White ears twitched at the sound of crackling wood burning in a fire, it was muffled, a bit like that time when Sakigami and his brothers had stuffed dandelion fluff in her ears while she was napping in the gardens. Her mind was fuzzy and she couldn't focus her thoughts. Her mouth felt as if she had a muzzle full of Yasugami's pelt, thick, heavy, and it tasted almost as bad, take her word for it. Ammy's eyes were refusing to open, heavy and crusted over with sleep.

She could feel the warmth of the fire through her thick white fur and the softness of the bedding and animal pelts she had been placed upon. The wolf goddess shifted slightly to find a more comfortable position, however liquid fire of sharp pain stopped her short and tore a high pitiful whine from her dry throat. Her left side was badly reinjured and her movements restricted by the pain of it. White bandages were wrapped tight around her chest and the wound on her shoulder.

Ammy could feel the tug of the bandages where the dried blood around the wound caked it to her fur. The wound itched fiercely as it healed, but she couldn't scratch it for the life of her. Huffing, the goddess pouted inwardly, her subconscious persona flailing its arms in a tantrum and squeaking indignantly. So what if it was childish and unbefitting of a person of her stature. She hated not being able to do anything, it made her impatient and moody.

Ignoring the pain and the strain of her movements, the white wolf wriggled herself into a more comfortable position that allowed her to favor her side. Ammy's breath was labored from the simple, but excruciating movement, low whines with each one let out. Her sun-colored eyes drooped low once more and her mind floated away from her, leaving her to rest.

Long blond hair fell limp in front of Waka's face where he hung from the ceiling bound in chains. He was pale and his blue eyes were unfocused, seemingly in another place. His clothes were ripped and filthy, merely rags now, stained with demon blood and his own divine ichor. Bruises littered his face and body, silver blood running from a few shallow cuts and a deeper gash leaking from above his eye. A loud bang from the door jolted him to look up sharply. A few imps came into the room, while sneering and heckling at the imprisoned prophet, making way for a much larger demon.

The demon was strange, unlike any before, a hybrid of a humanoid reptilian and a bird. Its head was like that of a komodo dragon's, mouth hanging open slightly to reveal sharply serrated yellow teeth. The arms and torso were that of a man's, though the hands were bony and clawed on each finger. The legs were thick, though bird like, feet stretched out as a human's, toes of a lizard, and talons of a bird. It had a long muscled tail covered in dingy dark green and black scales matching the rest of the ones on its entire body. Blood red feathers grew down from it's head in a ratty mane and similar feathers were seen on the back of its forearms and down the center of its tail to end in a fan at the tip. Its yellow eyes were narrowed and the pupil was a vertical black slit, full with cruelty and mocking hatred. Waka had become well acquainted with how cruel this monster was.

"My, how the mighty have fallen. Nothing more than a dissshonored messs now." The demon hissed amusedly, his voice throaty and broken. He laughed cruelly at the steely blue glare aimed at him. Waka spit at the demon earning a hiss and snarl, "Dishonored I may be, but I am no disgraceful brutish coward like you. You soil the divine lands with your presence." The two snarled and sneered at each other, hatred burning their eyes. The demon regained its composure unwillingly, mouth twisted in anger, replying scathely, "And you were the one brought down by thisss sso-called coward. You better get comfy, because you aren't going anywhere anytime sssoon, ssso long as you don't give usss what we want, wretch."

Waka barked out a humorless laugh, angering the demons in the room. "I will never reveal the location of the Sun Stones. They are sacred and will not be dirtied by the likes of you. Tell your leader to shove it where the sun don't shine. I'm sure he would feel right at home." The demon raged angrily, lashing out with bruising force as he beat the blond moon tribesman in fury. Waka grunted with each hit, one knocking him senseless as it hit him in the head. He heard the other demons cheering from the sidelines, lusting for his blood, for his death as his mind faded.

The last thing he heard as he was thrown into the blank abyss, was the reptilian demon hissing at him. "You will eventually break, whether to me or my massster."

