LOZ: Okami 2

Chapter 1: Dragon of Darkness

Link and Issun are in Agata Forest as they near the exit to Shinshu Field. Link was taking in the sights. The forest was so big; it looked like the Faron Woods back at Hyrule except there is water covering the floor of the forest. Link starts out of the forest using the high road, since the low road has water and there was no boat, he finally catches his first glimpse of the magnificent field that lay before him. He starts running with Issun holding on for dear life.

“Hey! Where are you going? Stop!” Issun screamed.

Link slides to a stop. “What? Did I throw you off?”

“No, I’m the only one that knows where we’re going,” Issun breathes out, “so stop getting excited at the sight of everything.”

Link frowns but finally shrugs as he heads down the path towards the dojo. This dojo interested Link for the sign says ‘I’ll teach the art of fighting to anyone and anything.’
Anything? Does that include wolves? Issun was watching Link and decides to speak up.

“This is where Ammy trained herself to fight the demons as well as travel better and such. Want to give it a try?”

Link nearly jumps out of his fur. “Sure! In this body, I might as well learn to use it better.”

“Great! Let's go in.”

Issun leads Link into the dojo. Little did Link realize is that he would need the training for later.
_______

Back at Celetial Plains, Amaterasu was talking to Waka and the other twelve gods when a small, red, and white butterfly approaches them and a male voice is heard laughing.

“Well, well, leaving now are ya?” asked the voice.

Amaterasu rolls her eyes. “Hello, Izanagi. What is the guardian of life doing here?”

“Well, I am here to see you, of course. I wish to go with you and talk about something of great importance.” Said Izanagi. “I wish to speak with you as soon as possible.”

“Can’t this wait?”

“Now Mother Amaterasu, you are the God of sun created by the light who sacrificed himself to protect you. You remember his very last words, right?” Asked the king Izanagi.

Amaterasu sighs, “To listen to you for you are to a creator and guardian of life and will help guide me from the darkness, but the festival…”

Izanagi speaks up, “Great idea! I have always wanted to see the Kamiki Annual Festival. I’ll join you and we’ll talk along the way.”

Amaterasu decides to give in but as she was about to ask, something goes wrong. The sky becomes dark and the wind picks up speed. Suddenly a giant black dragon is scene above them. He flies directly at the group, which scatters in each direction. Waka, Amaterasu, Izanagi, and Tachigami, god of power slash, heads on to the Ark of Yamato and starts towards the earth. The dragon hits them with a powerful blast of darkness, and the ark starts to hurtles towards Kamiki below.
____

In Kamiki, it was still at least 6 hours before the festival would start. Link is lying in the grass to cool down after his intense training. Six days worth of training has finally paid off. He is now ready for anything that might happen while he is still a wolf. The elder, Mr. Orange, said that after the festival he would see what he could do for Link. Issun hops up to Link’s nearly lifeless lump and tackles him. Link feels nothing. Issun becomes enraged and shouts, “Get up! Lazy wolf! Move it! Help us get ready!”

Link smiles and thinks, “Bug off, bug. Can’t you see how sore I am after that training?”

Issun is hopping mad. “FINE! I’LL JUST GO AND HELP THEM OUT BY MYSELF! BUT JUST TO MAKE SURE YOU DON’T GET BORED!”

Issun spins and black ink spins around him. All of a sudden Link is lifted into the air by a green tornado and is thrown clear into the river. Link was caught off guard and swims to the surface, a look of deep shock on his face. Issun, obviously proud of himself, hopped off to help Kushi. Link swims out of the river and follows him, still shocked by what Issun did.

“How did you do that?” asked the now perplexed wolf, Link.

“I gained my powers by watching a friend named Amaterasu use them. Trust me, it took a lot of time and practice to get this good but I am nowhere as good as Ammy.”

Link smiles somewhat, realizing that he had been thrown by magic from a bug. Link looks around and admits to himself that now he is feeling a little guilty. Everyone else is working his or her fingers to the bone for this night and he is not doing anything to help.

“So, anyway I can help?” asked Link.

Issun jumps up onto Link’s nose. “I thought you’d never ask, mutt. You can help Susano over there get the firewood. Then you’ll be helping those two villagers over there get fruit from the trees as part of the feast for the festival.”

Link’s ears drop as he moans in a wolfish way. “This is going to be a long night.”

____

Later in the night, people were all crowding around, as Mr. Orange was about to announce the opening of the festival. Link was looking around as Issun points out those he recognized from his adventure. Link was very eager to see the festival and was quite glad he came.

“…and that’s Molster Leader, Moley, I hope he keeps his hands to himself,” Issun points out. “There is Sleepy the bear, he hardly ever wakes up. And over there are the Canine Warriors and Princess Fuse, those adventurous youths are Kokari and Mushi, they are the best of friends. I see Kaguya came back from her trip. I don’t think she’ll be staying though. That is Orca in the bay near the river. That swordsman with a mask is the Oina Warrior, Oki.”

