Nagi wasn’t exactly the sharpest sword in the armory. If he was great anything in the eyes of the villagers, it was great idiot. The elder, Mr. Grapefruit’s favorite term was, ‘what has the young fool done now?’

And, though he had an ego, there was nothing to defend. He reckoned he could be an awe-inspiring figure that struck terror into monster’s hearts… if he could actually get his hands on a sword and learn how to deal with an imp that deserved it. He wasn’t a carpenter- thus his most recent ‘sword’ looked more like a flimsy tree branch with a somewhat-pointy end.

Maybe because of this, when he sat up in the middle of the night, awoken by the sound of a fearsome roar, followed by an earsplitting howl, he figured that it was going to be automatically his fault unless he came up with a tangible chunk of evidence to wave in Mr. Grapefruit’s face so that he could say “See it wasn’t my fault this time,”

It was this idea of not being the scapegoat for once that drove him to walk outside, toting his pathetic imitation of a sword, wondering why nobody else had been awoken, when something bawled straight into him. It was a glowing white wolf, Nagi saw as the apparition leapt away from him, snarling fiercely. It had blood on its muzzle- with a chill; Nagi realized that not all of it was the wolf’s. Its head was bleeding from a large gash below its ear, and its tail had been almost sliced in half. It stood awkwardly, as if it didn’t want to put any weight on its back leg. Most astonishing, though, was the wolf’s equipment- a string of brilliant blue-and-gold beads hung in midair around its neck, and a shield flaming in all the colors of the rainbow was draped across its back. But most surprising of all, was the golden, sparking blade on its back, underneath the shield, and the second, midnight blue, razor-edged sword, adorned with a carving of the moon on the hilt, clenched in the wolf’s bloody fangs. Only one eye was open- the other was closed to prevent blood from getting into it, from the head wound; but the other eye was blazing red, burning with a fiery rage. It staggered, the blue blade fell from its teeth and it turned and tried to flee, but it collapsed instead, giving one last, mournful cry. Nagi blinked at it a few times, confused.

To Nagi’s chagrin, Nami came up behind him. “Nagi… did you do this?” she demanded.

“No!” he yelped, being a little more uncomfortable than he usually was around Nami- the woman loved animals, and no deity could save a man if he harmed one in her presence.

“Poor thing… looks like a dog.”

Nagi was about to protest that it was undoubtedly a wolf, and to ask her about the swords, when he looked at it again. Strangely, the blood on its back had faded away- as well as the golden sword, the red shield, and the floating necklace. It staggered as it tried to stand, left back leg sliding out from under it uselessly. The fury was fading in its eyes, to be replaced with fear, shock, and confusion, before the wolf finally gave in to its wounds, fell to the ground, and into unconsciousness.

Okami Amateratsu opened her eyes some time later, blinking sleepily. Her head whirled with uncomfortable questions. Her weapons- where were they? Mortal men couldn’t touch them, much less imps. And the scarlet markings- her pride and joy- were gone. The wing-like extensions on her shoulders and paws had somehow disappeared- she looked at her completely ordinary form with disgust and fear. Her leg had some kind of cloth affixed to it, as well as her head. Bandages, she realized. Two humans were sitting before her … that was her Tsukuyomi! She instantly demanded the foolish human to drop it- that was a god’s blade, not a toy for humans! What were humans doing on the Celestial Plain anyway? The command exited her mouth as a feral, wordless growl. Her eyes shot wide with panic as she realized what had happened. Dashing to the window, praying it wasn’t so; she saw the night sky, filled with stars so far away. With a whuff, she dropped her head onto her paws. The impossible had happened. She had fallen from the Celestial plain. Waka… what about Waka? He would miss her- he’d think she died. What an idiotic thing- to fall off the Celestial Plain while in battle with a giant snake that invaded from who-knew-where. A grossly unbefitting end for the sun goddess praised by all the Celestials as undefeatable. Well, with her wounds and broken back leg, she had managed to land and survive, hadn’t she? The man examining Tsukuyomi- she remembered him… good grief, Waka would laugh if she ever saw him again- she had landed on a human! That’s why she hadn’t died on impact!

That is, if Waka ever forgave himself. For some reason he hadn’t even told her, he had exiled himself from the Moon Tribe and swore a fervent oath before her very eyes that he was of their kind no longer. After that, he acted so strangely- donning a feathery headdress that hid his blonde hair, using magic to turn his golden eyes blue- what had gotten into him? What could have disgusted him so much about the race that he was born from?

Nagi blinked stupidly as the wolf paced about, growling and yipping to itself as if lost in thought.

