A Discussion of Sorts

Cat's eyes; strange thing about them, how they almost seemed to glow in the darkness. As the dark-skinned woman peered through the dim shadows, her amber hues seemed to be highlighted, the most visible of any part of her. It was by no stretch of the imagination because they were phosphorescent, but rather that their golden color was particularly vivid. They wandered aimlessly throughout the room, moving from the floorboards to Xaver, to the Old Man's antique throne to Xaver, to the pink walls to Xaver and... the room was actually quite lackluster; plain yet functional. There really wasn't much to look at, and of all the things there were, only one defied the rest as something she hadn't seen here hundreds of times before. Her eyes locked on the Xaver once again in keen scrutiny, but did not manage more than the last time in determining whether or not he belonged. In truth, all she knew is that he once took up the reigns she had dropped, before just as quickly releasing them to join the Zero Division by the discretion of the Soul King. He might have taken notice of Xaver, but Yoruichi never had, and still hasn't. What exactly had he done? What gave him the right to take the place of the Captain Commander? In the end, she would shake her head to break her focus off, and thus shake herself from that train of thought. Though it was true she harbored doubts, she had never been one to argue with the Soul King and his decisions... she only wished he'd have stayed in Zero Division. For now, the meeting would go on, and Yoruichi would have to judge Xaver so that she could finally know if he was strong enough to lead them like a true Captain-Commander.

Her eyes shifted finally, watching as the newest Captain amongst them joined up, almost as early as she herself had. She grinned slightly at Damien's appearance, figuring he too had dumped his paperwork on the head of his Vice-Captain. It was an assumption, but an educated one at that. She noticed that while there were a lot of differences between them, there were actually quite a few similarities that made the man more relatable than others. She recalled their get-together after his inauguration, where they had drunk down a couple cups of Sake before he had tried to jump paces and pull out a serious topic of discussion just as she was beginning to enjoy herself. She had given her answer, but that night could have gone so much better without the sober talk in the way. In the end, she left with a clear head and childish disappointment, before drowning herself in the new paperwork that had somehow managed to make its way to her desk while she was gone. After Damien's arrival and subsequent pointless apology, Xaver responded in his lazy dialect as he had to her moments before, skipping a couple of phonetics to get through the words. She'd only heard it a couple times before as it was quite rare, but not unique. A stark contrast to the harsh tones of old man Yamamato, the only other Captain-Commander she had experience with. Perhaps it was not fair to make the comparison between the two and that was the root of the entire problem, but it was all she had to go off of. Xaver had to be the best Shinigami, without a doubt, as Genryūsai had been in his time.

Next came Zeda Yuudeshi, another Captain rather recently accepted into his position, and easily one of the younger ones. He was another red-head with that auburn shade to him, but boy was there a huge difference between a full-grown man and one just barely making his way into young adulthood. It was evident which of the two was more attractive, but at least the Yuudeshi had some genes working in his favor. Her golden hues disappeared into the darkness for a moment as she closed her eyelids, reminiscing. Memories of her old student were stirred, another with these prodigous genes who went out into the world and grew up to be a celebrity. He always wanted to be faster than her; faster, faster, faster, just as most the students before him, and after him. She was always amused by such a wish, but nobody would ever be able to catch up to the Goddess of Flash, not unless she wanted them to. She woke from the nostalgia with half-drawn eyes, meeting Zeda's dark brown ones fully. She detected the obvious eagerness in those orbs, seeing that familiar tinge of reverance swimming through. She let out a quiet sigh in response. That was right, she had never been properly acquainted with Zeda, and thus with him having heard the stories of her past, he probably thought ardently of her for her accomplishments. He was one she hadn't quite managed to disillusion yet; legend was different from reality.

Then she noticed the benevolent figure behind Zeda with a suddenly great smile, her teeth showing. Retsu Unohana trailed not five steps behind the kid, her soft face visible over the top of the Yuudeshi. Now, Yoruichi was glad to finally see such a familiar face among all these strangers; Unohana was one of the only two Captains who had held their positions way back when she had. And outside of Kisuke, she had always been closest to Retsu. Now this was a reason to stop sulking in the shadows, decidedly pushing her back off the wall and throwing her arms into the air as she stretched out, yawning audibly. She walked over to her designated spot in the line-up of captains, set out for the 2nd Divison specifically. Retsu, being the captain of the 4th, would situate herself to the Shihouin's right. When she filed in beside Yoruichi, the dark-skinned woman would turn to face the motherly one, her smile still sticking but not wide enough any longer to show her teeth. "Aw, man, is it good to see a familiar face around here," she would quip in a delighted voice, though with her usual notes of playfulness hiding behind it. "I see you still like teasing the boys as much as I do, hmm? Their reactions are always so delectible." She would chuckle, feeling comfortable in the woman's proximity regardless of what she knew about her. She never had been put off by the aura Retsu exuded naturally, and perhaps it was that that allowed them to get along so well.

One more captain joined the meeting, but Yoruichi didn't take notice of the silver-haired boy when he did. She and Retsu went far back, and regardless of the setting it had been a long time since they last saw each other. The wait before the meeting was a good enough time as any to catch up, even if just a little bit. She'd talk with the woman as much as she could, but they weren't given much time, for moments after Toshiro arrived on the scene, Xaver's distinguished voice called out with new strength, a call for attention; it seemed the meeting had begun. Yoruichi, resigned, turned away from her good friend and to the head of it all, the new Captain-Commander. No longer sitting, he chose to walk between the two rows of captains, bringing the Shihouin's attention to the astounding lack of them. One, two, three, four, five... Six in total, including Xaver Cheyton von Breanainn. According to the information she had recieved, each of the thirteen positions had been filled, and yet only four of the twelve other divisions were represented in this meaning. Was it the lack of morale in the captains with Xaver at the helms? Or was it simply a testimony about the state of the Gotei 13; in shambles? Yoruichi shook her head in disappointment, for it was pathetic. It was probably a new all-time record for the lowest amount of captains rallying at a meeting, even in the time of Aizen's betrayal.

