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 Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 5:33 pm
"hm..." Natsuki mused as she watched her opponent make the next movement. It was a bit odd but clearly set the field into his advantage. She took the opportunity to move the troops she had not move back away from the impending army, she also moved the three units she had moved earlier into what was displayed as a wooded area, one of the best advantages in an even battle is proper coverage as well as the element of surprise. The main force she had moved made there way atop an opposing hillside, there she would root their position. She flipped a few of the tiles revealing a black arrow, clearly they were ranged units, and nested at the high ground that they were they became quite formidable. she looked to the higher ranked man who was her opponent. "Just remember not to rely solely on the layout of troops, what they do can be crucial as well." she commented looking to the new arrivals as they commented on a conversation she cared only minutely about. "I've learned something important about strategy, it only works if you maintain control of the field. If you make the rules you win, the moment control is relinquished you risk failure. Practice allows for an understanding of the battlefield that someone who rushes out with no training cannot gain an understanding for... The point of real battle experience is to test yourself as well as cement what you've trained." She explained nonchalantly adjust her headband lightly moving a few stray hair from her view as she observed the others. She was certainly curious as to why they decided to converge here, she wasn't quite aware that she had such a magnetism about her to attract such a gathering.
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Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 6:05 pm
"I suppose you have a point," Kay said. "I guess I think fieldwork should be tempered with a closer involvement by superior officers with their subordinates, if only to give them the benefit of their experience,"
She did not say that she would not be one to abandon a teammate simply because of their arrogance. Loyalty was important to her, but she suspected the two men would take her to task for her naive notions, and she wasn't particularly keen to argue.
"Anyway, I'm Kay," Kay introduced herself at the scarred shinigami's invitation without missing a beat. "Kyrie, really. Kyrie Eisenheim. But 'Kay' is better,"
If she felt he was being somewhat cold-hearted and elitist, she betrayed nothing. To all appearances, she seemed pleased to meet him. And she was, after a fashion. He clearly had more experience than she, which made him interesting. That he came across as somewhat hard and cruel she could forgive. In the Seireitei, it was difficult to gauge one's age, but she suspected that he might be far older than he looked, and the way in which he spoke made the weight of those years apparent. She supposed it was difficult not to become somewhat jaded after seeing so much fighting.
Still, there was a smile in his voice, if not on his lips, and for that Kay liked him.
"It's quiet here," She said by way of answer to his question. "No fighting, no shouting, no bleeding. It's a nice place for a walk. I can't speak for the both of us, but I don't think we're disturbing anybody,"
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Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 8:05 pm
"Kodate. Kago Kodate. A pleasure to meet you all." He waited for the girl to finish speaking first before he began, and his voice was flat when he finally did speak. He meant it, but it might not have sounded like it to begin with. The man used the traditional honorifics and position for giving one's name in the Seireitei; last name first. He had learned after such a long time that his last name was as important as he feared it was going to be, so he showed no hesitance in his voice when he gave his name as he once did upon entering the academy. "I did not feel like accompanying my...classmates...as they went to celebrate their graduation. I walked this way to catch a breath of fresh air and be on my own for a bit. I noticed you all assembled here and my curiosity got the better of me, as you can see." Kodate smiled thinly, and turned his eyes back to the board.
Feigning interest in the pieces, he licked his lips quickly and wondered how one would play this game. Perhaps he should have picked up a hobby like a game during his days in the Academy, although he had no one to play with because of his own seclusion. "I do not find training or battle experience to be so mutually exclusive. Training prepares you with martial arts, strengthens you, allows you a relatively safe practice of Kidou. But training does not compare to an actual fight, where your life is on the line. A hollow won't stop coming at you because you dropped your sword from a failed parry. It is much like learning to ride a bike. You practice over and over, but when you are finally prepared to embark on your own, you are guaranteed to fall down and scrape something. But after that crucial first ride, it comes naturally, and you never forget how to stay on." He laughed lightly. "At least that's what the graduated students would say. And it sounds like an accurate metaphor."
