Sing for the Laughter, Sing for the Tears [Yuri Solo]

Whew.

A soft sigh escaped Yuri as she stared out across the landscape infront of her. It was a plot of land that technically speaking was a part of the rukongai, where a vast expanse of forest cut through the landscape and interrupted the districts and signs of civilization. A valley that crept between two halves of a mountain split by a river running down it's center. It was isolated from most anyone else. It was desolate, and there wasn't much reason for others to venture here. The perfect location to train what she was looking for. She closed her eyes and took a steady breath. Sensing the souls nearby. Not people, but animals, wildlife that inhabited the region and filled in the void otherwise left by civilization. And in focusing on he external, she felt her own internal thoughts slowly drift away.

She couldn't meditate properly otherwise, she was always alert. She could not shut out the inside and focus on some internal object. No, it was far easier for her to clear her thoughts by simply fading into her environment. Don't shut it out. But open up completely. Clearing her mind, erasing herself. Her spiritual pressure slowly thinning until she blended with her surroundings.

There was no thoughts, no self. Only the landscape around her.

How long had it taken to figure out the preferences of her zanpaku'to.

to find a place like this.
To find that peace and solitude and nothingness.

And to find that her zanpaku'to would find the silence as the perfect place to be heard.

There you are my little songbird.

The smallest annoyance drifted in, and then swiftly out of her mind. But her body remained impassive. And her spiritual energy slowly began to hum, from silence to a slow buzzing tune that seemed to slowly shift and adjust until it found that perfect note. And from that note, her Zanpaku'to found it's path. The air before her slowly twisting, a warm glow of energy gently spilling into existence. A flower blooming infront of her. And slowly, ever so slowly, it's petals peeled open, as a form slowly emerged from the fglower itself. Larger... and larger. Impossibly large for the size of the bloom itself. Until finally it stepped free. The feminine form garbed in white. bare save for the curtain of red that coated her, a bloody birthday suit fresh from the blossom, though clothing soon wove itself around her frame.

Well well well. You know, it doesn't always HAVE to be here. Or is this the only place you feel comfortable letting me out? That playful voice intoned.

Yuri opened her eyes and found herself staring directly at her Zanpaku'to, Fully manifested into the material wold, and offering her a casual smile.

"Well, once I wrestle my Bankai out of you, I won't know what to expect. ,Better safe than sorry." Came the woman's own playful response, drawing an amused little bitchy chuckle from the pale spirit.

"Confident still. How many times has it been now? Ten? Fifteen? Have you lost count?" The spirit ventured, her head canting to the side as she turned and began to idly pace about the clearing. Looking out toward the rest of the valley as Yuri watched her carefully. A tension building in the air. Not just that, but a low buzz in the spiritual pressure escaping her Zanpaku'to. A sound in the spiritual pressure that made Yuri's bones tingle uncomfortably, at least until she managed to get her own spiritual pressure to match.

Something which widened the smile on her zanpaku'to's face. "You're getting better at this. Think you can keep up with my Song?" She ventured playfully, slowly reaching up and holding ah and over her left eye. Or where the zanpaku'to WOULD have had a right eye. But rather than that, a white flower bloomed from the socket, and from it's center, she slowly peeled a sword from it, once again seeming to defy the dimensions of the flower itself as a blade was pulled from the small plant, and then pointed at Yuri as that soft hum became a sudden BOOMING roar. One she quickly had to adjust to.

She had summoned her zanpaku'to several times before, and it had taken her a while to figure out what was going on. That rattling spiritual pressure that made it fdeel as if she was shaking apart, it had taken at least two tries before she'd learned to adjust her own spiritual pressure to match and harmonize with it to keep herself from buckling under the strain. It was TERRIBLY difficult. Not only fighting with her weapon, but also having to adjust her spiritual pressure to keep herself from collapsing. It was an exhausting and frightening game.

"Well. Ready to try again?~"

Thump Thump Thump.

