Help a Brother Out

Sun Feb 17, 2019 3:49 pm

Alex

Artist: - Song: - Word Count: N/A

Minatumi Harbor wasn't too hard a place to get to, Alex had found. That was a good thing, because this whole war situation had made his usual method of travel pretty much fuckin impossible. Hitch hiking and shit was real hard, and fucking walking? Yeah, real funny joke there dude. The Harbor's status as a safe haven for refugees, however, had made it a walk in the park. He wasn't quite a refugee, though. He had his own business here.

The place was...really nice, actually. He imagined it was probably a quieter town when there weren't so many people looking for safety, but the crowds just added to the charm, he guessed. Did this place have a normal mayor's office? He hoped so, he was looking for the mayor, after all. Figuring it’d be best to just ask around, he started asking whoever’s attention he could get the same question;

“Yo, you know where I can find Ulv Auber?”

A name Alex was, even now, faintly wondering if it was smart to pursue. Much like the last big names he'd interact with, this chick had a reputation that said she could turn him into paste just by blinking in his general direction. But he'd also heard a lot of good things, and those things had given him something of an idea. Call it inspiration, call it whatever. Alex just knew, on a very primal level, that thus chick would be able to help him right now, probably better than anyone else on the fucking planet.

Sun Feb 17, 2019 3:59 pm

THE FLAME OF HOPE

Artist: Hammerfall - Song: Heart's On Fire

Someone asking about the place for her, it seemed. Ulv was catching a quick break between construction work. She needed it as much as she needed the hard-hat she wore while doing the work. Between being able to survive being hit with a girder, being able to catch a girder if it fell, and being fast enough to dodge a girder, the hard-hat was as useful as an asshole on her elbow. But, it served a purpose as a symbol. People would look to it and know that it was something to do. As with the resting. When she rested, others also rested.

And it was why she was bothered when someone was coming looking for her specifically. She had to get up, convince everyone else to carry on the hour's break, and then give him a smile.
"Asking for someone so directly. You can't be a refugee. To meet with Miss Auber requires a strong heart, and a great spirit. Do you have both? The rock shall test this. Push the rock to me, and then we shall talk of where to find Ulv Auber"

Ulv then created a hip-high rock, and returned to her resting. It seemed a simple task at first, the only problem was that the rock weighted such you would have to be herculean to push it, as it was durable to a degree even Ulv herself was not confident she could break it without her Bankai.

Sun Feb 17, 2019 6:31 pm

Alex

Artist: - Song: - Word Count: N/A

Contrary to popular belief, Alex was not a complete monkey. He'd read up on this lady, and he knew that the woman telling him to push a rock was probably her. Normally, probably wouldn't have been good enough. Hell, even if it was the real deal, “Hello My Name Is Ulv” sticker and all, Alex would usually have just tried to punch her in the fucking mouth for making him push a rock. But he’d come here with a purpose. Probably was enough for Alex to go off right now, and so he nodded as removed his jacket and unbuttoned his shirt a bit. It looked heavy, and he wasn't really a shredded dude or anything.

Of course, the moment he actually put any force onto the stone, the vagrant realized that this was going to be a rough time. More importantly, he realized this was almost assuredly the woman he was looking for. With that in mind, he pressed harder onto the rock, seeing if his full strength would be enough to even slightly move the otherwise innocuous-looking obstacle.

It was not even close.

“Son of a bitch…”

It wasn't clear exactly who that was directed toward. Maybe Ulv, maybe the rock, maybe even at himself. Truth be told, it was really just a nebulous expression of vague stress. Something akin to “fuck me, dude.” Cracking his neck, Alex realized his only real option here would probably be to whittle the rock down, something he doubted would be much easier than pushing it. But for once, “easy” wasn’t what he was after.

The purple flames of Maiden Masher slowly enveloped Alex's hands, and he knew the added weight would be helpful, if also all the more tiring. Just as well, by the end of this he had the feeling he’d be exhausted no matter what he did. Leveraging his arm just so, he swung with all his might, the density of his own body and Maiden Masher together- and he grinned wryly as the impact left barely a single scratch on the stone. This would be a long one, for sure.

