Wandering About the Seireitei (Open)

The weather was not particularly favorable today, but it was still far from miserable. Fluffy, light grey clouds drifted across the sky, effectively hiding the sun from view. Occasionally some light would filter through a small gap and brighten the ground below, but not enough to take the chill edge out of the air. Fortunately there was very little wind today as any sort of breeze would have made the temperature go from chilly to unbearably cold.

Well, unbearably cold for Natsume anyways. Her high metabolism and energetic ways had burned off all excess body fat, making the unseated officer very vulnerable to the cold. She shivered slightly as she made her way throughout the many streets that wove their way throughout the Seireitei, wondering if venturing outside was a good idea today. However, she had spent most of yesterday cooped up in her horribly messy room, reading about past wars and before she had realized it, the day had flown by without her taking so much as a step outside of her quarters. This reflection brought Natsume's debate to a solid conclusion; she would keep walking, even though the weather was unfavorable. So she continued to wander throughout the maze of streets, occasionally greeting other Shinigami and weaving her way through the busier lanes. Sometimes she would mentally comment on a fellow officer's appearance. These silent remarks regarded everything from nose size to uniform to hairstyle.

After passing a Shinigami with a particularly odd haircut that reminded Natsume of three beehives stacked side by side did she suddenly realize something. She was still quite new to the Gotei 13 and the Seireitei, and knew very little about how all of the streets connected and which ones lead to where. Her brows furrowed and a slight frown pulled the corners of her lips down as a rather loud huff of annoyance made her nostrils flare out slightly.

"Damnit." She cursed, and crossed her skinny arms across her chest as she thought about how to react to this. Any normal individual would have gone and asked for directions, but Natsume was far too stubborn to do so. She would do many things, but asking someone how to get somewhere was out of the question, as silly as that was. "Besides, it's not like I want to go somewhere in particular anyways... She muttered, voicing her thoughts aloud.

As the young Shinigami continued to think, her sharp blue eyes continued to scan the surrounding area, searching for something that would tell her where she was. No such luck. A loud, annoyed sigh escaped her lips again, but it was cut short when a somewhat violent shiver shook her tiny frame. As if to mock her for her ignorance and to make the situation all that much worse, the wind had picked up into something a little stronger than a breeze.

"What rotten luck..." She growled, and tried to pull her shihakusho a little tighter around her body in an attempt to protect herself from the biting wind. Despite her predicament, Natsume continued to walk, deciding that moving was far better than being still. So it was with great annoyance that the young Shinigami moved throughout the streets, seeking a warm and familiar place to go and take shelter from the weather, which was steadily getting worse by the minute.

"Silly Shinigami… tell me, are you lost?"

Came the calm words of a voice that spoke waves of calm, perfectly even, not sounding forced or aggressive in any way. Which, was the Aquacat's nature, really. Seriously… People can be weird some times… He thought to himself, standing up on the roof he was on and leaping off, rolling as he touched down on the ground, making a splash noise as the blue-haired man straightened himself. He looked over this strange person with his chromida indium of his eyes; one blue, the other a deep red, looking almost as if it were filled with blood. His neck length sapphire hair was tugged by the wind, moving the limp strands around on his face as he stood before the female shinigami.

He was the South West Guardian; however, he was also a Nature Iramasha. The Type Water, leader of all the Nature Iramasha that he had found, supporting them and giving them hope, when before they had nothing. He was on a visit to see how the Nature's were doing when he decided to go onto the ground for a bit of fresh air, falling through the air, feeling the water molecules shift to make room for his body as he lowered himself, beginning to thicken as he had approached the Seireitei below, landing him safely on the ground. He knew there was little water around here; but he wasn't worried in the slightest, should something happen that he was unaware of.

It certainly is odd… Usually, these people stay cooped up in their base, leaving the souls out here to fend for themselves. Is she with the guard companies… or what…? He wondered briefly, before he spotted the insignia on her uniform. Still though, it doesn't mean she's the real thing. He pondered; he was no fool, however he was quite patient, finally speaking.

"My name is James Mizumuzi; I am the South-West Guardian of the Vanguard as well as the Nature Iramasha, Type Water, sometimes called the Aquacat." He spoke shortly, his mouth moving in even tones as he spoke the words, his left hand casually laying in his pocket and the right held at his side, ready to be used if needed. He was fairly bored; which was something he couldn't stand. So, he had decided at long last to find out what he could about this Shinigami, and have some fun while doing so.

