Tianxia:Watatsuki no Yorihime

The Dragon Palace
A long, long time ago, perhaps several thousands of years ago, a vast and lovely palace lurked beneath the waves of the Earth. This palace was host to many a god and goddess, known by the catch-all term of “Kami”. These kami were of the sea, exempt from the doings of those on the land, and Kami who resided on the land did not venture into this expansive place. Such a lack of venture was due to the very nature of the Dragon Palace - it was known to those of the land, but they found it impossible to reach it. Deep below the sea, a great barrier existed that prevented even land-going Kami from entering the ancient place. Perhaps that was for the better, for Ryujin, the dragon god of creation who birthed the four great dragons of the globe, made his home here. Within this Dragon Palace, Ryujin also bore two daughters, and they were named Watatsuki no Toyohime and Watatsuki no Yorihime. Toyohime was the first daughter to have been born, and the birth of Yorihime followed not long after the fact.

Even when she was naught but a young Kami, Yorihime exhibited some rather superlative skills in a key area - she could recount all of the stories told to her by her superiors with frightening accuracy, something certainly not characteristic of a child. No one would realize what would become of Yorihime’s ultimate capabilities in the future, but now, dear reader, another story must be told.

The Doings and Matters of the Younger Dragon Sister
One strange day, when a Kami of the land by the name of Hohodemi-no-mikoto was walking along the shore, belittled by his brother for losing a precious fishhook to a sea bream three, one of the sea-Kami, Shiotsuchi no Kami, took pity upon the despondent fisherman. He placed Hohodemi in a basket and took him down to the Dragon Palace beneath the sea, where he was entertained by another sea-Kami, Watatsumi. Now, to be precise, “Ryujin” was not the constant name of selfsame dragon/creator god. Instead, he went by and was known by many names in his millions of years upon the Earth, Watatsumi being one of them. After spending much time among Hohodemi, Watatsumi thought this Kami to be a wonderful man, and he introduced one of his daughters to him. This daughter of his, Toyohime, fell in love with Hohodemi, and Hohodemi did the same. So, a marriage was arranged for the two, and they would conceive a child. However, Hohodemi had a yen to return to the land from whence he came, so he made a deal with his wife: if he would agree not to witness her give birth on land, then the two would live upon the shore. Hence, the two would build a house on the shore, and Tohoyime went into labor behind closed doors. However, Hohodemi got rather curious when the whole birth was going on, and opened the door to the birthing room to see his wife writhing on the ground, assuming the form of a dragon. Toyohime was heavily embarrassed by this, and realized then and there that her husband had broken his promise to her. She returned to the Dragon Palace, sobbing and downhearted, where Yorihime saw her sister in a mood of utmost dejection. Toyohime told Yorihime of everything that had occurred, and presented her child to Yorihime for safekeeping and care. Toyohime did not really harbor ill will against her husband for breaking his solemn promise, but Yorihime was silently enraged by this, vowing to exact revenge for the sullying of her sister’s mood.

Yorihime would hatch a plot to regain her sister’s honor, and this would start with her approaching Hohodemi with the prospect of love. Perhaps, she weened, the downhearted Hohodemi would have no trouble approaching her, seeing that his wife had left him. In reality, Toyohime did not really hold a grudge against her husband for breaking his promise, but Yorihime did not know this, and she went ahead with her plan anyways. While in the form of a terrible dragon, she slipped a note that promised a discussion of marriage under a door inside of the former home of Toyohime and Hohodemi. Hohodemi read this note, became rather wary yet excited, and opened the door to the room. Completely unprepared, Hohodemi was struck by an array of violent strikes from the jaws of Yorihime, blood soaking the floor of the room. Hohodemi was nearly split in two by this, and promptly lost his life. Yorihime disposed of his corpse by burying it deep under the sandy shore, where creatures of the Earth would eventually decompose the body. The remnants of the blood were hidden with Yorihime’s sway over water after she returned to the wooden settlement. Indeed, the reckoning of a sister’s anger had been fulfilled.

