"Do you have any idea of how to work this thing?" Chibi asked his mom.
"No clue whatsoever," was her response. She smiled as she remembered an expression that she had used many times. "When in doubt, press buttons!" So she did. She pressed a blue button on the control pannel. The Ark shuddered, then was quiet.
"What did that do?" Chibi wondered aloud. Then they heard shouts from outside.
"Where did it go?"
"What happened to the Ark!"
"Where is Captain Waka?!"
Must've made it invisible, Amaterasu thought to herself. She started pressing more buttons, each one having a different reaction: shrinking, growing, self-destruct, shield, and many others they haven't yet found out what they did.
Chibi snorted. "Let me handle this, Mom." He pressed a large red button that was labeled "Press to Start" and the Ark shuddered.
Amaterasu laughed. "Well that would make a lot of sense," she said. "What would I do without you, Chibi?"
"Well, first of all, Nippon wouldn't have been saved for the second time, you would still be bored out of your mind at the palace, you wouldn't have known how to get to the Pool to see Oki, you wouldn't have someone to make a distraction at meetings, you-" Amaterasu put a hand over his mouth.
"Alright, I get it already! Let's make this long story short and say that I would probably be lost without you."
He removed her hand from his mouth. "That's my point." He smiled mischieviously.
Amaterasu looked at the screen that flickered to life, which displayed different points on a map. The map was labeled "Nippon" at the top, and Amaterasu felt her heart leap with joy at the thought of having another adventure away from the Celestial Plain. She looked at Chibi. "Alright, Captain Chibi! What next?"
"Well, you pick a place on the map to go and then bam, you go there. I think. I hope."
Amaterasu found the part of the map that she had loved most: Kamui. She tapped the screen on the point "Laochi Lake" and it was the only place to land in Kamui. Nothing happened.
"Why isn't this working?"
"Because it's not a touchscreen, Mom. You have to use the joystick thingy here to move it," he said, pointing at the thing mentioned.
"Oh." She took the joystick and moved it to the left, and noticed a small yellow circle light up around the point labeled "Shinshu Fields." She moved the joystick to the left again, and the yellow circle moved to Laochi Lake. Unsure of what to do next, she turned to Chibi.
"You press this green button under the joystick, I think," he said, walking over and slapping his hand over the button. The Ark shuddered, and with a a lurch, it jolted forward. Two seconds later, they heard the crunch of ice breaking.
"I believe we're here," Chibi commented.
Amaterasu nodded. "Yes. And best turn into your wolf form because it is bitterly cold out there!" So the two transformed into their wolf versions and walked out into the cold air on the deck of the Ark. Amaterasu jumped and backflipped down onto the ice gracefully. Chibi was about to jump but then paused, getting a little nervous about jumping onto ice.
"Hey Mom! I'm gonna use you as a landing pillow okay?" He woofed to her.
In the second she used to say "What?" Chibi had jumped and landed on top of her, making her slip and hit the ice.
"Really, Chibi?" She moaned. He got up off of her and shook himself.
"Sorry. Didn't want to break something if I slipped on the ice."
"Too late for that, Chibi. I think you broke my spine," she said sarcastically. She stood up and immediately felt her back crack. "Ow! Jeez, I think you just might have dislocated some vertebrae, dude," she told him. "I think I might need back therapy now."
"Whoa I'm sorry, Mom. Should I go fetch someone to help?"
"I'll be fine," she responded and took a step. Her back cracked again, shooting pain through her body. She lay down on the cold ice. "Nevermind I need help."
Chibi started to run off to get someone to help, but stopped short when he saw a man with a blue mask step onto the ice. Chibi tried to stop, but he was running too fast and crashed into the man's knee before he had the chance to say "What the?"
"Ow!" He exclaimed, and the impact of Chibi's body made him slip. He looked up at Chibi. "Nice to see you too, Chibi," the man said, sitting up. He rubbed his head, and took notice of a ball of white and red fur a couple paces away from him. "What's that- wait, Amaterasu?" He said, confused and instantly standing up.
"Oki?" She responded with the same amount of confusion.
"Ammy?!" A voice said, and Issun, Amaterasu's old Poncle friend, appeared from Oki's hair. Issun jumped off of Oki and hopped over to Amaterasu.
"Issun, wait!" Oki called after him, following the bouncing green ball of light.
"Hiya, Ammy! It's so great to see you again! I knew one day I would find you!" The poncle said, bouncing on Amaterasu's head.
She chuckled, but stopped when her body was racked with pain again. "It's... great to see... you too, Issun. But I... need some... help here," she moaned.
"Of course," Oki said, scooping her up in his arms. "I would ask what happened but it's obvious you're in too much pain," he said. Amaterasu flinched when Oki touched her, due to shock that he was there and the pain she was in.
Chibi came forward. "I kinda used her as a landing pillow and I think I may have dislocated something," he said, lowering his head in shame.
Issun had failed to notice Chibiterasu until now. "Hey, Chibi's here, too! Great to see- Wait, you're the reason Ammy's injured?" He bounced in Chibi's face, unleashing a string of insults.
"Issun, I would rather see me hurt than Chibi," Amaterasu woofed to her old friend. Her back started to hurt when she said these words. She groaned.
"Come on, I'm bringing you to Kai. If anyone can do anything about this, it's her." Oki said, carefully walking on the ice so he didn't slip and injure Amaterasu even more.
