A trend I've noticed in this story. Lazy chapter=fluff scene to make it up.

Have fun reading, kiddos! 8D

Chapter 22-To the Dragon Palace!

"Negative five jugs of sake on the wall, negative five jugs of sake. You take one down, pass it-"

"WILL YOU CUT IT OUT?"

"And I have finally gotten the poncle to speak!" I gasped in mock amazement. Once Issun realized it, he practically radiated frustration and anger.

"Why you little-"

"I'm back." My ears perked up when I heard Ammy's voice. Thank the brush gods she interrupted Issun's rant. "So, did you find anything interesting up there?" She questioned from Orca's bucket/saddle/insert word of choice here.

"Oh, nothing much. Just a new brush technique." I shrugged nonchalantly. "Y'know, the usual. Now we can walk up walls wherever a cat statue is."

"Oh, really?"

"Yup. So, what'd you do? Get any new brush techniques?" I asked her, randomly examining my paw. Seriously, what the heck was that tuft of fur thing there for?

"Three."

"Cool." I had my own Issun moment there. "Wait, what? There are only two left!" I stared in shock and confusion.

"Furball, I hate to break this to you, but I think you might've been hallucinating one or two of those…" Issun trailed warily.

Ammy just laughed. "They're all secondary brush techniques, like fireburst and mist warp."

"Oooooh."

"So, which brush techniques were upgraded?" I inquired, tilting my head curiously.

"Powerslash is stronger, two cherry bombs can be made at once, and…well, watch this." She jumped onto shore and drew three horizontal lines in the air with a cool smirk on her face. Out of nowhere, strong winds surrounded her, forming a large tornado. Unfortunately, it only lasted about six seconds.

I instantly jumped to my feet out of shock and awe, but suddenly stumbled and crashed into the rock wall next to me. Ammy dashed over to my side, concern evident in her eyes.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I answered, closing my eyes. "I just feel kinda sick. It'll go away." Ammy helped me get onto Orca while Issun groaned.

"Silver, don't you dare puke!" I rolled my eyes, trying to ignore the headache that was quickly develoing.

"I won't, okay? Jeez…" I muttered, curling up and trying to think happy, not sick thoughts. (And I swear, if you have your head in the gutter for a sentence like that, either you have a strong sense of irony, or you need to get your brain checked, because that's just not healthy, no matter how much of an immature teenager you may be.)

The ride back to the dock was really quick. The walk over to the cat statue on the other side of North Ryoshima Coast? Not so much. And it was filled with poncle complaints. Seriously, I thought we were done with that after Hana Valley. There would've been a lot of bickering too, if I hadn't been feeling bad enough to not even care to reply. The fact that I didn't want to talk, much less argue with Issun, just had Ammy even more concerned, but whenever she tried saying something, I'd just assure her I was totally fine. Of course, it didn't help my case when I tried to use catwalk and nothing even happened. Teah, that was great. Especially when Issun laughed his head off. He was so lucky I was feeling merciful towards his health and didn't eat him.

Oh, and for the record, never jump up a wall when you're feeling sick. It makes things worse than you've ever thought possible.

"Dear Yomigami…" I muttered, lying near the edge of the cliff, trying to keep the contents of my stomach where they belonged.

"Come on, Silver." Issun encouraged, but I could hear the smug tone in his voice. He was enjoying being able to act like the smart one for once…although I'm not exactly sure how my condition made him think I was an idiot…well, kids, there's an example of his stupidity right there!

I gave a small growl, but got up and followed Ammy to a path where we came face to ugly face with the area's own Frank! Seriously, did every section of Nippon have its own designated Frank of nature or something? The monster in front of us was mostly made up of head. Blue head. With one giant eye. It was also smoking a pipe. Legs sprouted directly from its chin…or, at least, that was what it looked like. It had chicken legs. Giant freaking chicken legs. And instead of arms, it had giant wings.

This ends fail creature analysis by yours truly.

A weird ball of purple smoke shot out of its mouth…although maybe that isn't the right term, seeing as it moved slower than molasses..and yet it ended up hitting me and Ammy anyways while we tried to make our getaway. (Thank…whichever brush god's idea it was to make travelers charms for godhood levels.)

The next attack was a giant glob of fire. That one scared me pretty bad, considering I barely dodged. The heat still slightly burned my fur, which didn't do much for the fever I suspected I was getting. Dang, it was just one symptom after the other with this…I decided it was a stomach flu, seeing as how I kept nearly puking every two seconds. And I had a feeling my luck wouldn't hold in the middle of battle. I mean, barf or get burned. Which would you choose?

