Light of Nippon

by Nick Thal

Preface

Hello there! Thanks for checking out yet another little project of mine. This is based on the action adventure game Okami, developed by Clover Studios and Capcom. In the past, I've played around with the story of the game to create a concept for an Okami Anime. This is basically that, only in a written format. Each chapter will represent one episode. I am planning around 75 episodes divided into three seasons, structured after the game's three main acts.

The goal for the series is a re-imagining of the story with a bit more grounded and adult feel to it. Most of the whimsical and magical puzzle solving and world traversing will be replaced by more realistic tools and solutions to problems. There will still be fantastical elements, this is a story about mythology, gods, and evil after all. However most of the more comically absurd over the top characters and situations will become a bit more serious, with the occasional bit of humor and wit thrown in or kept as is.

Changes to the original involve among others the removal of the Brush Gods, as they are a mere gameplay mechanic of the game, the change of certain characters (be that on a surface level like changing their personality a bit, or a more severe level, like fusion or genderbending certain characters), and the rearrangement and fleshing out of certain story beats. For example the story will follow a genderbent, human, and less overtly perverted version of Issun as its main character. Let's be honest- a non-talking wolf works fine as a game MC, but for a novel or TV show…

While this series will still follow the larger story arcs of the games, the experience, I hope and predict, will be an entirely different beast. Everything is changed in at least one aspect or two. Thus, people who have not yet, but still intend to play the game can still find new and different aspects they haven't read here (or the other way around for people, who have played the game).

It goes without saying that I do NOT own the rights to any of the original characters and story. Credit for those goes to Clover Studios and Capcom. I do NOT intend to make a profit off this series. This is simply a fun side project I am working on. Please, support the original creators by purchasing and playing a copy of the game. Ports are available for all sorts of consoles. This game is without a doubt worth your time.

As with any of my fan fiction projects, this can and will not receive the same amount of editing my regular novels get. I will read the chapters over and check for language a couple of times, but no more than that. I simply lack the time and money to have people beta read or even edit these side projects. I ask for your leniency in that regard.

One last thing. I will put a Content Warning here before we start. With this being a more grounded, adult, and realistic sort of samurai-style action adventure, there is going to be violence, strong language, and inexplicit sexual content involved. Thus, anyone under the age of 16, and those not comfortable with this kind of content in general, should refrain from continuing. You have been warned.

For anyone that is still here after all this, I wish you tons of fun reading through my latest passion project. So, without further ado, let us embark into the mythical land of Nippon.

Light of Nippon

Season 1 - The 100 Year Curse

Episode 1 - Clouds over Kamiki

The lake lay quiet, mist wafting above the water's surface. The figure crossed the narrow sandbank connecting the lake's shore to the island in its center. Their footsteps and unsteady breathing were the only noticeable sounds. The light of early dawn barely managed to break through the thick fog obscuring the lake.

Reaching the island, the figure's morning jog wasn't finished just yet. There was still the long staircase weaving up the side of the hill that made up the majority of the isle. The ruined remains of a once great fortress lined the staircase. At its end the figure would find a crater in the tip of the mound. And in the center of the crater, a shrine, erected around rubble. Lodged into these remnants of a battle long past was a sword, the metal lustrous and sharp as if it had just been forged.

"How many times have I gazed upon it…?" the figure mumbled, "Kusanagi, the blade that seals the baneful Orochi… bah. There's no way any of it is true. And I'm going to prove it to the world!"

Their proclamation hanging in the air, the figure reached out for the sword. Shaking, their hand halted just above the legendary weapon's hilt. The figure swallowed, a pit forming in their stomach.

"Come on… get a grip," the figure barked, steadying their nerves, "You're not going to go back on your word again… today is finally the day!"

The figure's fist closed around the sword's hilt and with a deep breath…

Issa breathed in the fresh air of the valley. The scent of cherry blossoms was always so strong in Kamiki. Her ponytail swayed in the light breeze, as did her traveling cloak. She let her view wander around the settlement nestled inside the valley. Its residents were out and about, working or taking a stroll. In the distance the majestic Konohana tree loomed over the village like a watchful guardian. A wave of nostalgia hit the traveler returning to the quaint village. It had been almost a year since she had last visited.

"Issa," the cluster of high pitched voices drew her gaze away from the scenery.

The young woman had barely set foot into the village when suddenly, she was surrounded by an army of village children, each of them demanding her attention.

"Where have you been?" "It's been so long!" "Where did you go?" "What did you see?" "We want to hear a story!" "Can you paint me?" "Let me see your sword!" "Please, Issa, please!"

