Amaterasu relied all of her attacks on her celestial brush and tried whatever divine brush strokes she could on the beast before her. She realized, after using most of her ink, that her brushwork could not affect Orochi and that her time was running short with the man she had thrown over her back. She leaped up some ruin stones that had once been a great palace to get out of reach of Orochi's attacks for a moment. Crouching, she scanned for any weaknesses that she could use as an advantage. She placed the injured warrior safely beside her to relieve the strain on her back.
"The bell..." Waka coughed to the desperate Amaterasu. There it was, a broken bell that was the remains of a church dangled on the back of Orochi. It was a special moon tribe bell that kept great spirits in the realm of the dead but how it was broken remained a mystery for Amaterasu. A plan came to the goddess at that instant.
Amaterasu scooped the prophet once more over her back and jumped back down the ruins into Orochi's path. Using the last of her ink, she repaired the bell. She skilfully leapt and clinged on the Fire head of Orochi. Then, with a powerful heave, she threw the moon warrior to the bell his ancestors created ages ago.
Waka understood her intentions completly. While she distracted Orochi, he would ring the bell eight times for the eight demonic heads of Orochi. He used whatever strength he had left in his moon blood given to him by his warrior ancestors long since past to pull himself up. He drew his bloody katana from his sheath and, with a vicious curse to Orochi, slammed it on the bell.
The effects were immeadiate. Amaterasu, who was busy making rude gestures to Orochi, had to cling to the wildly swaying head she was on. The bell rung again, and it's power was so great that she could fell the air around her vibrate while her ears rang. Each time the bell rung, getting stronger with each of Waka's blows, Orochi was being bound to the ground by invisible holy chains. Then came the eighth ring of the great bell.
Unleashing all he had and binding his shattered past to his blade, he hit the bell with such an impact that his own katana splintered into several fragile pieces. Orochi fell at the last ring of the bell and was temporarily stunned. Amaterasu jumped off of Orochi's head just in time to reach the bell before it's head crashed onto the burnt land. She didn't notice cracks under Orochi that were giving away to the mortal world under them.
Amaterasu sat down on the small plot of land in the middle of Orochi and took out her purse. To deal the final blow, she would have to strike down the demon physically. She dug through her purse for any weapons; what she pulled out was a jade encrusted mirror and holy rosary given to her by her father. She looked around again for a final item and found it: the broken blade of the Moon warrior. The goddess spared a quick glance to the man slumping against the wall. There was not much time left.
Waka watched with keen intrest as Amaterasu piled together the odd assortment of items. Dipping her brush into the last of her ink, she put a secret charm, now lost forever, on the items to make them weapons powerful enough for a goddess. From her jade mirror, she created a flaming reflector that spouted iridescent fire; from her rosary, she created a beautiful whip that matched her ruby eyes, and from the remains of Waka's katana, she created the original Tskuyomi.
Amaterasu, satisfied with the forging of her holy artifacts, put away her reflector and rosary and held the sparkling Tskuyomi before her.
Orochi panicked; even though the barrier prevented any blade but the blade of a mortal hero to pierce him, he still doubted it's strength agaisnt the Sun's mighty power. In the belly of the beast laid the heart of a true coward who would sell his own race of demons for his safety. He was the disgrace of Yami for his cowardice.
Yet, he still had one last evil trick that would secure his tyranny over the collapsing celestial plain and that was the weak warrior. What if the Dark Lord sees him scar and cripple Amaterasu forevermore? He would be the greatest of all the demons and he would make Ninetails and Blight pay dearly for mocking him.
"O, divine Amaterasu, you have bested me with your god like wit and strength! I shall save you the trouble of killing me and I'll just wither away. But, at least I'll have a consolation; that Moon warrior will accompany me to my demise in Hell." Orochi gave the paling goddess a toothy grin.
"Don't worry, ma cherie," Waka whispered and was surprised to see that the goddess did not oppose the pet name he gave her; in fact, she seemed to like it. "I have my share of regrettable acts and I deserve fair retribution. If I'm destined to fight Orochi for an eternity in the pits of Hell, then I only have one thing to say, 'Magnifique! I'll have something to do.'." Waka gave a laugh to try to ease the pain going on in Amaterasu's heart.
"Dear Sun goddess, there is one way to save him from judgment in the afterlife." Orochi hissed to a now interested Amaterasu. He mentally laughed; the sun goddess had one big weakness, her love for every creature. How easily it could be exploited! "I could lift the poison that is crippling him. For a price, of course."
Amaterasu's descision still haunted Waka. If she had struck Orochi at the prime of her power would more lives have been saved? But Amaterasu did not think in terms of how many lives could be saved at the expense of one, she tried to save each life she could. Many would think her nature to be naive, maybe even foolish, but that is what makes her a goddess and not a demon. That thin line of conscience that separates light and dark, keyblade master and Organization member.
She gave her answer in sign language, 'What is your price?'
"Just a trinket, nothing important to someone of your status. Just your beauty." Orochi sniffed, still struggling against the chains bounding him. Waka shook his head and tried to desperately tell her to think of her own safety but could not find his voice in his slowly dying body. Besides, even if Waka could shout and yell, it would not have changed Amaterasu's mind. She wasn't called hard-headed Ammy for nothing.
