First Dispatch [Closed, Yuudai, Janus, Zero]

Yuudai had woken up early this morning. He didn't know why. Perhaps it was because of his assignment today, although that was highly unlikely. He had been on this sort of assignment dozens of times before. Perhaps it's because of my partner... What about him? Yuudai didn't know exactly how to answer his Zanpakuto. He didn't think that he was trepidatious about his partner, who was relatively new in the Fifth Division. He had had newbies before, and they all had performed admirably. Yuudai shrugged and got dressed.

Yuudai started to walk towards the Senkaimon, where he and his partner Kalen would jump through to Karakura. His steps were slow yet deliberate. After all, he wanted to take his time getting there. It's not that he necessarily didn't want to go to Karakura; he always relished the chance to use his skills. It was just such a lovely day. The flowers were in bloom, the sky was a light blue, and the sun was shining through the clouds. Yuudai breathed deeply. This is a beautiful day. There's a part of me that wished I could stay here for a while longer. But you have a duty to perform. Yeah, but it doesn't mean I can't wish for a little more time.

As Yuudai came closer to the Senkaimon, he noticed the form of a smaller man. He had onyx black hair, and what looked like brown eyes. Yuudai towered over him and was more defined muscularly, but the man had a certain litheness to him. This should be interesting. I've only seen him a half a dozen times, but every time I've seen him he was always training. That's good.

The man asked him if he was Yuudai Takeshi, while also trying to slightly look at a sheet of paper that Yuudai could only assume had his name on it. He laughed heartily. "Yes I am, and you must be Kalen Tiriar! Glad to finally meet you! I've seen you around but haven't had the pleasure!" He stood in front of the man, grinning a big smile. He always liked meeting new people, especially newbies. There was something about them that Yuudai found in common. After all, he had once been there. "As for the sir part, even though I'm your senior, let's just drop that and stick to Yuudai ok? Sir makes me sound old. Besides, my friends call me Yuudai." He smiled again, thinking that this was off to a good start.

"So, I know that I was given some information about you when told about this assignment, but perhaps you would like to enlighten me a little. I always like to get to know my partners. What are your strengths? And is this your first assignment?"


Word Count: 457
Total Word Count: 457
GP: 9

The man who would be his partner towered over him. He wasn't so tall that it was funny, but rather the kind of tall that you'd have to take a step back from to comfortably look the person in the eye. At least that was the case for Kalen, having never thought that he was especially short before seeing this man. Lucky for Kalen, this person wasn't too uncomfortably close that he had to crane his neck to have respectful eye contact. A good thing too, it would be awkward to back off from this man on their first meeting. Though his muscles and figure over all were intimidating enough that you'd want to.


The man, Yuudai as he preferred to be called, spoke. And upon hearing his voice whatever contempt Kalen may have had towards him for being late disappeared in the wake of Yuudia's charismatic speech pattern. On top of that, Kalen had permission to not call him sir, he always did have a slight hatred in the fact he had to go and say "sir" to those he was told were his superiors. This attitude had gotten him in trouble before, being smacked, insulted, or otherwise punished for forgetting that respectful "sir". One time someone had even made him run laps because of it, was that what this person was referring to by training? He hoped not. 

Kalen's inner thoughts dispersed as he heard Yuudai ask a few questions. "Of course...Yuudai," Kalen started to respond, trying out the whole first name basis thing. "Yes this is my first assignment, one that has been a long time coming. As for my strengths, I'd personally have to say that I'm strongest with my sword. I don't have a lot of experience, or skill, with kido. But I like to believe I'm fairly useful with a sword in my hand. Right now my shikai isn't all that impressive, but I've been working on it." Kalen stopped after speaking of his shikai, since he discovered it he had decided not to use it with other people around due to its destructive potential. It's not that he thought he would accidentally kill someone, he wasn't that confident in his power. It was more about what people would think if they knew how little control he had over it. 

But today it didn't matter too much. His partner was strong from what he could tell, so even if his power did go haywire in the field it wouldn't do too much damage. And if they were fighting a hollow then it didn't matter if he used more force than necessary. 


