[BSD-RP] The Valley of Screams

[Frog]

“Tsk…”

Without a word, the Captain makes it painfully obvious that there is no stepping down for either party. His turquoise eyes are aimed towards Nibui, taking note of the changes that the Lieutenant has forced upon the land and himself. Perhaps Nibui’s silence would have been the best course of action, saying nothing and hoping for the best. For a little bit, he watches the Captain and there is a hint of recognition. Nibui has become aware of the Captain’s inner struggle, although he knows only the surface of this development.

The reality of the situation is soon to be revealed.

First comes the sudden rise in Reiatsu. As though a floodgate had been breached, the Captain’s Reiatsu surges through the landscape once again dividing the scarred fields between the two combatants. If only briefly, this display of control leaves Nibui slightly shocked. His surprise is not sourced from the potential the Captain is revealing alone, but also the distance he's willing to go, but for what cause? Unfortunately, the next words the Captain speaks leave nothing but a bitter feeling within the Lieutenant.

“If you really think you can even touch me again… I’ll just have to kill you first.”

For a moment, it seems as though time has come to a halt as everything that was said and done finally comes to a climactic point. From here on out there is no doubt for either the Captain or the Lieutenant. If someone is to leave, they will leave a corpse in their wake. There is no time to linger on these thoughts and what comes next is nothing but grief and rage.

“Then I hope, for your sake, that you continue on this new path.”

For perhaps the final time today, Nibui speaks his mind, his own untainted thoughts. Whether Yū understands what the Lieutenant has said doesn’t really matter, his mind is made up and the likelihood is that these words are now meaningless to the Captain.

To The Bitter End.

As pressures clash, one refined and masterfully controlled, another wild and rampant, raging against its opposition, Nibui makes his first move. A foot shifts forward, planting against the air as though it were solid ground, then the Lieutenant rockets forward, bringing with him a wave of destruction. In the blink of an eye, Nibui closes the distance between the two, leaving just barely two meters between them. In his motion, the landscape is torn asunder. Crushed beneath an unimaginable weight and shredded into pieces, half of these scars piercing far deeper into the ground than the others. As he reaches his mark, his bladed hand has already been in motion. Again, Nibui does not expect the Captain to remain stationary before the impending blade, of course if he did, the Captain will find himself torn to shreds much like the stone below. Flesh is shaved from the bone in thin slices, bone is carved into slivers of ivory and everything else is dealt the same treatment.

Clad in his own wild Reiatsu, Nibui continues to pressure Yū’s own Reiatsu, forcing the Captain to keep pace. With the absence of five of his limiters and now in his Bankai, the Lieutenant’s Reiryoku and Reiatsu run rampant, but not beyond his control. His efforts in his many years of life have led to masterful control in both aspects. Now the Captain is forced to face this reality. What shattered and broke the potent binding Kido that briefly held Nibui was brute force, beyond that which the famed Togabito could have hoped to employ. Now that very same force and pressure begins to condense, never quite losing that reckless wild nature as it lashes out. A mixture of a refined edge with a brutal untameable rage. The expansive reach of his Reiatsu diminishes and allows the Captain’s Reiatsu to surround the Lieutenant, but never allowing it to breach the blade and shield that has been formed.

At this point, the Captain is no longer facing the same Nibui he has been against and knows. This is a melded mind, fueled by the unrelenting desires of a bloodcrazed spirit and driven by the ability of the Shinigami. Perhaps this is the most dangerous this soul can become, unbound by his own morales. The reality of the situation is clear to both Yū and Nibui. Whatever the Captain does next will likely set the course for the rest of the match between these two.

 

[Samu]

“Then I hope, for your sake, that you continue on this new path.”

His threat is responded to, but whether it’s advice or perhaps a warning, falls short on Yū’s ears. The Captain's concentration is at its all-time high, undoubtedly prepared for the impending carnage.

