1Chapter 5: Tsuta Ruins
-Tsuta Ruins Okami-
No one's POV
The human and wolf came out of the darkness to see a trail surrounded by some large sprouts that they saw it being normal if nobody ever came into these ruins in a very long time that was till they were met with the main room of it seeing a ginormous statue in a middle of some purple like water with Noah thinking it that it reminded him of Lady Liberty just...a bit smaller compared to the real thing as he continued to look at it in awe
"That's a pretty oldy shaped statue. But look at all that mess. Must've been here for ages. And what's up with that weird water? I have a bad feeling about it so its best if you two don't go jumping in there." Issun said as Ammy got an idea as she drew a lily pad in the water only for it to immediately disintegrate in the water causing Noah to speak up "Ok so the water is poisonous let's try to find a way to get rid of it. I don't think we're going to find Ume with this going on." this got a nod from the wolf as they went to the right finding a door at the end of the path which they took while getting rid of more cursed trees
As the three carried on through the rooms with Noah getting so many Legend of Zelda vibes from this which he didn't mind at all they came across a spherical rock at the top of a small slope before they could continue, they saw a bulb twitching a bit at the bottom the slope they were on "I think we got a new baddie up ahead we can take him on" Issun said but Ammy went back to the round rock before giving a good headbutt causing it to roll down the slope rolling over the twitching bud which causes the demon to show the rest of its appendages before it exploded into purple smoke with the rock turning into a crystal ball looking like the one back in Hana Valley "I...that's uh one way to deal that." Issun said as he and Noah were left speechless causing the wolf to chuckle before walked up to the human bumping his leg with her hip
"Come on, we got a dog to find." Ammy said as the human brought himself back to reality before quickly nodding as they walked over to the crystal ball seeing a small pedestal a few feet away from it remembering the same one back in Hana Valley with the first Guardian Sapling they helped the duo moved the crystal ball onto the pedestal which caused a noise to happen behind them after turning around the trio saw that a door was now opened 'Ok now this really is starting to act like a Zelda dungeon' Noah thought to himself before shrugging his thoughts away 'this game was probably inspired by that series. No way I can find that out now.' with that the human and wolf continued on fighting two more of those bud demons for real this time but as they finished off the demons they dropped some blue fangs upon exploding due to the wolf getting an idea and using Bloom on them "What's this thing a tooth?" Noah said as he closely looked at the teeth, they weren't dirty which was very surprising, but they also look like they didn't have value to them, but he wasn't from around here so they might
"That's a demon fang you would be surprised to know that there are people who collect those so it's best to make sure to collect as many as you can." Issun stated which answered the human's question that he had in his head to which he nodded before putting the teeth away with the moment interrupted when some of the land started coming back after the demons were killed with Noah checking out the log that just appeared on one of the tiny islands "Aaaww cute little mushrooms." the human said as he gave the soft tap as the wolf came over to see them "Yea though I feel sorry for 'em. It's so gloomy here. I bet a little sunshine is it would take to perk 'em up." the tiny artist said as Ammy looked up to the big hole in the ceiling where the monsters came from before using Sunrise on the sky creating a sun which the sunlight from it caused the mushrooms to grow ginormous lifting the human up on one of them with him frantically moving towards the edge seeing the other two standing where they were
"Did not expect that at all." the human said as he was still flabbergast some small mushrooms were able to grow to such sizes getting a chuckle from the wolf as she started jumping up onto them like they were platforms "So much for being little, huh?" she said with a small smirk on her face earning a small shove from the human as she chuckled once again before he got up and they continued on into the ruins by using cherry bomb on a cracked wall till they got to a large room with a walkway that looked very unstable noticing this the human put a finger up his mouth signaling the other two to stay as quiet as possible getting a nod from her as they slowly treading across which was going smoothly till someone spoke up
"Hang on you two, my nose has been all itchy since we climb those large mushrooms back there." Issun said as he preparing to sneeze with only two words coming to the others' minds 'Oh no' "Ah- choo! Dang it!" the artist said loudly as the walkway started to collapse behind seeing this the wolf quickly picked up the human with her teeth causing him to yelp before tossing him on her back before booking it to the other side quickly making it through the door with all all of them letting go of the air they were holding
