Tengu - Greentext

>Go to Zipangu they said
>It'll be fun they said
>He wasn't sure what happened last night, but he had a pretty good memory of this morning
>Wake up, penniless and lost
>Walk barefoot on a dirt road
>Repeat for hours on end
>He had no idea which way it was back into town
>He had no idea what lay beyond the thick woods on either side of the path
>He had no intention of trying to find out given his lack of footwear
>All he knew was that he had to find some food or water before he collapsed
>Eventually he came to a wooden signpost at a fork in the road.
>One side had an assortment of straight or somewhat curved lines
>The other side had a slightly different assortment of straight or somewhat curved lines
>The local written script
>He had no idea what either side meant
>He had no idea how to even begin to read what they said
>All he knew was that he was hopelessly lost
"Hopelessly lost, are we?"
>A voice called out from somewhere, miraculously in a language he understood
>The man looked left, right, all about but didn't see anyone
"Ahahaha! Up here, silly!"
>Dumbfounded, the man slowly tilted his head back and looked skyward
>There was a girl perched on the tallest branch of one of the trees before him
>Glossy black hair with long bangs, tied at the back into a number of tails. Garb of earthen hues, all in the local style
>She was undoubtedly Zipangese, but at least she could speak his language. Perhaps she could help him
"Need some help, gaijin?"
>His hopes were subdued at the mention of the word gaijin
>It meant foreigner and was one of the few words he had picked up on
>He quickly learned to take it has an insult, often followed by mocking and other rude remarks at best
>"Yes," he responded nonetheless. "If you could just point me in the direction of town, I'll be on my way."
She tilted her head to the left. "That's easy."
She tilted her head to the right. "Just head opposite the way I came from."
>He looked down the paths on either side, and even glanced over his shoulder back down the road he was on
>The way she came from? Didn't she come from town?
>Which way did she come from anyway?
>"Miss, if you could just--huh?"
>Somehow the girl had completely vanished from her perch while he was looking away
>How did she--?
"You know..."
>With a jolt, the man quickly fell flat on his face, fully surprised by the sudden remark whispered in his ears
"You really shouldn't be walking around barefoot"
>An alien sensation washed over his sore feet and tickled his ankles
"Consider this a gift from me to you"
>Flipping himself over, he quickly reached for his legs to see what had been done
>Sandals
>Wooden sandals tied with a strap of leather had been placed on his aching feet
"Well? Aren't you going to thank me?"
>She was leaning over him, looking straight into his eyes with her crimson pupils
>There was something sinister about her appearance
>Her long, pointed ears...
>Her...wings...
>When she was up in the tree, he had thought she was holding her arms behind her back
>Now he could clearly see that she had black-feathered wings poking out from her robes where her arms should have been
>Moreover, her legs weren't human at all
>They were black with an almost scaly appearance, ending in a set of talons
>He knew about these so-called monstergirls
>He saw them all the time in town but...
>The man's eyes lost focus and his face contorted into an unhinged smile
>"They said that outside the town there were--"
"Dangerous monsters who resembled human girls."
>"Some of them with--"
"The features of black crows."
>"If you run into one of these creatures outside of town then--"
"You will almost certainly be eaten"
>Each time she completed one of his sentences, he became more convinced of his peril
>"Hah...hahahah"
>With a nervous laugh, he picked himself up and began walking down one of the paths, not really caring which
>The girl suddenly dropped down in front of him just a few feet away
>He changed directions and began walking slight faster down a different path
>"Hah...hahah"
>Again she appeared before him
>He changed paths once again, and once again she was standing in front of him
>"Hah...hah"
>The man stood still for a moment while the girl slowly approached him
>Suddenly, he broke into a sprint and swung a fist right at her
>She easily dodged
>He swung again and missed all the same
>Now desperate, he began to run around, wildly swinging his arms about whenever she appeared before him
>Until eventually
"Aiya!"
>The bird-like girl let out a shriek as one of the blows hit her head on.
>The man came to a halt, having just now returned to his senses
>The girl was holding a wing to her face, almost like a human clutching a wound
"You...how could you?"
>Sorrow and rage mingled about in her voice, and he could almost see some tears streaming down her face
>The man looked at his fists, not realizing he had been swinging without holding back
>"I... I thought..."
"Get...get away from me!"
>She began flapping her wings rapidly, and then, with one last powerful movement, summoned a fierce gale that struck the man
>The last thing he remembered was the sandals losing contact with the ground

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>The man awoke to find himself lying in some bushes
>His head ached, and his clothes really were in tatters now
>Except for his sandals
>Inspecting them, he could clearly the craftsmanship put into them
>That girl...she wouldn't even be able to wear sandals, would she?
>Something unseen pulled at his chest as he remembered the events leading up to this moment
>Carefully pulling himself out of the bushes, he set about trying to find his way back to town, now more lost than ever
>Wandering about, struggling to keep going, he found himself again on a dirt road
>Unbelievably, he found himself at again at a fork in the road, possibly the very same fork
>Only he had come from a different direction this time
>He stood again in front of the sign and oriented himself the same way as the first time
>"She said to head opposite the way she came from"
>He looked to the left. The path seemed to gradually slope upwards.
>He looked to the right, where he came from this time. The path seemed to gradually slope downwards.
>"Was it really that simple?"
>He took a step down the path to the right
>The sound of the sandals against the dirt again caused something to tug at his chest
>Unsteady as he seemed, he was absolutely convinced of what he had to do.
>Turning to face the other path, the one that likely headed further up the mountain, he placed one foot in front of the other
>One step at a time, he began to climb
>One...step...at...a...time
>One...step...
>One...
>The man, light-headed and fully exhausted of all strength, collapsed onto the ground with a thud
>As his consciousness began to fade, he thought he heard someone speaking

"Baka gaijin"

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To be continued, eventually