Ammy managed to hit the mutated bird with her weapon once before having to dodge a fireball. Luckily, that meant its attention wasn't on me. While Ammy weaved through a few thrown knives, I changed my rosary to my subweapon and hit the monster two or three times. When it turned towards me, I freaked out and used Seven Strike. I wished I had known how it liked to attack airborne enemies before I pulled it out, because I came dangerously close to losing my lunch when I had to balance on my sword as it sailed through the air and stabbed the bird. It was pure luck when the fireball it launched at me apparently couldn't hit me from where I had landed. Clenching my teeth, I repeated the attack, extremely thankful for godhood levels now. I would've been a pile of ashes if not for it.

I made my getaway…or at least, I tried to. I stopped midway as all my luck vanished. It started with me finally barfing. (And Issun's complaints of how gross it was.) If you've ever seen a dog barf, you should know that they instantly stop whatever they're doing to do that first. I did not know that was a natural thing that can't be helped, like closing your eyes when you sneeze. You can't imagine how freaked out I was standing out in the middle of the open and not being able to move out of harm's way.

The fact that three knives sailed towards me didn't help the situation at all. Ammy was only able to powerslash one on a second's notice. The other two? Well, let's just say my left front leg began bleeding profusely and hurt like heck. A few beads of rosary flew over my head, but I was too miserable at that moment to give a crap.

And then the monster decided to show us its invincible form! Yeah, you heard me right. We couldn't do any harm to it whatsoever.

Unfortunately for me, I didn't know this. I was kind of ticked off (Like how I used to not think of Waka that badly and instantly changed my mind after the fight incident.) and my wolf instincts took over, causing me to lunge at the bird. (And yes, I was done barfing, you smart aleck-y people.) The attack resulted in me getting a pretty bad electric shock. It wasn't fun, by the way. I was pretty much out of the fight after that.

(Time Skip: Oh, great. Now she's getting lazy and just using me in random places because she can't figure out what to write next.)

"Are you okay?" Ammy asked, rushing over to me.

"Fantastic. Never better!" I answered with thick sarcasm, albeit pretty weakly.

"You just love using up all our holy bones, don't ya?" Issun complained and tossed me a small bone.

"Not my fault I barfed and failed at fighting." I replied after I was done with it, standing up and shaking my fur. "Minus the being stabbed and electrocuted thing, I feel slightly better after…you know."

"That was disgusting." Issun gagged.

"Yeah, like you've never had the flu before." I countered. "And you'd better shut your mouth, or you'll end up in mine. And I seriously doubt you wanna end up there now of all times."

"Touché, my fluffy friend. Touché."

A voice interrupted our conversation. "Someone there?"

"Just a goddess, a sick wolf, and someone with the brain the size of a grain of sand…if that can even be considered an insult to him." I'm not gonna lie, it felt good to be able to make quick witty replies again. Or at least for the time being, until my nausea came back. We all walked over to the person, seeing as there was nothing better to do.

"This is Watcher's Cape." He informed us. "It's said the gods once used this place to return to the heavens. At night, this place offered a great view of the starry sky. Even the whirlpool galaxy was visible from the cape's tip!" Am I the only one who thinks that name belongs in a game like Super Mario Galaxy?

"Whirlpool Galaxy?" See? Issun agrees with me.

"It's a group of stars. They form the shape of a great spiral, like a heavenly whirlpool. But since the demon-shaped island appeared at sea, there are more and more monsters about, and the skies have dulled. The magnificent starry view can no longer be seen. When night falls, I've got a wish to make upon a shooting star. If you wish upon a star, it always comes true!" And now we were ripping off old Disney movies. Great. Would now be a bad time to mention that the 'demon-shaped island' looked a lot like Batman to me?

I swished my tail and…nothing happened. I growled in frustration and kept trying to use crescent, but the brush technique refused to work for me. I knew I'd never hear the end of this from Issun.

"Let me do it." Ammy said gently. I sighed and nodded, watching as the moon suddenly appeared in the sky.

And at that exact same time, a wave of nausea rolled over me again. I lurched and fell to the ground, once again curling up and trying to get it to go away.

"Are you okay, Celia?" Ammy prodded me with her paw.

"I'm fine. It's probably like the eating and sleeping thing." I dismissed, although I talked rather quickly so I could spend more time being silent. "Just finish whatever we were doing without me."

