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Post by Kuerina Darkblaed on Feb 1, 2013 13:57:41 GMT -8
Up, up, up the dragon climbed until there were no more branches that could hold her weight. Loosening her wings so they hung slightly out-spread, the hollow glanced back towards the ground, stomach twisting into knots. There was the giant, monster of a man, his dreaded sword drawn in the scariest of manners. Kurai let out a whine, hoping that someone was near to help her.
“Shinigami, please, hear Kurai out. If shinigami kills Kurai shinigami won’t get valuable information.” Clawed digits digging into the branch she perched on, Kurai started to spread her wings out further in preparation of leaping into the air and flying off. She would try to reason with the shinigami first, unless he showed signs of continuing aggression.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2013 14:15:51 GMT -8
Had she missed a focal turning point in their development? Kiba must've seen something she hadn't in the span of time she had lost herself, elsewise he would not have selected this enemy over the Adjuchas with what a cursory investigation informed her was intent to kill. Naturally, she doubted Kiba's motivation—she was not acquainted with this facet of him—but as he bodily threw his opponent in a powerful abortive thrust, his objective seized her.
You're nothing if not convincing, Shuchiku-Taichou. I'll bite.
The Arrancar knocked clear off his feet, he would not be privy to her presence, nor could he resort to his assigned flash step. Kurisuna had imagined Ryuu bent low over a scaffold, his head pending beneath a lopsided edge. And, by rote, she had clacked her fingers, releasing the ingenious declic mechanism and beheading the jester, no longer did he entertain Her majesty—Kiba had condemned him to the executioner's blade, and commanded her attention by staking his kill.
Flashing a sudden, savage grin past the understanding set across her features, a lightness stole across her legs as she abruptly closed in on her prey; a shunpo had taken her to within two feet of the Arrancar's right flank, and her sword, secured close to her chest, projected leftwards at the onset of a wide arc, primed to sever the transgressor's neck. Propelled by the impetus of her flash step, and the motive force of Kiba's thrust, she saw little room for error—the raven-maned Arrancar could twist and jolt, slick as a snake, but Kurisuna was self-assured in her abilities to compensate for whatever movements the male employed in his decidedly limited spectrum of motion.
Whether wholly or partially, deep or (God forbid he find a way) shallow, she would leap at the opportunity to see this man—or anyone—dead. Had she imagined this scenario before? Perhaps she had flirted with the possibility, once, of damning an individual for no veritable reason beyond suppressing a spasm of insanity, but never could she have envisioned this, in leagues with Kiba.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2013 14:39:30 GMT -8
Shi heard the cry as well, only instead he was using it to pinpoint Kurai and slowed down cautiously, but still kept up a bit of a swift stalk. The Shinigam had yet to notice him, and inwardly he prayed Kurai would keep silent as well and slowly drew his zanpakuto. Not to suddenly lunge and strike, but to prepare himself and also study his target.
Unsurprisingly as he approached, Shi noted the man's posture and more importantly, the size. A larger Shinigami but nothing unexpected. Shi was short even for an Arrancar, but that gave him an advantage in battle and sneaking around. Less of a target and far harder to pinpoint visually especially in the night. Not to mention frankly, it also meant he had fought large opponents constantly and knew how they worked and how his own body worked.
He would have to go for cutting his opponent's physical strength down first, and then decimate him. Yet, as Shi moved, caution was being pulled up from the depths of his being. There were other sounds in the air, and a memory played in his mind; that of the talk with Andra and Ryuu, and the subsequent arrival of Hollows following him. He had learned from that mistake and cautiously listened and pondered, using his mind to deduce the possibility of others.
The Shinigami could be alone, but Shi was not going to take chances and kept himself low to the ground. Slowly, his blade finished coming out of it's sheathe as he realized that he would need to be quick and precise as he closed the distance but kept to the shadows and took a few moments to throw small glances over his shoulders without moving his head. Just a bit closer, and he could make out the Shinigami and the tree from which Shi believed the cry to originate from.
He scowled at Kurai's cowardice but inwardly had to give the Shinigami credit for one thing; showing that Kurai was desperate to survive and not much of a fighter it seemed. Disgraceful really and pathetic; even with the desire to lie to survive, it was absolutely shameful to hear such words.
At least she was keeping the Shinigami distracted as he studied the shadow and quickly estimated the size properly. And better yet, quickly began honing in on the weak spots to strike, applying his knowledge of the body to the plan of attack. Just a bit closer, and he could simply dash into striking distance like a viper's fangs...
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2013 21:24:23 GMT -8
Feeling the shinigami pull him back as he failed in his attempt to shunpo into the treeline, Ryuu wasn't able to do much to escape the situation. Bracing himself for the hit that was sure to come, Ryuu's felt the wind get knocked out of him as Kiba sent him flying. However to Ryuu this seemed like a very odd move to perform for a hand to hand fighter. Why create distance between himself and his enemy?
But Ryuu would soon have his answer as he heard someone shunpo behind him. Having a pretty good idea of what was going to come next, Ryuu's features shifted into his usual cheerful smile as he felt the blade slice through his neck.
[Dead]
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Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2013 1:45:26 GMT -8
Kiba rose as the pieces fell into place, aborting his defensive crouch and watching, stone faced, as the red-haired Taicho brought her blade to bear against their combined enemy - well, enemy of Kiba's, victim of Kurisuna's - and his defense-expelled neck. Briefly Kiba's vision swam, and his world redacted into one of memory: for a moment, rather than the woods at night, Kiba and Kurisuna stood across one another in the low-cut grasses of the Third Division grounds. Rather than trees, behind Kurisuna squatted a table bedecked in foods, china, a tea-set - the vague silhouette of Malik's memory wretched to the side - and between them a body did soar. Not the body of an Arrancar, or any humanoid for that matter, but instead a fish, one deposited flopping to the ground from a burlap sack Kiba had brought.
