Oreachi, Jian [PRESTIGE - SUBSTITUTE SHINIGAMI]
Jun 24, 2016 2:56:27 GMT -5
Kireon and Cheshire like this
Post by Jian Oreachi on Jun 24, 2016 2:56:27 GMT -5
Jian Oreachi
The Substitute Shinigami
On The Surface
Race: Pure Soul, Human Body
Name: Jian Oreachi
Age: 23
Gender: Male
Height & Weight: 6'1", 185 Lbs
Hair & Eyes: Light brown shaggy hair, soft light blue eyes
Physical Description: A tall young man standing a little over six feet with short yet shaggy brown hair, light blue eyes and a peaceful expression. He's well built, not overly muscular but clearly gets a good deal of athletic exercise. Jian carries himself with a sense of covert confidence, he doesn't stride into a room and draw all eyes on him, but with a sense of contentment that makes it seems like he belongs wherever he happens to be. He stands up straight, but at the same time appears relaxed about it. Confident, without appearing haughty.
His usual clothing hasn't changed much in the last few years, he likes to wear loose fitting comfort clothing, usually some kind of nerdy emblamized t-shirt with a pair of jeans, when the weather warrants you'll find him with some kind of fleecy hoodie or in desperate measures a longer overcoat. Nothing about his appearance suggests he spends a lot of time fretting over it, but he's clean shaven and his clothes are at least free of their once worn down appearance.
This is of course to say he looks like that when he is housed within his mortal body. When Jian free's his soul from his body he appears much the same as he did but in the standard uniform of the shinigami. Under close scrutiny, or someone familiar with Jian might pick up the subtle difference. Nicks and marks, small scars on his skin in his mortal body don't match up with his spiritual form. These are, however, very minor details.
Spiritual Description: A bright radiant warmth, the feeling of a gentle breeze, a serene feeling one might have by the ocean on a warm summer day. That is, until its full weight begins to bring itself forth. The bright light is blinding, the warmth turns to a sundering blaze, the breeze a buffeting squall. Jian's reaitsu gives off the feeling of absolute, it holds itself between these two polar opposites determined entirely by his need.
When he is in his physical form this sensation is incredibly muted. Those lacking fine attuned senses might not detect anything spiritual at all from Jian.
Behind The Eyes
Personality: Jian is the hero. Imagine those childhood cartoons, imagine those shows you might have watched growing up, that very image was the very same that Jian idolized growing up. It was that same image that he tried to model himself when he attained his powers, the same ideals he fell short of, and became stronger just to inhabit, tempered through all the hardships he's faced.
Positive Qualities:
Brave - There is little that will shake Jian's courage in a conflict, he simply doesn't feel a sense of fear when going up against terrifying or dangerous situations. Part of this is to do with his confidence, but the other side is that when he's chosen a course of action that puts him in a terrifying situation, that it is the right thing to do and he wears the certainty as an armor against fear.
Confident - Jian has a good deal of faith in his abilities, it isn't so much that he thinks himself undefeatable or infallible, it's simply that he knows what he's capable of, win or lose there is a certainty in himself and an unshakeable belief in what he knows he can do.
Resolute - His particular set of beliefs have been forged in the fires of some incredible hardships, while once malleable and shifting he has finally found him with a core that is unshakable. Jian derives a great deal of his confidence and bravery from this resolve, in this image of a hero that he works tirelessly to uphold.
Good-natured - Simply, Jian is quick to help someone in need across countless different ways. He is generous, quick to lend his time an energy to anyone who might benefit from this assistance.
Fun-Loving - A drink with friends, a quick joke, a video game, a race through the city, a friendly sparring match. The nature of how Jian derives his fun are numerous but of them is unified by the ease at which he is quick to indulge when given the chance. He loves the company of others, and often bonds with them through this particular part of his nature.
Patient - With people, primarily, this is a rather recent development to Jian. He sees within everyone the potential of what they could be, and so long as that hope for them remains he is patient with them as they struggle to find that strength. I mean, he's also pretty patient when waiting for his food in restaraunts but that's always been a thing.
Thick-skinned - It takes a lot to flap Jian, he's great at compartmentalizing his emotions for when there's a better time to deal with them, a rather recent development. In the end, his purpose is far more important than his own feelings, and so as long as he can keep that ideal in mind it takes a lot to shake him.
