[BSD-RP] The Valley of Screams

[Shinigami]

Okito could feel her attack didn't land the target, biting her lip with frustration, if only she hadn't been rushing. She knew the pressure of this examination of her skills had been getting to her head but this was asnine. It was more than time to shift the gears of her thought process, take mind away from it being a "test" and onto this being a mission. Okito had to center herself back into the mindset of how it was like to hunt a mark. it’s one of the first things that’s molded into you in 2nd Division. However, small mistakes like were a necessary pain, it helps to learn the prey and it’s patterns.Patience is a part of the hunt, she continued to circulate that notion around in her mind.
Observational information like that was imperative to add to the empirical data she kept of Tenzen Oda. It was like preparing a file of a mark’s stats to be permanently logged into the recess of her thoughts, surely a book adored with his name would soon appear in her Zanpakuto’s library by the completion of this exam.
Flexings her fingers, stretching, she took some deep breaths centering herself. It was then something immediately didn’t feel right, although her smoke screen didn’t obscure his location is due to drawing his blade and the effects that that ensued however it continued to fill in her immediate area. He was out of her line of sight due to the smoke but she could definitely tell his location had changed, a detail that if she had she'd been patient she would’ve noticed in time.
"Okay. This is embarrassing me. Where is your training? Are you some kind of novice? I would’ve sworn my partner was of Noble Lineage. Don’t those bloodlines usually come with some advanced intelligence?"
"You’re really laying it on thick today, please relax. I’m trying to focus. I don’t have time to be berated by you right now."
"Welp, if you lost his location so easily from being hasty, I doubt you've notice that little surprise he has waiting for you get your shit blown open."
"Um?"
Now that it was pointed out, she felt it, there was a variance in her threads she didn’t notice before. Before she could properly process the change in her threading the blue flames appeared within her own protective shell, attempting to engulf her whole. Reflexively, she shot out two parallel lines of thread 15 ft sideways pulling her body from the flames before they could completely engulf. The barrier instantly dismantled as her body left its proximity, leaving her mimics behind to take the brunt of the damage.
Her sandals skid across the rocky landscape dusting up debris in her wake. Pushing up using the momentum she lept upward balancing her weight along a single sliver of a thread, one of many connections of threads now in her immediate area. Due to the distance it would appear to the Captain that she was standing on air alone.
“Oh look, you made it. I mean, your arm looks like brisket, but at least you kept that pretty face. Good game.”
Resisting the overwhelming urge to roll her eyes from the internal criticism, sliding her right hand downward starting at the shoulder, green tinted reiryoku pulsated through her skin down her left forearm to her wrist along the slightly blackened flesh in a smooth concise moment. The marred skin seemingly erased, leaving only healthy cinnamon complexion beneath the tattered sleeve. After years of self experimentation, one would be hard pressed to give her an injury she could not remedy. Internally she was almost pleased about the injury, although painful. It supplied her with something intrical: she literally felt the moment of his kido. The spiritual energy needed to execute such a technique, now that she knew it’s pattern, she could potentially even replicate it. After further assessment she deduced she’d need to be injured one more time to get it completely memorized. However, taking another hit like that isn’t ideal, It was time to think of an alternative measure. Taking a step to the side her figure seemingly disappeared for a moment.
Coming back into view on the ground below facing him now with her unhindered view, she stomped her foot down causing multiple fissures throughout the ground sourcing outward from her foot, 15 giant clusters of dirt, rock and debris the size of sized futons began to unearth themselves rising into the air above. Pushing her sandals further into the sediment for traction she calmly spoke.
"Hado #57!"
The mounds of rocky substances bursted forward towards the Captain at an alarming rate. Okito following their lead takes off across the ground in a sprint, reaching behind her back grasping the rotator disk of her zanpakuto in a smooth motion she shifted gears for the first time, Gear 3: Correction. The single rotator disk brightly illuminates in a coat of her reiryoku and morphed into two slightly bigger versions seated on both of her hips. Lifting her hands forward, balling her fists grasping her threads she pulled towards herself, threads that had long been attached and anchored to random parts of the battle field that she’d been using to navigate. The muscles in her arms flexed, her veins became prominent as she pulled numerous giant slabs of earthy landscape the size of small buildings thrusted into the air from locations both behind the Captain’s location and from both sides. Between her previous kido, and her physical upheaval of the general area, the Captain would find himself having to defend and or defend from multiple angles and heights even if he should be able to dodge the rocky structures would follow his lead until making contact because she can easily manipulate the projectile's course.
Jumping forward, she stood upon one of the many still moving clumps of earthy debris racing towards him. Holding her hands outward from her sides once again, threads gathered, shifted, and took the shape of a single half of a pair of large scissors.
“Raising waves and crashing moons, gasping breath and harsh monsoons. Cascade.”
Tightening her grip on both her blades readying herself for impact, her eyes narrowed as she pointed at him with both her index fingers towards his ideal frame.
"Hado #1."
Two separate shock waves of spiritual energy shot forward from her fingertips through the air towards her target, their wide ranging arch would spread wide and would take some considerable length to dodge to avoid. Because of the spell’s wide range it would also break apart any debris coming from behind the Captain as well, breaking them into smaller pieces comparable to an office desk. Having experienced the Captain’s ability with kido now first hand, she was prepared that should he somehow make quick work of her shockwaves and other previous tactics she’d have to bring this battle in personal moving forward.

