Headhunting Zahra (Closed Recruitment Thread, Zahra/Shizuka)

[Zahra]

Zahra had been in the Human World for several months, sneaking around in the shadows to steal what she wanted. She stole food, jewelry and pretty much anything that she could get her hands on from whoever she wanted before she would run back into the woods in a new den she had set up to go through all the goodies that she grabbed from the day. It seems that all of the stealing seems to have caught the eye of someone else....

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

"Zahra? Who on this green goddamn Earth is Zahra?!"

Shizuka looked down at the paper in her hands with a perfectly shaped eyebrow raised in disbelief. She had never heard of this person. She didn't even have a good opinion of her. All she knew was that her name was Zahra and she was a girl. Seriously? You could have given me more than that, but whatever! She kept her thoughts to herself for the time being. She wasn't going to enjoy mouthing off to some of her research grunts. She might even beat one or two of them. Who knows? It was a new day. But she was given an assignment, so she had to go take care of it.

Shizuka didn't know much about the mission. She had been told that a spiritual being with a high amount of raw power had been parading around the town like she owned the place. Somehow that sounded familiar. The Fullbringer briefly thought back on one of her memories of fighting Lagos. She'd learned a lot about Arrancar during that fight and decided reading up on them was probably a good idea since Xcution supplied the information. All knowledge is good knowledge. What she didn't like was that they had an ability that was like a mental thing. What was it called, again? Pesky? Pewpew? Pudding? Pesquis? Nah, couldn't be Pesquis. That sounded too correct.

But either way, she didn't exactly want another run-in with one of them. They could be challenging and difficult to subdue. Shizuka wasn't in the mood to have to teach yet another one of them a lesson on respect and why Shizuka was important. Honestly, though, the narcissism all came from her frustration. This was why new people who had zero powers were useless to her. Well, not useless, because she did still care about them. But she felt like they didn't exactly get the point of all of this. Shizuka was rebuilding Xcution from the ground up. She had lost her leader and the organization was at a stalemate. She had to do something to save what had become a family to her.

So, grabbing on to Satsujun's jacket that she had stolen from him, she adjusted the collar to suit her needs and went on. If she was going to have to face off against a new person just to convince them that joining Xcution was the best choice they ever made in their life, then so be it. Shizuka was extremely charming and very easy to talk to. She was also quite kind even though sarcasm came out every now and then. She knew that this was why she was able to get people to join her in the past, but she didn't know if it would work every time. She just hoped it would in this case.

Shizuka approached the woods where she was told to go. The only reason Zahra had been on Xcution's radar was because she was thieving and no one could ever catch her. She had to have been so elusive that she was able to escape from any form of containment or just simply go unnoticed that easily. Shizuka was impressed. She knew someone like that would make a valuable assassin. She just needed to make sure Zahra knew that about herself. If Shizuka could see her potential without even meeting her, then she had a pretty good feeling about being able to get Zahra to believe her. She just needed to try. But where was this mystery girl?

[Zahra]

Zahra was resting near her cave, enjoying the spoils of her recent venture into the city. Looking around the cave, there would be remnants of food packages around, some bottles of various drinks and all the shiny things that she could carry on her person. She had visited the city many times, so the shiny in the cave was ridiculous. She tried to arrange it to look nice, but most of it was just heaped up in piles around the cave. Sometimes, she would walk to a random pile in the cave and sit on it, enjoying the feel of the cold metal shiny before slightly rolling in it. She never had it this good where she lived at before. Once she had finished rolling around in her shiny piles, her stomach grumbled, so she decided that it was time for another visit into town.

Collecting all the trash that she had collected in the cave, she ran towards the edge of her woods. Once there, she started to stick to the shadows, creeping around till she was able to throw the trash away, like she saw the humans do it. After that was done, she stalked around for several minutes, deciding what she would be trying today. Most of the food she swiped was people cooking food outside. Today, she felt adventurous enough to try to go into one of the building that she had seen people walk out of with food. She went into the alleyway of the closest one of these buildings and scoped it out. No one was yelling, so she figured she would be in the clear to walk in. So, rather quickly, when she saw the door open, she used her full speed to run inside.

Once inside, she had to guard her eyes against the light. Quickly she looked for a shadowy spot and ran to the back of the store, next to these big, metal things (refrigerators that held cold drinks). She sat there for several minutes, trying to get her bearing in this weird building. There were lights overhead that were extremely bright and there didn't seem to be a lot of cover for her. Blinking her eyes again, she was able to see the place a little more clearly. She tried to squat in what little shadow cover she had, remaining as still as possible. People passed her by, not even acknowledging her. She would wait until the store cleared out a bit before she would act.

