Interlude: Saki and Friends / Master of the Mountain Part 1
Lunaryon
Dual Aurora Wave
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Interlude: Saki and Friends?
Wednesday, June 24th, 1992
After school
PANPAKA Pan Bakery
Saki Hyuuga sits behind the counter at her family's bakery, idly slumped forwards as she waits and waits and waits. She'd usually think of herself as a patient person, but today's something of an exception. She can barely resist the urge to tap her feet or drum her knuckles against the counter..
She refuses to look at the clock. She's not sure how long she's been here, or how long it'll be before her father gets back. But if she knows that if she looks at the clock, she'll learn that she hasn't been sitting around for nearly as long as she'd like to think.
So what if it's childish?
She and Mai have spent the last couple of months fighting terrible demons that want to destroy the Earth. Granted, Dark Fall's minions are less powerful than the youma of the Dark Kingdom, less numerous than the wizards of Onogoro, and, with the possible exception of Miss Shiitake, less viciously cruel than the Labyrinth cyborgs Saki had only heard about after the mass disappearance on Shikoku last week.
But still, if Saki wants to be a little childish, she's earned the right.
But the childishness doesn't do anything to help the way the minutes seem to be passing as slowly as they possibly can. Creeping past like slowly dripping water, eroding her resolve to avoid the clock.
Just before she gives in, the bell above the bakery door jingles cheerfully. The door opens, and Saki rises to her feet almost instantly, trying to look prim and proper and perfectly employee-like.
And then she casts it aside in favor of a beaming smile. She waves eagerly at one of her favorite customers. There are chattier customers, but none more charming. There are more charming ones… probably?
Zoey is… Well, honestly, Saki isn't sure if Zoey is a girl or a boy. They normally only come to the bakery once a week or so, for a long time, months and months, probably almost a year, come to think of it. And they've never showed up dressed as either a girl or a boy more than three times in a row. It's not just a coin flip if they're going to be dressed as a boy or a girl; that's switching back and forth on purpose. So Saki just shrugs and thinks of Zoey based on however they dress for any given visit.
So yeah, definitely a girl this time.
"Hey, Zoey! I thought I wouldn't see you for another couple of days at the least. Didn't you say you could only come to town once a week?"
Zoey brings up a hand to cover her mouth, but it doesn't hide the giggle. "Well, I have good luck and bad luck. You see, one of my coworkers has gotten a little… ahead of herself; she's no longer working for the company." Saki senses a joke there, from the lilt in Zoey's voice, but it's a very inside joke.
On the other hand, the obvious part… "Does that mean you're relocating closer to Kamakura?"
"Well, I do have something of a reputation of a troubleshooter, for my sins. With Ansie having gone and made a mess of things, I suppose it was only natural I'd be asked to pick up the pieces." She shrugs disarmingly.
"Oh, congratulations!" Saki smiles. "I'm glad your boss thinks so highly of you. I'm sure you'll do great!"
Zoey, quite suddenly, lets out a long, exhausted sigh. Maybe that was the wrong thing to say?
"Uh… is this about the bad luck you were talking about?" Saki asks, suddenly concerned.
Zoey takes a moment to fix her hair, then shakes her head. "To a point. Let me see… you're on a softball team, right?" Saki blinks in surprise at the non sequitur, but nods. "Well, Ansie's job, and mine, is a little like being the coach of a team. Now, I've known Ansie for a long time, longer than a little thing like you would believe…"
Saki huffs. "Hey! I'm not that little, and you can't be that old…"
"You're sweet. But between knowing Ansie, and knowing a little of what's happened in her department lately, I can put together part of what went wrong. Ansie put together a game plan that was all about her favorites, a few people she knew well- think of them as the pitcher and the star batter- and she gave hardly a thought to the outfielders or the girls on the bases."
Saki frowns. "That doesn't sound like you'd get very good teamwork."
"You're right. It doesn't. And it meant that at first, Ansie almost certainly didn't realize things were starting to go seriously wrong for her plans until it was too late. And second, her people weren't prepared for what happened when things DID go wrong for her and her favorites. And third and most annoying, that means all of Ansie's people who aren't already snapped up by the competition after the job came apart panicked and scattered and now I have to try and track them all down and pick up all the dropped marbles with my own two hands." Zoey huffs. "And my boss thinks I can handle this on top of my old responsibilities, and let me tell you, the competition back where I've been working is sharper than most people think. I'm good, but just because I make it look easy doesn't mean nothing can go wrong when my back is turned!"
Zoey throws up her hands, lets out a long sigh that's probably at least three quarters real frustration, and slumps. Saki tries to think of something to say to make her feel better, but before she has a chance, the bell rings and the door opens again.
whoosh
Before Saki or Zoey even have a chance to move, the oddly-dressed girl is already down on her knees in front of the counter, gazing raptly at the pastries. "Ohhh… these look so good!"
