Natasha had contacted Fury on a private line as soon as Thor and Loki had been beamed back up into the sky. She was far too tired to question the whys or hows of that particular method of transport and summed it up to be more dumb space god magic.
She had explained to the Director how Thor translated that the wolf, Amaterasu, wanted to learn more about the events leading up to the Battle of New York. Of course, that was classified intelligence, she wouldn't be able to disclose actual important information and locations of SHIELD property.
So imagine her surprise when Fury told her to go ahead, sending her phone an encrypted folder of files and information she would be able to relay to the canine. So, she had done so, leading the group of four to a specified safe house bugged pretty thoroughly with sensors and cameras.
Fury and Coulson had stayed on the line while Natasha and Clint had relayed the information. Barton would have been just as capable in explaining and assisting with the specifics, but Natasha had confided in Fury that she thought Clint had gotten a little too comfortable with the wolf a little too quickly. So Barton had been reduced to an accessory in the explanation, being forwarded the information package from Natasha to assist in the briefing.
Nick Fury and Phil Coulson spoke with one another as the four in the safe house went over the information package they had been provided.
"Coulson, pull up the map of the path that Fido took on her way through the Helicarrier. Don't show me yet though. Just keep an eye on it," Fury spoke.
"Yes, sir. Though I fail to see how this is relevant at the moment," Coulson replied, doing as he asked.
Fury had forwarded Nat an internal map of the Helicarrier, with a pathway highlighted on a map. The path specified was full of twists and turns, useless parts doubling back on oneself and making absolutely no sense. The path was a waste of time, and though it did eventually lead to Loki, it was not at all efficient. With the safe house under intense surveillance, and information being given to the canine through Steve, Natasha, and Clint, all Fury had to do was wait…
The moment that the wolf had been told the details of the path they had sent to Natasha that would theoretically lead to Loki, Fury turned to face Coulson.
"Pull up the path I sent to Romanoff, and overlay it with the route that Fido used when she broke into the Helicarrier," Fury spoke.
Phil Coulson raised an eyebrow and did as he was asked, the projection of both paths being settled side by side, and then the two images combined.
Coulson stared at the map.
Fury scowled at the map.
"Sir. Are you certain you didn't look at the path she took through the Helicarrier before now…?" Coulson asked.
"No, I did not," Fury ground out, clenching his glove as he stared daggers into the overlayed maps in front of him.
They were identical.
Fury had intentionally created a wild, useless and inefficient pathway for Natasha to explain to the canine, just on the off chance that something unnatural and amiss could occur. Coulson had verified that nothing had been stolen or damaged on the rush the wolf made through the Helicarrier, so Fury had opted to wait.
He was glad he did so.
"Sir… does this mean—" Coulson was cut off.
"I really fucking hope not," Fury spoke. He sighed and set a hand against his face, closing his eye as he paced slowly in front of Coulson, expressing a visibly frustrated look. Fury came to a stop, spread his fingers slightly and peered at Coulson through the gap in his fingers, staring at his Agent intently.
"Sir?" Coulson asked, confused and moderately concerned about the Director's behaviour. He was normally unphased by most things, and the things that bothered him were dealt with through containment or extermination.
"…on the off chance that we have a god-damn time-travelling magical wolf on our hands…" Fury started walking his way past Coulson, the leather of the Director's outfit brushing by the agent. He stopped at the entrance to the room and looked over his shoulder, narrowing his eye at the Agent.
"…I will consider adding dog food to the Avenger's budget," Fury ground out. Coulson smiled lightly in reply, to which Fury merely rolled his eye, turned, and made his way out into the hallway.
"Oh, and Coulson. Bring your ass back to the medical bay so they can take another look at you. Just to be sure you don't have head trauma or something," Fury said as he made his way down the hallway.
"Sir, my leg is healed. I feel fine, I don't think—" Coulson cut himself off as Fury levelled him another stern look, raising an eyebrow at the agent.
"Your ass. Medical bay. Now." Fury spoke.
He turned and left a moment later, his boots echoing down the hallway as he headed off to go run more damage control. He had to take his mind off of gods, magical animals, and aliens for a little while. What next, people with bug powers? Maybe a person with the ability to control squirrels?
