The duo made it out of the tunnel in no time. They proceeded along a path that lead them along a very wide expanse of a ledge along the natural rock walls that cradled the once stunning beauty of Taka Pass. Up where Amaterasu and Issun walked, there was no cursed zone. The altitude had somehow preserved this little bit of the land's beauty. The trees and the grass grew unperturbed along the path and Issun could point out certain things to Amaterasu, even if she wasn't paying attention.
"…and over there is a bamboo grove. It may look like normal bamboo but this place is famous for their high-quality bamboo. I haven't ever used bamboo for anything so I wouldn't know if this is true, but they say that this stuff is the best. There's supposed to be a hidden grove around here somewhere… but we really should be focusing on finding those Dream Beads… and a way to uncured Taka Pass, of course." Issun eventually ended his rant on bamboo.
Amaterasu put her nose to the ground, determined to find any source of relief for the broken land below them. The scent of flowers caught her attention and her tail wagged once in an automatic response. With her nose in the dirt, she followed the scent eagerly until Issun let out a gasp. She immediately froze and looked around, fearing that something was wrong.
"Check it out, furball!" Issun grabbed her by the ears and pointed her head in the right direction. Directly in front of them was a withered tree that looked exactly like the tree in Agata Forest. "Check it out, I think that's another Guardian Sapling! That was really easy!"
As Issun spoke, a huge figure burst from the ground. A towering yellow imp carrying a huge drum and drumsticks jumped and shrieked at them before tunneling underground again. Two regular imps jumped out from behind a rock and danced around with their flutes.
"Of course, it couldn't be easy." Issun groaned in aggravation. He made a big show of getting off of Amaterasu's back, as if it was a huge struggle for himself. He drew his sword, Denkomaru, and ran at one of the green imps. First, Issun cut its flute in half. Before the imp could become enraged, Issun finished the imp by giving it a good slash to the chest. Blood spurted and the imp choked before falling backwards.
The second imp seemed furious. It unloaded a series of rapid-fire attacks on Issun, using its flute like a lance to knock him around. Issun blocked the blows easily. The imp attacked Issun's middle with a jab; he slapped the flute away with his sword. The imp went for a head hit; Issun blocked it and threw some force into his block to knock his enemy back before stabbing it through the middle. The Imp also collapsed on the ground.
Issun smiled triumphantly and rested the dull edge of his sword on his shoulder.
"How's that for a good fight?" Issun asked Amaterasu, a smile played across his face. A rumble beneath her feet told Amaterasu trouble was near. BOOM! A drum sounded through the air as the yellow imp burst through the earth and caught Issun on its drum. The force of the unexpected attack launched Issun into the air. He landed on the hard ground, the wind forced out of his lungs.
As Issun lay on the ground, gasping for air and the imp closed in on him, Amaterasu took action. She broke into a fast run and jumped. In her jaws, she caught the back of the yellow imp's head. Though it tasted far from delicious, Amaterasu held onto the imps head as the momentum of her jump still forced her through the air. She jerked her head backwards as far as she could and then threw the imp. She would not allow the foul creature to hurt her friend.
Its head sore and its pride damaged, the yellow imp let out a screech and burrowed underground for its next attack. Amaterasu stood perfectly still, turning her ears in every direction to pick up the sound of the imp shifting the dirt. She locked on to the sound, right below her. She waited until the imp was just an inch below her before she jumped.
An explosion of dirt and a furious yellow imp showed that if Amaterasu would have waited a second longer, she might not have walked away from the fight. Only seconds behind Amaterasu, the imp reached out and grabbed her by the foot and slammed her down into the dirt. With a backwards spin in midair, the imp held its drum in its arms like a rocket. Amaterasu was stunned and could do nothing as the imp prepared its final attack.
"Look out, Ammy! Its drum doubles as a cannon!" Issun managed to shout. There was a loud explosion and a lot of smoke but Amaterasu was not harmed. Something went wrong with the powder and the weapon backfired, knocking the yellow imp back. The imp tried to climb back onto its feet but failed, its leg was broken from the fall.
Amaterasu saw the weakness in her foe. She struggled to get up but something stopped her. Just as she got back up, she was knocked back onto the ground by a foot. Issun had jumped onto her side to launch himself into the air, his sword raised. With a terrific battle cry, Issun used gravity and momentum to drive Denkomaru deep into the imp's chest. The imp died instantly, leaving Issun panting for air.
