No Rest for the Wicked [Bleach]
- Thread starter Tekomandor
- Start date
[X] Go in disguise.
Edit: Besides, he had to have known to expect a similar reaction. If possibly not quite so...enthusiastic.
Why would we go and do a thing like that? That would ruin his credibility.
Edit: Besides, he had to have known to expect a similar reaction. If possibly not quite so...enthusiastic.
Last edited:
PhoenixFTW
Insert Witty One-Liner Here
- Location
- Minnesota
[X] Go in disguise.
Yeah, if there's shady crap going on and people getting assassinated, it'd be best not to announce ourselves to the world.
Yeah, if there's shady crap going on and people getting assassinated, it'd be best not to announce ourselves to the world.
The Penultimate Book
- Location
- Australia
- Pronouns
- She/Her
The Penultimate Book
Dressed in clothes typical for a street tough, you and Chise set out in the early dawn light. The sun has yet to crest the horizon, and under a sky filled with red clouds you advance throughout the nearly deserted streets of the Seireitei. You approach the gates, but are allowed out upon showing your swords and allowing the guards to sense your active reiatsu.
The dirt roads and wooden buildings of Rukongai are no less deserted, or any friendlier, this early in the morning. Still, there are some people out and about. Seeing your blades, they give you and Chise a wide berth. Everyone who's survived more than a few days in an area of the Rukongai knows not to mess with armed men and women out in the dawn light.
If a street thug was up at dawn, they meant to kill. To the residents of Rukongai, it was a time of endings, rather than beginnings. Blood pooled in the street under a new sun, and sensible people stayed inside until the day's fighting was done. It was in this oppressive time that you began your hours-long journey, and by the time you neared your destination - the Thirty Third district. The headquarters of the double threes was as obvious as any Shinigami wall or patrol, with the club's banners fluttering proudly in the wind.
Two men stood guard outside of the long, low building. They looked around thirty to forty, but of course that had no meaning here in the land of the dead. One carried a cheap katana, forged out of poor iron in a pale imitation of your own blade, the other a simple spear. The building has a sloped roof, a slapdash construction of tiles and wood, and two tight alleyways on either side. You and Chise duck into a back street for a moment.
"The rooftops?" You ask her, and she nods.
"The rooftops." She says in response, and the two of you move in concert. You walk into another side street, and run sideways at the wall. You jump up, and run along the opposite wall, then jump and glide through the air towards your intended destination. Your movements are graceful and swift, and you seem almost to float through the air as you make your way up to the rooftops.
The two of you leap from rooftop to rooftop, and make your way to the top of the gang's headquarters. You can hear the raucous drinking from the front, the sounds of smashed plates a boisterous shouting audible even through the roof, and so the two of you decide to go in the back. You drop down from the rooftop, surprising the single, drunk guard.
He turns, and Chise whacks him over the head with the scabbard of her sword. He topples to the ground, a boneless lump. You draw your sword and open the door, and grin as you see what's clearly a deserted office. A guard's sleeping in his chair, and the two of you carefully move past him and head for the boss's space. There, you find what looks to be some kind of ledger, kept in a far neater hand than anything else. What gives it away, however, is the kido lock on it.
"Chise, can we move it?" You ask. She's talked about these before - they're something of a hobby.
"I don't know, I'll need to uncouple the first few-" She said, as she looked intently over the book. There was a crash nearby.
"How fast can you get it done, Red?" You ask. She blushes at the name, but never breaks her concentration.
"A-a-a minute?" She says nervously, and you nod. You step out into the hallway, your sword raised high. You face the doors to the main room, and take a heavy stance. Your reiatsu flares, sending loose sheets of paper and empty bottles of alcohol flying. You extend your hand, and cry out just as the door swings open to reveal a half dozen armed men.
"Come forth and strike, ye spirit of thunderous force! Hado Number One, SHO!" You shout, as potent as any battlecry, and the men go flying. You walk forwards, blade raised in a graceful stance, and stand just in front of the doorway. Chaos reigns in the ganghouse, as men scramble for weapons and cover alike.
They rush you, all wasted energy and impotent fury. You bend like grass in the wind, you strike like a tornado. You stand your ground, and yet you are impossible to hit. Your reactions are too fast, your soul too mighty, to be vanquished. A ring of groaning men surrounds you, and a figure steps forward. Then, he flares his reiatsu.