437/697
13

The whole demeanor of Kalen changed after Yuudai spoke. Some form of tension seemed to be released from his body, allowing him to speak cordially and be relaxed. Good, everything is starting off on the right foot. You always seem to have a way with people. Museihei, his Zanpakuto, gave a small smile. It's one of your best qualities. Thank you very much.

Yuudai listened to Kalen's answer, holding off on speaking until after Kalen had finished. "You sound like my kinda guy Kalen! Personally, I consider myself best with both my sword and my fists. I can go either way, which is really nice considering it fucks with the opponent a bunch." Yuudai covered his mouth a little, realizing that his dirty mouth had shown itself again. "Forgive me for swearing, it's sort of a bad habit that I have." Nice going stupid.

"In terms of your Shikai not being all that impressive, don't worry! You're still new, you'll have plenty of time to hone it into a fine point that can be used. Trust me, it took me about 50 years to get my Shikai up to snuff. Then again, I was a bit of a stubborn knucklehead back then who had problems with connecting with my inner self."

Yuudai unsheathed his sword, holding it out in front of him, one of the flat edges of the blade facing towards the ground. "This here is Museihei, my Zanpakuto. He's kind of like a mentor to me, but he's also one of the best friends I got." Yuudai grinned as he held his Zanpakuto straight up now out from his side. "We've seen many battles together, and we've only gotten closer for it." Museihei seemed to beam with pride and happiness inside Yuudai, which made Yuudai smile even bigger.

"Alright alright, enough talk. Down to brass tax." Yuudai's smile faded into a slight grin. "All we really have to do is patrol Karakura, making sure that we take out any stray Hollows. It's a simple assignment and it shouldn't be too difficult. However, since this is your first, I will need you to listen to me while we're out in the field. I'm not going to micro manage you, but if I really need you to do something then I expect you'll listen. K?"

After his little speech, Yuudai smiled again. "But most importantly, just try and learn as much as you can. If you have any questions about something that they didn't teach ya back at the Academy, feel free to ask. I'll be here for you."




Word Count: 428
Total Word Count: 885
GP: 17

"Holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit."  Janus said as she scrambled, she reached to her side and grabbed the side of the fence leading into the Karakura park, she looked both was, and tried to catch her breath as she heard the loud scream again, she could not see whatever was making it, but she saw futures where she got glimpses. "IT HAS CLAWS?!" She said loudly as the tail end of the fence about thirty yards away was suddenly warped and gnashed, the metal bent.  She tried to scream, but that did not work as intended and she begrudgingly pulled herself to give herself a boost as to start running again. She looked at the playground and looked at going right towards the baseball field and left to go towards the actual children's playground.  Heading towards the park apparently held a future in which her inner organs became paste.  She decided that was not in her best interest and bolted towards the children's playground area.  She was wearing a pair of slacks and a button up, still looking as androgynous as ever as she screamed at the top of her lungs. 

 Another future caught her attention and she leaned forward, and that was the end of the back of her shirt, one of the monster's claws tore through it like tissue paper.  She hurtled a bench and saw in the future where the monster tripped and fell over it, she panted, already running winded, the monster fizzled back into existance for a second as she looked over her shoulder.  "What the hell?!"  She shrieked as she saw the fence coming in front of her, quickly selecting the future where she managed to climb it and not fall back into the monster's grubby claws and horrifying appendages.  "Somebody save me." She panted under her breath, she was running out of energy, and fast, she saw another future where she heard the scream, a few actually, but in reality she could not hear anything.

---

WC-336
TWC-336

Kalen was glad that he had made a good first impression. He was a bit surprised when Yuudai drew his blade and introduced Kalen to it, that wasn't something he'd seen anyone do before. Maybe it was just that Yuudai was proud of it? Either way Kalen was intrigued by the mention of getting closer through combat experience, he had heard of this before and it was actually one of the things he desired to get out of this experience. 