As if reading his mind, Nami stated, “It’s a girl.”

“What?”

“The wolf. It’s a girl.” Nami turned a magnificent shade of crimson. “Well, while I was fixing her leg, she rolled on her back, and…”

“Just jumped out the window.” Nagi prompted, pointing to the brilliant white figure dashing out through the village as if it hadn’t just broken a leg.

The goddess had a thought that stopped her from exiting the village. If she rested and recuperated, she could probably recover the use of her divine instruments, if not her speech, which was asking for the moon. This reminded her of something. Quickly, she lifted her tail and tried to use Power Slash. It should’ve been easy enough.

The goddess had to walk up to the rock and squint to see the hair-thin scratch that she had made on it.

“What did that wolf just do?” Nagi demanded. “It couldn’t be another familiar of Orochi, could it?”

The wolf wheeled at the name, narrowing its red eyes suspiciously before sprinting away.

“Such a pity its wounds were bandaged.” Mr. Grapefruit muttered. “If the wolf is truly a familiar of Orochi, than it must be here to choose the sacrifice.”

There was a collected gasp, and then a loud noise that sounded like a wolf trying to yawn. The white wolf, entirely uninjured, was sitting on a rock; tail swishing back and forth in canine bliss.

A boy from the village yelled and threw a stone.

The wolf’s tail flicked up, and the rock fell in two halves on either side of it. No other part of the wolf had moved.

Well, time to test the blade he had found. Nagi hoisted the blue blade and swung it. The blade was lighter than air- it felt like it was dancing in his fingers. The wolf leapt out of the way, and the blade sank into the rock like it was made of butter. Nagi dropped the sword in surprise.

“You had that before… where’d you get that thing, Nagi?” Nami asked.

“The wolf dropped it!” he explained. “It had another sword, and a shield on its back, and…” he explained the wolf’s strange equipment as best as he could.

“It is surely a familiar of Orochi.” Mr. Grapefruit nodded sagely. “No other beast would appear so close to the cursed choosing ceremony…”

All fell silent. The choosing ceremony was when a twisted arrow would fly from the sky and embed itself in the roof of the house of a maiden from the village- this maiden was to be taken to the moon cave and become Orochi’s meal two days later, on the night of the full moon.

Nagi wasn’t exactly a very strenuous swordsman- he didn’t practice unless he needed to be busy to avoid helping Mrs. Grapefruit hang up her washing. But now that he had this miraculous blade in his hands, the scarecrows in his yard would get a taste of the afterlife.

As he headed out, Nagi realized someone was staring at him. It was the wolf from before, once again bearing the golden blade, and wearing a canine smirk as it trotted up next to him. Of its own accord, the blade flew forward, slicing upward in a broad sweep. The wolf then turned and looked at him, and when he didn’t move, repeated the sweep, electricity crackling through the air.

Realizing what the wolf was trying to do, he snapped, “I need no training from a familiar of Orochi.”

The wolf growled at him, but the golden blade lay still on its back. It jumped suddenly, slapping his forehead with its tail, and running off.

“Dratted familiar.” He muttered, and went back to practicing.

So the days passed. The wolf, for lack of a better name, was called Shiranui, and she devotedly followed anyone who walked outside the village. Each day, she seemed to change- red markings flowered across her back and on her head, her tail growing longer and the end forming a point, like an ink brush, and great tufts of fur, like wings, formed on her shoulders and paws. The necklace and shield also reappeared, and the wolf strolled through the village as if she owned it. The villagers avoided her, but she did not pursue them.

As his swordsmanship improved, Nagi began to challenge Shiranui, getting in her way and attacking her with the miraculous blade. The wolf dodged his attacks easily, but even Mr. Grapefruit grudgingly remarked that Nagi was improving by leaps and bounds.

Even so, it almost drove him to insanity, Shiranui’s condescending attitude. One day, he grabbed his sword and walked out of the village in search of imps, so he could practice against something that wasn’t Shiranui.

As if gloating, the wolf followed him outside the village. Why did it bother? Was it trying to protect the villagers while it chose the sacrifice? Then why’d it follow everyone, and not just maidens? Had Orochi developed a taste for men as well?

He was so lost in thought that he didn’t see the black imp until he walked right into it. He paled as he realized what it was- black imps were one of the most feared of them all.

A sharp set of teeth dug into the fabric of his shirt as Shiranui dragged him back, just as the imp’s claws came down on the spot where he was just standing. She leapt in front of him, fangs bared. The flaming shield whirled in front of her, blocking the imp’s second attack. She swung the sword up before spiking it down into the imp’s skull.