Okami: A Little Red Riding Hood Retelling

by Nicolette Andrews

  He smiled at Akane, revealing yellowing teeth. “You are the one then, the trespasser?”

  This must be Akio, the monster who Shin said was his master. She had a feeling that her trespassing wasn’t the real problem, but Shin’s disobedience. If Tomoe weren’t here, she’d transform and rip his throat out. But the room was crawling with yokai. She’d never get out alive.

  “It was me who came onto your land. Punish me how you will, but the girl has nothing to do with this. Let her go.” Akane gestured toward Tomoe who’d squatted and folded over, clutching her knees to her chest.

  “Doesn’t she? Why would Shin go to such lengths for this girl then?” The boar leaned forward, his beady black eyes gleaming.

  Akane felt a cold ripple down her spine. “He did it for me. If you want to get back at Shin, I’m the one you want.”

  The boar threw his head back and laughed. “You can’t be that much of a fool, can you?”

  Akane only glared in response. She refused to fall for his taunting. He would try and trick her into revealing Tomoe’s power.

  “He may try and escape, but he belongs to me. And like a good dog, he delivered you both to me.” He nodded toward Tomoe who was trembling uncontrollably. Akane wished she could reach out and comfort her. Instead she squeezed her hand into a fist at her side.

  “Shin would never do that,” she said with assurance.

  The boar and everyone around the room started to laugh, until they were surrounded by the eerie echo of their voice.

  “You’ve fallen for his charms, haven’t you? There isn’t a woman here who hasn’t been to his bed.”

  The female attendants all nodded their heads in agreement. Akane’s chest clenched. It wasn’t true. He said he loved her. She was the one who pushed him away. It wasn’t that she didn’t love him, she did. But she wouldn’t put love over duty.

  “You’re lying,” she said.

  The boar’s smile was much too pleased. It made her skin crawl.

  “Take them to the cells until I decide what to do with them,” Akio said with a wave of his hoof.

  They grabbed her by the shoulders and she didn’t even fight them as they led her out. She kept her eyes open, studying the layout, trying to form an escape plan. She had to get out of here before Shin came back with the dragon. They went down a spiral staircase that led into the ground. The air stank of mildew and moisture. At the end of a long hallway was a single door where they were tossed inside. Tomoe curled up into a ball and rocked back and forth.

  “Are they going to turn me into one of those monsters?” she asked Akane. Her voice was thin and reedy.

  She wrapped her arm around Tomoe’s shoulder.

  “I’ll think of something, I’ll find a way to get us out of here, don’t worry.” But how could she? There seemed no easy way out.

  Tomoe cried until she fell into an exhausted sleep, her head pillowed on Akane’s lap. She tangled her hands in the girl’s hair, planning their escape. I will get you out of here, I promise. They couldn’t leave them in here forever. They’d have to come for them eventually, and when they did, she’d transform into a wolf and tear out their throats. Just another reason to be thankful for Shin. And what had she done to thank him for his kindness and love? She turned her back on him. If she hadn’t, would they be here right now? She couldn’t think about that. Better to focus on her escape.

  Hours passed, maybe a night. It was hard to tell in the complete darkness of the cell. The darkness started to fade, and a light approached. Akane gently set Tomoe on the ground next to her. She woke up anyway and looked at Akane with a sleepy gaze. Akane pressed her finger to her lips and crouched down low, preparing to transform. But the transition did not come easily. Perhaps she was just out of practice. The light was right outside their door. She decided to use her bare hands if it came down to it.

  The door opened and she sprung for her captors. As she did, an invisible force tossed her back away from them. She skidded along the ground before leaping up and attempting it again, only to collide once more with an invisible barrier.

  “Don’t waste your time, your powers are useless in here,” a boar yokai at the head of the group said.

  At the back of the group, a yokai’s hands glowed as he created a barrier around them.

  The yokai marched into the room with practiced indifference. Akane pushed Tomoe behind her as they backed away from them. Snarling and snapping like a feral beast, she tried to keep them back. But they were not easily intimidated. They grabbed her arms and feet, pinning her to the ground while she arched her back and growled.