Ammy floated in and out of consciousness with no sense of time. She wasn't very coherent, not very aware of her surroundings. Every once in awhile she would come back to feel someone moving her or changing her bandages, still unable to open her eyes. She could still smell the people who were caring for her, a girl that smelled like wood and snowdrops, another that smelled like ashy incense and leaves with a hint of Kabegami's cat fur and ivy, and then a male that faintly smelled like paper and ink. Occasionally she would catch a whiff of the one that had pulled her from the snow, evergreen and hot springs, that was soothing to her.

Finally, after what felt like a millennia, and trust her, she would know, Ammy awoke fully. White fluffy ears flicked to the corner of the room where she could hear the rustling of cloth. The goddess's nose twitched at the scent of snowdrops wafting towards her as the person came closer to her bed. Ammy opened her eyes slowly, sight focusing on a young woman with long brown hair and a deer mask upon her face and a warm spring green winter kimono.

The woman froze at the feeling of eyes on her, looking down into Ammy's eyes. The wolf goddess tilted her head in question, before she opened her mouth to pant in a smile. "Amaterasu?" The woman approached slowly to the side of the bed that the goddess's head was on. Ammy whined wagging her tail, nosing at the woman's small hand holding a bowl of water and a cloth. 'Kai!'

Kai gave a relieved laugh at the cold wet nose sniffing her hand. Being one of the Oina, it was something she was quite used to, and so she had no qualms about reaching up to pet and scratch at the goddess's ears. Ammy pushed into her hand and sighed in pleasure. "Oh, I must tell the others you're awake. You had many of us worried, especially your companion. How well are you? Any pain or lingering effects from the demon's poison?" Kai asked sitting down by the white wolf's side.

Ammy turned her head up concentrating on the injuries that she had felt before. Her shoulder was still bound, but it no longer pained her or itched, blood no longer caked thickly. Her side still ached a bit considering that it had been healing from her tumble through the portal. She couldn't feel anything other than that and slight exhaustion, probably from not seeing sunlight in so long. Who knows how long she had been unconscious and bed ridden?

The goddess barked at her friend, turning her head back to the woman. Pushing up onto her furry haunches to sit upright, Ammy felt the slight weakness of her shoulder and side, but that would not go away until she had strengthened them by running around. She stood up and shook out her white coat of fur, before turning on her paws to wolfishly grin at Kai. "I guess that's a no." Kai laughed, amused at her old friend's eagerness. Ammy turned her head pointedly at the door of the hut, obviously broadcasting her want to go outside.

Kai nodded at her, standing up from her seat on the furs. "You're in luck, Amaterasu. The blizzard let up this morning and it has just been at a light snow since then. We might as well go tell the others you're up and about. Your cat companion has been staying with Lika when not sleeping next to you. We should go find her." Ammy barked her agreement, trotting to the door next to Kai, who promptly shifted into her wolf form and led the way out into the snow.

The snowy village of Wep'Keer hadn't changed much since her last visit five years past. A bit more snowed in and a few places in shambles due to the attack of the demons that roamed Kamui once more. Kai led her up to the village leader's house where the people they were looking for would be, hopefully. The young brown she-wolf kept them at an easy pace, running close to Ammy's side to keep an eye on her should she show any signs of poor health.

The two stopped at the entrance of a large house, Kai shifting back into her human form and stepping forward to enter the house. She pulled the doors outward, which let out a puff of warm air to ruffle Ammy's fur, and made her presence known. "Everyone, we have a long awaited guest up and about." She said as she walked in and stepped aside for Ammy to come in and shut the doors behind her. Ammy wagged her tail and barked at the whole room in greeting.

"Sister/Snowy/Amaterasu!" Was the warm greeting she received in kind. Susano, Kushi, Mr. and Mrs. Orange, Lika and Kabegami were in the house around the fire. They all went to stand up to greet the goddess further, but Kabegami was faster, leaping out of Lika's arms with a meow. The cat goddess, who was still in her cat form, hit the floor running, mewling her relief at her mother. The white fluffball stumbled in her haste and flipped head over tail, somersaulting to a rough stop at Ammy's paws on her back. Ammy huffed a small laugh at her little companion and bent down to gently grab her by the scruff and right her onto her paws.

