Tsukihana is from
a small village on Tarrak-Zhu called Kosai, which was relatively unknown to
most and in a wilder part of Tarrak-Zhu. For those that do know where Kosai is,
know that Kosai is near the Mines of Kara and fabled volcanic hot springs. The
Kosai Hot Springs are rumored to revitalize people from exhaustion, which comes
in handy for keeping a stable workforce of miners. When visitors come to Kosai,
it is usually to use the Kosai Hot Springs or to buy raw Komi, a rare metal, or
gems and stones extracted from the Mines of Kara.
Tsuki lived a
relatively quiet life in Kosai with her older brother, Hikashenshi, and her
mother, Miko. Tsuki and Miko frequently referred to Hikashenshi as Hika. Unbeknownst
to Tsuki, her mother, Miko, was a sorcerer and geologic researcher on
Tarra-Zhu. Miko was regarded as a shaw women in Kosai that the people feared
but respected, since they were all superstitious. This made things a bit
difficult for Tsuki and Hika because they were ridiculed by the others in Kosai,
especially the other kids. The other kids would call them Akubanan, which is a
derogatory term for witches’ spawn. Consequently, Hika and Tsuki were close
siblings and kept mostly to themselves. Being alone was never something that
bothered Tsuki much since she had her brother, and it gave her time to explore
the hot springs, mines, and make things out of Komi or stones she would find.
This tinkering Tsuki would do was never something that Miko or Hika discouraged,
but it was considered odd for a child in Kara to want to tinker or make things
rather than become a hunter, a miner, or a warrior. Miko never really talked
about Tsuki and Hika’s father, Kebi, and he was never around. Tsuki was always
curious about him though. The only thing she knew about him was that he was a
skilled warrior.
When Tsuki was about
7 years old a band of pirates raided Kosai taking anything of value and
stealing from the mine. Miko hid Tsuki and Hika in a barrel in an effort to
protect them from the raiders and buy time to cast an incantation. The raiders
broke in and fought with Miko before she could finish her incantation. They
fought Miko for the barrel Tsuki and Hika were hiding in. The harder Miko
fought to keep the barrel, the more the raiders wanted the barrel not realizing
that Tsuki and Hika were inside. Although Kara was a small town full of hunters
and warriors, there were simply not enough of them to fight the large crew that
vastly outnumbered the small village of Kara.
When the pirates
finished plundering to their hearts’ content they took their spoils to their
ship, the Cephius, and disembarked from Tarrak-Zhu. Once the crew of the Cephius
opened the barrel that Tsuki and Hika were hiding in, they instantly understood
why Miko fought so hard to protect the barrel. After some squabbling amongst
the crew, the captain of the Cephius, Captain Mikhail, decided to keep Tsuki
and Hika on board as ship hands for remedial tasks that the crew never really
wanted to do anyway. For many years Hika and Tsuki tried to con or fight
Captina Mikhail into taking them back to Tarrac-Zhu to no avail. This sparked a
long journey for both Tsuki and Hika, where they learned their way around a
ship and how to lie, con, cheat, and steal. Frequently they were mistreated by
the crew until they were sufficient in their tasks and could earn their keep,
which didn’t happen until they were much older. If they did not earn their
keep, the crew would punish them ruthlessly punish them with beatings.
In their down time
Hika learned to play a lute and Tsuki would jokingly dance Hika’s playing. This
was the only temporary escape they had from their homesickness and from the
nightmare they were living in. As Hika and Tsuki grew older, both became better
at music and dance in addition to learning how to lie, cheat, and steal. When
they went to other planets and towns, they had a routine where Hika would play
and Tsuki would dance to entertain a crowd. But as Tsuki danced, she always
found a way to pick pocket anyone fixated on her. Tsuki and Hika didn’t care
much for the raiding parties. So this was how they earned their keep instead.
One day Captain
Mikhail heard of a sector of uncharted wild space called the Limbo of the Lost,
rumored to have a secret moon with a hidden shrine, which was said to be the gateway
to the gods of old. Should the seeker succeed in gaining an audience with the
gods, the gods could bestow a vestige to the seeker. But the gods would only do
so if a suitable offering was given to the gods. A vestige could bring the
seeker untold riches or power. The seeker would have to bring an offering
pleasing to the gods to gain their favor. However, others also say that if the
gods are displeased with the offering, they may also smite the seeker instead. Since
there is frequently at least a grain of truth in such rumors and he had nothing
better to do, Captain Mikhail decided to seek out this sector of uncharted
space.
The Limbo of the
Lost is known as a natural phenomenon where ships just disappear or show up
smashed to pieces somewhere else without any explanation. The local space
frontier folk do not understand and are superstitious of the Limbo of the Lost.
Consequently, the locals stay away from any area even near the Limbo of the
Lost.
When the Cephius
entered the Limbo of the Lost, such was their fate. Tsuki had a fragmented
memory of how it happened. All she remember was hearing a loud crash and
hearing the sound of wood cracking and metal twisting. She was in the crews’
quarters playing a dice game with her Hika at the time. She and Hika both
looked at each other wide eyed. Both instantly knew something was wrong. Just
as Tsuki and Hika began to rushing to deck, an overwhelming wall of water rushed
into the crew quarters. Tsuki clutched the railing at the base of the stairs
and reached for Hika’s arm grasping him firmly. The side of the ship bust into
what seemed like an endless expanse sucking Tsuki and Hika out into the great
beyond of an endless ocean. The force of the water broke Tsuki’s hold on Hika.
She could see Hika reaching for her in the water as he slipped away into the swirling
eddies of despair. The Cephus was smashed to pieces.
Undenounced to
her, Tsuki had landed on a remote asteroid with a thin atmosphere that was
covered in water. Tsuki had a searing pain in her head. She had no idea where
she was or what would happen to her. In a frantic panic, Tsuki clung to the
wreckage for dear life since she didn’t know how to swim. There was very little
water on Tarrak-Zhu and the hot springs were generally shallow. So she never
learned when she was younger. She was always on the Cephius as a prisoner when she
was a child. So the crew never let her get near the edge of ship in an effort to
keep her from trying to escape by diving overboard. They had no idea Tsuki
would never attempt this since she didn’t know how to swim and water generally
made her a bit uneasy. Once she was part of the crew as an adult there was
never a reason to go into the water. Tsuki was not terribly disturbed by the
demise of Cephius, only that her brother, was lost in the wreck.
While she was
stranded, Tsuki was attacked by a Kaishaw, a parasitic tape worm that drains it
hosts magic and lifeforce. She had lost any weapons she had on her during the
chaos other than her whip. Afraid for her life she picked up a piece of debris
and desperately threw it at the Kaishaw, which was when she realized that she
hit the Kaishaw twice. A dagger shot out from her hand as she threw the debris
piercing the Kaishaw straight through the head and killing it instantly.
Somehow Captain Marris
was passing by on the Starlight and noticed the strange asteroid. Asteroids
aren’t normally covered in water and he was a bit low on his water supply
anyway. Captain Marris thought it was strange and moved the ship a bit closer
to investigate and replenish the ships’ water supply, which is where he found
Tsuki. Although Captain Marris of the Starlight found her and took pity on her,
he had a gut feeling that Tsuki may be useful in some capacity on his ship. His
crew was lighter than he’d have liked it at the time. Even if she were only to
function as a ship right or another deck hand, she may still be useful.
