Okay, you know what? I give up on the word-for-word dialogue. From now on, unless it's an important introduction or a major cutscene, I am writing this diaogue myself, because I am getting tired of watching walkthroughs already. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 5: In Which Iris Gets a New Dress and a Mission

Iris had never seen an old man balance an orange and make it bounce on his head before, but after everything else that had happened today, nothing was really that surprising anymore.

"A girl in strange clothing and a white wolf?" The old man shook his head. "You look just like Shiranui, but it couldn't be… nah… that story is 100 years old. No, you couldn't possibly be the legendary Shiranui… you're just a regular wolf."

Just a regular- what, can't he see the red paint? Iris thought, but said nothing. She didn't want to appear crazy to the first actual human she'd met in at least three hours. "Uh… sure…" And who's Shiranui?

The man strode over to the center of the sun deck. "I've never seen either of you in Kamiki Village before… are you travelers?" He looked at Iris.

"Uh… I suppose that's one word for it," she said with a shrug, holding up her hands in uncertainty with her palms facing the sky, "although "lost" would probably be a better one for me. My name's Iris."

"Ah. Well, welcome to Kamiki Village then, Iris. I am the elder, Mr. Orange."

Iris was about to thank him when Amaterasu suddenly crouched into battle stance, growling. "Ammy? What are you doing?" The sky behind the peak of the mountain darkened, and three filthy-looking green creatures with paper masks jumped onto the mountain. Iris took a step back, reaching for her blade. "Wha-what are those things?"

"Hm?" Mr. Orange said to no one in particular as the wind picked up around them. "What's this sudden chill down my spine? And what do you think you're doing?" He looked at Iris, who was shaking as she held out her blade.

"Can't you see them? Issun, you can see them, can't you?" Iris asked as the creatures jumped down.

"You betcha!" Issun responded as Ammy bared her teeth at the creatures, which seemed to be slowly evaluating them, estimating their odds. "Here they come, furball and girly! Those are the monsters that've been plaguing these lands. They sneak into villages and cause all sorts of trouble!"

"They sneak into- oh, great, I'm gonna sleep well tonight!" Iris shot back. "Here they come!"

The three creatures lunged, and Amaterasu leaped, grabbing Mr. Orange's shirt and flinging at them, sending them flying. As they struggled to get up, Ammy flung Mr. Orange out of the way before they charged again. One of the three turned to Iris and tried to pounce her, but Iris quickly sidestepped, bringing her sword down on the thing's shoulder and making it drop the bamboo rod in its hand. While Ammy used her tail to paint-cut the other two into oblivion, Iris quickly ran the third creature through in the stomach. The creature stared at her for a moment as she pulled the blade out, before making one last attempt to attack her. Iris swung her blade again, slicing the creature in half as Amaterasu finished the other two off with a swing of the shield on her back, then slicing them in half.

Clink!

"Hey, what are these?" Iris asked, picking up the strange blue fang that had fallen from the monster she'd sliced in half. Amaterasu sniffed the other two, before cautiously picking them up with her teeth and handing them to Iris.

"Demon Fangs." Issun said. "They're made when a monster is killed off in a certain way – for these guys and other imps, it's being cut in half. Who taught you to use a blade?"

"I took lessons at a training school. What I'm wondering is why I can see Amaterasu's real form – and those things," she held up one of the fangs to the sunlight, "and Mr. Orange can't. Ooh, this thing sure is pretty…"

The dried lake near the sun deck suddenly burst into bloom as Iris put the three fangs on a side pouch of her burlap bag for safekeeping. Light poured from the area into Amaterasu, and Iris looked at Issun, who was getting excited.

"You've accumulated Praise, furball! With enough of that, you can make yourself stronger! …You seem excited." Amaterasu looked at Iris, who was frowning at her bag. "And you, girly… you said you got trapped in magic mist, right? Maybe it did something that lets you see-"

"Hey, what's with this?" She stuck her hand into her bag, all the way to the shoulder. "That stardust river did something to my bag – there's no way it should be this big on the inside!"

"Focus, girly!" Issun called, and Iris looked at them.

