A soft melody drifted through the trees like wind, echoing through the sunlight dappled forest. Laying beneath one of these trees there was slender white wolf; Amaterasu, complete with red markings and Divine Instrument slowly churning fire upon her back. Next to the wolf there was a man, playing a soft song on a flute. He wore lose clothes; his shirt a pale pink with two fluffy pom-poms, baggy, light purple pants, and stilted red sandals. He had long, golden blonde hair that reached down to his waist, and vivid blue eyes. A minor breeze started and picked it's way through the forest, carrying the sound and tussling Ammy's fur. The flute song stopped, making Ammy raise her head, looking to see what was wrong. She saw the man, Waka, looking at her, a hint of concern in his eyes. Ammy tilted her head.

"Ma chérie..." Waka paused, and looked away," it just seems, you have been unhappy since we came to the Celestial Plain. I was wondering... why?" Ammy glanced at her paws, then let out a soft whimper, and gazed at Waka expectantly. Waka quickly took out a sheet a paper from the roll he had been carrying around, and placed it on the ground next to Amaterasu. The wolf proceeded to write on it, her tail brush whipping back and forth, causing letters, then words, to appear on the page. After a minute, it read this: I want to be human again, I want to be able to really talk to you. Ammy stepped away from the paper, gazing at it sadly. Amaterasu had been human, before the battle with Orochi on the Celestial Plain, she had been able to shift into a human form. Since coming back though, she has yet to regain that power.

"Oh..." Waka said. He didn't continue, neither one of them knew a solution to this problem. So they simply sat there in an awkward silence, for a while, at least. Even though the sun was still shining high, the shadows in the forest started to deepen and grow. Everything went silent, and the shadows started to twist and swirl around Amaterasu and Waka.

They were both on their feet now, Ammy growling, her head darting around, trying to pin point the source of this phenomenon. Waka had a sword drawn. The shadows had turned black, and started to melt into inky swirls, the tendrils curling around the trees, the bushes, anything they could reach. Then, straight ahead of them, a pair of eyes appeared out of the darkness, cruel, violet, narrow eyes, that started to grow larger; whatever is was moving towards them. Ammy snarled at it, and took a step forward, Waka on her heels.

The shadowy creature was near upon them, a cascade of ink-like shadows. The silky ribbons of shadow collected in a wave, ready to crash down. Ammy took another step forward, just as the shadows burst down, and let out a jolting howl. The darkness receded sharply, colliding in on itself back towards the glowing purple eyes. The dark faded, and left standing before them was a large grey cat, twice the height of Ammy at her shoulder. Amaterasu stood growling, Waka at her side, ready for a battle.

"I may not have enough power yet," the feline sneered in a dark, haunting voice, the inky tendrils starting to appear again around it's paws," but I will, and when I do, I will extinguish you, O wolf of the Sun, and Kyuubi shall be avenged! I, the Bakeneko, vow this to you." The Bakeneko hissed, and leapt agilely into the trees, trailed by it's ink-like darkness, and disappeared. Ammy rushed forward, but Waka blocked her way.

"Arrêtez, he's gone," Waka muttered, looking over his shoulder to where the Bakeneko had disappeared. Ammy whined, clearly just wanting to get rid of this threat as soon as possible.

"What was that thing?" Waka asked, a look of worry clear on his face.

"Aroof!" Was his reply. Waka sighed, they had just gotten rid of all the demons! Where had this one come from?

...

The Bakeneko paced restlessly in the cave, it's darkness trailing in liquefied waves behind it. The ink twirled around the dark feline's paws, legs, tail. It never reached his head unless he ordered it to do so. Unnatural shadows twisted around the stalactites, causing them to seem smaller, insignificant, their once sparkling gems turned dark. The cave, which used to be a place of beauty, now was nothing; simply a temporary throne to the giant cat. Even a pile of assorted bones lay discarded in the corner.

Cowering in the corner was an imp, similar to those of Orochi's past servants, complete with a poorly drawn mask and all. The imp stumbled weakly further, terrified of being in the Bakeneko's presence. It shook uncontrollably as it addressed its lord.

"M-master… your-r battalion has b-been assembled for your b-big a-announcement." It managed before scurrying out of the cave's entrance. The Bakeneko stopped and turned, his pitch black whispers twitching. Various torches hung on the walls, illuminating in the absence of sunlight, something he couldn't stand; the uneven rocky floor was lit by the dancing flames, casting an eerie feel. He then walked out of his wing of caves, before looking over to a guarding imp.

"Send the bats out," he spoke quietly, calmly, though a secret layer of menace hid in his cool dark voice. "Give the meager Sun Goddess a tease." This imp paused, and the feline shot him an angry gaze, his shadows starting to grow up around him in a threat. "You question my judgment?" He sneered, baring thin ivory fangs. "Send out the bats," the Bakeneko repeated with finality, and then quietly added, glaring," and you will be part of my next meal."

The imp yelped and ran to send the message, stumbling once over a stray rock. The feline watched him go quietly, eyes narrowed, his tail lashing high behind him. He let his shadows recede back down to simple, inky tendrils, and continued walking forward. He had more important problems to address than annoying little imps. He actually almost regretted that he would eat that imp later, not because he felt pity for the creature, but because imps were stringy and bony, with a bitter, dirty taste.

The Bakeneko walked into another section of the cave onto a raised platform. Before him was a very large, high ceilinged wing of the cave in which was assembled a hundred or so imps; ex-followers of Orochi who decided to stay supporting evil, even after their old leader had fallen. They shouted and cheered as their new master appeared before them, raising rusty swords and other makeshift weapons. The dark-furred cat strode up to the edge of the platform and gazed out over the scene with his violet, narrow eyes.

"Welcome, fellow followers of the dark light…"The Bakeneko shouted as the noise from the crowd died down. "As you all know, the Great Goddess of the Sun slaughters our brethren, chases them away from the world. Thinking she is ridding the world of evil." The feline paused, and gathered a breath. The silence in the cave was deafening as the imps waited. The Bakeneko started again, "But now our time is coming to rule over this land… as we are the true and rightful leaders. And we will rule it in darkness, we will rule it in evil!" Pause. "But we will not strike yet, we will wait until the time is right in order to secure our victory. I may not be Orochi, but I believe my powers are more suited to the job." He paused, and let his shadows start to grow, crawling over the cave walls and surrounding the imps, who cheered in triumph even as their nerves were struck with unease. The cat let the shadows envelop the cave in darkness, and decided to end his speech. "So help me block out the sun… and fight!" He yowled, and let the darkness slowly recede.