Link was quite surprised. “Wow, you weren’t kidding when you said everyone was going to be here. I should show you Hyrule sometime.”

“As a traveling artist, I would be honored.”

Link smiles as he thinks about all these people and the possibilities of Issun coming to Hyrule. Needless to say, Issun sort of grew on him. Kushi has finished making the 8 Purification Sake for the gods and was now standing next to Susano. She gives a wave to Issun who also waves back, although she probably didn’t see it. Mr. Orange was just beginning his speech about the gods when Camellia screams suddenly.

“Look! Sister! Look!” She shouted, pointing at the sky.

Everyone looks up and screams and gasps are heard all around as out of the sky comes a burning ship. The Ark of Yamato was up in flames and hurtling to the bay below. Link’s ears perk up, never having seen such a sight in his life. He rushes to the water’s edge with Issun on his head. The ark crashes into the water, sending wave after wave in every direction. The fire slowly subsides as the splash in the water puts out the flames. Link, on Orca’s back, heads out to the ark to see a white wolf carrying a man with a falcon helmet, golden hair, and high sole shoes on her back. A small white rat with a sword and a butterfly on his head followed her. The wolf, rat, and butterfly all have red markings on their bodies.

“It’s Ammy! It is the Sun God, Amaterasu!” shrieked Issun

Link helped pull them onto Orca’s back and Orca carries them all to shore. Susano and Oki rush up to them and help carry the unconscious man and the tired white wolf away from the water.

“Amaterasu, what happened?” asked Susano as he and Oki place them on the grass.

Link comes up to them followed by the rat carrying the butterfly. Amaterasu raised her head weakly and lets out a small howl. Link raised his ears as words flushed into his head. 'I….I…was attacked….attacked by….Kuragari.' Amaterasu lowers her head to the ground and falls unconscious.

“Issun, who is Kuragari?” asked Link.

“Kuragari? What do you mean?”

Link looked confused. “Didn’t you hear what she said? She said Kuragari attacked her.”

“Link, she is a god. I can’t understand her even if I tried.”

Mushi was listening to Issun. “Who are you talking to?”

Issun looks up to Mushi, “I am talking to Link here. He seems to be able to hear Amaterasu.”

Susano nearly falls down upon hearing this. “W-well, don’t leave us in the dark, what happened?”

Issun thinks before speaking up, “She said that she was attacked by Kuragari. Who is he anyway?”

Here Link hears a squeak behind him and turns to see the rat with the wet butterfly STILL on his head. The rat had a small sword and had red swirls on his sides. His tail and red markings on his head match those of Amaterasu. The rat walks up to Amaterasu and lays the butterfly down on her head before turning to Link.

“I am quite surprised that you are able to hear me, strange human. Yes, I know who you really are, no need to be surprised. I see you are gifted to hear the word of the gods. I wonder if a god is responsible for giving you such ability. Allow me to introduce myself. I am the God of Power Slash, Tachigami and I bet you probably wondering what is going on. Well, before you can answer let me tell you. Kuragari is the Creator of the darkness, of evil, of all demons on this planet. He has constantly tried time and again to capture our beloved Mother Amaterasu who owes her life to the Guardian of Light who was destroyed years ago in order to seal away Kuragari. Now that seal is broken and this Black Dragon of Darkness has been gathering forces to capture her. He has even gone so far as to revive demons from her past to try and gain an edge on her. We were to come down here to look for help, but as you saw from the crashing of our beloved Ark of Yamato we were caught off guard. There are supposed to be 11 other gods and a few celestials with us but the four of us were the only ones who made it aboard the Ark when we were attacked. Understand?”

Link nods not sure what to say until he hears Issun yelling at him. “Hey! Come on! They took those three to Kushi’s house!”

Link looks up at Issun then back at Tachigami who was still staring at him through its small black eyes. Link was deep in thought but decided to go check up on the sleeping god. He turns his back on Tachigami and heads up to Kushi’s house with Tachigami staring after him. Suddenly he heard Tachigami squeak and heard a sound to his left side. He dodged as something flew past him, almost hitting him. Link decides that it was a demon after Amaterasu and jumps in front of Kushi’s house, blocking the doorway. A brown fox with grey tinge in its fur came into view. It carried two swords and a bag on its back. It pulls one of the swords into its mouth as Link hears it speaking to him. “I am Dorobou and I am here for the Sun God, Mother Amaterasu. Allow me to take her or suffer the consequences.”

Link answers in a growl. Dorobou nods understanding what Link is telling him and charges at Link. Issun who was hanging onto Link, unable to hear Dorobou shouts in panic and slashes the air with ink coming out. Suddenly Dorobou falls back as a slash came across his chest. Dorobou seeing Issun turns and runs for the path to Shinshu Field. Link stands there in shock before looking up at Issun. “Good job, Issun.”

“What is going on here?” shouts Issun.

“I’ll tell you as soon as we are inside.” Link turns and heads into the house, Tachigami still watching.

Meanwhile a dark figure floats overhead. Without making even a sound, it vanishes as the roar of a dragon can be heard far off.