"Okay, okay. Slow down." Issa did her best to move forward, the little devils clinging to her legs and hands, "How about you all let me arrive first?"

"You need help with that?" a woman asked from the side.

She was tending to a patch of vegetables in a dark blue outdoors kimono. A little further off, a boy clad in the same dark blue was playing with a particularly active dog.

"Thanks, Tonbo-san," Issa bewailed her predicament, "you know, I deal with monsters almost on a daily basis. But these kids…"

"Hey!" "That's mean!" "We're not monsters!"

"Come on, shrimps, off me!" Issa finally managed to shake herself free of the children. "I plan on staying a while this time around, there's plenty of me to go around. Patience."

"Aw man!" "How boring." "Let's go play!" The children scattered, leaving Issa to breathe freely again.

The visitor continued down the main road leading between the village's fields into the settlement proper. The bells on her sword sheath rang with every step she took. Her view sought out a particular field near the village's watermill. A young woman sat amidst the rice cultivated here. Her red kimono was tied up around the elbows and knees for physical labor, her hair over her shoulders. She had a serene beauty about her, a rare sight out in the country.

"Hello, gorgeous," Issa addressed her, approaching the field.

The woman raised her head from the rice. Her fair features were accented by a faint blush on her cheeks and a light dampness on her forehead. A friendly smile graced her lips upon seeing Issa. "What a lovely surprise," she said, stowing away the rice she had just harvested.

She stood to greet Issa, who threw a sly smirk at her. "You need any help with that, Kushi?"

"No, that's fine," neither her voice nor her expression changed at Issa's offer, "Susano's going to help me out. He's running a bit late, but I'm sure he'll be here in a minute."

"That's too bad. A bit of fun in the rice seems like a lovely time," Issa lamented, her smirk unchanged as well.

"Oh, it is, the exercise is quite rewarding," Kushi replied innocently and something inside Issa made a leap. It was difficult to tell if Kushi was oblivious to the innuendos, or if her replies were purposefully suggestive to mess with Issa.

"Well, well, if it isn't the troublemaker," a hoarse voice sounded from the side.

An older man hobbled over from one of the huts, back arched slightly, his gray beard nearly touching the dirt. A stern look marred his already wrinkled face even further.

"Daidai-san, always a delight to see you," Issa replied smiling.

"I see you haven't changed one bit," the elder barked, "would you stop pestering our dear Kushi with your-"

"I hear you, gramps," Issa cut him off then turned back at Kushi, "Well, I guess I'll be on my way then. I'm looking forward to a taste of your sake."

"I'll let you know once it's done," Kushi answered joyously.

"Hold it, missy," the old man began.

Issa wasn't keen on letting him finish. "Yes, yes. We'll have a drink. I didn't forget."

Issa continued into the village, passing the town square with the statue of Nagi, Kamiki's ancient hero. It was an impressive feat of masonry, but Issa had seen it on so many occasions already, she didn't give it a second glance anymore. She passed the hut of the village elder, where, at the pool below Konohana Hill, his wife was taking a break from washing clothes.

"Did my husband give you a rough time again?" she laughed waving at Issa.

"Nothing I couldn't handle," Issa replied, smiling and waved back at her.

"Going to pay your respects to Konohana?"

"First duty upon arriving, right?"

The old lady laughed, then turned her attention back to her laundry. Issa walked along the side of the pool for a bit, gazing into the mostly clear water. A couple of frogs and tadpoles swam near the bank of the pond and put a smile on Issa's face. The traveler eventually followed the road up the hill that overlooked the village, the hillside now occupied by sparrows instead. Her destination: the massive cherry tree at its top.

Konohana was said to be the mother of all trees in Nippon, her roots spanning the entire country. Issa didn't believe the latter half. The sheer size of the tree, among other things, certainly made it special. But a network of roots burrowing through all of Nippon. That was a bit hard to swallow.

Approaching Konohana, shouting reached Issa from afar. Whoever it was, their shouts sounded quite desperate… or maybe just irritated? Arriving underneath the sacred tree's canopy, a young woman came into view, clad in a yellow floral kimono. She wore a large straw hat, her hair falling from her head in a long ponytail that flailed with her movements.

"Tsubame," the woman shouted again, "Oh, where did that child disappear to again?"

Apparently, she was looking for somebody, and frantically so. She couldn't be older than twenty one or two. Was she looking for a sister, or a very young daughter? The woman was a new face around the village, a face quite pleasing to the eyes. The woman spun once more and now she noticed Issa as well. What followed was a hasty and poor attempt at composure and trying to mask her agitation.

