An: Welcome to my first Okami fan fic. Hope you guys enjoy it as much as I like writing it. Just as a warning I probably won't upload the next chapter for a while, end of January, due to school craziness. So I'll shut up for the people who actually read the author's note so you can start the story.

Wings-from-Below is proud to present:

Okami 2: Blood Red Dawn

Chapter 1: Prelude to Dawn

Only a crescent moon hung heavily in the sky to light the way for Yumigami as she hopped along the dirt path. The grass carpet of the celestial plains was covered in morning dew and silk spider webs clung like lace to the surrounding trees. A thin layer of mist hung in the air, a reminder of the coming rainy season. Though she longed to take her time and enjoy the awaking world, Yumigami knew that time wasn't on her side. She, being the goddess of the moon, had certain responsibilities to fulfill which included more than just the rising and setting of the moon. No, her duties only stopped once the sun crested the horizon and dawn once again graced the land. Noting how the moon, her moon, had begun its decent from the heavens the white rabbit increased her pace; she couldn't afford to be late. Shifting the weight of her wooden mallet to her other shoulder and with a twitch of her velvet nose Yumigami ran towards the home of the sun.

To the east of the moon goddess another creature began to stir. A female mosquito sat perched atop a cold stone rubbing the sleep from her delicate wings with her back most legs. She twisted her head first to the left then to the right searching the air for that familiar scent. There was only one thought on her mind: blood. The sweet scent of the warm liquid mixed with the sticky breath of its owner created a trail for the hungry insect to follow leading her right to her prey. Within minutes she found herself upon her sleeping prey's skin. As softly as she could the mosquito ran her needle like nose across the being's flesh creating a small cut that oozed blood. Quickly she trusted her tongue deep into the cut mixing her spit with the blood to prevent it from clotting. She lapped at the rich liquid drinking her fill until her abdomen looked like it would bust. Suddenly a dark shadow loomed above her swollen body. Withdrawing her tongue from the cut she looked up towards the sky in complete terror.

Amaterasu lazily swatted a mosquito away from her nose. She sighed not bothering to open her eyes. The last fragments of her dream still lingered in her thoughts. Issun had been juggling the different forms of Yami while singing about girls. The wolf mentally reminder herself to lay off the sweets before going to sleep. She sighed again and rolled over to lay on her right side facing away from the opening of her cave. She still found it hard to believe four years had passed since she and Issun had defeated the dark lord. Though she couldn't see her earthbound friends, Ammy could feel their love and caring for her through the prayers that entered the Celestial Plains. As she lay there Ammy tried to picture the face of each of her friends. There was Issun of course, Sakuya, Susano and Kushi; the list went on. Ammy felt her eyes begin to water and her heart ache at the thought of never hearing the voices of her friends again.

"Are you not up yet?" came an aspirated voice from the mouth of the cave. Ammy swivelled her head until she could see the owner of the voice. The moon goddess stood at the entrance looking tired and wet. "I swear," she stated, "one of these days the sun will have to learn to rise without you Amaterasu."

Ammy smiled sheepishly knowing her sister goddess was only teasing. "Well I wish hurry up and learn already." she retorted while rising to her paws. "Then I could finally sleep in." This got her a snort of amusement from the rabbit. The sun goddess let out a yawn and stretched her front paws while arching her back. She shook her head trying to forget the sadness from before and grabbed a bottle of ink off the floor. For a moment her eyes lingered on her green reflector debating whether or not to bring it with her. No, she thought this wasn't like on earth where monsters were always waiting to attack. It was hard to let old habits die, but she knew she had to let go of the past at some point. "Okay let's get this show on the road." She said under her breath. Ammy laughed as she bounced out the opening of the cave. "What are you waiting for slowpoke?" she called behind her to the rabbit goddess. Yumigami could only roll her eyes at the wolf before quickly following her lead.

xxxxx

It wasn't until the two reached Mother Hill that Yumigami caught up to the long legged wolf. For a few minutes the two sat side by side in silence taking in the breathtaking view from the top of the hill. Pink cherry trees dotted the landscape mixing with the green pine trees. There were wildflowers in every colour of the rainbow covering the ground where the grass didn't. Off in the distance the silver tile roof of the Moon Palace was visible over the mountains that held the last traces of snow.

"I wish they could see this." The wolf spoke so quietly that Yumigami almost missed it. The rabbit didn't have to ask who "they" were, Amaterasu was forever referring to the adventures she had had down on earth. The rabbit shifted her gaze from the scenery to look up at her companion. The wolf's golden eyes were glazed over seeing a past memory and not the landscape. The rabbit's heart went out to her sister knowing that she herself could never understand how Amaterasu felt. Ammy noticed her sister looking at her worriedly and put on a forced smile, trying to reassure the rabbit that she was fine. Yumigami pretended to smile back but she knew that neither one of them thought it was real.

"Well I better get to work before you start harassing me again." Ammy joked sounding more like her old self. Yumigami took a step back to give the wolf more room. Ammy grabbed the ink bottle that had been sitting on the ground beside her with her mouth and tossed high into the air. Quicker than human eyes could focus, Ammy performed a power slash on the bottle, uncorking it. Before the bottle got to touch the ground the white wolf dipped her ink stained tail into the bottle then turning in a tight circle to catch the bottle all in one fluid movement. The word 'show-off' came to Yumigami's mind but she kept her mouth shut.

