Post by Victoria on Aug 6, 2012 23:40:00 GMT -5
___S H I N I G A M I ___
Victoria Aeserninus
Fifth Division Lieutenant
Themes:
Apres Moi - Regina Spektor
Dream On - Aerosmith(Post Modern Jukebox & Morgan James)
Pine Woods - Korpiklaani
Abyss Watchers - Yuka Kitamura & RichaadEB
Tear of the Goddess - Pentakill
Fifth Division Lieutenant
Themes:
Apres Moi - Regina Spektor
Dream On - Aerosmith(Post Modern Jukebox & Morgan James)
Pine Woods - Korpiklaani
Abyss Watchers - Yuka Kitamura & RichaadEB
Tear of the Goddess - Pentakill
On The Surface__
"When the swords flash let no idea of love, piety, or even the face of your fathers move you."
- Julius Ceasar
Name:Victoria "Vic" Aeserninus
Age / Apparent Age: 1625/27
Gender: Female
Height & Weight: 5'5" 130lbs
Hair & Eyes: Victoria's hair is made of locks of a light amber that gradually fades to near platinum towards the tips. The locks themselves are well taken care of and miraculously maintain a soft, silky appearance and feel despite the nature of their owner’s job. The hair is kept at a shoulder length for functionality. Generally, the locks are styled into that of an easily maintained ponytail drawn tight to the wearer's head with a short section of cord or ribbons of various hues, though their appearance is quite rare. Victoria has taken to allowing some locks to hang loose.
Victoria's eyes are bright green and almond in shape. Yet despite their sometimes haggard, dejected or even sometimes hard appearance they still display a fire; a tiny spark that can at times build to a roaring inferno. The spark lies hidden within the various hues of viridian that give her eyes depth depending upon her emotions at that moment. Her eyes can be very expressive, allowing her to display a range of emotions without breaking her usually stone-faced facade.
Physical Description: Victoria is a female of five foot five inches in height with classic Mediterranean skin. While her skin could be described as olive or even in some cases yellow the more common descriptor is olive. That being said her skin takes well to tanning and while it may burn in some circumstances it generally just grows darker into a warm brown tone similar to that of toast. She is very meticulous about the care of her skin despite the many scars and marks that litter her body. She is always sure to apply lotions and balms to areas in need and light unobtrusive perfume to cover the scent of sweat should she perspire. As such she can often be found traveling to or from the baths wanting to keep any unpleasant odors at bay.
While the various scars that litter her body might, by some, be seen as detriments to her physical beauty, she tends to embrace them as proof of her dedication to the cause and worthy of pride and display. Most notably are the two scars on her back and the large burns that dominate the majority of her right arm and right side of her face. The facial scar running from below her right eyebrow line to her jawline and occupying a space in line with her right eye’s outermost corner to approximately half an inch from the corner of her mouth. The burn on her right arm runs from the top of her shoulder to just shy of her elbow. Both scars are darker than her natural skin tone and make the skin appear tight and painful though they do not cause pain. The two scars on her back, the only scars on her person that are not on her front, are nearly white in appearance and appear to be as old as she is, displaying the time softened look only old healed tissue can have.
Victoria spends nearly all her free time working out at her division's various training centers. Because of this she has burned off the majority of her body's curves and replaced them with compact toned muscles that do not betray their power. Most notably her shoulders and arms are sculpted and defined by her preferred mode of combat thus making them slightly wider than your average females. This is by no means to say that she has neglected the other parts of her body. While she may lack washboard abs they are solid and capable of sustaining blows. Some women have curvaceous hips and shapely thighs. Victoria has traded hers for what are akin to sprinters or cyclists thighs densely muscled.
A readily noticeable difference she carries is the upright canine ears. They are darker than the surrounding hair and have tufts of hair that spill out in small amounts in mottling shades of her hair color and toasted wheat. Her ears function much the same as the ears of a dog that twist about to locate sounds and show her emotions at a particular moment.
