An Cold Abyss, Walking Unfethered (Open)

Fri Aug 23, 2024 11:43 am

Sieviente | Cold

Lumbering, hunched, wicked, and cruel: it lurched forward without a single thought but misery. Ludicrous beings, like ants, scurried, his iron flesh the sun, unto them death fell with but a glance. Energy unlike no other ate away at the world, the sky a wretched black hole that erred the sun. It's one objective: bring forth their champions and warriors, lest their world be deemed invaluable and tossed aside: trash.

The Rukongai is on fire.

It appeared without a whisper, his presence long resting and waiting for but a single signal. Marched, it had, through the forests and wastelands, a band of merry men behind it. As Soul Society exploded, the Rukongai howled with lamentation as Hollow feasted on Plus' flesh and soul. Its mere presence evaporated denizens, his charge eradicating homes.

War has come, and Rey Sieviente has brought an army.

END POST | Steel

Sat Aug 24, 2024 1:55 pm

An Cold Abyss, Walking Unfethered (Open) JGYv9eD

MORIKAWA MIZU | 2nd Division Vice Captain

The sky screamed as rays of hope for the Rukongai in the form of five flaming pillars bathed scores of wooden homes in their light. They careened through the air before crashing into the horrific creature that appeared to be leading this massacre. At the fore of each pillar was a sphere of burning energy, five Shakkahō that helped fuel the Hadō 89: Sangai Gobashira Taihō's explosion. The flames and force of the explosion spread out in every direction, but just as with the five pillars, not all was as it seemed; a town square-sized translucent cube barrier prevented either from blasting through the houses still remaining around Rey Seviente.

From a distance away, Vice Captain of the Second Division Morikawa Mizu stood at attention, staring down the vile monsters who attacked her people's home. A fire raged within her, the likes of which she had never before experienced; all she could imagine was destroying these things, and leaving naught but ash in their wake. Everything in her life, every trial and tribulation, had brought her here to this moment to not only save lives but also to avenge those already lost.

For her family, for Tsuna, for Kyo, and for every single person in Soul Society, Mizu would destroy Soul Society's enemies.

Or she would die.

OUT OF TIME | END POST

Sat Aug 24, 2024 3:58 pm

UNOHANA RETSU | BLOODLETTER

Lost Kingdom—Tetsukazu Nakanishi

Clack. Clack. Clack.

Retsu had heard that alarm too many times over her long life. Every time it echoed, it just meant another problem. As reports of massive bursts of Reiatsu clamored into the hospital, she knew. Instinctively, she knew this day was going to come. She knew that someone was going to need her to pick up that sword once again and fight. That day wasn't going to be today. She wasn't going to fight for someone else's cause. She wasn't going to unite under another's banner.

Donning her doctor's haori, Retsu began making preparations. The assistant-director burst in. Before they could get a word in, she was already issuing her commands. "Recall all off-duty personnel and interns. Discharge as many patients as we can to free beds. Contact the Gotei United. Run there if you must. Our doors shall be open to their wounded. If a member of the Gotei's healing corps arrives, follow their commands until I return. Until then, the Shin'o-Seiyakuin is yours to command." Retsu reached behind her desk to the stand that carried her curved blade.

"Madame Director, where are you going?"

Pulling her Zanpakutō over her shoulders was a weight Retsu missed and hated. "To savetake as many lives as possible." Retsu stepped out without another word to her staff. She stepped outside to those infernal clacking alarms. Centering herself, Retsu tried to feel out the sources of Reiryoku. There were many strong combatants on both sides. Some on the Gotei's side were even nearing each other. Hopefully teaming up.

Feeling one in particular, Retsu's blood ran cold for but a moment. It could not be him. The young man who she had once chastised about his Reiryoku platforms in the Garganta surely was not attacking the Soul Society again. His Reiatsu was too empty—too Hollow to be him. In both her disbelief and the sensation of another strong Reiatsu presence near him, she decided it was a threat that the Gotei would be able to handle. The familiar presence of Byakuya Kuchiki was felt elsewhere. Other flares of strong Reiatsu popped through her senses. Most of the threats she assessed went answered... Save one.

Retsu could feel something amiss deep within the Rukongai. It wasn't a Reiatsu signature, but a general feeling of unease. She found a vantage point—startling a sentry. She could see a faint glow in the distance. The Gotei surely had the Seireitei. Surely. Even if there was discontent, they could hopefully unite to defend their home. Retsu casually stepped off the edge of the watchtower—and began making her way past small skirmishes to the glowing sun of orange out in the far reaches of civilization.

Unfortunately for the Rukongai districts under attack, the Shin'o Seiyakuin was not located near it. Retsu was no Tenjirō Kirinji, no Yoruichi Shihōin, no Yuuto Hisakawa. She would not be able to save everyone simply by how long it would take her to travel. It took precious time for her to arrive. As she neared, Retsu finally could really feel the Reiatsu at the source of this inferno. In that same instance, she could feel Kidō being fired off. Someone else had responded, but would it be enough? Retsu was already there. May as well assist. If someone was that skilled in Kidō, perhaps they were skilled in Kaidō as well. Diverting towards the source of the Kidō, Retsu landed next to a female Shinigami who was around her same height.

