Who Needs Sleep? [OPEN]

Saera yawned as she walked onto one of the training fields of the Fourth Division, far later at night then she particularly wanted to be there. Annoyingly, despite her yawning, she hadn't been able to sleep. For one reason or another tonight was one of the very few instances where the barracks were almost empty, or at least the part of the fourth's barracks where Saera laid her head. The lack of other people had made her... antsy, and the best solution for restlessness that was determinedly not caused by an underlying fear of abandonment and loneliness because someone like Saera would never have problems like that, no sir, not at all? Saera shook her head to clear it of the uncomfortable thoughts that had started to crop up as she continued on, but in answer to the earlier question, the best medicine for insomnia was exercise, or more specifically, training, which was why Saera now found herself standing uncomfortably alone on a wide patch of packed down dirt, holding a specially crafted replica of her released Zanpakutou, made with a solid steel shell filled in with lead, in one hand and a small electronic speaker she'd obtained on one of her stints back on earth.

Saera paused for a moment and bent down to place the speaker before hitting a small button on the top, causing it to start playing through a pre-loaded list of music before straightening and moving further in to begin her warm up exercises. After a while though Saera felt she was ready, and was already feeling a nice burn from doing the basic movements hefting around the weighted practice weapon, so picking up the tempo from the song currently playing, one of her favorites, she began to go through increasingly complex movements, following no set Kata, just allowing each movement to flow into the next. Eventually, as she started to get more into the training she began to sing along with the next song to come up.

"Through the gates of hell, as we make our way to heaven..."

As Saera continued to run through her various weapon forms she lost herself entirely to her task, strikes, blocks, parries, advances, retreats, everything happened to the beat of the song she had gotten so absorbed in. As such it was child's play for another Shinigami to sneak up behind her and attempt to surprise her. Regardless of what the other's intentions were, Saera didn't think, didn't pause, she simply reacted. As soon as the scabbard touched her head Saera thrusted backwards with her Guandao, attempting to ram her unknown assailant in the gut with the heavy shaft of the weapon before jumping away, all thoughts of music and practice lessened.

It wasn't until she had spun around to face the newcomer, holding the blade of her weapon low in preparation to fight, that the words of the other person, no the other Shinigami as she could now see, actually registered, along with the sight of the scabbard that she now realized had been used to gently tap her head. Realizing her mistake Saera rushed out an apology.

"Oh shit! I'm sorry, I was lost in my on mind, didn't mean to hit you, you're not hurt are ya?"

Saera blinked, then her embarrassment began to shift into anger.

"Actually, what the hell were you even doing? Sneaking up on someone with a weapon like that, are you trying to get killed? If you're gonna do somethin' like that at least give them a good rap on the head, daze 'em or something, I mean seriously!"

Alright, so, kind of an oversight on her part. Chidori didn't know what she was expecting when she sneaked up on someone in the middle of swinging around a weapon, but getting hit square in the chest by a pole was something that didn't cross her mind, or at least not until it was too late. So, catching her off guard, the shaft hit her square in the chest and pushed her back a little bit, a slight squeal escaping her mouth. Her assailant then turned around and spoke, at first seeming worried but then quickly becoming angry. It took Chidori a moment to recover from the blow before she was able to actually get any words out.

"It... seems I stand corrected..." She took long, paced breaths as she tried to regain her composure. "Sorry, sneaking... is kind of my thing. However, if I wanted to do some serious harm I could and would have. Though after an attack like that you basically showed that you're somewhat able to defend yourself." As she was speaking, the Shihoin's eyes began to scan this person up and down. They looked like a woman, probably a fresh shinigami based on how they just looked from a glance, posture and all that. What really stood out was the fact they were wielding a polearm. That's odd given most newbies are given a katana, so now she was just confused and a bit jealous being that she still doesn't have her own.

"What's up with the..." Her had does a circular gesture towards the weapon. "Also, what're you doing way out here in the dead of night? Well, besides fighting the air I guess."

Saera snorted at the woman's statement about being able to hurt her. While she had no doubt that the other woman could have caused her injury, Saera was willing to bet it would've been a more difficult proposition than the other woman was giving her credit for. A fact that was further cemented by the stranger's next statement, which actively made Saera roll her eyes.

"Right, 'sorta' defend myself, sure."

Saera sighed, mostly to release her frustration, and partially, though she'd never admit it, in relief that someone else had shown up. Music and exercise helped, but other people actually being around was always welcome. Well, almost always.

"And this," Saera thumped the but of her weapon on the ground, "Is a special replica of my zanpakutou in it's released state. I use for physical endurance training, the outside is steel, but the majority of it's made up of the lead it's filled with. Which is why I felt fine following a beat, sure it never hurts to improve muscle memory but this was more about burning energy than anything else. That's the answer to your second question by the way, couldn't sleep, came out here to tire myself out."

Saera took a second to size up the new comer herself, seeing a relatively fit looking dark haired girl, just a little shorter than Saera herself. Though where Saera's definition came from a lifetime of labor, the woman in front of her didn't seem to give off the air of a habitual worker, which lead to Saera's next question.

"Anyway, what are you doin' out here tonight anyway? I'm actually in the Fourth, but I don't recognize you from around the division."

