Amatsuki - Tsuyukusa BG

[heaven_rooted]

History:
It is the Bakumatsu period, when tension within Japan has started to build, thinly masked by a guise of peace. While parties of opposing views begin to gather and prepare for inevitable battle, darker, unnatural forces are at work, and the more secretive clash of humans versus ayakashi that has gone on for generations has started to escalate to the surface. Ayakashi referred to creatures of a spiritual or monstrous nature, although the latter would more likely be called yōkai, and such were taken care of by a secretive group that worked in the shadows of the more mundane government of Edo- the Onmyou Bureau. Branching over all is Heaven's Net, where destinies are written and plotted by the divine Teiten. This is the world of Amatsuki...

Tsuyukusa came to existence as a cutting from the tree of an ancient wood demon that had lived for over a thousand years. This tree was the master of Byakuroku, a powerful snake demon who helped in maintaining a careful balance between the ayakashi of the woods surrounding the Sakigami Shrine, a holy place guarded by humans and inhabited by a high priestess who bore the gift of foresight. Tsuyukusa was given to Byakuroku to care for, and in hopes that the two would grow together and look out for each other as brothers, the snake raised the little wood demon and another young demon whom he called Hiwa. The two seemed to take an instant disliking to each other, their personalities (and tempers) clashing for how alike they were. Still, it was Byakuroku's hope that Hiwa would learn to take care of Tsuyukusa so that his tree would grow and flourish, just as his master's, and that in turn, Tsuyukusa would help the little wingless bird find his open skies.

As time went by, Hiwa would usually become scarce, starting to pay regular visits to the shrine to speak with the high priestess, Ginshu. The two had formed an unusual sort of friendship, and one that Byakuroku had taken curious interest in. It wasn't too long after that even Tsuyukusa found himself befriending a small human child, one by name of Shinshu. Unbeknowst to the ayakashi, she was the true high priestess, while Ginshu was merely a decoy. As annoyed as Tsuyukusa pretended to be about the little girl's constant visitations, he actually began to enjoy her company and played with her quite often. Unfortunately, their carefree situation changed dramatically one day.

It was no secret that the priestesses of the shrine saw ayakashi as the enemy, and any they came across in the forest were killed on site. They were sent out to look for Shinshu as the girl had disappeared again, off into the woods. Usually when humans were about in their territory, Tsuyukusa was instructed to remain hidden. He had witnessed the attack on an ayakashi, and angered at the priestesses, showed himself. Although he appeared a child, the priestesses realized what he was and did not hesitate to set their bows against him. It was during this time that Ginshu had also left the shrine in search of Shinshu, coming across Byakuroku who had found the girl first. He had only sought to speak to Ginshu, but sensing something amiss, left abruptly with the hidden priestess. He found Tsuyukusa so injured that he had lost his human form, a poor birdlike creature stuck with arrows, lying in a pool of blood. Enraged by the actions of the humans, Byakuroku gave into instinct, shedding his half-human body to take on the full form of an enormous snake. He ripped the priestesses to pieces, and he partook of human flesh, a taboo practice to demons that corrupted them into the monsters humans knew to fear. Hiwa found them too late, arriving with Ginshu to the bloody scene.

The events of that day violently tore apart the bonds of friendship that had been carefully forged between human and ayakashi, and Tsuyukusa wouldn't remember the details of what happened then, about the little girl he'd played with or why his protector had died. It had left him with anger and bitterness towards the humans whom he believed had killed Byakuroku and tainted the grounds of his sacred tree with blood shed out of hatred. Years later would find him numbered with those of Heaven's Seat, counted an associate with Bonten, formerly Hiwa, who took over Byakuroku's position in his passing. With ayakashi still being hunted by humans, Tsuyukusa sought to do what was in his power to protect them. It was the case of a fox spirit that had caught his attention, for the fox sought vengeance against the humans who had cut down the tree of her master's spirit, a matter he could sympathize with for a fellow wood demon.

It was also around this time that there had recently also been another disturbance in Amatsuki- the arrival of a visitor from Higen, another world. To the humans, he was known as the "Unwritten Page," and by those of Heaven's Seat, he was called the "Hakutaku." Both Bonten and Ginshu were attempting to draw this boy to either side for one would seek to have him replace Teitan and protect Amatsuki, while the other sought to end it. Tokidoki Rikugou had the ability to change what was written in Heaven's Net, essentially considered on par with Teitan because his existence in the world was unnoticed, so he had no destiny to tie him down as those who lived in Amatsuki. It was because of Toki's interference that the fox spirit was saved rather than lost to the corruption of her desire for revenge. Tsuyukusa felt indebted to him because of this, the first step towards his starting to once again trust humans enough to befriend them.

Although at first Tsuyukusa felt his need to accompany Toki was a burden, he's slowly warmed up to him. The world as they had known was starting to unravel at the seams, and soon enough humans and ayakashi would find themselves working together in some uneasy semblance of an alliance, with the Unwritten Page at its center. Things that should have been were no longer as some remembered it, and those that had been closest to Teitan were losing their power and authority. A dark miasma has been spreading through the forests surrounding the Sakigami Shrine, and both Toki and Tsuyukusa were aware that it was only a matter of time before it reached Tsuyukusa's tree...