Disclaimer: I don't own Okami

Hate

Chapter 2

Breathe

I heard him enter Hana Valley, and I ran to confront him before he could get too far in. I was fully prepared to kill and eat him like the rest of the beings that wandered into my territory. Of all the humans and demons that have trespassed into my territory over the years, he confused me the most. He had black hair and blood red eyes. As I approached, he regarded me calmly, as if I were a mere house cat rather than the monstrous beast of a cat that I am. He further proved my point when he ignored my threatening hiss and instead reached out to rub right around my ears.

Needless to say, that surprised me. I wasn't even coherent enough to swipe at his hand and I just crouched there, perfectly still, staring at him wide eyed as he detachedly rubbed my ears. If not for the cold roughness of the gesture I might have purred from the pleasure of the long forgotten contact with another.

After that gesture, I couldn't bring myself to harm this strange man. Even as he began to circle around me, examining every aspect of my large, feline body, I remained still. When he came back into my line of vision, I couldn't tell what he honestly thought of me. Most humans that had lived to get a good look at me had either loathing or disgust in their eyes...up until I ate them. His eyes though, they were perfectly calm with no visible emotions in them.

So when he reached out his hand again I couldn't help but lean forward and close my eyes, as he ran his hand along my cheek. I opened my eyes as he turned around and began walking out of Hana Valley. The only indication that he wanted me to follow was when he glanced back at me for a moment before turning and leaving.

Having that kind of contact, the feeling of acceptance, was like finally breathing and not realizing I had stopped in the first place. I was desperate for more of acceptance, my newfound oxygen. He didn't object to my presence as I followed him across Shinshu Field and towards the Moon Cave. In fact, he seemed to ignore me as much as one could ignore a giant, black cat.

The closer we got to the Moon Cave and the thicker the demonic power became, the more he began to look back towards me. Probably making sure I was following him. He expertly navigated the paths through the Moon Cave until we came to the platform above the room where Orochi and Amaterasu had fought years before. He jumped down with unnatural ease and landed totally unfazed, much like myself. I'm a giant cat though, what's his excuse?

In the middle of the room there was a great bell surrounded by eight sets of serpentine bones. These were obviously the remains of the defeated Orochi. He bypassed the bones and went straight to the bell. Once again I followed him, a bit more hesitantly I must admit. When he turned and looked at me expectantly I could only stare at him. What? Am I supposed to do something? It's too bad in this form I can't talk, well at least not to where he would actually be able to understand what I was trying to say that is.

He sighed and then he spoke, "Can't you feel the power in these remains?" His voice was deep, dark, and stern, almost inhuman. Wait, did he mean the feeling in the air that felt like I was slowly being suffocated? I nodded dumbly at him in response. He motioned towards the bell, "Take it in."

Erm, okay? How the heck am I supposed to do that? I once again could only stare at him dumbly. Opps, now he looks a bit irritated, "Pull the power into your body, try putting your paw on the bell and drawing it in." his voice became even sterner, like a cranky old man. The thought almost made me purr, the closest I could get to a human giggle or laugh.

Stepping past him, I put my clawed paw onto the bell and did as he instructed. The sheer amount of power made me gasp out loud. I didn't stop despite my initial surprise. The power felt strangely good, like sunlight warming my fur, relaxing my muscles and lulling me into a drowsy state. Needless to say, I continued to take the power in. Closing my eyes and fully enjoying the sensation, until there was nearly nothing left.

Once there was nothing left, I opened my eyes and noticed that the bell seemed much more delicate now that I had taken away its power. The air was mush crisper and easier to breathe, and I could feel the energy within me. Turning back to him, I got no congratulation or praise. He merely turned away and began to make his way out of the Moon Cave, as if I had wasted time on a simple task that I should have been able to accomplish easily.

Shaking off his coldness, I followed him. Once we exited the Moon Cave he turned to me again. Having learned from my previous ignorance, he informed me precisely of what he wanted from me. "I want you to get something down for me. Remember three years ago?"

I tensed at that. How could I forget? Mitsuru died three years ago, I transformed into a giant cat, and I experienced hate and never really stopped hating. He must have gotten his answer from my expression, which is pretty impressive. I remember never being able to tell what a cat was thinking. Maybe that's why I always liked dogs better, ha, now that's irony.