And as Saki and Zoey glance at each other, the bell rings a third time. Though the third person to come through looks more… normal... than the second. Or, arguably, than Zoey.
"Kuro!" The girl in black flinches a little as the new arrival shouts at her. "Come on, we have a job to do!"
"But I'm hungry!"
The blonde woman- not that old, but somehow seeming more mature- shakes her head at the complaint. "We're supposed to meet the client as soon as they get to Kamakura. We can see about getting something to eat after we…" Her voice trails off as she looks up from the girl in black and really sees Zoey for the first time.
Not noticing this, the girl in black turns back to look over her shoulder. "Magi?" Then she follows her friend's gaze to look up at Zoey. "Hey, wait a second! You're Zoi! The one we've been looking for!" She rises to her feet, smiling. "We're supposed to report to you about your predecessor's team and projects…"
Saki gets a sense that there's something strange about all this. But, well, she doesn't know much about business, or what is or isn't reasonable. And she doesn't want to interrupt. Zoey is just Zoey, after all. The girl in black might be dressed funny and kind of copying Sailor Moon's hairstyle- that's been going around a lot lately- but Saki doesn't get a bad feeling off of her, or her blonde friend Magi.
Admittedly, Kintoleski was visiting the bakery for weeks before he turned out to be working for Dark Fall, and Saki never noticed, so… well, maybe she should just admit she doesn't know what's going on sometimes.
But if Saki feels confused, Zoey certainly doesn't seem either confused or surprised. "Oh? Well, that's very helpful of you two! I didn't know the boss had planned for this. Then again, I can see why she'd prepared in advance; Ansie was never very loyal, was she?" Zoey shakes her head sadly, and her eyes are watching the two new arrivals. Who look at each other, a bit nervously. Zoey smiles encouragingly. "Now now, don't be afraid to tell me the truth. I only bite on special occasions~"
The girl in black's mouth twists as she suppresses a giggle, but Magi finally manages an answer. "Ma'am, I hope you don't think we'd be working with Ansie against the interests of the company…"
whoosh
And quite suddenly, Zoey's crossed half the room to stand quite close by Magi's side. Her hand reaches up to pat Magi on the cheek. Her voice drops an octave, and she suddenly seems quite serious, without the cloud of giggling playfulness she so often trails behind her. "Don't worry, Magi darling. I don't believe for a minute that you were doing any such thing."
Flustered, Magi glances at Kuro, whose eyes have narrowed. They both seem rather tense at the sudden move. But then Magi smiles a bit shakily, and says "Good. That's good."
Zoey steps back. "Don't worry about it. Now, let's order something for me and your friend, and you too if you're so inclined, and we can talk about this. Sorry to have to end our chat, Saki dear. Business before pleasure, I'm afraid."
"That's okay!" Saki smiles at Zoey, ready to take their orders.
Interlude: The Master of the Mountain
Chapter 1
Chapter 1
1d100 = 25
[Quarter Roll!]
25 - ADDITIONAL FACTIONS INTERFERE
[Quarter Roll!]
25 - ADDITIONAL FACTIONS INTERFERE
Some people say that the sounds and the smells of the seas are calming. Honestly, Takeda Sukuno, young prodigy of the Guardians, reflects as he leans over the side of the fishing boat, having already emptied his stomach once, he doesn't have the slightest clue what those horrible, horrible people could be thinking.
The ocean is wet, and the ocean is cold.
Everything stinks of salt, and the floors of boats move around in ways that floors are most certainly not supposed to move.
Despite being on a boat at that very moment, just thinking about the way the waves push boats around makes the man's stomach leap up to his throat again, and he half lunges forwards, more bile spilling past his lips.
Pulling back, he groans up at the sky. "I fucking hate the ocean."
Out here on the sea, every breath coats Takeda's tongue in the taste of salt, which isn't much better at all than the bitter taste of bile. If anything, the mix is even worse than either is alone, and Takeda hates the taste of salt as it is.
Takeda isn't the youngest person to have ever been inducted into the ranks of the Guardians, not by a long shot. However, he is among the three youngest members to have been brought into the organization in the last hundred and fifty years. A badge of honor that he wears with pride. Pride enough that some might even call it arrogance. But what do they know? Takeda quite literally knows better, after all, if they knew as much as he did, they'd be members of the Guardians.
Even then, the other two members of the Guardians who were inducted younger than him were brought in during the bad old days before the Onogoro ministry truly managed to tame the wilds of Japan. Back before humanity tore down the most dangerous threats and put them in their place.
Or, at the very least, the place that they should have stayed.