"But, I must ask, what brings a young woman out to the dark of night like this? Surely the Gotei don't just let you wonder where you wish… well, they might, but I wouldn't know. In anyy case, would you at least tell me your business out here? I am terribly bored, you see, and could perhaps use some company. Moonie and the others were getting just a bit to loud up there…" He muttered to himself after speaking clearly, looking up one last time as he stood there, the wind still lightly tugging at his hair and extremely casual clothes, just wearing a camo shirt and jeans. In any case, he wasn't sure what was going to happen, but was ready to react at any time...

(Ack. My dearest apologies; the first two paragraphs are from an earlier endeavor, so you need to start at where the cyan speech appears. Please ignore them. As soon as I return home and are able to edit it, I will make amends. Apologies again.)

Natsume turned sharply upon hearing a male voice call out, her sharp blue eyes scanning the surrounding area. She wasn't particularly trusting of people, and although he sounded anything but hostile, the young Shinigami was somewhat wary anyways. When the man jumped seemingly out of nowhere and landed in front of her she instinctively took a step back, eying him cautiously. Her hand strayed near her Zanpakutō which only served to remind her that she could not do much against anything stronger than a weak hollow, thanks to the fact that she had not achieved Shikai yet.

However, she was caught somewhat off guard by the man's appearance. Her attention was immediately drawn to his eyes, which were quite captivating in Natsume's opinion. The only other being she had seen with two differently coloured eyes was a husky dog, but never a human or humanoid being. It was with difficulty that she refrained from blurting that out, and instead tried to focus on the moment... Not that it worked. Natsume had a very poor focus level, and the only thing that was able to keep her in a specific mindset for a long period of time would be a history book, surprisingly enough.

It was only when the man introduced himself that Natsume relaxed. She was quite relieved to learn that James was not a threat, as she wasn't in any particular mood to fight, and she was also very certain that the Iramasha could easily kill her should he wish. Natsume may have lacked social skills and motivation for certain things, but she certainly wasn't stupid. Either way, that was besides the point right now. Even the young Shinigami knew some basic etiquette, and since James introduced himself, manners dictated that she should do the same.

"Natsume Kuro, unseated officer in the Sixth Division." She declared. Her voice was a little louder than usual due to the sudden urge to appear at least somewhat strong in the Aquacat's eyes. She had absolutely no idea what a 'Vanguard' was, or what the title 'Southwest Guardian' meant, but it sounded important, like a Lieutenant or Captain, and those were people Natsume looked up to. However, now that it was determined that he wasn't a threat, she just had to say what she had been dying to say earlier.

"Your eyes are really, really, really cool looking... And a little scary." She blurted out. It wasn't really meant as a compliment or insult, but more of a general, obvious statement. This happened all the time, although oftentimes the people that were subject to this blunt honesty were offended, as her comments usually had something to do with the flaws of a person's appearance, or something that they didn't want to be pointed out. With that remark out of the way, she proceeded to answer the question James had asked her.

"As long as we don't have anything else to do, we can wander around... I think." She frowned, going through snippets of past conversations with other Shinigami. There was never an instance in which she had been told otherwise, and she had seen plenty of others walking around idly. So, it must be okay, right?

Shrugging some unpleasant thoughts off about how severely one would be punished for breaking the rules, Natsume proceeded to respond to the other half of his question, which she had neglected to answer for a moment.

"I was going for a walk." Was her simple yet clear answer. Natsume didn't quite catch the last part where he mumbled, but figured he was talking to himself there. Absentmindedly, she tucked a stray lock of her blonde hair behind her ear, when she realized she'd be needing a haircut soon. Well, not so much needing one as opposed to wanting one. Natsume detested having long hair, and she never quite understood how people could go about life with hair getting in their face all the time. With odd and other completely random thoughts swirling about in her mind, Natsume waited for James to react, her eyes occasionally drifting back to his, still mesmerized by his red and blue irises.

James smiled a little bit; the corners of his mouth going up a bit as he heard her unexpected comment about his eyes. He gave a small laugh, refocusing his own eyes on the shinigami's once more, staring at them, calm once more.

