CHAPTAH TREE

Agata Forest

I sat down and yawned, it was getting rather late in the day, and the sun was starting to touch the horizon in the west. I was outside a building Hiraku had introduced to me as 'The Dojo'. I looked it over. The old structure was slightly decayed, and some paint had faded away, but it still gave off a dignified look. "Come on, let's go in!" Hiraku pushed on the door so it would slide open. "Wait up for a second!" I barked. We'd been running around Shinshu all afternoon, and I needed a moment to rest my paws. I stretched, walked up to the door, and opened it with a sweep of a gale-mark.

"Who's there?" a voice came from inside, it was very dark within the old building. As light started to fill the place, I saw a sitting figure next to a flickering candle near the back. "I'm sorry… Not open today- come back later." The figure turned out to be an old man, and he closed his eyes again. His hands were on his legs in a meditative position. Then his eyes opened again. "Wait... You… Come closer so I can get a good look at you." He said, and I came slightly nearer, wary- anything could be in the shadows. "Oh, a wolf has come down from the mountains to play." The man said, using his cane to get to his feet. He was so bent over his back was almost completely parallel to the ground. He had an impressively large chin, squinting eyes, and a mustache. His voice was very soft, and almost cracked every time he spoke. "I don't receive many visitors these days, because of those demons stopping people from coming through the forest. How nice to have some company!" He pat me behind the ears. 'Wow, all these people are so nice! Hiraku must be some kind of freak anomaly.' I thought to myself. 'I'm surprised he has need to defend himself- what sort of being, even a demon, would attack an innocent old man like him anyway?' I had a feeling that I'd heard about a Dojo Master from Mother's stories… But I couldn't exactly remember him very well…

"I'm Onigiri Sensei, master of this Dojo," He said, and again the name sounded slightly familiar. "You look like a very nimble wolf, a speedy fighter. I've taught a couple canines in my time. Everyone, even the woodland creatures need good protection from monsters! Especially with what's been supposedly lurking in the forest. There seem to be so many monsters these days… You know, I might even be able to teach you something! But I'll have you know, I don't teach for free…"

Nonetheless, he showed us a scroll that had different fighting techniques written down on it. I looked down the scroll of moves, most were crossed off. They were either already known to me, or the equipment to teach those moves were broken. "So, what about me? Anything you could teach a poncle?" Hiraku said hopefully, standing on my head and facing the old man, who gave him a squinting stare. "Oh, no. I've seen you carelessly bouncing around the field with your needle of a sword, and first you need to learn respect! Then, you need to replace those weapons racks you broke scaring my pigs before I teach you anything!" The poncle crossed his arms and glared at Onigiri, and then one move caught my eye: 'The Death Spiral'.

It was within my price range, and looked interesting. I put my paw on the scroll and wagged my tail. "Are you sure, wolf?" The old man asked me, and I nodded my head. "I suppose I have no choice..." He said with a sign, and creaked to an upright stance. "Aah, OOOH!..." Suddenly his head began to spin around and around, until it was upsidedown! I suddenly realized his large chin was a forehead, and his mustache was really his eyebrows!

"EIAAH!" He shouted, in a much firmer, stronger voice; waving his -thought to be cane but it was really a beating stick- through the air. "Are you mentally prepared to handle the ultimate challenge? Step inside to test your might!" He shouted in a well-practiced tone. Hiraku and I shared a creeped-out look, and he whispered: "Good luck, furball!" Then I silently walked past the strange martial-arts teacher and through the doors.

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We were in a large room, on a yellow platform surrounded by live bamboo and rocks. Onigiri Sensei paced in front of me, and I snapped back to attention. He was studying me, so I stood even straighter. Hiraku was watching from the sidelines, sitting down and eying what was going on keenly. "Let the lesson begin! We'll practice the Death Spiral technique. Take these tips to heart and remember as we train…" He handed me the scroll, and I read: 'The Death Spiral. Use the fighting barrier (or any firm nearby object) to your advantage! Jump off the wall to charge forward and knock your opponent over.' 'Sounds easy enough,' I thought, and pushed the paper aside. "I've never taught this technique to a wolf before, but it shouldn't be too different than a human. Now-" He pointed his beating-stick at a dummy. "Since I don't have a real barrier we're going to have to make do with this one." Then a bamboo wall sprung out of the ground behind me. "Begin!" He smacked his cane against the ground with a resounding crack. 'Right,' I thought to myself. 'Spring off the wall...'

