Hanami
Legacy Name: Hanami

Hanami's life before his deification was fairly standard, for the most part. Born in the Jilin province of China, he lived there for the first hundred or so years of his life, before an older, more powerful totetsu moved in and forced him out. For a few years he drifted, living amongst the humans for brief periods of time as he traveled, trying to find a territory to call his own once again. He had little luck until his wanderings eventually brought him to Japan.

Once in Japan he found himself a heavily forested mountain, secluded enough but still fairly close to a number of human villages. His few years of travel amongst the humans had curbed his appetite for their flesh considerably, but there were still times where he would be seized by such cravings that he couldn't help but satiate them. It was usually an unfortunate vagabond or drunk that found themselves cowering in front of his fangs at these times; he was careful not to bring attention to himself and risk being exposed. Yet even as he tried to resist the cravings more often than not he found he couldn't; it was simply part of his nature to prey on the creatures.

After about a month in his new territory, however, a certain something occurred. It had been particularly rainy for the past week, the soil inundated to the point where landslides had begun to occur in a few unlucky patches. It was perhaps a day after a particular large chunk of earth had slid away from the mountainside that he came across a large group of humans shouting and wandering through the forest. He kept himself hidden away from their eyes, of course. There were more humans there then he felt he could comfortably deal with and still not have to worry about survivors spreading word of a totetsu living around the area. What he did gather, though, from some of the garbled shouting that he picked up a human had gone missing in the area, and this group was looking for it.

At this tiny chunk of knowledge he felt the opportunist hunter in him rising. It would not be unheard of for a human to go missing in these mountains, and the dark feeling boiling down within him was not about to let this chance go to waste. And so he waited, patiently waited until the rain started to fall even thicker and the humans gave up their search to head back down the mountain. Only then did he strike out on his own, his nose easily finding the scent even through the thick sheets of rain. Closer and closer he came to it's source, his mouth starting to practically drool in anticipation. Or at least it was, until he heard a sound that stop him dead in his tracks. A very high-pitched, young sounding cry, a cry belonging to a small human child.

Almost immediately he felt a pang of guilt, disgusted with himself. His mouth had been watering at the thought of devouring a child? At once he turned on his tail, intent on walking away, but the crying once again stopped him in his tracks. He couldn't just leave them there. The mountain in this type of weather could mean death for even the most seasoned of adults, let alone some young child. He paced around in a tight circle, just what could he do? The adults were fearful enough of him as is, what would a child think of a great slobbering beast suddenly descending upon them? He sighed lightly, his only option becoming apparent in his mind. His many years of partaking human flesh had given him a slight bit of transformative powers, not anywhere close to prowess of the Japanese tanuki or kitsune, but enough where he could at least fool a child for a few hours.

Plucking a leaf from a low nearby branch he carefully slid it up the bridge of his nose, mimicking the process he'd often seen tanuki themselves perform, and closed his eyes to focus. His body felt as if it had experienced something akin to a pop, his frame and weight now nearly non-existent. Opening his eyes back up he gazed down at himself, thick deadly paws now pale and slender fingers, albeit still ending in long black claws, and his fur nearly vanished. He flicked his tail in satisfaction, immediately afterward frowning. He still had a tail... Still frowning slightly his new hands traced their way up to his face, prodding his nose and passing over his cheeks, his grimace deepening as he felt the curled black horns that lingered still. A tail and horns, and the long black nails... Well, for his first time transforming, he deemed it fair enough, and likely something he could improve with practice. In the mean time though, he could hardly go to the rescue while stark naked... Snatching another leaf he placed it on his chest, making a quick and quite basic kimono to cover his frame, but what could he possibly do about his horns? Raking his brain to find something suitable he started going through all of the human outfits he had seen. It took several minutes before his brain finally landed on something he had seen once; a wandering monk with a hat that covered almost half of his face. What did they call it...a kasa? From what he remembered, it was something to help mask the identity of the monk and allowed him to travel undistracted by sights around him on his journey. Something like that, it would be perfect.