A single step is met by several; The Lieutenant rockets forth with impressive speed, leaving nothing but utter destruction in his path. The ground beneath him, already weakened from both his own and the Captain’s reiatsu weight, is now subject to further brutality with his advance. However in return, the Captain seems to retreat. His speed in this very moment is unmatched, incomprehensible to those watching, producing actions even more mind-boggling to the one present. A single beat of his wings sends him a great distance both upwards and away from the approaching Shinigami, yet in the same breath before Nibui is able to even remotely close the distance between them, his form slingshots back to meet him head-on.

With arm outstretched, a blur of black and white and blue and blonde lunges forth towards Nibui, ignorant to the wild crimson reiatsu that threatens him. An unusual glow emanates from what is supposed to be the palm, its true purpose unclear; Yet the sight of this would of course bring no benefit to whoever found themselves pursued by it, let alone touched by it. What would bring even more concern would be the other palms that were simultaneously closing the distance. From both the Shinigami’s sides, more of the same visions of the Captain’s bold approach with hand extended outwards would be hard to ignore⁠— even more pressing if he wasted a moment to peek directly above him to see another similar presence. However, something more discreet would be the distortions that would eerily ripple around Nibui; The immediate atmosphere already tormented by both of their spiritual pressure is tactfully tampered with even more, but whether this was a testament to Yū’s speed or to support another covert scheme was another question.

Yet, before this all transpires, the truth has already made itself evident— whether the Lieutenant had realized this before he had made his rapid approach or after was meaningless. Whether his intent to cut down the Captain was obvious to Yū or not was equally as meaningless as it still existed, his blade drawn to meet his mark. Despite his expectations of the Captain not remaining stagnant, his every action from this moment, before, and after, had all come with a purpose and its purpose would be fulfilled one way or another.

In the same moment the Lieutenant would flex his leg to rocket towards the Captain, his own planned actions would come into fruition upon himself. Just as he had done unto the land and in turn what he knew he was capable of doing to his target if he was to remain stagnant, wherever he had anticipated to land his own blade onto Yū’s flesh, his own body would undergo the same fate; Flesh shaved from bone, bone carved into into slivers of ivory, and those pieces as well finely diced into nothing. In turn, this same resolution would not manifest on his target as anticipated. Yet another mystery to add on top of the growing puzzlement that would no doubt come to mind.

In the midst of it all, like the product of his body’s movement, the Captain’s words are an undecipherable haze. Every action the boy performs is virtually imperceptible, his lips muttering in conjunction with his fingertips fluttering, providing no answer, no rhyme or reason.

The insatiable hunger of Jubokko and blazing passion of Nibui now find themselves faced against something conceivably more dangerous than the two of them combined— the unbreaking focus of a vengeful butterfly.

​

 

[Frog]

The number of souls who have felt the Fairy’s Bankai could previously be counted on all of one finger, today that number grows. The Lieutenant finds himself suffering the effects of the Captain’s Bankai and in all of this there is only one to blame but himself. His straight forward assault could prove one of two things, either he is too far gone and driven only by Jubokko’s carnage, or perhaps he is now looking past consequences, hoping instead to drag this fight to a bitter end at the hands of either combatant.

Testing Resolves

The first motion of his blade carves effortlessly through the air and seemingly through his target, but instead a blast of crimson ichor shoots out as Nibui’s other arm is severed about half way up the humerus. What hits him first is the shock and the pain almost instantly afterwards. His eyes shoot open like never before in a combination of complete bewilderment and a pain similar to something he had faced just recently as his arm is split from the rest of his body. Yu would be forgiven for thinking the look that lingers on his opponents face is now one of a crazed man, especially as his blade continues its motion for yet another swing. With the multiple forms of Yu coming into reality around him, the blade of Jubokko continues that same arc upwards as his body twists around to turn around the full way. In that swing of the blade, the length of Jubokko would not cleave through but instead run along what should be Yu’s face, a shallow enough cut, cleaving through flesh along the forehead and in an angle, slicing along the front of the left eye, robbing vision from that eye entirely. Yet again, Nibui is wracked with shock, but this time it is only the shock of white searing pain and his vision being half way taken away. He is aware of the path his blade takes and that the injuries he suffers now are those he intended to inflict upon his own friend. Even so, his blade does not stop there, he is entirely aware of what he is doing and quite clearly has altered his initial assault.

