Hi. Back. FROM THE DEAD- no. I lost interest for a little, but regained it and poof here I am. So yeah. Yaaaay~

Thanks to my reviewers! I'm proud of you all! All... five of you. Lol~

Anyways, DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of this stuff. Except Jenna.

(Author's notes end)

The first thing that caught Jenna's eye was the treasure chest sitting by the pond. "Hey," she said, and opened it. Inside was... a bag. Full of seeds. "What on earth?" said Jenna. "Birdfeed?"

"Oh, yeah, feedbag," said Issun. "Hey, nice. We should feed as many animals as possible. It gets praise!"

"From the birds?"

"Yes!"

"...I don't know what to say to that..."

"Hey, they're sweet creatures when they're not trying to eat you. Why, once when I fed a flock of hungry birds one offered to give me a ride! Best day of my life."

"I'll take your word for it."

Jenna took the feedbag, which vanished into stars. "Where do all these things go, anyways?" she asked.

"Who knows?"

Jenna walked around the pond. Amaterasu dove into it. "Wagh!" exclaimed Issun. "Warn me before you do that, furball!" He leapt from Amaterasu's head to the shore, and onto Jenna's shoulder. Jenna twisted her head to look at him.

"What?"

"Nothing. Trying to look at you."

Issun didn't see the point of this. "What? Why?"

"I haven't been able to see you very well yet."

Now that he was up close, Jenna could see the tiny features of a face. Issun rolled his eyes. "You're weird, Jen." Jenna ignored this and turned to look at Amaterasu, who was twisting around in the pond, trying to catch the burning Holy Globes as they floated away from her and her splashing. Jenna wondered briefly whether to stay and let Ammy continue with her fun or to keep walking. The choice was obviously up to her, as she seemed to be the only one with an attention span greater than a squirrel's.

She made her decision and started walking. She scattered birdfeed next to the pond when she saw some sparrows, who twittered happily and gave them Praise. She kept walking down the hill, glancing up at the rock walls as she entered them. Amaterasu jumped out of the water and shook off her fur and followed at a trot.

Where the road split they found Mr. Orange out cold. Nearby, a man with a jug on his head played the flute unconcernedly. Jenna gave him a stare as they passed by. He nodded to her peacefully, and kept playing. Amaterasu suddenly double-checked and started back to stare at the jugheaded man, who jumped and stared back at her. They kept staring. Jenna wondered if Ammy had somehow initiated a staring contest. Then the man raised his head, as if startled, and looked around. Then he said urgently, "Ah... I feel it. I sense it. Foul beasts dwell in this place! Concentrate. Look hard. You see. Right behind you now..."

The arena appeared. Jenna tossed feathers at Amaterasu's targets, which were dispatched very quickly. Issun gaped. "Whoa! That was fast!" he said as the arena vanished.

"Humans are not witness to such battles, but I saw it! The fighting went on for exactly 7 seconds!" declared the man. Jenna wondered, If he saw it, where was he? Invisible or something? Is he psychic?

"I am Komuso. You three... I can sense a special presence upon you all. A blessing, perhaps? Certainly a light shines for you." Yeah, the sun, thought Jenna. "I have chosen to follow the path of Bhudda, but in you I sense another power. And I see the path you have chosen also holds the light of truth."

Praise floated from him to Jenna and Amaterasu. "Um, thank you," said Jenna to Komuso. He nodded and played his flute again.

They passed a large construction. Jenna glanced back and suddenly saw, "Hey, these are the observation deck supports!"

Amaterasu halted and looked up. Issun bounced on her nose. "Hey, you're right!" Jenna squinted. "What's that, up there? A treasure chest? How on earth did THAT get there? Who put it there?"

"Don't question it, Jen, you'll just confuse yourself," assured Issun.

