Chapter 7: The Mission Begins!
"Ugh, this smells funny." Iris held the bottle labeled "The Vista of The Gods" at arm's length from her face. "I'm guessing Kushi is more interested in making sake than actually selling it? Because she's never gonna get a business going if she keeps giving it away like that." Iris gave up on trying to put up with the sake, and handed it to Ammy, who just kept wagging her tail as the two walked back to Susano's house. As soon as the bottle was in her mouth, Ammy took off for the training ground. "Of course," Iris mumbled as she glanced skyward, before running after the wolf.
"I'll just try some of my usual routine," Susano said as he tossed the sake bottle, already empty bottle to the side when Iris caught up to Ammy.
Iris had never seen something so impressive and so utterly pathetic at the exact same time in her life. As she watched Susano dash from one dummy to another to slice them in half, Amaterasu used power slash as he did, making it look like Susano was the one cutting them in half himself. It wasn't until he cut an iron rock clean in half that he dashed off, and Iris followed Ammy to where the boulder was.
"Exploding implosion!" Was that even physically possible? As the boulder shattered, Iris couldn't help but notice Susano looking confused at his sword.
"Wow! You weren't showing off about being Nagi's descendent!" The merchant said, and Susano agreed before saying something about destroying monsters running off.
"I'm missing all of the important stuff, aren't I?" Iris asked Amaterasu, who wagged her tail and gave a short, sharp bark. Iris sighed. "I'll take that as a yes."
There was a bright flash of light behind them, and the two turned to where Sakuya materialized.
"Ah… Glorious Amaterasu…" Sakuya began, before looking at Iris. "And the human girl who was sneaking around in my tree."
"Wha-you knew I was there?" Iris took a step back, but Sakuya held up a hand.
"Have no worries, human girl. I know you have agreed to assist Amaterasu on her journey, and for that, I thank you." She looked at the wolf again. "What a pleasure to witness your heroic deeds! I am in awe. When you cleaved the boulder in two, my heart skipped a beat. To see your skill with the brush is to be witness to great art."
"Yeah?" Issun cut in as he jumped off of Ammy's nose, "So do we get a reward or something, lady?"
Sakuya looked at Issun with an unreadable expression. "I hardly think your participation had any impact, little bug."
Iris had to stifle a snort as Issun began jumping in a heated flurry. "It's Issun! Issun, Issun, Issun! Stop calling me a bug! I'll crawl back into your kimono if you say that again!"
"My word!" Sakuya backed up a bit as her hands flew to cover her chest, and Iris doubled over, holding her breath. This was getting funnier every minute, and she was on the verge of bursting.
"Aw relax, lady! Furball here's more comfy, anyway."
Sakuya looked at Iris, who managed to calm down and stand up straight. "But I do want to thank you for helping Amaterasu deal with what few monsters remained in Kamiki Village. Your skills with the sword are quite promising."
"Uh… thanks!" Iris really didn't know how else to respond.
"Let's get back to that reward thing you were talking about!" Issun cut in. "C'mon Ammy, put your paw up or something… Go on, shake!" Amaterasu pinned Issun beneath her paw.
"I must apologize." Sakuya began. "I would like to reward you, but I'm afraid I haven't the power. I can barely muster enough strength to make a flower bloom." She gestured to the tree, which was still dead and shriveled in spite of the life all around it. "Though my body stands firmly here within the confines of the village, my roots are spread far and wide, protecting remote areas outside." She looked at Iris and Amaterasu again. "These parts of me are known as Guardian Saplings. They collect the praise and adoration that gives me strength. The recent evil is eroding the Guardian Saplings." Sakuya shook her head. "If this continues, I will wilt away as well, and my power will vanish. Worse yet, the dark power grows stronger with each passing day. Life as we know it will be consumed utterly in no time."
Wait, had Amaterasu fallen asleep?
"Aw man… this is getting' heavy," Issun mumbled, and Iris nodded. She looked at Sakuya.
"What can we do?" Any hope of being poetic had been killed by the onslaught of information a moment before from Sakuya.
"Great and powerful Amaterasu!" Iris nudged the wolf awake with her wooden sandal (No socks, thank you). "Could I be so bold as to request your assistance in rejuvenating these Guardian Saplings by lifting the curse that enslaves them? I shall mark the locations of nearby saplings on your map."
"Hey, what the?" Iris pulled the map from her bag as it glowed for a moment. "How did you do that?"
"…I have grown tired… I haven't even the strength to speak now. I hope that my request has not fallen on deaf ears…" Sakuya began to fade away. "Amaterasu… may the fresh scent of flowers protect you always."
Iris stared at the spot where the sprite had been a moment before, then looked at Amaterasu. "So I guess we're saving the world?" Amaterasu barked as Issun crawled out from under her paw.
"Bah… I'm always itchin' for a good fight, but… I sure don't wanna poke my nose into this mess!" Issun began to bounce off, and Iris frowned.
"What about those brush techniques you mentioned earlier? Don't you need to see those in action?" Issun stopped, and was instantly on the now-awake Amaterasu's back.
"Let's go find those saplings! To Shinsu Field!"
"Right! To Shinsu- guys, stop running off! Wait for me!"