  “Akane!” Tomoe cried and rushed toward her, but two more yokai grabbed her and held her back.

  Whatever magic had made the barrier was also keeping Akane from accessing her spiritual energy. They clamped shackles on Akane’s wrists and around her throat, much like the collar Shin wore but made of dark, black material. It was like nothing she’d felt before and it cut off the flow of energy inside her, leaving her weak and docile. She sagged in her bonds, defeated. The leader grabbed the chain that hooked onto the front of her collar and tugged, pulling her after him. Tomoe tried to follow once her captors let her go, but they slammed the door in her face, leaving her in darkness alone.

  “Akane!” She screeched again.

  Akane tried to twist around but they yanked her forward.

  “Don’t leave me,” Tomoe cried as Akane disappeared up the stairs.

  “I’ll get us out, don’t worry. I’ll be back,” Akane shouted.

  Then her captor yanked on the chain, nearly choking her. “Quiet.”

  Back up the stairs and through a series of twisting corridors, Akane tried to memorize her path, but when she looked over her shoulder the pathway changed and was something else entirely.

  “Don’t even waste time thinking about escape,” the guard said. “The palace changes all the time.”

  Akane growled at him, snapping her teeth and the man backed away while his companion laughed.

  “This one has spirit.”

  “Akio will break her of that soon enough,” said the first.

  They dragged her back into the audience room. The boar was where she’d last seen him, but he wasn’t alone. He had a visitor. Standing at the front of the room, her back upright, not bent as she had last seen her, was the head priestess.

  “Head Priestess!” Akane cried and tugged on her chain, as she attempted to get closer to her.

  The head priestess looked Akane up and down, before turning back to the boar.

  “Where is the girl? Don’t play your tricks on me, Akio.”

  “But isn’t this your little spy you sent to check up on me?”

  The head priestess sniffed. “Don’t change the subject, you have the girl, I want her back.”

  “What does a human girl matter to you?”

  The head priestess’ lips curled up.

  “Head Priestess, I’m sorry. I tried to protect her—” Akane attempted to interject.

  “Quiet, you fool.” The head priestess’ voice cracked across her like a smack to the face, she’d never spoken that way to her before. There was something different about her, it was like she was a stranger. The head priestess turned her back on Akane to look at Akio again. “What do you want for the girl?” the head priestess asked.

  “What about your little spy?” Akio nodded toward Akane.

  “She is no concern of mine, any longer. Do with her as you wish.”

  “Head Priestess?” Akane asked. Surely she was here to save them. She knew this woman. She still remembered the day she came to the shrine. She wouldn’t just leave her here. This had to be a trick, to deceive the guardian.

  The head priestess turned and marched toward Akane. She stood before her and narrowed her eyes. “You’ve been nothing but trouble. First you influenced Mei, and now Tomoe. I sent you here hoping the guardian would catch you, but you returned, like the dog you are with your tail between your legs. You are worthless to me; do you unde
rstand now?”

  Akane blinked, the words settling like a stone on her chest.

  The head priestess turned back around to Akio. Akane watched without really seeing. Their words washed over her like the waves on the shore.

  “What will it take to get the girl back?” the head priestess repeated.

  “First, tell me what you want her for.” Akio replied, his beady eyes narrowed.

  The head priestess sighed. “You know why I want her.”

  “I want to hear you say it.” He looked toward Akane with a salacious grin. Was this his way of torturing Akane? To twist the knife? He had known who Tomoe was from the start. Akane was never able to protect her.

  “She’s my next vessel. Satisfied? Now let’s make a deal.”

  “What vessel? Tomoe is meant to be the kamigakari, isn’t she?” Akane asked.

  They both ignored her as if she hadn’t spoken at all.

  “I’m surprised you’ve gone this long. Your current body is falling apart around you,” Akio said, leaning forward to inspect the head priestess.

  “There were circumstances that kept me from shedding this pathetic shell,” she replied curtly. “Now where is the girl?”