Bringing his hand back, Alex shook it out for a moment, before taking up an almost combative stance and swinging at the rock with his other hand. Left. Right. Left. Right. A rhythm slowly formed, and after a moment or two Alex barely even cared about the exertion therein. Sure, he'd care later. Sure, this was all doing very little to the rock. But very little was better than nothing.

Left. Right. Left. Right.

Mon Feb 18, 2019 6:24 am

THE FLAME OF HOPE

Artist: Hammerfall - Song: Heart's On Fire

The initial push that would reveal just how heavy the rock was seemed to irritate him. As it would anyone who realised the scope of the task in front of them. But instead of pushing, shoving, getting some wires and pulling, accosting people in the street to help, lashing it to a car and dragging it along, no he decided to punch it. Watching that, Ulv couldn't help but laugh at his attempts to complete the test in a strange and altogether new way. Still, for his well-being and not irritating Cho Zi with yet another person, Ulv came out to talk to him pretty soon into his punching routine.

"I appreciate your ethic, and I love the way you go about things, but your hands will no longer resemble hands but rather that horrible baby food mush, before you make a single crack in that rock" she told him less to speed things up, more so to protect his well-being. I was a test of heart, not something to break your body on. And if she brought another person to Cho Zi so soon after the last, he would give her that stare. Somehow, he was 85 and had that stare, but she was some 520-odd and didn't. Maybe it was due to looking old as much as being old.

"So for pushing something, you want a proper stance and good footing. The phrase 'Put your back into it' is quite literal, as you want to source the force that you are pushing with from your back, and then channel that through your body for the best results" Ulv then showed him exactly what she meant, setting herself against the rock and pushing it six foot down the road, before pushing it back to the man.

"Now, give it a try"

Tue Feb 19, 2019 8:35 pm

Alex

When Ulv came to stop him, the primal instinct in Alex very nearly led him to simply lash out at her. He realized that would be...pretty fucking bad, to say the least. He wasn't exactly looked to get kicked outta here after he'd come all this way. So he took a step back, shook out his hands (which did already hurt a good bit), and listened carefully to the red-haired lady instructing him.

“Well, to be fair, I didn't really think I'd be getting much of anywhere if I just kinda pushed, even if I pushed it well. Only so much good form's gonna do for ya, yeah?”

Nevertheless, Alex cracked his neck, took a moment or two to catch his breath, and took up the position that Ulv had demonstrated. He wasn't sure it was right, though, so he stopped and squatted down, studying the ground he'd be standing on, then the stone he'd be pushing. He looked at his own hands, then all at once simply tore away his shirt, removing his shoes and socks as well so that his only remaining clothes were his pants. In an ideal world he could get those out of the way too, but he didn't feel like standing around in his underwear, and he definitely didn't wanna just show off his dick to everyone.

Now that he was more comfortable, Alex once again readied himself to push the rock, but this time, he took a very long moment to just...orient himself like that. He knew he would be here for a while. He wanted to absolutely burn this into his mind, just in case he felt like he was slipping. So he just sat there for a while, ready to push but not quite doing it yet. And then, once he really felt ready...

He pushed that fucking rock with everything he had.

Wed Feb 20, 2019 5:44 am

THE FLAME OF HOPE

Artist: Hammerfall - Song: Heart's On Fire

"Don't think, feel. Your brain will get you into trouble, but your arms will never deceive you. If something looks impossible, if you think it is impossible, do not listen. Simply do - with the proviso of common sense, of course - and if the first second reveals that you can not, then simply do so more. Nothing stays impossible forever" Ulv told him, a motivational pep-talk for staying true and determined. Focus on the task, and the task will wither under your gaze.

Of course, the rock was still not moving, despite how much he would get a better stance and push. But that was the whole point. The rock was not designed to be moved, the rock was instead designed to be impossible, and in being so, see how long a person would do the impossible before giving up. Sure, maybe he just came around for a cup of sugar, but this was Ulv, you never escaped her grasp without a lesson in life to go along with your cup of sugar.

Wed Feb 20, 2019 2:01 pm

Alex

“Wouldn't common sense be my brain, though?”

