Mikey: Ohai there. New chapter, here for your enjoyment. owo Meant to post last week, but I forgot. XD; Sorry.
Mystic: CHAPTAH SEVEN BICHES.
Mikey: Ammy start!
Ammy: *barkbark*


In running to the Guardian Sapling, Ammy had narrowly avoided falling into the river and had somehow thrown Issun into the tree as she skidded to a stop, amidst Silva's uproarious laughter.

"Oh gods, that was priceless..." She said, trying to regain her breath.

Meanwhile, Issun had peeled himself off the bark and was now facing Ammy, hopping up and down in rage, his aura red. "Hey! Be more careful next time, furball! What would have happened if I had gone into the river instead, huh?!"

"You would be gone and the world would have a grand party to celebrate." Silva muttered under her breath.

Abigail giggled weakly, but peered at Issun to see if he was okay. It was hard to tell since he was so small, so she decided to ask. "Y'okay, Issun?"

"Nothing but a few scrapes." Issun replied.

Abigail nodded. "Mkay... so..." She studied the Guardian Sapling. "We've gotta Bloom this, right? Ammy?"

Ammy drew a circle around the tree.

In the next several moments, what occurred was nothing short of miraculous: the tree burst into sakura blossoms, and the ground around it began to sprout endless flowers. The wave of flowers surged past the party and spread across the entire field with its radiant green glow, turning brown into viridian, death into life. Flowers sprouted all across the field as the river's blue sheen was restored, and as if rejoicing, it flowed almost excitedly through its channel. To put it shortly, the once barren field had been restored to its former glory, and it couldn't have looked any better than it did now.

Silva looked on, deciding that Divine Interventions were much better in person, though she wished she could have listened to the music as well.

"Wow..." Abigail breathed as she scanned the newly-revived landscape in awe. "That was amazing..."

Ammy wagged her tail happily.

"Wow! That nasty cursed zone is completely gone! The plants and animals are back! And just feel that fresh breeze! Now that's what I call a Great Divine Intervention! If you three keep on dispelling the evil curse like this, I bet the gods of nature will lend you their powers!" Issun exclaimed.

Abigail cheered lightly and threw her hands in the air happily. She then looked as though a thought had occurred to her and poked Silva.

Silva blinked and looked over at Abigail. "Hm? What?"

"The river's clean," Abigail pointed out. "Is there anywhere you can wash your clothes?"

Silva looked at the river. "...no, there isn't. It's too open- anyone can see me from anywhere in the field." She was looking pointedly at Issun as she said this.

"Hey!"

Abigail gave a snort that she quickly turned into a cough. "...Well, we should probably find someplace as soon as possible," she stated. "You might scare someone with that stuff on your clothes."

Silva looked down at herself. "...yeah, you're probably right." She agreed.

Ammy barked suddenly to get their attention, and gestured with her muzzle towards Kamiki.

The Konohana tree suddenly grew larger and taller, and leaves were starting to grow on it. It looked much healthier, that much was obvious.

"Hey, that's…that's Sakuya's tree, isn't it?" Issun asked. "Maybe she perked up 'cause you revived a Guardian Sapling? Well, we can stop by and see her later. I mean, we're kinda on a roll here. How about we take a look around Shinshu Field first? You've been gone 100 years, right?"

"Technically we've never been here before..." Silva trailed quietly.

"Well then, a good run around the place will do you good!" Issun exclaimed.

"I do wanna look around..." Abigail looked hopeful.

"Sure, why not." Silva said, shrugging. "I'd like to get a closer look at the place, myself." She pulled out the map from seemingly nowhere (In reality she stole it from Issun, but they didn't need to know that.) and took another look at the spots Sakuya circled. "Okay, we can either run around aimlessly and get to know the place better, or we can go straight to the circled spots. Which one do you guys want to do?" She asked.

"I wanna look around!" Abigail exclaimed. "Everywhere, not just the saplings."

"Sapling." Silva corrected. "There's only one in Shinshu field. And I think we've pretty much seen all of Hana Valley."

"I think a good run around the place will do you all good." Issun said.

"Run around aimlessly it is!" Silva declared, rolling up the map and putting it... somewhere.

Abigail grinned. "I wonder what we'll run into from just runnin' around?"

As it turned out, they ran into several demons scrolls, rabbits, horses and other animals (which Silva tripped over at one point) that they fed, a mailman named Ida who needed a Traveler's Charm to move again, a demon gate, and other things. All in all, they ran around for a good two hours and collected over a 100 praise.

"Oh gods," Silva panted, flopping down to the ground. "That was exhausting."

