Change of Scenery

(OOC: If anyone else would like to join, feel free, but do so after Carter's first post. much abliged)

Clayton Carmine considered himself to be lucky. After the business on his last assignment, he expected to be booted from the Gotei 13, devoid of purpose yet again. He'd been unable to sleep while his "punishment" was being decided, but it was his good fortune that at long last, his Captain had taken pity on him. Instead of his immediate removal from the Gotei 13, he was merely transferred to the third squad. He spoke briefly with one of the commanding officers, was read the riot act, and was sent on his way. To make things even better, he was caught on his way to the barracks and sent to the briefing room. It seemed that they were short handed at the moment, and needed someone to fill in for someone temporarily on Earth, and that he was to leave immediately. Lucky.

Carmine's first order of business was to make a trip to the barracks and pick up his Zanpakutō. As he wandered down to the barracks, it was a miracle he didn't bump into anyone or anything, since he was busy looking up at the clouds the entire time. As he finally reached his destination, he strode across the room to his area. Several other squad members were in there as well, and they all stopped to look at him. Oblivious to this, Carmine retrieved his blade, drawing it a few inches from it's sheath to admire how the light played across it's length. Re-sheathing it, he stuck it in his waistband and turned to leave. "Hey. Hey there!" Carmine had to stop himself short, to prevent himself for bowling over the man who now stood before him. He was short in stature, maybe 5'6", with short black hair and a smile as large as a peeled banana. "Welcome to squad three buddy. Name's Taggy. And you must be the new guy, Clayton Carmin, right?" He had a large voice for someone so small, almost as if his voice was meant to compensate his size.

"It's Clayton Carmine. Like Car, Mine. The I makes the long I sound," he said, his voice muffled, with the exasperation of someone who was used to making this correction. Swinging his gaze up from Taggy, Carmine found a window across the barracks and stared out of it. "Right, right, Carmine. So uh, what's with the mask?" Taggy asked, pointing up at his own face. He'd meant to indicate the large mask that covered most of Carmine's face, excluding his eyes. Shrugging, Carmine sidestepped Taggy and made for the door. "What indeed..." Taggy walked along beside him, still talking like they'd known each other for years. "Kinda personal huh, I can respect that. So what with you being the new guy and all, I'd wager you could use a new best friend, and I'm just so willing enough to oblige you." Carmine shot him a sideways glance, smiling slightly, a gesture lost because of his face coverings. "And why would you want to be my friend?" Taggy grinned that big grin of his, elbowing Carmine playfully. "And why not? You and I will get along famously Clayton."
Carmine laughed as he stepped out of the barracks. "My friends call me Carmine," he said, throwing a nonchalant wave over his shoulder.

Thirty minutes or so later, Carmine found himself at last in the human world. It had been many, many years since he'd last been alive, but every time he came to Earth, memories of his life just came flooding back. Raising his head to the sky, Carmine closed his eyes and inhaled deeply several times, trying to focus on all the good when he was alive. And yet, every time he came to Earth, he was always reminded of the bad. In his mind's eye, fire, spreading all around, his brothers, panicking as they tried to scramble free, then turning back for him. His eyes snapped open and Carmine took several steps forward. He realized that he was panting heavily, and worked to calm his breathing. After a minute or so, he began to move. He'd entered in some kind of forest, with trees everywhere. He could hardly see with all of the trees in the way. Yet it was so peaceful, he found himself staring up into the treetops, the wind catching the leaves, as the branches swayed to and fro. Without a second thought, Carmine hopped up and grabbed a branch, pulling himself up. He climbed, hand over hand, until he found a branch that was large enough for him to sit on comfortably. Removing his sheath, he rested it on his lap, as he leaned his back against the tree. "Lucky..." he mumbled

Sorrow yawned as he awoke in the bamboo patch upon the demon plane, life had been quite boring for him lately. He didn't feel as if he fit in so he stayed to himself mostly. He made a sigh as his frame fell over ad nestled the grass, when he was sleeping he had been sitting with his legs folded inward but now he felt like laying down. His mind on the human world, he hadn't made a journey in a few years and he missed it, missed the stall air, missed the loud noises of the city, missed the people, he missed life! Sighing again he turned over to his other side and brushed a lock of onyx colored hair from his face.

