Welcome to Gaia! ::

In the darkness of the night the remains of this City seem all the more ominous. Unlike much of the world this area the Shinigami base themselves from is more heavily populated by large buildings. This gives Shinigami both good lookout points but also the threat that they could be hit with a sneak attack. To prevent this Shinigami are stationed each night to keep an eye out for enemy attacks and sense for Hollows while their comrades sleep.

Although an important job it isn't exactly a difficult one and so often fairly new Shinigami are given it. Tonight looks to be a fairly dull night. The feeling of hollow reiatsu lingers in the air but in truth it is not so unusual. Currently the Shinigami protecting the area should be stationed at four cardinal points facing away from each other and into any possible threat. With only their ability to shout to communicate over long distances.

(So I know there is nothing in the rules against Posting styles, but I'd really appreciate if you toned it down. You don't have to, it's just that they drive me nuts. Personal preference.)

"Booooooo-Riiiing!"

What a crappy first mission to be sent on! Patrol was dull and boring no matter how you looked at it. Even in the greatest of company, the best you could hope for was a night of cards. Sure the briefing said that an attack was likely and that they should stay on gaurd, but didn't they always say that to keep you from nodding off or boozing on the job? Niina was most certainly not happy with these acomidations, and was doing her best to at least make the night somewhat amusing.

In the dead of night there where plenty of shadows to play in at this time of night, and while sentury duty didn't require stealth it sure as hell made it more interesting. She dashed from shadowy corner to shadowy corner with a practiced silence, nearly mimicking the wind itself. Every once in a while she smiled and muttered to herself a quiet "Zam" or "Nin-Nin" as she made her way through a particularly well moonlit-patch of wall still barely visable. All the while hiding her riatsu, looking to and fro for both friend and foe in an attempt to make the night more interesting. Happily it wasn't more than an hour into her watch that her efforts where met with success, and she found a fellow shinigami on watch.

She had only briefly glanced over the profiles of the fellow shinigami who would be on watch with her and frankly had no clue who this guy would be. With bright Pink hair there was no way he'd be the muscle of the 11th devision without getting pummled to death before finishing basic, and she couldn't recall anything specific about the other two squad 2 members that might help her identify him. Either way though... She had some fun planned for this guy.

Quiet and swift as a cat she dodged through the shadows, doing her best not to make a single sound and hiding her riatsu oh-so-carefully she dodged around in front of him. Using a particularly deep set of shadows cast by one of the more decrept buildings and some chest high wall cover she hid from him. Awaiting his approach. He seemed deep in thought for several long moments, before brushing his zanpacto and walking towards her. She smiled mischiviously as he approached, continuing his rounds. And just when he was mear feet away from her, BAM! She lunged out of the shadows, moving her hand to press against the hilt of his zanpacto as she came within striking distance so he couldn't draw his blade.

"Oooooga-boooga-booooga!" She shouted, her voice high pitched with childish glee. She was now within mear inches of his face.... Well as close as you could be with a hight difference of nearly a foot. Her smile broad and mischivious, she looked up at him. ".... Did I scare you?-Hehe" Niina stuck her toung out at him from the pure joy of the little joke. This would certainly be a first impression worth remembering.

((I'll assume the other two don't want to join in on the mission unless they turn up for now.))

The conversation of Loki and Niina was suddenly rudely interrupted. Not by a Hollow as they may have expected but instead by an obnoxiously loud 'twang' sound. A blue light flew right past them and implanted itself into the ground behind them all too fast to properly process. They could briefly sense something up in the building to their left, an old tower that housed many offices, something which they would not have sensed for a long time. Possibly something they had never sensed before in their short careers as Shinigami. It was a human. A spiritually aware one. However certainly not hollow as it stuck out like a sore thumb. Then there was only one thing it could be.

The arrow fired at them carried a note and a small package on it. Their first job would be to investigate that. It could be that the one who had fired it was looking for a peaceful resolution as it was attached with a note and distinctly not fired at anyone. Even if one of them kept watch on their fronts to look for more arrows the others could investigate the arrow and the package it had brought with it.

"Hm...I wonder if the others are at their post." Takeshi muttered to himself. Being the Squad 2 member that he is, he decided to be the sentry for the northern area. Alone. There were some broken down buildings there that gave him a tactical advantage, so it was a no-brainer for him. He could just hide in some dark corner and wait for any sign of movement. And there was no better way to do that than by himself. Sure, there was another Squad 2 member with them. But Takeshi just assumed that he would want to work alone, as well. It would just make more sense from a tactical standpoint, since there were four directions that they needed to cover and being undetected was a bit harder to do with more than one person.

A bit later into the night, Takeshi heard a distant "twang" sound. It sounded kind of like an arrow being fired off. "What the hell was that? I don't remember hollow being able to shoot arrows... He looked toward the direction of the noise and saw a small blue light. "Right. I don't remember hollow being able to shoot arrows because they can't. Dammit." He materialized out of the shadows in his hiding place and began to sprint toward the light.

Once he made his way to the blue light, he frowned slightly. "Hm...could it be quincy? What would they want with us? Based on the note and package, I'm guessing they don't want to kill us right now. Unless..." He looked at the package thoughtfully. "This is kind of suspicious, isn't it? Excuse me, shinigami of squad 4. Could you get away from the package?" Takeshi was being slightly paranoid, however it seemed to be pretty reasonable in this situation. A quincy arrow had been shot in their general direction with a note and a package attached to it. If that wasn't strange at all, then he didn't know what was. "This package better not explode. I don't think I could live without most of my limbs. I'm kind of hoping there's food in it, actually..."