He's strong, you admit through clenched teeth. Probably strong enough to beat you.
"Are you done, yet Chise?" You shout.
"Yes!" She shouts back, and you point your hand diagonally upwards at the beamed roof.
"SHO!" You shout, sending you flying backwards, and splitting the beam in half with uncontrolled force. This man might be strong, but he wasn't yet strong enough to stop a building collapsing. You skid to a halt as you're thrown backwards with enormous force, and you and Chise run for your lives. The entire structure begins to collapse, and you see falling timber fall on the leader of the gang as you run.
A few try to follow, but you quickly lose them. Chise holds up the ledger, and you grin.
"I really hope that's the evidence." You say, and Chise nods. "Any chance you could get it fully open?" You ask.
"Not quickly, Kanadee. I know a guy in Rukongai who could, but whoever made this might be able to track it. I wouldn't want to put him in danger over this." Chise says.
"How can we stop them tracking it?" You ask.
"We take it back to the academy, where it will blend in with the background reiatsu levels. It's slower, but it's safer."
You consider it for a moment, before deciding to...
[x] - Take the book back with you.
[x] - Talk to Chise's friend about it.
Dressed in clothes typical for a street tough, you and Chise set out in the early dawn light. The sun has yet to crest the horizon, and under a sky filled with red clouds you advance throughout the nearly deserted streets of the Seireitei. You approach the gates, but are allowed out upon showing your swords and allowing the guards to sense your active reiatsu.
The dirt roads and wooden buildings of Rukongai are no less deserted, or any friendlier, this early in the morning. Still, there are some people out and about. Seeing your blades, they give you and Chise a wide berth. Everyone who's survived more than a few days in an area of the Rukongai knows not to mess with armed men and women out in the dawn light.
If a street thug was up at dawn, they meant to kill. To the residents of Rukongai, it was a time of endings, rather than beginnings. Blood pooled in the street under a new sun, and sensible people stayed inside until the day's fighting was done. It was in this oppressive time that you began your hours-long journey, and by the time you neared your destination - the Thirty Third district. The headquarters of the double threes was as obvious as any Shinigami wall or patrol, with the club's banners fluttering proudly in the wind.
Two men stood guard outside of the long, low building. They looked around thirty to forty, but of course that had no meaning here in the land of the dead. One carried a cheap katana, forged out of poor iron in a pale imitation of your own blade, the other a simple spear. The building has a sloped roof, a slapdash construction of tiles and wood, and two tight alleyways on either side. You and Chise duck into a back street for a moment.
"The rooftops?" You ask her, and she nods.
"The rooftops." She says in response, and the two of you move in concert. You walk into another side street, and run sideways at the wall. You jump up, and run along the opposite wall, then jump and glide through the air towards your intended destination. Your movements are graceful and swift, and you seem almost to float through the air as you make your way up to the rooftops.
The two of you leap from rooftop to rooftop, and make your way to the top of the gang's headquarters. You can hear the raucous drinking from the front, the sounds of smashed plates a boisterous shouting audible even through the roof, and so the two of you decide to go in the back. You drop down from the rooftop, surprising the single, drunk guard.
He turns, and Chise whacks him over the head with the scabbard of her sword. He topples to the ground, a boneless lump. You draw your sword and open the door, and grin as you see what's clearly a deserted office. A guard's sleeping in his chair, and the two of you carefully move past him and head for the boss's space. There, you find what looks to be some kind of ledger, kept in a far neater hand than anything else. What gives it away, however, is the kido lock on it.
"Chise, can we move it?" You ask. She's talked about these before - they're something of a hobby.
"I don't know, I'll need to uncouple the first few-" She said, as she looked intently over the book. There was a crash nearby.
"How fast can you get it done, Red?" You ask. She blushes at the name, but never breaks her concentration.
"A-a-a minute?" She says nervously, and you nod. You step out into the hallway, your sword raised high. You face the doors to the main room, and take a heavy stance. Your reiatsu flares, sending loose sheets of paper and empty bottles of alcohol flying. You extend your hand, and cry out just as the door swings open to reveal a half dozen armed men.