Ignoring the way that his stomach tries to roil again, Takeda grits his teeth and pushes himself fully up to his feet. There are few things that Takeda hates more than the taste of salt or being on the sea. Among that short list is when uppity yokai try to slip their yokes so that they can return to hunting down humanity. Takeda was raised on stories of the bad old days, before the Fade brought balance to Japan. Before the rising Ministry brought peace, prosperity, and order to the chaotic wilderness of the old country.
As a member of the Guardians, Takeda is more aware of the movements of other magical governments across the world, and what they have done in hiding youkai from the world, but from everything that he has heard, the only other place that seems to be anything other than naive would be the Golden Library in Russia. But that may be because he knows less about the Russian government than he does any other important government the world over.
The nobles of that country are quite tight lipped about anything involving their upper echelons, and there are times when he wonders if they might have some horrid secret… But given how soft the rest of the world is, he'd also bet a month's pay that their so called dark secrets are just more examples of their most recent 'Eternal Tsar' putting into place reasonable restrictions on the yokai in that icy hellhole.
Meanwhile, places like Italy and the United Kingdom, and the American states across the pacific refer to the yokai of their nations as being 'protected' or 'endangered'. As if they don't realize that if they loosen their grip even a little there will be blood running through the streets of every major city within a fortnight. Maybe it's a matter of public relations, and Takeda snorts at that thought, before regretting it as the horrid scent of the sea and the remnants of the sick on his tongue mixes together into something horrible enough that he nearly leans over the side again.
Public Relations are the very bane of the Guardians. Despite how much good they do for the government, there still have to hold back and limit what all they do, lest they upset the Kuge's refined sensibilities.
Of course, Takeda would never say that out loud. He might be a member of the Guardians, but there are still lines that even he isn't willing to cross. Saying something so traitorous is one of them. If only because he doesn't have any allies in high enough places to bail him out if he pissess off the wrong brat with a chip on their shoulder.
Which, unfortunately, is something of a circular issue. The only way to get the kinds of support that he'd need to be able to piss off noble brats would be to have allies who are noble brats in and of themselves. He'd have to go scouting for potential in that academy that Mistress Sato is in charge of.
Of course, that would mean having his boss's boss's boss's boss looking over his shoulder.
No thank you.
He likes that idea nearly as much as he likes the sea.
Thankfully, the boat under his feet shudders softly as the side of it taps up against the dock of the island that he and the others have been sent to.
Rumor has it that a few members of that yokai run sham of an organization have been spotted on the island. The Guardians aren't sure if that is true or not, but if it is, something has to be done about it. This island holds one of the most dangerous yokai in all of Japan. A creature that very nearly blurs the line between demon and kami.
Some of the others say that the boorish beast, the Master of the Mountain may even be an equal to the Lord of Kyushu.
There is a reason that the Ministry has had to send out people every five years to reinforce the bindings keeping the Hill God bound to the same sixty five square kilometer stretch of island chain and ocean water.
Because if they gave him any more time, he might just manage to shatter the bindings and free himself to start killing every mortal that crosses his path. It hasn't been five years yet, but if MCAT is poking around, looking to free such a dangerous demon, then it might be for the best if they reinforce the bindings a few months early.
Stumbling off the boat, Takeda ignores the soft snort from the other guardians following behind him. Not even bothering to hide his scowl, Takeda glares over his shoulder before he very clearly rolls his eyes.
Honestly, Takeda is of two minds about this whole thing - Not the job itself, even if he'd rather work to kill the damned mountain beast instead of sealing it - but while Takeda is glad to have the backup of a half dozen other mages, he worries that this isn't going to be enough.
For one of the most powerful threats in all the isles, seven sorcerers is an absolutely tiny number. Takeda is the youngest of the Guardians here, but that is the norm even on days when he's paired up with new rising stars, but it is all the truer here.
As far as Takeda can tell, he's the only one here with a full head of hair, let alone the only one whose hair isn't going gray. Supposedly, this team is supposed to specialize in sealing magics, but given that Takeda doesn't even know their names, he's not sure how much help they'd really be. These old fogies should just sit back and let him do what he is best at.
Once he's sure that the slowest, and oldest member of the team have gotten off that infernal boat, Takeda turns back to the little town here at the edge of the water. As members of the Ministry, they are supposed to be keeping a low profile. Which is a bit of a problem, because there's really only three reasons that anyone would ever come to this little dot on the map.
1. Refueling your stupid boat.
2. Visiting the buddhist temple at the top of the island.
3. Or you are trying to draw attention to yourself.
Well, Takeda can leave refueling the boat to the snippy little captain that spent close to half their trip from the main island making fun of Takeda. And there isn't a snowball's chance in hell that Takeda is going to set foot in a temple. Humans are the ones at the top of the totem pole. Anyone who is trying to pray to something higher than themselves is just wasting their time and showing why the Ministry refers to modern day Japan as 'Little Brother'.
