OK, here we go. Thanks for everybody's help. This was a tough chapter to write. Midori Yoshi, lol, you weren't rambling! It's good to know what people think. I've thought about what everyone said. There's been a hiccup with the hair colour, but just trust me, OK?

There's one thing to bear in mind for this story - my Ammy has been human before. And recently (see ch.9) Remember that because it's very, very important!

Cool grass. The night's summer breeze cooling bare skin. Colours of the moonlight dribbling over the land. Faint scents of flowers.

So faint…

And the pain.Head pounding, as if something was beating the inside of it.

Without thinking, she pressed a hand to her scalp.

Hand. Fingers. Long hair. But not soft. Odd. Should be softer.

She knew what had happened. She recognised the lack of smells; the cold as she was stripped bare and the sudden shock of colours.

And the feelings. Tight. Confusing. Memories that wouldn't stop flashing.

And now something even more painful. A black light that had burst in front of her. Waka. Issun. The Moon Tribe.

Awkwardly she raised her head. It was difficult to see in the night with these eyes. Everything was different to how it looked when she was a wolf. Almost pleasant in an odd way. She liked the colours.

She looked at where Waka and Issun had been. Gone. The field was empty. Still. Her senses had weakened so much that she couldn't even smell the familiar scent of them lingering on the air.

She closed her eyes. Pain…

And memories still spiralling. How did humans cope with so many? Celestial plain. Burnt ground. Blood. Fortress. Red monster. Waka standing close. Breath on lips… hurt.

Anger.

No.

Stop.

Concentrate.

Change back. Change back. Change back.

But the magic wouldn't come. Her hands gripped the grass tightly. Issun. Waka.

Amaterasu threw back her head and screamed.

"Hey, you. Uh, beast man. Wake up."

Something prodded Oki sharply in the arm. He groaned. The voice had been talking for a while, but only now did he realise that it wasn't part of a mingled dream.

Painfully Oki woke up. Everywhere ached. He'd battled with more beasts than he could count back home in Kamui, but nothing had ever left him feeling this drained. He felt as if he'd been sliced in at least a dozen places.

Opening his eyes, Oki squinted in the sharp candlelight that was agonising after the soothing darkness of sleep. He was in a wooden house that he vaguely remembered. There was a man with a balding head and a large red nose crouched warily next to him holding a long stick. Susano, if Oki remembered correctly. There was a pregnant woman beside him too with dark hair and a pretty face.

"You're alive?" said Susano.

"Yes."

But Oki only knew that because everything was too painful for him to be dead.

Memories loomed fuzzily in his mind; the Moon Cave and the pain of the snake's teeth as they'd sunk into his flesh; frantically chasing the Moon Tribe across Shinshu and tyring to leap away from their blades as they turned on him; a pretty village that smelt of blossoms; the Moon Tribe returning, more determined, and Amaterasu growling as she faced them.

Quickly he sat up, ignoring the way his head spun. "Amaterasu! Is she all right?"

"Er…" Susano glanced at the woman behind him. "She's not hurt."

But there was an uncertain tone to his voice that made Oki numb. He stood. The room tilted around him but he refused to let himself fall. "Where is she?"

"On a ridge by the waterfall," said the woman in a sweet, soft voice. "Susano says you and her are friends. You need to help her. She's been screaming and…" The woman's cheeks became red. "Well, you might see if she'll take this off you…" She held out a folded piece of snowy white material.

Oki didn't know what it was until he took it and unfolded it. A dress. The material was so light that it barely weighted anything. He stared, feeling tight inside as he tried to think why she wanted to give it to Amaterasu. His nervousness became tinted with another feeling that he couldn't force away. Eagerness.

"Where's Issun and Waka?" he asked.

The woman stared at the floor and folded her hands across her growing baby. "We don't know."

"I've looked all over Shinshu," said Susano, wrapping an arm about the woman. "They're gone. Those funny men with the gold hair have gone too."