I put one paw back, getting into a balanced fighting stance. Then I growled and whipped around to face the wall and leaped; landing squarely on it. In one swift moment, I pushed with my back paws so I sprang off the wall. I sped through the air, my paws circling around eachother in a spiral. The rest of my body followed so I was spinning at top speed, I focused on the target and… Whack! I knocked it over with the force of my impact. I stood on its cloth, straw-filled chest, blood was thrumming through my head from the speed of the attack. I turned around and the parts of the dummy still standing, fell apart slowly.

"Hmm… You have trained well wolf." Sensei said, still in his 'fighting mode'. "I wish I could teach you more, but my other technique scrolls are in my other dojos."

"Well, why don't you just go fetch them sometime?" Hiraku asked from the sidelines.

"I would," The old man said, slowly sinking back into his gentler state- it was still really creepy to watch. "But when news that a god trained in my dojos spread, I had more people wanting to learn martial arts from me than I knew what to do with. For a few months, I had to shut them down to renovate, but when I re-opened, they were more popular than ever before! But eventually, it attracted demons. I started doing open sparring every night, and one snuck in. It won the all the matches, and when I was away- it took control of said dojo. Now it's a house for demons." He sighed, putting all his weight on the cane. "Then the same thing happened to my other one a few weeks later, now all that's left is this one, and no one visits anymore."

"Why don't you fight off the imps then?" Hiraku asked. "Because they'd recognize me, I can't get within a hundred feet of the place without being swarmed by demons, it's too much, even for a master fighter like me." He sighed, now back in his kindly-old-man state. "Well," Hiraku said and he stopped bouncing. "How about we drive those monsters out for you?" he drew his needle-sized sword. "That would be very kind of you," Onigiri Sensei said, bowing as low as he could while still leaning his cane. "but do not underestimate the bosses of the dojos. They are master fighters."

"No problem-o" Hiraku said, "I'm sure Akime here can handle it." I looked at him, and raised my eyebrows. "You remind me of that god who trained here," The old man said. "They were also a white wolf like you." Before either Hiraku or I could respond to say I was: 'her daughter actually', he suddenly looked out the window and froze. Then he said hurriedly: "Time for you two to be going!" Then he shooed us out. The door slammed firmly closed behind us. "What was that about?" Hiraku asked as the sun sank below the hills and darkness set in over the field. "Is he afraid the demons will attack him at night, or something? Well, I wouldn't be surprised, what with his other two Dojos being taken over. But no time to wonder about that-" He said. "We have a quest Akime! We'd better look out for dojos on our travels!"

"Yeah, but we can't stray from our main goal." I barked, casually dragging my tail through the air over Onigiri Sensei's pig-trampled equipment. "Which is what exactly?" Hiraku asked. "Well, to rid Nippon from all evil of course. I'm curious to see what Sensei was talking about, with monsters in Agata forest, I think we should start there."

"You're a high-achiever, no doubt about that Akime." Hiraku laughed, and I grinned, then I yawned. It was late, and all the running I'd done that day had tired me out- I was ready for rest. I wandered over to the edge of the water tunnel, then walked between two trees nearby. A couple of wild boars were sleeping there, so I put out some seed feed-bags I'd picked up down by them- so they wouldn't attack us while we were sleeping. I turned in circles a few times and Hiraku jumped off my nose. He grabbed a leaf off one of the trees and fashioned a quick pillow out of it by folding it upon itself and cutting it neatly with his blade; then he grabbed another and made a tiny blanket. He laid down and wrapped himself up in it. "Goodnight Akime." He said. "Good night, Hiraku." I said in return.