Amaterasu swung her legs and rocked herself back onto her feet, her tail wagging profusely as she ran over to Issun's side. She was so overjoyed that he wasn't harmed that she knocked him over in her eagerness. Her tail wagged so hard that it nearly knocked her over too.
"I'm fine, furball!" Issun struggled to say while holding her excited kisses back. "Stop licking me, I'll get soaked!"
Amaterasu continued to lick Issun's face all over, giving him a healthy coating of drool before letting him up. Issun pulled his sleeve down on his arm and wiped the slobber off of his face with a grimace. He didn't like slobber much.
"Well, now that we got that over with, we should go get that Guardian Sapling back in order, huh?" Issun nodded to Amaterasu. She took a few steps back to let him stand.
Issun walked over to the dead yellow imp and pulled his sword from the creature's chest. It was covered in blood. Issun frowned again, wiping the blade off on the grass before placing it back in its scabbard. He looked up at the Guardian Sapling and how pathetic it seemed. Was the whole world suffering like this? How much longer was this going to go on? The curse seemed powerful enough to have spread everywhere, but where in the world had it come from? A frown creased his brow.
Amaterasu wandered towards the tree, leaving Issun.
"Hey, where do you think you're going without me?" Issun shouted, running after her and jumping onto her back. She looked back at him. "Don't ditch me or I'll shave off your fur."
Amaterasu and Issun made their way to the Guardian Sapling just as the sun began to set. Good timing… Issun thought. He was getting tired and there wouldn't be a much safer place to sleep than a newly revived Guardian Sapling. They crossed a bridge across a small canyon between where they walked on the path and the island of earth that the Guardian Sapling stood on.
Issun jumped off of Amaterasu and looked around the area, there was a perfect view of the land below. The extent of the curse was worse to look at from above. Every time Issun looked into its depths, he thought of the power it would take to fuel it. Everything was dead or frozen as a statue in time. At least they knew how to combat the cursed zones.
Amaterasu walked with a purpose up to the Guardian Sapling, a gentle breeze blowing through her fur. Her white form seemed to glow in the blazing light of the setting sun. She stopped and stared into the sun's fiery face before taking a deep breath and resting her paw on one of the roots. The pulse of green light shot through the tree twice, and then reverberated into the ground. It passed under Issun, making him stop to watch the miraculous rebirth of Taka Pass.
The pulse of green cascaded over the cliff like a magnificent waterfall of life. The grey of the land was replaced with green. Spiraling turrets of green light sprung up as trees and bamboo grew from the ground once more. Bushes and flowers bloomed from the earth. Animals, frozen or even dead, began to move. They stretched themselves out and danced around, praising the gods for their rescue. Unlike humans, animals never stopped praising the gods.
The pulses of green lashed against the clouds of evil that hung over the land. The black evil shot into the air and dissipated, leaving behind not a trace of evil from the land. Issun smiled as everything returned to the way that he remembered. The land was beautiful in the golden light of the setting sun.
Amaterasu joined Issun on the edge of the cliff, looking around at everything below from a vantage point most wolves never get to see. Issun patted the over attentive wolf on the back of the neck and scratched her shoulders.
"We'll go explore the place tomorrow, I promise. Now, we need to get some sleep. We've had one heck of a day with that Spider Queen and those imps… and the fruity idiot…" Issun frowned again.
Amaterasu looked over at him questioningly. As much as she liked Issun, and she thought rather highly of her friend, she would never understand him.
Issun patted her again and walked back over to the Guardian Sapling and sat on one of its roots. Amaterasu joined him. She hunched her neck and tried to pull the Astral Pouch off of her shoulders, but she needed Issun's help. He pulled it off and set it on the ground. Amaterasu let out a loud yawn and then curled up on the grass by the tree. Issun leaned against the trunk of the Guardian Sapling and closed his eyes. It didn't take him long to realize that he was being watched by a pair of piercing eyes. He opened his own quickly to find that Amaterasu was staring directly at him.
"…Whut?" Issun asked, feeling slightly uncomfortable by the look that he was being given.
Amaterasu grunted as she lay further on one side, exposing more of her warm belly to Issun invitingly.
"You want me to sleep with you?" Issun asked slowly.