Oki clutched the dress as he stepped from the house. It was morning. There were no clouds in the sky but the sun seemed weak and far away, leaving the air colder than Oki had ever felt it since being in this southern land.

The village looked sad. Withering blossoms were being tossed around carelessly by the wind and the trees were bare, stripped of their leaves and flowers.

The villagers had gathered by the stream that slowly turned the mill wheel. Their voices were hushed. Oki didn't need to be in his beast form to sense the tension.

"Can you see her? She's up there. We've tried calling but she won't come down." The woman had followed Oki. She pointed across the stream to the small waterfall. There was a ridge beside it and on it sat a girl with pale hair. There was no glow about her and yet somehow Oki had the feeling she was radiating light. He couldn't look at her for more than a moment.

He knew it was Amaterasu. Her name had entered his mind as soon as he'd glanced at her, and he knew that everyone in the village recognised her also. Those who believed would always recognise a god.

He walked past the stream to the waterfall. His legs seemed unsteady. How long had he been unconscious for? It felt as if he hadn't moved in days. He didn't like feeling this slow and the tightness in his chest wasn't helping.

The ridge was high, but the wall was rocky, offering many handholds. Grimacing, Oki began to climb. He didn't care how tired he was, or how hard the rock scraped against his hands. He had to reach her.

Arriving at the top, his hands were raw and bleeding. Tired and dizzy, he was half afraid he would collapse but he forced himself to stay conscious, even though the wounds in his chest felt as if they were threatening to tear open up again. Withdrawing his mask to help him catch his breath, he stared at Amaterasu.

She sat motionless on the grass, surrounded by wild flowers. She was beautiful and again Oki had the sensation that she was radiating invisible light. He couldn't look at her directly. Every time he tried his gaze seemed to slide to the ground of its own accord, as if humbled by her presence.

She was naked. Her skin was pale but the swirling red marks that had adorned her as a wolf remained, showing all that she was a goddess.

But her hair… its colour was somewhere between yellow and grey, and for some reason it made Oki uneasy. It felt wrong, as if it wasn't supposed to be that colour.

If she was aware of his presence she gave no indication of it. She seemed to stare at nothing and her eyes seemed locked on whatever was in her mind. Oki would have given anything to know what she was thinking. He tried to stare at her face, but again and again he had to look away.

The brief glimpses he had though deepened the uneasiness he'd felt upon seeing her hair. Her gaze seemed angry. Feral.

But he couldn't be certain. His beast side made him sensitive to emotions since animals could always tell what humans were feeling, but he felt nothing from Amaterasu. She was a closed book to him; something he could never understand.

She turned to him. In the brief moment that her beautifully dark eyes met his, her harsh emotion seemed to disappear, suddenly being replaced by a perfect mixture of kindness, innocence and wisdom. Oki couldn't stop himself from bowing to her.

"Okami Amaterasu," he said softly.

She smiled and then she leapt at him. Oki was caught offguard as she bounded up to him and licked his face.

Standing quickly, she smiled as she ran to him. There was something about the way she moved that was identical to her wolf form, even though she ran on two legs. In her wake grew flowers. Oki was so busy watching her that he was caught off guard as she leapt at him and licked his face.

He froze. The summer breeze tickled the dampness of his cheek. Amaterasu stared at him, still smiling. Oki couldn't look at her at all. He stared at the ground, but he was aware of Amaterasu tilting her head, as if she was trying to get him to meet her stare.

Quickly Oki slid his mask back on to cover the heat that rushed through his face. He'd seen her naked body as she ran to him. Her skin seemed smoother than anything he had ever seen. Every part of it was perfect. Round in the right places and flat in others. And as young and as delicate as she looked, there was also a wild strength to her. She'd moved as powerfully and as easily as if she'd still been a wolf.

But surely that couldn't be right… she should be uncertain in her new form. Oki remembered what it had been like the first few times he'd changed; every time he'd had to relearn how to walk in his new form, and it had always taken days.

Amaterasu seemed to peer at him intently for a long time, but finally she moved back. Glancing at her face for a brief moment, Oki saw her frowning. She licked her hand, stared at her damp fingers and then at Oki. He looked away.