Fury scoffed at the thought.
~{O}~{O}~{O}~
Following the rather sudden and very unappreciated bath in the cold river, Amaterasu had shaken herself off and made her way back to the safe house that Natasha, Steve, and Clint were staying in for the night. She had sat around the corner of the block, waiting until her past self had teleported out of the building and taken off into the night.
Ammy watched her former self leave, and waited for a few moments, before padding her way up to the door. She stared for a moment before coming to a decision, tapping and scratching at the door with her paws. She kept this up for half a minute, cocking her ears forward as she heard movement within the house.
With someone approaching the door, Amaterasu raced around to the back of the house and teleported her way through the wall, ending up in one of the bedrooms. She crept out of the bedrooms and made her way toward the living room, completely silent as she came to stop at the end of the table facing the door.
As the door opened and Steve Rogers stood in the doorway, Ammy struggled to keep herself quiet. She watched Steve duck out the door, checking both directions. She kept her muzzle sealed shut, her tail just giving the barest flick against the floor as she waited.
The two spies faced the door, curiosity directing their gazes away from where the wolf was seated. Suddenly, Natasha stiffened slightly, tilted her head, and looked to her left, staring straight at Amaterasu for a moment. She smirked and gave the wolf a wink, before turning her attention back to the door. Ammy took that moment to tilt her head, perking her ears forward. She looked curious as if she had been seated there the whole time.
"Steve? Who was at the door?" Natasha asked innocently, leaning back into the couch and watching as Steve walked back into the room, looking over his shoulder. The super soldier walked back into the room, rubbing his face with a palm, exhausted from the rather long day.
"No one. I think that—" Steve paused, looking up at the end of the table from between his fingers. "I thought right," he walked forward and set his hands on his hips, looking right at Ammy and shaking his head with a small smile.
Clint turned his head to see what Steve had been looking at and recoiled hard, sending himself halfway across the couch with a rather unflattering noise as he came face-to-face with 200 pounds of large white wolf, her tongue poked out in a little blep right beside him.
"Don't do that!" Clint huffed, the spy sitting himself up on the couch and brushing off his clothing, smoothing it down as best as he could to try and regain some of his dignity. He couldn't help but try and fight off the smile trying to spread on his face though, instead turning his attention towards the smirking Natasha.
"Aw, what's wrong, Barton? I thought you liked dogs," Nat teased. She reached over and pat the large canine on the head, to which Ammy crossed her eyes and looked up, trying to look at the offending appendage.
Steve walked by the couch, reaching over to grab his leather jacket and his shield. He walked past the large white wolf and reached down to pat the back of her neck and shoulder, before heading to the rooms.
"I'm going to sleep, it's been… a day," Steve sighed. He reached one of the rooms down the hallway and turned to face the three still in the living room. He raised an eyebrow questioningly, to which the other two spies nodded lightly. They would be fine, he could rest.
It didn't take long after Steve had left for Clint and Natasha to turn to bed soon as well, each one moving to a separate room, leaving Amaterasu in the living room, curled up on the couch, her tail covering her nose as she slept.
Natasha and Clint didn't sleep of course. Not for the first two hours, waiting and listening for anything strange. Clint was the first to sleep, texting Nat to wake him up in two hours.
So, the pair exchanged watch shifts, occasionally heading out to check on the wolf in the living room, before going back to sleep, swapping out for one another until the sun rose.
After the final shift, Natasha woke up at 7:30 in the morning, ready to get the day underway. She made her way into the kitchen to turn on the coffee maker, yawning softly. The smell of coffee quickly roused Clint and Steve, the duo heading out a few minutes later.
They glanced at the couch, looking over the massive snoring form of the wolf sprawled out across the sofa. She was on her back, legs splayed out in all directions, and her head hanging over the edge of the couch, her tongue lolling out the side of her mouth.
"Fury wants us to keep an eye on her," Nat said softly, not more than a whisper. The Director had sent a message out to Clint and Natasha, as well as several other trusted individuals within SHIELD, tasking them with keeping an eye on the wolf. "Who wants to babysit?"
"Can't, I've gotta head out, and I'm not exactly going to be able to take care of some magic wolf," Clint spoke softly, leaning over the counter and away from the wolf. "Mission by Fury," Clint added, tilting his head slightly to the side, to which Natasha immediately understood. He was going to his home and spending time with his wife after the whole incident.
