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The Gensokyo Capital Relocation Plan has been cancelled. All forces are to withdraw and return to the Lunar Capital immediately.
Those were the orders the moon rabbit soldiers had received from their superiors after the enemy attacking the Lunar Capital was defeated. As soon as the telepathic message was sent out, the invading forces sent to Earth began to gravitate towards the top of Youkai Mountain, making their way to the passageway through the Dream World that would lead them home once more.
Among the retreating Eagle Ravi, Seiran trudged wearily up the steps of the mountain shrine behind her comrades. Her legs ached from walking, and she still stung from fighting. It had been a long day, and all she could focus on was the full moon hanging invitingly in night the sky. Home seemed so very far away from here, and she was glad to get away.
Earthlings were not as weak and pathetic as the stories would have one think; the youkai of Gensokyo had not taken kindly to having their territory invaded, that was for sure. Youkai Mountain alone had done more than enough to prove the tenacity of the people living here. She'd heard Minami complain about their squad being attacked by the tengu before they even made it halfway down the mountain, and according to Yuna, a mountain hag had come after her with a meat cleaver after she'd accidentally gotten lost. The kappa had even managed to construct a device that jammed their transmissions, forcing them to flee. Seiran had been cursed with the worst luck of all, running into the Hakurei shrine maiden and the party she'd gathered to fight against the invading Lunarians - including an old friend-turned-traitor.
All of the rabbits had similar stories of fright and failure; the one thing their stories had in common was defeat. This invasion had not gone well. It was by far the strangest and most chaotic mission she'd ever been sent on. Even if the instructions she received were official orders, Seiran almost felt like she was being toyed with. Not only did the entire plan seem hasty and futile from the start, but the mission suddenly being cancelled before any major progress was made only raised more questions.
The impure gods of the mountain simply watched as the rabbits marched by their shrine on their way to the lake. That was strange, too. The Earthlings they'd been attacking only a few hours ago were gladly allowing them to retreat, even after all the day's events had occured. On the moon, weakened, battered enemies would be given no such mercy. Why were they being spared? Why were they retreating in the first place? What had happened back in the Lunar Capital?
The past few days had been a confusing and exhausting affair. Being a low-ranking soldier, Seiran was obviously told nothing of it. She was barely told anything the entire mission except the best way to prepare the mochi, really. What was she good for besides that? The only thing she managed to accomplish in the end was making herself feel tired and sore. She couldn't stop the humans, she couldn't stop the native youkai. She was a failure. She was glad to go home, she supposed, why wouldn't she be, but nothing about her mission felt satisfying at all. It wasn't the triumphant return she'd been expecting ('Yes, that's right! I was in the unit that purified the Earth!~'), not even a minor victory, just a hectic reshuffling of forces, a stream of conflicting orders, and mild panic. This wasn't why she accepted this mission, this wasn't even why she enlisted in the first place. Is this what war really was? Such a sordid and stressful afair?
She was tired, and confused, and in her weary stupor she almost missed the short, hatted figure relaxing against one of the towering onbashira surrounding the lake.
At the peak of Youkai Mountain, the shimmering entrance to Kaian Passageway #4 surrounded the full moon, shifting and swirling and illuminating the night sky in a strange purple light. The massive amount of energy pouring forth from the Dream World and Lunar Capital beyond stirred the lake below, distorting the patterns reflected from the sky above, sending turbulent ripples to the shore. Every so often, the long-eared shape of a rabbit, silhouetted aginst the moonlit night sky, would fly up towards the entrance of the passageway, disappearing home into the twisting, contorting center.
Ringo, Orange Eagle Ravi, lay back against a pillar, watching her fellows vanish into the night sky one-by-one. She bit one of the dango off of the skewer she was holding, taking in a breath of the cool mountain air. This was a beautiful place, and the atmosphere around the lake perfectly complimented the taste, she thought.
"Ringo?"
Upon hearing her name called, the small rabbit turned her head, almost expectantly. She wasn't surprised in the slightest; she'd expected Seiran to come and find her before leaving. They'd been in the same unit since they enlisted all those years ago. Her friend had the tendency to protest nearly every tactical decision she made, but nevertheless always stuck by her side, and so she would have been more surprised had Seiran not come to find her first. It was a meeting she was dreading, but a meeting that had to happen sooner or later, she supposed.
"What are you doing just sitting around here?" the taller moon rabbit asked, tilting her head in curiosity. "The Kaian Passageway will be closing soon, we've already been ordered to retreat. If you hang around any longer, you'll be left behind."
"That's the plan," Ringo responded, offering a sly smile as she turned away and continued with her snack. She didn't regret her words, but looking Seiran in the face as she spoke was another matter.
"The p- wait, what? Don't be ridiculous, Ringo, you're not actually intending on staying here, are you?"
"I like it here," the shorter rabbit protested, settling into an even more relaxed position, eyes shut. "The Earth is nice. You don't get sights like these back in the Capital."
"You're talking about abandoning your home and your friends because this world has nice views?" Seiran folded her arms in protest. "I don't believe a word of it, Ringo. What's really going on? Why are you acting like this?"
