Chapter 4: Miracles and Something Odd
The storm was still raging around them as Ammy, Issun and Iris stepped out of the cave within the tree. Iris looked as Ammy turned to the fruit. She lifted her tail up, and drew a straight line, cutting the fruit from the branch. The stem broke, and the fruit fell to the ground –
Iris felt a rush of warmth as the energy from the fruit burst outward, leaving a trail of blossoms in its wake as it spread down and around the path Iris had walked up before. Color spread across the stone and trees, forcing the storm away as the world around them became young and beautiful.
"Wow…" Iris whispered, one hand reaching for her bag. She had to write this down – poetry! This had to be a poem! – but Ammy barked, and she snapped out of the small trance she'd been in. "Right, we should go… um… where you're going," Iris said, and followed Ammy past the gate.
Something was wrong. Everything seemed dark, even though she could see perfectly. As they descended from the path, Iris realized that everything was still besides herself and Ammy – and Issun, who continued to jump up and down.
"Hm?" Issun bounded over to a statue of a man playing some sort of instrument. "I don't remember there being a statue here…" As Iris and Ammy approached it, Iris saw how detailed it was – creases in cloth, blemishes in the skin… eerie. Ammy sniffed it, and howled before continuing down the path.
"Is it always this quiet?" Iris asked as they walked. "I haven't heard anyone down there…"
"No, usually I can hear all sorts of things going on… hey, there's a statue here too." They stopped in a field, and Iris realized that this one was a woman. "It's like the villagers have turned to stone or something…"
Another roar cut through the air and shook Iris to the bone as she grabbed on to Ammy, shaking. "What was that?"
"Not again?" Issun sprung up in alarm. "That's not one of those smaller monsters that're lurking about. A roar like that's gotta belong to something much bigger."
"Monsters?" Iris asked, voice laced with panic.
"I'll tell ya later. Let's hurry up and find somebody with a pulse around here!" Iris nodded, and they kept walking.
"Oh my…" Iris murmured upon seeing the third statue – a child.
"No good. This one's not movin'. Everyone here was perfectly fine just a few hours ago!" Issun commented, and Ammy howled.
"Wait… why am I not a statue?" Iris asked, looking at Ammy.
"I guess… because you weren't in that fruit? I don't know. But I do know there's definitely something strange goin' on around here."
"That's the understatement of the year."
"The village is back," he continued, ignoring Iris, "but what's up with this dark sky?" Iris looked up, and realized that there was nothing – no stars, no moon, no sun, nothing – in the sky above. "Maybe it's dark outside the village, too? Let's find some high ground so we can take a look!"
Iris continued to stare at the sky, vaguely aware that Amaterasu was barking. The sky was so… foreboding…
"Are you comin' or not, Iris?" Issun called, and Iris looked over her shoulder – they had already reached the base of the hill.
"Coming!" Iri quickly ran over to where they were waiting, only for Amaterasu to decide on getting a head start up the hill, leaving Iris to scramble up after her. "H-hey, slow down! I can't- hey!"
Iris reached the top of the hill's path a few minuts later, panting a bit and resting her hands on her knees as Ammy sat a few feet ahead, looking at her and wagging that fluffy tail back and forth.
"hah… hah… whoof!" Iris panted before standing up. "Give me some warning before you take off like that!" She looked up, and saw that Ammy had disappeared up another path, which went further up the mountain in the opposite direction of Sakuya's tree. "Oh, come on!" She sighed, before sprinting after the wolf up to the top of the mountain.
"Pick up the pace, girly!" Issun called as Iris stumbled up the last few feet. "Have you never run before, or what?"
"Not without warming up first," was what Iris tried to say, but all that came out was a few gasps for air. Ammy nudged her, and Iris nodded. "G-give me a sec," she said, before standing up and following the wolf to a bridge that led to a wooden balcony. "What is this?" She asked as they walked across.
"It's the sun deck, but there doesn't seem to be a sun right now," Issun answered. Iris looked up at the endless blackness. "I don't think even Ammy before has enough skill to paint a sun-"
Iris didn't have time to look away before Amaterasu had drawn a circle in the air with her tail, and the sun suddenly materialized in front of her with a burst of light. She squeezed her eyes shut as the rays started to blind her, before turning to the ground and rubbing her eyes with her knuckles.
"Wow, and ow, my eyes," she muttered as Issun began talking about how cool that was.
"-Amaterasu IS the name of the sun god, so it makes sense you'd have that power from the start!" He finished. "Right, Iris?"
"Right… ow…" Iris said as she looked at them, still blinking. "Note to self: Do NOT stare directly at the sun."
"Hm? Who are you!"