Title: Heart of Amaterasu
Author Notes: Note much to say. Just read and review!
It was a relatively quiet night. At least, in Sora's case it was. He was lounging indolently in the gummiship watching the planets streak by without a single hint of a heartless attack. The gummiship swerved among the stars as Sora steered with practiced expertship (Happens after a crash or two. Or a dozen.).
Donald and Goofy, too, were enjoying the rare peace that pervaded the small ship and were slumbering peacefully in their seats. Sora, though tired to the bone, could not sleep and took to manning the ship despite his friends' protest. It had been two hours since that argument and he now wished he would've given in to their demands. He let his hand shift as he fell into a doze. The wheel wavered, steering the small gummiship into an unseen tunnel along the path.
The change in scenery snapped Sora awake; the ship was zooming down a small, dark tunnel that had obviously not seen a ship for centuries on end. He yawned and turned the ship around to backtrack to the main speedway. Just then, the short-lived silence was shattered by the sound of a heartless laser that collided with the gummiship wing.
The blast hurtled the small ship down the tunnel, spinning till it halted. Sora felt instinct kick start his sleep-deprived body and he immediately gunned the engine and sped down the dark tunnel. The blast had awakened his two companions, and they instinctively manned the lasers. The heartless pursuers were of high-rank and fast, easily dodging the gummiship's attacks. 'Lasers that will hit anything that moves, my foot, gramps.' Sora thought.
"No use trying to hit them." Donald stated and sqwaked agitatedly as Sora showed off some risky flying maneuvers. "Sora!" The duck scolded, clenching his seat before he could be flung off. Goofy, not as reflexive as Donald, clumsily fell to the floor with an 'Oof.' Sora smirked confidently, seeing the heartless disappear in the dark tunnel.
"It got rid of them, didn't it?" He laughed, "Besides, Cid, designed this ship to take acrobatics." Then, in fate's sense of dark hunour, the wing exploded and sended the ship in to a twirl, the shower of sparks illuminating the tunnel. Sora gripped the wheel, trying to straighten the ship as the engine screamed and sputtered smoke. He mentally cursed Cid as he registered that saving the ship was futile.
Then the ship lurched, and he collided head first into the control panel. The impact tore through Sora's senses leaving him dazed and on the brink of conciousness. He looked up, the movement itself made his head feel like it was being cleaved, and stared at the tunnel. He saw the faint shimmer of a planet before the darkness of unconsciousness took hold.
The soft twitters of sparrows roused Sora from the black that consumed his mind. For a split second he thought he was back at Destiny Islands, napping on the warm beach before the realization of what happened pierced his hopes like a dagger. He opened his eyes and closed half a minute later.
The sky was so bright that it caused lights to pop in his head. He sat up, opening his eyes slowly and took in the world before him. He was in a lush field that extended to a bridge guarded by statue phoenixes that were engulfed in ruby red flame. Large trees that extended to the clouds dotted the field; it gave the plains a feeling of antique pristine that had never been touched by human hands. He cautiously got up, and felt his head throb in protest. He shook it off, and scanned the field for Donald and Goofy. He didn't have to look far.
"Sora!" His friends cried in unison, running to him. Sora eeped as they piled on him and checked the scab on his head.
"What happened?" He asked as Donald cured his wound. He muttered something about 'reckless' and 'show off' and Sora smiled sheepishly.
"Well, Sora, you blacked out. We couldn't see anything cause the lights were knocked out. It was lucky we landed on this planet nearby." Goofy said curiously examining place, "Gawrsh, sure is a lonely place. No heartless, even."
"Where's the ship?" Sora questioned, and prepared himself for the worst. Goofy pointed upward and Sora gasped. The ship was held by the many branches in a sturdy tree beside them; the wings were completely destroyed and it seemed like sheer luck was the only thing that kept the hull together.
Suddenly, the branches gave and the group scrambled out of the path of the falling wreckage of metal. The hull crashed to the ground in a cloud of dust and a creak of metal. The once proud, Cid-certified, ship of the elite King Mickey, was reduced to nothing more than scrap metal.
"Why is it that we're more in danger of your flying than when we're battling heartless?" Donald sighed.
"Hey! He told me that these parts would work better than others twice their price."
"You believed him? And you messed with the gummiship?" Donald said, agitation ruffling his feathers. Sora winced, he couldn't help himself to tinker a bit with the ship.
"Well I saved some munny didn't I?" At this remark, Donald erupted into a frenzy of squawks. Goofy moved from the scene quickly, knowing how heated Donald's and Sora's arguments got. He rummaged through the wreckage and looked for something of use. After digging for a bit, he uncovered the radio which managed through the crash with a couple of scratches.