Optimistic - No better word for it than that. Jian believes in all of the wonderful potential of his world, of what could be instead of what is. This, more than anything else, is what drives him to do what he does. Jian believes wholly that if he does everything he can, as others lend his strength to that same cause, that the world can become a better place, one free of suffering and misery.
Open-minded - One of his best friends was the former Primera Espada. Jian is rarely quick to judge a being by anything other than its behaviour to him. He's forgiving, and ready to accept more than a first impression but there is a line to this allowance, often crossed when someone presents a danger to the things he decides to protect.
Negative Qualities:
Headstrong - Jian has a tendency to, when acting upon his beliefs do so with such resolve that when new information comes to light, or the increasingly rare moments where his emotions take hold, he is difficult to turn from his course. The flip side to his unwavering convictions.
Vengeful - Jian has a line, one that is drawn far and with great deliberation but when it is crossed all bets are off. Jian holds no qualms about putting an end to a life that he has deemed no longer worth living. It's a short list, but it isn't likely anyone who makes it will remain on it long if it is within his capability.
Self-sacrificing - While knowing that his life is vital to continue chasing his dream Jian is quick to sacrifice his personal comfort and well-being short on whims to suit the persuit of his dream. While this is in a way sustaining to him due to his nature, he is quick to cut out the few small comforts he takes for himself as soon as the need arises.
Cares - Perhaps the greatest exploitable weakness he has is the fact that he cares a great deal for a great many things. His innate desire to protect others, and the amount of things he wants to extend that protection to are vast. His compassion creates a blind spot.
Strength Of The World
Zanpakutō Spirit and Inner World: Hogoshi is a terrifyingly massive physical specimen, standing a little over seven feet tall and covered head to toe in rippling muscles. The only clothing that he seems to wear is a simple bright red waist cloth, extending along the length of his legs. Around his neck a wooden bead prayer necklace that hangs down to his stomach, the number of beads seems to vary from time to time, typically around a dozen at any given moment.
Jian's inner world is a shifting place, growing and changing as his ideals and beliefs change and grow. As it currently stands it is a drifting void at the heart of which is a slowly orbiting vision of the world. His inner world displays that thing that he fights to protect, representing his incredible desire to keep all of the people of his world safe.
Zanpakutō: A double edged 28 inch blade with a flared guard single handed grip and rounded pommel.
Legacy Created
Snapshots:
1994 - Birth
2005 - Parents Divorce
2011 - Failed stint in university
2014 - Incursion occurs, awakening Jian's powers
2015 - Jian's story begins
History:
Let me tell you the story of the lost little boy who decided he would save the world.
Jian Oreachi led the epitome of a nothing life, a failed stint in university, a string of part-time jobs, a loss of his social circle simply due to not being willing or wanting to make the effort. He filled his time with television and video games as he lived on his own in a tiny one room apartment.
Just spending his days, waiting, wishing for a purpose, hoping that one-day meaning would fall into his lap.
He got his wish, on a train ride out to Tokyo the day of the Incursion.
He awoke the sole survivor of a train full of dead bodies and everything changed, he was different, he had now strange powers, and soon discovered that made him a target for strange creatures.
He was gutted. In the coming days, he only began to grasp the weight of the tragedy he experienced, the loss of everything he'd ever known, his few friends, his family now with strange powers he didn't understand thrust into a strange new world that seemed very keen on him being dead.
Six months he stumbled in the dark, alone, afraid, hunted until finally he saw himself back to Karakura to the small shrine he'd built in the ruins of his family home.
The truth is on some level Jian had always wanted this, every show he watched, every game he played always held the icon of the hero and more than anything he craved their purpose. To have purpose and to pursue it meant having a life worth living. This came with guilt, to find meaning in so much loss felt wrong.
All he could do was try desperately to survive, unsure of how to do more, unable to will himself to take that first step.
This was when he met Colin, someone similar to him but further along in their journey and when he was finally told that surviving and sticking his head down was the right course.
Opposition. Jian had never found anything to place himself against before. If the acceptable course was to keep his head down and lay low then wouldn't it be exceptional if he could do more?
Of course this was his purpose! This was everything he'd been searching for, to give him something to move towards.
So he donned a cape, he decided he would fight evil.
Soon after he met the Hollow that had been pursuing him from the beginning of this nightmare head on and Jian gets his first dose of reality that this world is nothing like the comics.
The Hollow reveal itself to be his father, and right before it deals Jian the killing blow he finds himself saved by Hisui.
