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 Posted: Tue Apr 20, 2010 1:10 am
Even warriors have to take time off and recuperate. What better place than a quiet garden? Located as far away from the sparring grounds and bar, the secluded garden offers rest. Peace emanates through the garden like a scent on the breeze; all-encompassing. When you enter, time seems to stop. Indeed, time has brushed the garden in a strange way.
The stout four-foot high walls seem old, worn and grungy. However upon closer inspection, it can be noted that the walls are sturdy, ancient and beautiful in a sad way. Despite their worn appearance, the walls still portray faded glyphs, half-hidden by the trailing vines.
The garden is small yet so well tended that the foliage gives it a much larger and confined appearance. One feels safe, guarded when entering the garden. Several weeping willows loom on the edges of the garden, draped with spanish moss and leaving room for small paths and other plants. One corner is lost entirely to a stand of sturdy green bamboo. Other plants such as birch trees, speedwell bushes, yarrow, sanicle and lilacs take up leftover space whilst still leaving wide, open paths and leaving the area about the entrance open.
A small naturally occuring stream runs its course through the garden, providing water for the plants. It enters from a minor sandstone rise as a short waterfall and leaves through a convenient hole in the wall. When one stares past their reflection in the water, they can see the stone streambed.
Boulders and a few weathered benches line the paths to provide a place to rest. In the center of the garden an old cracked limestone slab once proudly held a holy idol. Now the pedestal and statue are half-sunk into the loam as fallen leaves gather in its hollows and vines wind around the last testament to the garden's past.
To the side of the formerly-arched and eroded entrance grows a beautiful and stately sakura tree. Around the tree, very few other plants grow which leaves an open view of the sky. The tree is easily the largest tree in the garden(nearly one hundred feet tall with a trunk ten feet wide) and gnarled with great age and the torment of many seasons. Besides its impossible size, one other feature sets it apart from most trees in general. The great sakura tree is split nearly in two at its trunk. Both dual trunks support a grand total of six crowns.
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Posted: Thu Apr 22, 2010 12:43 am
Hikari stepped through the entrance and whistled, clearly impressed. They hadn't been able to find the old garden and frankly she didn't care. This one was better, in her opinion. It was beautiful and ancient, a forgotten place of peace. Just the first glance was enough to cause Hikari to vow to never harm anything within. Almost subconsciously, her hands slipped meekly into her pockets. To her right, an absolutely massive sakura tree loomed. She'd never even seen an oak that large, let alone a sakura tree. It was vast and beautiful and she was gripped with the urge to touch it and fall to her knees at the same time. She relented to the former and went to its trunk in an almost timid fashion.
How daunting it was to face and touch a tree twenty times your height!
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Posted: Sun May 02, 2010 1:14 am
Walking in behind Hikari Ogato noticed the aged walls surrounding the area and thought to himself, 'Strange I've never seen this place before and I've been here for as long as I can remember.' For Ogato this was a stunning sight, but he didn't want to show it although his partially gapping mouth showed it all. Standing there stunned for a moment he finally opened his mouth and said, "Um, so when did you find this place Kari?" Ogato then poked her twice in the side playfully to ensure he had her attention.
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Posted: Tue May 04, 2010 9:14 pm
Hikari shied away from the contact, smiling since she was incapable of controlling her hightened spirits. She found it amusing how easily Ogato seemed to comport himself considering his former mood. She had shied away because she really didn't want to be poked. Poking Kari was like tickling her and god knew she didn't need that! How foolish she would seem.
"Umm, about right now, actually," she admitted. "I was just looking for the old garden. Guess, I took a wrong turn..."
Hikari turned back to the massive tree and ran a cautious hand appreciatively over its gnarled bark. It scared her to be so close to such a massive beauty. Who knew how stable it was? Yet at the same time she was drawn to it. Kari hadn't been much for nature in either of her lives. Sure, she had appreciated it, even to the point of consciously recycling. Yet, despite her respect for her environment, Hikari rarely spent afternoons in the shade of a tree. The videogames, books and gymnastics she had occupied herself with had been replaced with training, living. Admiring nature had never been on her agenda.
