Post by Alain Merrick on Dec 15, 2017 14:21:31 GMT -5
After his latest encounter with “Cloaked and Hooded,” it had been time to return to Soul Society. This was a double-edged sword for the Shinigami medic. On the one hand, he hated that his mysterious assailant had escaped yet again, unable to give pursuit. On the flip side, he had just fought three Arrancar, well, more like two, and survived. As such, he needed a mental break, time to think and process. Why was this necessary? Because the mystery was no longer a mystery. He finally knew who had been attacking for the last half year or more, a woman named Amara. In addition, he now knew what she looked like, making it that much more difficult for her to hide from him in the future. But he still needed more information about her and if she was a Shinigami, former or otherwise, then Soul Society was the place to start looking. So after a day off, the norm when one was returning from their obligations in the human realm barring injury, he was be back to at his job at the Seireitei Hospital. Thankfully, his position provided him plenty of free time during off duty hours to find his answers.
The day in the abandoned warehouse wasn’t the first time that he had heard the name Amara. That honor occurred seven months earlier when he was scouring the Third Division’s repositories of knowledge in search of zanjutsu material. At the time, Alain had been struggling to develop his skill with the art and so sought out the assistance of former masters. Amara Naren was one such master. A former member of Fifth Division from centuries ago, she had either retired, was exiled, or went rogue. The details were hazy which was often the case when there was something to hide. Luckily, he had been able to find a photograph of the woman and a few obscure references detailing her last sighting in the 70th District of northern Rukongai. These were decades old reports, but perhaps not so long ago for beings like the Shinigami who lived an inordinately long time. As a result, Merrick journeyed into the deep outer districts with fellow Shinigami, Junko Gekido, in search of this forgotten master.
At the end of the nearly two week exploratory trek which saw them questioning the citizens of each village that they passed, they were met with nothing but failure. For all intents and purposes, Amara Naren had vanished or worse, had passed away. Unfortunately, Merrick had other obligations to tend to as a member the Gotei. While his mission had ended in failure, he was unable to look into the matter further or put the woman out of his mind. But now the situation had changed. He knew that Amara was the person responsible for almost killing him in the Rukongai forests when he was fresh out of the Academy. Likewise, she had played a part in the other attacks which occurred later. This necessitated digging deeper into her past as the logical next step. This past took him to the headquarters of Fifth Division where he scoured records and asked the eldest of their division what they remembered about the woman. A few days of consultation and he had a clearer picture of what he would be facing when next they met. According to her peers, they spoke about her as a master swordsman and hoho practitioner with a propensity for fire. Whether this was referring to zanpakuto powers or hado, he couldn’t say, but he would be prepared for either.
Since joining the Gotei earlier in the year, Merrick had been witness to a series of seemingly unrelated events which had one thing in common, the nearby presence of the cloaked and hooded stranger. Obviously, Alain wasn’t so foolish to believe that this was mere coincidence, but alas, he lacked conclusive evidence to explain any connection. This all changed after making a few crucial discoveries. The first half of the puzzle was the uncovering of his attacker’s identity, Amara Naren. While the last half was answered by the raid of Lab Station Six in Tokyo. During the attack, he took a rogue Shinigami hostage. The ensuing interrogation revealed that Amara was merely part of some larger group of dissident renegades with designs on wreaking havoc on the “natural order.” At least this was what the hostage told him before being turned over to the Gotei.
The complete picture was still lacking, but some of those blanks would be filled in days later during a second search of the underground facility. Hidden within one of the vents was a collection of documents. The author was unknown, but they seemed to indicate Amara’s role and importance in the organization. Equally illuminating was a list of names, dates and times as well as a summary about the nature of the work being done in the lab. Armed with this newfound knowledge, Alain re-examined the events of previous months with a fresh pair of eyes and was finally able to draw some conclusions which made sense. Convinced now more than ever that Amara needed to be dealt with and swiftly, he reasserted his efforts into finding her.
Inhale deeply and exhale slowly. The mantra played over and over in his head as he practiced the meditative process atop the CNC building. Situated in the center of the city, it was an ideal starting point to pursue his quarry. Close to two months had passed without any developments. Amara had been a ghost. No sightings. No reports. Nothing, until now. She was somewhere in the city. The patrolling Shinigami had seen her on two separate occasions, but both times she had slipped back into the shadows. And so there he sat, legs folded beneath him, meditating while he awaited a sign or more likely, contact from the Shinigami in charge of the district. Alain had to admit, she wasn’t without her talents.
