The New Captain of Squad Three [Third Division Members only]

"Mm. I wasn't aware that our Captain was new to the division..." Carmine said nonchalantly to his friend Taggy. Taggy, several inches shorter than Carmine, always had to look up at him when he spoke. "Yeah, Captain Crow. A lot of people were surprised that he even remained a Captain, what with his arm and all." The pair were one of many filing into an open courtyard area for their captain to give a speech, of which they had no knowledge of it's purpose. "What happened to his arm?" Taggy shrugged, giving Carmine his huge smile. "Not a clue man." Carmine shook his head, causing the mask on his face to shift slightly to and fro in response. "We're gonna circle back to that. But do you know why we're having this meeting?"

Taggy shrugged again, placing both of his hands behind his head. "Not a clue. Like I said, our Captain is kinda new, so I'm not too sure what he's thinking right about now. Hell, we might be getting chewed out for being a terrible squad or something." Carmine looked appalled, which is a difficult feat when only your eyes are visible, and nudged Taggy, causing him to straighten up. "We're not a terrible squad," he said flatly. Taggy laughed, playfully nudging Carmine back. "Naw, of course not. I was just spitballing man."

Carmine shook his head again, turning his gaze forward. Someone had either moved or constructed a small platform at the front of the courtyard, no doubt for the Captain to give his speech from. "I can't help but wonder what he's like. You can tell a great deal about a man by how he carries himself. Ah, but what if our new Captain is a woman? I hadn't thought of that..." He lowered his head and took to muttering to himself for several minutes, as the courtyard began to fill out with the last few stragglers of the squad. Head downcast, Carmine didn't even notice when the captain took to the podium until Taggy drew his attention to it. "He's here," he whispered hurriedly, as all the noise in the courtyard died out immediately. All eyes were on him, as he began to speak.

"We stand at the edge, the edge of a war and conflict that has come and gone...But this battle isn't done yet, I have fought against the one they call Mana..The Gotei 13 needs us at our strongest so..I made a choice, the Third Division will show people the power we hold from here on. The Third Division shall become a fine tuned and trained force..I will begin teaching you all that I can about the ways of the warrior. I understand that Hijikata-sama left you all and some may be confused..I am the former Seventh Division Captain, I will guide you through these times..Trust me, I am putting down my drinking bottle for now, till the Soul Society and the world is safe..Or at the very least it's a safer place.."

There were a few things that stuck out to Carmine about the speech. Standing at the edge of war, for one thing. It was no doubt a combination of his poor memory and attention span, but he wasn't entirely aware of being on the precipice of war. The name Mana sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite place that. But the thing that stuck out to him most was the Captain's pledge to train the squad himself. He would have liked nothing more than to be under the wing of a captain, his powers would no doubt grow from the experience. The thing that caught Taggy's eye was his last statement though. "Put down his drinking bottle? So what, we have an drunkard as a Captain? That's not a good look..." Carmine elbowed him into silence, still staring up at their new Captain. "Captain Crow..." he muttered, the low whisper lost in the mask that obscured his face. "I think I'm gonna like being in this division after all..."