Black clad asshole, the only real depiction of the Shinigami he'd heard up until that point.
"You see a small part of why Shinigami're important; we're the only ones in history who can purify the soul a Hollow used to be."
Thanks to her effort Jian is given a chance for goodbyes, the world may not be the comics envisioned but he knows good exists, and he's given his first taste of success.
As people Jian has never had an issue with the Shinigami, many became his friend, one even his mentor who taught him how to properly defend himself.
He even fell in love, once upon a time.
It wasn't perfect, but he felt like he was helping people, finding his ground. Slowly an image began to develop in his mind, the hero thing was a total act, the cape a crutch, but the illusion was slowly becoming a real part of who he was.
He found that illusion tested when he ran into Clara. Unable to escape, Jian fought back against her but was far too weak to stand a chance.
It wasn't his first 'defeat' but it was the first time he ever had to face the real consequence of what it meant to lose in this world, Clara was going to kill him and the terror of that realization broke the illusion Jian realized he was trying to embody.
A last minute rescue didn't change that.
Battered and with a broken will he fled Japan, his fears and doubts having severed his connection to his powers. He decided to indulge in the one dream that existed before the Incursion, to see the world.
The journey proved two things to him. The first was that even without powers his life was never going to be anything approaching normal. The second was that Jian was never going to stop trying to help people, powers or none.
With the help of the then unbeknownst Primera Espada Jian rediscovered that tie to his powers and with them a spark of something more was born but with it a fear of what he was becoming began to grow.
His return to Karakura was supposed to be more but he felt the same old patterns resume, felt that for all the promise of his around the world trip he was the same person he always was.
He had little time to ponder this, as he was assaulted by a strange creature that went by the name of Kuro, Ayato's Vaizard self.
Jian had trouble keeping up with the monster, and lurking within reach of him was the spark of power born during Takua's training.
This wasn't the first time he'd felt it, but each time he reached towards it, he felt himself change. The power severed him from his emotions, a power created by the need for him to overcome fear and his inability to do so otherwise.
His hesitation to use it resulted in the deaths of over a dozen people. Jian fights with renewed vigor, but it isn't enough, he embraces the power that terrifies him and changes, someone who focuses on the task at hand, lethal efficient but cares little for the cost of victory.
Everything he has is poured into the final blow and steals victory away. The power itself is a crutch, a dead end used to conquer a thing he needed to be strong enough to handle, and even then his hesitation in using it cost lives.
The encounter leaves him a little scared, the old doubts return but so long as he leans on that power, it's fine, he doesn't really need to mature.
Inevitably this leads him into trouble, he almost dies against Nagisa, he throws himself violently against Tokiyo, he almost finds his will stolen by an Arrancar.
He wanted so desperately to play hero that when the illusion broke against Clara he lost his way. If that wasn't how to be hero, then how was he supposed to act?
He's given a chance to prove himself on a seemingly completely unremarkable night. The Madman, the Arrancar Nazomi appears before Jian covered in the gore of a recent victim. There's no gray here, there's no unusual justification present, just a man against a monster.
It's here he's given the choice, to save others or himself. He's given an opportunity to step up like he failed to in his encounter with Clara. He's given the chance to decide what a human life means to him, and how far he is willing to go to protect them.
He now realizes the power he had, the one that shields him from his fears and his doubts, is a crutch and in casting it off he is given his moment of clarity. He'd played pretend so long, and lost faith in himself and now he could see, and believe, in his own potential.
It wasn't an issue with the image he was trying to live up to, it was that he lacked the will to carry it out, a will he found renewed.
Jian survives the encounter renewed.
The KSN is formed, Jian begins to meet, protect, guide, teach, countless individuals. He makes amends for his past sins against the now Captain Commander, he mends old friendships.
Everything begins to come together.
He meets up once more with Takua and in their training Jian's fear reveals itself once more. It's the same conflict he's been trying to overcome, that same emotion that he has always run against. It's taken many forms, a fear of death revealed against Clara but now it's a fear that he won't be able to live up to the ideal of hero he's developed, a fear of not being able to live among his own people.
Specifically, he believes that he's afraid that if he breaks through this plateau that if he falters the consequences will be even greater. He holds back against his mentor, he doesn't want to take it seriously because he's afraid he'll attain a power he knows is within his reach.
He is forced to face that again when he meets up with Sekai. He knows that she's another whose broken through that barrier, but when her guilt is revealed Jian loses it.
