A/N- Thanks for the reviews, Tainted Lullaby and Mischievous Wolf of Twilight! YAY!

Disclaimer- I own Jin and Yuuki and all my other random OC's, McKayla owns Larka, Dravis, and Rosco. Those other people own Okami.

"Here's a stick," Oki said, handing me a stick. "And here's a stick for you, too, Larka."

"Thank you, Oki," Larka replied politely, but her eyes were showing the true evilness in her heart.

I had an impulse to pray to whatever God or Gods there are out there, but then I remembered that I was one. Darn it. That complicates a lot of things, including religion and politics. Don't ask.

Allow me to clarify some other points here... such as the fact that Larka has been trained by Waka (What a dorky dad...) since she was a toddler to destroy an enemy that might come her way. And, in this case, I happened to be the enemy. Isn't that lucky for me?

"Are you ready for me to kill you?" Larka asked.

"Er..." I began, but she hit me on the back of the head before I could speak again.

"Lesson number one: Don't let your guard down," Larka said.

"Erg..." I growled at her.

"Another thing; don't stutter or hesitate. Otherwise, your enemy will know that you're scared."

"Thank..." I mumbled. She hit me on the head again.

"What did I just tell you?!" She demanded.

"Don't hesitate!" I exclaimed, hoping she wouldn't hit me again.

Larka smirked. "Why, yes, I did."

I sighed, relieved. I had a feeling that by the end of this day, I would be covered in bruises, scars, and various other hurts that might not want to be mentioned at the current moment. Either way, this would be painful for me, but not her.

"Teach him what he needs to know, Larka," Oki said.

She glared at him. "Shut up."

"Tell me again why I'm awake..." Yuuki said, yawning. "It's the crack of dawn, you guys..."

"You need to watch this. In case by some chance we come across humans that want to hurt us, you're spiritual powers won't work against them. You'll need some way to protect yourself, and if you at least watch, you might remember some of this crap, you dork," Larka stated.

"How many times to do I have to tell you that I'm not a dork, you idiot?!" Yuuki growled.

I rolled me eyes. Those two would never be able to get along, would they? Why couldn't Larka be a bit nicer, and then why couldn't Yuuki be a bit less snobby? It would at least make my life a bit easier. Mm... that sounded wonderful.

"Hey, I can teach you how to use a sword," Issun said, bouncing up and down on Larka's shoulder. "Hold it firmly, but loosely. Be strong, yet weak. Keep your legs straight, but be ready at any time to jump out of the way of an enemy who tries to stab you! Did that help whatsoever?"

"No," I answered flatly.

"Didn't think it would kid. I was just hoping you would be stupid enough to try to do all that stuff at once. Obviously not, though," Issun rambled. "Oh, well. It was worth a try, wasn't it? Here, why don't we try it just to see what it would be like? C'mon, Larka, you should try it! Just try-"

"Shut up, Issun, or I'll make you," Oki growled.

"Excuse me!" Larka exclaimed. "Who's the teacher here?! I am! Now, Jin, let's see what you've got!"

I held the stick awkwardly, pointing it at her.

"Bow to your sensi!" She shouted in my face. I stared at her blankly. "I said bow to your sensi!"

I bowed, and she hit me on the back of the head, knocking me over. I stood up, furious. She grinned.

"What was that?!" I demanded.

"Bring it," she answered, signaling for me to come at her.

I took a light step forward, jabbing at Larka. She dodged it, and I brought the stick around, trying to get a good whack at her. Like she was doing the limbo or something, she ducked underneath it and brought her stick up to me, getting a good jab at my chin. I felt my lip begin to hurt, but I ignored it. She and I began circling each other, that murderous grin still on her face.

I wiped the blood that had come from my apparently split lip. As I watched her, an idea came to mind. What if I froze time? That might help me get ahead by quite a bit. I could give her some payback for splitting my bottom lip... which I had never done before.

Then again... Larka had said there were moments that I wouldn't be able to do that. If I just froze time every single time that I wanted to kill someone, then what would I do in a situation that I couldn't freeze time? It might be better to learn how to kill her like this right now, instead of being killed later in the game, when it wasn't a demo version.

I blinked and felt my world start spinning. What... was that? Ouch. Something hurt in the back of my head.

"Lesson number thirty-four: Don't think; react," Larka said, standing over me.

"Did you hit me?" I asked blankly.

"Yes. Now get up and bow to your sensi!" Larka cried, waving her arms wildly. "We need to work some more on this crap that you call fighting!"

"This sucks!" I announced, standing up dizzily.

"Life sucks. Deal with it," Larka replied. "Now bow to your sensi, fool."

"Larka, I'm hungry!" Yuuki complained.

"Shut up, dork!" Larka shouted, acting all dramatic.

