Chapter Text
The Celestial Plain, also known as ‘The High Plain of Heaven,’ was the realm of peace and perfection. Surrounded by never-ending natural beauty, the land consisted of grassy fields that stretched far and wide, forests of various trees and cherry blossoms whose petals kept on falling onto the surface while new ones grew, and mighty large mountains with snow-covered peaks. The sky was that of the universe, where every single celestial body, star, and galaxy could be observed with the naked eye.
However, life used to be better on The Plain, when it was once full of it. The land used to be home to The Celestials, a heavenly race who coexisted with the deities. But ever since the onslaught brought forth by the 8-headed serpent, Orochi, the majority of which had been tragically wiped out. As of now, only the deities and the souls of deceased mortals, who wandered around endlessly in their new home, remained.
Somewhere on The Plain, two lupines laid under a large tree that shielded them from the sun’s scorching rays, a mother and her cub. The mother was Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun and the supreme being of the universe. Her coat was as white as snow, with white glowing tendrils that emitted from her mane, followed by stripes of bright crimson markings in a symmetrical pattern like artwork. On her back hovered the divine instrument, a spinning reflector which discharged red-hot colorful flames. Her cub, The Child of The Sun, who peacefully slept beside her, also shared identical bodily features.
Both Amaterasu and her offspring spent their days on The Plain alone, with their past friends, envoys, and prophets long gone. The only thing they have done for the past centuries was watch their creations grow and unfold on the land of Nippon. Man, and machine have merged to the point where they no longer required the services of their deities. Faith in the goddess had declined significantly as a result. Despite Amaterasu giving mortals free-will, she remained relevant and upheld her duty to protect them from darkness.
Today however, she sensed something that she hadn’t had in a very long time. The levels of dark energy had steadily increased in the mortal realm for the past few months. It was noticeable enough that it gave her a cold, chilly feeling in her soul. She slowly stood up from her place of rest and walked to the edge of The Plain, then looked down upon Nippon from the heavens. The planet indeed looked greyer than ever before, with visible purplish mist that blanketed the land masses which encompassed the whole globe. This revelation only meant one thing to the goddess, darkness has returned.
Alarmed, Amaterasu wasted no more time and got herself ready to embark on another grand adventure down into the mortal realm to seek out and neutralize the source of the resurged darkness. But before she could do anything, she noticed The Child of The Sun had awakened from his slumber and followed her to where she stood. He looked at her with a confused expression, and couldn’t help but telepathically ask:
“Mommy, where are you going?”
Amaterasu looked back at him with a look of anguish and didn’t know how to state the truth to him without compromising his pristine well-being.
“My beautiful son, the time has come which I must depart our home and pay a visit to the mortals once more. Sadly, darkness has overtaken the land, and you know that it is our duty to keep them safe from it,” Amaterasu responded to him.
She witnessed his expression change from confusion and into fear. He too dreaded that a day like this would occur again in their lifetime.
“I want to go with you, I don’t want to be lonely here,” The Child of The Sun pleaded.
Amaterasu thought for a moment and ultimately came to the decision that would not be in his favor.
“I am afraid that I am going to have to ask you to stay, my love. The mortal world isn’t what it used to be, it has become more dangerous than ever before. And I deeply fear that you will be caught in something that is far beyond anything that you could handle. I know that you are strong, but the stakes have been raised, and I cannot afford to lose you.”
Tears built up in the eyes of Amaterasu’s son as he couldn’t imagine himself being without his mother for an unknown amount of time, but it was something that he had to accept in the end.
“Okay, please be careful mommy, I’ll miss you,” He replied to her as the first tear drops from his eyes hit the surface.
“I will miss you too, but I will be back soon. I want you to continue to be strong and brave even without me. Can you do that for me?” Amaterasu asked as she walked to him and rubbed her cheek against his own.
“I will be strong and brave. I love you,” The Child of The Sun responded in a more hopeful temperament.
“I love you too, and until next time.”