Finally Amaterasu turned her attention to something she held in her hands. Oki hadn't noticed before but she was holding Waka's wooden flute.

Oki still couldn't sense her emotions the way he normally could with others, but he swore he felt some feeling radiating from her that seemed to sink deep into him, draining what little of his strength remained. He felt unbearably sad. He almost felt like hurling himself off the ridge into the water below…

Amaterasu screamed. It wasn't a human or a wolf noise, but something in between and the hideous sound of it seemed to tear at everything inside Oki. He covered his ears. He felt as if his heart was melting in response to the goddess's pain.

Moving towards her, he held out his hand before realising that he couldn't touch her. There was no physical barrier to stop him, but something inside seemed to hold him back. He had a feeling that there would be few, if anyone, in this mortal land that would be able to touch her human form.

At last she seemed to run out of breath. She panted and then made a sound that might have been a growl. She stared hard at the sky. The weakened sun began to sink. There was a brief glow of reds and deep purples before the light vanished completely, replaced by the smooth darkness of night and the milky glow of the crescent moon that suddenly became visible. Again Amaterasu screamed.

And Oki understood her. For the most part, his personality and ways of thinking remained the same no matter what form he was in, but he understood animals. Animals didn't feel emotions the way humans did.

Amaterasu clutched the flute hard, curling her fingernails into the palm of her hand as she did. Her emotions would be entirely different now she was human. Right now, she was grieving for Issun and Waka. And that feeling would not disappear quickly.

"Amaterasu, this will not help," said Oki.

He knew she'd heard him but she didn't even glance at him in response. Her fingernails dug deeper into her hand, drawing blood that was as bright as her crimson markings. She wasn't going to listen to him.

Dropping the dress, Oki changed. There was a moment of tight, uncomfortable pain that was made even worse than usual by the wounds covering him. He grunted as he landed on all fours and then he stared at Amaterasu.

He gasped. He seemed able to look at her directly now, but this couldn't be right. He could see her aura. He'd sensed she was radiating some sort of light before but he had been unable to see it in his human form. Now it was clear, but it wasn't what he'd expected. The light she radiated was black. It was so dark that it hid her from view.

He'd have to worry about that later. She was still screaming and he had to make her come to her senses.

The instinct he'd had before that had prevented him from touching her was gone. Was it only humans who felt it then?

It didn't matter. Now that he wasn't restrained, he pounced on her.

She snarled and let go of Waka's flute as Oki's paws hit her shoulders. She was thin and delicate and yet she still had the strength of a wolf. She fought against him, clawing him with her fingernails and biting his shoulders, all the time growling in a voice that was neither human nor wolf.

Oki was not going to let her win. He had to make her listen to him.

They rolled across the grass. Oki reined in his beast instincts, as he'd learnt to do years ago, to stop himself from damaging her. Instead he focussed only on keeping her pinned. Although she had seemed competent in her human body, her awkwardness showed as she fought him. Finally he had her. She growled, but she couldn't shove him away.

"Amaterasu, listen to me," he said.

She knew the way of the wolf. He had pinned her and he was in control. At least for now.

"Amaterasu, I need to know what has happened. Are Issun and Waka dead or captured? You and I heard the conversation when we were fighting the Moon Tribe in Shinshu. They wanted Waka alive."

The black light prevented him from seeing the expression on her face, but he felt her staring at him.

Oki climbed off her and changed back into his human form so that he could see her more clearly. He knelt on the grass in front of her and she copied him. Oki frowned. Again he had the eerie feeling that she was used to being human.

"Captured or dead?" he asked.

She growled.

"You can speak. You're human."

She stared at him.

Oki tried to work out what she was feeling. She was upset, but not distraught. More than anything she seemed angry and frustrated, which suggested Issun and Waka had been captured. Her feelings were caused by not knowing how to help them. Oki glanced at the moon hanging above them. Unfortunately, he didn't know the answer either.

