Author's Note:
Hey, everyone. Thank you for all of your reviews and support of the first chapter, here's hoping to keep things going.
Starting in this chapter, you'll see some mention of characters from Shinto mythology who for some reason or another didn't end up in the games (or if they did, in a completely different or unrelated role to their role in the Shinto pantheon). So as to not spoil anything, I won't mention any of said characters here, but I will have the background myths explained in some detail at the ending notes to each chapter for the characters introduced. I'll also start updating my profile with said details for each character as well for quick reference. So, if you ever find yourself confused by a character that you don't recognize, check in one of those two places to figure out a bit more of the context.
Note that this chapter also contains some spoilers for Okami. Granted the game is eight years old so I'd be amazed if anybody reading this hasn't played it, but I have to cover myself.
Thanks for your continued support and enjoy!
It was a quiet night on the Celestial Plain. Yumigami's starlight shone over the night sky, the stars in her night sky silent beacons of brilliance in the black of space.
It was late. Though there may have been some on the mortal world still up at this time of night, on the Plain, there wasn't a soul still awake besides the rabbit who watched over the night sky.
That is, not a soul aside from the wolf who sat in silence, keeping a vigil watch over the land of the gods from his perch on the edge of the Plain.
Tsukuyomi, god of the moon, could sense the feelings of unrest coming from the palace. He knew full well who it came from, too. The goddess of the sun, the greatest of all the Brush Gods, Amaterasu-Ōmikami. His sister.
The wolf turned away from his perch and took a few steps back towards the palace, stopping at the edge of a nearby pond. The moonlight that he protected illuminated the pond before him, showing his reflection like a mirror.
The moon god started at it for a moment. Looking back it him was a proud, dark-furred wolf, pelt shining a dark purple, eyes a golden yellow like the moon itself. On his back sat a long, silver blade, the same blade that had once sealed away the great demon Orochi, harnessing the lunar god's every spirit to keep the mighty beast at bay until it could be slain for good.
It had taken a hundred years of imprisonment within that blade, but finally, Orochi, and the demons that haunted the land with him, had been destroyed. Destroyed by no other than the same goddess who was now lying awake, forever followed by the loneliness and despair she had felt since Yami's return.
It had been 521 years since that day. The sun goddess had lost count long ago, but Tsukuyomi had kept count with startling accuracy. For every night for those past five hundred years, he had sensed the same feeling of unrest.
As the moon god looked away from the pond and continued towards the palace, he sighed. He and his sister had certainly had their quarrels growing up, as you might expect from two siblings with divine powers, but they had always cared for each other, and the dark-furred wolf hated his inability to help the sun goddess with the demons that had plagued her since that dark day.
Oh, he had tried. Each day, he encouraged her to go outside, to run around in the fields and cherry blossoms of their peaceful home like she had in the days when evil had been but a distant memory. And each day, his offer was met with cold refusal. She would still head into the forests every now and then, but never to frolic around and play with the other Brush Gods like she used to. Every time he had found her out there, she would be sitting alone in some hidden place, staring at the beauty around her and wishing that she had the ability to turn back time.
But for all the sun goddess's power, that was one thing that she simply was not capable of. Time moved at its own rhythm, one that not even the gods themselves could change. All the moon god could do was sit with his sister in silence, trying to bring her a comfort that would never come.
Tsukuyomi turned away from his thoughts as he approached the steps of the palace. He looked at the large balcony several floors up, where his sister undoubtedly tried her best to sleep past the nightmare that haunted. For a moment, he considered going up there, trying to to help her and give her some semblance of peace, but he knew that the demons following her were her own. As much as he might wish to, he could not exorcise them. Only his sister had the power to do that.
And so, the moon god laid down at his guard post on the steps of the palace, and continued to watch over the world, sending silent prayers that his sister would find the strength to throw off her grief and live again as she once had.
Out of the bushes near him, a rabbit hopped out, looking at him curiously. The wolf gave the small creature a smile, knowing it was no ordinary rabbit. At his thoughts, a soft golden glow came from the creature, fading to reveal a stunning young maiden with golden hair. Yumigami.
The goddess of the night slowly sat next to him, running a hand through his fur. "She still cannot sleep," she whispered. As the other deity of the night sky, the goddess was just as aware of what bothered Amaterasu as Tsukuyomi was.
Tsukuyomi nodded softly. "I wish there was some way we could help her, Yumi," he said, "Her light has dulled ever since that dark day and we can do naught but pray for her."
"Can you blame her?" the lunar maiden replied, "She has lost a love that was meant to be eternal. The one she cares most for now lies in a world she can never reach." She paused. "Not even your father could bring back the dead, Tsuki."
