Sorry folks, I've been pretty preoccupied with school and life and college and stuff, so fanfiction has been kind of dancing out of my realm of thought.

Also, I started reading Homestuck, which ruthlessly kills human work ethic.

This initially was going to be a longer chapter, but the shift in tone near the middle would have been awkward without some kind of break, and I'm having writer's block, so I decided to put this up as it is.

Enjoy! :D

The door shut abruptly, the resulting bang causing Amaterasu to whimper frantically.

"You don't understand, we have to go back and help Waka!" She shouted, trying to reason with the guards. "You don't know what she's going to do to him! We have to stop her!"

"Oh, we know what she's gonna do," A guard replied dumbly.

A slightly brighter looking guard tightened his hold around the wolf's neck. "The princess' word is law. If she wants to hurt that man, then she absolutely can. So long as he's not killed, she can't be punished."

"That's insane!" Issun roared, wiggling in his tight hold. "And easy on the arms! I'm frailer than I look!"

They slugged through the main entryway and down the hall of the East Wing, nearing the room where the two were staying. A third guard grunted, shifting Ammy's legs in his thick hands.

"It is insane. But it's the law." Weirdly, this man looked somewhat sympathetic. "I'm sorry if she hurts your friend."

The door to their room burst open and they were tossed inside, landing haphazardly on the floor. Amaterasu's heavy body knocked over an end table, shattering its glass surface along with a lamp that had once stood atop it. As soon as she got to her feet the door was shut, the lock clicking into place. She ran up immediately, scratching at the wood.

"Let us out of here!" She shouted. "Please, let us go!"

Another unfamiliar voice, but clearly a guard. "We hate to do it, but we value our lives more than yours. Good luck, wolfy."

Pounding footsteps faded from the hallways as the crowd left, abandoning the wolf and Poncle in their room. Issun shakily lifted himself from where he'd become wedged in the couch, grumbling testily.

"That stupid wench. She's nuts," He muttered. "And we have to go to all this illegal trouble to save Waka? I guess we can't really leave him behind. I mean, he's helped us a fair bit, but…ugh, this is so annoying! I thought we were taking a break from all the crazy shit!"

"Me too. This is awful," She agreed, sprawling on the floor beside the bed. "What do we do? We can't get out of here. Power Slash won't open this door, and I haven't got anything else. Inferno is too big to use, and it'd probably just ignite the room and kill us."

"Cherry Bombs?" Issun suggested.

Amaterasu sighed. "Same problem. We can't get far enough away, especially with all this stuff in the room that might get blown into us. And besides, I think these doors are a little too well made for that level of explosives. There's just nothing we can do right now."

A long, tense pause followed her words. Issun shifted, glancing over at the frustrated god on the ground. He coughed lightly, trying to think of something to say.

"So what do you think she'll do with him?" He asked.

The wolf snarled softly. "Touch him. Defile him. Maybe even rape him." Her words were harsh and cold. "Then she'll drug him until he's a mindless doll and keep him captive so she can just do it again. It's disgusting."

Issun stared at her for a moment. "You're rather protective of Waka, aren't you?"

"Why do you ask?" Ammy raised an eyebrow.

The Poncle shrugged. "Well, you seemed regretful and worried the whole time we were bringing him to this palace. And you kept asking what would be done with him and where he was going. Call me crazy, but I'd say you care about him."

Amaterasu heaved an exasperated sigh, and was surprised to feel her face heating up a bit. "He is my only tie to my life back on the Celestial Plain, and he relates to me through our similar worries and difficulties in our supernatural lives. And he's my friend. This whole thing is repulsive as it is, but because it's someone close to me…"

Feeling remorse at having talked her into all of this, Issun hopped over to her, gently petting her nose with his tiny hand. At his kind gesture, her whiskers twitched before she blew out a loud sneeze, knocking him into the floor. Issun coughed, struggling to his feet as he frantically wiped saliva out of his hair.

"Please tell me if you're gonna do that!" He snapped.

Ammy glanced up at him, nearly smirking. "Your hands are so tiny that they tickled my nose. It's your fault, not mine."

"What, you think I wanted you to sneeze on me?!" Issun adjusted his hat huffily, crossing his arms and leering up at her. "So first things first, tell me what we're gonna do to break Waka out of here. There's got to be something, anything we can do."