Strangely enough, Ammy actually complied with my request and just left me alone. I'm not sure, but I think I might've fallen asleep, because I remember something about talking cheese…

…moving right along…

Ammy woke me up, or at least tried to. She had to tell me that they had found the entrance to the Dragonian Domain. That brought me to my senses in an instant. Luckily, the few minutes of rest made me feel a little better. Making the most of my 'not feeling crappy' time, we made a mad dash to the dock, where Orca was waiting.

"Hi-yo, Orca away!" Issun commanded. Not even five seconds in, guess who appeared!

If you guessed the Water Dragon, you are correct!

"Go! Go! Go!" I yelled, quickly panicking. The Water Dragon followed us, easily closing the distance between us. My heart pounded in my chest loudly and I couldn't keep myself from staring wide-eyed in terror.

"There's the whirlpool!" Ammy announced. "Get ready!"

"It's getting closer!" I barked, my ears flat against my head. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the entrance like my friend had said, but I couldn't tell if we would make it or not. A few seconds later, we were in the current. The Water Dragon spread its massive jaws…

…and then I blacked out.

(Time Skip: Seriously? Unconscious scene transitions are so over-used it's not even funny. And yet they'll continue to be used in this story.)

"Ugh…feel like crap…"

"You're okay!" I felt a wolf licking my hand…wait, hand? I instantly sat up, my eyes wide open in shock.

"Where the heck are we?" I asked, holding my head. Bolting up was not a good idea.

"You're in the Dragon Palace." A girl answered. I turned my head towards the voice and stared. There was a mermaid at the side of the bed I was lying in.

Wait, why was I in a bed?

Ugh, I needed to stop questioning those kinds of things. The mermaid had an orange tail and light blue hair pulled into two buns. (There were also weird orange fin things in her hair. I couldn't figure out if they were a part of her or just a hair accessory that Dragonians liked or something.) Her swimsuit-like top was orange and she had light blue bracelets that had, yup, orange fins on 'em.

"Glad to see you're awake, Seashell!" It took me a second to realize she was referring to me.

"Oh! Um…thanks?" I said awkwardly. "But my name is Celia…"

"You never told me you don't like the nickname before." The mermaid gave me a weird look.

"I'm sorry, but who are you?"

"You don't remember me?"

Well, this conversation was quickly taking a nosedive. "Not really…I've never met a Dragonian before…are you sure you're not mistaking me for someone else?" I questioned.

"Well, she's not Squiddy." She pointed to Ammy. "But I know you're Seashell. Your voice sounds exactly the same." Well, that's a real reliable gauge, huh?

"Wait, who's Squiddy?" Gosh, this girl was making absolutely no sense whatsoever.

Yet she was looking at me like I was the insane one. "You don't remember Squiddy, either? But you two were always together!" I gave her a blank stare. "You called him Chibi."

"Wait!" Issun interrupted. "If this 'Chibi' or whoever the heck he is looks like Ammy…"

"They look exactly alike. Markings and everything." The mermaid persisted.

"Right. Well, if you add 'terasu' to the end of that name, it means 'little sun'…" We both stared at Ammy. If wolves could blush, she'd be red as a tomato.

"No, I don't have a child. Besides, have I even been alive long enough for that?" She defended.

"All right, you have a point there." Issun grumbled.

"My name is Nanami, okay? Don't forget it this time." The girl told me with a good-natured smile. It was then that I noticed the cup of red liquid in her hand. Of course, right when I saw it, she offered it to me. "Here, it's a special medicine. It'll make your sickness go away a lot faster than normal."

I cautiously took the cup from her and stared at it. "This is gonna taste bad, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is. Sorry." Nanami said apologetically. "It'll go away soon, though. And it'll make you feel a lot better."

I gave a weak smile. "Well, here goes nothing!" And I downed it all in less than a second. A few moments passed. "I don' see how that was b-" Cue the horrible flavor. Aftertaste for the lose. Think of the worse medicine you've ever had to take. Now imagine drinking ten bottles of the stuff in as short of a time span as I did. And now you somewhat understand my pain.

"Told you." Nanami said while I heard Issun laughing. I wanted to punch him so badly. "The symptoms are going to get worse, but they'll all be gone by tomorrow. The medicine kind of just speeds up the process."

"Greaaat." I commented, not sure if I was thankful or angry that I wasn't told this information sooner.

"I'd stay here with you, but I have to get back to Otohime. I'm her attendant."

"We have to see her, too." Ammy piped up.

"Really? Then we can go to see her throne room together!" Nanami seemed excited.

