Truth be told, Amaterasu had no real ideas on how or where to begin her search for her world-sojourning kin. Honestly, he could have been anywhere in the cosmos by this point in time. Nonetheless, reasonably certain she'd searched every corner of their world, the goddess had taken to frequenting the Dragon's Gate, hoping against hope for him to emerge from the portal to little avail.

Just when, after years of awaiting his return, when she was literally seconds away from beginning that long, treacherous journey across the worlds, the gate elicited a sustained surge of energy, spewing forth an Anankos (in a human form to preserve energy) looking rather fatigued, but quite pleased with himself, clutching an assortment of jewels; a ruby, a sapphire, and an emerald most prominent.

"Oh, Anankos!" she exclaimed. "Are you hurt?! I'd almost despaired of seeing you again!"

Panting heavily, the dragon looked up at her hopefully. "I'm fine, Amaterasu; just a little tired. That's not important- how are things in this world?"

The solar dragon, also in her human form, turned her eyes downward. "Kervanos...was struck down...by my brother's pet." she informed balefully. "And his people..."

His senior by several thousands of years, the thunder dragon was probably the most powerful of them apart from Lord Moro himself. Anankos was stunned, horrified, and fearful all at once. As to the fate of his people- his devotees, Amaterasu did not even need to finish the sentence for him to divine their fate. Fatigued as he was, Anankos released a great cry of rage and frustration. "WHY?" he demanded, slamming his fist against the ground. "What's the point...of having all this power...if we can't even... protect our peoples?! Our world?!"

Amaterasu knelt down to face him, one of her uniquely-kind, reassuring smiles on her face. "I know things look dire," she conceded. "but all is not yet lost. Now what were these treasures you strove so hard to collect?"

Catching his breath, Anankos seemed to calm down somewhat. "These treasures...and cornerstone when forged into a blade...have the power to destroy evil- Selenos' human."

"And do we just distribute them to-"

"No! Not just any human! Use your magic...help them create trials..."

Overjoyed to reunite with one of her only two confidants, Amaterasu helped the dragon's human form to his feet, subconsciously muttering a prayer she'd heard from devotees countless times over the past few decades. "Eyes of a beast, fierce, unyielding, and brave to enemies, kind, patient and loyal to her allies." she began. "We beseech you, Great Lady of the Sun, send her to deliver us from this terror and fear!"

"What...exactly was that?" inquired Anankos, having been out of the loop, to say the very least.

"Oh! It's a prayer mortals will often say as of late- the Prayer of the White She-wolf. Hold any particular meaning for you?"

"No, I cannot say it does."

With that said, Anankos mulled over the words; knowing humans, they could be, for whatever reason, beseeching Amaterasu for a literal white she-wolf. Nonetheless, were they not speaking literally...this could be very important information to have as far as unusual humans are concerned.

"...kura...me...Sakura...Can you hear...Can you hear me, Sakura...?" came the soft-yet-distressed young woman's voice. "...ger...in grave danger...your world..."

With a start, Sakura awoke, not an unusual occurrence these days. Despite her being protected by literally legions of the Flame Tribe's greatest warriors in the heart of their holiest stronghold, the truth was there was only one warrior whose presence could still the princess' anxious heart and remove that sinking feeling in her stomach. Was she alright? Was she cold? Tired? Hungry? All of these things were naturally on the mind of Sakura, an anxious young lady by nature.

Her keen senses well-aware of the movement, Rinkah stirred awake as well, rubbing her eyes lightly. "Ngh, what's wrong?" she inquired, not actually rising from her own cushion.

"N-nothing." lied Sakura. "It's nothing. G-go back to sleep, Rinkah."

Given everything she'd been through the past year or so, few would blame the princess for being slightly...disturbed, but even with that said, she knew fully well that hearing voices was not a good sign by any stretch of the imagination. Ironically, a part of herself had actually convinced her that the time apart from Hana would actually be good for them both, considering the very...interesting feelings stirred for her in the past several months.

"It's j-just a phase, I'm s-sure." she lied to herself more than once. "I'll g-grow out of it! Yeah!"

