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 Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 3:05 pm
Zebediah tentatively stepped into the grounds that had previously been known as KyCorp he was a little unsure of what was expected of him here. "Hello...?" He spoke softly, expecting to see scientific stuff all over the place; however he was pleasantly surprised. Very little clutter was seen at the entrance, and he hopped that it would continue like that for a while. "I was asked to come here by the Captain of Squad 12, Hayashi-taicho..." His own wonder as to what had caused him to be summoned here was evident in his quite demeanor and soft steps.
The entire squad was a wonder to him, although he had heard stories of KyCorp from his master; the horrible experiments, the disgusting filth that ran it, and the alchemical creations that were born here. He wanted no part of it, and he was hoping that he wasn't to be a new experiment.
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Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 4:20 pm
Appearing behind the tall man with a quick flash step, he frowned and crossed his arms, slightly annoyed at the manner in which the man had carried himself.
"Show more respect next time, boy." His voice was dull and flat, as usual. Lifeless, yet somehow alive. "I take it you are here to train? Of course you are.. because if you aren't, then you are wasting my time. Wasting my time is a quick way to die. You don't want to die, do you? Of course not." He had a nasty habit of answering his own questions. "This way."
His hand grasped the man's shoulder, and he flashed again, stopping once in a hallway, then ending the cycle outside, in the squad training grounds, where he promptly released the trainee, spun him around to face him, and took a half step backwards so that both people were fully visible to each other.
"Now then, if you want to learn from me you'll have to learn respect. Respect is key in all situations, especially my laboratory. Would you expect me to just walk into your squad shouting all over the place? No, you wouldn't. Because I don't do that. Do you understand?"
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Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 5:40 pm
"It can be hard to show respect when one has just been shown in without any knowledge of what is happening..." Zebediah murmered softly, bowing as he did so "I am Zebediah Flamstel, unseated member of 7th Division." He was not bothered by the fact that he had just been whisked around like a rag doll. "You are correct in your assumption that I am here for Shikai training... Although, I do not know how I have come to that level. All I have progressed to is the release of 'hot and steeled' reiatsu... And the last time I used it, my muscles were torn apart by the intensity."
He then flourished his bow "So what do you have planned for my training Hayashi-Taichou?" He smiled meekly, his new surroundings similar - the standard training ground, complete with much space. "I hope I'm actually able to do it... It took me a long time to learn most of the Shinigami's skills that are taught in the Academy from my master."
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Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 6:24 pm
Kiisho smiled, although it held no amusement. The man was soft-spoken, but in a very snide way, especially for his size. It also seemed that he had a flair for the semi-dramatic, noted from the comment about his reiatsu nearly tearing his muscles apart. Either that, or he was just exceptionally weak.
"Respect is universal. You should show it at all times when you are expecting to be dealing with someone greater than yourself. This should have been pounded into that large skull of yours in the academy. Since it was not... allow me to do some pounding in of my own variety."
Vanishing in a singular instant, Kiisho reappeared in mid-air around the man's head. His leg lashed out in the same instant, snapping across in a vicious arc that connected with his forehead and left temple, driving him backwards and onto the ground. The basic affect of the blow would force him into his inner world. There, provided he wasn't a complete dunce, he would be able to acquire his shikai.
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Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 6:51 pm
"Great..." Zeb said as the blow struck, knowing this would hurt. The blow struck him, and immediately caused him to black out.
Awaking in front of a shattered mountain with a large, ornate, entrance, and a very beautiful and slim woman who was covered in flames standing in front of him."Hello young Zebediah..." The woman huskily cooed at him "We finally get to meet face-to-face..." She continued "I'm your Zanpaku-tou spirit... and Welcome to my Burning Tower." She paused to to smile slightly "You are here to gain Shikai, and my mode of testing is to let you wander the Trail of Wants and Desires. You will walk up the 15-flight stairway, and at each landing, there will be a room... You must resist the temptations that await you and ascend to the trophy room. There, you will be forced to find my thinly veiled form..." She smiled again, showing her perfect teeth. "I'll see you there... Come and dine on my luscious treats that I've prepared for you..." She then vanished in a small burst of flame.
