Taming the flames of hell [bankai training, private]

It was a lovely day out in karakura forest, the sun shone down through the trees. The temperature was around seventy two degrees with little to no wind. Between the trees walked a purple haired girl, a blue crystal necklace around her neck. Her blue eyes looked around as they came to a clearing, making sure the place was truly empty. She was wearing a garment similar to that of a shinigami’s shihaksho, though hers were distinctive red and white colors instead of the black and white coloring of most shinigami uniforms. Finally satisfied that there was no one else around, she drew from within her outfit a katana. Set in to the metal guard was two black stones and strips of leather were wound around the hilt. This was her zanpaktou Mastiv, and the very reason she was here today. For a while now she had started to understand Mastiv’s true nature, and she realized that she absolutely needed to progress in her connection with the spirit. No long was shikai enough; she was here to learn bankai. She wasn’t sure she could do it yet, but she had to try. Ultimately her life depended on her ability to master her bankai, she hated being shackled to her twin sister Miaka. It was not that Sherri did not like being around Miaka, but she felt as though she was only slowing Miaka down, keeping her from progressing as far as she could. However, if she was right, if her hunch was correct, her bankai would undo the shackles that held her to Miaka. Raising her voice, it echoed through the forest, a powerful voice.

“Mastiv, show yourself! You know why I call upon you, now come!”

From the tip of her sword black flames shot forth, forming in to a huge dog, almost like a wolf. Looking in to Sherri’s eyes, the flame dog started to talk.

“Sherri, are you absolutely sure about this? You cannot stop once we start, and you could easily die from this. I think you should wait, this is still too early…”

Sherri cut him off, a determined look in her eyes. She wouldn’t take no for an answer here. This was her decision, she would stop being a weight on the family, she would become something more then what she was now.

“This is my final decision Mastiv, I am going ahead with this. I must strengthen myself, I will not lose whatever may happen. Now, let’s begin.”

Sighing, Mastiv looked directly in to Sherri’s eyes. The girl truly was determined, she wasn’t just going at this on something like a whim, she was dead serious.

“Alright Sherri, listen up then. What you’re about to experience will be unlike anything you have ever experienced before. Do not ever give up though, wish for death even for an instant, and you will die then and there. Now, come forth and enter hell…”

His body burst higher, becoming a bonfire of flames that rose higher then Sherri was tall. It beckoned to her, and she stepped forward, engulfed in the flames. For a while it was pitch black, and then she could see. It was like a volcano had erupted, lava flowed through the area, sparks shooting in to the air every so often. Standing in front of her was her zanpaktou spirit, Mastiv, in his true home. Grinning, the beast of black flames lunged towards her. Its claw lashed out at Sherri’s side, flames erupting from where they made contact. Caught by surprise, Sherri had not been able to move, and she let out a high pitched scream as the claws tore through her while the flames burned at her flesh. A quick flash step put some distance between them though Mastiv did not seem bothered. Rather, he just pushed forward, charging at her. Jumping in to the air, Sherri slashed out her blade towards Mastiv, gasping in surprise as her attack passed right through the black flames. Mastiv, totally uninjured by the slash, brought his claws up towards her, slicing at her stomach. Slamming her sword in to the ground below her, Sherri pushed herself higher in to the air, dodging the claws. Pulling her sword up from the ground, she landed roughly against the ground, her breathing heavy. Nothing had ever pushed her this hard, she had never fought anything like it, was it even possible to defeat her own zanpaktou spirit?

She shook her head, pushing that thought away. No, there had to be a way to defeat him, there absolutely had to be a way. Mastiv wouldn’t set up a challenge she had no hope of defeating, now would he? With grim determination she rose to her feet, staring at Mastiv. She had to think, figure out what Mastiv had actually been trying to teach her here, what his lesson was. As Mastiv charged again, Sherri moved above him, but this time he had predicted her movements. His maw went up, his teeth biting painfully in to her leg as flames erupted around her wound, and Sherri was consumed within the black flames. Pain above anything else flew over Sherri, and she fell to the ground, writhing in agony. She could feel her soul being eaten away, everything that made her herself was slowly disappearing. Her memories past before her eyes, Tora Lionus taking her in and teaching her to utilize her powers, the monsuta and the home it used to be for her, and then Miaka and her family coming to reawaken her to who she truly was.

