Commanding Power, Confronting Fear [Solo | Bankai Training]

Silently, unveiled by the concealment of his spiritual and physical presence due to Bakudo #26 Kyokko. Tento exploded out from above Shiomaru, the concealed light that bended around him vanishing as a tightly binded net of reshi wrapped around the two before multiplying in number. A moment of frustration became the Zanpakuto as it missed it attack. Contusion shifting into interest, determined wrath as they watch Tento stand over them idly with a satisfied look on his face.

“So happy with one self just because of a dodged and entrapment? You won't beat us by slowing us down”.

“I'm happy because I don't have to worry about you two moving. I can concentrate this with no worry”, as Tento spoke, the temperature of the air dropping dramatically through the utterance of his sentence. “Hadō #86, Hyoga Seiran”. Without a movement, Tento generated a massive pillar of ice at arctic level of cold. Controlling the wave of unleashed ice of Hyoga Seiran in a vertical descension from his level in the air. Chilling the surrounding area but keeping the impact damage that would normally happen vastly contained. That force, was condensed into two walls that closed in on the lion and hawk halves of Shiomaru.

In a frozen stew, Tento’s zanptauko gawked as they were freezed in place. Its physical form trapped in the reishi layed iced trap, unable to move but still communicate through its shared spirit and connection to its trapper. Gripping his blade, Tento channeled every fiber of his physical strength as he crouched in a lowered stance. His blade, an extension of his indomitable will, gleamed with the drawing light. With a warrior’s cry that echoed across the desolate barrack, Tento raised his sword high, muscles taut and eyes ablaze with determination. This will end it!.

In one fluid, explosive motion, he brought the sword down. The blade sang through the frigid air, a piercing note in the silent world, and struck the ice with the force of a thunderclap. A spiderweb of cracks erupted from the point of impact, racing across the surface like lightning. He felt it hold resistance, as if Shiomaru’s spirit itself wanted to give one last tug in this game of tug-o-war. But Tento did not relent. He moved like a tempest, each strike a symphony of power and grace as the followed in a dance that gave a visage of a spartan phalanx attacking as one. The ice buckled and groaned, a cacophony of destruction that grew with every blow. And then, with a sound like the world itself splitting asunder, the pillar shattered.

Chunks of ice, each a miniature sculpture of the once-imprisoned griffin, cascaded around him. Tento stood amidst the glittering downfall, his breath misting in the air, as the lion and hawk , freed from its icy tomb, spread its wings and mane before falling in a slow screeching roar to the ground in the wake of lose. But in their submission there was a feeling of peace and joy. A feeling of a joint figure in shade taking to the skies with a triumphant screech that promised retribution and newfound life. Tento watched as his zan spirit landed with a thud, following them down in a careful approach before finally shunpoing to their side.

“Shiomaru”. Seeing that the two could no longer move, Tento shifted to a wrathful warrior on a hunt to a gentle caretaker. His blade settled on the ground, he placed both hands onto the hawk and lion body of his zanpakuto. His voice was gentle and he felt them. Warmth. As bloodied and bruised they were. As much sweat he was covered and fatigued, the was none of that sensation at the moment. There was a serene calmness that made him think no one else was present in the world. That he, was not in existence. Only they. Shiomaru too, felt nothing. There were no pain from the accumulation of wounds. The ice that threatened to give frostbite felt warm. They opened their eyes, seeing Tento before them.

“Congratulations, young master”, their tone going from a challenger to the long await friend and teacher that Tento had grown to rely on. “You have bested me. You are no longer just apprentice. But know that once you take my power. The real challenges within your self will come, and even more so. That we will be at your side”.

“What shall I call when I need you?”. A bright light shinned in Tento’s eyes as he felt the wind danced once again. The visage of the two zan spirits fading in a fog as they seemed to slowly disappear. From head to paw to tail they swirled, blended and mixed as they twisted into something anew. Tento’s blade moved alongside them, vanishing from the physical word, wind taking it away in a flap as if it was a page turning to a new chapter. Back in its sealed state, he felt himself in it ever more before. Them. Regardless Tento’s eyes did not move however. They did not shift from where Shiomaru had laid.

“Call out...”