A Nice Interruption

Kasumi Shinoda

0 Posts

A Nice Interruption Jun 25, 2014 8:28:39 GMT -5

Post by Kasumi Shinoda on Jun 25, 2014 8:28:39 GMT -5

Sharply the wind dug into Kasumi’s pale skin. Tightening the cobalt blue scarf around her mouth, the girl slowly but certainly moved forward. Perhaps this was a mistake? With slow steps she plowed through the knee high snow. She loved snow. Its cold didn’t bother her. Though sadly enough the wind’s did. It was a strange sensation. There was a tiny difference between them, between the types of cold, and Kasumi didn’t know what it was. A small wooden cabin could be seen on the other side of the pond that wasn’t frozen this time. With the sun hidden behind the clouds, Kasumi shivered, walking inside of the cabin.

SPOILER: Click to show

The snow had been her work; she had been on it for hours now. And maintaining it had drained the girl beyond her imagination. She really needed to work on her endurance. Staring at the little fire that was burning brightly in the heath, she bit her lip. Should she go out, sit in the middle of it and manifest more snow? More ice? Try to freeze the pond like the last time? Back then it had been easier. She had put her hands in the water, freezing it like that. But this time, the white haired child had tried to cause the temperature around her to drop enough for the water to freeze by itself. Apparently she wasn’t strong enough for that, not yet.

Disappointed about the progress of her ‘training’, Kasumi decided to grab a bite before going back. At least she could try and replenish a part of her energy. Food would be good. Taking off the Uggs, she dropped them on the side before wandering further into the warmth. This place was strange. Small, cozy and yet big enough for her to comfortably stay for a few days, in order to train without being interrupted; this place was awesome. Alexandra really had too many houses, grounds, labs and contacts in general. It was obvious now that the crimson haired woman hadn’t lied when she told the girl that she could have everything she needed.

The cabin was situated on the private ground that belonged to Alex, or her cooperation, or whatever it was. Hence no other humans would randomly appear and stick their noses into Kasumi’s business. It would be hard to explain, why this area was covered in snow, while it was around 10°C outside. Ten degrees was far too high for it to be snowing, naturally. Besides, her reiatsu was all over the place. It leaked and leaked and then she used it to materialize the snow and ice, leaving a very clear print on the area. Some humans might fall sick if being exposed at it for too long. Then again, she wasn’t as strong as some other, so the main problem would probably be the explaining part.

Enthusiastic about the prospect of food, the girl roamed through the kitchen, stopping at the fridge. A small snack would do for now. Getting some cheese and tomatoes out, she decided to make herself a sandwich. After taking out the bread, she put on some tea to brew and sat down, chewing on a piece of cheese while putting the ingredients together. Her scarf was loosely hanging around her slender neck, laying across her lap and falling towards the floor. The girl loved scarfs and couldn’t help but to pick long ones. Her blue gaze went down towards her jacket when she realized that she hadn’t taken it off yet. With a few quick motions she pulled it off, throwing it over the chair next to hers. Alright, she might need to clean this place before heading home. If Alexandra would discover this mess, the woman might be displeased. Upsetting her guardian wasn’t a part of the plan, but Kasumi didn’t feel like cleaning today. There were a few shoes and other jackets randomly lying on the couch, and the floor. Some papers had fallen from the wooden desk, and books were placed on the kitchen table, the window pane, and all the other places she had been reading at. The place wasn’t exactly filthy, though there seemed to be no order to where the things were placed. Kasumi had the habit of randomly ditching her stuff everywhere. It was strange. She didn’t use to do that. It was something new; something she should check on before it would turn into a disaster.

Thoughtfully chewing on the cheese, her eyes fell onto the violin case. She still hadn’t been able to make any progress with the instrument. Perhaps she should ask Alex for a teacher? Thinking about the tea, she turned her head and jumped of the chair. Her scarf wrapped around her foot and the kid tripped, though didn’t fall. As she balanced herself, Kasumi reached out for a cup, before realizing that she didn’t have any sugar.

[Words: 813 – GP 16]

Anise Am Vilde

236 Posts

A Nice Interruption Jun 26, 2014 6:43:50 GMT -5

Post by Anise Am Vilde on Jun 26, 2014 6:43:50 GMT -5

Dango was the very first thing the girl had thought of today. Perhaps it was unlike her to think of food, it appeared as if the previous host had neglected to uphold the require quantities of fat in their shared body. Then, why dango? Perhaps it was one of the cravings of the body that she was most unaccustomed to. She had not exactly controlled the husk as many times as the other two had, so she had those excuses to fire at those two if they ever accused her of being useless and lethargic once more. At least that applied to her. That damned bitch should just mind her own business and keep those cackles to herself. Luckily for her, they were currently rather quiet; she knew what was currently ongoing, but refrained from touching the subject. For she feared that her interference could ruin everything, that she might end up being alone. She took a bite of the mochi ice cream as she bemused the prospects of solitude.

Nothing was coming up her way, it seemed. The village nearby did not even have any dango to sate her cravings, only mochi ice cream. She appreciated the fact that the mochi ice cream was homemade, though, despite the fact the consistency and the temperature of the two substances were mismatching at best. It was food, at least. Her stomach did not rumble anymore, which was fairly pleasant. Not to mention proper. People surely would give her odd looks if she, dressed to the nines, walked around in the streets, prim and proper, while her digestive systems protested loudly. Fortunately for the girl, no human could see her. She had just sneaked into the village, stolen some food as no one had seen her and then slipped out through the gates undetected. It was indubitably a peculiarity to be an ethereal being, but hey, it had some benefits. Although her moral compass was pretty clear on the topic of theft, the doll only justified her actions by thinking that no one could see her; this also meant that no one could see her leave any money to pay for the food.

So she had trotted out of the village unabashedly with the delights in one hand and an oil-paper parasol in the other. As she had walked the lonely hillside roads, nibbling on the food, the girl pondered whether or not she should return to Hueco Mundo. Sure, it was her home and all that jazz, but the desolate deserts were not even slightly tempting. It could not compare to the rural, vaudevillian countryside of Japan. Prior to stealing the mochi, she had observed the bustling village as the people proceeded with their everyday tasks. Selling fish, taking pictures, talking to cellphones, kids playing. When she had focused on the individuals, they had seemed unconcerned with everyone but themselves. Sucked into a black balloon, the girl thought not particularly amused, as she sat on the rooftop of a building. If they had seen the big picture, they would've realized how chaotic it really is. After thinking so, she had left the village, candy in hand, to find other less pointless establishments. Maybe a city was in store next. There was always something to do in a city. As long as it was in Japan.

The train of thought had abruptly crashed, however, as the girl's reiatsu receptors had picked up some disturbances. To the best of her understanding, Japan was home to quite a few spiritualists, but she did not recall of meeting any spiritually aware humans who possessed spiritual energy this dense. She flipped the parasol upside down and pointed the tip to the ground as she allowed her Pesquisa to flow through it, using it as a sonar. Cold reiatsu, she mused as she found the direction in which it originated. This individual is not large... The reiatsu is dense because their power is spread throughout the area. She had picked up a stronger density of reiryoku inside the area which moved. The human had apparently constructed something with their reiryoku, which also had a reiatsu signature akin to the creator. This explanation was fairly plausible, the doll deduced, as it would explain why it appeared as if the human was so large. "When one searches for a purpose," the girl stated flatly as she opened a Garganta with the flick of her wrist. "purpose more often than not finds one first."

Locked on the sensation of cold and this specific reiatsu signature, the girl traveled through the torrential gateway with determination. Maybe this was a poor strategy, the girl pondered, as her body was unaccustomed to using Descorrer as transport. Perhaps she would end up in Hueco Mundo again. That would be a sour experience. Abruptly, the tunnel was ripped open and she once more stood in daylight. Much to her surprise, the tunnel had opened right above the location, at least she believed that it was the location, which she had focused on. Snow. The area was drenched with snow. That explained why the reiatsu had felt cool. As she descended from the skies with no haste, the howling winds grabbed hold of the girl's kimono and flung the sleeves around erratically. The winds of winter tug her hair, neatly fixed into a bun, to the point where it almost induced pain. Her parasol had to be folded, lest it would be ruined. As she approached the ground, the wind's whims weakened until it was barely noticeable at all.

The girl then landed above a pond, still immaculate, and forced her geta to hover over the body of water. She unfolded her parasol and, as if the nonexistent sun bothered her, allowed it to cover her. The doll was slightly amused by the theatrics of her own entrance. "If that did not catch the person's attention," she mumbled as she opened her piercing, golden eyes and stared at the cabin not too far away. "Please come out." Her voice sounded a bit more insistent than she had intended for it to, but it beat being too gentle. Besides, who knew what was behind those doors?

// 1029 words
// 20 GP
// 20 GP Total

Kasumi Shinoda

0 Posts

A Nice Interruption Jun 26, 2014 17:36:23 GMT -5

Post by Kasumi Shinoda on Jun 26, 2014 17:36:23 GMT -5

She didn't want to drink this. Perhaps it was time to head back to the mansion? The time spent here had been good and well, but she was growing bored and lonely, and above that hungry. Remembering how Koori had tried to teach the girl to cook, Kasumi sighed. Apparently she was less successful in that than she had thought. Sinking away in thoughts, her blue eyes went to the dancing flame as she put the cup back onto the counter. It would be nice to roam through Alex' lab again, even if the woman didn't like that too much, or pick a book in the giant library that seemed to have one on every possible subject. No wonder Alexandra hadn’t liked the idea of Kasumi practicing her powers in there, not even a little bit..

A tiny grin appeared on the girl's face, before something tore her away from her thoughts, bringing her back to reality. Someone was out there! She could feel it. It was outside, really close too. Excitement mixed with fear when she realized that this one didn't feel like a human. Neither did it feel like a Shinigami. There was something else about this presence. It vaguely reminded her of.. of Gina? Could it be?! Without giving it any further thoughts, the girl wrapped the scarf tightly around her neck before putting on her shoes. About to dash out of the cabin, a voice reached her ears, effortlessly going through the wood, causing her to stop dead in her tracks. This wasn't Gina. This voice wasn't a familiar one. The girl's heart was pumping erratically, forcing her to take a few deep breaths before opening the door. Of course she didn't want to appear weak, to appear scared or nervous. But she was. There was no denial that the kid felt agitated. Unsure about what to expect, she took a step forward carefully opening the door, exiting her safe haven.

"Hello?"

The white haired child was outside now, just as the being had requested. Soon enough the girl's blue gaze met the one, to whom the voice that had scared her so easily, belonged. Tilting her head to the side in a questioning manner, Kasumi studied the female, remaining on her porch. The snow had slowly started to melt. Now that Kasumi wasn't trying to maintain the area frozen, everything was starting to return to its usual state.

"Can I help you?"