"I can do it," Steve answered. He leaned himself against the wall and crossed his arms, nodding to the canine but not looking at her. "I heard she fought Loki to a standstill. No offence, but I don't want you two dealing with that on your own."
"Guys?" Clint tried to interrupt, but Natasha cut him off.
"Oh? Don't think we can handle it?" Nat raised an eyebrow challengingly.
"Guys…" Barton tried again.
"That's not what I meant. I just don't want someone to get hurt if she—" Steve was cut off.
"Guys!" Clint snapped, nudging Natasha and interrupting Steve. They both turned to look at the archer, looking almost offended he interrupted them. Before they could open their mouths, he shifted to the side a little and pointed to the couch. "She's gone."
Sure enough, the couch that had been covered in snoring and drooling wolf was empty, some white fur left behind as the only evidence she had been there. The trio looked around the house immediately after, but couldn't find any trace of the large lupine. She had vanished.
"Well, shit," Clint swore.
"Language," Steve replied automatically. He had the good graces to look a little embarrassed as the two spies slowly turned to look at him. Nat crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, while Clint just blinked at him for a moment.
"Well… Mr. Responsibility, looks like you get to find her then!" Natasha said all bubbly, throwing off Steve. "After all, you wouldn't want us getting hurt by the big bad wolf, right?" She smirked, making her way to the front door.
"You've got our numbers. Let us know if you find her or need help," Clint followed soon after, holding a mug of coffee in his hands.
The two left the super soldier alone in the safe house. Steve stood there for a moment before grumbling to himself. He returned to his room, putting on a ball cap and some sunglasses as his fantastic disguise. He left the shield in the room, heading out the front door and locking it behind him. The solid shunk of the metal bolts sliding into place around the frame of the building reassured him that his possessions would be secure for the time being.
He set off into the city, hoping to find one rather large wolf in the massive city of New York. How hard could it be?
~{O}~{O}~{O}~
Ammy yawned as she made her way through the early morning streets of New York City. Now that she was not actively trying to stop an alien invasion, repair buildings, heal people, or hide to recover, she really took the time to take in her surroundings.
The city was far from what she had been used to previously. Instead of short buildings with maybe three floors at most, she tilted her head back, counting the levels well into the double digits, watching the buildings scrape the sky. Instead of large, plentiful trees littering the area and towering above everything, she was lucky to see a small box of flowers or a short sapling on a street.
The wolf raised her head, inhaling the early morning air. It smelled… dirty. Confusing in a sense, there were far too many mixing scents. Her ears perked up, listening to the sounds of footsteps and car horns, the city looking and sounding almost identical as it did in the night. If it weren't for the sun rising, it would be easy to lose track of the time of day.
It was all overwhelming. There was too much going on, and without something to really focus her attention, she found herself constantly switching between things to focus on. She looked over the bright yellow cars in the streets, and then to the tall reflective buildings towering into the sky. She then focused on the people, all kinds of colours and shapes and scents filling the streets. Different languages and voices and emotions.
A loud series of beeping and clunking and grinding caught her attention, and the wolf weaved her way through the throngs of people, some reaching out to pet her as they walked by, utterly unphased by the massive wolf padding through the city. She came around the edge of a building and caught the site of a massive yellow device on wheels using some kind of a bucket on an arm to scoop up chunks of rock from broken buildings and empty it out into an equally large truck.
She watched the people work for a moment, before moving on to the next street over, finding one of those massive alien Leviathans draped across a couple of shorter buildings, hanging over the street menacingly. The body was being shifted around by a tall structure with a large metal arm and a hook on it, watching the body slowly shift until it fell to the empty street with an earth-shaking crash, kicking up dirt and rocks and dust.
The wolf continued further down the road, away from the loud noises. She followed her nose this time, the smell of cooking meat tempting her, making her painfully aware that she hadn't taken the time to actually eat anything since she had been on the Helicarrier. She likely didn't need to eat, but… food was good!
She wandered her way up past a duo of people with their phones out, pointing them at the large wolf and talking in excited whispers, and came upon a short stand with an equally short man behind it. An umbrella stood tall over the cart while what looked like sausage rotated on some kind of metal rollers.
