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 Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 5:56 pm
strikeout= Katana Fungeki
"quotes"= Razil
italics=Razil inner thoughts
Lesson One: Ghost Blade
After wandering the maze of walkways that was the Sereitei, Razil decided to find himself some solitude, to think. He went to the gardens, a beautiful collection of plants, flowers and general fauna that perfectly balanced with the white walls of the surrounding buildings. Finding a clearing, Razil strode to the center and, with hell butterfly's flitting in the air about him, sat down on the cool grass. He winced slightly as the wound in hiss gut sent lightning through his torso, as it still wasn't completely healed yet. Closing his eyes, Razil let the world around him fade to black...
~{*}~
When he opened them again, he was in a large field at sunset, the dying mirage of the sun throwing colors into the sky, making it look as if it were bleeding. He was in the shade of a gnarled tree, and was surrounded by bodies. The sight would have shocked anyone else, but he had grown accustomed to this...this was his ZanpakutÅ's world after all...the Death Realm.
A voice rasped from behind him. Been a while, hasn't it? Sighing and closing his eyes, Razil turned on his heels, not surprised at the form of Katana Fungeki standing behind him, his tattered robe flitting in the sight breeze that always blew across the blood-soaked plain. "It has, but I have been...occupied..." His right hand strayed towards the bandage on his torso, referencing the underlying scar. His only memory of when Hogosha the Arrancar smashed his fist through him.
Oh don't give me that bull, I know of your trists with the maiden, Tsuki... Blushing slightly, Razil looked away. "That is none of your business, spirit!" There was no answer.
After a moment, Razil turned back. "So, are we going to start this, or not?" The spirit stood silent for a moment, then whipped around and walked to a spot where the bodies were cleared a way, a few hundred meters distant. Razil kept pace with him, and he began to speak.
Last time, you showed me what you already knew, and I taught you some new combos to use in combat. This time... he glanced at Razil, black eyes glowering from the shade of the cowl. ...This time you will learn a technique that is based on reiatsu. Because of this, you will need to maximize your reiatsu control, and start bulking it up some. The move I will show you can drain you particularly fast if you don't have enough in reserve so, be careful.
He stopped walking, and Razil followed suit, halting beside him.
A weapons master needs to always have a weapon on them, otherwise, what use are their skills? What I am about to show you will validate that. Now my pupil, dodge! His hand came from the left, going straight for Razil's face as if it were a blade. Razil saw it coming and moved his head in the opposite direction, causing the hand to go flying past his face a millimeter away. Smirking slightly, Razil chuckled. "Is that all? That was noth-" A line of pain slashed across his cheek where the hand had passed, and blood flashed in a line, as if an invisible blade had sliced his face. Razil stood in shock.
"How did you-"
Never think you haven't been hit, it is never a good assumption. the spirit in front of him spat. Look carefully at my hand, and you might have noticed something different about it... His eyes cautious, Razil turned slowly and looked at the hand besides his face. He noticed a faint shimmering around the edges, and realized with a flash what it was. He looked back at Katana incredulously. "reiatsu blades?!" he asked, excited at the concept. Although he couldn't see it, Razil knew that the Spirit was leering at him from under his cowl.
Exactly! With this, you can turn any body part into a weapon, indeed anything! The only downside is it drains you significantly, so you need to master reiatsu control as a result.
"I can already focus mine fairly well, I can make all kinds of strange shaped with it..." scowling at the childishness, the Spirit stepped back a few, preparing to instruct. Yes, I know. I do live in here to you know...anyway... he clapped his gloved hands together, commanding Razil's attention. Okay, here is how it is done. You know how to visualize your reiatsu and shape it as you want to, that is good. From there it is a simple matter of attaching it to the desired object, and then making it as sharp as possible. The greater control, the sharper the blade, the more it will cut and the less it will drain on your reserves. So get to it!
Nodding, Razil closed his eyes and concentrated, picturing his unique reiatsu and its color, a strange glowing black, and shaping it. He opened his eyes and manipulated the faintly visible mass to his hands, extending them slightly, he tried to sharpen them as best he could. When he thought they were done, he swung downwards at the red-tinted grass, slicing off a few. However, as the blades struck, they dissipated, like fog before a fan.