"Come forth and strike, ye spirit of thunderous force! Hado Number One, SHO!" You shout, as potent as any battlecry, and the men go flying. You walk forwards, blade raised in a graceful stance, and stand just in front of the doorway. Chaos reigns in the ganghouse, as men scramble for weapons and cover alike.
They rush you, all wasted energy and impotent fury. You bend like grass in the wind, you strike like a tornado. You stand your ground, and yet you are impossible to hit. Your reactions are too fast, your soul too mighty, to be vanquished. A ring of groaning men surrounds you, and a figure steps forward. Then, he flares his reiatsu.
He's strong, you admit through clenched teeth. Probably strong enough to beat you.
"Are you done, yet Chise?" You shout.
"Yes!" She shouts back, and you point your hand diagonally upwards at the beamed roof.
"SHO!" You shout, sending you flying backwards, and splitting the beam in half with uncontrolled force. This man might be strong, but he wasn't yet strong enough to stop a building collapsing. You skid to a halt as you're thrown backwards with enormous force, and you and Chise run for your lives. The entire structure begins to collapse, and you see falling timber fall on the leader of the gang as you run.
A few try to follow, but you quickly lose them. Chise holds up the ledger, and you grin.
"I really hope that's the evidence." You say, and Chise nods. "Any chance you could get it fully open?" You ask.
"Not quickly, Kanadee. I know a guy in Rukongai who could, but whoever made this might be able to track it. I wouldn't want to put him in danger over this." Chise says.
"How can we stop them tracking it?" You ask.
"We take it back to the academy, where it will blend in with the background reiatsu levels. It's slower, but it's safer."
You consider it for a moment, before deciding to...
[x] - Take the book back with you.
[x] - Talk to Chise's friend about it.
- Location
- va
[x] - Take the book back with you.
@Tekomandor - Is there any chance of them tracking the book to us specifically at the Academy?
Also people it bares noting that even if they can't directly tract it to us they can still likely track it to the Academy and then provide a description gathered from those men we owned and find us that way.
Also people it bares noting that even if they can't directly tract it to us they can still likely track it to the Academy and then provide a description gathered from those men we owned and find us that way.
- Location
- New England
[x] - Take the book back with you.
- Location
- Australia
- Pronouns
- She/Her
They won't be able to track it at all within the Seireitei.
- Location
- Leeds
Before I vote I would like to check that there's nothing that would get us in trouble if its found in your quarters. Apart from the fact that we destroyed a gang house to get it.
[x] - Take the book back with you
This is starting to be our solution to everything huh?
At last, your chains are broken
- Location
- Australia
- Pronouns
- She/Her
At last, your chains are broken
You and Chise stood in your room, the book placed upon the floor. She gripped her left hand at the wrist with her right, holding her own arm steady from sheer force of will. A circular diagram had been laid out on the floor, and a small trickle of Chise's blood dripped down from her hand. The crimson liquid splattered onto the diagram, which began to glow; now that it had a conduit to Chise's power. Circles of light, vastly more intricate than what Chise had drawn, sprung into existence for a brief moment, only to be snuffed out one by one.
Then, as the last circle faded, the physical lock on the book popped open and fell away from it. There, on the floor, the lock quickly and efficiently immolated itself, leaving behind nothing but a hiss of smoke. You gingerly reach down and pick up the book, as Chise bandages her hand and scuffs away the diagram. The book does appear to be a ledger, and it's unencoded. You only take a quick glance through it, but it appears to detail a scheme for laundering money from the Academy's budget, as well as various less than legal enterprises, through Rukongai's entirely cash or barter based economy.
Implicated in it was at least three noble houses, and the commandant.
"This - this is big, Red." You say.
"Yeah." Chise replies quietly. "What are we gonna do about it?" She asks.
"We need to get this out of here, away from the fucking bastard behind this. We need to get it to the real Shinigami." You say, stoking the fires of determination. Surely, someone amongst them would care that they were being ripped off. Someone would come and punish this conspiracy, in this citadel of white stone and promise.
"I know where the Fifth Division headquarters are - they're only, like, an hour away." Chise said, as she picked up the book and attached her sword's sheath to her uniform belt. You do the same. They might as well be toothpicks against the Commandant, but it felt reassuring. You still had a few hours of freedom left, but you had the feeling that you'd be overstepping that boundary sometime soon. The two of you rush out of your room, running down the barracks' stairs and onto the grounds. Not a single person notices your presence, or so you think.
