The sun was setting slowly over the land of Nippon, bathing the world below in a golden-red glow. Any folk wandering about outside were now returning to their homes for a long day at work, school, or where ever else they may have been. In this land of Nippon, a place called Taka Pass exists and so few people live in that place that it was quite easy for the ones there to miss the small teenager stretched out at the base of the Pass' "Guardian Sapling". But he was still there nonetheless, at he top of that cliff.
Beneath the branches of the massive sakura tree the boy laid alongside a large white wolf. His black hair was pulled up into a ponytail and through the green cap he wore. The cap was tilted in a way that hid his eyes from passersby yet still allowed for him to watch them as the went. Some thought that it looked strange on the boy as it looked like some kind of beetle, but he liked it. He had added the black and red spots to the cap himself, as well as the antennas sticking up off of it. Painting wasn't the only thing he was good at after all, he liked to consider himself a sort of jack of all artistic trades. Only he was the master of them all, or so he liked to think. As he watched the last person scurry off to where ever they were headed he flicked the cap a bit.
Pushing himself up into a sitting position, he reached over and nudged the wolf beside him. His only response was a loud huff from his companion. Another attempt at rousing the wolf resulted in a low growl and he flinched away. Sure he trusted that she wouldn't hurt him, but she was still a wolf. A fucking wolf. He enjoyed having both his hands enough to not push his luck with her. So instead he growled back and turned to the bags beside him, digging out a couple of plain rice balls out of the backpack as he loudly exclaimed, "Well fine then, furball! Have it your way! Hope you don't mind waiting 'til morning for your share though."
Almost instantly the wolf was on her feet, head resting on the boy's shoulder as she peered over at the bag and the food in his hands. His face scrunched up and he pushed her away when he felt a trail of wolf slobber drip down his arm. "AH! GROSS! These are my last pair of clean clothes! I don't need you slobbering all over them!" The wolf whined at him, butting her head into his side repeatedly before he finally gave in and tossed her a small handful of dried jerky. Seemingly satisfied she laid down and munched away.
As the boy ate his own snack he watched the wolf. Shiranui was her name, but sometimes he would call her "furball", "Snowy", or even "Shira-chan". He was currently her unwilling companion, though it seemed to him like she didn't notice. She had been following him for sometime now, after he had freed her, fed her, and patched up her wounds. He had to admit, she was a pretty animal alright. Her thick, snow white coat was dyed with red in strange patterns, They were all along her body and he assumed that it was to mark her in the dog fighting ring he rescued her from. Sure Shiranui was trouble sometimes and loved to be goofy, but somehow he knew she was...different from your average wolf. One thing he knew was that she was definitely smarter.
He pushed those thoughts from his head as he realized he had finished eating and that Shiranui was now watching him intently. With a sigh, he reached over to his bags and zipped the backpack. His satchel was the first he picked up, followed by the backpack. The first thing he did once he was up was adjust his purple tunic and green jacket so that they sat comfortably underneath the crossing straps of his bags.
Hurriedly checking the rest of his outfit only proved what he already knew. He still had his brown, paint-spattered boots and the slightly large black slacks were secure enough to not fall in front of any babes he might run into on his travels. He did a quick double check to be sure and looked up to see for the first time that it was dark. Good. Dark was good. His clothes were dark enough to hide him and Shiranui knew to follow him in the bushes. See, smarter than the average wolf. The boy peered out from behind the massive tree and, upon seeing no one, made a beeline for the path down with Shiranui on his heels.
They moved quickly and only stopped once they reached the cave leading further down. Shiranui strained her senses and after a few minutes of not seeing, hearing, or smelling anything, she barked once. It was safe to go. She watched the boy go first, hurrying a long to reach the end of the tunnel-cave, and followed suit. She wasn't sure why he was always hurrying, always hiding, but he was and she owed him her life. Now she could live long and die free instead of having to be murdered by her lupine brothers, driven mad by the forced fights. Oh, she was slowing down. Best to hurry since he would need her once they were at the end of this cave. She had a job to do after all.
Emerging from the cave the boy ran to the bushes beside it's entrance and knelt to the ground. He pushed aside the carefully laid leaves to reveal a long, green silk bundle, wrapped up tightly with twine to keep it's contents hidden from prying eyes. It looked untouched, but he still unwrapped it to reveal the sleek black sheath of the sword within. Despite the fine, soft bristle bundle at the weapons hilt, he still unsheathed it. The mirror-like blade reflected the moon perfectly as he held it up, and he smiled. Denkomaru was still safe, though he questioned his sanity for risking his life over the sword every time he saw it. Still, it was...familiar...a nagging feeling somewhere deep in his brain said so at least.
It was part of his village's lore, he knew that much, but that wasn't why. No, it felt more personal. The fact that it's weight was perfectly balanced and the hilt just big enough for him to hold with both hands didn't help. As if that weren't enough proof that Denkomaru was his, it was also taken from the local shrine. He was told to leave it be. It was better not to get involved, but after he left home and saw the thief, he couldn't stop himself. Nothing new there though, "Leap before you think" was his motto after all, but the fact that he had reclaimed it from a gang leader's car just outside of Wep'keer sure was. He usually valued his safety more than that.