The wolf faltered, sighing. "I can't think of a thing."

Issun refused to allow her to give up. "Is there anyone we could call? Anything we could do to contact someone?"

"No windows," Ammy replied bluntly. "Can't get out. Who can we ask for help from?"

The Poncle thought hard, falling silent for a long moment. "One of the other paintbrush gods?"

"They already gave me all of their power. They exist within me." Ammy sighed. "If they're of no help now, they're of no help at all."

Issun grumbled. "Sakuya?"

The wolf shifted where she lay on the floor. "Can't leave her tree without another one of hers to teleport to. Gotta watch over the forest."

"Oki?"

"On another continent," was the exasperated reply. "Even if we were able to contact him, it'd be days before he got here. Waka could be on his involuntary honeymoon by then."

Issun plopped on his rear, crossing his arms testily. "Now that we break it down, it seems like Waka is clearly our most useful ally."

"Oh yeah. We could reach him just by shouting. He could break anything and kill anyone if he wanted to. He'd be perfect if he weren't the one we were trying to save."

At the god's weary response, Issun's eyes widened. "Wait, you've still got your telepathy from before you could talk, right? I mean, you were able to sort of talk to people through their minds, even from far away. Maybe there's some way you can get into Waka's brain and wake him up. If we shout to him it'll just alert all the guards, but what if you could 'think' to him what's going on?"

Amaterasu's ears perked, and she raised her head to look at the tiny creature. "You have a point. It's worth a shot."

"Well? Go on then!" The Poncle urged.

Ammy closed her eyes as she tightened her focus. She could feel herself drifting into a higher state of consciousness almost instantly. Sort of like falling asleep in that she was becoming detached from the normal world, but it left her far more alert. She could feel waves of sound in the air as they hit her ears. Footsteps down the hall from them, a bird fluttering outside a window two doors down, and even Issun's almost silent breathing on the other side of the room. She was relaxing into a Zen-like state, heightening her senses far beyond that of a normal creature, or even a standard god. Like this, she would be able to tap into the thoughts of anyone around her. She hadn't told Issun of this power just yet, for it had only developed recently and she didn't want him to constantly pester her to read the minds of attractive girls. Demonstrating it in front of him wouldn't be a problem though. To him, she just looked like she was resting.

"You got him?" He asked gingerly.

"Not yet, please be quiet," She blurted.

She tried to pilot her focus towards the room where Waka was being kept, shutting out any other sounds. The vast number of flowers that littered the room made it much easier to find than she'd expected. She couldn't actually see anything in this state, but the soft, musical sounds of the flowers breathing and drinking created quite a racket. It took a moment to pull herself away from the calming noise and start listening for the humans in the room. Much louder respiring could be heard towards the center, where Hitsukana and Waka rested. It was clear which person made what sound, though. Where Waka's breathing was soft and unconscious, Hitsukana was nearly panting with excitement and mirth. A twinge of disgust broke the wolf's focus before she shook it off. Knowing that she had no time to spare but sure what she found would be helpful, she tried tapping into the woman's mind first.

'C'mon, Princess…' She murmured in her thoughts. 'Open up, or I'll start huffing and puffing…'

Every other sound was shut out of her mind except for Hitsukana's sharp, unmeasured breathing. Amaterasu focused on her solely, listening as hard as she could. After a few tense moments of hearing no extra sound, a soft whisper met her ears.

'So cute…'

The sudden shock that hit the god was not enough to break her concentration, but it did startle her. She focused on the sound of Hitsukana's voice, waiting as it grew more and more audible. Soon it wasn't a whisper at all. It was as if the woman was standing right next to Ammy, telling her everything she was thinking.

'What a beautiful man…' Hitsukana mused dreamily. 'So warm and smooth, so elegant and lovely…oh, I'll bet his hair is so soft…'

There was a slight pause in her coherent thought – which was all Ammy could access so far – as she was most likely running her hands through Waka's silky golden hair. A delighted squeak, real and spoken, met the wolf's ears before the thoughts poured out to her once again.