"A lovely morning, fellow traveler," Issa addressed and approached her calmly.

"Good morning… uh, how did you know I was-"

"A traveler?" Issa took over, sensing the woman's nervousness to talk, "Well, I haven't seen you around this village before, and your kimono is cut for the outdoors."

"Ah. How observant," the woman answered curiously.

"Forgive me. I couldn't help overhearing your shouting before. May I ask what's troubling an otherwise radiant person like yourself?" A faint blush passed over the woman's cheeks, another person might have missed it. Issa however was self-trained to pick up on slight changes like these. "Are you perhaps looking for somebody?"

"Y-yes…" the woman replied shyly. Her hand darted to the side of her face, where it tucked strands of her long bangs behind her ear. This one was much more overt. "I-I'm looking for my sister, we're traveling together."

"Is she by chance dressed in the same fashion?" Issa wondered.

The woman's eyes lit up, her nervousness seemingly replaced by relief. "Yes! Did you see her around?"

Issa had remembered an unfamiliar child among the group of children pestering her. "I believe she's playing with the village children. I don't think you have to worry. She seemed quite energetic."

The woman held a hand over her chest and sighed. "By the gods, what a relief."

"Pardon me saying this, but you look quite stressed," Issa remarked, the smirk returning to her lips.

"It's just… I promised our parents to keep her safe… but she always disappears on me, and-" her voice cut off, as Issa placed her pointer on the woman's lips.

Backing away surprised, she bumped into the trunk of Konohana. Issa had subtly maneuvered them toward the tree during their conversation.

"This village is a safe place and a haven for children, really, you don't have to trouble yourself so," Issa said, her voice almost a whisper, "I think the two of you deserve some time away from each other every once in a while right?

"Y-yes…" the woman replied, "I believe you might… have a point."

"My, how rude of me, I neglected to introduce myself, didn't I? My name is Issa. I'm but a simple artist traveling Nippon in the pursuit of capturing beauty. This village knows to surprise me with an enchanting view, whenever I return." The woman's face had become a canvas of red, her lower lip clasped between her teeth. Just a little further. "May I ask you to regale me with your name?"

"O-of course… i-it's Tsubaki," the woman stammered.

Issa mustered her sweetest smile to deliver the final blow. "Tsubaki. A lovely name… for lovely flower… don't you think?" Issa lay her hand on Tsubaki's cheek, slowly moving her face closer.

"Y-yes…" Tsubaki breathed and Issa felt her heat on her own cheek

"A-hem!" a voice sounded from somewhere close by, making both Tsubaki and Issa shrink.

The former's face grew even redder, something Issa hadn't thought possible. The woman pushed out of Issa's hold, scampering away from the tree.

"I-I-I-I should probably go fetch my sister. Have a good day."

"O-okay, yeah… y-you too," Issa stammered, her confidence and flow disrupted by the sudden interjection. She watched her catch escape down the hill, sighing. Issa turned and rested her head and fist against Konohana's bark. "You're evil… one hundred percent evil…"

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I rain on your parade?" the voice replied dryly.

Another young woman had entered the scene, the third beauty to grace Issa's view that day. Only this one didn't raise feelings of excitement, but frustration instead. She was clad in a pink kimono with wide sleeves, a scarlet obi tied around the chest and waist. Her bangs fell in long strands onto her chest, framing the sides of her face. A top knot was fixed with pins sporting ornamental leaves. She could have passed for just another resident of the village, were it not for the fact she was floating in mid-air, her back rested against the tree.

"Why did you have to go and ruin what could have been a very nice time with a very lovely maiden?" Issa complained.

"Oh, come on. You just met her," the floating woman scoffed.

"So? She was very much int-" Issa began to argue, but was cut off.

"I will not have you besmirch this sacred ground with one of your… escapades."

"Spoilsport…" Issa sneered, turned and dropped along Konohana's bark, "Sakuya, you need to relax. When's the last time you've had some fun, huh?"

Issa didn't have to look up at the floating woman to see the frown forming on her face.

"I am a tree, Issa," Sakuya replied.

"You are the projection of a tree and… so what? What keeps you from…" Issa stopped to ponder for a moment, then looked up at the apparition, "Are you physically capable of… or is this-" she waved at Sakuya with her hand. "more of a ghost-like situation?"

Sakuya sighed, sinking along the trunk of the tree. A moment later Issa's cheek stung from a rather painful punch. "Real enough for you?" Sakuya jabbed.

