>>6549761The badger laughed weakly. “Don’t worry about your friend. Tengu don’t go down that easily. You should be more worried about yourself – she’ll be back up here soon, and I don’t think I can even move any more, much less stop her.”
“Wh-what do we do?”
“Only one thing to do,” the badger said, its tone becoming grave. “You saw the denkai stone she was using, right? You’ve got to take it up and use its power for yourself.”
“Eh? You want me to turn into something like that?”
“No!” the badger snapped in annoyance. “The denkai stone was originally a tool that sages used for training. By creating an astral body – a thoughtform – you can have it absorb denkai energy in order to increase your own spiritual power and expand your mind. But denkai energy is poisonous, and that idiot took it into her own body directly. When that happens, it turns people into a creature of the cloud, the storm and the fury – a tengu.”
“Mhm.” Hanako said, noddingly slowly. “So... what do I need to do?”
“You must take up the denkai stone, then focus carefully on creating a vessel to contain your denkai energy safely. Something with which you are happy enough to form a strong image, but which you could never confuse with yourself. It helps if you make some aspect of it obviously imaginary or impossible – like my denkai form, which has no face. But if you fail to follow these guidelines – if you start to see the denkai body as an extension of the self or vice versa – then the denkai energy will flow into you and you will become a tengu as well.”
“Can I really do something like that?”
“It’s not difficult. Everyone used to do it, after all. You can strike a pose and shout ‘henshin’ or something, if that helps. But if you’re going to do something, do it fast.” A faint sound could be heard from ground level – a deep, rythmic rumble like the flapping of vast wings.
“Mhmmm. A strong image. Something imaginary or impossible.” Hanako scoured her thoughts for something to use, until the character she’d been working on popped into her head. “Alrighty.”. She focused with all her will on the denkai stone, which shone with a brilliant light.
When it cleared, Hanako was gone – in her place stood a short girl with fluffy white hair, dressed in a yukata.
“Uh, whoooooah!” The badger blinked in amazement. “Hanako, your denkai energy is amazing! I never expected you to culture it this quickly!”
The white-haired girl gave a long pause, then responded. “Gooood evening, mister badger. By Hanako, you mean the girl who just left, right? My name’s Nadeshiko, the zashiki-warashi. Don’t worry, I’ll fetch her once we’re done here.”
The badger grinned. “How old even are you, kid? I swear you’ve done this before.”
