Zoids: The Rising Sun

The Story Begins

The Story Begins:

"So this is the legendary Blade of Tsukiyomi?" The shadowy figure of a man and his Zoid approached the shrine.

"Could this really be it? This rusted old blade slew the evil machine? Are the legends really true?" the Zoid and it's pilot now stood over the ancient blade, and what little remained of Tsukiyomi the Sword Wolf. An icy wind rustled the leaves of old trees. The night was dark, not even the moons wanted to look upon the unfolding scene. A thick layer of clouds blanketed the sky. "No, I don't believe it. It's just a fairy tale." And with that, the blade was pulled from it's hundred year resting place, Orochi's grave.

Suddenly, eight pairs of glowing red eyes appeared from the shadows. Startled, the two dropped the blade, frozen in fear, as purple winds of evil swirled before them.

"O he who has broken my seal" a chilling voice emanated from one of the snake like heads made of shadows. "Speak onto me the words which will unleash my true power."

But the pilot and his Zoid were already backing towards the entrance to the shrine. The Zoid tripped, crashing to the ground with a thud. The shadowy figure of a serpent's head moved in closer.

"Speak the words, 'I wish darkness onto the world'." It continued, face to face with the pilot and his Zoid. "Utter this prayer unto me, and unleash my true power!"

The pilot and the Zoid hesitated, unsure of what to do. The red eyes stared menacingly at them. Seven other serpent like heads swayed impatiently behind, as the sky glowed a filthy red behind. Black clouds of smoke and dust hovered in the air. The pair turned to run, not daring to look behind them as a mighty roar shook the ground. As they ran past the entrance, the shadowy monster followed, ripping the Moon Cave shrine to pieces. Fire burned from within, and another mighty roar was heard across the land, this time summoning a tornado of fire and debris, sending rocks and trees alike into the sky. Then, the sky faded to black, the light of the two moons blotted out.

It was the beginning of a horrible event that engulfed all in it's path. However, there was one village that seemed to escape the full force of the curse. Under the protection of a sacred tree, planted many years ago, Kamiki is where the real story begins. The same village that hundreds of years ago was plagued by Orochi. The same village where the great Shiranui's statue stood watch.

Rocks flew past overhead the village, taking out all that stood in the way. Evil winds carried them on their path of destruction. It was chaos. One in particular hurtled straight towards the statue of Shiranui. Suddenly, it exploded into tiny shards and a shower of green leaves, blocked by a faintly glowing figure.

"Oh my! It is just as was predicted by the ancient prophecy of doom." The floating figure of a woman spoke.

It was the Zoids spirit Sakuya, guardian of the village, with her Zoid Konohana

"What could have caused this?" She continued. " My powers have become weaker; many years spent protecting this village. We must act quickly, my time in this world grows ever shorter."

With one hand draped in a trailing sleeve, she traced the pattern of a circle in the air, summoning a stone disk.

"Amaterasu, it is time to awaken. We have never needed your power more. Shine your divine light upon this broken and polluted world. Let light from the heaven give us hope!"

The disk was sent flying. In a burst of glittering light, the stone flames glowed, and the statue came to life, disk secured on it's back. The carefully carved stone armor of the Command wolf turned to white, like the rays of the sun, red markings decorating it. The Command Wolf lifted it's head and yawned, shaking the dirt from it's body.

"Ah, such beauty and grace, such divine light. There is no doubt of who you are. Our mother and origin of all that is, Amaterasu!" Sakuya greeted. " I am pleased to see the one who saved us all, the one who heroically sacrificed themselves to seal away the evil Zoid, has not changed at all. Seeing you before me, after many years trapped in a stone body, brings joy to my heart."

The Command Wolf once more yawned, and then laid down. Sakuya was silent for a moment, slightly taken aback by how relaxed the Command Wolf seemed to be.

"Amaterasu... look above and see the chaos of which the world is in. Since your untimely death here on Zi, the world has become infested with vile and malicious Zoids. " She said. " They have destroyed and wrecked our once beautiful planet. However, have we been in such a dire situation as this. Please, use your divine light to banish the darkness of Zi and bring justice to those who seek to do harm.... Huh?"

Sakuya stopped. Bewildered, she could feel something moving around in the cockpit of her Zoid body. Then, she began to giggle, as whatever it was came out from it's hiding place, and began to move around. Annoyed, the Zoids spirit ejected the nuisance, who came tumbling down to her roots.

"What on Zi?" she asked herself. "Oh, you again, little bug?"

The thing groaned, slowly getting up and dusting itself off. Then, with anger in it's eyes, it glared directly at Sakuya.

"Ow, that really hurt! Are you crazy, ejecting me like that!? Sheesh, you sure do make a fuss over nothing. I was simply waiting for a good chance to make this more exciting." The thing spoke, taking Amaterasu by surprise. The Command wolf was now growling, but Sakuya was unfazed at the little thing's outburst.

"Were you relaxing in my cockpit again, little bug of a human?" Sakuya responded.

"I've told you a hundred times not to call me that! Human will do just fine if you insist on ignoring the fact that I have name." The human yelled. "The name's Issun, Issun the wandering artist, and don't you forget it."

Amaterasu continued to growl at the unusually small human, who had now turned to her.

"Doubt my abilities? Well I'll just have to prove to you what an amazing artist I am then. Soon, you'll be bowing down to me and my amazing skills." Issun said, pulling out a scroll and a brush. The scroll already had something painted on it, which was currently plastered against a section Amaterasu's canopy. It was a painting of Sakuya.

"Better than the original, right?" Issun grabbed the scroll, and proceed to plant himself on Amaterasu's nose.

"What's the matter furball? You look pretty upset?" He said. "Actually, speaking of looks, you remind me of someone... oh! That's right, the statue of Shiranui."

Amaterasu flicked him off, and grabbed him with her teeth, letting him go when he began to struggle.

"Hey! Do I look like food!?" The human shouted, stomping his feet on the ground. "Someone as handsome as I should not be handled in such a disrespectful manner."

"Don't anger me, or I might just have to use Denkomaru, my mighty sword that can cut through any Zoid's armor. I'll-!"

But before Issun could finish what he was saying, a fearsome roar tore through the area, shaking the very ground.

"Whoa! J-ju-just what was that!? And w-wh-what's with these clouds!?" Issun stammered.

Then, Sakuya began to glow.

"Oh great divine goddess Amaterasu, my powers run out, and I have done all I can to protect Kamiki village. Though chaos reigns here, the colony is safe, it's residents' spirits encased in the armored fruit from my Zoid body. Cut it free and the colony will be restored." And with that, Sakuya disappeared in a swirl of pink petals, Konohana unfolding to it's full size, stripped bare of it's solar cell leaves. "I put all my faith in you. I have confidence that you will lead us out of the darkness, and into the light. Only your holy power can restore life to this cursed world"

And with that, she was gone.