While the first question that shot through her head had been 'who are you', she figured that it was better to be a bit more polite. The female's golden eyes didn't seem to hold any hostility. In the contrary, while they looked somewhat lifelessly, they also had something soft in them. This odd gaze was confusing Kasumi. She couldn't read those eyes. As the kid's pupils widened she studied the blonde cautiously and silently for a few moments. One could never know for sure what dangers were hidden within a stranger, even a kind looking one.

[Words: 503 – GP 10 – TGP 26]

Anise Am Vilde

236 Posts

A Nice Interruption Jun 30, 2014 13:34:13 GMT -5

Post by Anise Am Vilde on Jun 30, 2014 13:34:13 GMT -5

It appeared as if using an authoritarian tone did help! As soon as the young woman had finished speaking, something had moved inside the petite cabin in front of her. She could not see through the wooden panel, but used her inner eye, Pesquisa, to see the silhouette of this person while they trotted about inside this tiny establishment. What on earth had caused this person to traverse to this location alone? Twirling her parasol as she waited, the girl glanced at the lake underneath her. So still. Even if her feet had touched the surface of the water, it would have remained still. There was some ethereal beauty associated with this location. Unfortunately for the intruder, she could not witness this location in its most natural form yet. Covered in snow, the ground and its contents were concealed. In melting snow, well to note. The perpetrator behind this winter incident did not possess the strength to maintain such vast changes over longer periods of time, apparently.

The silhouette was on the move. She had first spotted it in the corner of her eye, but the movement caught her attention. So they had heard. Who could possibly possess such prodigious talent, yet such lacking in the ability to maintain the substance they had created. The young woman did not recall meeting all that many übermensch during her life, but the ones she did meet possessed powers that were seldom unrestrained. There was but one explanation then. A fairly logical one, as well. Most of these übermensch were born with their abilities. So it would be natural for them harness the results growing up, right? The girl doubted for a second. Maybe this was not it. Maybe the individual inside the cabin just happened to be an anomaly who had discovered their abilities later.

With her Pesquisa active, the young lady noticed that the energy was approaching the exit of the cabin. So they, whoever they were, had heeded her call. The outline of their figure seemed to be rather petite. The Arrancar had hypothesized correctly. A child with fair hair, so fair it was white, had opened the door, seemingly with hesitancy, as the woman had called out for her. The girl's eyes, filled with what appeared to be fear, tormented the young woman slightly. She had just commanded a child to come out because she had caught interest in the snow she had created. Heavens, how awful. Feeling guilty for acting this way, the young woman started floating from the center of the pond to solid land, not far away from where the young girl was standing. However, the Arrancar maintained her distance, suspecting that the girl would run away in fear if she approached too swiftly.

The girl, who had spoken instants earlier, seemed awfully polite. Here a stranger had abruptly entered her domain without any warning at all and she had responded with a polite question. Smiling at the girl, the young lady fashioned in traditional garments started to rotate the handle of her parasol with her fingers. "My, what manners you have. Truly remarkable for a child your age," the young woman stated as the canopy of the parasol twirled around and her feline eyes gleamed. "You are around 13, right?" The question came up as more of an assumption, but it was up to the child how she would interpret it. Realizing how petty of her it was to make remarks such as that, the young woman prepared to answer the question the child had posed.

"I apologize. I did not intend to ignore your question, sweet child," she initiated and bowed with eyes closed as a gesture of her regret. "You may help me with nothing... With the exception of your company. I sensed you from afar and figured that I would see what this most notable presence was with my own eyes." Eyes now open, the lady smiled once again, mouth closed as custom, and ceased playing with the parasol's handle.

"Agnes is my name," the doll stated. "May I inquire what yours is?" Feeling rather satisfied with her contribution to the conversation so far, as it had been her first with a human in quite some time, she still could not help but ponder about one particular observation. "May I also inquire what you are doing out here by yourself?"

// 728 words
// 14 GP
// 34 GP Total

Kasumi Shinoda

0 Posts

A Nice Interruption Jul 1, 2014 6:39:10 GMT -5

Post by Kasumi Shinoda on Jul 1, 2014 6:39:10 GMT -5

What was she?

A Shinigami was different. Besides, chances were really small that a Shinigami would have bothered to disturb Kasumi at random. The girl was always the one to bug them, not the way around. Was it a human? Someone like her? It might be. But?-

Her thoughts were interrupted again, this time by the image of the stranger moving closer. She floated! To Kasumi’s amazement she didn’t seem to use any energy platforms to move. Had she been able to wrap the reiryokou around her body to carry her this way? A tiny light of curiosity was already burning in the child’s blue eyes. They had barely met, and the girl was already bursting with questions. She would need to have patience and wait. What if the woman would get mad? Or hostile? Kasumi decided that talking about neutral things would be better than attacking her new companion with questions like ‘are you like me’.

Eyeing the parasol, Kasumi concluded that the woman disliked sun. A good thing, Kasumi didn’t really like it either, especially not the heat it brought. Her eyes tore from the accessory, shyly dancing to the woman’s face. The stranger’s first remark made her frown. But before the girl could react hurt about being ‘a child her age’, the woman said that she was 13. 13! That was a year older than she was! Had she grown? Kasumi suddenly beamed with pride, giving the woman a broad smile.

“I’m 12.”

Not that she actually minded the mistake. The older they thought that she was the better!

“Nice to meet you Agnes-san, I’m Shinoda Kasumi.”

Bowing in respect, she blinked a few times at the question posed. It must have looked odd, a 12 year old out here, away from all the others. Biting her bottom lip, Kasumi’s gaze slid over the melting snow around them. She had only been able to maintain it for so long. Wondering what the best way to explain her train of thoughts was, Kasumi took a few seconds to reply.

“I eh, was training.”

Perhaps that was a little bit vague. Opening the palm of her hand, she brought it closer to Agnes, before allowing a ball of ice to grow. It wasn’t big, about the size of a tennis ball; transparent with a light blue hue. Extending her other hand, she opened her palm, almost synchronous to the first one. Though this time, it wasn’t ice that formed itself in the palm of her pale hand, it was a pile of snow. Proud about the fact that she had learned to control her powers to this extent, Kasumi’s eyes jumped up to Agnes face.

“I thought that if I freeze the place and hmmm maintain it for as long as I can, my endurance might go up?”

Now that she said it out loud, the whole idea seemed a bit ridiculous.

“So nothing really special.. Ehm, please come in?”

Opening the door, the tiny human motioned for the woman to enter, then realized that the place was a bit of a mess. With the clothes being out of the closet, and the food still on the table.. What would Agnes think of her?!

“B-but I, hm it’s just. A bit of a mess.”

She quickly ended while staring at the wooden porch. As a sign of embarrassment, a blush spread itself over her cheeks. And she hoped that it would disappear, soon. Swallowing, the girl turned away, holding the door for the strange woman. Would she want something to eat?

“I have tea, and coffee, but no sugar. Do you want something to eat?”

Quickly getting over her embarrassment, Kasumi started to get enthusiastic again. A new found friend! Everyone that was different from the earth’s population, that didn’t include people like Kasumi and Amber, was interesting. They always knew things about other creatures, about other realms and other abilities. By the time that the door closed, Kasumi’s eyes were the size of saucers.

“If you want to, I can make you a sandwich, I’m just not..that eh good hmm at c-cooking.”

There it was again, the stupid blush. Kasumi could feel the heat on her cheeks when admitting that her cooking skills were lacking. Quickly making her way through the cabin she ended up in the kitchen part. Pulling the jacket from the chair next to where she had been sitting before, the girl folded it, before placing it on the couch. Then went back to the fridge and started to pull out whatever food she could find.

“There is.. ice cream?”

Turning around with the chocolate favored ice-cream, Kasumi grinned.

“It might be me, but yea, I just like ice-cream. Always. Even when it’s cold.”

Oh woah, she was rambling now. That was bad. Waiting for whatever answers Agnes would give; Kasumi placed some ham, another type of cheese, more tomatoes, grapes, and blueberry jam on the table, before making her way through the small kitchen to get the woman a cup. With her back toward the stranger she mumbled, while climbing on the counter in order to get to the cupboard.

“Sorry for my rambling.”

|Words: 860 – GP 17 – TGP 43|

Anise Am Vilde

236 Posts

A Nice Interruption Jul 3, 2014 7:42:13 GMT -5

Post by Anise Am Vilde on Jul 3, 2014 7:42:13 GMT -5

What an odd child.

The girl had frowned the instant she had remarked her manners. Had the girl thought that Agnes was sarcastic when she had commented on her manners? She certainly did not hope that was the case, as she had been honest! As honest as she was capable of being, at least. But then the child's face had changed, as she had remarked the child's age. It was as if the sun itself had risen in the girl's eyes. The girl was apparently only twelve years of age, but did that really matter to Agnes? Not really. She would have been a child in Agnes' eyes regardless of her age. The child had introduced herself shortly thereafter. Kasumi Shinoda. That was the name she went by. The child had bowed down before her, like a proper Japanese would do. Quite humored by this gesture, Agnes wished that she could cover her own smiling face with a folding fan. Alas, that accessory was currently attached to a pouch hanging along the obi enveloping her abdomen.

Odd, but certainly entertaining.

"Training?" Agnes mimicked the girl's response as she replied to her question. But as if Kasumi had read her mind, the girl had demonstrated her abilities in front of her very eyes. Ice and snow. As Agnes had expected, really. With such cold reiatsu, cryokinesis was, after all, the most likely candidate when it came to abilities.

"Nothing special?" Agnes questioned as she bent down to examine the ice closely. Immaculate work for a twelve year old. "Sweet child, I've seen Hol- Humans fail to manifest such magnificent powers." And Agnes spoke the truth, her truth, as she had initially intended to mention Hollows, but feared that it might frighten the girl. Who knew what kind of creatures this girl had encountered either way? It was not unusual for übermensch to attract the beasts of unnature, she recalled. The girl would just seem like a reishi-filled lunch to a sufficiently powerful Hollow.

Invited inside by the petite human, Agnes merely smiled as she followed suit. The cabin did not seem particularly big, but big was not necessarily synonymous with aesthetically appealing. Not that the hut was either. The girl dressed in the garbs of Yamato promptly folded her umbrella, as was custom when entering a house, and placed it near the entrance.

"A charming little cottage you got here."

Examining the roof of the room as Kasumi entered, Agnes smiled as she reached for the folding fan attached to her obi, loosened the string and removed it so she could hold it properly. "I would not call it messy; just homely." Smiling at the white-haired girl with her eyes closed, the woman held the folded fan in front of her mouth. The girl had offered something to eat for her as well! How kind. How well could a preteen cook, though?

"I do appreciate your offer, dearest Kasumi, but I had some mochi on my way up here, so I am not particularly hungry."

She analyzed the room with her restless eyes ands Agnes concluded that it had been some time since it had seen a woman's touch. Sure, the girl was still female. But she was just a girl, not yet a woman. "I would not decline a cup of tea, however, if you would be so kind!"

No sugar?

