The earth has music for those who listen.
The unlikely trio wandered away from Konohana with their curiosity piqued. It wasn't until they noticed something menacing that they had an outlet.
"Well, hello there, Keiko. It's an honour to meet you."
(Skip the lecture and tell us what is going through that mind of yours.)
"Concise, my mistress. And that fiery temper, too. You must be a redhead."
(If that weren't true, you'd find my fangs in your throat.)
"Do you mind? Ahem…" And this next part was shrieking with no onomatopoeia to describe it. Darkness filled the skies and the earth roared and shook. One by one, the leaves on Konohana began to drop.
(OK, genius… let's dance.) Keiko lunged at where the unknown demon spoke from. But he was gone.
"Interesting. That wasn't the guy who beat us to a pulp, but he has some interesting points."
(What did you learn from that guy? It was all insults to me.)
"Well, since Konohana is currently wilting, I'd hazard a guess that he started the blizzard in Kamui."
(…I regret not sinking my claws into him sooner.)
"Please, Keiko. You are the one who can help us. Please do not allow your words to be tainted with blood," Sakuya had formed up behind the trio.
"Honourable Sakuya. In the stead of these two, please, enlighten me on what must be done to rescue this land from the darkness." Keiko and Miya feigned damaged pride.
"You must go to the land named Hana Valley, to the north of Kamiki. There, you will find a brush technique of critical importance. This must be done with no undue haste."
Of course, the desire to help someone and the ability to have a habit of misaligning. And by misaligning, I'm talking about
"The third boulder Susano has put in this passageway," Tetsu sighed. Keiko turned to Tetsu.
(Really? The third time? How many giant boulders does this guy have in his pockets?)
"No matter… we can easily shatter this stone. Or at least… that's the plan." Tetsu held a wooden sword high into the air.
(That's not going to cut through butter.)
"That's what you know." Tetsu slashed the boulder with mighty force. The stone was cleaved in two, fading so that others may pass. Keiko was speechless. "Shall we proceed to Hana Valley?" Keiko followed, marvelled at the strength that Tetsu had just displayed.
"So… Hana Valley…" Tetsu combed the area that had presented itself.
"Looks duller than Kamui."
(HEY!)
"Just kidding, Keiko. But still, this place gives me the chills. Let's find that brush skill and get out of here."
"WAIT!" The three turned. A tanned man came rushing forward.
(Oh… hello. What exactly is your intention?)
"I came to warn you… Hana Valley is dangerous. Too dangerous for you, daughter of Susano."
"…Say that again."
"Hana Valley is dangerous. Too dangerous for you, daughter of Susano."
"I heard you the first time. But we're purifying this area, and you can't stop us!"
"Oh yes I can! If you really want Hana Valley cleared, why don't you go ask Kuni for help?" Miya was somehow holding back both Keiko and Tetsu at once.
"Keiko… Divine Retribution doesn't work on mortals!"
(But my claws will do the trick. Let me at him! I will give him my name before I snap his neck in my jaws!)
"If you're going to go insane, can you at least make sense?"
"You're one to talk." Miya dropped Keiko's tail. Keiko covered the gap between her and the nameless man in one bound. She… uh… well, moving on.
The trio could now enter the doom and gloom of Hana Valley. At least this horror seemed to do one thing: Keiko's anger was vastly abated, and it was safe for Miya to ride her again.
"You know, we should do something about that temper," Tetsu pointed out. Keiko destroyed a demon attempting a sneak attack.
(Like what?) It was a sign of the bond between warriors that allowed inter species communication.
"We can't have you attacking everything that looks at you funny."
(I've been told that.)
"Listen. Ferocity in battle and ferocity out of battle are two different things. You must learn the difference between the two."
(Why don't you start the lessons?)
"Well, for one…" Tetsu began to elaborate, before stepping on uncertain stone. With a tell-tale wobble, the platform gave way, sending Tetsu sprawling into a cave. Keiko landed nearby, light on her paws with what she had learned for battle. Miya hopped off her head, and looked around. She turned, and spotted a statue of a monkey. At its base was a sheet of paper.
"Advantage, Keiko," she whispered. She picked it up, and took it to Keiko. Three gods were depicted on the parchment: Sakigami, Hasugami and Tsutagami, collectively known as the Hanagami Trio. With it were four different techniques: a single dot, a circle around vegetation, a circle on water, and a line connecting to a special kind of flower. Smoke was at one end of the line, labelled as being green.
"Keiko… you have Greensprout!" Miya called. Keiko studied the parchment. The dot showed the ability to bloom trees. The first circle could revive dead plants. The second could create water lilies. The final technique, Vine, could send Keiko from her current location to the special flower depicted on the parchment. The Konohana Blossom. How they levitated would be a mystery, but Keiko used it to get the three out of that hole.
"As I was saying…"
"And that is why you need to calm down." Tetsu had finished her explanation while Keiko purified Hana Valley.
(Uh-huh. I shall keep that in mind.)
Promptly, Tetsu found another hole in the floor.
(I see why that guy called this place dangerous. No-one's heard of solid floors.)
"No excuse for murder."
(Shut up. We have to save Tetsu.)
"…At least you have morals."
The room possessed a giant bullfrog.
