Unintended Consequences [ Tento | Armina ]

The lure of a retreating fighter was hard to resist, it was an achilles heel for every member of the 4th, and Tento doubted the ferocity that Armina had would let her be any different. As well as he seemed to handle this new form initially, it still landed a blow against him. As light as it may have been, it was an agile knife waiting to surgically operate. He expected and hoped she would charge in at him seeing it as an opportunity.

After his double horizontal slashes cleaved through the air, Arimina rushed forward in a vertical slash after Tento’s feet landed. The short extra space between them vanished in that second as she aimed to attack his left shoulder. His blade was extended him his waist level, sticking out in a blind stab as he focused his strength as he raised his sheath, clashing again into Armina's blade as it dug into his shoulder. Slashing into the top layer but prevented from going further. As reduced as her slash was boy did it still hurt. It was the first real injury out of all of his suffered blows so far. With a heave he pushed her blade up and away just in time the empowered Hakuda kick landing at his core once again striking his core. However this time it sent imgus body back in a tumble several feet away with his body landing on one knee.

With a burst and wide grin he was back in the fray charging forward towards Armina dashing in a drive past her in a slash with his sword along the before quickly turning again in a dash with an arcing slash with his sheath. Again and again and again he would let on his charge gaining speed and strength in five consecutive attacks before in his sixth and final barrage he charged Arimina from behind, hopefully, inching steps before her before vanishing away in a flash step to only appear in front of her, crouched low before raising up in a torrent of wind letting out a double vertical slash with his sword and sheath.

Armina couldn’t say that Tento wasn’t durable and even though she scored a strike or two, he took them well and kept coming. She wasn’t holding back and was willing to admit that maybe she underestimated him a touch although in truth, wasn’t that how she acted towards everyone these days? Respect was earned rather than given, after all and the blue haired woman had spent an awful lot of years living by that credo. Many had failed to earn it for those who did? Well, she’d consider them allies at least.

His next barrage was considerably more thought out and Armina found herself on the backfoot briefly as he dashed around, striking at various different points, forcing her to take the defensive and weather out the storm. His speed was formidable enough, much to the annoyance of the 4th Seat and she did feel a trickle of blood as he caught her once or twice. Again, not enough to cripple her but once more, it aroused what lay within the woman. She was, however, able to block his last pair of attacks, her eyes burning with spiritual energy as her ferocity began to increase further.

Shunpo wasn’t her strongest suit but she did attempt to move behind him in order to counter attack but as she swung her blade towards his back, her weapon would change shape, silently activating her Shikai. Her sword would become a two handed hammer, decorated with symbols of a long dead language, ice covering the entire head. She felt he’d fought well enough for them to increase the tempo a bit and as her power rose due to her release, a smile grew upon her face, now well and truly invested.

The stance was most certainly an adjustment. But, he was no novice when it came to the blade. Even in his time at Shino, Tento had seemed to find a strange comfort with it in his hands. His eagerness to train against strong people only intensified it. Armina had steadily brought on an intense wide grin on his face with each flurry that she let out. Tento’s spirit was slowly awakening as his spiritual pressure’s intensity was growing by the exchange. The build up of chips between the two fighters did something. It was wood pieces breaking off to land to tender a campfire. A nice stable burn that was soon turning into a powerful blaze. Armina truly earned her place with the 4th. Regardless of her…behavior and attitude that felt more akin to an ancient problematic 11th, she was 4th.

And she was something else. For all of her years of service to the Gotei she was most definitely a challenge to him. He may have been faster but she was clearly stronger and faster. He could land two blows but it felt like jus he could only chip away at that stuff durability while she came in as a wrecking ball. It was kind of crazy and scary. He felt like he improved by leaps and bounds in his physical capabilities and yet here was another wall in front of him. A measurement to reach and hopefully surpass one day. Just what did she do to get her body like that? With how sexy and soft it looked it was a bit frustrating, in more than one way. This was fun. Quite a bit more fun than he had had fighting anyone in the 4th for a long time now. She had his respect and more in regards to her skill. Respect for Tento was the same as humanity. If one breathed, thought, felt. Then they deserved it, at least to be given at first. It was the right of dignity. If they spat on that offered hand or were scum, then it would be withheld. Armina handled what he gave and gave it back with an OOOMPH.

The clash of blades and loose sparks ended again, another attempt to pressure her that she guarded well against. The burning spiritual energy in her eyes was a signal that things were getting exciting for her. The berserker was stoic at another release of blood from her body. But this time it was the release of her being. With a shunpo she was on his back, not too fast for him to see or react but that was not what troubled him. The energy was dancing around her form as he turned to meet her. His sheath and blade came out once again in a X guard, the brown color of his Reiatsu washing over his frame to embolden his defense before his eyes went a bit wide. Her blade transformed into a Warhammer with its head covered in ice. Crashing through his sheath and smashing his blae with a resounding clash that pushed his arms back, sending him in a blitzing acceleration to slam the wall behind him. A Tento sized indent that gave a resounding crack at the sound of impact. A cough and spray of a small amount of blood came from Tento’s mouth as he was stuck in the wall for a second.