Then as now, Kurisuna had responded with shunpo, her blade drawing clean and quick - and then as now, the victim's head came separate from the remainder of the body. In the past, the gore had made a clean arc through the air, had splashed in a sickening line across his uniform; it would be interesting to see, Kiba mused for only a moment, how the frail Taicho would respond to a beheaded body sailing for her, rather than a fish simply falling to the ground. But of course, that was not the most pressing matter - though it must be granted that deciding what 'the most pressing matter' was would not be the foremost thing on Kiba's mind, for his was a thought process prone to the occasional diversion, and in this diversion, Kiba's mind briefly shot to the beginning of this encounter, to justify his actions thus far.
The Hollow, of course, had been his first sighting: the dragon had spoken, something muttered and stammered through fear - Kumlai, Kiba believed he recalled it decrying itself - and for a brief moment, it was the designated target in Kiba's mind. And then that voice. The now-headless figure had spoken, attempted to admonish Kiba for something, but the words were muddled as a secondary memory flashed, a memory of a man who, knee deep in snow, had attempted to usurp command from the Taicho and in turn had pressed every conceivable button Kiba's rage had to press. From there he had adopted a defensive pose - if he did not know Kiba, he knew what he was capable of, and that in turn was only a further insult, for it was definitive proof he had attempted to exert himself over Kiba knowing the risk.
The tussle had begun, and it had done so in Kiba's favor - it might have gone so very badly had his enemy shunpo'd further away, but he had not. And then clarity - the enemy had not used Shunpo, not any kind Kiba knew, for in the heat of battle, there had been a knew sound, a strange sound. A buzzing. No Shinigami 'buzzed', not to Kiba's knowledge, and his teeth set as he further analyzed through brief memory his opponent.
For brief moments, Kiba had been near to his enemy, very near, and in those moments, a survey had occurred - the results of that survey came now. A human face, Kiba growled slightly concerning, but a human face with oddities. Immediately he could not place what struck him as odd, and so Kiba moved forward, toward the corpse, as though to investigate, his eyes set directly for the back of the man's skull.
Briefly his vision flicked to the sword still at the body's hip, and Kiba's sneer widened - but for his Rukon dress, this figure struck him purely as a Shinigami, in so far as he did not know many Rukon Citizens to adopt the katana as a weapon. The idea that there were Shinigami escorting Hollow about the Second District, rather than purging them on sight, got Kiba's blood boiling all over again, and the Taicho's sneer was only growing. Kneeling, the well-bloodied skull would be seized into a powerful fist by the hair and hefted up, turned so Kiba could glower at his enemy's face. Indeed, as human as his own, save for the peculiar piercings at either side of the stupidly grinning mouth.
But of course, under inspection, even the piercings seemed... wrong. Rather than affixed by rudimentary needle and ball configurations, the odd fragments seemed embedded in the man's face. From a sneer to a frown, Kiba's curiosity was easily satisfied - it took only two fingers to set a solid grasp, and one mighty tug had the shard ripped from the man's cheek, along with a strip of flesh. Doubtless that would have hurt considerably, had the man been alive - a favor, then, that death had come to him first.
Turning the splinter about in his fingers, Kiba grunted before standing, dropping both skull and fragment to the ground as he cast a wary eye to Kurisuna.
"Some kinda Hollow." The assertion came simply, as though Kurisuna might have been even remotely curious, and Kiba sighed lowly as his head turned to where Shigeo had gone trundling off after the other Hollow. "We should probably see that he didn't get lead off into a trap or something. Where there're two, there're two hundred."
Kiba's fists clenched at the idea, but his words and demeanor didn't exactly match - more than the Hollow, Kiba had a slight worry for Kurisuna herself, the very reason he'd come out to these woods in the first place. Rather than storm off after Shigeo, as would normally be his prerogative, Kiba's glance instead returned to the red-haired Taicho, perhaps to gauge her reaction... if she wasn't still reacting to having just delivered a flying beheading.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2013 10:02:20 GMT -8
A sneer twisted Shigeo's lips as the creature continued to mewl, to beg: despite its vaguely threatening posture -- wings spread, looming over him as he glared upwards -- all it could do was make desperate attempts to bargain for its life. What information could this thing possibly have that would benefit the Gotei? Shigeo laughed aloud, a short, humorless bark. No sense waiting any longer.
He crouched slightly, leg muscles tightening in anticipation as the hulking shinigami began eyeing the tree itself. A few moments' search rewarded Shigeo: a relatively thick branch, some 25 feet above the ground; half a moment later, he jumped, employing shunpo to bring him nearly ten meters closer to the cowering Kurai. As he landed on his chosen platform, he quickly leaned against the trunk of the oak, wary of losing his balance and falling to the ground below. Once he was sure of his footing, Shigeo glanced back towards the topmost branches, where his quarry waited.
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Post by Kuerina Darkblaed on Feb 12, 2013 16:42:27 GMT -8
And thus the aggression had indeed continued as the giant jumped into the tree, making Kurai squeal in terror. She would then turn tail once again, but instead of running, the hollow would start to pump her wings as she leaped off the branch she perched upon, no doubt making the surrounding branches quake from the draft of air her wings created.
With each beat of her wings the dragon would put a great distance between herself and all the Shinigami, keeping low to the tree line in case they decided to fire off a kidou. From here on out the hollow would be forever alone, left to think about what she really was. Maybe Neene was right. Kurai was the worst hollow ever.
Little did the young hollow know that the arrancar she had conversed with not a half-hour before, the arrancar she had betrayed when she fled was lying dead, a beheaded corpse, slain by an evil Shinigami blade.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2013 16:20:53 GMT -8
This was a momentous occasion.
These sensations coalescing in her veins, that she knew so well. She loved them. And she had detested them. They formed an invariable fixture in her life, a cruel reminder of what she could not have orchestrated by her lonesome, at least not how she wanted. So she had mastered them, transmuted them. And they had become a potent elixir upon which she could imbibe as she feasted on the prospect in her mind's eye: of killing, no, of murdering. The emerging promise of it (oh, it was bound to happen) had almost matured into something inexplicably more exciting than she imagined the act itself.
There had been nothing fiendishly clever about what she had done, and her mental comb could not restore reason to why she had performed the killing move the way she had, so callously indifferent as to the faction of her victim. The darkness had distorted the delineations of both fighters, and Kurisuna had not been capable of thieving the details off her prey. And this had been fine; it hadn't mattered; for whether of Hollow, Shinigami or civilian descent, she would have conducted her master-stroke the exact same way, and severed the hapless male's tender throat.