Ammy seemed unaffected as she sat down beside Silva and simply yawned. Abigail, on the other hand, looked tired but quite pleased.
"That was fun!" she said brightly, optimistic as ever. "What're we gonna do next?"

"I say go to the circled spots." Silva replied. "But give me a minute, I need to rest." She turned over on her back and looked at the Guardian Sapling. "...oh look, a chest."

"Wait, what?" Issun said.

Silva pointed to the base of the Sapling. There was indeed a chest among the roots.

"...how did we miss that?" Issun facepalmed.

"Maybe we were too excited about exploring?" Abigail suggested. "We did take all night..." By this time, night had already passed, and the sun was currently shining brightly.

Silva got up, sighing. "'Kay, let's go to those red circled spots now."

Abigail yawned and got to her feet, rubbing her eyes as she did so. "Okay..." she said, as enthusiastically as she could without shouting. Admittedly, this sounded much less excited and upbeat than it would have.

Ammy yawned again, then got up.

Silva pulled out the map and studied it again. "...'kay, the closest place here is..." She pointed toward the hills without taking her eyes off the map. "Thataway. Let's go." She yawned again.

(Scene Transition is back. Whoop-de-doo.)

"OH COME ON!" Silva yelled, throwing her hands up in the air.

As soon as they had crossed the bridge that led to a small house, a barrier came up, with two green imps and a flying fish.

"I'll take the fish, you take the imps." Silva told Ammy.

Ammy nodded and tackled the nearest imp while Silva flew up to the fish.

She gritted her teeth. "You- will- not- keep- me- from- my- sleep!" She growled, slashing the fish with each word.

Meanwhile, Abigail was dozing in the corner, hardly paying attention to the battle, her eyes drooping sleepily. "...You guys..." she mumbled. "Hey... guys... Silva... behind you..."

Silva just barely managed to hear Abigail, even with her sharp hearing, and she turned around, confused. "Wha-?"

The green imp that had escaped Ammy's notice smacked Silva to the ground with its flute.

Silva let out a cry of pain, wincing when she tried to sit up. "You're going to pay for that!" She yelled, tackling the imp.

Ammy watched the fistfight with confusion, not quite sure what to do.

Issun, meanwhile, was cheering Silva on, clearly enjoying the mini-brawl.

Abigail had slumped over and all but fallen asleep.

Silva emerged from the dust cloud that had formed, panting. She held up a fist in triumph. "Victory!" She exclaimed. There was a brief moment of silence before Silva fell to her knees. "Oh man this is worse than the cursed zone." She mumbled, stubbornly getting to her feet again.

Ammy had walked over to Abigail and was licking her face in an attempt to wake her up. Abigail spazzed out and yelped as she woke up, then blinked wildly before squinting at Ammy. "...Oh, thanks, Ammy," she mumbled, rubbing Ammy's ears in thanks before getting to her feet.

Silva slowly walked to the door. She noticed the sign, and squinted slightly to read it. "Sleeping like a log. Come back at night."

There was a moment of silence.

"..." Abigail blinked sleepily. "...Fudge buckets." She drooped to the ground and slumped against a nearby tree, which Ammy instantly Bloomed for good measure.

"...I hate this guy." Silva muttered, flopping down to the ground again. "I am going to sleep, and there is nothing you can do to change my freaking mind." She rolled over, and, seeing Ammy curled up on the ground, proceeded to use her as a pillow. Abigail tugged the band holding her braid together off, causing her hair to instantly spread out into a wavy mane of chocolate brown hair that fell halfway down her back. She tugged the pins out of her bangs, causing them to droop in front of her eyes, and then fell sideways and was instantly asleep, using a tree root as a pillow.

(Timeskip has replaced Scene Transition for the time being! :D)

Silva slowly opened her eyes, blinking and wondering why it was so dark. Then she realized it was partly because it was nighttime, and partly because half of her face was buried in Ammy's fur (Which was very comfortable, she might add.) She yawned and sat upright, stretching her arms. She felt something in her shirt shift, and she looked down, frowning. She could just make out a soft, green glow.

...wait.

...soft green glow?

'ISSUN, YOU PERVERT!" She screamed, grabbing him from inside her shirt and throwing him toward the house. Ammy jolted upright, bracing for an attack, when she realized it was only Silva, who was now trying to kill Issun, who in turn was hopping around frantically and yelling at Ammy to "Help me, I'm too young and handsome to die!".

Silva nearly succeeded in squashing Issun, but he turned around and went the other way- only to come face to face with a bear.

...A large bear.

...With big eyes.

"WHAT THE-?!"

The bear opened its mouth and ate Issun.

Actually, it more like held Issun in its mouth and gushed him around with its saliva. It seemed to almost be enjoying itself. After a short period of time, it spat Issun back out. Then it stared at him. Much like how Buckbeak stared down werewolf Lupin in Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4.