As she saw Miaka’s face, one thought flooded her brain. No, I won’t let anyone take my memories of Miaka away from me, never again!!! Her body rose, the flames disappearing as she did. Her hair color changed, returning to its original red color. A smirk ran across her face as she stood her, and then a flash step took her in front of Mastiv, her hand grabbing around his neck.

“Yazaki Flame technique, flame conqueror!”

Slowly the flames started to disappear, being sucked in to her hand until none of the body of Mastiv remained. However, Sherri knew that her challenge was not over. Also, on top of that, she had no idea how she had used that technique before; she had no memory of it. Well, it had just been instinct, but she had the strangest feeling she had used it before. Perhaps it was due to her memory of her times as a living person still being fuzzy, she wasn’t sure. Well, whatever it was, she wouldn’t be able to use it again, that was for sure. Looking around, she noticed another light, like a campfire burning in the distance. Sighing, Sherri walked slowly forward, covering her side with her hand. It was extremely painful, but for now she had to bear with it, she did not know any healing techniques after all. As she walked she looked around, paying attention to all the details of the area around her. Far in the distance she could see what looked to be a temple of sorts, and to the left and between her hand the temple was where the light was coming from.

As she got closer Sherri could see that indeed the light was from a campfire, though there were no inhabitants around it. However, sitting in the center among the logs was a brilliantly white hound mad of flames. Looking up at Sherri, it nodded at her to take a seat, and she gladly did. It did worry her though, she wasn’t sure what kind of challenge awaited her next, she couldn’t be sure that this beast wouldn’t try to kill her the moment she showed it her back. A few moments passed, and then the dog began to speak.

“Welcome to my campsite dear Sherri. Unlike my brother Mastiv, I am not a hot headed brute who can only think of fighting and destroying. However, yes, I am here to present a test to you. A test of your loyalty, a test of what you desire. While Mastiv’s test showed that your strength was worthy of possessing our power, my test is designed to show whether or not your mind is ready to handle our power. Now, just let me know when you are ready to accept my test upon yourself.”

Looking at the white flame, Sherri took a moment before nodding her head.

“Yes, I am ready for your test.”

The flame flickered in an inviting way, and then the voice came forth again.

“Well then, I truly do hope you are ready for this. Here is my test then, good luck. Now, if you had all our power, what would you do? How would you use that power? What would be your goal once you obtained it?”

Sherri looked up curiously, the question seemed a bit off to her. Why would the beast want to know how she would use the powers she would obtain? Well, she needed to figure that out herself because she had never thought of it before. Thoughts floated through her mind, she would bring Tora back to the vizard corps, whether by words or by force, she would protect her family from harm. She could see herself with those she cared about, protecting them from harm. Taking her time, she sat there for a few more minutes to think if there was anything else, any revenge for which she would want this power? No, she did not want that. How could she ever face Yoma again if she killed someone in cold blood? She had found her answer, now she just had to hope that the flame here would accept it.

“Alright, I have my answer now. I wish for this power to protect others. To make sure I can protect my family from any danger that might approach them. To ensure that when I once again have comrades that I can help them achieve their goals. To prove to Tsui that I am worthy enough of seeing my brother Yoma again.”

Smiling, the flame nodded, smiling at her.

“You are a smart one Sherri. When my brother originally suggested giving you a position higher than the alpha I thought he had gone insane. Now I understand why he wanted this, I am sure you can pass the final challenge, I wish you luck.”

With that the flame dog ran towards Sherri, its flames surrounding her. It didn’t burn though, instead it felt pleasantly warm. Her wounds closed up, healing completely before the flame disappeared, appearing to have been sucked in to her body. Smiling, Sherri nodded, looking up at the temple that was further on.