Now, just being in the garden was a novelty. With her hand on the trunk, Kari thought she could almost feel the ancient life of the Sakura. She smiled subconsciously as she admired the foliage above.
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Posted: Thu May 06, 2010 8:23 pm
Ogato laughed at Hikari when she avoided him poking her. He knew that poking someone in the side was just as bad as tickling them since he would do that to his friends before he entered the Soul Society. He was sure Kari noticed his change in mood which came more so from the change in surroundings. Ogato was always one who enjoyed nature so these surrounding really made him at ease.
When he heard that Kari managed to stumble upon the area by accident his face when blank. Shaking his head he grinned and said, "You really are amazing Kari, I don't think I could ever pull that off." Ogato started to laugh when he realized that she had already moved to the large tree reaching out to touch it. Although he found the tree amazing he wasn't to much for touching. Walking over to a moss covered boulder he hoped up on it and folded his legs as he took a seat on it.
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Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 1:46 am
"Huh?" Kari turned to her captain, not sure she had heard him correctly. But she must have. She didn't have a good enough imagination to make it up.
"Err, no, I'm not amazing," she said as she walked over to the bank of the little stream. She wasn't very far from his boulder-in fact, she was next to it. "Maybe lucky is a better word. I'm lucky this garden was here when I took a wrong turn. I'm lucky I passed the academy entrance exams. I'm lucky I'm alive. Hell, I'm lucky I wasn't the only shinigami captured a few years ago. Otherwise the Gotei 13 wouldn't have bothered with a rescue."
At this point, Hikari laughed lightly. It was amazing how very lucky she was. It was lucky that she hadn't died in the fight with Slash. It was lucky she hadn't died in the hospital at Hawk's hands. It was lucky she hadn't died from his poison. It was lucky she had made it back to the squad. It was probably lucky that she was third seat. She didn't think she'd ever know.
Hikari pulled her foot gear off then stuck her feet into the frigid water. The stream seemed to soothe her already-forming hangover. After a moment, she lay on her back in the cool grass and loam. The earth beneath her cooled her spine while the sun warmed her stomach and lower body. Her head lay mercifully in the shadow he cast. From her pocket, Kari drew her sunglasses and put them on to block the glare of the sun which shone like an aura around her captain. Briefly she considered unbraiding her hair to let it fan out everywhere. She decided against it, knowing it would be a nightmare to rebraid dry.
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Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 11:17 pm
Ogato snickered then said in reply to her response to what he said, "Well if you don't I obviously do if I went and said that. I can't believe that came from my mouth, I'm going to have to scrub my tounge when we return." He then began to laugh slightly covering his face. Although he was laughing at the moment he was quite serious about that.
Lying on his back he got confortable and looked at the canopy of the tree listening to Kari he sighed and closed his eyes. When she was done he pushed himself towards her while staying on the boulder and said, "I think your being to hard on yourself, if anything is lucky it's me being in the position I'm in right now. And besides getting kidnapped is a great way to meet people, that's how I met Hatsume. Anyways I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my former captian Kuro, I have no clue where he is now but, I looked up to him. He was one that make me a lieutenat which eventually lead to me being a captain. I wish I could do a better job leading though." Ogato suddenly went silent not even making a loud enough breathing sound.
Ogato began to think about all the training and good times him a Kuro had together. There first meeting was a bloody one since he was working towards his shikai when they first met. Now he was captain of squad 11 which Kuro lead many years ago.
((The Kuro person I'm talking about was a member of the guild and a captain a long time ago so I'm not making that stuff up completely.))