After about ten to fifteen minutes, the store cleared out and there were about three people in there, besides her. She figured now was the best time to act. She quickly looked around to see what things she could easily grab and get out. She went to the end of one aisle, looked down it quickly and ran, grabbing bags of chips and candy before running back down to the end of another aisle. She looks while stuffing her pockets and knife pouch with food before running again, grabbing two big white things and then using her full speed to run out of the building and to the nearest alleyway.

She didn't look behind her, just keeping to the shadows in the alleyway, looking over the big, white things she grabbed. She took a bite, grabbing about half of it, trying it out. She smiled, quickly eating both of them before she started to stalk back to the woods, throwing her trash away as she went. Creeping through alleyways and side streets, she eventually made it back to the woods and quickly kept to the shadows until she was several feet away. Then, she stood up straight, walking back towards her cave. She did have one bottle of drink left and now she at least didn't have to worry about where to get more. If she went to another building like that, she would be set.

Walking towards her cave, she stopped and sniffed the air. She thought she had smelled something different and that's when she smelled something out of place. She quickly emptied her pockets of the noisy bags, half burying them behind bushes to hopefully make it hard for other animals to find them. She also rubbed her arm against the nearest tree and bush, scenting them so that she knew exactly where they were and hopefully to deter anything else that might want to try and steal her stolen snacks. Once that was taken care of, she started to slowly creep through the bushes towards her cave, keeping her nose up in the air.

About fifteen feet away from her cave, she saw someone. Who the hell was that? She stifled back a growl, not knowing if this person could see her or not. She quickly jumped into the nearest tree and then spoke as loud as she could. "WHY YOU NEAR ZAHRA'S CAVE?!" After she said that, she would quickly jump out of the tree and move to the right at least ten feet, creeping in the shadows of the bushes. She hoped that this would throw the person off so she could maybe circle around them. What would this person do now that Zahra knew that they was there? Would they be able to find her?

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

While it was true Shizuka didn't have any Energy Sensory to speak of, she was still a well-trained assassin. She wasn't going to be able to pick up on too many subtleties without being able to see whoever was there, but she could at least tell that she wasn't alone. She just couldn't pinpoint exactly where this person was. The sounds around her were quiet enough for Shizuka to twitch her ears in different directions just to see if she could try to hear any noises and make a solid guesstimate, but they were too hidden. It wouldn't really be of much help. The Fullbringer sighed to herself and wondered what she could do to draw them out.

"WHY YOU NEAR ZAHRA'S CAVE?!"

Oh. She got it now. "I'm going to go out on a huge limb here - really just spitballing, but we'll see - and say that you're Zahra."

Shizuka redirected herself multiple times as her eyes darted back and forth to gather her bearings. So this was what it was like to be around someone with stealth skills, huh? This was interesting enough. She finally got to experience on her own what it was like to deal with someone like her. If Zahra was truly able to hide this well from the likes of Shizuka, then this was exactly what the blonde needed. She did her best to put on a friendly face and took two steps away from the cave. She had no interest of going in there, but she had an idea of what to do to bring Zahra out if she really needed to.

"I've come to talk to you about something. I'm building somewhat of an empire, you see. It's small, and we're not very populated, but you may just be the piece I'm looking for to fix that problem."

Shizuka's voice was quiet but kind. She didn't want to startle Zahra at all. She'd be able to defend herself, but she wasn't looking for a fight quite yet. Not unless Zahra said she'd join. All she wanted to do was draw her out, though. It would be easier to have this conversation face to face rather than trying to shout through trees and various forest plants. If her plan was going to work, she needed someone from just about every race available. She was hoping it wouldn't be too difficult, but she didn't know for sure. She could only convince people to follow her ways so much. It wasn't an absolute, but she had a pretty good talent for it.

At this current rate, on the other hand, her chances were as good as zero. She wasn't trusted and she knew that. Shizuka was a stranger. There was only so much she could do about that without trying to convince Zahra otherwise. If she could get a Hollow to join her organization, then she could get anybody. Including a paranoid girl. All she had to do was get her to come out. She avoided trying to take anymore steps because she didn't want to startle Zahra, and especially not in front of what was apparently her home. She was trespassing, after all. She was the criminal here.

"Won't you come out so we can talk?"

[Zahra]

Zahra was glaring at the woman from the safety of her hiding spot. It seemed like she couldn't tell where she was, which eased her mind somewhat. Even though Zahra already knew that most people couldn't see her, there was still that small fragment of people that could see her. Because of that small chance that she could be one of those people, she stayed in her spot, hunkering down deeper into the shadows and waited. While the woman didn't answer her immediately, she did take a few steps away from her cave, which put her only slightly at ease. Why would a human venture this far out into the woods? Was she looking for someone or did she get lost walking through the woods? She didn't understand why she would be here, but what she said next was interesting.

