Here we go for Alena's story after leaving the Valley of Peace with Kasaiori and Mantis for the Celestial Plains. Before we start, I must warn you that this takes place in Japan, so don't complain if there's a lack of Chinese atmosphere.
The black panther, eagle and mantis trio has been walking through the vast lands of Japan for many days. It was a big change in their habit as they met different kinds of people from those they were used to see in China and also had the chance to try all sorts of food, but it wasn't that bad.
After two weeks of walking, they finally arrived at the Celestial Plains according to the map Master Oogway joined to the scroll. Strangely, instead of the wonderful landscape with thousands of cherry trees that they though they would see, they arrived on a mountain top where the sky was completely dark with purple winds flying all around.
"Huh, where are we?" Mantis asked, scratching the back of his green head with his plier. "I though the place Master Oogway described was supposed to be beautiful, not somehow creepy."
"I can sense something in this place. Something evil..." Kasaiori said. The strong wind was making her orange feathers and vest dancing on their own. She turned to look at her friend. "What do you think about it, Alena?"
The black panther girl lowered her hood to reveal her feline face which was more serious than ever. She rubbed her glooved hands together and shivered a bit as the wind was flying over her unprocted stomach and legs.
"We reached our destination..."
ALENA'S STORY
"Who are you, travelers?" A strange voice asked.
The trio immediately turned around and got face-to-face with a strange being. A pink female wolf dressed in a kimono of the same color. She had a very cute face and two long hair tuff on her head that werelonger than Crane's wings. Her eyes were completely black and, strangely, two green leaves were covering her chest which her dress failed to do and she was floating above the ground. The three friends could sense a special energy coming from this being.
"W-Who are you?" Mantis asked in surprise before the look of someone looking at a gorgeous girl took place on his face. Kasaiori gave him a small slap with her wing.
"Dude! She asked us this question first. Sorry, my name is Kasaiori: this is Master Mantis and Alena. We are from the Valley Of Peace in China and we are searching for the Celestial Plains."
"Well, you've reached your destination. This is the Celestial Plains... Or rather a shadow of what it used to be..." She said in a sad tone.
"What do you mean by that?" Alena asked curiously. "And I don't think you've introduced yourself."
"You're right. I am Sakuya, Spirit of the Forests."
"And beauty." Mantis though, still in trance.
"As for what happened to the Celestial Plains, I'm afraid you're gonna need a little story lesson to understand:
You see, one hundred ago, in these plains existed a peaceful village named Kamiki which was known for its beautiful cherry trees. In fact, the Kamiki village is really close from here.
However, it also held a pretty dark secret: you see, the village was being haunted by Orochi, the legendary eight-headed dragon. To prevent him from destroying the village, a girl had to be given to him in sacrifice for every annual ceremony."
"What?!" The trio exclaimed at the same time. "But that's horrible!" Kasaiori said.
"I know. The beast's body was high like a mountain and more solid than any armour ever built before. No villager dared resisting this scary monster.
That was until that day that the chosen girl to be sacrified happened to be the love interest of a warrior named Izagui. This last one refused to leave her to that horrible fate and went to the Cave of the Moon to face Orochi in person.
The scarlet eyes of Orochi's eight heads glared at Izagui. But he felt no fear and attacked with his sword and all of his heart. Unfortunately, no matter how many times he swung his weapon at the monster, it could just not pierce its skin. After fighting for hours, Izagui's body was getting heavy and he could no longer stand up.
As Orochi was ready to deal the finishing blow, it was the moment they decided to interfere - the goddess of the moon and the sun's one."
This sentence caused Alena to look with wide eyes.
"Together, they managed to weaken Orochi long enough for Izagui to cut all of his heads with his sword. The curse that was haunting the village was finally removed. And as the battle was over, the sun was shining once again in the blue sky.
The goddesses congratulated Izagui for his bravery before leaving for the skies. Peace was back to the village. In honnor of their exploit, the villagers made two statues of the goddesses.
Izagui's sword was named "Tsukuyomi" and placed into the Cave of the Moon. The village could live in peace once again."
"I feel like the bad part is about to come." Mantis mumbled.
"However, a few days ago, someone broke the seal of Tsukuyomi and allowed Orochi to be free once again. He waisted no time in unleashing the darkness upon the Plains once again.
The once blue sky became dark, the trees got destroyed, and all the villages succombed to the evil. All but one: the Kamiki village. It is I, Sakuya, Spirit of the Forests, who did everything I could to prevent the darkness from entering in here.
We must act fast: my powers have greatly weakened during those numerous years of protecting the village. I don't have much time remaining to live in this world."
Suddenly, her gaze turned to Alena and she opened her eyes widely.
"Wait a minute..." She lifted her paw and pressed it against Alena's chest (no, it's not what you think). "This Chi... No, those TWO Chi! I know them! They are the goddesse' ones. Where did you get them, young one?"
Alena explained the Spirit of the Forest how she obtained the two Chi in the other world, during an interrupted eclipse ritual.
"Really?" Sakuya said with an interested look. "Can I see this form that you talk about?"
Alena nodded and closed her eyes to focus. Soon, she exploded with Chi and the right half of her body was now white with red markings while her right half was black with purple ones. The three others looked at her in surprise because of her new appearance and the energy coming from her.
"This energy...no doubt: you really have the Sun and Moon Chi. But if that's the case, then you can save the Celestial Plains!"
"How?" Alena asked as she returned to her normal state.
Suddenly, the pink wolf made some movements with her paws and made two things appear in her them. In her left one was a jade-colored shield which had a circular form and some flames floating around it. The item in her other paw was a little bit less impressive: it looked like a simple paintbrush with nothing really special about it.
"What are these?" Kasaiori asked, looking at the two items with curiosity.
"This shield is called Shensheng Taiyang Qiang (Divine Sun Shield). It was used by the Sun Goddess to fight off evil and bring light to the world. Looks like it goes rightfully to you now."
She made the shield float over to the black panther who picked it up in her paws and looked at her reflexion in the jade metal for a moment before putting her new weapon on her back.
"And this is the Yueguang Huajia (Moonlight Painter) Brush. Do not get deceived by its appearance: it possess many powers which will be useful in your quest to save the Celestial Plains."
She gave the little brush to Alena who twirled it between her fingers before putting it in her pocket. To her surprise, a big bottle appeared behind her and tied itself on her back with ropes.
"This is the bottle of divine ink you will use to have access to the brushe's powers. No go and save our world."
"How must we do that?" Mantis asked as he jumped on Alena's shoulder.
The pink wolf turned around and pointed at the top of a mountain next to them. "See this moutain? Go on top of it and use the Yueguang Huajia Brush to draw a dragon in the sky. Yomigami, God of Rebirth and one of the 13 Divinities, shall help you advancing in your quest." Suddenly, Sakuya started shining pink. "I hope we met again soon..."
Without any more words, she faded into tens of flower petals that left in the wind. Mantis looked down in disapointement.
"Dude, don't feel down." Kasaiori said with patting the little bug with her wing. "You should already feel lucky to travel here with two girls, right?" She then looked at Alena. "We should do what Sakuya told us. Are you ready?"
Alena nodded with a smile. "Let's go!"
I think it should be evident by now, but to write this story, I got greatly inspired by "Okami", a video game made by Capcom.
I played it recently and IT'S FREAKIN AWESOME! I found it was fitting well with Alena's new role as demi-moon and sun form.