It wasn't so much that Kalen desired combat for the sake of fighting, it was more of a matter of proving himself. He hoped to see how far he'd come since his days of the academy, and prove that he wasn't the weak boy he'd once been. Of course he knew that nobody would know of his previous struggles, so he wasn't proving anything to the gotei or even the fifth, all he needed to do was prove it to himself. To see his growth, prove his strength, and to see what new limits he must push past. That was Kalen's true mission.


Kalen heard Yuudai's voice get more serious. He started going over how things would go on the mission. "Of course," Kalen replied when Yuudai said he would have to obey if things went bad. This was standard procedure after all. Though Kalen highly doubted that things would get that bad, worst case scenario they came across a particularly strong hollow, or a swarm. But they had received no notice of reiatsu spikes in the area so it should be standard pest control. 

"Now then, with both the formalities and pleasantries out of the way. Shall we get going?" Kalen asked, already heading towards the senkaimon. It's often funny how things differ between the expected and the reality. When Kalen stepped through this dimension-hopping door, he expected to show up in a building, or maybe the sky, slightly disoriented but in a place of relative quiet. What he did not expect was to appear in the middle of a park, on the ground, watching what appeared to be a human woman being chased by a large, wolf-like hollow, with very defining claws. It took him a few seconds, but he gathered his thoughts and drew his sword, and hoped that Yuudai would get through the gate before this thing noticed him.


393/1090
21

You know who this young man reminds me of? No, who? You. You're always so eager to prove yourself. Yuudai looked at Kalen again. He did notice the similarities: the eager face, the bounce in his step. Yuudai smiled. Yeah, I noticed. He's gonna make a great Shinigami one day, I can feel it.

Kalen asked if they should get going. "Yes, let's go." As Yuudai was saying this, Kalen went through the Senkaimon. Yuudai grinned again. Yep, he's definitely itching to prove himself. This is going to be interesting. Yuudai stepped forward, walking towards the Senkaimon to take him to Karakura. I wonder if Kalen will actually get to show what he's truly made of. I absolutely don't doubt it. Yuudai paused just before stepping through the Senkaimon, breathed, then stepped through.

As soon as he was on the other side, he immediately noticed a Hollow chasing a human girl. Shit, already? That's surprising. Kalen was there, his sword already drawn but unmoving. Guess I should lead the charge. "Kalen! Let's move! You head to protect the girl, I'll go to cut off the Hollow!" Yuudai Shunpō'ed towards the Hollow, drawing his sword in the process. His perception allowed him to ascertain that the level of the Hollow wasn't particularly high. I could cut this one down in one fell swoop if I wanted to... but I also want to see what Kalen can do. Perhaps just a simple love tap.

Yuudai appeared right next to the Hollow, almost as if he had teleported there. With a swish of his Zanpakutō, Yuudai cleaved off one of the arms of the Hollow effortlessly. Ahhhh, that felt good. Enjoying yourself? It's been a while since I've fought a Hollow. I've mostly been cooped up at the barracks, training. But today is going to be a fun day. Yuudai grinned as the Hollow let out an ungodly shriek of pain, froth appearing at its mouth as its empty eyes stared dead at Yuudai. He held his sword held in front of him, waiting for the Hollow to strike. "Kalen, if you've secured the girl, perhaps you'd care to take a swing. Don't worry, I'll fall back to protect her if you do, and if you need the help I'll be right here."



Word Count: 377
Total Word Count: 1262
GP: 25

Janus heard the dam thing scream as she turned, focusing on the futures she could see the blasted thing, and realized it was now missing an arm, she wanted to puke.  The sound slammed into her along with the flare of energy caused by the energy released to just hack off an arm. Janus barely stood through it, felt like being hit in the chest by a gut shot.  She managed to hold her lunch, for all the good that did her as she focused harder.  "What the hell?"  She said at her stroke of luck before she started frantically searching the futures for whatever it was that had just saved her and made mince meat of the thing's arm.  Which probably meant it was going to make mince meat out of her.   Janus did the only smart thing and ran away from the obvious location that two things that could quite easily kick the ever living hell out of her.  Or at least, she moved away from them, turning back a few minutes later and searching the futures to make sure that whatever that had been, it was focused and someone else's problem now.