Frowning, Razil tried again. You have the cutting edge down right, its the blade itself you need to add strength to. The kind you just made is called a ghost blade, and is very good for throwing your enemies off, also for surprise attacks. This time try to add some substance to it, making it more solid. The spirit was silent again, letting the student perform.
Razil formed the blade again and swung at a tree this time, leaving a gash in the soft wood. The blade held this time, but could be felt to bend slightly against the blow. Good, that time it held. You have the basics down, with practice you can do all kinds of things with this, for example... the Spirit swung his arm at a distant tree, and a shimmering mass flew from it, striking the tree and dissipating, but leaving sizable holes in it. "Throwing knives as well?" Razil asked, interested.
Chuckling, the Spirit answered Yes, but not yet. You don't have that kind of finesse at this point. Seeing the disappointment in Razil's eyes the Spirit took pity. Don't worry, you're pretty good at this. Once you master it, there will be a myriad of uses for this, since reiatsu blades can't be blocked by physical ones, they can be deadly in combat if used at the right moment.
The Spirit grasped Razil's shoulder and shunpo'ed them back to the tree where they had started. Work on that for a while, once you master that it will be time for the next phase. Good-bye, pupil...
he image of the Spirit faded in front of him, and Razil sat down onto the packed earth. Closing his eyes, he anticipated using his new techniques in battle. They will benefit me, I need to master them as quickly as possible. he thought, as his conscious slipped into the dark once more...
~{*}~
He awoke once more in the field of butterfly's, with a little more knowledge. Getting up, Razil dusted off his clothes and stepped from the garden, heading off to the Dojo...
[Lesson One, End]
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Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 7:54 pm
strikeout= Katana Fungeki
"quotes"= Razil
italics=Razil inner thoughts
Lesson Two: Genetic Imbalance- Sadistic Wrath
Intro-The mind is composed of two parts: the conscious, which we rely on to control and regulate our day-today activities, and the unconscious, that has all the basic instincts that we need, such as breathing, and the pumping of the blood through our veins. It is the latter however, that has to deal with the 'waste material', the thoughts and emotions that are darkest. Everything contained here loses all trace of humanity, being abandoned to pure animalistic behavior, it harbors such darkness as wrath, lust, gluttony, blood-lust...all the primal instincts that turn a civilized human being, into a ferocious killer.
There are those with a sort of imbalance in this area, a glitch that allows bridges to form between the conscious, and these darkest of recesses of the unconscious. When they are formed, the person becomes consumed by the emotion, losing themselves in the process. It is by this that serial killers are born, as well as rapists and cannibals. Driven by instincts, humans succumb to performing terrible deeds as a result of these. However, if one could learn to control this, to unleash the wrath of their unconscious at chosen intervals, and shut it off at their own bidding, they can become immensely powerful. This being said, there is a tendency for this insanity to be passed down through families, leading to the conclusion that they are genetic. This is about one of those people. Seeking greater power, Razil will take the plunge into the blackest corners of his own mind, and attempt to tame a monster...
Fading into darkness once more, Razil opened his eyes to the now familiar blood-soaked plain that was the death-realm.
Standing up, he looked about, taking in a deep breath of air. The coppery scent of blood was thick, and Razil wrinkled his nose.
"You really need a make-over, you know that?" he said, speaking to the form he knew was standing behind him.
Bah, I like it like this. Think of it as a photo album...except they aren't just photos...
Razil heard the grin in the rasping voice, and couldn't help but join in.
"So, what is this gift you wish to present me?"
Katana Fungeki had told Razil of a gift he was to receive, a congratulations of sorts for the recent promotion to 3rd Seat of his squad.
Hmm, yes...although I must warn you the spirit held up his hand, placing it on Razil's shoulder. I must warn you that you may not want it. This is a vital piece of myself, and you are not as cold-blooded as me.
Razil eyes the Spirit curiously, trying to discern his meaning. "What do you mean,what is it you are going to show me?"
The tattered form just stood there, silent. Turning on quiet heels, he motioned with his hand for Razil to follow, silencing him with a slice of his hand every time Razil tried to speak.
They walked across the plain t a small wood that Razil had never been in. The dark trees arched overhead, forming a shaded tunnel that led deep into the forests black heart.
This tunnel, the Spirit began, his rasping voice dry in the tight space between the trees
This tunnel, is a bridge. It leads into the blackest parts of your mind.Fungeki looked at Razil, his eyes glowing with...caution...fear?