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Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 11:30 pm
'Showing her troops already?' The action seemed like a beginners mistake. To say what she had hidden within the woods meant that she was also relinquishing her chance at surprise. The lieutenant nodded and observed the playing field without even the slightest sign of worry. "You're right, Natsuki. What your troops are capable of is indeed an important factor." He nodded and pushed forth the troops he had stationed in the valley. "But if one is to consider what the troops are capable of, you must also consider where you place said troops, would you not?" He asked, raising his left eyebrow in question. "How will those under your command successfully fire long range weapons my main force when you would have to worry about a counter-attack from my own men?" While asking the question he moved the small group of pieces on the opposite flank forward. "You have to consider the lay out of your land. Take your archers for example... how will they be able to attack my main force when they have to put up with a barrage of attacks of their own? Will you risk splitting their attention and fighting a battle on two fronts? After all, you don't even know whom I have placed where yet. What if you are sending your outfit to their deaths?" He pointed at the small troop-representatives while he spoke.
"Kay is it?" He asked with a small amount of wonder as to why she would opt for a nick name when her given one was so pretty, though what really peaked his curiosity was the orgin of her name. It didn't sound Japanese -in fact she didn't really look all that Japanese either- but he had been mistaken before and would make it a point to ask at a later time. "Well Kay, as Mr. Kotoshi said, you can't learn everything from training. Some times it takes going out and risking your neck for you to realize the finer points of an opponents style. The problem there is that not everyone is cut out for battle. If you're too cocky, you leave openings in your forms that the enemy can exploit and, as I've said before, you can't always fix arrogance. If that upsets you, I apologies but I assure you that you'll get over it. Everyone does in the end." He trailed off, remaining silent for a moment or so while gathering his thoughts. "Of course you wouldn't be disturbing anyone. It's just not the most glamorous bit of land out there, is it?" He laughed and looked around. The place could definitely use some landscaping. Perhaps he'd bring it up with Fefnir later.
'Kodate. Kago Kodate....' The name forced Lerato to look up. "Kodate?" Though he was sure he had heard correctly it didn't seem possible. "I am sorry." He commented dryly, bowing his head for a few seconds before explaining his actions. "What happened to your family can only be described as a tragedy. Dueling within the Sereitei doesn't normally turn out as ill fated as it seems to with your bloodline." Unsure of what else he could say to alleviate the man's pain he continued on with only a slight hesitation, "You're family would have been proud of the way you turned out. Take it from me, cunning and wit will win many more battles then raw strength."
[Bleh, Sorry Hymm, I kinda ran outa juice for ya. Zavits, I editted my post for you.]
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Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 11:32 am
((No problemo, mi amigo.))
Kodate opened his mouth without a sound for a second, and then quickly clamped it shut. He had not anticipated someone so readily remembering his name, or acknowledging his past. It hit him like an emotional steamroller, making his stomach knot around itself harder than he had anticipated. The pain washed across his face for a second before he managed to compose himself hopefully before anyone noticed.
"I...thank you, sir." He managed, his voice a little quieter than before. He lowered his gaze to the board, feigning a sudden dramatic interest in the pieces and how they moved across the field. "I live to honor their memory." His voice was almost a whisper at this point, a strange feat for someone so tall.and masculine-looking as Kodate. His deep voice made the whisper sound strange, but it didn't seem like he really cared how his whisper sounded.
His last statement had a strange, powerful finality to it despite being so softly spoken, it made it strangely obvious that the topic wasn't exactly one he enjoyed talking about. "But I thank you for your sentiment." His eyes were firm, watching the troops on the field now with a sudden clarity. He would play the game slightly different; although they way they were playing now was completely valid. He wondered if he could compete with strategic masterminds. He had studied the art of battle and the art of war, two strangely different theories, but had yet to truly test his knowledge either on a game or on a field.
