Okami - Chapter 3: The storm

Okami finally woke up, her eyes dry from all the crying and took in her surroundings, her head slightly pounding. All she could see and feel was grey fur and a rush of wind pass her cheek.

“Kage?” she asked softly. The wolf slowed down and then stopped to allow her to get off his back.

“What happened last night and where are we?” she asked as she steadily got off his back and looked around. Kage just looked at her and continued walking in the direction that he was running in. If she doesn’t remember then I’m not going to remind her.
The sky cracked and both of them jumped. Okami looked up at the sky. It was dark and angry, rumbling with light, warning all below.

“Looks like there’s going to be a storm. We should try and find some shelter.”  

However they weren’t given much time to do so. Rain suddenly came down, hard and cold.

“Ah, that was quick,” Okami mumbled in annoyance.

The nice smooth road turned to thick mud as the hard rain continued to break it up. Okami’s body heat dropped rapidly due to the freezing rain. So Kage and Okami broke into a fast run still searching for a dry place to stay, but it was much more difficult to make out structures with a wall of water pouring down on them.

Okami misjudged the edge of the small path that they were running on. She only over stepped it slightly but due to the mud she lost her footing and slipped.

“Kage!!” she screamed as she fell down the small slope. He tried to grab her in his jaws but all he could do was bite her clothes which just ripped. The mud didn’t help at all as Okami couldn’t get a firm grip to stop herself. It just made Okami slip further away from Kage, who could only bark desperately at her.

“Kageeeeee!!” she screamed frantically again, tears whelming up in the corners of her eyes. She feared being separated from her companion.

At the bottom of the hill was a raging river made alive again by a flash flood. Once Okami had reached the bottom it swept her up and dragged her away. Kage tried to follow her at the top of the slope, barking. The path trailed off to the left away from the river and Kage had to skid to a halt. He watched helplessly as Okami faded out of his sight. He howled painfully when she completely vanished in the river’s rage.

Okami didn’t have much experience in swimming; in fact she hated large collections of water. All she could do was try her best to dodge rocks, which she was mostly unsuccessful at because of the river’s strong current. Okami splashed desperately to keep her head above the water as she was swept further down the river. She was in a complete panic. Kage was gone, she was alone, she couldn’t swim, where would she end up, would she survive, how would she find Kage again; all of this was racing through her mind. More lightning cracked through the sky. Okami was struggling to get enough air into her lungs. Every time she tried to breathe water seemed to replace it. The river raged and grew larger and larger due to the rain. Okami became very scared as she saw no hopes of getting to the shore that seemed to tease her, playing just out of her reach. Okami tried to dig her feet into the river floor, but her attempt was in vain. The river bed was made up of mud or tiny rocks which just gave way at her touch. And at some parts of the river it was too deep for her to even feel the bottom. Okami gave up that and tried desperately to paddle to the shore. Every time she started to close the gap the current pulled her further away. Okami started to get tired, her arms and legs were weak from resisting the current and her feet were all cut up from the river bed. She could feel the tiny cuts stinging in the water. Then suddenly and without any warning Okami was slammed into a large rock by the river. The impact threw the air out of her lungs and shook her frame, her head felt like it had just been split open and her vision started to blur as she slid down back into the raging water. Without her conscious strength to keep her above the water, the current pulled her underneath it and she was dragged further downstream like a lifeless body.



When Okami opened her eyes the next morning they stung and everything was blurred, but she blinked it away. She tried to lift her head only to receive resistance from her stiff muscles. She coughed up some water and her surroundings finally came into focus. Miraculously she was on the bank of the river. She was still lying face down, her head to the side, when she flexed her hand that was before her. It was cold and numb. It had obviously rained all night as she could hear the river still racing past the bank. She coughed again but when she did her throat ached and felt raw. It would be nearly impossible for Kage to track down her scent thanks to the rain. After a while Okami attempted to get up again and she managed to push herself onto her hands and knees, ignoring all the twitches of pain from her stiff muscles, especially one significantly large throb of pain coming from her back. She coughed again and moaned when her head pounded.

“Ah…What happened…?” She asked herself as she soothed the place where her head was paining.

“How did I get here…?” she asked again looking around. In the distance she spotted something grey rising from the ground: smoke. Okami got to her feet after a few tries and walked to the edge of the bank then squinted into the distance.

“A city!” she exclaimed but regretted shouting as her head throbbed again.