Gods knew she'd tried to suppress the emotions such as those stirred by that one (extraordinarily pleasant) dream- and become more and more miserable and anxious for it. But when she'd closed her eyes to go to sleep, she would see Hana's smile, hear her voice comforting the princess or her energetic laughter or the gentle smell of her hair or the fragrance from the soaps she'd use...and feel an even guiltier pleasure in so doing.

Still, Sakura had convinced herself that her plan was working in a sense- she'd not heard the woman's voice for a week and was reasonably sure she'd not given any of any hints of unusual anxiety- this was of course, until she'd had another exceptionally pleasant dream concerning her swordswoman, this one making the hot spring one before the conference look as platonic as their childhood playtime by comparison. When she awoke this time, panting and soaking wet all over, Sakura, after those precious few seconds of an afterglow, felt even dirtier than usual. With a depressed sigh, the princess admitted one thing to herself- she was not going to solve this problem of hers by working it out herself- she was going to have to confer with someone older and wiser- sooner, rather than later, she resolved. But who could she really ask? There was really only one woman who she could even fathom (and she knew to be like that, as it were) asking for advice on this matter and no one had any idea where she was, assuming she was even still alive!

Still rather ill-at ease in such discussions around Rinkah, Kirigamine being more Hana's mentor than anything else, and Kikai running himself ragged with assorted tasks, Sakura, even in spite of her mental rehearsals of such a conversations, had actually despaired of locating such a confidant. That is until, she had lingered behind Rinkah that afternoon as they returned to the chief's domicile, paying scarce notice to the figure meditating on an outcropping. "The beginnings of wisdom, Daughter of Sumeragi," Amagi's voice boomed. "are to call things what they are."

While she'd grown used to his unobtrusive nature, Sakura felt her heart nearly leap from her chest this time. Then again, she had been rather distracted for weeks now. "Oh! Sir Amagi! I d-didn't notice you there!" she exclaimed.

"Pay it no mind, child. You seem troubled. Come, tell me what vexes you."

With a defeated sigh, Sakura approached the giant and sat beside him. Was he truly clairvoyant? Or was her distress so telegraphed? "I-I've just been wondering something, Sir Amagi. "And i-if I'm prying, j-just say so, but-"

"But what?"

Taking a deep breath, Sakura spoke at last. "W-w-what exactly is your r-relationship to Chief Kikai?" she inquired. "D-do you have some familial relation?"

Breaking his stance, the shadow scratched his wild, bushy beard. "No, but I'd actually call him my brother before anything- even closer than that, really."

Sakura's face colored slightly. "Oh, y-your wife must b-be jealous!"

Now having a far better idea of where the young lady was coming from, Amagi decided to steer the conversation while dispensing some relevant advice.

"Don't have one. I've never had any interest in taking a wife or having children- still don't and I'm old enough to say I never will. Besides, I've got my responsibilities, my warriors, Rinkah- and her father, obviously."

The giant stood up at last, taking several steps to walk away before speaking. "I would lay my life down for that man without a second thought. He need only say the word."

"Please, don't do that." Sakura implored. "Chief Kikai and Rinkah both would mourn you the rest of their lives."

Amagi smiled knowingly. "I could say the same about your woman, Princess Sakura."

The mountain of a man setting off to do gods-only-knew-what, Sakura, while somewhat heartened, was still rather worried- losing Hana, particularly because of these...desires becoming known was the thing that, without a doubt, terrified her most. Even anything she could imagine from the cruel, warped mind of King Leonard or his cruel, warped kingdom paled in comparison.

Being rather lost in thought, Sakura barely touched the supper her hosts had put out for her, but after mulling over the exchange with Amagi for several hours, by the time she'd settled down to sleep, the princess had come to a conclusion- whatever their relationship was fated to look like, Sakura could not or would no longer deny that she needed Hana, whatever may come of that.

Interestingly enough, Sakura slept more soundly than she had for weeks- since Hana's departure. And even more interesting was the message from the mysterious young woman- no longer disjointed and fragmentary, but as loud and clear as though she were right beside the princess.