Kurisuna unraveled from her lunge, not a few yards from Kiba. She had powered through the column of flesh, and gutted a life as modestly as a candle flame pinched between two fingers. Quick and painless. It wasn't her style.
But it had been so long. And she could not shake off this dangerous mood. Her head was pounding behind the pink-tinged flush set high across her cheeks in shameless, nascent arousal, the edges of her mind curled in jagged, feverish shock to match the burning desire to attack Kiba, and the muscular engagement furling her fingers. She felt the pinpricks of betrayal blossoming traitorously within her. No, this was not proper, not with Kiba loitering nearby...
The thought of him revolted and summoned her, yanking her conscience back. The immensity between them collapsed into a familiar universe of bold colors, shapes and lines as she illuminated their vicinity in a seizure of reiatsu, crimson and imprinted of madness. ''WHAT THE FUCK, KIBA,'' she roared, her neck whiplashing toward him violently, bowed; her eyes, wild and bequeathed by some dark influence, had narrowed furiously.
Her body coiled like a spring, taut and arrogant, belied by a colorful manner of speaking. ''You stalked me here, didn't you!? You and the entire cavalry! What's wrong, Kiba, are you worried about your precious ex-Lieutenant? Did you reckon the two of you could take me? Do you think I give a flying fuck about Shigeo's well-being? Don't make me laugh!''
Embellishing her speech, she waved her wielding arm this way and that. ''Calling for reinforcements... that's... that's just not us. And you're a fucking joke, Shuchiku-Taichou, if you believe I'll leap to the rescue of your subordinate after you've prompted this bullshit witch hunt! Whether two or two-hundred, I'll kill them all, but I pray—oh, I do—that they get him first!''
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2013 17:12:34 GMT -8
Shi curled his lips with anger at the situation and the loss of a chance. A fault of his own, and he would have to rectify it later though it burned him to no end to miss the chance. As Kurai proved herself useful only as a distraction, Shi silently studied the tree that the Shinigami was currently in, before honing in on the branch he was at. And with a single thought, merely drew his reiatsu to the center of his free hand, holding his zanpakuto in a simple guarding manner. Precious seconds were used to take aim and build up reiatsu, though he had no intention on a full fledged cero. Frankly, he knew that it would take too much time and he just needed to throw the Shinigami off guard and then go in for the fight and take him apart, cut by cut. And luckily for Shi, the unfortunate opponent had made an error of sorts that he himself made not too long ago. He forgot to be aware of his surroundings. Such as the branch he was standing on. The very one that Shi aimed for and fired his shoddy Cero at with the complete knowledge that it would not kill him. Hardly. He didn't expect it to either; but it was expected that even a shoddy Cero could reach the branch while the Shinigami was occupied and detonate like a small home-made bomb upon impact with the branch. And thought it was standing up to the Shinigami's weight it was unlikely that it could do so when struck with a shoddy and rather nasty Cero. Let alone one aimed right for the section that he was standing on. Shi idly wondered briefly if he could replicate the technique after some study of the Shinigami's legs. If the feet were still intact when the cero struck and would no doubt blow a chunk of the branch out and weaken it enough that it would snap and make the Shinigami fall.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2013 23:43:22 GMT -8
As his name was cursed, Kiba's head drew sidelong - not as rapidly as the snake-like whipping of Kurisuna's, but certainly not a sluggish alteration of view - and the Fourth Taicho stared darkly at the raving, red-haired psychopath. The lunatic's speech was processed, albeit not directly; the fore of Kiba's conscious throbbed as the shrieking woman's visage altered, just so slightly. He could perfectly see his hands on her neck, throttling the air from her lungs, and with the back of her head crashing into a tree, her eyes rolling as her lips frothed, perhaps she might even look peaceful, if only for a moment. He wondered if it wouldn't be the first time in a very, very long time.
Still, before long the woman's sword arm settled again, and a heavy beat hung between them as Kiba thought back on her accusations, and then on her mixed confession/proclamation. "You're right. Not like me to bring back-up. Almost like he followed me himself, huh?" Kiba didn't quite mutter, but he certainly wasn't using a proper speaking voice. Where Kurisuna had put her rage on display, Kiba countered with a slightly more subtle approach, rolling back his shoulders and keeping his eyes wide, fixed directly on hers as his fingers curled and loosened in order, as though keeping limber.
"I did stalk you. I'm good at that much - caught you by surprise, I can tell. No less surprised that I fed you that Hollow. You're on edge, Kurisuna-Taicho." Where she had bared steel, Kiba simply kept his glare focused as he began a slow sidestep, playing up the 'stalking' motif. His lips were dry, the excitement and the cool night air doing him few favors, and so he slowly slipped his tongue from his mouth to dampen them.
"If I thought I needed help taking you down, Kurisuna-Taicho, I would bring somebody who I hadn't demoted. Somebody useful. Good thing I don't need help, not for you, because there's a shortage of useful people." Kiba wondered how long it had been since he'd used Kurisuna's name to address her directly. Had it been on that day? Perhaps before? Perhaps not even since the day they met. She'd been a different person, then - he wondered if her nickname had made her chuckle.
Finally, after a few heartbeats of silence, Kiba simply stopped, dropping his hands and glaring at the female, fingers tapping against his sides. "But I can't hurt you. Not like I want to. Just like you can't hurt me like you want to. Neither of us could stand to hurt her like that." And there it was, laid bare - the flat truth, and Kiba exhaled slowly through his teeth. "That's why I trailed you. I wanted to come to an understanding. But now I've got to do somebody else's job and exterminate Hollow from the Second District, because they're a blight. And you're going to help, because look at you - when was the last time you felt so much bliss as when you killed that Hollow? I don't think so, and I imagine you agree."
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Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2013 12:17:42 GMT -8
"No, damnit, stop!" Shigeo shouted in frustration as he saw that his sudden rush up the tree had spooked his target, causing her to go airborne with a screech. He wouldn't catch the Hollow now; in seconds, it would be flying at top speed away from him. Shigeo knew the futility of his actions even as he began to leap towards a higher branch, desperately striving to reach the fleeing beast; and yet, at the same time, he could not justify simply standing and watching idly as a monster escaped, free to do who-knows-what to who-knows-whom at will. As it is, Shuchiku-Taichou will have my hide for failing to kill it...