"I'm not sure what we can do, but we must do something other than sit here."

Amaterasu huffed as she rolled onto her tummy, picking up Waka's flute in her mouth. She pulled her knees to her chest and sat hugging them. She must have been human before. She may have been holding the flute in her teeth, but the way she sat was human. Oki sighed. There was so much about her that he didn't know.

"There must be a way to get the Moon Tribe," he said. "I'll help you find a way. No matter what it takes."

She smiled. Dropping the flute, she leapt at him and licked his mask. Oki found himself holding his breath as he felt her naked body rubbing against him. He kept his hands by his side as he again felt the instinct telling him not to touch her.

It was as if Amaterasu could sense his embarrassment. Pausing, she peered at his eyes, still unable to meet hers for more than a second. She smiled and gave a faint sound that might have the been the beginning of a laugh.

Climbing off him, she picked up the flute in her hand and then stood motionless.

As he sat up, Oki saw the white dress he'd been given before. Quickly he picked it up and held it out. "Here."

She tilted her head as she stared at the garment and then looked at Oki.

"Humans wear clothes. You'll get cold."

She suddenly cocked her head, as if she was listening to something. Suddenly she broke into a run towards the edge of the ridge. Flowers sprouted from the ground that her bare feet touched. She leapt off.

Oki heard the gasp from the villagers gathered below and he glanced down in panic, but Amaterasu was unhurt. Ignoring everyone around her as they humbly looked away from her naked form, she dashed to the village entrance.

A large man carrying a sack had just arrived. He froze as he saw the goddess making a beeline for him, but like everyone else he seemed to immediately know who she was. Lowering his gaze, he bowed.

Quickly Oki clambered down the ridge, grunting as he gracelessly fell the last few feet. Across the village, Amaterasu looked as if she was smiling as the merchant handed her a long string of beads that glinted in the moonlight.

"Is… er… Lady Fido all right?" Susano asked.

"For now."

Oki watched as she slid the beads over her head. As soon as they touched her they seemed to come to life, taking on a glow of mingled colours as they slowly rotated by themselves around her neck.

And she wasn't finished yet. She practically climbed on top of the merchant as she examined the sack he was holding and Oki could feel the man's embarrassment.

Finally Amaterasu backed away holding a blue glaive. She clutched the weapon in her hand for a moment but then it twitched. Like the beads it came to life. It circled her as she released it and then it seemed to settle flat against her back, but without actually touching her skin. She smiled. In her hand she still held the flute. Pressing her hand to one end of it, she drew the green blade of light that Oki had seen Waka used. She looked ready for her journey.

At least she wasn't screaming any more, but something still bothered Oki. The odd, almost withered, look to her hair and the black light... and her emotions. She seemed used to moving as a human but was she used to controlling the violent emotions that would accompany her new form?

"I'll keep a close eye on her," he said. A very close eye.

"Ahahaha. I bet you will," replied Susano.

Oki glared at him, but beneath his mask he felt warm. "How dare you suggest-"

Amaterasu broke into a run along the narrow track that led away from the village, her new weapons not holding her back at all. With every step she gathered speed. She was gone before Oki could even realise what was happening.

"Oh no," he muttered.

Hurriedly he rushed to the merchant, who was holding his face. "T-That was a god," the merchant gasped.

"What did you say to her?" asked Oki.

"Just something about there being trouble in Taka Pass. She licked me!"

Oki dropped into his beast form, ignoring the sudden cries from the villager's. His wounds still throbbed but he didn't feel as if he was dying and that was all that mattered. He had to catch Amaterasu and watch over her. Grabbing the dress in his teeth, he ran.

He had a feeling that making sure she stayed out of trouble was going to be the most difficult task he had ever encountered.

Issun laughed. He felt tired, dizzy and sicker than he'd ever been before. He wasn't even sure why he was so amused when they were in so much trouble.