Victoria's selection of gear is based heavily on her preference to hakuda. That being said over her time in the fifth division and first-hand experience in the furnaces of war she has greatly modified the standard issue garb to better fit with her needs. First thing of note is the conversion of her top to a backless halter type with built in support for her womanly assets. The top is secured behind her back by a single tied strap that, while aiding in maintaining the lines of the top, is not required for it to function in its intended purpose. Her pants are designed to maintain a slimmer silhouette and keep the amount of what she has deemed excess fabric to a minimum. This serves two purposes. This first being that it keeps her from getting caught on things while in the midst of a fight and the second being not giving the enemy a free hold on which to grab.
Because Victoria prefers hand to hand combat she has taken to wrapping her hands, wrists, ankles and shins in linen bandages. The wraps are fairly nondescript, simple plain off-white linen hemmed on each edge and end to prevent fraying as best as possible.
Another obvious difference from the standard issue uniform is Victoria’s selection of footwear. Victoria has taken to wearing Roman boots, as they are known, that are more akin to sandals than they are actual boots. Made of multiple leather pieces and laced up the center with a single long lace of thick leather. The boots reach up to about her mid-calf, sport a flat sole and increase grip thanks to their hobnailed soles. Her boots are made of plain brown leather and lack any notable decorations or embellishments due to their owner's view of them as tools and not fashion accessories.
Off duty, Victoria’s clothing is perhaps as out of character as one would imagine. When not deployed or working in the division offices she can be found around her home in an ankle length dress of an olive green hue with a tan canvas apron overtop. Even in her own home, her hand wraps are never very far from her grip, often seeing themselves worked into the binding of her hair to keep them close to hand.
When she hits the gym Victoria wears one of the numerous retired uniforms tops she’s collected over her years of service and a pair of standard issue hakama pants that she’s shortened to just above her knees in length.
Behind The Eyes__
Personality: In front of her comrades, she’s steadfast and reliable. Level headed in her approach and efficient in the completion of her tasks.
Privately behind closed doors, Victoria yearns for companionship. Be it in a friend or a lover. Centuries of life and toil have made her yearn to share it all with someone. Yet, as with someone of so many years she feels the need to keep people at a distance in order to prevent the pain caused by their departure. Yet, she wishes to break this cycle. To let others in regardless of the risk of the possible future pain caused by doing so.
Perhaps one thing Victoria longs for more than anything is the opportunity to mean something to someone or her division. To after all the centuries she’s served to be more than just a fellow soldier. More than a battle buddy or a number and name on a list somewhere. To be someone to someone.
If nothing else she offers to those she wishes to matter to her steadfast loyalty, the stability of her dedication and fully committed soldier/friend/companion.
Positive Qualities:
Gentle - This is perhaps an odd trait to find used to describe someone who fights as a career. Yet, there she is with hands outstretched and a warm smile and her eyes softened when it comes to children, babies, animals and the persons whom she has taken the risk of letting in close. Perhaps deep down The Wolf of the Fifth is a nurturing soul after all.
Quick Study - If one thing keeps a person alive in dangerous situations it’s the ability to grasp difficult concepts and analyze a situation rapidly. From deciphering the patterns of an enemy's attacks to learning a new recipe for dinner Victoria’s mind works at a frenzied pace.
Honest - Perhaps in some situations, honesty is not always the best policy. Victoria prefers, to be honest with everyone that way she doesn’t have to try and remember the lies she’s told.
Direct - Like a brick with a note strapped to it through the front window of a house Victoria tends to cut around the bullshit and tip toeing and tells it like it is. When asked for a report it’s just the facts. When asked for her opinion she gives it.
Decisive - Efficiency is a big thing for Victoria in everything she does. In battle, she seeks to end her opponent as quickly as she can in as a few wasted moves as she can. Always looking to make the best use of her time if she can combine several smaller tasks, like reading a manual on a particular topic and eating her dinner, she will.
Reliable - Like an old coat or a watch Victoria is always there. When she is needed most she is at hand. Ready to do her duty and stand beside her squadmates. And much like a watch she can take a licking and keep on kicking.
