Summary: The city of the Moon is attacked, setting off a chain of events that reach far beyond its source. One of the survivors journeys across Nippon, trying to stop what his people have released.
Disclaimer: I do not own Okami, it belongs to Capcom and Clover. Okamiden also belongs to Capcom.
To Sunset-on-the-water: It's part of my head canon about the Moon Tribe. Since they live on the Moon, where there would be no semblance of day and night... I'm guessing they'd be biologically different from humans and have no need for sleeping.
Last chapter, there was even more windy intrigue. This chapter… well, more wind, hopefully less intrigue/confusion. Especially less confusion…
Waka, help us…
I can't… I can't move…
So much blood…
Waka awoke with blood pounding in his ears.
He breathed deeply, trying to calm himself. It wasn't real. It was just a dream.
Except it wasn't. Waka had been there in the Moon Cave, he'd been in the Ark. He'd heard the Celestials scream and watched the Orochi tear its first sacrifice apart and devour her.
He tried to think about something else. The troopers were improving rapidly, and soon they would be ready for their first missions. He had to keep up with them. After making a habit of sleeping during the night, he'd lost some of his training time. Waka tried to push away the nightmarish images. Perhaps he shouldn't have learned how to sleep…
No. Stop thinking about it. Get up. Put on the headdress. Get ready for training. The troopers were waiting in the building next door… The Queen was planning to implement some sort of Moon Tribe technology into it. Waka walked over at the Water Tablet, glowing at him in patterns of circuit diagrams and blueprints, and put it into sleep mode. It was difficult to recall any of the engineering that he had learned, and only the slight familiarity of his own notations convinced him that he had ever learned it at all.
For a minute Waka wondered if he should consult with the Queen. Or at least ask why she'd been avoiding him so much over the past few months, or why whenever she passed by he could hear airy laughter drift through the air… He hadn't seen her at all the last few days. Or maybe he shouldn't ask anything personal, but at least for some new Tao forms…
Waka decided against it. He picked up his flute and began to head down the hallways, out towards the training building.
As he passed by the entrance to the throne room, he heard a breath of wind and froze. The Queen said it was gone, that the strange spirit had left her… But it hadn't left. Whispers swept through the room, tugging him forward.
The Queen… Waka struggled to put the thought together. His mind seemed hazy, so blurry, ready to let go. If she is in there… Let go, give up the wind… No... I shouldn't. Whatever this was, he couldn't let it win over him. Waka forced his focus onto the Queen. Inside the throne room. Ignore the wind. Behind the red screen…
He flinched and closed his eyes. He didn't want to go towards that screen, didn't want to look at it, not when the red swam through his vision like blood, so much like blood and bodies and death...
You have to. Waka stepped over to the screen, keeping his eyes focused on the wall. He pushed it back, stepped into the room and looked around.
The Queen's limp body floated in the center of the room. Her eyes were open but staring almost lifelessly, her head lolled towards him. As Waka stepped closer, her eyes widened, as if a warning—
The sudden gust of wind flooded his senses, sending him reeling.
Seinaru fell to the floor with a thud. Waka saw her lift herself from the ground—alive—and then the whispers swelled again and he froze. As he watched, the wind swirled, coalescing in one place—visible as it shaped into a female form. The form was translucent, its outline constantly shifting from one form to the next. Fascinated, he stopped to watch it.
"Don't let her touch you!" Seinaru shouted, and Waka's head cleared. The figure offhandedly made a motion towards her, and the queen made a choking sound, her hands flying to her throat.
Don't listen to her. I know what you really want… Waka paused, trying to understand exactly what it was he supposedly wanted. Perhaps if he waited it would just explain itself…
"Shattered by lightning from another world… Why did I ever believe your lies?" Seinaru forced the words out, struggling to inhale. "I healed you, I let you in, and you…"
Oh, shush. Her voice died away, not a breath left to speak. I wouldn't lie… You, however… The spirit shook its head in disapproval and turned away from her. The queen's breath returned, but she stayed silent, inching towards the crystal orb.
The spirit leaned forward, its face unnervingly close. Too close. Panicked, Waka activated his flute and slashed, but the blade distorted and vibrated loudly as it passed through. The spirit laughed, a light, airy laugh.
Silly Waka… You know that trick won't work on me. He found the strength to jump away as it reached up a hand for his face. Come on, just tell me where it is… From the corner of his eye, Waka could see the queen, kneeling before the crystal orb as if in prayer. What was she… No, he had to trust that she knew what she was doing. As he watched, the crystal orb began to glow. The spirit pressed him, slowly moving forward as if caught in a headwind.
There's no reason to resist, where is it? Seinaru stood, palms pointed towards the spirit, and then the orb flashed. Blinding light burst through the room, and Waka could make out the figure as it split and dissolved into the wind. When the light faded, there was only silence. The air no longer carried hints of any presence.
The spirit had been shattered again. Seinaru lowered her hands, now trembling, mumbling reassuring words to herself. Hesitantly, Waka went over to her.
"She kept me trapped for so long…" Her voice was quiet again, trying to disguise any quaver. Seinaru took another deep breath. "It's not done yet. Something else is coming, something greater than this spirit…"
Just as she spoke, the light that streamed in began to disappear. All around, the world began to darken in an unnatural night.
Extra Scene-
The breeze blew gently through the grass, wafting the scent of flowers across the Plain. Waka had gone far from the rest of the Moon Tribe—or Celestials, as a few of them called themselves now—to tell Sugawara what had just happened.
"It's the first clear vision I've had since we arrived."
"This is significant, then. Visions have grown very infrequent since we left the Moon…" Sugawara began to make notes on his Water Tablet. "Tell me what you saw." Waka closed his eyes, remembering.
"I think it showed somewhere on the planet… There was some sort of shrine. It looked sort of like Moon Tribe construct, but I could tell it wasn't… Somehow." Waka shrugged. "The surroundings were shown in detail. Maybe when this shrine is created, I'll be able to find it…" Suddenly the wind gusted away, and Waka glanced around, noticing the feel of a presence that had once been there. Was someone watching them…?
"Perhaps you can find it, but you might not be able to travel, or you may forget details. I will record the location details in the Ark." Sugawara looked up at Waka intently. "Tell me what you saw."