A Dark Passage [Closed]

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A Dark Passage [Closed] Sept 20, 2015 2:22:15 GMT -5

Post by Walkren Dekharr on Sept 20, 2015 2:22:15 GMT -5

All the sleep in Walkren couldn’t keep up with the speed that he was going down the long, endless halls of Las Noches. He was barreling across the cold, white tile floor with his robes whipping behind him. The right sleeve flew back like a flag and flapped in the torrent of speed that Walkren was producing. His only hand flew out and grabbed the side of the wall as he cut a corner. There was a wave of displaced air that was traveling behind him, kicking up dust and debris as he went. This fucking castle was obnoxiously huge. It was a wonder that he had even been able to feel the pulse of reiatsu from where he had been.

There had been no mistaking what he felt: Robert Mühle. That motherfucker had lit up the area like a Christmas tree with his reiatsu. Some release or high level Kido would have done it. Which meant he was fighting, which meant Walkren had to get there as soon as he could. At least he was relatively close to where he had pinpointed Robert to be. It wouldn’t be long before he would get there. But, there was no other pulsing that came from that area...or anywhere. Robert’s reiatsu had faded and drifted into nothing. That could only mean he lost.

Walkren couldn’t accept that. It must be something else. If the man was here trying to save Walkren then he was completely foolish. He knew Robert enough to know he wasn’t a fool to just charge in recklessly. Walkren cursed under his breath as he rounded the final corner. Whatever was going on, he would find out soon. In the final stretch, Walkren shunpo-ed forward, once, twice, three times. Each time a rip of air was heard through the hall and each time Walkren disappeared and then reappeared, still barreling forward, but closer to his destination.

He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the man walk through a doorway and turn in his direction. His chest heaved and his body lurched as it came to a complete stop. Even though he knew who to expect, it still took him by surprise. The man was, for the most part, completely unscathed. The biggest thing was the fact that he now looked as if he could be Walkren's great-grandfather. There was no sign of a battle or any kind of struggle. It was just the Shinigami who walked through the door. When Walkren finally did speak, his voice was filled with shock, “Robert?!”

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Ladon

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A Dark Passage [Closed] Sept 22, 2015 0:17:42 GMT -5

Post by Ladon on Sept 22, 2015 0:17:42 GMT -5

He had never hated anything quite has intensely as the Hueco Mundo air. The reiatsu crawling like maggots over his skin bled together with the burning in his head and the pounding in his veins into a deafening maelstrom of sensation, yet it served a war drum that drove his feet forward, closer and closer to that last hurdle. It was a herculean task to pick out Walkren's energy through that mess, but he had done it, a tiny red flicker of energy lunged out at him through the swarm of hollows and arrancar, guiding him home.

As he wandered down the long stone corridors of Las Noches, he had imagined his feet would lead to a dungeon or some nefarious sub-basement of this cursed castle. He had expected guards he would have to kill, bindings he would have to break: He expected to be freeing Walkren. That was why he had come here in the first place, not to be toyed with by some bastard king, and certainly not to have his emotions manipulated by a ~~stunning woman~~ succubus.

What he was not prepared for was seeing Walkren walking towards him both alive and free. Hell, he even looked... good. His hair was combed and his beard was trimmed. It was a positive change long overdue. His right arm was missing, sure, but Robert knew all too well how replaceable those were, having acquired multiple replacements through means both mechanical and malevolent. Yet it was not joy that Robert felt at the sight of his comrade, nor concern over his lost appendage. The pounding in his head thundered with a new intensity, and his thoughts turned to darker places.

Fury at his incompetence for having dragged Robert into this mess.
Shame at the thought that this was his only friend.
Disgust at the fact he was able to walk free yet hadn't returned.
~~Jealousy at the thought of him having laid a finger on Evelynn.~~

"Walkren."

In an instant, Robert's flash step carried him across the hall, and with a sickening crack he smashed his forehead straight into the bridge of Walkren's nose, shattering the bone and calming the storm in his head, for now.

"You incompetent moron! How did you manage to get kidnapped by a fucking Espada on your two month assignment?" The explosion of horse words bellowed out of his mouth before Walkren had even had time to hit the stone floor. "Literally every single fucking no name Shinigami does those all the time without consequence and you can't handle one? You know what happened when an Espada showed up on my assignment? I disemboweled him."