That dull thud like a heartbeat coursed through yuri's body as she brought her blade up, a grimmace lancing across her features as her weapon CRASHED into the sword being flung her way. A powerful downward slash that she met with her own horizontal parry, striking with just as much force to nullify some of the impact, gritting her teeth. as the pair of them came to a screeching halt. Twisting, pressing their blades together. Yuri notably strained to keep up with the strength of her zanpaku'to. All the while, Sesshō's expression remained a calm, placid smile, visibly enjoying the struggle of her wielder as the pair were flung away from eachother by the impact. Yuri dug her heels into the ground and a thick blanket of reishi she collected at her feet, keeping herself from skidding back to far and losing her balance. Her sword brought up as she watched the pale witch launching themselves to the side, circling around her.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

As they fought, those pulses shot out and fucked with her concentration. There was a constant melody to her sword's spiritual pressure. IT was like .... singing. A song that had it's own steady rise and fall. Interlaced with those dull thumps. I was hell to keep up with, and every time she found herself falling behind in the past, she'd felt a sudden JARRING pain through her body. The first time she actually figured out how to match that tempo, even for a moment, it was those dull thumps that had worn her down. She'd slowly managed to start matching them, but she'd been so worn out, that she almost passed out, and had to disperse her zanpaku'to spirit.

The time after that, she'd managed to match the rhythmn. But it had taken so much effort that even matching that beat, she was beaten down by her sword while she was distracted. And the time before this... well.

Ready for the next verse?

She could hear the smile in her Zanpaku'tos voice as she felt it. The brief lul in the rhythm, as those dull thumps suddenly changed in frequency. Slowly coming just a bit faster as hat underlying music shifted in tone. A sensation as though smooth woodwind were turning to stirring strings bit through her body, and those sharp notes brought the taste of blood to her mouth. This had almost completely knocked her out the last time it had happened. This time.... she adjusted. FWASH!

She brought in her blade just in time, her Zanpaku'to having sprinted toward her along the side of the wall, that blade rushing in to slash her across the chest, stalled only at the last minute by the guard of Yuri's weapon, drawing a hiss from the woman as her muscles screamed, struggling to block as she felt herself BARELY sharpening her own spiritual pressure. spitting a bit of blood from her mouth off to the side as she tightened her grip on her weapon. Her focus split between adjusting her spiritual pressure and pressing off the attack. Her body stung. Her hands were ringing from the impact. And her skull ached from the headache of focusing on so many things at once.

Good, Good~ Having a good time?" Sesshō grinned from ear to ear, the tempo swaying up and down in pitch, it wasn't much, but it still made Yuri tense, having to adjust to it, every now and then, a sharp stinging pain as she didn't adjust quite correctly, causing a sudden sharp stinging sensation through her body. This time she'd recognized what was happening. The last time she'd beenm so focused on the rhythm that she hadn't noticed that it was slowly changing. building in intensity and tempo. Signaling a change in the song. Even now, her spiritual energy FLARED around her, matching the sudden glow around her zanpaku'to. A release of reiatsu like many others. Only, instead of simply roaring in a vast explosion. That glow pulsed and flared. Brief periods of expulsion before it quieted and seemed to draw the energy back into the both of them. Following a visible melody. One that was building to a climax, and Yuri braced herself.

ScreEEEEEEEEEEEE.

The blade she had been parrying twisted, turning so that it's edge turned upward. Toward Yuri's face, and suddenly the direction of that pressure shoved upward. Scraping along the edge of her blade, and Yuri had to suddenly duck back, her eyes wide as that edge screamed up the length of her sword, sending sparks flying with friction before barely sparing her face with it's edge. It was SO close that as the tempo suddenly shifted and changed, she felt a jarring BUZZ through her body as if she'd been shocked! She'd missed the transition! And she struggled to adjust her spiritual pressure accordingly, an opportunity her zanpaku'to took to suddenly twist and slash down. That blade didn't miss this time, and cleaved clean down Yuri's shoulder, cutting into her body and then down her thigh to sink into the ground. A sudden splash of blood as the woman twisted, a gasp escaping her throat as that blade cleaved through her, but she kept her focus on that sudden faster rhythm! And it was ..... different! At first it hurt, struggling with ...what she was sensing.

That sharp string sensation to the spiritual pressure dropping to a soft sortof.... ping. As if rather than drawin by a bow, but rather plucked to make singular, punctual pulses. "GKHUHK!" She coughed up a mouthfull of blood and spat it to the ground! The sudden havock that this change in melody had on her body causing her to shudder and almost buckle at the knees as she swung her own blade, and slashed at Sesshō's neck! The spirit simply backing off, darting back and making some distance, giving Yuri a bit of space as she panted, her eyes wide and her body shaking as she barely managed to adjust her spiritual pressure, catching up with the melody and finally easing the strain on her body once she was in tune again. Barely. Those soft, plucking shifts in pressure flowed up and down like a guitar being plucked in rapid succession.

