Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I know it's a little late, but with good reason!

Josh: What? Had plans?

Well, it was Thanksgiving! Name someone who didn't have plans!

Josh: That's true I guess... Even Amaterasu and I had turkey...

Enjoy the story! I hope you guys had a great Thanksgiving!

The sunshine streamed through the windows, rousing me from my sleep. "Ah, Josh!" The owner of the house said, approaching me. "How are you?" He asked sincerely. I looked around, yawned, and all of the memories from yesterday rushed back to me.

"Um… Fine, I guess." I said, rolling onto my legs and jumping down off the bed. Amaterasu was sitting with the house owner's wife, who had prepared her breakfast.

"Hey, Ammy." I said, sitting down next to her. "Anything else happen?"

"Not that I know of." She started, then whispered, "But trust me, we're talking about your flip-out yesterday. This isn't the first time." Figures. First thing I get for waking up is getting in trouble… After the house owner's had bid us off, and we thanked him, Amaterasu quickly pulled me aside.

"What was that about?" She hissed. "You go all- death on them, and then when you're back, it's like it wasn't even intended!"

"It's not." I said simply. "I don't know how to describe it. There are just… elements… that remind of someone I knew…"

"And who would that be?" She said, trying to push me into giving answers. "Your Mother? Father?" She was pushing me, and I think she knew it.

"Amaterasu, I… think it'd be better if we didn't talk about it." I said, dancing around the topic of my sister. "Just… trust me."

"No, if this was minor, maybe. But not with how you go crazy on them and mercilessly slaughter them! You could end up hurting someone you care about! Like me!"
"And I guess that's all that's left to care about." I said, not making eye contact anymore. She looked at me, confused. "Yami took everything. My mother, my father, my sister, and my life as I knew it."

"Sister?" She asked, her voice losing the majority of its edge. "I didn't know you had a sister..." Her eyes displayed regret.

"Yep. Her name was Askara. Only nine years old. I vowed when my parents left, I vowed I wouldn't let anything happen to her. And I couldn't keep that promise. It's because of that… thing! Yami, that nightmare!" I screamed, my voice reaching a full shout.

"Josh, calm down. It's going to be okay…" But by that point I couldn't be bothered.

"I tried to stop them, but does that matter? Does trying bring her back? I watched, and stood, and I heard her final scream of agony as they brought their blades down on her body! And what could I do? I could stand and watch!" By now, a crowd had gathered around us, but I didn't care. I felt as though I needed to get this off my chest.

"Josh, quiet down…" She said, any trace of defiance or anger in her voice exchanged for sympathy.

"She was nine! What kind of monster kills a nine year old? A screwed-up one! And who's trying to take the rest of it away? That same freaking monster! No matter where I turn, he's there, watching me, trying to kill me! And I'm sick of it!"

And then I felt it. The rage. Luckily, after having gone through it twice now, I was able to choke it down. "I promise to you, citizens," I started, looking at the crowd. "Okami Amaterasu and I are going to obliterate Yami once and for all!" As an afterthought, I whispered, "Or die trying."

This actually got a rouse from the crowd, their voices chanting, their fists pumping. I'm glad I was able to keep some people happy. They looked at their friends and made exclamations like, "We'll be safe now!" or "They're going to do it!" I managed to slip away in the confusion.

After getting to the foot of the path to the village, I sat down, trying to clear my head. I had been sitting there for 10 minutes before I heard Amaterasu trotting down the path. "H-Hey…" She said, obviously scared of another outburst.

"Hey… Look, I'm sorry about what happened up there, I'm still a little shaken up about my sister." I said, not even looking away from the path I had been focusing on.

"Well, I don't think you really have a reason to be sorry. I'm sorry that I tried to push you father than you needed to go… So, I decided I'd make it up to you." I looked over at her questioningly. "Here." She pushed a turkey out from behind her.

I looked up at her. "Th-Thanks…" I said, doing a double-take from her to the turkey. "How did you…?"

"It was about 2,000 yen. Not much for a turkey, in my opinion… So, come on! Let's eat!" I don't know how often we have these moments of peace, but they seem to be more prosperous lately. Not that I'm complaining.

"So, what are we going to do after this?" I asked, glancing down the path.

"That's the thing, now isn't it? So… Yami's back, correct?" She asked. "Well, last time, I had to face Orochi. And… well, I wouldn't be surprised if Yami had placed his 'guardians' back. We've got to go to Orochi's lair."

And that hit me like a ton of bricks. Orochi? The Orochi, the one that killed Shiranui, the master of all thirteen brush techniques? "But what about the one where Kazegami lives? The one, Crimson Helm guy?"

"That's been on my mind too. I didn't see anything too wrong there. Next time we pass, if there's evil back, we'll have to get him. If not, we get lucky."

"It seems as though luck is playing a big part in this adventure." I added, swallowing another bite of turkey. This was delicious! At least there was some good element here.

"There's not a whole lot that we can do about that…" She said. "So, after this, we have to head back to Shinshu Field. We're taking care of Orochi, finally. He won't know what hit him." She looked up at me hopefully.

That created a problem in my mind. I've modeled my life after the wolves. Shiranui and Amaterasu. Shiranui died fighting Orochi. So who's to say we wouldn't suffer the same. But then something interjected.

"Then you won't get to destroy Yami. You'll let everyone down. Especially your sister." I thought to myself. "Let's do it." I said, determined. "So, how are we going to take him on?" I asked, and we began to devise a battle plan.

And that meant that Yami would fall soon after.