I write too many stories at the same time OTL

Just another thing I've wanted to write for a while now, an Okami fanfic where all characters are united against the enemy or something along those lines. Because I love stories like that. Kinda like Ginga but with less dogs and more ninjas xD

This will be all canon characters, other than this random evil dude who pretty much got made up on the spot.

And possibly some random made-up demons but I'm not sure xD

Also this is based a few months after Okamiden, so... beware of spoilers.

Oh and at least one character is going to die in this. Wheeeeeee.

Candles flickered in the low light of a cavern. Yet unlike many would expect, instead of filling the room with twitching light, these candles emitted darkness, causing the walls to become shrouded with black shadows. The cave was ice cold, the warmth being sapped away by the unusual candles. It would have been enough to give frostbite to any normal human.

A lone man walked calmly across the stone floor, his sandals making little noise against the slate. The grey shirt, loose-fitting red hakama and black draping cloak he was clad in would have seemed little protection from the cold, but he wasn't even shivering. Black dreadlocked hair framed his expressionless face, and there was a sheathed sword on either side of his belt, as well as a small bag.

He was almost invisible in the darkness of the cave. This place was in one of the most abandoned parts of Nippon, below the cliffs on the very outskirts of Kamui. A snowstorm raged outside, yet in the depths of darkness it was silent, other than the echoing of footsteps.

A line of rocks loomed up ahead. They were cloaked in darkness, but the man could see them. A large slab lay slightly apart from the rest, almost like a table. What he was looking for lay upon it, glinting ever so slightly in the shadows.

It looked like little more than a small shard of glass, but it had more relevance than that. The man wouldn't have come all the way out here for nothing more than a broken window.

He took the pouch from his side and poured the contents out over the rock. More glass and something that looked like glitter, or perhaps fish scales.

Now it was starting to look like some kind of crafts project from a five year old, but he wasn't finished yet. The man took a bottle from his coat pocket. Whatever it had been, it was frozen solid from the frigid temperature. As he held it in his hand it slowly melted and changed to a blue liquid. He gave the bottle an experimental shake and the liquid splashed around inside.

"Heh. This had darn well better work," he growled, his voice hoarse. He couldn't have come out here for nothing, and he hadn't spoken to anyone in ages. Why should he? There was no one worth talking to.

The lid of the bottle was stiff, but he opened it easily and poured the blue liquid over the rock as well. The second all of the strange ingredients met, the air of the cave became washed with an evil power. It would have been enough to choke an ordinary human.

Once again, the man was unaffected.

Even he couldn't see the rock through the blackness that swelled around it now. The ground and walls of the cave started to shake as if there was an earthquake. Then after half a minute it stopped, and the dark foggy cloud faded.

The rock was no longer covered with a giant mess. Instead there was something that resembled a fish bowl. Inside was a small black creature that looked like some kind of fish, or perhaps an embryo. That wasn't important to the man, however.

The creature opened its eyes slowly. It was curled up in a ball, but it lifted its head when it saw the man. Red eyes burned with hatred and confusion.

"Hello there, Yami."

The creature tipped its head to one side in confusion. Perhaps because this man knew what its name was. Perhaps just because it wondered why it was here.

"So you were the lord of darkness that was destroyed by a wolf just over a year ago."

Its eyes narrowed.

"Don't glare at me, stupid fish. I've been all over the land finding your scattered remains. The least you could do is show a little gratitude."

No reply. Did the 'dark lord' not even know how to speak?

"Down to business. I've brought you back because you are going to be my minion."

Yami almost looked surprised.

"Surely you didn't think I'd want to serve you? You're just a petty fish. Pathetic."

There was a buzzing sound as Yami curled back into a ball, charging his laser. Then the cave exploded into light as a ray of heat shot from the bowl and headed towards the man.

Seemingly unfazed, he held out one hand. A barrier appeared in front of him, deflecting the laser and causing it to spread out and burn against the sides of the cave instead. As the heat vanished, a few of the dark candles had been burnt and now flickered with light instead of darkness. Shadows danced around the room.

"I see you don't have much power without that metal armour. You'll have to work on that if you're going to make a worthy follower."

Yami just glared at him. It was hard to tell if the embryo even had a mouth to reply with in the first place.

"Still not convinced? Very well, have it your way."

The man walked forward and placed one hand on the glass. Yami prepared to fire his laser again.

Then all of a sudden the liquid in the sphere he was in gained temperature. It started to boil. The embryo flailed his fin-like arms in fear as it burned his small body.

After a moment the man took his hand away, and the water cooled down quickly due the coldness of the air.

"You see, it really would be best if you joined me," the man smirked, watching Yami's red eyes which had stretched so wide that the black rims could be seen. "Or else next time you might end up on a plate with some chips."

The resurrected demon lord stared at the man for a moment longer. His vision was slightly impaired now since some of the glass surrounding him had melted where the man had placed his hand, and his skin stung from where he had been burnt, which was practically all over. No one had ever done something like that before.

Reluctantly, the embryo nodded.

"That's a good fish," the man said coldly. "Once you stop being so pathetic, your first task is to swarm Nippon with evil again, just like you did before. Surely that won't be too hard. If you behave nicely I might even resurrect some of your old friends too."

Yami took all of this in, not responding with any changes of glare this time. It didn't look like he had much choice.

"And don't even think about getting defeated by that stupid wolf again, or else I'll kill you before she has the chance. And it'll be a thousand times more painful than anything some petty god can do."

If he could swallow, Yami would have. He didn't have his full power yet. Against this strange man he was pretty much helpless.

"Of course, if you don't want to, I could just bake you until your fish bowl melts and you turn to dust."

Hurriedly the embryo shook his head.

"Good. In that case, I'll be going now. But you'd better fulfil your task, unless you're even more useless than I thought."

The man turned to leave, his footsteps echoing around the quiet cave one more as he vanished in the darkness. Yami was left in silence for a moment, sore and confused. Hopefully his power would return to him quickly or he'd end up being cooked alive.

Then the silence was broken once more.

"And by the way, my name is Tero." The man's voice, though quiet, was amplified by the smooth rocks of the cave. "But you will know me as 'master'."