"Hey look, fellas! I found something!" Goofy yelled as he turned on the radio. Sora and Donald, argument forgotten, stood beside Goofy as the radio crackeled into life. A crude voice wafted from the speakers.
"Whaddya want kid?" The voice, obviously Cid, said.
"Sora crashed the ship again." Goofy said and Sora was about to protest had not the speaker literally erupt with obcsentities. Goofy waited till Cid quieted to speak. "We need someone to pick us up as soon as possible.
"As soon as possible, eh? Well with the defense at Hallow Bastion malfunctionin' and an increase in heartless, I'd say the earliest would be in two weeks." With that said, Cid cut the connection. Sora backed away from the soon to implode Donald.
"Well," Sora said, his voice ringing with his usual optimism. "we're here for a reason. We might as well see if we're needed." He looked at the dirt path ahead of him and, with a grumbling Donald in tow, they began to walk.
It had nearly been an hour since their fateful crash and the only life the trio had spotted were the occasional boar or rabbit. Just as the bridge came into view, however, the peace was shattered by a scream. The trio turned, drawing their weapons and looked quizically at the scene before them. A man with a large bag of mail was being chased by a scroll that was alit with green flames.
"Demon! Run for it!" The man yelled, whizzing past the stunned trio. Sora was so absorbed in the absurd man's ranting that he barely noticed the scroll overtaking them.
He felt an icy chill run down his back and a dark barrier, much like the essence of heartless, surround them. Suddenly, he felt as if were made out of stone and even twitching took much effort. Sora didn't know it but he was trapped in a heavy curse. The curse emanted from a shadowy being that faintly resembled one of the primate heartless Sora fought deep within Tarzan's jungle; these beings, instead, were more grotesque and hid their faces behind blood painted masks. Sora mentally called for his keyblade which faithfully appeared in it's master's hands.
The six imps circled their prey and drew their weapons too; the weapons seemingly harmless instruments. The keyblade master glanced at bloodspatters on one of the imps' flutes. 'Doesn't look like they want to play us a tune,' Sora thought grimly. The imps stopped their feverish chattering and waited for the trio's move and they waited for the imps'. For what could've been hours or seconds, Sora could not tell, but he caught what he was looking for: an impatient imp moved slightly, leaving itself open for attack.
Sora leapt into the fray of imps with a battle cry. Even the demon's curse could not impair Sora's inhuman speed and perception in battle as he whirled his keyblade into the unfortunate imp. The imp did not even feel it's smiting as it was torn into dust, leaving flowers as it disappeared from the mortal world. It's comrades hardly paid recognition to it's fallen comrade and, with a horrible screech, they tried to pounce on Sora's allies. The were blown back by the fury of Donald's magic and Goofy's cold, metal shield. The imps, only concentrating on their weakened prey, shook off the pain and continued closing in on the trio. The curse brought Sora to his kness as it became stronger as the imps circled them. The imps were stopped by the sound of something ripping in the air.
The barrier was pulled apart by a man who was even more frightening than the imps; he was a giant cloaked in the finest black samurai armor and had several deadly blades hung on his hips. The only visible part of his body were his fiery red eyes that scanned the battlefield. He casually unsheathed a sword, it was endowed with exorcism beads, and held it up to the imps. They screeched and flung themselves toward him, only to be cut down in midair. With the curse lifting slightly, Sora moved towards the giant as more imps appeared to replace the fallen ones. The man handed the trio a traveler's charm and the effects were immediate as Sora flew off the ground.
Sora did not even have to use magic to finish off the rest of the demons. He was a blur as he easily dodged the imps futile attacks and counterattacked with deadly accuracy. With Goofy's strength and an astonishing Blizzara from Donald, the imps were decimated. The barrier fell without the support the demons and Sora was once again in the quiet field as if the battle that took place never happened. He looked at the samurai who nodded at Sora, impressed of his swordplay.
"Incredible. For such a young lad, you fight like an experienced man." The man said, sheathing his sword. "I didn't even need to lift a finger." Sora smiled confidently and thanked the man.
"If it weren't for you, we might've been in a lot of trouble. Who are you anyway?"
"Blight, guard for the emperor and Sei-an City. May I ask for your name, young warrior."
"Sora, Donald and Goofy." Pointing to himself and his friends in turn. "Travelers." The samurai looked quizzically at Sora's humming keyblade as if it were asking too for thanks of it's deed.
"I would've helped you earlier but you have to be very careful with people these days. I thought you were a familiar of Shiranui's with that divine instrument of yours." Blight pointed to the keyblade. Sora unconsciously willed his blade away, and with a final shimmer, it disappeared back into the recesses of Sora's soul.
"Shiranui? I bet this isn't a friend of yours." The man laughed darkly at Sora's remark.