A few hours past as he kept thinking more and more of the human world. He groaned as he knew his mind was too stirred up to allow him to simply sit in the grove any longer. He stood with a huff as he adjusted his gem blade and threw his hands outward, creating a small portal into the human world. He could clearly see a forest through it. He stepped through as a smiled sprawled across his lips, feeling more alive than he had in days.

He spotted two tiger lily's growing next to a small stream, he was a sucker for the flower. Stopping by them he knelt down and inhaled deeply, taking in the rich and fresh scent on the flowers. He knew if any other demons had seen him he'd look like a damn fool. Not that he cared what they thought of him as he felt disjointed from the majority of them himself, only liking a few and respecting even less. In fact the demon respected only his Queen Mana. Shaking his head he returned to the world around him belittling himself for day dreaming, that stuff can cost a man his life. Out of sheer thought he scanned for any other spirit pressure and felt one, he tensed as he felt a source right above his head in a tree. It appeared to be a shinigami. His first thought being how careless the Shinigami could be to let a demon come so close, the second being how much of an idiot he had been for not being aware of the shinigami.

"If you feel my SP you know I'm here, but I can feel yours and I tell you now that trying to sneak attack me would prove ill for you. Come down from the tree so we can get a look at each other." Sorrow ordered as his left hand went to the hilt of his weapon to be safe.

The peaceful atmosphere had proved too much for Carmine. While sitting up in the tree, he'd actually dozed off. For how long, he couldn't be certain, but he awoke with the start after hearing someone's voice. "If you feel my SP you know I'm here, but I can feel yours and I tell you now that trying to sneak attack me would prove ill for you. Come down from the tree so we can get a look at each other." He was so startled, he jumped slightly, causing his Zanpakutō to slip from his lap. He leaned over to catch it before it fell, but leaned too far to the side. He'd managed to snag his Zanpakutō before it could free fall, but now he was about to fall out of the tree himself.

Thinking quickly, he managed to wrap his legs around the branch, causing him to flip upside down. His hand flew to the top of his head, holding his mask in place, as he tried to think of a way to get to the ground without injuring himself. Switching his hands, he held his mask in place with the hilt of his Zanpakutō, reaching up with his free hand to grasp the limb his legs were around. Releasing his legs, he flipped right side up, then let go with his other hand to fall to the ground.

He landed much harder than he had expected, falling to his knees as he landed. It took him a moment to recover, as he refitted his mask, before straightening up. Fitting his Zanpakutō's sheath back at his waist, he finally looked up at the owner of the voice. What he saw puzzled him. The person that stood before him didn't look particularly old, perhaps in his late teens or early twenties. He was about Carmine's own height, perhaps taller, it was difficult to tell at a distance, with dark, almost tanned like skin. He had short, dark colored hair and freckles that dotted both sides of this face. The most startling thing about him was that it appeared that he had a weapon of some sort, causing Carmine to rest his left hand on his own weapon. Even though he was alert, his tone was calm as he spoke. "Evening friend. I was enjoying a nap, I didn't see you there..."

Sorrow shook his head slightly as the man seemingly fell from the tree, he had bee asleep. Maybe he was as foolish as Sorrow assumed, or maybe this was a ruse. The fact that his face was hidden behind his mask didn't help the situation any either. "Do you not know what I am?" Sorrow asked, a bit confused himself at how easily the man spoke to him. As if he was speaking to a Shinigami. Running his free hand through his black hair he looked at the man quietly, taking in his frame. the two appeared to both be the same size but the other male appeared a bit bigger in the shoulders.