Then began the speech of their great leader: Strong voice, a sure stride, strength transmitted through body language. Yoruichi may not have often enjoyed her position, but her skills were not wasted; years of studying the signs were engraved in her mind, and she used to them to analyze the type of man she was dealing with by what little she had to observe. So far, he possessed passable power by appearances alone, but knew there would be far more to it depending on his ideals, goals, and of course his capability to fight—those were to be determined in the future, however. For now she continued to listen as Xaver spoke, and the further his speech went, the more... incredibly underwhelming it became. He wanted everybody to consider him their Captain-Commander in mind but then preferred he wasn't called as such. Now, this notion was interesting enough, and any other time if you asked her this would be Yoruichi's ideal Captain-Commander; just, she'd say it jokingly, never seriously. The tact displayed by the blue-haired man was just like Yoruichi herself, actually, and yet still she disapproved. It was not the type of person they needed right now, and if it had been, she'd have taken up the position herself; but then she'd wonder how many would disapprove of that, including herself. The speech was now a situation to be salvaged, and the Shihouin listened in closely, expression serious now.

Whether or not it was he sensed the animosity, he quickly changed subject, his voice becoming rougher. He addressed the possibility that issues could arise, or were simmering beneath the pot and waiting to just blow the top off when it grew out of control. It was necessary; they hadn't had a Captain's meeting in ages, causing the unspoken problems to fester and the organization of the Gotei in general to falter greatly. It was one step in the right direction. Then he finally said the one thing Yoruichi knew was on every mind present in this room: War. Apparently, the Soul Society had rested peacefully for too long, and it was time yet again for arms. There was a moment of silence afterwards, showing that Xaver was done speaking on such an ill note. She compiled what she had learned and what she knew, and then took the silence as their turn to finally speak. Yoruichi went first, knowing the meeting had to progress forward. "We will fall," she began curtly and bluntly, the first to step over the boundary of silence. "As the Commander-in-Chief of the Onmitsukido, I know battle; I know how to assess the strength of an enemy's forces; and I know when to fight and when to flee. If this"—she gestured her arms to the five other captains present to emphasize her impending point—"Is the extent of our military force, I can tell you right now that we will fall.

"The first and most pronounced issue is that the Gotei as it is now lacks any semblence of military union; we are divided and acting alone, and that needs to be resolved before we can even muster up an opposition to our enemies. So... excuse me if I'm a little averse to seeing you in that Haori when you wished to begin with more than half of our Captains absent." Her golden hues pressed into those of their 'Captain-Commander', unwavering. Strong voice, sure stride, powerful body... but still Xaver missed the X-factor that Yamamato had. He could not command them like the old man did as he was, and Yoruichi did not know if he ever could...

Damien merely listened, he was in a sense serious something that most people wouldn't see often. The puzzle that's been put to the front of the Captains now, only a half of the true force was here. Kenpachi Zaraki, Hijikata, the Sixth Divisions new ringer. Things were missing here, so a full guess of the military power couldn't truly be brought forward by him even if he tried. His blood felt cold when the female Unohana Retsu came forward, he'd almost gone for his weapon but he'd restrained it and touched his arm instead. That feeling when he lost the limb seeming to return for a moment, he appeared to be thinking thoughtfully about the people here. The Head Captain was strong of course, but what were they to do in this situation. Shunsui sometimes he wished his friend would just come in and give him the answers to the problems at hand. So he began thinking like his friend were here pondering the question at hand. The amount of military power they had was almost abysmal now even Damien could see that, Captains had come and gone for such a long period. The former Captain who lead his Division, Sajin Komamura was one of the men he remembered clearly. His other memory of past Division Captains included the Siren Kaminari. But something needed to be done, this situation couldn't remain how it was. Damien cleared his throat, once he was certain Yoruichi was done. Remembering his language skills as he made a fool of himself before Yoruichi last time. He had a slight buzz that time though and in his defense, he'd been partying all night. Damien would wait for the report on the situation he felt his black coal eyes settle on the others that he could see. Reading them almost, it seemed as though he could see through them.

"Things do look rather bad, however I think we are more then capable of coming up with an answer to this situation. I've seen many things before I came here and joined the Gotei 13, the world of the living is in shambles outside Karakura Town. Organizations of Darkness have indeed taken over that place. The Rukongai is still in shambles from the time of my youth, no changes in the form of what tyrants may lurk in these places. I have an idea that may aid the situation slightly, I believe we may of used this at some point long ago. But joint training missions and drills for the Squads, pair them together with other Divisions to promote the ideal of working together. I would suggest even us among the Captains participate. At this point I believe if we work together and make a strong enough team we may be able to make this mountain before us move. But at the very least we'll be able to give the people working for us a chance."

Damien let this settle for now, he wanted to suggest they bring back Captain Ukitake and Captain Kyoraku. But he felt that perhaps these were times that they needed to handle, but what else could they do. Those were some of the most powerful Shinigami who were alive. But the new generation did have to fend for themselves, he had given his idea of training people. People may not of liked it wasn't forced of course, they weren't going to be made to work with others. But Damien had seen the world of the living and the Rukongai and the rough shape it was in, Ukitake was back in Captainship of course, but Shunsui Kyoraku was going around telling people he retired. His friend had a funny way of trying to stay out of the affairs of the younger group. That he just wanted to lay and be a drunk, a respectable choice in Damien's opinion.