No one has ever become poor by giving.


Tetsu sat on the shoreline near Shinshu Field, before she spotted a white mass floating into shore. She gave a few masterful waves in the water, subtly nudging the mass forward to the sands.

What she saw was a white wolf, which had been in a horrid fight. A scar strained her left eye, and several wounds across the body indicated that she was close to death. She knew that the wolf may not have enough time to make it back to Kamiki. Hopeful that she could get the white wolf to survive, she reached for medicinal supplies growing nearby, and began to rub down the more serious wounds. The wolf's whimpering was enough to assure her that she was doing a good job.


Tetsu stroked the white wolf's back. She had returned her to Kamiki, and the more knowledgeable had added their wisdom to help the wolf. As a result, the wolf was able to move under her own volition. Tetsu was merely keeping her company while she worked off some of the wounds.

"Ow! Hey, cut that out!" someone said. Tetsu stopped her stroking, and looked outside at the commotion. But not a skirmish in sight. "I'm right here!" Tetsu turned, and saw a yellow bug or bug-like creature hopping on the wolf's skull.

"Oh. My. Goddess. Who are you?" Tetsu cried.

"My name is Miya. I am the Eighth Celestial Envoy… or at least, a self-proclaimed one. And this girl I'm riding on is Keiko."

"Oh… nice to meet you, Miya. But might I ask what exactly happened to Keiko?"

"Last thing I remember is going up against an unseen opponent. Keiko lost. Badly."

(It… was horrible. Those blows… they were stronger than the blows I took from Oki when I trained.)

"Keiko, calm down. You shouldn't spend your time barking. Bark once and let me know you're bothered."

(Can you understand wolf-speak? Or do I have to transform to get any point across?)

"Keiko, stop! You need to recover your strength."

"I don't think she understands you, Keiko. Let me do the talking."

(Fine with me. I agree with her point.)

"Wait… she has a language? Can she understand us?"

"Yes… uh…"

"Tetsu."

"Yeah, Tetsu. She is one of the Oina tribe of the frozen land of Kamui."

"An Oina? You mean, she's a human?"

"In a manner of speaking. Your run-of-the-mill human doesn't spend her time as a wolf, doesn't she?"

"Keiko, I am so sorry for treating you like a dog."

(Eh. Injured Oina in wolf form. We treat 'em like dogs back in Kamui. It takes too much of their energy turning human.)

"Keiko would like to say that she does not find your treatment insulting. They do it all the time themselves."

"Oh, OK."

"But enough about Keiko. Have you seen any pieces of parchment with a magical technique on it?"

"One or two went into the Cave of Nagi. I like to stick around occasionally."

(We're going to the Cave of Nagi, then.)

"Really?"

(Sure. I'm fine.)


Keiko wandered towards the Cave of Nagi. She and Tetsu, who insisted on coming, were looking for the parchment. They were stopped before their entry by Sakuya.

"Who are you? And what are you doing here?" Tetsu asked.

"Oh, young daughter of Susano. I am the wood sprite Sakuya, guardian of Kamiki and the surrounding lands of Nippon." Keiko took a scratch. "And I see you have a white wolf. Is she, perchance, related to Ammy?"

"Not that I'm aware of, Sakuya. Now let us into the tree."

"Oh my, if it isn't Issun. Come back, have we?"

"Wha- No! My name is Miya. I'm not Issun!"

"My mistake, little sprite. Issun used to spend a lot of time with me before he took Chibiterasu up to the Celestial Plain."

Miya said nothing. She stopped bouncing. Keiko, noticing that the top of her head was rising in temperature, stepped in.

(Listen, Sakuya. If it's not too much trouble, we're looking for the brush techniques. Tetsu here says there are two-ish in here.)

"If it's the Brush Techniques you are looking for, then feel free to enter the Cave of Nagi. May the great Amaterasu smile upon your adventure."

The three entered the cave, Tetsu and Keiko staring at Miya.


"Oh… the bridge is out," Tetsu cursed. And so it was. The bridge was snapped very brutally, rotten wood hanging over the abyss.

"Hey… wait…" Miya smiled. She hopped over to a clump of stone, and dived in. She emerged carrying a piece of parchment. Etched onto the piece was a drawing of a dragon god, captioned Yomigami. Inscribed on the sheet were descriptions of Yomigami, ending with a boxed off area. Inside this area was a scribble, captioned Rejuvenation. As Keiko read the details carefully, she found her tail rising and stiffening. She gave it an experimental flick, and faint ink emerged from the tip.

"Great. Goddess. Amaterasu," Tetsu and Miya exclaimed. Keiko swished her tail. She was drawing with it.

"Keiko. You have the Celestial Brush! You might be able to master these techniques!" Miya cheered. Keiko swished her tail in a scribble pattern, and the rotten bridge became brand new. Fresh shine and all.

"I have seen a miracle. Well… we better find the other miracle pattern."


Said miracle pattern was being guarded by demons.

"This is not good. Demons? Again?" Miya panicked. But Keiko's battle temper was piqued. And she had just gained a tool of mass demon-slaying. She took it upon herself to deal some Divine Retribution.

There were no survivors.

Miya was frozen mid-bounce. When she began falling again, she went towards the sheet, and took it to Keiko. This was the artwork of Tachigami. As soon as Miya noticed that, she took a step back.

*SLASH*

A nearby lantern was cleaved in two. Keiko giggled in a very ladylike fashion.

"Mother of all mood swings… I'm glad I'm not her opponent."

"Me too."

(Let's leave now?)

"Yes."

999 words. No joke. Not intended.

I took it upon myself to finish this work because today went from terrible to brilliant. The brilliance was so overloaded, that I decided to share my happiness around. This chapter has more than enough progress to make up for last time. And next chapter will probably get some semblance of plot booted up. Maybe.

And I think Keiko doth protest too much. She glared at Miya when she lost her temper, but has a horrendous temper on the battlefield. This is why Keiko is starting to become an interesting character in my eyes. She actually has some way to go. But I doubt that giving her tools to become equal to the goddess without needing belief was a smart step.

Leap before you think!