"We're never going back in that room ever again." Ammy said in a very serious tone getting a nod from the other two as they came up to a weird looking lock that looked like it had it an actual eye which came true when it started taunting the trio "oh brother not a lockjaw. These guys won't let us pass at all until we find an exorcism arrow." Issun explained while Noah tried attacking the demon lock only for his attacks to get deflected with the demon sticking its tongue out before the human gave up and walked to the other two "Alright lets go look for this arrow" the human said with him and the wolf goddess jumping down some ledges before coming face to face with a living stone wall who was holding a staff who started chuckling upon them arriving
"Ga-ha! I am Blockhead! I guard this so that all shall pass!" the human and wolf tilted their head thinking if he got that right "Er, wait... Make that, none shall pass! Do you really think you can penetrate my air- tight defense? Ha! Impossible! Nothing can harm this body of mine! Of course, there ARE those weak points of mine. A clean blow there would slap me in an instant! But I wouldn't be foolish enough to expose such a weakness! Now be on your way! None shall pass!" the blockhead said with Noah giving a questioning look "Should you be really be saying that stuff out..." but he was quickly interrupted as Ammy headbutted the stone wall with time almost coming to a complete halt as glowing dots appeared on the demon before time resumed with the duo looking at each other before nodding then Ammy started putting dots on the stone demon in the order of the dots appearing which causing the demon to flinch with cracks appearing all over its body
"Huh!? Were my weak points that obvious? I have failed, but let it be known I died a warrior's death." the Blockhead said before exploding into dust which caused a light to appear in the area before a green swirl with flowers in it started skyrocketing through the room with logs appearing on the ledges making some kind of walkway to each of them as an arrow appeared in the middle of the room "Cool we got an exorcism arrow, now we can teach that dumb lockjaw a lesson for getting in our way!" Issun confidently said as Noah picked up the arrow feeling light in his hands as they made back up with a lot of jumping much to the human's dismay since he had a hard time getting up the ledge back when they were going to get the Power Slash technique but thanks to Ammy's help they were able to get back to the very top with the arrow in hand and as they approached the lockjaw it started shaking in fright from the sight of the arrow only for it to be stopped when Ammy threw the arrow at its keyhole like pupil before it twisted on its own with the demon and bars disappearing from the door earing an "Ew' from the human as they traveled deeper into the ruins after Ammy used Rejuvenation on a broken bridge which led them in a giant room filled with a nasty curse as they looked around they noticed that the strange purple water from the main room was in here too
"I think we found the source of that purple water." Noah said getting a nod from the wolf as they began getting rid of the demon gates that plagued the room. With those out of the way the area started returning back to normal with another log with mushrooms appearing the middle of the room with the human slowly backing up "I am not going near those again." this caused the wolf and tiny artist to chuckle at his embarrassment from last time as she used her Sunrise technique again watching the mushrooms grow ginormous again before climbing up them again till they got to the top of the waterfall but notice 5 strange pot pouring out the purple liquid they've been seeing
"Looks we found the source of that strange liquid, whaddya two say we give 'em them a nice whack." Issun suggested which the other two complied as they started breaking the large pots which cleansed the water as it started returning to normal through the ruins "Looks like the poison that was polluting the water has completely cleared up! Now it looks like a great place for a swim! There's even a waterfall! I bet it'd be loads of fun to go straight down it!" Issun cheerfully said not noticing the human giving him a look if he was serious or not "Ah... What I meant was a playful dog like Ume might do that. I-I haven't forgotten about what we're looking for. Have you two? And, of course, heh heh heh... I haven't given up on hunting down some treasure, either!" the wolf and human both let out a sigh as they made their way back to the main room of the ruins spotting some platforms in the water that leading into the giant statue
"Well now we know where to go." the human said as they traversed the platforms till they got inside of the statue only to be met with some small curse zones that Ammy quickly got rid of returning life back to the room with the giant bud that was apparently floating in midair in the middle of the room opening up "That ought to do it." Ammy said with a smile as the room started going dark with light shining down on the trio
"Hey, look! That light. There's a constellation here too?" Issun asked as they all looked up to see an incomplete constellation in the night sky with Noah questioning how that's even possible as Ammy began filling out the missing stars this time seeing a monkey holding cymbals only to be greeted by said monkey that looked the same as the previous ones tossing its cymbals in the air before front flipping down in front of the wolf and human with phantom versions of the other 2 flora gods landing behind it as it posed catching one of the cymbals in one hand before it looked up noticing that the other one was flying off in the distance than it rush towards it were it was landing only for everyone else to hear the sound of something being bonked with the other two flora gods posing once again