Kabegami squeaked her sheepish thanks before climbing onto her mother's muzzle, using her front paws to hold on while her back feet dangled off into the air trying to find purchase to climb up more. Ammy crossed her sun-colored eyes at the cat goddess, before tilting her head back to let the kitten slide further. Kabegami turned around to perch on top of Ammy's head purring loudly in content, white fluffy paws clutching at the front of Ammy's ears.

The others in the room watched the two interaction with an amused fondness, though Susano was chuckling heartily, Kushi cooing at their antics. The pregnant woman was the first one to approach the wolf goddess. The raven haired sake-brewer was wearing a thick orange kimono with a fur pelt draped over her shoulders to keep her warm and was positively glowing in her pregnant state. "Snowy! Well, I suppose I should call you Amaterasu now though." Kushi said as she held her large belly. Ammy snorted and shook her head negatively. She had never been one for being a proper lady, let alone honorifics. Not to mention, these people had earned her respect and loyalty.

"So you don't mind me calling you Snowy?" Kushi asked, slightly confused as to why the goddess would refuse her respectful title. Ammy just yipped in confirmation and nodded at the pregnant beauty, Kabegami bouncing on her head with the slight movement. Kushi went to ask her something else, but the door opened once more causing everyone to turn their attention to it. By the look of it, blizzard had started up once more, though not as fearsome as it had been on Ammy's way to the village. Two more figures pushed into the room, pulling the doors closed against the wind and snow.

One figure belonged to Samickle, the village chief of Wep'Keer. He still looked the same with his white and blue winter robe and haori and owl-like mask with oak leaves. The other was none other than Oki, an Oina tribe warrior that had helped her defeat the owl demons, Lechuku and Nechuku. Last time she had seen him, he had been stubborn and hardheaded, quite like she was actually, now that she thought about it, but she could sense he had grown out of it and stronger.

Physically, he remained unchanged, still very muscular and comfortable in his own body that came from his rigorous training and fighting demons. His wore the same blue bear mask, light clothing and leather armor, and his hair hadn't changed from its dual color of red and black, albeit a bit longer than she remembered. However, there was a sense of inner peace and maturity where there use to be insecurity shrouded with arrogance and selfishness.

While Ammy was observing the two a familiar high voice rang out, though it sounded deeper than it used to. "Man, that's some blizzard. It's been five years since I've seen one like this. But nothing can beat the Great Swordsman and Artist Issun! Not even a blizzard like this!" If she could see Oki's and Samickle's face she probably would have seen them roll their eyes at the annoyance. But even she didn't need to see them roll their eyes since she could feel their exasperation from where she was sitting.

The little poncle was jumping up and down on Oki's shoulder, giving off a faint glow to show his presence. The two Oina warriors had turned towards the room after shutting the doors firmly with the old piece of wood across the door holding it shut. Issun immediately stopped bouncing when he saw just who was sitting by the fire wagging her tail at them. "Ammy?!" The goddess barked happily at her old friend and long time companion. 'Issun! My old friend and annoyance!' Issun hopped off Oki's shoulder to bounce over to Ammy, somehow getting the feeling she had said something rude in that wolfy language of hers. Issun bounced in front of her from side to side. "Furball, why do I get the feeling you just insulted me?" He asked fuming a bit. Ammy snorted her derision, and innocently panted at him. What he didn't know wouldn't hurt him… much.

"How was your patrol, Samickle? Any trouble for you three?" Kai asked from her spot by Lika, her little sister. Samickle shook his head, "Not much. A couple of lesser demons prowling about, but nothing like the snake that had attacked Amaterasu." The village chief walked towards the fire and sat down and nodded towards Ammy.