His disguise thoroughly complete he braced himself slightly, giving his body a good shake as if to get ready. This humanoid form was unsettling at best, but if it could help him save this child he would gladly bare it. Carefully making his way through the undergrowth he constantly was turning his head, just barely keeping himself from grumbling out loud about this form's ears. Already he was sorely missing the ability to turn them without having to move his head. It took another ten minutes of stumbling about and getting used to walking with two legs until he found the source of the crying. A young girl, she couldn't have been older than six, was huddled under a scant outcropping of rock, her kimono splattered with mud and twigs and tiny fists pressed into her eyes as she bawled loudly. He froze for a moment, his mind suddenly screaming at him that this ruse would never work. But it was all of too little, too late. As if sensing something the girl looked up, puffy red eyes focusing on him as she hiccuped slightly. Mentally he smacked himself, telling himself to just get it over with.

"What are you doing out all alone in this rain child?" He barely stopped himself from flinching, his voice horribly harsh in his ears. And yet the child didn't seem the least be perturbed.

"I was p-playing...and got lost..." She hiccuped again. "I don't know how to get back home..."

Glancing up for a moment as the din of raindrops on his kasa started to increase in frequency he bit his lip slightly, making a split second decision and holding out his hand, praying she wouldn't panic from the sight of his nails.

"Come, let's get you someplace drier."

Although with just the slightest bit of hesitation at first, the child stood, wiping her hands on her kimono before taking a few steps forward and curling her small hand around his fingers. All he could do was offer her a slight smile; he had no clue where he could take her. And so he just started walking. And walking. And walking. It was at least half an hour until he caught the scent of something odd on the wind, something that stood out even amongst the downpouring rain and heavy mud. Light, floral, and practically intoxicating. It compelled him to follow it, and before he could realize what had happened he found himself in front of a lone sakura tree, branches stretching up into the sky and filled to the brim with pale pink flowers. He stood there as if flabbergasted, it made no sense for this tree to be filled with flowers. The sakura had all but finished their blossoming season nearly two months ago. The girl beside him suddenly shifted and he looked down, his eyes widening in surprise to find her staring up at the tree and pratically beaming.

"Sobo is always taking about this place. She says this sakura is different, because it's always in bloom." She grinned again. "Chichi and haha took me to hanami here a few months ago. The villagers don't usually come here except for that, because everyone thinks it's a bit spooky. But I think it's pretty."

As she started to look over at him a crack of lightning and thunder burst through the air, eliciting instead a yelp as she buried her face against his side in fear. Placing a hand on her shuddering back he lead her over to a slight rocky overhang, just enough to get the pair of them out of the rain and a chance to dry off. As he sat down on the ground with his back against the rock he couldn't help but notice the way she continued to shake, and, feeling a pang of empathy, decided to try to take her mind off the storm.

"What is your name child?"

"A-akane..." She sniffled a little bit. "What about you, monk-san?"

At that question he froze. He hadn't thought this far ahead. His own name in the human's language was something nothing short of what they'd consider guttural nonsense. It was a name all fine and good for a totetsu, but it wouldn't even make sense to a human's ears. At his silence Akane glanced back up at him.

"Are you on a pilgrimage? Did you give up your name as well to make it?" She traced her eyes up and down his body for a moment, her gaze eventually making its way back to the sakura tree. "If I can't call you your name, can I call you Hanami-san instead? You did bring me back here, and you look really interested in the tree." The smallest of smiles graced her face. "So, Hanami, just like the flower viewing ceremonies."

He paused for a moment, his brain mentally breathing a sign of relief as he offered her another weak smile. "Yes, you may call me Hanami." He shifted slightly in his spot. "So, Akane, why don't you tell me about your village?"

