Disclaimer: As usual, Rise of the Guardians belongs to William Joyce and Dreamworks Animation. All rights to Okami belong to Clover Studios (come back!).

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Rising Sun

Chapter 3

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While the Pole still bustled with activity around them, it was silence between the Guardians. It was finally broken when Jack let out a breath and readjusted his hands on his staff, "Well… Guess I shouldn't be too surprised. Man in the Moon; makes sense it should be Goddess of the Sun." Said Goddess shifted only slightly when commented, taking care not to disturb the sandman napping against her fur. Twirling his staff in his hand without the bandaged wrist, Jack turned his head towards North, Bunny, and Tooth. "I wasn't expecting a wolf though," he said, "Is there any reason for that?"

"The wolf form is by choice actually," Tooth explained.

"Could've stayed human," Bunny said, arms crossed, "Don't know why she choose a wolf of all things."

"It isn't like she's hunting you." Jack sent a teasing grin to the bipedal rabbit that scowled and rolled his eyes back. The winter spirit crossed the floor to Amaterasu and knelt before her to stare at her eye level. A few seconds ticked and he found himself almost wanting to break away. Something about the goddess's gaze was more intense than before, silently giving him commands which he unconsciously obeyed. He sunk from his crouch until he sat with his legs crossed. A sudden mischievous glint in her eye snapped him out of his trance and he whipped his head around, eyes wide, "What the-?!"

North released a hearty guffaw, "She only playing with you. Still, should have warned not to stare in eye. No chance in understanding her normally. Only Sandy can interpret, but spotty at parts." At the mention of his name, Amaterasu turned and began to nudge the sandman, finally barking sharply once into his ear. He snapped awake, looking around in a pleased, but still sleepy stupor. When he came about to see Amaterasu, he simply smiled and patted the fur on her back before floating into an upright position. She, in turn, rose to her paws and stretched. From Jack's vantage point, her height proved to be much more intimidating and knowing that under the majority of that white fur was mainly muscle added to the feeling.

"So, if she's supposed to tell us something…" Jack began, rising to his feet. He didn't continue immediately, sizing up the goddess again and noticing how she came right up to his hip, maybe a little higher. "… How is that going to work?" The Goddess talked and acted like an animal so Tooth should be capable of that much. What was so different about a goddess in wolf form that kept the Fairy Queen from proper interpretation? And if Sandy, who was the oldest Guardian, failed to fully translate her, they had a problem. Still, he seemed to catch what she wanted to say this time and his sand spun, first into a wolf and then into an arrow.

"Ah! She will lead the way!" North stated, watching as Amaterasu actually began to move again. Her trot had a leisurely saunter to it despite the apparently urgent world matters and Bunny was beginning to tense up again as she approached. Jack couldn't keep the smirk off his face as she walked closer to the Pooka without any aggression, yet he instinctively became skittish. Stopping before Bunny, she tapped a claw against the ground while staring at one of his paws and glancing up once she was done. When he didn't react, she did it again with a demanding huff.

Bunny stared, but then managed to calm himself enough to get the message. "Oh, you wanna borrow a tunnel. Alright…"

Two paw taps against the wooden boards and a tunnel opened big enough for even North to enter. Amaterasu seemed pleased with size, her tail briefly wagging before she stood completely rigid, staring into the tunnel. Jack crept forward, wanting to see what the goddess was staring so intently at, but then stared down at the opening when the usual evidence of greenery and earth was replaced by stars. She snorted and tossed her head, eyes darting to the five of them in rapid succession before she jumped into the hole. Sandy followed first with no hesitance, apparently knowing where this might lead. North went in second, leaping into it like he would a chimney. Bunny didn't like the looks of the new tunnel, but hopped in anyway. Tooth hurriedly gave a few more orders to her fairies before diving in, Baby Tooth behind her as usual. Jack walked closer and peered inside, hoping to see some kind of flooring, but it almost seemed infinitely filled with darkness and twinkling stars. Odd, but he didn't feel as apprehensive as he had before. Staring into the hole felt like gazing into the night sky, except the Moon couldn't be seen. But did that mean it led into space? Curiosity overpowering his wariness, Jack jumped in and the tunnel closed behind him.

His vision was overwhelmed as he fell - floated more - into the expanded space filled with stars. He had never seen so many in the night sky and the meteors zooming past him up close were new. The planets he drifted by were surreal; their images in Jamie's books had been vivid enough, but Jack felt like if he reached out, he would touch them, maybe even grab them. When the blue and green orb came into view, he did raise a hand, only to be taken out of reach as his feet planted against an invisible platform. The other Guardians were there too, North and Tooth taking in the wonders of the universe being offered just like Jack while Bunny and Sandy seemed almost sad.