Oki was still standing, but he had decided to lean against one the walls closer to the fire. Ammy wanted to go greet him herself, but Issun stopped her before she could. "Hey, Furball! What's been happening lately? One day, demons we had never seen before started attacking villages and people. I thought you had obliterated Yami and most of his forces? Not to mention, you came down from the heavens, right? So something has gotta be really wrong." Issun fired off questions quicker than she ever could, making her head spin. Now she knew how the others felt when she got this way.

Ammy nodded, which jostled Kabegami a bit, and whined in the back of her throat, laying down to cover her snout with her paws. It was embarrassing to know she had basically been thrown out of her own palace after being attacked and overwhelmed. However, in her defense, she thought that all the demons had followed the moon tribe and other deities onto the ark and all of the ones remaining had been dealt with upon her return home. There had been no warning, no signs, no nothing to signal that anything was wrong. But she had to tell them what had happened and get their side of the story if she wanted to solve the problem.

As she tried to sit up, the bandage around her shoulder and side made it harder, hindering and making her movements stiff. Finally, she was up on her haunches sitting after some more effort. Ammy turned around to tug on the white cloth binding her to find that it was snug and clasped too far for her to reach with her teeth. She could've done it if she were in her human form, but the bandages kept her from changing into it because they were shaped for her wolf form and tight enough to restrict the movement to make it possible to change. They needed to come off.

Kai saw the goddess struggle with her bandages and how it seem to frustrate her in trying to remove them without thumbs. "Amaterasu, come. Let me take those off for you. You should be healed enough to do without them." The young brunette woman gestured towards the goddess to sit in front of her, Ammy moved to obey her request. Anything to be rid of the white cloth trap that rubbed her fur the wrong way.

The bandages were slowly and carefully removed from her body, white fur ruffed up where it was wound tight to keep her from moving too much. The gauze patch that had kept the wound clean had a slight blood patch on it though and was a dried up brown. Ammy turned her head to smooth the fur down with her tongue to get rid of the strange feeling of her coat sticking up before shaking it out to get it to lay relaxed and get the remaining matted blood out of her fur. Lifting her paw off the ground, she rolled her shoulder where she had been bit to test it. Nothing hurt or pulled or broken, though her side was a bit sore from the abuse it had been subjected to. The wolf turned towards Kai and gave her a happy whine of thanks, nudging the young woman's shoulder with her nose.

Kai laughed and reached up to scratch behind her fluffy ears, "You're very welcome." Issun wasn't one to be ignored though and bounced over fuming in annoyance. "Hey Furball, I was asking something! What's going on around here?!" Ammy sighed and gathered her patience, as she often did when it came to her bouncing friend. Issun was a great traveling companion and friend, filling in the long silences of the restless traveling she did, but he could be rude, abrasive, and an insensitive pervert at times. She walked over to a clear spot in the room and sat down to consider the people around the fire.

Susano had helped Kushi sit down comfortably and had sat down next to her drinking sake and speaking with Mr. Orange and Samickle. Kushi was speaking with Mrs. Orange and keeping an eye on Lika who was playing around the fire. Oki was simply surveying the room quietly with his arms crossed over his chest, mask not betraying his little Kabegami was still perched on her head, purring away. The room had fallen silent at Issun's question and turned towards her to answer in some way, even little Lika had read the seriousness of the atmosphere and quieted down. There was not a person she did not trust in the room, so Ammy nodded having made her decision.

The goddess turned her attention to the now quiet cat goddess on her head. Ammy leaned her head down towards the ground in a motion that clearly meant "come down". Kabegami slid off the top of her Kaa-san's head and gracefully landed on her feet, turning around to look at the wolf, tilting her head questioningly. Ammy woofed softly and made the gesture that she wanted her to shift into her human form. Kabegami nodded in understanding and hunched her shoulders up and head down, so that she could be picked by her scruff. "Ammy? What are you doing?" Issun asked a bit warily as she gently picked the kitten up in her teeth. He had never seen her act this way before. Oki shifted off the wall he was leaning on as everyone tensed at Ammy's weird behavior.