Amaterasu looked back down on Nippon, and then back to her son. His expression was a lot lighter now, as he had the faith that his mother would resolve everything and be back home soon. Now that her son was at peace, she focused on the next task at hand, getting back to Nippon. She took a few steps back and then charged at full speed towards the edge of The Plain. As soon as she reached the very edge, she leaped into space and then was pulled by the gravity of the planet and was now on her way as she hurtled through the atmosphere back down into the mortal world.
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Amaterasu landed on an unknown street in Kamiki. The sky was starless, only a black void and a purplish mist fogged up the air. Kamiki Village looked vastly different than what it used to be. It no longer resembled an actual village, but rather a large metropolis. She was now lost in the sea of an advanced, decaying concrete jungle.
The buildings were almost hollow and boarded up. The streets looked like they hadn’t been cleaned in years. Just barely visible over the horizon were a few very tall buildings that looked like they scraped the empty sky. To her, that indicated that it must be the heart of the ‘village.’ There were also large, metallic walls on some of the streets that completely blocked access to the other sides of various streets. They also came equipped with watch towers, as if they were trying to keep something in, or out.
Amaterasu cautiously started to scavenge the city for any clues that may at least point her into the right direction to sort out the catastrophe. She also needed to find the Guardian Sapling to remove the dark energy from the surrounding area and bring back the divine light of the sun. The most unnerving aspect for her is the lack of a companion like she used to have; she was a literal lone wolf in this case. When Amaterasu turned the corner onto the next street, she was relieved to see four men standing next to one of those metallic, wall-like checkpoints that cut through the streets.
The men appeared to be some sort of authority figures based on their uniforms and equipment. Three of them wore navy blue uniforms along with armor plating on the chest and shoulders, with the addition of a metallic mask that covered their mouths, a holographic blue visor which displayed various information, and a steel helmet. The other man wore a distinctive red trench coat along with the same armor, mask, and visor. He also had a firearm that resembled a pistol holstered on his chest, along with a very futuristic katana sheathed on his left side like the other men had as well.
Amaterasu assumed that the man in red was in charge, however, she didn’t know how to approach them nor was she certain that they were friendly. The men began to converse something which Amaterasu listened in to.
“So, how long are we going to be standing here for? We have been guarding this post for the past 8 hours already!” One of the lower guardsmen complained as he had sore legs.
“We will be standing here as long as we need to. There has been an uptick in lawbreakers and curfew dodgers in this district recently, so stop asking me these idiotic questions!” The red officer replied bluntly as he attempted to silence his underling.
“Ok I get it, but it’s not like they’re dangerous or anything since we can easily chop them up. Unlike those...things that are outside the city,” The lower guardsman replied with slight uneasiness.
“Well then, if you’re looking for some action then I encourage you to go out there and show them who the tough guy is!” The red officer barked again.
Amaterasu wondered what he meant by ‘those things outside the city.’ She thought that they were referring to possible demons.
The silence was abruptly interrupted when a small whistling arrow hit the pavement hard in front of the guards from above. The guards stumbled in surprise and then proceeded to run towards the impact area as they drew their blades. Amaterasu also got ready for a potential fight, but she had no idea where the source of the arrow came from. The guards then circled around the area while making threatening statements to demoralize and to draw out the enemy.
That went on until suddenly one of the guard's head detached from their body, followed by the second guard’s head that popped like a watermelon. The same event happened to the other two in the blink of an eye. Their headless corpses plopped down onto the pavement simultaneously, with blood that had only just started to seep out. After they fell, a black figure appeared in front of them from thin air.
The figure was humanoid, they wore all black clothing that consisted of a hoodie, sweatpants, shoes, and fingerless gloves. They had a grey bookbag slung over their left side and rested a short blood-stained blade on their right shoulder. The most noticeable detail of the figure were their sleek-black, avian-like tail feathers that protruded from behind. They were some sort of avian species, like the sparrows of The Sparrow Clan Amaterasu encountered before.
Without hesitation, Amaterasu leaped towards the avian and landed in front of them. She growled, snarled, and barred her fangs, she demanded the mysterious avian to reveal their identity. Her wish was granted when the avian turned their head towards her, which revealed their big black beak and large glowing blue eyes that stared into her soul.
“Don’t worry pooch, you can have them for dinner tonight.”