"Jesus fucking christ." His alien hand streaked up quickly to wipe the trickle of blood from his forehead away before smashing into the stone wall. His anger bled into disappointment and shame at this point. Shame for Walkren's incompetence, and shame for his own weakness. Neither of these men should ever have ended up in this hallway. "I fought the the fucking king to get you back. Your explanation had better be fucking amazing."

-----
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Walkren Dekharr

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A Dark Passage [Closed] Sept 24, 2015 1:27:32 GMT -5

Post by Walkren Dekharr on Sept 24, 2015 1:27:32 GMT -5

Any pain Walkren might have had from the broken nose just dissolved into hysterical laughter. He hit the ground like a sack of potatoes, curling up into the fetal position as he shook with snickers. He tried to stifle his chuckles, but they blew out of his mouth like vomit. The chunks he spewed across the hall echoed vibrantly through the dead air. He couldn’t even open his eyes and look up at the smoldering man in front of him. He was filled with so much glee and reckless abandon that the plastered face of the angry man just fueled the fire inside of him. The best he could do was get a few words out in between each spurt of laughter, “Looks like...that stick up...your ass...got shoved even deeper...since the last time we talked.”

An absent, thoughtless motion had his hand rubbing and feeling his nose as he laughed. The green glow came instinctively from his trained palm. The light of it danced across his smiling face and moved to the rhythm of his laughter. He felt his bone mushing itself back together and the skin repairing itself. His footing was strong as he stood, he wouldn’t be surprised again. The laughter that had boiled in his gut was cooling off and there were only the most miniscule of chuckles bubbling to the surface. Walkren took in a long breath to test his nose. He wiped away the excess blood that was still dribbling down his face onto the ground.

The tiniest drops of milky white mixed in with the deep blood red.

Another quick sniff cleared out the last of the gunk that had tried to make it’s home in Walkren’s nasal cavity. After a quick wink, he gave his friend another smile, “I didn’t realize you felt so strongly for me, Robert. Fighting the King?”

“Almost enough to make a girl swoon.”

His gut rumbled with another half-hearted chuckle, but Robert was having none of it, nothing was going to pierce his steeled eyes. Walkren let out a long sigh, dropping his smile in the process, “Did you really come here to fucking save me?”

A shy smile slightly returned as he looked at the man still smoldering in front of him, “I guess we’re both fools then.”

“I came on my own accord,” The words trailed out of his mouth with a tone that held weight and substance, “I came for answers and...”

"...well, I came because I’m part Hollow now.”

The silence in the air after he finished speaking pierced through Walkren like a hundred knives. Talking about his Hollow half was well and good with Arrancar, it wasn’t like anyone was going to ask or even believe them, but telling another Shinigami, telling Robert, that was a whole different story. Walkren felt like he could trust Robert in time. Out of everyone that he had met with, Robert had been the one that he had always felt...closer to. And seeing him here, still alive, it felt right to confide in the man.

In his friend.

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A Dark Passage [Closed] Sept 26, 2015 10:06:51 GMT -5

Post by Ladon on Sept 26, 2015 10:06:51 GMT -5

It was amazing how well Walkren wore his ego. He draped himself in it like a fine suit; layer upon layer of wit and bravado keeping him insulated from those around him. A narcissistic trench coat that hid him away from the rest of the world like the scared little child he really was. Robert had always thought he was good at isolationism, but a few quick quips from Walkren made him look like an amateur. In the whole of the Seireitei, there was nobody better at batting away anything genuine with humor than Walkren-fucking-Dekharr. It was almost endearing.

Almost.

"Don't flatter yourself, you narcissistic fuck." Robert cut in as soon as Walkren finished calling them both fools, dropping his weight into his right shoulder as he spoke. The cold embrace of the stone wall cut through his garb og bandages, and reminded him exactly why he didn't belong here. "I was dying, figured I might as well come drag you home before I dropped. Ran into the king, and, well, he killed me. Twice. I split his face open though, that was fun. He accidentally saved me from the affliction that was killing me too so, everyone wins." He almost sounded jovial as he recounted the events, though it seemed wise to leave out any mention of his indentured servitude and the blonde bitch that 'saved' him. Those were details best struck from the historical record.

"...well, I came because I’m part Hollow now."

The tension in the air was palpable. They had always been so comfortable around each other, even if it was mostly for show, but now all the tension laid bare. Robert's eye never drifted off Walkren's own, even has the scenes of the throne room pounded in his head, his mind desperately searching for something that actually made sense. Vaizard. Evelynn had wanted to turn him into a Vaizard, and she had been the one to find Walkren. Was that what Walkren was now; some part hollow abomination that wanted to live in Las Noches? Part hollow, what did that even mean? He had no tentacles and no mask, he bore none of the 'classic signs' of the hollow nature; he was just a Shinigami.