You walk across the large front lawn of the Academy, your hearts beating about a thousand times a minute as you walked slowly, cautiously, through the deserted training yards. And there, amongst the refuse left over from a day's training, stands a fellow student. You recognise him from his match against Hosoda - and, knowing what you do now, he seems almost certain to be at least an agent of the conspiracy. He's in his last year, and a star student.
You realise that you don't even know your killer's name. You never know their names
"R-red, I need you to promise me something. I need you to run, and not look back until you have half a dozen of Shinigami with you." You say, your voice trembling. The student hasn't seen you yet. He's going to look in your direction soon. You're going to die soon.
"Wh-" She says, but you interrupt her. He's looking this way, and you need to buy her time. That's why you lean into her and kiss her, you tell yourself. It's just a distraction, and not because you're going to die. He turns away, and you break it off. She sees the older student now, and nods; tears in her eyes. She walks away, and you walk forward. He hasn't seen the book, he'll have to fight you.
"Said your goodbyes, whelp?" He says - Zhang, that's his name. You remember his name, now.
You don't say a thing, an anger burning inside you. You can't think straight, your hand is trembling as you rest it on the hilt of your sword. It would be smarter to keep him talking.
"No final words, then? You do realise that you won't buy nearly enough time for your pathetic hanger-on to get away, don't you?" He says, and your anger boils over. You charge, screaming a wordless battlecry, and you draw your sword and swing for his head. There's a sound like a thunderclap, and pain. You smash through a wooden target and lie bleeding in the grass. Your arm feels like it's on fire, and you scream in pain. A piece of wood's sticking out from your chest. Your sword arm is gone, everything below the elbow.
Blood trickles down over your eyes, and you try to breath. Zhang walks over to you, a smirk on his face. He flings you out of the wreckage, onto the grass. With a word, he wrenches your arms behind your back and forces you upright. Your chest screams as you try to breath. He's talking, but you can't hear him. You struggle, but we can't move. We need to be free, we need to fight. We can't breathe, we can't struggle.
We've died a hundred, a thousand times, but yet also never at all. We're not going to die here.
We need to breathe.
We need our arm, to hold our sword.
We need to break our chains, to fight.
You breath as the foot long wooden splinter is forced from your body. Papery, alabaster white flesh flows out from your mouth, down your chest and to what was once your arm. You can feel your sword arm again. You remember this. A million voices scream for you to struggle, so you do. You burst open the chains of thought and magic holding you, drinking up their meagre power. Everything flows towards you, grass and wood and even the air itself acting as fuel.
Your own power was merely a spark, this? This was a raging wildfire, and you were ready to unleash it. You stand up, and pick up your balde. Your power flows into it, but it's not enough to awaken it. You don't need that, yet. You just need it to survive. Zhang turns, aghast. He moves to draw his zanpakuto once more, but the world seems almost as if it's standing still to you. You move, more through thought and expenditure of will than physical effort, and there is the sound of thunder. Not the pale imitation of a poorly performed flash step - no, this was a true sonido.
You swung with the force of an avalanche, and your blade sung with the crimson light of a hollow's power. Zhang's zanpakuto meets your own, and a shockwave explodes out from the both of you. Wooden stands are reduced to splinters, and you see the fear on Zhang's face. He steps backwards, and you're behind him. A flash of steel and another thunderclap, and blood spurts from his back. Again you strike. His left leg, cut at the knee. His right arm, at the shoulder.
He uses his dying moments to unleash what power he has left into a raw, unfocused kido. You sense it only moment before it happens. You recall distant memories of crimson light, the kind you'd used to turn your sword into a weapon fit for you; if only for a few moments.
You let out a wordless roar that sends splinters flying, and a beam of crimson light lances forth from you; impacting Zhang's suicidal Kido. You draw on more and more power from your surroundings, dissolving splinters and grass. You push Zhang back, his desperate strike no match for your borrowed power. His attack splits apart and yours lands home, and then everything turns white.
You wake in a hospital bed, your sword the only object in the room you recognise. You are, by your own estimation entirely unharmed. You have no idea why that is. Then you think about what you'd just done, and you know why. You sit up, frantic. Chise - she must have been nearby when your attack collided with Zhang's suicidal Kido. The door to your room opens, and in walks a brown haired, bespectacled man. He's wearing the uniform of a Captain.