Well, perhaps that was for the best. That mochi ice cream seemed rather fattening, so maybe some pure tea would be a nice detox for her. "I could do sugar-free," she stated, still smiling behind the folded fan. The cravings had sated her sweet-tooth, so something bitter was surely not unwelcome at the moment. Coffee was a bit too bitter for her style, sandwiches too savory. Tea was just about bitter enough.

Still standing in the room, Agnes looked around for a place to sit. There was a sofa there, but she was uncertain if it would be considered rude to just sit without being granted permission first. However, since the girl had traversed to find something in the fridge, Agnes had decided that sitting down on the couch would not be such a bad idea. As the girl turned around, ice cream in hand, the doll still smiled, now sitting on the sofa.

Still a child in personality.

That was quite alright in her opinion, though, as the girl deserved to be a child a little longer. Sure, Kasumi had likely been thrown into the world of spirituality rather early and had been forced to become blossom earlier than most children. But it would not hurt if she retained some of that delightful innocence, right?

"Oh, you are by no means rambling," she stated to the girl, still with a perpetual smile plastered across her face. "I can hardly blame you for having an affinity for that frosty delight."

Suddenly recalling what she had stored in her pouch, Agnes grabbed it and unattached it from her obi. Slowly, the doll loosened the straps which kept it sealed and poured the contents into her hands. Sticky, slightly melted balls of mochi ice cream idly rolled out of the silk pouch and hit the surface of her skin.

"I stored these just in case I'd get hungry on my way home. Maybe you could cool them slightly so we can enjoy them in their optimal state?"

Reaching out, Agnes handed the sweets over to Kasumi. Let's see some fine precision now. The prospect of seeing powers being used for different purposes did intrigue Agnes and as such, she had craftily produced a situation where these differences would be most obvious. As she patiently waited for this Shinoda girl to work her Magic, Agnes figured that she would pose the one question that had been in the back of her mind since she had first detected the girl's aura.

"Am I the first of my kind that you have encountered?"

No longer smiling, the woman looked at the girl with a glimmer of anticipation in her eyes. "If you haven't, then my reiatsu may surely seem foreign to you." If you have, then I wonder what kind of monstrosity you encountered. Placing the folding fan on her lap, the woman kept staring at the girl. Did she know? Or did she not? She had seemed rather perplexed by her arrival. Maybe the petite thought that she was a human, like her. That mistake ought to be rectified.

"I am by no means among the living, girl. Are you familiar with the term 'Arrancar'?"

Agnes allowed the question to hover in the void, leaving the answer to the snow-haired girl.

// 1108 words
// 22 GP
// 56 GP Total

Kasumi Shinoda

0 Posts

A Nice Interruption Jul 3, 2014 20:06:58 GMT -5

Post by Kasumi Shinoda on Jul 3, 2014 20:06:58 GMT -5

Putting the cup on the counter, Kasumi started to brew some tea. It would be green tea, and the girl hoped that Agnes wouldn't mind it being slightly bitter. A few moments later, she approached the woman with the cup of tea in her right hand, holding it tightly. To her big surprise, Agnes produced ice cream mochi balls out of her purse. Blinking a few times, Kasumi took them carefully, while giving the young woman her tea. Looking at the partly melted balls of mochi ice in her hands, the girl simply started off with forming a layer of ice in her palms. This should prevent the ice-cream from melting any further, for now. Staring at it in doubt for a few moments, Kasumi's gaze went to Agnes, asking a wholly unrelated question.

"Where do you live?"

Could that be considered impolite? Throwing in a hesitant smile, the girl's eyes returned to the ice in her hands. Slowly, she tried to put more energy into her palms, freezing the tiny mochi that were abused by heat. It worked! Oh oh, she would need to stop before they would get too hard to eat. Or.. perhaps it was a bit too late for that.. Hurrying back to the counter, Kasumi picked up a plate and dropped the frozen mochi on it. Urghz. They would need to wait a bit before eating them now.. unless they wanted to lose their teeth.

"I think.. that I might have overdone it.. slightly."

With the plate in her hands, Kasumi made her way back to the couch. There, she placed the plate on the little wooden table in front of the couch, before grabbing one of the larger pillows. Thinking for a second, she put it on the ground and sat on it, making herself comfortable while facing Agnes. Perhaps she should have given them both a pair of chopsticks? Musing about that Kasumi got onto her feet again, walking around the couch into the kitchen area. She quickly roamed through the cupboards, found two pairs of wooden sticks and headed back, grabbing her tepid tea while doing so. In a matter of seconds the girl was back again, sitting down while putting the chopsticks on the table, just in case. The question that Agnes posed, forced the girl to look toward the woman's face again. Ah, so she had been sort of right. This was an Arrancar indeed. Hence the woman's presence was so alike Gina's. It also reminded the girl of Eleanor, Koudai's assistant.

"Yes, I just hmm, I thought that you guys had masks. So I couldn’t figure if you were one or not, because you don't have the fragments."

Unsure if it made any sense, Kasumi took a sip from her tea, before daring to meet Agnes' gaze again. She had such interesting eyes. Molten gold- Very different from Kasumi's blue ones.

"Or at least I don’t really..see it on you? Hence I thought that you might be like me, not completely, though similar. Different people have different reiatsu signatures, right? Yours is a bit off, I bet it could have been scary if you had wanted it to be. To be honest, I’m really bad at sensing others, so I simply might have missed it.”

Doubt crossed Kasumi’s face. Perhaps she had misunderstood Gina at some point? Maybe not all of their kind had fragments of masks left on them. Besides, had she just offended the woman by thinking that she could be a human? Deciding to be clear about it, Kasumi’s voice filled the little cabin once again.

“I meant no offence. You guys are different from us, humans, I know. Well I’m different from most of my kind too but hmm-.”

Putting her cup on the wooden table, she placed her forehead against the cold surface next to it. White hair fell around her face, covering it like a curtain. She was just making it worse, wasn’t she? Slightly rotating her head, the girl looked up at the female Arrancar through a veil of white hair. Hopefully she would see that Kasumi was just trying to be honest, without hurting the Arrancar’s feelings. As most of the time, the things simply came out wrong. Oh, how Kasumi hated these types of awkward situations! Lifting her head back up, she bit her lip while taking one of the mochi from the plate, about to pop it into her mouth, the girl decided against it, taking a neat bite. It was still hard, but edible. After having chewed on it for a few seconds, the girl grinned before exclaiming.

“These are delicious!”

Happily taking another bite, she munched on it with satisfaction, before swallowing and speaking up.

“What has brought you here though? I mean, not that I mind, I like meeting people, from everywhere.”

And with everywhere, she meant more than different countries.

|Words: 815 – GP 16 – TGP 59|

Anise Am Vilde

236 Posts

A Nice Interruption Jul 10, 2014 16:17:21 GMT -5

Post by Anise Am Vilde on Jul 10, 2014 16:17:21 GMT -5

The faint scent of the herbal leaves mixing with water teased Agnes' nostrils as she sat still on the sofa, prim and proper, while the white-haired youngster brewed some of that delightful liquid. The scent of tea, especially green tea, had always been a rather nostalgic sensation for the woman; it reminded her of her days in the district of Asakusa with the few geisha that remained. An old crone, spiritual in nature, had befriended her. With nowhere else to go, the forgotten one had been the aging artist's guest for many years. She had slept in their shrine, impersonated a nonexistent Kami and had tea sessions with the old lady. That is, until the lady unfortunately passed, like humans inevitably do. But the smell still brought forth memories of a happier era.

Accepting the couple with a smile, she expressed gratitude with a barely audible 'thank you'. Staring at Kasumi, who was now in the possession of the sticky delights, Agnes cautiously observed as she sipped some of the scalding substance. The girl had frozen her palm to maintain the ice cream inside the mochi. Absolutely exquisite, the doll mused as she placed the cup gently on the table. The tea was a bit too hot for her liking, so she figured that taking a few sips once in a while would not hurt. Out of the blue, the girl inquired of Agnes' current dwelling location. Smiling at the girl, Agnes realized that the question would bring forth unfortunate implications. "I am a vagabond," she stated, followed up by her attempting to sip some tea. "I live where I am welcome, in other words."

Staring at the girl as she attempted to cool down the mochi, Agnes attempted to feel the reiatsu the girl was exerting. It was surprisingly unstable, as far as she could notice, as the girl herself apparently lacked the ability to fine-tune it properly. Aaaand there the mochi turned into lumps of ice. Smiling at the girl, Agnes took another sip of the tea. Oh well. The treats were intended for the girl at this point, not herself; the doll had eaten her fill of the nauseating sweet snacks. She did not mind sharing it with the girl, if that was the kind of bribe required to soften her up. Still smiling, now with eyes closed, an internal chuckle emanated from her throat as she faced the girl.

"It's quite alright!" She initiated and opened her eyes to look at the girl. "I was just curious to see how your power would work under other circumstances!"

She blinked twice, as if confused, or at least pretending to be, when Kasumi responded to her question regarding the existence of Arrancars. So she knew about their species. Intriguing. Apparently, Agnes' lack of bone fragments had caused the girl to be uncertain about her status. Realizing that it would be far easier to show the girl rather than telling her, the doll put the cup on the wooden surface of the table and stroked the hair covering her right ear, placing the locks behind her ear. A droplet-shaped earring of bone attached to the lobe was now visible in plain sight. "I do have fragments," she giddily stated as the hair slipped in front of tissue once more. "They are just very small. I have one on my other ear too, but it would be pointless to show it, as both fragments are identical."

Giggling loudly, Agnes covered her mouth with the fan as she stared at the girl who was growing increasingly embarrassed with what she perceived as social ineptitude. The girl had faceplanted on the surface of the table after stating that the Arrancar were different from humans. Sometimes, blurting out obvious statements could be considered quaint.

This was not one of those situations.

Because Arrancars and humans were quite different from one another. The first and most prominent of these differences would frankly be the fact that the Arrancars were all dead. There were other menial differences as well, such as the Arrancar being controlled by a single, predominant aspect, but again, menial differences and the likes. Oh, except for the times when their personality-defining attribute hindered them from interacting with others. Agnes was not like her those members of her brethren at all. She did, to the best of her own understanding, comprehend basic human interaction to a level where she could be considered to be similar to them.

At last the tea's temperature had sunk to a point where it was adequately drinkable, the woman deduced, as she took a sip. The acidic beverage only stung a bit in her throat when she swallowed it. The mochi's temperature had too changed, as Agnes was able to deduce as she observed Kasumi reluctantly chewed on one of the circular delights. "I'm pleased to hear that you like them!" Agnes exclaimed and started to fan her face. "I had my fill prior to being invited here, so eat to your heart's content." Observing the child, Agnes was pleased with the effect the mochi had on the white-haired human.

"I am here to visit some friends," Agnes stated between the sips. "It has been quite a while since I last saw them. Then your reiatsu caught my attention, as I mentioned, and here I am!" Agnes placed the empty cup on the table, feeling satisfied as the warmth of the liquid flowed through her. "I must thank you for the tea. It was quite delicious," Agnes sent a beaming smile in the direction of the girl. Befitting of their current jargon, Agnes did in turn question the girl.

