~ A Recap ~
A shake of the Goddess's head. "Oh, sure. Anyway…" She paused, analyzing how this all might play out. "I'll be straightforward with you, Issun. Waka made a prediction. Dark forces are returning to Nippon…"
The Poncle's bouncing slowed slightly. "So that's why you're here, isn't it..?"
Amaterasu nodded. "Yes. And I can't possibly do this without the help of the Great Issun."
Issun straightened up proudly. "Yeah, I know. You were pretty useless back then, and I bet ya still are, Furball."
( Amaterasu's P.O.V. )
The Goddess ran smoothly and gracefully as her feet pounded the ground, Issun nestled safely inside her kimono. He poked his head out, clearly dazed with utter happiness.
"So Ammy, where's our first stop? Are we gonna go defeat some big baddies in a cursed temple? Or go rid Nippon of a few cursed zones? At least this time around, that half-baked prophet won't be around to-"
Amaterasu slowed down as the clear sound of a flute pierced the still air. She smirked slightly as Issun scowled, looking around for the source. "Oh, just perfect. Any second now that crazy prophet's gonna appear outta nowhere, and give us some kinda weird prophecy or something."
The Goddess gave a little shake of her head as, sure enough, a blonde male appeared in a shower of sparkles. He gave the two a smile as he hovered slightly above the ground.
"Bonjour," He said with a wink. "Waka, the Gods' Gift to Man, has returned to Nippon once again~!"
Amaterasu could feel the anger and irritation coming off of Issun in waves. "Issun, cool it. Waka's with us now, no question about it."
The Tao Master hovered over and picked Issun up by the back of his shirt, giving him a good look. "Aw, the Great Wandering Artist didn't miss me? Pity," He said, dropping the Poncle. Amaterasu held her hand out and caught him, and he sat down in her palm with a huge huff.
"Alright, that's enough," She said with a slightly stern tone of voice. She gave them both a warning look. "Anyway. Waka's here to help," She continued, addressing Issun. "And just for the record, if it hadn't been for Waka, I wouldn't be here right now."
She saw Issun turn toward her a little, but he went back to sulking immediately afterward. He turned his head away from Waka with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Bah, I don't care. That half-baked prophet got us into so much trouble the last time," He muttered, shooting a very deadly, hardly-visible glare in Waka's direction. The Prophet rolled his eyes.
"Ah, Mon Ami, let go of the past~! That was quite a few years ago, and I think we can get along for the lady, hmm?" Waka said.
Amaterasu nudged Issun with her pinky finger and watched as he huffed once more, but stood up and put his hands on his hips.
"Urgh, fine. But no funny business or you'll have to answer to Denkomaru!"
Waka lifted his hands in a surrendering gesture. "I can assure you my little bouncing friend; there will be no need for that. Now, Amaterasu," He said, looking toward her. "What's our plan of action, Mon Cherie~?"
Ammy rolled her eyes slightly. "First, Issun and I are going to go see if we can gather any information back in Kamiki Village. We'll see what we can do in other cities as well; maybe we can gather something in Sei-an City."
A nod from the Tao Master. "Fine, fine. I'll see what I can do as well. You know me, Amaterasu; I'm a solo rider."
"Of course. You'd probably drive Issun crazy if you were traveling with us anyway."
The two of them glanced in the Poncle's direction as a few irritated mutters sounded. "Watch it, or you won't get to ride in my kimono anymore~" Amaterasu said; the muttering ceased.
With a little chuckle, Waka started floating away. "Au revior, you two. I'll keep in touch~"
( Waka's P.O.V. )
The prophet lowered his head as he walked through the snow in the Northern Land of Kamui. "Hnngh…why am I doing this again..?" He muttered to himself as he entered the village of Uep'keer, home of the Oina tribe. He raised his head and took a look around; it was eerily quiet, and even his soft footsteps sounded like the beating of a drum as he walked.
This isn't good…where on Earth is everyone? He thought as he walked by several seemingly deserted houses. There wasn't any light coming out of the windows, no smoke coming out of the chimney.
As Waka walked, he noticed fresh footprints in the snow. Whoever made them probably hadn't gone far; if they had been made a while ago, they would've been covered by snow.
The blonde levitated a few feet off the ground and began to follow the tracks. As he followed them, he noticed them heading toward the direction of Laochi Lake. I'm getting a bad feeling about this…
( Amaterasu's P.O.V. )
"Wow, this place hasn't changed a bit!"
Amaterasu smiled brightly as she walked down the path to Kamiki Village; it was exactly how she remembered it, from the cherry blossom trees, to the Sacred Deck. The Goddess really felt at home here.
"Eh, this place was always pretty dingy to me." Issun said as he poked his head out of Amaterasu's kimono.
She glared down at him. "Hm, that's funny…if I recall, Miss Kushi used to live here, didn't she? You had the hots for her."
A little huff as the Poncle crossed his arms stubbornly. "Shut your muzzle," He said defensively. "I'll never forget her amazing sake…"
Ammy rolled her eyes and continued walking, until she reached the entrance to the village. She smiled as she looked around, almost everything was the same; the elder's house, the rice fields, and the river that ran through the center of the village. Only, something seemed different somehow…
Issun sneezed as he examined the village too. "Eww, something about this place is giving me the creeps..." He said quietly. Amaterasu's brow furrowed as she walked further in. Issun was right; the air was somehow danker, causing a thin sheen of cold sweat to break out on her face.
"Something's not right here." Ammy said as her steps slowed; an eerie fog had settled, making it harder for her to see. Suddenly her ears pricked at the sound of slow footsteps coming toward them.
"Who's there?" She called out. The footsteps stopped, and both of them held their breath.
A few seconds later, a girl emerged from the fog slowly, her wooden sandals making a scuffing nose on the stone path as she walked. Amaterasu exhaled, her heart slowing.
"Er, hello," She said to her, but the girl didn't respond; she continued walking very slowly toward them, like every step she took was a trial. There was something about her that seemed off…her eyes were almost dead-looking, as if she were just a shell.
"Um, Ammy…something seems really weird about this girl…" Issun whispered as Amaterasu began to back up.
"Please, we were just wondering what's going on here…" She said to the girl, holding her hands up in surrender. The girl still did not respond, just kept advancing, her stringy black hair hanging in her eyes.
Amaterasu felt her stomach knot up as the girl reached for something inside her kimono; her eyes grew wide as she saw the gleam of a sword emerge. In a split-second, she swung at their heads, and the Goddess barely dodged the blow by a hair.
Panting, Amaterasu tensed, her adrenaline pumping. "You're right Issun. Something's definitely not right here…" She said as she also reached into her kimono and pulled out her Divine Brush.
The girl swung again and again at them, her face expressionless, her eyes like dead orbs. Amaterasu continued to jump backwards to dodge the blows until finally, she'd had enough; she drew a straight line across the girl's torso, and watched as she split in half instantly, her blood staining the ground as she slumped over.
The Okami's eyes welled up as she looked away from the sight. "Ammy, you…killed her…" Issun said in a hushed voice. She bit her lip as the tears began to flow. "I had to, Issun…I had to protect you and myself…there wasn't any other way." She hung her head slightly, her eyes closed.
Issun said nothing for a moment, simply jumped out of her kimono and bounced a little closer to the unmoving shape. "...It's okay, Ammy. You did what you had to do."
She nodded slightly and wiped at her eyes. "I just don't understand…what happened here? That girl, this fog…Something's going on here and we need to figure out what."
The Poncle nodded and bounced back into her kimono. "Right-O! Let's look around the village some more to see if we can figure this out."