Negative Qualities:
Jaded - It happens to some people as events and time continue to roll past them. Eventually, they grow weary of the ever pressing nature of it and simply cannot get excited by it anymore. After a thousand years of service, she has grown tired of the bureaucratic nature of the gotei.
Stubborn - Perhaps it comes with the territory of dependability but Victoria can at times be incredibly stubborn. And while perhaps for some things she’s more stubborn than she is for others the fact remains that it can be neigh impossible to get her opinion on a matter to change.
Private - Another product of her long service life with the gotei. She has taken to constructing a wall between herself and those around her in hopes of protecting herself from being hurt.
Tactless - Or in the modern parlance, “She lacks chill.” If she believes something needs to be said without the ease of kind words she’s probably going to say it. Such tendencies have gotten her into trouble many times with her superiors.
Unfaltering - When Victoria sets her mind to something there are few things that can stop her from attaining it. And perhaps that’s not a good thing but it does tend to get the objectives in missions achieved.
Strength Of The World__
Zanpakutō Spirit and Inner World: Fenrir is a massive beast of a wolf standing at eye level with his master Victoria. Thickly furred and densely muscled the wolves eyes seem to burn like fire and cut holes in all they fall upon. His fur is a mottling of gray and black with a thick mane of black fur that dominates from his shoulders forward.
The world in which he resides is filled with shifting snow and a howling wind that seems to drown out every sound besides itself. No matter how much one walks they appear to make progress. The distant muddled shapes of trees on the horizon never grow closer.
The wind that whips the snow and all who enter the realm cuts directly to the bone like the fangs of the wolf that inhabits this plane. The gale that persists seems to not bother the mighty canis as he stalks the drifting snow.
Communication is mostly body language between the two souls occupying one body. At times the wolf will engage her in a short conversation in her native latin tongue via the mental link they share. This not because he does not know any other languages but merely because it is his most comfortable and one they’re both fully fluent in.
Zanpakutō: The weapon itself is fairly basic. As with all unreleased Zanpakuto, it is of the katana family although somewhere between the wakizashi variety and the full-length katana in length. The steel blade is of nearly pure white color and almost dull in its appearance. The grip is of plain charcoal gray cordage wrapped in the traditional pattern with the ray skin having been replaced with a fine light gray leather and the traditional ornaments have been completely removed. Its scabbard is a non-descript model covered in the same fine light gray leather used in its grip.
Release Phrase: Victoria’s release phrase is of the audible variety but doesn’t follow the standard archetype using words or a phrase. Instead, harkening to her spirits canine nature, the phrase is merely a hunting howl used by wolves when the hunt begins. The tone can be described as starting low in the chest and rising in volume followed by a short growl.
Zanpakutō Power: When Victoria’s howl reaches its highest notes the weapon in its entirety turns to a pure white hue. Then slowly the blade and all its fixtures and fittings begin to drift away as tiny snowflakes before being swept away completely and a surge of wind.
Fenrir’s released state is quite the sight if one is lucky enough to see it. While many releases take the physical form of weapons and do highly specialized functions. Fenrir does neither of those things. Almost as soon as the last snowflake from her blade disappears The sky darkens and snow begins to fall rapidly. Quickly the snow deepens to several feet and begins to cause whiteout conditions. Rapidly the wind rises and creates a howling noise within the spreading storm and a violent drop in temperature.
The rapidly falling snow obscures vision and makes navigation difficult and scrambles reiatsu making detecting any spiritual beings incredibly difficult. Meanwhile, the howling wind obscures all sound and blows away all scent. The combined effects of these forces make keeping track of Victoria difficult for those trapped within the storm.
Additional Weaponry:
Bakkoto: In her time of service, Victoria has acquired a few odd trinkets that every now and then. Most of these items have ended up in the trash or forgotten somewhere in the realm of humans. Keeping with her knack for randomly acquiring strange items of mysterious origins she has come to be the owner of one of the only known bakkoto in existence at present.
