Okami: A Thousand Suns

The Konohana

Roland took the lead by stepping afoot onto the surface, then he scanned the surroundings to make sure there were not any hostiles within their vicinity. Even though the street was clear, he opted to traverse on top of the rooftops for better safety and observation.

"Let's go upward for now." Roland whispered to Amaterasu and warped onto the top of one of the buildings.

He stayed purposely visible on the edge of the roof to let Amaterasu see his location. She proceeded to jump twice in the air, dug her claws on the building's surface, and propelled herself one last time which got her to Roland's level.

From where they were standing, they could see their destination. A large dead sapling on an isolated, bulging hillside, as well as a shrine belonging to it. The whole complex was separated by a moat full of water from the concrete streets that formed a junction.

"I think that's the Konohana right there, that priest should be present as well. Let's go take a closer look."

The duo navigated through the rooftops towards the closest point to the sapling where they still could not be detected. Once they reached the edge of the last building in front of the roundabout, they were shocked to see that the sapling was heavily defended by dozens of guards, a few battle-rifle wielding sentries, and two Sentinel mechs patrolling the perimeter of the sapling. The Sentinel-series security droids were Roland's biggest concern. The chicken-like, two story tall robot was a force not to be reckoned with. They were equipped with state-of-the-art artificial intelligence, active protection systems, and armament. These autonomous juggernauts came outfitted with a mix of plasma-propelled autocannons, laser projector, and missile launchers.

All this activity near the sapling raised concern and confusion in Roland.

"There is something very wrong with this picture... Pooch, I may need you to go scout up ahead and find out what's going on in there. I will try to find a safer way in. The guards shouldn't mind you at all since they shouldn't be able to see your true form...I think."

Amaterasu nodded in acknowledgement to Roland's plan. She went over to the other side of the building and jumped down towards the alleyway where the guards would not be able to initially spot her. She then exited the alley and strolled along the circular street towards the entrance of the shrine. She attempted not to make her appear suspicious to the guards by not observing her surroundings in detail. So far that has worked, as some of the guards merely glanced at her and proceeded to mind their own business afterwards.

Everything was going according to plan and Amaterasu was almost at the entrance of the shrine. That was not until around the corner of the entrance, a hulking Sentinel droid crossed paths with Amaterasu, and it took notice of her.

The machine emitted a set of intimidating, rough beeps and aggressively approached the wolf, then halted only a yard away from her. Amaterasu froze as well and stared down at the steel goliath. Her mind was rushing with thoughts, determining whether to attack first or let it make its next move. However, the machine just stood there with its glowing-red spider-like eyes scanning the wolf, along with its weapons fixated towards her. It dawned upon Amaterasu that it was "thinking" about her, but she wasn't sure of herself and still knew that it could attack any moment.

"Hey!" A sentry who was guarding the entrance to the shrine ran up and broke the gridlock between Amaterasu and the droid.

"That is just some nasty dog, you hunk of junk! Get back on patrol or we'll be sending you to the scrap yard!" The sentry yelled towards the machine.

The droid made another set of beeps, this time in a more friendly manner as it had seemingly snapped out of its alert state. It then resumed its patrol around the perimeter, even going around Amaterasu as if it intended to give off a polite gesture.