Alex didn't actually say that with much seriousness. It had more just been what he considered an amusing quip in response. Short, to the point, and frankly all he could really manage with the focus he had on pushing this God forsaken rock. Of course it wasn't going anywhere. There were probably plenty of better ways one could move a rock, but he was gonna do it himself. That was the whole point of being here, after all.

It didn't take very long for Alex to start feeling pretty exhausted. This was kind of hard. He was used to exertion and all, he traveled and everything, but generally he didn't push rocks. Of course, it looked like maybe he was gonna be pushing rocks from now on. But hey, coulda been worse, he guessed. His options were probably to just give up or to start using his Maiden Masher again, but he really didn't wanna do that. Probably wouldn't help much anyway. So instead, he simply...kept pushing.

Wed Feb 20, 2019 2:17 pm

THE FLAME OF HOPE

Artist: Hammerfall - Song: Heart's On Fire

"Common sense is your mind. Different thing to your brain, it is where you do things that are higher than thought. Preserving self, acting on principles, breathing, blinking, occasionally walking. Your brain is where doubt and reason and excuse and all the fuzzy little things lie" Ulv told him, before looking at the guy. He was pretty determined, so this was going to take a while. Maybe she should spend the time doing something proper? So a pair of manacles flashed onto her wrists, and her eyes turned a sulphur yellow. She wanted to test the depths of power but at the same time, she knew how deep they were, because they mirrored her own. It would take a long time to even start to exhaust Hvit. And it was through breaking that muscles gained strength.

And so, with some mental communication, she folded the energy that was being sent through the link, braided it into itself and then felt the punch as it roared through her. The link was strained and cracked slightly at the sudden rush of power, but oohhh did she love this. It was like Tundra Scream but better. The sheer volume would certainly get through her power soon.

"Don't hurt yourself. Mostly because you are dragging yourself to the doctors. I've brought enough people to him lately and he would not be happy with me" Ulv told him. Her eyes, previously the usual muted colour of everyone's eyes, were shining with the potency of energy behind them. But, between the Devil Bonds and Hvit's assistance, she managed to keep it down so it didn't disrupt anything.

Wed Feb 20, 2019 2:25 pm

Alex

“Huh. Brain sounds like it sucks. Wonder if I can get rid of it.”

Alex felt the exertion starting to take more and more of a toll on his body, and slowly the familiar steam of the Riot of the Blood's hold on his body began to vent from his pores. Painful, yes, faintly, and the last thing he wanted was to just start freakin the fuck out here. So he stopped just for a brief moment, long enough to cool down and keep his body from falling apart. And as soon as he felt safe, he went right back to pushing. But this time, he at least made an attempt to try and converse.

“Don't worry about that. Can't say I exactly like hurting myself. Some people do, I guess. Not for me though. Too much I need to be doing. Plus, you know, it hurts. That's a downside too.”

Faintly, he wondered just how heavy this rock actually was. Did it even actually have like, a weight? Maybe it was just stuck here. Maybe it was actually just buried in the ground or something. No, wait, she'd already pushed it. Damn. That'd have been kind of a good trick actually, just have him push a rock that's actually mostly buried undergound, like just part of a way bigger rock. Such were the idle thoughts of a man with a singular task.

Wed Feb 20, 2019 2:48 pm

THE FLAME OF HOPE

Artist: Hammerfall - Song: Heart's On Fire

Ulv laughed at the idea of brain sucking, and the idea of getting rid of it.
"Mmm, it does suck. But most like.....like most things, it can be trained, and brought to the level. Most people see Anger as a purely negative emotion. An emotion that you can not do anything with because all it ever does is bad things. But if you have a solid grasp and well trained hands upon it, it can aid you in many aspects of your life. It's the core concept of my Zanpaktou, actually. And why I have a good grasp on my emotions. Because like fire, Anger can burn you if you lose control"

Ulv gave a conversation to egg him on and fill the moments, the monotony could drive a man mad if that was all there was to it. And all that while burning hollow reiatsu at an incredible rate.
"You know, this situation reminds me of the tale of Utgarda-Loki. If, you are interested in a bit of mythology while pushing a rock"

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