It's a funny thing, death.
When one thinks of losing someone they love, the moment of their death often seems like it would be the worst moment of the experience. One single instant of overwhelming grief, anger, and sadness, a mix of emotions so powerful it could drive men mad, even break them entirely. Even Izanagi and Izanami, the gods of creation, had fallen victim to the despair of loss, the goddess falling into insanity while her bereaved husband slowly sunk into apathy and depression.
The golden-haired man stared out at the resting village below as he pondered, a calm wind carrying the scent of Konohana's blossoms past the sacred deck where he stood. For a long time, he too had believed the worst experience of loss was the instant it happened. When he had lost his beloved to the eight-headed demon, he had felt that rush of crippling emotion. Even now, well after the day it had happened, he could still relive that horrible moment as he watched his goddess turn to stone, his body overwhelmed with grief and the knowledge that he had failed to arrive in time to save her. Even knowing that the sun goddess would one day return did little to abate the myriad of feelings that had washed over him.
It had been a terrible day. And yet, it wasn't the worst part. That honor went to the days like these, the days of absolute peace and tranquility where everything was right with the world. Everything, that is, except for her. The days had continued to pass, and would continue to pass, and the sun goddess would still be gone. His prophecies had shown her returning of course, as he knew she would, but even then, that day waited a century in the future. For the next hundred years, there would be nothing but peace and serenity. For perhaps the first time in his life, there was no battle to fight, no danger imminently lurking around the next corner. There was no threat he needed to deal with, no need for him to lead his Tau Troopers into combat. Over the next century, he could live in peace… but he had no idea how to do that without Amaterasu.
The moon prophet looked on as another false sunrise broke the horizon, the glowing orb projecting light out over the world as usual, but without the warmth and feeling of hope it once had, as if the celestial body was also mourning the loss of its patron goddess. He couldn't even remember how many of these sunrises he had seen since he had lost his beloved, the days since seemingly blending together to the point that deciphering one from another was nearly impossible.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the waking village below, the residents of Kamiki waking up to another day without the threat of Orochi and the armies of demons that followed him. Waka had come to know several of them during his frequent pilgrimages to the goddess's resting place, though he rarely talked with any of them at length. While many of them also mourned the loss of the sun goddess, they didn't understand her true nature like he did, knowing her only as the white wolf that had so bravely fought the dark serpent at Nagi's side.
Waka looked over at the human warrior's home at that thought, the weapon racks outside the structure still holding a variety of wooden training swords, though Nagi hadn't found the need to use them ever since Orochi's defeat. The prophet glanced to his side briefly, his hand brushing against the flute strapped to his belt. A part of him wished that Orochi's demons still plagued this world, if only so that he could wield the hidden plasma blade once more, and perhaps forget some of his misery in the process.
The prophet snapped his head back up towards the warrior's home as he heard the sound of something rushing past, his heart skipping a beat as he saw what appeared to be a flash of white fly past the building, the wooden swords seemingly disappearing in the process. For the first time since Orochi had fallen, Waka felt a glimmer of hope within him. He knew that streak of white all too well. He remained still for a moment, stunned, before turning back towards the path to the base of the sacred tree, breaking into a run as he did so.
In the village below, Amaterasu felt an unusual amount of exhaustion over her lupine form as she left the village in the direction of Shinshu Field, carrying the wooden blades she had "borrowed" from Nagi. Although her strength had recovered remarkably quickly over the past few days thanks to the unexpected restoration of part of her divinity, it hadn't been enough to fully heal the physical battering she had taken at the hands of Yami.
She slowed her pace a bit as the lush waterfalls of Hana Valley came into view, her blinding speed no longer necessary now that she was a safe distance from the village, where she could have possibly been recognized in her wolf form. A little while later, she found herself on the path leading to the caves that would one day become Susano's training ground, shifting back into her human form as she did so to better carry the wooden weapons.
Yuro looked up at her as she entered their makeshift camp, looking at the training swords with some confusion. "Where did you find those?" he asked.
The sun goddess gave him a sly grin as she tossed one of the training swords towards him. "I borrowed them," she said, trying to suppress a snicker as her companion clumsily attempted to catch the wooden blade.
He gave an exasperated sigh as the hilt of the sword bounced from his hand, reaching down to pick up the fallen weapon before turning back to the goddess. "You mean you stole them."
