"Hey Asami, how are we going to-"
Before I could even finish my sentence, the peach fell to the ground, bursting open and revealing a bright ray of light. Soon, the dry, lifeless area that Kamiki became was replaced and returned back to its original self. I stood in shock, amazed by Asami's powers.
"Okay, how did you do that?" I asked.
"I imagined that I cut it down, then it just fell from the branches." Asami admitted, facing me.
Okay, that was clever of her. Note to self: Let Asami handle things.
"A'ight, let's go check on the villagers!" Takumi declared, hopping on Asami's head.
"Get off, bug." Asami demanded.
"How many times must I tell you! I AM NOT A BUG!" Takumi ranted, burning a deep red.
"Yeah yeah yeah, let's just go check on the villagers," she barked, running towards the village, me following closely behind her.
When we were halfway to the village, I remembered that everyone was stone.
"Asami! Everyone's-"
But she already found out. Everyone was still stone, including Hayabusa. Was the heck was happening?
"Their statues… lifeless statues…" she muttered as she sniffed Mushi.
"This is terrible! We need to find someone with a pulse, and quick!" Takumi blurted out.
"I don't think anyone has a pulse at the moment. We need to get to higher ground and see if everything's alright." I advised, dashing up the steps, Asami behind me.
"What about that Sun Deck? That could be high enough!" Takumi suggested.
"Good idea, Taku." Asami barked, dashing ahead of me and jumping up to the platform.
When we reached the platform, all three of us gazed into the sky, noticing that the sun wasn't even out.
"Oh great! It's dark and the sun's not even out! If we had some kind of magical power to make the sun appear…" Takumi mumbled.
"Asami, do you think that you can imagine the sun in the sky so that it'll appear?" I suggested.
"Nope, I can only cut things down…" Asami barked.
"Oh great… now what do we do?" Takumi whined.
"Good things come to those who wait, Takumi…" a faint bark muttered.
"Umm, Asami? Did you say something?" Takumi asked curiously.
"No, not at all." Asami refused.
"Then who did?" I asked.
All three of us turned around slowly, coming face-to-face with the Guardian of the Light, Hikari.
Her golden fur reminded me of the sun's rays of light, pale cold yellow eyes looking relaxed and wise. Her paws were that same pale yellow and her tail could have been mistaken as a bolt of lightning. All and all, she was surrounded by a pale yellow aura. This was no ordinary wolf.
"I am Hikari, Guardian of the Light and the Wielder of the Gift of Joy." The Guardian barked, shaking her fringe of fur away from her eyes.
"Umm…hi?" Asami barked in more of a question, tilting her furry head to the side.
"Asami, you have so much to learn…" Hikari barked, shaking her head in dissapointment.
"I know I do…" Asami whined, rolling her eyes.
Hikari sighed. "I am one of the Eight Soshi Okami, otherwise known as the Eight Elemental Wolves. You must obtain the 7 other Soshi Okami in order to defeat Yami." Hikari barked.
"That seems… hard." Asami barked, picking an easy word to say despite the predicament.
"It will be tough, but you seem to have help from this young wolf." Hikari barked, gazing at me with interest.
"Oh, yes! His name is Eki and he will help me!" Asami barked gaily, smiling to herself as her snow white tail wagged.
"Eki…" Hikari barked, a hint of amusement in her voice.
"Yes?" I asked.
"You will benefit from this journey as well. While Asami will receive the techniques, you will receive the gifts. They won't have any effect in the beginning, but in the end, they will help Asami win." Hikari barked.
"The gifts…?" I barked.
"You will find out more when you reach the others. For now, I give you, Asami, the Sunrise technique. You, Eki, I give you the gift of Joy. Asami, I give you this Celestial Brush. Eki, take this Elemental Mirror." Hikari smiled. "Use them wisely." she barked, fading away into two orbs of yellow light.
Both of the orbs flew into me and Asami's bodies, making us glow for a moment. As quickly as the glowing began, it ended.
"Wow! The Sunrise Technique! That has the power to turn night into day! Go ahead, Asami! Draw a circle into the sky with the Celestial Brush!" Takumi demanded, hopping on Asami's head.
"Mmk, I'll try." Asami barked, gripping the brush into her mouth.
I stared at Asami as she attempted to draw a perfect circle. Moments later, the sun was in the sky, shining brightly and making the darkness fade away.
"YES! It worked! It actually worked!" Takumi praised, glowing a bright yellow.
Asami and I looked at each other, then laughed a little.
"Didn't know I had it in me!" she smiled.
That's when both of us began glowing a pale silver light, growing brighter by the second.
"Wha- What's happening?" I barked, looking at Asami weirdly.
"I- I don't know!" Asami barked.
Then, a deep howl came from the both of us, and then everything was black.
"Ugh… what happened…" I asked, holding my head with my hands.
Wait a second! HANDS! I shot up into a sitting position, noticing that I was NOT a white wolf. Oh my goddesses! What happened?
"Miss, you're finally awake." A relived elderly voice stated.
I looked up beside me to find an elderly old woman with a tangerine on her head smiling at me, blankets in her hands. She was in a white yukata and seemed very friendly ad caring like any other old lady...
"I was worried that you and your friend were dead up on the Sacred Deck, so I brought you here with the help of my husband. I am Mrs. Tangerine." she explained, getting on her knees and putting the blankets on the floor.
"I'm Asami…" I greeted.
"Your name suits you well, Asami. You are indeed a morning beauty!" Mrs. Tangerine commented.
"Thanks. Umm… where's my friend?" I asked curiously.
"Oh, he's near the river helping with the laundry. I asked him to continued it while I check up on you." Mrs. Tangerine reported with a smile.
"Thank you." I thanked, bowing respectfully, standing up while smoothing out my yukata and running to the doorway.
When I was outside, everything was back to normal, but I couldn't see Eki anywhere. Just then, Takumi comes bouncing up to me, glowing his usual yellow.
"Asami! Man, you look-"
"No time for compliments. Where's Eki?" I stopped him, giving him an aggitaited look.
"Over there washing laundry." Takumi answered.
I decided over going to Eki and went to look at myself in the river. What I saw was… me.
A red and white yukata hid my peach-colored skin, red warrior-like shoes on me feeet revealing my toes. In my hand, I held some white and black rosary that looked like the Yin-Yang symbol. My hair was long and white, the ends looking as if they were dipped in black ink, a fringe hanging over my right blue eye.
"Wha… what happened to me…?" I muttered, touching my cheek.
"Well… when everything went back to normal, you and Eki kinda transformed into half-humans. See, you still have your wolf ears and tail." Takumi explained, pointing at my wolf ears and tail.
"Oh goodness... I...I'm a half-wolf..."