Jenna nodded in agreement. "How do we open it?" Amaterasu launched herself back up the hill, Jenna in hot pursuit. Amaterasu stood on the cliff, above and to one side of the chest. She looked at Jenna and crouched. Her Divine Instrument floated to hover over her head. Jenna got on her back, leaning forward to almost be lying down, as she had once done when she was younger and had tried to ride her dog like a horse. Amaterasu was a large wolf, and Jenna small in stature, so she found she was able to hold on well. Amaterasu padded back from the cliff and turned to face it. "Oh, no," said Jenna. "No. No no no no no no NO!"

Amaterasu launched herself off. Partway through the fall, the world froze and Amaterasu drew a Power Slash over the chest. They finished their fall with a jarring, but not painful, thump to the ground. A stray bead fell right in front of Amaterasu, who picked it up with a wolfish grin as Jenna rolled off her back. "Oh my god, Amaterasu, I could have DIED! YOU could have died! Issun... might have died!"

"Seriously?" complained Issun.
Amaterasu rolled her fiery eyes and nosed the bead to Jenna, who picked it up with a glare. Amaterasu pranced past her eagerly, and Jenna picked herself up with a huff. It was very difficult to argue with such an easygoing character.

She followed Amaterasu down the pathway to the village, where a woman with a bucket on her head stood in a turnip field and watched them pass with a suspicious look. "What's up with her?" Jenna whispered to Issun. "Who knows?" he replied.

"Aw, don't mind my mama, she just doesn't want to deal with another dog," said a little boy. He held a string, on the other end of which was a dragonfly. "Another dog?" asked Jenna. "Yeah! Look there," he said, pointing to a brown dog with a purple bandanna around his neck and a purple orb fastening it. "That there's Hayabusa. He's the champion turnip-digger of this town!"

"Champion... turnip... digger?"

"Uh-huh. My mama has that turnip-field, see, and Hayabusa managed to dig up 9 turnips before she could catch him and whack him. There are actually 10 turnips in that field, but who could dig them all up? Tell you what, if your dog can dig up 10 turnips in a row, I'll admit she's the better canine!"

Jenna looked down at Amaterasu, who glanced up at her. "Uh, she's not my..."

"We accept!" exclaimed Issun. "Sure, being chased around isn't exactly my idea of a good time, but we won't back down from a challenge!"

Jenna sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Hey, is that Issun? Oh, I almost forgot, the name's Mushi," said Mushi.

"Yeah, that's him. And my name's Jenna."

"Nice to meet you, Jenna. Wow, look at her go!" exclaimed Mushi, the latter referring to Amaterasu, who was running around the field digging turnips. Issun was laughing like a maniac and hanging on to Ammy's fur as she dashed around. Mushi's mother was howling with rage and trying her best to catch her, but various things seemed to keep getting in her way, such as the bucket of water atop her head shattering, being mysteriously covered with ink many times, and being knocked back by invisible blows. "AARGH!" she screamed. "I'LL GET YOU-" She was covered in ink again. "WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING TO ME?"

Jenna sighed. "I wonder if they'd be so successful without all that stuff," she said, and Mushi shrugged. Hayabusa yawned. Amaterasu dug up the last turnip and smiled innocently at Mushi's mother, who was worn out from the constant chasing. "Why... you... fine. Take it."

Amaterasu brought over the oddly shaped turnip, which was reddish-colored. "Wow!" exclaimed Mushi. "That's the oddly shaped turnip me and Hayabusa have been looking for!" He accepted it from Amaterasu. "But that means that she dug up all 10 turnips! Fine, I'll admit. She's the better canine..." He looked sullen for a moment, but then perked up.

"Hail the digging champ!" exclaimed Mushi happily, starting to run around with his dragonfly. "Now me and Hayabusa have something new to shoot for!"

Jenna sighed, and they kept walking. Jenna saw the girl who was working her rice field. Amaterasu noticed as well, and walked over towards her. She stared at her inquisitively. The woman giggled and rubbed Amaterasu's ears. "Why, hello there, Snowy! What is it? Do you want a treat? I'm sorry, but I don't have any!" Jenna came walking up. "Hello," she said. "Oh!" said the girl. "Is this your dog?"

