Ah yes, this little tail (get it? Because, wolf goddesses? No? Okay…) again. To be honest, this is one of the harder stories I have to update. I mean, think about it. Adventures is easy as it's just a little twist on an already existing story, both Poké-People and The Fourth Tournament have so many characters available that it's easy to write one chapter about a certain character or group of characters. Meanwhile, this and Number Six are both hard since they're original.
But, you know, screw it. I'm having fun re-watching an Okami let's play to get ideas for this. And YES, for all you shippers out here, there will be more HoloxLawrence in the future. Have kinda already hinted at that in previous chapters, but you know. Can't tell ya what!
PocketSnails does not own Okami or Spice and Wolf.
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狼と他の女神
Ōkami to hoka no Megami
Wolf and other Goddess
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The snow was falling lightly today. I preferred it like that. Not enough fur to protect me in this human form.
I was lying down in the back of the cart, staring up into the grey sky. Lawrence, Chloe, and Holo were asleep by the campfire we had set up. Nora and, well, Norah, were over by a frozen lake chatting. It was clear that the two were lovers hadn't seen each other in a while.
I felt the cart shake under someone's weight and looked to my left – Holo had joined me.
"Couldn't sleep?" I asked her.
"Nope." She replied.
I nodded. I was up here for the same reason.
"Why not?"
"Because," she began, "I couldn't bear the thought of Orochi killing Norah. It just…it would've hurt me more than you can imagine…"
"What's with you and her? You seem to go through an awful lot to protect her. And you and Lawrence are real sketchy about revealing your relationship with her."
"She's uh…look. She was a homeless girl that Lawrence and I took care of for a while, and when we weren't exactly able to support both ourselves and her at the same time, we sent her to Nora to be taken of. Those two formed a very…'unorthodox,' relationship, to say the least…"
"Unorthodox is putting it lightly. Can't say I've ever encountered mortals engaged in a romantic relationship with the same sex. I mean, I've seen fellow gods and goddesses do it, but it's different for us." I replied.
"Right. I frankly don't care who anyone is in love with. As long as they're in love and happy. Many would say the fact that Lawrence and I are married is awkward."
"Well yeah, he'll die eventually. You've been around for, what? Tens of thousands of years? And what will you do when he is gone?"
"He won't die." She said sternly.
"But-"
"He. Won't. Die." She growled a little this time.
"Okay, sorry."
She sighed. "I have a plan. It's just a matter of executing it and hoping it works…"
"Okay." I paused for a moment. "I hope it does too."
"Thanks."
"No problem."
Silence for a few minutes as the snow fell on us.
"Sooo…Ammy, let me address the elephant in the room here: What were those black clouds that left from Orochi when we killed him?"
I sighed. "Those were other demonic entities under the control of Yami. They may or may not be ones that I've encountered before."
"So, I assume they'll come after us like Orochi did?"
"Of course. Yami will do anything to try and get rid of me."
"Any particular reason why?"
I paused.
"Ammy…"
"Yami is the lord of all darkness and evil. While all the other gods of my Pantheon sat by and watched him wreak havoc on the world, I was the one who decided to go to earth and fight against him. The others did help me, mind you – it was how I managed to collect all the Celestial Brush techniques that helped me defeat Yami. I thought it was over – that no one would ever have to deal with him anymore. I was sadly mistaken."
"Oh…Well, whatever the case, Lawrence and I will be behind you every step of this journey. We will not rest until Yami is vanquished and you're returned to Nippon!"
I smiled. Holo was very enthusiastic about helping me – something I never thought I'd see from anyone.
That's when we heard the screaming coming from the lake.
I drew my sword and brush and rushed over there immediately, Holo right behind me. Lawrence and Chloe had jolted from their sleep at the sound, and were lagging behind us as such. When we arrived at the lake, a chill went down my spine:
Nora was lying in the snow, a bloody red slash across her abdomen, one of her legs clearly broken. A few feet away from her, at the edge of the lake, Norah was one her knees, a blade drawn across her neck, and all black figure with blue markings held her by the hair.
"Who are you?" I asked, pointing my blade at the figure, concluding that they were male by the way their body was.
"Ha ha ha. Why ask such a stupid question?" His voice was dark, and oozing with pure evil. "You already know the answer to that Amaterasu. I am the blackest of black, the darkest of night, horror of horrors, evil of evils, rival to all that is good and pure!"
I gulped in a mix of fear and dread as I realized who it was: Yami.
"Wh-what do you want with Norah?" I asked uneasily. He simply laughed at me.
"I don't necessarily want anything with her – It's you I want Amaterasu!" Figured he would say that.
"Be more specific!"
"I. Want. You. Dead. Goddess of the Sun."
I paused. I wasn't fixing to give up my life to Yami. But I didn't want him to hurt Norah…
"Fine." I said, though I didn't sound too sure. "But on one condition." I said, setting my Rosary and Reflector on the ground.
"And what is that?"
"We duel for it." Tossing my brush with them as well. "No magic, no tricks, no Celestial powers. Just my sword against yours. If I win, you release Norah, pull out all of your forces from this land, and return me to Nippon. If I lose…I die."
"Sounds like and good enough plan to me!" He stepped away from Norah, though he left a shadow form of himself behind to hold her hostage.
We stood back-to-back, taking five paces away from each other, our swords at our sides. I had since dropped my cloak, in the simple clothes that I had on, my tail and hair shining in the moonlight. Holo and Lawrence had grabbed Nora, and they were standing off to the side with Chloe, ready to watch the fight.
"Alright Yami, are you ready?" I asked him.
"As long as you're ready to die!" He said, snickering as we both drew our swords.
We both stood there frozen for a moment when he suddenly lashed out at me. He was so fast, even without any powers, that I barely had time to block – sparks flew off of our connected swords, electricity coming off of mine.
Somehow, I managed to slide under him and kick his legs out, making him fall. I was about to deliver the finishing blow when he rolled out of the way. My sword got stuck in the ground and he kicked me in the stomach, knocking me away from it.
I suddenly felt the yellow aura appearing around my feet, and out of the corner of my eye say Nora holding out her hand to project it.
"Damn it Nora, no! Now it's fair game for him to use magic!" I thought to myself. Then I remembered my feet were buried in the snow and Yami couldn't see the aura.
I smiled as just as he was fixing to strike me, and I bolted away, grabbing my sword and facing him. The fight was fair again.
Or so I thought.
I was suddenly frozen in place, Thunder's Edge dropping from my hand, as Yami approached me.
"Amaterasu, I thought you were an honorable woman! I was going to make this a fair fight, but no! You've forced my hand after cheating like that!"
"Wh-what do you mean?!" I asked frantically.
"Do you think I'm stupid? I naturally have X-ray vision, so I saw the little trick where you had a speed boost! I don't like it when I'm cheated Amaterasu!"
With that, he shoved his sword into my stomach and it went clean through me, exiting out of my upper back.
"NO!" I heard Holo screaming off to the side.
He removed his sword from me, and right as I was going to fall, he spun around, slashing open my chest as well. I fell into the snow, bleeding profusely, facing the lake. He walked over and grabbed Norah.
"Now, if any of you think you can take me on and save your little friend here, by all means, come after me!"
With that, a large temple rose up out of the lake, and he walked into it, carrying Norah with him.
That's when I passed out from blood loss.
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PocketSnails signing off.