“I should have been more prepared for a sudden change like that”, taking a second to give a bit of a compliment to his superior. She caught him and he was surely starting to feel all of it. Quickly flexing his body’s muscles, Tento unlogged himself from the wall. “I am starting…”. Eyeing Armina’s smile with a calm goofy smirk of his own before his zanpatuko and sheath changed in hand as he threw his right hand out. With a swift and quick motion he ahd hurled his katana towards her, mid flight the blade shimmered as its form shifted and warped. Shiomaru’s elegant curve morphed into a sickle, the edge gleaming against the growing cold atmosphere caused by Armina’s zanpatuko release. The sickle spun with a precision aimed at Armina’s center mass, a straightforward flail before regardless if it landed out not, it would be pulled back by its chain as Tento prepared to then let out a wide sweep arc of his sickle blade and chain. Calmly holding the formed fan made of feathers in his left hand. “To like fighting ya Ice Mistress!!”.

While Armina could’ve bantered with him, that had never been her way in the midst of a fight but her body language spoke for her. She was rather enjoying it too and being able to cut loose with her Shikai was most certainly pleasant. He’d survived her blow of course although had taken quite the shunt from it, which wasn’t an awfully great surprise to the 4th Seat. Tento was durable indeed and she’d already got the message that she could fight properly against him, without having to hold back. So much the better, not to mention more enjoyable.

To have him throw his weapon at her was rather unexpected but half way through the attack, it would suddenly change shape, becoming a sickle of sorts. An unusual weapon but not one that was new to the blue haired Shinigami. She’d raise her hammer in response, bringing it in a swipe from left to right in order to forcefully knock the weapon away from her. He then struck a second time, forcing Armina to jump as he made a sweeping attack in her direction. It appeared that it would be awkward to fight.

Still, that wasn’t going to put the 4th Seat off and taking a good grip of her Zanpakuto, she’d charge towards her foe again, swinging forcefully with her zanpakuto in an attempt to batter him from left to right, similar to how she’d blocked his previous attack. The force of her blow was enough that if she happened to miss, the momentum would spin her around and allow her to attack again. She was curious to see just what his weapon could do but Armina wasn’t going to just stand there and let him get off a free shot with it.

Durable as he was, it was still a shock to the system. A shunt in a released boost while he was still in his base powers. He was honestly surprised that something did not break there. Even if she did return the banter, it may have been a waste, she was deserving more and more of his focus after all. And despite how goofy an attitude that he liked to put off, he was still a warrior. And at a point, the body and blade spoke for itself. It was clear she was into it and thrilled by the pursuit of battle. The berserker…was awake.

Satisfied, Tento was ready for them to kick it up a notch. The sweep of his sickle missed, his eyes following her in her jump away with her hefty melee weapon. With a shift of his feet he waited as she charged forward, softly chanting the kido incantation he planned to use as she approached using her heavy weapon to swipe side to side which with his furthered speed advantage was easy to step back from with a light number of footwork steps. With a gust of wind though, he was pushed back as her body came again like a tornado, threatening to hit him in his halted post before he threw out his right hand. Clashing his sickle blade with her hammer, sparks flying and his weapon falling back after a few seconds of a clash. But that was all he needed.

With that time his left hand came up, an incantation released powered Bakudo #1 Sai before quickly unleashing a powerful gust of wind from his fan from point blank range. The hailstorm of wind whistling as it slammed, hopefully, into Armina before Tento flashed stepped away. His zanpakuto swung in a twirl overhead. He had to be careful with that strength of hers now…it left an aching pain in his arm that was lingering now.

There was a look in the eyes of the 4th Seat as Tento released his Kido spell at her. One that briefly seemed to scream disappointment. Yeah, Armina had come to accept that all of the Shinigami arts were necessary but she still always felt the slightest hint of irritation when it came to spellcasting. The glance only lasted a second though and soon enough melted away to be replaced by a more focused expression. The spell was only Bakudo 1 though and while Armina found herself slowing somewhat, her durability and willpower allowed her to not become paralysed. It worked but couldn’t be called a complete success.

The second attack was more effective and the gust of wind knocked the blue haired woman back several metres. An interesting ability and one that didn’t exactly please Armina. An opponent at range was a pain in the fucking ass to deal with, a fact she’d be learning more and more often lately. Damn, she missed the days where everyone in the squad just used close ranged shit.

She did have a trick or two of her own though and so by spinning her axe around, she’d unleash a set of ice chains that would dash out towards Tento. The reasons for doing so would be rather apparent, simply to attempt to keep him in hammer range. After using the technique, she’d tear forwards again, attempting to deliver a powerful vertical slamming attack towards him.