'Like silk! I wonder how he keeps it so fine!' Even in her mind, she giggled. 'Oh, my beautiful Waka…you will make a perfect husband. You do all the things a husband should! You make me laugh, you look just divine…your body… is…fantastic…'

Suddenly, the exuberance in her mentality faltered, and Ammy felt a sharp chill go up her own spine. After listening for a moment, and further tapping into the girl's mind, things beyond simple sound were assaulting the god's senses. Emotion and even the vague beginnings of images were becoming clearer. A deep swell of lust, like a drop of ink tainting a glass of clear water, flooded Hitsukana's consciousness. The powerful nature of this abrupt feeling caused a burst in her thoughts, saturating them with ideas and fantasies. Amaterasu was seeing what this woman, driven by an impure desire for her captive, was picturing. Images of Waka tied up, thrashing, pinned back to a wall or on a bed, clothes and hair disheveled, eyes wide with fear, tears rolling down his flushed cheeks; he was cornered and helpless. Imaginary sounds started weaving their way into the fantasies, causing Amaterasu to cringe.

"Hey…Ammy? Ammy?" Issun looked over, worried at the strained expression on his friend's face. "Hey, you in there?"

The god was too far gone to even notice him. She was watching, horrified, the sick, twisted ideas that this woman had for her prisoner. Waka was backing away from the princess on a bed, his rapid, panicked breathing audible to the wolf. Another image of the prophet, bound by the wrists, collapsed on the stone floor of a dungeon, sobbing and choking on air and dirt. Another, Waka dizzy with artificial drugs, eyes unfocused and face red and warm, helpless but to lie back and let the princess touch him. More and more fantasies filled Amaterasu's mind, each more disturbing and unsettling than the last. She fought desperately to pull out of the woman's consciousness, but the strength of her thoughts was making it difficult to detach. Another image, Waka chained to a wall, his hair hanging in his dirty, tear-streaked face. Another, Waka choking and screaming as a whip tore across his back. Waka out cold on a bed, candles lit around him and a syringe full of sleep driven into his hip. Waka sobbing as he was pinned to a stone wall, sharp teeth digging into his neck. She heard the loud, painful, broken scream of the man as a knife was dragged along his flesh, showering the ground with blood and tears as he –

"Aaahh!"

Amaterasu jumped from where she sat, knocking over another table and shattering an elegant sculpture of a bird. A loud thump was swallowed up by the cramped room as she hit the ground. She lay among the shards of metal and glass, panting heavily and whimpering without thought.

"Ammy!" Issun dashed over, running up to look into her wide, fearful eyes. "Hey, are you okay? What the hell happened in there?!"

The wolf did not look at him, her eyes staring straight ahead as she trembled slightly. "I…I went…into Hitsukana's mind."

"Into her mind?" Though shocked, the Poncle had the decency to refrain from prodding for now. He crossed his arms, not unsympathetically, and gave her a worried look. "Is it crazy in there? What did you see?"

Amaterasu struggled to sit up, shaking, her legs refusing to hold her weight until she dug her claws into the carpet. Once stable, she replied uneasily, "Issun, we can't let her keep Waka any longer than necessary. She…she's insane. She'll torture him! We just…we can't…"

"Calm down, buddy," Issun murmured, rubbing her paw. "What do you mean she'll torture him? Does she want to kill him? Is that why she captured him?"

"No, she…she's just sick. She's some sort of crazy sadist." Ammy was growling unconsciously, her eyes locked on an empty part of the nearby ground. "She wants to tie him up and whip him, and drug him, and cut his skin. She wants to see him scream and cry until she's broken him completely. I saw…terrible things…the sounds…it…was…"

Issun did not blame the god a bit when she slumped to the ground, pressed her chin down, and covered her nose with her paws. He pat her snowy flank, hoping not to see her break down crying. Ammy was a very strong-willed sort of creature, but something like that could upset anyone. And hearing Waka, her cheerful, almost annoyingly exuberant friend, sobbing and screaming in agony probably shook her very deeply. The Poncle sighed, disgruntled but willing to console his companion.

Short chapter, my apologies.

Either way though, I plan on getting more done in the future. I'm juggling a bunch of fics at once and I have a short attention span, so please bear with me. ^^;

I love you, all my readers! *throws candy for you*