It just didn't make sense.

“I had brought him to turn him into a Vaizard right in front of you” He finally cut the silence with Evelynn's words, his cadence barely above a whisper. He let the silence creep back in for a long few seconds, soaking in it as he allowed the obvious question to gestate. His veins swelled with energy as they stared one another down through the silence and he was certain Walkren could feel the power, this place had turned him into a cornered animal and he would pounce if he had to. The entire time Robert had been in Hueco Mundo he had been dealing with threats on his life, and if Walkren was truly 'corrupted', he had no way of knowing if he would be attacked. He didn't find the notion of it pleasant, but if Walkren wanted to die today Robert would oblige him; he was done letting people beat him down.

"Vaizard, part hollow... What. The fuck. Does that even mean? This entire trip has been nothing but vague nonsense, I would like someone to actually fucking tell me something for once rather than this vague bullshit."

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Walkren Dekharr

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A Dark Passage [Closed] Oct 10, 2015 17:34:40 GMT -5

Post by Walkren Dekharr on Oct 10, 2015 17:34:40 GMT -5

Walkren let the silence sit. There was thinking about saying something and then there was actually saying it. Almost as if still being pushed by the momentum of the speed that brought him here, the words had just tumbled out of Walkren’s mouth. He was glad it had been that easy. Otherwise, he would have just played his game and danced around with Robert until one of them gave up the information. He was glad he felt like he could trust the man.

Robert’s confused words scared away the silenced that lay heavily on the hallway they loitered in and Walkren listened to the man. He felt the man’s reiatsu like you felt when someone pulled their fingernails across a blackboard. He was tense. Walkren realized the man might have literally just come from fighting Erasmus. Though, he had no major wounds. Walkren weighed his response with this information and decided to drape his own responses with the seriousness that the conversation deserved, “I suppose part Hollow isn’t entirely accurate, though the creature has been exhibiting Hollow-like powers.”

He gave Robert a smile. It was accompanied with his only hand rubbing his chest, exactly in the spot where Evelynn had pierced through his soul and tangled her own corrupted reiatsu with his. The soft bumps of the pale scar felt cool on his finger tips. It was a contrast to the heat and pain he had felt in the moment. The dense Hollow air weighed down on him and pushed against the fibers of his soul. It didn’t help that Kutsu was pushing him from the other side, trying to break free. Constantly, she was trying to wear him down. Constantly, she was trying to find an opening.

He spoke with the smile still curling his face upwards, “Before, that’s what I thought it was. I thought I had been corrupted.”

Takua’s dive into his soul flashed back into his mind. The Arrancar had probably given him the most information out of anyone he had spoken to over the past few days. Could Robert also have had the same thing done to him? The words he had spoken hinted that he had at least heard of Vaizard. If anything, giving the man information would maybe help the other Shinigami figure out a way to bring the darkness inside of him under control. If Robert had a Hollow inside of him as well...then maybe they should becomes more than just token allies. Maybe there would be more to this than just a skirting friendship.

Walkren continued his explanation, still rubbing his chest, “It’s not an outside force. The Arrancar that did this to me didn’t insert anything into my soul. All she did was unlock something inside me.”

“It’s in me, it’s in you...the potential is probably in all Shinigami.”

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A Dark Passage [Closed] Nov 2, 2015 10:59:42 GMT -5

Post by Ladon on Nov 2, 2015 10:59:42 GMT -5

Robert drove his thumbs into his temples with a sigh, as if the act would chase away the pain in his head. It seemed that Walkren truly was incapable of actually being straightforward, no matter what the situation was. Admittedly the question was somewhat personal, but Walkren had been the one to breach the subject in the first place, and there was no universe where anyone would consider 'well, its hollow-like. The potential is in everyone' an adequate answer to the question of 'what does part-hollow mean.'

He was wasting his time.

"You realize that doesn't answer the question, right? It in no way elucidates what a Vaizard is." He wore his annoyance openly, conveying every ounce of frustration that had been generated from Walkren's inability to actually answer his question as if hearing it would somehow cause Walkren to speak plain. "But, I suppose it doesn't matter now. Your problems are your problems, and if you want to stay in Las Noches as a traitor then you're more than welcome to do so."

"But not yet."