Without warning Ammy tossed Kabegami into the air, who spun around in an aerial somersault earning surprised looks and yelps from the company. Then before their eyes, the white kitten changed shape, growing larger in size before landing on her feet. Now the kitten was no longer a kitten, rather a little girl of about seven winters with short, messy white hair and a white and purple play kimono. However the child had cat ears and a tail, along with red godly marks adorning her legs and face. Kabegami ignored the gaping and shocked expressions from the people in the room and shook her hair out and smoothed out the fur on her tail.

Kabegami smiled brightly at the stunned audience and clasped her hands in front of herself innocently. "Let me formally introduce myself. I'm Kabegami, Cat Goddess of Walls and protector of the Catwalk brush technique." The words didn't match her appearance, seeming like they should be coming from someone much older than she. Before anyone could comment on this fact however, Ammy flipped up into the air and changed the same way that the little goddess did. She indistinctly grew bigger and changed shape quicker than they could comprehend, and then she landed on her feet crouched down.

No longer was the goddess a wolf, but a beautiful young maiden. Ammy shook herself out to erase the usual tingles that came with the change of forms and raised her up on her toes with her arms stretching upward. The sun goddess groaned in relief at the popping of her back into place, before sighing and straightening out her red silk obi. "Oh, it feels good to switch things up a bit. I'm a bit stiff though." Kabegami reached over to tug at the edge of Ammy's kimono to catch the woman's attention. Ammy looked down at the little girl, tail swishing happily as she smiled down at her. "Hmmm?" Kabegami pointed at the people watching them.

Ammy looked over to the group around the fire. Kushi and Susano were gaping at her, while Mr. Orange had passed out from the shock and Mrs. Orange was frantically fanning her husband. It was hard to tell the Oina people's reaction because of the mask, but she could tell they were quite surprised as well due to the way they held themselves. Issun had stopped bouncing around and was stock still. "F-Furball? Is that you?" The poncle asked hesitantly, staring up at the gorgeous lady that stood in place of the wolf.

Ammy tilted her head to the side and furrowed her brows at the tiny man, crossing her arms over her chest. "Who else would I be? A monkey in disguise?" she asked huffily, incensed at her friend's behavior. They were acting strange, surely they recognized her even in her human form? She wasn't that different. "B-But! You're supposed to be a wolf! Not a pretty babe!" Issun reasoned, still not comprehending that the slobbery, headstrong wolf he traveled with for ages was a beautiful, busty maiden. The aforementioned goddess flushed at Issun's insensitive remark, but she was used to the perverseness of the poncle so she decided to take that as a compliment instead. Ammy cleared her throat to answer him, but she was interrupted by Kai.

"Amaterasu-sama? You look extremely…. different, my lady." Kai said befuddled at the change of forms. Ammy wrinkled her nose in distaste at the formality of her friend and gave everyone a stern look. "None of the 'my lady' or 'Amaterasu-sama' nonsense. I can't stand that, especially amongst friends. Amaterasu if you must, but please just call me Ammy, or Snowy, for you Kushi." The white haired woman commanded, directing the last part with a sunny smile at Kushi as she sat down. The pregnant woman gave the goddess a kind smile in return. Everyone was taken aback at how the she acted, carefree and nonchalantly as if it were a normal way for a goddess to act.

"Thank you, my La -Snowy." Kushi thanked the white deity, having to remind herself to not use honorifics. Ammy waved her off, tail flicking dismissively, and turned her attention back to Issun who was still silently fuming at being ignored. Though he had simmered down at the shock of the transformation. "Why are you human? Why are there demons roaming around? What's going on?!" The tiny man shouted, fed up with no answers.

Ammy kneeled down to sit in front of the fire and Kabegami sat down next to her. Turning her gaze to the little man, she said,"The first question is easily answered, while the other two, not so much." She looked into the faces, or masks in the Oina's cases, carefully taking in their expressions. Well, body language anyways. Samickle had sat by the fire and was, for the most part, relaxed but serious. Oki was stoic as ever, though his shoulders had tensed up to where he was holding himself stiffly.