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Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 12:17 am
"No, Taichou, you are doing an excellent job," Hikari told him. "You done so much for the squad. And we're all so lawless that, short of killing someone to prove a point, you'd be hard-put to kick us into line. But, Taichou you have done a lot. For me especially. I have so much more confidence, I've matured, I'm probably more polite and god knows I'm happier. Plus, you gave me a chance to get closer to Hyushaimaru."
Tell him I said you're less annoying, her zanpaktou prompted.
Hell no, she said.
Why not? Hyushaimaru asked indignantly.
Two reasons, Hikari told him. Ogato doesn't know that our relationship is so strong so I still seem sane to him and I never was annoying!
A long, drawn-out dispute could have occured but Hikari's mind had already wandered to the memory of imprisonment. Feelings of unease, vulnerability and inadequacy made her sit up and wrap her arms around her knees. She stared into the unchanging creek as it continued on its ancient way.
"Anyway, I don't know about you but feeling so helpless while arrancars just toyed with me and with that god-awful poison tearing me apart from within..." Hikari shuddered, hunching closer over her knees momentarily. Her body remembered the attack which had caused all the trouble. Her side twinged. "...There was nothing fun about that. I got nothing out of it except nearly dying and a conversation with Captain Maximoru Bulfer."
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Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 1:03 am
Ogato began to make a low squeaking sound forgetting that he had stopped breathing for a moment and fell over. Picking himself up he coughed and started to breath heavily. Regaining composer he said, "Well I'm glad you think I'm doing a good job, but I should be doing alot better. And I'm sure you could have accomplished those things alone if you tried hard enough. Anyways, I think becoming captain ruined my jokes and touch on the ladies."
Ru snickered then added, "Yeah and you're getting rusty with your swordsmanship too."
Lowing his head he groaned, "Don't remind me."
Ogato and Ru, his zanpakuto spirit, rarely talk so when they did speak it usually was something that concerned Ru.
When she mentioned what happened when the arrancar attacked he scratched his head for a moment. "You know I don't remember much about poision, but I think we all got a bit beat up that day. I refused to fight someone while helping out a friend and I got a bad hit to the stomach with a bala and a few other hits I don't remember."
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Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2010 9:34 pm
"That's not surprising -that you don't remember, that is. Bala to the stomach? Oww. That's like a bullet wound, y'know," she said, whistling appreciatively. "I was a pretty bad kid as a human but even I never messed with guns. Maybe if my dad had liked hunting...Eh, whatever.
"But, regardless, there's no way I would have matured so much. Think about it. Can you see me simply sparring with someone without having an injunction not to turn it into a deathmatch? Without being in this squad, I'd never have the self-control."
Unbidden, memories of her now-deceased brother -who had not been exposed to squad discipline- floated to the surface of her mind.
I'm sorry, Hijuelo, Hyushaimaru said.
Instead of pity and remorse, like she would expect, she felt guilt in his tone and realized that he had stirred the memory. She turned from the extremely unwanted recollections and shut them off. There was no chance in hell that she would let Ogato see her cry. No one could see her cry. If she were alone, she might vent her emotions. But never when in company. Some might argue that the path she had chosen was the weaker option. Nevertheless, it was her path of choice.
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Posted: Sun Jun 13, 2010 12:34 am
Ogato stretched out his arms then said, "I don't try to remember stuff like that, I find it a bit tedious to remember every event....." pausing he scratching his head he and continued, "Well except for this one moment, but I won't dwell on it."
Opening up his upper part of his uniform and looked at his abdomen, poking it. There was a small circular scar near his bellybutton. "Yeah I suppose it is like a bullet wound. And I can say the same about guns except for the hunting part."
"And I'm not very mature myself I never take fighting serious." Gently rubbing the scar on his back he grinned. "I also enjoy gaining scars from a good opponent. The one on my back is from my old captain and a friend."
The scar brought back old memories from Ogato's reentry into the squads and obtaining his shikai. If it wasn't for that day he probably won't be here right now. Snapping out of his thought he looked over to Hikari, "Sorry I started to ramble. Are you okay over there? You got quiet all of a sudden, am I rambling that much?"