"That beast is not friend to any creature that has a heart." Blight led them to a shady tree and once seated began to talk of Shiranui. She was a wolf who surveyed maidens for an even more terrible beast known as Orochi. Then, as if the story could not have angered Sora enough, Blight told of an accomplice of Shiranui that lived within the walls of Sei-An City. The accomplise was a handsome man, named Waka, that disguised himself as a Tao Master that protected the Queen but was really planning to give her to Shiranui as a gift for Orochi. Sora's fists were shaking with the pangs of injustice and betrayal that laid deep within his heart. His need for justice had already made up his mind before Blight had even finished the dark tale.
"That's horrible!" Donald cried as Blight ended his story.
"Do not worry, my friend. I gave that fake prophet something to remember, alright, before he was banished." Sora looked at his friends and both nooded, their decision unanimous.
"Blight, I believe we are destined to stop Shiranui, Waka, maybe even Orochi. Don't look at us like that, we've been through worse." Sora said with finality. Blight was about to reject their offer but seeing Sora and his friends determined faces made him realize that nothing in all of Nippon could deter them.
"Then, brave one, let me at least help you on your perilous journey." Blight dug through a small traveler's pouch to uncover a worn map and marked where Kamiki Village was. "The map's a bit dated," he handed it to Sora, "but I'm sure you'll find it. As for how to challenge Shiranui, that is up to you." The boy thanked the samurai, and with a final goodbye, walked in the direction of Kamiki Village. Once Sora was out of sight, Blight passed the city to the hidden Oni Island to greet an old friend with some promising news.
The towers of Oni Island were menacingly large with pillars of lava shooting from the trench below and an ever present storm illuminated the dark fortress with cracks of lightning. The fortress froze even the bravest of hearts as screams of toture and misery rang from the onimous windows.
"Always the theatrics." Blight mumbled to himself as he signaled for the ogres to step aside the gateway. He walked into the forboding fortress examining Ninetales complicated gears clicking in the ceiling above. From far off he could hear the sounds of torture as he stepped into the main hallway. Blight had to admit that Ninetails' decor was top-notch. "You, imp," He pointed to the small, feeble imp that ran a merchant stand, "Go fetch Ninetails. I have something to discuss with her." The imp trembled at the samurai's dark, demonic voice.
"L-lady Ninetails does not like to be disturbed during brunch." It said weakly.
"Exactly. That's why you're going to do it." Blight commanded, "Or would you rather meet the ogres outside? They haven't eaten for a while." The imp trembled violently, choosing between being pulled apart by ogres or facing Ninetails' wrath.
"I-I'll go f-f-fetch, milady." The imp said, sobbing pitifully as it took the stairs to Ninetails' room. Blight surveyed the main hall; it was dimly lit by candles and a large window that stood behind an impressive statue of a man holding a nine-pronged floor. The floor held evidence that Ninetails was not exactly merciful with her servants; it reeked of imp blood. He looked up to see a woman approach him.
"What is it Blight?" She said in a slightly annoyed tone. The woman was beautiful; she had a soft, curvy body, her skin was pale and glowing wrapped in the finest red kimono yen could buy, and her hair was shimmering black that fell in front of her sky blue eyes. 'How ugly', Blight thought mentally grimacing. He had always thought her affinity to human vanity disgraceful.
"You look lovely, Ninetails, as always." Blight complimented, doing an intricate bow. Ninetails sneered.
"Save your chilverly, Blight. The day you don't plot my downfall is the day imps become scholars." She said with her usual venom and pursed her plump, red lips together. Blight noticed that a larger than normal imp trailed behind her. She turned to the imp and pointed to the empty merchant stand. "As I promised for bringing me the maiden's body." The large imp bowed deeply and took his place behind the wares.
"The other imp?" Blight dared to asked. Ninetails grinned, showing off her pointed canines.
"I missed my brunch and I was deathly hungry." She smirked, challenging Blight to comment. When he didn't, Ninetails continued, "Have you brought that wretched Moon warrior to me? Yami is impatient."
"No, he got away." Ninetails laughed, a horrible sound that was comparable to fingernails going down a chalkboard. Her eyes betrayed her demon being, cold and blood-thirsty.
"You have the emperor under your thumb and those humans worshiping your every breath but you cannot get a single Tao Master in the city that you rule? You disgraceful excuse for a demon!" Ninetails' voice rose an octave higher than was humanly possible. The merchant imp hid himself behind his umbrella. Even the air seemed to still, frozen by Ninetails' fury. Blight, on the other hand, remained relaxed.
"Temper, dear. No, I have a plan that will rid us both of that goddess and Moon warrior and even that worthless serpent Orochi." Blight said smiling as he saw Ninetails' eyes flash with anticipation. "Do you still have that crystal ball of yours?"