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Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 4:59 pm
۞Angel Kotoshi۞  When the world is yours.... ╔══════════════╗
Angel looked up at Kodato and arched a brow at the conversation the two men were having and although he was curious he didnt say anything since it had nothing to do with him. He looked down at the archer units and rubbed his head, "Well. If the archers are by themselves they could take out quite an amount of soldiers, but say she had hidden back-up? The archers could also have traps set up so it would be harder to reach them. Alot of factors can come in to play when attacking a certain unit." He stretched his arms. Although he wasnt playing he could still give his own opinion on the game. He then looked up at Kodato and smiled as he stood up, "Hey Kodato. Up for a little hand-to-hand spar?"╚══════════════╝ .....what is left for you to take?
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Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 6:26 pm
"Fortunately for me I set up this field before anyone arrived, I'm well aware of the troops my units will have to face..." Natsuki commented casually looking over the field a stoic look on her face. "Do you know the troops you are commanding?" she questioned finally bringing up the obvious fact he had yet to look at which troops he had been moving around the field meanwhile she responded to his movement by moving forces that still remained blank in between his forces and her ranged units. "Every soldier has a purpose and an area in which they excel in. Playing your pieces as though they were all equal with one another often exposes the greatest of weaknesses in a unit. " she explained bringing about her point in a round about way.
((ew tiny XD;; ))
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Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 9:15 pm
The big man blinked for a second as he though he heard his name being spoken. He had actually become moderately interested in this strange little war game, but tore his attention away to look over at the man who had spoken. A fellow shinigami. He had seen him before, before this day. He couldn't quite remember, probably in the halls of the Academy, but he had some recollection of his face. He was great with faces, but horrible with names.
"It's Kodate." He replied simply, nodding at the man who had invited him to a spar. "I suppose I could be convinced to fight. I won't say I'm a particularly skilled fighter but I can hold my own. I would think that fighting someone with a higher grasp of combat would be a better idea but if you insist, I suppose I cannot deny my fellow shinigami." He smiled warmly, with a light in his eyes as if the conversation prior had not happened.
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Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 10:41 pm
A poet is a nightingale,
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Strolling about the Academy was finally, finally boring Aine to tears. No one, not a single soul there had been interesting or even tried to nibble at the tendrils of reiatsu she’d been using to bait them all day. Then again, her little fishing trips were just as predictable as the actual sport. Rounding the lesser used training fields the Guardswoman stopped in her tracks and made an about face. Obviously fuming had distracted her from a familiar face. Lips twitching upwards into a devious smile she squashed the little reiatsu she’d been emitting, bundling the energy inside and contemplated the best way to interrupt the little gathering he was sitting with. To her delight, the blonde and brunette girls were seated on the opposite side and adjacent side of the board, the blonde’s back in her direction while the two young men were opposite of her.
That gave Aine a wonderfully horrible idea.
Flashing forward, Aine forced the shunpo she’d just used to end abruptly and entered yet another step now in a direct line straight towards her intended target. “LERATO!” Barreling forward, she opened her arms and flung them around his neck from his left side. Aine had timed her glomp tackle and direction, intentionally missing the board and gathered group to propel her energy past Lerato’s olive skinned body in the hopes of sending both of them tumbling a few feet. Why? For the fun of it all. Sure, playing Monopoly in a secluded pomegranate orchard nearly two weeks ago had been fun, but she couldn’t leave any member of the First Division alone for long. It was her duty as a prisoner under house arrest to annoy her wardens until they finally gave in and let her have her way, namely freedom from the trivial play she continually had to put on. At least her target knew about her ranking.
“How’s my favorite-est Vice Captain!?”
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Who sits in darkness and sings to cheer its own solitude with sweet sounds.