Alas, Shigeo's second attempt at upward mobility did not go quite as he had intended: the branch that he had just a moment ago been balanced on suffered an abrupt and somewhat subdued explosion, propelling the giant-like shinigami skyward slightly faster and with more force than he had intended, and with a great deal of wood chips and splinters accompanying him. A few of the slivers had driven themselves into the backs of Shigeo's legs, eliciting a grunt and a grimace; even as he landed awkwardly on the branch he had been aiming for, he allowed his forward momentum to carry him off of it, angling towards one below and slightly towards the rear of the venerable oak.
What the hell was that? Did Shuchiku-Taichou fail to kill his opponent? ...No. Doubtful. Shigeo's mind raced as he paused in his descent, plucking free one of the larger splinters with a scowl. Then...is this another friend of that 'dragon'? It seemed like the only plausible explanation, really: a cowardly beast like the one he had been chasing wouldn't risk going it alone. Must've snuck up on me while I was in pursuit of the flier.
The eighth seat's eyes swept the area around him carefully. He was partially obscured by the trunk of the tree, now, against which his back rested, and approximately fifteen feet from the ground; a close-range attack seemed extremely unlikely. He could bide his time, wait for this mysterious attacker to either come into sight, or attempt a second assault. If the latter, Shigeo hoped to dodge, and then see where this attack came from.
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Post by Kuerina Darkblaed on Feb 15, 2013 12:48:40 GMT -8
Keeping her guard until she had accumulated a great distance between the shinigami and herself, the dragon slowed her frantic flight back to her homeland. The comfort of her dark cave was calling to her, her hunger forgotten between the mad dash for her life. She would have to be extremely careful next time she tired to find an easy meal.
[Exit]
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Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2013 16:40:16 GMT -8
Begrudgingly, she had conceded her undivided attention to Kiba, sensing that his taunts were not the verbal sparring she had grown habituated to deflecting in the past. These were the assertions of a man accustomed to being obeyed, a man that had upended her confidence one time too many. But he was out of his league. His accusations were meaningless when thrown against her without Sumie to lend pithy credence to the Taichou's own unsubstantiated remarks.
''That's cute, Kiba. Shigeo followed you. See, I gather two things,'' the keen edge in her voice had dulled to a darkly dramatic, murderous hiss. ''Either you were just so careless that you allowed for Shigeo of all Shinigami to tail you... or you let him come to your stupid little murder romp in the forest with nary an order to stay away. Pick your fucking poison. You're either impotent, or a coward.'' Yes, Kiba had efficiently tracked down her general location, but she had caught the Taichou's irreverent footfalls from a distance, and ultimately gotten the jump on him. ''You get points for execution, I'll give you that. But you were sloppy, Kiba. No predator worth a damn simply tramples across its hunting grounds.''
At his remark of Shigeo's demotion (she recalled that Kiba himself had suffered an even steeper reduction of rank), Kurisuna barked a mirthless laugh and stalked the perimeter of his castle, inspecting his artillery. She would play up the thematic significance of a predator's gait, and orbit the sweet-smelling corpse of a slaughtered sheep. The Arrancar had trespassed none the wiser.
There is a certain artistic flair to the predator, isn't there? To be so intimate, so absorbed with one's prey. Knowing every shape, every contour, every feature. Which part of the skin to bruise. What joint to twist. The intricate sequence of predation, of capturing the pinnacle of the beauty in the torment; the devastation before the consumption, the marring of teeth, tongue and lips.
But he relented, and she agreed, stopping in tandem. A lightness under her heels, she casually leaned against a pine, and scoffed his involvement of her Fukutaichou. However, he had a point—when Kurisuna pondered the reason as to why she had refrained from slitting Kiba's throat back in the 3rd district, Sumie flickered like a vision, stunting her. She released a small, traitorous sigh. ''You want to reach an understanding, so let's see if we're on the same wavelength. You know, I get it, Kiba. The Gotei has lost its sheen. But don't you dare tell me what I'm going to do, because here's the kicker: you aren't leading this dance. We're talking right here.''
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Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2013 18:53:52 GMT -8
Shi filed away hunting down Kurai; she was a Hollow only in race and did not at all embody a primal force as he saw himself as. But the short Arrancar wasted no extra thoughts on plans that did not involve his current enemy. The one that had just been knocked off course and propelled farther than the Shinigami anticipated clearly, already noting that his attack had unexpected results somewhat. At least, from what he could somewhat glimpse from the light of his Cero.
The element of surprise was lost but Shi did not expect to sustain it for much longer. Given previous experience and facts, as well as his own ability to at least sneak up on a Shinigami, Shi was frankly listening carefully for any sounds of movement that were clearly not natural as far as he believed. The explosion was either going to go unnoticed by anyone else or it would attract attention, either way, he was on alert while stalking forward like a dark wraith.
He caught movement in the darkness of his opponent and tracked them as best as he could with his eyes. The Arrancar crouched swiftly, actually mirroring the vulpine nature of his Adjuchas life. A trait that carried over and proved itself most useful as he waited in silence, using the knowledge of his own body to select a rather comfortable position for himself in the manner of a fox. His blade was low to the ground and flat with his eyes focused on the tree, concentrating on the position he estimated his opponent to land.
He did not dare risk more than one more shot of Cero. His control was at beast, mediocre and frankly anything above a shoddy charged shot was beyond his skill. Not that it matter too much, he frankly only had the ability due to a forethought of ranged combat. Slowly, he craned his neck a little but remained motionless, as he had nothing to really lose from waiting patiently.
It was the way of a fox like himself to be patient and cunning, simply waiting attentively with all senses on alert. He was not going to let anyone take his back easily, listening carefully for any sounds coming from behind him while looking forward. Though his eyes were only the second sense he used, and was actually digging into the wealth of survival instincts and experience he had stockpiled through life. Especially how to hunt at night, for the Shinigami was little more than prey to him. Frightened prey, no doubt...