He pressed his finger into the stone wall, tracing it back and forth across its surface as he etched out a complex series of symbols in the air before him. Opening a Senkaimon was relatively simple matter when you had a Zanpakutō, but given that the king had addressed that shortcoming of his, kidō would have to suffice. It's not like Walkren could connect to the Senkaimon in his basement anyway.

"Remember the fox girl? Yuki Kameko. She got herself in a bad way. Her legs are missing and she's half dead in a facility in the middle of nowhere. If you'd be so kind, come with me and glue her legs back on. Then, simply take the Senkaimon back wherever it is you want to go. It's not monitored and I don't intend to ask any questions."

With a final flick down of his finger across the surface, its cold stone face gave birth to a torrent of radiant white light, spreading and swelling from the lingering runes on its surface out until it had painted an archway on its face. A single black butterfly fluttered out from the light and began to fly in circles around Robert's head.

"Or not, it's your choice. Though if you do come, at least try and be somewhat more direct with the information you're imparting." He gave a shrug, and stepped through the light. Now that Walkren was alive and well, he had no reason to spend one iota longer in Hueco Mundo. He would either follow and heal Yuki, or he would turn and go back to his treason. Either way, everything would work out in the end.

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Last Edit: Nov 3, 2015 7:29:07 GMT -5 by Ladon

Walkren Dekharr

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A Dark Passage [Closed] Nov 22, 2015 21:26:30 GMT -5

Post by Walkren Dekharr on Nov 22, 2015 21:26:30 GMT -5

“Hold on...”

Before Robert could fully step through the celestial rays that almost seemed to burn away the dark Hollow feeling that dug into Walkren’s bones, he grabbed the man by the shoulder and stopped him. Walkren could feel the stress and weight of Robert’s previous experiences tight in his muscles. He felt pity for the Shinigami. With what Walkren had been through, he knew what it was like, bearing the weight of it all. Walkren took a breath and then spoke.

“I wasn’t trying to be nebulous. I was just trying to better articulate everything. Our knowledge on halfbreeds is a convoluted mess that doesn’t even get close to the truth of the matter,” Walkren’s only hand didn’t leave the man’s shoulder as he spoke, the connection between the two pushing Walkren’s words forward. This man was the closest thing that Walkren could call a friend and if he had learned anything from Tamashioko, it was to choose who you put your trust in carefully. “I believe the Arrancar’s soul, when mingled with our own, awakens something that lies dormant in all Shinigami. Like an...an evil twin of sorts.”

“It slowly grows inside of the Shinigami and then, when their host is at their weakest, it tries to take their body over. A Vaizard is just a weird name for a Shinigami that has undergone this process and survived, gaining control of the Hollow power within them.”

Walkren released his grip on the man’s shoulder, realizing his had been holding it tighter than he had anticipated. It was strange how emotional he was getting over telling Robert all of this. It was less the information that he was trying to pass on to the man and more the act of giving it. Robert was someone he could trust. Hell, he was someone he could rely on. The unbelievable lengths that Robert had seemingly gone to save Walkren hadn’t really hit him. The man obviously cared for Walkren. The least Walkren could do was care back, “You can call me traitor, but I doubt you’re stupid enough to believe the King would let you go just like that. You’re in this with me and I’d bet my only arm that you have a Hollow creature growing inside you even now.”

“I wouldn’t choose anyone else to have by my side through all of this that we’ve gotten ourselves mixed up in.”

“Thanks for coming to save me.”

It means a lot more than you know.

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A Dark Passage [Closed] Dec 19, 2015 4:13:06 GMT -5

Post by Ladon on Dec 19, 2015 4:13:06 GMT -5

When he was a younger man, Robert was fond of probability. People in life had so many choices to make, and he had found the claims that certain men made of being able to predict what choices an individual would make and when they would make them to be nothing short of absurd. So like any good scientist, he studied them. What began as an attempted debunking quickly turned into a hobby and a subject of personal fascination. People were so much more predictable than he had thought, and if you understood some basic facts about how they approached life the range of options they could take dwindled to a surprisingly small collective, from which predicting a choice was a simple task.

As far as Robert was concerned, being forthright and sincere wasn't even a choice Walkren could take. Hitting him certainly seemed like a valid choice, as did disregarding the significance of the exchange with another half response and a bad joke. But to actually tell him the truth and express genuine emotion? Sometimes he enjoyed nothing more than to be proven wrong.

He let the silence permeate for a long time, his gaze remaining locked on the spiraling light archway before him as he contemplated the weight of what Walkren had just said. His first instinct was to disregard what he was saying as some far more adeptly executed deception, but he knew that wasn't the case.