"Oh, same reason as you. I can't sleep, too antsy. Ever since I had my kids, they've either been keeping me up all night or require my undivided attention during the day. In fact, I'm only here now since their father is still around for a while and they were asleep when I left." The dark-skinned girl paused for a while and she continued to form an answer to the incredibly simple question. "That and I feel odd if I'm not with my sword. My spirit can be a real bitch if she's neglected, and I would feel bad as a partner if I just didn't tend to her needs." There was a hint of love and a hint of annoyance in her voice as she spoke, since Chidori did really feel a strong connection with her spirit, even if the two often butted heads.

"But yeah, you're right, I'm not from Fourth, I'm from the Seventh. We're relatively new to the whole scene so we're not very established when it comes to facilities. Being one of the closer places to my home, it made it easy to slip out." For another, longer moment, she paused before a surprised look washed over her face. "Oh shit, I forgot to introduce myself!" She cleared her throat and straightened her posture, sticking out her hand at the end of the procedure.

"Hi, I'm Chidori, Chidori Shihoin, Head of the Shihoin royal family. They kinda force me to say the last part..." A weak laugh followed the statement. "So whaddya say, need a partner?"

Saera took Chidori's hand and gave it a firm shake.

"Pleasure to meet ya, I'm Saera Kirin. Can't claim to be a princess though, and frankly I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to anyway, no offense."

Saera began to walk over to her speaker, her mock weapon resting on one shoulder, as she continued to speak.

"As for partnering up to train? I'm not about to complain, though if we're going to be working out together I should probably get out my real blade, this thing's great for endurance training, but not so much for anythin' else."

Saera carefully placed the replica Guandao on the ground next to the speaker, which she turned off as it was still blasting music, and turned back to face Chidori, her hand resting on the hilt of her zanpakutou.

"As the guest I'll let you choose what we do. Sparring, forms, shadow boxing, I'm up for pretty much whatever, though if we do spar I'm gonna ask that we keep our Zanpakutou sealed, at least for now. Doubt people'd be to happy to be woken up by explosions and who knows what else."

"Oh, don't worry, keeping my sword sealed won't be a problem..." There was a tinge of sadness in her voice as she stated a blunt fact. It still very much annoyed her that she has yet to achieve her shikai, mainly for the fact that even the most basic of shinigami were able to do so, but she wasn't able to brute force her way past the requirement, and honestly she doesn't want to. Even though her spirit had a hard head and was stubborn progress was slowly being made, however it was too slow and eventually something was going to have to be done. However, that would not be today.

"And honestly, it's up to you. What do you feel like you need to work on? I find that when bettering yourself or your skills you first need to pick out where improvement needs to be made. Example..." She paused for a moment to think up a scenario where this sort of method would apply. "Say you've always been bad at kido, well then you would have to recognize that fact and try to pinpoint where you're bad. Is it the control, the incantation, the formation? The arts of a shinigami are all very complex so there's always something that is holding you back. Very, very few people ever get to say that they have nothing to improve. So, what is that thing for you Saera?" Chidori's sky blue eyes stared intently at the girl, awaiting an answer like a dog waits for it's master. The Shihoin figured that she should give some guidance when possible and should get used to doing it as well, because sooner or later the people underneath her would start coming to her for answers and she would have to be able to supply them if she wanted to become a good leader.

That would have to be a matter for another time though, as right now she was trying to figure out how to become a better shinigami.

Saera raised an eyebrow at Chidori's somewhat melancholy assertion that keeping her Zanpakutou sealed wouldn't be a problem.

Probably can't release it yet. Meh, not my problem. Yet.

While Saera was rather blunt and cared about as much for social grace as a metaphorical rock thrown through a window, she didn't have a reason to care about this woman's relationship with her blade's spirit, so she wasn't going to push the issue, at least not tonight. Tonight was for training that didn't get her in trouble with the higher ups, so with that in mind Saera considered Chidori's question for a moment, a quiet hum making it's way through her pursed lips as she gazerd skyward in concentration.

Eventually she shrugged, "If I'm bein' honest here, my weak spot'd hafta be my speed. I can hit like a truck, and get hit by a truck, but movin' from place ta place? That takes me some time. Unsurprisingly I'm not to good at flash step either. I can sling lightning and fire no issue, but I can't blink around all to well."

Saera lowered her gaze to look Chidori straight in the eye, fixing her with a scrutinizing look, "What about you? Trainin's a two way street. I got no problem admittin', and workin' on my weaknesses, but what do you need help with?"

The princess was so busy thinking about how to help the other person, that she completely forgot how to help herself. She took a moment and placed her hand on her chin, trying to think back to a moment she wished she trained more. There were none that she could recall recently, as she once had enough free time to do the things she wanted, but suddenly something came to mind.

"I could use some practice in my cat form, if you don't mind fighting a cat." A chuckle escaped her lips, realizing the absurdity of what she just said. However, Chidori felt that it would be easier to show what she meant rather than. So, she slowly put her zanpakuto down on the ground and stepped away from Saera. Slowly, the woman transformed from an average sized human to a slightly-larger than average black bengal tiger. As she finished, Chidori let out a loud yawn and stretched her body, her tail shooting straight up into the air and stiffening as she does this.

"Man, every time I do this it feels weirder and weirder. You know, I have an Aunt that is in her cat form for at least 80% of the time she spends. It's wild."