"I'm telling the truth." A small shrug. Looks like this wasn't going to be easy. The thought that it ever would have was silly. "I like the Earth better. Back in the Capital, it's all 'work, work, work'. Us rabbits are nothing more than tools, to do those people's work for them. Doesn't matter if it's pounding mochi or sweeping the streets or fighting their wars. If that's what absolute purity is, then it's really not anything special." She takes a moment to bite off another bit of dango before continuing. "I think I've had enough. I've had enough for a while. Didn't know what else there was to do, where else there was to go, but I know now. The Earth is something new. Something different. Nobody's telling me to do anything for once. That's why I'm staying."
Seiran, now seeing the truth in her friend's word, balled her fists, anger and hurt boiling up. They'd served together for nearly a decade, trained each other, shared a bunk together, they'd been each other's go-to partners even for something as simple as making mochi, and now Ringo was just going to abandon her to... to slack off from work?
"It's... it's not that easy, Ringo! You can't just stay here! It's foolish and stupid! You'll lose everything! They'll send you to prison as a traitor, or reassign you to garbage collection, or... or worse!"
"So? I told you, I don't care about that place anymore. If they're going to threaten me with prison or execution, or... take away my status, or whatever you say, I still don't care. It doesn't mean anything to me here, anyway, and I'm not going back. There, I'm a moon rabbit. Here, I'm an Earth rabbit. No responsibilities for me to worry about."
"You're not an Earth rabbit, Ringo!" Seiran protested indignantly, looking almost a little panicked. "What an incredible delusion! You're still just a moon rabbit, and now you sound like a traitorous one at that! You can't just stay here. You don't have anything here! I know life in the Capital might not be much, but that's just what we get as rabbits! We should appreciate what we do have! Here, we're... we're not anything! We're just enemies, surrounded by all of these youkai in this filthy prison world, and everything's out to get us! We can't stay here! We don't belong! You have to come back, this is stupid."
"I dunno, that's not what I see," Ringo pointed out, raising a finger. "You know what I do see? I see a beautiful lake atop a beautiful mountain, and the moon and all its problems are so very far away, all confined to that little orb in the sky."
She closed one eye, and let her index finger and thumb meet. She lauged a little, laughed at the mere thought of confining everything about her old life in a little circle made with her hand, and realized just how insignificant it actually was. Seiran watched in confusion.
"I'm here having a nice snack and enjoying the air. Maybe I could even go for a swim once it's warmer. And best of all, there's no responsibilities. Nobody telling me to make anything or do anything or fight anything. The only person who can tell me what to do here is me. Why would I ever take anything else? All I see here is a good, lazy life with plenty of room for me. This is better than anything I've ever had before. Look, can't you see it too?"
...She was totally, utterly serious, Seiran realized. At this point, she was making no effort to hide the anxious tears in her eyes.
"...They, they'll come for you, Ringo," the rabbit said, voice cracking. "Once they hear of your treachery, they'll come to get you for sure. I know you have your reasons, I understand, but- but they won't just listen to that, they'll consider it treachery and abandonment of duty and-"
"No they won't." the smaller rabbit interrupted with a dismissive wave of her hand. "They couldn't care less about dealing with one defecting rabbit. They've got way bigger things on their plate, especially now with this whole invasion debacle."
"How do you know!?"
"Reisen."
Seiran's eyes widened, and she watched quietly as the Orange Eagle Ravi popped the last piece of dango into her mouth, tossing the skewer aside.
"You know, nobody's making you stay. The Kaian Passageway is still open, isn't it? If you're going to leave, you can go ahead. You can go home and get some rest, train for your next mission. Now that my spot's vacant, you might even be promoted, who knows. But there's not much time left. Once the connection between the Earth and moon closes, it won't be able to be opened again until the moon is once again full. And in one month's time, who knows if you'll even be allowed back. If you're going to go, you have to go now."
Five minutes later, the entrance to Kaian Passageway #4 was sealed. Once more the sky was empty, and the lake still. The horizon tinged pink, painting the lakewater in the colors of morning as the sun slowly began to peek over the distant mountains.
"So, what made you decide to stay, after all?" Ringo asked with a small laugh. "Change of heart?"
"...No." Seiran answered quietly, seated next to her friend, staring at the fading reflection of the full moon in the lake. The echo of home was already starting to be concealed by the clouds and the growing light of dawn. "I still don't like the idea of this. But..."
"...But what?" A somewhat concerned look from her friend.
"Well, you're way better at making decisions than me. You and Reisen both. You always have been. I know I always argue, but in the end you're always right, and I end up feeling stupid. I figured if this was what the two of you really wanted, then it's what was best for me, too."
Ringo seemed surprised, leaning forward a little. "You trust me enough to just follow me blindly into the unknown like that?"
Seiran looked away as her cheeks reddened. "I... I think it would have been harder to not follow you. I've... been with you from the beginning, you know? We're partners. I can't just leave you either."
"...You know, I'm glad you stayed. It'll be fun. It's new. And it's even better when you're here, too."
"...Yeah?"
Seiran finally managed to work up a little smile. At seeing this, Ringo grinned, laughed, ruffled the other rabbit's hair and ears (to minor protest), but her head shortly came to fall on her companion's shoulder, and the two remained there by the lake until dawn had come and gone.