Prologue

"Are we all set?" Okami said, "Do we have everything?"

"Looks like we do," said Bob.

"Then let's go camping!" said Adam.

As wind blew through the trees, a large, black, ominous cloud encroached toward the forest with an eerie feeling to it. A wild tom cat with gray fur and a ginger tail rushed through the trees towards a rugged mountain. He dodged trees and jumped over rocks and broken tree limbs at an incredible speed. He made it to the mountain and began to climb. He made it to a small ledge with multiple dens for different cats. As he dashed in, he said, "We all must take cover. The storm is very strong. We will not last in the open"

A ginger colored tom cat walked out onto a large, high rock in the middle of the group of dens and let out a howl like meow. All the cats quickly and quietly assembled in front of the rock. The ginger tom spoke to them in a deep voice.

"We must prepare for the storm," mewed the tom. "It has been confirmed to be life threatening. We can not afford to lose anymore apprentices, warriors, or elites. We've lost enough. All the clans have. We must not lose anymore."

Far away, in an even higher mountain, more cats of a different clan were prepared, much like the cats of the fire scorched forest and the muddy swamps. Everyone was preparing for a long, hard storm.

As the camping group of Okami, Bob, Adam, and Louis drove down the dusty path to the woods, windows down, Born to Be Wild blaring from the radio, and dust flying all around, the storm cloud closed in on the forest, and the four friends. Louis noticed the black storm cloud and got concerned.

"I think we should hold off. That storm looks nasty."

"We'll be ok," replied Adam. "The weather forecast says it's going to be sunny and the storm is going south."

"Ok," said Louis still unsteady, "but I still feel that something bad will happen."

"Relax," Okami said, turning around to look at Louis and temporarily away from the road, "we're here to enjoy our-"

"LOOK OUT!" screamed Louis. Okami looked back and saw a car attempting to screech to a halt. He had swerved into the oncoming lane when he had turned to talk to Louis. He quickly jeered back to the right.

"Like I said," Okami said a little shaken up from the close encounter, keeping his eyes glued to the road this time, "nothing to worry about."

"Yeah right," replied Louis

"Hey, just listen to some more music!" He hit a button on the radio and the song changed to Panama. Everyone, from that point on, sat back and enjoyed the ride.

At the campsite, they got their tent up. Then, they decided to take a hike out into the wilderness. They got everything ready and started out into the unknown. They had walked deep into the woods and, as it got darker, Louis was concerned and wanted to go back.

"Louis!" screamed Okami. "Stop it! Nothing is going to happen! We are supposed to be having fun and being worry free, not worrying about a little rain!"

They continued on. Night came and it started to rain. Then, on their way back, they took a different root. They were walking when they hit a small clearing with a light blue rock.

"What is this?" asked Louis. "I've never seen anything like it." He went up to it.

"Maybe it's a precious gemstone?" Okami suggested. Louis touched the rock and felt it. At that instant, it started to glow and he jumped back. The light got so intense; they had to shield their eyes. It was a bright, white light. When it subsided, they were waking up. They were lying on the ground in the clearing. The rock was gone.

"Hey, Okami! You're a cat!" Screamed Louis.

"Wha- stop! Wait! You are too! Adam and Bob are too!" At that moment, Adam and Bob got up and looked at themselves in astonishment.

"How did this happen?" said Louis. Just then, the rain increased and the wind picked up. Thunder boomed from all around. Lightning lit up the sky.

"Quick," Okami said, "We have to find cover! Split up!"

"Wait that's not a good ide-" said Louis, but everyone had already darted off. So he went his own way. He took a path into a forest that gave way to a jagged mountain. He climbed up the mountain over cliffs and jagged rocks. He made his way through planes of treacherous, loose rocks. It was hard, but he was amazingly able to navigate it without breaking a sweat. He made his way up more jagged cliffs until he found a small ledge that had multiple dens. At the center a tall, jagged rock poked out of the flat ledge. At the top stood a ginger colored tom, seemingly addressing a crowd of cats. He stopped and looked, along with all the other cats, directing their stare at the strange cat that had peeped over the ledge.

"Uhhhh… Hello?" meowed Louis.

Meanwhile, Okami was rushing through a blacked, soot covered forest that seemed to be dead. No life, no hope. The trees were black and burnt. There was a heavy fog that covered the floor of the forest, like a veil. Thunder continued accompanied by lightning, strong winds, and much rain. He made his way through the forest, dashing over all sorts of different burnt branched and blackened rocks. He leaped over a few fallen branches. Suddenly, a snap made him stop dead in his tracks. He twitched his ears towards the left. There it was again. Then a crackling. He looked over and saw a large, long, black object getting closer. He had no time to react. He held his paws up, standing on his hind legs, and the black long object hit his paws with a merciless force. He pushed it to the right just as he lost his balance. The tree landed to his right with a loud, echoing thud and crow shrieks accompanied by the flapping of wings could be heard in the distance. He fell backwards, his stomach exposed. His instincts told him to flip right side up. He got to his feet and looked off into the mist. A group of footsteps sounded. They were closing in on him. He just stood there, deciding if he should run or not. Before he could make up his mind, a voice called out, and the silhouette of a group of cats came into view. The voice was deep and appeared to come to the cat in the middle. "Who are you?"

Okami stood there, watching the cats come into view. The one that spoke was a light brown tabby tom with dark brown stripes. He spoke again. "I am asking your name and why you are here?"

"My name is Okami and honestly, I have no clue what I'm doing here."

Bob, meanwhile, had been running through the forest. He noticed a river appear suddenly and approaching fast in front of him. He tried to stop, but the ground was slick and he slipped into the ragging rapids. He fought for breath for a few seconds, but once the initial shock wore off and he could focus, his instincts took over. He began to paddle with hard, determined strokes. He powered himself downstream, following the river. He was easily able to swim. He felt as if he could take on the current, but he figured to just keep going like he was, since he was doing fine the way he was. He ended up being washed into a muddy marsh. He trudged through the marsh, keeping very alert. He found his way to a little group of small mounds poking out of a small, murky lake covered on the bottom with mud. They almost looked like beaver dens. He heard a splash. Bubbles formed near one of the mounds. Then, a gray tom cat appeared from under the murky lake water.

"Where'd you come from?" he said, looking surprised.

Adam made his way up a steep mountain. It was smooth and easy to climb. He went higher and higher. The oxygen got thinner, but he didn't seem to notice. Eventually, he went so high, the rain was gone. However, he now had a new danger. He was inside a thunder cloud, making him easily able to be struck by lightning. He had to keep moving. Then, all at once, a big gorge blocked the path up the mountain. He had to keep going though. At that point, he felt instinct take over. He attempted to jump. He leaped and instinct told him to spread himself out. He had flaps under his legs. They spread out and the stormy wind blowing around in the clouds caught him and helped him glide across. Then, he continued his climb, going higher and higher. He wondered if there would be a point where he would pass the storm cloud. He knew a storm cloud was miles higher than a normal cloud, but he did not know how long he had climbed. He eventually hit what he was waiting to see. He broke through the black fog, and he could see for miles around in all directions. But when he looked down in any direction, all he saw was blackness with sparks of electricity here and there. He continued his climb, wondering what lie next. He made it to a point where he saw multiple holes carved out of the rock on a flat ledge. He was admiring it when, all of a sudden, he felt a sharp pain on his back. He looked back and saw a cat had dug its claws into him. He was under attack.