The weapon itself is ebony in color with only the slightest hint of violet around the edges of the of the blade and the mollusk like guard. The weapon is, in a word, ragged in its condition. The blade is pitted and chipped. Short in length after appearing to have its original point broken off and another roughly shaped and sharpened into the steel. It is safe to say that this weapon is of the katana variety with a full grip but with a drastically shorter blade roughly half the size of a full-length katana.
Tentacles run from beneath the ragged guard down the handle braiding themselves to form the grip of the weapon. These strands of living rope wriggle slightly as they await someone to grasp them.
Legacy Created__
Current Division: 5th Division
Previous Divisions: None; Victoria has served her entire career in the 5th.
Snapshots:
Human Life; Lower Gaul:
- Late Winter/Early Spring 391CE - Born
- Late Summer 399CE - Finds a starving wolf pup and nurses it to health
- Early Winter 400CE - Sets the wolf pup that would become Fenrir free.
- Late Fall 407CE - Dies in a Visigoth raid and is sent to the Soul Society several days later.
Spiritual Life; 80th District:
- 407CE - Arrives in the Rukongai and settles in the 80th district
- 416CE - First begins feeling hunger
- 423CE - Begins fighting in underground boxing matches to acquire more food.
- 446CE - Catches the attention of a patrol group of shinigami after sending several would-be muggers flying.
- 449CE - Caught in a raid of the illegal underground fighting rings Victoria is convinced to join the academy the following year.
- 450CE - Enters Shino Academy
Spiritual Life; Academy:
- 452CE - Engages in a physical fight with a noble schoolmate which fostered a distrust towards nobles.
- 453CE - Excels in hand to hand combat training while only average at the usage of weapons. It is suggested to her by an instructor that she focuses the bulk of her efforts in mastering the arts of unarmed fighting.
- 454CE - She’s scouted by 5th division assets during a practical exam in hakuda training.
- 456CE - Graduates in the middle of her class and is immediately recruited into the 5th division.
Spiritual Life; Shinigami Robes:
- 457CE - Becomes a full-fledged member of the 5th Division by obtaining the rank of Soldier.
- 470CE - Prevented from receiving a promotion due to negative views held by her superiors.
Spiritual Life; Marching On and On:
- 693CE - A brief leave is ordered for Victoria after she is badly wounded in an ambush by hollows outside what would become known as Barcelona.
- 694CE - Vic returns to full active duty.
Spiritual Life; The Dog of War:
- 715CE - In a particularly heavy engagement with hollows, Victoria in a moment of desperation unleashes her Lycanthropic abilities. This is the first time she has used such abilities and is frightened by the almost uncontrollable nature of it.
- 793CE - Mission failure on a Scandinavian assault of a Scottish monastery induces depression and internal struggles of work efficacy.
Spiritual Life; “Am I only meant for war?”;
- 1099CE - Jerusalem is sacked and its population is put to the sword. Fighting is inconclusive and many shinigami and hollow fall. This is the first time Victoria must depend extensively on her Lycanthropic abilities in the fighting. Despite this Victoria sustains a severe wound and must be med-evac.
Spiritual Life; The scene plays out over and over:
- 1125CE - Victoria falls in love with a fellow fifth division member.
- 1139CE - While war rages in what would become Portugal the man Victoria has fallen in love with falls in battle. Victoria learns of this news from half the world away. The news leaves her reeling with the emotional damage causing what would become centuries of self-denial and future romantic commitment issues.
Spiritual Life; The Wheel Keeps on Turning:
- 1453CE - Constantinople falls. Victoria is elsewhere during the events and finds out about them several days after the fight for the city is over. Initially, she is too shocked to say or do anything but after having some time to digest the news she cries silently when she is alone for the final death knell of Rome leaving her to question what she is besides a shinigami. A toll heard over a thousand years after her death.
