Duties

IT HAD been days since Dandy last talked to Amaterasu. She was just lazing around in her flowerbed. Looks like Kahaku locked her up in her flowerbed as he enabled a restriction around it. She can't get out!

Alas, she just laid her back on the ground and looked up in the sky. Then she remembered her talk with her mama again. What she said always stuck to her mind.

"Guard your heart."

"Did she mean that I would meet someone?" Dandy asked herself. "But how can I when I'm not allowed to leave the forest? And will someone see me?"

Being a deity or even a heavenly being, humans or mortals won't be able to see them. Unless they let them.

Dandy shook her head. "Nah, what mama said would be impossible."

"What is impossible?"

Dandy sat back up when she heard the voice. Her eyes went wide as she saw who was the one talking. She jumped up to stand and run to them. She stop short when she reached the end of the flower bed.

"I can't go out," she pouted. She even tried to poke her fingers out but it got electrified when she touched an invisible shield. "See. Lord Kahaku tricked me into coming back here. Now I cannot go out."

Yoshiko barking laughed at her.

Tamotsu just scoffed and got down from Yoshiko's back. "That would be better, We will have time to rest." He then walked and jumped to the branch of the oak tree. "Yoshiko, you go and play with her. I'm gonna check the whole forest first."

"Yeah. Yeah." His paw shooed him away. "Sleep your life away."

Dandy watched Tamotsu laid at one of the branches instead of doing what he said. Yoshiko then sat before laying down near the tree.

They really were sleeping.

"Why are you sleeping?" Dandy cant helped but asked. As far as she knows, they don't need sleep. They rest but sleep is a bit too much.

"Because, our Grace, we are tired."

"Why?"

"Because we have guarded the vicinity and the borders of the mountains and the forest."

"Why?"

Yoshiko puffed and sat back up. "Your Grace, let me just tell this once so we could rest." Dandy smiled as she could hear the defeat in Yoshiko's voice. "Lord Kahaku is not in the land as of the moment. And not having him here weakens the divine power in the lands. He asked us to guard the lands as there had been de—"

"There had been an unwanted visitor," Tamotsu interjected. "He went back to Takamagahara to ask Goddess Amaterasu if she knew them."

"Oh, that's why Lord Kahaku was there." Dandy bumped her fist to her other hand. "Did you know Lord Kahaku can see us in water?"

"Yes." Yoshiko and Tamotsu answered simultaneously.

Dandy's forehead knotted. "Is it only me who doesn't know this?"

"Yes." They responded together again.

"Why?"

"Because you barely listen to whatever we taught you." Tamotsu then said. "And speaking of teaching. Lord Kahaku said something to us."

Dandy then hid her hands in her back and started to step backward. Going into the Oaktree.

Yoshiko noticed her doing it. "You may hide all you want, Deity, but you won't be able to go out from your flower bed."

"The barrier that Lord Kahaku made, only you could remove that." Tamotsu jumped back down to Yoshiko's back. Looks like giving up sleeping at the top of the tree. "We heard that you have used your healing power. But you are using too much mana for just a simple wound. He's afraid that you'd use up all your mana if you'd heal every small wound with full effect."

"So, what am I supposed to do?"

"Meditate." Tamotsu casually replied and now laying at Yoshiko and getting ready to sleep.

"Like what Lord Kahaku do in the waterfalls?" Dandy's face is now distorted with fear. She knew how powerful the force of the water. And it wasn't pleasant.

"No, your Grace. Lord Kahaku's power is from water thus doing that in waterfalls. But you, you gain your mana from the energy being offered by the beings in the forest"

Dandy now nods.

"I can see that you now understand." Tamotsu said in his sleepy voice. "now, you do your meditation and we do the sleeping."

"Wait, Tamotsu, but…how do I meditate?"

Yoshiko and Tamotsu closed their eyes. Now wishing that they aren't that devoted to Amaterasu that they said yes to her every favor.

