Buries herself in the sand I'm REEEEALY sorry this took so long. I could blame it on school (yeah right) and lack of inspiration. And the fact that I rewrote the ending three times. But today I sat myself down and said: MA, you are going to finish this!

So here it is. I hope the ending doesn't sound too strained…

Anyway, on to Chapter 3!

Restoring Faith

Chapter 3

Amaterasu was terrified. After another hour Waka had collapsed. The white wolf had whined and pawed at her friend, but Waka hadn't stirred. The wolf had pulled the prophet onto her back and dashed off to find some sort of shelter.

That had been about twenty minutes ago. Amaterasu knew if she didn't find shelter soon, Waka would die.

Amaterasu nearly fainted with relief as she finally spied an indent in the rock. She quickly loped over to the entrance of the cave and, after determining that it was big enough, made her way inside.

The opening was not a simple cave, as she had thought, but a twisting tunnel that led deep into the rock. In a way she was grateful: now they wouldn't be covered in snow if the wind shifted.

Eventually the tunnel opened into a large cavern and it was here that Amaterasu halted, carefully lowering Waka to the ground. She bent to examine him and was pleased to notice a faint pink in his cheeks.

Hoping that he would be okay without her, Amaterasu headed back out of the cave to gather wood. Though she was hesitant to leave him alone in the condition he was in, the white wolf was realistic enough to realize that her body heat alone would not be enough.

After giving the unconscious Waka a lick of assurance, Amaterasu padded silently into the cold.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The crackling of the fire was starting to annoy Waka. He lay still for a few moments as his body tried to tell his mind that it needed more rest but his mind decided that no, it wasn't tired and no, it didn't want to go back to sleep. And so, with a groan, Waka pushed himself upright.

He was forced to close his eyes almost immediately to quell the dizziness. Waka focused on breathing as he attempted to re-orient himself. After a time, he opened his eyes again and examined his surroundings.

He was lying next to the sparking fire and as he gazed across the flames, he saw a dark, twisting tunnel winding through the rocks. A mouth-watering smell filled his nose and he turned to inspect the meat cooking on sticks near the fire. A sure sign Ammy had been around.

Speaking of which, Waka was sure he could hear his partner's quiet barks from the tunnel. The prophet turned towards the tunnel, bracing himself for the imminent impact.

Not long after he was knocked to the ground by one goddess-turned-wolf who was methodically examining him. He struggled to get to regain his former sitting position.

"I'm fine. I said I'm FINE you crazy mutt!"

Amaterasu finally relented, allowing her human companion to rise from his position on the ground. Satisfied that Waka wasn't in any fatal condition, she drifted over to the fire where Waka finally noticed the man squatting, boiling something in a pot.

Settling his features into his best glare, Waka was about to question the man when the man rose, ladled something from the pot into a cup, and plopped down at his side, offering the cup.

"Drink this. It will help ease the chills."

Waka glared at the man cautiously, but trusted his partner's judgment. Blowing on the liquid to cool it down, Waka took his time examining the newcomer.

Now that the prophet could see his face, it was obvious that the man was of the Oina tribe, wearing the traditional mask. It made sense; no one else would be crazy enough to go out in this weather. No one, Waka amended, that didn't have a holy mission to accomplish. Waka glanced at Amaterasu, sitting by the fire, enjoying some of the cooked meat. It was something Waka always wondered about. Why didn't Ammy eat raw meat? All the other wolves seemed to.

Waka came to the conclusion that it was good that he didn't get sick often. His mind tended to wander too much.

Pulling his mind back track, Waka noticed the Oina tribesman staring at him with impatience. How he knew the man was impatient, Waka didn't know. It should have been hard to tell under that mask. Waka put it down to centuries of dealing with people.

It was at this point that Waka realized he still hadn't drunken the rapidly-cooling mixture in his hands. Embarrassed, he quickly downed it and set the cup on the ground beside him.

"I'm a medic from the Oina tribe."

Waka started at the sudden conversation. He knew, logically, that the man could talk, but the Oina didn't seem the type to start conversations.

"You should rest for a few days. The fever has gone down, but it's still there." The Oina continued to stare at him. That stare was quickly becoming unnerving. "The years have not been kind to the gods."

Waka swore he could feel the whiplash as he turned to stare at the medic.

"What?"

"The time of gods has gone." Waka could feel the distance from the man. "A new evil has come to this land. At first, the people believed Amaterasu would come to save them again. But the seasons passed and the wolf-god did not return. And so the people came to curse the gods and everything they stood for."

The man stood, gathered his belongings, and made to leave. He paused at the entrance of the tunnel.

"Perhaps with you the gods have come again."

Then he was gone. Waka heard a low whine from beside him and turned to pet the wolf comfortingly.

"It's alright, old friend. There's no way you could have known. We'll just have to do what we can now that we're here." He smiled as Amaterasu's ears perked in determination.

Waka carefully got to his feet and began to put out the fire. It was not long before Amaterasu realized his intentions and he was on the ground again, faced with a wolf-glare. Waka could practically see the goddess' thoughts through her eyes.

He said to rest. You're not leaving yet!

Waka glared at the goddess before dignifying her with a pout and fell back on the blankets. It was not long before he was asleep.

Amaterasu watched her partner for a bit before settling down by the fire. Her friend wasn't better, but he was recovering, and soon they would be on their way to Ponc'tan, home of the Poncles.

Hopefully the next chapter won't take so long. But I make no guarantees.

…What's really sad is that I know how annoying it is, waiting for author to update, yet I go ahead and do this anyway. I'm sorry.

Please review if you have the time. That button down there.Points