The truth is it isn't just that he's afraid his powers will change him, it's that he's afraid he isn't ready, and seeing those with great power still struggling with those inner demons makes him fear he won't ever be free of his own. The stronger he gets, the more people will rely on that strength, and the more responsibility he feels to do great things and the harder he worries it will be to hold on to them.
He knows power is just a tool, he's learned his lesson not to let his powers change him when he cast away the cloak in his fight against Nazomi but he's afraid he isn't ready for more or that it will continue him further down a road to becoming something he won't recognize.
Jian holds on to this delusion that it's power that breaks people, that changes them without understanding the journeys they've undergone, and the people they really are ignoring the people without that power who are similarily struggling with their inner demons.
Jian refuses to play along with her anger, instead he wants to fix their relationship and in return she gives him a glimmer of what she's been through and Jian is forced to reflect not only on his journey but hers. He is given a chance to see how far they've both grown.
This is where the nature of Humanity being so important to Jian becomes so important to this arc.
For a long time, Jian has been worried about what his powers mean, about how inhuman it makes him. It becomes a metric for goodness, those he sees as good are uniquely human, those he sees as bad is monstrous. The more power he gains the further he feels from human, the further he feels others are.
Like the Broken.
Everything he's built up has been an aspect of who he is as a human, that when he falters he loses those things that make him human. That power would both make it harder for him to maintain his humanity, and subsequently, increase his need for it.
He needs power to become that hero he wants to be, but he's afraid attaining it will change him.
Sekai gives him an opportunity to embrace that fear in facing her. His eyes begin to open as he realizes that power is a tool for him to use, nothing more.
But it isn't enough to just decide it's the case, to do so because it's expected of him. He fails because while he understands it he hasn't had a chance to embrace that certainty, no chance to test this resolve.
There's no need driving him.
Jian embraces his failure with a certain confidence, he needs that power to achieve his dreams, that's something he knows but there isn't hurry. Each day the KSN grows, and new protectors have stepped into the picture to help him, even without that power he continues to move forward.
It is working towards this dream that brings him to Los Angeles to take the first steps in expanding the KSN's reach worldwide.
Late one night after meeting with the various spiritually aware in the city he returns to his hotel room and finds Shun awaiting him.
Jian has a complicated relationship with the Shinigami. In the beginning, he was left wondering why their supposed protectors weren't there when the Incursion happened, then he began to see a more clear picture. The Shinigami weren't really their protectors, they couldn't be because it was an impossible job, they ferried souls. He made friends with them, some taught him how to fight, he fell in love with another.
He began to see the cracks in the system.
All he ever wanted was guidance, to have the Shinigami show up and put his power to use, to provide people like him not only direction;but security too. That purpose he so strongly desired.
He knew they had the power to find those like him, he knew they had the means to educate them, to keep them safe as they figured out what their purpose would be.
Tokiyo clarified why they didn't, humanity simply wasn't worth that effort.
It was a blow, but one that Jian realized he could handle. He'd gotten strong enough that he didn't need their guidance or training anymore, someone else had filled that gap, the Arrancar Takua and now he was ready to pay it forward.
He found his purpose without them.
All along he believed that something needed to be there for people like him, to give them a hand up and let them know what was going on, to protect them so they could control their powers, and to encourage them pay it forward to others.
That rejection became the fuel for him to do what the Shinigami refused to, and with it he founded the KSN.
He made peace with the Shinigami, they could fulfill their purpose, Jian was even happy to lend a hand where he could but his focus was on what truly mattered, making sure nobody had to live through that hell like he and so many others had.
Shun's arrival dredges up every single bit of a wound he thought he'd let heal, especially with his the hope granted by his last meeting with Tokiyo.
For Jian it's every bit the last straw, to have the Shinigami not only stand idle while he scrabbled in the dark and witnessed so many more like him suffer for their apathy but then when he decides to do what they decided wasn't worth it and try to give some sort of guiding light to his people have a Captain of the Seireitei tell him to knock it off.
To reject not only his help, but then his dream as well.
He tells Shun to fuck off, and in return is attacked, a meaningless blow meant to humble but Jian responds in full fury.
The need lacking in his last attempt shows itself.
The realization that he is going to protect his people, that he will keep fighting to achieve his dream no matter what, has always been there.
Having something to put this to the test allows him to prove it to himself.
Nobody, not even the whole of the Seireitei, was going to stop him from doing that.
A common theme runs through Jian's story, clarity found through opposition.