'I accept.' She made one hand motion and bowed to Orochi, ready for their bargain. The demon gave a roar and summoned dark, twisted flames to mutilate the goddess. The black flames surrounded the goddess and locked her heart so that no mortal could ever see her for what she truly was. The flames flickered away to leave a large, shimmering wolf in their wake. White tendrils flew out the body of the wolf as it howled to the heavens, no longer the beauty of Izanagi but the beast of the sun.
Orochi laughed, swinging it's heads as best it could in triumph. How could any mortal have faith in that?
"Our bargain is done, wolf. May every human that looks at you scream in horror!" The serpent demon, reluctantly, kept it's bargain; Poison took back it's curse with a sigh.
Waka coughed, and felt his vigor return to him. His vision repaired, he looked at Amaterasu with a gasp. She still had her beauty, at least to him, but it was now more subtle and natural. The goddess herself didn't seem to be to distraught over her loss. Actually, she seemed quite curious at her new body and was looking behind her, with her trademark goofy expression, at the ink dipped tail swishing behind her. Her curiousty was short lived, however, as the ground below them gave way.
The prophet's fast reflexes allowed him to make the jump over the gap to the celestial plain but Amaterasu was not as fast. She was trapped in the enraged tangle of Orochi's heads and she looked to Waka with a gaze that was somehow plain to him, 'Save as many as you can.' He felt a vision stir within him, and he tried as best he could to shout the prophecy over Orochi's roars.
"A hero with the name of the great god Izanagi, shall have the blade that will pierce Orochi! Au revoir, Amaterasu!" The wolf gave a final, courageous howl as she fell with Orochi to the unknowing mortal world below them.
Sora awoken from his nightmare in a cold sweat. He had dreamed he was on a doomed Ark that was racing down from the heavens above; he swore he saw the bright flash of Amaterasu fall with him. The rest of the dream was vague though, an assortment of images from Destiny Islands, to lands of Nippon he never saw, and a strange twilight town. He deemed that his nightmare was from the lack of food as he saw their uneaten supper. Nightmare forgotten, his usual chipper morning attitude kicked in. He looked to Waka who was unblinkingly staring out at the pale dawn in the small slit of a window.
"Good morning." Sora yawned cheerrfully as he got up to pack for the day. The prophet started as if he was just pulled back from a long dream.
"Excuse moi, I was miles away!" He got up and looked down to the dull orange glow beneath the mat. Waka cupped his hands around his mouth. "Good morning, Ishaku!" He shouted as loud as he could. The orange light, startled, bounced to the roof.
"I was getting up!" Ishaku yelled to the smirking prophet as he drifted back down to Sora's shoulder. "I swear, Amaterasu picks the most deranged friends." Ishaku fumed for a bit but was too sidetracked by the sweet smell of tarts in the next room. Wawku's wife ran into the room, nearly tripping over Donald and Goofy who were roused by Ishaku and Waka's commotion, and was holding out a plate of trays.
"I heard yelling. Is everyone all right?" She said as she put down the trays of treats and picked up the uneaten supper.
"Yeah, the crazy prophet was being obnoxious, again." The little poncle jumped down to grab a bite of the sweet smelling pastries.
"Have you visited your village yet, Ishaku? I heard there was a nasty attack on a couple of Poncles by some demons. Your father is too sickly to care for them so he had someone request you go home as soon as you can."
"All right. I shouldn't be long enough to miss any of the action." Ishaku bounced out a crack in the hut and was lost to view. The group, dwindled down to three, ate a quick breakfast while they waited for the outcome of Wawku's forging. They didn't have to wait long. Right as Sora was about to stuff himself with the appetizing cherry pies, a clearly proud blacksmith walked in with his creation.
It was a magnificent sword: long and gleaming, with no signs of the demon knife it was in it's past life. Instead of it's ominous red tints, it was surrounded by a warm blue aura that pushed all of the chill out of the room.
"Tres bien, Wawku. A sword fit for a hero if I do say so myself." The prophet overlooked the sword with a thoughtful glint in his eye.
"Those demons will rue the day they claimed Ezofuji as their home." The blacksmith twirled the sword a bit for Sora's amusement before sheathing it on his hip.
"You will all be careful, right?" His wife softly whispered as she gave Sora and his friends a motherly hug. She clasped Waka's hands and asked him to keep an eye on them, as he was the wisest and oldest.
"Oldest?" Sora remarked to Donald who was busily examining his wand, "He only looks a couple of years older than Riku." The familiar pang of loss rang in his heart when he uttered his friend's name.
"Young warrior, in Nippon age is not measured by years but how many notches of your sword has been broken by demon scale." Wawku said as after he gave his wife a kiss on the cheek. "He's far older than any warrior would hope to be."
"So, just because I'm young I'm not as good a warrior?" He said with a twinge of sting as he remembered being lectured by a certain half-goat on how to be a hero.