She listened to the man shouting something about a "breakfast dog" before pushing upward, planting her paws on the edge of the cart and looking over it at the man. She huffed and took in the scents and sight, licking her chops as she loomed over the rotating wieners.
"Oi, paws off!" The man barked, waving at her muzzle with some metal-looking tool. She hopped back and away from the swinging implement, instead trotting around to the side of the cart to look up at the man.
"Ey, I've got nothin' for ya. Shoo ya big mutt," The grizzled-looking man grumbled out, waving his hand away at the canine.
Ammy ignored him, instead looking over the rough-looking male. He stood tall with broad shoulders and wide arms, and an even bigger gut. He was round but not unhealthy and looked like he could handle himself given the littering of scars on his arms and one along his jaw.
The man huffed and stepped toward her, limping as he took several steps closer. He looked down at her, raising an eyebrow as he brought a hand to his chin.
"You look familiar…" He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, typing on it for a moment and then holding it up to his face, squinting, and then lowering it as he glanced between it and the wolf. "You, uh, that dog on the news?"
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Ammy replied with an affirmative bark, her tail wagging lightly on the sidewalk as she shuffled forward slightly. The man squinted and sighed, before reaching onto his cart, grabbing one of those delicious-smelling meat sticks, and tossed it to the wolf. The canine snapped it up happily, the food gone in mere moments and gave a happy little "wurf" in appreciation.
"There, now get goin, you're gonna scare off my customers," the man spoke. He limped his way back to his chair and sat down with a sigh, turning away from the wolf.
Ammy looked at him for a moment, and then used her Bloom brush technique on him, using her magic to help the man recover his energy and heal whatever soreness and minor injuries were on him. He shuddered and blinked, looking more alert as he sat up.
He turned to the side to look at the wolf, only to find the large canine already padding away, her tail wagging happily as she marched on to the next destination. The man looked up, seeing an older-looking woman with her phone out, panning away from the retreating form of the wolf and back to the hot dog stand. The man raised an eyebrow and the woman startled slightly, before turning and making her way down the street away from the wolf.
Amaterasu, meanwhile, weaved between the legs of everyone, occasionally pausing to lean into the hands of strangers petting her. However, the attention became a little too much and slowed her down, so eventually, she ducked into an alleyway. She glanced around and then pushed magic into her body, pushing down hard as she leaped upward.
She launched herself into the air between two buildings, pushing off the air and planting all fours paws on the wall, before launching up and away to the other wall, bounding between them as she made her way up, before finally clearing the edge and landing on the roof, paws scattering some of the gravel.
Now that she was above the organized chaos of the streets, Ammy made her way over to the edge of the building, looking down upon the city. She felt slightly claustrophobic as she looked around, tall buildings as far as she could see, occasionally broken up by a river or a small park of trees. She turned and blinked, suddenly recalling the previous day. There had been a large park at the center of the city, that was peaceful and somewhat clean!
The wolf set her new goal and decided to push herself a little this morning. She gave a long yawn and stretched herself out, claws digging into the gravel roof. She leaped forward, quickly gaining speed and launched herself off the roof, magic assisting her physical abilities.
The wolf flew upwards several floors and rotated herself, planting her paws on the side of one of the tall buildings. She raced along the side as quickly as she could, gravity slowly pulling her lower and lower with every passing second before she jumped again, pushing away from the building and then pushing off the air, throwing herself high up again, landing on another building.
She raced above the streets as well as she could, trying to keep her balance as she ran, her magic slowly draining. However, she was upon the massive park soon enough, launching herself from halfway up a building and plummeting toward the ground, giving a happy howl as she soared through the air.
Amaterasu landed near the middle of the park, her jump and speed having sent her flying above the trees and pathways, landing in a semi-open clearing, leaving claw marks and digging up trails as she slid to a stop. The wolf looked around and gave a happy bark, before turning her attention to the upturned earth, quickly using her magic to cover up the damage and help the grass grow at an accelerated rate, leaving nothing behind. The wolf took a moment to shake herself off, cleaning her fur of any dirt that could have landed in it due to the impact, and began making her way through the park.