The Arrancar’s soul, when mingled with our own, awakens something that lies dormant in all Shinigami.
I had brought him to turn him into a Vaizard right in front of you.
From now on, whenever you make a mistake, your shadow will witness it. Every doubt and delusion contained in that brain of yours will be understood by your shadow as deeply as you yourself understand them. And when your mistakes, your fears and your doubts finally become too much to bear and you fall under the weight, your shadow will be waiting to swallow you whole when you hit the ground.

"You're wrong, my friend." He finally broke the silence with soft words and an empty smile, his hand pulling a cigarette out from the tattered remains of his uniform and lighting it with a spark from his fingers. "But you can keep that arm, you're no use to me without it. I... caught the fancy of an Espada. Long story. When the king was about to kill me, they interfered and asked him to spare me and... he did. I walked out of the hall, got patched up, came to find you." He exhaled a plume of smoke and ran the tip of his tongue along his lips. "There was no soul mingling."

He could still taste her.

"Regardless, you're welcome. I... wanted to make something good come of my death. Listen, if you need any help with this, well...I told you I'd have a Haori or a badge the next time we spoke, right? I'm running the fourth division as acting Lieutenant. I hate to be arrogant but, there's nobody better to help expand our knowledge of half-breeds. Though I take it you don't need it? You said a Vaizard is a name for someone who has gained control of the hollow power inside them."

"So, you're a Vaizard, right?"

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Last Edit: Dec 19, 2015 4:13:55 GMT -5 by Ladon

Walkren Dekharr

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A Dark Passage [Closed] Jan 19, 2016 17:07:52 GMT -5

Post by Walkren Dekharr on Jan 19, 2016 17:07:52 GMT -5

Walkren chuckled, cool and sharp, “Not yet, friend.”

“I haven’t conquered my apparent inner demon,” He let out a sigh, cutting the cigarette smoke with his quick exhale of breathe. His one good hand went to the bridge of his nose, rubbing the encroaching sleep away from his heavy lids. “Depending on how you look at it, you’re the lucky one.”

“Even if I do survive and become a Vaizard, if I’m ever found out in the Seireitei then my entire life would fall to pieces,” Walkren released his nose and looked back to his companion. The man seriously looked like hell had chewed him up and spit him back out. Walkren probably didn’t look any better. The drought in his sleeping schedule was getting to even Walkren. The Shinigami who would stay up constantly in the Seireitei, running away from his own problems. Only when he would fall into an endless, dreamless sleep would he let his head touch a pillow. Walkren gave Robert a sarcastic smile as he spoke, “Though, I don’t think that would be so bad...”

An Espada that took a fancy to him...

Could it have been Evelynn?

I was actually thinking Takua. He seemed more sympathetic to stranded Shinigami.

Let’s hope it was him.

Without missing a beat, Walkren continued, “Actually, I had the help of the Primera Espada, Takua Megiddo. He was able to look into my soul and learn more about Vaizards and the Inner Hollow than he even knew. I have to make the demon inside me-”

Walkren hesitated and shook his head with a frown, “No...no, demon isn’t the right word. These Arrancar...they seem much too human to be the monsters that we are lead to believe they are. Perhaps I’m being naive. Takua was...something else.”

Another shake of his head and Walkren continued speaking, “He told me I had to assert my dominance over the Inner Hollow inside of me. It’s a parasite that has latched itself to my soul. A mix of my own soul and the Arrancar who gave it to me. The result is a creature who reflects me, but not like through a mirror...more like through a thick pool of ink. It is my shadow made real and if it isn’t stopped, it will burrow itself deeper and deeper and, eventually, consume my soul...”

The seriousness of that notion was as palpable as the smoke that drifted from Robert’s cigarette. Arguably, it smelled worse and was more unhealthy than the little stick of tobacco could ever be. Walkren chuckled again, trying his best to clear the stuffy air. It was no use. The Shinigami had opened himself to Robert, there was no hiding behind a soft smile or well-timed chuckle. He gave Robert a half-hearted smile, and, instead, shifted the subject, “Now...to start my repayment for coming to save me...”

“You mentioned something about Yuki Kameko?”

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A Dark Passage [Closed] Jan 22, 2016 10:37:40 GMT -5

Post by Ladon on Jan 22, 2016 10:37:40 GMT -5

It was disappointing to say the least. He had hoped to hear that his, well, his friend had managed to overcome his personal demons. Instead, it looked like he was drowning in them. Still, his offer was genuine; Robert would help in whatever way he could.