It seemed like she was actively looking for her. Why would she be looking for her? It seemed like this woman was trying to build an empire, whatever that is, and thought that Zahra would be the perfect piece for that. How in the hell did she hear about her? Maybe Zahra didn't notice one person that ran off when she was seen and then told this woman... She had no idea how she couldn't been known to this human. She mostly stayed in the woods, only venturing out when she needed food, tried making the trips quickly and then ran back into the woods. Was she being followed? She quickly looked around and didn't see anyone. She had always been sneaky and never had to worry about that before but maybe that she was in this new place, someone was sneakier than her....

The woman, at least, wasn't acting aggressive. Her body language told her that she was open and friendly. She was asking for her to come out and talk. Since the woman was acting okay for now, Zahra would sneak quietly and quickly away, going to grab the food that she had grabbed. Once she had grabbed said food, she tried to sneakily go back to the area she was in before. She took a deep breath and then stood up, her arms completely full by holding her new haul of food. She was standing near a tree off to the woman's side. Zahra continued to glare at the woman and slowly walked towards her cave, never breaking eye contact with her.

Once she had walked backwards into the cave far enough, she would drop all the snacks on the ground and then walk to the mouth of her cave, hair on end and looking the woman over more carefully. Her tail twitched with slightly anxiety while her ears started to move around, trying to catch all the sound that she could. The woman was trying to be friendly, but Zahra didn't let down her guard that easily. She would wait to see what else this woman would do. "What is empire? Why woman here? How hear of Zahra? How find cave home? This fishy....and Zahra not fond of fish." She stood there with her hands on her hips, waiting for this woman to answer her questions. Hopefully, she didn't say the wrong thing to set Zahra off.

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

Now that she could see Zahra, Shizuka was astonished. She was an animal! She was a... dog? She looked like a dog. But she was big! She was absolutely taller than Shizuka by a few inches. That much was certain. But she was adorable and furry and cute and just amazing! Shizuka's eyes lit up and her smile was huge. She was so excited! She didn't know she was trying to find an animal! Oh, this was just perfect! The Fullbringer couldn't hold herself back anymore. She rushed towards Zahra and grabbed on to her face just below her eyes, petting her soft fur. She didn't care if Zahra tried to attack. She wanted to pet a puppy!

Oh, you are just so cute!! I can't stand it! How can you talk? This is amazing! You're so tall, too! Goodness! You're such a good girl! I can't believe this. I was sent to find you!"

Shizuka was laughing and giggling like an idiot. She loved animals. It was extremely evident when she approached Zahra and started petting her. She just had such a soft spot for these sweet fur babies. And scale babies. And basically any baby that wasn't human. Insects were questionable. She wasn't always a fan of touching them, but she'd at least capture them and let them back outside if they ever got stuck in her house or anything. She couldn't stand seeing them get killed. Well, some of them. It depended on what type of bug they were. Like, flies? Flies could die. And mosquitoes. They could always die.

But this was strange. Shizuka had never met anyone who looked like Zahra before. She'd heard rumors of people who took on animal forms after they died, or something along those lines, and they were known as Beast-Clansmen. Was that Zahra? It was possible since she could talk. It was apparent that she was smart, as well, despite poor sentence structure. The last thing the blonde wanted to do was insult her, though. That wasn't her goal here. Her goal was to see if Zahra would be interested in Xcution. Shizuka paused her puppy face rubs to look around at the forest. Zahra lived here? Wouldn't she like a home?

Did it matter? She seemed to be happy living in a cave. That could be possible. But maybe she'd want to be spoiled and have a real place of her own. Shizuka had the funds to buy her a small house if she wasn't in to the larger things. Or a large house. Really, it didn't matter. It could even be cave-themed! Shizuka didn't care. She just wanted this poor, sweet girl out of the woods. She deserved to be spoiled and have nice things. Ugh, what a soft heart the Fullbringer had. She was like this with just about any animal. She didn't like knowing they weren't getting the attention they deserved.

"Zahra, I want you to join me! I can move you out of here. I can give you a place to live where you'll never have to steal again. Well, unless you wanted to. I can give you everything. What do you say? Will you show me that this is a good choice?"

[Zahra]

Zahra stood in front of her home, her cave, watching the woman while she was debating going to grab some of the chips that she had stolen. She really should've grabbed some, she was getting kind of hungry now. Watching the woman, she saw her eyes light up as she finally got to see her. Um....what?! Why was she looking at her like that? Was she really exicted to see her or something? She rushed towards her while Zahra immediately started to growl, grabbing two knives to get into a defensive stance. After grabbing the knives, however, the woman's two hands moved and grabbed her face, petting under her eyes.