"As you know, deities can come in many forms, and the guardian deities and I are no different. As long as we have enough power we can change into whatever we want. Well, mostly anything. There are limits." Ammy explained with a raised eyebrow, one white furry ear laying flat as the other flicked towards the bouncing poncle who was still frustrated with the lack of answers.

"Okay, well that explains how, but why did you never turn human to talk with people easier the last time you were here?" The little man raised an unseeable eyebrow right back at the goddess. Ammy scratched at the back of one her ears with a nervous laugh, "Oh, that. Well, while people still revered the gods, they didn't actually believe in us, leaving many of us without much power. Not to mention the taint that had spread down here draining my divine power to keep it in check. So I literally had no choice but to stick to the form I had appeared on this plane as, because I didn't have enough power to switch forms." The group sweatdropped.

"As for the other stuff, well, I not sure exactly." Ammy finished, mulling over the past events and how to explain them. 'Best explain the little stuff first and work up.' Ammy thought.

"I'll start from the beginning and explain the best I can. First off, when I faced the darkness that lingered in the Ark of Yamato, that darkness was so great and had tainted the Ark for so long it weakened me. Paired along side with a dwindling belief of gods, I was not at my best. It is when Issun sparked back that belief in the people with his art did my power to prevail return." Ammy turned to the little man, who was slowly turning pink with embarrassment, with a grateful smile before continuing.

"After that, Waka, the other deities, and I returned on the Ark to the Celestial plane. There was much left to be desired up there. Demons seemed to have taken over by sheer numbers. The other celestials were fighting back as hard as they could while in hiding. It took us at least half a year to clear them up and get rid of them. Then there was the political storm that followed. I had to organize the remaining celestials into befitting positions and get the palace back in order. It was a nightmare." Ammy cringed, ears pulling back against her head as she remembered the arguments, the head splitting migraines, and oh, god,-pun not intended-, the endless stacks and scrolls of paperwork.

"We finally got everything into some semblance of peace and after this past grueling year, I finally had gotten most to settle down. There were still some spats over power and previous lords not being able to return to their positions and whatnot, but at least everything didn't need to involve me." Ammy explained before she was interrupted. "Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean a year? I think you've got your calendar wrong, but it's been five years, Furball." Issun waved his tiny arms in the air before standing with them crossed against his chest.

Ammy's ears flattened and her tail swished angrily broadcasting her annoyance and glared at the little green man. "Stop calling me Furball! I only have my wolf form ears and tail and I'm wearing clothes, untraditional they may be. And I know it's been five years, but it's only been one for me. Time in the Celestial plane moves differently than it does here. That's why I didn't know how long it's been since I left the Celestial Plane. At least, until recently anyways."

Issun huffed, but Ammy silenced him with a well placed look. "As I was saying, we hadn't really known anything was wrong. Sure, we saw a random demon once in awhile but nothing like this. By the time we had learned about the widespread attack, it was too late. Yumigami was the one who summoned me to the Scrying Pool to see what had happened, but-"

A cleared throat gained Ammy's attention. It had been Kushi to interrupt this time, but hesitantly. The pregnant woman looked unsure of her interruption, but soldiered on. "What is the Scrying Pool, my La- Snowy?" Realization formed in the goddess's eyes. Of course they wouldn't know what the Scrying Pool was.

"The Scrying Pool is large divine pool of water that the palace was built around. It is a tool from the time of the creators that allows the divine to gaze into the mortal plane of existence. It can see anything, anywhere, or any person that is asked for. I was ecstatic to learn that you had gotten pregnant, Kushi! You will be an excellent mother." Ammy gushed lightly with a bright smile on her face. Said mother-to-be blushed happily and gently stroked her pregnant belly, extremely honored to have another mother held in such high regard give her such a compliment. Susano seem to have puffed up with pride for his wife and laughed boastfully.

"Yumigami spends most of her time at the Scrying Pool, so usually she is the one who gives weekly reports on the mortal plane. Just a few days ago, by this plane's time anyway, she summoned me to the pool. She had just learned of the attacks and that you had been driven from Kamiki. Unfortunately, there was no time to properly respond or gather the court and other deities for a meeting." The goddess continued, her face slipping into a more grim expression.