There was some kind of tug on her being as she meandered around, a warm feeling growing in her middle as she padded her way along the paths. She grew more and more excited as she moved, starting to lope her way forward.
She barked excitedly, speeding up a little and turning a corner, before coming to a screeching stop. Her jaw dropped and she looked upon the sight in disbelief.
Sitting in the middle of a clearing, standing out from the normal nature and structures of the park, was a shrine. Her shrine. It called to her, and pulled her toward it. She looked upon the stonework, the plants growing along it, the big planters holding trees that leaned over the central pathway and made shade.
Her shrine… was a pile of garbage. The stone was cracked, the flowers wilted, vines spidering up the walls. The central wooden building was small and rotting away, with paint peeling and wood shredded. The pathway was crumbling, littered with small stones and chunks of garbage. There was even some graffiti on one of the walls inside!
Amaterasu looked around the exterior of the shrine, padding around through the tall grass. A sense of warmth and belonging washed over her. She backed away for a moment, squinting her eyes as she looked hard at the grass around the shrine, and then the grass under her paws, before moving closer. There was a noticeably different quality and feel to the plants and area immediately around the shrine. If one looked closely you could almost see the outwardly radiating change of colour in the grass, slowly spreading further out.
Ammy wagged lightly in approval and made her way back under the crumbling arch, briefly flexing her will on reality to use her brush on the arch, the cracked and crumbling stone filling in, becoming more stable and solid.
The wolf climbed up the short steps to the rather small building, making her way inside. There wasn't much inside the building, just two short tables with offering bowls, and the shredded remains of paper lanterns strewn across the floor. In the center of the room lay what looked like a worn-out dog bed, just the little cherry on top of the sad state of the shrine.
Amaterasu huffed to herself and sniffed around the room a little, using Rejuvenation on the paper lanterns, and then carrying them over to set them on the tables. Finally, she moved over to the middle of the room and flopped herself down on the dog bed, yawning and stretching a little as she took it all in.
This sucked. She was the Goddess of the Sun! She couldn't have her shrine looking like this! She had standards. What those standards may be, she didn't know, but they were a thing.
So she got to work, using her Celestial Brush to wash through the small courtyard, stirring up dead leaves and grass and weeds. She wasn't really too sure if she had a brush technique for what she was doing, so she just focused on intent. She intended to clean everything up, and her magic seemed to follow… for the most part.
She made her way around the outside first, going over the cracked stone walls with her Rejuvenation ability to seal the cracks in the walls and bring colour back to the stonework. She clamped her teeth down on ugly-looking weeds and yank them out, before using Bloom to cover them with strong and healthy-looking grass.
She continued her way upward, leaping up onto the edge of the wall and using her magic to sweep all the dirt and debris from the top. She guided any loose shingles back into place and then used her magic to restore their former look and secure position.
Little by little she worked her way inward, pausing only to clamp her jaws around the base of the dead and rotting trees. She growled, using magic to enhance her form, gripping the bark firmly and tearing the small dead tree out of the ground. She then wrenched her head and tossed it over the walls with a grunt. She repeated this process, leaving the four tree sections bare, along with the dried-up flowerbeds lining the inside of the wall.
Finally, she examined the entire shrine carefully, repairing the stone pathway, bringing the dying grass to life, and repairing the rotting wood. It had been nearly three hours by the time she had finished up her repairs and cleaning, ending the cleanup by hefting up the dirty old dog bed and throwing it through the front gate, adding to the pile of debris.
Ammy huffed and took a moment to use her magic on herself, the exhaustion and exertion from the past several hours melting away in an instant. She took a moment to sit at the entrance to the shrine and hummed in appreciation at the bright red paint and tiles, and the lovely dark wood and the stone walls, the accenting colours pleasing the wolf greatly.
There was something missing though…
Amaterasu eyed the plain stone walls and padded up to them. She lifted a paw and pressed it against the stone, looking over it for a moment. Maybe some cherry trees? A mural of Nippon? She could envision a large and sprawling painting of her previous world encircling the walls of the shrine, carrying a bit of her old world into this new one! Maybe—
"Looks pretty good," Steve spoke from behind her.