Jian reaches for that power once more, climbs incredibly as he uses his power to show Shun that humanity won't be pushed around. It's uncertain if Jian even with that power could hope to win, but Shun knows better. He's seeing a story unfold before his eyes that he's seen several times before, the transformation.
He stabs Jian through the chest, through his spine and out. Jian still scrambling to fight is sent high into the air where he is then ignited by Shun's shunko and sent crashing to the Earth like a falling meteor.
He crash-lands in an alleyway, body scorched, broken.
But part of him knows he's won, if he holds on to his life that power he began to reach for was still his. He's ready to stand alongside the rest of Earth's great Guardians.
His body begins to heal itself as he readies himself to keep moving forward.
Shun isn't done with him, however, seeing the very raw materials before him he makes a decision. He gives Jian a 'gift' as he stabs the blade into his chest, a specific point for a specific purpose.
Black robes and a sword, a twist in Jian's soul as it changes with the addition of the Shinigami energy.
Leaving him in between, something he doesn't understand, a power he never wanted.
He came to grips with understanding that power wouldn't change who he was, but this is more than he ever could have prepared himself for.
He doesn't recognize himself, his powers, his own soul. He's trapped outside of his own body, unsure of how to even return.
To have held everything he ever wanted in his hands, and then having it torn from him at the last moment is more than he can bear. He wavers and doubt takes control. He was ready to accept his power but now he's had his humanity tested once more and he isn't sure what it means, he isn't sure he can keep taking hits like that.
He begins thinking of all of the trials he's endured, all the people he's met and saved and failed to save. He asks himself the question, after everything he's been through:
Was it worth it?
He takes hold of the Zanpakuto and finds himself in a vast void, he's given a chance to see first hand as his Inner World takes shape around him, from the beginning where he could only try his best to survive gradually growing as his dream began to take shape through each of his trials, as he grew to meet to weight of his own goals.
He watches over the Earth.
The guide of the little trip down memory lane appears Jian's Zanpakuto spirit. Jian doesn't have anything new to learn here, it's all what he's been through before, but now with a spirit at his back he has someone to help deliver that wake-up call he needs. A source of strength to temper his passion, support his dreams without letting him get in over his head. The patience and self-control to bring out the best of his determination and passion.
He knows the truth deep down, it doesn't matter what happens to him, what experiences he has, what opposes him. When Shun changed him he had to reconfirm what he'd known in a way he'd never expected and so he was thrown. He would always be Jian Oreachi, protector, guardian of his world. He would never stop tirelessly working to make his dream reality. No matter his power, no matter what form he took.
With renewed focus Jian takes up his sword now knowing the name of his inner spirit and finding the means to accept what has been done and resolve to keep moving forward returns his spirit to his body.
It was simple to return in the end, all he had to do was accept.
Jian Oreachi led the epitome of a nothing life, a failed stint in university, a string of part-time jobs, a loss of his social circle simply due to not being willing or wanting to make the effort. He filled his time with television and video games as he lived on his own in a tiny one room apartment.
Just spending his days, waiting, wishing for a purpose, hoping that one-day meaning would fall into his lap.
He got his wish, on a train ride out to Tokyo the day of the Incursion.
He awoke the sole survivor of a train full of dead bodies and everything changed, he was different, he had now strange powers, and soon discovered that made him a target for strange creatures.
He was gutted. In the coming days, he only began to grasp the weight of the tragedy he experienced, the loss of everything he'd ever known, his few friends, his family now with strange powers he didn't understand thrust into a strange new world that seemed very keen on him being dead.
Six months he stumbled in the dark, alone, afraid, hunted until finally he saw himself back to Karakura to the small shrine he'd built in the ruins of his family home.
The truth is on some level Jian had always wanted this, every show he watched, every game he played always held the icon of the hero and more than anything he craved their purpose. To have purpose and to pursue it meant having a life worth living. This came with guilt, to find meaning in so much loss felt wrong.
All he could do was try desperately to survive, unsure of how to do more, unable to will himself to take that first step.
This was when he met Colin, someone similar to him but further along in their journey and when he was finally told that surviving and sticking his head down was the right course.
Opposition. Jian had never found anything to place himself against before. If the acceptable course was to keep his head down and lay low then wouldn't it be exceptional if he could do more?
Of course this was his purpose! This was everything he'd been searching for, to give him something to move towards.
So he donned a cape, he decided he would fight evil.