"The royal palace was attacked and we were outnumbered. Whatever the first wave of demons used to attack shook the palace. Kabegami came running in with news of Itegami and Waka. That half-baked prophet showed up right after that scaring us half to death. I am still trying to comprehend what exactly happened, but Waka somehow used the Scrying Pool like a mermaid spring. Demons had broken through the door, so we, Yumigami and I, along with Kabegami were fighting them off to give us a chance to escape.

"I'm afraid that's where everything goes blurry for me. An explosion knocked both Kabegami and I into the pool and I was knocked out." Ammy sheepishly rubbed at the back of her neck. It was embarrassing for others to learn that she had basically fainted towards the end of a battle.

Kabegami patted her arm comfortingly and scooched closer towards Ammy. Just because she was a goddess didn't mean she was completely invulnerable. Durable with an extremely hard head, yes. Invincible, no. "When I awoke, I was in the Dragon Palace where Otohime had found Kabegami and I. She told me of the strange happenings and that she had closed off the castle once more."

Lika looked excited at the sound of a dragon palace. "The Dragon Palace? Is it pretty?" The little girl asked. Ammy smiled fondly at the little girl who had gotten stuck in the past. "Yes, it's very pretty. It's a big palace made of shimmering coral and colorful sea shells under the ocean with mermaid warriors protecting it. Otohime is the queen of the underwater kingdom and a good friend of mine." The goddess answered the spiritual girl.

The little green masked girl looked to be in awe of there being such a place. It must have been an exciting prospect. "Maybe once things settle down I'll take you to meet Otohime and her son, Mizozu-kun. I'm sure she would like to meet you, Lika-chan." Ammy offered the Oina girl. Lika nodded heartily and sat back down to play with the doll, whose hair she had been braiding before speaking aloud.

Turning back to the adults around the fire, Ammy continued as if she hadn't been interrupted. "After leaving the palace through a mermaid spring to the one in Shinshu field, I could tell immediately something bad had happened. All the sakura trees were charred and the ground leading to the village was black. Everything was destroyed in the village. I immediately ran to Konohana to get a better look at things." Ammy was silent for a moment as her thoughts turned to sorrow with the grief of her dear friend's passing.

"I'm afraid the spirit of Konohana is no more." The goddess said looking down at her clenched hands in her lap. Mr. Orange by then had woken once more and let out a sorrowful sigh. "I had hoped that the tree of Konohana was still alive, but it was a foolish hope." The villager's of Kamiki were grief stricken over the tree that had watched over their valley for nearly a hundred years. No longer would they be showered in delicate pink petals and flowers in the spring nor would they be at ease with the scent of the blossoms on the breeze.

Issun sniffled as he remembered all the good times he had had with Sakuya. Sleeping in her robes and making her steam with anger with his teasing and all the times she had called him a bug. It was hard to think that she was gone now. He would have to get the full story of that part later, as unfortunately there were more important things to be told and heard.

"I'm afraid that's not all. There was a … demon, unlike any demon I have ever seen. It was an imp, but … not. It was so much bigger than a normal imp and it was carrying some kind of cursed pot on it back. The fire was also cursed, a powerful enough curse to ignore my divine wind to dispel it." Ammy said, crossing her arms across her chest with furrowed eyebrows. "What!? But that shouldn't be possible! Your divine wind should be able to put out any cursed flame or wind."

Ammy shook her head. "Not necessarily. Either the curse is too dark for even me to handle or my divinity has lost some of its power. Maybe even a combination of both." The room was silent except for the crackle of the firewood burning as everyone took this theory. Samickle was the one to speak next. "Were you able to defeat this new demon?" Ammy nodded, "Yes, this new demon has a weak spot its back if you can get to it. Some kind of milky looking jewel. After I cracked it, the demon stopped moving long enough for me to purify it and send it back to the earth."