Amaterasu let out a startled yelp and panicked, magic flooding her form in the same instant she jumped in surprise, causing the canine to hurtle through the air. She sailed absurdly high, tail flailing behind her as she cartwheeled through the air, taking several seconds to fall, eventually landing right in the middle of the old dog bed in the pile of dirt and garbage.
The impact kicked up a cloud of dirt, immediately obscuring the wolf in a brown-grey pile of dust. Ammy staggered her way to her paws, blinking the dust out of her eyes and she gazed owlishly at Steve Rogers, who was trying very hard not to laugh at the wolf.
Ammy huffed and leaped off the pile, landing on all fours in front of the super soldier. She looked at him for a long moment, before shaking herself off hard, a cloud of dirt flying off of her and around her instead. After violently shaking herself off, she looked back to Steve and shamelessly sneezed in amusement as she looked at his dust-covered form.
"…I deserved that," Steve eventually said, reaching down to use his shirt and wipe his face clean. He brushed off his clothing as best as he could, making him look like he'd been helping the wolf reconstruct the shrine for the last few hours.
Ammy sat down right in front of him and gave a happy little bark, wagging her tail as she looked at Steve, and then turned her attention back to the shrine, humming happily as she gazed at it for a moment.
"Hm… Needs a little colour, maybe a mural. What do you think?" Steve asked, looking at the walls of the shrine. The wolf barked an affirmative and wagged lightly.
Before Steve's very eyes, he watched the wolf shift slightly, and then an image appeared on the wall to the right of the gate. A fairly sloppy-looking paw print appeared in ink on the wall, the lines all squiggly and disproportionate.
Ammy gave a sheepish little huff and willed it away with a flex of her magic, shaking her head. She glanced up at Steve and then looked back at the walls, deciding to try something a little different. She used her magic and attempted to use it in a more complicated manner.
Ammy closed her eyes and tried to think up what she wanted to paint on the wall. An ancient-looking village shimmered into view on the wall in a classic painted style. Short outlines of people came into existence through the village, alongside what looked like a small dog, a river, and a waterfall. Behind it all sat a tall outcropping of rocks, and, towering above it all, a massive tree.
The tree itself stretched across the width of the wall, detailed cherry blossoms and pink petals covering the wall from end to end, the roots of the tree coming out of the rocks periodically. The people in the village were alive. They were wandering around the village, interacting with one another, and going about their daily tasks. A woman stood in a small rice field, tending to her crops. A small dog ran around an equally small boy, the duo attempting to dig up vegetables from a woman's garden.
She took it all in, watching the water flow and the leaves on the tree flutter down and sway in the breeze. Every little detail slowly grew more and more realistic, until she was essentially looking down at the village from atop a hill, viewing this world and all its detail closely.
Steve was stunned. The image was coming to life in front of his very eyes. Suddenly, a huff caught his attention. Amaterasu blinked and staggered to the side a little, losing her concentration. Steve looked back and watched the scene melt away from the wall, slowly fading out of existence.
Ammy had seen it moments before it faded though, and a short, desperate whine escaped the deity. Steve watched the wolf that had gone toe-to-toe with Loki slowly pad up to the wall. She didn't look like some big powerful creature that could fight alongside the rest of the Avengers. She just looked… sad. Her ears were folded back, her tail drooping as she moved to place a paw against the wall, claws gently scraping against it.
Steve Rogers walked up beside the wolf, making sure to drag his feet a little so that the wolf could hear his approach. He moved to set his hand at the base of her neck between her shoulders and pet her gently, gaining the wolf's attention.
"Why don't we go get some paints and see about decorating the place properly?" He asked. Steve grinned as the wolf perked up a little bit, her tail giving a little wag as she looked back at the former soldier and leaned into the petting slightly.
~{O}~{O}~{O}~
Steve walked back to the middle of Central Park with four cans of paint in his hands, eyes following the disguised form of Amaterasu as she trotted in front of him happily, a bag of brushes and other paint supplies hanging from her jaws.
He had given her a paint can to hold, only to blink as he watched the can vanish. He assumed it was still there, and disguised, similar to the magic that the wolf had used to make the scene on the wall. He wasn't at all aware of the paint cans being pulled into some sub-dimension accessible only to the canine.
