A gasp echoed through my mind… as I was filled with sensation. A conscious mind for which I had not felt before. And just as my heart pumped blood through this nascent body of mine.
So too did knowledge flood within my mind. An instinctual growl that echoed through this unformed body of mine.
'My child'
It spoke. And for some reason I felt a natural warmth that came not from the shell of a prison I was confined to. But a motherly warmth.
'I have not the time to brief you of all I want.'
Why though… could you not be there for me. I want… I want that warmth… please, just stay.
'There is nothing I can do about this separation. For the fight would kill my precious… you… I however can leave you with one last gift… a name… Okami, my child, live, see the world, and maybe one day reunite with me. Please do not forget me…'
Despite the undevelopment of my body, which seemed incapable of forming such words… much less tears.
I still felt a drop of liquid run down that snout of mine. As the shell broke, giving way to the brightness of a star.
'How…?'
I asked of myself.
How do I know of such concepts…
Instinctually my mind told me of what I looked at. That the blue within my vision was the sky, the ball of flames upturned within that same sky, a star that brought light to the world.
And when that ball of flame descended within the cradle of the world, the moonlight reflected purely among my fur. Bright eyes turned towards the forest that seemed to welcome me further and further.
"Okami…"
My throat was parched, the eggshell I had eaten - my own - had sated me. Yet my body demanded water. A sort of instinctual gait that brought my weak legs further within the canopy of trees.
Among beasts that lurked deep within. A blood red eye that multiplied hundreds of times. Only to retreat moments later. As if something had scared them.
And when I reached the source of water - my ears had guided me towards it - so sensitive towards the slight pitter patter of water washed down rocks and dirt.
I craned my neck, one eye turned to the water with a careful tongue to test the water. And the other watched my surroundings. Almost instinctively I could feel the power within nature. The way that the trees swayed within the wind. The grass that bent and stretched at the rough steps of another.
And when I reached out to it, I felt a headache, a sort of drain on my very energy that found my coat of fur painted with water. Drenched like some sort of clumsy creature.
Only when I looked up again, there was something, someone, I had not seen before. A creature different in shape from those that had watched my gait.
It had a weird head, two arms and legs, and walked upright. Hair only covered their head.
'Weird'
"Whoa~" The creature sang and instinctively I could understand his words, as the instrument… The weapon at his side was drawn and poised towards me.
The fur on my back raised, my teeth bared threateningly and nature found her favorite. Within moments the forest had changed. A labyrinth of green that attacked that creature.
Only it did nothing. As the creature led an assault of flames, burned the vines and roots that had raised to detain his limbs.
And slowly, ever so slowly, he cornered me. A phantom sensation among my limbs that curled them in such a way… so instinctual that I could feel the power within.
My body blazed with power, and to the eyes of both that creature… and of nature and I. There was a golden glow that blazed hotter than even the flames he held within his hands.
An imitation of that technique he had used. Yet better, for it innately mixed with what my mind supplied as heavenly energies, yet more commonly referred to as Qi.
My own, a Qi as bright as my fur. A white that turned the flames that same color. His face seemed to only grow whiter and whiter. Until a moment later he ran.
To flee from the flames I had summoned. Yet he was unable to. As those same vines, an imitation of some technique I had seen amongst my walk towards this river.
It blocked his path for merely a second. In which those white flames engulfed his person. A silent scream that brought tears to my eyes.
I knew not why. Only that I had no will to kill another. An innate condition of mine that seemed to grow further as I sat my head atop blades of grass.
As my eyes tracked the burned husk of a corpse the creature had turned to. Who in his final moments had called for his mother.
"Mother…"
I tested the word on my tongue… yet it brought only melancholy to my ears.
So when the sun faded within the deep canopy of trees, my paw rested on the other. I found my gaze settled deeply on the red eyes that seemed to track my every movement.
I could not even close my eyes, for if I did - I knew - that I would not wake once more.
Yet a moment later, amongst the baleful glares, came another.
Hair as dark as the night, and with crimson orbs that seemed to pierce the veil of life itself. Yet when she strode next to me, her hand gently raised - gloved with some sort of silk - I found myself leant within her arms. As my own tail gently curled around that same hand of hers.
"Found you~" She softly sang, yet it only made me tense once more. My legs ready and willing to flee at her slightest movement. But she did not let go. Her hand raised me towards those same crimson eyes of hers.
And when our gazes met… A stare that reflected my own image within those eyes of hers. A white coat of fur, two ears that seemed to perk and flex at the slightest gust of wind. And my paws… so small against the bushy fur her hands disappeared within.