Hidden behind his thin-rimmed glasses were closed eyes shielding him from the city’s blinding lights. However, nothing could deaden the bustling nightlife. Added to that din was the tolling of the clock tower bells across the street which announced the eleven o’clock hour. At the same time, temperatures began drop, followed closely by a cool autumn breeze wafting through the air. His neck length ponytail barely swayed and his flesh was free of goosebumps. Nothing could affect him now. All preparations for this moment had been made. He was calm, focused. When the denreishinki in his pocket began to vibrate seconds later, he rose to his feet and flipped the device open. Amara wouldn’t escape again.
Leaping from the rooftop in a burst of reiryoku, he tore through the night sky in the direction of a newly renovated residential district. Given his improved shunpo, it didn’t take long to arrive near the designated location, stopping short as he tried to remain outside her detection range. Then he advanced without hoho techniques while trying to suppress his reiatsu. Minutes later, he found her signature. It also felt suppressed. He surmised that she was a few blocks away. Careful to avoid the street lights, he took to the roofs. She is not moving? Curious. Alain knew that Amara was fast so he needed to slow her down somehow, place them on a level playing field. The question was how to move into position without her noticing. A kyokko-like bakudo allowing movement would really come in handy right about now. Regrettably, he hadn’t gotten around to developing the spell yet. He would just have to work with what he already knew.
As he neared the last house on the block, he saw that the residential housing had quickly transitioned to more commercial buildings. On one corner of the intersection was a multiple story parking garage in the midst of construction. Merrick could sense that Amara was somewhere inside. Preferring to work his way down, he jumped to the top of the framework. As soon as he landed on the steel girder, he found himself locking eyes with the elusive woman. They stood on opposite sides of the structure, but she seemed close enough to touch. His left hand slid down to the hilt of his zanpakuto and rested there. He need only make the first move.
“Well Alain, isn’t this a surprise . . . and may I call you Alain? Of course I can.” The woman pulled back her hood, revealing an attractive, oval shaped face and button nose. Her long black locks flowing loosely and fell just a few inches beyond the shoulders. “You know, you have been a thorn in my side for months . . . but, I haven’t made it easy for you either. Funny how things work out sometimes. No hard feelings, eh?” Unlike the first time that he heard her speak when she was vocal and commanding, here the tone felt equal parts mischief and mocking.
“You tried to kill me, and more than once. It is difficult not to take that personally.”
“Maybe I was a little hasty that night in the forest, but come on! Are you never going to let that go?” She oozed confidence and excitable energy as she bounced on the balls of her feet with hands on hips. Now only the slightest of movements would allow her to grab the sword at her left side. “And to be fair, I really only tried to kill you the one time.”
“You are still responsible for actions performed at your behest. But I am still curious as to why. That reason still eludes me.”
“So that’s how it’s going to be?” Though illuminated by the ambient light of the city, details on her face were still difficult to discern, but the smirk was hard to hide. “Fine. Let’s finally put an end to this game.” In a flash of shunpo, she had crossed the gap between them with katana drawn, swinging down forcefully with both hands. Just like that night in the Rukongai, Amara’s first attack was a downward slash to the torso, but this time Merrick could follow her movements and had his zanpakuto positioned overhead to catch her blade. With their weapons locked, he delivered a powerful kick to her midsection, knocking her back to the opposite side of the incomplete parking structure. Running a hand across her abdomen, she paused. “Hmm. A change of venue? We're not monsters after all . . .” Before she could finish, Alain was at her side taking a swing at her head. Evading backwards, his sword cut through one of the steel beams while Amara darted off into the night.