Spiritual Life; A brief rest...No matter how short.:
- 1500’s CE -During this time Victoria begins reading and teaching herself skills that are unrelated to her job as a warrior. She also begins to seriously practice her own style of boxing based on what she can recall from watching the matches held during her lifetime.
Spiritual Life; Present:
- 2012CE - While on patrol in the human world she finds and convinces to return one Artix Von Crieg. This relationship eventually turns to a one-sided romantic affair that leaves Vic ultimately heartbroken after Artix’s eventual transformation into a Hollow. Vic remains unaware of this fact for four years before the facts are revealed to her.
- Spring-Summer 2014CE - Has a one-sided(her to him) love with the patriarch of the Tanaka house. The fallout from these feelings causing her to wall herself off emotionally from others for a short time.
- Winter 2014CE - Is abducted by the Arrancar Caden and held as a prisoner in Hueco Mundo for several months as his “pet” until her escape. After escaping Victoria wandered the dunes and petrified forests seeking a way out while slaying hollows. Till she managed to escape through a Garganta a year later.
- 2016CE - After being cleared for duty and rather rudely demanding an officer commission Victoria is tasked by her then commander Nagisa Chinda, a vizard, to undergo a psych evaluation. Said evaluation leads to her commissioning after defeating a poorly informed and perhaps overly zealous recruit of the Fifth known as Kirito Kirgaya in a duel for the fourth seat. Several weeks later Victoria is challenged and defeated by Shinoda Kasumi thus losing her seat as the fourth officer of the fifth division. This plants seeds of doubt within the blonde shinigami.
- 2016CE - Currently still on active duty with the 5th division as the division fourth seat. (I’ll add details about this once Arty’s invasions event is complete.)
History:
Living as Gaul. A Roman.
Life is something you do not ask for. It is something you’re given the moment you come screaming from your mother's womb. This is a universal constant for anyone who has ever been born and will be. It was no different for Victoria.
The child that would someday become known as “The Wolf of the Fifth” was born in the early spring of 391CE to a Romano-Gaul blacksmith and his wife. She was the first and oldest of five children. As with any family of common birth of the period, she helped to look after the children that came after her. She was quick to learn how to look after her younger siblings and other household tasks.
She grew, as all children do, quickly at first and before anyone knew it the young girl was eight years old. Later that year in the summer when she was off playing in the fields she stumbled across a very sick and very starving wolf pup of only a few months of age. Carefully she wrapped the frail pup in the shawl she was wearing and carried the pup home. At first, her parents resisted the idea of bringing a creature that could one day kill them into their home. Then slowly they relented to the blonde haired green eyed child they’d brought into this world. There were conditions, however. She would need to look after the pup herself and when it was well enough to try and find its pack again it would be set free. These conditions meant nothing to her at the moment as all conditions mean nothing to all children of eight years of age. What mattered to the young Victoria was that she would be allowed to keep the pup, if only for a time.
The months flew past and before anyone knew it fall had come and was nearly past. The pup was healthy and strong and ready to return to its pack. Despite her protests and tears, her Father carried the pup to the edge of the fields that surrounded the village and set the pup free. The tiny Victoria pleaded with her Father to let her keep the pup she’d come to love but he was a man of his word and the pup was set free.
The years flew past from that day and she continued to grow and became a beautiful young lady. Still, the girl she’d been in her youth but as tempered as a girl of sixteen could be. About to be married off to one of the several suitors as was the custom of her people when the world in which she lived was torn asunder.
They descended upon the village like a rolling thunderclap. Men in battle dress with eyes full of anger smashed into their village and killed all who they set eyes upon. Victoria and some of the women fled for the forests hoping to hide till the chaos had passed. This would not be. They were spotted and the men in battle dress ran them down upon their horses. The blonde was among the last to be cut down. An arrow found her shoulder slowing her down. A thrown ax severing her lower back and crumpling her legs uselessly beneath her body. Forced to kneel by the ax in her back she wept hot tears of anger as she wished she’d been faster. Wished the archer had missed. Wished for anything but this. A blade found her throat. Its icy touch burning against her fire hot skin. Words in a tongue she didn’t know. Then… as if simply cutting a piece of rope the blade sliced through her necks delicate skin and allowed her life blood to spray upon the ground.