Robert was not expecting to hear the raw surprise in Walkren’s voice as he spoke about Takua. Surely, every Shinigami knew that at least the Arrancar were intelligent, that they were capable of more than raw, unchecked hunger? Just because they were our enemies doesn’t make them fools, and treating them as though they weren’t three-dimensional beings was simply naive.

“Humans can be monsters, Walkren,” Robert ashed his cigarette and then ground the bud out against the wall. “Arrancar are highly intelligent beings, and are capable of just as wide a range of emotion as we Shinigami. Yes, they do veer towards destruction, but they are not inherently required to be wicked.”

He paused, and took a moment to process the severity of what Walkren had to say. It would consume his soul? What would be the end result if that happened? Death was an obvious outcome, as was hollowification -- although, would he become a hollow, an Arrancar, or something new altogether? Perhaps he simply remained as he was, but this new inner spirit dominated his body and took it to be its plaything. Robert was simply clueless, and operating on raw, unbridled speculation. He had no clue what these things became whether they won or lost, hell, until 48 hours ago he hadn't even known they existed.

“Come on,” he closed the distance and put a hand on Walkren’s shoulder. He was doing his utmost best to come across as being legitimately consoling. “Your soul will be fine. If this spirit can be dominated, you’ll figure out how to make that happen. Now enough of dwelling on hypothetical worst case scenarios. Let’s go home, we've got work to do.”

He gestured over to the Senkaimon he had opened, still flickering away happily with its radiant light. They were so close to getting out here. Just a few more steps and he would never have to see this squalid desert again.

He would never have to see that horrid woman again.

“On the end of that Senkaimon is a compound of mine, where Yuki is lying in a coma. She got her legs cut off in a very unfortunate turn of events, and these events were ‘illegal’ enough to make taking her to the third division hospital not an option. While I'm not above killing her if she won't cooperate, I do want to give her a chance to get out of this madness alive, not to mention with her legs. In my dealings with her she has been amenable enough to show to me that, once the situation is explained, she'll have no problem keeping her mouth shut about it. So, please, lead on through the gate, and we’ll glue her legs back on.”

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A Dark Passage [Closed] Jan 26, 2016 12:48:33 GMT -5

Post by Walkren Dekharr on Jan 26, 2016 12:48:33 GMT -5

He immediately felt the change.

As the two men stepped through the Senkaimon, the thick blanket of oppression lifted completely off of Walkren’s shoulders. He hadn’t actually realized how much weight he had been holding up while he had been in Hueco Mundo. Even Kutsu stopped her wriggling around inside of him for a few wonderfully brief moments. An exasperated chuckle forced itself out from deep in his gut as the darkness of the Dangai greeted the two gods of death.

Walkren spoke up after the transition between realm and portal was complete, “We were always taught they were all monsters. Sure, they look like us, they talk like us, they could even feel like us, but they aren’t us...could have fooled me.”

He paused and thought for a moment as they walked recalling his talk with Tokiyo Fujikagi and the book he had read. It had talked on the significance of the Arrancar and how they were an attempt at a Hollow reflection of Shinigami. It was their attempt to ‘become whole’ as the book put it. Even that book stressed how flawed and how truly far away from Shinigami that the Arrancar were. Walkren hadn’t been convinced when he read the book. Now?

“I don’t even think it’s about being monsters,” Walkren continued as the sound of their footsteps echoed through the dark corridor. Their dark guide fluttered past Walkren’s face as he spoke again, “I think it’s the fact we are told to eradicate this thinking, breathing, feeling being without question. They are capable of much more than we are ever taught...and we are suppose to kill them?”

“Almost like Shinigami are the monsters...”

He paused again as the end of the corridor came upon them and started to backtrack his words, “But the cycle is more important than our mixed up morals, of course. The Arrancar have thousands of souls that could easily tip the delicate balance we are suppose to work to preserve...”

His words were unsure as he spoke them. A lot of this made him unsure, but he stepped through the radiance at the end of the dark tunnel without another word. Plenty was going through his head. The Arrancar. His Inner Hollow. The flaws of the all important cycle. The Seireitei and it’s atrocities. It was a lot. He still hadn’t processed everything he had learned in the weeks he had been at Las Noches. It would take time.

For now...