I kind of wanting some breakfast, too... something like eggs. And toast. Something strange and American. Like my mom used to cook all the time. Maybe even pancakes.

I shook my head. This was not the time to be thinking about my crazy mother. Now was the time to be paying attention to Larka so she wouldn't kill me. Another mental note: Find a way to keep your eyes open when you're sleeping so Larka doesn't kill you in your sleep.

Long mental note. Hm.

"I'm rather hungry as well," Oki murmured. "Perhaps we could take a break?"

"We just started, you dorks!" Larka exclaimed.

"And yet, we're already sick of this crap," Yuuki said, folding her arms and rolling her eyes. "Amazing concept, no?"

"Shut up!" Larka shouted.

"Stop fighting!" I snapped. "If you two keep fighting, we're never going to get anywhere! Listen, maybe we could eat so we have more energy to fight longer, Larka. Yuuki, don't whine your way into things. It's completely annoying and stupid. If you want something, ask. Now shut up and let's get to it!"

Everyone stared at me.

And stared.

And stared.

"Finally, I agree on something a leader has to say in this group..." Oki muttered. "Honestly, that's one of the best ideas I've heard in quite a while."

I felt me face begin to turn red. Had I really just spoken out like that?! I was never the leader of anything. I had never been in any clubs or nominated for class representative or tried to be the leader of my friends or acted important or anything! It was very out of character for me.

"I-I don't want to be in charge or anything..." I mumbled. "I'm just tired of how stupid you two are acting..."

"I should beat you up right now," Larka stated, scowling.

An image of my body after Larka was finished with it went into my mind. It wasn't very pretty.

"But I won't because I'm so nice," Larka continued, abruptly running the frightening image out of my mind. "We might as well do what you say until I have enough energy to be in charge again. Let's a-go."

I sat down, my face still bright red. There was no way in heck that I would ever be a good leader. It was like putting soy sauce on eel. It just doesn't taste right.

I blinked as I felt a hand go on my shoulder. I glanced up. Yuuki was standing above me, a slight pout on her face.

"Do I really whine that much?" She whispered.

"Yeah..." I grumbled, looking down and playing with some snow.

"I... I'm sorry, Jin," she said softly.

I blinked in surprise and glanced up. She had already walked away, however, and was going to go help Larka prepare the food. Okay. Who knew that me speaking my mind for once would make such an impact on these two?

Oki sat down next to me and said, "That's the way it's handled."

"What?" I asked blankly, looking up.

"Those two have been fighting nonstop since you all first met, right? A good leader can make a big difference."

"But I don't want to be a leader," I whispered.

"The best kind of leader is the leader who doesn't want the power," Oki replied. "You don't want it at all, so I suppose you'll be an excellent leader one day."

"What the fudge?!" I exclaimed, standing up promptly. "What has happened to my life in the past week?! Argghh!!"

"Jin! Where are you going?!" Oki cried as I stomped off.

"I need to think this crap out!" I shouted over my shoulder.

"But breakfast is ready!" Yuuki shouted. "You shouldn't miss the most important meal of the day!"

I ignored her and the most important meal of the day, walking off even quicker (if possible) into the forest, hoping I would manage to get lost.


I sat down, sighing. This was a reasonable distance from those insane people and the bug, wasn't it? I had been walking for a half hour... at least. My feet were killing me.

"Sorry to anyone around me, but I need to pray... or scream. Whatever comes first," I muttered.

"It's gonna bother me!" A small voice announced. I looked around wildly, and finally found it... the bug, holding onto my sleeve.

"What are you doing here, bug?" I asked, frowning.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Issun cried. "How many times do I have to tell you!? I'm not a bug!"

"Whatever!" I cried. "I need help from Amaterasu! So shoo!"

"Shoo?! You're telling me to shoo?!" Issun demanded. "How rude!"

"Oh, shut up!" I snapped.

"Gentle ones... be at peace." I felt my face turn red. That was Amaterasu's voice...

"Yo, Ammy, how ya doing?" Issun asked, jumping off shoulder and over to the white-haired woman. She gave him a gentle smile.

"Issun... it has been much too long," she murmured, bending over to pick him up.

"Y-you two know each other?!" I demanded. For some reason, I had assumed that he was Waka's friend.

Amaterasu nodded, her face serene. My jaw dropped. Whoa. With the pervertedness of Issun, you wouldn't think that he would be friends with the beautiful Goddess.

"I-I need help again..." I mumbled.

"You have never been one to be able to fight..." She murmured, laughing softly.

I felt my ears turn red. "Y-you saw that...?"

"Of course," Amaterasu replied. "And I'm here to give you some friendly help."

"Thank you thank you thank you!" I cried.