"Of course." She sniffed and pulled a pearl-sized crystal ball from her necklace. The vixen whispered and the ball grew to the size of a beachball in it's master's hands. Ninetails set the ball down gently while Blight laid a hand on the glassy smooth surface. Instantly, Sora appeared in the ball fighting the imps with expert swordsmanship. Ninetails, too, laid her hand on the glass ball and giggled like a school girl. "Sora...what a rare creature you are! Fights like a demon, yet, is as kind and naive as a wood sprite."
"At the very least, the boy will put up a fight. It's likely he'll die trying."
"All the better. The world could use one less righteous human." The woman purred as it gazed at Sora more. "But, I do so love his choice in clothes. He might make a fine vessel for me."
"I'll make sure to personally rip out the soul for you, my dear."
Dusk had settled on the quaint Kamiki Village but for anyone passing by it would seem the village was long deserted. No grandparent settled on their porches to tell stories to the children, no warrior or man lined to Kushi's bar for a drink, not even the sparrows dared to feed. Everyone was barricaded in their houses, fearing the searching eyes of the white wolf. Amaterasu didn't need to hide but she cautiously crouched in the long grass anyway. When it was clear that the village was truly deserted, she leapt from her hiding place and trotted to the merchant's stand. There was a crudely made sign leaning next to the wares and it read:
'Take what you need and leave yen. Won't be back 'till after Orochi's ritual.'
Amaterasu had not realized how close the ritual was until she had read that sign. It would be only a couple of days until the ninety-ninth sacrifice, Nami. She risked a glance to Nagi's house. Would he fulfill his duties as chosen one as Waka predicted? The wolf shook her head. Now was not the time to dwell on futures with Waka injured as he was. Amaterasu nosed through the wares before picking up a special healing bottle and left extra yen for the merchant before trotting to the waterfall.
The waterfall nearly deafened the goddess as she approached it. She sprung from the ground and agily traversed the jagged rocks to a hidden cave behind the waterfall. She padded into the cave and walked up to a man who was resting upon the stony floor; the man had long, golden hair, sapphire blue eyes and an odd choice in pink and purple clothing. He was clutching an arm which was drenched in blood. Amaterasu whined to get his attention, which was a feat with a bottle in her mouth. He didn't respond.
"Ammy, what took ya so long?" A minscule, bouncing orange glow chided as it bounced from Waka's shoulder. "The prophet's ready to collapse. He's been pretty feverish." Ishaku bounced on Amaterasu head. "Had to go and get himself sliced up by a half-wit demon..." The poncle grumbled but his worry was noticeable to Amaterasu's sensitive ears. Amaterasu uncorked the bottle while Ishaku managed to get a feeble fire going with twigs he collected. She carefully poured the sparkling potion on to his wound and jumped when Waka twitched violently.
"That's a wound infwicted by a dwemon, wight?" A little voice piqued up. The two turned to see a little girl with long black hair in a kimono too big for her waddle to Amaterasu.
"How'd you get up here? Kids, if I ever had one, I swear, I'd-Ammy don't do that!" Ishaku said as his lupine companion let the little wood sprite walk to her and pet her fur.
"Pwetty markings!" The child cooed as she ran her hands over the goddess's divine markings. She then looked at Ishaku. "Imma wood sprite. I can go everywhere I want two. My name is Shakuya."
"Shakuya, huh? So what were you talking about demon wounds?"
"Oh, wight. Well, my mama said you shwould ashk Amatar-Ame-uh...the Sun Goddess to blwess the water. It can heal anything!" The sprite giggled and, with a final snuggle from Amaterasu, disappeared in a flourish of cherry blossoms. After hearing this, Amaterasu looked startled. Ishaku read her expression easily.
"Don't tell me...you had this power all along and forgot? Stop spacing out, furball. Well thank the heavens for nosy kids, we can get this half-baked prophet better and then I'll be the one who kills him." The poncle jumped onto the ground ready to rant but was stopped when Amaterasu gave him the bottle. She looked at the waterfall. "Get the water? Why? Oh, thumbs, right..." Ishaku rolled the bottle to a the edge and filled it with the sparkling water. He handed the bottle back to Amaterasu. She took the bottle and let it slowly trickle onto Waka's wound then took out her celestial brush and wrote intricate markings along his wound. The glow was so bright from the holy powers that Ishaku had to squint. Once the glow faded, any hints of the wound vanished and Waka's feverish trance twitching subsided as he fell into deep sleep. Amaterasu, relieved and feeling weary after her intense worry of her friend, curled beside the prophet. She silently huffed with laughter as she saw Ishaku fall asleep in Waka's bizarre winged hat. Just as her eyes began to droop, she smelled a scent that propelled her to her feet, all thoughts of sleep vanishing. The scent was new but most of all held a powerful resentment against her. A scent that willed to challenge her.