Soon after he met the Hollow that had been pursuing him from the beginning of this nightmare head on and Jian gets his first dose of reality that this world is nothing like the comics.
The Hollow reveal itself to be his father, and right before it deals Jian the killing blow he finds himself saved by Hisui.
Black clad asshole, the only real depiction of the Shinigami he'd heard up until that point.
"You see a small part of why Shinigami're important; we're the only ones in history who can purify the soul a Hollow used to be."
Thanks to her effort Jian is given a chance for goodbyes, the world may not be the comics envisioned but he knows good exists, and he's given his first taste of success.
As people Jian has never had an issue with the Shinigami, many became his friend, one even his mentor who taught him how to properly defend himself.
He even fell in love, once upon a time.
It wasn't perfect, but he felt like he was helping people, finding his ground. Slowly an image began to develop in his mind, the hero thing was a total act, the cape a crutch, but the illusion was slowly becoming a real part of who he was.
He found that illusion tested when he ran into Clara. Unable to escape, Jian fought back against her but was far too weak to stand a chance.
It wasn't his first 'defeat' but it was the first time he ever had to face the real consequence of what it meant to lose in this world, Clara was going to kill him and the terror of that realization broke the illusion Jian realized he was trying to embody.
A last minute rescue didn't change that.
Battered and with a broken will he fled Japan, his fears and doubts having severed his connection to his powers. He decided to indulge in the one dream that existed before the Incursion, to see the world.
The journey proved two things to him. The first was that even without powers his life was never going to be anything approaching normal. The second was that Jian was never going to stop trying to help people, powers or none.
With the help of the then unbeknownst Primera Espada Jian rediscovered that tie to his powers and with them a spark of something more was born but with it a fear of what he was becoming began to grow.
His return to Karakura was supposed to be more but he felt the same old patterns resume, felt that for all the promise of his around the world trip he was the same person he always was.
He had little time to ponder this, as he was assaulted by a strange creature that went by the name of Kuro, Ayato's Vaizard self.
Jian had trouble keeping up with the monster, and lurking within reach of him was the spark of power born during Takua's training.
This wasn't the first time he'd felt it, but each time he reached towards it, he felt himself change. The power severed him from his emotions, a power created by the need for him to overcome fear and his inability to do so otherwise.
His hesitation to use it resulted in the deaths of over a dozen people. Jian fights with renewed vigor, but it isn't enough, he embraces the power that terrifies him and changes, someone who focuses on the task at hand, lethal efficient but cares little for the cost of victory.
Everything he has is poured into the final blow and steals victory away. The power itself is a crutch, a dead end used to conquer a thing he needed to be strong enough to handle, and even then his hesitation in using it cost lives.
The encounter leaves him a little scared, the old doubts return but so long as he leans on that power, it's fine, he doesn't really need to mature.
Inevitably this leads him into trouble, he almost dies against Nagisa, he throws himself violently against Tokiyo, he almost finds his will stolen by an Arrancar.
He wanted so desperately to play hero that when the illusion broke against Clara he lost his way. If that wasn't how to be hero, then how was he supposed to act?
He's given a chance to prove himself on a seemingly completely unremarkable night. The Madman, the Arrancar Nazomi appears before Jian covered in the gore of a recent victim. There's no gray here, there's no unusual justification present, just a man against a monster.
It's here he's given the choice, to save others or himself. He's given an opportunity to step up like he failed to in his encounter with Clara. He's given the chance to decide what a human life means to him, and how far he is willing to go to protect them.
He now realizes the power he had, the one that shields him from his fears and his doubts, is a crutch and in casting it off he is given his moment of clarity. He'd played pretend so long, and lost faith in himself and now he could see, and believe, in his own potential.
It wasn't an issue with the image he was trying to live up to, it was that he lacked the will to carry it out, a will he found renewed.
Jian survives the encounter renewed.
The KSN is formed, Jian begins to meet, protect, guide, teach, countless individuals. He makes amends for his past sins against the now Captain Commander, he mends old friendships.
Everything begins to come together.
He meets up once more with Takua and in their training Jian's fear reveals itself once more. It's the same conflict he's been trying to overcome, that same emotion that he has always run against. It's taken many forms, a fear of death revealed against Clara but now it's a fear that he won't be able to live up to the ideal of hero he's developed, a fear of not being able to live among his own people.
