"Kamiki Village!" Amaterasu exclaimed.
"Oh man! Where's the rice field? I bet that there's one hot babe." Issun said a bit dazed.
"Issun!" Amaterasu said annoyed.
"Heh heh, sorry. Ya know I can't help myself," Issun said embarrassed.
"Midna, please tell me where we are. I couldn't hear through that whining she calls talking," Link crooned. Amaterasu rolled her eyes.
"My God, Link, right now you're no better. We are in a place called Kamiki Village," Midna replied, really annoyed. "You two recognize this place?" she asked Amaterasu and Issun.
"Yep. And I for one want to actually see it again. I miss it very much. How the heck are we gonna get rid of this green stuff?" asked Issun.
"This green stuff is called twilight as we've said before and to get rid of it, we need to find the source," said Link
"Hey, Issun, could you tell me what he said please? I couldn't hear through all of his whining," Amaterasu crooned.
"Ya know what, Ammy? This little fight is really stupid and pointless! I know you have these marvelous powers and that you've been through a lot, as I was there too, but you need to be willing to hear new advice and not be so sensitive about your flaws!" Issun exclaimed in annoyance. Snap! Amaterasu quickly snapped up Issun in her mouth. "AMMY! PLEASE! I DIDN'T MEAN ANY OFFENSE! YOU HAVE TO MAKE UP WITH HIM! AND PLEASE LET ME OUT! THIS IS DISGUSTING!" Issun screamed. Amaterasu spit out Issun harshly onto the ground. He was covered in slobber. Link and Midna grimaced at the sight.
"And as for you, Link, you shouldn't be so arrogant. I know that you're the Hero of Time and all… have more experience with the Twilight, but you have to be more sensitive to others feelings! Never do anything that will drive the knife deeper into the wound. You know better than that! You guys need to apologize to each other now if you ever want to get rid of the Twilight!" Midna exclaimed. Both wolves were surprised by all of the words.
"And how will us apologizing to each other help with the twilight?" Link asked.
"Let me put it this way. Amaterasu is the sun goddess and she knows this land well and has incredible powers, and you, Link, know the twilight well, are great with tactics, and have great ability too. You guys make the perfect team, but you can't be one when there's all of this unnecessary friction between you two," Midna explained.
"You guys also overreacted by a lot. It was just a couple of imps. I'm sure that they are the least of our problems. Ammy, you need to say you're sorry for jumping to conclusions, and being all defensive. And, Link, please apologize for being too arrogant." Issun said, agreeing with Midna. Amaterasu scowled then sighed. They were right. She had become very sensitive and defensive about herself, over the years.
"Link, I… I'm sorry for not listening to you. I was way too defensive about myself, and I was very arrogant too. I can be very full of myself as a goddess. About the other things I said, I'm sorry too. I should've just listened to you and let you take care of them. Please forgive me." Amaterasu said with a tone of sadness and regret. Link sighed, feeling bad for having pushed her.
"I'm sorry for being so arrogant. I've done so many things that I've become arrogant and full of myself. I also shouldn't have made you feel any worse. That was very irresponsible on my part. I forgive you. Do you forgive me?" Link asked with a regretful tone as well. Amaterasu smiled and nodded.
"I guess we just need to get over ourselves and learn more about each other," said Amaterasu. Link smiled. Issun and Midna looked at each other happily.
"Yeah, I agree. By the way, about those powers you have, could you tell me more please? Link asked eagerly.
"Well, I have what is called a celestial brush, which is actually my tail. I use it to draw symbols known as brush techniques. With them I can manipulate many aspects of the world around me. I can do things like move fire and slow down time," explained Amaterasu. Link was amazed.
"So it was you who slowed down time. Well, thanks for the help. I think I have an idea on how we can defeat those imps better now," Link said. Amaterasu smiled.
"Great! Now about a source of the twilight? Please tell me what you mean," Amaterasu asked.
"The twilight has to have a source to survive. I suspect some sort of great protector as been weakened," Link said inquisitively.
"What do you mean by great protector, Link?" Issun asked. Link looked at him.
"I mean like guardian deities. Where I come from, we have great spirits watch over sections of the land. The twilight weakened them and infested the place. Anything like that around here?" Link asked.
"Well, there are these cherry trees known as guardian saplings that Sakuya planted to watch over the land if that's what you mean," said Amaterasu. Links ears perked up.
"Amaterasu, can you take me to one of these guardian saplings?" Link asked, he sounded excited.
"I think so," Amaterasu said as she sniffed the air in hopes of catching its scent. She had trouble with the smell of Kamiki in her nose, but she picked up on something that smelled faintly like Sakuya. "Follow me," she said as she took off. Link followed close behind. They exited the village, went through a small grove of trees, and came to a large open field. Could this be Shinshu Field? Amaterasu stopped and looked out at the large field. Link stopped when she did.
"What's wrong?" Link asked. Amaterasu looked out at all of the twilit demons scrolls and saw a couple of twilit demon gates as well.
"You see those scrolls?" she asked Link.
"Yes." he replied.