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Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2010 11:24 pm
"Ah, no, Taichou," Hikari spluttered as she heard the concern in his voice. "It's nothing at all. I'm just listening to your tales. I actually like hearing more about your past. It's probably best that we get to know eachother."
She sighed and lifted her arms above her head and stretched. Then she laced her fingers together at the base of her braid and gracelessly fell back. Sunlight dappled her skin but the foliage was too thick for the sun to shine through and blind her. With a relaxed, peaceful expression, she sighed luxuriently and closed her eyes. Oh, the grass was so soft. Through her clothes, it felt marvelously cool. The day was warm enough to be comfortable. Hikari relaxed as the environment worked it's magic.
"If it's not too bold, could you tell me more?" she asked in a faraway voice. She almost sounded childlike when she let all her pretexts of gruffness evaporate like so. Vaguely, she hoped he would oblige. She didn't want to talk about herself and Ogato seemed to have an interesting past. It was like the bed-time stories about ancient samurai. The ones her father would read to her when she was but a child, barely more than a toddler.
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Posted: Fri Jul 09, 2010 11:30 pm
Ogato looked over at Kari then up at tree tops. Looking up he could see a leaf floating down towards him, blowing it out of his path he sat up. "Hmm, so have you ever met Captain Kuro? I ask mostly out of curiosity. I kind of doubt you remember him if you did he left a long time ago." Ogato leaned back and grabbed a handful of grass. It felt as if it was wet and cool, tossing it in the air it fell down on his face getting into his only visible eye.
Rolling from his resting place he rubbed at his eye trying to get it out of his eye. Sitting up he groaned as he moved his patch over that eye as it teared up. Open his other eye it quickly adjusted to the light. Pulling his knees to his chest he said, "Anyways before I go on with my story do you have any interesting stories? I don't want to tell you my life story and not know much about you."
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Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 11:01 pm
"Nope, I arrived in the rukongai about nine years ago, entered the academy seven years ago, joined the squad four years ago, and you showed up maybe a few months later," she said. "I've only met you, your predecessor, and Captain Maximoru. I've never really been in a position to meet captains, whether it was power-wise, seating-wise, or from events," Hikari said. She didn't particularly like disappointing people. Especially people whom she trusted and whom she was starting to befriend. "Sorry, Ogato-taichou, I don't remember him."
When she saw his leaf problem, she sat up, turned back toward him and stood. Even though he was sitting on the boulder, she was still a little shorter. He managed to fix it so she sat. blushing due to her idiocy. Of course he didn't need her help.
"Anyway, I'm really no one," she said. "Nothing interesting about me."
Except possibly for the fact that I have been carrying on lengthy conversations with my zanpaktou for years, long before I even got my shikai, she thought to herself. But there's no way in hell I'll admit that!
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Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2010 8:02 pm
Ogato glared at Hikari for a moment before saying, "You make it sound like I just appeared out of thin air. I've done alot of work in my past to make a name for myself you know." He then started to laugh to show that he didn't mean anything by it. Thinking about what she told him he thought for a moment, 'I know I've been around for quite some time. Jeez, even though I'm still pretty young I'm old.' Ogato rubbed his head smiling, wondering what would she say if she could read his mind. With a few quick coughs he said, "Maybe you just didn't see him around. Also I've been a lieutenant for to long. I knew Maxi back when he first became a lieutenant and I was one well before that." Looking blankly into the distance he tried to go into his memory to find out when he first came to the soul society. As his memory returned to him he said to her, "I think I came here back in the early 90s or something I was still in grade school when I passed so that's why I still look young."
As her discussion went on a little more to end shortly with a comment that hinted a bit of low self-esteem Ogato shook his head. Patting Hikari on the shoulder he looked down as he said, "Don't be so quick to write yourself off. I'm sure you have something interesting about yourself. I didn't think I'd make it as far as I did and my story was pretty short from what I can remember."
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