"Trust me," Amaterasu said, "Now that he's just slain Orochi and rescued the woman he loves, the whereabouts of his training swords is probably the last thing Nagi cares about at the moment." The wolf-girl's face suddenly turned serious as she brought her sword out in front of her with a flourish, feet dropping into a fighting stance. "Now then," she said, "Let's see if you're as clumsy holding that thing as you are trying to catch it."
Yuro's face briefly flushed with embarrassment as he brought his own blade in front of him, trying to replicate his partner's stance as best he could, the heavy weight of the wooden weapon feeling unbalanced and foreign in his hands.
The goddess's sword dropped as she took a couple steps forward, looking at him intently as she walked in a slow circle around him, stopping once she was again in front of the youth. Her face suddenly dropped its serious tones, a smirk appearing as she pushed him backwards.
Her companion yelped in surprise as he lost his balance, dropping his weapon as he fell backwards, hitting the cave floor painfully. "What was that for?" he asked as he returned to his feet, grabbing the training weapon as he did so.
"Your stance is wrong," she said, pointing at his feet with her free hand. "Widen your feet and center your weight. It'll give you more flexibility when attacking and keep you from losing your balance when you block." She brought her weapon back in front of her as he tried to correct his error. "Now," she said, let's see how well you can swing that thing."
Yuro looked back at her with some concern, briefly glancing at his own sword. "You mean attack you?" he asked, his look of concern growing as his partner nodded, the latter rolling her eyes as she did so. "Ammy," he said, "These seem kind of heavy. I don't want to hurt you."
Amaterasu chuckled a bit at that, her face quickly growing serious again. "You won't."
The youth stepped forward nervously as she gestured towards him to get on with it. Deciding to try a simple horizontal attack, he swung the blade towards her, the weight of the weapon feeling more balanced now that he had corrected some of his initial stance errors. The goddess easily deflected the weak strike with a turn of her blade, swiftly bringing her weapon around in a spin as she counterattacked. Yuro barely had enough time to bring his own sword up to block, the force of the attack staggering him backwards a few steps.
She smirked at him again as she reset her stance. "So you know," she said, "I was able to swing a sword better than that when I was five."
Trying his best to ignore her taunting, Yuro moved forward again, this time attempting a series of cross strikes, putting a bit more force into his attacks. The wolf-girl again turned his strikes aside with little difficulty, the goddess backing up as her companion attempted to press the attack. Ducking under the last strike, she aimed a swift kick towards his sword hand, knocking the weapon out of the youth's hand and disorienting him long enough for her to step forwards and again push him to the ground.
He grunted in pain as he hit the floor again, giving her a quick glare as he slowly got up. "I'm beginning to feel like this isn't a fair fight," he said, reaching to pick up his fallen weapon.
Amaterasu gave him another sly smile as she shook her head, ignoring his complaints. "That was better," she said, "But you leave too much time between your attacks and you let up too easily." She absentmindedly twirled her blade in the air, shifting it from one hand to the other and back again with a series of smooth, clean motions. "Use the momentum from one attack to carry you into the next. You want to be fighting using a single fluid motion rather than a chain of disconnected attacks." Her weapon returned to its ready position. "Try again."
The youth charged at her again, trying to follow her advice as best he could, chaining one attack into the next as he pressed forward. The sun goddess again blocked his attacks, being forced backwards as he kept coming at her. Seeing an opening as fatigue started to slow his advance, she stepped forward with a quick strike, her companion barely bringing his weapon into position to block. Remembering how she had used the momentum from blocking to counterattack earlier, Yuro attempted to replicate the motion, aiming a spinning attack at her that almost caught her off-guard.
Leaning backwards underneath the sudden attack, Amaterasu rolled backwards, giving a quick flourish of her blade as she got to her feet, this time rushing at the youth rather than waiting for him to attack her. Finding himself suddenly on the defensive, Yuro was quickly driven back from the goddess's assault, needing every bit of skill he could muster to block each of her quick, fluid strikes. Despite his best efforts, he was no match for his partner's skill and experience, his blade getting knocked aside on an awkward attempt to parry.
Frustration welled inside him again as the goddess lowered her weapon, her victory clear. "I don't know how to chain together attacks like you do," he said, shaking his head, "I can barely think even just one attack at a time, let alone planning several in advance."
Amaterasu stepped forward, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Don't think," she said, looking him in the eyes for a moment before pulling him in into a sudden kiss. She smiled at him as she pulled away. "Just act on instinct."
Yuro smiled back at her, the sudden display of affection helping to forget his earlier frustration. Before he could reply, he yelped as she pushed him to the ground again. "What was that for?" he asked, glaring at her as he returned to his feet.
