Sorry this took so long. I've been busy. Not to mention I was out of ideas for a while.
--
Amaterasu was quite shocked as she saw Poc'Tan…Or at least, what was left of it. Much of the tiny town was in ruins. Many of the houses had collapsed in on themselves and the path of leaves had turned brown and crumbled away in some places. She tried to restore the bridge, but the ink merely melted away, the leaves unaffected.
Amaterasu whined and walked forward cautiously. She had to jump many times to make it across, for the leaf path was no longer strong enough to support her for very long. The water that lay in the area that connected the two leaf paths was murky and foul-smelling. She snorted and stepped out of the water, rushing across the next path.
This one was stronger than the last one, but Amaterasu still had to jump a few times to get across. She stopped and looked around. She couldn't hear anything. She raised her head and howled; it echoed many, many times before dying away.
Amaterasu whined and her ears drooped. "Everyone's gone I guess…I'm too late to save them.'" She murmured, looking down in despair. She sighed and stood up, looking towards where Ishaku was. She wandered off in the direction of the doors to Ishaku's house, whining as she remembered the two Ponicles who used to stand guard outside them.
She pushed the doors open and walked in, taking a step back at what she saw…Or rather, what she didn't see. Ishaku was gone; not turned to stone or anything, just gone.She whined and sniffed around the room for a while. She found an old scent trail of Ishaku's; it seemed to be a few years old.
"How long was I gone?" She wondered, following the scent out the door. She followed the scent to something she did not want to find; the decayed corpse of Ishaku. She looked away from the remains, depression etched into her expression. The remains lay in some black dirt, a dead four leaf clover next to it.
Amaterasu tried to use Rejuvenation on the clover, but she was met with failure. She sighed and glanced at the skeleton sadly. 'I am sorry, but I cannot give you a proper burial with the world like this.' She said, turning and walking away. She scoured the village for signs of life, but was unable to find any.
The Ponicles were gone from this place, and perhaps from the world. 'People must not believe in me anymore…That is why my powers are gone. It's amazing I've been able to retain my divine instrument and markings. ' She said quietly, looking around the ruined village. She sighed and started towards the exit, stopping when she was a few feet from it. 'I'll come back to give you a proper burial once I have the power to do so, Ishaku. I promise.' She said, before exiting the village.
--
"Oh, ma chérie. I was afraid something may have happened to you." Waka said, as Amaterasu was returned to normal size. "You were gone for quite some time." He added. He frowned and looked at the wolf, who was looking down and frowning. "What happened?" The prophet asked.
"Ishaku…He's dead." Amaterasu said, shutting her eyes. "And the village is ruined and empty." She added, opening her eyes and looking at Waka in despair. "How long have we been gone from this world Waka?" She asked. "A week or so. Why?" Waka asked.
"Ishaku's been dead for years." Amaterasu said quietly. "All that's left of him is a skeleton. The scent trail that leads to him is a few years old." She added. "We've been gone a lot longer than a week." She said, looking to Waka. "That's why the curse is so strong. Because it's gone unchecked for years." She concluded, looking down again.
"Well, I suppose we should go to Kamiki then, oui?" Waka asked, standing up. "Why?" Amaterasu asked, looking up at him. "Perhaps Issun escaped Poc'Tan before he met the same fate as everyone else. And Kamiki is the only place he would go to." He explained. The wolf nodded, the prophet's theory making sense.
"Alright then. Let's go." She said, starting back towards Yoshpet. Waka followed, but became the leader as Amaterasu stopped. The prophet looked back to see the wolf gazing sadly at the stump. "All will be resolved in the end." Waka said, frowning.
Amaterasu nodded and after a moment started forward again, glancing back at the stump until it vanished from sight.
--
Since they knew what was in store for them this time, this trip through Yoshpet was not as hard as the first. It was still a bit difficult however. Once they made it through, they continued through Samui to the tunnel that connected the cold Northern lands to Shinshu Fields. They went through the tunnel quickly, then stopped dead in their tracks as they entered the fields.
Amaterasu nearly collapsed from sadness as she looked over the fields. The grass had died and had turned grey. The trees were dead and completely devoid of leaves. The earth was cracked from lack of rain, even though the clouds overhead seemed filled with it.
The only tree that had survived was the guardian tree, which was just barely alive. Amaterasu shot down the hill and to the tree. In a desperate attempt to save it, she used Rejuvenation on it. She was met with failure.
She sat down and raised her head, howling in sadness and frustration. She then slumped into a laying down position, body shaking with invisible and inaudible sobs. "What can we do Waka? I can't use my powers to bring anything back…Everything and everyone is going to die and I can't do anything about it!" She said quietly, covering his head with her paws. Waka frowned and knelt down next to the Goddess.
"Let's go see Sakuya. Maybe she can help us." He suggested, nudging the wolf. Amaterasu sighed and stood up after a moment. "Okay." She said with a nod. Waka started towards Kamiki village, Amaterasu following.
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Ammy was out of character towards the end huh? Sorry 'bout that. Anyway, Issun will be in the next chapter. I promise.