"Well... I have a condition that I was... I guess you could say "Born" with. I know of only one other like myself... although, oddly enough, she also has blue hair... And also, thank you for the compliment." He said lightly, glad that she thought his eyes were interesting, if a little bit strange. Then, seeing how she had tensed up and held that comment within her, he thought to himself...That's no good... if it's going to be fun, she should just be relaxed. He decided, his eyes refocusing on her once more as he spoke again. "Feel free to say whatever you want; after all, I'm man enough, I can take it. OH!"

He said simply, finally realizing why she was shivering. Well, let's see if I can give her a hand here... He thought to himself, his mind focusing on the particles in the air around them. He forced them to move faster and densify; stopping the wind around his body with her in the radius, as well as warming up the area considerably, making it comfortable.

"Well, if it's a walk you want, then I suppose I shall join you." He decided, nodding his head slightly. "It's not right for a lady such as yourself to be wondering out on such a chilly night by herself, six thousand years of existence have proved to me that much." He spoke, nodding his ehad and crossing his arms, before he sudddenly opened his eyes, putting his right arm and scratching the back of his head, closing his eyes to halfway as he realized something. So... erm... where are we, exactly...? I'm not too familiar with the Seireitei's locations... I usually spend on earth, more specifically, Africa, where I defend the area..." He trailed off, fairly listlessly, looking at the sky. He waited patiently, beginning to sense out for any sources of water he could possibly use. At any rate... this should be...

...interesting...

"It's kinda like a husky dog's eyes, except they're usually blue and silver... Or something like that." Natsume commented, not bothering to even try and filter what she said anymore. James had said it was alright, so she figured there was no harm in trying to keep her remarks somewhat in check. She quite liked the Iramasha as he was much more laid back than most of her comrades back at the Sixth and didn't take everything as an insult. Well, saying that her peers and superiors took everything as an insult was a little unreasonable, as she was mostly to blame due to her lack of manners.

Natsume may have been fairly oblivious to social behavior, but temperatures and weather conditions were another thing. When James warmed up the area around them, she noticed the increase in temperature and lack of wind immediately. Despite her very basic knowledge about Iramasha, she suspected he had something to do with the climate change.

"Did you just increase the temperature?" She inquired curiously, fairly certain that he had. That, or the climate was going all out of whack. Natsume had to admit, she was quite intrigued by James' powers. She was quite appreciative of the warmer temperatures, but his next statement really surprised her.

"You're six thousand years old?!" Natsume exclaimed, her eyes wide with surprise. She knew that spirit beings aged much slower than humans, but even a Shinigami would look like a bag of bones when they reached six thousand. Then again... He is an Iramasha, so that's probably got something to do with it... but he looks... Really young, compared to his real age...

At his comment about knowing the way around the Seireitei, Natsume grinned sheepishly. "I've got no idea where we are... And I dunno how to get anywhere either." She admitted. "I was only admitted into the Gotei recently, and I have a pretty crappy sense of direction anyways. But on a different note, isn't it much colder here than it is in Africa?" She questioned, curious as to why he hadn't seemed affected by the chilly weather before.

James laughed a bit, surprised at her reaction. Quite interesting... I'm like a dog...? That's new... He thought to himself, nodding slightly as he watched her. Well... I'm a cat, more like, but those two families ARE extremely related. And husky, eh? Well... I do have an affinity for ice and cold... He thought to himself, holding up a hand as he began hearing her words about his temperature change, ice forming around his fingers into claws. "Well... yes, I did. I'm glad it made you comfortable..." He spoke for a few moments before he saw the look on her face from his last few words sink in.

"Well... Yes... You see, I'm a Nature Iramasha, like I said, and unless I run out of Nature Energy or all the water on earth vanishes, I won't die. I'll stay like this... forever. I was there; helping part the Red Sea to help Abraham get the Isrealites, his and my own people, out from those ruthless slave drivers. I didn't even know they were there... only a feeling that I should do it. I was so surprised when I saw them walking through... it was a miracle."

He said, returning to the problem at hand. "Well then... I suppose we could just wonder around a little." He spoke absently, hearing her question. "Well... it is... In Egypt, anyway. However, when you go down to the bottom of the deepest Abyss... you get fairly cold. So, I'm quite used to it. In any case..." He finished speaking, closing his iced hand tight, shattering the ice crystals and watching them fall onto the ground, raising his gaze back to the young woman. "What shall we do, then? Hmm... Can you get up on the roof up there?" He said, pointing to the roof he had leaped off of, giving another catlike jump as he grabbed onto the ledge, pulling himself and sitting on the edge, waving his legs back and forth. "Come on! It's easy!"

