Amaterasu stretched as she awoke. Yesterday had been a pretty long for her. When she met Link, she never would've guessed that he was the hero that she and Issun had been looking for. She had been expecting someone a little older. Late twenties at least. But she had to admit, she didn't really feel too disappointed. He was a nice enough guy.
She looked over to where he was still asleep. She briefly thought back to what the green-clad young man had told her about Ganondorf Dragmire. The King of Evil was a power-hungry sociopath who thought little of sacrificing others for personal gain. It that sense, he reminded her of Yami.
Issun hopped up onto her shoulder. "Morning, Ammy! How'd you sleep?"
"Fine, I guess," she replied. "No weird dreams if that's what you're asking." She went over to Link and nudged his shoulder. "Link? Wake up. It's morning. Time to get up." He made no response. She nudged him a little harder.
"Nnn," he groaned in his sleep. "Don't wanna get up."
"Wow," Issun said in amazement. "I never thought I'd ever meet someone who sleeps more than you, Ammy!" Amaterasu gave the Poncle a glare, making him shut up. She then returned her attention to the still-sleeping Link.
"Wake up!" she shouted as she kicked him in the gut. He howled in pain at the surprise attack. When the pain subsided, he glared at the goddess.
"What the hell was that for!?" he yelled at her indignantly.
"It's morning, genius!" she told him. "We've gotta get going!"
"All right, all right. Geez."
"Now ya know how I feel," Issun said as he hopped up and down on Amaterasu's shoulder. He was rewarded with another glare from the sun goddess. "Shutting up now."
"Good."
Link sighed at the two foreigners. From what Amaterasu had told him, they had been travelling together for a while now. How Issun survived this long was a mytery that he just couldn't quite figure out. He stood up, stretched, then went over to Epona. He reached into his bottomless pouch and pulled out a couple of carrots. He fed Epona two of the orange vegetables and stowed away the rest. He turned back to face Ammy and Issun so that he could tell them that they had leave for Hyrule. He saw that they were giving him weird looks. "What?"
"You just pulled six carrots out of a pouch that's barely the size of your fist," Issun said, gawking.
"How did you do that?" Ammy asked.
"Oh. Well I guess you should know." Link unhooked his pouch and showed it to the pair from Nippon. "This pouch is enchanted so that I can store items and weapons of all shapes and sizes easily. It makes travelling around a lot much easier."
"That sounds really handy!" Issun commented. "What all have you got in there?" Link answered by pulling out various items from the magic pouch, telling the Nipponese pair what each item was and what it was used for. The Hylian hero had a huge arsenal of weapons that made Ammy's look amateurish by comparison. Amaterasu and Issun stared at the bow, three bags of bombs, a gigantic ball and chain, and the weird top-like thing that Link called the Spinner in awe. There were plenty of other things for then to gawk at, like a pair of clawed things that looked like grappling hooks of some type. Hyrule had some pretty impressive things.
"Geez," Ammy said smartly. "You have enough weapons?"
"There's no such thing as too much in Hyrule," Link said with a proud grin. "Overkill doesn't exist in my mind." When he said that, Amaterasu made a mental note to never piss this guy off.
-o-
Ganondorf and Yami watched their enemies through a crystal ball that the King of Evil had created. They weren't able to hear the pair, but they could see them just fine. The two heroes were just leaving their campsite. Ganondorf grinned.
"Now then," he said in anticipation. "Who shall we send to deal witht them? One of mine, or one of yours?"
Yami was silently considering who should be sent in. He quickly came to a decision. "I have an idea."
-o-
Four hours after they had left the campsite, Link and Ammy, both of whom were riding Epona, were heading for Hyrule. Issun bounced impatiently on Epona's head, which the chestnut mare didn't seem to mind at all.
"Say, green bean," Issun said to Link, much to the hero's annoyance. "What's this Hyrule place like anyway?"
"Yeah, Link," Amaterasu chimed in. "I would like to know about the place that you're taking us to."
