Okami: A Thousand Suns

Hana Valley

Amidst the stasis of being unconscious, the high-pitched ringing of tinnitus plagued Roland's brain. It abruptly ended however, when his eyes flickered open wide. He couldn't see much further than a mere foot away though as his head was still spinning in circles like a merry-go-round, that distorted his vision and made his surroundings look more akin to an abstract piece of artwork. In front of him, he noticed a big white and red, blurry ball who came close to him, and then close enough that it completely obstructed his vision. The apparition before him started to take shape, Amaterasu placed her paws on his knees and proceeded to peck his face with her tongue, a cogent attempt to pull him back into reality.

"A-ammy? W-what happened? Where are we?" Questions and confusion were that Roland could muster. He attempted to lift himself off the seat that rocketed him and Amaterasu away from the falling starfighter that fell from the heavens and became a burning inferno. But his legs simply refused to cooperate with him at the time and ended up falling to the ground. Amaterasu offered her neck for Roland to wrap his arm around, which he gladly had. After she helped him get to his feet, he examined his surroundings. The clearest and most notable sight is the burning of the fallen spacecraft, a heap of burning metal and thick black smoke, along with a charred surface near it. This scene instantly reminded Roland of something he should touch on.

"Ammy, I have no idea how you managed to pull this off...but you saved my ass back there big time!" He chuckled with huge relief as he kneeled and embraced Amaterasu on her mane. Not once had Roland felt this close to falling into death's hands, it was a surreal moment for him, despite all the other previous dangers he had faced in the past. Amaterasu felt it all inside of him and rubbed her head against his neck as well to relieve him of stress.

"Okay okay, we have to figure out where the hell are we." Roland stood up and scanned the terrain around him, but he saw nothing but a purple mist obstructing his surroundings for no more than 10 feet. Amaterasu felt the familiar presence of evil and darkness in the area. It was crucial that the Guardian Sapling nearby was to be restored. Roland took out the phone from his pocket to obtain information on their location, thankfully, the map application still functioned, and he was able to acquire their position.

"So...it looks we're right between Hana Valley and Deshima, I think one of those guardian trees are in the valley, we should probably go their first and bring it back to life. Sounds like a plan?"

Amaterasu nodded after hearing his suggestion.

Roland spotted something pointing upwards at the back of the ejection seat he was on. He came closer to inspect it. The object in question was the Model 64 assault rifle, albeit the carbine version, stored on a concealed rack with 4 diagonal magazines included as part of a survival kit for downed pilots. Roland picked up the weapon, inserted a magazine, then racked the charging handle to chamber around. He stored the other magazines into his bag.

"This is a really nice piece; I think it will come in handy! Okay, I'll navigate us with my phone. Let's also...stay close to each other as always." Roland then pointed towards the direction they needed to head in, and so they began their journey to the valley.

After a short walk through the flatlands of Shinshu Field, littered with dead grass and other flora, they stumbled upon an empty highway that was piled up with abandoned vehicles. The overhead signs confirmed that the duo was heading in the right direction. However, they soon turned out to not be the only ones present on the freeway. Out in the distance, there were large, floating demon scrolls, wandering in circles.

"Ammy...what the fuck are those things?" Roland asked with a rattled tone and reached for his blade, preparing to fight whatever presented itself as a threat. But Amaterasu stepped in his way, signaling him not to attack. The demon scrolls are of no threat if one is far enough away from them, only when someone makes physical contact with them, they unleash a squad of imps and other demonic creatures to pounce on the victim.