"That's really, really cool." Natsume remarked, a look of awe quite apparent on her face. I bet he could beat a Captain... She mused, trying to comprehend just how strong he was between his age and the explanation he had given on his abilities. No such luck though, as Natsume really didn't know how strong a Captain was either, at full strength. Either way, they were a lot more powerful than she was.

She had drifted far enough into thought that she had missed everything James had said after he explained his age and how he helped the Isrealites, but was jerked back to earth when he leaped onto the roof. However, it wasn't difficult to figure out that she was supposed to get up their beside him.

Figuring that the worst that could happen would be to fall and suffer from a few scrapes and bruises, Natsume decided to try her luck at getting up there. She wasn't quite sure of how high she could jump, but shrugged it off. She bent her knees slightly, the muscles in her legs tensed up to try and give as much of a boost as possible. With not a moment of hesitation, the young Shinigami jumped, and just barely managed to grab a hold of the ledge. Thanking her lucky stars, Natsume hauled the rest of herself onto the roof, and sat beside James, swinging her legs back and forth as well.

"That was fun... You're a really good jumper, too. She commented, looking out at all of the buildings that were laid out below them. While the building wasn't particularly tall, to a person that barely met the five foot mark like Natsume, being up this high made for quite the scenery change.

James nodded, smiling a little bit as he looked out over the city, talking, still swaying his feet back and forth. "Yeah, I am able to jump quite high up, because of my cat-like nature... However, this is nothing. You should see me on water; it's like being a dolphin, going up to 20 feet in the air, experiencing the rush of just falling downwards into the water. It's like nothing you've ever felt... It's too bad there's no beach or even rivers around here..." He spoke shortly, drawing up his knees on himself, looking out upon the Seireitei, placing his arms around them, resting his head in between them as he looked out, his face resting on the knee parts of his pant legs. His eyes were half closed, like a half sleepy cat, which is then that it happened.

The water in the air went up his spine, creating his tail on his waist right at the base of his spine, made of ice, wagging back and forth spasmodically as more water went up to his head. He couldnt' feel a thing; he had no idea this was happening. The water stopped on either side of his skull, forming two sharp ears of ice on top of his head. He was completely oblivious to this, alhtough it would be plain in Natsume's view, in any case. He continued staring out at the distance, watching as the sun had begun to rise, dawn breaking all over the area. He was still keeping them safe and warm from the winds ill effects, but he felt tired. Like he hadn't had any rest in a long time; which was fairly accurate. After all, he had to be on call every day in case any of the Nature Iramasha needed help, not to mention training Pierre, dealing with Moonie, keeping peace with the Clan, keeping up with Aki... It was all just too much. He began to feel himself drifting off a bit, beginning to find it a struggle to keep his different colored eyes open, looking over to his right at Natrume...

"It would be amazing to be able to do that... I can't even imagine the feeling." Natsume responded, her voice a little softer in tone as she tried to envision what James had described. But like she had stated, there was no way she could truly imagine what it was like. She went to lie back on the roof to view the stars, but was distracted by the water traveling up his spine.

Natsume watched in pure fascination as the cat tail formed, waving back and forth. Her eyes grew wider when the icy cat ears formed on his head. A huge grin spread across her face. Never before had she seen nor heard of anything like this before, and in her opinion, it was the most amazing thing she had ever seen. She was completely entranced.

"That is so cool!" She exclaimed, shifting a little so she was kneeling on the roof, her right side closest to the ledge. Her excitement and fascination was not unlike that of a child's when they are presented with a new video game that they have been obsessing over for weeks. "You really are a cat!" She remarked, referring to all of his earlier comments about his catlike nature. Without a second thought, Natsume began to list off questions as soon as they popped into her head."Does this happen often? Do you control it or is it just subconscious, or even both? Does it enhance your abilities in some way or what?" She paused for a minute to catch her breath, and then realized that she had probably stepped a little out of line. Natsume always had a difficult time understanding where the "line" stood with different people. Sometimes they were lenient, but others had a strict mindset and snapped when one inquired into anything of their life. Natsume figured James was fairly open, but also believed that it was better to play it on the safe side.