"Geez, you're pretty uptight for a tree sprite," Issa replied, rubbing her cheek.

"I am above your primitive desire for… whatever it is you humans do."

"Will you at least let me take a nap in your shade?" Issa resigned.

"For that, you have my permission," Sakuya said dryly.

Issa nodded in thanks and untucked the emerald cloak from around her adventurer's tunic. The latter contrasted the former with a blueish purple color. Her sword joined her cloak in the grass next to her. Crossing her arms behind her neck she leaned back against the base of the tree and closed her eyes. A sudden thought made her chuckle not long after. Sakuya's frown returned. "What's so funny suddenly?"

"You know this is basically the tree equivalent of resting on somebody's lap," Issa snickered.

"Oh for heaven's sa-" Sakuya replied indignantly, but stopped.

Issa waited for the tree sprite to continue her tirade, but she didn't. The traveler turned to muster the sprite. A frown marred her own forehead, upon seeing the expression on Sakuya's suddenly darkened face. She was gazing off into the distance, mouth half open. Issa could tell it wasn't her prior indecency that was troubling the sprite.

"Hey, Sakuya. What is it?" she asked, concerned.

"Some… something's wrong…" Sakuya replied.

"Well, I gathered that much. What-"

A guttural roar echoes across the valley and Issa felt the earth tremble underneath her. Birds fled their roosts in the trees and faint shouts from the village traveled up to the hilltop.

"What… what is happening?" Issa asked, frightened.

"I… I am not sure…" Sakuya stammered, as a shadow fell over the valley, "Ah!" Shrinking in mid-air, the tree sprite suddenly vanished into thin air.

"Sakuya," Issa shouted, reaching out at nothing.

Raising her head up high, Issa's eyes widened. Dark clouds conquered the formerly clear skies. A depressing sense of dread fell over her, her heart beating against her chest. She had the distinct feeling that something was coming for her. Quick and dangerous it stretched out its intangible claws at her and the village. That something was… death. Issa closed her eyes, praying that all this was nothing but a horrible nightmare. It had to be. What other reason was there for things to escalate so rapidly and with no warning?

All she had to do was-

"Wake up," the voice was faint and distant. Hesitantly, Issa opened her eyes, but there was nothing to see. Endless blackness surrounded her in all directions. And she was… floating… floating in an empty, dark void.

"Wake up," the voice grew louder, its tone urgent. It sounded strangely familiar, though Issa couldn't quite place it.

"Where… am I…?" Issa tried to find footing, but there was none. She just continued to float, turning over in mid-air. "Am I… am I dead?"

"Wake up," a shout in her ear caused Issa to shoot up.

Cold sweat pearled off her forehead. The horrible sense of dread still lingered in her chest. It was still dark, though not a black as before. Trying actively to calm her nervous body and mind, Issa examined her surroundings. She could make out the foot of Konohana behind her, the earth underneath and the path down the hill up ahead.

Grabbing her sword and cloak, Issa got up from the ground and stepped away from the tree. The Kamiki valley seemed very much intact still, but something was off. Everything seemed to glow with an eerie green light with everything underneath it dark and dull. It was as if somebody had drawn the landscape's contours with a bright green and filled out the inside with black ink.

An urgent thought came to Issa. A want, need, responsibility to check on the villagers and see if they were okay. As okay as the circumstances allowed for at least. Tsubaki, gramps and granny, Kushi, the children. She hadn't seen Susano around yet. They didn't get along most of the time, but she didn't want anything to happen to him either. And what had happened to Sakuya to just vanish like that? She was a projection of the tree Konohana, not a being on her own. Maybe whatever had happened had shaken the tree and broken its focus for conjuring her?

An oppressive silence prevailed on Issa's descent down Konohana Hill. There was no sound, no gust of wind, Issa wasn't sure if she could feel contact with the ground, or even her own robes for that matter. The Kamiki she was in now, somehow didn't feel like a real place. And that frightened her.

Issa halted half way down the hill, at the intersection between the road back into the village and the path up to the viewing platform. The latter overlooked the village on the other end of Konohana Hill. She could go up there and see what was happening beyond the borders of the village maybe. She shook her head. The villagers took priority.

Heading back down into the village, Issa froze once more. At the foot of the hill, she had spotted a person. Their hands were raised and curbed in front of their mouth to amplify a shout. The only issue, there was no shout. Issa recognized the kimono, ponytail and straw hat. It was Tsubaki. And she wasn't moving.