What the hell is this woman thinking?! Why come up to someone you have never met before and do this?! Was it because she was a Beast-Clan? The woman talked, Zahra growling under her breath the entire time. How dare she invade her space like this! Good girl?! Was she trying to talk down to her or what?! She then thought on the people who had first seen her and ran from her. Was this one of the few people that had never seen one of her kind before? It would make sense, with all the questions and statements that she was saying right now. She had never seen any pets of the people here, only wild animals and that dog in Soul Society, and that dog was not treated like a normal dog usually was. So, she had no idea she was being treated like a pet.

The woman then decided to tell her that she could give Zahra everything she wanted, moving her out of this cave and into her own place, assuming it would be in the city. She said that she could give her everything she could want and she would never have to steal again, unless she really wanted to. She had never really been given seemingly everything on a silver platter like this before. But, the woman was still holding onto her, making her angry. She showed her teeth and growled, moving her knives to start poking into the woman's stomach. "Release Zahra now, crazy woman. Not even introduce yourself."

Once the woman let go, if she didn't she would keep poking harder with her knives till she let her go, she would run into her cave and grab one of her bags of snacks. She would slowly walk out, putting one of her knives away while she kept her out knife out holding it with her left hand, as she started to eat her bag of chips. She glared at the woman, keeping a good distance away from her. "Zahra need more details than that. Also, stay away from space! Zahra not know you. Gave bad first impression." She would stand there, glaring at the woman, poised to jump/attack if she needed to. "But Zahra curious."

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

"Ow, ow ow ow ow! Okay, I get it!"

Shizuka smiled apologetically and stepped back, loosening her hold on the fur baby's face. She genuinely didn't mean any harm by her actions and hated thinking about how insulting she had probably been. The knives didn't help much, either. It seemed like Zahra was on the defensive, and that was probably a good reaction. Shizuka had to remind herself that she was a stranger and needed to back off from time to time. Zahra likely didn't know many other humans, and if she did, it probably wasn't on friendly terms. Actually, the blonde really didn't know anything personal about this pup. She made a note to ask later.

For now, she bowed. This was her way of showing respect and apologizing. She wanted Zahra to know that she meant no harm by her actions and didn't want to start anything that didn't need to be started. Shizuka rarely bowed to people, but she stepped on some sensitive areas in this case. Zahra may have not wanted to be touched and the Fullbringer didn't respect that. On top of that reason, Zahra was fairly close to a wild animal from what Shizuka could tell. It wasn't like she was domesticated or used to being treated like a pet. That made sense. The last thing she wanted to do was make anyone uncomfortable.

Zahra made a quick dash into her cave and slowly emerged not too long later with some snacks. It was interesting to see what kind of attitude this animal had. Shizuka had never met one of her kind before, so this was not only an opportunity for research, but a chance to get to know someone just that much different from herself. A sigh escaped Shizuka's lips as she raised herself up from the bow and smiled genuinely. Zahra was still on the offensive side of things since she was holding her knife up, but they were making progress. It was slow, but it existed. That was all Shizuka could really ask for.

"Zahra need more details than that. Also, stay away from space! Zahra not know you. Gave bad first impression. But Zahra curious."

"I know, I know. I'm so sorry about that, Zahra. I just really like animals and you're awfully cute and fluffy! I won't invade any boundaries anymore, though. Please forgive me for my outburst. Sometimes it's just a little hard to control myself! I bet you know what that's like," she said, motioning over to the cave with a point of her right thumb.

It wasn't like Shizuka was out to make Zahra feel like she was nothing more than any household pet, but it was important that she knew just how interesting she could be. Shizuka wanted to introduce that to her. All of this knowledge could only benefit the animal as much as any human. She really meant it when she told Zahra she could offer the world. There was so much out there that would do nothing but benefit her. It was only natural for her to be curious. Shizuka remembered to stay standing where she was and chose to talk from there. No more rude touching. Zahra was a person.

"I can train you, teach you everything I know. You can have your own place and privacy. That much is promised. All of this can be yours, but that's entirely up to you. My organization had to downsize recently, you see. I'm working on building it back up. We're inclusive, so I guarantee you'll find other spiritual beings you may get along with. But you'd have to come with me. And before that, you'd have to prove to me that this is a good choice. I won't force you to come. But I can highly suggest it." She smirked playfully.

[Zahra]

Zahra was glad that the woman took the hint and moved away from her. She figured that sharp, pointy metal objects would help her with that. She backed up and Zahra noticed that she still hadn't introduced herself yet. Did she not want to give her name out unless Zahra agreed to train her? Or, another option, did she not have a name? She immediately dismissed it, knowing that from what she had seen here, everything had a name. It was rather odd to name things like that, but she wasn't going to judge the people here. As long as this weird naming didn't effect her and how she did things, she wouldn't complain about it.