As everything settled down the last money started speaking "Ah... Amaterasu. Origin of all that is good and mother to us all... I, Tsutagami, the last in the triumvirate of Hanagami flora gods, have humbly awaited your glorious return for 100 years. May the fresh spring growth bloom from your snow-white form. Bring life to the land that suffers under the evil." Tsutagami said before transforming in rainbow orb that Ammy than absorbed learning the Vine technique "That was Tsutagami, the third and final god flora god! He's the god that can make vines do his bidding! One folktale tells how Tsutagami used that power to tie vines to his body so that he could fly through the air." Issun explained noticing the flowering propelling in the air "Hey, that's a Konohana Blossom, the flower of the gods over there! Try making a right out of it!" Ammy did just that drawing lines from the blossom to her and Noah who thought that it wouldn't work on him since he was human unbeknownst to him the wolf marks on his arm started glowing watching as two vines popped out of the floating flowers wrapping around their waist and pulling them on top of it with the two doing a flip before landing on it
"Wow, I didn't expect it to work on Noah. Sure, is handy to have a god around! You can make vines when a blossom is open. Let's look around and see if any others are blooming!" Issun said excitingly as the trio started ascending the statue using the Konohana Blossoms till they got to an exit seeing that they were about halfway up the statue but there was a pathway that led up which they took using more blossoms till they were on top of the statue
"Ok we're at the very top so what do we do now." Noah said trying to stay as calm as possible while on his knees seeing how far they high up trying his best not to look over the edge so his fear of heights wouldn't kick in as Ammy was checking out the random hooks that were sticking out of the head of the statue and a couple of Konohana blossoms scattered which gave her an idea in using Vine from the flowers to the hooks which started working due to vine latching and pulling on the hook, and after doing the same to the rest the piece of the head that the hooks were attached to flew off leaving a hole that led into the statue's head seeing that there was no other way forward the duo jumped into the giant hole that led into a room filled with tiny statues
"What an interesting room." Noah said a bit amazed by the number of statues there were which was interrupted when Ammy started using Power Slash on them watching a lot of yen dropping out of them which caused the human to rub the back of his head before shrugging since nobody is probably going to miss them If they somehow got to this room with the statues out of the way they proceeded into the next room after looking into the Origin Mirror which looked like a very long hallway that led to a room with a staircase leading up a very large door with skulls on both sides of it which caused Noah to fidget a bit not liking the look of this as the duo made their way to the door which started opening slowly
"We really gonna go in there?" the tiny artist said as the wolf nodded to his question "Really? Are you serious? I'm getting a real bad vibe here. What's beyond this door?" the human took a deep breath as he was getting a bad vibe from the other side as well but seeing as there wasn't any other way they had to proceed "I am too but we don't really have anywhere else to go." he added
"You sure we're ready? Maybe we should go back outside." Issun asked as Ammy looked at her human as she saw some fright in his eyes but also hints of courage to which then she nodded "Alright then! Let's go for it! Ume here we come!" the artist yelled as the trio entered the door rushing down the hallway before they looked around
"Huh, I feel like something is off" Noah said that was before...they looked down to see that they were in fact standing in midair seeing this they instantly grew shocked faces before plummeting to the ground while Noah tried flapping his wings like a bird to at least slow down the fall which did not happen with the two landing on the ground with Noah on his stomach and Ammy on her back revealing her rear to the world which Noah had to see before turning away blushing immensely with Issun landing on his head before tumbling off of it
"Owww! Nice going, you two! I keep telling you not to space out like that!" Issun yelled with the human that he never told us that before shaking his head before the three heard the loud thumping noise in front of them which caused the human to quickly stand up out of fright "Hey, something moved over there." the tiny artist to whatever made that noise
"Whoa..." Issun and the others gazed up to see a giant suspicious looking flower with some glowing red roots dug into the ground which gave off a very bad vibe to the human and wolf "Check out this big ol' flower. We just might've stumbled onto something here! Flowers like this are usually just packed with treasure!" the artist said as he jumped onto the middle of the flower onto some vase like object with the human questioning exactly surrounding
