Chapter 7: The Konohana
Roland took the lead by stepping afoot onto the surface, then he scanned the surroundings to make sure there were not any hostiles within their vicinity. Even though the street was clear, he opted to traverse on top of the rooftops for better safety and observation.
"Let's go upward for now." Roland whispered to Amaterasu and warped onto the top of one of the buildings.
He stayed purposely visible on the edge of the roof to let Amaterasu see his location. She proceeded to jump twice in the air, dug her claws on the building's surface, and propelled herself one last time which got her to Roland's level.
From where they were standing, they could see their destination. A large dead sapling on an isolated, bulging hillside, as well as a shrine belonging to it. The whole complex was separated by a moat full of water from the concrete streets that formed a junction.
"I think that's the Konohana right there, that priest should be present as well. Let's go take a closer look."
The duo navigated through the rooftops towards the closest point to the sapling where they still could not be detected. Once they reached the edge of the last building in front of the roundabout, they were shocked to see that the sapling was heavily defended by dozens of guards, a few battle-rifle wielding sentries, and two Sentinel mechs patrolling the perimeter of the sapling. The Sentinel-series security droids were of Roland's biggest concern. The chicken-like, two story tall robot was a force not to be reckoned with. They were equipped with state-of-the-art artificial intelligence, active protection systems, and armament. These autonomous juggernauts came outfitted with a mix of plasma-propelled autocannons, laser projector, and missile launchers.
All this activity near the sapling raised concern and confusion in Roland.
"There is something very wrong with this picture… Pooch, I may need you to go scout up ahead and find out what's going on in there. I will try to find a safer way in. The guards shouldn't mind you at all since they shouldn't be able to see your true form…I think."
Amaterasu nodded in acknowledgement to Roland's plan. She went over to the other side of the building and jumped down towards the alleyway where the guards will not be able to initially spot her. She then exited the alley and strolled along the circular street towards the entrance of the shrine. She attempted to not make her appear suspicious to the guards by not observing her surroundings in detail. So far that has worked, as some of the guards merely glanced at her and proceeded to mind their own business afterwards.
Everything was going according to plan and Amaterasu was almost at the entrance of the shrine. That was not until around the corner of the entrance, a hulking Sentinel droid crossed paths with Amaterasu, and it has taken notice of her.
The machine emitted a set of intimidating, rough beeps and aggressively approached the wolf, then halted only a yard away from her. Amaterasu froze as well and stared down the steel goliath. Her mind was rushing with thoughts, determining whether to attack first or let it make its next move. However, the machine just stood there with its glowing-red spider-like eyes scanning the wolf, along with its weapons fixated towards her. It dawned upon Amaterasu that it was "thinking" about her, but she wasn't sure of herself and still knew that it could attack any moment.
"Hey!" A sentry who was guarding the entrance to the shrine ran up and broke the gridlock between Amaterasu and the droid.
"That is just some nasty dog you hunk of junk! Get back on patrol or we'll be sending you to the scrap yard!" The sentry yelled towards the machine.
The droid made another set of beeps, this time in a more friendly manner as it had seemingly snapped out of its alert state. It then resumed its patrol around the perimeter, even going around Amaterasu as if it intended to give off a polite gesture.
"Stupid machine… And you, get lost. You'll end up breaking one of these things just by existing." The guard snickered and walked back to his post.
While Amaterasu did growl under her breath at him for talking trash, she did thank the guard in the back of her head for deescalating the cold duel she had with the machine. As she entered and trotted along the steps of the shrine, the first thing she had noticed is that all the smaller trees were barren, and that there was not a single hair of grass in the soil. Everything around her that once blossomed proudly centuries ago was dead. But that did not stop her determination to bring everything back like it once have.
Without noticing, Roland appeared beside Amaterasu, which made her slightly flinch from his sudden presence.
"That was TOO close, you could've been easily annihilated by that thing! What were you thinking?"