Quick to pursue, he was able to maintain a lock on her reiatsu signature. However, despite his own hoho improvement, the woman remained the faster of the two. Slowly but surely, she expanded the distance between them. Leading him first through the commercial districts and then more residential. He thought that they had finally reached their destination upon entering an abandoned industrial area. It was reminiscent of the location of their previous encounter, but Amara bypassed it as well. Just when he thought he was about lose track of her, she stopped moving. As he landed on the firm earth in a final flash step, he saw he was standing at the edge of a large open field bordering a forest. The pair must have traveled a substantial distance from the populace and now she was waiting in the woods. I see. It will end where it began. Then it was gone, her spiritual signature vanishing completely. No. Not completely. It was still there, faint, but somehow different and familiar at the same time. Then his sky blue eyes turned away from the forest and searched across the field. What else was out there?
1956/1956
The day in the abandoned warehouse wasn’t the first time that he had heard the name Amara. That honor occurred seven months earlier when he was scouring the Third Division’s repositories of knowledge in search of zanjutsu material. At the time, Alain had been struggling to develop his skill with the art and so sought out the assistance of former masters. Amara Naren was one such master. A former member of Fifth Division from centuries ago, she had either retired, was exiled, or went rogue. The details were hazy which was often the case when there was something to hide. Luckily, he had been able to find a photograph of the woman and a few obscure references detailing her last sighting in the 70th District of northern Rukongai. These were decades old reports, but perhaps not so long ago for beings like the Shinigami who lived an inordinately long time. As a result, Merrick journeyed into the deep outer districts with fellow Shinigami, Junko Gekido, in search of this forgotten master.
At the end of the nearly two week exploratory trek which saw them questioning the citizens of each village that they passed, they were met with nothing but failure. For all intents and purposes, Amara Naren had vanished or worse, had passed away. Unfortunately, Merrick had other obligations to tend to as a member the Gotei. While his mission had ended in failure, he was unable to look into the matter further or put the woman out of his mind. But now the situation had changed. He knew that Amara was the person responsible for almost killing him in the Rukongai forests when he was fresh out of the Academy. Likewise, she had played a part in the other attacks which occurred later. This necessitated digging deeper into her past as the logical next step. This past took him to the headquarters of Fifth Division where he scoured records and asked the eldest of their division what they remembered about the woman. A few days of consultation and he had a clearer picture of what he would be facing when next they met. According to her peers, they spoke about her as a master swordsman and hoho practitioner with a propensity for fire. Whether this was referring to zanpakuto powers or hado, he couldn’t say, but he would be prepared for either.
Since joining the Gotei earlier in the year, Merrick had been witness to a series of seemingly unrelated events which had one thing in common, the nearby presence of the cloaked and hooded stranger. Obviously, Alain wasn’t so foolish to believe that this was mere coincidence, but alas, he lacked conclusive evidence to explain any connection. This all changed after making a few crucial discoveries. The first half of the puzzle was the uncovering of his attacker’s identity, Amara Naren. While the last half was answered by the raid of Lab Station Six in Tokyo. During the attack, he took a rogue Shinigami hostage. The ensuing interrogation revealed that Amara was merely part of some larger group of dissident renegades with designs on wreaking havoc on the “natural order.” At least this was what the hostage told him before being turned over to the Gotei.
The complete picture was still lacking, but some of those blanks would be filled in days later during a second search of the underground facility. Hidden within one of the vents was a collection of documents. The author was unknown, but they seemed to indicate Amara’s role and importance in the organization. Equally illuminating was a list of names, dates and times as well as a summary about the nature of the work being done in the lab. Armed with this newfound knowledge, Alain re-examined the events of previous months with a fresh pair of eyes and was finally able to draw some conclusions which made sense. Convinced now more than ever that Amara needed to be dealt with and swiftly, he reasserted his efforts into finding her.
Inhale deeply and exhale slowly. The mantra played over and over in his head as he practiced the meditative process atop the CNC building. Situated in the center of the city, it was an ideal starting point to pursue his quarry. Close to two months had passed without any developments. Amara had been a ghost. No sightings. No reports. Nothing, until now. She was somewhere in the city. The patrolling Shinigami had seen her on two separate occasions, but both times she had slipped back into the shadows. And so there he sat, legs folded beneath him, meditating while he awaited a sign or more likely, contact from the Shinigami in charge of the district. Alain had to admit, she wasn’t without her talents.