"Being old isn't always a good thing, Sora. You have too much time to regret." The prophet said with a rare kindness before he pushed open the door to a still and chilly morning. The winged tao master stepped out the door to the silvery world with a pondering Sora closed behind. The others followed after, waving goodbye to the silent housewife, and were soon lost to view in the white world.
The land was softly glowing in the dawning sun that was rising from the silver mist that encased all of the North in a halo shape. It was as if they were in the eye of a terrible hurricane; the land was quiet as the inhabitants locked their doors or sailed off to never return to the solemn land. Bare tress, shaking in the slight icy wind, climbed to the clear blue sky that was tinted in winter and frozen waters, rivers and waterfalls, stood out like jagged, frozen statues that had never seen a summer. Sora had never seen such a haunting and beautiful world that passed him by as he walked on the paths caked with powdery snow. Soon, the land led to a hazardous incline and the amount of wispy mist increased.
He grabbed onto Goofy's and Donald's arm as they proceeded up the craggy wall of rock. He didn't dare use agile jumps when he felt the unstable rock slide beneath him. He looked up to Waka who was nearly fluttering, with the aid of his enchanted hat, by Wawku who was expertly traversing the cliff before them. Even with the group's limber and physical attributes, climbing the cliff proved tedious and tiring. They were half way up when Sora noticed the wall of mist separate the trio from Waka and Wawku and left them stranded on the pointed slope. He turned to look behind him and saw the mist pulled away to a titanic owl shaped shadow.
Sudden fear and the anxiety of his precarious position on the rocks seized his heart for a brief second as he saw the shadow approach them. A second later, his gut instinct overtook his mind and he used abandoned all his magic stored for a burst of glide. He had hoped to store as much power he could contain for their ambush but the mist, working for the insidious demons, had spied them the moment it caught notice of the amount of divine light spilling from the boy's heart and gave them away. The owl closed in on the rising trio like a hawk to a freshly wounded dove.
Waka, his sensitive ears not picking up the sound of rock beneath Sora's feet, looked down below him and swore. The mist had hidden and muffled the trio's terrifying trials from the two above. He had not thought the mist to be a craft for the demons but it all came together when he remembered Wawku's tale of the fog. A trap he had so blindly been led into! He jump down and let go of all caution. He thanked the heavens that Amaterasu had not seen him commit what could be another fatal error.
The keyblade master still kept to his incline but worried when he did not see the top of the cliff. He was trapped within a horrid barrier that kept him locked on a cliff that would never end against a crafty demon hungry for Sora's blessed heart. His friends propelled him onward though, despite the hopeless scenario playing out before them. Finally, he wavered as his magic and strength were spent he pressed himself and his friends onto the unforgiving rock that bit and scratched at every inch of skin.
The gray, mechanical owl named Nechku gave a hoot of victory to his brown brother that was circling, looking for Wawku and Waka that had hidden in the many crevices of the cliff. The gray owl, with a light seeking spectacle perched on it's razor beaks, targeted the keyblade master struggling with his floundering companions on the wall. It raised it's talons, ready to reap it's rewards from Yami when he presented the boy to it.
Sora, in his now calm and calculating battle mode, glanced back at the wildly cawing owl diving towards them. He waited calmly despite his frantic friends and watched the talons as if they were in slow motion..., there!, he twisted his body back from the impending talons and bodily threw his companions safely on a jutting rock beside them. Yet, even though the move saved his friends, it left him in a vulnerable position. He knew that Donald's and Goofy's magic spells would not be fast enough to stop the next attack of raking talons. He steeled himself for the blow.
The green flash of Pilllowtalk ruptured the mist and into the spectacled eye of the owl that was a breadth away from tearing into the battle-faced keyblade master. Sora, taking the surprise ambush from the hovering tao master as an advantage, stomped his foot into the wailing creature. Using it as a foothold, he leapt from Nechku into the safety of his friends arms. The utterance of both Donald's and what was Goofy's limited magical ability merged into a lethal limit attack that propelled the demon into the jutting rocks. It laid limped over the rock, it's only eye staring at it's brother that was losing a battle against the feral hound of Wawku. Waka unceremoniously pulled his sword from the beast and, too, looked at Wawku that was cornered with his back up along the shallow crevice he defended himself in.
"We must hurry. Even the sword Kutone cannot bar it's master from wound forever." Waka concluded, wiping his precious flute from the grime of demon. Sora nodded and before he and his friends went to glide after the hovering prophet, he looked at the miserable demon below him with a twinge of pity. The four took Lechku from behind with a fury of sword swipes and a magical bombardment of spells. The brown bird cried in retreat, shaking off the furiously stabbing Wawku and called it's lame brother to join it. Miraculously, Nechku obliged the command, not wanting to further dishonor it's brother. The two made for the twisted and smoky peak of Ezofuji with the band of warriors following in pursuit and the Kutone, now dreaded by all dark beasts was a sparkling blue. The mist had completely disappeared, as if, too, disgraced by the domination of the smaller beings.
Author's Notes: That's it for now. Sorry for the long wait! I also activated anonymous reviews, thanks to Miah The Storm Wolf for telling me. I haven't even noticed! Anyway, thanks for your support and reviews.