Tifa & Yuffie (Okami RP)

[Tifa Lockhart]

Waka frowned when Amaterasu stopped, walking right up to the edge of the cursed zone himself. He'd seen them before... he'd actually cured one himself, hoping to lighten the burden on the goddess and her envoy. He extended a hand into the space, wincing a little as it pained him. He removed the hand then, inspecting the burns all over his hand now.
"I have an idea Ma Cherie..." he said as he looked to her to see her pacing restlessly. "We need to find somewhere safe to plant this."
He held out his hand, and light swirled atop his palm, forming into the shape of a tiny pot. Inside the dainty ceramic was a fragile looking sapling. "A certain sprite gave this to me."

[Yuffie Kisaragi]

The goddess' expression lifted at that and her whining ceased. Having a guardian Sapling to protect the Celestial Plain would be highly beneficial...but to get the maximum effect from the plant, they needed somewhere relatively central to plant it. That way its powers would spread further out to the rest of the floating isle. She turned back to pacing, but in a much less restless manner, head turning to look in every which way to try and find another route. She growled irritably when she found her vision was severely limited by the dark fog. She barked to Waka to signal him before she sprinted off to the west, running along the edge of the cursed zone, following it like a pathway. Soon enough she found pathway of dead but curse-free ground to follow, barking back at her companion as he would catch up to her, before beginning to walk through the pathway, hopeful it would lead to the island's center or thereabouts. All around them was cursed ground and dead plantlife...but so far, they were still too far out to the edges of the plains to get a decent range out of the sapling sprout.

[Tifa Lockhart]

Waka was back at Ammy's side the moment she barked for him to follow, the sapling once again safely concealed in whatever magical space he was able to magick up for himself.
"Do you have anywhere in mind Ma Cherie?" he asked absently as they picked their way across the dead earth, seeking out somewhere that would be the perfect place for their sapling.

[Yuffie Kisaragi]

The She-wolf barked and pointed her nose toward the center of the island, hoping the man would understand well enough, before she continued walking. As they continued walking, several obstacles managed to stand between them and their destination, requiring some quick brushwork from Amaterasu, slicing through boulders, blowing up loose rock slide debris, and the usual. As they pressed on, it became increasingly evident that this cursed area was extremely large and likely covered a large portion of the floating island.

The sun continued to crawl across the sky as the pair walked on, finding only more cursed ground and dead trees, and not to mention being forced to exorcise many demons on the road, and eventually, it seemed they had come to a dead end, a large cliff stood before them, with very few footholds to use. Amaterasu knew she would have no trouble making her way up the wall with her powers, but she glanced back at her golden-haired companion, anxious as to whether he had a way up or whether she might have to find a way of carrying him.

[Tifa Lockhart]

Waka noted his companion's worried look once they reached the foot of the sheer cliff, but he couldn't stop himself from laughing at her.
"You're rather forgetful for a God," he mused. He then crouched ever so slightly, just barely bending his knees. He then leaped, with the speed and grace of some otherworldlybeing, and landed effortlessly atop the cliff, kneeling down to peer down at Ammy.
"Chop chop Ma Cherie!" he called down to her, a note of his old arrogance shining through.

[Yuffie Kisaragi]

The wolf offered a look that suggested she would have rolled her eyes then, were she able to. She then gave her tail a flick as she ran towards the wall and leaped gracefully up to the surface, hopping her way up the sheer cliff-face with ease, Kabegami's symbol appearing beneath her feet as she went, before she flipped up to the top, briefly nipping the man's sleeve to scold him before looking up to sweep her golden eyes over her surroundings, searching for which direction they need go from here.

She noted a tall pillar carved from a natural stone archway up ahead, the cliff that it met showing potential as a spot for the sapling; it was some days' journey away though, judging by how much cursed ground stood between them and it, it would take some doing to get there but it seemed the perfect place to plant the Guardian sapling. She barked loudly and pointed a paw to the spot, turning then to seek her partner's thoughts on the matter of getting there and how long it would take. It was well away in the distance and with all the cursed area there, it would take even longer to get there.

[Tifa Lockhart]

Waka chuckled softly as Ammy snapped at his sleeve to make her point. He liked antagonising her a little bit, it made things more exciting for him. He sort of missed having Issun around to match wits with.
He followed Amaterasu over to the stone arch, peering in the direction she indicated at the far-off outcropping. It was going to be quite a hike across the parched and cursed earth.
"Aye yai," he mused, flicking his fringe with a sigh. "We're going to be walking for an awfully long time..."