Jenna mentally rolled her eyes, and took the easiest reply as her answer. "Yes."

"Oh, she's so sweet. My name's Kushi, it's nice to meet you. I run the sake brewery in this village." Jenna blinked. Sake? she thought. Oh, that's right, sake is a Japanese alcoholic drink, isn't it?

"Hey, Kushi!" exclaimed Issun, bouncing on Amaterasu's head. "Oh! Issun!" exclaimed Kushi. "Hello. Are you with this dog and her owner?"

"Uh, yeah, sorta. So, how are you doing, babe?"

"Oh, I'm doing well. My only problem is, the water wheel that I use to help me polish the rice is broken..."

"We can fix that!" exclaimed Issun. "Right, Jenna? Furball?"

"Oh, really?" said Kushi. "Thank you. But how can you fix it?"

"Don't you worry your pretty little head. It'll get fixed!"

Amaterasu turned away and walked towards the wheel. "You know what to do, furball!" said Issun. Jenna watched as the Canvas appeared, and Amaterasu filled in the missing section of waterwheel. As the world resumed movement, the wheel was repaired and began to turn. "Oh, my!" exclaimed Kushi, delicately hurrying over to see the wheel. "Yay! Now I can get back to polishing the rice!"

She headed inside. Amaterasu cut the plants in her field, which somehow turned into rice balls. "What on earth?" said Jenna. Issun looked at her. "Don't question it."

"Right."

Jenna picked up a plate of rice balls and ate one. They were good, as she was hungry. Amaterasu, meanwhile, rushed about the field gobbling up every bit of food she could find. Then, without preamble or even a glance and a tailwag, Amaterasu trotted across the street to where an old woman was washing her laundry. Issun and Amaterasu seemed to be having a 'conversation' with her. Jenna approached. "Oh, hello, dearie. Is this your dog?" asked the woman.

Jenna nodded. "Oh, she's quite polite for such a big dog," commented the woman. Jenna noticed she had an orange on her head. This must be Mrs. Orange, she thought.

"I was just telling her this- and maybe you can help me- but I've lost my drying pole. Have you seen it anywhere, dearie?"

Jenna shook her head. "No, ma'am. I'll try to find it for you!"

"Oh, that's quite kind of you, dear," said Mrs. Orange.

"No problem at all!" said Jenna with a smile, and walked away. Amaterasu followed after Mrs. Orange gave her a final stroke. Jenna looked around for a while, but couldn't find the pole anywhere. Jenna eyed the place where the drying pole was supposed to hang. "Amaterasu? Do you think-" she began, but Ammy was one step ahead of her, using Rejuvenation on the empty spot, which filled with a bamboo pole.

Jenna walked up to Mrs. Orange and smiled. "I found your drying pole, ma'am."

"Oh, thank you. Now I can get to drying the laundry!"

Soon the laundry was hung up. Mrs. Orange said happily, "Now, if only the sun would shine just a little brighter, my laundry would dry off in a jiffy!"

Amaterasu obliged by drawing the sun, which burned fierce and bright in the sky. "Oh! The sun!" exclaimed Mrs. Orange. "My laundry will be dry in no time!" She turned to look at Jenna. "I'll be making Cherry Cakes tonight, dearie. Come and visit if you like!"

Jenna smiled. "That sounds nice."

They made their way over the bridge. On the other side was another house. From inside Jenna heard snores. "Who on earth is that?" she exclaimed. "They snore loud!"

Issun shook his head. "That's Susano's house," he said, as if that explained everything.

Jenna blinked. "What?"

"He's Susano. Once you meet him, you'll get it."

Jenna sighed. "Whatever."

They kept going. Issun said, "This way leads out of Kamiki into Shinshu Field."

"Shinshu Field?"

"Yeah. It's a nice big field with a couple of hills and stuff. And there's a Dojo."

"Cool."

