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The Twisted Hills were a region on the furthest outskirts of Gensokyo, far from the Human Village, where creatures almost too terrible to be called youkai dwelled, and the land itself could consume unwary exterminators who crossed through it. This was all that Fuyuko Hakurei knew of the land, and none of it was any comfort to her as she stood on the edge of the yellow, decaying grass, and gazed up at the winding and unnatural clouds silhouetted against the dark sky. The yellow, white, and black swirled together in an unnatural color combination that reminded her of an infected wound.
"...Hakurei. Ya ready?" The gruff, low voice of her partner pulled Fuyuko out of her daze, and she turned to look over her friend. Michi Kentashi, standing half a foot shorter than the shrine maiden, was not immediately intimidating. However, if one were aware of the twin concealed blades she carried, or of her reputation as a renowned slayer of evil, they would be more convinced that this small, green-haired youkai was not one to be trifled with. Fuyuko knew of the Village's opinion of the Hakurei shrine maiden consorting with a youkai, especially one as dangerous and wild as a kamaitachi, (for that is what Michi was) but she wanted someone behind her when venturing to this horrid deadland, and there was no one she trusted more than Michi.
"Yeah. Just... wondering what caused this." The Twisted Hills had been a lawless, survival-of-the-fittest dead zone for most sapient living things since long before the two were born, but even the Child of Miare only had theories of what sort of magical or spiritual cataclysm could have transformed the place into such an area. The working theory was that the wild-spirited manager of the Old Hell Reactor had gone crazy at some point in time, scorching the land and poisoning what was left with her mysterious energies. "We shouldn't have to spend too much time here, right? The youkai we're tracking is pretty weak, so it shouldn't live too far in."
"Heh. Let's not get too comfortable, now, but I'm havin' a hard time disagreein'. No way some small-time plant youkai is gonna be bringing us both down." The pair had tracked a minor plant youkai to its home here, after the youkai in question had tried to eat a farmer who wandered too far from the path. The youkai was weak enough that the farmer had been able to wrestle out of its grip and run for help.
"Well, let's not jinx it, you know..."
"HAH! Superstitious as ever, Fuyuko! I'll see ya inside!" Michi shouted, as she suddenly dashed across the threshold separating Gensokyo from its yellowing splinter.
Fuyuko started, turning as her ally zoomed past her. "H-hey! Wait, you moron, this place is DANGEROUS!" The shrine maiden took a few running steps then, realizing she could not dream of keeping pace with Michi, took flight after her. "You're going to get yourself killed!"
Michi laughed, a low, growling sound that used to send shivers down Fuyuko's spine. "Fat chance. I can see for miles. Youkai sight, remember? If anything, YOU should be stayin' behind. Poor little human like you might get gobbled up here!" She grinned, flashing razor-sharp incisors designed to tear still-living flesh from the bone. Fuyuko just rolled her eyes. This intimidation tactic had long since run its course, and she wasn't scared of someone who she had seen crying into a sake dish after seeing a sad play. She didn't grace the taunt with a response.
"Look, over there. Did your 'youkai eyes' catch that?" Fuyuko pointed to a patch of leaves that were slightly greener than the surrounding grass. Michi turned, then grumbled something under her breath about "distractin' me", but didn't answer. The two crouched down in perfect sync, slowly inching towards the youkai's hiding place. Michi silently produced her twin swords, and the Hakurei Yin-Yang Orbs began to lazily orbit Fuyuko's torso, protecting her from any surprise attacks.
The two launched into a flurry of bullets aimed towards the leaves, eliciting a terrified shriek from its occupant as the plant girl leaped from her hiding place and faceplanted on the ground. Fuyuko, as she leveled her gohei at the girl and struck an intimidating pose, shouted, "You have committed crimes against the Human Village and its peacefully-living occupants! How do you plead?!"
The girl covered her head and desperately cried out, "I didn't know he was a human! I thought he was a panda! I don't have eyes! Please don't kill me!" and Fuyuko narrowed her eyes.
"You thought he was... a panda? Wait, do you eat pandas? How do you mistake a human for a panda? ...I have so many questions."
"Hah, did ya see the guy? He was just about built like one, you know. If I didn't have eyes, I'd make the same mistake," Michi laughed.
"Hmm... Fine, we'll let you go. But keep your hunting grounds away from the village in the future, or at least look before you eat!"
"O h, t h a t w o n ' t b e a n i s s u e ."
Fuyuko and Michi started, and turned back towards the youkai plant just in time to see her split into leafy bits. Long, chain-like tendrils of bones lashed around, picking the plant apart, tearing, slicing, ripping... The two could only watch in horror.
"M m m m . . . I a l w a y s l i k e d h e r . O h w e l l ."
The echoing, hollow voice chilled Fuyuko to her very core. As the bone-chains slowly retreated into the ground, she saw as something that could only be described as a true monster meandered slowly, slowly, taking slow steps over towards the remains. A chain lifted up, dropping a small bit of stem into the thing's mouth. A grinding noise filled the air, as if a thousand blades had begun whirring at once to make sure the bit of plant was truly devoured, and Fuyuko couldn't help but shiver as the thing turned towards her, and she got a good, full look at it.