And with that, her living life was over. She was off to Elysium. Or that was what she thought as the last precious drops of blood poured from her neck.
Is this Elysium? Or is this Hades?
When she awoke she found herself in not what had been described as Elysium. This place was dirty. It smelled not of warm wheat but of filth and toil. Was she in a barn of some kind? Her eyes told her it was a domicile of some kind. They told her her ears were now atop her head and pointed like a dog. Those ears told her she was not alone and that others were nearby.
There was a mix of languages. A few sounded familiar most did not. Her dress was not that which she remembered wearing. This was much like the robes the women and some men of Rome wore. This would have to go and soon.
Fate was as she always had been a sadistic creature and was far from done with Victoria. Nine years after arriving in the dust filled streets of the rukongai the golden-haired maid began to feel hunger. A sensation she’s not felt since the day she’d died. The food was scarce as not many needed it. What was around was expensive. For a time the scraps she could scrounge up were enough until they weren’t.
Eventually, she came to need more sustenance. The options for earning the coin needed were few and most she considered far from being an option. That left only a few. Thanks to her ears she’d come to be the target of some people’s disdain. From that, she’d learned to fight. The style was rough but solid in its capacity to deal damage. So she found herself, by now wearing pants and a shirt, stepping into the wooden walled ring and throwing down for the meager purse. Time and again she did this to provide nourishment for herself.
Her new found income did not escape the prying eyes of those that would seek to steal it. It was only a matter of time before several people tried to take it only to find themselves facing someone other than another victim. Her beating of the would-be muggers was noticed by a nearby patrol of shinigami seeking to maintain order in the districts they attempted to pursue her but could do nothing as they had to apprehend the two unfortunate souls who had tried to hold her up.
Not long, or not long in the lifetime of a soul, after she and many others were captured in a raid of one of the underground fighting rings. The building surrounded she and the others who were sensible surrendered. Her beginning flicker of spiritual power was taken notice of and what some may call a fickle twist of fate propelled her headlong into the academy.
Cutting Teeth. Growing Pains.
Her first two years at the academy went without incident. Her studies fluctuating between good and poor. What did stand out was her absolute lack of ability with the demonic arts. Somewhere along the way she had made an enemy out of another student of whom was noble stock. Eventually, that enemy sought to bring the bad blood to boil. The fight was promptly broken up by instructors and both students were disciplined as the rules dictated. From it all, however, Victoria gained a distrust of anyone who bore a name of a noble house.
At the turn of the year, grades for the last semester were released and once again Victoria found her grades lacking in most skills taught while her hand to hand skills were toward the top of her class. One of her instructors, a fellow former resident of the outer districts, encourage her to pour everything she had into that skill. To hone her natural and learned talent to a point at which she could rely solely on them. This dedication, talent both natural and learned, and intensity were soon noticed by a scout from the fifth division. Such skill and all the supporting factors of it would be ill-suited for some of the other division the recruiter suggested and upon her graduation, she would find a place within the fifth.
It wouldn’t take Victoria long to earn the full rank of soldier within her new home. In those days a shortage of shinigami and a near constant flow of souls meant very heavy workloads for anyone capable of serving afield. Yet, despite her hard work and obvious outpouring or efforts. She was passed over time and again for promotion thanks to her overly zealous work ethic.
The Dog of War marches on and on.
Time ticked on like that glaring wheel in the sky did every day. Soon, all too soon, she had been serving the needs and orders of the gotei for over two hundred years. That time culminated into an experience. The experience that often was just enough to keep her just ahead of the enemy and just barely out of the reach of the most devastating of attacks. Somehow though that experience failed her. Her squad was ambushed and she and several others were badly wounded. Her wounds so serious her superiors deemed it necessary for her to take an extended leave to properly heal. Her leave would consume the better portion of a year before she would finally return to active duty.