Retsu took a quick glance at the young woman. She had seen many with that same determination. "This threat is, perhaps, a bit much even for a modern-day Lieutenant." She pointed in the direction some of the Hollows were gathering. An incantationless Byakurai lanced from her outstretched hand. It speared into multiple Hollow with cruel effeciency not unlike the captive bolt guns used to put down cattle. "I will assist." There was no permission sought. She was going to help Mizu, and that was that.

Hope is a Disease

Sat Aug 24, 2024 4:22 pm

Sieviente | Cold

Urchins suckled the bloody wooden boxes they called homes, their cries a symphony that only the howls of blackened monsters covered. It did not care for it. Each step brought it closer to the cataclysm, thoughts undecisive of what to do. The world around it burned, yet not a soul of any significance partook in the slaughter. Be it so, their careless nature will see the people they protect food. Their fields will be laced with poison and drained of nutrients. When this war ends, there will be nothing but a broken reality.

Well, if it cared for any of that, maybe doomsday would have come sooner, but this world is big, and it would take too long to reach its center. Thoughts of simply leaving the horde to eat what it may crossed the armored creature's mind, but the sudden flavor in the air pulled its hollow attention away from the thoughtless pit it pondered in. The sky screamed, a different note and tone than what it had become accustomed to.

Fire.

Heat encircled its metal body, Reiryoku licking at its heavy shell before the ground popped, a zit-like explosion, dubious in strength, as the fiery light encroached upwards, encompassing the cube in a delicious sunset that quickly turned to soot and smoke. Silence befell the area, even as Hollow encroached on their master's position, only to be quickly silenced by more nuance spells flying through the air.

Two.

Two have come.

A hand rose: metal, clawed, black webbings cracking its surface. The barrier that kept its body encased in heat moaned as that cold hand pressed against it, the black webbing in its palm spreading across it surface before the kido splintered. The sound of glass cracking is heard, the kido losing its power as acid slowly ate it away like a kid lapping its mother's teat. Almost like it had become plastic, the spell swayed, its surface frail as that hand pushed forward, stretching said barrier before it simply popped, shattering, breaking, like glass corrupting from said origin of impact and cascading like rain.

Walking, free, undisturbed, the creature, adorned in steel, continued forward, its hollow skull turning ever slightly, unseen eyes staring deeply at the Shinigami that had approached it. Then, it looked away from them both and continued forward, its body hunching over as its head tilted left and right, its neck popping viciously loud, almost a sickening squelch.

END POST | Steel

Sat Aug 24, 2024 5:26 pm

MORIKAWA MIZU | 2nd Division Vice Captain

Mizu's focus was disrupted by the arrival of a woman she thought she recognized...but in the haze of war, she could not quite place her identity. Any help would do, and it was clear this stranger could at least take care of herself by the appearance of blue bolts that pierced their shared enemies. As the other woman inserted herself into the situation, Mizu's eyes remained trained upon her target, the only Hollow here worth a damn.

"It doesn't matter if I'm too weak. A Shinigami's duty is to die."

With a slight flourish of her wrist, Mizu conjured a set of translucent armor upon her visage, a spell of her own making called Sei-kotsu Sōkō. Then, she stood straight, relaxed every muscle in her body, and breathed in and out deeply. A sense of calm washed over the Lieutenant. She was ready. Her right hand raised, its palm open and facing Rey as the words Raging River appeared above her head. The letters twisted and then vanished before a porthole opened and a torrent of water as wide as the Rukongai street they stood on rushed forth, quickly reaching the unblemished Hollow and slamming into it with the weight of tens of thousands of pounds of water.

TAKING IT SERIOUS | END POST

Sat Aug 24, 2024 5:55 pm

UNOHANA RETSU | BLOODLETTER

Lost Kingdom—Tetsukazu Nakanishi

Retsu almost cracked a smile at that comment. It was too old of a saying to come from a mouth so young. As the Kidō stopped prematurely, Retsu had found her target. It was, like most Hollow, grotesque. It was negativity kept bound by armor. The woman conjured some sort of armor herself. Was it her Zanpakutō? Some new invention? The energy felt more like Kidō—ah, the youth were imaginative these days. She decided to stick with the basics.

The water—again from something different than what she had witnessed—was aiming to slam into the lurching Hollow. Retsu decided to make sure it would stay in place. "Dankū." Behind the Hollow would form a translucent shield of Reiryoku. The water would hit, and when it did, he would get slammed into the shield. But that wasn't all Retsu was going to do. Darting upward and onto a roof immediately after the casting, she called out another spell. "Raikōhō." The spell was aimed through the torrent of water—with the water's conductivity boosting the strength of the spell.

Hope is a Disease

Sat Aug 24, 2024 8:19 pm

Sieviente | Cold

Water.

It did not give much consideration for the act of casting, but the results forced its head upwards. The rushing roar of water filled its senses before it was swept up, even as the raw weight of it kept it from being completely washed away.

A wall.

As the water forced it back, the sudden translucent wall behind it kept it still, pinned. Erosion rolled over its armor, yet it did not seem perturbed in the least, slowly forcing itself to push through the rushing waves that tried to keep it still.