 

[Shinigami]

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---Listen while you read---
Something reflects in the light that catches the man's eye, it was the light bouncing off a thread that ejected itself from the barrier. Behind the thread it pulls Okito free from the clutches of his Hado, good, had she not been able to escape on her own he would have had to save her from coming to further harm. Yes, further harm would be the correct phrase to use as she did sustain damage from the Hado, though not enough to put her out of the fight. He inhales for ten seconds then exhales for ten seconds while the woman healed her wound and plotted in the distance. This breathing exercise is to keep the man calm and not let his innermost desires surface, he has complete control over such desires. She vanishes from sight for a moment only to reappear back on the ground, what will she try next against him? It doesn't take long for her to make her next move and it is... More Kido. Her masterful use of Kido is praiseworthy, as a wielder of Kido himself Tenzen can fully acknowledge her strength in the area, but this bout of Kido must come to an end.
Daichi Tenyō, a Kido spell that lifts the surrounding debris and launches it at the desired target, a spell that makes the user appear telekinetic. A wonderfully useful spell, when used on a battlefield full of rubble and to surround the Captain on all sides with it, was a smart move to cut off all means of escape. Then right before him, she casts Hado #1, Shō with an incantation from both fingers that creates two large shockwaves. Tenzen Oda knows how the majority, if not all, of Kido spells work except the ones that were created for personal use by others or secret hidden spells far beyond his grasp. This knowledge is about to play to his advantage. He faces Okito then dashes towards her and the shockwaves, he then allows his Zanpakuto to show its true nature.
The golden mist of Kokūzō erupts from his blade like a flood, rushing out in all directions, and roaring up like a wave of water towards the rocks. As they make contact with the mist they vanish, they no longer exist. Then there are the shockwaves racing towards him, he swipes his blade from left to right releasing his mist to confront the shockwaves head-on. A shockwave can only be created when using a physical medium be it air, water, or rock it comes about when there is a violent change in pressure. Lightning, explosions, jet fighters, and in this case spells can create these violent changes in the medium they exist in but what if that medium is suddenly... gone? Well, the shockwave ceases to exist as well as the object going through the violent change is gone. The mist makes contact with the shockwaves and they cease to be, much like the rocks before them and Tenzen's dash to Okito continues on unabated. How did he stop the shockwaves without a spell? Kokūzō's power is to erase matter itself from existence. The condensed, highly pressurized air that made up this Shockwave was wiped from existence and in turn, wiped the attack away as well.
She could manipulate the rocks all she wanted but the mist at Tenzen's sides and back would ensure their quick erasure, needless to say even if one were placed in front of him his mist would make short work of it. He continues forward, his mist reaching the rock she stands upon, slowly removing it from existence, and in a sudden burst of speed, he accelerates himself with his Shunpo darting past her. His blade is extended forward, it seems like he has already swung his blade. He adjusts his posture and stands upright, keeping his back turned towards the woman as he has once again rendered her Kido useless against him, what will she do now?