"Another lesson for you," she said, "Don't ever let your opponent catch you off guard. Yami and his minions won't hesitate to kill you if you get distracted for even a moment."
"I guess I'm lucky then," he said, looking back at her, momentarily getting lost in her emerald eyes, "Considering that none of Yami's minions happen to be a beautiful sun goddess."
The wolf-girl blushed a bit as he pulled her back in for another kiss, breaking free after what seemed like an eternity. She smiled at him, neither saying anything for few moments, before shoving him back to the ground, this time going to the ground with him.
Yuro grunted in pain as he hit the ground once again, both from the impact and from the sudden weight of the silver-haired maiden on top of him. "Okay," he said, "Now what was that one for?"
She gave him a mischievous grin as she leaned down for another kiss. "You'll find out."
Back in Kamiki Village, Waka stood in the clearing where Amaterasu's shrine stood, the surge of hope he had felt earlier vanished at the sight of his divine wolf, still frozen in stone. Those all-too-familiar feelings of grief and sadness crashed back over him as he stared at the silent statue, the prophet feeling as if he was experiencing all the emotions of the past few days again all at once.
He should have known better. He had seen her escaping her prison in a hundred years time, and his prophecies had never been wrong. He had been so desperate for Amaterasu to return that he had just been looking for any possible excuse to believe that she was back, any reason to think that his premonition of a century of loneliness was merely a nightmare. Perhaps that streak of white he had seen earlier was merely his mind playing tricks on him, showing him what he wanted to see. He turned around, dejected, beginning to walk back down the path returning to the sacred deck.
Suddenly, he felt it.
Waka froze as the feeling of otherness washed over him, the prophet only just now noticing the distorted energy in the air around the shrine, traces of temporal power still hidden in the air. He had worked with this type of energy once before, when he had followed one of his premonitions to the forest of Yoshpet almost a hundred years ago, shortly after he had escaped the demon-plagued Ark of Yamato following its devastating crash-landing. That time, some strange force had guided him into manipulating his power to look into the future of their world's time stream, channeling it in a manner he hadn't known was possible to create a door to another time and place. He hadn't known why the gate was needed back then, only that his visions showed it as being necessary to Amaterasu's journeys.
The moon prophet shut his eyes as he focused the power within him the same way his visions had driven him to do a century ago, mentally reaching out to the residual temporal energy that permeated the area as he tried to gain some grasp as to exactly what it was and how it got there. Almost immediately, he could sense the raw force behind it. The portal Waka had created in Yoshpet had been stable, outputting energy in harmony with the rest of the world. The power he felt now, however, was completely different, as if someone had just brutally punched a hole through time and space. Perhaps whoever had done this had been too desperate, he thought, or perhaps too short on time to adequately channel their power in a stable manner.
He kept searching past that feeling of foreignness, hoping to find some clue as to who or what had caused the event. Though faint, Waka could feel bits of emotion hidden within the power left behind around the shrine, feelings of desperation and fear confirming his previous hypothesis. Whoever had done this had been running from something, and had, in panic, tore open a portal to here, presumably to escape their pursuer. There was more to it than that, though, as the prophet sensed something else hidden deeper within that layer of emotions, traces of a light that was more than familiar to him.
What he had seen on the sacred deck hadn't been his mind playing tricks on him, he realized. It had been Amaterasu dashing through the village earlier - just not his Amaterasu. She had fled here, running from something, likely without even realizing where she was going.
Waka frowned. In all his years together with the sun goddess, he had never seen her willingly run away from a fight, certainly not with as much fear and panic as he had felt. There was something else here, something hidden even further within the field of energy he had tapped into. Redoubling his efforts, he dug deeper into the temporal force, searching for any hint as to who or what the goddess had been running from.
Almost immediately, he crumbled to his knees, losing his concentration as pure darkness coursed through him. Though it had been over a century ago, Waka immediately recognized the feeling. It had been the same thing he had felt as a little boy, the night the eight-headed serpent had destroyed his home on the Lunar Plain. Whatever dark presence that had pursued Amaterasu was, it was the same being responsible for all of Orochi's atrocities. The destruction of the Lunar Plain, the death of his family, the massacre on the Ark of Yamato-all of it had been a part of its grand scheme.
His realization was interrupted by the telltale screech of an imp behind him, Waka instinctively reaching for Pillow Talk as he turned about. Drawing and activating the weapon, he brought it around towards the creature in a single fluid stroke, the beam sword slicing the offender in half with little difficulty. Turning at the sound of another one of the creatures, he looked up to see another three blue imps gliding above him.