"I want to you to do the same thing as you did on that day, become an enormous cat, able to reach into the heavens and pluck a being from the celestial plain for me."

-Line-

"Stir up the darkness inside you; with Orochi's power you should be able to reach the celestial plain." Okay he says that like it should make sense, but whatever I'll do it. He might be the only person that won't want to kill be at first sight. He's the first to have ever willingly touched me, well at least not in an aggressive; I wanna kill you, way that is.

I closed my eyes, immediately my inner darkness surrounded me. It was still and reflective, like water, as it usually was when I wasn't angry. He said to stir it up. Does that mean I don't actually have to get angry? Maybe if I focus I can get a reaction out of it. There, a small ripple disrupted the usual calm of my darkness, but I don't feel any different. I guess I need to try harder.

Suddenly, the darkness began to bubble. It was almost as if it were boiling, just without the heat. I could feel it pushing against invisible restraints. It felt as if it were boiling over, pushing against my skin, trying to escape out into the world. Once again I felt as if I were underwater, a searing pain as my body seemed to stretch to accommodate the darkness' growth within my body. Everything felt sore, like I was going through some kind of twisted growth spurt.

Suddenly it all stopped, the pain, the underwater-ness, everything. Opening my eyes, my head was literally in the clouds. The air felt thin but crisp, and I could see a floating island above me. I could reach it with my front paws if I got up on my hind legs.

The floating island, the celestial plain I guess I should call it, took my weight very well, it didn't tip or crumble. Wait, how am I supposed to grab a person as big as I am right now? I'm so big that a normal human seems like an ant in comparison. I'd crush them, or kill them, pretty much either way they end up dead. He didn't say whether to bring them dead or alive. Oh, crap, maybe I should have thought about this beforehand.

Oh, shit! The height must be affecting my darkness. It's starting to boil over again all on its own. Crap, my body won't, can't grow anymore. I can feel the darkness seeping out of my fur in great waves. Without the darkness to support my new body I could feel it shrinking. Now I was hanging off the celestial plain, with my claws digging into the soil, struggling to try and pull the rest of my body up to safety.

Suddenly, a shadow fell over me. Looking up from my struggling I saw a tall male. He had golden blond hair and was wearing a bright pink kimono tucked into purple pants and a long hawk headdress. He seemed to be examining me in a similar way to how he examined me, when we first met in Hana Valley. This man's eyes were different, they were a light blue and though they were calm they also seemed light hearted. Going off of my first impression of him, I meowed softly, hoping that the sound would encourage him to help me up.

I nearly choked on the sound when another wave of darkness left my body. Crap, this can't be happening! If I get any smaller I won't be able to land safely. Looking up I saw that the strange man was swaying slightly before he fell on top of me. Tearing my claws out of the soil and forcing both of us off the celestial plain and falling towards Nippon. I grabbed the front of his kimono with my mouth, unable to tell if he was even awake due to the deafening sound of wind as we fell towards Shinshu Field.

Like any cat, I twisted so that I would land on my feet and hopefully not break any bones in the landing. The landing part definitely stung a bit, but dropping from that height I'm just glad that none of my bones seem broken. Shaking off the feeling of wind in my fur and the lightheaded feeling I had from losing all that darkness, I gently put the unconscious man on the ground and laid next to him in an attempt to recover some power to replace what was lost.

He appeared just before sunset with two imps following meekly behind him. The blond man still hadn't woken up and when he saw the celestial being he looked genuinely pleased and rubbed my ears as a reward. He walked over towards the blond man and easily picked him up and slung him over his shoulder. I couldn't help but hiss at the imps. That made him glance back and give me a disapproving look but other than that he didn't seem to care. They kept a good distance away from me so I didn't bother them...much.

When we came to the entrance of Hana Valley, I would have chased them off if he hadn't fixed me with a hard glare that dared me to mess with them. So I could only lower my eyes and follow behind the group meekly. He stopped before the bridge leading towards the central room with the guardian sapling. It's a good thing too. I cut the ropes long ago so that no humans could reach the sapling. It didn't matter much, since I could easily clear the gap.