Whatever. The temple is at the top of the island, which means that it is the best place to try and find where this so-called lord might actually be. Stomping forwards, Takeda starts to head towards the hillside trail leading out of town. He doesn't bother to look back at the old timers following behind him.
They'll either make themselves useful when the time is right, or they'll have fallen behind and proven themselves to be as useful as Takeda thinks they are.
Takeda makes his way across town, making sure to walk faster than he's seen any member of his temporary team move up until now. He's angry, and he's muttering, even if he keeps his words quiet. Takeda is barely paying any attention to his surroundings - So little attention in fact that he doesn't bother stopping when he runs into a petite silver haired gaijin.
So, he was in fact paying attention, but what does he care about foreigners? Particularly ones with long hair done up in something approaching the same style as the obnoxious demon hunters that have been drawing so much attention from the public towards magic and the many things that they would be better off ignoring.
Once Takeda and the others pass by the young woman, she waits a few moments more, before she slips into the gap between one of the fish sellers and the ramen shop that she had only just left when Takeda ran her over.
Pulling a surprisingly slim device from her pocket, the young woman quickly presses the numbers that she has already managed to memorize in just the few days that she has had the device.
"Ma-" Chris Sakurai starts to say, before she cuts herself off. "Doctor Sakurai. We have a problem. There's a group from the Ministry on the island."
Takeda continues up the many steps, leading towards the temple at the top of the mountain. Takeda is a Guardian, and a dangerous one at that. A skilled one.
He might not have realized that the girl he bumped into was anything but ordinary, but she is a human. There is another that he completely misses in his single-minded stalking forwards.
With eyes of glowing green, a youma rests up in the branches of the many trees along the mountain path. Carefully, the youma slinks back, body squelching low and slithering down the trunk before it manages to move further back and away from the pathway.
To the wilds where no humans go. Pulling itself back up to its more humanoid form, the youma reaches into a satchel, pulling forth a puzzle cube, made of obsidian and gilded with golden sigils. Tentacles move quickly, pulling and pushing, twisting and turning, shifting here and pressing there.
With a mystic humm the device expands, unfolding just barely as it hovers in the air, each piece floating independent of the others. As quickly as the youma used her many tentacles to open the box, she now begins to hit the thirty-two different parts of the box.
⋔ ⍜ ⍀ ⏁ ⏃ ⌰ ⍜ ⌿ ⌿ ⍀ ⟒ ⌇ ⌇ ⍜ ⍀ ⎍ ⋏ ⟟ ⏁ ⎎ ⍜ ⎍ ⋏ ⎅. ☌ ⍜ ⎐ ⟒ ⍀ ⋏ ⋔ ⟒ ⋏ ⏁ ⏃ ⌰ ⟟ ☌ ⋏ ⟒ ⎅ ⍀ ⟒ ⏚ ⟒ ⌰ ⎍ ⋏ ⟟ ⏁ ⎎ ⍜ ⎍ ⋏ ⎅. ⏚ ⍜ ⎍ ⋏ ⎅ ☊ ⍀ ⊬ ⌿ ⏁ ⟟ ⎅ ⎎ ⍜ ⎍ ⋏ ⎅.
⌰ ⟟ ⏚ ⟒ ⍀ ⏃ ⏁ ⟒ ⏚ ⍜ ⎍ ⋏ ⎅? ⌿ ⍜ ⌇ ⌇ ⟟ ⏚ ⌰ ⟒ ⏃ ⌰ ⌰ ⊬ ⏃ ☌ ⏃ ⟟ ⋏ ⌇ ⏁ ⋔ ⍜ ⋏ ⏃ ⍀ ☊ ⊑ ⟟ ⌇ ⏁ ⌇ ⟒ ⋏ ⌇ ⊑ ⟟.
⌰ ⍜ ⍀ ⎅ ⋉ ⍜ ⟟ ⌇ ⟟ ⏁ ⟒ ⌿ ⌰ ⟒ ⏃ ⌇ ⟒ ⏃ ⎅ ⎐ ⟟ ⌇ ⟒.
All the while, on the other side of the island, a rickety little rowboat pulls up onto the shore. With a grunt and a snort, a single figure rises. A trident stabs into the sand, before the towering figure reaches back into the boat, lifting up a quartet of deer, all bound together with strips of leather.
A towering Yokai carefully balances the deer on one shoulder before he picks up his trident once more, slotting the long weapon into a pair of slats across the top of the boat, lifting that too up as he starts to head back towards his home.
Last he checked, the monks at the temple were still far too thin. He can spare them two of the deer to make sure that they don't end up starving themselves. The towering Master of the Mountain can't help but snort at that, as if he didn't make sure to hunt more just to make sure that the Monks would be fine.
If only there were more challengers here on the mountain. He's getting bored.
Last edited:
