Tianxia:Watatsuki no Toyohime

Background
Deep under the sea, legend has it that there is a great palace, unique compared to any that might be on the surface of land. It is here that many kami of the sea made their home, in the so-called Dragon Palace, nearly untouched by even the kami of the land. Here lived several powerful kami who controlled and dictated the actions of the seas: Ryujin and the four dragon kings, as well as Ryujin’s own daughters, Watatsumi no Toyohime and Watatsumi no Yorihime. Though the kami of the land knew that such a palace existed, they knew not that such a place was not truly a part of the world as they knew it, but existed within its own manner of realm that could only be reached by going deep in a sea of any kind while the bridge to the palace was open. If it were not open, the palace would seem not to be there at all.

However, one day, a land kami by the name of Hohodemi-no-Mikoto, who had been walking along rather despondently along the beach after having been scorned by his older brother for losing an enchanted fish hook, was taken pity upon by Shiotsuchi-no-Kami, the god of the tides. He took Hohodemi to the Dragon Palace, as he knew the way as a sea kami, allowing him to witness its grandeur in the hopes that it would cheer him up. Once there, he was met by Watatsumi, as Ryujin was known back then. Hohodemi seemed to make a good impression on the dragon god and they talked at great length about various things.

After a time, Ryujin introduced the young kami to his eldest daughter, Toyohime. Hohodemi immediately fell in love with the dragon princess, and it was arranged shortly after that they were to be married. Hohodemi stayed in the palace with his wife, helping her with her daily duties as a kami of the sea to the best of his ability, and things went fairly smoothly. After about three years, Toyohime became evident with child, and Hohodemi longed to return to land. He convinced his wife to come along with him, and she agreed on the condition that he not watch her when she gave birth to their child. The agreement seemed mutual between them and Toyohime bid her father and her sister farewell before going up to the surface.

It was there that Hohodemi built a house for the two of them where they could live until the child was born. And, indeed, it was not long before this was soon upon them. Toyohime reminded her husband that he was not to look as she gave birth, to which he simply nodded. However, over the course of several hours, his curiosity got the better of him and he took a peek inside. What he saw confused him greatly, however. A massive black dragon sat there, cradling a small baby in its claws. This was, in fact, Toyohime herself, who had changed into a dragon for the duration of the childbirth, as being in her natural state made things easier for her. However, she caught Hohodemi looking and was immediately ashamed of having been seen in such a state. With tears in her eyes, she handed her husband the child before running off back to the Dragon Palace, where she told Yorihime all about it.

Toyohime couldn’t bear to face her husband again after that and sent Yorihime up to the surface to watch over the child until he was able to take care of himself. After a time, Toyohime recovered from this loss, though she still seemed somewhat distant compared to how she had been before. And, around this time, a young boy made his way into the palace with the help of a sea turtle that he had rescued from a gang of kids that had been torturing it. curiously, Toyohime met this boy at the gates, and, after hearing the story from the turtle, arranged a banquet in his honor. Though he only stayed a short time, Toyohime did feel grateful to him for rescuing one of the ocean’s most beloved creatures, and as such gave him a small box. She told him not to open it unless he was unable to return at any point to the palace.

But, upon returning to the surface, his curiosity got the better of him, and he opened the box. With a bright flash of light, the boy suddenly aged into an old man, barely able to walk. He realized that at least one hundred years had passed while he was in the Dragon Palace, and no one that he knew still lived.

This was the last time she would come into contact with any humans for a good, long while, as a great taint began to spread across the world. Human vice and corruption began to plague the world, and one of her distant relatives, Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto, proposed that they leave the Earth entirely to a sanctuary on the Moon. A great many of them agreed, including Toyohime and Yorihime, who left the Earth behind. Their heritage was not unknown, and they were considered to be royalty in their own right upon the Moon, where they were tutored in things that they would need to know for any sort of role in Luna’s workings. After time, the sisters were married off once more to noblemen of the Moon, who just so happened to be the grandnephews of Eirin Yagokoro.

They became close with their teacher, Eirin Yagokoro, who they ended up spending the most time with during their time in Luna. In a series of most unfortunate events, their mentor was labeled as a traitor to the Lunar capital for assisting Tsukuyomi’s daughter in the creation of a means of absolute immortality. In their mentor’s absence, Toyohime and her sister took up the responsibilities of Eirin, splitting up the roles equally between them. Toyohime was to manage the Lunar emissaries, while her sister Yorihime was to manage the Lunar Defense Corps. Although, since Toyohime’s own job was not very time intensive, she often came to help her sister with her responsibilities.

However, there came a time that beings from the Earth managed to make it into Luna, where Yorihime confronted them. In the meantime, Toyohime learned who was partially responsible for the other’s arrival in the capital and she immediately opened the bridge between the Moon and the Earth. Once there, she managed to force the great Yakumo Yukari to surrender after giving an ultimatum of ‘surrender, or those in Gensoukyou will be cleansed of their impurity on an atomic level.’ Although Toyohime seemed to have been victorious in that confrontation, Yukari’s actual goal succeeded in that she distracted both princesses long enough for Yuyuko and Youmu to sneak in and steal something from the Lunar capital itself.

Personality
Despite having a very important role in Lunar society, the stress one might expect to accompany such a role seems to be completely unknown to her, as she is almost always in an amiable mood. Even still, she doesn’t find Lunar life boring at all, as some might, spending a large deal of time playing with the many Lunar Rabbits that are servants to the Lunarians. To Toyohime, these rabbits are almost like her own children in the fact that she watches over them and protects them where she can, but she surprisingly has little attachment to them. Perhaps because the life of a Lunar Rabbit makes it so that they will not always be around, and thus it’s best not to develop any serious attachment to them beyond something like a pet.

Even in rough situations like combat, she often has a sort of playful side to her that almost disorients those that fight her; even if they do have an advantage, her attitude makes it seem as though they do not, thus actually giving herself an edge against opponents that would normally be confident in their abilities.

In contrast to this kind and well-meaning nature, she is surprisingly cold to any and all that hail from the Earth itself. Youkai and humans alike she deems as unsavable and corrupted with sin. These such people are lower than garbage to her, and, despite her pleasant sounding voice, she would rather rid herself of them than spend too long in their company. However, she would not kill these individuals. Simply living on the Earth is punishment enough.

Power/Combat
Unlike most princesses, Toyohime has actually been trained in the ways of combat, as she is one of the protectors of the Moon itself. Like her sister, she is a fast learner and quickly took up most of her studies in magic application and theory like it was second nature. Not surprisingly, as a descendant of Ryujin, she is indeed rather powerful, possessing part of the great dragon god’s power. For the most part, she displays major water manipulation on the level of influencing the tides on Earth. In addition, she is able to create portals or bridges between areas, such as the bridge between normal realms and the Dragon Palace, or even ones such as a bridge between the Moon and the Earth. This ability can even pierce through Gensoukyou’s Great Hakurei Border, as she has displayed once before.

She has a great aptitude for magic, even being capable of celestial scale barriers, such as the one around the Moon that shields the Lunar capital from view and intrusion, assuming the absence of an incoming Lunar Veil. This barrier is managed by Toyohime herself to keep the Lunar capital hidden from the denizens of Earth.

Lastly, she is in possession of a shastra called Saikyomisogi. This is the symbol of her power and her primary offensive weapon. This shastra, which is in the shape of a fan, is more powerful than even modern weapons of mass destruction and is easily capable of neutralizing entire areas in an instant. It can also, however, be focused into a single beam that, while lessening its area of effect, boosts its destructive power even further.

As a dragon god, she is fully capable of becoming a very large black dragon, which affords her all the physical capabilities of such. Fire breathing, control of electricity and storm clouds and other such things. However, she is not seen in this form often, and it is likely that such a thing would be a last resort.

Spellcards
N/A

Major
- Watatsuki no Yorihime: The sisters have a deep connection with each other and spend most of their time together. Indeed, where one sister might fail, the other will probably succeed, in terms of both their powers and personalities. Quite predictably, they would do anything possible to keep the other safe.

- Eirin Yagokoro: Toyohime and Yorihime’s former mentor. Despite Eirin having been exiled to Earth for all eternity, she is still held in high regard by her pupils. They even go so far as to write her a letter every once in a while in secret.

-Ryuujin: Although they don’t often get to see each other, Toyohime likes to believe that she and her father have a well developed relationship fitting of father and daughter. Still, she wishes that he would visit more often.

-Tsukuyomi no Mikoto: The great lord of the Moon and a distant relative of hers. Though they do not talk often, she believes that Tsukuyomi would not allow her to be a protector of the moon if he did not trust her, and so she finds a bit of happiness in that.

Minor
- Yukari Yakumo: While she believes that she had bested Yukari, she is only right to an extent. Technically, Yukari still won out by infiltrating the Lunar capital with Yuyuko and Youmu. Still, despite Yukari’s prominence, she sees the youkai sage as being filthy and unworthy of setting foot in Luna.

Trivia
-Toyohime is very fond of the peaches that grow on the Moon, which are said to purify those that eat them. She actually eats quite a lot of them, perhaps just to be on the safe side so as to avoid any impurity.

-She is almost never seen without her hat while she is outdoors. No one is really sure as to the exact reasoning of this, but Toyohime says that it wouldn’t be lady-like of her to go around without it, much to the confusion of any who ask.