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2013 4:27:33 GMT -8
Not about to restart the prowling circle - Kiba knew progress when he saw it - the Taicho still bared his teeth as the slew of insults hurled his way. It was difficult to place the woman's thought process; was she placing herself of higher importance, or perhaps higher threat, than Kiba had? Or did she refuse to believe his actions to be any but the worst kind of dastardly? At both, Kiba only mildly scoffed. He would be the first to admit he had a tendency toward the 'brash', and that was putting it mildly at best; on what grounds could he discount Kurisuna's perceived fears, when she only considered his actions based on his history?
"I told you, you paranoid bitch, I came to reach an understanding, not to hurt you. To that end, I just came looking without thought to being followed. Hell would I think to be followed for? Nobody knew what I was out here to do, at least not 'cause I told 'em." That was, of course, not perfectly true - in retrospect, Kiba could have been more subtle in his demands for her location - but Kiba had never been one for subtlety, no matter how badly he was requested to consider the act.
It was almost worth a chuckle to Kiba, how she vehemently argued against his 'ordering her' to do anything - it was a stark reminder of himself, only considerably less volatile. It irked him to consider yet another attempting to operate at his level, as he knew well how difficult he could be on his own, but there was a time and place to stymie pride, and Kiba figured if he of all people could lead that waltz, perhaps even Kurisuna could be persuaded to follow suit.
"We can't hurt one another. On that front we're clear - Sumie couldn't stand it, and we couldn't stand to see her hurt. So I'll say it first - you're a danger to everybody around you, and I am well within my rights to take you out - but I'm not going to. I'm going to let slide your cheap shot, and you don't have to worry about me coming to get even. Unless you do it again."
In all, Kiba thought his compromise fair, but with Kurisuna, there was no telling. With no intent to harm the woman, there was still the too-risky possibility she would snap regardless, and Kiba would be ready if she decided making friends wasn't worth her time. The sound of the almost-far-away detonation nearly didn't register with the Taicho, but he simply chalked it away as a last-ditch effort from a losing Hollow - to his comprehension, the Cero was a last-resort technique to most Hollow.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2013 9:21:47 GMT -8
Tense moments passed. Then minutes. The fair-haired warrior held to his position, his senses on high alert for the merest snap of a twig, the slightest rustle of a bush. Nothing rushed out of the darkness to confront him, let alone moved, during Shigeo's surveillance; however, he had no doubt that the enemy was still lurking in the undergrowth, just out of sight, and waiting for the shinigami to leave his perch, relax his guard, and give this unknown aggressor a chance to land a fatal blow.
Fat chance of that happening.
Time was on his side, after all; Kiba had surely finished off his own target now, and would soon come to see what was taking his subordinate so long to report back. It would be galling to admit to the pugnacious Taichou that his orders to eliminate the cringing beast had not been carried out, but his approach through the forest was likely to be loud, full of crashes and curses; more likely than not, this would flush out his assailant, and allow Shigeo and his superior to take it down as a team.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2013 5:53:31 GMT -8
Kurisuna laughed, low in her throat. Of course Kiba wasn't being truthful with her. Per his story, he couldn't have stalked her all the way from Seireitei; no, he would have nipped their encounter in the bud and confronted her there, indicating that he must've spoken to someone in the know. Word traveled fast, in the Third, but it was also contained—the Soutaichou had done little to sire a reunion between the governing Taichou, and the lack of council had done intercommunication no favors.
She had to commend his bold front. Terse and to the point, as the written word ought to be. If she were to treat their lyrical engagement as a chapter of fictional prose, she could almost appreciate the verbal skirmish hamstringing the venom from her ripostes, but as things stood, he had the upper hand. Her facade crumpled carefully, baring her apprehension. A danger to others.
For a lifetime she remained there, battling her inner demons, worming her fingers through her hair pseudo-soothingly. If she did not deal with Kiba here, he could shatter all she hoped to accomplish with Sumie, and wean all her aspirations from her person like grain spilling from a torn bag. She could kill him. It would be safer, easier. But it would devastate Sumie irreparably.
Dimming her ire out of necessity, Kurisuna slackened some, yielding ground. ''Not everybody. You know that,'' she retaliated with a stubborn jolt, and continued less heatedly, ''And you also know that you can't afford to take me out, regardless of Sumie. Just look around you, Kiba. The Hollow have been liberally trespassing into the 2nd for a while now. The Third Division has gathered numerous accounts of a draconian Adjuchas soaring to and from this very district, notwithstanding how the Fifth Division had allegedly secured the perimeter at the time.''
She glanced at the decapitated corpse beside her. ''That's an Arrancar. The pinnacle of Hollow evolution. They're rare, and yet this is second we've found in a year. Times are a changin', and the Shinigami—the other departments of the Gotei, rather—aren't up to snuff, which must really be saying something when you consider how often the both of us pawn off our paperwork on Sumie.''
Her vision sharpened, and she abruptly brandished her blade toward Kiba. ''It's a sad state of affairs, but our carefully constructed reality is crumbling. So here's the thing: I can't let you incarcerate me, because I'm going to make a difference, and I don't plan on being gone long enough to have Sumie take the fall when I do. I am a sword, Kiba. Of course I'm dangerous to those who mishandle me.'' Fuarking color cooodes.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2013 7:43:15 GMT -8
Shi actually had other plans in mind as he noted the lack of movement from his opponent, from their perch to be precise. Instead of merely staying put, he put the assumed location of the enemy to memory and decided not to simply wait with his back exposed to an ambush. Experience taught him never to assume anything as of late, especially that his back could not be taken. Thus, it was not surprising that the short Arrancar quietly crept towards his prey; going the long way around the tree towards the back.
It was not as if he had to rush things at the moment, he was on alert for any sounds coming from behind. And honestly, Shi knew he had the advantage against the Shinigami. He was fresh and had stamina to spare; the Shinigami had been chasing Kurai after all. Though a coward and a child in mind, she had at least a possible use as bait to Shinigami and could tire one out. Clearly the Shinigami was not expecting an attack from the back, let alone a fresh opponent.
He knew going for the back was also a risk at a repeat strategy but the advantage was something to press forward. Especially given Shi's small size and the power he had yet to truly unleash as the Arrancar crept around the tree, keeping his steps careful and quiet as possible with eyes darting up into the tree branches. The level was obvious to look for; the same one that the Shinigami had fallen to and it would not take long to reach his back...
