IMPORTANT NOTE, READ EVERYBODY: This was originally posted on my other account, Ziro, but I decided to put it on this account instead of deleting. -sigh- There goes 33 reviews.
Yeah, so I think I've got a pretty good for a multi-chapter Okami fanfiction. However, after I finish Red vs Blue: The Novelization, then it will be put up. No, I won't be posting the idea. Yes, it is original. For now, I present to you a oneshot. This is a 'what if?' type thing of what would happen if Ammy just decided to 'quit' her 'job'. Death-fic. Involves some angst towards the end.
End of the Road
The white she-wolf's coat was as brilliant white as the snow and as bright as the whitest white. When she ran, the many creatures across Nippon would come and bask in the trail of flowers and grass her paws left behind as she ran. As of late, though, Issun had started to notice a change in the wolf-goddess he once knew. Her tail started to droop and her ears were never perked up anymore. Her god and goddess friends stopped visiting and talking to her, something that Amaterasu - Ammy - stopped worrying about.
"Hey, furball, what's wrong?" Issun asked worriedly, bouncing up and down between the snowy-white goddess' ears. She let loose a low growl and snapped at Issun, a clear warning to keep away. "Ammy, I don't know what's wrong with you, but you really need to let loose. Nippon needs you right now. Orochi, Crimson Helm, the Spider Queen...all of them. Remember how you fought them off? What are you gonna do now, besides let the demons and monsters take over?"
The goddess looked down at Issun, who had taken up residence between her paws. She let out a muffled bark and placed her head back between her two large paws. The odd red markings that crossed her body were a pale red now, almost turning pink. She hadn't used her Celestial brush in a while, either. She cracked open one sky-blue eye to look across the fields of Shinshu, the sparrows and robins all flying around her. "Look, Ammy, I know you're probably tired of being Shiranui, but you need to pull yourself together!" Issun exclaimed.
Amaterasu, Nippon needs you. Can you feel the cries of the cursed lands pleading for you? Is it too much for you?
The white wolf flicked her ears, rolling over onto her back. "C'mon! Get up!" Issun pleaded, doing his best to push Ammy onto her paws. "You know what? I give up. You can let Orochi return and kill Nippon," he mumbled, crossing his arms. Her azure-blue eyes were clouded over, and Issun could only wonder what it meant. His beady black eyes scanned her over, her body starting to disintegrate.
He rushed to her in an instant, pressing his small body against her rib cage. Her bony ribs stuck through her fur - something nobody would be able to tell unless they touched her. Ammy raised her head and growled at Issun, warning him to stay away. "Oh, Ammy, why didn't you tell me you were dying?"
-
I always believed in looking after myself and those who I guarded. Lately, all the traveling between cursed zones and whatnot was starting effect me. I could feel the cries of the land screaming at me - screaming at me to save it. It's been...too much. Even though Issun, Wakka, Sakuya, and a lot more people are counting on me, I fear it's the end of the road for me.
I see no more need to leave now. Anywhere I would go, the people would taunt me, and one woman even went as far as to throw objects at me. I am not Orochi's familiar! I can see that even after one hundred years, some things never change. And then there's Issun...
Poor, little Issun. He seems to be the one counting on me the most, no matter how hard any task is. The fight with Crimson Helm...even though he was burned pretty badly, I still stayed with him. Still, I think he can manage without me.
My muscles are weakening, my bones are becoming more brittle, and I think I can even feel the darkness trying to add me among their ranks. I'm spending more time trying to sleep, even though my dreams are filled with hauntings and nightmares about all the stuff that needs to be done. The eight heads and sixteen eyes of Orochi seem to watch me from every shadow and crevice, and I don't think I can bear it anymore.
Issun will have to manage without me.
He's courageous, determined, and has an iron will. I can feel the crunching of leaves beneath me, the animals - the very animals I used to watch over - cower in fear as I trod past them, my tail drooping and dragging against the ground and my head held low, it, too, almost dragging against the ground. Even as I lay here, I can feel the darkness creeping in, my eyes threatening to close - forever.
Issun is burying himself into my thick, long fur, pleading for me to pull through. I...I just can't. It's become too much to bear, and this burden is growing heavier and heavier every single day that I breathe in the scent of blood and death. The cursed zones that I've walked through have already begun their quest to engulf my spirit and soul, ignoring my will to stay away.
Issun...I'm sorry. I truly, deeply, madly am sorry. If you were in my position, you would understand. This pain is too much. Every step I've been taken has been threatening to pull me down and never let me stand up again. Pain, agony, misery...I have no words to describe.
I'm sorry. It's the end of the road for me, and you'll have to manage on your own. Find Wakka...Sakuya, somebody, to bring you back home to the Poncles.
I'm sorry, Issun. Goodbye.
-
Issun bounced after Ammy, happy that she was finally walking and standing up on her own. But...something wasn't right. She slowly made her way to the top of a cliff, each step causing a large grimace to spread across her white muzzle. She walked to the edge of the cliff, the wind billowing her fur as she looked down at the crashing waves that lapped against the beach. The fall would have been over a thousand feet, and if she would hit the water, it would be like falling on concrete.
"Ammy...you--you can't. Please, Ammy, don't do this," Issun whispered, holding onto her tail. Ammy looked at the Poncle, her azure-blue eyes clouded over with confusion and pain.
If only you could understand me, dearest Issun. I'm sorry, she thought as he allowed the wind to carry her over the edge.
The last thing she remembered was her spirit returning to the Celestial Plains and her battered and broken body hitting the water's surface with a sickening crack, all her bones breaking.
I'm sorry, Issun.
I was bored. Basically, Ammy's body has been weakened due to all the Cursed Zones and she's in pain by the darkness trying to consume her, so she takes the life of her physical body and returns to the Celestial Plains, leaving Wakka and Sakuya to save Nippon from Lechku, Nechku, Ninetails, and all the other monsters and demons.
Also, they never show the true color of Ammy's eyes, so I decided to go with a deep, azure blue instead.
-Zi