"Those are called demon scrolls. They hold monsters within them. Don't touch them. If you do, we will be forced to battle the monsters within. The scrolls will try to chase you down, so you must be very careful. Also, those gates over there are demon gates. Pass through them and you'll have to fight a whole legion of monsters. Another thing to keep in mind is that unlike those imps before, monsters can and will come out of no where, you understand?" said Amaterasu.
"Yes, I do," replied Link. The two wolves darted forwards and dodged the demon scrolls as they moved forward. In the middle of the field, where Sakuya's guardian sapling usually is, was a thick green mist. They could faintly make out what appeared to be the sapling. Amaterasu and Link started to step forward into it, but Midna stopped her.
"Amaterasu, Link, stop!" Midna shouted. Amaterasu shook her head in surprise and stepped away from the dense green wall. Link backed away from the green wall as well.
"Yeah Ammy, something doesn't seem right about this mist. It reminds me of a curse zone," said Issun.
"I've never seen anything like this," said Midna. "It's probably much too dangerous to enter, even for a Twili like me."
"Oh dear, this is usually where the guardian sapling is. This must be some sort of twilit curse zone. I've dealt with regular curse zones before, but just barely. Link, how did you get rid of the twilight in your land?" Amaterasu asked.
"I had to find these tears of light that some bugs took. The deities needed them to regain their power and drive out the twilight. You said something about a curse zone, right? How did you get rid of that?" Link asked.
"I revived the saplings with one of my brush techniques," replied Amaterasu. "I had to do it from a far though. The curse zones would sap my power and energy."
"Oh… hmmm, you think you can revive the sapling now?" Link asked. Amaterasu drew a circle around the shadow of the sapling, only to have her ink disintegrate.
"No… my brush powers won't work in that green mist, just like most of the curse zones" Amaterasu said annoyed. Link growled.
"Dang it! Well, I guess we'd better go searching for something that could help. I bet monster are concealing it away," Link growled, turning around. Waka suddenly appeared right in front of him. "Whoa!" Link jumped. Waka approached the thick green mist.
"My oh my, this is a problem, no?" said Waka in his usually attitude.
"Well yeah it is! Any ideas, Genius?" Issun yelled. Waka was taken a back.
"Why what's wrong, my little bouncing friend?" Waka asked. Issun still had a slight grudge against Waka for his constant riddles and interruptions.
"Bah! Nothing, just get on with it!" Issun yelled. Waka went back to examining the dense twilight and Amaterasu looked at Issun.
"You still mad at him, Issun?" Amaterasu asked.
"Well…" Issun couldn't think of what to say.
"I think you need not think about our past opinions of him as they have all been proven false, Issun," said Amaterasu.
"Okay, okay." Issun said reluctantly, he still found Waka annoying no matter what. Waka finished his thorough examination of the twilight.
"This dense mass is suppressing the guardian sapling's power. You need to find the source of the trees power and restore it," said Waka.
"Well, what exactly is the trees power source? Konohana? Sakuya?" Issun asked.
"Why, my little bouncing friend, I think you know. I'll tell you that Konohana is infected too, but let's take care of this one first, as it will make helping Konohana easier. As for the tree's power, it is not directly Sakuya, but something else. I shall leave you all with a riddle," Waka said, the last line was delivered with much enthusiasm. Issun rolled his eyes. Oh here we go again thought Issun with dread. "Remember, remember what Sakuya said may protect you on your journey long, awaken once again with the help of your friends' song" Waka said the riddle in a sing-song voice and struck a pose when he was finished. "Au revoir, baby!" and with that, he was off. Midna had no idea of what just happened, Link was confused beyond belief, Issun was both unhappy to be left with a riddle and confused by Waka's fancy arrangement of words, and Amaterasu was already pondering what the riddle meant.
"What was that all about?" asked Midna.
"Waka can see into the future and for some reason will never tell us exactly what to do. Instead, he leaves us with annoying riddles like this one," Issun replied.
"Any idea what it means?" asked Midna.
"Nope, not at all," Issun said annoyed. Amaterasu looked at him.
"Issun, think about it. What phrase would Sakuya usually wish upon us before we'd continue our journey?" Amaterasu asked him.
"And you expect me to remember something like that, furball?! Every time I see Sakuya, her beauty always puts me in a trance!" Issun said quite annoyed and Amaterasu rolled her eyes.
"Wow, Issun. You know, with you helping out with our previous argument, I actually thought that you had matured," Amaterasu said getting annoyed. "I need you to be serious now. Think about the parts of the riddle." Issun thought as she spoke these words to him. Amaterasu turned to Link and Midna. "I'm sure that part of the riddle involves both of you guys too," she said. Midna and Link went into thought. Amaterasu entered deep thought. The part about Sakuya's words echoed in her mind. She felt something coming back to her, but the memory was kind of fuzzy. The part about her friends' song must have something to do with Link, but she was a bit unsure.
In Link's mind, the part of the riddle that mentions something about its song, what could it mean? Our song? Link knew many songs that he had heard others play and melodies that whistled in to wind, but where could a song come from that could help a tree that was weakened by this thick green mist. As far as he could see, there were was no wind and there'd obviously be no one to teach him a song. The songs in the twilight only taught him moves and never worked any miracles in the twilight. He could try a song that he knew, but would it do anything useful here?