Issun then began complaining - loudly - about how he was covered in bear saliva and that was horrible and why the hell did it do that and a handsome guy like him didn't deserve to be-

The bear turned into Abigail.

Who continued to stare.

"...okay that just makes it even worse." Issun stated.

Silva raised an eyebrow at her. "He can't have tasted good."

"No," Abigail said bluntly. "No he did not. But he did a bad thing. And so he was punished. Such is the way of the world." She nodded mysteriously.

Silva had a hard time keeping a straight face and holding in giggles.

"Hold up!" Issun said. "What 'bad thing' did I do?!"

"Be a pervert and sleep in my shirt." Silva stated, glaring daggers at him.

"Yes. That." Abigail nodded.

He had no reply to that.

Ammy barked to get their attention, then motioned towards the sky and then to the house.

"...Well, it's nighttime now," Abigail said brightly, seeming to completely push aside the fact that she had nearly swallowed Issun several moments ago. "Let's see what this house has for us." She hurriedly pulled her hair pins out of her pocket and pinned her bangs up, then quickly tamed her mane of hair with a comb. Within a minute or two her hair had been braided once more.

Silva opened the door - which no longer had the sign on it - and walked inside.

"No, no, no! That can't be right…it shouldn't be doing that…no, no, no! I checked and double-checked my formula! No, no, no!" Tama was talking to himself, bending over some sort of pit in the middle of the room.

"Hey!" Issun piped up. "You there, got a minute?"

Tama turned around. "Hm? Whoa! What's this little wisp doing here?"

"Sure, completely ignore the two girls standing in front of him."

"I am not a wisp!" Issun yelled. "I'm Issun the wandering artist!"

Abigail giggled.

Silva was reminded of his scroll at the beginning of the game for some odd reason.

"Well, well, well. You're a little ball of fire, aren't you?" Tama stood up. "I'm Tama. Tama, the Flaming Pyrotechnist! That's what they call me!" And then he sat down again. "Listen up, you four."

"Sure, now he acknowledges us."

"I'm just about to set off a hum-dinger of a doozy. Take a look at the formula I posted on the wall there. My whole career as a Pyrotechnist has led to that formula, friends."

It was a picture of a circle with a line through it.

"That's kinda sad." Silva commented.

"Don't judge a book by its cover," Abigail replied cheerily. "I mean, I know a pyrokinetic, and maybe she's not the smartest person I know, but she can pack a punch!"

"You're talking about Ginger, aren't you?" Silva only knew the girl because her cousin Ivy kept talking about her.

"Yup." Abigail grinned. "You two've met?"

"Nah, Ivy just keeps ranting about her to me." Silva replied.

"Ohh." Abigail nodded in understanding.

Tama continued talking. "It's for a little firework I've dubbed the Midnight Wonder Boy!"

Issun suddenly snorted. Abigail blinked and tilted her head at him in confusion. "What's so funny...?" she mumbled.

"Issun! Get your head out of the gutter!" Silva yelled. Ammy proceeded to eat him, causing Abigail to giggle again. So by the time Tama was finished talking, Issun was covered in spit and lying on the ground, unmoving and yet still complaining.

"There's only one problem…even though I know the formula is sound, it's not working right yet. I know! Listen, pup, girls. You've got good eyes. Fiery eyes…smoldering eyes…maybe your red-hot glares are just what I need to set this off!" Tama declared.

"...interesting logic you have there." Silva said.

Abigail looked like she had just received an ego stroking. "Of course they are!" she proclaimed.

Silva rolled her eyes.

"Feast your eyes on the greatest display the world has ever seen!" Tama jumped up again. "Hold onto your hats, kids! Here I go! The brightest constellation in the sky-the Midnight Wonder Boy!" Then he made some weird noises, threw explosives into a bowl, and Ammy drew the formula over the bowl, creating a giant cherry bomb.

Everyone ran outside, watching fireworks light up the night. Ammy sat on her hind legs and pawed at the air for some strange reason. Abigail especially was excited by the fireworks, though this was to be expected.

The starlight chose at that moment to shine down on them, Ammy obligingly filling in the dots.

A boar standing on a giant cherry bomb rolled toward them, with the little boar piglet things (Boarlets?) close behind, trying to light the fuse. One actually succeeded, though the head boar managed to put it out. The the boars turned to face them. "Ah…Amaterasu. Origin of all that is good and mother to us all…Silva, guardian of the Wood Nymphs... and Celeste, messenger of the golden kingdom of Halley…too often, it is easy to forget what we cannot see. Hidden away, I had lost track of you. But now my soul is at ease. I, Bakugami, god of explosive force, lend my power to your cause. Use the cherry bomb to lay waste to foes and obstacles alike!" Then Bakugami rolled away, the boarlets followed, an explosion was heard, and the power of Cherry Bomb simply rolled into Ammy.