Specifically, he believes that he's afraid that if he breaks through this plateau that if he falters the consequences will be even greater. He holds back against his mentor, he doesn't want to take it seriously because he's afraid he'll attain a power he knows is within his reach.
He is forced to face that again when he meets up with Sekai. He knows that she's another whose broken through that barrier, but when her guilt is revealed Jian loses it.
The truth is it isn't just that he's afraid his powers will change him, it's that he's afraid he isn't ready, and seeing those with great power still struggling with those inner demons makes him fear he won't ever be free of his own. The stronger he gets, the more people will rely on that strength, and the more responsibility he feels to do great things and the harder he worries it will be to hold on to them.
He knows power is just a tool, he's learned his lesson not to let his powers change him when he cast away the cloak in his fight against Nazomi but he's afraid he isn't ready for more or that it will continue him further down a road to becoming something he won't recognize.
Jian holds on to this delusion that it's power that breaks people, that changes them without understanding the journeys they've undergone, and the people they really are ignoring the people without that power who are similarily struggling with their inner demons.
Jian refuses to play along with her anger, instead he wants to fix their relationship and in return she gives him a glimmer of what she's been through and Jian is forced to reflect not only on his journey but hers. He is given a chance to see how far they've both grown.
This is where the nature of Humanity being so important to Jian becomes so important to this arc.
For a long time, Jian has been worried about what his powers mean, about how inhuman it makes him. It becomes a metric for goodness, those he sees as good are uniquely human, those he sees as bad is monstrous. The more power he gains the further he feels from human, the further he feels others are.
Like the Broken.
Everything he's built up has been an aspect of who he is as a human, that when he falters he loses those things that make him human. That power would both make it harder for him to maintain his humanity, and subsequently, increase his need for it.
He needs power to become that hero he wants to be, but he's afraid attaining it will change him.
Sekai gives him an opportunity to embrace that fear in facing her. His eyes begin to open as he realizes that power is a tool for him to use, nothing more.
But it isn't enough to just decide it's the case, to do so because it's expected of him. He fails because while he understands it he hasn't had a chance to embrace that certainty, no chance to test this resolve.
There's no need driving him.
Jian embraces his failure with a certain confidence, he needs that power to achieve his dreams, that's something he knows but there isn't hurry. Each day the KSN grows, and new protectors have stepped into the picture to help him, even without that power he continues to move forward.
It is working towards this dream that brings him to Los Angeles to take the first steps in expanding the KSN's reach worldwide.
Late one night after meeting with the various spiritually aware in the city he returns to his hotel room and finds Shun awaiting him.
Jian has a complicated relationship with the Shinigami. In the beginning, he was left wondering why their supposed protectors weren't there when the Incursion happened, then he began to see a more clear picture. The Shinigami weren't really their protectors, they couldn't be because it was an impossible job, they ferried souls. He made friends with them, some taught him how to fight, he fell in love with another.
He began to see the cracks in the system.
All he ever wanted was guidance, to have the Shinigami show up and put his power to use, to provide people like him not only direction;but security too. That purpose he so strongly desired.
He knew they had the power to find those like him, he knew they had the means to educate them, to keep them safe as they figured out what their purpose would be.
Tokiyo clarified why they didn't, humanity simply wasn't worth that effort.
It was a blow, but one that Jian realized he could handle. He'd gotten strong enough that he didn't need their guidance or training anymore, someone else had filled that gap, the Arrancar Takua and now he was ready to pay it forward.
He found his purpose without them.
All along he believed that something needed to be there for people like him, to give them a hand up and let them know what was going on, to protect them so they could control their powers, and to encourage them pay it forward to others.
That rejection became the fuel for him to do what the Shinigami refused to, and with it he founded the KSN.
He made peace with the Shinigami, they could fulfill their purpose, Jian was even happy to lend a hand where he could but his focus was on what truly mattered, making sure nobody had to live through that hell like he and so many others had.
Shun's arrival dredges up every single bit of a wound he thought he'd let heal, especially with his the hope granted by his last meeting with Tokiyo.
For Jian it's every bit the last straw, to have the Shinigami not only stand idle while he scrabbled in the dark and witnessed so many more like him suffer for their apathy but then when he decides to do what they decided wasn't worth it and try to give some sort of guiding light to his people have a Captain of the Seireitei tell him to knock it off.
To reject not only his help, but then his dream as well.
He tells Shun to fuck off, and in return is attacked, a meaningless blow meant to humble but Jian responds in full fury.