Then, she didn't something that she wasn't expecting. The woman bowed to her. Her growling slowed slightly, watching as she bowed and showed her neck to the woman. Showing her neck like that, whether she knew it or not in the animal kingdom, was a show of trust. It was usually the front of the neck, but the back could work the same way. It seemed that she was trying to apologize, but did the woman really trust her enough that she would do something like that? When she ran into her cave and came back out eating chips, she was still thinking on that one act. It made her rethink this meeting, knowing that the woman trusted her enough to not hurt her like that.

Running inside to grab her chips, she kept thinking about the what she had done. Did the woman realize what she had just done towards Zahra? Probably not, but it was something in the woman's favor. She started to talk and Zahra's eyebrow quirked when she said that she was cute and fluffy. She knew she was fluffy but cute? She had never thought of herself as that. She ran her clawed fingers through her hair after she said that, grabbing a twig close by and started to gnaw on it after she was done with the chips. She kept her eyes trained on her when she said that she would know what it's like to lose control over herself. Growling then, she didn't like it that, from Zahra's understanding, she was assuming that because she was an animal and had done that a lot.

Zahra's stealing wasn't her losing control of herself, even though the woman seemed to think so. Zahra found what she wanted and took it. Some of the times it was food, when she was hungry, and other times she wanted her cave to look nice, so she took things that made it look nice. She tried to keep herself in check, or she would just be doing what this woman thought she did. It was now Zahra's turn to sigh, chewing slightly harder on the twig while she continued to listen to her. It seemed that this woman was willing to teach Zahra everything she knew and give her her own space, which was interesting.

The other spiritual beings made her perk up. What were spiritual beings? Were they people that could see her like the woman in front of her? Does that mean that all the people where she came from were spiritual beings? Zahra's head started to hurt slightly thinking about it. "Zahra spiritual? But Zahra real... That mean the black and whites are spiritual too? There lots of them. Zahra want see more spiritual things. Zahra curious. But, Zahra heard you coming. How can you teach Zahra new things when Zahra snuck up on you? But......Zahra definitely want to meet more spiritual things!"

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

"Zahra spiritual? But Zahra real... That mean the black and whites are spiritual too? There lots of them. Zahra want see more spiritual things. Zahra curious. But, Zahra heard you coming. How can you teach Zahra new things when Zahra snuck up on you? But......Zahra definitely want to meet more spiritual things!"

"One thing at a time, right? So we'll start with your first question. You're spiritual! And real. Both of those things are true. You're just different. There are others out there exactly like you, though you're the first of your kind that I've met. You have quite an interesting history, if I'm recalling it correctly."

Shizuka started pacing a bit. She still stayed within her little area, but she was walking back and forth and thinking of a way to come up with other answers that were simple enough. Zahra was obviously very intelligent despite the form of speech, and her natural curiosity was actually a wonderful plus. It meant she would likely handle this information easily and be able to understand what Shizuka was talking about without much issue. That would be good. It meant Shizuka had a chance at getting this creature to follow her lead, even a little bit, and get her to join Xcution. If she wanted, of course. Ultimately, it was always up to Zahra.

"The black and whites? I'm assuming that means Shinigami? Perhaps not, but they wear a lot of black and white. Anyway, yeah! And you could even become one. Sort of. Apparently, you guys can take on a Zanpakutō. That's pretty neat, in my opinion."

Which she may or may not want to do. It may not have ever crossed her mind. But it was something she could consider, for sure. Although, Shizuka was uneasy with knowing something else in this world could take on the power of a Shinigami. It was like those disgusting things were everywhere. Though being able to have someone like Zahra take on Shinigami powers without Shizuka having to swallow her pride and recruit one was like a dream. Would it happen? Well, maybe not. But that was okay, too. She didn't want to control every choice Zahra made. She just wanted to let her know these choices existed.

"And yes, you did sneak up on me. I don't have any Energy Sensory like others similar to us do. I can't sense anything beyond general power level and if you actively flex your Reiatsu at me. That doesn't make me weak, though. Don't doubt my abilities simply because I couldn't sense you."

With that, Shizuka glanced over at Zahra out the side of her left eye and half smiled. She was sneering somewhat menacingly, but she made sure that it wasn't enough to cause Zahra any anxiety. It would likely just let her know that the Fullbringer meant business. As quickly as the facial expression came, it was gone. She was smiling normally again and was as inviting as could be. The moment passed and she was ready to move on to the next question. Well, statement. Desire, rather. Shizuka was ready to give Zahra what she wanted and she prepared an offer that may make sense to the young jackal.