New hope filled her, if Kage was going to start to look for her anywhere it would be there. So Okami made her way to the city, it was a lot further away than she thought and she had to stop after very short lengths of walking. The ground upon which she was traveling on was very rocky and juts of hard stone were protruding from the surface of the very uneven earth. The cuts on her feet stung and complained every time she stepped. Every now and then she looked up to the city, just to make sure that she was still traveling in the right direction. As she got closer the city got bigger and bigger until she was right in front of it. Then the city didn’t look so nice and friendly as she had previously imagined. Now it looked very scary and dark, but Kage might be in there so she summed up her courage and walked through the gate. The streets were full of people all pushing and shoving to get past each other not bothering with friendly conversations or greeting one another. None of them noticed poor little Okami trying to make her way through the crowd. She was terrified and didn’t like this place at all especially now that she didn’t have Kage to protect her. Okami was eventually pushed aside, unwillingly, into an allyway, by the crowd, were she could watch the chaos of the busy streets. She decided that it was too unsafe to try going back out there, so she stayed on the sidelines until sunset. There was an old bed in the allyway that had been thrown out and wasn’t too dirty or broken so Okami decided to rest her weak, numb and paining body.  

When she closed her eyes they stun working up some moisture in them. Okami was tired so it wasn’t difficult to fall asleep. While resting Okami had a dream, she was by the river again only the sun was setting, sending brilliant yellows, reds and oranges across the sky. She checked around the river where she had landed on the bank and then she looked up into the growing darkness to see the city, the lights made it look pretty. She started running towards the city much faster than she was cable of. Okami then heard a howl that was very loud like it was right next to her. She woke up and in the distance Okami heard the howl again.

“What a weird dream,” she mumbled to herself, rubbing some sleep out of her eyes.

Okami checked the streets hoping that they would be less busy, but no such luck. They were just as chaotic, if not more. Okami slumped against the wall sighing. Great, now what? Okami sniffed. She had had such a hectic couple of days and now she was alone, hungry, exhausted and Kage was gone. She felt like she just wanted to burst into tears. She curled up into a ball and buried her head in her knees, sobbing softly. Just then a smell drifted past her and it's delicious scent tugged at her stomach. It growled ferociously. She had to find food. Okami looked up into the wild street, trying to decide if it would be worth going out there to search for food. Her stomach decided for her and dragged her out of the alley when it caught another whiff of whatever it was that smelt so good. She peered cautiously into the road. How could so many people all be moving in such a small place. Directly across from her was where the gorgeous smell was coming from. Okami licked her lips and made her way towards it. She crossed the road without even looking, focusing on the source of the smell. Suddenly blinding lights shone on Okami and a painfully loud hooting rang through the busy evening air. Okami stopped dead in her tracks. As it swiftly approached Okami saw something large behind the lights and dashed aside just in time, face planting the floor. She knocked over a few people in the process, who all loudly complained. Behind her she heard screeching and a loud boom. As she got up off the floor, someone grabbed her from behind violently.

“Hey! You made me crash, watch where you going filth!”

Okami looked up just in time to see a hand connect with her cheek. Pain bleared up the side of her face and she raised her arms instinctively.

“You better be able to pay me back, trash! Even if it takes your whole pathetic life,” the driver raged at Okami and pointed to his wrecked car, which had fused with a lamp post.

“But I don’t have any money,” Okami sniffed, rubbing her cheek. Small tears started to form in her eyes. Had no one seen how he had nearly knocked her over with that huge metal vehicle? She looked at the smoke rising from the car, two other brutes climbed out of the wreckage small cuts on their hands and face. They didn’t look impressed and glared as Okami.

“Oh, no! Crying won’t save you here!” The man yelled, digging his nails into Okami’s shoulder. “Where are you parents? I’ll make them bleed money!”

The man looked at the other people around him. Some were still getting up from when Okami had pushed them over. They all avoided eye contact and went about their evening, some mumbling in slight protest, but none reached out to help Okami.

“Does this brat belong to no one?” The man blared. The crowed shrunk back at his anger.

“Hm, an orphan, hey?” The man’s eyes turned dark. “Well, maybe I can still get some money off you. Perhaps, the black market would buy a little girl.”

Fear stabbed at Okami’s heart and she was rooted in place. She knew exactly what the man meant. She looked around franticly at the passer-bys, pleading with her eyes. Was no one going to stop him? Horror engulfed Okami and panic took over. As the man pulled her toward the car Okami bit his wrist hard and kicked him in shin. He exclaimed in pain and released his iron grip on Okami. As soon as she was free she bolted, in any direction, she just had to get away.

