One Oni, who was the child of two opposed families, was prodigal enough to cause that eruption by shaking the old mountain. There are a few versions that say he even shook it from within.” She laced her fingers behind her back and cracked them loudly. “Anyway, that eruption cloaked up the sky for a while, and was one of the bigger factors in our other interview, which we’ll get to. Keep note of that, but don’t publish it.”

After taking a moment to let the bird write, she looked down at him from over the point of her nose. He was pretty tough for a bird, surviving a punch from the world’s heaviest Oni. Even then, he was stronger in character for having pursued her past that, even to the point of getting an interview. That was him after all, not her.

“I’ve seen a few things before and since that, though most were underground. I was only a kid when I came here, and that was centuries ago. Hate to say it, but I’m kind of sheltered—on account of my family ties and stuff.” She turned her head and brushed aside her hair to show off the Ajisubete emblem again, the blood lily that had a mysterious connotation to the denizens of the Forgotten City. “Daddy doesn’t want his little flower out and about, ‘cuz she might make him look bad. So he gave me this store for a celebration a while back.” Looking once more past Daichi altogether, she realized the light in the front signifying an open shop was still on, so she reached over and flipped the electrical switch connected to it. There was a buzz, and the bluish light from behind Daichi died out. “Exactly what have you garnered from what I haven’t said so far, bird?”

scornedsatori:

chalced-oni:

When Satori gazed into the young Oni’s heart, she would see something that mirrored much like she felt. What a horrid cave, there isn’t even a path to the town. Everyone is so rowdy and everything is so unkempt. This place feels decayed. Even the air feels ill. And a few minutes prior, which she said aloud but to herself, “Some lone lady deep in the cave can build a mansion, but the legendary Oni can’t manage more than a glorified dining shack.” That few minutes later, her mumbling complete and her mind on track, she stood in Lady Satori’s parlor, bolt upright with her hands clasped behind her back.

Her father, head of the clan, had told her beforehand what Lady Satori was capable of, and had spent more than a few hours lecturing her in proper respectful etiquette that she would use when meeting the mind reader. He reminded her to behave as she would around him. Her mind immediately registered this and responded silently, but I’ll can’t keep my mouth shut around her, you old hypocrite. Bitterness did not show through the respectful smile on her face. “Yes, father.”

She immediately bowed, flooding her own mind with the most polite, proper stuff she could. People shaking hands and exchanging business cards and talking about dow jonses and whatever, handing over briefcases and silk ties and ribbons and polite, fake smiles. A twinge of extreme distaste shot through her head, which she beat down mentally. “Lady Satori, I am pleased to stand before you as…” Ambassador of the Forgotten City, her lips said. Someone who really shouldn’t be here, said her mind. I know exactly how you feel, her mind added. “I come bearing a gift of thanks from my family for your service and patience… Erm, it’s really a diplomatic meeting…” In short, she had no idea why they had sent her, the least imposing, the runt of the litter, to go see the Queen of the Mind down here. Some suspicions crossed her thoughts, but she routinely dismissed them all. “I was told it was that, anyway. They told me what you can do and how smart you are, so you’ve probably already figured out more than I have.”

“Not fond of the cave either?” Satori speaks in response to Yurichi’s thoughts without missing a beat, as she so often does. “Horrid, decayed, ill air.” She mutters just loud enough for the oni to hear, pulling her thoughts out in the open where they rightfully shouldn’t be. Thoughts so similar to her own, yet they elicit no sympathy.

“Cut the charade.” Her head finally separates from the glass, turning to give the girl an appraising look. “Filling your head with images will not get you anywhere, within moments you’ll need to actually think of something and then it becomes impossible for me to not invade your thoughts.” She swings around, flourishing her hand as she finally comes face to face with the young oni, her piercing purple glare running her straight through.

“The oni exiled themselves a long time ago, no? Judging by your mind you were likely born down in these caves. How could you possibly claim to know how it feels to have lived under the sun for centuries before having it torn from you by decisions outside of your control?” She doesn’t raise her voice in the slightest, her entire being radiating cold distaste for Yurichi’s sympathy.

Yet in the next moment, she laughs. A chilling, emotionless laugh, forcing its way out of her throat as if she’d just heard a terrible joke. “Thanks for my service and patience?” She barely manages to stop laughing before speaking again. “I know exactly why they sent your pathetic self to me instead of some high honcho.” She slowly approaches Yurichi as she speaks, like a spider approaching a bug caught in its web. “They think I know their secrets, and they want to keep me happy so that I don’t reveal them, pfah!” She spits on the floor in contempt. “And to keep me from acquiring more of those secrets they send you, a nobody, the’ runt of the litter’, in an attempt to do it without putting anything important at risk.” She’s now completely reached the oni girl, looking her in her eyes. “That hypothesis sound familiar to you?” She’s pretty sure she saw it among the girl’s suspicions earlier, she never misses her mark.

