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SPOILER: Click to show

Reminder

* Rather than our 3 day post rule, I am enforcing a 48 hour post rule. If you do not post within 48 hours of your turn, you will be immediately exited. Your turn will be determined by the post order of the first round, so stick to that order! No warnings will be given because to join this event, you have to read this thread, and if you just skim it and miss this part, that's your fault, not mine.

* Upon joining the event, you lose half of your gold. "WHAT?!" you say. No worries, my little Ak-er, for the goal of this event is for you to regain what was stolen from you! Those of you that join but do not complete the event/are exited will forfeit that gold forever.

* I will make no exceptions to the activity rules for this event. If a rare, extreme case arises, you will still be exited from the event, but I ask that you PM me about the situation, and perhaps we can work something out for you. Posting in the absence thread will not make you exempt from the activity rules as well.

* This event has an expiration date, and will end 3 weeks after its start date. However, it can end before that, but that is the latest possible date it can end on. The event should be up and running by this weekend, so you have until Friday night to sign-up! (September 8th is the last full day of the event)

* You do not have to exit any threads you are presently in, and you can continue to join or create them per the rules of the site. This will not affect those.

* THERE IS A PRIZE!! Yes, something more than just your usual participation prizes, this is an actual physical prize! We will be doing a raffle, and one of the event participators will be mailed a prize! So if you are not comfortable giving us your address in PM, let us know, and we will omit you from the raffle. To be eligible for the raffle, you have to abide by the activity rules for the event, so don't get kicked out!

And so they slept, but of course they would such miserable sad little creatures they were. How he did not envy them, their lives were so small, simple minded, narrow... Dull. But then something most amusing came to his mind, followed by a smirk to his lips. Oh yes that would spice things up about. He snapped his fingers.

Those lucky few, those chosen, those ten blessed souls would find themselves lifted from their beds as they slept, by a seemingly magical force and then swept through a doorway which was not there.

When they would awake they found find themselves all together on a raised stone column (and clothed in their usual attire), within an enclosed cobblestone room surrounded by men and women wrapped in furs and different straps of leather screaming and hooting, waving crudely designed weapons as they did. Before them, a large golden throne, floating in mid-air and sitting within it a seemingly ordinary man with a extremely bored expression on his face wearing an odd pentagon shaped hat and flowing red and black robes.

"Welcome," hesitation, he was unsure what to call these, these things. He had seen many, many kinds of life in his eons of existence, but these ones were not something he would class with his favorite species to play with. A thought, yes that would do. He smiled and continued. "Friends." He cast an annoyed look at those screaming onlookers and snapped his fingers, several dozen small flashes of white would go throughout the crowd and the silence. How simple it was to remove one's mouths."There that's better..

"You have all been selected and charged... With being extremely dull and predictable. How do you plead?"

SPOILER: Click to show

Note
And now the game is afoot ladies and germs. I apologize for how short the opening is but I assure you as time passes on things will grow to be far more detailed. Just a reminder to each member the following have joined, beside their names I have listed the appropriate faction so your characters can act accordingly if so choose to.

Kiba - shinigami
Shigeo - shinigami
Kurisuna - shinigami
Andra - hollow
Sumie - shini
Harupia - shinigami
Ryuu - hollow
Mai - shinigami
Tenba - shinigami
Shi- hollow

Sleeping. Sleeping. Sleeping. Something that is considered important to any being that is considered living. It's a process of revitalizing the body and mind, something even an animal is aware of. And it was no different for Tenba Gensou. The young girl could only be described as a cat when she slept, as she always curled up into a ball. But the sleep is also a process that can be interrupted, much like a song or the reading of a book. Some may take it well, and other may take it bad. Gen was someone who had a mixed opinion of that.

Finding herself at a place she never fell asleep at the beginning of the night, panic could be an option. Instead, Gen remained calm, and and sat up to observe where she could be. "... I think I ate something bad. I never had dreams like these..", she thought, as it looked like to be one hell of a party in her mind. There they were, people dressed in the similar outfits as she has. She also spotted her superiors, Sumie and Kurisuna, and some other people she never bothered to remember. And...

(beat)

Some.. dudes? She never met them or even saw them before this point in time, and there was the added fact that she didn't give a rat's ass after being recently awaken. Oh well. She turned her head and happened to notice THE MAN ON THE GOLDEN FLYING THRONE. And the people shouting and hooting, I guess. "Wait. What.. Did their mouths just... (what the-)"

The man on the throne spoke after everyone had woken up. Gee, how nice of him to at least wait for everyone to wake up after the whole kidnapping thing.

"You have all been selected and charged... With being extremely dull and predictable. How do you plead?"

Gen would be the first one to reply, but let's just say that this was a bad moment to be funny. "Well, it's hard being charged without having my morning cup of coffee." Serious face. Not a muscle moving. But a pretty funny joke... right?

Swept up from his slumber by the magical grip of God he actually remained unfazed. Through the travels of space and time, he still remained unmoved. His sleep was as heavy as ever. However upon being, so rudely, placed upon the cold and hard surface of a stone pillar, surrounded by the shrieks and bellows of death-crazed fans, his sleep was finally disturbed. As he rose, gripping the sides of his head, Andra would groan out, "Where the fuck am I?!"

With a brief glance around he took to his hilt, gripping it finely in hostility as his gaze was overwhelmed by the gathered crowds. Then as if being surrounded wasn't enough to send him into a defensive state, he spots a being. This being was like no other amongst these savages. He sat in a chair made of solid gold and his appearance resembled a normal man. As he spoke, his words were louder, yet still clouded by the hollering below. Just when Andra assumed this man of the golden throne would silence them with a shout, it was simply with a snap of his fingers. And he went beyond the mere command of silence, he literally took action and wiped each and every mouth off the bastards. It was quite amazing. Either this was one vivid dream, or this dimension belonged to that guy and he had control of it entirely.