The blinding white gave way and Walkren let his eyes adjust to the new light source. A sliding and a click sounded behind him as he observed the room he was in. It was obviously a lab of sorts. No windows. Walls of white and grey with tables scattered throughout it. On the tables were the makings of a laboratory: beakers and vials and bubbling fluids, centrifuges and burners and other stranger objects that Walkren couldn’t immediately identify. There was one table in the center of the room that was clear besides the body of Yuki Kameko. It was a mangled mess from the waist down. Her legs, if you could still call them legs by the way they were mangled, were separated from her body and just rested next to the stumps on the cold table that might have been her death bed. Also, she was blue. Not entirely blue, but her skin had been tinted azure and her lips were almost purple. The tale tell signs of some form of cryo stasis. Probably an attempt to stop the little wolf-girl from dying.

Walkren moved to the center of the room and started to feel her reiatsu. After taking a breathe he used the technique that Ichiro taught him. First, the walls fell away, and then the tables, and then even Robert fell away from Walkren’s senses. The only two things in the room were him and the girl he briefly called friend. The strings of her fleeting soul lifted up from her frozen corpse and Walkren used his one good hand to feel them. Weak and fragile. His gentle touch glided up along one, barely touching it.

A group of impossibly thin strings faded in and out of existence from her two legs. They were so small that Walkren almost missed them, but his focused eyes were scanning every inch of the little wolf-girl. She was inches away from death. Her continuation in the cycle was only stopped by Robert’s attempt at freezing her body. Unfortunately, Walkren couldn’t save her if she was a frozen chunk of ice. He would have to thaw her out and then give her the healing she needed...and she needed a lot of it.

He idly felt her fading reiatsu as he thought about what he would do. The strings that he was playing with use to be the ribbon of reiatsu that made up Yuki Kameko. He needed to pour his own reiatsu into her to get her jump started, but there wasn’t a fast way to do it. As soon as he tried, she would flutter and her pulse would fall flat. There had to be a better way to-

Walkren’s eyes fell on the IV attached to the girl’s arm, dripping fluids into her system. With each passing moment it fed an innocuous chemical into her system that was keeping her body alive. It went straight from the bag to her system, no interruptions, no waiting. That gave Walkren an idea, a way to save the girl.

Taking a breathe, Walkren found his own ribbon floating around near him. It was a shade off of the normal Shinigami red and it fell into Walkren’s hand when he beckoned it. It was strong and thick and the threads counted into the thousands. A stark contrast to the weak strings he saw in front of him. Keeping his concentration on the matter at hand, Walkren gently moved his own ribbon near the strings. Slowly. Slowly. Slowly. He inched closer and closer until they were all but touching.

Pushing his own reiatsu outward, and using the binding energy that was always built up inside of him these days, he reached for the strings. The Bakudo worked as a connection of sorts. Flowing from his own ribbon and spiralling outward to catch the few wispy strings that were left of Yuki’s reiatsu. Walkren could feel the connection happen, the melding of their souls in this strange way. Gingerly, Walkren let go of his own ribbon and let it float. The binding held and Walkren let a small smile escape.

That was all he was given time for. At this point, the two of them were connected and Walkren could truly see how far gone she was. He immediately ripped the IV from her arm and started to trace his glowing green hand across her body. As he did that, he fed his own reiatsu into her, artificially boosting her body away from the claws of death. Just as the IV had dripped the chemicals into her, his ribbon connection dripped his own spiritual energy into her.

The change happened as fast as he thought it would. She dipped low and got even closer to death. Walkren’s energy pulled her back up from it and the wispy strings started to form into a coherent ribbon. It was a slow process, but as Walkren’s Kaido flushed the chemicals out of her system, she was getting less and less blue.

Once she was significantly away from death, Walkren moved to her legs, which still had their own bits of spiritual energy in them. Walkren could use that. He shoveled his Kaido into the mangled bits of flesh and they started to straighten and repair themselves. That was relatively easy. What was hard was sewing them back onto her stumps. He had to go in with his Kaido and feel out each thread that was left in the legs. Picking each one and tying it back onto her actually reiatsu.

Time was something Walkren wasn’t focused on, but it took what seemed like an eternity. Threading each string back into place as the leg’s flesh built itself back onto her body. He had to go slow. Too fast and the flesh would heal before it was connected back to the leg. Sweat dripped down his forehead, but he kept going. His mind was completely focused on the task in front of him. It was oddly, almost as thrilling as a fight. The risk of death was there. That was probably it.

Once he was done with the legs, he stepped back. The blue had almost completely faded from her skin and her legs only had minor scars where he had healed her back up. All in all, it was a pretty good job. He couldn't help but smile as he released his hold on her reiatsu. Everything fell back into place as he dropped his concentration away. His exhaustion set in almost immediately and he used the table to keep standing. There had been more energy exchanged than he had initially thought.

