At Murk Sunset and Foul Sunrise [Solo Training] [R]

[Ajraka Kuchiki]

[Solo training for Ajraka. Each entry will include what is being trained for. ]

[SP]

The Idea had been one of a friend of the Kuchiki Family, or at least a friend of Ajraka. Chojiro had been, for some time, quite taken with the young otter, the mannerisms she had and the intellect that lie dormant within her with yet a spark of reason to so blossom into fruition. It was something he had considered a potential boon not only to the Kuchiki family but to the Soul Society as a whole as a possible emissary to the Beastclans. But in any case it was clear to him that, as she were now, such ambitions would never come to light, and thus had come his suggestion for her training.

It was not a typical mission by any means, and certainly it was more unusual for the suggestion of Ajraka's involvement. However, the situation was unique as Ajraka had, previously, shown great promise in her previous combat with an arrancar, an impressive feat in it's own, and one that had left it's own scars upon her body as testament to such a combat. Additionally the nature of the mission itself as it were twas nothing so bold as to encroach upon the territory of Las Noches. The Hollow World was vast, and it had been made sure that the mission took place far from such a place. 

Of course, when all was said and done the mission was still dangerous, it was for all intents and purposes a scouting mission. Giving Hueco Mundo's size it was simply ridiculous to think Las Noches the only structure within the entirety of it's vastness. As such it had become prompt to try and find other powers that may lie in it's endless sands. And it was for this that Ajraka found herself in the endless night of Hueco Mundo's everlasting moon, accompanied by the small troupe of Shinigami that had been deemed necessary to carry out the mission. 

She of course was not unaware of the situation, for it had been Chojiro's insistence that she behave on the trip that had tipped her off. Scarce a time it was that he would so deem it ok to tell her what to do, or indeed to give her direction at all. She was a liberated spirit and he seemed to respect that for the most part. In fact, he was likely the only shinigami aside from her adopted father that knew she could understand speech to such an extent. So as the senkaimon finally drew to a close, it's doors fading as they looked out unto the desert, she could already feel that they were in no place for games. The pressure was almost suffocating. 

"Let's go. Hueco Mundo should be East from here. We'll head west." Chojiro stated, earning him a nod from the rest of the group as they began to walk. Of course it was far from any normal walk. She sensed it almost immediately, the ugency with which the group moved, quickly and silently. Of course she was quite used to such motion, but had never really had to do it among others before, and she could feel incredulous eyes set upon her cloaked form, the goggles upon her eyes to keep the sand away irritating her slightly as they went. For them it was a physical task but for her it was one of restraint, not to speed ahead and wear herself out. Not to trouble herself by trying to take anything from them, or become distracted. IT was an almost physical burden to both push her body forward and keep her mind at ease. 

It was all so tempting. Yuki, from Squad Five, had earrings so delightfully prismatic, such luster that so snared Ajraka's attention and put energy to sticky fingers as if to curl and snare them.  IT was but a challenge to simply be in her presence without so deeming it a toil to not steal a look at them. And Tenran, the tall, slender Squad Seven member. He was strong, resilient, and most of all quite humble. Despite this he had a small armband. Oh it was rarely ever visible, he kept it under his shihakusho. But even so it was a tease she so enjoyed, knowing it was there and to do nothing about it. 

Of course she struggled on, keeping her focus on her surroundings and off of the trinkets she so vied to take for her chewing and looking pleasures. It was a strain, a hardship, to so ignore what she had been doing for so long, it felt as if those thin strands of temptation sewn into her muscle had been tightened, digging like fine wire into her from the inside and urging her to do as she always did, and steal them. But she resisted, ashard as it was, and focused upon their trek forward, for that alone was not without it's perils. All four of them had their spiritual pressures suppressed, but even so they saw the occasional hollow about and so avoided confrontation, stealthily making their way around them, and paying heed to the wind lest their scent drift too close to their potential pursuers. 

In this manner they did so progress and avoid conflict for several tiring hours. Of course it was also rather straining on the mind, that did so presume the cyclical nature of natural day and night. And yet not only was there no such cycle present, but the moon hung ever-ominously overhead. Unmoving, unchanging, and omnipresent, as if every inch of Hueco Mundo were beneath that moon or somehow within it's light. It was eerie, and somehow somewhat grating to Ajraka's body as she somehow KNEW it should have moved by now, her mind insisted upon it, and yet it never did. 

