Call of the Moon
Chapter 1 – The New Home of a Wolf
The sun shone brightly on a cloudless morning. Birds chirped happily as they fluttered about on the canopy of the trees at the base of Youkai Mountain, ignorant of the pair of golden eyes watching them. Okami gazed up at the birds, her eyes lazily following their movements as she sat on a tree branch. With a yawn, she hopped off of her perch and began to make her way on the path that led away from the mountain.
Okami looked over her shoulder and glanced at the heavy crystal sword that was holstered on her back. "Every time I look at this sword, I get frustrated," she mutters with a sigh. "I can only use one attack; I can't hit people with the blade… right now it's proving to be more of a burden."
Okami glances up at the sky and says out loud, "Why'd you entrust this to me, father? I know nothing about this blade."
She shook her head at her own actions. Asking the sky is not going to give her answers. Okami started to walk down the path that led from Youkai Mountain to the Human Village. Perhaps escorting some lost humans would keep her occupied.
After travelling for some time, she came across a fork in the path. Standing there was a pair of humans, one male and one female. Okami instinctively hid herself, since she assumed they were lost. She strained her ears in to listen to their conversation.
"I heard there was a new Buddhist temple close to the human village. The chief monk does public sutra readings for both humans and youkai," the man spoke.
"Is that so? Why don't we go and listen to it?" the female replied.
The two humans began to walk down the left path, talking amongst themselves. Okami's curiosity was piqued. Perhaps this Buddhist monk knows something about her sword. It was unlikely, but she had no other leads. Okami started to follow the humans along the path.
I don't know where this temple is, so I'll just follow these humans. They'll lead me to it, Okami thought to herself as she walked along the path.
The humans eventually led Okami to a long, cobblestone path lined with stone lanterns. Okami became visible as her attention was diverted away from the humans and on to the temple path before her. A yamabiko was sweeping by the front gate, humming to herself. Okami's keen wolf ears caught the yamabiko greeting the two humans with a 'good morning.'
Okami approached the entrance of the temple grounds. The yamabiko looked up at her and greeted her with a smile.
"Good morning!" she spoke loudly, making Okami's ears twitch slightly. "Welcome to the Myouren Temple! You're just in time to listen to Byakuren-sama's morning sutra reading!"
"T-thank you," Okami responded absentmindedly and entered the main temple grounds. A crowd of people, both humans and youkai, were gathered around the front of the main building. A figure stood in front of the crowd. Okami's ears pointed towards the crowd. She could hear the monk reciting sutra.
The young okami didn't understand a word of the sutra, but it was rather relaxing to listen to. She pushed her way into the front of the crowd (as politely as she could) so she could hear the reading better.
"…and that ends my morning sutra reading. I would like to thank you all for coming to visit. Come again later for the evening sutra reading," the chief monk said with a bow after she was finished. One by one, the crowd dissipated. Some headed to the exit and others went and talked to other monks that lived in the temple. Meanwhile, the chief monk began to retreat into the temple.
"E-excuse me!" Okami stuttered, waving her hand to get the attention of the monk.
The monk turned around upon hearing Okami's voice. Her golden eyes met Okami's. "What is it, young one?"
"My sword is an old family heirloom… and I don't know anything about it. I was just wondering if you can help me at all," Okami spoke to the monk, who was scrutinizing her.
The monk took one long look at Okami. Her eyes flitted to the blade holstered on Okami's back. "Alright, I'll try to help you. Please follow me inside the temple," she replied with a nod.
Okami's golden eyes lit up. "Thank you! Thank you so much!" she said, a smile yanking on the corners of her mouth. Okami followed the monk as she walked inside the temple.
"My name is Byakuren Hijiri. As you probably already realized, I'm the chief monk of the temple," the monk spoke as she sat at a kotatsu and invited Okami to have a seat.
Okami sat down. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Byakuren-sama. My name is Okami. Okami Kobayashi," Okami spoke, bowing her head.
"Let me have a look at the sword you have on your back," Byakuren said, gesturing towards Okami.
Okami nodded and pulled out the blade from its holster. She placed it gingerly on the kotatsu. Byakuren examined the blade, carefully observing every detail. She ran her fingers over the blade, and looked up at Okami.
"You said this sword was a family heirloom? Do you know who the first person to acquire it was?" Byakuren asked, raising an eyebrow.
"My father found this sword. It's called the Crystal Great Sword," Okami answered.
Byakuren opened her mouth to say something, when the front door slid open and a mouse youkai came rushing in holding a pair of dowsing rods.
"Sorry for interrupting Byakuren-sama, it's just that I was picking up a strong treasure signal from in this room," the mouse youkai said, looking around and pointing her dowsing rods at every crevice in the room. She pointed them towards Okami and Byakuren, and her ears stood up. "The signal's coming from that sword on the kotatsu!" The mouse youkai approached them.
"Nazrin, calm down please. This sword belongs to Okami over here," Byakuren pointed to Okami.
"Oh. Well, Okami's weapon must be some powerful, ancient, valuable treasure, because the signals that my dowsing rods were picking up were off the charts," Nazrin said.
"I didn't know it was valuable. That's probably because I know nothing about this sword, save for one attack," Okami muttered, staring at the blade.
"Well, why don't you stay here at the temple? I will help you learn about your weapon." Byakuren suggested. "I think I remember a legend about a Crystal Great Sword that I heard prior to my sealing in Hokkai. The legend might help you with your sword, and we have a magic artifact user her at the temple who can help you out."
"What? Right now? Well, I'd need to get some of my belongings from my home, and then I'd need to-"
"Calm down, Okami. You can go home and pick up whatever you need first. We're not going anywhere," Byakuren laughed at the flustered Okami.
Okami looked down at her hands, and then stood up. She picked up her sword and placed it on her back. "Alright, I'll be right back, Byakuren-sama. Thank you so much for offering to help me," Okami said gratefully. She bowed and headed out the temple doors.
Nazrin and Byakuren watched as Okami left. A quiet air descended upon the room, only to be broken by Nazrin's next question.
"Why did you offer to let her stay here, Byakuren-sama?"
"Nazrin, you know we take in all youkai. Also, I've had the feeling that Okami has been alone for a long time… and who knows? She might eventually become a member of our little family here at the temple."