Aliases/Nicknames:
Age: around 300, looks in her late twenties (she is young for a teacher, but she had proved herself competent)
Reiatsu color: royal blue
Occupation: Teacher/Deputy Headmistress
Appearance: Kaede is a rather tall woman, towering at 6'1, with a nicely curved bodyshape. Her skin is very pale, but thick enough zo never show any blush. She always wears her waist-long jet black hair clipped up in a loose bun, to get them out of the way and to appear more serious. Her almond-shaped eyes are deep blue, with all the colours of the ocean swirling within. Her other facial features are insignificant compared to her captivating eyes – a neat small nose and thin lips (which in reality aren't as thin as they seems, she only wears that kind of expression most of the time). The scent of magnolia has nearly become her trademark, for she is always scented with that perfume.
Normally, she covers her tempting posture with layers of clothing, mostly combining black, dark blue and emerald green. She rearely wears anything brigther and would never-ever-under-any-circumstances wear pastels. For combat, her clothes are much more simple in order not to get in the way – she wears a simple black dress reaching just over her knees, wrapped around her with a satin bow on her right hip.
She would sometimes wear glasses, even though she does not need them, to appear more serious and older.
Accesories: Simple black leather gloves with cut-off fingers, used to enhance the control over reiatsu flow – extremely useful for casting kidou.
Personality: Kaede appears stern, serious and calm most of the time, dealing with any trouble that comes up without any fuss or panic. She never lets emotions impair her judgement, and she values reason above all. In fact, Kaede is a very warm and caring person, only she never lets people see that side of her. The only one that knows her soft side is the Headmaster of the Shinigami Academy, whom she had known for a long time and had gone literally through fire and ice by her side.
Bio/History:
Kaede was born in the noble house of Yui, which is one of the lesser nobilities inside the Sereitei. Being the youngest of the three children, no one ever expected anything special of her. Her brother, the oldest of the three siblings, could rarely find time for her due to rigorous training he had to undergo as the heir to the leadership position. Her elder sister however, cared only for her looks, and she was raised solely with the purpose of being married to a man from one of the four ruling families, thus honouring the name of the Yui family and raising its social status. Kaede was left alone, being told that her father's talent and her mother's looks have already been shared between her brother and sister, leaving nothing for her.
However, Kaede never blamed her siblings – in fact they managed to sustain a caring relationship between them, even with the limited time they were allowed to spend together. The two of them, against their parent's will, encouraged her to pursue her dreams – and so she applied for the Shinigami Academy. She was a succesful student, hardworking as she was, and the support of her siblings helped her to get through any trouble that came up. No one except the two of them believed in her, but that was enough. Soon, she proved extremely talented in kidou, and withing several years, she graduated from the Shinigami Academy.
Upon graduation, her parents believed she would return home and protect the family manor as the shinigami-trained guard they had. She actually did for some time, for it enabled her to contact her brother and sister much easier, and although she dispised the job, she was happy. But her siblings saw her dissatisfaction with the job and knew that she gave up her dreams in order to be closer to them. They felt guilty even though they were the last ones to be blamed for their parent's past and current actions. One day, the two of them couldn't stand it anymore, and they took Kaede with them as a guard on a trip in a nearby forest. There, they would sit and talk, and they confessed to her how they felt, and urged her to reveal her dream and follow the wish of her heart at any cost. Knowing it would be hard for all the three of them, she finally gave up hiding how she dispised the life she was living now, and resigned from her post. Her decision to join the Gotei 13 sent a howl of outrage through the family, and they officially banished her from the family. The contact with her siblings was now restricted completely, for – so the parents said – it would harm their reputaion and social status. To bribe her, Kaede's parents gave her an enourmous amount of money – just to ensure she would never come back again.
Kaede was immediately accepted into the Gotei 13, and she was assigned to the 5th Squad. That was also the time when she met the current headmaster of the shinigami academy. In the Gotei 13, Kaede focused on training solely, and slowly but surely, rose rank after rank, finally reaching the captain's rank after her captain's retirement. For years, she would be the Kidou master of the Sereitei, fighting fiercely with all her heart whenever it was neccessary, and training the shinigami to become skilled in the arts of Kidou. After a dangerous mission whne she saw too much young shinigami die, she decided to dedicate her life to passing knowledge to the young, arming them with skill and preparing them for the harsh reality. That's why she didn't hesitate when the post of the Kidou teacher was announced to be free, and she applied for the job immediately. No one could have doubted her competence for the job, so she started teaching at the shinigami academy, trying to prepare the students better – because she saw how many died just because of insufficient education.
Zanpakuto
Zanpakuto name: Heru-ur
Zanpakuto spirit:
Heru-ur is the name used for the Elder for of the Egyptian god Horus, portrayed as a great falcon with outstretched wings whose right eye was the sun and the left one was the moon.