"Hello, Kanade" He says, smiling. You try to reply, but all that comes out is a raspy gasp. "I know it must be hard for you, so there's no need to reply. I just came to wish my favourite... hyrbid the best in her recovery. Sosuke Aizen, captain of the fifth division." He said, and your heart stopped. Aizen turned and left, after that, and you scrambled for some water.
What did you do next?
[x] - You need to go check on Chise - she could have been hurt in the explosion!
[x] - The best thing to do right now is wait here, and think about what happened.
You and Chise stood in your room, the book placed upon the floor. She gripped her left hand at the wrist with her right, holding her own arm steady from sheer force of will. A circular diagram had been laid out on the floor, and a small trickle of Chise's blood dripped down from her hand. The crimson liquid splattered onto the diagram, which began to glow; now that it had a conduit to Chise's power. Circles of light, vastly more intricate than what Chise had drawn, sprung into existence for a brief moment, only to be snuffed out one by one.
Then, as the last circle faded, the physical lock on the book popped open and fell away from it. There, on the floor, the lock quickly and efficiently immolated itself, leaving behind nothing but a hiss of smoke. You gingerly reach down and pick up the book, as Chise bandages her hand and scuffs away the diagram. The book does appear to be a ledger, and it's unencoded. You only take a quick glance through it, but it appears to detail a scheme for laundering money from the Academy's budget, as well as various less than legal enterprises, through Rukongai's entirely cash or barter based economy.
Implicated in it was at least three noble houses, and the commandant.
"This - this is big, Red." You say.
"Yeah." Chise replies quietly. "What are we gonna do about it?" She asks.
"We need to get this out of here, away from the fucking bastard behind this. We need to get it to the real Shinigami." You say, stoking the fires of determination. Surely, someone amongst them would care that they were being ripped off. Someone would come and punish this conspiracy, in this citadel of white stone and promise.
"I know where the Fifth Division headquarters are - they're only, like, an hour away." Chise said, as she picked up the book and attached her sword's sheath to her uniform belt. You do the same. They might as well be toothpicks against the Commandant, but it felt reassuring. You still had a few hours of freedom left, but you had the feeling that you'd be overstepping that boundary sometime soon. The two of you rush out of your room, running down the barracks' stairs and onto the grounds. Not a single person notices your presence, or so you think.
You walk across the large front lawn of the Academy, your hearts beating about a thousand times a minute as you walked slowly, cautiously, through the deserted training yards. And there, amongst the refuse left over from a day's training, stands a fellow student. You recognise him from his match against Hosoda - and, knowing what you do now, he seems almost certain to be at least an agent of the conspiracy. He's in his last year, and a star student.
You realise that you don't even know your killer's name. You never know their names
"R-red, I need you to promise me something. I need you to run, and not look back until you have half a dozen of Shinigami with you." You say, your voice trembling. The student hasn't seen you yet. He's going to look in your direction soon. You're going to die soon.
"Wh-" She says, but you interrupt her. He's looking this way, and you need to buy her time. That's why you lean into her and kiss her, you tell yourself. It's just a distraction, and not because you're going to die. He turns away, and you break it off. She sees the older student now, and nods; tears in her eyes. She walks away, and you walk forward. He hasn't seen the book, he'll have to fight you.
"Said your goodbyes, whelp?" He says - Zhang, that's his name. You remember his name, now.
You don't say a thing, an anger burning inside you. You can't think straight, your hand is trembling as you rest it on the hilt of your sword. It would be smarter to keep him talking.
"No final words, then? You do realise that you won't buy nearly enough time for your pathetic hanger-on to get away, don't you?" He says, and your anger boils over. You charge, screaming a wordless battlecry, and you draw your sword and swing for his head. There's a sound like a thunderclap, and pain. You smash through a wooden target and lie bleeding in the grass. Your arm feels like it's on fire, and you scream in pain. A piece of wood's sticking out from your chest. Your sword arm is gone, everything below the elbow.