This continued on for hours, the little girl pouring out stories of her village to her kind savior as the rain continued tumbling down. It wasn't until she fell asleep out of pure exhaustion did Hanami finally turn to stare back at the sakura in silence, his mind turning and whirling around all of the information he had just heard. Once the rain stopped he would most likely be able to find his way back down to the village, and be able to at least give her to the humans. But their reactions... He glanced back over at Akane. This girl was lonely, afraid, desperate... The adults would not be nearly so easily fooled. But he couldn't just leave her here. He sighed a bit, debating his next course of action.

It was nearing dusk when the rain finally trickled down to nearly nothing, a thick mist starting to permeate the mountain and obscuring the trees and rocks. Hanami stood, his mind set, and gathered up the still sleeping child in his arms to make his way down the mountain. It didn't take him long to find a trail, overgrown as it was. It still held the faint scent of human travel however, and took the pair of them to nearly the foot of the mountain. It was easy work from there to pick up the stronger scent of the village and its inhabitants, steadily and carefully making his way towards their midst. As his footfalls dropped closer and closer to the village he could feel himself starting to tense. At least the mist was helpful in obscuring him as he inched closer foot by foot. In the back of his mind he knew that if things came to blows he could easily tear the humans limb from limb, that wasn't an issue. However.... He glanced down at Akane. He just... didn't want things to come to that, not if he could help it. He couldn't quite place why he suddenly felt this way, but he just did.

Distracted by his musing he suddenly took an off step, he had wandered right into the edge of the village and hadn't even realized it. A note of panic sang through his chest for a moment as his eyes wildly looked over to group of men pouring over a document. That feeling subsided only a moment later when he realized that they were so engrossed with the item they hadn't even noticed his presence. He swallowed slightly, biting back his feelings of panic. It was now or never. Taking a few more steps forward he cleared his throat.

"Excuse me.."

The men glanced up, looks of annoyance lining their faces. It took all Hanami could muster to keep himself from bolting, and a moment later his perseverance paid off when a single look turned instead to shocked disbelief.

"Akane?!" The man bolted forward, his trembling hands finding his way around her pale little face even as Hanami stiffened in surprise. "Is s-she...?"

Steeling himself slightly Hanami shook his head. "Sleeping, that is all. She was quite exhausted."

Tears started to slip down the man's face as he took a few steps back and leaned into the deepest bow Hanami had ever seen. "Thank you...thank you for this sir. How can I ever hope to reply you?"

Hanami was flabbergasted. Repay? Him? He could barely hide his confusion as he once again shook his head. "There is nothing that needs to be repaid, sir. I am just happy to see the child back home with her family." Managing a slight bow of his head he passed Akane over to her now just as confused father, making sure she was secure in his arms before turning back to the outskirts.

"Wait, sir, at least tell me your name. I'll make an offering in your name for a safe journey. At least let me do that."

"If that is what you wish. My name is Hanami." He grinned slightly. "Just like the flower viewing ceremonies."

With another bow he headed back into the mists, breathing a loud sigh of relief as soon as he felt a safe distance away. The child was safe, and he had managed to keep his true self hidden for another day. But now there was the quandary of what he would do now. It probably wasn't the wisest idea to stay, now that he had made his presence known. But there was another part of himself that was greatly intrigued by that sakura tree the two of them had sheltered under. Something was pushing him to take a closer inspection of it. And there was also the matter of his current exhaustion. He'd never heard of tanuki or kitsune complaining about the energy drain the transformation took out on them, but that could also be the mere fact that they were much more adept at the whole process to begin with. With a sigh as he started back up the mountain, his made his mind up. One more day in this area, to regain his strength and allow an inspection of the sakura tree.

The next morning as he awoke from his slumber from underneath the sakura tree he felt amazingly refreshed, better than he had felt in ages truth be told. And despite his lack of food the previous day he had not a pang of hunger either, it was truly a remarkable feeling for someone so used to partaking in flesh every day.