Silva laughed.

"Hey, did another brush technique just come back to you?" Issun asked Ammy. "That was Bakugami, god of explosions. His technique is called cherry bomb. Tama's enthusiasm must've awakened the god's power in you! Well, what're ya waitin' for? Let's give that cherry bomb a try! How about that cracked wall over there? Why don't you try a cherry bomb on it? Just be careful…" He gulped.

"Hey..." Abigail trailed. "The crack looks like those spacial rift thingies Fleep can make stuff appear out of." She tilted her head at the crack.

"Who's Fleep?" Issun asked.

"A fairy thingy," Abigail replied serenely.

"...that tells me nothing at all."

"Sorry, I just can't think of a way to explain it that wouldn't confuse you." Abigail frowned.

Silva decided to intervene before things got really confusing. "Basically he's a guy who can find things not visible to the naked eye. But enough about that- Ammy what are you doing."

Ammy had drawn a cherry bomb, but it had somehow rolled over to Silva, and she scooted away before it exploded.

Ammy gave Silva an apologetic look and exploded the crack in the wall.

"Whoa, look at that hole! It blasted the cracked wall to smithereens! That cherry bomb is one destructive technique! I mean, just think of what it could do to monsters! It'll be tricky handling something that powerful! But I bet we'll be using it all the time once we master it!" Issun declared.

"I hope so, that thing is awesome!" Abigail grinned widely.

Silva, meanwhile, had gone inside the cave, and was now walking out with a rat statue in her hand. She pulled out the map again and looked it over briefly. "The next closest thing is... over there." She pointed across the bridge.

Abigail nodded in understanding. "Well, let's go then," she proclaimed rather grandly, pointing across the bridge. "ONWARD TO BRIDGES!"

Silva nodded, then suddenly got a strange glint in her eye. "Hey, Ammy." She said, looking over at the wolf, who had stopped mid-run and was looking back at Silva. "Wanna race?"

Ammy gave a wolfish grin in reply.

"Oh, this is going to be good." Issun said. "Ready... set... GO!"

Silva opened her wings with a snap and went as fast as she could across the bridge. Ammy, likewise, was going so fast one could say her feet weren't touching the ground. They were neck-and-neck until Silva accidentally flew through a demon gate, somehow managed to keep going past the barrier, and tumbled to the ground. She untangled herself and blinked. "...what just happened?" She said, though there was no-one to answer her question- Ammy was in the Demon Gate and Abigail was far behind.

Abigail managed to catch up after a minute or two, but she was stumbling and tripping like the charming klutz she was from running at that speed. "...Don't you... ever... wait...?" she wheezed, falling to her knees and panting.

Silva thought for a moment. "...sometimes." She answered brightly.

"...try more often...?" Abigail whined softly, clutching a stitch in her side.

Silva shrugged noncommittally.

Ammy emerged from the demon gate.

"How did you even escape that?!" Issun demanded.

"I honestly do not know." Silva replied.

"My sides hurt..." Abigail complained. "And my head... and my back... the tree root wasn't very comfy..."

Silva proceeded to walk over to Abigail and give her a sort-of back massage.

Meanwhile Issun was stating the obvious. "Huh?" Issun stared at the building like it just appeared out of thin air. "What a pretentious sign! Ammy, Silva, Abigail, this here's a dojo! This is where people come to learn sword fighting and martial arts."

"No, really? I didn't notice, I was too busy trying to drown out the sound of your voice." Silva rolled her eyes.

"DOJO?!" Abigail exclaimed loudly, leaping up at once. "Where, where- OH!" She ran toward it and stood in front of the large sign. "Wooow... so... I..." She turned to the rest of the party and declared, "I could learn how to fight here! ...or at the very least how to defend myself! ...right, guys?"

Silva nodded. "That's not a bad idea..."

Ammy barked in approval.

"Yes!" Abigail fistpumped.

"Shall we go inside?" Silva asked.

Abigail nodded eagerly and tried to head in the dojo without running.

Ammy talked to the Onigiri Sensei while Silva looked at the list of moves he taught. "Fleetfoot, Four Winds, Spirit Storm, Golden Fury..."
Abigail, meanwhile, gulped and approached the Onigiri Sensei. "...I... was... l mean... ...can you teach me some self defense?" She rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.

The sensei looked her up and down. "Hmm... are you sure? I won't go easy on you."

Abigail nodded eagerly again. "Sure I'm sure."