"I can take you to places where you've never been. You want to meet other spiritual people? I love it! That sounds amazing to me. I know plenty of them. If you'd prefer to stay in this cave and live out here, that's fine, too. But whatever you choose, I'll support that. I'm not here to force you. So you can either show me your skills here and join me, or we can go on about our business and remain peaceful for another day. Know that I have no qualms with you, but I won't have a reason to protect you."

Shizuka stopped pacing and stood herself so that she was facing directly towards Zahra. Her arms were locked behind her back in a polite and formal manner. Her feet were pointing towards the jackal, as well. She smiled kindly, gently softening her expression, hopeful that Zahra would see this and feel more at ease. She also paused for just a moment. She forgot about something! How could she forget? She was being so rude. No wonder Zahra was so apprehensive. It all made sense. Shizuka perked up a bit in surprise and regret when she finally realized what she had done wrong.

"Oh! And my name is Shizuka Sanamizu. I'm a Fullbringer and Xcution's Number One Gun. It's nice to meet you!"

[Zahra]

Zahra listened to the woman as she seemed to handle her questions one at a time. She was spiritual and real, but different? She cocked her head at that moment, trying to figure out how that would be able to work. But, it seemed like there were more out their like her, that were spiritual and real at the same time. But, from what she said, maybe her kind was rare in this place. The history that the woman mentioned also intrigued her. Did this woman know of her life before she came to be the way she was now? Did she know of her journey through the deserts with her family till she died alone? How long ago was that?

When she mentioned that she could become like the black and whites, she immediately focused on the woman. Zahra could be like them? But, she had not met any that was like her. What was a Zanpaktou though? She thought back to how the black and whites were, and then she started to remember that they carried something on their hip. Was that the Zanpaktou that she was talking about? She could gain her own sword? But, she had her handy, dandy knives with her. Why would she need a sword? But, from what she was saying, it seemed like it might be a good thing to do? She would definitely need to think this over and possibly talk to one of those black and whites to see what she was truly talking about.

It also seemed like she couldn't sense her because what she called 'Energy Sensory' was poor and told her to not underestimate her because she couldn't sense her. But, Zahra did. She couldn't help it. The animal part of her told her that she must be weaker because she couldn't sense her enemy sneaking up on her, making her a prime target for surprise attacks. She also thought it was bold of her to say that. It was survival of the fittest out here, so she was curious as to how she would handle it out here if she couldn't sense very well. But, she would have to see her in action, as the woman had suggested.

Then, she said that she could pretty much take her wherever she wants and let her live where she wanted. She thought back to the simple house she had in one of the districts near the forests she used to call home. It was a nice little house, with enough room to store all her things. She then remembered all the houses that she would pass in town. They were bigger than the ones that she was used to seeing in the district she had her home in and they all seemed rather fancy to her. It was definitely an interesting idea. She had lived in a cave with her previous mate, and since she wanted to change to get rid of her curse, she figured living in a house would be a good idea for a change.

Finally, the woman introduced herself as Shizuka Sanamizu, which was definitely an interesting name. She then used the title of 'Number One Gun' of a thing called, 'Xcution.' What she assumed was the group name, that started with the X, was the thing that she kept talking about with her. If this woman was the top one there, and couldn't even sense her, this would definitely be an interesting thing. "Zahra need change in life. Zahra accept what you give."

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

"Good."

Shizuka smiled confidently at Zahra. She had been able to successfully convince her that joining Xcution was a good idea. Obviously it would be, and this was just one more person to add to their ranks. One more member to fill the void. And, on top of all of that, she was a Beast-Clansman! The Fullbringer didn't think in a million years that she would ever meet one. She had only heard stories, but to come to know that Zahra was running around here was just a blessing on top of all of that. She couldn't let the opportunity pass. She needed to take it while she could, and she somehow managed. She couldn't help but be proud of herself.

"Then I have a test for you."

Shizuka reached into her pocket and pulled out a small piece of gold. It was a perfectly round ball that she had saved for this occasion. She showed it to Zahra by holding it up so it would grab her attention. She had heard about the animal's desire to thieve, but this one was more of a prize. Shizuka had every intention of letting Zahra keep it. That is, of course, if she could get to it. She decided to give it to the jackal as somewhat of a membership present so long as she passed her test. Why not see if there was something to her strengths, right? This test wouldn't take long, she didn't think. Zahra should be quick on her feet and Shizuka wasn't out to make her fail. She just wanted to see what the girl could do.

"This ball of gold is yours for the taking if you can get it from me. No jokes, no pranks, no lies. This is all yours. But you have to show me what you can do."

It wasn't going to be as easy as walking over to Shizuka and grabbing it from her hands, but Zahra would soon learn why the human girl was no joke. Though there lacked an intent to kill, Shizuka was very serious when it came to her organization. She wanted only the best and this one showed promise. Despite that, this could also serve as somewhat of a learning key for the Fullbringer. She truly didn't know much about this race of spiritual beings and wished to understand how their powers worked. If she was able to get Zahra to use even an ounce of them, that would be enough to excite her.