He fell asleep quickly, I could hear his tiny snores within seconds. I watched the small poncle's chest rise and fall, his bug-hat askew. It gave me a chance to truly study his tiny features, and reflect on his personality. Often times, I mirror others' behavior without knowing or trying. I looked closely at the little poncle: His face was young, 20 years at most. His orange leafy hat had small branches on them, probably to imitate a beetle. He wore a orange-brown tunic, the color of leaves in fall. I could see short black short hair beneath his hat… My eyelids drooped, suddenly I yawned again. As far as I knew, he seemed like a good soul, a little rough around the edges, but he seemed to have a good heart. Sleep suddenly overpowering me, I curled up, tail-over-nose and slept.

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When morning finally reached Shinshu Field, the whole area was graced with a soft yellow-pink light. The light reflecting off the lake woke me as it shined into my eyes. I blinked slowly awake and stretched out my front legs. I wasn't used to sleeping on grass, but it wasn't the worst night's sleep I'd ever had. Beside me, Hiraku was just waking up as well- his tiny snores breaking off mid-breath. He sat up, leaf blanket falling away. "Ah, what time is it?" He asked, and I shrugged. I had no idea, but it was impossible to keep sleeping because of the bright light off the lake. "Too early." I replied, and he snorted. "Yeah, you got that right." He stretched his tiny arms above his head and then got to his feet. "Well, where to?"

"I think we agreed to go farther south, to the forest. So we could investigate what's happening, just in case." I said, looking to the canal, which I assumed lead to Agata Forest. "Ok then." The poncle said, and bounced onto my head as I got up.

I padded over to the dock where the ferry used to be. I saw a small boat tied to a pole, but we had no need for that. I felt Hiraku grab my fur tightly as I leapt down towards the water; but before I touched the surface, I whipped my tail in a circle and my paws landed on a lily pad. A frog leaped off, croaking in fright, and I sat down. Using the brush again, I summoned a strong wind to blow us across the water. We glided smoothly across the surface of the water, my ears buffeted by the gale, my fur a mess, but I didn't care. We passed through the water-tunnel rather quickly, and soon came to a halt when the lilypad bumped into a rock wall. I bunched my legs under me and leaped up, landing on all four paws.

"I thought they'd fix this passage someday." I murmured aloud, remembering that in my mother's stories the tunnel had been in the same condition. "They've been working on it." Hiraku said. "You'll see on the Agata forest side." I walked into the earthy tunnel, the other side was just visible- a small blue-white dot in the distance. I picked up my pace to a trot, and I saw it was wider on the other end. I broke out of the darkness, and back into the light. My eyes adjusted quickly, and I saw Hiraku was right. People obviously had been trying to get the ferry back into business- with wood piled nearby, shovels and a shallow pool of water where the boat was meant to dock on the other side, but apparently work was going very slow.

The forest was calm and quiet, with almost an eery feel. Since the passage ends on a high point, we got a good view of the forest. Mist gathered in the high branches of gigantic trees, and yellow-white light filtered through the leaves. I walked down the steep trail, claws digging into the ground. The path was slightly overgrown, with vines and branches seeming to reach out into the way, not wanting to stay confined. I had to duck under a mess of twisted and knotted branches as I walked; and as I padded through the forest I noticed it was very quiet. There were a few birds singing, but all and all- it was very peaceful and silent. The rushing of a waterfall could be heard in the distance. The green forest was just barely waking up, and the serene beauty of it was captivating. Nothing seemed immediately wrong. Hiraku stretched and laid back from his perch on my head. There didn't seem to be any trouble, but my ears kept flicking in every direction in search of danger anyway. Better safe than sorry.

Ducking under more brambles I made my way along the path, deeper and deeper into the forest. It became slightly… Eerier… Than I had thought it should be. No one seemed to be out; not even any animals. I trotted down another incline, scenting for any signs of life, and a fighting barrier rose around me. I growled, mostly in annoyance. Three creatures appeared before me, two imps, -one green, one red- and a Bud Ogre. The Red Imp isn't much different than its cousin, other than it's a different color and carries a guitar instead of a flute- all in all not very dangerous. The Bud Ogre on the other hand: with its agile paws, long mace tail, and impenetrable giant pink bloom on its back- is much more of a threat. I heard the clink of metal as Hiraku drew his sword. The imps spread out behind the Bud Ogre, and I lunged forward. The Red Imp dodged backward, evading my attack. The huge Bud Ogre paced in front of me, its long claws leaving shallow scores in the ground. When I came within reach it grabbed behind it and swung its mace-like tail, now it was my turn to dodge. 'I have to weaken it enough so that I can open its bud.' I thought to myself, as the red-faced demon prowled before me. The Green Imp on my left suddenly came forward and tried to hit me, I ducked back and growled. I was close to the edge of the fighting barrier, so I jumped up on the wall, and leaped -spinning- toward the green imp. I heard it squawk as I hit it, and it fell to the ground- exploding into a bunch of flowers. 'Well, that was effective!' I thought to myself again, -very pleased- and spun to lash at the Red Imp. It tried to use its guitar as defense, but I cut the instrument in half with a power-slash. With nothing to block my attacks, the monster was easily defeated in a matter of seconds. As the imp fell backwards, I power-slashed it again- to finish it the proper way.