“Ah, brat!” he roared, sucking his bleeding wrist. “After her, you idiots!”

Okami’s little heart fluttered uncontrollably as she ran as fast as her aching and sore body would let her. She could hear shouts and yells of anger from behind her, but she didn’t dare look back. If she tripped or fell, that would be it. The brutes would be upon her and there was no way she could fight them off. She breathed wildly, trying her best to dodge people and more cars. She could hear the men catching up to her. She started crying, unwillingly and that slowed her down a bit.
She looked up at the night sky, desperately, pleading for her journey to not end here. Ahead of her, the walkway she was sprinting on joined with a large four lane road. Okami skidded to a halt centimeters away from crashing into another car. It slammed on breaks just in time. Okami could see the two men’s reflection in the car’s window. She jumped up onto the roof of the car just in time to avoid being grabbed. One of the men couldn’t stop fast enough and collided with the stationary vehicle, denting the door.

Okami looked back and the third man had joined the chase, carrying a gun in his uninjured hand. He raised it to Okami and opened fire, letting off four shots. Okami ducked and jumped off the roof further into the road. As soon as her feet landed she raced to get to the other side. Swerving cars hooted and zoomed past her. She could see buildings on the other side, if she could just get there. The man screamed at his two thugs and they begrudgingly followed Okami, while he fired more rounds at her. His anger must’ve been affecting him too much, because none of his bullets hit her. She was half way there, two more lanes to go. Okami climbed over the middle island barrier, jumping off to try gain some more distance, but she was grabbed by her clothes.

Okami frantically kicked at anything she could. Her foot smashed into the brute’s nose and he let out a sharp yelp of pain, releasing her. She didn’t hesitate and ran for the other side. The other brute didn’t even stop to check on his partner, he ruthlessly perused Okami. She was nearly there. As the edge of the highway came closer Okami saw that she had miss judged the distance between its edge and the first building. She would have to run and jump. Okami sped up giving it everything she had left. She stepped up onto the concrete barrier and pushed with all her might. The last brute stretched out and tried to pull Okami back, but his fingers just didn’t reach. The owner of the car reached the barrier just in time to let off a few more shots. Bullets whizzed past Okami and one managed to graze her side. Okami bit her lip, trying to ignore the pain. Flying through the air Okami braced herself for impact. She smashed through a 5th story window and rolled to a halt on the floor. She now had multiple cuts all over her body, but she didn’t stop. She left the apartment block and ran to the city’s gates. She kept running, once out, until she fell and grazed her knee.

“Oww!!” she shouted and clenched her knee. The graze wasn’t bad but nevertheless she still started crying. The shock sunk in and she curled into a small ball and cried. Suddenly, she felt a warm feeling consumer her chest. It felt like it was wrapping itself around her and she accepted it’s comforting embrace, for some reason, despite what had just happened she felt safe now. She huddled closer to the feeling until she fell asleep from exhaustion.



The sun woke Okami up, its soft rays kissing her shin. Her cheeks were dry and raw from her tears. She rubbed her eyes and got up; her body ached because she had slept on the ground. There was a small stream nearby and it trickled as the water passed over the pebbles. She looked down at her clothes, which now had blood on the right side. She checked above her hip, it was caked in dry blood, but it looked like the wound had sealed itself. Horrible flashes of last night’s encounter sped through her mind. Okami shook her head to get rid of them and walked slowly to the stream, trying as much as possible to wash the blood out of her dress. A sound came from behind her in some bushes and she spun around, her heart beating, ready for fight or flight.

When Kage walked through Okami started crying again. She ran up to him and threw her arms around his neck all the tension was suddenly released and she felt whole again.

“Kage! Kage! I missed you so much! You found me, good boy!” Okami whimpered into his furry mane while hugging Kage fiercely. Kage barked excitedly, wagging his tail.

“Now we can continue our journey together…to wherever we end up,” Okami smiled cutely and Kage licked her tears away. He then looked down at her dress and sniffed it then looked back at her.

“Ah, don’t worry about that. I’m fine, especially now that I have you again,” Okami smiled again and patted Kage on the head. Besides she didn’t really want to tell Kage what happened. The sooner she forgot about that the better. The two then found the road leading away from the city and into the distance. And so they started walking again both very happy that they had found each other.