Random people in black robes again, monsters, giant wolves, Fenrir about to turn Janus into goo.  Janus panted a few times with a small laugh.  She had thought that was a good joke, as she grabbed a nearby tree and looked around to figure out if there was more stuff trying to kill her coming.  She liked her idea of a joke referring to old stories and gods, she was named after one anyway.    She leaned back and arched herself to take in a deep breath, which was hard to do with a bunch of extra gravity bearing down on her as she gasped again.  "Not cool." She gasped out looking around again and searching futures for more danger.

---

WC-316
TWC-652

Yuudai appeared behind Kalen. Taking swift action Kalne was told to secure the safety of the human. "Right," Kalen said before Shunpōing over to the tree the girl had run to. Kalen pivoted and put up an obviously practiced stance, his back turned to the girl. This was just in time to see Yuudai chop off an arm of the hollow. The reiatsu he was releasing was impressive, quite a bit stronger than Kalen's. which is why he was surprised that he hadn't killed the hollow outright. It was either a fluke, or Yuudai was going to get Kalen to fight so he could get an idea of his ability. Either way, while Kalen could withstand this pressure without much difficulty, the human seemed to be having some trouble.

Releasing his own reiatsu to try and weaken if not block the pressure emanating from Yuudai. "Not doing a great job of protecting the human if we end up killing her," Kalen thought to himself as he made his attempt to alleviate the girls obvious discomfort. "Hey you, if you can see and/or hear me then listen. we're gonna take care of this thing, but you're going to have to stay out of the way and out of the sight of that monster," Kalen said while addressing the human. He hoped that his reiatsu shield was enough to give the girl some breathing room, as well as the ability to keep her food down. 

Yuudai then asked if Kalen wanted to take over fighting the hollow. This confirmed his earlier suspicion that he was going to be observed. While Kalen normally would have been angry that his partner wasn't taking this seriously, he saw this as a good opportunity. Not only could Yuudai probably block Kalen's reiatsu better than the other way around, but Yuudai could probably stop the human from doing anything stupid a lot better than Kalen could, what with Yuudai being so big and intimidating and all. Plus in all honesty Kalen really did want to take a shot at this hollow. 

"Alright," Kalen yelled being quite a distance away. "Shield the girl from my reiatsu if you can," Kalen told Yuudai as he Shunpō'd towards the hollow. He gave one of his incoming claws a good wack as he seemingly teleported in front of the attack. As Yuudai retreated towards the human Kalen's entire demeanor changed. This change was most apparent in his eyes, which now showed a threatening glare, a look that was emphasised by the shift in his reiatsu. If Kalen's reiatsu previously resembled a candle, then that candle had erupted into a great fire, almost like that of a campfire. A flame that would bring protection and warmth to those who respected it, and burn those who pushed their luck. 

465/1555
31

It seems as Kalen has secured the human. Yuudai turned his head ever so slightly, seeing that Kalen had indeed done as Museihei had said. Good, now let's see what he's made of. Kalen said something about shielding the human from their Reiatsu. Oops, got so caught up in the fight that I forgot that I could potentially kill people just by letting loose. You forgot? Hey, even I forget sometimes. "Sorry about that, just been a while since I've been so excited! I'll take over the human."


Yuudai stepped back, between the human and the Hollow that had been chasing her. "Don't worry, it's going to be all right. We got you. We're Shinigami, protectors of humans. No harm will come to you." Why are you speaking out loud? Her Reaitsu is potent. Besides, it seemed as though she recognized that a Hollow was there, so she must be sensitive. She probably see's me and Kalen right now. Ahh, observant as ever. Hmph, ain't I always?

Yuudai made a conscious effort now to control his Reiatsu, as well as blocking Kalen's Reiatsu. These two weren't all that difficult, but Yuudai made sure that no harm would come to this girl. He held his sword to his side, ready to strike at a moments notice. He watched as Kalen's demeanor changed, from that of a more mild mannered persona, to that of a fiery fighter. His eyes burned with a passion that Yuudai knew all too well. His Shunpō is a little sloppy but his form is excellent. This Hollow is no match for Kalen.