He and Waka were in a weird silver room with smooth shining walls. There had been a door when they'd first appeared, but it had seemed to melt away as soon as Raik left. Shortly after, the room had juddered and Issun had felt they were moving unbelievably fast, even though there were no windows for him to see outside. He had a feeling it was the speed that made him feel so drunk and giddy.

Waka sat, still bruised and blood stained, with his back against one of the curved walls and his knees pulled to his chest. His sword had been confiscated along with a disturbing amount of knives and daggers that Issun had never realised he had hidden about him. His wings were gone as well and his golden hair trailed down his back. It was so long he could have sat on it if he'd wanted. Issun couldn't stop laughing.

Waka swung his arm out, launching Issun across the room as he smacked him. "I will kill you if you don't shut up!"

But Issun only laughed harder. It was funny seeing Waka angry. He was never angry and it made up for all the times he'd wound Issun up.

"You don't understand do you?" snapped Waka. "Amaterasu is human. My prophecy is coming true…" He rested his head against his knees and then rubbed his neck. He sighed. "It's travelling through the sky that has made you more irritating than usual, my little bouncing friend. Try to sleep. I need the quiet to think."

"Sleep is good. I like sleep, but I 'aint sleeping on this cold floor." Instead, Issun hopped onto Waka's hair that trailed across the floor and began rummaging to make a nest. He had ridiculously soft hair. It wasn't right for a man.

"So, what does Ammy look like in her human form?" he asked. "I reckon she's a right babe. You never did tell me what was going on between you."

Waka paused. "I don't see that it's any of your business, bug."

Ha! He'd hit a nerve. Issun moved so that he could see his face. "What happened? Did she turn you down flat?"

Waka didn't answer.

"She did, didn't she? Ha! That is, how would you put it? Fantasteeeeeeek!" He fell over. He was laughing so hard he thought he was going to vomit. Ammy had some sense after all!

Waka stood up abruptly. Leaping across the room, he screamed as he threw himself against the opposite wall, as if he could smash it down. He thumped it with his fist, and then leaned with his arm against it and his back to Issun.

Issun had never seen Waka this annoyed, but he couldn't keep his mouth shut. The topic was just too interesting. "Are you really heartbroken?"

"You don't understand," Waka breathed. He sighed heavily as he rubbed his neck.

Woah, he was upset. Issun almost felt guilty. "Don't feel so bad. She's a goddess. Only normal for her to turn down the lesser beings. Why didn't you want her to be human in Nippon."

"Have you forgotten my prophecy?"

"No, I just think it's a load of rubbish. Ammy wouldn't destroy everything."

"She can't control herself very well in her human form."

The room suddenly began to shake, sending Issun bouncing along the floor. He grabbed hold of Waka's shoe to stop himself from being tossed around like a cherry blossom in one of Ammy's gales. "What's happening?"

"We're landing." Waka sighed. "Amaterasu, ma cherie…"

Awkwardly, since it felt as if he was half-drunk from the weird feeling of travelling to the moon, Issun scrambled up Waka's leg and peered at his face as he sat on his shoulder. Waka had never given much away with his facial expressions, but he'd always looked half amused at everything. Now, he was expressionless.

"You really are heartbroken aren't you?" Issun pressed.

Waka suddenly grabbed him. His fingers were so harsh that Issun didn't have the breath to object. "You really want to know what happened? And why she's going to destroy everything?" Waka snapped, his blue eyes hard and more dangerous than any look Issun had ever seen. "She-"

Waka froze. For a moment his eyes seemed to mist over. "Raik is coming. I suggest you hide and quell your case of flight dementia unless you want your remains pasted to the bottom of Raik or Vel's shoe. They will not hesitate to kill you, I promise you, Issun."

As he uncurled his fist, Issun fell limply to the floor. It felt as if Waka had broken every bone in his chest. Ow…

Waka quickly grabbed him again, gentler this time, and dropped him in his pocket. Issun held his breath as there was a whirring noise that signalled the door had reappeared. Someone entered the room and then there was Raik's voice.

"The Moon King awaits."

How was all that? If there's any massive things that people don't like then it's not too late for me to change bits.