Several decades would pass and she would find herself once more thrust into the furnace of war. The enemy as the days went by seemed to grow stronger and more devastating. So monstrous that in a moment of desperation the tiny female let out a howl from seemingly nowhere. Then in a what felt like but a blink of an eye the enemy lay dead around her and she covered in their blood. She slumped to her knees. Caught herself by a hand and stared at the wolfish face staring back. Then she shifted. She was the beast. She wretched where she knelt the shock of it too much for her to handle. She’d been the beast that had torn through those hollow as if they were nothing. The whole event made her question her very existence. Who and what she was. Everything.
The century still had time to kick her in the ribs again, however. In the last decade of it after the Scandinavians savaged a Scottish monastery, she felt the first bite of depression. They’d been too slow. She, Victoria, had been too slow. Too late to save any souls from the drooling maw of the unwashed hollow horde. She was a failure. She’d failed those she’d sworn to send on to the afterlife. That feeling hurt and it made her question everything about the job she did.
“Am I only meant for war?”
In the last year of the eleventh century, the city of Jerusalem is sacked and the population butchered. Not given the time to be disgusted by the barbarity of those involved Victoria and many others are thrust into a hotbed of spiritual action. The fighting, as it had been at so many other slaughters, seemed to last forever. As soon as one wave of hollows was beaten back another would crash upon them. Due to this Victoria became reliant on her lycanthropic abilities to help her survive in the sea of carnage. Yet despite the gruesome ability, her lycanthropic side possessed she was wounded severely and needed immediate medivac. Fear crept into her mind. Was she going to die? Would she die for real this time? Would she find herself somewhere else again? Some place even further from what she knew? She would live and she would fight again. The universe or the gods above were not done with her yet.
Pitter Patter Shatter Her Heart.
He was kind. He was handsome to a point and he was in her division. He was about as perfect as they came. Someone like him would never want anything to do with a woman like her. A woman who smelt of blood and carnage more often than she smelt of flowers and fine soap. She loved him from afar. Admiring him and wishing she had the courage she possessed in combat in love as well. Sadly she would never receive the chance to confess her feelings to him regardless of the outcome.
A little more than a decade after he came into her life he was taken from her. While they may not have been lovers the pain was all too real for Victoria. He had died in the lands that would someday become Portugal and she was halfway across the world. She could hardly believe it. Her chest hurt. Her heart seemed to stop and she found herself wanting to die for the second time. Slowly as days passed the feeling subsided. Her tears dried and her heart hardened. She built walls between her and everyone else. The pain was too much, too unbearable to real for a one-sided love. She came to deny herself the feelings that made someone love another. She refused to allow it to happen again.
Time continued its cruel march. The ticking that at times felt like the beating of a thousand hearts and the dripping of a million drops of water. Three hundred years passed. Three hundred years allowed her to begin to believe she could handle any emotional wound. No amount of time could prepare Victoria for this, though.
Constantinople. The last bastion of Rome was dead. Taken by the barbarian ilk and an army of formerly subservient nations. Days after the fall she found out. But unlike the time it had taken for her to find out, she immediately fell to her knees. She had thought she was strong enough to stand strong in any emotional trial but when faced with the final death of her nation she could not keep her feet. Later when she had the time she wept alone in her bunk. What was she now? What was she besides a shinigami? She and so precious few others knew who they were in their past life. So what was she now? A question she struggled with. Was there an answer beyond Shinigami? And if there was what was it? Would she be another person? What was she now? What would she become?
Becoming something beyond a simple soldier.
Sometime in the fifteen hundred Victoria found far more free time than she’d had for many centuries. Needing something to fill her time with she begins to study various skills unrelated to her trade as a warrior. Anything she could get reading material on. Gardening, masonry, animal stewardship literally anything. In addition to this, she began to train herself in a more focused style of combat within the realm of hakuda. Carefully she constructed what would become her signature style. A style based firmly on the styles of fighters she’d seen in her youth with gaps filled in with sensible and logical motions. The style would continue to evolve as her years of service ticked past.