'Are those eyes!?' the human asked himself not liking this at all as the artist peeked into the flower to see a pink dog lying unconscious "Hey, is that a dog in there?" as soon as Issun asked that one of the roots started lifting itself off of the ground noticing this Ammy sprang into action by jumping onto the flower and picking up Issun in here mouth before jumping away meanwhile the end of the root that looked like it was it was head of some kind of serpent fired a purple orb at the wolf who backflipped over it landing right next to the human
-Blood of Villain Persona 5-
"Hey, lemme go, wolf breath! I'm all covered in your slobber again!" Issun yelled as the flower started moving by closing itself while the other shadowy roots started lifting themselves revealing more serpent like heads but were barely made out to tell who it is as Ammy started to faintly growl while Noah was slowly started backing up by the sheer size of what's going on "Check out that shadow! I see 8... Wait, it couldn't be...!?" but it wasn't long till one of the shadowy heads plunged itself into the ground to reveal a long slender leg with the others doing the same
"Are you those troublesome insects that have been snooping about? I will not allow you to ruin my master's triumphant return!" the figure said as red mist started covering the place till the ginormous flipped around to reveal that it was a giant spider with the head of a woman 'OF ALL THE THINGS TO SEE HERE IT HAD TO BE A GIANT SPIDER!?' Noah thought to himself since he hates spiders with a passion as he hid behind Ammy for protection
"Sticking your noses where it doesn't belong will get you killed. Speak your last words fools before I the Spider Queen eat you alive!" the spider said as she stomped her many legs around to show off her power but that didn't faze the wolf at all as she let out a yawn before speaking
"Well at least I know I'm the prettier woman of us two compared to the mosquito." the wolf said with no emotion behind which caught the human behind her by surprise with only one thing coming out of his mouth "Wow" this however enraged the giant demon to the roof
"How dare you! Dog is not usually on my menu, but I will personally make you an exception and that of yours will be next!" the spider said as he let out a roar with Issun hopping on Noah's head after getting any saliva off of him though it went noticed by the demon "Whaddya talking about? I saw that dog you gobbled up! And besides, this ain't no dog! This here is a god and her guardian!"
-Blooming Villain Persona 5 Strikers-
"Well now! The mortal can speak! Very well, then! I shall send you back to where you came from! This will hurt a lot... stand still for just a moment..." the queen said as she started spewing webs from her mouth which the human and wolf took notice of before dodging out of the way as the string of webs landed where they were both getting in ready position to fight this with Noah shaking a bit since this is all still new to him with Ammy noticing this
"Hey, don't worry Noah, I got you" the wolf said calmy to her human companion reassuring him which he nodded to before getting out his katana with a semi confident look on his face which reassured the wolf as she looked back noticing the hooks on the spider's abdomen as they dodged more of the webs "I have an idea think you can play distraction" getting a nod from the human as they both ran opposite directions
"Over here ugly!" the human yelled which got the attention of the spider as she gave him a look of anger as he started running away dodging some of the stalactites that were falling from ceiling
"You will pay for that insult mortal!" the spider demon yelled as she was chasing the human while this was happening Ammy snuck behind Ammy began using Vine on the hook like objects that were poking out of the spider using the Konohana flowers so that they were pulling on them till every hook was caught pulling back the spider as she closed in on the human "Nooooo!" the queen yelled with her abdomen opening up to reveal those eyes as they looked at the duo
"Quickly we gotta destroy the eyes!" Ammy yelled as she rushed over towards the demons getting out her new Devout Beads and started using them to whip at the eyes while Noah came in and started slicing at some before the two pulled seeing the sections of spider part twitching and immediately closing up
"Hey Ammy try using Power Slash on those eyes the next we get the chance." Issun suggested as he held on Noah's hoodie with the other two agreeing that as the spider queen got back up "You two won't get lucky this time, now stand still and die!" the demon said as she started stomping which caused some the earth to start cracking as pieces of the arena start falling into the water but Ammy was quick to the punch as she used vine on both her and Noah flinging to the other side of the platform dodging the spider's webs then she used this chance to use Vine on the hooks once again watching the blossoms drag the spider into the middle of the arena with her abdomen opening once again but the queen was quick as well as she began to close the sections but Ammy was even faster as she started Power Slash using on the remaining eyes cutting them all in one go till every one was gone
-can stop the music-