*Croak* "I am Master Anura. I am one of the foes that the Dark Lord has resurrected, with the intention of taking you down, blood knight," he croaked.
(Violent tendencies does not a warrior make.)
"You're… learning!" Tetsu cheered.
(You're going down, Master Anura!)
"And… here comes the bloodlust. Does this girl ever take a break?"
Master Anura took swipes at Keiko with his multiple chins and long tongue. Keiko dodged the blows with a brilliant footing. She managed to deal a certain amount of damage before he spat up a seed… on the other side of his pond. Tetsu rushed across to the other end. She took the seed, and dragged it to an obvious cavity. Anura whirled his tongue around for damage to Tetsu.
*SLASH*
Denied. Anura could only watch as Tetsu placed the seed in its spot, draining Anura of critical energy. Keiko grinned. Her turn.
There would be no point to describe the next two phases, as they are functionally identical. Anura croaked, and then croaked.
Rising from Master Anura was a string of orbs. A rosary. It circled, flying into Keiko's hands. She had the Devout Beads.
A hidden beast snuck up into the room, and howled. Energy radiating from Anura's body was absorbed into his being. He gave a menacing cackle… a familiar cackle…
(YOU!)
"Oh, don't mind me. I'm just here to borrow this demon's massive energy to use for my evil ends."
(Alright… wait, NO!) Keiko roared. Tetsu instinctively grabbed Keiko. The beast cackled, and vanished.
(Why'd you stop me?)
"No matter how evil he is, one bloody murder is enough for one like yourself."
After walking in search of an exit, they entered a room with long-extinct light. In the dusty mess, Miya had no trouble falling off Keiko. She rolled around, until she felt the twist of parchment underfoot.
"YES! ANOTHER SPELL!" Miya cheered.
"Calm down, turn on a light, and let's read."
"I don't have a light."
"What's a bug without a light?"
"A Poncle."
"Poncle?"
"Never you mind. The point is I have no light."
Keiko back flipped, and tried reading the parchment as human form. She barely made out a wolf, and a circle clearly in the sky. She resumed her wolf form, and drew a circle in the general direction of the sky. The sun emerged from the clouds.
"Sunrise. Didn't Issun say that was Ammy's element?"
(Why are you asking us? We've never met Issun.)
"Oh… duh."
The sun had shone onto a weak sapling, allowing it to bloom into a magnificent sapling.
"A Guardian Sapling of Konohana!" Tetsu cheered. Keiko used her Bloom technique to bring it to light. The cherry blossoms flourished, expelling all of the darkness in the realm of Hana Valley.
"Keiko. It's time I explained to you about the Konohana. It is a divine tree that serves as a guardian of the entire land of Nippon. When it withers, demons can come to this land in great numbers. The more Divine Interventions we pull off, the more we can stave off these demons," Tetsu elaborated.
(Then our most urgent goal should be to restore Sakuya's tree in Kamiki.)
"How did I ever doubt this girl?"
Tetsu rode back into the village.
"Ah, my daughter. It is good to see you again." Susano had come rushing up, looking ridiculous as usual.
"You are too kind, father. But we have some urgent business to attend to."
"Urgent? Then you mustn't dilly-dally, young Tetsu."
"Correct, father. But I have one question… could you send Mr Orange up to the top of the mountain?"
"He's up there, trying to bring life to Konohana."
"Of course he is. That makes things a whole lot more convenient. Come on, pooch. We can't miss Mr Orange."
watch?v=BsR9WMiGiD0
And neither should you. The wolf is Ammy, for those of you who came here with no knowledge of Okami. But hey, at least you know it isn't Keiko.
And if you want the other one (with Ammy/Keiko actually performing Bloom), too bad. No one seems to have the Konohana Shuffle isolated… except for one guy who had a clip of Chuggaa doing that portion. Sorry.
Mr Orange stopped, heaving and panting.
"Hoo… Never would I have believed I would need to do that dance twice," he mumbled as he left. Sakuya formed as he did so.
"Ah… humans. They always delude themselves into thinking they have performed miracles on their own."
"Even me?"
"No, Tetsu. You have witnessed a true miracle. Nothing you could ever do can delude you into such hubris."
"I knew it was a big word."
"Anyway, now that you have done the service of saving my tree here in Kamiki, I have a request for you. Would you kindly bloom my other Guardian Saplings?"
(I can't say no to a divine being. But now we have three goals…)
"Priorities, Keiko. The search for Guardian Saplings should intertwine with that of the brush techniques. And I wouldn't recommend going after those masters until you have all of the brush skills."
"Well said, Miya. A correct priority list. It is now merely a question of following it."
"Sure thing, Sakuya. We've got it."
And now for a semblance of plot. ...Still nothing to go on, but I doubt Tetsu will bring much to the table.
As for boss battles like Master Anura... that was the focus of my plan. I needed thirteen bosses from Okami. I got nineteen from a top 19 countdown, remembered Nagi (who was missed) and added a boss from neither Okami or it's sequel. I then removed bosses that could not be realistically fought, the final bosses, and for overpopulation reasons, Bullhead and Asteroidean. The news here is that only one should ever be tackled in a chapter, giving a confirmed fourteen parts (one for every boss yet to be challenged).
...I just realized a spoiler regarding the first sentence... darn. Well, you probably expected it.
Leap before you think!