He is very wise and old, and he adresses everyone as child or youngster. Being one of the silent ones, he never chatts and speaks only when he has something important to say. However, he and Kaede sometimes get into philosophical arguments. He claims to have been wielded by souls of many great souls, including the philosopher Hegel's soul, and thus argues in favor of his philosophy. That's also the reason why he finds it hard to accept Kaede as his wielder – he has adopted Hegel's view on the femal gender as well as his knowledge. Kaede, even though annoyed by his attitude, respects him for his wisdom, and turns to him when she needs a good advice.
Spiritual world: Kaede's spiritual world is a vast landscape of marshes with greenish-brown weed growing in the shallow gloomy grayish-blue water. The water's surface reflects her inner balance – normally it would be perfectly calm, and the sky clear even though greyish. When she is upset however, the water starts to bubble up like it would be boiling, thunderclouds appear in the sky, and if the situation is critical, a deafening storm commences.
Zanpakuto type/element: kidou-type
Sealed zanpakuto appearance: When sealed, her zanpakuto is a 23'' wakizashi which she carries strapped on her back horizontally in a black leather sheath. Its hilt is delicately ornamented with curved patterns, and its made from black onyx. The blade itself is always spotlessly clean, and shines with a bright silvery steel glow. Its engraved with a small stylized kanji for wisdom.
Release phrase: Lend me thy wings, Heru-ur!
Shikai: The blade has two levels of release in shikai. When the release command is issued, the zanpakuto takes the form of a sickle, sharpened on both edges and slightly glowing, armed with her reiatsu. With this close-range weapon, Kaede would attack her opponent silently and effectively, spinning and slashing through the vital points. She only uses this form when she has the element of surprise by her side, attacking as a stealthy assasin. During an open battle, she rarely uses it; one reason is that its close-combat type, and the second is that she can only use one of her shikai attacks in this form.
The zanpakuto's true form is revealed when Kaede snaps the blade off the hilt. But instead of being broken, the sickle is now connected to the hilt with a thin chain, and iside the hilt is a mechanism that allows the chain to be rolled inside, placing the sickle back to its place. This allows her to throw her weapon at the target, and after the blade reaches its maximum reach (depends on the powers she throws it with, but maximum is at 50 feet), the chain retracts back into the hilt automatically. The weapon can be blocked in place or at a certain length of the chain if the hilt is pressed in a certain way. Sometimes, she would strap the hilt onto her belt, leaving her arms free to direct the chain and the sickle.
Ikusen Hageshii Kinchou [Thousand Furious Birds]
A flock of collibri-sized birds made entirely of her royla blue reiatsu appear behind Kaede. She directs them with her left arm, sending them flying towards her opponent, piercing him with razor-sharp beaks. It is also possible to control them only with her mind, but in that case, some of the birds might rebel and backfire, thus hurting her instead of the opponent.
The attack has three levels of strength, depending on how much the user is hurt.
- Fresh Rage (user is not hurt at all): the birds strike only once before disappearing, and can only be directed as one flock
Building Rage (user has surface wounds, or deeper but not life-threatening wounds): the birds can attack up to three times, and can be divided into up to three separate flocks
Outrage (user is severly wounded and weakened): unlimited number of attacks and separate flocks (but at this level, the user would be tired so she cannot maintain the attack for a long time, and neither can she pour that much strength in it)
The following attacks can only be used if the zanpakuto is in its true form.
Horus no Metsuki [Horus' eyes]
It's a simple energy-blast type attack, but has two different forms. If she swings from the right side while casting this attack, a bright yellow energy sphere shoots at the target from right, scorchingly hot upon touch. If she swings from the left side, an silvery white energy sphere shoots at the target from left, ice-cold upon touch.
Kazeshouheki [wind barrier]
She throws the sickle so that the chain curls around her, and catches it again after making a full circle. A tornado-like gust of wind is whipped around her, with her standing in the eye of the storm. This way, it creates a protective barrier of extremely strong wind around her. The shield last as long as the chain remains winded around her. Like her opponent, she cannot reach through the barrier either.
Bankai:
In bankai, the chain is stretched to its maximum, and the sickle is transformed into a falcon – it appears to be made of her reiatsu entirely, but proves to be steel-hard upon touch. She straps the hilt to her belt, and the chain curles around her, with falcon flying in the air. This weapon is no longer used for attack, but for defence, and the falcon flying around her on the chain, would parry any attack directed at her. However, it cannot deal with two simultaneous attacks, and it would automaticaly defend her from the strongest.
Kaede's eyes change, giving her the sight of the falcon – her sight is now extremely clear even at long distances, allowing her to precisely direct any attack or kidou. She also grows falcon wings on her back – however, she cannot fly with them. They are used for issuing attacks, and if they are flapped simultaneously without command, they would simply create wind.