[Yuffie Kisaragi]

The she-wolf nodded in reply, with a slight whine of exasperation, her ears drooping a little. She looked up at the sky above, seeming to contemplate for a moment, before she barked and continued walking, seeming to have decided they could keep going for at least a little while longer before they would need to stop for the night. As she walked forward, she stopped a moment, looking over towards the pillar again, or more to the point behind it. There was a sorry-looking little garden patch and a droopy tree, surrounded by the curse, yet untouched. With a slight whine, Ammy attempted drawing a circle with her tail, and -much to her surprise- the little tree stood up strong and formed tiny, new leaves...it still wasn't healthy, but it had revived, thanks to being just out of the cursed zone. Encouraged by the tree's healing, the goddess flicked her tail a few more times, the sad little garden patch springing back up with little seedlings, buds waiting for the curse to leave so they could bloom. It lightened the she-wolf's mood a bit to see the plants revived, even if they were still weak, so she turned to continue on, dodging around the cursed ground and following the cliff-face to head towards their distant destination. The curse here was particularly bad...the ground was especially tainted and just getting near to it noticeably drained some of the white wolf's powers, her glow becoming faint and the flames on her solar disc becoming far less vigorous. Even the graceful, white streamers of light which danced from her fur at her shoulders and scruff drooped under the oppressive air of the area. She glanced back to her companion with an anxious look, scratching the floor and pointing to the trees with her nose, hoping to convey her message to the man, despite her lack of speech...she missed Issun sometimes, he knew her every thought when the time called for it, and it had made communicating with people much easier.

[Tifa Lockhart]

Waka had watched fondly as Amaterasu worked as hard as she could to revive the wilting flowers. He'd seen her work on Nippon, and marvelled at the meticulous care she took with reviving all the natural wonders and ensuring all the creatures of the world were fed. She cared deeply for every living thing, and it was that trait that made his heart grow warm whenever he was in her presence. She'd even extended that kindness to him - a member of the Moon tribe.
So when she turned to him with such a saddened look of uncertainty on her face, he couldn't help but feel his own spirits sink just a little. He knew he had to help her some way, but it was difficult at times to understand what she wanted.
He walked until he was directly beside her, kneeling down to her level to meet her gaze directly. He stared at her for a moment, before looking towards the dead trees she was pointing at. That's when he seemed to dawn on what she wanted to ask.
"The sapling?" he clarified, extending his palm again and letting the fragile tree appear. It looked a little sickly, but it was trying its hardest for them. It needed to be planted soon though. "It will survive if we keep going through the night... but I fear unless we get rid of this curse soon, it will die like the rest of this place."
The lines of exhaustion on Waka's face seemed worse than before now, the curse was draining at him as much as it was everything else.

[Yuffie Kisaragi]

At that, Amaterasu whimpered fearfully, glancing around her a moment, before she huffed stubbornly, moving to force Waka onto her back so she could carry him, before she dashed ahead at an impressive pace, clearly faster than even Waka could keep up with on his own two feet. She was determined to get the Sapling to a safe place soon, even if they had to stop she would find a safe place away from the curse to do so, so she could tend to the seedling and ensure its good health. That, and she feared too much longer in the curse could bring her friend to harm, as well.

When the sun would eventually set, one would see the effect it had on Ammy immediately, her fur losing its shimmer and retaining only its unnaturally pure white colour, her solar disc, without the sun to power it, turned a murky colour and the dancing flames became a slight flare. It did not effect her strength nor her persistence, however, seeming only to dampen her godly power if anything. All the while, as she loped through the parched ground, avoiding demons if at all possible, she searched for a good place to take the sapling to rejuvenate it, perhaps an area free of the curse that she could restore to give it a fighting chance.

[Tifa Lockhart]

Waka felt a little uneasy riding on Amaterasu's back. He would have been more than happy to run alongside her... he was confident he could have kept up. He didn't complain though, accepting of her desire to go as quickly as possible.
It was only after it went dark that he climbed off her back without any warning. He wasn't going to let the tiring deity carry him when she as at her weakest.
"Do not wear yourself out completely Mon Amie," he warned as he came to stand in front of her, halting her hasty advance. "We'll get there in time... but you need to have energy when we do."

[Yuffie Kisaragi]

The wolf whined and grumbled, kneading the ground with her paws, uneasily. She then barked, glancing around her a moment, before her eyes fell back to Waka, with a whimper. Here was certainly not a good place to stop, in her mind, the curse was still too strong and staying here overnight would likely kill the sapling. She pushed past Waka, heeding his warning to not push her luck and choosing not to carry him from here. She put her muzzle up to the sky and sniffed, trying to find the scent of somewhere they could take the sapling. She then pressed her nose to the earth, before lifting her head to prick her ears in every direction, seeming to find nothing, at first, before she barked and set off in the right direction, avoiding the curse as she did.

[Tifa Lockhart]

Waka turned to follow Amaterasu as she continued on, his face still dark with concern that she was overdoing it. He glanced over onto the horizon, seeing how far away the dark mass of the cliff was in the distance.
"We might have to just plant it wherever we can, Ma Cherie... we're running out of time and energy."

[Yuffie Kisaragi]

The wolf barked again, pawing at the dead earth and screwing up her nose as if to indicate that this still was no place to stop and they at least had to find SOMEWHERE the sapling wouldn't die. She then continued forward, eyes continuing their search for someplace to at least care for the sapling, if not a good place to plant it.

[Tifa Lockhart]

Waka sighed, unsure that he could watch Amaterasu torture herself much longer. Drastic times took drastic measures... and there was one thing that he was good at that he'd never showed her before... now was probably a good time.
"Come on mon amie," he said as he sped up into a run, scooping her up with an arm around the belly before she could even protest. His feet moved quickly across the compacted earth, so smoothly it was almost as if he were flying.
"You're fast Ma cherie, but there was a reason I always beat you to your destinations," he smirked confidently, the wind whipping his long hair back.