"What about me?!" Issun demanded. "We haven't seen each other for twenty years, and all you have to say to me is 'it had been too long'?! I think that's cruelty! We were best buds, through and through adventures, and now you're just gonna leave me be! That's too evil!"

"Shh, Issun," Amaterasu murmured.

"Why should I be quiet?! This is mean, Ammy, even more mean than when you went after Oki, and then, you went to Waka! I mean, what the crap was that about?! I'm your best friend, and you just ignored me! I thought that we were friends, and you just cared about that weirdo Oina and the crazy moon-man!"

"Be silent, Issun!" Amaterasu snapped.

"Well, I'm so sorry..." Issun grumbled, folding his teeny-weeny arms.

"I said be silent!" Amaterasu growled.

Issun started to be silent. I thought that was a wise choice.

"Now, Jin..." Amaterasu murmured, turning to me gracefully. "I must be frank."

I stared at her. "Frank? Who's Frank?"

"It means that I must be honest," she replied, frowning slightly.

"Ah."

"Anyway, I need to give you the power you had before this time. You need it to be able to fight."

"Okay..." I said blankly. "And what power is this exactly?"

"Are you stupid?!" Issun demanded. "Honestly, I saw you before this journey started, and now look at you! You were a powerful God, full of strength and always willing to help anyone in need! And now look at you! You're a stupid little kid who only cares about himself!"

"Wh-what?" I asked blankly.

"Ammy here raised you to be a great and powerful God, not a wimpy little kid who didn't care about anyone but himself!" Issun snapped. "She wanted you to be able to help your people whenever they needed you, not to shy away in fear! I always respected you, even if I didn't show it. I always thought you were great, and now you're just an annoying little dip who doesn't know what in the heck he's doing here!"

"Issun!" Amaterasu cried. "Hold your tongue!"

"I will not!" Issun growled. "I also want to know what happened to him! He's gone for fifteen years, and when he's back he's an idiot!"

"I erased his memory!" Amaterasu cried, her eyes full of a terrible sadness.

"Wh-what?" Issun asked.

"We must talk later, Issun. For now, I must give Jin his full powers back," Amaterasu whispered, tears in her eyes.

This confused me. Both things. I didn't have my full powers? So... wait, this power that I had been using all this time was only a little bit of my power?! That was... amazing! I was more powerful than I had ever thought... but, then again, I had never really believed I was powerful.

The other thing that confused me was the fact that Amaterasu was crying. I couldn't figure out why, either. Did she not like the fact that I had gone into the future? Was she angry? What was a guy to do?! GRAAAHHH! Girls confuse me more than sudoku does!

Amaterasu walked over to me and laid a hand on my head, pulling me from my thoughts of confusion. She was looking forward with her red eyes, and it appeared that they were glazed over. I frowned and blinked, but just went with it. In this world, you need to just go with a lot of stuff, otherwise your world will be in chaos.

"Maitsu yo kashimeruta ute..." She murmured. "Okami."

Wolf? And what was that she said before? It sounded like she was rambling or just saying random things.

A bright flash of light covered my eyes, giving me the inability to see. Oh great. I was blind now. What kind of a gift was that?!

When the light and dots faded away, I felt a lot shorter. And I was on my hands and knees. And I had paws. And I had no clue what the heck was going on around this crazy place. I looked up at Amaterasu, who suddenly seemed really, really tall.

"Jin, you are a wolf," she said, as though reading my mind.

I gave a little squeal that sounded very unwolfish. I took a few steps back, tripped over my own back feet (or paws) and fell down in surprise. Issun burst out laughing, but Amaterasu did not.

"That was awesome!" Issun cried. "You look so tiny and silly! Holy freaking heck that's awesome!"

"Be silent, Issun," Amaterasu said absently. "Now, to transform into a wolf, you must only whisper the word "wolf" and you shall be in the state in which you are currently. To transform back, you must merely say "human" and you shall be human again."

I whined, unsure how in the heck I was supposed to say human if I was a freaking wolf. She gave a soft smile.

"Usually, you just thought human," she murmured, brushing back a stray lock of hair.

Oh. That was better. I could think. Talk, though? Not so much.

"How is this supposed to help him, again?" Issun asked. "I mean, if he's a wolf, that means that he's the same as always. Just a wolf who happens to be ill at fighting. Ammy, I think that you should have thought this little problem through a bit more seriously. Obviously-"

"Issun, he knows how to fight. All he must merely do is remember it," Amaterasu said simply.

Issun rolled his eyes. "Oh, right, and how is that supposed to help us destroy evil if he erased his memory?"

"I am a Goddess," Amaterasu said, sounding slightly offended. "I can help him to remember some things. Goodness, Issun, what do you take me for?"