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Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 9:33 am
Kay opened her mouth to respond to the scarred shinigami, perhaps to point out that it was often customary to offer introductions in return-- she concluded that she had, in fact, seen him before and knew him by sight if not by name-- but she was brought up short by the way in which Kodate spoke. For a giant of a man, it was strange to see such sudden fragility. She decided that he must mask it pretty well but that maybe the recognition of his family name had caught him off guard.
She, too, had heard of the Kago family, if only in a general sort of way. It was a cautionary tale, mentioned in passing by some instructor or another. Kay didn't much concern herself with the noble houses. They had their own family feuds and politics that would never affect her, beyond the fact that she might serve with them at some point in the future.
Kay studied the map before her without really seeing it. She supposed most people had some sort of baggage, some unpleasant skeleton in the closet that kept them up some nights, but mostly those things stayed hidden. Seeing such emotion in Kodate felt like she was peering into a very private part of him, a part Kay, if she were in Kodate's position, would have wanted to keep hidden. In fact, this was something she did rather well. She simply wasn't willing to display that sort of vulnerability to anybody.
Anyway, Kodate seemed to recover himself fairly quickly. When the shinigami she had heard called "Kotoshi" offered to spar, she felt the last of the tension drain from the air. In a simple sense, boys were mostly the same. They worked off their stress by beating on each other.
Apparently the higher-ups worked in the same fashion. A blurred shape shot past her and latched itself onto the scarred shinigami with whom she had been speaking. When the figure shouted a greeting, she realized it was a woman. She laughed at the woman's antics, pleased to see that her superior officers might not all be stuffy and formal.
[Thaaaat was a post saying absolutely nothing. I just have nothing to say ><' Also, there are a lot of 'K' names.]
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Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 8:36 pm
The graduate shinigami who sat across from him had a very good point. 'I'm surprised she was paying close enough attention to pick up on that...' It wasn't often that a set of graduates broke the mold but these three definitely seemed to be making strides in the right direction. "Well of course I don't." The vice captain laughed. "If I knew exactly what my pieces were, where would be the mys-" Lerato inhaled sharply. There was something different about the air in the grounds of the Shino Academy but it wasn't until he managed to put a voice to a face that he was able make out the slight change. The Grecian man hadn't even had the time to lift his head to see which direction she would come from before she barreled into his side. With only his name as preamble, Aine and Lerato were sent tumbling a fair distance away from the small group and the game he was supposed to be playing. 'Just what in the hell is she doing here?' The last time he had seen the former defect had been in the middle of an out-of-the-way pomegranate orchard. That same day Lerato had found out Aine's true status; a tidbit of information that both scared and intrigued him.
"Aine..." He started, voice as gentle as if he was speaking with a long lost love, "you know I'd love to lay her with you all day but if it wouldn't be too much trouble..." He let his voice fade momentarily. If he managed to anger the woman it could very well be his last day as a shinigami. "Would you mind... Getting the ******** off of me!" He barked. It was an odd feeling laying where he did. Part of him wanted to wrap his arms around the Guardswoman in a warm embrace while the other wanted to throw her tiny body from him. "You're a lunatic, you know that?" He growled. Releasing a sigh, Lerato relinquished control and leaned his head against the grass, taking his bearing to see if anything had been hurt in the tumble. After only a brief hesitation the vice captain came to the conclusion that, other than a few ribs cracking from landing on an out of place rock, he was fine. "I was fine until you showed up. In fact, I was having a rather pleasant time with some of the new graduates.”
With a grunt the olive skinned man pushed himself up into sitting position. Taking as deep of a breath as his cracked rib would allow he braced himself. A jolt of pain ran down the back of his ribcage as he stood. In a single swift strike Lerato lashed out and seized hold of Aine’s belt, much in the same way a heron would strike at a fish. “I don’t care what ********’ position you hold,” his words came out as a fierce whisper that only the tiny shinigami would hear, “unlike you, I still need to make an impression.. Now,” he continued as if she weighed no more than a sack of potatoes to him, “now you’re going to explain that tackling a vice captain is not a very wise decision. Just because I couldn’t lift a finger against you, doesn’t mean they share in the same luxury.”