"Sakura..." came the voice, kind yet troubled. "Can you hear me, Sakura? Please, heed my call! Your world, and everyone in it, is in grave danger, Sakura!"

In the (unusually-silent) presence of his loyal courtiers, allies, and eldest son-slash-heir, Lord Ugayafukiaezu of Yamato finished his silent reading of the letter (or rather, ultimatum) from their new western neighbor. "Do these people believe that they're gods?" he asked incredulously, unsure as to whether or not the question was rhetorical.

"It would seem so, Father." remarked Prince Jimmu. "Or at the very least, close enough to it."

"With all due respect, Lord Yamato," interjected Lord Abiko of Fusa. "if they truly thought themselves divine, they wouldn't bother with an ultimatum."

Another lord, bulky and scraggly-haired, as if calling to mind a bear, huffed in derision. "How do you know that, Lord Fusa?" he inquired shortly. "They could simply be braggarts talking a big game!"

A third lord, scrawny and wide-eyed, slapped his palm to his visage. "Your mouth always runs faster than your brain, Lord Higo." he complained. "Or at least-"

The bear-like man's nostrils flared as he menaced his fellow. "At least we don't need to hide behind craven tricks like you buzzards, Osumi!"

Another noble, a middle-aged woman with heavy-set eyelids, covered her mouth as to disguise her sneer. "When all you have is a hammer, after all..."

"Oh, shut up, Himiko, you half-senile old bat!" roared Lord Higo. "Maybe if you backwoods fanatics relied less on your witchcraft and more on-"

"You take that back right now!"

Despite being at the head of one of the greatest noble houses with the most expansive lands with the most resources in all the eastern lands, Ugayafukiaezu sighed in exasperation at the depressingly-common spectacle of argument his meetings with fellow nobles often degenerated into. From time immemorial, everyone knew that the eastern peoples were not a nation so much as a scattered collection of somewhat-related peoples. As expected, they did not always see eye-to-eye, to say the least. Now, at a time when they could least afford it, it was even less opportune.

Turning to his son with a nod, the younger man struck the great gong several times as to drown out the overlapping arguments. It took a couple of minutes for them to die down completely, but when they did, Ugayafukiaezu cleared his throat to continue. "I know a lot of you think me an optimistic fool like my father before me," he prefaced. "but I do genuinely think we can work together for our own good- even for the survival of our given peoples."

"So what would you have us do, Ugayafukiaezu?" inquired Lord Osumi. "Fight these western zealots head-on?"

"If it comes to that, yes." confirmed Lord Yamato. "I will go to meet with this emperor of theirs- see if I can't soften his position a bit. Jimmu will oversee my court until my return, but-"

"Until then?" interrupted Lord Higo shortly.

Ugayafukiaezu closed his eyes in contemplation. "If we wish for peace, we must prepare for war. To do otherwise would be not only negligent, but an atrocity against our descendants."

The meeting of the eastern nobles finally dismissing, one lord pulled aside one of his fellows, both of whom were rather quiet, pessimistic, and having stayed largely out of the brouhaha. "Oh, by the way, Masazane." interjected Lord Ujiyuki of Iyo. "I never found that gift for you. Would some hemlock flavoring for your sake do? I can easily acquire enough for yourself, your family, your servants."

Lord Masazane, not exactly a Pollyanna himself, raised an eyebrow. "That's a bit of a grim an assessment, don't you think, old friend?" he inquired.

"It's a realistic assessment; you know out west, they call us unusually quarrelsome and fractious? Yeah, they do that because it's true as you well know."

"Just going off of what I've heard, I don't like our odds either- my Izumo, after all, produces more food than anything- but we have to try still. Lord Yamato was correct in that our descendants would never forgive us for not giving it our all."

Lord Iyo scoffed, still considering his offer rather generous considering their new neighbor was more accurately described as a fanatical cult masquerading as an empire and ruled by a literal demon king. "Now, I suppose, if we had an army made up of those crazy bastards from up north...that MIGHT be a different story."