Stars of Freedom

Chapter 3: Smoke and Ash

Okami: What are we gonna do if the city gets completely wrecked?

Inu: Guess we'll have to move somewhere else...

Kawa: If the Enenra gets too big we might need to move somewhere far away.

Okami: Oh...where would we go then?

Kawa: I don't know just...far away

The 4 of them started questioning what could've triggered the Enenra to get as big as it is. They wondered if the gods had something to do with it. Kawa started looking around to see if she saw any signs of life. She noticed nothing and made a choice.

Kawa: Hey, we might have to camp out here.

Inu: Is there no other choice?

Kawa: It's getting late, there's no other choice. We'll stay here for the night

Okami: What if we get attacked by something?

Inu: That's why I have these.

Light filled his hands and out of thin air, Inu had gauntlets.

Okami: Right. I forget you have those.

Inu: There's no point in using them. Ever since then, they've been here only for emergencies.

Okami: Right, the day you saw a Monstra for the first time. Whatever happened to that girl that helped you out?

Inu: I never heard from her again.

He looked up to the sky and thought about that day.

Kitsune: We can wait here to see what'll happen.

Kawa: Oka, please go grab some sticks. We need to prepare just in case we're here a long time.

Okami: Sure thing.

Kitsune: I'll go with you.

Okami and Kitsune started walking towards a forest that was near them. Inu and Kawa looked around the place to make sure it was safe to settle down. Kitsune walked a bit in front of Okami and turned around to look at him while walking backward.

Kitsune: Are you okay? You seem odd.

Okami: Oh, I'm fine...I'm just kinda tired from everything that's happening.

Kitsune: You sure? You know you can talk to me anytime...

Okami: Tree.

Kitsune: What?

Okami: Tree.

Kitsune walked back into a tree and hit her head, she flinched backward.

Okami: Told you, tree.

Okami: And yeah, I know I can talk to you. I'm just tired today, don't worry.

Okami stopped walking and looked around the area for any good branches, he noticed a few.

Okami: Let's get this over with.

Okami started stretching his arms like rubber to reach all the branches, his arms went over, under, and around trees getting every good piece of wood he could see.

Kitsune: I wish I had that. It has to feel good to stretch like that.

Okami looked back at her with a smug face.

Okami: Oh, I'm sure you'd want the stretchy power.

Kitsune punched his shoulder.

Kitsune: Dumbass.

Okami: Haha, you know I'm right.

She punched him again.

Okami: Alright, alright.

He stopped stretching his arms and got all the wood he could. He handed some over to Kitsune, so she could help him carry it back. They headed back and the 4 of them met up, they all set up camp.

Inu: There we go.

Okami: Man, thank the heavens for your fire power. I don't think any of us could've started one.

Inu: I'm only using it because we have to...you know I don't like fire.

Okami: Right.

The 4 of them talked for a while until one by one they all drifted to sleep. Okami woke up around six in the morning to a strange feeling. He looked up at the sky and saw no clouds.

Okami: That's weird...

He looked around to see if everyone was still asleep, they all were. He stood up and heard his stomach grumble.

Okami: What the hell are we gonna do about food?

He waited for a few minutes for everyone to wake up.

Okami: Good morning you three, how are you feeling?

Inu: Hungry.

Kitsune: Tired.

Kawa: Hmm...let's keep going forward. I think the next city is just an hour or two away...

Okami: Alright, I can't wait to eat something.

Kitsune: Why is the sky cloudless?

Suddenly, they all felt the ground shake, they all looked back to the city and saw the Enenra was a lot bigger than before. Okami, Kitsune, and Inu huddled up. Kawa was the farthest from them, she tried getting closer to them but out of nowhere, a shockwave of energy hit all of them.

The four of them got sent up 30 meters in the air. Okami stretched his arms around Kitsune and Inu in the air, he tried grabbing onto Kawa, but she was a lot farther from them than before.

The three of them started falling faster than her, she looked at them with worry in her eyes as a green and yellow light filled the surrounding sky. Okami, Kitsune, and Inu looked at Kawa scared.

Just before the 3 of them hit the ground, they were transported somewhere new. Snow filled the area around them and trees covered the sky. The massive amounts of snow broke their fall.

They all got up quickly, dazed and confused. They immediately wondered about Kawa's fate but heard 2 voices in the distance and decided to go and see whose voices they were.

This place didn't seem anything like home, it was cold and unforgiving, the 3 of them walked close to each other trying to keep the warmth. With every step they took, they were a bit closer to the voices they had all heard.

The fog was thick enough to not see far. After a few more minutes of walking, the 3 of them had left all the trees behind. They were now near some snowy hill, they looked around and saw two figures in the distance. They all ran towards them to see what was going on.