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Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 9:44 pm
۞Angel Kotoshi۞ When the world is yours.... ╔══════════════╗
Angel smiled and bowed, "My mistake. Thank you for accepting Kodate." He then turned around when he heard something and chuckled when he saw the man that was playing the war game get tackled by a woman. He rubbed his chin as he heard the woman speak, "So he is a Vice Captain." He smiled with victory at the thought of guessing right. He turned back to Kodate as he walked past the man and turned back to him a few feet away. He shrugged, "If I continued to fight with the higher-skilled people I wouldnt get to meet new people like you now would I?" He tilted his head with a questioning look on his face. He then put his left foot in front of him and planted it there. His right foot twisted so he was rooted to his spot. He curled his hands in to fists as his right hand hovered closer to his chest while his left hand stayed stretched out. His hands then opened up as he smirked, "When ever your ready."╚══════════════╝ .....what is left for you to take?
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Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 10:57 pm
A smirk from the tall man. "I feel that tea would be a better way to meet people." He respectfully ignored the strange display that had just taken place right beside him, finding it better to remain ignorant of whatever strange occurrences that meant very little to himself or his existence. If it had been an attack, he would be invested. But it seemed like they knew each other, so he paid them no heed. Taking one last look at the board before he turned and followed the man away from the group as to respect their space and protect them from any stray blows. He looked down slightly at his opponent as he had already picked a stance.
"Alright, then." Kodate did not take some fancy stance, simply bent down a little and held his arms up, his hands held loose so that his fingers dangled. The large man wasn't usually a man of direct action, more a man of response, but it was evident that the man across from him was going to wait for him to make the first move, and he felt no need to be a poor sport and simply wait for an attack; both of them might be there for a while. He clenched his right hand and sent it out towards Angel's face, and it looked like he was going to follow through with it until it stopped just outside of his opponent's reach. At the same time that it stopped, seamlessly, his entire body twisted, along with his feinted arm, and his right leg swung with gusto at Angel's left knee. It wasn't an identifiable fighting style. It was just...Kodate.
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Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 11:09 pm
۞Angel Kotoshi۞ When the world is yours.... ╔══════════════╗
Angel tilted his head curiously at Kodates stance as he tensed up, "Doesnt look like any fighting style ive seen. Maybe his own? Something new?" He smiled at the chance of fighting a new opponent. His arms tensed up when he saw the man's punch coming at him, but was surprised to see the punch stop right out of his circle of reach. He then smiled when he saw what the man was doing. Angel quickly shifted his leg back letting Kodate's kick miss him by inches. He then stomped down, put his right foot forward, and thrusted both his palms in to Kodate's side and hip. He then stepped back again and smiled, "I have to say. Your fighting style is....interesting."╚══════════════╝ .....what is left for you to take?
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Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2011 9:01 am
"Looks like your game was kinda interrupted, huh?" Kay settled down on her haunches across from Natsuki and smiled easily. Her tone was a bit apologetic. Natsuki had seemed rather intent on her strategic exercise, but her opponents had abandoned the game for more physical endeavors.
"I would substitute in, but I'm afraid I'd be no match for you. Strategy was never my strong point," She plucked a piece from the board and turned it thoughtfully in her fingers. "I guess I find it hard to simplify a person into a piece on a board. It doesn't quite include all the complexities of free will, not to mention individualized power, does it?"
She returned the piece to the board, taking care to place it exactly where she'd found it. She glanced over her shoulder to where Kotoshi and Kodate sparred, vaguely considering how she, herself, would approach their fighting styles. The Ketan, her own fighting style, was versatile enough that she felt confident in handling both fighters.
Kay turned back, studying Natsuki for a second.
"What is it about strategy that interests you so much?"
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