It was not so long before they stopped to rest, a good five hours of that monotonous walking. Of course they had found nothing, but such was to be expected. Hueco Mundo was a vast, possibly even endless desert. The probability that they would run into what they were looking for so soon was astronomical. They simply need be patient and keep at it. Picking a location deep within a surrounding array of dunes, they had set up camp, a small fire in a sandpit so as not to alert any of their presence and to ensure that they need only one sentry, Yuki having the first of the shifts. 

As they sat around that small flame there was time for Ajraka to settle herself. She, unlike the others, was not so fatigued by the walk so far, though she knew that such fortune would not take so long to fade until real fatigue found her. She relished the ability to enjoy this rest, to keep that ache from her limbs as she watched Tenran and Chojiro speaking. Navigation was a moot point in these deserts and quite simply, their only task was to ensure they did not head back in the direction of LAs Noches, of course by now they were miles upon miles from the place and the enormous dome was no longer even in their sight, quite the feat considering how large the place was. 

But even as they rested and planned, the shinigami continuing to plot out their course, Ajraka couldn't help but feel....off. something didn't quite feel right and as she looked about, she noticed her feet tingling ever so slightly, her attention shifting down to her feet as she noticed a very subtle vibration rippling in subtle waves through the area, though from what she hadn't the foggiest idea. She had known such ripples before, when large groups trampled by, the noise alone could make a home shake and water quiver. And yet she heard nothing.

For a few seconds she stood very still, her senses on edge as she tried to listen and hear whatever it was that was making that tremor, and soon even the soft speech of the other shinigami had begun to die down as they too noticed the disrutbance that has so laced the sands in it's powerful resonance that they felt even from a distance. Of course, they did not need to wait for very long in the slightest, as they answer with a mind of it's own did show itself in time. No more than three minutes had passed before the rumbling became audible. 

It was strange, alien, and what the source of it was, none of them were prepared. In but a few moments, the sand around them simply burst. Sand rocketed up toward the sky all around them and the very ground they stood upon was uplifted, each and every one of them upended, Ajraka herself hit the sand hard and grunted as she felt sand crash around her. The sound booming through the confines of the dunes that so surrounded them and seemed to amplify that dull roar as Ajraka's eyes drew up to a sight the likes of which she had never seen before. 

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler - Giliaship}

It was terrifyingly massive, a Hollow unlike any she had ever seen that so possessed a size that daunted even the Kuchiki Manor in breadth alone. A cavernous maw that would put the white tower to shame parted and from it's depths boiled a roar so terrifying that she was inclined to run were she not so sure that it would be a fruitless effort. From it's spiny back a number of flags bolstered their tips and as it turned she saw that it was not solid through and through, but hollowed out inside, and from those sides, small ports could be seen where her sharp eyes saw, for the briefest of moments, other hollows before in the faintest of noises, she heard a bellow. "FIRE!" 


The last thing that so rang in her ears before the darkness came was the booming roar of several cero as they were fired along the ports in the beast's side, and in short order those streaks of light crashed down upon her and her disoriented companions and the blast knocked her clean out as their roar echoed in her slipping mind as blackness of the unconscious realm did so steal across her vision and enclose her in it's smoky dreaded embrace leaving naught but a few fleeting moments before she passed out.


When wakefulness finally found her she was sore to say the very least, and her ears did so continue to ring in her mind that seemed to dull out the rest of her senses in short order. What was next discovered was the set of shackles that clinked against her wrists, making her feel heavy as she slowly lifted her head to the darkness that so shrouded her vision. In but a few moments her eyes adjusted t the light and she could see where she was. Lines upon lines of others. Shinigami, humans, and perhaps a few others were seated in rows, hands heavily manacled to long oars that jutted from the sides of the room that seemed to shift as a dull rumble was heard from outside. 


"Yer awake eh? GET TO ROWIN!" The sneer so slithered into her ear canal as something lashed across her back and she found herself immediately joining the others on either side of her in moving that long pole, the sting of that lash aching into her skull as she went along with the others, none of them offering any word on why or how they were so toiling away, their heads hung low as they seemed simply resigned to their work. She narrowed those eyes of hers but remained silent as she worked, and surprisingly she felt an ache in her arms almost immediately, as though simply touching the oar made her tired.