"Oh, right! So what do we do now?"

"Well, I'll show you two around the village, since we're here. Ammy, you've been asleep for 100 years, so you might not recognize the place, and girly has never been here at all. Oh, by the way, we'll need to see Kushi when we get there and ask if she can lend you a dress, otherwise you'll stick out like a sore thumb. C'mon, Ammy!" Amaterasu took off.

"H-hey! Wait up!" Iris ran after them. "Who's Kushi?" She quickly travelled back down the mountain to where Ammy was waiting, tail wagging. Lying in front of her was… "Oh my gosh, Mr. Orange, are you alright?" Iris ran over to him, gently shaking his shoulder.

"He's fine, Iris. C'mon, we need to see if everyone else is okay!" Ammy barked, and took off again, with Iris scrambling to keep up.

"Cut that out, you guys!"

The village was alive and teeming with activity when they got to the bottom of the mountain, with the hustle and bustle of life filling the blossom-scented air with a pleasant hum. It was a warm, welcoming place, and Iris marveled at the thought that moments before, it had been a wasteland. Iris stopped for a moment as Amaterasu ran to a turnip field some distance away and began digging, and she sat down, reaching into her bag and pulling out her notebook. She pulled the pen from where it was tucked behind her ear, and turned to a clean page.

Kamiki Village

Tucked away

There's music in the air

In this quaint village

There is serenity

There is beauty

There is warmth

As the sun lights the sweet sky

And people live in peace

"Girly, come here!" Iris looked up from her paper and saw Amaterasu with dirt on her paws and a wagging tail. "Kushi here just offered to help you blend in!" They were standing at the entrance of a house with a watermelon at the front. Iris got up while still holding the notebook, tucking the pen behind her ear.

"Oh, so you're the new friend Issun just told me about!" A woman in a red and gold dress said as Iris walked in. "My name is Kushi. How nice to meet you! And… what strange clothes you're wearing!"

"Yeah," Iris said with a nod, "I've been getting that a lot today."

"I'll get one of the dresses I don't wear, your clothes are rather dirty." Iris glanced down at her half-tucked in blouse. It's just a coffee stain… oh, gosh, what if this place doesn't have coffee?

"Oh, um, thanks Kushi," Iris said after snapping out of her distraction. Kushi came back with a sleeveless, pale blue gown that darkened as it went closer to the bottom, a lavender obi (sash) with light blue flowers on vines stitched into it, and a long blue robe to tie the obi. Iris took it from Kushi and frowned, furrowing her brow. "Er… not to be weird, but could you maybe… help me put this on? I've never worn a dress like this before…"

"Of course! You put it on, and I'll help you with the obi and the sleeves! I never wear this dress, Mrs. Orange made it and it was so pretty that I couldn't bear to dirty it working in the rice field…" Kushi ushered Iris into a separate room as Ammy flopped to the ground and started to nap.

"But… this doesn't have sleeves…"

Iris stepped out of the room a good ten minute later. The violet "sleeves" were separated from the rest of the gown and, like the dress, began just below her shoulders, cascading down her arms and coming to a point just past the backs of her fingertips, concealing her hands without getting in their way. The dress hung a bit awkwardly on her body – partially because Kushi had never worn it – and the blue rope had proven to be too long and was tied to form a large bow in the back. Another bow, this one made of ribbon, now held her hair out of the face.

"That's much better!" Issun said as Iris put her old clothes in one of her bag's compartments. "You look a bit weird in that outfit, but you'll blend in a lot better. Hey, since you can fight and you know about Ammy, why don't you come with us?"

"Come with you? As in, on your adventure?" Iris tilted her head to one side. "Well, I don't think I'll be able to get back to San Francisco any time soon… sure, why not?"

"Sweet!" Issun jumped in the air as Ammy pounced on Iris, happily licking her face. "Look out monsters, here we come!"

Ammy got off, and Iris stood, following the wolf outside. "Alright, but first, who's Shiranui?"

"Oh, you've never heard that story?" Issun asked as they headed down the path towards the mountains ahead, "Well, 100 years ago…"