When directly asked a question, Andra waits and looks around at the other pillared guests and when one response, he follows up, "You drag me up and out of my comfy sand ditch to ask me questions? Did you at least cook breakfast-" he pauses for a second, "-What do we call you? Qacha?"

A flicker, of something bright and beaming, streaked before her eyes like phosphene in warm and radiant colours as light seeped past her lids and tremendous noise boomed mercilessly in her head. She woke, slowly, carefully, into a dimension utterly alien to her, far from the familiar dimples of the futon upon which she slept, the relative safety of her division, but right beside her bird, which, having flown after her from its perch, now teetered in crude semi-circles around her reposing skull. What could all this clamor be about?

Immediately, it was too much, too startling, yet too real to be a dream, and her heart palpitated frantically against her chest as she jolted upright and leapt to her feet. The raven beat back, and then alighted atop her shoulder, where it remained as she picked up the presence of several equally as unfortunate co-workers. Were they in trouble, too? Had she done something wrong, for that matter? What a silly question. Of course she had.

She fought the urge to join Sumie, instead drawing her attention in full where it probably needed to be directed: toward the man in red and black robes, suspended in mid-air atop a throne of gold(-plated material. Let's be modest, here). She watched as he spoke, and watched as he silenced the din of the crowd with a snap of his fingers, a grim frown knitting her brows. Then, he called her dull and predictable, to which she, of course, mock-pleaded in turn: ''Not guilty by reason of insanity.''

Ironically, her sass wasn't too far off the truth, though whether or not she was boring and/or predictable... Well, that was subjective.

There were few things in the world Kiba held sacred - to most, it could basically be summarized as milk and nap-time. So to find that his extremely comfortable one-piece blue sleeping kimono had been replaced by his extremely uncomfortable Shihakusho - with haori - and his extremely comfortable bed had been replaced with a stone dais... well, Kiba was not happy.

His eyes were bleary to say the least as he staggered to his feet, groggy from interrupted, blissful rest - oh, somebody would pay. Somebody speaking in a loud voice. Somebody fancily dressed. Somebody who thought a damned light show was a proper way to greet a sleeping Shinigami. A sentence of violence would need to be tacked onto Kiba's list, he decided with a growl before dropping his shoulders and charging.

Naturally, being Kiba, he didn't weigh exactly how likely it was this wouldn't work out - he only knew what was annoying him, and it was doing so at an unreasonable hour, and so when Kiba reached as close to the lip of their stone column as he could manage, he leaped for the man in the silly hat, gritting his teeth, hands raised to grab at man or throne, whichever came into his reach. Pain would happen!

What does Ryuu dream of when he takes Ryuu snooze? Does he dream of mauling people, or taking off limbs that the victims choose? In this case the answer was somewhere between both options. BUT IT WAS A NICE HAPPY DREAM. However A BAD PERSON DECIDED TO KIDNAP RYUU ALONG WITH SOME OTHER PEOPLE.

Groaning and turning over as the screams began to lift him out of his Ryuu snooze, Ryuu tried in vain to go back to sleep. "What did I do last night?" Ryuu muttered to himself with a yawn as he slowly moved to a sitting position and surveyed the strange location and the other people who also seemed to be disoriented. "First I kidnapped some Rukon Citizen. Then I ate him. Then I spent about an hour reading and then I went to sleep. And now I'm here." Ryuu thought to himself as he continued to move out of sleep mode.

Rubbing his eyes a bit more, Ryuu then finished his transition from sleep mode to Ryuu mode. Eyes wide awake, Ryuu's trademark smile soon appeared on his face and he stood up. Looking at the other people who were with him, Ryuu was able to recognize a few faces although a few of them were unfamiliar (not to mention the audience who seemed quite excited). Noticing several shinigami uniforms, Ryuu could tell that things were going to be interesting.

This was soon confirmed when their mysterious man with the fancy hat and the shiny chair made the shrieking audience member's mouths disappear. Raising an eyebrow when the man began to make an accusation, Ryuu briefly wondered if he knew about that incident in the forest. "I could have sworn that there wasn't any evidence left." Ryuu thought to himself. However that was when the host finished his accusation which was even worse.

He was being accused of dullness and predictability? How could he deliver such a horrifying accusation. Catching himself before his smile began to turn into a frown (something that was much worse) Ryuu was as angry as the shinigami who had just charged at the man and attempted to leap at him even if it was hidden by his smile. Silently supporting the shinigami, Ryuu watched with a bit of interest before deciding to confront these slanderous charges against his good name. "I plead indignation at these horrifying, uncalled for and slanderous charges." Ryuu replied.

Ryuu knew that he would have to fight these charges every step of the way. RYUU WOULD USE EVERY TRICK HE KNEW TO BEAT THESE CHARGES DOWN AND STAB THEM IN THE KIDNEYS. FOR HE WOULD NOT GO QUIETLY INTO THE NIGHT. INSTEAD RYUU WOULD STAND HIS GROUND AND FIGHT WITH EVERYTHING HE HAD. Although the fate of the short tempered shinigami might change Ryuu's mind.

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A dream. That's all these things ever were. Granted, being in a room full of co-workers and a few stray arrancar was a far better deal than Sumie usually came off with, even if they were surrounded by a mouthless crowd and a man on a floating throne. Anything could happen in a dream after all.