The sensei seemed to contemplate it for a moment, and then he nodded. "Very well. When would you like to start?"

"Right now, if that's okay..." Abigail answered, fidgeting slightly.

The sensei nodded. "Follow me." And he walked into the training room behind him. Abigail obliged at once, gulping slightly again and looking both tense and excited.

Silva waved, while Issun looked slightly worried. "You think she'll be okay?"

"She'll be fine." Silva answered. "She's determined to do this. Anyway, let's go to the last marked spot. She might be in there a while and it'll be faster if we go now."

(Timeskip says lazy authors are lazy.)

Abigail walked outside and stretched slightly; her hair had come out of its braid during training and she currently couldn't be bothered to put it back. She stared up at the sky and found that it was nighttime, meaning she had been training for quite a while. She vaguely wondered where the others were and had just begun to walk forward when she was surrounded by a barrier. She hadn't been watching where she was going- and had run straight into a demon scroll as a result.

Abigail instantly began to panic slightly as a pair of green imps appeared- and so did a third, with some strange arrow stuck in its back. "I am Toya of Short Temper." It announced. "Any last words, pathetic human?"

Oh god oh god oh god I'm gonna die- Abigail took a breath. She couldn't panic here... No one was around to watch her back. This was all her... "...Your mom!" she shouted, totally ignoring the fact that this was an awful, awful, overused joke.

Toya of Short Temper was shocked into a short, confused silence. Abigail didn't give him a moment to recover from the childish, ridiculous battle cry/insult before lunging at him and giving him a faceful of fist. She took the brief moment while he was again stunned to turn to one of the green imps and snatch its wrist before it could whack her in the head, then flip it onto the ground. Again she turned and snatched the other green imp's wrist, but instead of flipping it, threw it into Toya of Short Temper. While they were distracted, she proceeded to beat the living snot out of the green imp as quickly as possible, then steal its flute and bash its face in with it. With that imp defeated, Abigail rushed to where the other two imps were recovering and twirled in an attack highly reminiscent of the Spin Attack to hit the second green imp and Toya of Short Temper. Again she began to kill the green imp as quickly as she could before moving on to Toya of Short Temper. There was no mercy for him; she pounded his face (and for that matter, the rest of his body) as painfully as she could make it, until finally he seemed to be on his last legs.

"Any last words, Toya of Short Temper?!" Abigail demanded, standing over him, tossing her mane of hair and looking quite fiery-spirited, with the light of battle glowing in her eyes.

Toya of Short Temper was almost beyond the point of speech. For several moments there was quiet... and finally it seemed as if he were about to speak-

-when suddenly the flute bashed into him again, and he was no more, defeated by the brunette shapeshifter who wielded one of his compatriots' flutes.

"...Oops! Too late~" Abigail said brightly, stepping aside. "Sorry, but you took too long!"

The barrier dissipated into nothingness, revealing the deep indigo sky once more. Abigail let out a joyous victory shout and jumped into the air, pumping a fist as she did so. She'd done it, she'd defeated three imps all by herself! That alone was cause enough for celebration.

(Scene Transition is back!)

"What do you think the reward is?" Issun mused.

"I don't know, but it probably won't be very expensive." Silva replied, a thoughtful look on her face. "'Cause priests more often than not don't have a lot of money or have very expensive stuff- Ammy, what's wrong?"

Ammy was looking intently toward the dojo, tense as if there were demons around.

Issun spoke up. "Hey... do you hear that?"

"It sounds like... shouting..."

There was a moment of silence.

"...ABIGAIL!"

"Oh, hey, what's up?" Suddenly Abigail popped up behind them.

Silva yelped and whirled around while Ammy nearly tackled Abigail, thinking she was a demon.

"What happened?!" Issun asked. "We heard shouting and- Is... is that blood?!"

Silva grabbed Abigail and began looking her over, trying to find a serious injury of some sort that would account for the blood.

"Hey, hey, whoa, I'm fine!" Abigail flailed her hands. "I ran into a demon scroll by accident, but I'm completely okay. I swear."

They all stared at her.

"..."

"...you ran into a demon scroll and you're fine?"

"Yeah, of course! See, look." Abigail pulled out the flute weapon thing she had taken from the green imp and showed it to them, then examined it herself with a chuckle. "It's so funny, there was this one imp there who could talk, he called himself Toya of Short Temper or something or other. Kinda funny, right? I mean, that's a weird name!"

"Toya of Short Temper?" Silva repeated, then looked back at Issun. "Isn't that one of the names on the scroll?"

"I thought it was 'Toyo'..."

"The guy himself said Toya... what does the scroll say?"

"I can't read the guy's handwriting..."

"Screw it, let's just call him Toya."