It was a quick look that was only lasted a second. As feint as it was in time it was easy to see from the sharp eye of a warrior. A loud disappointment and at that time Tento wanted to let out a heavy sigh of exasperation. Why wouldn't Armina be in that group of thinkers? She was a shinigami from a long history. A blood and sword lady within the Gotei. And although she did not get to be a part of them, her mentality screamed The old 11th. She would hate kido and the ‘crutched’ shinigami who used it as part of their utility belt. His look, in that second of exchange. His kind excited face held annoyance and sadness.

Yet another shinigami holding back their full potential.

Through factors of her own skill, the paralysis kido only slowed and stunted. A well all outcome given Tento only needed a set up for the wind strike. The wind mapiluated and pushed her back, a fact that he was honestly surprised by with the distance she traveled. It was noted if it came down to a need. And with an uncertainty about her rumored powers that may be a noted need.

Letting Shiomaru's sickle return in a side spin as stopped in her knock back. Wind churning slight at the movement. Tento gave consideration at how he wanted to go about his next actions Armina let loose two ice chains that boomed forward at a much faster speed that she had been fighting during their spar. With haste Tento vanished out of the firing path of the chains, avoid its initial attack towards him. Appearing out of it to witness Armina come at him with another strike that he countered with a flail slash from a bit of distance away. It wouldn't hold enough force to push her back away from charging closer, but it was at least making her charge not an easy task as he winded up his sickle chain for another flail. Trying to keep the hammer away as best as he could unaware of the await tricks Armina had up her sleeve.

He handled her technique well once more and Armina was soon given something else to think about as he attacked once again with a flail attack. She could have attempted to block the blow with her hammer but instead the blue haired woman used her chains to create a shield, resulting in a rather firm collison as his weapon met her created defence. The 4th Seat couldn’t honestly say anything negative about how he’d fought so far, other than the slight sense of frustration at the Kido spell he’d used previously.

Her chains breaking due to the impact of the collision of power, Armina would swiftly glance to the head of her hammer, causing it to turn an icy shade of blue as the ability activated. It wasn’t a complex ability nor one that was particularly difficult to avoid but with every attack from her blade, Tento might just find his speed begin to slow, should Armina actually make contact. A melee ability and one she found useful as she kept up the pressure as greatly as she could, trying to keep in within close range, unleashing powerful strikes from her hammer of death. He was no doubt the more adaptive of the two but that didn’t mean that Armina’s stubborn minded approach was to be underestimated.

The sturdy chain made shield made Tento's attack bounce off once again with a chink. He had to give it to her. Armina had a bit of versatility with her Shikai, she was not just a close range melee fighter. If the bond with Shiomaru was not so developed, he would be on the back foot with how comfortable he felt against her ice. Even with that, he knew that he had to be careful with those blows. Speer advantage or not. A solid blow from Armina was gonna cause a lot of pain. He thought he had improved his body so much after becoming a soul, but he still had a long way to go to improve his body. And that fact, in truth, made a wise fierce grin of excitement paint his face.

His zanpakuto quickly went back into a spin after the collision. There was still much Tento did not know about Armina’s zanpakuto. It was a close ranger weapon, a massive hammer. It seemed to be based on ice so there were likely aspects of cold or ice, such as the ice chains shards she shot out at him. There has to be more than that though, but what specifically?

With a buildup of wind coursing around his form, Tento eyes gave a careful look to Armina. Her hammer zanpakuto's head turned an icy shade of blue as Tento felt a shift of a short energy uptick. If that was not a notification of a zanpakuto's ability being activated he did not know what was. Would it be another projectile like her ice chains or do with her melee forte was unclear. One thing Tento knew was that he had to be ready for something to happen.

With a twirl of his zanpakuto the game of cat and mouse began in full swing. Qith each approach Amrina attempted Tento let out a flurry of strikes from his sickle. A sweeping string of attacks aimed at her body or weapon as she came happy to give her aggressive in the chose of attempting to dodge or to block with her weapon. At this point he changed his act as a stationary fighter, shifting around the field with agile flips and jumps to increase the number of angles Armina would have to deal with. She was making progress bit by bit over time, but Tento was not making this easy on her as it seemed he was slowly approaching her himself if she was keen enough to notice in the middle the chaos.

His speed was irritating but Armina was handling it in the only way she knew how, her zanpakuto hopefully doing its job of slowly but surely dropping it. If she struck him enough, the 4th Seat might just get the temporary freeze that she was searching for but for the time being, the blue haired woman was forced to take the defensive once again as he attacked with vigour. His movements were crisp and there was certainly a fair amount of force behind his blows. His work was effective and while Armina did take a strike or two from his barrage, her durability was more than enough to stand up to it. She was sturdy if nothing else.

All she could do in response was try to fight fire with fire, unable to match him with speed and relying on her raw strength to keep herself in the spar. Armina was smiling too at that point, simply making the most of the encounter, allowing herself to delve deeper into her berserker rage. It was rather difficult to control but Tento had earned the right to fight her properly so there was no other real option in truth. Naturally, it would only take over fully if she used her Bankai but there was no chance of that today.