"Think you can do it?"

SPOILER: Click to show

{Shizuka's Stats}

Strength - 100 Points

Speed - 300 Points

Spiritual Pressure - [200] = 500 Points

Reiatsu Strength - [400] = 1000 Points

Light Aura - 80 Points

Dark Aura - 20 Points

Instinct - [200] = 100 Points

Senses - [200] = 100 Points

Energy Sensory - 0 Points

Healing Expertise - 0 Points

Total SP: 1400 Points

SPOILER: Click to show

{Shizuka's Skills}

[Weapon: Firearms] {3}

[Stealth] {3}

[Strength of Will] {3}

[Battle Analysis] {3}

[Charisma/Leadership] {2}

[Analyzing] {2}

[Martial Arts: MMA] {2}

[Honeypotting - The art of manipulation to obtain information. Basically, a girl gathers enough information about her target - male or female, doesn't matter - and dresses accordingly or changes how she acts to be able to get them to do whatever she wants or tell her what she needs to hear.] {1}

[Zahra]

Shizuka smiled at her, seeming fairly confident in what she was ready to do. Either that, or very confident in what she had said that made Zahra want to see what this woman was all about. Was she too cocky? Zahra thought that she could slightly be. Just because she was the number one for that weird organization that she mentioned doesn't mean that there isn't someone waiting to shoot her down and take her number one spot. But, Zahra had to admit that she was extremely curious as to what kind of skills this woman had to make it to the number one spot and to be so confident in herself. When she reached into a pocket, Zahra stiffened slightly, ready to move if necessary.

Instead of producing a weapon, she pulled out what looked like a golden ball. She immediately honed in on it, squinting her eyes to get a better look at it. She couldn't see any weird deformations on the ball, so at least it was intact and whole. To see if it was actual gold, she would have to actually test it with her bite, so see if it was malleable. If it wasn't, she knew it was actual gold. But, from how this woman talked, she believed it was actual gold than not. She then raised her right eyebrow, now more curious as to why she would want to easily part with something that she knew was fairly valuable.

So, she knew that the woman had a test in mind, but why would the test include that? Before she could even really finish that thought, the woman spoke. It seemed like she wanted her to try to take the gold from her hand. There were no strings, which she assumed there was even though she didn't say it, but she had to show the woman everything she could do. Once she said that, she started to collect reiatsu in her throat. She figured, if the woman really wanted to show her what she was made of, this would be a pretty good place to start. Once she said, 'Think you can do it?' she screamed.

Screaming into the woman's face, she released the technique Howlrazer. The scream would cause Shizuka to be immediately confused and disoriented. She would immediately use the technique's confusing ability to quickly use her full speed to get close to Shizuka and stab at the hand that was holding the gold. She was still holding the knife that she had out when she had pressed a knife against Shizuka's throat. The stab at her hand would also be going at her 375 speed, straight at the hand that was holding the gold. If that caused her to release it, she would immediately quickly grab it. If it didn't, she would try to avoid an attack that would come at her while trying to slice at the arm.

OOC: Remaining Reiatsu: 660/810, -150 for Howlrazer

SPOILER: Click to show

{Howlrazer}Creatures of sharp senses themselves, Beast-Clan members know how easy it is to have them overwhelmed by sensory stimulus. They make use of this knowledge and apply it to their own abilities, creating a vocal technique that fills the ears of those around them with the loud vibrations of the roar or scream. In practice, this technique is initially a loud sound that fills the victim's ears, using one fourth of the user's Strength as the value. (i.e. 100 would be 25) It automatically causes confusion and disorientation as the mind swims from the powerful wave of sound. However, the real strength of this technique comes when the Strength of the technique is 50% higher than the Senses of the victim; at this point, the eardrums burst, and the victim's sense of hearing is completely removed. Atop that, it also causes loss of balance, preventing any high-agility or complex maneuvers. This includes making step techniques unsafe for the victim, as without their sense of balance, they are likely to injure themselves by losing their footing mid-step.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Stats and Abilities}
Strength - 350 Points (430)
Speed - 250 Points (375)
Spiritual Pressure - 135 Points (81)
Reiatsu Strength - 100 Points (50)
Instinct - 150 Points (225)
Senses - 250 Points (187)
Energy sensory - 50 Points (37)
Healing Expertise - 50 Points

[Martial Arts: Hand to Hand] [2]
[Weapons: Throwing Knives] [2]
[Stealth] [2]
[Battle Focus] [2]
[Anti-Stealth] [2]
[Stealing] [1]
[Heat Tolerance] [2]
[Acrobatics] [2]