  “There are many who’d want a girl with her power for themselves.” Akio scratched his chin with his hoof.

  “But if you waste it on the darkness’ stupid games, you will lose a chance at an alliance with the humans.”

  “I’m listening,” Akio said, leaning forward, eagerly lapping at her words.

  “That girl is not merely a priestess, but a princess, and the intended to the future emperor. When I take her body, I will have the ear of the emperor. And a crucial ally in defeating the dragon for you at last.”

  Akio pressed his hooves together. “It is a tempting offer.”

  He looked at Akane. Her head was spinning. The head priestess’ words were not her own, surely. But then she saw the subtle shift in her aura. It was familiar. It was the kami’s aura, or the aura she had always assumed belonged to the kami. Why had she never seen it before? The head priestess, or whoever she was, had been impersonating the kami this entire time.

  “It’s a deal.” He snapped his fingers and, in an instant, Tomoe sat on the ground before them. She blinked into the light. First, she saw the head priestess, and then Akane shackled to the ground.

  “Head Priestess, you came for us,” she cried out and motioned to grab Akane, but as she did, the head priestess grabbed her by the wrist, holding her back.

  “You’re coming with me, girl.”

  “But what about Akane?”

  “She is no longer our concern.” She turned and pulled her out of the room. Tomoe tried to pull away but couldn’t quite free herself of the head priestess’ grip. She reached for Akane. A tear rolled down Akane’s cheek as Akio stood and walked toward her, in his hand a metal collar.

  “You’re mine now, dog.”

  24

  Every heartbeat, each step it took to get to Akio’s palace was as excruciating as it was long. After telling the dragon that Tomoe was the key to freeing himself of Akio’s spell, the dragon had not hesitated to help him save Akane and Tomoe. Though he desperately wished he had declined as he had before. Worse yet, Rin and Hikaru had insisted on joining along, as well as the fire-wielding priestess, Suzume. Would Akio have him kill them all? He wasn’t ready to give into Akio just yet. He hadn’t broken any of his commands, per se. Getting through the forest’s defenses had been easy. Akio had made it so, but Shin had to pretend he knew every trail and hidden passageway better than anyone else. Now they stood before the final obstacle. The palace was cut off from the forest with a miles-deep canyon. The only way across was a single rope bridge.

  “Never thought I’d be back here again,” Hikaru said.

  Shin looked at him, remembering that day hundreds of years ago when they’d come together to save Rin. It was also the day he’d given himself over to Akio for Rin’s sake.

  Shin placed his hand on Hikaru’s shoulder. They’d never gotten a chance to get to know one another. And Shin had spent centuries resenting the man for loving Rin. They suited one another, he could see that now. And if they failed and Shin was forced to kill the dragon, he’d likely never get the chance to know them better.

  “I’m glad it’s you here beside me,” Shin said with a forced smile. He’d wracked his brain to find a way around Akio’s command, but he’d planned for every incidental. As long as he had Akane, Shin had to go through with it.

  Hikaru gave him a faint smile in return. The dragon pushed between them and slung an arm around Shin’s shoulder. “Aren’t you forgetting someone?”

  It was just like his old friend to get jealous. And it only made what he had to do that much harder. He had to get to Akio first, to try and kill him before he could force his command upon him. But the dragon trusted him implicitly. The collar around his neck burned, as if Akio’s invisible hand was clenched around his throat.

  “Are you ready?” Shin asked the dragon.

  The dragon replied with a fierce smile. Ice crystals spread out from his feet, and there was a definite chill in the air. The dragon’s affinity was water, and when he lost his temper or unfurled his full power, it had a tendency to freeze everything around him. “I’ve been waiting for a chance to face Akio for centuries,” he said.

  The dragon and Akio’s grudge went back longer than either of them could remember. Sometimes Shin wondered if they even remembered what had started it. Rin had assumed her kitsune form, her flaming feet scorching the earth beneath her and turning the dragon’s ice into puddles.

  “Let’s go.” Shin growled as he shifted into his true wolf form.