"What kind of other activities do you engage in while here?" Awaiting the child's response, Agnes rose from her position, a rose rising from the flower bed, and floated over the the parasol she had purposely left near the entrance. Picking it up with great dexterity, Agnes twirled the contraption around and allowed it to rest on her left shoulder, still folded.

"You were intending to train some more, yes?"

For a brief moment, her intonation fluctuated between the soft, contralto to a more shrill octave inexplicably.

And Agnes had not even noticed it.

"I suppose it wouldn't be unreasonable of me to ask if you wanted my assistance?"

Standing firm next to the door, it appeared as if Agnes was determined to go outside, no matter what the hostess thought.

// 1073 words
// 21 GP
// 77 GP Total

Kasumi Shinoda

0 Posts

A Nice Interruption Jul 11, 2014 8:33:40 GMT -5

Post by Kasumi Shinoda on Jul 11, 2014 8:33:40 GMT -5

A vagabond?

Thinking about it, Kasumi wondered what that was like. At some point in her life, Kasumi had been homeless as well, though not by choice. Unless.. Did Agnes somehow lose her home as well? Before she had thought everything through, Kasumi lips already moved.

“You can stay here if you want to.”

Curiously listening, Kasumi studied the earring that was shown to her. Earrings.. but of course! Just like Eleanor’s glasses! A tiny smile formed on Kasumi’s lips when she carefully took another mochi. Her eyes were still glued to the fragments. Apparently, the second one would look like a droplet as well. Kasumi nodded while taking a bite from the sweetness in her hand. Having given up on the chopsticks, she figured that it was alright to eat them like this as well.

“They look pretty.”

She commented between the bites. It was interesting to know that the fragments could be so obvious at times, and sometimes so subtle. Was there a reason for that? Perhaps it depended on their power, or their personality? Now that she thought about it, Kasumi figured that she had no idea how they made them. Weylin had told her that the masks represented the hearts that had become what they were when the soul ‘died’. But that was for Hollows.. Arrancars were different from them. They were the next step, the stronger Hollows. Couldn’t it be that they carved their own masks then? Realizing that she had been staring for a few moments too long, Kasumi shyly turned her head to the side. Staring wasn’t polite.

Thinking about Weylin made Kasumi realize how much he would have hated this encounter. The Quincy hated the Hollows, and the Arrancars. But Agnes was kind. Of course the white haired man would have pointed out what he had told her before. They seem kind. They never are truly good. What was his advice on meeting Arrancars? Run? An odd grin appeared on the girl’s face. Running, yea. And she was having a tea party with this one. Incredible.

“You’re welcome!”

Kasumi automatically replied, while her mind was still floating around, having an argument with itself. Anise wouldn’t want to ‘eat’ Kasumi, she ate mochi! Yea! There was no reason to be afraid, not really. With some effort, Kasumi managed to let go of the paranoid thoughts, giving her attention to her guest once again. The woman appeared to be amused most of the time, and Kasumi wondered why. Debating whether to pose the question that lingered on Kasumi’s lips, the girl was too late when the woman took the lead. Gracefully getting up, she made her way to the door, leaving Kasumi’s mind in a knot. The only thing she did around here was reading, ‘training’ –if one could call it like that, struggling with the violin and eating.

“I- eh yea. I did plan to practice a bit more.”

Unsure about where this was going, Kasumi got up, and picked up the dishes before carrying them to the kitchen island. Her brain was trying to figure out what Agnes might be implying. She didn’t need to think for long, because the Arrancar simply voiced her intention. Swallowing, Kasumi left the dishes before picking up her blue scarf and heading toward the exit. Would this be a good idea? Carefully, her eyes sought the woman’s face. There was a trace of worry in Kasumi’s blue orbs when she met Agnes’ golden gaze. It was fun to have someone to train with. She always seemed to learn more when there was someone else around. They helped her, gave her advice, or simply pushed her a bit more than she pushed herself. Though what if.. What if the Arrancar would hurt her?

A shiver ran down her spine, and Kasumi tried to act casual, ignoring it. With her shoes put on and the scarf around her neck, the girl looked at the Arrancar’s face once again. She wasn’t mean, she wasn’t bad. She was just offering to help. Nodding, Kasumi pushed the stiffness out of her body, forcing herself to move.

“That would be cool. I’ve never really trained with an Arrancar before.”

Once they were outside, Kasumi shuffled from side to side. How would Agnes help her? Instructing from the side, or would she engage in a spar with the girl? That would be awesome! Excited by the idea of a spar, Kasumi’s smile grew wider. Having practiced her initial power before, the girl thought that putting some more time into Hebi would be a good idea.

Relaxing, she dragged the energy out of her body, coating herself in tendrils of silvery reiatsu. They wrapped around her with ease, though this didn’t mean that their protection had become better. Covered in her own energy from head to toe, she hesitated for a second. This was getting even worse! Instead of running, the girl was trying to get into a spar with an Arrancar. Weylin would probably strangle her if he knew about it. Alex-.. she might have laughed. She understood so much more, knew so much more.

“I’m ready.”

Everything should be fine. Unless Agnes would decide to break her bones just for fun, or kill her. Sweating a bit from the thoughts, Kasumi’s demeanor wavered for a moment, but her fists remained in front of her, high enough to cover her face if the Arrancar would choose to punch it.

|Words: 906 – GP 18 – TGP 77|

Anise Am Vilde

236 Posts

A Nice Interruption Jul 16, 2014 7:10:24 GMT -5

Post by Anise Am Vilde on Jul 16, 2014 7:10:24 GMT -5

Unsurprisingly, the child had appeared insecure when Agnes had proposed a sparring session. They had only just met, after all. She had gotten the impression that the child had little to no experience with Arrancar, however, and such a fear was rather unjustified at the moment. Another kind of fear was still appropriate. Agnes suspected that the girl was feeling a sense of dread not based on racial prejudices. No, this was more likely xenophobia. The doll represented a sense of ill-informed insecurity to the girl, for she did not know what Agnes could do. On the other hand, Agnes did actually have a general idea regarding Kasumi's powers; at the very least her current powers. Perhaps, in the heat of the battle the child kissed by winter would awaken another aspect of her abilities.

Smirking at the thought, Agnes strolled over to the pond and glanced at the melting snow surrounding them. It was as if the summer attempted to reclaim the area Kasumi had condemned to winter. And was succeeding. Seasons were funny like that. Glancing at the girl standing behind her, closer to the house, Agnes analyzed the reiatsu that was now coating her. The reishi exerted by the girl was vaguely reminiscent of tentacles. Smirking at the girl as she prepared for a round of amicable tussling, Agnes closed her eyes.

"Even the blossoming flowers~"

Agnes voice, distorted by the lack of resound, was still quite clear as the tones trilled alongside the syllables in this line. Her body started to rotate as she sung, eyes still closed. Only the tips of her geta touched the ground as the doll's idle spinning started to pick up its pace.

"Will eventually scatter~"

Continuing her poem recital, Agnes refrained from opening her eyes as her spinning gradually intensified.

"Who in our world~"

The initially mellow display, which Agnes hoped would mesmerize the girl, increased its speed. Caught in the blur of agility, the floral pattern of her kimono became petals trapped in a vortex.

"Is unchanging~"

Originally, this line had been a question, but Agnes came to the conclusion that questions would sound strange when chanting a poem out loud.

"The deep mountains of vanity--"

"We cross them daily~"

"And we shall not see superficial dreams~"

"Nor be deluded."

After singing fifth, sixth and seventh lines with an increasing tempo, the eight was merely spoken; no extensive oral activity involved. Ceasing to spin abruptly, Agnes' body made an unexpected turn; it was now headed straight towards the unsuspecting Kasumi, who had just declared that she was ready. This was just one of those situations where Agnes usually would avoid striking first. But the prospect of teaching the white-haired girl the harsh realities of combat was far too tempting, even for her. It was usually her job to give into temptation, but this was for the good of another person, so it would be appropriate, right?

Right?

Her body a missile in movement, Agnes had flung herself face first towards Kasumi's initial position. Having folded her parasol prior to executing this sneaky maneuver, she raised it front of her, intent on hitting the girl with the tip.

Perhaps it was unnecessary to be this showy in their initial encounter. But as far as Agnes could remember, she liked being showy. Always wearing fancy clothes, fancy accessories. Something that would cause people to notice and remember her. Maybe a maneuver in which her canopy contraption would knock Kasumi off her feet would make Agnes all the more memorable to the girl. Especially if she actually knew which poem she was reciting, but for goodness sake, the girl was Japanese! She should know it.

If not, she would have to teach her.

As she accelerated her speed, almost reaching the girl surrounded by cold tendrils of Reiatsu, Agnes unleashed one of her characteristic giggles.

"Regardless of how ridiculous an opponent may seem, never underestimate them," she stated as her parasol homed in on Kasumi's abdomen, intent to strike. "Even if they recite something as simple as Iroha."

// 676 words
// 13 GP
// 90 GP Total

Kasumi Shinoda

0 Posts

A Nice Interruption Jul 18, 2014 6:40:21 GMT -5

Post by Kasumi Shinoda on Jul 18, 2014 6:40:21 GMT -5

Agnes’ words echoed through her mind. They were unfamiliar, causing Kasumi’s eyes to narrow while she tried to figure out the meaning behind them. Obviously, this was a poem. Though.. that’s as far as the white haired child got, because she didn’t know it. Neither did she get much time to figure it out. Soon, the spinning stopped and the Arrancar gracefully moved toward her, fast. Too fast! Not used to someone actually attacking her, Kasumi’s feet remained where they were. Her eyes widened in fear, and she closed them in some desperate attempt to protect herself from what was about to come. Idiot! She had to open her eyes; this wasn’t a solution, far from it, this was the most retarded thing to do! With her fists still up in front of her face, the young girl forced herself to hesitatingly open her eyes. Blue orbs widened as they watched the Arrancar move closer at a high speed. Seeing how the woman brought her parasol in front of her body; Kasumi’s heart skipped a beat. There wasn’t any time left to dodge the assault, no real way to counter it either. Kasumi wasn’t even sure if she could move that fast, even if she would push her body to its limit. Perhaps she could have blocked it, if she hadn’t been so scared. Why was she scared? She was the one that had wanted this, agreed on this. Her mind was a complete mess, some turmoil of thoughts, ones she couldn't even comprehend well. One word broke her out of it, cutting through her, putting her back in the here and now.

“Iroha?”

Blinking up toward the Arrancar, she felt the tip of the parasol hit her right in the abdomen. It hurt. But not much more than some hits that she had taken during the martial arts practice, perhaps even less. Unbalanced by the blow, Kasumi stumbled backward before falling on the ground in a sitting position. Rubbing the sore spot for a moment, she realized that Agnes wasn’t ‘evil’. This wasn’t a fight, it was a friendly scuffle. The female Arrancar wasn’t actually trying to hurt her. And Kasumi had to trust her that she wouldn’t do it in the future either.