Razor-sharp claws tipped its fingers and toes, and its whole body was covered in some sort of thick, leathery black-and-white patterned skin, almost resembling clothes of some sort, if one was willing to ignore every other part of it. A clawed foot rested on the ground, with three toes pointing forward and one pointing back, giving it a saurian appearance. Behind it, a long, whiplike tail lashed idly about, tipped with a scorpion stinger that dripped with venom. Fuyuko watched as a droplet fell to the earth, then sizzled and burned through the dirt and rock. Skeletal wings, laced with a crackling yellow energy, slowly furled back into the creature's back. Its head was the most disconcerting part, Fuyuko decided. A conelike growth grew out of the top of the thing's head, as well as outwards at its base, and the shrine maiden idly noted that even in this upside down horrorland, youkai girls had silly hats. Six eyes, black as the void and lit only with dim yellow pinpricks in their centers, gazed balefully out at the world, deeming it unfit for attention. As the thing opened its mouth again, Fuyuko caught a glimpse of rows and rows of pointed knives, too sharp to be merely be called teeth, covering every inch of the thing's maw, rotating like chainsaws.
"Y o u s e e m e n a m o r e d ," the thing laughed, and Fuyuko shivered once again. Whatever this was, she had no illusions as to where its place on the food chain was: the top.
"We were, uhm, just... leaving. We were just leaving! Come on, Michi! We got the youkai. Good job, us! Haha! Let's be leaving now! Away from here!" The shrine maiden's false positivity did not move Michi, who stood motionless and horrified at the defiance of the natural order in front of her.
"O h , b u t y o u j u s t a r r i v e d. T h e r e ' s s o m u c h m o r e t o s e e o f m y l i t t l e s l i c e o f p a r a d i s e ." The thing spoke slowly, deliberately, as if speaking a foreign language. Fuyuko didn't want to give it more time to talk, if she could help it.
Suddenly, Michi sprung into action. "NOPE! We're outta here! Excuse our rudeness come on Fuyu let's go!" The kamaitachi grabbed hold of Fuyuko's hand and turned to sprint away, only to run headfirst into the inner wall of a house and tumble to the ground. "Wha-?!" The pair sat up quickly and looked around, but instead of the dead wasteland they had seen before, they were met only with the cozy interior of a wooden cottage. A light hung from the ceiling, with windows showing the Twisted Hills outside, deeper into the deadland than either exterminator had ever seen. *This must be her lair,* thought Fuyuko, and her fear was confirmed as she spotted the thing sitting across from her at a wooden table.
"S i t ," she said, and the two pulled out chairs and sat. Under a more normal light, the thing's skin looked even more like clothing, and its headpiece had the appearance of a very strange mushroom, or perhaps a witch's hat.
Fuyuko started, "Um-", but was cut off by a wave of their host's hand. Those pinprick yellow eyes stared through the pair as they held their breath.
"H o w s t r a n g e . I g u e s s a c o m p a n i o n i s t h e c o m m o n t h r e a d o f a l l H a k u r e i m i k o s ."
"Um, are you familiar with my clan? I-if we've done something to upset you-" but the thing cut her off again, this time with a laugh. She waved her hand, and magic coalesced around her form, before dissipating to reveal a normal-looking girl. She had a large, wide-brimmed hat upon her head, correctly fitting Fuyuko's earlier likening, and black-and-white clothes, again matching the more monstrous appearance the thing had earlier.
"That's better, ain't it? You were shakin' like a leaf, girl." The voice sounded normal, now, or at least more normal than it did.
Fuyuko took a deep breath, and responded, "Y-yes. I was, um... uncomfortable... with your... appearance, before," and she shut her eyes tight to avoid witnessing the inevitable counterattack that was no doubt coming her way. She opened them, however, when the girl laughed again.
"No doubt." She stood up and offered a showwoman's bow, flourishing her hat and revealing long blonde hair with a braid on one side. "My name is Marisa Kirisame, master of the Twisted Hills. I offer you the warmest of welcomes... but I have a feeling you don't intend to stay long." A smile worked its way onto Marisa's face as she talked, and she looked to the pair for confirmation.
Michi spoke up this time. "Yeah, we, uh, were just leavin'. You're not gonna, uh, chase after us, right?" Michi was horrifically uncomfortable with the situation, and it showed as she fidgeted idly with her blades and glanced about the small cottage.
Marisa laughed. "Well, don't let me keep you. Although..." she gazed at Fuyuko, a strange expression on her face. It was almost... nostalgic? "You live at the Hakurei Shrine, yes?"
"Th-that's correct, ma'am."
"'Ma'am'! You're so formal. Hee hee. Why don't you show me around? I was just thinking it was about time I spent more time in Gensokyo proper, you know," and Fuyuko gulped. She didn't want this woman anywhere near her shrine... but she doubted she really had a choice in the matter. Marisa was just being polite.
"...Of course, ma'am."
Marisa's predatory grin threatened to split her face open.
"V e r y g o o d ."