"Wait wait hold it." Abigail held up her hands. "What scroll?"

"We met a priest who gave us a list of demon outlaws to kill." Issun explained.

"And Toya of Short Temper was one of the names on the list. You can cross it out now, by the way." Silva said the last part to Issun.

After a short pause, a look dawned on Abigail's face that can only be described as a look of purest awesome. "...Wait... so I... I killed a demon outlaw?!"

"Pretty much."

Abigail then proceeded to throw even more of a parade than she had been before. Complete with dancing and cheering and jumping and fistpumping.

Issun was giving her a weird look, Silva was giggling, and Ammy had a wolfish grin on her face.

"...can we keep going now?" Issun asked after a minute or two.

Abigail stopped her parading and stuck her tongue out at Issun. "Killjoy. But okay."

"We're going back to Kamiki, right?" Silva asked.

Abigail shrugged. "Are we?"

"We still have to head to the ferry dock." Issun replied.

"Let's go, then. I don't want to drag this out any longer than I have to." Silva sighed.

(Scene Transition is on strike, so Timeskip is here instead.)

"Well that was a waste of time." Silva muttered, walking past the merchant sitting at the entrance of Kamiki Village.

"We got a good walk," Abigail pointed out, as she did her best to rebraid her hair and walk at the same time. "That wasn't too bad. At least the sun's up now."

Silva muttered something about wanting more cherry cakes.

"We can stay here until night if ya want." Abigail grinned. "I won't object." Her stomach was growling at the very thought of the cherry cakes.

"We gotta see Sakuya, remember?" Issun cut in. "We can get the cherry cakes afterward."

"Hey, what's going on?" Silva suddenly asked as they crossed the bridge. "Everyone's running around..."

"That looks fun!"

Silva walked up to the pot-headed man they saw four chapters ago. His name was Komuso, if she remembered correctly.

Komuso was doing a happy dance, the number 15 above his head in bold red. "Ah ha ha! What a joy to see life returning to the land! Just 15 more to go…we will be blessed with a miracle when all the trees are in bloom!"

Oh, yeah. Silva thought. We have to bloom 15 trees, don't we? She sighed.

"So we have to bloom 15 trees." Issun stated. "Sounds easy enough."

"Until you run around trying to find that one elusive tree that refuses to be bloomed." Silva muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Wow, imagine what Kamiki will look like when the trees have all bloomed..." Abigail pondered. "No time to waste, I guess."

"Why don't we split up?" Silva suggested. "Ammy with Abigail and Issun with me. I mean, since Issun can use the Celestial Brush too (I think), if we split up it'll be faster."

"Whoaaaa, hold up." Abigail frowned and put her hands on her hips. "Sorry Silva, but I don't trust you with Issun."

"...do you really think I'd try anything with him?" Silva raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," Abigail replied bluntly. "Like arguing. And you might squish him, and I'm pretty sure we need him alive."

Silva was silent for a moment. "...good point."

Was it just her or did Issun seem disappointed?

Apparently it was not just her, because Abigail pushed her lips into a pout. "Stop it with that look, I mighta just saved your dignity," she huffed at Issun.

"What look?" Issun immediately acted like he hadn't been doing anything.

Silva flicked him in reply.

Abigail managed to catch him and put him on her shoulder. "Now come on, let's go." She frowned and looked from Silva to Ammy, then declared, "THIS IS NOW A RACE!" and ran off to find the first unbloomed tree.

Silva blinked. Then she looked at Ammy.

Ammy looked up at her.

"...What are we waiting for?!" Silva said. "We can't possibly lose to those two!"

Ammy barked and ran off while Silva flew high in the air to see where all the trees were.

(Scene Transition is back from strike.)

"Ammy! The whole path to Konohana and the Sacred Deck is full of trees!" Silva called down. Ammy barked and ran along, blooming trees as she went.

(Scene Transition can tell he's going to be used a LOT.)

"So can you even do Bloom?" Abigail wondered to Issun as she stood in front of an unbloomed tree.

"Sure I can!" Issun replied smugly. Granted, it took him one or two tries to get it to work, but he did it.

"Cool!" Abigail exclaimed as the tree burst into bloom. "Now come on, we've got a race to win!" And with this, she ran off once more.

(Scene Transition made you a cookie, but he eated it.)

"Ammy! One nearby Susano's house!" Silva called, scanning Kamiki for any trees they might have missed.

"Really? Gee, thanks!" Abigail called up as she ran up to the tree near Susano's house, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

Issun Bloomed it quickly, the two of them cackling as they ran off to find more trees.

Silva had a rage face as she watched them run away. She looked down at Ammy, who shrugged. Somehow.