******

DANDY didn't know how many times her eyes had gone wide and round. How many times she said 'wow'—amazed from what she was seeing now.

It was the first time that she saw the human form of Tamotsu and Yoshiko. And both of them are so big. She felt like a baby to them. They are practically giants to her. They are far taller than Lord Kahaku.

"Carry me! Carry me!" jumped with joy when she woke up from the trance.

Tamotsu shook his head. They then proceed to come into the barrier.

"Oh, now you cannot go out, too. Yes! I'm not al—"

Dandy's rejoice was stopped in the middle when Tamotsu and Yoshiko effortlessly walked out of the barrier. And to tease her more, they even did it more than her finger can count.

"Unfair!"

Yoshiko snickered as Tamotsu smiled.

"You can get out of here and play all you want if you aced this meditation," Tamotsu said. He then went back to her side and sat down. "Now follow me."

Tamotsu sat down and crossed his legs. If Kahaku brought his hands together, Tamotsu proceeded on putting his hands at top of his knees. His thumb and middle finger were the only ones who were touching and then closed his eyes.

After a while, he opened his eyes and looked at Dandy. She nodded at Tamotsu and did what he did, together with Yoshiko.

Dandy closed her eyes and meditated. Focused all her senses on her surroundings. A few minutes had passed as she felt the sweat in her forehead when she then noticed the small light floating around. There were big and small. She opened her eyes and saw nothing. But when she closed her eyes, it was there again.

"Tamotsu, what are these I'm seeing?"

"What is it?"

"These small lights that looked like fireflies. But there are bigger ones, too."

"That, my Lady, is the life energy that the life forms of this land. They are offering that to you. You can use that at your will. So, when you use your powers, you use that life energy. Now, if you use too much of it, soon it won't be enough to heal the land. Or to even let you live."

"That's why you need to control it. Now, listen, my Lady." Tamotsu continued. "Aside from that, you can also use that life energy to move everything. To use them as a weapon."

Dandy opened her eyes from what she heard. "Weapon? For…for what?"

"Well, for emergencies," Tamotsu vaguely answered. "you don't have to worry about that too much. And we would learn about that some other time. As of now, I want you to get familiar with the life energy around you. On how much you should take when healing the forest."

Dandy just nodded and ignored the weapon thing. After all, these guardians are much older than her. And if her memory served her right, Amaterasu and her brother have fought before. Thus, using magic as a weapon is just natural to them.

At that moment, she focused her attention on what was the given task to her.

{How to control what I need?}

Remembering the time she healed the trees. Their scare different in size, but she used the same amount of healing that some of the smaller wound started to sprout new branches and leaves. Those memories became her pattern to practice into.

She used the loudness of her voice as to how much she could absorb to use. But it wasn't that.

Next was when she thought of using her one hand for smaller and two for the bigger.

{But what if it isn't that big, and cannot be considered as small?}

Dandy sighed as she watched the life energy just float around. When one life energy floated in front of her, she slowly offered her hand. It landed on her hand and it felt warm.

And with that small life energy, she felt refreshed. She felt that she just woke up from slumber. Is this how she absorbs the life energy?

It felt wonderful.

Dandy opened her eyes and smiled at Tamotsu who were already meditating. She then looked at Yoshiko and suppressed her smile. He wasn't meditating but sleeping as drool started to spill.

But that laugh wasn't suppressed at all when Yoshiko half-asleep straighten his back. And as he did, he slurped back his drool. And that cracked Dandy up.

"Your Grace!" Tamotsu reprimand and got angrier when his attention landed on Yoshiko. "Yoshiko!"

Dandy just laughed harder when Yoshiko turned back into his wolf form when jolted awake. He was surprised by Tamotsu's angry face.

Then, Dandy thought, it was good they are back. If they've gone for another day, Dandy would think that she was abandoned again.

****END OF CHAPTER****

Edited again after posting as I still believe there are typos here and there.

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