"Goddamnit..." Zeb slapped his face a few times to make sure this wasn't some sort of screwed up nightmare "Why is this seem to pray upon my one weakness...? I love my vices..." Stepping through the gateway, he felt a rush of wind, as the entrance vanished a spurt of steel. "And of course... I can't leave..." he sighed as he began to walk up the first flight of stairs leading to the first landing.
Outside, in the Training Grounds, Zebediah's still body began to stir slightly as he grasped his sheathed Odachi. "Flaming... Steel..." He murmured as his eyes rapidly began to flutter behind his closed eyes.
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Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 10:15 pm
Zebediah stared at the first landing. What lay beyond the door was the most horrifying scene imaginable. It was a completely nude male from his 7th Squad. It burned his eyes. It burned his ears. It made him want to kill something in the most horrifying way possible. "WHY YOU ROTTEN SON OF A WHORE!?" he screamed as he fired a series of Hado #4: Byakurai into the room, instantly vaporizing the room. He then ran screaming up to the next flight of stairs. "GET THE DEMONS OUT OF MY HEAD!!!!"
At the next landing, Zeb arrived out of breath. "Finally... Better not be a nude male..." He looked into the next room and stared. It was a sushi bar with hot sake and a very cute waitress. "I... want something to eat..." He rubbed his stomach as it slightly grumbled. "No... I can't... She said I must get over every temptation on every level. Each one will be more enticing then the last... This is quite the challenge." He continued to slowly walk to the next flight of stairs, and with one final look back, he continued on.
"Very good Young Flamstel..." The spirit said tauntingly from the suishi bar "Continue on... You shall be greatly rewarded."
Zeb arrived at the third landing after a few hours. He had learned as he continued on that each flight of stairs was twice as long as the previous one, and as such each landing was harder and harder to resist the temptations beyond each door. He bent down to catch his breath - he had easily walked over 5 miles and at each landing he had to spend a few more minutes then the previous landing, trying to move on instead of stop at the landing for god knows how long. "I'm almost there... Only a few more flights and landings and then I can find my releas----" He stopped in mid sentence as he saw himself driving his blade through Mussla's throat, killing him. "I wanted to do that... I still do... I wish I had never been beaten by that damn piece of trash..." He muttered, his own hatred and contempt bearing out as reiatsu
In the world outside of his mind, Zebediah's reiatsu spiked, with wave after wave of his white-hot reiatsu pouring out, the ground around him beginning to burn in the process. "Slice... to the Core..." He muttered with his brow furrowed.
"I will not let that crap happen ever again..." Zebediah roared as he marched past the landing, and up the next flight of stairs, his drive renewed, as well as his desire to become stronger.
The next flight of stairs was even more difficult for him to bear. It was him living with his Master, Ezru Kimishima once again. They were practicing Muay Boran at the foot of Yggdrasil in his garden. "I wish I could go back to that... But these rooms only draw out my desires... None of it is real; it is only what I want most in life, even though I know I can never have it..." Zeb spoke softly to himself. Still, despite his yearnings, he wished he could move back... But he would need the watch to get back; and at this point, he had no idea how to get there. Moving along, with longing and desire in his heart, he continued up the final flight of stairs with his heart gently weeping.
"FINALLY!" Zeb exclaimed an hour and a half later "I am that much closer to finding my Shikai... As far as I know, the only thing that I would have so much trouble resisting would be..." He spied the final doorway, and fell to his knees, tears openly streaming down his cheeks; it was an image of him as young boy, between his two parents, neither of whose faces he was able to see. All he knew is that the woman - his mother - was excessively beautiful, and very short. And that his father was a large, beast of a man, with wild hair, and rippling muscles. "I don't... I wan---I need to know this..." He cried like a child, his heart torn; becoming more powerful or learning the names and faces of his parents and why he had never met them. "I have to carry on... Maybe then I would be able to find it..." Zeb crawled towards the stairs, but his arms continued on carrying him towards the doorway. Suddenly, and without warning, he punched himself hard. "DAMNIT!!!!" He cried again as he stood up and punched himself again in the face. Tears were streaming down his cheeks as he ran up the final flight of stairs to reach the top of the Tower.
