AN: So, after being on hautius for a very long time, I went back and took a look at this story and I don't like it. The short story will stay, but the prologue has been changed and scrapped. The idea for this story will stay roughly the same, but I just wasn't satisfied with how it was written.
I do not own Hakuoki, I do however own my OC's
Dendō Tora No Za Kita.
That was the name given to her at birth. A name that rolled over the continent of Japan like a tidal wave, crashing over the Cardinal Oni clans and leaving echos of violence and bloodshed in it's wake. Very few Pureblood Oni clans remained during the Tokugawa Era, and even fewer in number were female pureblood Oni themselves. So when a Female Heir to one of the oldest Cardinal Oni clans was born- it only served to cause the temporary truce between warring clans to die before the ink even had time to dry on the paper.
Lesser clans were slaughtered in a fortnight. Half-Oni brides were beheaded and sent back to their clans. Assassinations were at an all time record high. Violence was rife throughout the clans, plots began to take place to steal the heir. The Demon clans drove themselves to madness to procure the hand of the infant Heir, trying to rise above their stations for the slim chance any offspring they produced would be great. So when news came that the Tora Heir had been slaughtered in her crib, nobody could say they were surprised.
It only further drove the fury and chaos to outright madness, decimating the already endangered species to almost total annihilation. The ongoing war with the Tokugawa Empire only further decimated the clans, causing the Oni to flee and hide. Many humans feared the Oni, and sought either to kill them, or recruit them on their side. This in itself was driving the clans to war, fracturing the bonds between the demons. Clans warred with clans in the name of the Bakumatsu they served.
Japan was busy trying to tear itself apart dealing with a massive political divide that would eventually bring about the end of the Bakumatsu period and the Tokugawa Era. Currently the factions were divided between the Nationalists who worshiped the Emperor and felt that Japan should be under his rule, and the Shogunate forces who served the Emperor willingly to help govern the land. Many smaller factions also made up the divide, the growing resentment towards the Daimyo's and the anti-Western faction only served to cause a massive power play to take part over Japans Government. The way of the Samurai was falling, and with it, a new age was coming to which people would have to adapt.
Then again, nobody in the Tora clan had been left alive to contest the lie about the heir. Every member of the Tora clan had been thoroughly, and ruthlessly wiped from the face of the earth, if the scene before him was any indication. All except for the tiny infant that had caused the madness to begin with. Coal black eyes peered down at the heavily swaddled bundle in his arms. Rich silk fabrics were stained with drying blood as the warrior monk surveyed the wreckage of the Oni clans former home. The child would never know where she came from, who her family was. At least not yet. She would need a new name.
Burnt corpses littered the up-heaved ground, flickers of flame danced in the background. But Tajima did not look at the wreckage of warring clans. He did not look at the death that surrounded them, the struggle of power laid bare. No, his focus was on the softly cooing infant currently pressed to his saffron robes. His ears strained to pick up any other sounds in the aftermath of battle. The only sound to reach him was the beating of his heart, echoing in his ears. But he did not let his guard down. The faint hiss of rain met his ears as he quietly stepped through the wreckage and made his way down to the gates.
The large red Torii had been split in half, toppling over to crush the tall stone wall that surrounded the clans compound. Bamboo forest stretched for miles around the compound, secluding it in the mountains of the Island. The nearest port town was at least several miles, following a pathway near the Inari shrine. The Tora was a very secretive Clan that did not like to interfere with human affairs. However they did have their hands in the Opium trade as well as the fishing trade.
With a sigh, Tajima adjusted the child's wrappings so she would look more like a bundle of expensive kimono fabrics draped over his arm and less like a child shaped bundle. His free hand closed around the shaft of his naginata. He was pushing 40, far too old to come to battle, and he suspected this would be his last mission. With a grunt, the aging monk leaned his weight on the shaft and began limping away from the destroyed estate and to the silent group awaiting him. They did not speak, and they did not look back at the smoldering ruins of a once great clan. One by one the group broke off, to scatter into the night as he made his way down to the docks. Tajima himself would be taking a boat to Edo, and from there Kyoto before handing the child off to The Akuma.
The Akuma themselves were a sub-branch of the Nothern Tora Clan. While the exact details were unknown to the majority of the Oni, they were part of a Western Sect that strove for power in Japan. Tajima wasn't entirely sure on the details but, the clan wanted power, and one way to get it was by wiping it's main branch off the face of the earth and taking over. A powerful pureblood was just too good of a deal to pass up, so they had wanted the infant alive.
His booted feet hit the gangplank of the small smuggling boat he had bought passage on. Disguised as a silk traders ship, it would gain safe passage to Edo before he made his way onto another ship to Kyoto. He had a few hours yet. With a yell from the captain they shoved off. The ocean waters were dark and calm. Like the air before a storm breaks. Grunting his thanks, the monk made his way down into the ships cabins where he would settle in to wait.
Tajima feared for the girl's upbringing with the Oni clan, but as a Sohei, he himself could not care for the growing infant. It would do far better for the demon to grow up among it's own kind, where it could be better protected. With a quiet sigh that comes from being too weary of plots and scheming, Tajima uncovered the girls face. Her tiny hands moved to tug on the dark beard on his chin, cooing faintly in the dim lantern light. Tajima couldn't help the twitch of his lips as he peered down into the child's face, her head dusted with red curls. Mismatched violet eyes fearlessly gazed back at him.
Dendō Tora No Za Kita - Electric Tiger Of the North, The Heir of the Tora Oni Clan
Tajima Sauzando-Tsuru - Thousand-Crane , Island of Rice Paddies, a Sohei monk in the service of the Akuma Clan
Sohei- were Buddhist warrior monks of both medieval and feudal Japan. At certain points of history they held considerable power, obliging the imperial and military governments to collaborate.
The Tora Clan- One of the Four Cardinal Oni Clans in Japan. They are the pureblood main branch with Akuma being a side branch. The clan was wiped out in a political ploy by it's side branch in order to obtain political power over the Oni Clans. The clan was situated in the Izu Islands of Japan.
The Akuma Clan- A Southern Oni clan known for it's Matriarchal prowess, it is a side branch of the Tora Clan with a thirst for power.
Oni- Demons.