Still reeling and nervous from what she had perpetrated in her recent past, Yorihime was rather reluctant to take a husband of her own, in light of what happened to her sister. Nevertheless, when all was said and done, she did want to conceive a child to continue her line. In a much stranger story, luck would have it that a husband would not even need to be taken by her. She would more often be among those who dwelled upon the Earth now, and was, for a time, known as Tamayorihime. One fateful day, she strutted around the Kamo River, still retaining the jovial nature of her childhood even in these later years. Tamayorihime happened upon a red-lacquered arrow that was floating down the river, ever-curious about forlorn items that came from afar. Amidst her curiosity, she unknowingly placed the arrow beside her bed as she slept, which caused her to become pregnant. This time, it would be her that would give birth to a son, who was well-raised and grew to be a meritorious individual; meritorious enough, in fact, to join those who dwelled in heaven. When the boy grew to be an adult, the awesome Kamo Taketsunumi himself (also known as Ryujin) prepared a banquet for him. The young man lifted a cup of rice wine into the air, which made him break through the ceiling of the room and ascend to heaven.

Lord Tsukyomi's Transfer to the Moon
Not long after Yorihime had regained her sister’s honor and birthed a child of her own, a massive wave of impurity had imposed its terrible grip upon the populace of the Earth. This malevolence had apparently stemmed from humanity, and one of the sea-Kami proposed a plan to escape this vile essence. This individual was Tsukyomi-no-mikoto, a Kami who had numerous relatives among him. He proposed that they would find solace upon the vast Moon, and they would agree to this revolutionary plan.

Upon the moon, the two sisters were lauded as royalty - princesses, even. They were provided the utmost in protection, amenities, and teachers of all types of learned professions. Yorihime and Toyohime even went and married two individuals again - this time, though, they married two of the noble relatives of Eirin Yagokoro, who was chosen to be the tutor for the both of them.

Tutelage under Eirin Yagokoro
Eirin, one of Tsukyomi’s most trusted relatives, taught the Watatsuki sisters much in the ways of knowledge, wisdom, and skills. Eirin keyed upon the great abilities of the two sisters, teaching them different things with regards to what they did best in their earlier lives. It was a fairly easy task for Eirin, due to the ease with which the two absorbed knowledge. Yorihime found her abilities exemplary in the ways of swordsmanship, and also furthered her prowess in invoking the abilities of other Kami.

In a rather unfortunate event, Eirin’s reputation was sullied when she assisted Tsukyomi’s daughter in making an elixr that would guarantee immortality to all who drank it. Eirin was forced to leave the Moon with this daughter, and the Watatsuki sisters took upon the responsibilities which Eirin left behind. Yorihime became the new leader of the Lunar Defence Corps, certainly a difficult job that required the utmost in situational awareness and combat prowess. However, Yorihime was more than cut out for this task, and she served the Lunar Capital quite well for thousands of years to come.

Arrival of Humans to the Moon
Another incident would occur when humans, the bearers of the Earth’s impurity, actually set foot on the moon itself. Yorihime confronted all of these arrogant foes, and learned of the odd “game” that they played to challenge the powers of others. This game was called a spell card battle, which Yorihime had never heard of before. Yorihime agreed to play this game, even though she had absolutely no experience with it. Instead of throwing what was known as danmaku at her adversaries, she simply used her prowess in swordsmanship and borrowed the powers of Kami to make short work of her enemies without killing them. In this way, she let the invaders go with their lives, as long as they did not stay on the Moon.

In retrospect, this arrival was all a ploy by a powerful youkai named Yukari Yakumo to distract the Lunar Capital with denizens of the Netherworld in order to steal a bottle of precious alcohol. Oh, what a terrible occurrence, indeed!