“STOP! STOP YOU ABSOLUTE FOOL!”

Inaudible to Yu but deafening to Nibui, the voice of Jubokko roars out in defiance. It seems the tree spirit has also noticed the repercussions of the Shinigami’s actions. Unfortunately for Jubokko, the bloodlust he imparts and forces upon the Lieutenant is the only thing he can do to impact Nibui’s actions and judgment. The wooden blade swings down, completing that same motion. As though his swings bring with them a thunderstorm, the only sound that can be heard is a mighty rumbling and crashing. Severing down through the left shoulder of the Captain in a familiar fashion, again, agony rattles the Lieutenant’s body to the core as his life threatens to be snuffed, the mirrored assault cleaves through the shoulder and stops just short of entering the heart but leaving a reasonable gash along the pumping muscle. At the end of his blade’s arc, the view of the outside world fades from the vision of both Nibui and Yu, replaced instead by a dark brown rich bark that erupts from beneath the two and seeks to encapsulate the two Shinigami within at impressive speeds, nearly matching that of that of Nibui’s Shunpo. Multiple roots of gigantic proportions become a bulb, a cocoon of sorts for the two and seal the combatants in a miniscule capsule, leaving not even enough space for Nibui to swing his Zanpakuto effectively. Finally thudding to the ground below is Nibui’s severed limb, soon being consumed as the earth is torn asunder while roots devastated the already shattered and broken landscape further. Both above and below, these mighty limbs thrive, shifting and preparing. In this, Nibui replies to his now panicking companion.

“I apologise, little Bonsai. You’ll have to suffer this ride with me…”

Of course in all of this, Nibui is not ignorant to the other plans of the Captain, the suspicious glow of energy that emanates from the Captain’s hand, the rippling space surrounding Nibui as the Captain sets his motion in plan. He is aware of the Captain’s movements and that something is in motion, however, his lack of knowledge with Kido lets him down once more. He understands one of the threats he faces at the moment at least he believes he understands it, all the while staring down a mystery.

Now showered in a crimson rain, the two combatants coated in a mixture of each other's blood, the Captain is rejuvenated in body and pushed to victory by what? Is it a sense of inadequacy, that would be stupid, there is no other word for it. A Captain of the Gotei Thirteen, one of the strongest living beings, feeling like he needs to prove himself? Or perhaps it is something else the Nibui does not see. And what of Nibui? Why is he pushed to this point? Originally it was his Captain who requested his presence, he attended to please his Captain, his intentions were never to go this far. Then everything was set off, the brief possibility of Honoka’s death sending Nibui careening off the edge, the edge he was already hanging from, opening himself up to Jubokko indirectly. Now he seems to have brought himself to a relatively composed state, feeding off the bloodlust and using it to fuel his own plans and ideas against the will of his Zanpakuto spirit. Even if it is against Jubokko’s will, he dares not take away these powers, the only things keeping Nibui together, the wooden carapace unscathed but quite literally holding him together and very possibly giving him a possibility of recovery. In the midst of this flash of motions shared between the two combatants, the frenzied stare eventually fades and instead a slight smile has curled along Nibui’s lips. Is it faith in something? Or has he planned further beyond this seemingly fruitless assault?

 

[Samu]

In more ways than one, what the lieutenant had been presented was not exactly what had transpired. In fact, the Fairy’s movements were the exact opposite, his speed so formidable that he had already reached his final destination before his initial path was made clear. His retreat was not his first step, it was his last; The Captain had closed the distance much sooner than Nibui could register, but by the time his speed clones would come into fruition, Yū would already be several meters up and back in the air, safely away from the swarm of the Shinigami’s rapid slashes.