(Scene Transition is running out of things to say.)

"Last tree, I think..." Abigail panted as she ran up to the final unbloomed tree. "We got 7... if this is the last tree, then the others got 7, too... so if we Bloom this one, we win...!"

Ammy, who had run up silently behind them, raised her tail and made a circle around the tree- at the same time that Issun raised his sword/brush and circled the tree. The tree had been bloomed, but it was impossible to tell who had done it.

"...Huh?!" Abigail exclaimed. "But- you guys- but we- but the tree-" Abigail's mouth was agape, and she was sputtering as she pointed from Ammy, to herself, to the tree in random order.

"...okay, since we have no idea who circled it first, let's just call it a tie." Silva stated.

Abigail huffed and folded her arms. "Lame," she grumbled. A moment later she tilted her head in thought. "Well, at least we tied with a goddess and a fairy, both of whom are vastly more powerful than us," she mused. "That's a good thing."

"And your point is?" Silva asked her.

"My point is that's an accomplishment," Abigail said cheerfully.

Silva rolled her eyes. "Come on, let's go see Mr. Orange now. I met him while I was flying around and he said something about dancing when the trees are bloomed."

"ONWARD TO DANCING!" Abigail declared, and ran off in the wrong direction entirely.

"...that is just so much fail." Silva facepalmed. She followed Abigail up the path to the Konohana Tree, grabbed the back of her shirt and dragged her to the Sacred Deck, Ammy trailing behind with an amused expression while Issun snickered (He had bounced from Abigail to Ammy's head a few minutes earlier). Abigail simply had a half sheepish, half mutinous look on her face.

Silva dropped Abigail at the top of the steps and watched Mr. Orange.

"At last…" Mr. Orange said. "At last, the answer to all my prayers! All the village's trees have sprung back to life! It is time to harness the power that dwells within the good earth. Yes! It is time for the Konahana Shuffle!"

"Why 'shuffle'...?" Abigail wondered to herself.

"Because everyday he's shuffling." Silva replied before being smitten by Mystic.

"THAT WAS TERRIBLE."

"I shall summon back the spirit of the divine tree Konahana!" Mr. Orange completely ignored the now-blackened fairy (thanks to the fourth wall, which is now being repaired), pulling out a jug of sake from seemingly nowhere. "But first, I must break my vow of temperance. I shall gingerly sip the sake, and soon we shall see blossoms!"

He then proceeded to guzzle the sake like there was no tomorrow, though most of it spilled onto his face and beard.

"...That's gingerly?" Abigail gawked.

Silva snorted, suddenly completely fine again. (And no one noticed, again thanks to the fourth wall.) "If that's gingerly, then I'd hate to see what drinking heavily is."

Mr. Orange threw the jug over his shoulder, and the orange on his head grew to an enormous size. "Oh, yes. Yes! Yes!"

Abigail gaped disbelievingly at it.

"Hey gramps, you okay? You got a real weird look in your eyes!" Issun said.

Mr. Orange turned to us. "Snowball! Children!"

"...okay, technically, I'm older than even him." Silva muttered.

"What you're about to see is the stuff of legends!" Mr. Orange continued. Ammy turned away so she wouldn't have to smell his bad breath. Abigail gagged at the smell. Silva didn't blame them; she leaned as far away as possible and covered her nose and mouth, her heightened senses only making it worse.

"Behold, the secret of secrets! I give you…the Konahana Shuffle!" Mr. Orange started dancing, while Silva played the Konohana Shuffle music in her head, and each time he pointed at a section of the tree it burst into blossoms. But at one point the tree didn't bloom, which Ammy decided to fix by using Bloom on it. After doing that several more times, the tree was in full bloom, and Mr. Orange proceeded to pass out on the deck.

"Ah…Great Amaterasu, Silva and Celeste."

"I don't like that name..." Abigail mumbled to herself.

"...since when did we tell Sakuya our names...?" Silva wondered.

"S-Sakuya?" Issun stuttered. "You're alive? And you…um…look very nice!"

"Issun has not tried to make a move on her. IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD!" Silva wailed.

"Shut up, Silva." Issun growled.

"Little bug friend, I see you are full of spunk as always." Sakuya (who was now scantily clad) gave a small laugh. "I also owe this elderly gentleman my deepest thanks. What bravery! Mere words cannot express my gratitude."

"...so Sakuya is alive because of a drunk, dancing old man." Silva muttered. "Nope, no thanks to us."

Abigail looked as if she was torn between laughter and facepalming.

"Thanks to you all, I have been restored and re-energized."

Silva noticed that with the way Sakuya was posing (as well as the way she was dressed), it was as if she was trying to get Issun to think dirty thoughts.