Upon the last eye being destroyed the Spider Queen let out a scream of agony before collapsing to the ground before exploding into purple smoke with the land starting to turn back to normal as all there was left of the demon with a giant pink flower blooming in the middle of the arena with Ume laying on one of the petals "W-we won" Issun said quietly before hopping up and down excitingly "I mean yea we won! That's whaddya get for messing messin' us!" Ammy heard a thump next to her seeing her human friend down on his knees as she walked over to check if he was ok seeing his clothes a bit torn likely from all the running he had to do from the queen
"You ok?" the wolf asked as she sat next to him worried about her friend even though he did hold up his own when it came to being the distraction who gave her a smile and a thumbs up even if he was panting a bit
"Yea just didn't expect to fight a giant spider demon is all" Noah said earning a chuckle from the wolf as he wasn't wrong, he didn't have to deal with demons or fighting giant spiders back in his world, but he was thankful that Ammy was helped "Hehe I suppose that's true but I'm glad that you're alright" the wolf smiled with the moment being interrupted as one of the petals from the flower leaned down to show a pink dog still fast asleep upon seeing this the two and Issun rushed over to see if he was ok before getting him out of here but Issun came upon behind them jumping onto the wolf's head "Hey I just got idea. Why don't we do a good victory cry? I mean we did beat a giant demon and who knows it might wake Ume up?" Issun suggested and since it didn't sound like a bad idea and they beat a giant spider demon it was worth a shot which the two nodded with Noah doing a few slashes in front of him before pointing his katana to the sky with Ammy giving off a good wolf howl
-Some time later-
The trio exited the ruins with Ume in Noah's arms since the dog was still weak to walk with them and Ammy having a new reflector on her back that Issun called Snarling Beast which made sense they got it from a giant monster "Still can't believe that giant ol' spider was hiding something like this makes me wonder if we'll get more weapons if we defeat some other giant monsters." Issun said as the trio noticed Kokari waiting patiently for them baffled by what he's seeing rubbing his eyes just to make sure
"Ume!? Is that you!? Are you ok!? You're not hurt, are you? It must've been so scary all alone." the kid said as Noah was putting the pink dog down before it stared growling at Kokari with him getting scared by the dog's unusual behavior "What's wrong, Ume? Are you mad that I left you?" with Issun coming out of Ammy's fur
"About your dog, kid... He was deep within the ruins and he didn't wanna leave." the artist said which shocked the kid as he was confused by what he meant by that "But you've got it all wrong. You only THINK you left your dog behind. Truth is, he decided to stay at the ruins himself."
This got the kid to start questioning "He did? But why?" Kokari asked not entirely sure why his dog wanted to stay in those dangerous ruins as the other two stayed silent
"Maybe he was trying to set an example by showing you how anyone, even a dog, could have an adventure." Issun said as Kokari stayed quiet looking at the floor upset at himself for not realizing this sooner "Look at it this way there's not much separating a boy from a man. They grow up before you know it and accomplish great things." Kokari taking this all in before mentally patting himself on the back
"I see... So, I guess you knew everything. Didn't you Ume. Like how my dad told me to go fix the bridge destroyed by the storm. And how I tried to get out of it because I was scared of failing him. But your fearless adventure has changed me. You've given me the courage to stop shirking responsibility!" the boy said confidently with the pink furred dog pulling out a fishing rod from the bandana that was around his neck which questioned the other human on where he pulled that out from (hey don't ask me idk where he got it from) "My dad's fishing rod! I lost that in the forest some time ago! Did you sniff it out in those ruins? All by yourself? Well I'm gonna fix that bridge all by myself. Boy, is dad gonna be surprised about this!" with that Kokari ran off followed by Ume leaving the trio to themselves seeing that there was nothing for them to do in the forest they decided to follow the young duo but not without checking out the merchant who was by the entrance that led to Taka Pass getting some cool items with the demon fangs like a golden chime bell that Noah put on Ammy while being told that it has the power to ward evil spirits that and a golden cat charm which the human equipped after being told that good fortune will come if he keeps it on his person then they came up to Kokari who thew a rope to the other side of the speeding river with his fishing pole which caught onto a post of where a bridge was supposed to be
"I lassoed the rope to the other side. Look!" Kokari happily said but before Noah could question why he did this the group heard some yelling coming from nowhere with it sounding very familiar to the heroes
"Hey, you there! Get that rope out of my way!" the voice said only for the group to look up the river to see a giant log moving fast towards them with a familiar face holding onto the end of it with everyone questioning what's trying to do
"Huh? Susano?" Issun asked as he hopped forward to see if it really was him with Noah realizing that he was coming in fast and helps Kokari try to yank the rope off the post with the other two being somewhat oblivious "What's going on?"
