Welcome to Gaia! ::

Axel slowly walked up to the Training Area. As soon as he entered the field. "well no one is here, i guess." so he decided to do some practicing on his own. He pulled his Zanpakutou out of the sheath on his waist and held it over his shoulder.

Wind blew gently over the green sea of grass, making green ripples that shined in the light. The wind took up speed, and followed up a massive wave in the field, and then lightly pulled on black sails. THe black fabric made rustling sounds in the air. The wind past by, a single leaf marking is path and presence.

A young man with blazing red air looked up at the floating leaf, and he pulled back the sleeves of his brand-new shinigami robe, and picked up his sheathed zanbakuto; technically, it wasn't his, it was on loan until he could find his, but it worked like it should, like any katana should. The young man pulled the blade from its sheath, eying the glimmer of the light above run along the sharpened edge of the spirit blade. His eyes then darted to the dancing leaf, caught in something of a whirlwind, ten feet away off the end of the hill, with a seven foot drop beneath, but still eye level to him. The man took a deep breath, and put both hands on the the blade. He ran at the floating leaf, and leapt into the air, slashing at the feinting leaf. The zanbakuto effortlessly sliced the leaf in half, and the robed figure landed on on the ground below, landing with the same effortlessness that the blade had slashing through the leaf. He straightened up from his bent landing position, and looked silently at the two halves. The leaf had been cut with a perfectly clean cut, right down the middle. In life, that probably would have been impossible, but in death, as a shinigami, grim reaper... as a god of death, just about anything was possible, even if the blade in his hands wasn't his own. He sheathed the blade in his hands, and looked down at the shinigami academy, in all its glory. Down there, someone was waving their arms wildly, and a voice carried all the way up the hill.

"Oi! Rocky! Sensei wants you back down here! He wants you!" THe figure continued waving his arms and yelling, until Rocky finally nodded, "Yea! I'll be down in a sec, just stop waving you're arms like that; you look ridiculous." The other soul reaper at the bottom of the hill laughed, and stopped, then opened the rice paper sliding door, and entered that section of the facility again.

Rocky frowned, "Damn, how many times is that stupid teacher going to test me. I already passed the academy. Why the hell does he want me back in it... I swear," he said scratching the back of his head, "He hates me..." Rocky shook his head, and pulled his black and electric blue hat out of his robes. He threw the hat onto his head, and straightened out the two hanging flaps, then walked down the hill towards is teacher's office, preferably for the last time.

Metame walked into the training area, where he saw other people practicing with their Zanpaktou. He had passed his classes at the academy in swordsmanship, but he knew he would need more skill before he could truly get anywhere in any of the 13 Court Guard Squads. He unsheathed his Zanpaktou and took a few practice swings, slowly attempting to figure out his own style. All he knew was the style the Academy taught. Generic swordsmanship will get you nowhere.

Met continued his practice. He closed his eyes, flowing through the forms with his sword. He had learned through observations that most skilled Shinigami were connected deeply to their Zanpaktou. He hoped that by closing his eyes while he practiced, he could make that sort of connection faster. He filtered out te sound of everyone else. It was just him and the sword.

'Heron Parting the Waters' Met whispered to himself as he gently swung the sword straight down in front of him while taking steps forwards, like the graceful landing of a heron. 'Rat Scurries Away' He swung the sword in short, chopping arc where an enemy's feet would be. This practice for him was relaxing and he figured that a Zanpakutou would be more willing to reveal itself to a person who used it in a respectful manner. He'd know if that could possibly be correct once he'd done more research on the Zanpakutou-Shinigami connection. Until then, however, it was just a way to relax and practice.

Met opened his eyes and turned to face the person who had addressed him. "Well there are many advantages to practicing in this way. First, it is very relaxing to me, so I am not overstressing myself in practice. Secondly, if I practice my sword forms with my eyes closed, then in battle I could do them much more efficiently in battle with my eyes open and able to see what I'm doing. Essentially, that's building a body memory of my sword forms so that they may be easier to do spontaneously. Third, I believe that practicing in this manner will foster a stronger bond between my Zanpakutou and I, as I trust my sword forms to the sword itself. By forming the greater bond, then I believe it will make it easier for me to achieve my Shikai or Bankai." Met paused for a second. "And if I can reach those and communicate with my Zanpakutou, then I can begin my research project that I believe will be to the benefit of all of the Soul Society. Until that day, however, I will keep my project to myself. I haven't even made it into a squad yet."

Met returned the gesture of the hand shake, holding the sword in his left hand. "Metame Monoshi, but everyone calls me Met. I applied to the twelfth." He sheathed his sword. "If every Zanpakutou is different, then who's to say that my relaxed, slow-swinging approach isn't the fastest method of attaining my Zanpakutou's Shikai?" He tapped his left temple twice with his index finger and then raised the finger in the air. "Think about it" he explained the gesture. He looked at the paper under Junichiro's arm. "What's that scroll for, if you don't mind me asking?"