Said poncle just gulped.

"Of course, the ones who deserve my thanks and respect the most are none other than the glorious god Amaterasu, Silva and Celeste! Praise be to you all!" She laughed, and Ammy got some praise. "I cannot guarantee that it will mean salvation for all of Nippon, but if you restore the Guardian Saplings spread about the land, you too will benefit from the power that results. I will remain here in Kamiki, praying for your mission's success. How I look forward to gazing upon you again! May the fresh scent of flowers protect you always!" Then she disappeared.

Suddenly, the sky became dark, and starlight shone down on them once again.

"Hey, is this... y'know... a constellation...?" Abigail tilted her head up at the stars.

"I believe it is." Silva replied, staring up at it while Ammy filled in the dots.

The brush god, another monkey, did a backflip and jumped down to them... only to crash into the fourth wall.

"DAMMIT, HASU, I JUST FIXED THAT!" Mystic screamed, starting to become very annoyed with all the characters that were constantly breaking the fourth wall.

"Chill, Mystic," came the lax tone of Mikey. "That was a canonical fourth wall breaking, it doesn't count."

Mystic muttered something unintelligible and left to go "get some air". Mikey shrugged and cued the scene to continue.

Silva and the others pretended like nothing had just happened and kept going.

While Sakigami glared at Hasugami in the background (Hasugami taking no notice), Hasugami began speaking. "Ah…Amaterasu. Origin of all that is good and mother to us all…Silva, guardian of the Wood Nymphs... and Celeste, messenger of the golden kingdom of Halley…Long have I hidden myself here among the nature of Kamiki. But the time has come for I, Hasugami, proud member of the Hanagami trio of flora gods, to reveal myself. May my power be of assistance on your grave quest."

"Holy smokes!" Issun exclaimed. "That was Hasugami! With the water lily power, you can even create lily pads on water! You can use them to cross any body of water! Let's try it out! C'mon! This way, guys!"

Abigail pronounced this to be awesome and followed Ammy, Silva right behind them.

(Scene Transition says Mystic is scary when angry. o_o)

Issun led the all to a spot just behind Susano's house. "I've been eyeing that treasure chest out there for some time. Why don't you create some lily pads here? Make 'em like stepping stones all the way to the island. Just draw circles on the water to make the lily pads! Simple. C'mon, Furball! Lemme see ya work wonders with that brush of yours!" Ammy then proceeded to make a lily pad, and jumped onto it.

Silva chose to simply fly over to the island.

Abigail could also easily fly over by turning into a bird, but decided against it in favor of trying the lily pads out at least once. Ammy opened the chest to claim a Sun Fragment.

"At least we don't have to worry about getting wet anymore!" Issun exclaimed. "I know! Now that we've got this new power, we can use it to travel a bit farther out of the village! Remember the waterway leading to the forest I told ya about?"

"You mean the dock to Agata Forest?" Silva cut in.

"Yeah. Our little Sakuya is back to her old peppy self, but…there are still lots of guardian saplings that haven't blossomed!"

Everyone looked back at the Konohana tree.

"...what are we waiting for?" Silva asked. "Let's go!" She flew off towards Shinshu field.

"Hey, wait!" Abigail exclaimed. She leapt back to the shore and yelped as she hastily pushed the skirt of her knee-length, Lolita-style dress down when it flew up. She glanced around furtively to make sure no one had seen anything.

Unfortuantely, Issun had been right behind her, and was now chuckling pervertedly.

Ammy immediately ate him, ignoring his shouts of protest.

"...I feel strangely violated," Abigail muttered to herself. "Like some kind of Neko Sugar Girl. Oh well, nobody saw..." And with that she headed off to follow Silva to the field.


Mystic: Oh Abigail. xD;
Mikey: Poor, poor Abigail. xD ...We're terrible people for putting panty shots in a fanfic, aren't we? :T
Mystic: ...technically nobody but Issun saw.
Mikey: Which, by the way, he is the WORST person to have seen... xD
Mystic: Very true. xD Oh, and the reason why they debated over the demon outlaw's name is because in the game, it's Toya, but I could have sworn it was Toyo, thus the brief debate about what his name is. In other news, *gasp* Issun has been flicked for the first time in several chapters! WE MUST CELEBRATE!
Issun: -_-
Silva *throws confetti in the air*
Abigail: *giggle*
Ammy: *eyeroll*
Mikey: YEEEAAAAAHHH! *dances* You know you guys enjoyed seeing him be eaten by Ammy (and once by Abigail) though. xD ...Oh, and review please! Those are reasons to celebrate, too! They make us do the REVIEW SHUFFLE! *awesome face*
Mystic: *doing the Konohana shuffle in the background*