"Wait," said Issun, bouncing after them. "Didn't Kai say she was going on a hunting trip?"
Oki sighed. "Sometimes I wish you weren't right about these things, Issun."
"But unfortunately I am. Can't you just do something about it?" He asked Oki, who shook his head.
"I'm not a healer, Issun. That's Kai's job. I might be able to do something if she were human, but alas, she is not."
"I have a human form," Amaterasu said. "But I don't know if I could transform with my back like this."
Oki seemed surprised. "Well, had I known that, then I bet I could probably do something about your back. You can try if you want, when we get back to my hut."
They trudged through the ankle-high snow, Issun jumping on Chibi's head so he wasn't drowning in the white fluff. In what seemed like ages later, they reached Oki's hut. He carefully set Amaterasu down on the rug next to the fire. "Let's see here..." He sat down cross-legged and ran his hand down her spine. She yelped when he reached the vertebrae a little before her tail, just above her back legs.
"You're hurting her!" Issun yelled, making everyone jump.
"Issun, keep your voice down. And I didn't mean to hurt her, I'm simply trying to find where the dislocation is." He paused, and Amaterasu imagined a frown behind his mask. "I'm afraid you're going to have to transform into a human, Amaterasu. It's hard with your fur coat."
She looked up at him, and he nodded reassuringly. So she focused on her human figure, and with a flash, she was human. It didn't come without a price, though. Pain shot through her body with such intensity she thought a raging fire had swept through her.
"Whoa," said Issun. "Does anyone know where the Lucky Mallet is?"
"Issun, Chibi, I'm going to have to ask you to leave for a moment," Oki told the two mentioned, not caring about anything Issun said.
"Why?" Issun demanded.
"Because I do not trust you, Issun, and I'm not so sure if Chibi is mature enough for this."
Oh gods, this sounds bad, Amaterasu thought.
"You just want her all to yourself, don't you? Let me remind you that I've known Ammy longer than you have!" Issun was fuming now.
"Issun, I have no desire to be in a relationship right now. Now please leave," Oki said, pointing to the cloth covering the entrance.
Issun showed no signs of leaving. He crossed his tiny arms. Oki sighed. "Chibi, take Issun outside with you. Go get me a bucket of snow, but only enter if I say you can." So Chibi picked up Issun in his mouth and trotted out into the cold.
"Very noble, your son," Oki commented.
Amaterasu ignored the comment out of fear for what Oki was planning to do. "What exactly do you plan on doing?" Amaterasu whispered.
"I pray that this does not make you feel uncomfortable, Amaterasu, but I'm going to need you to remove your kimono so I can see exactly where the dislocation is."
"What!" She shouted, panicking. Her mind told her Oki was just interested, but her heart told her it had to be done if she wanted to feel any better. Oki put his hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry, but if you wish to feel better then you have to go through with this." Amaterasu nodded, but she was in too much pain to wriggle herself out of the kimono.
"Oki, it hurts too much. You're going to have to do it," she told him. He seemed a little nervous to be in the presence of a goddess, but what really bothered him was that he was going to have to remove her kimono. She was already lying on her stomach, so at least he didn't have to roll her over. He sighed and closed his eyes, taking a piece of her kimono and gently removing it.
He opened his eyes, and willed himself to focus on the task at hand. His eyes kept straying from her back, but he scolded himself when it happened. He moved her long silky white hair out of the way, and he could immediately see where the vertebrae had been dislocated. Very gently, he placed his hand over that part of her spine. Just when Amaterasu thought nothing was going to happen, Oki quickly and firmly jolted the vertebrae back where it belonged on her spine.
"Ahhh!" She cried out, eyes watering from the pain. It only lasted a few seconds, then she was filled with relief as her back felt normal again. She sighed in relief. She turned her head to look up at him, her golden eyes locking into his dark red ones behind his mask. She smiled. "You would be a great healer," she whispered.
He blushed, grateful that his mask would hide it. "I don't know, it seems my only talent is being stubborn," he responded. Amaterasu just stared at him, and he lost himself in her golden eyes. Then he blinked, and got a little nervous when Amaterasu continued to stare at him.
"You have a lot of other talents, Oki. You just have to give yourself some credit," she said, reaching out her hand and resting it on the side of his head. He leaned his head into her hand. They stayed that way, until a voice from outside startled them.
"We got you a bucket of snow! Is it safe to come in?" Amaterasu recognized it as Chibi's voice.
Oki quickly grabbed a blanket and set it over Amaterasu. "Yes, you may come in."
Chibi came trotting in with Issun bouncing on his head. They had found a bucket and it was filled to the top with snow. As Oki thanked them and went to grab the bucket, a tiny snowball hit him on his mask.
"That's for keeping this babe all to yourself," growled Issun.
"Oh, come on, Issun. I just polished this!" Oki said, removing his mask and wiping it on his vest.
"So how's Mom?" Chibi asked, handing the bucket to Oki with his mouth.
"She should be fine, I snapped the vertebrae back in place. She may be a little sore for a couple days, but she'll make a full recovery." He took a handful of snow and walked over to where Amaterasu lay, setting the snow down on top of the blanket so it wouldn't freeze her skin. Amaterasu exhaled in relief.
"Hey Oki?" Amaterasu said, turning her head again to look him straight in the eye. "There's something I haven't told you..."