The need lacking in his last attempt shows itself.
The realization that he is going to protect his people, that he will keep fighting to achieve his dream no matter what, has always been there.
Having something to put this to the test allows him to prove it to himself.
Nobody, not even the whole of the Seireitei, was going to stop him from doing that.
A common theme runs through Jian's story, clarity found through opposition.
Jian reaches for that power once more, climbs incredibly as he uses his power to show Shun that humanity won't be pushed around. It's uncertain if Jian even with that power could hope to win, but Shun knows better. He's seeing a story unfold before his eyes that he's seen several times before, the transformation.
He stabs Jian through the chest, through his spine and out. Jian still scrambling to fight is sent high into the air where he is then ignited by Shun's shunko and sent crashing to the Earth like a falling meteor.
He crash-lands in an alleyway, body scorched, broken.
But part of him knows he's won, if he holds on to his life that power he began to reach for was still his. He's ready to stand alongside the rest of Earth's great Guardians.
His body begins to heal itself as he readies himself to keep moving forward.
Shun isn't done with him, however, seeing the very raw materials before him he makes a decision. He gives Jian a 'gift' as he stabs the blade into his chest, a specific point for a specific purpose.
Black robes and a sword, a twist in Jian's soul as it changes with the addition of the Shinigami energy.
Leaving him in between, something he doesn't understand, a power he never wanted.
He came to grips with understanding that power wouldn't change who he was, but this is more than he ever could have prepared himself for.
He doesn't recognize himself, his powers, his own soul. He's trapped outside of his own body, unsure of how to even return.
To have held everything he ever wanted in his hands, and then having it torn from him at the last moment is more than he can bear. He wavers and doubt takes control. He was ready to accept his power but now he's had his humanity tested once more and he isn't sure what it means, he isn't sure he can keep taking hits like that.
He begins thinking of all of the trials he's endured, all the people he's met and saved and failed to save. He asks himself the question, after everything he's been through:
Was it worth it?
He takes hold of the Zanpakuto and finds himself in a vast void, he's given a chance to see first hand as his Inner World takes shape around him, from the beginning where he could only try his best to survive gradually growing as his dream began to take shape through each of his trials, as he grew to meet to weight of his own goals.
He watches over the Earth.
The guide of the little trip down memory lane appears Jian's Zanpakuto spirit. Jian doesn't have anything new to learn here, it's all what he's been through before, but now with a spirit at his back he has someone to help deliver that wake-up call he needs. A source of strength to temper his passion, support his dreams without letting him get in over his head. The patience and self-control to bring out the best of his determination and passion.
He knows the truth deep down, it doesn't matter what happens to him, what experiences he has, what opposes him. When Shun changed him he had to reconfirm what he'd known in a way he'd never expected and so he was thrown. He would always be Jian Oreachi, protector, guardian of his world. He would never stop tirelessly working to make his dream reality. No matter his power, no matter what form he took.
With renewed focus Jian takes up his sword now knowing the name of his inner spirit and finding the means to accept what has been done and resolve to keep moving forward returns his spirit to his body.
It was simple to return in the end, all he had to do was accept.
He'd conquered his fear of his powers, but when he was changed it was like everything had come up again. He had to accept that his ties to humanity were made of far stronger stuff than anything that could ever be taken from him. The fear of not belonging, of not understanding what he was or his place in the universe, the fear of changing and losing those precious ideals.
He knew now how foolish he was to have ever worried in the first place.
Jian Oreachi, the protector, the guardian of his people, ever chasing that impossible dream. No matter the form, no matter the power. He would forever be himself.
Nothing could change that.
Jian slid his Zanpakuto away into its sheath, strode over towards his body and crouched. In many ways, it had always been a mere shell, a vessel for his powers to operate through. A part of him, one-half of the whole, like his soul was. He closed his eyes and his form faded, two bodies now one.
He knew now how foolish he was to have ever worried in the first place.
Jian Oreachi, the protector, the guardian of his people, ever chasing that impossible dream. No matter the form, no matter the power. He would forever be himself.
Nothing could change that.
Jian slid his Zanpakuto away into its sheath, strode over towards his body and crouched. In many ways, it had always been a mere shell, a vessel for his powers to operate through. A part of him, one-half of the whole, like his soul was. He closed his eyes and his form faded, two bodies now one.
OOC
Player Alias: Jian, Adam, Pladas
Other Characters: Nanami Hideaki, The Nameless
