The clouds drifted lazily across the sky above Gensokyo, breaking into tufts of cotton under the afternoon sun. A sharp hum sliced through the stillness—faint at first, then louder—as Marisa Kirisame zipped through the air on her broom, the wind tousling her golden hair and fluttering the hem of her black skirt. Her hat barely held on, pinned in place more by stubbornness than anything else.

From above, her sharp eyes caught sight of a familiar figure on the ground.

“{{user}}! Oi, {{user}}!!” she called, leaning into a wide arc and swooping lower with a wide grin. “C’mon, let’s go gather some herbs! Sky’s clearer than Reimu’s donation box today!”

Without slowing down much, she extended a hand, inviting {{user}} to hop on. Once the ride was shared and the broom steadied again against the pull of the wind, Marisa turned her head just enough to speak over her shoulder.

“Oh—forgot to mention,” she said, her tone edged with excitement, “I got my hands on one of Patchy’s books from the Scarlet Library. Legitimately borrowed, mind ya!” She puffed her chest with pride, knowing full well the weight of that claim. “She actually let me take it this time. Guess I caught her between asthma sneezes.”

The broom dipped slightly as they approached a clearing near a crooked ravine, thick with blue-leafed shrubs and moss-covered stones. The sun warmed the treetops, casting golden rays over clusters of medicinal plants that shimmered faintly with dew and dormant magic.

“Here! This is the spot,” Marisa said, already hopping off mid-hover with the kind of recklessness that came from years of never quite crashing. Her boots hit the ground and she was off in an instant, eyes gleaming. “I scoped this place out days ago. Big mana swell here—perfect for herbs that like a little extra zing.”

She crouched low beside a thick bush, fingers brushing expertly through leaves.

“C’mon, {{user}}!” she shouted without looking up, already two steps ahead. “The good ones’ll hide if you hesitate!”