The moon god shifted a bit at the mention of his father. Izanagi's attempt to bring back his lost wife from the afterlife ended in failure, and it was that experience that brought about the birth of the moon god and his sister. Tsukuyomi hoped that his sister would never try such a thing. The afterlife was a place not even divine beings dared alter.
He turned back to the golden maiden next to him. "Only she can release herself from her despair. I wish she would see that."
Yumigami shook her head a little. "It's not as easy as it sounds, Tsuki. Losing that much is something hard to recover from" She gave him a playful grin. "You'd probably feel the same way if anything were to happen to me."
"You are a Brush God. You at least could return to me," he responded, "Ushiwaka does not have that luxury."
"No, he doesn't." She looked down at the mortal world below in sadness. After a few moments, she turned back to him, a mischievous gleam in her eye. "I might have an idea."
Tsukuyomi shook his head, chuckling a bit. "You always do, Yumi," he said, "It's just a question whether or not it's a good one."
Yumigami looked hurt. "Tsukuyomi, are you implying that some of my ideas aren't fantastic and brilliant in every way?"
He rolled his eyes in response. "Only some of them."
He was lying. Yumigami had a tendency to become easily bored, and her plans usually involved in one or both of them getting in trouble growing up. More often than not the latter, to his dismay. But his sister was in such a desperate state, Tsukuyomi was willing to try anything to help her. Even if it meant going along with Yumigami's half-baked schemes.
The moon god sighed. "Alright. What is it?"
The rabbit-girl gave him a sly smirk. "I hear there's a big festival planned on the mortal world over the next couple of days," she began.
Tsukuyomi did not like where this was going.
"Festivals are always so full of life, of cheerfulness." She beamed as she stood up, dancing a bit as she continued. "Happy people walking through the streets, revelers dancing around to the music… For a couple days, everyone relaxes and just lives."
She stopped her little dance and looked back at him, face suddenly serious. "And I think our sun goddess needs to live more than anything right now, wouldn't you say?"
The moon god shook his head. "You are certifiably crazy, Yumigami."
She flashed him that sly grin again. "Admit it. You liked it."
"I will do no such thing."
The maiden rolled her eyes. "You're going to bring her there, aren't you."
He sighed again. As much as he hated visiting the mortal world, Yumigami was right. His sister was missing the spark of life, and perhaps a couple days on the mortal world could start to bring back that lively spirit. He looked back at the goddess of the night and nodded.
Once more that smirk showed on her face. "Don't cause too much of a mess down there, Tsuki."
With that, the golden glow reappeared, and the rabbit leapt back into the bushes and out of sight.
Tsukuyomi stood up and looked back at the world below as the first beams of dawn broke the sky. As much as he hated to admit it, Yumigami's plan was actually decent. Now he just had to talk his sister into it. "This'll be fun," he thought to himself as he walked towards the regal doors to the palace.
Amaterasu yawned as she woke, stretching a bit. She still couldn't sleep well. The first light of the sun peeked in through the window, as if to encourage it's goddess to get out of her comfortable bed. Reluctantly, the wolf-girl did so, slowly climbing out of her bed and walking over to the balcony to look out at the red orb that had disturbed her slumber.
Below her, forests of bright pink petals colored the land, the Celestial Plain a thing of pristine beauty as it always was. The smell of cherry blossoms wafted through the air as the world below her came to life.
It was a pretty sight, she admitted. But not even the beauty of nature itself could mend the wound in the sun goddess's heart. "It would be so much more beautiful with you," she thought wistfully.
A knock at the door snapped her out of her thoughts. Amaterasu sighed. "Go away," she yelled back at the incessant sound coming from the door. Her visitor didn't seem to get the message, and the knocking continued. She tried to ignore it as best she could. "Leave me alone," she called back in annoyance. Still the knocking continued.
The wolf-girl huffed in frustration, finally walking towards the accursed sound. "Tsukuyomi," she yelled, "If that's you again I swear I'm going to grab you and throw you off the edge of the Plain."
"Open the door and do it, then," her brother called out from behind the door. Amaterasu shifted into her wolf form, slamming through the door with a growl. She looked around, trying to find the source of her ire.
To her left, Tsukuyomi spoke. "Sleep well, dear sister?"
She gave him an annoyed glare. He was one of the gods who watched over the night. Of course he knew the answer to that question.
He shook his head. "Come outside, Ammy. I've got an idea I want to run by you."