There are many things in a human mind that you will not like, one especially. A monster, that will destroy you if it has the chance, painfully and tortuously.
The Spirit continued.
Go on, walk the path into your mind if you wish greater power. Be very careful Razil, if you die in there, your physical self will become a soulless void, turning to mere dust.
Looking down the gloomy tunnel, Razil shuddered. He did not like the taste, nor the scent of the air emanating from here. It was musty and stale, smelling of darkness and insanity. Planting a foot on the path, Razil spoke to the Spirit without looking at it.
"Tell me one thing, Fungeki."
The Spirit stood silently.
"What will I encounter in here?"
Pausing for a moment, the Spirit chuckled slightly.
You will encounter dark things, you will encounter insanity, death, hunger, pain, anger. The very darkest parts of the human soul There, you will fight them, tether them, tame them, and so make them yours.
With that, the Spirit strode away, leaving Razil alone before the black.
Turning around and peering through the shade, Razil took one last sample of the breeze, and walked on.
The darkness swallowed him whole, as if greedily consuming his very being...
~{*}~
Hours, days, weeks, years passed by inside the mind of Razil Masamune, 3rd Seat of Squad 1 of the Sereitei. Years of fighting, surviving, and hoping. When he opened his eyes again, and saw the light of a blood-soaked sun, it stung him.
He had not seen any form of light for a long time, and so the sun stung him, but he gazed on anyway, tears streaming down his face. The bandanna wrapped around his forehead flapped in the breeze, tattered from many conflicts.
A voice rasped from behind him
About time boy, I have been lonely here.
Razil spun, extending a ghost blade from his clenched fist, ready to attack if necessary. When he saw who it was, he relaxed, letting the concentrated reiatsu in his hand dissipate.
"Sorry, it has been a while since I met anyone...civilized..."
The Spirit chuckled, noting Razil's progress on the ghost blade technique.
After a few minutes of quiet conversation, there was a lull. The Spirit took this opportunity to ask Razil about his ventures.
What did you find, what did you learn?
"I learned many things." Razil spoke gravely, the voice of a veteran, wise and humble.
"I fought, a lot. I had to fight just to survive from day to day. Who knew my mind could harbor such vicious beasts..."
A shudder shimmied its way down Razil's spine, as memories rose unbidden to mind.
Katana Fungeki was silent, listening intently, up until the poin where Razil paused, his mouth open slightly.
What? Do you not remember the very beast I sent you in to fight? Razil screwed up his face, trying to remember. He could picture finding a particularly dark spot, where the blackness seemed to be a tangible thing, alive and hungry for blood...and then all he knew was that he was sitting outside the wood, laying in the blood-soaked grass.
Coming back to the present, Razil looked at the Spirit of his sword, helplessly.
"I am sorry, I must have failed." he knelt in front of the robed form, ready to be admonished.
And so was surprised at the dry laughter he heard. His head snapped up as he regarded the madly laughing Spirit.
...oh, please, you think you failed? Just the fact that you are alive means you succeeded...the extent of which I cannot tell, however.
I can tell the extent of the battle however...
The spirit looked down, at Razil's torso.
It was only then that Razil noticed he was half-naked, the top half of his robes completely torn free, with the tattered edges anchored at his wast flapping in the breeze. He also saw that his flesh was not the same as when he had entered the forest. Numerous scars and gashes criss-crossed his body, silver strips of flesh drawing crude designs across his body.
Razil ran his hands over his own mutilated form, crossing across the circular scar left by Hogosha, seemingly so many years ago...
At that particular thought, his head snapped up.
"How much time has passed?" he demanded, panicked and afraid of the answer.
In here, the death-realm? Ten years.
Razil sucked in the air, a lead weight hitting the bottom of his stomach.
In the real world? Sixty seconds at the most.
The air blew back out as relief filled Razil's frame.
He returned to his examination, counting the scars, but losing the number as it got too high. "What did this to me?" he asked himself out loud.
Something vicious and cruel, and you managed to tame it.
The Spirit said satisfactorily, gazing at the pupil.
But now it is time for you to leave here and return to your world, you have a date with your Lieutenant, do you not?
Razil thought hard, remembering something like that. Oh, how long ago it seemed.
"Alright, I will be going now I guess. Until next time, Sensei."
