Chapter 1: Do you remember me?
I sat by my window, staring out at the stars and the moon.
Another dream, I thought. I sat there, thinking about those two white wolves I had seen. Who were they? Why did I see them? They had an aura about them that seemed almost heavenly…
I was suddenly startled by something whirring by. A ship…? I thought. I ran and got a sword from my closet and slowly headed outside. I took one quick look around the door to see the thing was landing right outside my own house! I turned back, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath. Whatever this thing was, I had to be brave. I pulled out the sword and put its sheathe on the ground.
"Dang it; I had a feeling this would happen! Now we're stuck out here in the middle of nowhere until we can get it fixed!" I heard a voice say. It sounded familiar, but I couldn't remember who it was. I then heard a loud bark and I clenched my hands around the sword into fists, getting ready to attack. I heard a clack and smoke filled the air.
Is that a dog? I thought.
"Aw, man! And I don't have any idea how to fix this thing!" The voice said. I heard a sigh and then a whimper out of the dog as they both sat down. I looked around the corner again and saw the smoking ship. Without a second thought, I jumped out and charged to attack. I swung the sword around, my eyes closed. All of a sudden, I could feel myself being thrown to the side. I landed on my back and dragged back about 10 feet. I grabbed my side and groaned as I realized how badly it hurt. It felt like I had gotten burned. I didn't dare to open my eyes. Then, I heard that voice, ad if it was right in front of me. Turns out, it was.
"Hey, are you alright? You scared the heck outta me and Chibi!" it said. I sat up and tried to stand, but fell back over and groaned in pain.
"I'd take it easy if I were you. You got burned pretty badly," it said again.
I don't remember anything after that. It must've been bad, because when I woke up the next morning, I was in my bed. I instantly sat up and looked around, wondering if it was a dream. My sword was sheathed and laying against the wall beside the door, and there was a fire going in the pit.
"What happened?" I asked myself.
"Oh good, you're up. I thought Chibi here killed you!" It was that voice again. The feeling returned to my body and I felt pain in my side where I had apparently been hit the night before. I could feel the bandages underneath my clothes going around my hips and lower chest. I blushed, but only a little. I could tell from the bark I heard that the dog was there to. I felt him rub up against my arm. I looked and saw a white wolf pup with red markings on his face and body. It had some sort of flaming disc floating above its back. Was that what'd hit me?
"Looks like Chibi's taken a liking to you!" the voice said again.
"So you're name's Chibi?" I said, stroking the wolf's head. He nuzzled me again, and I smiled and scratched his ears. His tail started going a mile a minute. "What an unusual name."
I pet him for a little while in silence before the voice spoke again.
"Alright, Chibi, lay off. She has to get her rest, ya know." Chibi then went over and sat down on the other side of the bed. I looked and saw nothing there. Was the voice I was hearing a ghost? I looked around.
"Down here!" the voice said. I looked to the floor, and then it hit me. My eyes widened.
It was unmistakable. I knew that green aura, that beetle helmet, that sword hanging from his side. I knew that creature, but it took a moment before I could remember his name.
"Issun…?"
His eyes widened as well. He stood up and looked at me, and it hit him too.
"Sachiyo?" he asked. There was a silence, and Chibi's head tilted to the side.
"It's been a while… Hasn't it?" I asked.
"Yeah… It has," he replied.
There was another pause. Issun had changed a lot since I last saw him. And now he was traveling with a wolf pup?
I reached down, scooped him up, and gave him a hug against my shoulder.
"It's good to see you, Issun." I blushed and I could feel him hugging as much of my shirt as he could.
"Nice to see you, too, Sachiyo." I put him back down and my mood changed.
"So how've you been?" I asked. He got a confused look.
"Good, I guess," he said.
"So what brings you here? Tell me everything!"
He brightened as his story went on. He told me how he actually met the great goddess Amaterasu, and how Chibi, or Chibiterasu, was her son. He spoke of demon monsters, ghosts, the celestial brush gods, cursed zones, and all the friends he had made along the way. He told me about Divine Interventions, Konohana in Kamiki village, the Dragon Palace, and the Oina Tribe in Wep'Keer. I knew of none of this since my home was located on an island far away from the country of Nippon, and where Issun came from. He told me about a boy named Kuni and how he was possessed by an evil spirit, and how another boy name Kurow sacrificed himself to kill that demon that he had joined.
I listened intently as the story went on. I was fascinated by each and every little detail of his long journey, and how he was now a Celestial Envoy traveling to the Celestial Plain to help Amaterasu with its restoration.
It reminded me of how Issun and I had met.
He was out on a boat coming south, when the captain, a friend of mine, stopped to give me some supplies. Issun came out to stretch his legs, when the captain accidentally left him behind. I remember sailing out 50 miles on my father's boat to get him to the shores of Nippon. We talked, we laughed, and we enjoyed every minute of our being together. Unfortunately, when I came back, I found my parents lying dead on the ground. They had been killed by a demon. I then remembered when I was little; my father told me that there was a paper for me in his chest of drawers that I could only read after he was gone. I went and pulled it out. It was his last will and testament, which said in its contents that all of his and my mother's possessions were to be left to me. A fortune teller in Agata forest had told them they would die together, and to that they stood.
I looked over to the box where the ashes of my parents sat, two sticks of incense burning in my father's wine cup. When Issun began to speak again, my head snapped back to him, and he finished his story.
"And that's what I've been doing all this time," he finished. I simply nodded.
"So where are your parents?" I then heard after a long pause. I looked back down at Issun, my eyes slightly wide. He asked me again where my parents were, and I instantly made something up.
"They're in the city on business. They said they'll be back in a few weeks," I stuttered. Issun got a concerned look on his face. I looked back down into my lap. By what he said next, I could tell that Issun had found out.
"How?" he simply asked.
"They were killed by demons. I found them dead when I came back from returning you to Nippon," I said, my voice breaking. Issun looked down.
"I see…" he said. "I'm very sorry."
"Don't be, it wasn't your fault," I said. I stood up, clutching my side, and walked over to the pot over the firepit.
"Are you boys hungry? I'll cook us something," I said, trying to avoid the subject. I pulled a piece of meat and some broth out of my pantry and tossed them in. I cut up some vegetables, not speaking the whole time. Issun tried to get me to talk by asking me questions, but I just answered in gestures. Before I knew it, I had made a stew, and the silence was continued.