You seem a little tired. Don't let up, you should be having fun. This performance isn't just for you. It takes a lot of effort to teach someone a song, you know. The Spirit teasted, that smile only widening.

She gritted her teeth and spat, to the side, clearing blood from her mouth as she pushed forward. Those blades meeting in a nother loud CLANG as she went on the offensive! She felt .... energy. Coursing through her. Something she hadn't felt before. Even though she was bleeding, she felt as if her body were filling up with energy. A soft pant escaping her, as she felt something crawling through her body. Roots. That familiar feeling that usually came with her shikai. She managed to lunge in and slash, meeting the spirit's blade as she glared at the taller woman. "I wouldn't call this a very good lesson! You just started this shit every time we fight! You must be a pretty shit teacher if I passed out the first two times you ried to give me the lesson!" She insisted, a bit of anger coursing through her as her spiritual pressure gained a bit more VIGOR to it.

Interesting though, I never did anything different. But you still got the hang of it on the third try you know. Not bad don't you think? The Spirit retorted slyly, seeming to be pushed back, yet annoyingly maintaining that smug expression as she seemingly allowed herself ot be bulled back. Sharp, aggressive slashes and stabs between the two, though Sesshō seemed mostly defensive, mostly slowing Yuri's advance rather than stopping it as she walked backwards leisurely.

"Yea, that STILL SUCKS! You almost KILLED me the first time!" She shouted, before with a sudden burst of energy, she managed to ride a rise in the rhythm. She could feel it. Every time there was a rising tempo in this little song of spiritual pressures, she'd feel a sudden energy boost, putting strength into her body, one that she used to suddenly take up the offensive before slowly backing off as that tempo dropped back down. That energy subsiding, but she could feel pain fading. So long as she stuck to the rhythmn and matched it, she felt her energy dip, but her body felt almost as if it were mending.

Of course. you instinctively started to match your spiritual pressure to mine. That's the kind of effect music has on people. Especially this song. It's IMPORTANT that you learn it this way. She spirit scolded her, drawing a look of sheer confusion across Yuri's face. "Why? Is your true power forcing people to play goddamn spiritual pressure rhythmn games?!" She hissed, instantly a bit nettled. Enough that she suddenly almost fell right over as she missed a change in tempo. So that when Sesshō stabbed forward, she was jarred out of her stance. Her blade limply swatting at the point, barely diverting it, certainly not enough to keep it from stabbing her in the shoulder! Yuri's entire body tensed, and she struggled to catch up with the tempo as she tried to back off and peel that blade out of her shoulder! That pissed mood evaporating with the alarm of being caught so off guard!

This was different. That string-like quality was .... stronger. And she almost couldn't even keep up with it. Rather than sweeping from high to low, it kept a sharp middle ground. Keeping a moderate beat before sharply spiking every beat and a half. No... this wasn't a verse. It was ... a bridge?

Something felt ... familiar about what she was feeling. As if she had 'heard' this song before.

The sudden shift of the music caught her off guard. And in an instant, the shock of it had her staggering back. A feeble rise of her blade in an attempt to block another wing from her zanpaku'to spirit. Her blade knocked to the side, the pale spirit lunging past her guard with an open hand and grabbing Yuri by her face as the woman reeled, struggling as she had to put so much energy into trying to match that sudden dizzying rhythm! Those sharp, twanging plucks came in a steady, unending stream. And a richer, DEEPER tone coursed and wound through the underlying beat that she could BARELY come close to. And the difference was agonizing. That sensation like someone singing through her bones made her twitch, thin rivulets of blood running down her ears and her cheeks as her softer tissues started to bleed again. Her vision blurring with blood as her zanpaku'to grabbed a hold of her throat.

She slashed, ripping her blace up across the spirit's wrist. It was all she could manage as her Zanpaku'to's spiritual pressure shredded her from the inside out, and she could feel those vines crawling through her guts and stitching her back up. A soft grunt as she felt blood spill down her frame from several spots. Slim pointed blades emerging from her skin, cutting through her uniform before warm white blossoms staiend red with her blood peeled open. Growing from her body as she used her free hand to weakly clutch at the spirit's hand on her throat, trying to pry it free.