Yuudai watched intently, watching how Kalen moved and fought. The new Shinigami is quite impressive. That he is. Yuudai almost yelled out at Kalen but decided against it, letting him focus on the battle at hand.

So, how much of you do you see in him? Quite a bit. It's kind of like watching a mirror image of myself. His passion is astounding, and he fights like a champion, weaving his strikes with a fiery fury. That is how one should be in the Fifth. Yes... However, he is still new, and has much more to learn. Yeah, but I get the feeling that he catches on quick. Yuudai chuckled out loud at his little conversation, then turned to the human slightly, though he kept his body facing mostly towards the battle before him.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you so much. It must have been quite a shock seeing not only a monster but two men in black robes suddenly appear. My apologies also if I made you sick with my spiritual pressure, I got a little carried away trying to stop the Hollow from coming further towards you."



Word Count: 448
Total Word Count: 1710
GP: 34

Janus stared blankly as the futures shifted and she finally managed to get some air back in her lungs.  She missed the first few things the man in black said before she blinked a few times and focused her Divination on them. "Thanks." She panted looking back and forth as her Divination focused on the gentlemen who seemed to be dealing with the monster.   "Where is it, and you two, you're not trying to kill me right?"  She asked as she caught her breath and focused a bit, her divination finally fixing on a future where she could see what was going on, and taking that high road.  They, were in black robes.   Why were they in black robes.  She shielded her eyes instively as the heat went up a few degrees.  "What the heck?"

She stared at Yuudai and blinked a few times before gasping.  "Why are you dressed like... you aren't from the past you know?  Five hundred years?"  Janus asked him in Japanese, blinking confused as she heard another scream in her precognition. "Two monsters, there's another one coming." She said as she leaned against a whatever it was her hands had found.  Oh a tree.  Thank you nature.  She thought to herself as she was convinced they could deal with the problem.    She looked at the potential futures to make sure they seemed to be doing okay and finally started to relax.  "Whew, thanks for showing up."

---

WC-241
TWC-893

This is a very interesting human. Yeah, tell me about it. She asked him if he was going to hurt her. Yuudai chuckled ever so slightly. "No, we're not here to hurt you, we're here to protect you from those monsters."

Yuudai saw Kalen fighting the Hollow, and almost jumped in when Kalen dropped his sword, and almost did again when Kalen was trapped. Yuudai saw that Kalen had gotten the fight under control, however, and even used his Shikai. My my, that's a fancy looking Shikai. Really? I think ours is much better. Yuudai smiled. Well, you're biased so your opinion doesn't count.

The human had seemingly calmed down, leaning against a tree. She asked why Yuudai was dressed like someone from the past, more specifically from 500 years ago. "Well, not exactly. This is my uniform, and I haven't been around 500 years... More like 200 or so to be honest. To put it in terms, I was working as a Shinigami in both of your World Wars."

Yuudai kept his eye on Kalen's fight, but he didn't think the fight would last much longer. Which was good, considering the human said there was another Hollow coming. "Wait, how do you know?" She's right, open up your perception. Yuudai opened up his Reiatsu perception more, and indeed there was another Hollow coming. This one was stronger than the one Kalen was fighting. Hmm, I shouldn't need Kalen but there's no guarantee. Yuudai looked back at the human. "I need to cut off the other Hollow before it gets here. You'll be ok right?" Without really waiting for an answer, Yuudai scooped her up and Shunpō'ed away from the immediate vicinity, finding a more secluded spot away from the spiritual signatures of any Hollows. "Just stay here, I promise I'll be back."

Yuudai Shunpō'ed closer to where the other Hollow was coming from. "Kalen! There's another one coming. You finish that one, I'll take care of the other one. Don't worry about the human, I made sure she was in a safe spot."

So, shall we meet this bastard head on? Yes, let's. Yuudai unsheathed Museihei, holding it beside him with one hand as he Shunpō'ed closer to the other Hollow that was making a surprise entrance.



