(A/N) (MANY APOLOGIES FOR RESUBMITTING! XD;;;) Drake here, back with another chapter for Revirement! Another long wait, I know. I'm waiting for the bricks to come flying through my window…
(If you're reading this, The Great Anonymous Reviewer (That I Love & Fear), you'll find your reply at the end of the chapter.)
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Chapter Three
Entrez : Cadeau de dieux à équiper, le prophète à moitié cuit, Two-Bit, joli de garçon, Waka ! (Enter: Gods Gift to Man, The Half-Baked, Two-Bit, Pretty Boy Prophet, Waka!)
000Two Days Ago000
Klack klack klack klack klack klack klack klack klack klack klack klack klack…
'That's basically what my job is. Listening to that all day.
'He sits behind his desk, making that klacking noise on that mysterious projection-thingy, barely saying a word to anyone all.
'The man fascinates me.
'I'm Abe, the newest recruit in the Tao Troopers. The man behind the desk is the reason I joined in the first place. Never in the history of Nippon has there been a Captain greater than Capt. Waka. Sure, it's weird that he's been the ONLY captain of the Tao Troopers for 200 years, or that he's been giving more orders than usual recently, but he's just so cool! I want to be like him. Maybe he can take me as an apprentice someday? I hope so!
'I want to ask him that today. I'm nervous, to say the truth. I'm glad I have this Tao mask on.
'I turn around from my post to ask, but even before I can open my mouth, the klacking noise stops.
'He's got some weird look on his face. His hands are frozen over the projecting gizmo, and his blue eyes are wide open.
'"Capt. Waka?" I ask.
'He jumps up from his desk, grabs his helmet and starts making his way to the door.
'"Captain?! What are you doing?!" I cry after him.
'He turns to me, halfway out the door. "Guard this place while I'm gone!" he commands, rather harshly. "Au Revoir!"
'He leaves without another word.'
000Back with Amaterasu and Issun, present time000
"Ammy, can you please say something?" Issun groaned, resting on Amaterasu's knee. They had paused to sit beneath one of the cherry trees in Sei-an. "It's bad enough to be chased around by you, but you not saying anything when you can finally talk is beyond disturbing!"
It was true. Even after she had caught Issun, attempted to swallow him again, spat him out and commented on his grassy taste, she had gone under a wave of silence after sitting beneath the tree.
"I'm sorry, Issun." she sighed. "I'm just so confused right now. Besides, you know I don't talk much."
"Yeah, I know." Issun grumbled. "As a wolf you always ignored me. But humans are supposed to have great social skills, Ammy. You can't ignore everyone that talks to you, and since your so attractive now, that would be a lot of people you'd insult. You're gonna have to – hey, are you listening to me, furball?!"
Amaterasu was zoning out during Issun's lecture, watching the people walk by on the streets as they carried on their day. A few children were running up and down the streets playing their games, a group of women passed by every now and then with their gossip, and men were strutting down the pathways, showing off a new kimono or weapon.
'Their lives are so careless, so ordinary.' She pondered to herself. 'So boring. I certainly hope I change back to a wolf soon. It doesn't seem like fun living a human lifestyle.'
"Ammy!" Issun shouted in her ear, bringing her attention back to the green sprite. "This is exactly what I was talking about! You've gotta pay attention to people who are talking to you! You're not a wolf anymore, so you can't act like one!"
She placed a finger on his helmet, pinning him against her knee. "I'm aware of that last fact, Issun." She said, softly but dangerously. "But I am going to be a wolf again, aren't I? When was the last time you saw a wolf with table manners?"
Before she could say another word, her ears perked up, alert.
"Now what?" Issun asked, annoyance visible in his tone.
"Don't you hear that?" Amaterasu asked him.
"Hear what?"
"That sound… It's familiar." She raised herself up, and began walking towards the exit gate.
"H-Hey!" Issun hollered after her. "Wait up, furball!"
She twisted to Issun, raising an eyebrow. "Don't you think it's a little odd to call me 'furball'?"
"… …"
"Exactly, that's what I thought." She continued walking.
Outside the city, Amaterasu kept walking up the steep hill leading to Ryoshima's main coast, breaking into a stride when reaching the top. She took a sharp turn to the left, dashing across the sand. The sound was getting clearer, loud enough to reach Issun's ears.
"Hey, I can hear it now!" Issun exclaimed. "Where have we heard it before?"
The mysterious sound… It was light, as if it was being carried by the wind. Amaterasu ran near the old shrine where Rao once worked… past the waterfall… towards the Guardian Sapling that protected the area. It took a few tries to get up the rock ledges, but soon she reached the top of the rocky cliff.
But no one was seen there.
"You sure it was here, Ammy?" Issun questioned. "It could've been down by the waterfall…"
But Amaterasu knew whoever – or whatever – was making the musical sound was in this exact area. She sniffed the area, trying to catch a scent. The cherry blossoms were so strong it was nigher impossible to catch the out-of-place smell.