He watched the wolf disguised as a German Shepherd wag happily in front of him, leading him back to the shrine. He had noticed that someone would occasionally snap a picture of the wolf and had asked if she could disguise herself like a dog they had passed along the way to the store.
Surprisingly, she could, and Steve had found himself moving through New York with a German Shepherd by his side, the disguised pair gaining no attention aside from the occasional stranger going "awh" at the sight of the dog carrying the grocery bag.
When he had asked how exactly the wolf could do that, Steve saw a brief illusion of Loki flicker to life in front of him and shrug, before disappearing again. A brief moment of panic filled him at the thought that Loki was the wolf, but a quick pat on the head and a little joke at the Asgardian's expense quickly reassured him. Loki would have tried to stab him had he heard Steve call him "some sort of hipster Napoleon." Yeah… he needed to work on his creative insults.
Once the pair had reached the shrine, Steve and Ammy had set down the paint cans and supplies, laying them all out on a tarp on the grass, and had gotten to work. Ammy used her magic to create an illusion and the pair made adjustments and discussed the image, before settling on a design and started painting. They decided to start with something simple and began with the houses and the outlines of the village Ammy had shown before.
Over the hours the pair worked, gradually making progress. Steve worked on the fine details on the wall and get in close, while Ammy used her mouth to hold the handles of the brush and rollers and make large and broad movements.
The pair had taken a break around noon and had gone on the search for lunch. Well, it was more like Steve had followed Ammy as she bounded through the city, a location clearly on her mind. She had dropped her disguise as she approached a hot dog stand, much to Steve's mild amusement. He watched the wolf bark excitedly and come up to the stand owner, who rolled his eyes at the wolf and nudged her away with a hand.
Steve had pulled out his wallet and paid for a meal for the two. He recognized the way the owner of the stand carried himself and the subtle way he glanced around when the construction in the city was a little too loud, an explosion in the distance distracting him just a little more than most people should be.
Steve had thanked the man for his service, and when he had received a raised eyebrow, Steve had lowered his sunglasses and removed his baseball cap for a moment, the look of recognition from the man leading to a nod in return from the super soldier.
Ammy had missed the whole interaction, instead far too busy wolfing down her meal with a wagging tail and poor table manners. When Steve had handed the hot dog stand owner the money for their meals, the man had merely looked down at the bills in his hand, glanced up at Steve, and with a grunt and a nod, returned half of the bills to the super soldier.
With lunch done and a quick pat on the head from the stand owner to Ammy, the pair returned to their work at the shrine. Time passed quickly, and before they had known it, the sun was beginning to set. But they had finished.
The scene wasn't nearly as detailed as the illusion had been, but it had its own personality and appeal to it. Steve hadn't felt this relaxed and at peace in ages, enjoying creating art in a calm area surrounded by nature. The presence of the canine and the area around the shrine just felt right.
The pair stood back, covered in paint and grass as they admired their work.
The style of the artwork was definitely unique, with rough swirls and paint streaks visible throughout the work. The water was messy and choppy coming from the waterfall, but it was meant to be. The leaves on the trees were uneven but looked like they were shifting in the wind. The people seemed unbalanced and off at first until one realized they were all doing their own little thing and living their lives, adding life to the painting.
It looked right.
Ammy walked up to the wall and reared back on her paws, standing on her hind legs as she reached up and planted her paw against the painting. She pulled her paw away and left behind a perfect pawprint at the base of the massive cherry tree atop the cliff.
Steve watched as Ammy trotted up to him and then circled behind him, nudging the back of his legs with her shoulder and shoving the super soldier forward toward the wall. Steve glanced at the wolf in confusion, before she rolled her eyes and used her magic to briefly circle a plain area beside her pawprint, and then scribble in it.
Steve understood as she dispelled the illusion and moved to dip his brush in black paint, only to be stopped by the canine. Before he could even ask, the wolf flicked her tail around and brushed the black tip against his brush, before pulling away and leaving the bristles of the brush covered in black ink.
He didn't even question it at this point. Instead, Steve moved to sign his name beside the pawprint, the fancy penmanship contrasting the chaos of the painting beside the large wolf print.
The canine gave an approving bark and leaned forward, pressing her nose against the painted wall. A shimmer of light washed over the wall for a moment and then vanished again. The wolf stared at the surface for a moment, trying to see if the painting had indeed become part of the shrine.