Samickle tilted his head in consideration. "Yes, Oki and I have also seen this jewel on other demons recently. The demon you describe has not been seen here in Kamui, but there have been newer demons never before seen. Oki can tell you about the ones we've come across later, Amaterasu." Ammy smiled at the older man in appreciation and glaced at Oki out of the corner of her sun-colored eyes. The warrior shifted slightly, but otherwise gave no indication of his reaction to the elder's words.

Ammy continued on with her story, "After the battle, I went to see if anything was salvageable or left behind to be of use. Kabegami found your note, Susano. And I found this." Ammy turned to Kushi and pulled out the mirror, earrings, and necklace, holding them out to the pregnant lady. "I believe these belong to you, Kushi." Kushi gasped as she took the jewelry.

"Those are my family heirlooms. My grandmother's dowry to be specific. Her father had these specially made for her wedding after Nagi conquered Orochi alongside Shiranui. I thought those were gone forever. Thank you so much, Snowy." Kushi picked up the mirror and gave it a considering glance. She put the necklace and earrings in her lap, and gently grabbed Ammy's hand to lightly place it in her palm.

Ammy gave her and the mirror a confused glance. "I would like for you to have this, Snowy." Ammy shook her head and tried to give it back, but Kushi merely folded her fingers over the reflective surface of the mirror. "Ever since we of Kamiki learned of your role of Orochi's defeat, we have all been thankful to you. Please keep this, for all that you have done for us."

Ammy slowly retracted her hand and gazed down at the little hand mirror. She smiled at Kushi and put it away. Sighing, the goddess continued on with her tale. "Before we left, Yumigami, one of my brush gods was able to contact me through the Scrying pool. She told me that she was able to push all the demons out of the Abalone room where the pool is and hide in there. Unfortunately, Waka of the Moon tribe, my advisor, was captured and she hasn't been able to get to where they have him captive. She believes they are trying to get information out of him, but he's not talking. Yumigami will be my eyes inside the palace to tell me if anything is going on.

"The rest of the story is simple, after looking over the whole village we went through Shinshu Field to gain access to the way through to Kamui. It was getting dark when we finally reached it, but with the cold and everything, I wouldn't have been able to find a good enough shelter for Kabegami and I so I kept on to reach Wep'Keer. The snake demon attacked me and managed to catch me off guard as my exhaustion caught up with me and I got distracted. That's when you found me. Last thing I remember I was picked up by someone and then everything goes blank."

Ammy sat back a bit more to observe the room. Samickle looked pensive over the whole story, seemingly gazing into the fire blankly. Kushi and Susano were conversing in low whispers as Kai was quietly and distractedly playing with Lika and Kabegami next to them. Mr. and Mrs. Orange were just sitting close to one another silently. Ammy turned her full attention to Oki who had shifted himself fully to be facing the door. She watched as he glanced all the way around the room before speaking briefly. "I'm going on another patrol."

Samickle turned and nodded at the warrior who turned and quickly left the elder's hut. Ammy watched him go curiously. She wouldn't really know, but it felt as if he was avoiding her for some odd reason. Issun bounced around in front of the goddess, turning her attention to him.

"Issun, what's been going on in the five years I've been missing from the mortal plane? It seems like everything has changed so much." Ammy asked as she bent down a little further to get a better look at her old friend. The little man sighed and stopped bouncing to sit cross legged in front of her.

"It's a long story, but I can try to tell you most of it. Let's just say we never expected any of it to happen."

End of Chapter 4

I'm so sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. Recapping isn't easy since you have to constantly go back and reread your own story to double check everything. So It's a super long chapter for you and I'll continue to work on the next chapters of this as well as "Not So Important". I promise we'll get a little further along into the plot in the next two chapters.

Also a note for my readers: Writing will not come easy for me as my younger sibling had downloaded something they were not supposed and it uploaded a virus that completely wrecked my laptop. It won't even turn on because it ate through my boot drive and hard drive, and is also non-reparable. So says my Dad (the guy who has built his own computers for years), who spent an entire day trying to fix it. Long story short, my sibling is no longer allowed on any other devices other than their own and will get no WiFi connection except their own hotspot when they visit. And I'm using my Mom's little chrome book for the time being when she is not.