It was then she felt the third presence, above Issun and her, in the tree.
"Hark! The call of the heavens, the Earth, the sea…"
A soft thud came from behind her. She turned around to see a familiar figure – a helmet with a wing-like cape, a pink shirt, purple pants, and ridiculously tall shoes…
"… They summon me forth to defeat evil!"
The figure spun to reveal his face – elegant, soft, with sparkly blue eyes and bits of blonde hair sticking out from beneath his helmet, which closely resembled an eagle head…
They knew this man all too well.
"Waka, god's gift to man, is here! Bon-!"
He paused, observing Amaterasu's human form.
"Désolé, miss. I thought you were someone else." He apologized.
'So he only reserves that silly opening for ME?' She groaned in her mind.
"Wha-?! You!!" Issun spat at Waka, unsheathing Denkomaru. "We should've known it was you!"
"Calm yourself, little bouncing friend." Waka said coolly, raising a hand. "You seem rather hot-under-the-collar today." He returned his attention to Amaterasu. "You've changed dramatically, Ma Chérie. But you don't need me to tell you that, now do you?"
"Put a cork in it, ya half-baked prophet!" Issun hissed. "You're always getting us in trouble!"
"Trouble? Pardonnez-moi? I believe I've been more than helpful to you on your journeys. Wouldn't you say so, Amaterasu?"
"Don't bring Ammy into your-!"
"You know, he has a point." Amaterasu stated.
Issun gaped.
"The goddess speaks." Waka grinned.
Her eyebrows narrowed. "But Issun also has a point. You have been the reason of our problems before…"
He tapped his flute, Pillowtalk, on his shoulder and shook his head. "You can sound so cold. You say that as if I meant to do so on purpose."
"But you do!" Issun voice was near hysterical.
".. That may be so, perhaps." Waka smiled.
Issun growled.
"I may be a member of the moon tribe, but I don't have the powers of a god." He pointed at Amaterasu with his flute. "So I do have the occasional time where I need you to do my job. I'd rather not dirty your hands, Ma Chérie, please understand that. I just simply have no choice."
"You can say that all you want, but we're not buying it!" Issun shouted. "What are you doing here, anyway?! What do you want from us?!"
After a short silence, Waka chuckled – a menacing sound. "Just a few answers."
He twirled his flute in his hand, revealing a green glowing blade. Then he unsheathed his second sword, posed in a fighting position.
"For one: How well are you fighting skills in this form, Amaterasu?"
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(A/N) Waka's here, just like I promised. :P … We all love Waka, don't we? He's definitely the funniest prophet I've ever seen. But he's raised his blade at poor Ammy – again! D:
I know there's a BIG conflict on what Waka's eye color would be, bear with me on this one.
To The Great Anonymous Reviewer
You honestly scared me and made me love you at the same time. The feeling makes my heart crawl O_o;
I'm happy you think I'm doing a good job on this story, and pointing out where my strong points were helped a LOT with my self-esteem. I'm just a beginner at this kind of thing, but I love the game Okami to bits, so when I had the idea for a fanfiction I couldn't resist writing something down. I haven't read any other Human!Ammy stories before, so I don't know what to avoid (Perhaps I should look at the two you mentioned?), but if I understand what you mean – correct me if I'm wrong – I should continue with what I'm doing now, and I'll be okay. Right? I'll also take your advice and not get excited, though I think I'm suffering from heart attack and the beginning of an ego here.
As for the Divine Retribution Vs. Solar Flare deal… damn, you're RIGHT O_O
The setting is sort of after she regained the final brush technique, and before the battle against Lechku and Nechku, somewhere between those two events. Almost like, Amaterasu retrieved her 13 Brush Techniques, but didn't fight the twins… Whatever the 'setting' case is, that was the basic idea when I started. (The story's also in a sort of Alternate Universe, so the events don't match up exactly as they do in the game. But now that you point it out, I'm realizing how much this can confuse my other readers!)
But it seems the main problem was weapon choice. It didn't cross my mind that she'd have Solar Flare because she had regained all her brush techniques. I've been playing through the game a second time since I started Revirement, but I had forgotten about that ultra-special Divine Instrument entirely! … I mainly chose Divine Retribution because that's the one you use/see throughout a great deal of the game (With all those cutscenes, I can understand why the creators didn't change the appearance of Divine Retribution to whatever weapon the player had equipped at the time.) and it's the one most fans can recall, plus she doesn't know how to use most of the Brush Techniques as a human right now. But Solar Flare will make it's appearance, I promise.
Anyway, thanks for the wonderful review, and I'll make sure to keep lots of chocolate on that thumb. ;) But if something doesn't look right, please let me know - I'd like to become a better writer too!
Drake