Then came the lightning, a rushing torrent of streaming energy, striking it through the water as if it were a pure conductor. Joints locking, its body refused movement as it fell backwards back into the wall, kept still by heavy waves.

END POST | Steel

Sun Aug 25, 2024 9:48 am

MORIKAWA MIZU | 2nd Division Vice Captain

It seemed this woman was capable of keeping up or more, at least in terms of regular spellcasting; Mizu could sense right away there was a fissure between them in terms of raw power. Good, she thought, I'll need all the help I can get. And help she got as the woman appeared to read her mind to use Raikōhō against the Hollow.

But if they were to defeat this thing, which had shrugged off a Hadō 89, then they would have to hit it harder and harder until nothing was left. Mizu took in a deep breath again before raising her right into the sky. As she did, the area became shrouded in darkness as night seemed to fall upon them. Darker even were the innumerable black cubes that formed around the limb-locked Hollow which stacked on top of and next to each other, building an even greater box as wide and tall as a house, locking Rey inside.

"Seeping crest of turbidity. Arrogant vessel of lunacy. Boil forth and deny. Grow numb and flicker. Disrupt sleep. Crawling queen of iron. Eternally self-destructing doll of mud. Unite. Repulse. Fill with soil and know your own powerlessness."

Harpoon sized spears lurched forward and pierced every side of the box, the very air around them appearing to distort and twist from their presence. Dark turned to light as Mizu's hidden Genso Kakusan alteration kicked in, alighting the black box in a raging inferno. If intensified gravity wasn't enough, if a hundred spears weren't enough, Mizu would turn this creature to ash in its own coffin.

TAKING IT SERIOUS | END POST

Sun Aug 25, 2024 12:29 pm

UNOHANA RETSU | BLOODLETTER

Lost Kingdom—Tetsukazu Nakanishi

The incantation being spoken was enough for Retsu to face Mizu for a moment. Impressive. She wasn't going to have to pick up as much slack from this Lieutenant as she thought. But there was one thing she could tell. This being was an impossible fight for most. She wasn't most, and, perhaps, neither was this Lieutenant. Perhaps she was worth speaking to after this battle. After all, it wasn't just every Lieutenant who could cast a level-90 Kidō. Knowing that the problem with such spells were their incredibly-long incantations, Retsu decided not to double down on offense. Her hands darted in a triangle in front of her, yellow Reiryoku forming a triangle before being sent towards the Hollow at a downward angle. "Bakudō Thirty: Shitotsu Sansen." The triangle was to pin him down to the ground.

But not for the Kurohitsugi. A second spell surrounded the Hollow—golden chains coiling around him like a constrictor snake. "Bakudō Sixty-Three: Sajō Sabaku." As the name was called; she continued to speak. The spell's intensity grew with each word before reaching its full potential. Instead of front-loading the spell with power by sacrificing casting time, Retsu utilized the technique of Spoken-After Incantation. She was going to make sure this Hollow took the attack coming for it.

For if it still stood after...

Hope is a Disease

Sun Aug 25, 2024 7:05 pm

Sieviente | Cold

Exhibitionist.

Every action taken before it felt unnecessarily flashy. They reminded it of her, and the image of her pushed it forward, its aching limbs fighting against the energy that froze them. First came its movement, then came its strength. The rushing water became like air, a simple breeze to it as it began to step forward.

Annoying.

It had found them like gnats, ignorable. Now they've become maggots crawling under its armor, annoying, parasitic. What would she tell it to do when things are suddenly annoying? Its mind focused on that as it felt its legs turn still, the atmosphere suddenly burdensome. The sun is gone.

Its view of them was taken away as the foundations of a black cube formed around it. A black jail? Again, its limbs are glued, and its annoyance grew. Fighting this asinine attack, it began to move again, each step like a million miles for it, but more nuances came for it.

Something bit down on it, a force that, combined with the gravity, forced it down towards the ground. Chains wrapped around its limbs, further reinforcing its inability to move. Stuck, once more, its patience thinned further. What would she say?

Then came the blades that tried to pierce.

They battered at its back, striking with sure precision. However, each one that struck found purchase only against its shell, the blades shattering from their inability to pierce the Hollow. It tried moving again, but then fire fell upon it.

Maggots was too nice a title. It could hear her whisper in its ear, her voice a mockery of its position. What would she think if she saw it, pinned and restrained by flames and chains? Its hollow visage rose, looking through its containment at what could only be described as rot to it.

Fighting through its bounds, its strength finally showing, rage consuming it. First it broke its shackles. Next it rose through the gravity, raising its arm as its own corrupted energy coursed through its long limbs. It swung down, and the world around it shook.

That black cage shattered, splintered, like a window tossed aside. But that was not all. That same arm went back up, the two Shinigami suddenly experiencing the full extent of the Hollow's Reiatsu, the dark all-encompassing pressure around it before its arm came down once more.

In but a single blink of an eye, a massive portion of the Rukongai was reduced to nothing but a scar in the land.

END POST | Steel

An Cold Abyss, Walking Unfethered (Open)

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