-No time to think Kingdom Hearts-
"My new secret technique – Imploding Barrel, Flying Monkeys – was a flop. I ended up being washed downstream on this tree trunk!" the mighty warrior yelled with the other two realizing what's going to happen as Ammy rushed over to the humans pulling on Noah's hoodie helping him try to pull the rope off
"Here he comes! Hold onto that fishing pole, kid" Issun yelled as Noah looked at him with mad confusion about what he just said "Actually wait let it go!" but it was too late as the tree trunk came storming grabbing onto the rope pulling onto it which threw everyone else onto it as Noah grabbed onto Susano's legs with everyone did the same to him with Kokari being first then Ammy and lastly Issun holding onto the wolf's tail
"WE'RE SO GONNA DIE!" Noah yelled as he was absolutely terrified about the situation, they're all in with Issun noticing a bunch of Konohana Blossoms everywhere which gave him an idea
"Ammy, use your celestial brush, quick!" the artist yelled with her noticing the flowers too understanding his plan as she did just that using Vine from the flowers to the hooks that were on the tree trunk with the heroes watching as the vines stop the tree trunk from going over before flinging it back to where they were with Noah, Ammy and Kokari landing right in front of Ume all on their backs with the tree trunk landing right next to the broken bridge "Phew... I thought we were goners. But it all worked out. Just look at that new bridge!" the group looked up to see that the artist was right the trunk landed perfectly that its acting like a makeshift one
-can end the music-
"Did I do that?" Kokari asked amazed by tis wondering if his idea was the thing that did that even though it was Susano that came with the trunk and Ammy that using her brush with Noah looking around not spotting the warrior anywhere with him eventually shrugging if off
"Heh heh, that's right kid! It was all you!" Issun said proudly "I don't know what was eating at you, but... You'll never get anywhere in life running from adventure! You should thank your doggie for teaching you that!"
Kokari looked at his dog with tears slowly running down his face as he gave him the warmest smile giving his dog a hug "I couldn't have done it without you, Ume. Thanks!" this little emotional hug put a smile on the trio's faces, but Issun was first to notice ask something
"Hey where'd pops go? Eh, whatever I'm sure it'd take more than that to kill the guy. He's bound to pop up somewhere again!" the artist said with that the trio waved goodbye to the young boy and his dog as they made their way over the tree trunk an into Taka pass but not before Noah realized something taking a look back at the trunk recalling what Waka said
"A log and big thrills..." remembering that Noah let out a small chuckle seeing that he wasn't half baked as he thought hearing Ammy call out to him before rushing over to them as they continued onward
-End of Chapter 5-
Me: So first I would like to is apologize for taking so long to make more chapters i did say that the next one was gonna take less time to make but I just wasn't really motivated to make them so an apology and an early Christmas present...oh shit *puts on a Santa hat* anyways I know the quality from last few chapters and this is one its mainly due to the fact the conversations with each characters tend to just go by without nothing happening between so I don't have an idea on what but that's just my BS excuse for being small brain
Ammy: At least you admit it *gets a glare from the author as the wolf chuckles on the floor*
Me: yea anyways to anyone reading this story I thank you for giving it a try and for having patience from then to now and have a happy holiday