A yawn escaped from Sumie's mouth as she shifted from the prone position she had been sleeping in to a cross-legged position on the hard stone; she saw no point in standing if she didn't know what was going on yet. She listened to others answer for their supposed crimes and when a lull came in the retorts, Sumie took her turn. "Guilty as charged," Sumie quipped rather merrily, being a dream and all. She had to hand it to her subconscious though, it had done a great job with the details of faces she had never seen before and mimicking the actions of those she did; Kiba attacking the throne, Kurisuna saying she was insane, Gen making bad jokes.... Still, Sumie did feel a heaviness of being tired, as if she had been truly woken from a deep sleep. She gave a light shake of her head, clearing away the oncoming train of thought. There was simply no way that this wasn't a dream!

Hmm...note to self. Do NOT but that Rukon brew ever again...he could feel it was strong when he took a small sip to try it out, but damn...he was pretty sure anything causing psychedelic reactions like this would be considered illegal outside the hospital...though to be fair, this wasn't really that loopy. The surrounding was pretty normal, he saw a few familiar faces...if not for the two Arrancar he had never seen before, and the sorounding of man savages, not to mention the guy on a flying throne...pretty weird by his usual dream standards.

Maybe it was because of exhaustion, he did have a rough day in the healing wards...letting out a small sigh and rubbing his temple to try and fend of the small, dull ache in his head...hmm, a headache in a dream, that also was pretty unusual. as all the other figments of his imagination spoke one after another, some of them sounding quite agitated, he let out a small chuckle and pointing his hand's down in a calming fashion he said "Now, now, ladies, gentlemen, and monster, lets not get to worked up around here..."

And as if right on Que (Hmm, que...he wasn't sure why, but the word seemed to fit oddly in this whole situation...) one of the parts of this dream lunged at the men on the throne. Out of instinct Harupia attempted to intercept him with a Shunpo...only to stumble a bit forward in his steps. Huh...whenever he had an action sequence in his dream, he usually could preform a flash-step in spite of not being able to in real life...this dream wasn't as fun as he'd like it to be sadly.

Typical sleeper did not apply to Shi; if any living thing disturbed him, even if it was just by walking across one of his dens or fighting near it, he would wake up, ready for an attack. If left to sleep, then Shi would remain such until nature told him it was time to awaken. And the sound of numerous voices, with only two being familiar, set off his hair-trigger like a match being thrown into a hill of gunpowder.

Immediately Shi bolted up, eyes flashing and taking in everything going on around him from people to the situation itself. Thoughts raced at untold speeds, each one trying to connect to the other even if they were unrelated completely. First and foremost, was where in the name of hell was he? Amethyst eyes honed in on the stranger speaker, and went from the emblem to the robes, before glancing around, and swiftly pulling back. Too many damn people, too many possibilities for interaction; Shi actually was starting to feel suffocated.

Clearing his throat, he did his best to give a short and simple answer to the question only after what seemed like the rest of the accused spoke. "I give no plea to a nameless being who has just kidnapped me, unless you plan on giving your name then you can ask, nameless false judge." snapped Shi, seething to the point where his body was like a single lung, contracting and then expanding. If people did not move, then he was going to treat the entire situation as an ambush and start fighting, already pulling back further and selecting the ideal bones to strike on his nearest enemy.

Rainbow lights swirled beneath sliver slippered feet as they glided effortlessly over the gold-gilded surface. Frames erect, strong and flawless, the duo swept over the distance in time with the gentle melody emanating from the atmosphere; elegant curls bounced with each step, the soft tinkling of adorning jewelry adding its own feminine refrain to the delicate strains, while the strong rhythm of the heeled boot brought in sharp, masculine notes. Black and crimson intertwined with each perfect maneuver, fabric both flowing and snapping in fluid motion as the tempo of the dance increased. His firm hand on the small of her back kept her in line, while the other, tenderly ensconced within hers, led her on the merry chase. The speed slowed, the distance between decreased. Green, dangerous eyes met enraptured violet eyes, wide with ardourous delight. Angles shifted, bringing them ever closer; beneath the crimson bodice her heart beat furiously, the pressure on the small of her back shifted, dropped,

A head lowered, another rose

A bright flash, a sense of despair

A shift of posture, caress to callous

Change of venue, man in crimson tie to man in hat

Unsettled, and annoyed, Mai glanced about, resisting the urge to shift uncomfortably; her previous dream had her clad in a silk dress, and now she was wearing the unwelcome weave of her shihakushou. Her frame hadn’t lessoned, despite the near-incident just moments ago, and she stood proud while some of those around her, familiar and unknown, had more visceral reactions. The question, and charge, were unfamiliar to her, as not once had she dreamt that she was on trial for something, nor had she heard of such a thing outside one of Malik’s rants; she remained silent throughout the hat-man’s speech as she thought over the charge brought against her.

Was she dull? She didn’t think so, but if this thing in her subconscious thought she was, then there was probably something to it.... As for being predictable, she supposed she was; she did the same things the same way, day in and day out. She preferred her patterns and her routines and structure, and if that made her easy to follow, then so be it. Perhaps she was, but...what was the sentence?

Shigeo blinked once, twice, his face pale and puffy from having just wakened to a screeching, jeering crowd. Only one man seemed to have any measure of calm, and he was...floating. In a throne. With a strange choice of clothes. "What an odd dream," the fukutaichou murmured to himself, glancing about and noticing that others, too, had joined him in this surreal moment -- mostly shinigami, but a number of others he didn't recognize.

The giant's bleariness disappeared, a wary alertness replacing it, when the glum-looking robed fellow silenced the crowd by removing their mouths. A curious ability, that. The airborne figure made his profession as a judge known through his proclamation of "charges" against Shigeo and the others -- charges of being "dull" and "predictable". Indignantly, the massive shinigami spoke up at once. "What...? I'm not dull. Nor predictable. Not guilty, of course."