Assuming they remained still... though why they would was something to consider.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2013 18:30:11 GMT -8
As the Taicho turned her weapon on him, Kiba tensed again, if only slightly - yes, obviously it was only done to prove a point and clearly she wasn't outright threatening him, but Kiba knew better than to leave himself open to the same threat twice. At the mention of denying Kiba what he would be well within his rights to do, the combative Taicho snarled again, clenching his teeth to still his tongue until a cooler head could prevail. "How many times do I have to let you know before it gets past those red curtains covering your ears? I'm not here to hurt you, stop you, take you in or down. I'm here to talk. You want to change the Gotei, fine by me - I just want to see people doing their jobs. Like you said, I'm bad about passing my work off to others, but hell if the peace isn't being kept inside the walls, and if I can do my job there's no reason the rest of them can't."
There came after this another heavy pause, Kiba's stance wavering as though a reflection on troubled waters before finally the Taicho simply sighed, dropping his defensive position totally to bring his left hand to his face, to pinch weakly at his tear ducts. "I've said what I got to say, you're either gonna hear me or you won't. Just keep in mind, until you do something to hurt Sumie, we shouldn't have any trouble. So you gonna come help me see what's keeping Shigeo, or are we gonna spit at each other's feet a while more?"
Despite the open end to the question, it was clear where Kiba's opinion on the matter lay, turning away from Kurisuna and toward where Shigeo had trundled off, his hands at his side and balling into fists as he attempted to prepare himself to discover what was keeping his former fukutaicho.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2013 10:36:56 GMT -8
Shigeo peered into the murk, brows furrowed slightly. Where was his assailant? Were they still skulking about nearby, watching him -- perhaps trying to find the best vantage point to perform another long-range assault? Or perhaps they had begun to creep closer, in hopes of catching him unawares in close quarters. Doubtful, Shigeo thought with a small frown. Unless they can bore straight through a tree trunk... His back was covered, he was out of the immediate reach of anyone on the ground and he had a fairly good view of the forest floor below: before him and to either side, before the trunk of the oak he occupied blocked his sight. Approximately a 210 degree field of vision, all told.
He did not fully understand the situation just yet, and until he did, he had no intention of jumping into what could very likely be an ambush. Shigeo kept his back against the tree, his sword up, and gaze constantly moving, sweeping it across the base of the tree and to either side. Wherever an attack may come from, he would be more than ready.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2013 10:44:40 GMT -8
Unable to suppress a rising spasm of laughter, Kurisuna lowered her weapon and giggled in hysteria. ''Peace! Being kept inside the walls! Certainly not thanks to you,'' she sobered quickly, and the shadows swept across her features again; her lips twisted into a snarl, and the fractal palette of her eyes narrowed. ''You've always been a one-man shitstorm. The only time my division isn't orderly is when you're in it! You destroy everything, like it's your god-given right! Turns out you're nothing but a hypocrite, Kiba, because you're as much a danger to others as I am.''
Her voice cut across the pregnant suspension of their dispute. She would not grant him the amnesty of righting his thought process in silence. ''You asked me something concerning bliss. What of you? When was the last time you shunted a man of unascertained allegiance to his death? You're fortunate you intuited that Arrancar correctly, because it would've been magical if you hadn't.''
Sneering as she recounted the amount of times Kiba had bruised and battered Sumie during their periodical sparring sessions, Kurisuna scoffed the notion of her bringing harm unto the woman. Her lashes drew down, heavy with contempt, and she gave a protracted exhale. The air was toned with something sharp, astringent. She recognized it as the metallic tint of blood, galvanizing her from inaction; Kurisuna's gaze peeled open suddenly, and from an inlet in the fabric of her shihakushou, she produced and let fly a single kunai.
Its trajectory would cut close to Kiba's face, though it was not specifically aimed at him. ''You of all people ought to know that turning your back to me is ill-advised, Shuchiku-Taichou. You came here to talk, so we're talking. I don't care if we're to discuss Sumie, your favorite literary genre, or the weather.''
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2013 8:14:43 GMT -8
Shi continued to creep around the trunk, gaze darting from the tree branches to the ground, just to ensure that no fallen branches were stepped on. Anything really that could give away his approach and position and silently he took a moment to ponder his next few moves. Given that his prey had not yet found him, Shi was inclined to believe that he was about to take their back once more. Perhaps even more this time, though he was left with few options as to his method of attack.
A quick thought entered his mind and with a glance, he made his decision as he sheathed his sword slowly. The blade was back in it's bed and with that, he grabbed a hold of a branch and pulled himself up and began to climb. Not very high up, just enough to put Shi on what he presumed was the same level as the Shinigami. And once close enough, he began to move from branch to branch carefully, taking his time to ensure he was quiet enough to be perceived by the wind. Though it wasn't long before he spotted a shape and quickly pressed up against the tree and honed in on the back of his opponent.
Silently, he placed a hand on his zanpakuto and withdrew the blade, already estimating the distance and power he needed to put into the strike.
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Post by zoi on Feb 25, 2013 8:37:54 GMT -8
Just a heads up for Shi, you need the Stealth ability at Footwork Level Three to be completely silent, especially in a case such as this. Aside from branches on the ground there are leaves, the moment of your clothing's fabric, and most importantly, climbing trees is a fairly noisy business. Your hands and feet (which I assume have shoes, and therefor soles) are scraping against the rough surface of the tree's bark. Plus the limbs tend to creak when putting weight on them some what. Not saying all of this has to happen, just saying you can't go stealth mode in such an area without the actual ability.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2013 3:47:44 GMT -8
Kiba paused in place as the verbal volley sailed his way, his teeth clenching at the accusations of hypocrisy and a sort of murderlust of his own. He could feel a light growl forming in the back of his throat, and had begun to turn, to again confront the woman, when the flying steel shot not only by him, but through flesh, her 'warning shot' thrown off by his movement, cutting a line of fire across his cheek just over an inch beneath his right eye. The kunai had taken a nip into the bridge of his nose, and Kiba gasped sharply as his right hand rose in response to the pain, pressing against the wound as his eyes narrowed.
