Oki blinked. Then he blinked again, and finally turned all the way around to face the woman head-on.

"Who're you?" He demanded; lips curled back in a silent snarl as a result of his wolf-like habits. The crimson-shaded woman just imitated him with a pearly sneer of her own. Eyes narrowed, the dark haired male leaned forward as though to prepare for a battle of some sort – however, before it could escalate, a familiar voice rang through the quiet air.

"Hold it right there, ya' ungrateful mutt!" At this, Oki froze, stood straight, and stared owlishly at her.

"...Issun?" He asked, his voice only slightly muffled by his mask. It was at this point that the green-glowing, inch-high Poncle came into view. "What the hell are you doing here?" He asked, frowning behind the blue-hued mask.

"What a greeting," He could hear him mutter, "And we're here on – business." Although it was faint, there was distinct hesitation in Issun's voice. Why would he keep information from Oki? "We need to see Kemu," He added hastily. All the time, Oki was watching the girl's eyes go from hostile to confused to hesitant and finally to determined. Who was she anyway?

"The girl," He stated, motioning to her with his thumb, "Who is she?" He asked staring the Poncle down.

"Ah... I guess you wouldn't have known, but this is here is furball – er, Amaterasu, in the flesh." Issun said, flicking her ear pointedly. Amaterasu's blue eyes flashed something dangerously close to annoyed before she settled down to stare at Oki. The masked boy frowned slightly and looked her over, taking in her crimson and white kimono the cut off a little shorter than normal. Probably ripped, seeing as she seemed to fight in both human and wolf form. Her face was marked with the crimson shading of her wolf forms, but it seemed to bare a stronger meaning when it was on her human visage. There was just something... different.

Other than that, her creamy hair looked a lot like wolf's fur – soft looking, but coarse. It floated just about her middle back, looking full but thin at the same time. She had ears on the top of her head, which would have been a side-effect from inexperienced wolf-to-human transformation. Or perhaps she just preferred two sets of ears? Chuckling silently, the Oina warrior nodded briefly, noting her weapon. It was the same green, flaming reflector she'd used before, but there was something different about it. Again, he didn't know what. Maybe it was shining brighter or something, but –

"Sorry to interrupt your train of through there, Oki, but we kinda need a place to stay. Could you find us one?" Issun asked, grinning almost sheepishly. Key word being almost. Oki merely grunted in response and turned around to lead them to the tribe. He could here Issun telling 'Ammy' to hurry her furry butt up and follow him. He chuckled quietly, shaking his head in slight motions. Issun could be such a door-knob sometimes.

When they entered the village, they were greeted warmly by Kemu, Samickle, and Kai.
...Maybe not so much Samickle – though he did seem to respect them more than he had before.

"They need a place to stay?" Kemu had asked. "Of course, of course! Go see Kai and see if she has space, and if not, come back here and I'll arrange something." The chief had said and then promptly ordered Oki to show them to Kai's hut. Not that they needed it, seeing as they'd been there before anyway.

But, he had to. Only because he was ordered to.

Kai, being the overly nice girl she was, invited the three of them in for something to drink. That was probably the reason Oki had declined Kai's offer to marry her. She was too nice. And although that seemed rash, Oki just wouldn't feel right. In fact, he often felt like he was using her and that was a horrible feeling.

So anyway, there they were, drinking hot tea around the fire when Oki remembers he hadn't even bothered to ask why they were even there. So of course, he asked – and for once, Issun looked mildly hesitant as he tossed Amaterasu an uncertain glance. One that she seemed to understand, but didn't reply for herself anyway.

"Well..." Issun began, putting down the miniature cup. "...We're not sure, exactly. Ammy here wanted to make sure everything was alright up here – ya know, just to be sure and all that kind of stuff." He said quietly, lacking the usual energy. Oki frowned behind the mask.

"If you don't mind my asking... why isn't Amaterasu in the land of the Gods?" Kai asked casually, obviously curious. Again, Issun hesitated.

"...That's... that's a long story. We'll tell you a bit later, 'kay? We're both really tired." He said, smiling to spite the tense air around Amaterasu. And, with no other option, Kai and Oki accepted the answer.

x x x x

Later on that night after he'd left and Kai and Issun had long since gone to sleep, Oki went outside and watched stars from his hut's roof. After the Ark of Yamato had risen and Amaterasu had supposedly left the land of mortals, he'd moved back into Wep'keer for the sake of his duties as a warrior. Not to mention the fact a rival tribe – Ones'ka – popped up out of nowhere and demanded Wep'keer share their land. They didn't give reason why, only said it was necessary. They claimed they would raze Wep'keer if they didn't make their boarders smaller.

Oki, of course, had been outraged. The boarders were already in as small as they could go if they were to survive. And plus, first come first serve, right?

He glanced behind him and grabbed the hilt out of minor shock.

There stood Okami Amaterasu, just standing there, bare-foot in the snow with her alabaster nightdress on. Oki would have thought she'd be freezing, but –

All thoughts stopped momentarily as the girl sat down beside him, wolf-like nails aimlessly scratching the surface of his hut's roof, drawing out a pattern of some kind. He stared at her for a while until she looked up at him, unblinking wolven eyes staring right through him. Had he not been used to that kind of look, Oki might have been mildly disturbed by the intensity. It'd been so long since he last saw Amaterasu he'd almost forgotten the fiery determination in her blue eyes.

Her gaze shifted again, this time to look at the stars. With her hands, she dotted the sky. Where her hands moved and dotted, another silvery star appeared. Oki stared, awed at the sight – for lack of a better sentence. The pale-haired girl's eyes glimmered with the satisfaction of illuminating the mortal sky.

"You like the stars," She whispered, smiling mischievously. Oki took a moment to let that sentence echo in his mind – but not for the words. Her voice was brilliant. It was like... light; but in sound form. It was so quiet, yet so distinct and crisp that he almost wanted to hear it again just for the sheer strength of her tone.

Clearing his thoughts, he nodded. Stars were always one of the most beautiful things in the world to Oki. They reminded him of life's early stages – the fun times, the hard times; the times you can't regret, nor forget. A small curve of his lips indicated a smile.

Amaterasu caught it and smiled a little wider.

And so, there they sat, for hours on end, just watching the stars in each other's company. It was something Oki had never really done, except maybe the one time with Samickle and Kai when they were really young. But that was long ago, and it hadn't been quiet. Now it was just companionable for the sake of being with someone. He got the feeling Amaterasu appreciated the silence just as much as he did.

So, there they sat.

x x x x

Possibly a chaptered fic, with a plot, possibly random one shots. I've yet to decide.
xD.

Anyway, how'd ya like it? If at all? What was good? Bad? Yanno, the usual. So... should it be chaptered? I have a slight plot in mind, nothing huge, but it would be OkiAmmy – just to let you guys know.
Hm. Not much else to say, really. Issun will be ever-present, and in case you're wondering, you will get a better idea of how Ammy looks in human form. And her voice. For Toradora fans out there, I always thought of Ammy's voice as being like Kano Sumire's. Yanno, the school counsel girl – the one Kitamura likes?

Yeah. I know a lot of people think Amaterasu's voice would be really soft and feminine, but I have to disagree. I see her (and hear her) as a girl who just oozes determination. LAWL.

Ehr. So basically, yeah it's gonna be chaptered, but don't expect frequent updates. xD.
But be sure to expect updates of some kind.

Anyhow, show some love for my first chaptered Okami fic!
Please? 8D?