 

[Shinigami]

Although his mist made quick work of her rocky slabs of flying landscape, he’d decided to let his zanpakuto take its sweet time on her particular clump of landscape she’d chosen to ride as it only slowly moved to consume it into nothingness. She immediately noticed his body raced towards her, tracing his exact movements now that he was well within her line of vision, her eyes connected with the narrow edge of his blade. The clock seemed to have slowed its hands as if trying to bless her with just a bit more time. Leaning backwards, she felt the slightest tip of the blade almost endearingly caress her cheek as if only trying to plant a lover’s kiss. Immediately tilting her head backward, swinging her blades outward at the same time. Successfully defending her midsection that had been open while finding off his attack. He’d have to choose to either completely commit, continuing to try and slice her face open which would reward him by getting disemboweled in the process or to back off his target. He wouldn’t have long regardless to contemplate such a decision because she stepped off the remnants of the debris below her. Visually out of sight for but a moment again, appearing several hundred yards from his location once again, tethered to a thread keeping her body seemingly levitating.
There were probably a couple categories of combat the man reigned above her in, Kido being number 1 for sure. However, speed was most certainly not the 2nd. She was actually kind of insulted that he felt that one-hit Kuchiki nonsense was going to fly here. You don’t live your whole youth as a Shihoin footrest and 2nd division practice dummy to be slow in ANY regard. He also, as predicted, carefully used his weapon to manipulate the atmosphere around them which quelled her shockwaves. Although her attack has failed, it granted something more than damage, information. From afar she looked towards him, eyes fixed on his permanent scowl and signs of premature aging.
"Just eliminates matter...heh. If unseasoned chicken was a sword..."
"We hate to see it."
Then she spoke having been struck with an idea.
"You’ve inspired me friend! I’m going to try something just for you!"
She began chewing harder on a treat she’d been keeping entertained since the very beginning of their bout. The patience she’d been holding for this squabble of an exam had reached its bitter end. Wanting to close the gap between them and bring the endless Kido strings to a close as well. Considering his attempt to slash her to bits, she could guess he wished the same. Well she’d gladly respect his wishes.
Pressing the dark mass to the back of her front teeth she took the biggest most concentrated breath she could and blew. The black mass sprung from her lips (lol), one would’ve thought it’d popped once reaching regular balloon size but no, it continued far above expectations with intense speed until it’s size rivaled that of an massive air balloon, it was only then it suddenly popped. The noise expanded and echoed through the massive open air space, the sound bounced off the neighboring cliff sides and structures. Revealing what seemed to be a Gigai curled into the fetal position, she referred to them as her Unwrittens. However she was toying with the name “Titan” for this particular model but she didn’t know if the name would stick.
Unwrittens were a cute nickname she’d given the custom Gigai she’d created that were not for any particular person, so they more so resembled muscled and boned outlines of human anatomy more than any actual person. She imagined it was what humans looked like without their skin, twas a bit morbid but it was accurate. She imagined they’d be good puppets, so she’d been experimenting with ways to make that a reality. Gigai were common tools within soul society, especially for those who were frequent fliers to the Human World. Okito had always felt they could be incorporated for a higher purpose other than basically being Shinigami Soul wallets. Her excitement mounted, because today, Captain Oda would be the first to see one of her labors of love first hand. What an opportunity! It’s not everyday in Soul Society you can let your giant puppet out for a test drive.
Regardless of her excitement, she remained weary of his sword's ability; she was not going to let him merely wave his magic wand again, he was going to have to be a bit more creative than that. Holding one of her blades pointed towards her gigai, a massive slew of silver threads lurched forward encompassing the Gigai completely binding to him like an armoured second skin from the bottom of its feet to the top of it’s head. The giant’s body was easily 5 stories tall, shoulder to shoulder it’s width equal to that of a noble clan’s estate house. Cracking her knuckles, flexing her control, the beast extended its body to it’s full length, slamming its feet onto the ground below, kicking up sediment and rocks. It’s face, obscured by the threads, leaving only slightly hollowed and dark indentations giving off an impression of an angry face. Shooting one of her threads into its neck anchoring herself, her body was pulled quickly a short distance to the position upon its right shoulder. She stood casually, her eyes still fixated on the Captain. They would be eye to eye with the captain although still separated by some distance. Gripping her blades until her knuckles turned white, she could feel her heartbeat in her ears, she turned one of the rotator disks that now existed on each of her hips into the forth modulated position.
"Oh I just knew you were gonna drag me into this..."