"Where'd Ammy go?" Jack didn't think trying to move now would be a good idea. Catching Sandy's eye, the sandman pointed up and the spirit eagerly followed. High above, he could see the Earth and the Moon, but then he saw the Sun. It was already so big on Earth, but in this space, it was so much bigger than all of the planets.

"Okay, so she's up there. Where did she bring us?" Jack looked towards the others for further explanation.

"Actually, they both brought us 'ere," Bunny said, "Ammy and Manny. It's a realm removed from space and time that they can manipulate to tell us whatever they need to. Just keep watching."

Everything suddenly lurched and began to move, the Sun and Moon coming closer to hovering around the Guardians while the planets moved into a ring. This endless galactic room was suddenly filled with whispers as each star flickered out one-by-one, leaving them within the light solely provided by the two celestial bodies. Each planet too disappeared from sight, leaving nothing but darkness. The whispers increased as the black became inky and spiraled. Jack didn't fully understand what was happened, but he did stagger back when an enormous hand seemed to reach through the darkness to grab them. Before it could touch, white swirls spun into the recognizable form of a wolf, which knocked the hand back with a furious growl.

"Oh no… Is that really?" Tooth hugged herself.

Bunny's lip rose as his ears pulled back, "You weren't kidding when you said this was a bigger problem, North."

"Was not expecting it to be so huge. Moi deti…" North whispered, watching the figure of almost complete darkness suddenly light up red and square off against the blinding white wolf. Sandy had a prominent exclamation over his head, but it changed as the fight continued on, arrows pointing left and right.

Jack didn't know what was coming over him. When facing down Pitch, he could control his emotions, but something about this round ball of darkness and the wicked hand rising from it shook him to the core. If possible, he felt cold and it terrified him. "Who… what is that?"

"Jack, remember how we told you about the Man in the Moon and the Golden Ages?" Bunny inquired, casting his eyes towards the young spirit. Swallowing in an attempt to control his nerves, Jack nodded. "Pitch wasn't the only one that came to Earth. That one right there is worse."

"Worse? That doesn't seem possible. Pitch is-"

"Darkness, fears, and nightmares," Toothiana said, "And yes, that's true, but Yami every other negative and corrupt trait of humanity as a whole."

"First arrived years in past from Moon," North spoke up, following the fight just like everyone else. He crossed his arms. "Much like Manny, there were others on run when the Fearlings were released. When Moon started orbiting planet, group of refugees come to live on the surface. They recaptured Fearlings, fought to control and understand better. They protected world, but something went wrong. Manny only managed to save three and sent them to Earth. Japan specifically."

"Things can be confusing at this point, but lemme explain this tidbit, Snowflake. From what I understand, when stars are born, they create millions of little spirits to shed light." Bunny watched the wolf flip backwards and avoid the swiping claw. "Ammy's one of 'em from the Sun. They don't have names, forms, faces, or genders, but some eventually earn one through their own means. One then rises out of the lot to be the leader."

"That explains all the different names, but what does that have to do with the Moon and the survivors?" Jack turned his head away from the fight. He couldn't watch anymore; not without the monstrous ball unnerving him.

"Manny sent survivors to Japan. That is where spirit came to be Goddess," North said with a nod. "Out of all, he knew that she knew what to do and chose her out of all Sun Spirits. She very much like him; curious and full of wonder, and wanting to protect humans and planet." He shook his head, "Anyway, was right decision. She banished darkness, but like all, that only lasts so long."

The battle had concluded before them, the ball and hand disappearing in a flash. Jack felt himself breathing easier and capable of watching as the smoky outline of Amaterasu lay down and disappeared in smoke curls. "Then, that Yami thing she was fighting against, it's coming back?"

"Yes, and it's stirring up demons all over the world." Bunny padded towards the Sun and Moon. Staring at them long, he clenched his paws, "Despite appearances, she's worried. She's like us after all, but this bleeder's got the entire world fueling 'im."

"She won't be strong enough to fight back," Jack said, realizing why this was urgent.

Cutting through the murky black they had been left in, the Moon glimmered and shed its light brighter, the Sun making its reappearance as well. They began to hear the whispers again, the familiar one being Man in Moon while the second must have been the Sun Goddess. Sandy's eyebrows knitted and he looked between them, signs appearing above his head as he seemed to follow and join in their conversation. An exclamation point finally appeared above his head and he waved his hands to his fellow Guardians. All eyes on him, the images flickered and he did his best to keep it slow enough. First it was a sun, then a wolf, a group of children, and then he went through multiple animals: dragon, mouse, three monkeys, boar, rabbit, snake, horse, bird, sheep, cat, tiger, and ox.