"Tsubaki!" Issa dashed for the young woman, her hands reaching for the traveler's shoulders. She flinched yet again, when all she touched was cold. Tsubaki stood frozen stiff, an eerie vacancy pervasive in her still desperate expression. And she was cold.

"W-what… what is this? W-what's happening?" Issa stammered, terror gripping her heart inside her chest.

With a sense of foreboding, Issa turned her gaze at the village. The valley was plastered with people, none of them moving an inch. They all stood, sat, or lay, around where Issa had last seen them. The only exceptions were the people who had been moving about in the first place. The village children, some of the adults, and Tsubaki, who had likely tried to find her sister when everything went downhill.

Granny was sprayed on the floor near the pond, gramps kneeled in the road near Kushi's field, the sake brewer at his side, trying to help him get back on his feet. The village as Issa came across it, was a still life of the moment darkness had swallowed the skies and sun. And she was the only living being in the picture.

Not able to do anything with or for the villagers, Issa returned to her previous plan of action. Unfortunately, the view from the observation deck didn't yield any helpful or hopeful hints either. The skies and lands beyond the walls of the valley were a pure black. There was nothing, as if the village had been ripped out of reality somehow.

The only thing left for Issa to check on was Konohana itself. Upon waking the strange reality of this Kamiki had pulled her away from the tree, her attention focused on the villagers. The giant cherry tree stood as still as everything else in the village. Not a single leaf moved on its branches. There was something different to the rest of the village here however. A bright, golden light shimmered from the base of the tree. It evoked a certain idea people shared about the end to everything.

"Am I… dead?" Issa gasped, her voice shriveling to a shaky whisper, "I-is this… hell? Or… purgatory maybe? … some kind of limbo in between?"

"You are not entirely wrong, child," a voice echoed around her, causing her to flinch and spin.

It was deep and slightly distorted, not the voice of a human or anything… mortal. Strangely enough, it sounded somewhat familiar. "Kamiki village is suspended in stasis, that is all I could manage on the short notice we were given."

A thought popping into her head, Issa turned her eyes up at Konohana. "S-Sakuya? I-is that you?"

"In a manner of speaking," the voice replied, her words slow and momentous. "Right now, I am speaking to you as Konohana, the mother tree. I cannot take the form of the wood sprite Sakuya in this realm."

There was a moment of silence, as Issa tried to process the idea of talking to Kamiki's sacred tree. She had done so in the past obviously, but only ever through the projection of Sakuya. The sprite's human appearance had helped relativize the absurdity of it. Now that it wasn't around to mediate…

"Young traveler, I would ask a boon of you. Help me revive Kamiki and its citizens. As you can imagine, an unspeakable evil has spread across the land. On any other occasion, I could manage to at least counteract its effects. However, its sudden appearance didn't leave me time to prepare. At this moment, the evil tries to smother me. I have created this temporary shelter to shield you from its malice."

"Me?" Issa burst out, "Is that why I'm the only one who can move? What about the others? Why are they not alive?"

"They are alive to an extent, my impatient friend. I only had enough strength left after being attacked by the evil force to protect one person. I believe you out of everyone in this village have the highest chance of succeeding in what needs to be done from here."

Issa swallowed, her heart beating against her chest. "What… what do you need me to do?"

"Step through the light. Do not worry, it is not what you people would associate with it. You will enter my own consciousness, travel the realm you find beyond the portal… make your way to the depths of my psyche… slay the evil that… tries to keep me… locked away… please… I… beseech you… there is… not… much… time… left…"

"Saku… I-I mean Konohana. What is it? Are you okay?"

The tree's voice did not return. Issa stared at the tree in disbelief. Was this really happening? Or was all this something she imagined in the fangs of death after all. She looked back at the village. The images of the people frozen in space and time flashing before her mind. Determination washed over her darkened expression. She had to put her trust into the mother tree. If the legends were true, she was the protector of the entire land after all. Who could refuse the calling from a god?

Taking a deep breath, Issa tried her best to steady her nerves. Glaring at the blinding portal, she slowly approached the light, anxious, but also curious, to see what lay beyond. The blackness of the world around her was pushed away. Suddenly, all that surrounded her was intense brightness. Issa closed her eyes, the light on the outside still managing to light the darkness behind her lids.

Then the glow faded. Issa opened her eyes once more and froze. Though this time around it was not out of fear. It was out of awe. The world that lay before her was beyond anything she had ever seen. A light warmth spread through the traveler's chest and the terror of darkness that had kept hold of her before melted away.