“Uh…!” The uh was a rather sarcastic one, to be expected from a girl her age. She conveyed the thought well through the sound, though there was no need to. Satori could see it clear as day written in the air above her head, written right on her soul. That’s exactly what I’m talking about. “You’re not the only person exiled down here… The Oni Elders made that decision, not all of the Oni. Some of us would much rather have stayed…” She grimaced, finally realizing that Satori had already probed into her mind at the beginning of this line of ‘questioning’. Something about it made her feel uncomfortable, though she had yet to identify that per se.

And before she could put it into words, Satori was busy hitting another nail on the head. Yurichi freezes up as the mindreader approaches her. They sent you, a nobody. The ‘runt of the litter’, in an attempt… “Yeah…” She muttered, looking down. … Nothing important at risk. “… Yeah. That’s what I thought too, though—You probably knew that, didn’t you?” A dirty thought flashed across her mind and she tried to crush it quickly.

Does that make you as smart as me, or worse for having to catch up?

It was more than likely the satori had already seen the thought. Yurichi hoped not. Here was a kindred spirit, and one who was honest with her, too—unlike her family. She hoped sincerely not to offend Satori. So, attempting to make amends for words unsaid, she held out the basket. “… The family gift is something I have to give whether any of us like one another. Can it be from me instead of them, in your… eyes?” They don’t want to give it in good spirits, but I do.

themonsterwithgreeneyes:

‘Parsnip?’ The hashihime hissed slightly at the nickname. Really, was Parsee too hard to remember?

“I can carry a chain, you not so much. Really, whoever heard of an oni who couldn’t take some rough and tumble…” She grabbed the chain given with a small huff, promptly floating up to the source of the light. Hopefully it was long enough, and she wouldn’t have to strain to pull the oni with her. They weren’t light-weighted creatures. She could do it if she had to. If the oni didn’t resist, of course. If the oni dug their heels in, she’d be going nowhere.

“Spellcards can make you fly, yeah. If you use’m that way. You’d have to ask the miko girl on that one, not me. All mine are reference-based. Maybe she can teach you how to fly, too. Why’d you bring a good dress out here anyways? Don’t those things just get destroyed in that city? What with how much you all like to fight?”

Her voice hollered lightly down, not loud enough to attract attention but enough for her to be heard as she promptly wedged the chain around the sturdiest thing she could find. Hopefully a fallen tree trunk would balance out the weight.

“I don’t appreciate the stereotype,” mumbled the Oni as she fed the bridge princess enough chain to reach something up there. “… Or the criticism. I haven’t been here since I was just a kid, you know.” Outstretching her arm to make sure the princess had the last bit of chain in place, she leaned further so she could get a look over the lip of the hole.

Nothing, at this height. She could see the glimmer of the light of outside, even in the dark of… What time was it, again? She hadn’t seen sky nor sun (save for that horrid fake sun underground) in centuries. Oni schoolteachers had stopped bothering with time of day, because underground was eternal sunset—That horrid fake sun was always shining its light from deeper down than could bother the Oni, but it was bright enough to light the whole forgotten city at times. The electricity it provided did just that at all times.

“I brought the dress because it was this or sackcloth, and I didn’t expect to be leaving so soon. I’ll be fine. Once we get up there, I can get the stain out with a few easy to find ingredients.” Thinking quick, she dragged her finger down the wall behind her and touched it to the tip of her tongue, repeating multiple times until she did it over a whitish, crusty stone. That was it. She jammed her hand into the wall, ripping out a chunk of the stone and slipping it into her satchel. “We’ll take a look at this miko once we get out. You ready?” She waited for a good enough response, steadied herself, and bent her knees. “Alright…” And with that, she shoved off from the wall with all the strength she could manage, aiming up at an angle. She was hoping to be pulled by the chain around the pivot point Parsee had set, but no such luck arose—The log, though somewhat sturdy, was rotten enough that the world’s heaviest Oni snapped it in half when she took off. There wasn’t even time to think fast; She simply hit the other wall a few feet from the lip upward, bent her knees, and sprung off again as a panic reaction. This sent her backwards above where she was before, barreling right past Parsee and into a very thick tree a few yards off. She decided to lay there, in the now-bent tree, for a while, gazing lazy-eyed at the sky for the first time in what may have been more than a millennium. If she was crying (she was), it wasn’t because of the pain of snapping a tree with her head.

scornedsatori:

The underground… Satori has become so sick of being down here. No sun, no wind, only a dank atmosphere and the disgusting smell of sulfur drifting out of old hell. The optimistic part of her mind, tiny as it were has already stated the obvious benefits. They’re living in a mansion, they have the facilities to clean themselves, cook proper food. They even have subordinates to heap the menial tasks on to. But what’s the point when she’s cut off from so much?

She sighs and rests her forehead against the window, one of the few clear windows in the palace, allowing her to gaze at the rock separating her from the surface that she so desires. The glass isn’t even cool. It’s lukewarm like everything else in this blasted prison of hers.