Sorrow noted this meaning his strength was probably a little higher than most average shinigami of his skill. He could feel the difference in the SP now and knew himself to be the stronger, before when he spoke he was bluffing slightly but now there was no doubt. He didn't relax at the thought though as he considered how the turtle beat the rabbit once. His let hand coming away from the Black gem blade a bit, giving the man the benefit of the doubt.

"I go by Sorrow. Who are you?" he declared/asked across the small opening between the two, the tension being lessened by the casual attitude of the two.

Carmine relaxed slightly, as the man opposite him pulled his hand away from his weapon. "My name is Clayton. Clayton Carmine," he said, still keeping an even tone. He straightened up a bit, loosening his grip on his weapon, his gaze straying upward. The wind picked back up, and the trees responded in kind, swaying slowly in their wake. Even as Carmine enjoyed the scenery, he was analyzing the new arrival.

Going off of his spiritual pressure, the man opposite him was stronger, but he didn't recognize him as a shinigami. The thing that bothered him most however, was the man's pressure. It was unlike any he'd ever felt before. It wasn't that the pressure was overwhelming, as he'd felt the pressure of a Captain before; no, it wasn't that. The closest thing that he could say about it was that it felt strange.

It was unlike any shinigami pressure or human pressure, both of which he'd felt before. Instinct told him to stay alert, and he finally managed to tear his gaze away from the treetops, and instead focused on the man called Sorrow. "But my aren't you an interesting one. I don't think I've ever felt pressure like that before. Not a Shinigami, that's for sure. A human perhaps? The pressure isn't quite the same, but I have heard about humans who develop spiritual powers, which would explain why your pressure changed, if it did. Assuming your human. But that also means..." While he was talking, Carmine had removed his hand from his weapon, placing his right hand to his chin, propping his left arm underneath it. He began to mutter to himself, his head turned slightly down, almost completely forgetting that he was having a conversation

Sorrow let the man speak, he was no doubt trying to guess what Sorrow was based off of what he said, he knew he was confusing the shinigami but he himself was confused as to how the Shinigami had never came across or at least heard of a demon. He considered a way to go about speaking because he wasn't in a kill everything mood and assumed once he said what his nature really was.

He decided he didn't really care though, "I'm a demon, one of the 'evil' twisted souls that's sole purpose is to destroy and run rampant through out the human world" He declared, slightly bored, as he looked back to his lily's. It had been many years since he had seen these lily's and he wanted to enjoy them for as long as possible.

He sat down next to them, his mind still aware of the shinigami as he took in the black and orange stripes of the flower, even plants wanted to mimic the beauty of the tiger. he smiled at the thought of it, his eyes taking in the green stem. His ears listening to the beauty of the water move. He yawned boredly as he sat there.

Trailing off into his own ramblings, Carmine almost didn't hear when Sorrow spoke. "I'm a demon, one of the 'evil' twisted souls that's sole purpose is to destroy and run rampant through out the human world." Rather than be alarmed or alerted by the man's words, Carmine was just disappointed. He looked back up to examine Sorrow again, who'd sat down next to some flowers, apparently caught up by their beauty. Growing up on Earth, Carmine had a rough idea of what he thought demon's should look like, and Sorrow just didn't fit the bill. But there was something about his calm, nonchalant manner that was disarming. There was no venom in his words, no barely contained excitement, or contempt for the human world. He spoke of his duties as a demon as if they were talking about the weather.

It was a combination of that and Carmine's unwillingness to immediately resort to violence that had allowed this conversation to flourish into what it was. Sighing slightly, Carmine slipped his sheath free as he sat down Indian style, resting his weapon on his lap. Leaning his arms forward over his sheath, he let his fingers play across the grass in front of him. "It's not surprising that I'm a bit oblivious to Demons. I've only just acquired a substantial rank, so it would come as no surprise that I would be in the dark about it, if it were classified. If not...Well, I'm not particularly observant sometimes," he said with a shrug. "It's funny though, when I think of demons...You'd be the last thing that came to mind. I think of demons as giant red, brutish monsters with horns. Like hollows, without the mask I suppose...."