This is now!
In recent years Victoria has continued to carve notches in her service time. Years that as she ages seem to run together but marked with moments that stand out in her mind.
In the early years of the second decade of the twenty-first century, Victoria stumbled across the former fifth division captain known as Artix. After a brief conversation, Artix would return with her to the Seireitei to reclaim his seat as Captain of the Fifth. Having served with him in his first commission as fifth captain Victoria quickly came to respect him and in time that respect became admiration and then love. A feeling she’d sworn off and tried to deny herself and had for so long. Now she was in love with another man and as she had before she never spoke of her affection.
Eventually, Artix went missing leave her pining for him. Wishing she knew where he had gone off to bring him back again. The familiar ache of pain was back from the last time she’d lost someone she truly cared for. It would be some time before she’d learn the truth of what happened to him.
With her walls down and the hope that Artix would come back keeping them down once more, Victoria found herself growing fond of another man. That man was Reima Tanaka. He had come off as kind and caring. But all that changed once he had what he wanted from her. A research project and a willing test subject for his division. She pined for him. She wanted him to know and she told him in a roundabout way her feelings. They were not shared and the fallout left her bitter and angry. Her bitter feelings causing her to wall herself off from everyone even comrades for a time. This went unnoticed. She’d done this before and as her comrades knew she would, given enough time, come out of her self-imposed emotional isolation.
Later that year while she was searching Berlin for a missing scout she ran smack into one of the greatest changes she’d ever face for herself as a person. Everything went black and she felt as if she was floating. When she finally reopened her eyes she was not in Berlin or the human realm. Instead, she found herself in a cave with another being. The cave was in Hueco Mundo and the being was an Arrancar who identified himself as Caden. He wasted no time in telling her what her new life would be. She was his pet. She’d do as he said or he’d blast her head clear off her shoulders. She had few options. She couldn’t very well disobey him lest she wished to have her head blown off. Resolving herself to do as he said… at least she would for a time. Several months later she escaped and disappeared into the sands of Hueco Mundo. She would wander the sands for almost a year. This would spark a change within the woman. As she fought, struggled and survived Victoria’s mind pulled back and her body reacted on instinct. Her mind, as it took a back seat processed things she’d long buried away hoping to never face. Eventually, she would cross path with a hollow by the name of Iko. He was unlike any she’d met before. He didn’t want to eat her. He wanted her to join his ilk. Become a hollow. Become a beast and fight with him. She declined the offer. They scuffled and she made off with one of the swords he’d been making when she appeared. One of the first bakkoto. Almost two months later she would finally manage to escape back into the human world through a Garganta where upon landing she would collapse and be recovered by a patrol group of shinigami.
When she was well enough she reported to her division’s new captain. Brashly and rather rudely she demanded a seat. An exchange occurred during which the final fate of Artix was told to her. She was shattered at the news. He was now the enemy. Their conversation continued and the devoted shinigami was given the task of receiving a psych evaluation.
The evaluation found her ready for duty as an officer and a small skirmish with an over zealous recruit cemented her position as the division's fourth seat. She would not hold the position for long, though. Within weeks she was challenged for her seat by a recent transfer and soundly beaten. While the injuries were simple broken bones and scuffs the emotional pain of trying so very hard to achieve something. To matter to her division as more than another warm body only to have it taken away so soon left her questioning herself and her abilities.
(I’ll add info about post-invasion stuff after the event and several threads have passed. I realize this might be a bit crappy and I apologize. I hope it all wasn’t too horrible of a read.)
OOC__
Player Alias: Victoria
Do you want a grade?: Yes. I already have 1500 base so anything additional would be gravy. But I'd like to see between 500 and 1000 or more of my work is deemed worthy of it.
Were you referred by anyone?: Blame Google.
Other Characters: I can barely manage this one.
Original AP is here: Original AP
Grade was: 1300 but became 1500 that patch where the base grade was 1500 minimum or something...
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