An Cold Abyss, Walking Unfethered (Open)

MORIKAWA MIZU | 2nd Division Vice Captain

TAKING IT SERIOUS | END POST

UNOHANA RETSU | BLOODLETTER

So, this beast wasn't just any Hollow. Their kind had changed over the years. Rarely were the shapes and sizes reminiscent of the Hollows of yore. But this one... It was a rare sight indeed. "A Vasto Lorde..." Those were the first of five words spoken before the attack hit. A cracked pane of translucent energy followed by a second, almost-untouched stood between Retsu and the Hollow. Two Dankū had been hastily cast in order to block most of the attack.

Retsu landed as the building she was standing on crumbled. She placed a hand on her Zanpakutō. "Lieutenant. This is what we would have called a threat of the highest caliber. I would advise you not to hold back." Retsu had an inkling that Mizu had just released her Shikai, but that wasn't a 100% certainty. She might have missed the release phrase while defending. Glancing around, Retsu devised a plan.

Retsu raised her free hand. "Hadō 57: Daichi Ten'yō." The Hollow had provided a plethora of targets for this Kidō. Chunks of rubble rose into the sky. It filled the area between ruined buildings. Normally, the spell would then launch the rubble at her target. Instead, she cast another spell. Orange tendrils of Reiryoku extended between the chunks and anchoring them to the few upright buildings. Those chunks were now suspended midair—allowing her to leap up the debris and cast again. "Bakudō 21: Sekienton."

The area above the street was now covered in red smoke. The low-hanging cloud that hid the debris was now her hiding ground. The rasping sound of a blade exiting a sheath cut through the destructive silence. She hesitated for a moment as she felt the Cero Oscuras back in the Seireitei. Perhaps she had chosen incorrectly. The other strong presence back near that source... Well, she at least felt that he could hold his own long enough. This was a storm of strange coincidences. She would investigate after eliminating this Hollow.

The sound of high-tension wires snapping indicated she was on the move again. A fridge-sized chunk of debris flew from the red cloud at Rey. Soon, another of smaller size did from a different direction. And again. And again. Her attack would crescendo with a crack of lightning—"Hadō 4: Byakurai." It was not a wide-spread destructive strike, but one meant to test his armor. Would a concentrated blast be enough to punch a hole? And even if it didn't, she was providing ample distraction for Mizu to launch an attack of her own.

Hope is a Disease

Sieviente | Cold

END POST | Steel

UNOHANA RETSU | BLOODLETTER

Retsu looked to the fleeing Hollow. She could let it return to the Seireitei. She could let it run rampant. She grimaced. Such an act would be throwing her hands up. "I can't do anything about it." She was not so pathetic. She glanced to the Lieutenant from a break in the Sekienton cloud. "Do not follow." And although she did not have the speed, Retsu would make up with it with Shunpo. Again she maintained her altitude—gaining it when she could.

Retsu caught up to Rey, but she did not overtake him at first. She aimed her hand ahead of where he would be. She spoke a litany of a chant. "Hadō 88: Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō." The Kidō carved a crater right before Rey's feet, leading him into a makeshift arena. There would be death and destruction by her hand. Those were sacrifices she would make. With a Shunpo, she landed in front of the armored Hollow. This time, she did not have empty hands. No, the curved katana was drawn and sleepily aimed to the side.

"Perhaps I am speaking to a beast that can not understand words, but thank you. Thank you for showing me how incompetent they have all become. I have no regrets about stepping onto this battlefield now." Retsu held her blade aloft. "I will do what they could not." She gripped the blade above the tsuba with her free hand.

Her hand ran across the blade, coating it in blood. So much blood. Ah, no. The blade became blood. It became what it would soon drink.
It began to flood in the Rukongai. A crimson mist enveloped the crater, and an ankle-deep pool of blood stagnated at the bottom—filled from the crying blade and unseen waterfalls.

Was it Yachiru or Retsu that was standing in the pool of blood? Even she did not know. She did not care. Instead of resolving her identity crisis, she attacked. The blade of blood whipped out in a series of arcs—crescent slashes aimed at removing the Hollow's arms in multiple places soared through with macabre glee. But the former Captain did not stand still. She dashed to the side in a closing arc, her blade dipping into the pool like a cyclist's leg during a sharp turn.

She let Minazuki drink until it had its fill. She thrust the blade towards Rey this time; a lance of the blood aimed at his midsection. But even then, this woman was not letting up. All the while she was attacking with one hand, she held something in her other. A long, white pole. She waited seconds that felt like minutes to throw the pole. "Bakudō 62: Hyapporankan." The pole split into dozens of equal-length rods—each aiming to perhaps knock Rey off balance, if not outright pin him. Whoever she was, she would heed her own advice given to the Lieutenant. She was done playing.

