Wednesday, June 16, 2021

The Incident of the Wyvern's Egg

Most places have incidents. Gensokyo has Incidents. What differentiates an incident from an Incident? Generally it's the scale.


In this case, it's the scales.


One fine day in the middle of June, some Magician had decided to climb to the top of Tengu Mountain in search of the rarest of the rare creatures, the legendary wyvern Rathalos. A terrifying dragon of legend that was said to be able to scorch the earth to cinders and render entire nations into oceans of flame with but a single breath. It was terrifyingly powerful and only the most foolhardy wanted to track down such a beast. Even more foolhardy was the fool who though it would be a good idea to sneak into its nest and steal its incubating egg, driving the Mother Rathalos into an inconsolable fury.


Gensokyo had its Incidents and then it also had its Incident Solvers. Enter Ama and Tera Su, the twin Shrine Maidens of Ōmikami Shrine, a temple dedicated to the worship of the sun and the moon. A temple that also happened to be the closest settlement to the Rathalos' nest. When the great and terrible beast of legend returned to its nest to find its egg missing, guess where it went first.


"Is it Tuesday already?" Ama, the Paladin and priestess of the sun, asked wearily.

"This is no time for sarcasm, Sister," Tera, the Oracle and priestess of the moon, said with a hint of scolding. "The sun is hot indeed, but there is no time for sick burns when a hot mess threatens our home."

The Paladin drew her weapon, a mighty trident capable of cutting through any beast's hide, and whistled for her mount, a noble griffon. "Then let us waste no time! I shall go and...hmm...inconvenience the wyvern and you shall find what has vexed it, yes?"

The Oracle nodded. "An excellent plan. Be safe, Sister."

The Paladin leaped aboard her mount. "You as well!"

Minutes later, one twin was soaring into the skies borne on the wings of a griffon while the other was zipping along the dirt trails on a motorcycle, trying to ignore the sounds of conflict in the sky above as she rode for the Rathalos nest. It was certainly a terribly-kept secret, for it was to the benefit of all for everyone to know where NOT to go in order to avoid bringing the Rathalos upon the land. This common knowledge had backfired horribly though, some fuckwit getting it into their head that stealing from the dread beast wasn't going to leave a huge swathe of death and destruction.

The roar of the engine competed with the roar of the wyvern as Tera listened to her sister's war to keep the mountain from burning. The Oracle could only hope that some of the less-lazy denizens of the mountain would be willing to join in the fight, but it seemed like a long shot.

"Hiya."

Tera almost was thrown from the bike in surprise as someone stepped into her path, recklessly about to cause a crash. The wheeled vehicle screeched to a halt as the moon priestess slammed on the brake, the bike spinning around as it narrowly avoided the woman in the road. She raised her goggles and scowled.

"Shark Girl, what are you doing?! I could have hurt you!" Tera scolded. "And more importantly, I could have been hurt!"

Selachi Morpha shrugged and approached casually. "I need a ride. I was coming up to your place to talk to you and your sister about when you were having a party again."

"Well, unfortunately I am unable to discuss parties at the moment," the Oracle said, putting her goggles back in place. "I'm very busy."

"With what?!" Selachi demanded, placing her hands on her hips.

Tera pointed towards the sky, the Shark Girl twisting her head around. She whistled at the sight of the Paladin and the wyvern doing battle and the way the great gouts of flame lit up an already-bright sky. She looked back at Tera.

"Oh...can I still have a ride?"

The moon priestess managed not to let out her frustrations and instead simply shook her head. "Help my sister and I shall give you a ride wherever you want to go."

The shark groaned as she looked up at the sky again, rolling her eyes. "Flying? I HATE flying..." A pout briefly crossed her face, stewing over the situation as logically as she could. She hated using her powers to turn into anything but a mighty and noble shark, but...she smirked, striking a pose as her cloak wafted in the wind.


"Very well! I, the Mighty Great White, shall demonstrate why you should always be willing to give me a ride whenever I ask nicely like I did just now!"

Tera watched as the singer of the sea changed into that most hateful of birds, a horrible Goose, and within a minute had her jaws wrapped around the Rathalos' neck. The sight of a goose flying up to a wyvern only to suddenly become a shark that now flopped around in the sky was almost comical. She might have even sat there watching for a bit longer, but there WAS an Incident to resolve and...there went the Mighty Great White, flopping towards the ground after being shaken off by an angry wyvern.

Fortunately, tracking down the thief and returning the egg had been, compared to actually stalling the mother, a simple act. The thief, a greedy and shockingly-foolish Tengu Magician, had been given a stern talking to followed by a butt kicking.

For her help, Selachi got one motorcycle ride home and a drink that evening.

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