[bgcolor=000000]Wonderful, just wonderfully droll. Two had asked for something related to ingestion, another a plea of insanity. A few were offended, another quite honestly (though perhaps a bit confused) plead guilty, accepting her fate. Another was trying to calm people down, while two were so enraged they did naught but attack or deny to answer. And finally, one simply remained silent as if trying to take it all in.

Amusing, if only slightly.

With a snap of his fingers the figure watched as poor, upset and sleepy Kiba vanished from sight only to reappear a moment later from where he began his charge. Only this time he was in the stone floor he first awoke, only his head down to the top of his shoulders remained visible. "We'll have no more of that behavior my dear Capitaine." He waved his finger at the trapped man, a frown on his face. "Violence during this exercise will not be tolerated and will be met with punishment."

He leaned back in his chair and noted Andra had reached for his sword, what a surprise he would find when indeed it was not there, but in it's stead a banana. All ten of their swords had indeed been replaced by bananas to be precise. Laughing at the ignorance and hubris of these creatures he waved a hand, dismissing anything they had to say. "Who I am is not important, only that I am. And I am here to not only pass judgment upon you, you blood enemies, but to also test you.

"And thus far only one of you has passed." The throne began to move, floating around the stone platform, well out of reach of any of them just in case they decided to test their chances. "The trials will begin, three you will have to pass to return from whence you came. Failure will result in you losing something, for something precious has been taken from all of you." As he finished the sentence a flash would appear above Kurisuna's shoulder, directly where her perched pet was. A moment later, a second flash on the right arm of the being's throne, the bird was caged and now roosting there. "Your petty abilities will not work here and attempting to use them will only make you look like the fools you are.

"Your first test, begins now. You must simply figure it out to proceed." He leaned forward, grinning wickedly. "Be warned, while I am an understanding creature I will not tolerate your inability to act. Do as you're bid, pass these tests and I shall keep my word. Do not well.. We'll get to that later. Bon voyage." Fingers snapped.

---

Suddenly, the band of ten were somewhere else all together, a forest to be precise. To the keen and familiar eye they would realize they were in the forests of the Second Rukongai district, or at least an exact replica of it. Around them was a wall of trees, so thickly clumped together that even the smallest of the group could not dare to squeeze through, nor could the tallest even pray to reach the lowest branch.

The bananas at their hips, remained in place. And all, aside from Kiba would appear just as the stood or sat a moment ago. Kiba on the other hand appeared two feet above the ground, upside down.

The area would be quiet, outside of what those ten might have to say. Though to the paranoid, they would have the absolute feeling that they were being watched. But from what and from where? Well, now that was something they would have to figure out, now wouldn't they?

Judging by the reaction of the crowd, this appeared to be more than a dream for Gen. She drew this conclusion by observing the others, as they spoke back to this figure on the throne, who gave the impression to Gen as he thought he was God. She dubbed him Bakami(A mix of Baka(Idiot) and God(Kami)) in her head, deciding that this will be his name. As the people replied, things got.. weirder. Bananas and random attacks are not something you see every day. Or seeing your superiors all in one place.

Superiors. In. One Place.

Becoming a hell of alot more nervous, Gen displayed this by stepping further and further away from the gang, her face looking into another direction. She did not even pay that much attention to Bakami's whole.. "reason why you suck"-speech.

"Your first test begins now." and a finger snapped quickly caught her attention though. They were now in a forest. As soon as the scenery changed, she turned to the others, her face nearly on the point of going Calm -> to -> Scared. However, she was the first one to speak up, raising her hand at the same time as a sign of respect.

"H-Hey.. I think that Bakami-guy put us in a b-bad place."

After she spoke up, her glance turned to Sumie, the only person who Gen had any sort of connection with. Kurisuna was just a b...elightful person, but Sumie seemed more.. appropriate.

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Andra's grip was seemingly enough to mash the banana however this was not the case as it so sturdily remained intact. Andra stands around with a sharp glare pasted on the man and his throne, his eyes starring daggers into his soul. But simply, that's just how wickedly sinister Andra's facial expression gets without even trying. Upon the last snap of Qacha's fingers Andra, and the others, would find the setting to have changed once more. It's appearance completely identical to the forest back home. And Andra knew this because that is where a small percentage of his most gruesome animal experiments went on.


Andra makes the first move and heads directly for Ryuu. When reaching him, he speaks in haste, "Prepare yourself.. for something wicked this way comes.." Then his eyes dart over at Shi and he gives him but a brief nod of his head. A simple gesture of respect to show his awareness of Shi's presence.

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How could one so readily mistake reality for a vivid dream? To some, the distinction may not be so apparent; this was, after all, an especially outlandish scenario involving a sarcastic male and allusions of god-like power too ludicrous to belong, except it was too lucid, too void of those tell-tale signs that had one determine, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that the realm in question was no plane of existence, but a painstakingly detailed dream-scape. Here, no brush had marred her perception of any sense, or impaired objective thinking.

Course, there was still the deal with insanity. Madness could orchestrate and justify just about anything, and vanishing ravens (her brow canted at his acquisition of it), much like nigh-omnipotent jerks, were no exceptions.

But her sword. No, that was not okay. The banana was a lie and she hated everything it stood for. A damned, foul lie that had replaced her claim-to-fame.

His fingers snapped, and although Kurisuna had known to associate the gesture with the unforeseeable, she was relieved to feel herself liberated from this half-baked court into a world she was familiar with to the point of encyclopedic detail. She still didn't know what to make of this ''test,'' but the most important task was fashioning a new weapon.

