Grasping Roots (Closed, Victoria)

For most training ended just before evening meal. For some it went much later. Normally for this particular shinigami she'd still be sweating and working hard to get just that much further in her work out. Tonight though she sat besides the brazier enjoying the cool even air as she read over a text she'd managed to get hold of. A copy of a translation of The Iliad, a story that had been written centuries before her birth, that had caught her eye during a patrol recently. The copy hadn't cost her much in the human currency but was worth the investment. It kept her mind busy as she read through the words. Part of a soldiers duty, at least as she saw it, was to be good at things beyond killing and the other soldierly arts. This house in which she sat she had designed and built on her own. That had been made possible by her personal studying of construction techniques used in the current period and those employed by her people more than a millennium past. The flowers that bloomed in her garden and the vegetables and herbs that occupied nearby beds  all planted by her hand and looked after as best as was possible thanks to a collection of books she'd read on the matter.

The Iliad was just one of the few books she'd picked up for a pleasure read. She had several on the shelves she intended to fill before she considered stopping. She would never claim to be a master or expert of the material she read within the tomes she owned or borrowed. No mostly she took interest in the topics she found an immediate use for. Such as mixing concrete and mortar and the practices needed to work with stone to prevent a wall from collapsing. Closing the book and setting it on a low table besides the chair she was seated she stretches for a moment with a sound akin to a moan and a yawn. Rising from the chair and out of shear boredom the woman, Victoria, fired off a few jabs. The need to move the body was fickle thing. When the muscles were not tired they cried out for exertion to satiate there need for movement. Perhaps a run?

A crack of shunpo and she was over the wall of her home and off bounding through the woods like a hunting dog on the trail of its quarry. Another crack of shunpo and she was among the canopies leaping from tree to tree with all the grace her body was capable of. 

WC- 435
GP- 8

    Tsubaki fell into a bit of a meditative state as she brewed her tea. While it wasn't the same type of calm wholeness that she got from gardening, tea had always brought Tsubaki a level of peace that she rarely found in her everyday life. After she had finished brewing she kneeled in her front door and looked out over her garden. Anyone who saw her would see an image of absolute peace as she sipped at her tea and basked in the silent beauty of her garden. A silent beauty that was only augmented by the occasional sounds of distant nocturnal animals. While she had taken measures to keep wild animals out of her home, that didn't mean that Tsubaki couldn't appreciate the life of the night.

    After a little bit Tsubaki sighed and placed her empty cup beside her before rising up and stretching. She reached inside the door and grabbed a trowel as she got ready to work. She decided that she would work at the pond first tonight, and walked towards the water. As she kneeled down in the violet light she noticed a few weeds growing near some of the bushes that she had planted. She frowned slightly and pulled out a knife before kneeling and getting to work.

Word Count: 214
GP 4
Total GP 11
    

Lighting on a branch overlooking other from atop a small rise it occupied. Bellow her sprawled a valley or a divot in the ground laid out before her. This small rise was not far from her home, perhaps less than an eighth of a mile, and she came often when she could. Recently she'd been so busy with her duties in the fifth that she'd not been home for long if at all. It was safe to say that she had not been to this spot of her s for sometime. Taking a deep breath the cool night air fills her lungs but there was something else besides the air that she couldn't place. It had never been there before. It was a softy gentle smell. Perhaps dispersed be the distance it had traveled or it being a naturally light scent. Peering out across the distance her eyes seek out anything out of the ordinary. Then she saw it after several moments of searching.

A faint purple glow some distance away. This was unusual for this far out in the rukongai. It would need investigating. A crackle of shunpo like very distant thunder brought her skimming along the tree tops. Another sent her still closer to her chosen target. Another closer still. Finally she lit upon a roof. One she'd never noticed the many times she'd sat in that tree looking out over the valley. She kept low from her perch as she took in what was before her. A female knelt near some bushes with a knife trimming weeds. Then there were flowers of some kind. Different than others she'd seen before. Purple hued and looking to be of the rose variety. She couldn't tell from this distance if they truly were roses or if they were a plant of similar appearance. She would need to get closer.

Easing herself down from the roof the wolf skulked forward towards the closest bush of the purple hued flowers. Keeping an eye and an ear on the other person in the garden she studied the flower all the while being ready to bolt. 

WC- 352
GP- 7(15)

Tsubaki fell into another meditative state as she worked, the world around her seeming to melt away into virtually nothing, the only things that mattered were the plants in front of her, the soil beneath her, and the tools in her hands. She continued like this for a while, when she was done with one area, she would move on to the next, not even paying attention as it had become so ingrained for her to do this that it was as natural for her as breathing. Unfortunately she was brought out of her reverie rather abruptly when the bush in front of her began to shake.

Tsubaki frowned, she wasn't sure what would cause this to happen. There was almost no wind tonight, and may whatever spirit moles pray to have mercy on any of the pests that were idiotic enough to enter her garden, since even though the plants in this area of her garden weren't poisonous on contact, she had painstakingly made sure that the strains of flowers that she used had been developed to have extremely lethal roots. So if it wasn't moles or some other burrowing animal, and it wasn't the wind, then that really only left one option.