"Wait, wait, wait! I don't wanna be left alone!" I complained.

"Nanami has to get back to Otohime, and I doubt it'd be smart to let Issun do things by himself…"

"Hey!"

"So I guess that means he'll be the one to stay behind." Ammy finished.

"What?" Issun and I both asked at the same time.

"This is the only way it'll work, okay? Just go along with it."

We both grumbled a synchronized, "Fine…"

"Good. And please don't kill each other while I'm gone." She joked, then she and Nanami left. A few moments of silence ensued before I gave Issun an evil look. Said poncle backed away from me.

"Don't you dare." He warned, probably narrowing his eyes at me.

"There's no one to stop me." I pointed out, grabbing my paintbrush.

"Aaaammyyyyyyy!" Issun yelled, trying to make a run for it and instead slamming his face into the door. I had to stifle a laugh.

"Calm down, bug boy. I don't wanna face Ammy's wrath if I do that." I leaned my head against a pillow and shivered. "Dang it, I think I'm getting chills already." And of course right when I pointed out one symptom, I developed another. "Dear Ammy, that was fast. The headache's comin' back." I complained and closed my eyes, trying to ignore it the best I could.

I jumped in surprise about a minute later when I felt a cool hand press against my forehead. I opened my eyes and just stared at Issun. I was about to ask him how the heck he was normal size, but he apparently saw the question in my eyes and held up the lucky mallet in his other hand. So that was what it did to poncles…

"You've got a fever." He announced. "Which is probably why that Nanami chick hid the blankets earlier."

"Brain-damaged Celia is not a happy Celia." I agreed, then shivered again. "But that doesn't mean I'm not miserable. Does this waterbed have ice in it or something?"

"If it does, it'll help bring your temperature down." He pointed out. I gave him puppy dog eyes. While not a wolf, they were still effective in some situations. "No, I'm not going to go find the blankets. I don't even know where she stashed 'em."

I gave him a glare and crossed my arms like a pouty little kid. "You suck."

He suddenly snapped his fingers. "I've got it!"

"And what is your plan, O smart one?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Snuggling!" I would've thought he was joking if he hadn't looked so enthusiastic about it.

"…you can't be serious. I'm not cuddling with you. I'll go curl up in that corner and freeze to death now."

It was Issun's turn to pout, but that expression was soon replaced by a humorous one. "Freeze then, 'cuz I wanna see what a water bed feels like!" He pushed me over a little and jumped onto the bed. "This is awesome!" I face/palmed.

"Glad to know you care nothing about the pain I'm in."

"You hated my plan." Issun pointed out with a shrug.

"…just don't get any ideas." I said and leaned against him. I could tell he was shocked that I actually gave in. I was freezing, okay?

And, all right, that doesn't explain my heart beating faster. Or the awkwardness that immediately ensued. Or the fact that I was blushing. Probably profusely. I will admit to all of that.

"Y'know, Ammy probably won't be back for a while…" Issun trailed. I grabbed the other pillow and started whacking him over the head with it. He threw his arms up in defense and surrender. "I'm kidding, all right?"

"You'd better be." I chided, glaring at him. He put his arms down, albeit slowly, not wanting to take another chance of a pillow to the face. He calmly held my gaze, and soon I felt myself calm down. Still, that better had just been a joke.

And then keeping eye contact for that long suddenly felt awkward. As soon as I realized it, the blush came back to my cheeks. Issun smiled when he noticed it, which just caused me to blush even more…and slightly scold myself for suddenly acting that way. He put his hand behind my head and brought his face closer to mine. Before I knew what was happening, we were kissing. His eyes were half-open, giving into mine. As opposed to me; I was wide-eyed in shock, even though I should've seen it coming. I have my stupid moments, okay? The kiss lasted a lot longer than the prank back in Kamiki, and I felt totally flustered when Issun pulled away.

"I hate you so much." I said and pushed his forehead away. Hey, I had a reputation to keep, and I wasn't going to be all googly-eyed because of one kiss.

He smirked. "You liked it, didn't you?"

"I plead the fifth." Then I rested my head on his shoulder. "Oh, and by the way, I'll be laughing my butt off when you get sick."

Apparently the thought hadn't occurred to him. "Ah, cr-"

I just gave a small giggle and drifted off into sleep.

Celia: ...I'm going to run away and hope to forget this chapter. ._.
HEY, EVERYONE! GO ONTO DA AND FIND HER ASK ACCOUNT! YOU CAN PESTER HER ABOUT THIS AND OTHER THINGS TO NO END! 8D