Of course she could not know that the thing was draining little by little her spirit energy, and so she simply frowned and kept to rowing as the voice, a tall arrancar that made his way up and down the center of this shifting tumultuous hallway of what seemed to be slaves, moved down the line, another soon behind him as it seemed a number of the individuals were patrolling up and down. She did not know where she was precisely, but she slowly began to understand. Not far from her she could feel the others, Tenran and Chojiro at least. She could not Sense Yuki yet, but they were there, and she did not know what had yet to become of them. 


!*

[Ajraka Kuchiki]

[SP]

The darkness was hardly the worst of it, though that smothering lack of light certainly had it's....charm. Not long after it had all begun did Ajraka begin to come to an understanding of what was transpiring. She did not concoct any semblance of plan, such things were beyond her. No she was simply taking the situation in, grim as it were. They were slaves to say the least, and in being so they were kept.....alive. Such was as bare a statement as she could make regarding their conditions and environment that was to be their home and life so far as what was expected.

The darkness was just icing on the cake. Cramped and stuffed in with one another, kept to speaking only in whispers, not that she spoke for that matter. The gentle clink of chains was the softest noise that they could muster, for the dull roar of the outside, very small ports every five rows showed out into the desert, a thin film of membrane keeping the sand from spilling in unless they had surface, which did not happen as often as one would think, at least not so far as she could tell. Whenever they surfaced it was typically with some fell task at hand. 

Now and then they would be upon a small group of travelers and they would emerge just as the ship had when they had been captured. Once knocked unconscious and fired upon from the ships artillery ports manned by what she assumed to be arrancar, they would be taken aboard and added to replace the slaves that had died or been worked into uselessness. That said they were also fed. She could not fathom what the slop that was presented to her was, or what manner of creature it was from, but it was filling and bursting with energy, such that she hardly found herself too hungry.

Of course there was also the work. While she had endured pains beyond it, te incessant relentlessness of the ache in her arms was maddening at times, but she seemed to fair better than those around her whom did not have her stamina. With how horrible it was for her she could only imagine what it was like for them. Staring ahead she simply continued to row, sometimes picking up the slack for others beside her, which would earn looks of appreciation from those about her and whispers of thanks. She normally would have ignored such words, but in this place it was more than appreciated, her back bending to the oar as her body's incredible urge to move around more freely was inciting a frustration which she took out upon the oar. 

And then of course...he visited. The man at first was simply another arrancar, or so she had assumed. But upon repeated visits to the deck it became clearer and clearer that he was a leader of sorts, his mask fragment: a beastly looking lower jaw with clamp-like teeth jutting up and over his lips. He seemed strong, capable, and demanded the respect of all that came down there. And it was strange when of all things, she noticed his attention drift in her direction. She quickly averted her gaze, ignoring the fact that he looked at her, and simply further worked into the oar before her. 

It was like that for a long time, and some of the others began to notice it as well when he came by and brought his attention to her time and time again, as if watching, waiting for something. And it was in light of this that the message was brought to her. Bit by bit, the information was passed from one person to the other, whispering as they were only allowed to do as Chojiro would, eventually convey the information to her through word of mouth passed from slave to save until at long long last it came to her as a mutter from the rower in front of her. . "Smile." 

It was confusing, and she wasn't entirely sure what to make of it. She looked at Chojiro, but knew he could not look back to her, only keep his head bent and forward as they went lest he ask for a lashing from one of the slave drivers. But she considered the instruction, and she decided that, if anything, she should at the very least try to comply. She did not know what would happen as a result, but it was worth a shot, and at worst she would get a lashing, she was one of the stronger rowers after all, she hardly expected them to get rid of her, not even thinking that she might be easily replaced. 

The next time he came, she was slightly worried. I wasn't that she didn't trust Chojiro, in fact she trusted him a great deal, even with her shiny spoils from time to time would find their way to him for prospecting and evaluation. Of course it was still a bit worrisome. She really did not enjoy the lashings that much, well maybe a little, but that wasn't the point. they still hurt quite a bit and she had a feeling that this man could order something far worse than a lashing. But she trusted Chojiro, and so when she heard the distinct dull clack of his boots upon the deck, she began to focus. 