“Oh!”

The sound left her lips together with her breath, before Kasumi pushed off the ground and got up again. Ice formed in the right palm of her hand, the energy gently swirled before manifesting into a ball the size of a little melon. Maybe, this could be a little distraction..? Without thinking further, she threw it at the woman’s head as fast as she could, then took off running. Pretty sure that the ball wouldn’t cause any damage, Kasumi started to feel excited again. Step by step, her feet carried her around the Arrancar. Trying to go as fast as she could, to gain speed, Kasumi held her breath when appearing behind Agnes. A split of a second later, the girl jumped; aiming her foot at the woman’s left shoulder. Putting some more energy into her motions, she accelerated while doing so. A vague green track was left from the spot she had been standing on all the way to where she was now. Hopefully, the speed would help her with her kick, producing more damage, if any at all. The tendrils were tightly wrapped around her body, with the thickest part being around her limbs. Kasumi couldn’t deny that there was still a lot of room for improvement in that section. Every time she had to fight, a portion of her concentration went elsewhere, allowing the tendrils to shift a bit, leaving her torso more vulnerable than the rest of her body.

|Words: 619 – GP 12 – TGP 89|

Anise Am Vilde

236 Posts

A Nice Interruption Jul 23, 2014 4:31:08 GMT -5

Post by Anise Am Vilde on Jul 23, 2014 4:31:08 GMT -5

Dull surprise.

That was all that occupied her mind at the moment. The girl had no heard of Iroha. Likely the closest to a Japanese equivalent of the Latin alphabet. Someone really ought to teach this girl. Maybe Agnes could do so after their sparring session. It didn't sounds like an awful idea, although it still had to pass the test of audibility; most suggestions might sound fantastic in theory, but more often than not, these ideas would sounds horrendous when spoken out loud. To the best of Agnes' knowledge, Kasumi did not have any ink available. Botching the syllabus with dull pencils was not Agnes' list of activities, nor would it likely ever be.

But still. The girl needed to learn Iroha.

After her partner had been struck by her folded parasol, the doll stood in front of the baffled girl, whose rump was cushioned on the ground, and stared. Again, dull surprise. With a single push from the folded canopy, Kasumi's body had yielded. In the child's defense, she was just that: a child. But she was also something more. A spiritual being, to be more precise.

Mayhap she had expected too much from a mere cocoon.

Smiling at the baffled girl on the ground, Agnes awaited a reaction; any reaction would do. If their battle ended up primarily consisting of moments akin to this, the doll figured that instructing the girl would most likely be more efficient. Placing the parasol's tip on the ground, she supported both of her hands on the handle. Not that she complained, though. It had been some time since her last fight and a slow start was nicer than she liked to admit.

As soon as this thought had crossed her mind, her opponent had gotten up and thrown something in her direction. Swiftly raising her fist, Agnes fired a crude Bala towards the object. Clashing with the other projectile, the Bala dissipated as it came in contact with the opposing force. An orb of ice hit the ground in the wake of the collision and shattered upon impact.

So much for a slow start.

The girl had even attempted to distract her with her powers and had stealthily maneuvered around her body to attack her from behind. That much was obvious. So she had regained her thirst for combat once more. An assault from the behind. A tactically clever girl for someone her age. Removing the parasol cemented in the gravel, the woman flipped it over her shoulder, prepared for whatever would strike her in the back.

Soon afterwards, what was likely her partner's leg, struck the folded canopy with great force. Just how fast had the girl accelerated? Peering over her shoulder, Agnes responded to the attempted assault with a good-natured smile. "A clever ploy," she initiated as she pushed the leg away from the parasol, twirling around in the process. "But I cannot let a girl who doesn't even know Iroha catch me red-handed."

Teasing Kasumi as she now faced her, Agnes opened her parasol and allowed it to rest on her shoulder. From here and onward, what was the best move, hmm? Or rather, the move that would force the girl to move around the most.

Aha! Epiphany.

Raising her right arm to shoulder length, she started to gather Reishi in the center of her palm. The orb of gilded gleam started to expand gradually as the Reishi became denser, gradually becoming more dangerous. "Ever seen a Cero?" Agnes asked casually, disregarding the potent energy swelling in front of her hand.

"As far as they go, this one will be rather weak. It's not charged at all." Tilting her head slightly, the doll attempted to send a reassuring smile in the direction of her sparring partner.

And then she pushed forwards, releasing the horizontal column of energy in the direction of Kasumi.

The thrills~! Oh, the thrills. Would she dodge? Or would she block? Agnes was positively certain that the decision would humor her either way.

// 668 words
// 13 GP
// 103 GP Total

Kasumi Shinoda

0 Posts

A Nice Interruption Jul 24, 2014 9:38:29 GMT -5

Post by Kasumi Shinoda on Jul 24, 2014 9:38:29 GMT -5

It hit!

Her foot had caught its target, in a way. The Arrancar had used her parasol to defend herself from the blow. She didn’t even move away from it! Kasumi’s eyes could see a smile forming on the woman’s lips when the latter tilted her head to the side, in order to see Kasumi. Almost gently Kasumi’s foot was pushed away, causing her to turn around and land on her other one, while hearing the teasing statement. Judging by Agnes’ words, Iroha seemed to be pretty important. That or the Arrancar was just laughing with her. Perhaps even both. Slightly embarrassed about her lack of knowledge, Kasumi averted her eyes, staring at the ground for a few moments before snapping out of it. While Agnes paused her speech, Kasumi moved, using the time given to her to jump back. This allowed her to create some space between herself and her opponent. There was still a soft blush on her cheeks, and the girl decided that she would find out what Iroha was when this sparring session was over. Kasumi didn’t like it when people made fun out of her, and even while Agnes didn’t, she still felt the tiny jab that had stung her pride.

Cero?

The word echoed through Kasumi’s head, forcing her eyes to dart toward Agnes. What was she talking about? Digging through her memory, Kasumi wasn’t able to link anything to that word. Softly, she shook her head from side to side, hair swinging a bit, indicating that she wasn’t sure what the woman was on about. Soon, her eyes got sucked toward the energy that was gathering in the palm of the Arrancar’s hand. Gulping, she tried to remain calm. What was this? The words that came from the Arrancar’s lips seemed to be reassuring. Did she somehow know that Kasumi was hesitant about ‘fighting’, scared and unsure about what might come next?

However, she didn’t have to wait for long in order to see what was coming next. A strange sound accompanied the release of the energy ray that quickly headed her way. Kasumi’s eyes widened. How was she supposed to stop something like this? Should she move and try to dodge it? But wouldn’t running be stupid? Weylin had instructed her to run away, if she would ever cross paths with an Arrancar. But running wouldn’t make her better at anything, except from running, right? And one couldn’t possibly run forever, no?

Gritting her teeth, Kasumi concentrated. As fast as she could, Kasumi tore out the energy she felt running through her veins. Her eyes closed, falling quickly, looking deep, her arms extending toward the silvery ball of energy inside of her, tapping into it. Everything felt cool on her skin, like ice cold water. Then she grabbed it, tugging at the energy before her bright eyes opened again. The tiny tendrils on her skin had formed multiple snake-like shapes; they quickly grew, turning into the size of trees, crawling around the girl. Pure energy, disguised as beasts, danced back and forth, and when the cero was about to hit her, all three of them rushed forward, crashing into the crimson ray. What followed wasn’t something Kasumi had expected. Dust filled the air when the forces exploded. The blast wasn’t ridiculously strong, but caused some damage to the area anyway. Twigs and little stones flew all around them, while Kasumi got thrown back a bit by the force. Yet again, the girl found herself sitting on the ground. Coughing a few times, the white haired child got up onto her feet, rubbing her eyes, before trying to see something. It didn’t take more than a few seconds for the dust and sand to settle down, everything was back to its original state, peaceful, everything except from Kasumi’s excitement.

“Agnes-san, that cero thing is awesome!”

She squealed, while studying the little crater that was left from the collision. Shreds of silvery energy were still coating Kasumi, and she had to concentrate on bringing the lost parts back, to make sure that all of her body was covered in it again. The little tendrils were rapidly crawling up her arms, but didn’t seem to grow bigger than the few inches they were now, wavering around the girl’s skin. Getting the few twigs out of her hair, Kasumi ran toward Agnes, before accelerating for the last few steps, trying to hit the Arrancar with right her foot, this time, aiming for the woman’s left hip. All sorts of thoughts ran through the girl’s head while she pushed off the ground. What if Agnes would grab her?! A sudden flash of panic could be seen in her blue eyes, but she quickly pushed it back. It was too late for that anyway, she would have to wait and see. Battles were unpredictable.

|Words: 806 – GP 16 – TGP 105|

Anise Am Vilde

236 Posts

A Nice Interruption Jul 28, 2014 9:38:27 GMT -5

Post by Anise Am Vilde on Jul 28, 2014 9:38:27 GMT -5

So the girl had finally started to enjoy herself.

Even though the Cero had initially caused the girl to panic, she had handled the situation surprisingly well for someone of her age and experience. It did not seem like she had ever seen a Cero before, judging by her reaction as the gilded beam had shot forwards, intent on damaging everything in its way. Having observed the girl's counteraction, Agnes deduced that her instinctual skill was relatively high in comparison to her ability to use precise cryokinesis. Without the ability to fine-tune her skill, the girl's techniques would likely remain raw in nature and crude in appearance.

Which was in fact something the girl could live with. She controlled ice, not fire. It was not like she was going to end up offing herself due to lack of control. Besides, Kasumi was first and foremost very young and had plenty of time to improve her skill. And likely plenty of partners, tutors and friends to hone these skills with. Unlike Agnes herself. The doll had to start from scratch. No friends, no enemies, no allies. Perhaps she could pose as the fool who had previously inhabited the body to gain some of her contacts.

But that seemed unlikely. She did not know of the whereabouts of this Erasmus, whom Anise apparently was infatuated with, nor did she really want to know. He seemed like a tedious fellow.

As the debris released by the collision of the Cero and the frozen serpents was released indiscriminately, Agnes stood still, observing the dust settling as her clothes reassumed their position prior to the impact. Shock waves were such a hassle. On the opposite side of the crater left by the explosion, her sparring partner, Kasumi, was situated. Awestruck, the girl was now staring at the caldera left by the clash of spiritual beings in combat. Amicable combat, well to note. If they had been fighting with the intent of death behind their actions, the landscape would be far more ravaged than it was currently.

They had just initiated this round of mock-combat, as well. There would definitely be room for more actions. From both sides.

Upon hearing Kasumi's ecstatic exclamation regarding the nature of the Cero, Agnes stifled a giggle and stared at the girl, smile concealed by her sleeve, yet revealed by her eyes. "I am glad that you like it," she stated, her contralto voice straining her vocal range with a high pitch. "I got plenty more in store." It was unlikely that the majority of her arsenal would be showcased in simple combat like this. Especially against someone of Kasumi's level of skill; battle was not one of her everyday activities either, so Agnes figured that honing her rusty basic skills would be fairly nice.