After setting the ink bottle gently down Ammy muttered a prayer under her breath as she looked up towards the dark sky. She raised her tail and used it like a paintbrush drawing a perfect circle in the sky. The second the circle was whole it began to glow. The light was weak at first growing steadily stronger until the light was so bright it obliterated the ink lines that had confined the light. There in the sky where the goddess had painted the circle was the sun in all its glory. Ammy sat back down beside her sister goddess her thoughts once again returning to her friends. It was at that moment that something happened that had never happened before. Lost in her dark thoughts Amaterasu failed to notice a single drop of black ink drip from her tail. The ink landed in her shadow staying on the surface of the ground for only a moment before working its way into the dirt. There is sulked and festered until its darkness couldn't be contain within the ground alone. Slowly it began to seep and ooze from the ground behind the great wolf goddess.

Yumigami noticed the blob of ink first her red eyes growing huge at the sight. Ammy half laughed at the rabbit's expression wondering if she was trying to cheer the wolf up again. Playing along Ammy turned around only to find this was no joke. By then the blob had begun to take shape. The first recognizable part was the legs, then a head sprouted from between its shoulders the ink pulling forward to form a slender muzzle. Twin pointed canine ears congealed on the top of the ink creature's head and a long tail splashed out from the body. It was the eyes thought that captivated Amaterasu the most. They were an exact copy of her golden ones.

The shadow wolf moved towards the two goddesses dripping blood like ink with each step. Its gaze never left Ammy. The two began circling each shifting into an attack stance. "Yumi," Ammy said calmly never taking her eyes off the strange wolf, "I want you to go warn the others." The moon goddess started to shake her head no, but the white wolf cut her off. "Don't argue with me. I can handle this myself. Go NOW!" The tone of Amaterasu's voice got her going, running like she hadn't been up all night. Ammy watch her dash over the top of an adjacent hill out of the corner of her eye, making sure the rabbit didn't try to intervene.

The black wolf let out a low growl, demanding Ammy's full attention. The ink creature lunged forward aiming for her throat. Ammy dodged to the right missing the snapping teeth by a hair's length. The goddess whipped her tail around using the remaining ink on her tail to perform a power slash. The cut went straight through the dark wolf's midsection, slicing its body in two. Shocked eyes looked at Ammy accusingly as the two halves slumped to the ground creating large black puddles on the ground. Ammy relaxed her body glad that the fight hadn't been as hard as she feared. She turned away from the puddles wondering how she could clean them up. Sadly she had underestimated her foe.

In a flash the puddles reformed its ink body and the dark wolf leaped onto Ammy's back digging it's fangs into her soft neck. A cry of pain escaped her mouth as the wolf tackled her to the ground. The black wolf ranked its claws deep into her skin trying to reach Ammy's golden eyes, its eyes. It kept biting and tearing at her flesh, staining her white coat red. Ammy flailed around desperate to escape the murderous wolf, yet every time she struck out with her claws and teeth the wound they made would instantly heal itself. Slowly Amaterasu found herself growing tired and weak. She made one last ditch attempt to get away from the demon wolf and managed to break free from its grasp and use her tail to create a gust of wind, blowing the black wolf away and giving her time to rest. Ammy lay there with her sides heaving trying to get enough air into her broken body. By looking down at all the blood she had lost Ammy knew she couldn't hold out much longer. She watched with saddened eyes as the black wolf regained its balance, wishing that she could have seen her friends one last time before her death. She turned her head away from her attacked waiting for it to finish her off.

The black demon felt her sadness and defeat letting a wicked smile slide across its face. The ink creature practically danced with amusement knowing the perfect way to kill the thing in front of the black wolf. Copying Amaterasu from earlier the black wolf created a power slash of its own. When it had tasted the god's blood it had accidentally stolen her brush powers, becoming a god itself. It sneered watching her eyes grow even larger in shock.

Ammy braced herself waiting for the power slash to collide with her bleeding body, but it never came. She reopened her eyes surprised to find a blond haired man standing in front of her. Waka had been lucky, he'd seen a vision of the moon goddess sprinting off for help and had been close enough to hear Ammy's cry of pain. What he hadn't expected to see was his white friend in such bad shape knowing she was close to bleeding out and losing consciousness. The weak sun goddess tried to get to her feet but was far to dizzy to stay standing for long. She slumped to the ground and didn't get back up. Waka knew he had to act fast.

Quickly unsheathing his sword, Pillow Talk, he sliced the black wolf in half yet again. He had seen in his vision what the result was the first time, but this time he wasn't trying to kill the demon; he was buying them valuable time to put his plan in action. Waka bent down and scooped Ammy into his arms, cradling her beaten body. She was out cold which scared the prophet more than he would like to admit. He could tell that her powers had left her body and entered the other wolf's; the red markings had left Ammy's body. He had to save her.

It took Waka only minutes to reach the Gazing Pond, a secret spot that not even the gods knew about. The pond served as a link between worlds but it was a one way trip. The pond only transported individuals from the heavens down to Earth. Waka began chanting the prayer that activated the pond. Once the portal had fully opened he bent once more and picked the wolf up in his arms. "I'm sorry that I have to do this baby, but it's to protect you from that demon." Waka leaned his face towards hers and placed a light kiss on the wolf's forehead, then gently let her slide from his arms into the water. "Au revoir, ma chérie." he said as Waka watched the white wolf slowly descend towards earth. The water reflected the black sky. The demon wolf had covered the sky in a layer of black ink hiding the sun so it looked like storm clouds blanketed the sky. Waka sighed and walked away from the pool knowing it would be a long time before he saw Amaterasu again. "Good luck my friend. You'll need it." he muttered under his breath as he prepared to face the black wolf once again.

An: So what do ou think? Ideas? Questions? Comments? I love reviews, so I can better the story.