“Bankai."
Crimson red began to spread upwards along the Titan’s body, like freshly spilt blood it spread rapidly across every corner until there was no sliver of silver left. The eye’s stared off, blank and unmoved.

as it slightly crouched as if ready to launch at any moment, meanwhile her reiryoku pulsating through it and encircled them both, it’s pretence was palpable. The blades in her hands followed likewise in their transition. A small smirk riding her lips as she slightly cocked her head to the side to speak into the giant’s ear, her eyes not leaving their focused location.
“Aienkien, tie that ass in a bow... ”
Just like that, thousands of red threads bursted from the sides of the Titan like wings, shooting outward filling the space from right and left sides of his body. Each strand moving of their mutual accord, each working like a little tentacle grasping trying to capture its prey. Ordinarily within Bankai, Aienkien himself would become visible, but considering the current circumstances he took on the identity of the titan gigai instead. It also doubled as a protective shell, from what they’d observed earlier, the captain was more than proficient in Kido that could potentially damage her Bankai, so she felt this was a fitting expense.

Now that her Bankai had been triggered, being touched by any of her threads carried much different consequences than before. Although if merely just touched, they wouldn’t cause him any pain, but her intention was to end this battle as soon as possible. What better wait than if he were to simply believe it has already ended? Tis was an interesting proposition honestly, one she was eager to try. Pushing off the shoulder of the titan, she’d come down swinging downward with one blade and across with another. Surely, even one whose specialty was Kido would have more than the average amount of sword skills, she was interested to see how he’d guard against her offensive measures. Meanwhile, the rather large hand was hurling across the ground in a right to left action, at such an alarming speed, the contact would turn an ordinary shinigami into paste.

The captain would have to either face her blades from above while also attempting to combat Aienkien’s now massive arm's length and power propelling towards him. It would be wise not to assume his size made him slow, he was still her Zanpakuto regardless of body he currently controlled. Although the body was massive, his speed and skill matched hers. How exactly would the Captain deal with these new measures?

 

[Shinigami]