Then, she hurled a can of paint at it.
Steve's heart leapt into his throat for a moment as he watched the red paint splatter across the wall, slowly running down the surface and ruining the image they had worked so hard on. Then, as the paint rolled lower, he saw the painting underneath was unaffected.
Satisfied, the wolf used her magic to wash over the paint and allow the grass to return to its proper colour. The duo set about cleaning up the painting supplies, and when the super soldier tried to grab the handles, the supplies vanished into thin air. Steve wisely decided not to question it, instead just accepting the oddity of the wolf before him.
"I think we did a fine job." Steve finally spoke, giving a soft sigh of contentment as the pair looked at the finished painting. Ammy barked an affirmative and padded her way into the shrine area.
The sun was setting as Steve followed the canine up to the short building, ducking inside and gazing around the plain but clean-looking room. He felt a nudge against his hand and looked down to see Amaterasu holding a sketchbook and a set of pencils in her maw, offering them to Steve. He forgot he bought those.
"Ah, I enjoyed drawing and sketching when I was younger. Haven't had a chance to recently, been too busy catching up with everything I missed." He spoke, reaching down to take the offered items. He stood quietly for a moment before opening up the fresh sketchbook. He set the sketch pencils on the table and picked one up, glancing at the wolf. "Want me to draw anything? Maybe sketch you real quick? I'm a little out of practice."
The wolf "wuffed" softly and nudged the soldier's hip with her nose, before making her way to the center of the room. She looked up at him and sat upright nice and tall, flicking her tail forward to wrap it around her front paws, angling herself slightly.
"Just sit like that for a few minutes," Steve spoke quietly, already working his pencil across the page.
As Ammy sat, she thought to herself for a moment, before using her magic once again.
Steve glanced up as he continued to trace and work, eyes flickering over the red markings in her fur and around her eyes, making sure to get all the details. He suddenly noticed what looked like a small green light resting on her forehead, though upon looking closer it looked like a really small person with a large hat and a sword.
Steve ignored the way the wolf's eyes lingered on the small form standing on her head and continued to work, the sounds of the city silent in the shrine. The only thing to be heard was quiet breathing and the sound of a pencil across the page.
"There, all done," Steve spoke.
Ammy blinked herself back into focus, shaking her head a little and raising a paw to rub at her face. The illusion on her head was gone, but the red markings remained. Definitely a new addition to the wolf, but it looked natural and normal to Steve. He felt as if he just hadn't noticed it before.
He turned the book around to show Ammy and smiled lightly at the approving bark and wag of her tail. Her eyes looked over her form on the paper, and then looked down at herself and her sides as if comparing them. She leaned in and nosed at the paper lightly, pressed against the small figure drawn atop her head, and then ducked around the book to sit beside Steve, leaning against his side and looking up at him with a little "wurf."
"I'll leave the book here, okay? We can work on more drawings tomorrow. Sound good?" He asked. The wolf seemed to agree as she moved her way to the middle of the room and curled up in a little ball, facing the entrance to the shrine as she shifted and got comfortable.
Steve set the book down on one of the tables in the building and stepped over toward the entrance. He looked outside to the setting sun, yet feeling warmth still beating down on him from within the vicinity of the shrine.
He paused for a moment, before shrugging off his leather jacket. He stepped closer to the large canine, who opened her eyes and tilted her ears questioningly at the man. He moved to lay his jacket over top of her, adjusting it a little to make sure she was covered.
"I'm gonna need that back tomorrow," Steve laughed.
He grinned, moving his hand to ruffle up the canine's head lightly. He heard the wolf's tail thumping as he left the shrine, making his way back to the safe house. He wasn't worried about her taking off. If she did, he would know where to find her. It wasn't like she was exactly inconspicuous in the city, and Fury would be able to give him new location updates based on the photos people took and posted to social media.
The wolf glanced up and watched with intelligent gold eyes as the man walked out under the arch of her shrine. Ammy sighed and nuzzled her nose a little further into her tail as she yawned, blinking her eyes closed, feeling warm and safe and secure in her new home.
Maybe this new place wouldn't be so bad after all.