Tsubaki sighed, she wasn't surprised that she had been snuck up on, but she was exasperated. 

At least this one was smart enough not to alert me to their presence through any action of their own, such as breaking into my house and knocking over a cup.

Tsubaki pursed her lips, remembering just how her initial introduction to Kasumi had gone, but then turned her attention back to the issue at hand.

You know, most people tend to forget, that when everything is made of reishi, then everything has some sort of sense for the world around it, and will react accordingly. So if you could stop sneaking around and scaring my garden, that would be nice.

Word count:321
GP gain:6
Total gain:17

Her head popped up over the bush like a gophers would pop out of its hole. Making eye contact with the other female the wolves head tilted to one side before disappearing behind the bush again. Scuttling out between two close bushes as there was no way to get out of the bed without taking the long way. Moving to a squatting position the canus-lupus endowed female smiled slightly, "Sorry about that. I was just curious about your oddly colored flowers here. Name Victoria by the way. I own the villa over the ridge a ways back. I was out on a walk when I spotted your house and came to investigate."

Rubbing the back of her head absently the she wolf never shifted her gaze from the other female. In situations like this she had to be ready for the other, who had a knife, to make moves to attack. While hopefully it wouldn't come to that she had to be ready for it. She sized her opponent up as she kept her gaze locked on her. Gentle sniffs of the air with each breath told Victoria that this girl was far weaker and if the need arose the fight would be quick and devastating. But, again, the hope was that such an altercation would not occur. After all, this had started as a more neighborly pursuit of investigating the girl that had detoured to "OOOOH! Pretty flowers." because she herself had an interest in odd plants. Such was the gardeners plight when presented with new plants.

WC- 258
GP- 5(20)

Tsubaki hmmed in response to Victoria's words, as she was more concerned with extracting the weeds from in front of her. That isn't to say that she wasn't paying attention to Victoria, quite the opposite in fact. Just as the wolven woman was watching her, she was watching Victoria. She wasn't that startled by Victoria's mildly bestial appearance, more than a few residents of the Soul Society had some sort of oddity related to their appearance, though more often than not those abnormalities were a bit less obvious. She did take note of how Victoria was watching her though. It was obvious that she was sizing Tsubaki up, and preparing in case Tsubaki decided to act in a hostile manner.

While this was a reasonable response when meeting a stranger in the middle of a large forest in the middle of the night, it still irked Tsubaki somewhat, though she would admit that she was a little impressed with the woman's pragmatism, especially since she could tell that Victoria was leaps and bounds beyond her in terms of raw power. What impressed Tsubaki about that was that most people had a tendency to completely ignore a potential threat simply because they thought that they were strong enough to take out someone like her without even breaking a sweat.

Most people didn't get the chance to make that mistake twice.

Finally Tsubaki finished removing the weeds around the bush that she had been working on, so she decided to sit back on her ankles and talk, making sure that she put the knife that she had been using so as to appear less threatening, not that it made a difference, she had ten others hidden on her person anyway.

My name is Tsubaki Tasori, member of the second division, it's a pleasure to meet you.

A minor fabrication, but to be fair it wasn't exactly unpleasant to meet her, and as she had been courteous enough to avoid blundering around like an idiot in her garden this still had the potential to become a pleasurable encounter.

The plants you are referring to are called Lunar Roses. Most nights they are pure white and have a soft glow of the same color, however on the night of the new moon they appear as they do now. It goes without saying that they only bloom at night. I must admit, I'm surprised that you hadn't seen them before. I've been tending this garden for centuries.

Almost as an afterthought Tsubaki added another comment. Word Count 450

Also, could you please stop staring at me as if you think I'm going to attack you? Even if I had a reason to, I wouldn't risk damaging my plants.

Word Count 450

GP gain: 9
Total GP gain:26

Lunar roses were a species of roses that she had not heard of before. They were very pretty delicate looking in fact. A plant that served no place in her garden. Often times she would not get to her garden for a week or more. And such a flower as this she wagered would take much more constant tending and preening. A more dedicated care taker. A better mother to them. Then the girl made a request.


"Could you please stop staring at me as if you think I'm going to attack you? Even if I had a reason to, I wouldn't risk damaging my plants."

A reasonable request from someone not used to being looked at as a potential threat. An indication that this woman before her was not a member of the combat division. Victoria shifted her gaze away from the female to ease her mind. "Sorry about that. Habit from work. Being in the fifth makes you wary of anyone with a knife. Especially late at night in the middle of nowhere," she said once again rubbing the back of her head. Standing to her full height the scared and battered female cast her eyes upon the flowers about her. Many of the lunar roses grew around her. There were others but they lacked the same visual impact as the purple hued roses in the moonlight this night. 