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The Shihōin name is one closely tied to the Second Division so it is safe to assume that she possesses agility and speed that far surpasses his own, he calculated this risk well in advance. Calling it a risk, however, wouldn't be accurate as it was a situation still very much under his control, the entire flow of this battle was under his control. He enters her range as she begins to lean back to avoid the edge of his blade, this was one of three possibilities he predicted. She would either duck the attack in some way, make use of her superior Shunpo to get out of the area, or block it with her own blades. Using Kido was not apart of that calculation as he had shown her time and again during this bout that Kido is useless against him. Regardless she ducks his attack and counters within that same moment which forces him to not commit to his attack and switch to defense rotating his wrist Two-hundred Seventy degrees so that his blade is upside down and able to block her counter attack. Their blades make contact and the sound of them clashing rings out into open air of the Valley with Tenzen coming to a stop, his back facing the woman as intended. She creates space between them once again, this is fine with Tenzen, very fine.
"You’ve inspired me friend! I’m going to try something just for you!"
Tenzen does not move to turn around to face her, he stands there statuesque as she makes her declaration. A tool of science is finally about to make itself known on this battlefield which has only seen Kido and the brief clashing of blades. She chews on something, whatever it is must take some time to prepare and the time spent preparing this tool will be her downfall. She blows a bubble, it swells in size until finally popping to reveal a large Gigai within. Curious, what will she do with this? The blade made of her threads began to coat this giant in a layer of skin, perhaps this would serve as some sort of armor for the giant. The things feet hit the ground creating a small quake, kicking up dust and the like with Tenzen's mist acting quickly to protect its idle owner from harm due to the flying debris. The woman makes her way up to the shoulder of this thing and without hearing the words she spoke the spike in Reiatsu alone was enough to tell him that she just activated her Bankai. The once ghostly white giant began to flow with crimson red threads that gave its muscles a more realistic appearance. Tenzen, again, remained unmoved allowing her this time to ready her tool to use against him. Was it curiosity that made the man idle or was it something more?
Another change takes place with the giant with the formation of wings, no upon closer observation they were thousands of threads that all moved individually like the tentacles of a squid or octopus. Her preparations are finally complete it seems as she descends from the giant's shoulder, hurdling towards the Captain with her blades poised to cut him down or at least heavily injure him. They had previously positioned themselves several hundred yards away from Captain Oda, this means she would have had to dive off of the giant and travel the full distance before reaching his position though the distance didn't seem to affect the giant as it followed up behind her swiping its large palm from right to left. This attack seemed strange as she places herself in the trajectory of the palm as well, it is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things and the grand scheme of things involves Tenzen taking the sword attacks. The downward strike sinks into his shoulder with the strike coming across cuts into his arm. The sensation of hitting the mark and cutting into a target is a joyous feeling, a feeling she would certainly enjoy as she cut through the fabric of both his Haori. This must mean victory for her.
As she is cutting into the fabric and into "Tenzen" the world around her goes black. This darkness engulfs her and her giant followed by the voice of Tenzen that resounded from outside of this blackness.
"Hadō #90. Kurohitsugi (黒棺, Black Coffin)"
This attack was something Tenzen set up at the beginning of the battle, from the very start. His earlier attack with his blade was a bluff, he wanted to make contact with her blades to erase them. Originally, it would have created a spectacle to watch her blade crumble before her eyes and momentarily distract her. But since she created distance between them that became the substitute for the spectacle. This was all in an effort to distract her from the "switch" he made after blocking her counter attack with his after image Kido Technique Honzon (本尊:, 'principal image of Buddha). Combining it with his only Hohō technique, Utsusemi, he leaves behind a body double of sorts allowing it to don both his Haori.
When the fight began Tenzen summoned up a white aura around his body that quickly sank into him, from there it was merely a matter of finding the right opportunity to spring his spell and she gave it to him when she chose to retreat and create distance. From there the Kido within his body triggered, Bakudō #26. Kyokkō (曲光, Bent Light). This completely and utterly masks his presence allowing him to relocate without her being none the wiser and since she gave him ample time by setting up her tool and Bankai he was allowed to chant the full incantation for Hado 90 undisturbed all while his "Kido Double" stood idly by "watching" her set up her tool.
Now Okito, in a world of absolute darkness, feels the unbridled gravity of Hado 90 immediately after her world goes black. It bears down on her and the giant, the barrier the giant made would prove useless as this is an effect that is felt throughout the entire area of the spell. The Kido Double made by Tenzen is the first thing to shatter, next Okito would be forced to the ground and her giant's swipe slowly coming to a halt as it digs into the earth. More gravity is exerted, the giant is now forced down onto the ground and Okito is pressed further into the ground with her bones creaking and cracking. The Oda is thorough, he leaves nothing to chance, and with the full incantation combined with his mastery, he can control the strength of the spell and apply as much strength that is needed. He increases the strength of the spell yet again crushing the bones in her body and by this point, the giant is also taking heavy damage from the output of this spell. There isn't much time between the increases in power and as such it gives her little to no time to counter it. Any more than this and he risks her death and so he gives Okito Shihōin the gift of light and lifts the spell.
He disables his Bakudo revealing his position on one of the many cliffs, sitting still with a black and purple orb hovering in his palm. He stands, crushing the orb in his palm, and uses Shunpo to close the distance between himself and Okito's broken body. He kneels down beside her and speaks to her for the second time since arriving here.
"We are finished here. We'll be heading back to the Soul Society now."