Blood trickles down over your eyes, and you try to breath. Zhang walks over to you, a smirk on his face. He flings you out of the wreckage, onto the grass. With a word, he wrenches your arms behind your back and forces you upright. Your chest screams as you try to breath. He's talking, but you can't hear him. You struggle, but we can't move. We need to be free, we need to fight. We can't breathe, we can't struggle.
We've died a hundred, a thousand times, but yet also never at all. We're not going to die here.
We need to breathe.
We need our arm, to hold our sword.
We need to break our chains, to fight.
You breath as the foot long wooden splinter is forced from your body. Papery, alabaster white flesh flows out from your mouth, down your chest and to what was once your arm. You can feel your sword arm again. You remember this. A million voices scream for you to struggle, so you do. You burst open the chains of thought and magic holding you, drinking up their meagre power. Everything flows towards you, grass and wood and even the air itself acting as fuel.
Your own power was merely a spark, this? This was a raging wildfire, and you were ready to unleash it. You stand up, and pick up your balde. Your power flows into it, but it's not enough to awaken it. You don't need that, yet. You just need it to survive. Zhang turns, aghast. He moves to draw his zanpakuto once more, but the world seems almost as if it's standing still to you. You move, more through thought and expenditure of will than physical effort, and there is the sound of thunder. Not the pale imitation of a poorly performed flash step - no, this was a true sonido.
You swung with the force of an avalanche, and your blade sung with the crimson light of a hollow's power. Zhang's zanpakuto meets your own, and a shockwave explodes out from the both of you. Wooden stands are reduced to splinters, and you see the fear on Zhang's face. He steps backwards, and you're behind him. A flash of steel and another thunderclap, and blood spurts from his back. Again you strike. His left leg, cut at the knee. His right arm, at the shoulder.
He uses his dying moments to unleash what power he has left into a raw, unfocused kido. You sense it only moment before it happens. You recall distant memories of crimson light, the kind you'd used to turn your sword into a weapon fit for you; if only for a few moments.
You let out a wordless roar that sends splinters flying, and a beam of crimson light lances forth from you; impacting Zhang's suicidal Kido. You draw on more and more power from your surroundings, dissolving splinters and grass. You push Zhang back, his desperate strike no match for your borrowed power. His attack splits apart and yours lands home, and then everything turns white.
You wake in a hospital bed, your sword the only object in the room you recognise. You are, by your own estimation entirely unharmed. You have no idea why that is. Then you think about what you'd just done, and you know why. You sit up, frantic. Chise - she must have been nearby when your attack collided with Zhang's suicidal Kido. The door to your room opens, and in walks a brown haired, bespectacled man. He's wearing the uniform of a Captain.
"Hello, Kanade" He says, smiling. You try to reply, but all that comes out is a raspy gasp. "I know it must be hard for you, so there's no need to reply. I just came to wish my favourite... hyrbid the best in her recovery. Sosuke Aizen, captain of the fifth division." He said, and your heart stopped. Aizen turned and left, after that, and you scrambled for some water.
What did you do next?
[x] - You need to go check on Chise - she could have been hurt in the explosion!
[x] - The best thing to do right now is wait here, and think about what happened.
Gain +20 Reiryoku [Other Stats modified]
Gain New Skill: Reiryoku Gathering
Gain New Specialisation [Hoho]: Sonido
Gain New Trait: High Speed Regeneration
Gain New Trait: End-State
Gain New Skill: Reiryoku Gathering
Gain New Specialisation [Hoho]: Sonido
Gain New Trait: High Speed Regeneration
Gain New Trait: End-State
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[x] - The best thing to do right now is wait here, and think about what happened.
Calm down, we panicked enough for one update. Although I can understand needing to check up on her as well, so I don't mind whichever winning.
Calm down, we panicked enough for one update. Although I can understand needing to check up on her as well, so I don't mind whichever winning.
Doomed Wombat
Let's go Darling!
- Location
- Dancing on wires!
We a hollow shinigami hybrid?
I am ok with this
I am ok with this
I suppose the focus on the Unknown Insight being instinct based was a clue. But only in hindsight really, cause its also right next to the word "know" implying thought processes and thus a human (ish, apparently) past.We a hollow shinigami hybrid?
I am ok with this
Its something a tin-foil hat guy might come up with off the bat, but not much else.
- Location
- New England
[x] - You need to go check on Chise - she could have been hurt in the explosion!