There you are. The spirit grinned, as Yuri's feeble attempts became secondary to the beat as it suddenly slowed down. That feverish march falling into a void, a sudden, slow, sad ballad to bring the song to a close. Her blood was all over the place. Having marked the grass and the trees. Cuts littered her body, and it felt as if she'd been shredded from the inside out.

And yet she felt energy welling up. She didn't feel as if she were crippled like she SHOULD feel. She could see and hear despite all of the blood. And she felt roots crawling through her body as if to keep her together. The same feeling she always felt when these damn bouts finished. Only this time she wasn't face down on the ground. Though.... it didn't feel as if her position was any better.

Stubborn. But that's what I like about you, Yuri. It reminds me of the old days. That smile widened just a little. And then that blade flashed, ripping across Yuri's throat dismissively, a sudden cascade of blood spilling out as her throat was slit, and she was dropped to the ground. Intent on finishing the little bout.

But Yuri didn't collapse. She caught herself on one knee, as roots stitched her throat shut. And her own spiritual pressure roared. Striking up it's own rhythm as Sesshō's had wind to it's conclusion. An unexpected encore.

Her zanpaku'to flashed in an upward slash. Pumping spiritual energy through her arm to speed up the attack. Burning through all of the energy that she'd built up over the course of the song. Her flesh stitching back together. Her vision cleared. And The sudden forceful strike cut a crimson line clean up the length of the zanpaku'to spirit's frame. Cutting her from hip to shoulder. The strike ringing with that haunting encore. And just as soon as she had struck, she rose suddenly to her feet and lunged. Plunging her free hand into the wound that she'd so freshly made on her zanpaku'to spirit. A look of surprise flashing across the Spirit's features as Yuri plunged her hand into their breast, sinking in until she could feel it. A round sphere that she'd come to recognize.

The seed that her zanpaku'to planted. She'd noticed quite some time ago that when her shikai was active, her spirit energy always tended to collect in one spot in her body. Those roots and vines that grew throughout her body generally centered around one spot. Most often her wrist. And throughout the entire song, the echo of that spiritual pressure resonated most clearly in that same spot. Two spots. One she could feel in her wrist. And one she could feel echoing from her zanpaku'to's chest.

With a sudden pull, she peeled firmly, viciously prying the sphere from Sesshō's chest. That glowing sphere digging out the woman's chest as But there was no sudden rattling gasp from the spirit. If nothing else.... the pale zan spirit smirked at Yuri as the woman now held that root-bound seed. Dripping with blood and pulsing with the rhythmn she herself had brought to a close.

"Tch. You fucking .... bitch." Yuri murmured, as she staggered back and away from the Zanpaku'to. Glancing down and glaring at the blade that was now buried in her gut. Her zanpaku'to certainly hadn't just LET her pry that thing out of her without a price. And she could feel the seed in her hand hum with life, as if feeding off of her pain and injury. Already, as she peeled the sword from her midriff, a pale white flower bloomed from the injury and closed her back up, a soft couch escaping Yuri as she spat out blood. Oh fuck this really felt awful.

Bravo. Was it worth it? Sesshō Ventured with a cant of her head to the side. Yuri frowned at the question and glanced at the bloody thing in her hand.

She glance down at te thing and sneered. "I'm DOING this for ..... th-....what do you mean y-...." Oh no. Her expression slowly twisted into one of disgust as she glanced down at the seed itself and felt her heart drop into her stomach. This. THIS. Was her Bankai?! "You're fuckin lying to me." She panted, leering at the spirit as the gash in their chest slowly sewed itself shut, and the woman crossed her arms.

Nope~ Sorry but you're a bit of a perfectionist. Making a bankai is hard work. Especially when you have such a partner to work with. But this is it~ You wouldn't believe how deep down this was. But you've finally dug it all up. Sesshō noted, her voice dripping with patronization. Yuri couldn't help but feel the disdain bubbling up inside of herself. Mixed with .... confusion at her Zanpaku'to's choice of words. Frowning as she watched the spirit slowly fade, dissolving into white petals that swarmed back to Yuri herself. Yuri certainly was too worn out to force the spirit to manifest again. And as she stared at this.... disgusting.... THING in her hand. She narrowed her eyes. She had no idea what to do with ....whatever this was.

But she'd seen far too many students get too hung up on details. It was repulsive. But it was still HER Bankai.

She'd make it work. She'd have to.