  As a massive white wolf, he led the charge. He only needed the dragon to follow. He had a plan to get rid of the rest of them. They rushed the bridge, but as they got closer three flame yokai emerged from a sudden puff of smoke and blocked their path. The dragon transformed into his true serpentine form, flying into the air up above and sending a blast of ice to freeze the guards into giant blocks of ice. Shin, Rin, Hikaru, and Suzume at the rear stormed the bridge. As soon as they stepped foot on it, the bridge swung perilously. A strong wind had picked up, triggered by their invasion. It was one of many enchantments that guarded the palace against outsiders. Shin had prepared for this. They just had to get across quickly.

  Then from the back, Suzume shouted. “They’re breaking free.”

  The flame yokai had broken out of their icy prisons and were burning the ropes of the bridge. Suzume ran toward them in an attempt to stop them, but it was too late. One of the ropes snapped and the bridge tipped sideways. With seconds to spare, Shin transformed into his human form so he could grab onto the remaining rope. Suzume was not so lucky, she tumbled over the side down into the canyon below.

  “Suzume!” the dragon roared and dove down after her.

  They all held their breath, watching as Suzume faded into the darkness below. The dragon was a blur of blue streaking after her.

  “He won’t let her fall,” Hikaru said, confidently. “We have problems of our own.”

  The fire yokai had regrouped and were shooting fiery blasts in their direction. One of them had caught fire to the remaining rope. Their only choice was to shimmy along the remaining rope and hope the fire would go out. About halfway across the bridge, the second rope snapped, sending the bridge swinging toward the canyon wall. The dangling ends of the rope hung over the bottomless pit. Hikaru, at the top, started to climb but his progress was encumbered by the flame yokai’s attacks, which were carried across by the wind. They all would have plummeted to their death, but the dragon rose up from the depths of the canyon with the priestess Suzume riding on his back.

  “Get into the palace. I’ll follow,” the dragon growled as he shot ice at the flame yokai.

  They scampered up the side, using the bridge like a ladder, Hikaru giving Rin and Shin a hand up. Once they were at the top, Shin hesitated. He hadn’t accounted for the dragon’s att
achment to the priestess. But at least it kept the dragon behind, giving him more time to reach Akio alone.

  “This way,” Shin said before gesturing for them to follow. He knew these twisted hallways like the back of his hand but if they got lost within them, perhaps he could spare them. He took them down tangled corridors, up stairwells that brought them to underground chambers, and through doorways which opened onto gardens. They passed through a garden dominated by a huge jasmine bush whose trunk was as thick as a tree’s. It was there that the huntsman found them.

  “Don’t waste your time, Shin,” the huntsman said as if he didn’t particularly care one way or another.

  Rin lurched forward, teeth bared, while Hikaru rapid fired arrows at the huntsman and the yokai surrounding him. The huntsman drew his ax, swinging it in a wide arc around him. Rin skidded backward, inches from being sliced in half.

  “I’m afraid I cannot let any of you pass,” the huntsman said in a bored tone.

  Rin growled in response, like a wild beast. But that was just a distraction. While he was busy watching her, Hikaru had gotten into position and fired at the huntsman. He spun just in time, using his ax to deflect the shot. It ricocheted off it and impaled into a nearby pillar.

  “This is futile,” the huntsman said.

  Rin rushed him on his right, while Hikaru fired on the left. The huntsman leaped out of the way of Rin and Hikaru’s attacks with ease.

  “I have no desire to kill you, but I will,” the huntsman drawled.

  What he hadn’t been counting on, was Shin sneaking up behind him.

  “Well, I have no problem killing you.”

  He spun, swinging his ax at Shin with less grace than usual. Shin dodged, coming up and knocking him off his feet. The huntsman stumbled backward and that’s when Rin came back again. The huntsman was being driven backward, away from the doorway he’d been guarding.

  “Go, we’ve got it from here,” Hikaru said, as he gave Rin cover fire. She continued to draw the huntsman away and kept him distracted long enough for Shin to slip away.