All The Important Things

Underneath the gentle breeze, the vibrant grasses of Shinshu Field rippled in waves. It was a quiet day. The animals that lived there went about their normal lives, unconcerned about anything. The sky was a bright blue and a large cherry tree watched over it all. And then, there was a shifting of the air, a scent of fresh flowers that didn't grow here.

There were now two white wolves where there had been none before. An adult and a pup; if one had the right spirit, one might see divine crimson markings on both. To make sure the transfer had gone well, Amaterasu sniffed over Chibiterasu. This was a special trip, to see to it that he knew all the important things to traveling the earthly realm. Everything looked fine, so she let him bound after a bug that had just jumped.

Chibi's tail wagged eagerly. The smells were all different here! All kinds of things were in the dirt, some that he didn't know at all. The plants were interesting even if one made him sneeze. Even the sun had a different warmth, although he knew the sun would always be warm because his mother's power was warm.

While he was trying to get a better sense on the dirt, the brown cricket jumped again. Chibi yapped at it to hold still, so he could get a smell of it too. It jumped away again to escape his curious nose. Thinking that it might see him as friendly if he did as it did, Chibi bounced over the grass after it. The cricket jumped in an entirely different direction, making him whirl about to keep up. Bounce, bounce bounce!

And crash, right back into Ammy. Her tail wagged in amusement as he whined an apology; she licked his ears to let him know that it was okay. Having kept an eye on where the cricket had landed, she caused a flower to sprout up right underneath it, catching the cricket in the blossom. The bug was startled into being still, then relaxed by the scent of the particular flower. Chibi walked over and sniffed the cricket like he'd been trying to all along. It was a really simple creature, but it was another precious life in this realm.

Then a yellow butterfly flitted by, catching Chibi by surprise with the way its thin wings let it dance in the air. Thinking he could catch it like Ammy did, he tried to make flowers appear too. They popped up all over the place, unearthly colors and fragrances. The butterfly wasn't sure what to make of those flowers and danced away. Not ready to give up, Chibi ignored how his other flowers were vanishing and chased after the butterfly carefully, trying to get a flower that it would land on.

That was good.

There was a human child on the road; the whirling blades of a pinwheel twirled in her hands. Chibiterasu was fascinated by them both. Would the child play with him? That would be a lot of fun.

Just in case, he checked on his mother. They'd stopped here to speak with a river spirit, but the guy just kept talking and talking about boring things. Ammy had already fallen asleep since none of it was really news to them. Seeing that it must be okay, Chibi crept away from the conversation to get to the road. The gurgling of a nearby stream helped cover his tracks until he could bark to get the child's attention.

The little girl gaped at him for a moment, her pinwheel slowing down. Chibi barked again and she laughed, coming over to pet him. After letting her for a bit (it felt so nice), he spun in place and barked. He wanted to see the pinwheel go faster. She laughed and spun around herself, making her black pigtails flail around. Well, that was a good game too. Chibi spun in place, trying to catch his tail since it would amuse the girl.

She got excited enough at the play that she hopped around, swinging her arms wildly until, fling! Off went the pinwheel, spinning high into the air. The girl gasped, afraid of losing her new toy. Wagging his hindquarters to show it was still a game, Chibi leapt right after the pinwheel, grabbing the stick to catch it. He'd saved the day!

And fell right into the nearby stream. No, he hated water! It rushed around him, full of coldness and wet. How did he swim, how? He struggled to move his legs.

With a much larger splash, Ammy landed in the stream by him and grabbed the nape of his neck. Hadn't she been asleep? But she had saved him from the awful water. When she put him down on solid ground again, he lowered his ears and head, whining an apology. But he was careful how he did it; he still had the girl's pinwheel in his teeth.

Her whine was full of worry, that he'd gotten in trouble like that. After snuffling at his side to make sure he was fine, she licked his head. It was okay now. He was scared enough by the plunge that she didn't see a point to scolding him. With that settled, Chibi wagged his tail and bumped his nose into hers. Once they'd shaken dry, he turned to offer the pinwheel back to the girl.

Seeing that he was okay, his playmate smiled and took her toy back. She even hugged them both, not knowing the words to say how she was happy for them. Then she went back to the twirling game until her mother called her back to the road. The girl even made sure to keep a better grip on her pinwheel.

That was good.

Standing on his hind legs, Chibi tried to get a better smell of this. While the salt and sand of the Ryoshima Coast filled the air, there was something else in it. It wasn't good, he could tell that much. There was a rot to it, a wish to hurt others just to make them suffer. Worried about it, he yipped at his mother. Maybe there were monsters nearby.

Ammy walked up by him and bumped his side. It was a worry, but they shouldn't be afraid. This was something that most humans couldn't fight; most of them wouldn't even see the monsters. As the two wolves could see the monsters, it was up to them to fight them and protect the humans. This was important, especially at times like now when a group of humans were out on this beach.

Chibi lowered himself into a battle stance, although his tail still wagged eagerly to agree with his mother. Right, they could win! She bumped his head affectionately, then nudged him over to a place they could better intercept the monsters. The human family was busy talking with each other, having a picnic out of the city. It was a good day for that, except...

Six monsters burst out of the sands, flushed out by their approach. Two green imps with dangerous flutes and four elegant tengu bearing swords; they'd been trying to use magic to get the family to disagree and split apart. Ammy quickly nosed Chibi towards the imps, then barreled right into the tengu. As she did, flashes of her reflector and beads shone among the monsters.

Readying his own reflector, Chibi rushed at the nearer of the two imps and whacked it as best he could. The imp tried to slap him away, but no, he'd stand his ground. He struck again, only for the other imp to extend its flute into him from several feet away. While he yipped at how it hurt, Chibi circled around the imp he was closer to until the other couldn't reach him. Then he attacked before that imp could slap him again.

The imp's mask fluttered as it squabbled so much. It took its flute in both hands and made to strike Chibi over the head with it. Skipping to the side nimbly, the pup avoided the attack and had a good spot to wail on it with his reflector. The imp grew more desperate with its attacks, swiping and even trying to bite to stop the pup from winning. Chibi wasn't going to relent with an evil creature, though. Circling around to keep out of its strikes, he attacked again and again until the imp wailed in defeat. Its body fell apart, turning into flowers as it hit the ground. Now, where was that other imp?

Ammy barked with pride, sitting in the sand nearby and wagging her tail. All of the other monsters were gone. Of course, she could defeat them all in the time it took for him to take down one imp. But that was okay. He'd grow stronger until he could match her one day. Chibi barked back and ran over to nuzzle her side. He was proud of her too.

However, it had been a tiring battle after all the running about on the sands he'd done. Chibi yawned and sat down. Ammy nudged him further up the shore. With the way this sand was, this wasn't a good place to nap. The waters would rise and eventually touch him. Not wanting that, he got up and went over to a patch of grass that should stay dry. He was asleep there seconds later.

Ammy lay down near him, but kept alert just in case. The family of humans hadn't noticed the battle at all. If anything, they must have thought the two of them were simply playing. That had went well.

Chibi knew to be brave. He knew to respect life and enjoy it. Most of all, he was happy to be helping humans. Tough times were ahead, Ammy could tell that. But Chibiterasu should be fine. He knew what was important and she trusted him to prove himself capable even on his own.

That was good.