With great speed, the lieutenant’s sword comes down on the first manifested speed clone- cutting through nothing but a memory and in return, losing an arm that he sought to take from Yū. The actual distance between the two is too great for Yū to see the shift in his expression, focusing solely on his body movements as he witnesses the second slash to another one of his apparitions which results in Nibui losing his left eye. It is at this moment that both Nibui and Jubokko understand what is transpiring, yet Yū’s kidō already begins to take effect. And by the time Nibui begins to understand the threat of the Captain’s kidō after his final downward swing to sever his own shoulder, in spite of his lack of kidō knowledge, the assault has already begun.

At once, eight black orbs instantly appear around the gravely wounded Nibui, having been strategically and simultaneously placed and hidden until the Captain was prepared to expose their existence. Distortions greater than the minute ones created when the concealment was first cast ripple outwards as the roots erupt from the ground to devour the pair completely. Before the bulb can fully form however—

“Bakudō #79. Kuyō Shibari."

… the ninth and final orb lodges itself in the center of Nibui’s bloodied chest, and with this cue he would realize this bark shelter would only house himself, the vision of the Captain’s now revealed position a considerable distance back likely being the last thing he sees before he is completely enveloped by his Bankai’s roots. What comes next, the Lieutenant wouldn’t be able to see and even if he did, to the unfamiliar, Yū’s actions would mean nothing of importance despite how game-changing this tactic really was. Mimicking the positioning of the black hole that had just manifested at the center of Nibui’s chest, a bright white light emanates from the Captain’s sternum as his own zanpakutō quickly erupts from it with much greater urgency than when it first entered only moments ago. An innocent trick, possibly interpreted to others viewing as a simple kidō where he held his sword, the Captain has willingly withdrawn his Bankai- signaling only imminent destruction to the very few aware of the potent drawback his final release came with.

With blade in left hand resting by his side, his right palm now extends outwards as the veins leading up his wrist begin to become more pronounced with a subtle flex. They prepare themselves for the upcoming strain as intense power that has been bottled begins to boil to the surface, ready to be liberated. There is little that can stand before Jubokkō, yet a kidō master with enough time for preparation and more importantly, enough time to utter full incantations, makes for a menacing opposition.

From Nibui’s initial approach up until the present, both the boy’s lips and fingers have never stopped moving, his voice rising to be audible only once to announce the now revealed Bakudō. It is now that his lips finally begin to slow and his voice raises once more...

“I apologise, little Bonsai. You’ll have to suffer this ride with me…”

“Hadō #88. Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō."

Despite expelling from the Captain’s comparably small palm, the thunderous ray that is produced is many times taller and wider than the Captain’s entire body, completely encompassing the wooden nest in its diameter still with space to spare. Just like the lightning that crackles from its' form, the beam is astonishingly quick, overtaking the bulb in nearly a blink. Consequent with impact, a singular blast shatters the multiple layers of bark on the side facing Yū, easily engulfing the entire wooden shell in both immense pressure and heat produced by accompanying flame and lightning. Like fine sand, the bulb is effortlessly blown away into chunks and then splinters and then into ash; Assumedly, the same could be said for the lieutenant who found himself trapped in his own creation, covered in the same wood. Where perhaps the chance to miraculously relocate himself outside of his bulb once existed, both his critically weakened frame and the Captain’s Kuyō Shibari would ensure this to not be an option.

This cataclysmic blast wouldn’t just stop there; The very earth that the roots swam in would be ravaged, ruptured and fractured beyond repair as the Fairy’s kidō tore through the valley floor. This is perhaps the most unchained Yū Nakamoto has ever been, the unmitigated force from his kidō threatening to even shatter the Captain-Commander's emerald shards that were littered all throughout the valley. With a full incantation spoken and an ample window of time for preparation, his Hadō would do nothing except dominate, conquering and annihilating every single atom that found itself in its' path, both before and continuing past his immobile target.