Personality
A being who has seen much and has gone through enormous and tumultuous changes in the past would have quite an interesting social history. In the case of Yorihime, many of such changes to her personality involved maturation, loss, and gain of skills, wisdom, and knowledge. She used to possess a somewhat whimsical nature that carried over to maturity from her early childhood, but she now is far more serious - this is likely due to her combat experience in defending the Lunar Capital from invaders, and also from her rather earnest conviction to her job as the head of the Lunar Defense Corps. That is not to say that she is devoid of any bit of her previous whimsical and curious nature, for she will abruptly demonstrate some forms of this in combat.

Yorihime is quick to analyze the personality traits of another person, using them to her advantage in all sorts of applications. Normally, though, Yorihime herself is rather “blank”-mooded and content, in contrast with her seemingly-well-meaning sister, but can be ruthless and unwavering when necessary, just like Toyohime. If she has to deal with intruders, she deal with them fairly, providing them with their lives if they comply with her.

Power/Combat
Ever since Yorihime was young, she demonstrated extreme prowess in single combat. Her skills with the sword are quite a sight to behold, and she is strong enough to weather strong magical attacks without so much as a scuff on her clothing. Yorihime’s situational awareness in combat is also second to none, outwitting most of her adversaries rather quickly or becoming knowledgeable about the ways of their abilities, sometimes even turning their own attacks against them.

Invoking Gods
Yorihime’s greatest ability is neither her godly attributes nor her skills with a blade - instead, she possesses an intrinsic ability to invoke the powers of gods. This is an extremely broad power, as there are millions of gods that exist upon the Earth, in the sea, up in Heaven, and a multitude of other places, all possessing varying sorts of power. Yorihime knows much of a great assortment of gods, especially due to the fact that she is a Kami herself. She can call upon great gods such as Honoikazuchi or Ishkori Dome no Mikoto and channel some of their powers to use against her opponents, or in mundane tasks that need to be accomplished. In reality, the effectiveness of this ability fluctuates greatly, due to the notion that Yorihime would at least need to know the god she invokes on some sort of personal basis in order to use their abilities effectively. Thus, the greater she channels faith towards a god, practices rituals in their name, or the better her personal relations with a god, the greater she can channel the powers of said god.

Transformation
Yorihime can transform into a powerful white dragon, characteristic of her direct lineage from Ryujin. In such a form, she will more often use her older abilities of manipulating water, storms, and fire, which although are not as expansive as and do not possess as much destructive and conceptual potential as her older sister, still makes her quite powerful in this form. Her strength is also greatly increased while assuming her true ways as a dragon, and she is able to wreak awesome havoc on her foes.

Major
The Watatsuki sisters deliver mutual respect to one another in nearly all situations, even though Yoyohime’s well-meaning nature makes her somewhat aloof. If anyone does anything to incur shame upon Toyohime, Yorihime will respond in kind.
 * Watatsuki no Toyohime

Eirin was the greatest mentor that Yorihime and her sister ever possessed. Yorihime was taught much from Eirin’s learned mettle, and was devastated to hear that the scholar was branded as a traitor. Yorihime’s sister sometimes recieves letters from Eirin, though, so all contact has not been lost by the three.
 * Eirin Yagokoro

Ryuujin, the dragon god of creation, is ever pleased to see the superlative development of his youngest daughter. Unfortunately, even though Ryujin and Yorihime still think highly of one another, it has been far too long since she has invoked her father in any situation, and Ryujin hopes to have a fruitful discussion with her when she does just that.
 * Ryuujin

The ruler of the moon, and distant relative of hers. Due to Yorihime's position as the leader of the Lunar Defense Corps, Tsukyomi often speaks to her about what is to be done on the moon.
 * Tsukyomi no Mikoto

Minor
Yorihime’s former pet. Long after Reisen ran away, Yorihime obtained another lunar rabbit and also named her Reisen, as a memento.
 * Reisen Udongein Inaba

Trivia
-Yorihime’s vestigial curiosity will occasionally make her do truly strange things. For example, she once ate one of Marisa’s star danmaku when she first faced down the individuals from Gensoukyou that had arrived at the Moon.