Razil sat down and closed his eyes, and the Spirit watched him fade from his world. It stood there for a moment after Razil was gone, thinking.
Be wary, my pupil. Do not let the beast you have tethered gain control...or all will be lost... Then he, too, disintegrated into nothing.
~{*}~
The trip back to consciousness took a little longer than usual, and so Razil had some time to think. He was unsettled by the apparent loss of memories, and so dug deep. Attempting to turn over the memory like so many clods of earth with a shovel. He found a block in his mind, after some searching, a seeming wall of darkness that smelled of blood and death. When he tried to prod and press the wall, a fiery anger ran through him, and for a moment...just a moment...he hated, hated so much he wanted to slowly kill everyone he ever knew. It faded, and Razil was left mentally gasping. Spirit...what have you awakened? He left the wall, and opened new eyes to the world around him.
[Lesson Two, End]
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Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 9:08 pm
strikeout= Katana Fungeki
"quotes"= Razil
italics=Razil inner thoughts
Lesson Three: Shikai
A jumbled chorus of voices and sounds spiraled and spun ever on into darkness, resolving into a raspy voice speaking an alien tongue...
Razil opened his eyes with a start, leaping up from where he lay and dropping into a guarded stance. His eyes scanned the familiar blood-red horizon, and he relaxed slightly as he drank in the well-known site.
The Death-Realm panned out before him, with twisted trees and shattered bodies littering the broken plain, exotic weapons sticking into the air like some sort of morbid forest of war.
A dry, papery voice emanated from seemingly nowhere and yet everywhere at once.
And so the pupil returns...but why?
Razil looked around, and then down at the bloodied ground. He fell to his knees, and beat the earth in humiliation.
"Lost again! This cannot go on, I must become more powerful, or I wont be any use soon enough!" Razil's eyes filled with bitter tears that swam their way down his cheek, hitting the ground and being greedily eaten by the drunken soil
A moment of silence wrapped the broken plain, even the gentle breeze that usually fluttered through had stopped.
More powerful? I just taught you to harness the power of madness, and you wish for more? the voice grew ominous, as dark clouds drew together in the sky, casting everything in a steel-gray hue.
"I do! Even with the madness, I didn't win. This is unacceptable!"
An audible sneer hissed from the sky, making Razil wince.
...unacceptable? You aren't ready for what is next, go back to your world to lick your wounds and come back when you have an ounce of talent.
Razil howled in fury and stood up, brandishing his hands at the dark sky, daring and taunting.
"You think you are so great, and what are you teaching me? I could have figured out all these tricks on my own, you have been useless!"
Everything went quiet, nothing made a single noise...
You think you're such hot stuff? the voice rasped, angry enough that it shook the very earth upon which Razil stood. Winds started tearing through the plain, shrieking through the twisted trees and whispering through the diseased grass.
I will show you how uneducated... a black lightning bolt struck earth a few feet away from Razil, forming into a black robed specter with a tattered garment and cowl, flapping in the torrential wind.
...how uneducated you truly are.
The Spirit raised his right hand and snapped his fingers, and a black katana appeared in it. Razil grasped for the hilt at his side, but only felt air. It was then that he recognized the sword the Spirit clutched, ancient writing along the blade barely visible in the dim light.
He would do that to. Well no matter, I will not lose to him, he has always underestimated me! Razil grabbed two long daggers laying on the ground, flourishing them with silver spins before his body.
He had barely dropped into a stance when the Spirit shrieked and lunged at him, bringing the katana around in a flashing black arc.
Razil blocked by crossing the knives in front of him, taking the impact in his arms. He was flung straight back from the impact, his heels digging deep trenches in the dirt. Hellfire, he's strong! he thought grimly, noticing that the blades of the daggers had split off of their hilts. He dropped the useless weapons and, noticing a beam of wood extending from a nearby tree, grabbed the shaft and pulled out the curved blade of a Naginata. He spun the eastern lance in his hand and brought it around just in time to meet the oncoming spirit. Their blades clashed with a burst of tainted reiatsu, and Razil found himself gazing into the angry black-glowing eyes of his swords spirit. He glared right back and laughed defiantly, wanting to provoke the Spirit.