So, with no other demons to draw my attention, I focused on the large Bud Ogre. Deciding I should deal with it in the fastest way possible, I flicked my tail, and drew a cherry bomb right in front of it. The beast looked shocked, but a moment later it was flung backward by the force of the explosion. It landed on its belly several feet away, stunned. Its color drained away, and I took my chance to use my brush again, and drew a circle on the monster. Its back opened up, and I saw what lay protected inside: a colorful glowing orb that held its power. I attacked it with my weapon, and I saw the monster flinch. I whacked it again, and again, and on the fourth hit it split in two. The Bud Ogre groaned, then its body faded away as it turned into a giant lily-like flower. "Wow." I heard Hiraku say, awe in his voice as I picked up the spare yen. "Good job."

"Thanks." I replied gratefully. "Monsters these days walk around in the open, thinking they own the place." Hiraku grumbled, sounding resentful. "Brave warriors are hard to find, braggarts are easy; but those who actually can fight -and are willing to go and fight- are rare." He said quietly. "Good to know I picked one of the real ones." He finished, more cheerfully. "And you? Are you a real fighter too?" I asked as he bounced to the ground, hopping in front. "Me? You bet! Once, a filthy, rotten Namahage tried to attack Ponc'tan, and I drove it off while everyone else was hiding inside! Then, there was another time when I was in the city, and someone tried to cheat me on a deal. You know what happened to him afterward?" I shook my head, and he drew his sword. There was a thick patch of interwoven plants in front of us, and I saw a flash of orange and silver as the poncle leaped into the air, preforming several cuts. When he landed back on the ground, pieces of branches and vines fell apart in front of us, and thumped onto the forest floor. I wagged my tail in applause and Hiraku waved it away. "He's lucky I held back, it's easy really when-" But he broke off, because before us was the source of everyone's apparent departure. The gates to Tsuta ruins.

The great stone doors stood tall and intimidating before us, but a strange evil energy seemed to pulse from it. I walked closer, there was a faint scent near the entrance, like someone had gone in recently, but there was a different smell too; something foul. Hiraku came closer and put one of his small hands on the door. "Looks like maybe someone went in here… Wait, where's the key?" I looked around, on the doors was a little teardrop-shaped indent- where the key to the ruins goes-, and an ancient-looking white shape with a red spiral one it lay discarded on the ground a few feet away. I grabbed it up in my jaws and came closer to the door, then wedged it between the two doors.

With a crack and noises of crumbling rock, the doors slid apart. I felt a blast of evil that made me shiver as it hit me. I took a step forward and I heard a voice behind me. "You really sure you want to go in there?" The poncle asked nervously, and I looked over my shoulder at him. "Not afraid are you?"

"No!" He retorted indignantly. "You can back out now if you want to. I wouldn't blame you." I said calmly and understanding. "No way! If you're going- I'm going!" He remarked bravely, then hopped onto my back and made his way up my spine to my head so he stood on my muzzle. "Let's go!" He said courageously. So I lifted my head, and walked into the darkness.

(AN: Onigiri Sensei! *Gaasp* Proud sponsor of: yoga. Seriously, I don't know how the guy does that. 0.o Also, *Another gasp* are we actually getting to some adventure here? Yaaay!

In the next chapter: someone's weakness is revealed, an ancient evil returns, the thing we all fear… And some monster butt-kicking. :3)