Amaterasu's tail thumped against the ground.
Issun smiled and curled up next to Amaterasu's warm, soft belly. It was incredibly comfortable. Amaterasu seemed to enjoy it to. She heaved a heavy sigh and closed her eyes, cuddling around him like she would if he was her pup. He laughed inwardly at this behavior before falling asleep. The two of them didn't notice the strange rosary beads that were lying just beneath their bodies, unearthed by the power of the gods after being hidden for so long…
Issun was standing in the strangest place he had ever seen. There was a wide open field of simple grasses with a few rocks and bushes placed here and there. Gardens outlined by rock were aligned with some design in mind around the area. Ponds littered the ground as well, some man made, others natural. Some of the natural ponds had spouts of water that fell from the sky into them… no, they fell from hovering chunks of rock that poured water from them. In the distance were mountains and spires of the strangest, most impossible shapes. Islands floated lazily overhead and below. There were even some buildings on the floating islands.
To Issun's right was a grove of trees that he had never seen before. Further through the trees were stone stairs and a great arch that lead to a towering and beautiful civilization. It was proud and strong… no, it was falling apart… there was fire and screaming echoing from the city. The sky was black from smoke and, when Issun looked up, the solar eclipse. He thought about running to the city. He had to help them. Strange figures flew overhead of the city while large black forms ran through the streets, chasing the citizens.
Issun had to go and help them, there was nothing for it… but then he became aware of a horrible creature that stood to his left. It looked vaguely familiar with its eight serpentine heads that seemed to be connected to a shrine with a large bell mounted upon it. The monstrous creature seemed to be pushing two figures towards a cliff… Issun figured that he must be at some extremely high altitude; there was no horizon of land beyond the edge of the cliff, just sky. Even the clouds appeared to be lower than they were.
Something else that suddenly identified with Issun was one of the figures that the monster seemed to be pursuing. Its pure white fur and crimson markings were unmistakable.
"Ammy…!" Issun shouted out.
Amaterasu stood proudly in front of the beast. Her stance suggested that she was guarding something as well as the look in her face. Something was different about her. Her markings were more intricate, tendrils of light flared from her body like the rays of the sun, but she seemed to be growing weaker… not just because of the horrible bleeding wounds that covered her body.
Issun then realized that they were not the only ones on the plain. There were thousands of soldiers attacking demons and monsters of all sizes. There was a small crowd around the beast that stalked Amaterasu as well. The beast paid them no attention as all of the heads were focused on Amaterasu and the figure beyond her. It spoke to Amaterasu about something and Amaterasu leapt to attack. The battle that followed was frightening to say the least. The power displayed by both forces was too much for Issun to register in his half-dazed state.
Despite the amazing power displayed, Amaterasu was losing. She grew weaker and weaker from every attack. The figure behind her pleaded for her to stop, to run away. Issun wanted her to flee as well.
"Run, Amaterasu! Run and save yourself!" Issun shouted almost in time with the figure.
Amaterasu ignored them both and continued to battle though she hardly had the strength to stand. She staggered on her feet as blood and drool poured from her maw. Despite her pathetic appearance, the fire in her eyes had all but tripled in strength. She was determined to die there if she must.
Issun could sense the anguish and horror from Amaterasu's most imminent defeat radiate from the figure. Whoever that person was, they felt such strong emotions of love and loyalty to her that it was practically visible to Issun. Unable to bear it any longer, the figure stood and jumped in front of Amaterasu, drawing their weapons on the beast. The figure fought instead of the dying Amaterasu. She did not want the figure to fight, that was obvious. She could do nothing to stop him now; she couldn't even find the strength to catch herself when she toppled over onto her side.
The sight of the fallen Amaterasu enraged the figure beyond what Issun believed possible for emotion. The rage and grief consumed the figure completely; its emotions were so readable. With strength found in their emotions, the figure fought the monstrous eight-headed creature. Though highly skilled and powerful, the figure stood no chance against the demonic power of the creature. It swatted him aside like a fly.
The figure hit the ground and skidded towards the very edge of the cliff, nearly toppling off. The creature lunged to deal the final blow; all seemed lost for the brave warrior.
A blinding white light threw itself in front of the attack of the monster. Amaterasu had used what little remained of her strength to take the blow for the figure. The attack knocked her clear over the side of the cliff and she fell…