Amaterasu shifted back to her true form - a radiant human girl with long, flowing hair as white as snow, her wolf ears and tail the only reminder of her alternate form. "I tell you every day, Tsuki," she said, "I don't want to go outside."
"It'll be fun." He gave her a little smile. "Yumigami had an interesting idea…"
The sun goddess did a double take. She knew her brother wasn't the biggest fan of the rabbit's ideas. It took something special for him to call one of her plans 'interesting.' "Okay," she replied, "What's this big idea?"
The moon god simply walked back towards the stairs, gesturing for her to follow. "Come outside and I'll tell you."
Amaterasu growled in annoyance. All she wanted to do was to slam the door shut and sleep for a week (or at least try to), but her curiosity got the best of her. After taking a moment to get changed, she found herself outside the doors to the palace, looking out over the edge of the Plain with her brother.
"Okay Tsuki," she said as she approached him, "I'm outside. Now what's this plan you have?"
He looked back at her. "Yumi tells me there's supposed to be a festival on the mortal world for the next couple of days…"
Her jaw nearly dropped in shock. After Susano had released Orochi so many years ago, her brother had come to despise humanity. He was the last person she would expect to suggest a trip to the mortal realm.
The sungoddess felt a pang of sadness as she thought of Susano. All her mortal friends from her time in Nippon were long gone now. Just one of the many perks of being immortal. She missed them all - Susano, Kushi, but most of all Issun. The little Poncle had been an annoying little thing, and she probably would've gotten into a lot less trouble without his big mouth, but he had been a great friend to her. Were it not for him, she wouldn't have stood a chance against Yami when they fought on the Ark of Yamato.
She blinked away the tears in her eyes. How long had it been since she visited the mortal world? Had she even gone back after Waka perished on the streets of Florence so long ago? She couldn't remember, but it had certainly been centuries.
Amaterasu thought for a moment. As much as she hated to admit it, the festival did sound fun. She had always loved going to visit the annual festival in Kamiki Village in the years after her travels in Nippon. And it had been such a long time since she last visited the mortal world… It would at least be interesting to see what's changed since then. Say what you will about humans, they certainly were ingenious, and the contraptions they managed to come up always surprised her.
Tsukuyomi stared at her, waiting for an answer. "Okay," she said, "Let's do it. But only for a couple days."
The moon god smiled, glad his sister had agreed without too much trouble. In fact, she almost seemed excited about it - at least, as excited as she got about anything as of late.
As Amaterasu prepared for their trip with more energy than he had seen from her in years, Tsukuyomi felt himself feeling hopeful.
Perhaps this idea would work after all.
To clear up the timeline: I consider the events of Okami to have occurred around 248 AD, as this was the year the real-life Queen Himiko died in ancient Japan. Amaterasu's second fight with Yami which led to Waka's death occurred in Renaissance Italy (Florence) in 1493, over a thousand years later. The current chapter occurs in the present day (2014).
Constructive feedback is always appreciated :)
Some mythology notes for the characters mentioned in this chapter:
Amaterasu: Amaterasu-Ōmikami is commonly used as Ammy's full name in Shinto myths, derived from Amateru ("shining in heaven") and ōmikami (essentially "great god"). Literally, her full name translates to "The great god who shines in heaven." "Okami" also translates to "great god/spirit," and in the games it seems like they use this term in place of "Ōmikami", but as far as accuracy to Shinto myths goes "Ōmikami" is technically the correct term.
Tsukuyomi: Although the game refers to Tsukuyomi as Nagi's sword which was used to slay True Orochi, in Shinto myths Tsukuyomi is actually considered to be the god of the moon and Amaterasu's brother. He, Amaterasu, and Susanoo (the god of storms) were born when their father Izanagi cleansed himself after attempting to revive his wife from the afterlife. Amaterasu was born when he cleansed his left eye, Tsukuyomi when he cleansed his right eye, and Susanoo when he cleansed his nose. Original myths show Amaterasu hating Tsukuyomi after he kills Uke Mochi (god of food), hence why the sun and moon never shine at the same time, but later renditions of the myth show Susanoo as the one killing Mochi instead. I use the later telling of the myth in this story, as Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi are too amicable to each other in this chapter for the earlier rendition to make sense.
Yumigami: As far as I can tell, Yumigami actually doesn't exist in the Shinto pantheon. It's possible she took the place of Tsukuyomi in the games, as she is described as the goddess of the moon in Okami, but there's not much evidence either way. As I use Tsukuyomi as a character in this story, I assume her role to be shared with him - Tsukuyomi controls the moon, while Yumigami controls the stars and night sky. Also threw in some romance between the two because why not.