He turned to Robert, still leaning on the table, and spoke, his voice cracking, “Well...I’ve still got it. How’s that?”

“Is there anything else you need? Otherwise, I’m going to sit down for a quick second.”

He chuckled and smiled at the man, sweat dripping down his face.

[1565] [31] [75]

Last Edit: Feb 2, 2016 14:00:57 GMT -5 by Walkren Dekharr

Voice | Vaizard | Thoughts | Zanpakuto | Hollow

Ladon

Wew Lad: On

1,567 Posts

Reiatsu250 Defense25 Strength25 Speed100 Spirit100 ApplicationWhat am I?

A Dark Passage [Closed] Feb 4, 2016 6:01:24 GMT -5 Emily White likes this

Post by Ladon on Feb 4, 2016 6:01:24 GMT -5

Robert just let the words Walkren was saying gestate in his mind as they traveled through the Senkaimon. Normally he was full of things to say, but as the weight of Hueco Mundo left his shoulders, he found that all he wanted to do was get home and have a tall glass of scotch. It was only when Walkren remarked about the sanctity of the balance that he felt the need to comment.

“You’re right,” he said with a weary sigh. “But your numbers are off. A Gillian is thousands of souls, but an Adjucha? How many Gillian have they devoured in their time? Tens of thousands at least. And then there’s the Vasto Lorde that have gorged themselves on countless Gillian and Adjucha… thousands of souls? More like millions. Let’s not undersell their impact on the balance.”

He couldn’t help but doubt how true his own words were as he said them. Was Walkren right about their threat to the balance? How were the Shinigami so certain that Hueco Mundo wasn’t part of the balance? It’s not like they would know, the population of both Earth and The Soul Society had steadily risen, so the Hueco Mundo density would have risen in contrast. They had been so quick to right off the value and intelligence of the Arrancar that it was entirely possible they had written off that as well.

If nothing else, reintroducing that many souls to the cycle at once could tip it all on its own. Killing them was just as dangerous.

When they arrived, Robert drifted quietly around Walkren as he worked. He doubted his colleague even noticed his presence as he changed the fluids being pumped into Yuki’s system to something capable of flushing her system. After that, he simply sat himself down on a nearby bench and watched Walkren work. Feeling the flow of Reiatsu in the air was like watching a painter work. Although kaidō had never interested him, while watching a master in action even Robert couldn’t help but feel that perhaps it was worth studying someday.

“Very impressive.” Robert pushed himself off the bench and walked over to Walkren. He grabbed a nearby chair and dragged it over, putting it behind his friend and then guiding him back into it. “I’ll be sure to call you the next time I lose an arm.”

He dropped a glass in front of the exhausted man, and quickly filled it with the contents of a boot flask. “Trust me, It happens quite a lot. There’s nothing else I need from you Walkren. Stay here, enjoy your drink. You were officially on earth, you’ll need to go back and use the monitored Senkaimon. Use mine once you’ve taken a load off.”

With a gentle touch, Robert scooped up the broken girl and began to walk to the elevator. He stepped in, pressed a button, and then hooked his boot in the door to keep it open. “Thank you, Walkren. I meant what I said, if you ever need help...”

He slid his boot out of the door, and let it carry him away.

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Last Edit: Feb 4, 2016 6:11:48 GMT -5 by Ladon

Bleach Gotei

A Dark Passage [Closed]

Post by Walkren Dekharr on Sept 20, 2015 2:22:15 GMT -5

Post by Ladon on Sept 22, 2015 0:17:42 GMT -5

Post by Walkren Dekharr on Sept 24, 2015 1:27:32 GMT -5

Post by Ladon on Sept 26, 2015 10:06:51 GMT -5

Post by Walkren Dekharr on Oct 10, 2015 17:34:40 GMT -5

Post by Ladon on Nov 2, 2015 10:59:42 GMT -5

Post by Walkren Dekharr on Nov 22, 2015 21:26:30 GMT -5

Post by Ladon on Dec 19, 2015 4:13:06 GMT -5

Post by Walkren Dekharr on Jan 19, 2016 17:07:52 GMT -5

Post by Ladon on Jan 22, 2016 10:37:40 GMT -5

Post by Walkren Dekharr on Jan 26, 2016 12:48:33 GMT -5

Post by Ladon on Feb 4, 2016 6:01:24 GMT -5

Welcome!