SPOILER: Click to show

Edited because can't read. >_>

Kiba hadn't been especially excited to be made a part of the floor, and had struggled impotently because of it; there was a long moment where he had to force himself to calm down, as the constant constriction on his chest from the stone was preventing him breathing as deeply as he'd like, and that was leading to an ever-expanding spiral of panic, but he escaped the feeling somewhere along the lines of the floating bastard's speech.

The self-concerned throne-man spoke an awful lot for somebody with nothing to say, and Kiba found himself testing the stone more out of boredom than a desire to be free; he was quick to adapt, though he was afraid his abilities would be well tested if the poorly dressed thing kept yammering about nonviolence and failed tests. Around the time Kiba was preparing to test his ability to headbutt the ground, he was quite suddenly no longer buried in stone: instead, he was buried in air.

That problem was much more easily remedied than the buried in stone problem: in fact, it really more or less handled itself, spilling Kiba, banana and all, shoulders first into the dirt. Kiba grunted a few times before returning to his feet, brushing himself off before looking around. There were trees... and that was about it. Dull!

With another loud grunt, Kiba began to approach a tree, rubbing his chin with his right hand as his left brushed against his hip, where it thumped the banana. Blinking, Kiba craned his neck to look at the odd new item, then seized the banana and raised it up, inspecting the fruit. Kiba glanced from the banana to the trees, then back to the banana, then nodded before pointing the banana at the tree he stood before, its stem aimed at the tallest point he could see.

"SUMIE! On my shoulders!" Kiba cried out in his best hero-voice, the action-pose surely driving his childhood friend into action - presuming she wasn't already on the way! Sumie was quite good at reading Kiba's mind, he'd learned.

Watching with interest the reactions of the other shinigami (and shi), Ryuu barely managed to stop himself from snickering at Kiba's fate. "So attacking him won't work." Ryuu thought to himself. This observation was then reinforced when Ryuu noticed that everyone's zanpakutou had been turned into bananas. Giving a slight sigh (he wasn't even able to eat it), Ryuu at least reminded himself that this meant that things wouldn't devolve into a free-for-all (at least not yet).

Hearing the reference to a test, Ryuu wondered what it could be and who had already passed it. "This might be fun." Ryuu said to himself. Here he was in a situation where he had to use his head to figure out a problem instead of raw power. Not only that but he could see that he had quite a few similarities with their host which Ryuu had to admit was quite ironic. But overall he was in a new situation with several new people and their task was to figure out the rules and goals of the situation. "This should definitely be fun." Ryuu said to himself with a laugh.

And then everyone was in a forest. A forest in the second district of the Rukongai if one had to be exact. Beginning to think about the choice of location, Ryuu only found himself distracted by Kiba's fall and Andra's comment. "Duly noted Andra. But for now I'm going to try and mingle." Ryuu said in response. Beginning to walk around the area, Ryuu began to think out the problem WITH HIS THINKING ABILITIES.

"So our first test is to find out what it is. That would imply that he had already given us all of the clues." Ryuu thought. "He also said that one of us had passed. So it has to be something that is staring us all in the face." Ryuu continued to himself as he went on with his aimless wandering. But what could it be?

Stopping abruptly near Gen, Ryuu had come up with a theory. Maybe the first test was that the arrancar and shinigami had to work together. It had certainly fit with what the fancy hat man had said. They were predictable because the standard feelings between the two races was animosity. One of the shinigami's first reactions was to try to calm everyone (including the arrancar) down. If the two groups could work together then that wouldn't be predictable given the two groups relationship with each other.

"Even so there's no need to be scared. If we all stick together then I'm sure we can take whatever that guy throws at us." Ryuu said with a reassuring smile to Gen. If that was the first test then being nice and interacting with the shinigami would be a good first step to passing it. "I think the first test is that we all have to work together and get along." Ryuu announced to everyone. It seemed as good a theory as any, and at least it gave everyone something to work off of.

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Sumie had spent a lot of time in the Rukongai for the purpose of map making; the fruit of her labor could be found in the Third Division's library too, and even though this was supposed to be an exact replica of the Second District's forest (not that Sumie would know it was a replica), the Fukutaichou couldn't remember having seen such a place and if anyone could remember a place they had been, it was Sumie. Perhaps it had to do with the location's features. The trunks closed in around them like prison bars, preventing even one such as Gen from slipping through and the branches were out of the reach for even those such as Shigeo and Kurisuna. Inaccessible. Or perhaps inescapable was a better term. Either way, Sumie had never been there so she stood in the midst of it all after having been transported to the unfamiliar scenery, letting the previous speech and scene sink into her mind as she pulled at her banana to examine it.

Something about blood enemies, tests, Shigeo upset with being called predictable (he was in the library almost as much as Kiba to read...), Kiba falling... There was an awful lot going on for a dream, but a dream it was never the less. Sumie didn't care what others thought, but there was an order to the way abilities worked, the books said so... and that thing had far more power than any Shinigami, Rukon Citizen, or Arrancar, Sumie had ever seen. She internally applauded her brain for being so creative.

Denial had always been a great coping mechanism; it was the shadow of that thought which diverted Sumie's attention from the banana to Kurisuna though Gen pulled Sumie's thoughts and gaze from that direction once more. Dream or not, Sumie was Sumie and she responded as such after Ryuu addressed the younger female. "A little forest never hurt anyone, Gen-chan." A terse smile tugged at the corner of her lips because Kiba's shoulders could probably debate the point at the moment if it had been real life, but still there were more worrisome things, even in a dream that could easily become a nightmare in the presence of the Arrancar, whether he wanted to work together or not. It was almost like Kiba...

"Gen-chan, please go stand near Saikokui-taichou. She hasn't, um, been feeling well." Sumie really just wanted Gen away from from Ryuu and someone near Kurisuna while she dealt with the aforementioned male captain. Banana in hand, Sumie neared Kiba with an even more tired than usual expression and began scaling his back with a practiced ease; Sumie had confessed to being dull and predictable and this was nothing out of the ordinary for her and Kiba.