Bringing his sword to bear on the newcomers, Waka took a moment to focus his energy before leaping up towards the first of the three imps, using his powers of levitation to amplify his jump's height well beyond that of any human, slashing at it with the blade of plasma. To its credit, the creature was fast, narrowly managing to twist itself in midair just enough to dodge the attack before aiming its own strike at him. Unfazed, the prophet let the momentum of his missed swing carry him into a spin, his free hand drawing the katana sheathed at his side as he did so, gracefully swinging the steel blade towards his assailant, dispatching it.
The other two gliders had reached him by then, both trying to dive-bomb him in the hope of knocking him out of the air. Channeling his energy once again, Waka strafed to the side of the first of the pair, his levitation granting him much better agility in midair than one would expect. The second imp screeched in surprise as the prophet's momentum carried him towards it, the sound getting cut off midway through as a quick strike of the beam sword ended the creature. Continuing the rotation of his swing, Waka turned back towards the first imp, throwing his katana towards it as he did so, the blade landing square in the creature's chest.
Spotting no further threats, the moon prophet cancelled his levitation, dropping gracefully back to the ground as he disengaged Pillow Talk, catching his thrown blade with his other hand as he landed. Waka glanced back towards the sky where the creatures had been as he sheathed his weapons, thinking back on the encounter.
Although Orochi's army of imps and other demons hadn't disappeared with the defeat of their master, they had been left scattered and without any direction, forcing the creatures into hiding. This had been the first time Waka had seen a coordinated attack by the beasts since then. He thought back to the echoes of the dark presence he had felt only moments earlier. It couldn't have been coincidence that he had been attacked by imps mere seconds after he had felt that surge of power. Whatever that source of darkness had been, it was clearly after Amaterasu, and even if it wasn't his Amaterasu, it was still his duty, his responsibility, to protect and aid her as well as he could.
For the first time since he had seen his beloved turn to stone, his feelings of despair vanished as they were overtaken by a wave of resolve. He had failed to protect the sun goddess in her journey to the past, but he now had the chance to make up for that failure. He would do everything in his power to help this incarnation of the goddess, to redeem himself for his inability to save his Amaterasu, and maybe, just maybe, finally find himself some peace from all the sadness and despair.
At this point, it was the least he could hope for.
This chapter took me considerably longer to write than I hoped - I kept going back and forth between making it all following Waka, which seemed to flow better but felt too short and left me with too little content for a separate Ammy/Yuro chapter that would break off where I wanted it to, and going with the back-and-forth between Waka and Ammy/Yuro's perspectives like I went with here, that felt much better content-wise and fit better as to where I wanted to break the story but wasn't quite as fluid as I wanted. I'm still not completely convinced, and if I ever do a re-write of FAE, this'll likely be a chapter that sees more work than others, but it feels passable to me in its current form in relation to the standard of the rest of the story so far.
As I've said in the past, the time-travelling plots allowed by Okami lore can make for some interesting storytelling. In particular, I love the situations it lets me explore with Waka. It lets us see adventures with him even though he isn't around in the present-day storyline of FAE, and gives us some more interesting emotional problems for him to deal with considering the timing of the past he/Ammy/Yuro are in. In this point in time, he has just lost Amaterasu for the first time, someone he loves dearly and from whom he's been nearly inseparable for many years - he hasn't had to live alone without her before, making his situation, even though he knows she will eventual be revived, a difficult one. In some ways, it's even more difficult than the modern-day Amaterasu's situation with the loss of Waka - while Amaterasu has gone through huge amounts of trauma and pain from losing him, she has also had the opportunity to eventually move on and continue living. In comparison, the Waka of this time doesn't have that luxury. He can't move on and find someone else due to the knowledge that Ammy will eventually return to be with him again, but at the same time, finds it near-impossible to cope with the loneliness, particularly when the defeat of Orochi has left him with little work to do.
I've mentioned previously in these notes that two weeks is generally my goal for uploading new chapters for FAE, and that is still true (even though I've been really bad at it as of late). There's a slim chance that the next chapter or two could be looking at a month between, due to general busyness of late (new job, plus end of semester). I'll still do what I can to hit a two week or less turnaround, but no guarantees on that front (at least, not until summer slows things down a bit). I know there's quite a few of you that have been waiting for updates to this, and appreciate your patience.
As always, constructive feedback is appreciated, and thank you all for the continued support!