Link smiled and looked up to the sky with a look that was almost... grateful. "It's an amazing land. Sure, it's not without it's troubles, but when in peacetime, it's a beautiful place. It's split into six areas called provinces. There's Ordona Province, Faron Province, Eldin Province, Lanayru Province Then there's the Mountain and Desert Provinces. Each province has it's own purpose and own unique elegance. The Ordona Province - my home in Hyrule - is the agricultural backbone of the nation. Pretty all of the food comes from there.
"Faron Province is where mysterious beings dwell. We don't deal with them much, but witnesses claim that they hear childlike voices and laughter echoing through the woods. The Eldin Province is where mostly Gorons dwell. They're a peaceful, proud tribe of rock people. They don't look smart, but from what I've seen, they're more advanced than any other race in Hyrule. There's the Lanayru Province, which is covered with rivers. It's where our ruler, the Hylian Queen Zelda, lives, as well as the Zoras, a race of aquatic creatures that can breathe underwater and swim faster than any other known aquatic.
"The Mountain Province is covered in ice and snow, and holds a serene beauty. If you can past the packs of wolves that roam the mountainside, you can find a ledge with a small statue where you can get a view of just about all of Hyrule. Trust me, you'd have to see it to believe it. Then of course, there's the Desert Province to the west. It's where only the hardiest of survivors live. A race called the Gerudo once lived there, but no one really knows what happened to them. Anyway, that's pretty much Hyrule in a nutshell. So, what's Nippon like?"
-o-
From the branches of a tree, a pair of blood-red eyes watched the travelling group. A wicked grin formed under those hate-filled eyes. The owner of those eyes couldn't wait to see the look on their faces.
-o-
Link laughed out loud. "So, wait, the guy actually danced with you while you were still a wolf?"
"For about six seconds," Amaterasu said with a chuckle. "But yeah. Waka was always a strange one."
"Strange?" Issun shouted. "The guy was downright nuts! He attacked you twice, Ammy! Did you forget about that?"
"No," Ammy said seriously. "But he's a good guy when you really get to know him."
"Ah, whatever!" Issun pouted. "Hey, Link, when are we getting to Hyrule anyway?"
"We should be there very soon. Barring any interruptions of course." And as if on cue, the group was suddenly surrounded by a red circular barrier. Amaterasu and Issun sweat-dropped as Link face-palmed. "When will I learn to shut up?"
The young hero's ears suddenly twitched at the sound of amused laughter. He and Amaterasu quickly climbed off of Epona. Link drew the Master Sword and his Hylian Shield, going into a fighting stance, as Ammy looked around, trying find the source of the laughter. She cursed her new human ears. They were nowhere near as good as wolf ears.
The laughter slowly died down. Soon, a humanoid figure passed through the barrier. It was young man, probably in his early twenties, with hair the color of sand and eyes as red the barrier itself. He wore atan-colored kimono that was similar in design to Amaterasu's own outfit, but retailored for a man to wear. He had a cocky grin on his face.
"Well, well," he said with a menacing tone. "What do we have here? A little green bug and a goddess. Oh, and a Poncle as well. Quite the catch."
Link's eye twitched. "I am NOT a bug."
"Really?" the man asked. "Heh. You could've fooled me, Hylian. That outfit screams 'step on me.'" The stranger eyed Amaterasu hatefully. "Do you remember me, goddess of sun?"
"Your face doesn't ring any bells," Ammy said suspiciously. "And from the look of you, I really don't want to remember."
"Ouch. Now that stings." The man smirked malevolently. "Maybe I should give you a little hint." He was then surrounded by some ominous red aura. The aura slowly grew larger and larger until manifested into nine huge tendrils that looked like oversized paintbrushes. The sight made Amaterasu's eyes widen in shock. A pang of realization suddenly slammed down on her.
"No," she said in utter disbelief. "You... you're supposed to be dead."
The man laughed in amusement. "So was Lord Yami. He and his new compatriot resurrected me solely for the purpose of destroying you both. It should be easy, since you still don't have your powers to back you up."
Link's eyes narrowed. "Ammy, who is this guy?"
"He's the ruler of a fortress called Oni Island," she replied disdainfully. "Ninetails."