Amaterasu simply ignored him as she wasn't in the mood to start a fuss over something that she considered minute. Roland sighed when he saw her reaction towards his statement and chose to speak no more about that matter. They made their way upward to the peek of the hill, where there was a small building, that was the center of worship for the Konohana, a small pond, and a bridge to access the observation deck which overlooked the sapling. The duo headed for the shrine building first. Roland was a bit hesitant to enter the structure, as he did not know what to expect or discover inside. He glanced at Amaterasu one last time before he knocked on the door. There was no response.
"Hello? Anyone in there?"
Unbeknownst to Roland, Amaterasu knew there was somebody inside thanks to her nose. Without hesitation, she pawed on the door for a bit and managed to slide it open. What revealed inside was a dark, dusty room with all the surfaces comprised of traditional straw to give it a traditional appearance. However, at the very end of the building, sat a short man on the floor, who was wearing the traditional shrine robe that was worn out. He was surrounded by small candles making himself barely visible, and he was sitting on a wooden mat with his back turned towards Roland and Amaterasu.
"Come in please…" The man commanded in a soft tone.
Amaterasu and Roland stepped inside and slowly approached the man.
"Are you, Shigeru-San?" Roland asked first.
The old man slowly turned towards the two guests. But when he made eye-contact with Amaterasu, his eyes widened in an instant and he sprung up from the mat like a piston.
"By the divine light! Okami-Amaterasu, it really is you!" He exclaimed with such glee that his energy seemed to lighten up the atmosphere of the gloomy room. The man started bowing exaggeratingly towards Amaterasu, almost managing to hit his bald head against the floor.
"Sir, please calm down! You might overwork yourself and get a heart attack."
The man stopped what he was doing and glared at Roland.
"I am just fine, thank you very much!" He retorted. "You must be Roland-San, correct?"
"Yes, I am. And you are Shigeru-San I presume? It's nice to see that you held up well during this chaos."
"Do not worry about me Roland! What is important is that our lady and savior has arrived to save us all!"
"I suspected that there was something special with this pooch, also did you just call them a lady?"
"Indeed, I had." Shigeru pondered for a moment. "Of course, Corvids don't really have great knowledge about the Brush Gods hmm?"
"I mean…I guess so. Though I have learned about her somewhat in elementary school when we read stories about her adventures. Of course, none of us thought that it was all real."
"I figured. It's such a shame that belief in the Goddess has plummeted ever since she departed all this time ago. And that is why we were vulnerable to attack from the dark forces, and it had become a reality!"
"These dark forces, I think we encountered them in the subway tunnels while trying to get here. They were quite nasty creatures. Thankfully, they didn't appear to be a match for Amaterasu."
Amaterasu gave a happy bark from Roland's complement.
"I'm sorry to hear that you had to encounter them. They infest any area that is devoid of light, that is what makes them stronger. But of course, they shall not be a match for the mighty Okami-Amaterasu!"
Shigeru proceeded to pet her head as she wagged her tail passionately.
"Anyways, what do you want us to do now that we are here?"
"Oh right! The Konohana! We must restore it, quickly!"
Shigeru quickly led Roland and Amaterasu outside and brought them to the observation deck where they faced the almighty sapling.
"So how is this going to work? This tree is taller than some skyscrapers! What do you want us to do? Climb it and hose it with water?" Roland asked skeptically.
"Hush now, this is a job for the goddess." Shigeru then looked and nodded his head at Amaterasu, signaling her to do what she did best.
Amaterasu wasn't too confident that using her bloom technique would restore the sapling, but that would not stop her from trying. She turned her rump towards the tree, and then made a perfect circular motion with her tail. Suddenly, a whirlpool of fauna encircled the tree. The cherry blossoms reappeared on the roots as a massive wall of flowers radiated from the sapling like a tsunami wave. Vines, plants, and trees started growing on top of buildings after the wave past them. Even some animals such as birds and squirrels appeared as if out of nowhere. The sky itself turned clear blue and revealed the sun that was shining proudly for the first time in a year. Nature had seemingly taken over the barren, concrete jungle in a matter of seconds. This event also left Roland stunned with his beak dropped open, while panning slowly and trying to piece together what has happened. Shigeru just smiled at Amaterasu's accomplishment, while she felt like being at home once again.