Word Count: 375
Total Word Count: 2085
GP: 41

Janus looked at him as she asked how she knew.  "I can see the future."  She figured being brief was a better way to answer with the whole world exploding around her.  A death god?  Right.   She thought to herself, another invisible of some kind.  She had heard the term but had never met one, should rename them absurdly out of place.   Swords, fire brimstone and all other matter of clothing that did not belong.  She thought that pulling out a gun and shooting it would have been much more effective.  She watched the man vanish and reappear, she blinked.  "Like my toss." She said as she finished getting the air back in her lungs and watching.  While Janus could move, harming things was a completely different point.  She was going to be fine, and she was pretty convinced that those want to be grim reapers probably wanted her to look more than act she was okay with that.  She had thought about stuff like this before.  What if she decided to help other people fight instead of just watching?

It would be quiet the asset if someone was feeding information.  She breathed heavily again as she tried to brace for a future where both the shinigami shot off their mojo and wanted to avoid being slapped around by invisible energy.  She waited for a second and looked up at a weird part of one of the futures, she could not see anymore of the future.  It was weird, combat definitely ruined her Divination magic.  "Yea, go team, good luck."

---

WC-261
TWC-1154

Kalen saw that Yuudai was taking the human away, after concentrating for a moment he was able to discern the presence of another hollow. The approaching hollow was stronger than the one we was currently facing, but he knew that Yuudai could probably handle it. Kalen realized he should probably finish this battle quickly anyway. A point that was further emphasised when Yuudai, Shunpōing towards the direction of the new hollow, shouted at him to finish it. "Yes sir," Kalen thought to himself, once again facing his enemy.

Both combatants charged. Flaming sword in hand Kalen parried the hollows claw attack, the blue fires of his blade spreading to the hollows claw and beginning to inch up its arm. While the beast had no defense Kalen leaped in the air. Now approximately ten meters above the hollow, Kalen slashed the air with his sword several times, the path his blade traveled brought to life by bright slash-shaped concentrations of flaming reiatsu flying straight and true towards his adversary. This fought back any defense the hollow may have been able to put up. 

Descending on top of the hollow for his final attack, flipping his sword backwards in his hand, Kalen made a downwards stab. Landing on the hollow's head and crouching, his flame-wreathed sword already embedded deep within the hollows skull, Kalen uttered one quiet word. "Burn," Kalen said in a soft yet determined voice. As he said this his flames, burning bright and blue as ever, engulfed the hollows entire head. Though Kalen had no reason to fear his own fire, he knew from experience that he was immune to his own power, he made another leap. Jumping from the hollows head and landing gracefully on the park ground, the burning hollow collapsed behind him before disintegrating. 

Kalen decided to keep his shikai active. If he was asked to engage the newly approaching threat, he would have to enter the fight prepared. Plus it took almost no energy to maintain at his current level of experience. Kalen was rather proud of himself for keeping his power under control. Especially when he wasn't even thinking about it. Why was that? Was it because he was currently confident in his ability, or was it because he wasn't worrying that he was able to keep it under control. Kalen supposed it could also be that his bond was strengthening with Arathyx.

Rather than just think about it, Kalen decided to get his zanpakuto's opinion while they were waiting for the next hollow. "Hey, is it just me or is my power actually behaving now?" Kalen asked Arathyx in his head. "As I have told you before, this power will only serve those who have mustered their resolve. Taking care around a flame is necessary, to do otherwise would burn you. However, fire is an element that is impossible to control completely, yours especially, as such panic and worry will also achieve nothing. If you take this lesson to heart, and use this power with caution and respect, then your power will obey you." Arathyx replied in length. 

It was an interesting perspective, one that Kalen now saw the merit in but had previously not held. And so, ready to give this new revelation a chance, Kalen readied himself for whatever role he would play in fighting their next hollow, which was now easily in view.


562/2647
52

It's been a while since I've met a decent opponent. Still, this Hollow is weaker. It shouldn't be too hard to dispose of it. Yuudai smirked. That may be true, but had I actually fought against that other Hollow I would've just sliced it to bits without breaking a sweat. I think it was a decent idea to hand that one over to Kalen. Museihei smiled. Sharing is caring huh? You got it.