Yet even after fulfilling its purpose, the ray still continues; Past the eradicated bulb and the incinerated Shinigami it housed, the Captain’s cannon seems to have not lost even a hint of its velocity and potency, cleanly continuing its path to hit the base of the large bonsai tree Nibui’s zanpakutō had spawned.

Upon impact, the lower base of the tree begins to tremble from the sheer pressure, pieces of the bark beginning to chip and fly back from the unrelenting force. Flames and lightning dance around the bonsai trunk as the Captain’s hand begins to flex even more; His fingers now form into a claw shape as the veins running along his entire arm become more visible as a product of his desperate effort. The darkened sky in comparison to his bright kidō, now turns into an amalgamation of vibrant oranges and yellows as the flames finally overtake the great Jubokkō and incinerate the lower base of the tree; In turn, the rest of the bonsai follows suit, crumbling down into the remnants of the valley that now lay engulfed in flame as well. It is only until the tree finally gives in and begins to topple over does the Fairy’s onslaught end, the beam slowly dying out from his labored hand.

What is left is utter destruction, dwarfing the craters the pair had created before. From Yū’s location straight all the way to the crumbled and flaming bonsai, a very long and deep crater mimicking the size and shape of his hadō is all that remains as smoke and small patches of fire hug the edges of the beaten path. Yet in the middle of it all remains a severely bruised and even more severely burned Nibui, perhaps only surviving due to the root shield that he housed himself in and the wooden carapace that shielded his vitals. Still, no matter how severe the state of deterioration, the Captain had never lost faith in his own ability to make it alright.

But, maybe this time Yū had went too far… his answer would only be revealed with time— soon to be greeted with either a miraculous twitch of life or the death of his former lieutenant’s own subordinate in response to his labored breaths as he watched on.

---

 

[Frog]

Yu Nakamoto, Captain of the Fourth Division and one of the greatest forces available to the Gotei Thirteen. There is not a soul within the Seireitei that would deny the strength that the Fairy holds, and yet here he stands, going above and beyond to prove what everyone already knows, except seemingly Yu himself. The good doctor's ideals are flung out the door and now he is embracing an adopted nature, something foreign to him. It will blind the poor Fairy.

Final Stand

Once again, it is clear that the Captain stands above Nibui in many fields, even so, the wounded Lieutenant has yet to receive damage from anyone but himself. His flesh is pierced and embedded with his Zanpakuto, his severed arm was his own swing attack, while surprising, it allowed Nibui to gain the insight he needed. From there on, the rest was intentional, an attempt at testing the resolve of the Captain, sure enough it would not be necessary, the Fairy would show him exactly just how far his resolve reaches. Finally the Fairies; plan is revealed to the Lieutenant with the reveal of the Captain’s binding technique, and then its completion with the ninth and final orb planting itself within Nibui’s chest. He is quick to learn just what these orbs are intended for, as Nibui makes an attempt at moving forward to continue, there is no success, he is for the moment, completely stuck in place.

It didn’t matter if he could see the Captain or not for the next sequence of events, it is all made clear by the fluctuation of Reiryoku and Reiatsu. First is the release of the Captain’s Bankai, initially Nibui hoped the Captain was choosing to stand down, those hopes are soon put down as the rest of the Captain’s plan continues to unfold. That being said, there is something that Nibui gains from this information, a mere assumption, but information on the Captain’s Bankai nonetheless. Following a drop in spiritual pressure and power, comes a rise. Once again it is something foreign to Nibui, Kido. From within the wooden bulb he has created, Nibui is a sitting duck for the Captain, and for most all that would follow is death and the Captain’s words herald that reality.

“Hadō #88. Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō.”