Ok...this was really turning out like something he wouldn't dream. If only because he hardly ever had people charge at each other and draw their blades out...though the banana swords were a pretty amusing touch. But then, even more faces came to the fray...one he knew pretty well, other he had very vague recollection of, some simply foreign...why would he dream about people he didn't know? Was this some kind of sign?
Also, the thing's the throned person said were rather mean spirited...with the accusations he threw out in the beginning to begin with.

He wasn't quite sure how to react to them. He never really considered himself dull or boring...maybe a bit predictable sometimes once you got to know him. Still, before he could have a chance to plead his case, the test, whatever it was, was underway...and suddenly the whole group was in the middle of a forest. A Rukon forest to that...or at least one very similar...he never remembered tree's being that high...and that close to eachother...this still looked very dreamlike to him, but at the same time, it seemed pretty off.

There was one solid way to prove it...and luckily, he had just the person to test his theory on. As they found themselves in the middle of the forest, he quickly approached Mai and extended his arm to her and whispering "Pinch me!" in a hastened, hushed tone. Before he would see the effect of the experiment, one of the others spoke to them all...one of the Hollow variety. Now, regardless if this was a dream or not, he didn't feel comfortable around these...creatures. Especially with only a banana at his belt. But still, he seemed to be at least trying to stay calm and cooperative in this whole thing... Guessing it was best to play along with his game (or maybe even a bigger game...how was he supposed to know what was going on) he said out loud "That's a solid idea...but what are we supposed to be working on?", looking towards at Ryuu, but speaking loud enough for anyone interested to hear him.

Shi frowned at the statement of non violence, and would have questioned such. Only if he didn't register the damned disturbing sight of one of the others being planted into the ground. All with a mere snap to boot; no warning, no rapid movement, just a snap. Obviously, there was some power here in this false judge, or maybe not so false. And somehow, one of their number managed to pass some sort of preliminary test, but who and how? Shi frowned and then slowly turned his gaze down to his waist, both eyes widening with absolute shock and terror.

The judge had stripped him of his zanpakuto, his very power itself, and quickly Shi's brain fired off continuous thoughts as he gazed around, taking in his fellow convicts. All of them had some sort of thing at their sides, in place of what he was believing to be their own zanpakutos. Which obviously meant he was amongst not only fellow Arrancar Andra and Ryuu, but Shinigami. He ground his teeth, scowling at the thought of being near the damn unworthy owners of paradise, but forced it away. The judge took his zanpakuto, or so Shi believed, but he would be damned if he let that slide, or rather... fail. The only option was to past, and as much as he despised the Shinigami, a fool the short Arrancar was not.

As their surroundings shifted, Shi glanced at Andra, cold fury obvious in his eyes as he merely stared; the most one could expect from a pissed Shi before turning to look at the rest of the group. And Shi found himself staring at a giant of a woman, one that clearly radiated power, and something else. The socially naive Shi knew naught what exactly, but if her size was any indication of power and status, then she had to be a leader perhaps. Frankly, the thought of having to work with Shinigami was literally infuriating, but it was nothing compared to trying to obtain paradise without steel and without power.

"Getting out of this forest as one unit. As Shinigami and Arrancar, for the sole purpose of survival; as much as we despise each other... we cannot do anything if we don't pass these infernal tests," as he spoke, Shi slowly walked towards the giant of a woman, stopping short of a solid foot, staring at her in an obvious recognition of her power. "Shi, Arrancar. Who are my temporary allies in this test?"

For the second time in as many moments, the scenery shifted and left the girl just as confused, though considerably more wary than upset, as the first shift. And not even that; things were quite off about this, from daises to forests, swords to fruit, visceral to contained to...incorrect attitudes regarding the situation? Arrancar and Shinigami were not supposed to interact, Captains were supposed to be a model of control to be respected and emulated, and her hip most certainly did not deign to carry about a banana!

Were she not subjected to a healthy dose of probable-paranoia at present, she most certainly would have shaken her head in an useless attempt to put the jumbled thoughts back together and make some sense of this senseless dream.

Instead, things got much, much stranger, and before she could fully exhale in an attempt to release some of the tension binding her shoulders, she was approached with the her first direct mission in this quest to find what they were looking for: pinch her captain. Mai's eyes pried themselves from the location where the man in the throne had been and directed themselves to Harupia's, disbelief and something akin to fright clearly visible to anyone who happened to chance a glance; her first visit to the Rukongai hadn't ended well, as she'd very nearly become some emaciated beast's meal, and she had done her best to forget it, however, some memories are harder to bury than others, and the unscathed, pleasant scents of the trees and earth brought her presumed location, the Rukongai, to her forebrain.

Dutifully, almost as though she was resigned to the chaos her subconscious had surreptitiously deposited her within, her delicate fingers reached out toward her Captain's extended arm. Upon connection, she pressed gently downward, stopping as soon as the hypothesis reached her ears; as Harupia responded, as good idea as any in her opinion, she squeezed, unintentionally curling her fingers, and nails, into Harupia's flesh.

[bgcolor=000000]Disappointed, yes that's what he was. As the vast majority of those gathered went about getting together in one way or another one stood alone, in a daze. While not common, sometimes a side effect of his transporting people from one plane of existence to another did cause one to, for lack of a better term of phrase, lock up. In this case the poor, poor soul to suffer from this untimely happenstance was Shigeo, the self proclaimed giant.