Yuudai stopped just in front of the other Hollow he had sensed. It was a bigger one than the other one. It stayed on all fours and was frothing at the mouth, like the other one, but the similarities stopped there. It was green instead of the dark brown that the other one was. This one also had bigger spines on it and its mask was sharper around the edges than the other one. "Hey there ugly. You look like your lost, need a hand finding your way?" Yuudai held his Zanpakutō in front of him, smiling.

A roar erupted from the Hollow. "Foooood!" "Awww, is someone hungry? Here, let me oblige you." Yuudai dashed forward, Shunpōing in front of the Hollow, and then thrust his Zanpakutō straight at the mouth of the Hollow. The Hollow was able to shift its body so as to deflect the blow onto its body, but not without sustaining a decent slash in its armor. It shrieked in pain, swiping at Yuudai with his hand on the same side as Yuudai.

Yuudai was able to get his blade up in time to take the blow. Ugh! That was fairly strong. The blow was substantial enough to push Yuudai a foot or two back, his feet dug into the ground at this point. "Hmph, not bad." Yuudai, stop playing with the thing. Fine. "Alright shit head, I'm coming again. Kalen! Shield yourself from my Reiatsu." Yuudai released his spiritual pressure that he was holding back, causing a blue hue to explode from beneath Yuudai. The Hollow staggered back a little, hissing at Yuudai. "Dieeeeeee!!" "Sorry, I'm afraid that's your job."

Yuudai Shunpōed towards the Hollow again, avoiding the sloppy claw slash thrown his way. He dodged, weaving left and right before jumping on the back of the Hollow. With a yell, Yuudai jammed his Zanpakutō into the Hollow's head, the sword disappearing up to the hilt. The Hollow let out one final screech before falling to the ground, dead. Yuudai jumped off just as the body started to dissipate into lights. Well, that was a little less exciting than I was hoping. Oh come on, it gave you a little bit of a fight. Yeah, that's true.

Yuudai got his spiritual pressure back under control, approaching where Kalen was. "Good job. Thanks for having my back. You can revert your Zanpakutō now, I think the danger has passed for now." Yuudai started to walk back towards where he had left the human. "You fought very well, I was impressed." Yuudai smiled, his feet carrying him back towards the strange woman who could somehow sense other beings and predict events.



Word Count: 515
Total Word Count: 2600
GP: 52

Janus could not actually sense anything.  She looked down at her clothing and dusted off.  Obviously staring at the two as they approached her.  "I didn't fight. I ran, there's a difference, I can't fight."  She said in her not really feminine voice and bowed graciously.  "Thank you for the assistance."  She said, though still wondering why they were wearing gowns.    "I appreciate it." She said graciously with a smile.  "Janus DiNapoli, and I am a Diviner." She said in her male voice. 

She did so mainly because she had no idea who the two were and if they were like Nine and going to threaten to eat her, or like Sasha, and would just flex their much larger mystical endowments than hers.   She reached up to push her ragged hair back, running and getting a bit of sweat would take its toll on just about anyone.  She had been careful to avoid using anything more than her Divination for fear that someone might see or freak out at her toss.  That brought up the larger debate if anyone could see that but she decided against it.  That and soul tossing herself around would probably make its way around the knowledge center of these people rather quickly, they seemed to have information travel faster than gossip.

---

WC-216
TWC-1370

A the hollow neared, Kalen put up an offensive stance. Assessing this new enemy, was difficult. Not only was Kalen's reiatsu perception admittedly was sub-par, but he had a hard time taking his eyes off of the hollows more revolting features. Case and point, the disgusting froth coming from the hollow's mouth. Yuudai however, wasted no time in taunting the thing! To which the beast responded with a roar. 