They approached the entrance. Jenna blinked. "Uh..."

Issun stopped bouncing on Amaterasu's head. "Um. That's not supposed to be there," he said, a trifle unecessarily. A large boulder blocked the way out. They walked towards it. "Whoooooa," said Jenna. "This thing is huge! How did it get here?"

"Who knows?" said Issun. As they drew closer they observed a man pushing the boulder with all his strength. "That guy's trying hard, but he sure isn't doing much to shift the boulder," muttered Jenna. "That thing's huge. I don't know how we're going to get out... Issun, is this the only path out of Kamiki?"

Issun considered. "Yeah."

Jenna frowned. "Shoot. I guess we're stuck, then."

Amaterasu growled agreement and walked up to the man. He seemed to be absorbed in his struggle with the boulder. Jenna tapped his shoulder. "Excuse me, sir?"

There was no answer.

Jenna noted how he seemed to be moving with great effort. "Ugh... my body... feels like lead... Is this a curse?" he muttered. His eyes stared blankly. Jenna was slightly creeped out. She backed up and exchanged glances with Amaterasu and Issun. Amaterasu took a few steps forward and stared at the man with her fiery, glowing eyes. After a moment, he gasped and a strange version of a Green Imp sprang from his body.

No, that's not a Green Imp, thought Jenna. That's a Red Imp! Green Imps appeared alongside the Red Imp.

"Cut the strings of the lute!" she exclaimed, jumping away from a tossed guitar. She tried to strike the Red Imp with a feather, however it blocked her strike with its lute. Amaterasu took the opportunity to slice the lute in half. It stared at the broken lute, then growled angrily and tossed it aside. It disappeared as it lunged for Amaterasu. She dodged effortlessly and struck him from behind as he passed. Jenna threw a feather at him, and then threw a feather at each of the Green Imps as well, as they had been ignored up until this part and were still at full strength. Issun yelped and jumped away from all the fighting to stand as far to the side as he could. He attempted to provide moral support. "Go, go! Look out, Jenna! Good job. Ammy, he's coming for you! Okay, you got it. Oh no look out for that over there-"

"Will you shut up!" exclaimed Jenna as she dodged the blow of a Green Imp and tossed a feather at it.

Issun paused. "Shutting up."

Jenna sighed. He could at least try to use a brush technique.

The Imps, as they were dispatched, transformed into flowers which were quickly raided by Issun. "Yeah! Yen!" he exclaimed.

"Good for you, Issun."

"Thank you."

The battle ended. The man pushed on the boulder for a few more moments, then sighed and relaxed in resignation. He turned around and pulled out a parasol. "Well, it seems I'm stuck. The curse has ended, but I still cannot move this boulder..."

Jenna said, "Excuse me, sir?" as she walked up from where she had been at the end of the battle.

"Oh! Hello there. I didn't see you there previously. Listen, I know this might be a bit sudden, but could you do me a favor?"

Jenna shrugged. "Uh, sure, I guess." It was starting to seem like their job here was to just do stuff for people. Not that she really minded. And Amaterasu didn't seem to care much, either.

"I've heard that Susano, descendent of the great Nagi, lives in this village. If anyone could move this boulder, it would be him!"

"Oh, brother," said Issun. Jenna could have sworn she saw him rolling his eyes. "Fine, we'll go get him." He muttered something under his breath. The man smiled. "Thank you. I'm a merchant, perhaps we could do a little trade..." he offered. Jenna nodded. "Sounds good."

(Chapter ends)

Ok. There we go. It actually took some effort to keep Jenna from calling the merchant guy fat in her thoughts. It was also tough to keep her from laughing at him.

Jenna: What? He is fat. So are the other merchants. They're all fat.

Meta: But it's not nice to say so, Jen.

Jenna: YOU'RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME!

Meta: Actually, I kind of am. You signed a contract and everything.

Jenna: ... one day... one day...

She'll be thanking me when she's popular. Anyways, see you next chapter!