With great impatience, or rather enthusiasm, her opponent had flung herself forwards, towards Agnes again, to keep the momentum of the battle consistent. Which Agnes honestly did not mind. Since miss Shinoda was hellbent on keeping the pace as intense as possible, the doll figured that stepping up her game would not be the worst of ideas at the moment. Perhaps she could devise some ingenious counter to whichever move the girl was planning to execute now.

If she were to judge by the previous assault executed by the girl, this attack would too be physical in nature. She sure is fond of physical combat. Still supporting the parasol with her right arm, she started to twirl it around once more, causing the canopy to rotate idly.

The sheer speed of the strike had surprised her.

The leg of the opponent had shot out, a missile of flesh and bones, and hit her hip directly, as was likely intended. Since Agnes had not reacted at all, Kasumi had been free to strike whichever location on Agnes' body she desired. Among all these locations, it was apparently her left hip that had been the designated target. Unfortunately for the girl, the strike had barely caused Agnes to move at all; it could hardly be described as painful either. Kudos to the girl for actually trying, though!

As the foot was still stuck to her body, Agnes grinned and grabbed it with her left hand, which was free to roam. Her piercing golden eyes stared straight into the deep blue pools on Kasumi's face.

"My turn."

With only these two words uttered, Agnes pulled her arm back in a slow motion, and then hastily moved it forwards to throw the girl in her grip into the air. Thus far, the two of them had kept the battle primarily on the ground, but spiritual beings were renowned for being able to take tussles like this into the air as well. Gathering Reishi underneath her feet, Agnes propelled herself into skies, staying underneath the girl she had thrown into the air.

Clenching her fingers together, the doll balled her left hand into a fist. Yellow Reishi started to gather around the delicate limb as she punched the air and released a fist-sized bullet of dense energy headed straight for Kasumi's abdomen.

// 852 words
// 17 GP
// 120 GP Total

Kasumi Shinoda

0 Posts

A Nice Interruption Jul 28, 2014 15:09:56 GMT -5

Post by Kasumi Shinoda on Jul 28, 2014 15:09:56 GMT -5

Oh god! Oh my! Oh no!

It was as if the mere thought about Agnes’ next possible action had caused the Arrancar to do just that! Could Agnes read her mind? Did the woman possess some telepathic ability?

The girl had felt a rush of adrenaline when her foot had hit its target. But all the excitement quickly left her body when the Arrancar’s fingers wrapped themselves around her leg. This was a rather uncomfortable position to be stuck in. While Kasumi’s left foot was firmly planted on the ground, providing her with stability, it also trapped her. She couldn’t fall, no, but neither could she move away. There was no way to dodge of flee if Agnes would decide to deliver a blow. Lifting her gaze from the woman’s hip to her face, Kasumi found something that resembled amusement in the Arrancar’s golden eyes.

Due to some reason, Agnes didn’t even react to the kick. She hadn’t moved even an inch! Standing there as if Kasumi hadn’t even touched her, not to mention kicked. What in the world was she made of?!

Steal?

Concrete?!

Questioning blue eyes stared back at Agnes, whose amusement only seemed to increase. Kasumi could see it by the way the Arrancar’s eyes changed. What was so funny about this situation? The girl couldn’t pinpoint the cause of her opponent’s amusement right away, and didn’t get much more time to pounder upon it. Soon, the grip tightened. Expecting a kick, or a punch, Kasumi’s body tensed up. Her eyes narrowed, but she managed to keep them open. It would hurt, but she would survive it. How was she supposed to fight if she was scared of pain?

Grow up!

A tiny voice growled in the back of Kasumi’s head, trying to encourage herself to keep her eyes open. In a way it worked, but the blow didn’t come. Instead, the Arrancar effortlessly threw Kasumi in the air. This was sure as hell not something the girl had expected. Her eyes widened in confusion as she saw the ground move away.

Oh, woah, oh my god!

Her limbs swung back and forth, and Kasumi felt like some ragged doll, being thrown in the air like that. With a hammering heart, Kasumi rapidly sucked in some air, watching the Arrancar move. Agnes was rapidly heading into her direction, gathering some energy in her.. hand? Or was it in front of her?

Another cero?

Pushing her brain to work faster, Kasumi wondered if she could pull off another reiryoku outburst. Though, the amount of time to think was quite limited now. It didn’t look like the cero from before. It was smaller, and hella quicker! As the ball of energy advanced, Kasumi wondered if a layer of ice would be enough to stop it. If not, that could turn out to be nasty! And painful!

The girl gritted her teeth, dodging it is! Trying to accelerate in mid-air wasn’t something Kasumi hadn’t done before, though it wasn’t something that came natural either. As quickly as she could, Kasumi formed a reishi platform beneath her, pushing off in order to dodge the bullet of energy, but she was too slow. The thing hit her in the right thigh, burning and stinging her in the process.

“Ssssssssss-.”

She hissed, before realizing that she was tumbling toward the ground. Turning around, she managed to create another platform, stabilizing herself on it a few yards above the ground. Her thigh stung, and her bottom lip quivered a bit, but she kept her stance. A thin layer of ice was already covering the ‘injured’ area. The wound wasn’t all that bad; the dense layer of reiryoku had protected her for the most part. Kiriko had instructed to keep up the energy together with its density in battle, while moving. It was easier said than done, but Kasumi managed to stay engulfed in the silvery substance this time. Why had the woman made it seem so easy? Perhaps Shunko wasn’t made for the living? Then again, this wasn’t Shunko, this was Hebi!

Quickly forming two long spears, one in each hand, Kasumi aimed for Agnes, before letting the first one fly as hard as she could. The spear wasn’t all that detailed. She would have to work on details later on; she would need to work out how to create finer things. But the five foot long chunk of ice had a sharp side; hence it was enough for Kasumi to label it a spear. Without waiting for the first one to hit or miss, Kasumi pushed off, running toward Agnes with the other spear next to her side. The green tracks she left dissolved as quickly as they appeared. Rotating the spear of ice, Kasumi tried to stab the woman’s right shoulder with the pointy edge when she was close enough.

|Words: 808 – GP 16 – TGP 121|

Anise Am Vilde

236 Posts

A Nice Interruption Aug 10, 2014 9:06:25 GMT -5

Post by Anise Am Vilde on Aug 10, 2014 9:06:25 GMT -5

A stranded fish flopping back and forth.

That was what the sight of Kasumi attempting to move about in the air reminded Agnes of. The girl was obviously rather unaccustomed with aerial combat, so it was to be expected. However, to achieve great results, one would often have to push people out of their comfort zones, sometimes even into minefields; more frequently than not metaphorical minefields. The prospect of sending this child into a minefield in the most literal sense sounded gruesome in its own right. A metaphorical one, however, was something Agnes was comfortable putting the Shinoda-girl through.

Even if it required stinging her repeatedly with weapons as sharp as swords.

Because sometimes life gave you lemons. Conventionally, one would make lemonade with these lemons. But what if one only has these lemons at hand? No sugar, no water. What then? Only lemons. With the bare basics, lemonade was but an abstraction in the distance.

Eat the lemons. Savor the acidic juice as it erodes the teeth and burns the throat. And when finished, the lemons will be gone.

Repressed, at the very least.

As much as she resented to admit it, Agnes was now giving Kasumi lemons. Regardless of how much pain the girl was in right now, she could create lemonade with the blood, sweat and tears her body excreted. A shame that she didn't have any sugar in the house, though. A bitter lemonade would have to suffice this time.

While it was indubitably unpleasant to hand lemons to another person, she did not do this out of spite; she did this out of the goodness in her heart. Kasumi would benefit from these lemons at a later date. She was certain of it.

Expressionlessly, Agnes observed the girl, who was now floating in the middle of the air, still a fish on land, as the Bala headed straight towards her. Perhaps her decision to commit such an action unannounced was a bit on the brutal side. It was just one Bala! That attack would be much weaker than her Cero, which Kasumi had managed to deflect. Then again, the girl currently seemed to be too occupied with making herself accustomed with the air.

Much to Agnes' satisfaction, Kasumi did apparently manage to react to the incoming projectile! But too late to avoid it completely. Due to the trajectory in which the girl's body moved, Agnes was unable to discern the specific location where the Bala had hit. She did see sparks of yellow Reishi ricochet off the surface of the white-haired girl as her body changed direction, now on crash course with Earth. Preparing for an eventual long-distance counterattack, Agnes gripped the handle of the parasol with both hands, now unfolded. If the girl decided to attack from afar, repelling the attacks would not be too much of a hassle.

If she decided to come up close, however, Agnes would be in a bit more of a pickle. Eyeing the girl from above, the doll's immaculate face, not a trace of emotion detectable, seemed fairly indifferent to the entire ordeal. Even as Kasumi managed to manifest a platform in the air to cement her position. Even as her opponent had thrown a spear of ice, constructed through cryokinesis, in her direction. Even as the opponent now rushed towards her with an identical spear in hand, intent on strike.

But her body had reacted.

The first spear, which had been thrown by Kasumi, was well aimed. But a mere aerial sidestep was enough to evade such a weapon. It was not a particularly large step either. Kudos to Kasumi, however, as the spear was merely a hair's breadth away from striking her, even as she had stepped aside. The frontal assault which Kasumi was currently leading could be described as an entirely different ordeal. The first spear, which evidently was supposed to distract Agnes, had failed miserably at doing so. Especially since the woman had seen Kasumi form two spears--she had known from the get-go that Kasumi had another spear which she could use as a weapon.

At least the girl had not decided to throw both of them. That'd just be a waste of time. The thrust of the sharp spear was met by a parry with the hilt of Agnes' parasol. "You should pick up your pace," she stated flatly, with no hint of disapproval or joy in her voice. "Your first spear was not fast enough to distract me." With a swift pushing motion, Agnes forced herself and Kasumi apart.

The girl needs reassurance. Children do feed on positive feedback.

She had been too harsh towards the girl with her lack of emotional response and nitpicky attitude. Kasumi was new to the scene of combat, for crying out loud! Her eyes, previously devoid of emotion, lit up before they closed as Agnes' face twisted into a smile. "Don't get me wrong. Your plan was in principle really good! You just need to work on its execution." For practice made perfect--at least something vaguely reminiscent of perfect.

Condensing Reishi underneath her feet, the woman's body sunk a bit into the air, as if it was bog, before it sprung forth, now heading towards Kasumi. With a swift movement, Agnes unfolded her parasol, causing the canopy to spring forth like a flower and attempted to swipe Kasumi with her uncanny weapon. However, behind the parasol, Agnes had let go of the handle with one hand and was gathering Reishi around her free index finger.

As she finished swiping to the left, her body, formerly concealed by the petal of this peculiar flower, was now visible. As was the hand in which she charged another Cero. Unleashing the technique in the direction of Kasumi, Agnes felt a slight recoil as her body was pushed back by the massive beam of dense energy surged in the sky. Unlike the previous Cero, this one had been charged

There were likely milder ways to teach a child how to execute a sneak-attack, but this method just felt right.