“Yurichi of the Ajisubete family…” She doesn’t take her forehead off of the glass, not bothering to move in the slightest apart from her eye which swings around and locks on to the oni who just came in through the door. “I assure you that the mansion is nowhere near as lovely as you think it is after living in it against your will for more than a century. What business do you have with me?” There’s not even a hint of interest in her voice. Satori would evidently prefer the young oni to simply leave her to her grumblings.

When Satori gazed into the young Oni’s heart, she would see something that mirrored much like she felt. What a horrid cave, there isn’t even a path to the town. Everyone is so rowdy and everything is so unkempt. This place feels decayed. Even the air feels ill. And a few minutes prior, which she said aloud but to herself, “Some lone lady deep in the cave can build a mansion, but the legendary Oni can’t manage more than a glorified dining shack.” That few minutes later, her mumbling complete and her mind on track, she stood in Lady Satori’s parlor, bolt upright with her hands clasped behind her back.

Her father, head of the clan, had told her beforehand what Lady Satori was capable of, and had spent more than a few hours lecturing her in proper respectful etiquette that she would use when meeting the mind reader. He reminded her to behave as she would around him. Her mind immediately registered this and responded silently, but I’ll can’t keep my mouth shut around her, you old hypocrite. Bitterness did not show through the respectful smile on her face. “Yes, father.”

She immediately bowed, flooding her own mind with the most polite, proper stuff she could. People shaking hands and exchanging business cards and talking about dow jonses and whatever, handing over briefcases and silk ties and ribbons and polite, fake smiles. A twinge of extreme distaste shot through her head, which she beat down mentally. “Lady Satori, I am pleased to stand before you as…” Ambassador of the Forgotten City, her lips said. Someone who really shouldn’t be here, said her mind. I know exactly how you feel, her mind added. “I come bearing a gift of thanks from my family for your service and patience… Erm, it’s really a diplomatic meeting…” In short, she had no idea why they had sent her, the least imposing, the runt of the litter, to go see the Queen of the Mind down here. Some suspicions crossed her thoughts, but she routinely dismissed them all. “I was told it was that, anyway. They told me what you can do and how smart you are, so you’ve probably already figured out more than I have.”

themonsterwithgreeneyes:

“I should hope you aren’t that easily angered, lest you won’t survive long on the surface.”

The hashihime gave a small huff. An oni did have a temper, so this one would be no different, would she? If the hashihime were angered enough, she could turn, but she had given her word that she would help her get out, so finding a way up she would. Her teeth would not be barred unless she herself were threatened.

As far as stairs go, there were perhaps some at one time, depending on the route to the underground. Most of them were sealed off to prevent passage, with this blowhole being the only way down from the surface of Gensokyo. That, and most could fly, so traversing such a steep decline wouldn’t have been an issue.

So back to one of her plans it was, she noted, as she watched the oni try to climb out, only to have the steep incline be the victor yet again. She floated down to greet Yurichi, floating crosslegged. That mishap was of her own doing, had she released the previous chain, she could have swung alternately up the cavern. And now here she was, stuck hanging by her own chains. Such a simple-minded oni.

“Look, I have an idea. But if you wish to take it, you’ll have to think quick, otherwise you’ll fall. Or you can take out one of those chains and use them like you were planning to, preferably one at a time this time.”

“I’ll be fine,” she said, yanking one of the chains free and falling back to one wall. “Though I’d appreciate if you dropped the sarcasm. This is bad enough as is. If I had brought the right stuff… I probably could have made some kind of flying spellcard. Spellcards can do that, right?” She gritted her teeth, tensed her legs, and bounced off of the wall with her chain as a pivot point. It brought her a few meters above where she was before, where she planted the other chain and tried again, up and up, until she got to a rather steep part which would require her to somehow—-

“Hold on a second. You can easily carry a chain while you fly, right?” She dangled the longer of the two out to Parsee. “We’re almost there, so take this up and tie it around a tree or something. I’m tired of getting my good dress dirty, really.” While she waited, she wiped the damp earth off of her white dress. That was going to stain. At least the moss mixed in made it a decent color combination that matched her ribbon. Sort of. Unable to get the stain out until she got to the surface, or somewhere well enough to mix her chemicals, she rubbed it around in a spiky swirl pattern so if the stain did set it would at least seem intentional.

“I am quickly falling out of love with the whole ‘above ground’ idea. Help me out here, Parsnip.”

adelineritter:

themonsterwithgreeneyes:

sinyoukaiofjealousy:

“Oh fuck you. I haven’t even hurt myself lately.”

“So… you didn’t injure yourself to the point of near-death not long ago?”

“Not to mention, she got some OC gas on her eyes too.”

“I’m seeing double here. What the hells? What’s a human…” The oni rubs her eyes. “Weirdoes.”

[In the first picture: The Ajisubete clan emblem (left) and Yurichi’s rebellious teenage variant. Also her own symbol. In the second: I guess she’s trying to look cool or something?]