WC- 203
GP- 4(24)

Tsubaki glanced at Victoria for a moment before she started to laugh. It was a slightly haunting, if musical sound. It might put one in the mind of the lower notes of a flute. Her laughter only lasted for a moment, and she shook her head, a slight smile on her face as she got back to work. Such honesty was a bit refreshing, especially when one worked with people who specialized in misinformation every day.

There's no need to apologize, and you are correct to view me as a threat, with or without the knife in my hand.

Tsubaki wondered if Victoria would catch onto the double meaning in that phrase.

In fact I'm mildly impressed that you were prudent enough to view me as a threat. It's clear just from being next to you that you're leaps and bounds beyond me in terms of raw power. Most in your position would simply assume that I was harmless and let their guards down. Disappointing really, it's almost as if they forget that just because something is smaller or weaker than them it doesn't meant that it can't still be a threat. After all, a spider is much smaller, and much weaker, yet it's danger is unquestioned.

Tsubaki would be very surprised if Victoria didn't catch the double meaning on that statement.

Hmm, this woman actually seems to be intelligent, which is more than I can say for some of my own squad members, let alone others that I've met.

I would actually agree. I can sense the earth on her. While she may not be as close to her charges as you, she does know what it means to tend to the plants.

Tsubaki frowned, she hadn't expected Black Rose to weigh in on this, though she didn't really have a response to what she had said. In fact the spirit had stoked some curiosity on Tsubaki's part, though she wasn't going to ask about Victoria's experience with plants just yet, people tended to get leery when you knew things about them that they didn't know that you knew.

Word Count:350
GP gain:7
Total GP gain:33

Victoria nodded slightly at both statements catching their undertones. "I suppose you're right," the blonde said re-tightening the tie on her pony tail. "Prudence is the foot print of wisdom. Amos Bronson Alcott said that in the nineteenth century. I'd like to think that it applies to all situations." Ceasing her fiddling with the clump of hair behind her head the wolf cracked its neck absently.

"So tell me about your plants?" she asked as she looked to the white roses again. They were very beautiful but she wagered they required far for tending than she could spare. Much of her time was spent afield or in the divisional buildings. Busy hands and minds kept a person from trouble.

(Sorry its crap. Couldn't figure out what to post.)

WC- 119
GP- 2(26)

A small smile ghosted across Tsubaki's lips as she picked up the knife and got back to work.

Intelligent indeed. I rarely hear anyone quote anything at me, let alone anything worthwhile.

Yes, I'd have to agree with you about Alcott's statement. I've never heard of him, but he sounds like an intelligent man. As for my roses, this time the smile appeared and stayed on her face, Lunar Roses are fascinating. They are rather rare as they only naturally occur in extremely reishi dense areas, which means that they only really are found at the sites where particularly powerful spiritual beings have fallen and the reishi of the body left behind as the soul reincarnates enriches the soil. Once they have started growing however, it is no more difficult to transplant them into another, more normal, location than it is to transplant a normal rose bush. They are surprisingly hardy as well, likely due to the raw amount of reishi they absorb when first blooming. Nothing eats them, as they produce a unique natural oil when the petals are crushed, and the oil is extremely lethal if it mixes with stomach acids. A gardener need only look in on them about once a week to control weed growth to keep them healthy, despite how delicate they look. 

What marks them as unique is that not only do they exclusively bloom at night, with the flowers closing up at the first touch of sunlight, for some reason they produce a very soft silver glow, reminiscent to moonlight, when they are under the light of the moon, and under a full moon, like tonight, that light becomes a deep purple, as you can see here. 

Normally Tsubaki wouldn't talk this much to a stranger, or honestly to everyone, but if there was one thing she was passionate about, it was her garden, and anyone who asked about it was going to hear their fill.

Word count:323
GP gain:6
Total GP gain:39

Interesting. So at some point this spot had seen the death of some tremendously powerful being. Good to know. Though the girl had mentioned that these particular plants only needed to be exposed to the reishi during their initial growth perido and once they were established they could be moved anywhere. So, these plants could come from anywhere really? Interesting. So where had they started life, possibly? She was curious but it wasn't something she'd go out of her way to ask.

"Anything special about your other plants?" she asked as she looked about the garden unsure of what else to say.

WC- 102
GP- 2(28)

(Sorry... I wasn't sure what to do.)

The smile returned to Tsubaki's face when Victoria asked whether or not there was anything special about her other plants. That was like asking a candy shop owner who had just given you a detailed list of ingredients for one of his best selling candies if any of the other candies had sugar in them.

That's a rather odd question don't you think? Every plant has something special about it. Each and every plant's existence is in itself a small miracle, life blooming where none existed before it, growing and flourishing in the face of anything that would try to eradicate it, before gently laying down and giving up it's gift of existence to the next generation of life, all in an intricate, all encompassing dance of life and death that we, who believe that we are above so much, may see only a glimpse of, and be blessed for it. 

As for the spirit of your question however, yes each of these plants is special in some way. Nearly all of them are used in my research, and can be toxic in some form or fashion. By the way, watch out for that plant near your elbow, the oil it produces is known to spontaneously combust.

Word count 207

Total word count for thread 2221

Total CP for thread 44