// 1009 words
// 20 GP
// 140 GP Total

Kasumi Shinoda

0 Posts

A Nice Interruption Aug 12, 2014 15:43:36 GMT -5

Post by Kasumi Shinoda on Aug 12, 2014 15:43:36 GMT -5

As expected, Agnes had dodged the first spear. In all honesty, who wouldn't have? Kasumi's attack had been slow, and way too obvious. A blind man might have dodged it. Certainly if one was good at perceiving others' reiatsu signatures. One could even feel what another was planning on doing if he was good enough at it, right? The idea of there being such creatures caused Kasumi to shiver in awe. Would she ever reach even a fraction of that control, of that power?

Not if she didn't pay attention to what she was doing now.

Ice crushed against the Arrancar's parasol, and the spear partly shattered, pieces of ice fell, pulled toward the ground by gravity. A few moments ago the child had been wondering what Agnes was made of, now the question about her parasol had joined the previous one. Kasumi was somewhat baffled that a parasol could be so strong. Then again, this wasn't just a common object to hide oneself from the sun, it was the Arrancar's weapon. Or that's what Kasumi was convinced of. Though, the real question wasn't what the thing was made of, it was what it did. Because till now, it hadn't really done anything. It might be, that it was just that, a parasol, strong because it was probably held together with reiryoku. But, Kasumi didn't really believe that. She had met too many 'unique' beings to actually think that this was all that there was to Agnes. There was more, there was something else, there had to be.

Whether Kasumi would actually see that, was a whole other matter.

Hmm..pick up speed. Though, how?

Narrowing her eyes, Kasumi looked up toward Agnes' face. As if it was that easy. Besides, she wasn't even used to fight above the ground. Kasumi had discovered the ability to accelerate barely a year ago. Ever since she had been addicted to it, yes. However, she had never really fought in the air. No, wait, she had barely ever actually fought at all.

A first time for everything, hmm.

"Yes, ma'am."

She replied, seeing Agnes' eyes lit up. Amusement? While Kasumi wasn't sure why the Arrancar would be amused, the girl didn't know what else to think of it. Turning the spear in her hands, she put more energy into the weapon, fixing the shattered parts. The thing looked like new, even better, stronger. Coated in her own reiryoku, Kasumi spun the spear in her right hand, waiting for Agnes to make a move.

Really?

It seemed that the Arrancar wasn't planning on taking any type of breaks. And that was good. What fool would take a break during a battle? And this was what this spar was about, right? Kasumi had to see, and feel, what a fight was like, even if it was just a tiny piece of what the reality would be like.

Following the unfolding of Agnes' parasol, Kasumi was ready to stab the woman, when her gaze fell upon the ball of reiryoku. Bright and shiny, it was ready to be fired, and that's just what Agnes did. The moment she allowed the energy to erupt from her finger, Kasumi let go of the spear, throwing it as hard as she could at the Arrancar's abdomen. Oh god, she wouldn't have the time to dodge, at all. Closing her eyes, Kasumi used her left arm to create a shield of ice, hoping to lessen the impact by protecting herself somewhat with the ice.

Soon, the inevitable happened. A beam of yellow energy crashed into the shield, breaking it into thousands of tiny pieces, before hitting the white haired human. As fast as she could, the girl tried to wrap herself in more and more ice, making it as dense as possible. But it was already too late. The ray of energy burned her skin, stinging like hell. Crying out in pain, Kasumi tried to move away from it as quickly as she could, but it didn't work. The next thing she felt was cold liquid all around her. In a way it felt soothing, though, what the hell was going on?

No air.

Her eyes shot open wide open in pure horror. She had been through this before, and it was the last thing she ever wanted to do again- drowning. Putting strength into her limbs, the kid swum toward the surface of the pond she had just crashed into. A ray of water came out of her nose before the kid loudly coughed once her head had reached the surface. There was no trace of the Shunko-like aura by the name of Hebi. During the crash, Kasumi had allowed her control over the technique to break, letting go of the reiryoku coating ability.

"Ahh! Hehh khhhe."

Quick pants escaped out of Kasumi's mouth, as she managed to get out of the water. Freezing the surface, her feet hit the ice, standing up on her new ground. Streams of water were running down her body, and the shreds that were her clothes felt heavy because they were completely drenched. Dots fell on the ice, forming tiny spots of crimson. Blood?

"Huh?"

Kasumi quietly mumbled, studying her arms, seeing that some of the skin on them was gone. Ah. ..hence the awful burning sensation. Gritting her teeth, the girl winced when taking a step forward. She right shoulder felt incredibly bruised, just like her ribs. Finding the Arrancar, Kasumi wondered how much more she could take. She could have asked Agnes to stop, could have told her that she has had enough, but Kasumi didn't. It hurt, but she couldn't allow pain to stop her. Maybe she could just hold on, for a little while, in order to at least make some sort of impression. A good one, not a pathetic one.

Silvery blue flames of reiryoku danced around the human child, wrapping themselves around her body again. It wasn't much, but it was something. Pushing off, she could feel the ice crack beneath her feet, sinking into the pond the moment she left it. Her hands were clenched into fists, though not for long. Coming up from beneath the woman, Kasumi tried to grab Agnes' left foot, while a blade of ice formed itself in her other hand, which she used to try to cut the woman's knee with.

Tactic, what's that?

|Words: 1063 - GP 21 - TGP 142|

Anise Am Vilde

236 Posts

A Nice Interruption Aug 16, 2014 9:30:48 GMT -5

Post by Anise Am Vilde on Aug 16, 2014 9:30:48 GMT -5

The dust settled and the curtain falls.

The child plummeted as Agnes lowered her hand, which had been the catalyst of the Cero. Judging by the sound of ice continuously cracking, waxing and waning, Kasumi had managed to hold her position relatively well while being assaulted. Not well enough, though. The attack Agnes had stealthily orchestrated behind the canopy had even been enough to destroy her opponent's spear and send her partner hurtling, a dancer falling in disgrace. Still. The fact that she had managed to grit her teeth to withstand the vehement force headed her way was rather impressive.

Yet, the fundamentality of her decision to withstand the attack could, naturally, be questioned thoroughly. Tanking a Cero just was not something a regular person should take to the face!

Sure, some people were more nuts than others, but... A Cero was a Cero: something not to be trifled with. Usually.

The sleeves danced in the wind as the doll stood still, watching as the body impacted the pond beneath their aerial battlefield. It was funny. She really liked that pond and now she had gone ahead and ruined it. Splash. Water covered the surrounding area as the mist ruptured the surface and sank to the bottom.

Oh my. This tirade had gone way overboard.

Descending from her location, parasol granting shade, Agnes bemused the fact that she probably looked like an Asian Mary Poppins at the moment. Clad in kimono, carrying a parasol and hair styled in an updo, all she lacked was a fancy catchphrase which could be converted into song. Maybe later. It'd be a shame if the very first child she would nanny ended up drowning. Very much so.

Unfortunately, or rather fortunately, as she approached the pond, the white-haired girl emerged from the body of water with heave-hos. What a relief. Agnes stopped dead in her tracks, closer to the ground now, but still quite some distance from the girl on the ground. Closed eyes and a beaming smile transformed her sullen face as she extended her sleeve to cover her mouth. With her mouth properly covered, Agnes allowed a giggle to escape from esophagus through her mouth. Mary Poppins indeed.

Regardless, her laughter had been utmost improper. While her reiatsu perception was unarguably a little bit out of practice, she thought that she sensed reishi leaking out of the girl and into the pool of water. More so than regular humans would secrete. Blood? Had it been that rough an assault? A charged Cero was apparently too much for the girl to handle. Not that she had not expected this scenario, but she had at least thought that the girl would try to dodge the attack instead of blocking it. Now she knew this about the girl as well.

She was not particularly apt at formulating even basic strategies.

This was to be expected, however. The girl still remained only twelve years old. Honestly - who would have bothered to teach this child strategy? The girl still manipulated her power in a fairly crude manner as well. Nothing about her oozed of combat experience. Especially not how she would react whenever her designed target would respond to her advances. It was about as primeval as a Hollow's reaction, perhaps even more so.

It was possible that children and Hollows were related due to enigmatic circumstances.

Aside from the obvious karmic life-death link.

"Are you alright, Kasumi?" Agnes held her free hand next to her mouth as she shouted at the white-haired girl as if it would amplify the sound. The pitiful creature was drenched entirely by good ol' H2O! Needless to say, it did not look comfortable at all. With her cryokinesis, the girl would just freeze the water covering her body, which would then melt again due to the girl's body heat. Rinse and repeat; the result would be influenza and split ends.

If the girl had a regular body temperature at all. The girl's cryokinetic powers could have altered her body, this much was true.

Yet, the Yuki-Warashi insisted on continuing the offensive approach. Even dashing forwards. Agnes' open eye narrowed upon witnessing this, standing by to analyze Kasumi's movements. Which were, incidentally, growing increasingly erratic in nature. Likely out of desperation. Agnes once more closed her eyes, smile now plastered across her face. The sound of an approaching substance, as well as continuous freezing of water molecules, darted past the woman and was out of the blue underneath her. Aha. The girl had decided to grab her legs. A faint, but unmistakable outline of cold material now headed for an area above the leg Kasumi had grabbed.

An interception was in order.

With a swift swipe from the parasol in her hand, Agnes deflected the not-so-well-aimed blow; it did not even manage to caress the woman's kimono. She should not have done that. With the arm still grappling around her leg, Agnes adjusted the reishi underneath her feet and sent herself, with Kasumi underneath her, crashing down towards the earth. To ensure the impact, Agnes hunched her body and grabbed the girl by the head. A foreign dualistic meteorite, the two hit the ground, causing debris, both dust and snow, to spread.

But prior to hitting the ground, the doll had altered their entanglement. Instead of letting Kasumi's body take the brunt of the impact, she had turned around, shifting their positions. She had landed feet first and as such, turned it into one massive stomp. Snuggled neatly between her underarm and armpit was Kasumi, headlocked. In her free hand, Agnes still held the parasol, resting on her shoulders.

"Oh dear," Agnes exclaimed suddenly, letting go of Kasumi as she spoke.

"It appears as if I got dirt on my kimono. What a shame." The fuki of her kimono was indeed covered in loads of grime, likely due to the landing. Smiling at Kasumi, Agnes placed the free hand at the base of her neck. "I assume a break would be in order? I suppose both you and I need it." One of her eyes opened, now glancing at girl's arms. "Especially with wounds like that."

// 1024 words
// 20 GP
// 160 GP Total

Kasumi Shinoda

0 Posts

A Nice Interruption Aug 16, 2014 20:12:44 GMT -5

Post by Kasumi Shinoda on Aug 16, 2014 20:12:44 GMT -5

A quickly beating heart. Kasumi almost felt intoxicated the moment her fingers had reached their target. Adrenaline tore through the girl's body, the blood pressure was rising. Excitement mixed with the girl's expectations as a soft giggle escaped her lips. Kasumi had her! She had succeeded in grabbing Agnes' leg! The Arrancar hadn't dodged her assault, and now, now it would be too late!