Hidden behind his thin-rimmed glasses were closed eyes shielding him from the city’s blinding lights. However, nothing could deaden the bustling nightlife. Added to that din was the tolling of the clock tower bells across the street which announced the eleven o’clock hour. At the same time, temperatures began drop, followed closely by a cool autumn breeze wafting through the air. His neck length ponytail barely swayed and his flesh was free of goosebumps. Nothing could affect him now. All preparations for this moment had been made. He was calm, focused. When the denreishinki in his pocket began to vibrate seconds later, he rose to his feet and flipped the device open. Amara wouldn’t escape again.
Leaping from the rooftop in a burst of reiryoku, he tore through the night sky in the direction of a newly renovated residential district. Given his improved shunpo, it didn’t take long to arrive near the designated location, stopping short as he tried to remain outside her detection range. Then he advanced without hoho techniques while trying to suppress his reiatsu. Minutes later, he found her signature. It also felt suppressed. He surmised that she was a few blocks away. Careful to avoid the street lights, he took to the roofs. She is not moving? Curious. Alain knew that Amara was fast so he needed to slow her down somehow, place them on a level playing field. The question was how to move into position without her noticing. A kyokko-like bakudo allowing movement would really come in handy right about now. Regrettably, he hadn’t gotten around to developing the spell yet. He would just have to work with what he already knew.
As he neared the last house on the block, he saw that the residential housing had quickly transitioned to more commercial buildings. On one corner of the intersection was a multiple story parking garage in the midst of construction. Merrick could sense that Amara was somewhere inside. Preferring to work his way down, he jumped to the top of the framework. As soon as he landed on the steel girder, he found himself locking eyes with the elusive woman. They stood on opposite sides of the structure, but she seemed close enough to touch. His left hand slid down to the hilt of his zanpakuto and rested there. He need only make the first move.
“Well Alain, isn’t this a surprise . . . and may I call you Alain? Of course I can.” The woman pulled back her hood, revealing an attractive, oval shaped face and button nose. Her long black locks flowing loosely and fell just a few inches beyond the shoulders. “You know, you have been a thorn in my side for months . . . but, I haven’t made it easy for you either. Funny how things work out sometimes. No hard feelings, eh?” Unlike the first time that he heard her speak when she was vocal and commanding, here the tone felt equal parts mischief and mocking.
“You tried to kill me, and more than once. It is difficult not to take that personally.”
“Maybe I was a little hasty that night in the forest, but come on! Are you never going to let that go?” She oozed confidence and excitable energy as she bounced on the balls of her feet with hands on hips. Now only the slightest of movements would allow her to grab the sword at her left side. “And to be fair, I really only tried to kill you the one time.”
“You are still responsible for actions performed at your behest. But I am still curious as to why. That reason still eludes me.”
“So that’s how it’s going to be?” Though illuminated by the ambient light of the city, details on her face were still difficult to discern, but the smirk was hard to hide. “Fine. Let’s finally put an end to this game.” In a flash of shunpo, she had crossed the gap between them with katana drawn, swinging down forcefully with both hands. Just like that night in the Rukongai, Amara’s first attack was a downward slash to the torso, but this time Merrick could follow her movements and had his zanpakuto positioned overhead to catch her blade. With their weapons locked, he delivered a powerful kick to her midsection, knocking her back to the opposite side of the incomplete parking structure. Running a hand across her abdomen, she paused. “Hmm. A change of venue? We're not monsters after all . . .” Before she could finish, Alain was at her side taking a swing at her head. Evading backwards, his sword cut through one of the steel beams while Amara darted off into the night.
Quick to pursue, he was able to maintain a lock on her reiatsu signature. However, despite his own hoho improvement, the woman remained the faster of the two. Slowly but surely, she expanded the distance between them. Leading him first through the commercial districts and then more residential. He thought that they had finally reached their destination upon entering an abandoned industrial area. It was reminiscent of the location of their previous encounter, but Amara bypassed it as well. Just when he thought he was about lose track of her, she stopped moving. As he landed on the firm earth in a final flash step, he saw he was standing at the edge of a large open field bordering a forest. The pair must have traveled a substantial distance from the populace and now she was waiting in the woods. I see. It will end where it began. Then it was gone, her spiritual signature vanishing completely. No. Not completely. It was still there, faint, but somehow different and familiar at the same time. Then his sky blue eyes turned away from the forest and searched across the field. What else was out there?
1956/1956