I sighed, sitting down. Even when I was with a Goddess, I still ended up hearing girls fighting. I mean, seriously, what was up with it? Did I have some sort of sign on me that said If there are any girls around, then please fight around me so I can be unhappy! Seriously, that's how I felt sometimes.

"Now, Jin, close your eyes..." Amaterasu whispered. I did so, not entirely trusting her, but fearing that if I didn't, something bad might happen to me.

I could tell you that the images that went through my mind were slow, giving me the chance to take everything in nice and easily. However, if I did that, I would be lying, and I don't think that Gods are supposed to lie. Could just be me, though.

The first image-which lasted about a second-was of me and Amaterasu running along some sort of plains together. Next, came her and I fighting some sort of demon. Then, I was with Larka and Waka, and we were all wolves; she and I were fighting. Another image rushed through my mind of me as a human with Issun, each with a stick in hand and circling each other, as though we were about to battle.

The last one... was of me and Amaterasu. She and I were fighting, but obviously play fighting. And... I was a pup.

Amaterasu brutally cut off that one, fear and sadness obviously in her eyes. I looked up at her in confusion. What... had just happened? Why had we been fighting like that? Why was she sad? Oh, come on, my past seemed so mysterious and far-off to me...

"Do you know how to fight now?" She asked softly.

I nodded, standing up slowly. I glanced up and saw the sun was fairly high in the sky. How long had we been doing this?! Fudge, Larka would kill me! Or something along those lines, anyway!

"Go. Larka, Yuuki, and Oki are fearful for your safety," Amaterasu murmured, pointing to the direction I had come from. "Go."

I nodded and Issun grinned at me. "Don't trip over your own feet, wolf-boy! I've got some business to take care of Ammy, here, so I can't really come with you! But tell Larka that I think that she'll have it goin' on when she's older and Dravis is one lucky emo!"

I decided not to tell her that.

"And also..." Issun suddenly seemed embarrassed. "Can you make me a promise? A promise that the next time we meet you'll be the God that I respected?"

I nodded. Because, at the time, I did not know Issun, I had no clue what a major compliment this was. In fact, I would later call it "The impossible meeting the impossible." That later became my catch-phrase. Anyway, enough blabbering.

"Then get out of here, you mangy mutt!" Issun exclaimed. "Get!"

I turned around where my tail had been pointing before, and started running. To my surprise, I didn't trip over my own feet (or is it paws..?). In fact, I glided through the snow-covered forest as though I had born to do so. I felt like I was almost flying... sort of.

I blinked and skidded to a stop. Something had caught my nose. Some scent... some sort of scent that smelled good.

I put my nose to the ground, as an automatic instinct. I sniffed around my area, spinning around. I finally found the place where the scent came from and began walked around the area, trying to find the scent as though my life depended on it.

I blinked as I found the source of the scent. Paws. I slowly looked up, and yelped. Larka.

She seemed to not recognize me. "Hey," she growled roughly. "Do you know where a boy is? He's about fifteen, has black hair, and is a dork."

I felt slightly offended at that, but chose to ignore it. I wanted to tell her that it was me, but, alas, I had no clue how to speak as a wolf. Rather problematic, really.

"I smell him around here somewhere..." Larka muttered, sniffing the ground. "I know that he's here somewhere... Jin, you dork, where are you?"

Each time, her nose brought her back to me. I felt slightly awkward as she sniffed me. The weirdest part was that it felt like it had happened before. Like... deja vu. Dang, that's been happening a lot to me lately. What's up with it?!

Finally, she yelped, "Jin?! Is that you?!"

I bobbed my head, relieved. She finally knew that I was Jin! Thank goodness!

"How did you... what did you... what happened?!" She demanded, obviously flabbergasted. "How did you become a wolf?!"

I thought human, praying (I need to stop praying. I think that it's weird for a God to pray to another God.) that it work. Much to my surprise, it did. Just like when I transformed, a bright light flashed, making it so I couldn't see for a minute or so.

When I could see again, I was human again. I grinned and shouted, "Hooray! I'm normal!"

"Hardly..." Larka growled as she transformed into a human. When she was human again, she put a hand on her waist and asked, "Well? What the heck was that?!"

"I saw your mom and she showed me how to transform into a wolf and back," I said simply, examining my dirt-encrusted fingernails. I suppose that there have to be down-sides to everything.

"Okay, that's nice!" Larka said sarcastically. "Now, why did you?! And where's Issun?!"

"He went with Amaterasu," I replied. "And I did it because I wasn't thinking. I don't think very much."

"I noticed..." she grumbled.

"All righty, then!" I exclaimed, punching the air. "Let's a-go find the others!"

"Just shut up..." she grumbled some more. "You're embarrassing me..."

A/N- Oh, well, that was a nicely long chapter. Please review, and no flames. Oh, and one more thing: SMILE AND BE HAPPY.