Standing up, Sherri slowly walked forward, making her way to the black temple like building in the distance. The strands of hot lava flowed around her, and she made sure never to take a foot off the hardened earth. The volcano behind her grew more distant as she walked forward, keeping a slow pace despite the distance between her and her destination. Looking down, she noticed the small strands of lava coming together to form small streams, then rivers. Finally the lava came together in a thick lake of lava that surrounded the temple building. A small bridge of earth crossed over the lake, the only way in. Steam rose from the lava, obscuring her from getting a clear view of the structure.

Having finally reached the edge of the lake, Sherri slowly edged across the bridge. Little pebbles fell in to the lava as the bridge struggled under her weight, but it held until she got across. Looking up, she could tell that this had once been a grand building. Huge pillars lay against the ground, their bases still standing upright on the ground in front of her. Large cut marks lined the bases of the pillars, and the large stone building seemed to have half of its third floor still intact along with the first and second floors, but it could easily have been ten stories tall originally. The building was made of large blocks of marble, once pure white, now burned black by the heat. The doors were no longer there, the wood splinters that were attached to the doorway suggested that it had been bashed in by some brutish force a long time ago. Large benches lined the aisles, stopping before a set of steps that led to a slightly elevated platform. The pulpit lay to the side, having been ripped from the ground and tossed to the side. Against the wall was a large banner, though nine tenths of it lay on the ground, burning in flames. Within these flames, unnaturally hot heat warped the air, taking the shape of a dog. Looking at Sherri, it let out a growl, then spoke.

“So, this is the mutt my brother thinks should rule over us. I really don’t understand his thinking, just look at you. You look weak and pathetic, but the fact that you made it here means that both Mastiv and Lumina let you pass. Mastiv knows no other way to resolve things then combat, which means you bested him in a challenge of strength. Your looks must be deceiving then, and thus you are full of strength. However, one does not rule without the trust of his subjects, nor without trusting them. So, my test will be to see if you are worthy of our trust by seeing if you can trust me. Now, I see you have a necklace around your neck. May I see it, I will give to you something far better than that necklace.”

Sherri looked up, shocked. She hadn’t expected something like that to be asked of her. Miaka had made that necklace for her so that she could control her inner hollow. Without it she wasn’t sure what would become of her, would she go crazy and attack the being in front of her? Her finger trembled and curled around the necklace, she couldn’t afford to ever go back to being that… that monster of a being. However, this was a test of trust, so why couldn’t she hand it over? It wasn’t like Miaka couldn’t make another one, it was born from her own power. Also, so long as it was close to her she would feel the effects of Miaka’s flames, she could do that. Slowly she walked over, wrapping her fingers around the necklace. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she slowly removed the necklace from her neck. Kneeling by the burning tapestry, she threw the necklace at the near invisible dog. The dog’s jaws snapped out, devouring the necklace in one gulp. She watched as it disappeared, worry filling her. Then she noticed it, the effects of Miaka’s flames hadn’t weakened, if anything they had grown stronger. Her old memories returned completely, every inch of her old life coming back to her. Looking closely, she saw a small puppy, made of flame crystals, crawl out from under the near invisible dog. Whimpering, tears of joy flowed from her eyes as she looked down at the beautiful thing. The dog made of heat seemed to smile, and then opened its maw again.

“Well, I would like to rejoice in adding two new members to our family, Kry-ah the crystal flame hound, and Sherri, our new leader!”

A loud howl ripped across the land from the mouth of the heat dog, and on either side of her, a dog of flames appeared. On her right stood Mastiv, her zanpaktou spirit, on her left stood the white flame dog, who Sherri could only guess was Lumina. Mastiv smiled, looking very proud of Sherri, while Lumina looked down at the cute little Kry-ah. Mastiv nudged her, trotting over to the side indicating her to follow.

“Well done Sherri, I am sorry I doubted you before. Now you have complete control over us, the flame dogs of humanity. We are your bankai, and I wish you well, now it is time to return to your family.”

A door opened next to him, made of black flames, and Sherri walked through it. Looking around, she realized it had already become late in the evening, the sun low in the sky, causing a pink glow across parts of it. Smiling, she walked off, time to return to her family.