In a blink of the eye, a cataclysm is ringing on Nibui’s door. A pillar of lightning engulfs the bulb Nibui is housed within and as it does, a great number of other roots springforth from the shattered ground below, not to improve Nibui’s own defenses but rather to catch the Kido itself. Perhaps to the Captain’s dismay, the destruction of this structure is by no means effortless. After all, the Captain has only witnessed this Bankai once, when Nibui was weaker, when he had already spent days in his Bankai and while he wore each of his ten suppressive rings. Holding onto the last dregs of his life. Now he faces the Lieutenant in a far more powerful state, although not yet at his peak. Yu’s barriers once held back and even managed to burn away the roots of Nibui’s Bankai, now this force of destruction attempts to blast through the roots as well. There is progress, the roots begin to crumble and burn away under the heat and pressure of lightning, it takes a couple of seconds for the wave of power to breach the bulb housing Nibui and it never pushes past the wall of shifting and writhing wood as the damaged and broken tendrils of Jubokko are replaced almost instantly. The ruin would spread no further than where Nibui was stood.

And what of the Shinigami himself? With the destruction of his root encasing there should be nothing that stands between life and death. But there he stands, seemingly unharmed, as singed layers of bark peel away from his face, letting him peer up towards the Captain. He was bound no longer and lived. With the impact of the lightning bolt against the shell he had made, Nibui did not need to move himself, he couldn’t move himself while he was bound and so it was left to Jubokko. The smaller roots that extended from the Zanpakuto and dug into Nibui’s arm had grown some more, taking full control of the blade, pulling completely out of Nibui’s grasp. Within a split second, the wild blade had run rampant slashing at every inch within the bulb, the space needed for the roots to maneuver the blade was significantly shorter than what Nibui required but it also lacked the same control Nibui possessed. Multiple times the blade would end up just barely skimming off of Nibui himself as the blade carved not through the wood surrounding him, flesh or the wooden armour that now completely covered Nibui, but the black orbs that had frozen the Lieutenant in place. The Reiryoku that formed the black orbs was absorbed into the blade and fed into Nibui himself, with that his bindings are no longer present and the blade is returned to his hand once more.

Then there is the havoc that the Hado should have caused, but it does not. Once the bulb is done and gone, the stream of lightning meets Nibui’s and Jubokko. He is not so foolish as to take the impact head-on, even with his Bankai’s armour. With each swing of the wooden blade, the saps the energy from the blast. Each time feeding himself. On occasion, a sliver of the Captain’s technique manages to slip past the barrier of blades and finds itself impacting the Lieutenant, only for that weakened energy to slam into the protective layer that surrounds him and dissipate without effect. With those exceptions, there is now nothing that makes it past where the Lieutenant is standing.

Conclusion - The Victorious Fairy

Eventually there is a calm that finds the ruined landscape. The blinding bolt is halted and all that is left is the two Shinigami who now trade their stares. Both stand without a wound to prove their participation in this combat, Yu healed by his own genius ability and Nibui rejuvenated via Jubokko’s hunger. For a moment, he allows the silence to continue, at this point it should be clear to the Captain. The bloodlust that once fueled Nibui is not entirely gone, but it is under control and he no longer possesses the will to continue, there is nothing to be gained beyond forcing the Captain down a path that Nibui does not want to see him walk. Finally he breaks the silence with a few words.

“I’m done here. I wish you the best of luck my friend, and I hope you don’t blind yourself too much.”

As he speaks, the sound of shifting roots returns as a collective mass pulls the wounded Honoka from beneath the rubble and ash she was left under, opening up much like a blooming flower to reveal her to the Captain and with that, in a final flourish of crimson, the gargantuan tree of Jubokko vanishes along with the very roots that had embedded it within the earth, leaving a great crater where it once stood. The bark that encapsulated Nibui is gone too, revealing once again the lack of wounds, including his recovered arm. He plunges the blade of his Zanpakuto into the stoney floor below and awaits whatever response the Captain may have. He didn’t expect much banter from the forward driven Captain at this moment but he waited regardless, once the Captain had brought Honoka to perfect health, he would take her away from this warzone himself.