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

Even confusion wasn't going to be enough to get by Shizuka. She was skilled and seasoned enough as an assassin with her experience to be able to tell Zahra was going to do something sneaky the way she did. Shizuka activated Ken in succession with Zahra's technique, blasting away that, Zahra, and any negative effects it may have before it even had the chance to reach her. The aura that surrounded her would, without a doubt, intimidate Zahra to her very core. Shizuka's entire presence was stronger than Zahra's due to her higher spiritual abilities, but she also outclassed the Beast-Clansman. It wasn't like the human to gloat about her powers, and she certainly wasn't trying to discourage Zahra by any means, but she couldn't have possibly expected it to be this easy.

"You've got to do more than just scream at me. I'll give you a lesson, though. This aura around me is called Ken. It essentially nullifies any attacks by doing exactly what I did to you. Unfortunately, I can't move when I activate it and it cancels out any other powers I'd want to use. So if I want to show you anything else I have in my arsenal, I have to turn this one off."

Shizuka kept the hold of the golden ball tight within her left hand. She appreciated Zahra's interest, but her idea here was to show her the types of people she may run into if her desire to join remained. It was the perfect opportunity to offer a bit of training. Zahra probably had her own experiences that benefited her, as most people had, but Shizuka had no way of knowing exactly who Zahra had encountered throughout her life. The fact that most people couldn't see her probably gave her a false sense of security. Most humans didn't have the same awareness Shizuka and others like her had. Zahra needed to be aware of that.

Additionally, it wasn't her goal to hurt Zahra. If Shizuka got hurt, it was all part of the testing process. But she wanted to avoid attacking the jackal if she could. Frankly, she wasn't sure if attacking was even a good idea. She seemed to have more animal-like tendencies than anything else, despite having a good amount of humanity, so it concerned the Fullbringer. The last thing she wanted to do was activate her fight or flight response and end up dealing with her fleeing. The aura was certainly going to be a teachable moment, but she wasn't lying. Shizuka was going to have to deactivate it sooner rather than later.

That, and she was an observer. Shizuka knew of Beast-Clansmen and a good bit of how their abilities worked thanks to her various analysis skills, but that didn't mean she had any personal experience with any. Zahra was the first of her kind that Shizuka had ever met. She wanted to learn more, herself. It would be a good way for both of them to get to know each other in terms of powers, so she didn't want to pass that part up. The blonde's desire to learn outweighed her pride in winning even small battles. Besides, she didn't want to win. She just wanted Zahra to be aware of what she was getting into. That much was fair.



Shizuka's Remaining Reiatsu: 4800 (-200 for Ken)

[Zahra]

Zahra was pretty sure that her scream technique would work well on her, it hadn't failed her before. So when she tried to stab her hand to get the gold, she was surprised by a few things. First off, she was surprised that the scream didn't seem to work on her at all. Every other time she had used it, her opponents were confused enough that she could make a good getaway or get a good hit in. The face that it didn't work unsettled her slightly. There was definitely more to this woman than meets the eye. Second, her knife didn't seem to hit her. She felt like it was bouncing off something, but saw no armor on her.

Then, Shizuka started to explain what was going on. This 'Ken' technique was able to nullify attacks? Zahra didn't think anything could nullify attacks, but she could see that's what it was doing right now. It was definitely impressive, and she was strong. But, Zahra had some stealth on her side and even if this woman was stronger than her, she figured that her power would help her out in that regard. The only disadvantage that this aura had is that she couldn't use anything else while it was active. So, even a strong technique has a weakness. She would try to remember that for the future.

The beast knew that her power would be the turning point, at least for her, to get some kind of advantage on her. But, she needed time, time that she really didn't have. Since this was supposed to be something of a spar, showing her the power she held, she assumed the woman more than likely wouldn't hurt her. She also assumed that if the woman couldn't sense her, the woman might not be able to tell if she was using her power. The only way people know that she's using her power is the growths that start to form. So, she did the only thing that she thought would make sense. She ran into the nearest bush.

Keeping to the shadows, she banked on her stealth to keep her from view. While she was hidden, she walked slightly deeper into the forest, releasing her power. Her Yaseishin started to form then, bone growths growing over her knuckles. She then grabbed two knives and started to tense the muscles in her arms. The knives in her hands started to glow faintly red. She would keep eye contact with the woman, watching her from the shadows, waiting for her to either make a move or lower her guard and weird aura thing. There was only one thing that Zahra knew for sure, in the shadows, she would have a slight advantage. Hopefully, when she was ready, her powers would help out as well.

OOC: Remaining Reiatsu: 360/810, 1/6 Yaseishin, 1 post of tensing