Another admonishment came about a lesson that should have been learned, but the words did not register with the Taicho, who growled as he pressed his palm into the all-told shallow gash across his cheek, pulling his hand away to scowl at the smear of crimson across his palm. The Taicho exhaled slowly, having failed to realize he had been holding a breath, and ground his right palm against the knee of his hakama. It wouldn't be enough to clean the hand, but it would serve to dry it, albeit leave the palm stained. A little stain, he reckoned, wouldn't be even the least of his worries before long.
"Did you know my predecessor?" Kiba spat, fully turning and standing straight, putting Kurisuna firmly in his gaze. "I mean, you knew him, but did you know him? He was proud. Big ego."
As he spoke, Kiba's hands moved to his kosode, pinching the overgarment just above the obi and sharply tugging upward, pulling the coat segment free. It fell away easily, and Kiba took more care to begin loosening the undershirt. "I didn't want to challenge him, you know. Really, he challenged me. Instigated the fight, made it something I couldn't back out of."
Once the undershirt was loosened, Kiba rolled his shoulders, the joints limbering, the cartilage crackling as he pulled the cloth open, baring his chest and abdomen; it was easy to slide the sleeves low and off his arms, and that too fell to the ground. "The fight itself was brief. Had him beat pretty quick, but that man, he was real proud. Refused to accept reality, y'know? Had to keep pushing me on. That's the problem, once you get to be a certain kind of strong - if you let the little things get to you, it's real hard to hold back."
Taking his obi into his hands, Kiba re-tightened the sash to compensate for the loss of the tucked in shirts, pulling the fabric taut. His arms were not bare, and indeed were wrapped in bandages from wrist to elbow. It was a simple matter for the Taicho to loosen the wrists and feed the tucked away slack over his hands, wrapping over his palms and knuckles, first the left hand, then the right. In pronounced, deliberate motions, Kiba lowered himself onto his right knee, and pulled the hem of his hakama up over his left ankle, revealing to Kurisuna twin pouches which she should have recognized - one for carrying kunai, one for carrying cash. The straps on both were undone, and they fell into a heap beside his kosode.
"He wouldn't put the sword away, kept threatening me, so in the end, they said the murder was justified. Despite the fact, I have to say, the taste it left was pretty bitter. There's no joy in destroying what's already broken, something any kid'll tell you. That in mind, I try to keep myself from hurting people to that point, where they're broken and don't figure they can keep going. That's punishment, you understand - you make people deal with what they otherwise wouldn't." Rolling his wrists, Kiba took his time moving his right fist into his left hand and pressing in, cracking his knuckles, then repeating the gesture for the opposite hand. Still more or less limber from dealing with the Arrancar, Kiba didn't bother continuing his stretching into his legs.
"So you can rest assured when I say I still don't intend to kill you, or even to break you. S'just, I guess I've failed to tell you what I'm trying to tell you with words, and I'll call that my fault. I was never good at words, Sumie always says so. So I'll just have to communicate with you in a language you're willing to hear. Come on then, Kurisuna-Taicho. Lets burn that aggression and get some reason in your head."
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Post by Deleted on Feb 27, 2013 11:13:30 GMT -8
A series of inexplicable noises began to sneak into Shigeo's awareness: muted thuds, creakings, rustlings, all quiet...but growing ever-so-slightly louder as time went by. It wasn't until the last few that he became truly conscious of them. Suspicious, the shinigami quit his surveillance of the base of his tree and, keeping his back to the trunk, leaned out slightly, straining to witness the source of these disturbances.
His timing was fortuitous, as whatever had, apparently, decided to join him in the tree -- his 'stalker,' he felt it safe to assume -- had caused a nearby branch to shake slightly with some sort of motion. Shigeo's gaze briefly tracked a small flurry of dead leaves as they were shaken free of their homes to drift down towards the forest floor. With a scowl, the eighth seat brought his eyes back to the branch itself; he couldn't see anything clearly, but the usual tree-dwelling creatures, such as birds and squirrels, could not cause that much movement.
Slowly, Shigeo eased back around the tree trunk, mulling over the best course of action. A few moments of thought elicited a slow nod from the shinigami, as though he were agreeing with himself; while keeping a firm grip on his zanpakutou, he half-turned away from the suspect branch, directing his gaze towards a lower point on the horizon. This unknown was more than welcome to take advantage of this seeming lapse in alertness -- Shigeo was hoping for it, to be truthful.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 2, 2013 8:28:01 GMT -8
She watched him touch his cheek detachedly, and felt her own hand ghosting, dream-like, across the tingling surface of hers. There stretched no wound, she testified emptily at the pointed gasp drawn from Kiba. You deserve it. He had underestimated her, but to have dropped his guard to the point of leaning into such a rudimentary strike was an insult to the mantle of a Taichou.
Kurisuna startled for a brief, contemptible moment when the man brought upon them the subject of his predecessor. She ground her teeth, fastened her fingers. She had the sharp, keen-eyed gaze of a predator watching the fawn melt into the sun-dappled foliage. ''Shut up,'' the swordswoman whispered, too low to supersede Kiba's incessant droning of a 'justifiable' murder. He was roaring in her skull, with reckless disregard for the anger flushing up his neck. ''You... you have no right to talk about him.'' It pained her to consider how Sumie's childhood friend, of all people, had erased from the Gotei the one Captain she had maintained a degree of respect for.
She recalled the battle in a murky, linear progression. The rush of oceanic sounds pounding in her ears as Kiba had trampled over the man's honor and robbed him of his life. Kurisuna had protested vehemently, then, going to such lengths as to plead for either party to stop; she had not gotten used to being so horrifically out of her element, had not known how to cope with the fact that she could have put a stop to it if she had tried, a stark contrast to the event that had stripped her of her children. And as she listened to Kiba, she struggled to pin down the feeling.
The emotion was surging from a poisonous reservoir, seeping past the torn seams of her mind. Withering its corners. In disbelief, she had been unable to grasp for it, but in a lucid instance of clairvoyance, she had found a word she could assign.
Pain. She was wounded. It was not the blissful, expiating hurt that accompanied the destruction of her physical form. This was the psychological, entrenched laceration of loss, the one sort of anguish she legitimately, perpetually suffered from. And Kiba was clawing at the blemish with the abominable contradiction of his... his... justifiable murder.