I am the Cure

Sieviente | Cold

END POST | Steel

UNOHANA ? | BLOODLETTER

She wasted no words. This opponent was someone who needed no praise nor scorn. She wasn't even sure it could understand her words. Perhaps it was a European Hollow, or perhaps it was just so driven that it needed no words itself. Such trivial distinctions did not matter in the moment. One arm flew from the Hollow—landing with a sickening splat. The rest of her strikes were not so successful. Expected, but a pity nonetheless.

She could feel it returning. It wasn't a thrill. There was no elation behind her swings. There wasn't even determination. What made her lips ache to curl was adrenaline. It had been far too long since her body was pushed like this. If she had felt herself aging like Yamamoto, she may have not survived the sudden rush. But no, even though he had aged, she always felt her status as the one weapon kept in the back of the arsenal. Well taken care of, but hopefully never needed. And yet, it was apparent that she had failed. She had been the complacent one. She relied on her peers to make sure She wasn't needed.

Look at how that had turned out.

The Hollow was pinned by Her Kidō. Her younger self might have opted to finish it off from a distance, but She was still rusty. She was still waking up. It cost her. She had been about to swing when the Hollow suddenly burst free. Dormant instincts had her raise Her sword arm. She should have backstepped, but that was hindsight. She felt bones shatter like a glass vase thrown before a train. Where the solid forms of Her arm's bones ended, they broke the skin. It was a macabre sight as She did not backstep.

She grabbed the dropped hilt of Minazuki with her other hand mid-fall. She did not call out the Kidō's name as She pointed the hilt at the Hollow. What started as a gust of wind soon rotated rapidly into a tornado as the incantation-less Tenran blew forth. Even if he didn't move, She would allow Herself to be forced backwards and away. As She moved, Her hand slid away and over Her arm. A pale-green glow covered Her gnarled arm.

The arm made sickly noises as it knitted itself together. The bone slid back through the skin and the gash closed. She flexed Her hand. It was a rushed job and wasn't perfect. She would need to break it again to heal it fully. But there was one thing evident now—She would not win a direct contest of blows. She began speaking another incantation while making another dash towards but not to the Hollow. "Limit of the thousands hands, respectful hands, unable to touch the darkness. Shooting hands unable to reflect the blue sky."

She let Minazuki drink more from the bloodlake as She dashed. Gripping the sword with both hands, She pulled it free of the bloodlake and nearly emptied the blade's blood reservoir with a crescent of the liquid that extended over the height of the crater—a crimson shark's fin that could be followed to where the two unseen combatants waged a gruesome war just of their own. It strained the hastily-healed arm. She would likely be able to do something like that only once more.

I am the Cure

Sieviente | Cold

END POST | Steel

UNOHANA ? | BLOODLETTER

Broken bones. Bruised skin. Cracked ribs. Lacerations. Blunt-force trauma. As debris and the opponent's raw strength hit, She healed. She would not die here. Not to this. Despite how infuriatingfascinating this Hollow was turning out to be, She wouldn't let it have the satisfaction of a victory over Her. There was no time to finish the incantation for the Kidō She was preparing. She let the energy dissipate as She focused on healing the attack thrown at Her.

But She was beginning to feel the strain of time. It had been centuries since the last time Minazuki drank its fill. It had been equally as long since the last time She fought with such vigor. She almost felt crows feet forming as she was reminded of Her age. But then again, Yamamoto had fought until his untimely end. But then it dawned on her. Was it so untimely? Was he not past his prime? This was not the place to debate. This was a place of bloodshed.

The bloody mist and rain painted the Rukongai in macabre crimson. Although the pool of blood was significantly reduced, She was not done. It would refill, and it would once again be a lake of death. She let the Zanpakutō drink to reshape itself. The Hadō came without name. It was a van-sized wedge of opaque white energy that split the shallow pool as it raced towards the Hollow.

But She did not expect it to do anything. Instead, a pair of crossed crescents of blood followed in its shadow—her haori flapping behind them. She knew how fast the Kidō moved and timed it well. It would likely splash against his chest or against the wicked blade he carried. But even that wasn't the truth of Her attack. Above, She was hidden amongst the rain and mist. Her Haori was discarded in the initial attack. And now, She fell upon Rey like a mortar shell. Her blade, enhanced with Her Reiryoku, was held again with both hands as She aimed to split his left from his right with one of the basic but well-designed Zanjutsu techniques—Suikawari. She was no longer wanting to keep this at a distance. It just wasn't feasible.entertaining

I am the Cure

Sieviente | Cold

END POST | Steel