Shaking his head he sheathed the blade once again and re-wrapped it, this time tying it to Shiranui's back. He would carry it himself, but if he were ever caught, he wanted to keep Denkomaru out of those people's hands. Shiranui would definitely be able to out run them better than he ever could. He could outrun them before, sure, but Shiranui was faster than he was. The wolf always won all of their races anyway.
Pulling out a map from his satchel, he glanced at Shiranui and said, "Well, Kusa would take a bit to get too and I'm starting to think it'd be best to just get to Kamiki, so we should probably just skip it...wanna stop at Sasa Sanctuary? We should have enough money left and I could do with a break. A bed would also be nice or even a futon if that's what they have there...you think there'll but some hot babes? That'd be very welcome...Oh! And warm food...yeah..." The boy trailed off and it took a moment to realize that he was drooling, and more over food than girls! He chuckled to himself. "I guess being a wandering artist ain't all it's cracked up to be, huh Snowy? It's tough, even for the great Issun." The wolf only let out a low whine at that and shook her head.
The rest of the trip was a quiet one. There wasn't much to talk about, especially with a wolf, so he simply didn't. Finally they stood before the large Torii gate that led to Sasa Sanctuary, the boy's hand twitched at the sight of the massive structure, but he couldn't bring himself to pull his sketchbook out. Instead he just walked under it with and up the path to the famous Sasa Sanctuary.
Sunlight streamed through the window, blinding Issun for a moment as his eyes adjusted to the light. He groaned and flopped around on the futon, tangling himself in the blanket as he did. He only tried to get up when Shiranui ripped them away and sent him tumbling to the floor. "Ugh...five more minutes furball..."
The wolf growled in response, pulling him across the floor by his pants leg. "Alright, alright! I'm up! Leggo a me!" Issun howled, kicking at the wolf. She obeyed, dropping the boy's leg and sitting back on her haunches. Her tongue hung from her mouth and she wagged her tail as she waited patiently. He slowly got up, glaring at the wolf before shuffling over to his bags. After pulling out a dark violet, long sleeve shirt and another pair of black slacks, he quickly got dressed. It was a good thing he thought to wash his clothes the night before, because now he wouldn't have to waste time washing them this morning.
He tied the bundle carrying Denkomaru to Shiranui's back and glanced over at the small table in the center of his room. Some of the food was still there from the night before so he pulled out a couple of plastic containers from the bottom of the backpack. Of course he was going to take the leftovers, it meant saving money for more important things, like his art supplies.
Issun knew he needed to get more of them and he had originally planned to pick some up in Kusa village, but he figured it would be better to skip it. It was hard to explain exactly, but he had a bad feeling about going there at the moment.
Instead, he gathered all his things and left Sasa Sanctuary, following the path onward towards Agata Forest. The plan was for him and Shiranui to reach Kamiki Village as soon as possible. It was so far from his home village up in Kamui that he hoped he'd be safe there. Surely that Yami man wouldn't search here for a long time. In fact, he kind of expected the man to believe he died out in the snow somewhere and that Denkomaru was lost to him.
Still he really wanted to know what was so special about the sword. Aside from the quality and age, all it had was the old lore around it. Take all of that away and Denkomaru was just a fancy katana, right? It's not like the legends about it were true, but if Yami wanted it because he actually believed them then he was dumber than Issun first thought. Whatever the reason, Issun didn't care. He wasn't going to let them have his Denkomaru.
The duo finally reached Agata Forest, on the side of the wooden bridge that lead to Taka Pass. Shiranui had made it halfway across before noticing that her companion hadn't followed. He was just staring at the rapids uneasily, looking a little pale. It wasn't until she barked that he actually set foot on it and slowly made his way to her, sticking close to the middle of the bridge.
"Geez...you ever see a river with rapids like that?" Issun commented as they crossed over it. "I mean, I can hardly believe this dinky little bridge can even stay up with them. I'd hate to fall into there. Probably get killed huh? Like, if you don't drown you'll probably split your head open on one of the rocks or something, huh?" The wolf huffed, and trotted ahead once they reached the other side. "Okay from here, it should be a straight shot over to Kamiki. So let's hurry up! I'll race you to the other side of the forest furball!"
With that Issun took off, leaving behind a startled Shiranui for only a second. It didn't take the wolf long to catch up and take the lead though. As they neared the path to Shinshu Fields Issun told himself that he would come back to paint the massive trees that towered high over them and the murky waters of the land. Neither of them saw the woman watching them with beady black eyes. With a grin she pulled a simple black flip phone from the sleeve of her spider web-patterned kimono and quickly dialed a number.
"Hello Lord Yami. I found your missing blade. Shall I alert the brothers to keep track of it?"
A/N: This is my first Okami fanfiction, so I'd appreciate feedback. Also I'd like to explain a few things.
1) This is based on a modern reincarnation AU. Yes Issun is the main character, but you'll find out why him and not Ammy later on. Feel free to guess though.
2) Ammy will be human, but Shiranui exists too? Yeah. That's also for later. Unless you wanna guess this too.
3) Don't be surprised if actual modern Japanese city names are used, even in reference. I'm sticking with Nippon and the Okami locations mostly, but it's also Japan, based on Japanese myths and such. Calling it Nippon helps keep me on track with the story and reminds me that it's an Okami story that will utilize the actual game content at some point. So it's Nippon.