Appearing in a flash, but only to the man in question the robbed figure sauntered up to him and with a white handkerchief wiped a bit of saliva forming at the side of the big man's mouth. "Poor, poor fellow. Too much for you to handle." Reaching into the man's sash the robed figure withdrew the banana and tossed it to the ground before placing a thumb upon Shigeo's forehead. "All of this will be a terrible, terrible dream. In which, you would have died in the most terrible fashion you can imagine. It will haunt you, feel real to you. And you will doubt your existence for the rest of your days..

"Kidding~ but you will wake up with a terrible rash in a most sensitive area." His fingers snapped.

---

A flash of light, Shigeo was gone, but his banana remained thumping upon the ground with a tiny, tiny thud. Eyes watched this happen, golden ones. Very big golden ones. They watched as the little one began to shake like a leaf (metaphorically unless you know, she actually is), watched as the Hollows conversed with themselves and as they began to reach out to the Shinigami to work together. Watched as a loud Shinigami told another to climb onto his shoulders, the female did as she was told, banana in hand.

The eyes widened, large mouth opened. Salivated. So close... Soooooo close.

As Sumie was lifted up onto her old friend Kiba's shoulders a large black hand attached to a mighty long black arm, erupted from the thick foliage of the trees. It would shoot out to grab Sumie by the arm holding the banana and once it had a hold of her, would yank her upward posthaste.

SPOILER: Click to show

Sorry for the bit of the wait. If there are some typos I apologize, typed this out as quick as possible.
Shigeo exited

Gen took a nod at Sumie, and did as she was told... which was to stand besides her really tall boss, ignoring the strangely clothed individuals she never met before. As she made her way over to Kurisuna, she observed the others. It might give them a clue to the test. Yes. Observation. That's the key to anything.

And then... what. Did someone just dissappear? Nevermind. Back to business.

"Hey.. what if we eat the bananas?", she girls said with a rather serious voice. The signs were in her head. If this was a test, this would be the solution. She drew this in her mind like this. Bananas are a source of nourishment. They were in a forest of some sorts. Therefore, it would just be easier to eat the bananas to survive. She looked over to the other shinigamis for a response, just as... the yellow eyes in the night spy upon them.

Now, rather than standing next to Kurisuna.. she jumped behind her. Clearly, the biggest person must be the strongest. So hiding behind a big person is a sure way to gain protection. She then shouted/squeaked out, in a rather unserious voice, almost sounding like a cat who just got it's tail stepped on..

"I think everyone should LOOK AROUND THEM." But there was no time for that. The monsters had already attacked, as the "Guilty As Charged"-Sumie was the first one aimed at.

SPOILER: Click to show

I had to modify the whole Shigeo and the robed man part, since Gen never saw it, only Shig did.

_________________

Andra pays no mind to Shi as there were bigger things to be worrying about. The red-eyed devil Andra scans the vicinity briefly. He is nearly finished locking in everyone's faces when one particular Shinigami catches his eye. She was red-haired with a pale complexion, a height that nearly rivaled his and these sort of reddish-brown eyes. Andra begins walking over towards Kurisuna though between steps and mixed chatter he hears a small, almost unnoticeable thump and his eyes turns to face the source. When nobody was within the small area the noise came from Andra looked down, noticing a banana similar to his in whole. Momentarily he divides his attention from Kurisuna and heads over to the fallen banana and once arriving he kneels down with an extended palm to grip the yellow fruit.

"Hmmm?"

_________________

There was some merit, Kurisuna thought, to scaling each other's shoulders so that one may reach the canopy, though she was ultimately too heavy and too weak to replicate the feats she'd known Gen could do. So she whirled around, face free of expression, and looked from the 3rd seat to the clambering Fukutaichou, and then the... Arrancar.

Her breath caught in her throat, fingers curling in an angry white-knuckled grip. One of them approached, inciting a resentful pull of the lips, but he deviated mercifully toward somebody's banana. She shuffled closer to Kiba and Sumie, blue-haired girl close at hand, anxiously pitching to and fro as if a stationary boat on lunar tides.

Eyes darted, paranoid. They fixed the group, stalked after each individual Hollow. But her vigilance had been misdirected. Danger did not lurk in their midst: it came from overhead.

She saw it plunge from a harbor of leaves, black and snake-like, hideously elongated. Set in speechless horror, she watched the dark hand clasp Sumie's shoulder with crystal clear intent to hoist her whence the arm came. No! She could not let it have her! ''SUMIE!''

She sprang into motion. Her arms latched around the Lieutenant's legs, and possibly a part of Kiba, too. Kurisuna wasn't strong, but she was nonetheless taller and heftier than most females. That had to count toward something.

Nobody who knew him would accuse Kiba of being bright, but they would certainly know to be wary of his ability to respond to a changing situation; now, he wasn't prepared for a monster in the trees - of course not - but he was prepared for Sumie to slip off his shoulders, because she was indeed a clumsy girl, or so he would say. As a result, it wasn't much trouble at all for the Taicho known for his strength to alter his hold on Sumie and, much like the Taicho that came charging in, grip his sister-like Fukutaicho about the legs and/or waist. He didn't cry out or speak; there was no time for all that. There was only time to hold fast to Sumie, and if he and Kurisuna couldn't keep her planted on the ground, then the Hollow would certainly have to take them up as well... and there was little in this world, Kiba expected, that would appreciate having him toss them from a tree.

Taking note of one of the shinigami's names and how her leader didn't seem to want her anywhere near him, Ryuu had to say that he wasn't suprised by her reaction. Although it was still disappointing. However at least one of the shinigami actually acknowledged what he had said. "I would have to agree with what Shi just said." Ryuu said after Shi answered his question for him. "However I was hoping that if what I said was correct then there would be some type of acknowledgement. Which means that either that assumption is wrong or my guess was wrong. But I think it would be safer to assume that the guess was wrong. So maybe us working together is supposed to achieve something...such as becoming less dull and predictable." Ryuu continued. It seemed as good of a conclusion as any.

