Chapter 1:The Celestial Plain
Okami Amaterasu yawned as she looked down from the Ark of Yamato. It was strange to be on it and there not be a torrent of monsters pouring out. No, she had done away with that already.
She sighed and laid her head on her snow-white paws. She was bored. Very bored. Her eyes strayed to the man driving the Ark. Waka, a man of the Moon Tribe and the one who had crashed the Ark in Nippon. It was clear he still blamed himself for what happened, but he seemed to be doing better now that the Ruler of Darkness, Yami, had been vanquished.
Inhaling deeply, the sun goddess was saddened to realize the absence of the scent of cherry blossoms from the air. A smell she had grown fondly used to in her days in Kamiki Village, where her adventure had begun again after she died in the first fight with Orochi, the eight-headed serpent.
Her reverie was cut short when Waka spoke. "There it is ma chérie. The Celestial Plain." He raised his arm to point at a quickly growing speck of land in front of them. Amaterasu barked happily, her excitement at returning to her home obvious in every move she made. However, in the back of her mind was a nagging sense of loneliness, like she belonged somewhere else. Brushing away the thought as being a lingering thought, the goddess jumped down as the Ark came to a land on a small area of the floating island. Out of sheer happiness, the white wolf let out a glorious howl that rang over the plains.
"Amaterasu? Is that you? My goodness! Everyone look! The Great Sun Goddess has come back to us," exclaimed a beautiful young woman in a loose kimono. "Heavens Uzume, this is no time for...jokes. It can't be," gasped an elderly woman. "See Uba? I told you she'd come back after Yami's defeat," replied Uzume.
"Amaterasu, origin of all that is good and mother to us all," chimed thirteen voices behind the wolf. She barked and jumped over to the thirteen brush gods who once again were joined together after a hundred years apart from each other and her.
"We simply must return your human form, so that we may hear your lovely voice speak to us again," gushed Uzume, clapping her hands together and leading Amaterasu to a large shrine on top of a mountain.
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Amaterasu stood before a large throne, looking up at the man seated upon it. Izanagi, the father of the sun goddess herself. "My daughter, how long it has been since I last laid eyes on you. A century I believe? Yes, a century since you bravely followed that eight-headed beast to the human world. Speaking of human, I imagine you'll be wanting your human form back again," stated the man, smiling. Amaterasu howled up to the man with approval. He chuckled in response. "Very well, my dear. You shall have it." And with that, Izanagi ran his hand over his daughter's wolf form.
Amaterasu tensed as she felt her skeletal structure and muscles shift to accomodate the form of a human. With a few extra details.
Uzume held up a large mirror so Amaterasu could see herself. The woman in the mirror was perfect in very way. A perfect figure, flawless skin, long limbs, and a stunningly beautiful face. Her hair was that of pure, freshly fallen snow that darkened from white to black at the ends. Perched within her hair at the top of her head were the familiar wolf ears, and below her waist was the ink-black-tipped tail she had worn for over a century. Her eyes, she noticed, were a combination of molten silver and fiery gold. And lastly, her body was covered in the intricate crimson tattoos of her Shiranui form. They swirled around her eyes, making her look as if she were wearing a mask.
Amaterasu gasped and turned to everyone and smiled, her face brightening in true, genuine happiness. "Thank you Father. Thank you so much," she sighed, tears pooling in her eyes. The brush gods held to her a pile of divine weapons, among them her Solar Reflectors. "Thank you everyone. You've no idea how happy I am," the goddess said. True, she was happy. To see everyone and to know that everyone was okay, but the nagging in her mind had come back with a vengence, and she knew that she was unhappy about living on the Plain. She wanted to return to the human world below.
Izanagi did not miss that flicker of loneliness in his daughter's eyes.
"You do not wish to stay here, my daughter."
Amaterasu's eyes widened, but she didn't turn to face the god. "Father! What on earth do you mean, she 'does not wish to stay here'?" questioned Uzume, obviously not amused by Izanagi's statement.
"He's right. I...I don't...want to stay here. I think...I think I've become too attached to the human world. I miss it," Amaterasu whispered, wrapping her arms around herself. The gods gasped and Amaterasu cringed, thinking that they would hate her or think she favored humans above them.
"I understand. I think your believers would be happy to have you back among them," the elderly Uba said. Amaterasu smiled and embraced the elderly spirit. The gods did not argue, but many looked disappointed. But they offered farewells anyway.
Izanagi led them all to a pool in the middle of the shrine. In the middle of the pool, on a stone circle, sat an Origin Mirror. "Use this to reach Nippon. Should you ever need us, know that we will always be here to help you, and that you may return to us any time using the mirrors."
Amaterasu embraced her friends and exchanged farewells and blessings. She jumped onto the Origin Mirror and swiftly drew an X over the center, then disappeared into the mist.
'Wait for me Issun. I'm coming home.'