Fairy Tales - Rules of the Game?

A Touhou Project fanfic by Achariyth

Cirno crept ever so slowly around the trunk of a great pine. Star Sapphire was It, and there was no way Cirno would let her catch her. Sunny Milk would just have to sing all thirty verses of I'm a Little Teapot in front of the Hakurei shrine by herself. It'd serve her right for letting herself get tagged.

Maybe Sunny wouldn't have to sing alone. Book-smart Luna Child had wandered off early in the game. Sunny and Luna made a formidable pair when they worked together. But Luna relied on Sunny for the scheming. Otherwise, even a blindfolded Star could find her friend within moments.

They should have called the game Hide and Sneak instead. Anyone could find a safe little hole to hide in where no one could find them. It took real skill to move around and remain hidden. That type of skill brought sake from the shrinemaiden's still, sweets and desserts from the village stores, and laughter as silly humans fell for fairy pranks. So every fairy played the game with whoever she could find whenever she could even if there was a forfeit at the end.

Except when Lily White was around. While all fairies used their own house rules for Hide and Seek, often changing from moment by moment, no fairy in her right mind wanted to play with Lily, especially now that the spring fairy was in her Black phase.

Some fairies didn't even want to play with Star. Her ability to sense people moving made the game unwinnable for most fairies. Cirno, however, loved the challenge. She had schemed all night as she waited for the day's game to arrive.

The ice fairy had suggested they play in the Forest of Magic on purpose. Not only would all the animals clutter Star's power, Alice Margatroid's house would give the starlight fairy enough of a headache that she'd miss the only blue-haired "doll" in a sea of blonde dolls in blue dresses.

But first, she had to sneak fifty meters to the cottage without tripping Star's power. Cirno pressed against the pin while she watched and waited.

In the midst of the legion of blue dresses and red bows, an occasional flash of white could be seen. She hadn't seen black hair, so it couldn't have been Star. Maybe Alice had made a new type of doll. The last time she had, it had been larger than her cottage.

Cirno leaned closer and stepped away from her pine. She yelped as pain shot up her shin. Her icy wings flapped madly as the ground rushed towards her. She crushed into the grass and rolled. "Watch it," she said, looking behind her.

A blonde doll in a blue dress pushed herself to her feet and wagged a finger at the ice fairy.

"Right back at you." Cirno stood up and dusted off her skirt. Fortunately, fairy dresses never got grass stains.

The doll looked up at her before covering her eyes with her hands. Nodding three times, the blonde toy uncovered her eyes and looked all around her as she stepped to the left and to the right. She stopped and looked expectantly at Cirno.

"Yes. We're playing Hide and Seek again." Cirno puffed out her chest and pointed at herself. "No one's found me yet."

The doll tilted her head to the side and waited.

"You know what I mean. Anyway, you should play with us some time."

The doll shook her head, pivoted around, and walked away.

Cirno leaned against the pine and stuck her tongue out at the doll. "You know, for something that Alice made, you're rude."

"You're one to talk." Star poked her head out from behind the pine. "Ready to join the choir?"

Cirno leapt away from the tree, her mouth moving silently as she wracked her brain for any reason she couldn't be tagged. "You haven't caught me yet. And you can't, not unless you turn cartwheels as you chase me."

Star huffed but planted her hands against the earth. Instead of gracefully turning through the air, the starlight fairy crumpled in a tangle of cloth and legs. She scowled as Cirno clutched her stomach and laughed. "Well, you have to walk on your hands."

"Easy."

"Without using your wings."

The ice fairy's shoulders slumped. She stood on her hands for only a couple seconds before keeling over. "Ouch."

Star flopped next to her. The starlight fairy winced and stretched out her hand, her fingers inching towards Cirno as she raked her hand through the grass. Star managed to grab a handful of frost before the ice fairy slid away, carried down a small earthen rise on a sheet of ice. "Hey, no powers," the starlight fairy called out.

Cirno popped to her feet and sprinted towards Alice's house. As she ran, her ice crystal wings bit into the air and the ice fairy skipped along the path, bounding from stone to stone. She weaved through a swarm of dolls that went about their business unmindful of the two fairies rushing towards the house. Once again, she saw flashes of white among the blue. This time, though, Cirno was only worried about the flash of white nipping at her heels.

The ice fairy passed the house, spun about, and skidded to a stop. She waited for Star to fly closer. The moonlight fairy panted as she drew near. The Fairies of Light didn't fly as often as Misty Lake fairies. Then again, they didn't have to flee from anywhere near as much trouble. Cirno planted her fists against her hips. "We're at Alice's house, and she's blonde, so the person who's It has to blonde as well." "You're not blonde, so you can't catch me."

"You can't ruin the game. Well, if I'm not it, who is?"

Both girls shrieked as a light touch tapped on their shoulders. "I guess that would be me," Luna said. A thin smile graced her lips for a second. "Tag. You're both out." The two tagged fairies groaned as she led them towards the Hakurei shrine.

Luna sat on the steps of the Hakurei shrine and sipped coffee from a tea cup. Normally, she preferred generous helpings of sugar and cream, but victory made her drink sweet enough.

"I'm a little teapot, short and stout." Cirno, Sunny, and Star bellowed the words as they ran past Luna.

The moonlight fairy smiled and topped off her cup with a thermos by her side. The girls had about ten more verses before the forfeit was finished.

The girls ran by again, but this time Star was missing. Luna paled, drained her cup, grabbed her thermos, and hurried away.

Author's note: Just a quick one for 9/9. What started as the fairy version of Calvinball ended up more subdued than I had planned.