The being hissed, and let loose a barrage of reiatsu blades from his body, attacking with as many as he could muster. Razil responded in kind, loosing his own barrage to parry the attakcs. They stood their a mintue, battling back and forth like two socrpions with many tails, until one got through. Razil felt a stab of pain in is left shoulder, just as he felt his own sickle sink home in the Being's left flank. They jumped apart and regarded each other from a distance, eyes probing each other and their weaknesses. Razil saw the blood spreading through the dark fabric of the Spirit's robe and smiled.
"So you do bleed, that's reassuring." the spirit chuckled at the comment, and the blood began seeping back into the wound, eventually dissapearing all together.
This is my world, I control everything here...in other words, I am completely untouchable. Razil could feel the Spirit's evil smile, even as a tingling sense of dread began coursing down his own spine.
The Spirit vanished
Razil spun about, just to feel a tremendous strike slam into his side. He flew through the air, trailing blood and sweat, and struck a tree. His body crumpled around it as he slid down the trunk. Getting up drunkenly, he grasped the hilt of a broadsword and hefted it in front of him, his vision swimming before him. Feeling more than seeing the Spirit come at him, he parried a blow and rolled under the Spirit's blade, hearing the edge sing through the air as it whizzed past his head.
They continued for hours, performing a dance as ancient as life itself. A dance filled with flashing blade and sweated brow. As one attacked, the other would retreat, then counter with a ferocity unknown in magnitude. They matched each other stroke for stroke, parrying and attacking in a never ending symphony of blood and violence, the only difference being Razil's deterioration after every attack he let through, while the Spirit remained unharmed and untiring.
Finally, Razil stumbled back after his newest injury, blood spraying from a new wound grinning from his right hip to his left shoulder.
You're mine! the spirit exalted, lunging in with terrible speed, ready to deliver a death-blow.
As the spirit came at him, the whole world seemed to slow down. Razil could make out individual drops of rain as the came from the heavens, glistening and spraying when they were cut by the gleaming black edge that now flashed towards his own neck.
This is the end, I can't get out of this... even while thinking this, his mind raced with the options, trying to think of the way out of this situation.
The Spirit always said winning took sacrifice, if one was willing to sacrifice enough, there wasn't a battle that he couldn't win...what can I do?! his eyes flashed again on the looming blade as it inched nearer.
How ironic, killed with the very blade I swore to protect everyone with...have my own flesh cut by my partner... his mind raced, and a light grew inside. Sacrifice...! he thought, and it was suddenly clear.
Moving as if through water, Razil used the last of his strength to drop the quarterstaff he was holding and draw a knife from his sleeve. Still moving in slow-motion, he ran at the Spirit, kunai brandished in front of him. As time sped back up to normal, the sword in the Spirit's hand rammed home, driving between Razil's ribs and loosing a torrent of blood from the wound. Razil kept running, shoving his body up the blade that pierced his torso, and slammed the kunai into the throat cavity hidden behind the Spirit's cowl. They stood there unmoving, and Razil let a river of blood flow from his mouth, tainting his lips a dark ruby red. He regarded the Spirit with a fierce gaze, even as he felt the icy fire of death race through his body from where the sword impaled his body.
Without speaking a word, the Spirit pulled himself off of the blade embedded in its throat, blood spilling loose and dissipating as the wound healed itself. He yanked the sword blade out of Razil's chest, letting the body crumple to the sodden floor. The Spirit stood over Razil, watching his blood leak into the ground. Razil stared right back up, coughing a little and blood bubbling from his lips. Finally, the Spirit spoke.
You give up your own life in an attempt to take mine...no...to show me that i would be dead, were I human.
He shook his cowled head slowly, almost sadly.
A warrior indeed, swordsman through and through.
The being began to slowly back away, dissipating into the dark air.
That which you searched for will be granted, you have shown me that you are devoted to your blade.
His robes vanished into darkness, and only his head was left, like a grim totem suspended in the air.
This was merely a sprinkling Razil Masamune, the storm has yet to come.
Here this now, for I only say it once...
~{*}~
Razil's eyes opened for the second time that day, and for the second time he didn't remember closing them. He raised his torso from the ground, looking about with wary eyes, and noticed Mocka and the other Shinigami sparring a few feet away. He got up, grasping his Zanpakuto's sheath as he rose, and watched the bout with detached interest.
[Lesson Three, End]
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Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 9:47 am
Lesson Four: Desecration
The fourth lesson may be found here
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