Then in a blinding motion, Yuudai engaged the hollow. After nearly taking what would have been a nasty hit, he said something to Kalen about shielding himself. Of course Kalen couldn't quite hear what he said before almost getting knocked over by a pressure that dwarfed his own. Kalen was able to regain his balance, though it took more effort than he would care to admit, and he stood awestruck in observance of the power he was witnessing. Kalen could barely make a comparison between what he was seeing and his previous battle. Not only had Yuudai not released his zanpakuto, but the sheer force he could emit without it was enough to leave a patch of cracked, dry dirt where the parks reasonably well kept grass once was.On top of Yuudai's spiritual power, his physical strength was also noteworthy. And in addition to that he executed the technique Kalen had just used, but the force behind the attack alone was enough to kill the thing!

Kalen's eyes, that just moments earlier had the look of determination and resolve, were now wide open. Though with awe or fear he couldn't immediately tell. He came looking for answers to his growth, and Yuudai's performance was a clear answer to Kalen's weakness. Kalen's hands began trembling, causing his sword to shake slightly in his grasp. Then he realized that he was feeling a mixture of disappointment and anger. This mix of emotion was not directed at Yuudai however, it was directed at himself, at his own strength and the weakness it had revealed.

Arathyx let out a chuckle which broke out into a laugh. "The hell you laughing at?" Kalen asked, obviously annoyed. "My apologies, you were acting like such a dramatic badass before, I didn't expect this guy to show you up so badly," Arathyx responded, regaining her composure. "Tell me, do you desire that kind of power?" the blade asked. Kalen considered this, did he want that kind of power? He had always prided himself on not being completely obsessed with gaining more power. But this feeling... "Maybe," Kalen responded at length. "At the very least I recognise that I need to get stronger if I'm going to measure up to the rest of the fifth. Whether or not I have developed the craving for power you're eluding to is debatable," responded Kalen, not entirely certain in his answer. 

Kalen woke up from his inner conversation when Yuudai beckoned him towards the human they'd saved. Saying that he could reseal his zanpakuto, which Kalen had forgotten was still active. Though Yuudai said he was impressed with Kalen's performance, however the complement seemed to lose weight when coming from him. He followed Yuudai towards the girl, having a curiosity in the human himself. 

Janus DiNapoli. A diviner? Nothing about the name stood out to Kalen, however he'd never heard of an actual fortune teller. Gathering his manners, and swallowed what was left of his pride, "Kalen Tiriar, Shinigami recruit," he said, not knowing whether he was breaking any rules by telling this girl his name. He assumed not.


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Yuudai stopped in front of the human. He didn't necessarily tower over the woman, but it was enough that she had to bend her head back slightly to see his face. She seemed relatively well put together considering she just had what would only be considered a monster in her face, ready to eat her.


Janus DiNapoli eh? Hmm, sounds Italian. And you would know this how? World War II, remember? Oh, yeah. Yuudai chuckled to himself again. Kalen introduced himself to the woman as a Shinigami recruit. Yuudai didn't see the harm in telling her his name.

"Yuudai Takeshi ma'am, at your service. And don't let Kalen fool you, he's actually a full fledged member of my division." Yuudai smiled big again, almost enough to fill his face.

Why did you say that to her? What? My name? No, the fact that Kalen was a member of your Division. It seems like you're trying to make him look good. Yuudai's smile faded. No, I'm trying to make him feel like he's a part of something, which he is. His eyes back there... They were filled with amazement at what I could do. That felt good, but now... Now what? Museihei seemed puzzled, unsure of what Yuudai was talking about. I just feel like the kid doesn't respect himself enough and doesn't respect his own strength... Trust me, I know what that feeling is like.  Museihei seemed to finally understand what Yuudai was saying. I see.

"Well! Now that introductions are out of the way, I would like to explain what it was we were doing exactly." Yuudai's grin came back to his face, his arms crossed. "Firstly, I know that you think we look weird, and yeah we might, but this is the official uniform of the Shinigami. What our job is is to find Hollows and destroy them." Yuudai raised his arm and pointed back the way in which he and Kalen had come from. "Hollows look like those things that we just fought. To put it simply, they are monsters that wish to devour human flesh. So, to protect humans, we simply destroy them."

Yuudai looked down at Janus again. "Now, what I want to know is, how long have you been able to see Hollows and Shinigami? And what exactly does your power do?"



Word Count: 387
Total Word Count: 2987
GP: 59