''How dare you. He was a good man.'' Her voice was cracked, the hurt apparent before her face twisted into a fierce arrangement. ''Murder is never justified! You could have knocked him out, disarmed him, and yet you opted to rob the Gotei Five of a commendable swordsman instead. You sure had the rest of us fooled with your 'warranted' homicide, Kiba, because the other Shinigami, they didn't care. Why should they, when people are defined under the lens of social ethics? You don't grieve over icons. Not when that icon stood as a symbol of power, as opposed to a yuppie, sociable upstart who was never taught the use of a door.''
She caught her breath, fighting to maintain a semblance of control. ''I knew Hiashi. Knew him in ways an inexperienced kit like you can't fathom. I would be well within my rights to kill you, but it would ultimately do little to absolve Meishu-Taichou's repute of the shit you've smeared across his good name. If you came to sow the seeds of truce, fine. But I will never forgive you.''
Though she held him in her sights, Kurisuna rotated in the general direction she'd perceived the tell-tale cero. To her credit, she had finally secured the hysteric wobble in her voice. ''Sumie has been hospitalized. She fainted, so I rushed her to the 2nd Division. Just go. I can take care of my student.''
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Post by Deleted on Mar 2, 2013 11:02:13 GMT -8
Shi inwardly scowled at the noise he made, knowing full well that he had not honed himself for stealth. One of many mistakes he had to rectify after dealing with his opponent, actually taking the moment to revise his plan swiftly. The element of surprise was an illusion for himself; the chances of taking the back again after climbing the tree and causing noise were slim to none. With that being the case and the noise of his ascent and movement, Shi knew what he would do if he had suspicions about a predator hunting him from the back.
Wait for an opening and make them suffer when they tried to pounce.
The best course of action then; was to strike with surgical precision and cunning, knowing what the prey was capable of, including the unusual speed technique as well as a vicious punishing attack. That in mind, Shi didn't even bother to look while pulling up his sheathe and promptly swung it like a blade, stretching out his arm with guided knowledge of the body and how to contort right towards where he assumed the Shinigami was. The stretch of course, was necessary to extend his reach hazardously and leave him open.
Except that he was striking with the sheathe itself with his less dexterous hand, allowing Shi to leave his sword hand and zanpakuto ready for his opponent's next move. Even if he didn't dodge, the most he would find out was that a sheathe hurt like hell when it struck the abdomen, if he was lucky. If not, all the better really as long as the Shinigami perceived what Shi deemed they should.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 5, 2013 0:08:10 GMT -8
There were a million words on the tip of Kiba's tongue - arguments, lashes, perceived cutting remarks - that never succeeded to form. He was not an especially emphatic man, but Kiba still knew the sight of a genuine wound when it presented itself, and very clearly Kiba had managed to squeeze on a raw nerve. The short tirade said much about Kurisuna to Kiba, but none of it was grounds for him to drop his guard a second time, to even consider not going through with his assault.
And then the woman mentioned Sumie. Kiba's teeth grit at her dismissal of him, at the teasing with so painful little information regarding a subject so very important. Why had she fainted? Who had been present, aside from Kurisuna? Was Kurisuna the reason? Was it honestly only a fainting that had befallen his childhood friend? These were questions left hanging heavy in the air, swollen with intangible worry.
Gritting his teeth, Kiba knew he had no choice but to do as the woman bid, if only because he was suddenly painfully aware that it had been too long since he had seen his childhood friend, and when he had, it had been during that attack; there was no telling if his worry was warranted, or if he was not worrying enough.
He had no words for Kurisuna's back, none that he would dare waste his own time to ask when he could just go get the answers himself. He knelt rapidly for his belongings, and as soon as he had them in his hands, he leaped for the treeline that would direct him toward Seireitei; through the trees Kiba would storm, a veritable bat out of hell on the way straight back to the second division.
[Exit]
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Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2013 10:34:35 GMT -8
For Shigeo, swordplay was a way of life. He practiced with his blade, day in and day out; he borrowed numerous texts on the subject, and on military tactics in general, voraciously absorbing and then implementing the information in his fighting style. With such a devotion to the blade, would it be so surprising that the large-framed shinigami was quite unsurprised by his foe's attempted ambush?
While the eighth seat's gaze was focused on some distant, imaginary point away from Shi, his hearing was quite sharp, seeking any sign that an attack was incoming; as such, when he detected the creaking sound, the signal that movement was occuring from the branch his foe occupied, Shigeo wheeled about in an instant, his zanpakutou ready to counter. His eyes focused immediately on the incoming object -- dark, it seemed, and swung a bit sloppily -- and the shinigami brought his blade around inside his guard and then whipped it against the inside edge of the attacker's (not a blade, it seemed; no gleaming steel, no ringing of metal against metal) weapon, to deflect it to Shi's outside; if successful, Shigeo would subsequently thrust his blade forward in a controlled fashion, aiming for the inside of his opponent's now hopefully exposed forearm, and all those vital veins lying just beneath the skin.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2013 14:25:03 GMT -8
No venomous quip gone unsaid, Kurisuna watched Kiba collect his belongings, tail tucked between his legs. Just as well, he had scurried and vanished whence he came like some vile rodent, wordless, and spared her the dilemma of significantly upsetting Sumie should she have emerged victorious, and claimed the flighty Taichou's head as she had the Arrancar's moments prior.
No, Kurisuna was well capable of venting her aggression elsewhere. She did not need to replicate the scenario with Malik, whose leg she had skewered inch by decadent inch in a long-awaited, morbid dance. The excitement, the anticipation, the seductive, tantalizing quality—all of it needed to be fostered til the evening reached its zenith. And then, more than Kiba, she would make Shigeo the highlight of this crescendo.
Of course, she would need to seek out the ex-Lieutenant, but Kurisuna thought to search the corpse first and foremost; from it she took its gold, its shuriken, and a spare kunai to replenish her own supply. The Zanpakutou, Kurisuna debated, only to conclude that she did not need to be burdened by a superfluous weapon as she unbent at the knees, and took off in the opposite direction in pursuit of Shigeo.
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