As quickly as she could, Kasumi tried to cut the woman's leg, and utterly failed at it.

The girl's sword scattered, together with the smug grin on her face.

As soon as she felt the woman's hand on her skull, Kasumi's satisfaction about her accomplishment turned into dread. There had been no accomplishments, only a trap set out by the Arrancar and she had been blinded by her arrogance, missing the reality because of that. The only reason why Kasumi had been able to get a hold of Agnes in the first place, was because the woman had wanted it. Everything about the girl's attack was a failure, from the start till the very end. Panicking, she let go of the leg, planning to flee wherever she could, as fast as she could. Just get out of the way!- get away from whatever Agnes would decide to set loose upon her. Though she didn't get far. Actually, she got exactly nowhere.

For a second, Kasumi felt confused about the grip on her head. She had expected to be thrown, punched or kicked. Perhaps even "cero'd" again, though nothing happened. Nothing until they moved, or rather, fell. Agnes had come into motion, dragging the girl along with her, descending toward the ground at a rather high speed. By now Kasumi could feel her heart pounding in her throat, being worried out of her mind. She tried to get out of the woman's grasp, but Agnes appeared to be stronger than what Kasumi had thought that she would be. Besides, the girl was still panicking, her mind was a mess and she didn't know what to do. Shutting her eyes in, Kasumi softly cried out, preparing herself for the pain that would come when they'd hit the ground.

Instead of that, she felt how an arm tightly wrapped around her neck as the woman shifted, holding Kasumi in place. Would this creature strangle her now? Break her neck? Extending her arms, Kasumi quickly dug her fingers into the arm, hoping to unlock her head from the deadly grip. By now the girl's body shook and the moment they landed, Kasumi's eyes shot wide open, filled with astonishment. It didn't hurt, the landing didn't hurt. With her fingers still dug into Agnes' arm, she squeaked, shivering a bit from the stress she had just been put through.

Even when being let go, Kasumi didn't run. The will to flee had left her when she got scared, -really scared. Agnes spoke, but Kasumi didn't seem to hear the words, till something touched the base of her neck. Realizing that it was Agnes' hand that had made contact with her skin, Kasumi jumped a bit. The rush of everything that had transpired just now, had caused the girl to temporally forget the sting. Now that Agnes had fixed her attention on the white haired child's arm, Kasumi looked down. The wounds weren't too severe, but it'd take a while before they'd heal.

"I- ehm yea."

Kasumi shakily agreed.

"Would you like another cup of tea?"

Unsure about it, she looked up at the smiling Arrancar. She hadn't hurt her, not really. Not as bad as she could have. Kasumi felt grateful and scared at the same time, it was a strange feeling. Her mind tried to process everything, and the child moved, walking into the direction of the house when another presence appeared. Kasumi tensed, before relaxing, the look on her face brightened up and she turned around, knowing where the Hollow would be coming from.

"Fla-."

Growling the white wolf landed between her and Anise, baring its fangs at the Arrancar. Its yellow eyes burned bright with anger, fur bristling as the beast growled another time. Kasumi could feel that he was scared, she had grown used to sensing his 'feelings'. The tiny pup with the little Hollow hole in his abdomen, the one she had taken away from Koudai months ago, had grown into an adult wolf. He was already bigger than Kas, and still appeared to be growing.

"No, no, no, Flake, she's a friend."

Was she?

What if he felt- Agnes, better than Kasumi did?

Running back, Kasumi put her hand on the Hollow's back, caressing its soft fur while giving Agnes an apologetic look. He wasn't calm yet, however he was already distracted. Its eyes went toward Kasumi's arms, when he suddenly licked it. A soft hiss came from the girl as she pulled her arm back. His rough tongue touched the wound, which had stung. A questioning glow could be seen in the wolf's eyes when the girl pulled away.

"I'm sorry, that hurt. Though, it's kay now."

Without paying attention to Agnes, Kasumi created a layer of ice around her arms, allowing ribbons of reiatsu to dance around them. The Hollow happily nibbled on the ice, seemingly satisfied for now.

"Agnes-san! This is Flake!"

The human child sang with great enthusiasm toward her companion, as the wolf looked up and desperately yelped at the Arrancar that was approaching them.

|Words: 905 - GP 18 - TGP - 160|

Anise Am Vilde

236 Posts

A Nice Interruption Aug 20, 2014 15:20:05 GMT -5

Post by Anise Am Vilde on Aug 20, 2014 15:20:05 GMT -5

The pleasant sensation of a treaty accepted was morphine through blood to Agnes.

Fighting was such a tedious matter after all. She had initially suggested it for one reason, and one reason only: the girl needed it. She had required assistance to realize her own weakness and more importantly, her own potential. It was certainly likely that the girl would appreciate this 'lesson' in retrospect, but right now she just needed her wounds tended to.

Perhaps the girl had some bandages in an emergency kit in the cabin. While it was not unusual for people to leave these things around in remote locations, Kasumi was not exactly properly developed; her frontal lobe not completely grown as of yet. Which meant that her recognition of consequences was not nearly as potent as an adult mortal's.

Then again, a fully grown human could always have helped her set up camp and brought some necessities on the behalf of the girl.

That was actually an aspect of Kasumi that had been bugging Agnes for quite some time now: where were her parents? The girl had not even brought up a guardian when they had engaged in a brief tea session. Something smelled like rot and more often than not, corpses were involved in when the putrid stench hit her metaphorical nose. That much was certain.

A pleasant floral scent purged the reek of decaying flesh from her nose as she considered the idea regarding tea. One could never get enough tea. Or the conversations which were associated with these sessions. It was likely that this chitchat would make her more acquainted with the white-haired girl. Their relationship was still naught but a blooming chrysanthemum.

But said chrysanthemum could blossom into a fine specimen!

Mayhap even finer than her previous ones.

Agnes was prepared to turn around, facing the house this time, as a loud presence made itself apparent on her radar. Hands shuffling in movement, the doll held her parasol out in front of her and seemingly jumped backwards by pushing her own body with Reishi. Something landed between her and Kasumi. Something not quite small and not quite human.

Quite Hollow, in fact.

A canine Hollow, if her eyes did not betray her.

But instead of targeting the human, as was common procedure, the creature had jumped between the two females with its barred fangs turned towards the Arrancar, the member of its own 'kin'. The one that it wasn't genetically predisposed to exterminate and consume. So the kid had tamed a Hollow. Pretty impressive for a girl. Not to mention, very, very naïve. Because Hollows could truly never be tamed. These feral beings were enslaved by their own instincts. Nothing more, nothing less.

As the creature took on the shape of a dog, Agnes dared surmise that Kasumi had found the Hollow a 'pup' that was so adorable that she had to take it home, fed it and then it had grown. Hollows this large were seldom easy to control, unless one belonged to the upper echelons of Hollowkind.

So what had the girl done? Whatever the method was, it was not gonna work for long now. For once one had started feeding monsters, they would not stop until they had devoured the hand that gives.

The tea session had thus morphed into an intervention. How absolutely lovely.

Agnes opened her right eye to observe the dynamic between the two. It appeared as if the the Hollow consumed some of Kasumi's reiatsu to sate the vacuous hunger. That just about explained why the Hollow had grown so large. The reishi of her body was without a sliver of doubt, quite potent for a human.

But Hollows being Hollows, would always crave for more. Once it would start tearing chunks of the girl, it would not be able to stop.

"That is a very unusual pet you have there, Kasumi," Agnes remarked while maintaining her smile to the best of her ability. She raised her parasol once more and folded it while supporting it with her shoulder.

"Would you mind if we went inside... Without him?" The question was a charade for the lecture yet to come, but Agnes did not know if Kasumi would catch on. Likely not, as was the case of most people with diminished frontal lobes.

As soon as the two of them had entered the building, Agnes closed the door and went back to her seat. As the guest, she reserved the right to remain passive at this occasion, which basically implied that she would leave the majority of the work to Kasumi. Her crossed finger supporting her chin, elbows on the table, the woman followed the hostess' movement with her head without opening her eyes. Reiatsu perception was a wondrous thing, occasionally.

"Kasumi," she initiated, followed by a pause.

"There is no easy way of breaking this to you, but you need to rid yourself of 'Flake'." With a special emphasis on the name of Kasumi's adopted pet, Agnes figured that there was only one proper way to break the news to the girl: hard, fast and brutal.

She sighs to follow up this, demonstrating her empathy with the girl. "He's a Hollow and will eventually spiral out of control. He will eat you given the chance, regardless of how cute he may have seemed before."

She opened one of her eyes, filled with pity, and gazed into the girl's. "If there is any consolation, I am willing to bring him with me to Hueco Mundo and watch over him." The offer was very much, a pathetic consolation, but a consolation nonetheless. She just hoped that the girl would be rational enough to consider it thoroughly.

This did not prevent Agnes from doubting Kasumi.

// 958 words
// 19 GP
// 179 GP Total

Bleach Gotei

A Nice Interruption

Post by Kasumi Shinoda on Jun 25, 2014 8:28:39 GMT -5

Post by Anise Am Vilde on Jun 26, 2014 6:43:50 GMT -5

Post by Kasumi Shinoda on Jun 26, 2014 17:36:23 GMT -5

Post by Anise Am Vilde on Jun 30, 2014 13:34:13 GMT -5

Post by Kasumi Shinoda on Jul 1, 2014 6:39:10 GMT -5

Post by Anise Am Vilde on Jul 3, 2014 7:42:13 GMT -5

Post by Kasumi Shinoda on Jul 3, 2014 20:06:58 GMT -5

Post by Anise Am Vilde on Jul 10, 2014 16:17:21 GMT -5

Post by Kasumi Shinoda on Jul 11, 2014 8:33:40 GMT -5

Post by Anise Am Vilde on Jul 16, 2014 7:10:24 GMT -5

Post by Kasumi Shinoda on Jul 18, 2014 6:40:21 GMT -5

Post by Anise Am Vilde on Jul 23, 2014 4:31:08 GMT -5

Post by Kasumi Shinoda on Jul 24, 2014 9:38:29 GMT -5

Post by Anise Am Vilde on Jul 28, 2014 9:38:27 GMT -5

Post by Kasumi Shinoda on Jul 28, 2014 15:09:56 GMT -5

Post by Anise Am Vilde on Aug 10, 2014 9:06:25 GMT -5

Post by Kasumi Shinoda on Aug 12, 2014 15:43:36 GMT -5

Post by Anise Am Vilde on Aug 16, 2014 9:30:48 GMT -5

Post by Kasumi Shinoda on Aug 16, 2014 20:12:44 GMT -5

Post by Anise Am Vilde on Aug 20, 2014 15:20:05 GMT -5

Welcome!