(Sorry for being tardy. Moving on Friday, and hopefully will be more regular.)

Niina was rather disappointed at the lack of reaction she got from her victim. Not even a squeak of surprise or funny face to be seen. Had he sensed her? Was she not ninja enough?! Had all her years of hard work and training gone to waste!?!? A depressingly sad expression covered her face as that thought crossed her mind. No, that couldn't be! He had reached for his blade, he must have been at least a little scared. She rallied herself just in time to be asked exactly who she was. She debating playing a trick on him and telling this guy a false name or giving him wrong information from the dossiers she read earlier as a subtle form of revenge, when suddenly a bright light interrupted her train of thought. It could have only been more dramatic if an angel's chorus had accompanied the bright light or a loud swishing sound effect like in the corny animes she watched so much.

Niina jumped a little as it landed next to the pair of them with a dull thud, shortly followed by the swish swish of two other shinigami arriving on the scene, blatantly addressing the elephant in the room of who was what squad. At least to her.

"Excuse me, shinigami of squad 4. Could you get away from the package?"

She glared at the squad 2 member who addressed her. Was it that obvious that she was useless? She tried her best to hide the fact by forgoing the traditional uniform and keeping her nigh-useless zanpacto in plain sight. But clearly some people just had this sixth sense about them to identify people despite disguises or appearances. She grumbled under her breath as the shady man of squad 11 walked away to do whatever stupid thing was on his mind. "Just because I'm squad Four doesn't mean I'm made of glass... I can take care of myself."

And with a defiant turn on her heel she stormed over to where the arrow was imbedded in the ground to yank it out with a forceful tug, taking package and note along with it right out from underneath her newly acquainted friend and challenger-to-scare's nose. These sissies where supposed to be the smart-combat ready squads! Any idiot with two brain cells to rub together should know that there'd be no point in booby-trapping something so obvious when the attacker could clearly just shoot them before they even saw it coming. Whatever, at least it made her look cool. Maybe they would even remember her as being brave! Or a badass! She did her best to try and sound cool as she sneered out her name to the squad 11 guy: "I'm Nina Shibasaburo. Got it memorized?"

She almost lost it with the stolen tag line, and a little snicker eked out before she could regain her cool and check out the letter and package combo. She removed both from the arrow and read the letter before moving on to investigate the box.

The fourth squader who had introduced herself as Nina soon proved her uselessness as the world around them burst with a dark spiritual energy. It seemed she would be more a hindrance than an actually aid. "And this is why squad 2 works alone. If we die I am going to haunt you for the rest of time." Konpaku had to smile. This is what he wanted, this is what he lived for. "So I guess its time to cut some things. Someone needs to take out that damn archer, I want these hollow. Konapku knew he was outnumbered, he knew he could possibly die, and he knew that there was no way that all of them would make it out unscathed. If he died he could see his parents again and apologize for what happened to them. He could beg for their forgiveness and that was all the more reason to fight to his last drop of blood.

Preparing to cast a kido to hide their position Konpaku heard a voice he could barely translate. He loved the cultures of man. While studying many of them he picked up a few languages that mortals used were sometimes funny. This one however wanted to die, and he would be more than happy to bring his dreams to reality. "By the crashing waves and the silence of the wind I command the deliverance of mine enemies unto me. Bakudo #19: Accelerator Plane." The chant to anyone who knew of Bakudo would be familiar as a yellow strip would form in the direction of the blue light emitted by their new enemy. "Whoever is going after that b*****d, coordinate your speed across the barrier and it will give you a boost in speed. It should get you through the hollow." Konpaku wasn't done yet just yet, "Staring in fascination, watch closely and count the clouds. Bakudo #10: Speed Barrier." If there was an archer about he wasn't going to let him sneak a shot on him. The last thing he needed was an arrow in the back.

If that wasn't enough he was going to give that damn archer hell. He was going to lay down all the Kido he could before the hollows descended upon him like pigs to slaughter. Putting out his right hand his fingers arching towards the ground Konpaku began his chant, "Lightning bend and lightning twist. Your form complete let none resist." As he began to finish his chants his fingers let aglow with reiatsu. Sticking his left hand low below his right lighting began to arc into his palm. Forming a blue ball that seemed to float in the air. "Hado #20: Byakurai Orb. Looking at the man that foolish made his presence known he lightly tossed the ball in his direction. The ball would follow him till the ends of the earth, and when it caught him, it would devour his soul in the lighting of the 13 court guard squads. That b*****d obviously never fought a squad 2 member who specialized in Kido.

He had drained a little more than half his reiatsu in casting his kido, but that was ok, for these hollow he just need his blade and some space. He had one more trick up his sleeve but he would safe that for when the others made their moves. He didn't want to drag them into his black box. His sword of midnight would be the finishing blow to strike down any and all who tried to take this camp. He was a squad 2 member and duty came before life, and honor came long before death. Unsheathing the black blade from it's milky gray sheath Konpaku readied himself for battle. He was prepared to die from the start of his entrance into the academy, this day would be no different. Breathing in deeply a glazed crazed look came over him. "Bring it on you bastards!" The man yelled out to the oncoming hollow swarm.