I didn't want to be anywhere near those imps, so when the group set up camp I walked further down the path and slept in front of the ledge where the bridge used to be connected. If the demons tried to wander further into Hana Valley then they were welcome to, so long as they stayed away from Mitsuru. I could pick up tidbits of their conversation from where I was laying down. "Katsuro-sama, will this really work?" The voice was high pitched and rough sounding, obviously one of the imps. So the red eyed man's name was Katsuro. That's a nice name, at least now I know his name. I didn't hear his reply, but he must have told them I could hear their conversations because after that I didn't hear anything coming from their direction besides the slight crackle of the flames.

It was the middle of the night when I was woken up by the sound of a flute, the sound made me feel strangely calm and I almost fell back to sleep. Until I noticed that the sound was coming from the direction of the guardian sapling. I jumped up just as Katsuro jumped across the gap to the other side, as the two imps passed me while they were following Katsuro. I used my paw to swipe at one and quickly bit the other one as it passed too close to my face. Leaving their bodies where they had fallen, I also jumped across the gap, in pursuit of both Katsuro and the source of the music.

By the time I reached the guardian sapling, Katsuro had already arrived. I saw that the blond man was standing on one of the sapling's branches, a flute held coyly in front of his mouth. "Hark! The call of the heavens, the earth, the sea... They summon me forth to defeat evil! Waka, the gods' gift to man is here! Bonjour!" What the heck? What has this dude been drinking? Though I must admit, his voice sounded kind and somewhat playful. It was nice to listen to and made me feel strangely comfortable. That didn't make his trespassing onto the guardian sapling, so close to Mitsuru's grave, at all forgivable. Hissing loudly, I could feel what little power I have left beginning to bubble up. He's on the tree, but I can't attack him. The tree wouldn't be able to handle my weight when I'm so damn big! I could only watch as both Waka and Katsuro drew their swords. It seemed that Waka was about to jump down from the tree to attack Katsuro, but Katsuro attempted to jump onto the tree in order to attack Waka instead.

Well Katsuro tried. Waka being on the tree I couldn't help, but Katsuro jumping onto the tree I could. I bet Waka didn't expect to have his fight intervened by a giant cat, or Katsuro to imagine being tackled out of the air by a hissing cat that had been eagerly following his every command not a few hours before. I put my body between Katsuro and the tree in an effort to subtly deter him from coming closer. I don't care if the two of them fight, but they need to get away from the Mitsuru and out of Hana Valley while they were at it. I began to hiss fiercely to help convey my message, just in case I was too subtle.

Katsuro did decide to back off, probably deciding he didn't want to fight if the odds were two to one against him. Listening carefully to make sure he left Hana Valley, I didn't notice when Waka landed like a feather beside me. He got my attention when he tentatively pat my shoulder, I would have ignored that and proceeded to punish him for even approaching the guardian sapling, if he hadn't reached up and began to scratch me behind my ear. Unlike Katsuro, Waka's hands were warm and very gentle as they touched me, a bit hesitant, not unwilling. I immediately closed my eyes and began to purr in pleasure, leaning into his hands.

I heard him chuckle lightly and murmur, "Heh, you're just a big house cat." Opening one eye I gave him a look. This seemed to amuse him even more as I saw him crack a smile. He did, however continue to rub my ear and shoulder. He didn't linger long, and eventually he pulled away and looked towards the guardian sapling. I hissed when he began to move forward, my tail lashing behind me and my fur beginning to bristle.

Before I could pounce, the tree began to glow and suddenly recovered from its previously withered state. The tree was absolutely beautiful now that it had been revived. All my previous anger forgotten, I could only stare at the tree that I had tried to bring back to its full glory for years. During my trance Waka had come back to my side and began to gently scratch behind my ears once more. How did he do that? My head connected with Waka's chest, almost knocking him over. I was purring loudly. I guess that's what kept him from thinking I was attacking him. Gently, I rubbed my feline body against Waka, doing my best not to knock him off balance this time. I'm just so happy, and all because of him!

When I stopped rubbing up against him, Waka began walking towards the camp site that Katsuro and the two demons had put up and nonchalantly sat near the fire and went to sleep. As I followed him back. I noticed that with the guardian sapling revived, all of the other sakura and fruit trees seem much healthier and vibrant. Walking past Waka I went towards the entrance to Hana Valley and made sure no other demons had wandered in while I was preoccupied. Then, I backtracked to the guardian sapling and groomed myself before curling up. I want to stay with Waka for the same reasons I followed Katsuro today. I want to be accepted. I want to breathe again.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter please review!