"So, we need to find her children. But Sandy, that's not going to be enough. Just having her kids will-" Sandy raised a hand to stop Tooth and Jack was grateful. He didn't understand how any of those animals were related. Sandy began to 'speak' again, this time, showing the entire world and the five of them. More figures appeared and then disappeared into the globe, causing certain locations to rise. When he made the figures appear again, they watched as the globe morphed into various demons and attacked, making his earlier figures disappear.

"Guardians," North said, standing up, "This is emergency." He turned and marched over to the Sun and Moon, stopping besides Bunny and nodding. "She needs us and spirits. She needs full support and more belief." Facing them, his brow was creased and eyes sharpened into a glare. "Be prepared to fight though. Demons will come to kill, and we cannot let them win. If they do, we all lose."

"Right! How do you propose we do this? We're kind of getting overrun with demons right now," Tooth said, wings buzzing as she sped around again, "So take them out first then humans and spirits. Or do we get the spirits, take demons out and then gather human belief? Or humans, spirits, then demons? No, wait! We still need to find her children. So demons, constellations, humans, and spirits, or-"

"Tooth, Tooth! Slow down!" Jack said, raising a hand. She didn't come back down to her feet, but that was fine. "Can't each of us just do a single job? Trying to do all of them separately will drive us crazy."

"He's got a point," Bunny said, giving Jack a small nudge. "Look, North and I will get out there and start clearin' up demons. We both have holidays to worry about so we won't waste time. Sandy can help get the kids believin'. Tooth, your fairies could alert the spirits. See? Works out."

"And what will I be doing?" Jack asked, leaning against his staff.

"You'll be going with Ammy. She's the only one who can fix up her kids' constellations," Bunny said, "'sides, the demons are after you. You'll be safer 'round 'er."

Jack wanted to protest and insist he could take on any demons that he found, but a wet nose stopped him. Amaterasu continued prodding his idle hand until he raised it, placing it on her glowing head. The motion drew his sleeve back and revealed the thick wrapping of gauze around his nearly healed wrist. He didn't say anything, but grimaced as he recalled the foxes in Burgess again. It was true they seemed out of place in America, but why go so far to attack him? Japan was full of spirits; maybe they had experience with those kinds of demons.

Amaterasu shifted under his hand and he watched as she stared at Sandy, barking once. Sandy became troubled, but nodded nonetheless and allowed the sand image of Pitch to appear with a figure of Jack following. Yes, Pitch would undoubtedly be stirring like the demons were and he might be worst out of the lot. A growl came from the Goddess followed by a snort. Sandy smiled and nodded quickly to her.

"We trust you," Tooth said, smiling sadly, "But really, both of you be careful."

The wolf tossed her head and huffed, four portals appearing in the star field again, each leading to the other Guardians respective domains. Each of them walked past Amaterasu and Jack, patting her and bidding both of them farewells for now. When they next gathered, it would hopefully be with good news. Sandy, again, was gone before the others. He could be seen taking off on a sand cloud before the portal closed behind him. Hundred of chirps and squeaking fairies waited expectantly, already aware of Toothiana's pending return and her plans, but she wanted to have a word with them all. The portal to Tooth Palace closed as she quieted her fairy army and address them quickly.

Bunny and North exchanged looks, standing at their portals.

"Meet in five?" Bunny asked.

North nodded, "Yes. Must get sword and a few other things."

"Right. Need a few eggs myself," Bunny said, checking his boomerangs and egg grenades. Both Guardians disappeared at the same time, leaving Amaterasu and Jack. The young spirit twirled his staff over his shoulder and glanced down at the Goddess.

"Where should we start?"

Raising her head, she stared up at him while a portal appearing before them. He glanced up and his breath caught. Amaterasu watched him for a moment, but then walked forward, placing one paw through the opening. She barked sharply, snapping him back to attention and he flew forward as they both exited the star field into Burgess.

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A/N: I made this entire headcanon for Ammy and the other Sun Gods on the fly sorta. Yes, it's a huge fight to be the Sun God, but I thought it was interesting to think of Amaterasu as a spirit with no form or name just watching early plants and animals and slowly coming to be very compassionate about them. This would also explain why she picked a wolf form since early man tamed wolves. It isn't her fault the relationship between man and beast divided of course.

On another note, any future headcanon not covered will be addressed on my tumblr. This will most likely just be about any Okami characters that come up, but if the need arises for anyone from Rise of the Guardians, I'll do them as well.

Last announcement, updates will be one chapter a week at least, two if I'm not too busy. College has started so I can't solely focus on this as much as I want to. Until next chapter.