AND THEN THE GROUP GOT SOME TYPE OF ACKNOWLEDGEMENT...possibly. It depended on whether the big person disappearing would count as acknowledgement. "Is that supposed to happen?" Ryuu asked everyone while staring at where Shigeo had previously stood.

However before he could get an answer YET ANOTHER ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OCCURRED. In this case it was a large black hand that was grabbing the shinigami who's name was apparently SUMIE. BUT NEVER FEAR FOR RYUU WAS HERE. Rushing over to where Kurisuna and Kiba were, Ryuu decided that his strength and weight would be best served by reinforcing Kurisuna's side. "Hello, I figured you could use a bit more help." Ryuu quickly said before he grabbed Kurisuna and added his own weight and strength to her and Kiba's downward pull in order to make sure SUMIE wasn't kidnapped and eaten by the mystery thing. Hopefully this would make sure they weren't too suprised by his help and could instead focus on rescuing SUMIE. But not only would Ryuu add his own muscle to this rescue but he would also add HIS BRAINPOWER. "Try to break it's grip at the thumbs." Ryuu called out to SUMIE. If she was able to do so then Ryuu figured that would ensure that the monster didn't kidnap her.

Besides if Ryuu's second guess was correct (or the first one for that matter) then his assistance would prove that the two races could work together and that he wasn't dull or predictable. But even if it wasn't then the shinigami who he had helped would undoubtedly be grateful.

[bgcolor=555555]

It was a simple fact of life that the human body was not made to be yanked upward by the arm. There were many locations that tended to suffer from such force, especially if it was enough to lift the person skyward. In this case, it was Sumie's shoulder which gave way, coming loose from the socket with a loud pop. Surprise and reflex caused Sumie to grip down on the banana with enough force that if it could be squished, it would, before she temporarily lost the ability to use the arm and released the fruit so that it fell to the ground.

The strain was not helped by the deadweight of the trio who had grabbed on to her for various reasons of their own. Sumie had taken the initial dislocation of the joint with some grace; pain had only emoted through the gritting of teeth. However, with the addition of Kiba, Kurisuna, and Ryuu, it became overwhelming and Sumie half-gasped and half-squealed before crying out, "Let go!" She didn't specify who she was talking to, but the tears welling in her eyes indicated she would very much like to be released by everyone.

And...there was pain, yes indeed. Letting out a yelp, he quickly said "Enoughenough!" to Mai, in a slightly raised tone,but only because of the pain. She did what he asked her to with little complaints, so there was nothing to be mad at. His request was weird...and probably kind of senseless...but if he felt pain, that meant that this wasn't really a dream...or that it was a damn vivid one.Either way, he guessed the best course of action from this point on would be to just go with the flow, and see what happens. Either way, after rubbing the pinched area a bit, he turned to Mai with a soft smile saying *Thank you for the assistance, Mai-chan" before turning around to whatever was happening on the side.

As the two Hollow spoke about the situation, he figured that even though him protracting with Hollow wasn't really looking odd, there was only that he could do having only a Banana on his side. Pondering on what they said he replied "Well, I personally see myself as a pretty fun person...and I'm not sure how are we supposed to hack away all these tree's with just banana's...And what's supposed to happen?" he asked looking around, and noticing a few things...the large, blond Shinigami was gone...One of the Hollow's seemed to be harassing Kurisuna-san... and there were two other Shinigami scaling a tree.

He wasn't quite sure how good of an idea that was...and when the giant hand appeared to grab the girl on the Male's shoulders, he was pretty sure. As some of the people charged to try and pull her away from the giant hand, he rushed to do the same, though he figured his lack of muscle power wouldn't help much...But then he has a rather silly idea...but silly is better then dull...and he didn't really have anything to lose. So,after petting a bit closer, he would draw out his trusty banana, and then take a swing with his arm and throw it shouting out "EAT THIS FOUL...THING!". The effectiveness of the projectile was to be seen, he would move to try and help them hold down the captuerd Shinigami, before hearing her holler to do just the oposite. Looking up at her, and especilly where the arm held on, he couldnt be compleatly sure becaue of the distance, but it seemed like her arm was moving in way's that it shouldnt... he would turn to the other people holding onto her saying "The thing hurt her shoulder! If you guys dont pull her down quick you might rip it of!". That was a bit of an overexageration, but in truth, them holding her down like that wasnt helping the arm...then again the thing pulling her away wouldnt be much better either

No acknowledgement. Shi was irritated and frankly aggravated; the sooner they passed the damned test, the sooner they could get back to the natural order. Namely with himself ripping apart the first target that he could get his hands on, Shinigami or Hollow. Though, at the very least Shi was not about to hold it against them immediately as some, thing, seemed to reach out from the treetop towards the one apparently called Sumie. That is if the tall woman's shout was anything to go by.

Narrowing his eyes, Shi glanced down at the piece of fruit and then up to the creature with a single thought. Get rid of both with one move; obviously fruit wasn't going to work for himself as he could not eat it and seemingly it wasn't doing much at his side. With a single thought, Shi removed the banana and quickly took aim. Estimations and calculations of the biological sort flashed through his mind; simply considering the length of the arm that he could see and guessing the size and shape of the creature as well as the simple location of the eyes. For what purpose? Simple.

To distract the damn creature.

"You," Shi growled, glaring at the unknown (Harupia) as he hurled the banana into the tree, aiming for what he believed was the location of the creature's head. "Words will do nothing, you and I must act on the creature while they act on their comrade. Understood?" he hissed.