 

[Shinigami]

“Strange, a man that had originally made great effort to dodge merely moments ago is now essentially waiting patiently to be struck down by her blade?”
This thought plagued her mind as she was in rapid descent towards the idle target, in the midst of bringing down her blade down upon him it became almost difficult to not notice that the man hasn’t so much as even flinched. The man was not a hardened assassin to any degree, he’d clearly displayed the instinct to preserve his own life throughout this exam. In that moment she rewind through all the other techniques he'd displayed, most of them had been wide spanning simply because her attacks have been massive from the beginning honestly. It makes only logically sense that he'd planned a counter with something large enough to compromise both her and her Gigai, but what? Whatever it was it had to be massive, the Captain had clearly made his exit from the general area. Whatever he had planned he obviously couldn't withstand himself. This whole situation screamed red, she decided then and there to disengage, leaving the Gigai to take the brunt of whatever he had planned. Best thing about Gigai was that they were disposable. If he had actually been weak enough to remain, then her Bankai coated monstrosity would crush him beneath its mighty hand.
Releasing her grip on the threaded blades, they immediately dissolved into tendrils. Several threads whipping through the air as they retracted back into her rotator disks. All her threads retreated in the same manner simultaneously, loosening their hold upon the Gigai. The She'd dramatically twist her body towards the right as her threads whipped and pierced through the air. They raced back into their holster. Fluctuating her reiatsu as her feet propelled her sideways, thrusting her body onward as her image once again momentarily seemed to disappear.
Lacking more than moderate amounts of information about one's environment was a dangerous cocktail she refused to take. Instead, she exerted her attention solely to movement, there would be room to prioritize a counter once reaching a safe distance to properly analyze. Her figure blurred resembling moreso an apparition than a woman as she pushed, she trailed across the sky trying to distance herself from what she estimated to be effected area with the little info she'd attained. Sweat beaded along her forehead as moisture dampened(lolew) in numerous places along her body, she could feel herself losing breath as she pushed. This exertion stemming from consistent high level shunpo was physically very taxing, honestly she wouldn’t have much left after this. However, she knew she had something that could at least buy her time to rest, she simply needed to think.
“Failure isn't an option”
She could hear the trauma dipped words echo in her mind on repeat, somethings were sooo difficult to shake even at her age. Glancing back to watch it detonate, maybe if she could figure out what kinda of bo…
"Hadō #90. Kurohitsugi!"
Suddenly a giant black mass took over the area, easily consuming her gigai. She’d barely made it out of the spell’s grasps by several feet. She gritted her teeth with irritation, she could feel the pressure on her Gigai even from outside the blackness. Any manipulation of the gigai was basically impossible at this point. The now bright red hue faded back into it's original silvery coloration as the result of the resealing of her Bankai in an effort to not only conserve strength but to also remove herself from this vulnerable situation. Having loosened her hold just moments prior, this allowed the wires to snap inorganically back into their hold. Her eyes darted in numerous directions searching for the Captain’s location, scanning the cliff sides and other rubble along the beaten plain. Only then did she see him reveal himself…
“Kyokko....Nani!?”
She quelled her shock within as he revealed himself sitting atop a cliff, absolutely mystified by how he’d managed to slip past her with such a technique. She theorized that perhaps there were abilities that Shigami with his... ‘achievements’.. were capable of that had yet been brought through her proper analysis. More research was needed to come to a thorough conclusion on this specimen, more experiments will need to be conducted as well. Given time, the outcome of a confrontation of this nature would be vastly different, the possibilities intrigued her.
"We are finished here. We'll be heading back to the Soul Society now."
She felt the sting of disappointment seep within her, she’d known the battle was over given the circumstances but she was also not at ease with leaving things as they were. Not that she had a choice in the matter, all she could do was let the cards fall where they may. Raising her chin she stood firmly in her position, refusing to look even close to how she may have felt. Not many left here with their bodies intact, she would take pride in that in the very least.
“Yeah, right behind you.”