So the first thing I decided to do after Blooming the Guardian Sapling was explore a little bit. First I encountered some moles who were mean at first and tried to extort money from me, but then it just turned out they wanted to be friends. Okay then.
Yeah, sure, whatever.
Once we were done with the moles, we explored some more and found something called the Sasa Sanctuary.
But we couldn't get in, because somehow the whole place is run by the Sparrow Mafia, who were all a-twitter (hah!) because the boss's daughter was mysteriously missing. Hmm, interesting. I suppose I'll have to go find her later. Here's a picture of the leader of the Sparrow Mafia.
Don't make a Jamba Juice joke...don't make a Jamba Juice joke...don't make a Jamba Juice joke...dammit!
Well, anyway, since Mr. Juice and his minions wouldn't let us into the Sanctuary, we headed on up the road and found...this.
It's the path leading to Kusa Village, and boy, does that look ominous!
The village wasn't in a Cursed Zone, but everything was still all dark and ominous.
The atmosphere was so evil that it continuously drained my Ink Pots until all my magic went away and I couldn't use the Celestial Brush anymore. Which is really frustrating, I tell you what.
What was our objective again? Oh yeah, we're trying to get to the windmill shrine. Let's talk to these two ladies by the well and see what they have to say about it.
...Oh. That's nice.
That sounds just peachy. Let's move on, shall we?
And then we found Susano again!
He looks demon-possessed there, but I assure you he was just sleeping.
I wonder what he's dreaming about? A creature with eight heads, perhaps?
And then he woke up!
What's that? You're having a recurring dream? Sounds like somebody's been up to no good.
Guilty conscience getting you down? That's okay, just flee to some little village and take a nap right on the street. That'll totally make you feel better.
Sweat away, my shifty friend. How much do we know? And how much are we going to figure out just from watching your suspicious behavior?
So he said something lame about how even in his sleep, he's devising strategies to beat bad guys, or something.
Sure you did.
So, anyway. He blathered on about defeating evil for a while, and eventually I got tired of listening to him and moved on. At some point we found a guy named Mr. Bamboo, who's clearly this town's version of Mr. Orange. He's a bamboo carver, you see, but he hasn't been able to work lately because he can't get any good bamboo from Sasa Sanctuary. I'm sure I'll have to fix that eventually.
And after we talked to Mr. Bamboo, we wandered into some kind of shrine and found THIS!
Well, hello. What have we here? Don't be too obvious about your preening, Issun.
But before we could really talk to the girl, she said something else ominous and some demons showed up! One of them was flying on some kind of kite. I had to beat three demons without the use of my weapon or Celestial Brush, which...wasn't really that difficult at all.
Well, it was pretty simple. You were demon-possessed, and I got rid of the demons for you...
Oh, and my Ink Pots and weapons came back, because apparently one kite-riding demon had the power to curse a whole village. Okay then.
No. Should I be? Actually, I'd want to ask them why they named you Fuse. Do you have a short temper, by any chance?
You mean the windmill? Hey, that's where we need to go!
Let me guess. We have to go in there and figure out what's gone wrong.
So she said something about how the wind that blows from the Gale Shrine is called the Divine Wind and makes good things happen. I guess.
Whyever would it have done that? I'm all ears, lady.
See, Susano? His name is...oh, right, you're sleeping in a ditch somewhere. Well, anyway, a bunch of nasty monsters attacked the Gale Shrine and killed the head priest, and ever since then, Crimson Helm's minions have been wreaking havoc on the village.
Warriors, you say? You mean I might not have to be the one that fixes this?
Sorry for the blurriness. Canine...warriors? All our hopes rest on a bunch of dogs? Amaterasu help us...
Oh, I just have to find them, and then they'll do all the heavy lifting. I get it.
Shut up, Issun! You suck at puns!
...Anyway, Ms. Fuse said she'd already tried to summon the Canine Warriors back, but none of them had shown up. We're going to have to find them, aren't we?
That's the thing she gave us to help track the Canine Warriors. It basically spins around and LOSES ITS MIND if you get close to a Canine Warrior. Should be useful, I guess. Apparently the priestess sensed five of them in the village, but couldn't be bothered to use the Canine Tracker to find them. Well, I guess she was kinda busy being possessed...
This doesn't sound good.
Oh, that really fills me with hope. Well, let's get this done, I guess.
Look, we found the first Canine Warrior! Sorry for the poor picture.
He was hiding in a cursed patch of ground where flowers usually grow, strangely enough. See how the Canine Tracker is freaking out? Yeah...it's an interesting thing to watch.
I just dug you out of some flowers and now you want food? Sheesh...
Nice to meet you, I guess. I could swear Issun said something inane about how he didn't think the Canine Warriors were actual dogs. You know, except they're called CANINE Warriors, and Princess Fuse gave us the CANINE Tracker, and YOU MADE A JOKE ABOUT PUPPIES YOURSELF. Idiot.
You go right ahead and do that.
So we kept searching, and next we found this suspicious bamboo tree...
Hey look, there's a dog inside! Somehow!
Is that some kind of terrier? I didn't think terriers would be very well-suited for warrioring. Oh well, clearly I was wrong.
And then I found the other Canine Warriors, who were in less ridiculous places. This one was in a cave!
That one looks like some kind of hound. I guess that makes sense.
And that one looks way too fluffy. Oh well. He was in a cave too. After I found him, Issun suggested we go talk to Princess Fuse again, but when we went to her house...
Uh oh. It's the fifth Canine Warrior! Look, he's missing an eye! He must be a TOUGH GUY.
Ugh, I know where this is going. Um, I know where there are a lot of demons you can practice on...
Dammit!
Well, the priestess gave it to us herself, so clearly she thought we were worthy...
Totally.
So we fought and I kicked Tei's doggy butt. It wasn't hard. I don't think he hit me once!
No, I, uh...my old war wound is flaring up. Old back injury, you see...
OH, I THOUGHT HE WAS JUST SOME RANDOM DOG HANGING AROUND THE HOUSE. SERIOUSLY, ISSUN.
I'm not fighting you again, dog. Just so you know.
You could hear Issun's stupidity all the way in the house? Gee, you must have ears like a bat.
No, ma'am, we would never fight a one-eyed dog...
Which means...what, exactly?
Tell me about it...hiding in caves, and flowers, and...bamboo trees...
Actually, I have a question. Why did you let them wander off in the first place? Presumably they could have protected the Gale Shrine from the intruders...
Hmm, I guess I didn't get a picture of the dogs' response. I'll sum up: Ruff ruff ruff, bark bark bark, we were too lazy to come back, growl growl growl.
Oh...okay then. You're not going to yell at them? But...oh well.
Okay. But we're still missing three Canine Warriors...
Dammit!
Okay, I guess that helps....
...They're not at least around the village? Argh.
Well, here's a poor screenshot of the Canine Warriors I've managed to find so far.
And that brings me to my stopping point. Come back next time for a heart-stopping tale of fear perpetuated by some giant birds masquerading as really nasty people!
See you next time, heroes!
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