He glanced back up at the treetops for a moment, before turning back towards Sorrow. Heaving another sigh, he plucked a single blade of grass with his fingertips. "However...If what you said is true, that you really are a demon...and you really do destroy and run rampant in the human world..." His gaze sharpened, and his voice hardened, difficult to discern because the mask muffled his words, but just evident enough to be noticed. "I can't let you do that."

Sorrow smiled at the lower once more before turning back to Carmine to watch him sit as well. He almost laughed at the statement that came, he said he would never picture Sorrow as a demon. Sorrow himself had been born on the human world to a human woman, he himself unaware of what he was most of his years on Earth.

"Not all demons look like the biblical deception, hell hardly any do. We need to look human to disguise ourselves or we'd never get any business handled, honestly I never understood the picture of demons as red imps with horns and pitch forks. I personally look human even when I go into full demon state. I'm not here to harm the people of this plane, I'm half human myself. I merely like to get away from 'home' for a bit to recharge my batteries. In fact I've only ever attacked humans once, minus murdering all of my past mentors. " He spoke all of this quickly not wanting to be mid- sentence and attacked.

No such attack came, the male kept his Zanpakutō on his lap, "I'd expect you to stop me if I tried anything, it is your soul duty." Sorrow said as he looked once more to his flower, rarely did he ever get to speak with people whom he was supposed to hate and attack upon sighting.

Hearing Sorrow's words, he relaxed slightly, leaning back to prop himself up with his arms. "I see. Aside from past mentors...interesting. I hadn't thought of demons as having teachers. I figured you'd be like Hollows for the most part." The very idea of a demon in his mind's eyes, a small, red imp, sitting in a classroom full of other tiny imps, all paying attention to one giant demon teach a class was almost funny. He decided against voicing the thought, instead returning his attention to the treeline. "So then..." he began slowly, still formulating his thoughts. "From what I understand, as far as demons go you're one of the good ones? Well, as good as demons can be, from how you explained them. As I'm a bit oblivious to demons, I hope you wouldn't mind me asking you a few questions."

He leaned forward again, fixing his gaze on Sorrow. "For example, you said that you're half human. What exactly do you mean by that? How exactly are demon's created? I had thought there was only souls and hollows. I wasn't aware that there was middle ground in another uh...species. And when you say business handled....If all you do is destroy, why bother disguising yourself? As pressure goes, it's obvious that you're not human, so shinigami would have no real issue discerning your disguise. Unless of course, you're not masking your aura, which is a possibility." Carmine broke off into muttering to himself again, before blinking several times, realizing that for the first time in a long time, he'd begun to ramble.

"Uh...Yeah. Sorry for the question overload. I just realized that there's so much I don't know about demons that I could. That is, if you don't mind answering. But since I'm piling on questions, I'll throw in one more." Raising his right hand, Carmine pointed at Sorrow's weapon. "What is that? I don't think I've seen anything like it before, is it some sort of Zanpakutō? Or some other kind of Demon weapon?"

Sorrow decided he liked the kid even though they were supposed to be enemies, "First, my mother was a nazi that was in love with the occult. She ended up becoming raped by a demon and she died giving birth to me. Demons can form in a variety of ways, souls, humans possessed, anything possessed, even ideas. The demons formed from ideas tend to be the more powerful. You would think we all want to run and kill but it'd be hard to get a damn thing done if the Soul society was always aware of us, we can mask our aura as well as notice auras around us almost passively. Lastly my weapon here is Hunger, a iramasha gem blade that was custom created for me.. It speaks to me like your Zanpakutō would and it has its own set of skills. He said, trying to answer the answers as best as he could without giving away key details about his race that might hinder them.

He stood suddenly ad put his arms high into the air, his joints popping from the sudden movement. "I'm supposed to be evil but in reality I am the product of a world that hates me for my birth, this I have no control over." He said coldly as he looked above the tree tops into the sky.