Taka no Nakigoe [The Cry Of The Falcon]
This attack does not require saying out his name or incantation of any sort.
Kaede throws her head up, as if she would want to look up in the sky, and lets out a falcon-like cry ("Kyaaa!"). The high-pitched sound however rings also with frequencies inaudible to human ear, thus causing things to resonate. Resonation can, depending on the frequency, cause buildings to crumble, internal organs to be torn or bones and hollow masks to be shattered. Maximum range of the attack is about 70 feet, and it spreads circularly around her.
Here's a chart of its sucess probability:
90% probability to shatter glass
70% probability to shatter objects (up to 1 cubic meter in volume)
50% probabilty to demolish and crumble buildings (concrete)
30% probability to shatter bones
10% probability to tore internal organs
Hanetama [Feather Shot]
Kaede flaps with only one of her wings, and with it sends razor-sharp feathers flying towards the target. The attack itself consists of three levels. Completion of a lower level is required to achieve the higher level, but it is not obligatory to continue to higher level; however, if she performs another attack, she must start all over again from the first level.
Every level consists of two attack, one with left and one with right wind respectively. First level allows to shoot 3 feathers at the same time, the second 30 feathers, and the last one 100 feathers.
Hanebakuha [Feather blast]
is a two phase attack. Not only is the first phase completition required for starting the second phase, but it is also obligatory to finish the second phase as well, once the first phase is completed. The only case in which the first phase can be skipped is if the target is by any means already "infected" by Kaede's reiatsu – this includes the case of stealing her reiatsu, which some zanpakuto may do. The second phase requires a tribute to be skipped. Kaede must rip a feather of out her wings and stab it into her left shoulder. This process causes no obvious damage except excruciating pain.The feather remains in the shoulder, but disappears when the zanpakuto is sealed again. However, when next time in bankai, the feather will appear again, and thus the number of feathers lined over her arm from shoulder dwonwards denotes the number of times she had to abort the second phase of the attack. But if the attack is forcefully aborted (by another person or by the fact that she is too weak to maintain her bankai), no feather will be added – however, the wielder will still experience excruciating pain as a tribute.
This attack takes nearly all of her attention to perform, so she is unable to defend herself, relying on the zanpakuto solely.
- First phase: Atae [Gift]
A formation similar to a rope, consisting ofe Kaede's reiatsu, forms oder her feet, and intertwining with itself, it shoots towards the target rapidly. She can guide the rope like a snake winding over to reach the opponent if he is evading. Surprisingly enough, when it reaches the opponent and connects with him, a part of Kaede's reiatsu is transferred to him. When the transfer is complete, the connection disappears. The opponent is now slightly stronger, but "infected" with Kaede's reiatsu as well.
This can also be used to stregthen allies, in which case the second step must be aborted.
Second phase: Ikusen Umou Tsukiataru [Thousand Feathers Collide]
As the command is issued, the opponent "infected" by her reiatsu is pinned by a thousand of feathers, each coming from a different direction but all pointing towards his heart. (Kaede's reiatsu works as a guide/target to the feathers. A problem arises, if an ally is strengthened by her reiatsu as well, for if this certain ally still remains in the battlefield, the attack will work on him as well.)
Kidou: As the kidou teacher, she masters all known kidou, including unranked and forbidden spells.
Abilities:
Kaede is accomplished in swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat as well, even though she strongly dislikes the latest and preferrs kidou to swordsmanship. For a captain, her knowledge of hand-to-hand combat is rather shabby and barely sufficient. However, she does not dislike using her zanpakuto that much, which is mostly due to the fact that she has a kidou-type zanpakuto.
She has an enourmous amount fo reiatsu, which she needs to perform the kidou. She is able to perform six 40-60 level kidou one right after another without pausing to rest, or three 60+ kidou spells. However, she cannot neither cast a kidou nor use a zanpakutou ability some time after that (2 posts, and can only use up to 40 level kidou in the third post).
Kaede has a very high reiatsu regen rate, resulting in the surprising fact that her reiatsu is actually regenerating instead of decreasing if she is performing a kidou up to level 20.
As the kidou master, she knows and masters all of the kidou, including the forbidden ones. However, she does not know any healing kidou.
Skills: Swordsmanship – average, Hand-to-hand – below average, Kidou - outstanding
Subject: Kidou Arts
Expectations: Kaede expects polite behaviour and perfection.
optional:
Likes: teaching, reason
Dislikes: improper behavior, lying, being overwhelmed by emotions
Theme song:
Hobbies: writing poetry
Quirks: Is addicted to painkillers (but weak, like aspirins). Claims to be taking them due to frequent headaches, and would never confess her addiction.
Updated 24/9/2009
(probability chart for The Falcon's Cry bankai ability added; disability after multiple kidou casting added)