In the world outside, his cheeks had begun to shed tears. Tears of sorrow and frustration and desolation. His eyes were scrunched tightly as he continued to cry "Burn... the soul..." He cried in pain as his body writhed in his own mental anguish.
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Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 12:11 pm
He had finally reached the top of the mountain after his multiple arduous trails. The peak held one room, and that was his soul's trophy room. Inside lay about hundreds of thousands of metal works, each one more grand then the last. Statues, swords, chalices, plates, scepters and even helms adorned with jewels and intricate designs. In the center of the room stood the woman from before alongside a large forge with an anvil and a collection of tools used to create these masterpieces surrounding the room.
"Welcome young master... to the Trophy Room..." She spoke huskily as she spread her arms to the weapons area of the room. "In that direction, you'll find my true form... I'm the Goddess of Flames and Steel. That will be your one and only hint..." She smiled again as she began to flame greatly, and she was sucked into the forge, where it began to burn brightly "I expect great things from you young Flamstel... Don't disappoint."
Zebediah was left dumbfounded and confused. "What? I have to find your form in that mess of weaponry?" He asked the now empty room. "Crap..." He immediately sprinted to the end of the room where the weapons were stored. Shuffling through the weapons, he was overwhelmed. There were countless weapons; small, heavy, large, light, well balanced and others that just seemed unusable. "The ones that are too ornate can't be used..." He muttered to himself "I think that she is more serviceable... and she doesn't seem like a normal blade..." Zeb closed his eyes as he thought about what he knew of weaponry; most were made of steel, but which ones actually seemed to carry the essence of fire and steel?
It hit him like a sack of bricks. "Flamberge..." he spoke softly as he spoke to no one other then himself "The sword whose blade imitates the fire from when it came from..." Zeb began to dig through the seeming armory of weaponry until he found a large case labeled 'Hanabi'. "Is that your name? Hanabi?" He asked the forge as it continued to flicker in the light.
Without a response the Spirit, he threw the case and sword into the forge. Almost instantly a shower of sparks shot up out of the mouth, and forced the Spirit out.
"Indeed, my name is Hanabi. Eefret Hanabi." Eefret spoke softly still as she stuck her hand into the forge and pulled out the blade; The name of the blade engraved at the base of the blade. "I am the Spirit of Fire and Steel, and you have just learned my name. Later on... You shall learn my form. But that is for another day young Flamstel...." She then pushed the blade into Zeb's hand and pushed him out of the room.
Being pushed back out the room seemed rude, and he was immediately pushed back into the real world. He came back with the phrase passing his lips; "Slice to the Core, Burn the Soul, HANABI!" The odachi he had been holding previously went up in a pillar of flame as the metal shifted to create the flamberge. At the same time, Zebediah's own reiatsu spiked and flared, bringing a near colum of pure fire over his body, and washing over the area causing the ground to scorch ever so slightly.
"I'm ready for the training now Hayashi-Taichou..." Zeb smiled, fire burning deep in his eyes and soul "And let's play nice... I'm still not sure about what it does... But it's hot." Again the smile but now a lack of all arrogance and stupidity.
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Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 2:53 pm
Kiisho remained silent throughout Zebediah's ordeal. It was flashy, and a bit excessive, but he figured that it varied with each person, and having heated reiatsu definitely added to the mix. The key factor here was that the man was about to finish his training, which meant that Kiisho could get back to Kiisho's work. Kiisho didn't like it when Kiisho was interrupted.
-hmph- He grunted in acknowledgment , pushing off of the stone he had been leaning on and stretching out his back. "We're done for today, put the fire-poker away and get some rest. You should try to get some practice with it soon, however, as that will cause some problems for you later on. Now, back to your own squad with you." With that, he turned on his heel, and flashed away, undoubtedly heading back to his laboratory.
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