Call of the Moon

Chapter 7 – Separate the Beast

Okami stared at the two youkai with bloodthirsty eyes. She lifted her sword so it rested upon her shoulder.

Nue and Mamizou were whispering amongst themselves, shooting glances at Okami every now and then. "What are we gonna do?" Nue muttered hoarsely.

"We could try tiring her out," Mamizou replied. "If she runs out of steam, maybe she'll turn back to normal."

"It's worth a try," the undefined youkai spoke. "We don't know how much stronger she is, so try not to get hit. And from the look in her eyes, I doubt the sparring rules are in play anymore."

"Alright, careful now," Mamizou warned. The two youkai then moved in opposite directions. Okami growled and swung her sword, releasing a wave of energy from her sword in a wide arc that only narrowly missed the two.

"I was right. Looks like the gloves are off now!" Nue remarked. She fired a laser from the tip of her trident at Okami, who countered with a wave of energy from her sword. From the corner of her eye, she saw Mamizou preparing several paper shikigami shaped like humans, birds, frogs, and dogs.

"Mysterious Snake Show!" Nue shouted, unleashing a wave of curvy green lasers. Okami growled and took cover behind her sword. Okami roared and charged at Nue, who suddenly disappeared with a smirk.

Okami paused her attack and growled. "COWARD! WHERE ARE YOU HIDING?!" she roared, swinging her blade at the air. The crazed wolf sniffed at the air, but found no trace of Nue.

Suddenly the wolf was pelted in the back by a multitude of paper shikigami danmaku of many shapes. She turned around and came face to face with a blow from Mamizou's tail.

"Take that, whoever you are!" the tanuki yelled. Okami was knocked back several feet, but she kept her balance.

Nue reappeared next to Mamizou. "I hope we're not hurting her too much…" Nue muttered.

"DIE!" Okami yelled, baring her fangs. She lifted her sword into the air and white energy gathered around it. "MOONLIGHT BURST!" Okami pointed the sword at the two youkai and unleashed a beam of white energy.

"Move, move, move!" Mamizou yelled as she and Nue leaped away from the blast.

Meanwhile, Kyouko quietly observed the escalating battle with a horrified. From where she was hiding, she saw the horrible, bloodthirsty red glow in Okami's eyes. Something had happened to Okami. The yamabiko ran into the temple. She had to tell Byakuren.

"Byakuren-sama! Byakuren-sama!" Kyouko yelled, sprinting into a room. Byakuren and Shou were in the middle of a conversation. The two of them looked up at Kyouko in shock.

Byakuren could sense the urgency in Kyouko's voice. "What's the matter, Kyouko?" she asked, standing up immediately.

"Something's wrong… something's very very wrong with Okami," Kyouko yelped. The poor yamabiko seemed to be on the verge of tears.

"What do you mean?" Byakuren asked. Kyouko lost it and started to cry. She ran to Byakuren and hugged her tightly.

"I don't know!" Kyouko bawled. "She started to roll around on the ground holding her head, and when she got up again, her eyes were glowing red and she was roaring and yelling! It was really scary!"

Byakuren's eyes narrowed. "I think I know what happened to her… it's got to have something to do with that strange presence I felt earlier," she spoke softly. Byakuren sighed and petted Kyouko's head. "Don't worry, Kyouko. We'll get Okami back to normal."

Byakuren grabbed her scroll. "Shou, come on. Let's go," she ordered and ran out to the courtyard. Shou followed promptly, her Jeweled Pagoda and spear in hand.

"Byakuren, what exactly is happening?" Shou asked, and then her eyes wandered over to the scene of battle in the courtyard.

Okami was firing lasers at Nue and Mamizou, who were shooting danmaku and lasers of their own back at her. A faint white aura was surrounding Okami.

"Oh great Bishamonten, please help us," Shou murmured and gripped her pagoda.

Byakuren could sense a powerful and evil aura around Okami that was completely different from her usual one. She tried to search for Okami's normal aura, but as she was focusing, she felt that the evil aura was centered her sword. Okami's true aura was buried under all the malicious energy emanating from the sword.

"The sword. The sword is what's causing this, it's the center of that evil presence I felt when I saw Okami this morning," Byakuren told Shou, pointing at the sword that Okami is swinging around. "We have to separate her from her sword."

"How do you propose we do that?" Shou asked.

"I need you to distract her. Keep her occupied while I prepare Superhuman," she said, unrolling her scroll and closing her eyes to concentrate.

"Understood," Shou replied, and ran towards Okami. Shou pointed her spear at the young wolf, drawing her attention. "Okami, stop this at once!"

"KILL YOU!" the wolf roared and swung her blade at Shou, who blocked it using her spear.

Shou looked Okami in the eyes and spoke sternly. "Listen to me. I know you're in there! This isn't you." The tiger shoved her away and held up her Jeweled Pagoda. "Light Sign 'Absolute Justice!'"

Beams shot out from the Jeweled Pagoda that trapped Okami between two lasers. Shou fired several orbs of light at the wolf youkai, who hid behind her sword, growling.

Nue flew behind Okami and fired green curved lasers towards Okami and Mamizou pelted her with animal-shaped danmaku. Okami was shot in the back and she gritted her teeth in pain as she fell to one knee.

"DIE!" she roared, getting to her feet and dashing at Shou.

"Shou, move!" Byakuren yelled. The tiger youkai stepped back several feet.

"Superhuman 'Byakuren Hijiri!'" the chief monk shouted as she flew towards Okami at a blinding speed, leaving a trail of danmaku behind her. She punched Okami in the gut and the wolf let go of her sword. The blade flew several feet away from Okami.

Byakuren moved away from the bladeless Okami. Okami gripped her stomach and looked up. Her eyes slowly faded back into their normal golden color. Okami coughed and she lost balance.

Byakuren caught the wolf youkai before she could fall. She was still alive, however the young wolf had passed out. "No surprise, that must have taken a toll on her mind and her body," she remarked.

"Byakuren-sama! How's Okami?" Shou asked as she approached Byakuren. Nue and Mamizou followed shortly behind her.

"Alive, but she's unconscious."

"What was causing that?" Nue asked.

"Okami's sword was emanating an aura. I assume it had taken control of her body and mind," Byakuren replied. Suddenly, she sensed the evil aura return. She swiftly turned around to look at the sword lying on the courtyard floor.

It was glowing in a faint white aura.

"This can't be good," Mamizou muttered.