It was something quite simple, something she did so often, to smile and grin. One would think it simple and easy to perform it with intent instead of simple joy. But it was not so simple to her. At long last she heard that brief cessation of footsteps as he stopped to look around, casually. It was something he did often, to not so obviously look at her. She waited, counting the seconds in her head that had been instilled in her mind by simple repetition, knowing when he would pause, ask a few question to the driver, and then after just a few more seconds....

She turned, her soft orange eyes showing stark against the otherwise dark confines of the shift, he gaze just for a moment searching before she found his own, and for that brief moment their eyes met, and she noticed something a bit weird. His body language shifted, a brief suppressed body wall, as if defensive of her before turning slightly, showing more of his arm than his torso as he watched her, and she watched him. For a brief moment they remained ilke that before at long last she smiled to him, and she saw the corners of his mouth twitch as if the soft urge to respond with a smile of his own had, for a moment, been instilled upon him. 
"HEY! Eyes foreward!"Came the driver's his, and she braced herself, knowing she was about to get it.

However the sting never came, and a soft grunt sounded as she turned, and so saw the man holding the driver's arm, giving him a rough twist as the soft, sickening crackle of bending bone filled the air before that snap punctuated the air. 
"I am terribly sorry.... Skage. But I do  believe....that when I am down here, it is I who decide if an oarslave is to be whipped..... correct?" he inquired, those eyes narrowing upon their steely gaze upon the driver, drawing a strangled sob and a nod from the hollow as the arrancar laid down his word, and released that now-mangled limb of theirs as the tension in the deck suddenly grew. 

"Excellent. Now then, I want that oarslave up on deck within the next ten minutes, uninjured. If this is to be an issue, I'm sure you will not mind being torn apart to make the salves for any injuries she might incur. Am I making myself clear?" He asked, that calm, smooth voice of his carrying to glaringly well even amongst the roar of sands rushing past the ship as it wormed it's way through the desert, and a hush fell through the slaves as they awaited the driver's response. 

"Aye...Captain." Came the soft mutter from the hollow, head bowing in respect to the man, bringing a soft smile to the arrancar's face as he nodded his head, squaring his shoulders as he gave them a light pat upon the back, causing the slightest of winces as he then turned and began to walk up to the upper deck. For a while there was no noise before that hollow drew itself to it's feet, hissing irritably as it then turned it's attention to Ajraka, making her cringe just a little as he approached. She expected some sort of anger, after all his body language simply oozed hatred and resent, she'd think he were about to rip her spine out.

And yet, instead, he removed her bindings, grabbing her by the scruff and beginning to drag her out, and for the first time in days she felt the muscles in her legs working to fully extend, causing her to stumble slightly as he shoved her forward and began to march her to the staircase as the rest of the slaves simply stared as she was moved up and into the staircase, that revered and almost worshipped place where the moonlight filtered in, it was where their food came from, and also their tormentors, and here she was, to go right up and into it.

The pale glow of the moonlight was what she first noticed and she squinted slightly as she adjusted to the light, looking around as she saw a much more open deck. They had passed several other decks in getting there, and she figured it was likely the very last one. It was at the very spine of the ship, large windows on either side riddled the beast's body and she had but a moment to look around the gnarled crew before she as pushed forward to the front, stumbling now and then as she attempted to remain upright as the ship shifted and squirmed. 

Before long she saw where it was they were going, to the very front of the ship, into the skull of the beast they rode through the sands, and presumably, where the Captain was. As word had it at the very least, and as she slipped in through the gaping hole that was it's door, she was shoved through before the hollow simply stood sentinel at her back, causing her to turn, looking cautiously at him before slowly turning and walking deeper into the Captain's quarters to which she had been so suddenly summoned. Was this what Chojiro had anticipated?


"You can relax. I've no intention of hurting you. So long as you behave." She almost jumped out of her skin when that voice piped up behind her, immediately turning away from the door and swallowng slightly as she turned her attention to the calm stare of the Captain, the man that had previously seemed so authoritative, barking orders, punishing subordinates, and commanding the ship wherever he went on whatever deck he so happened to be on. And here he just seemed, for lack of a better word: casual. 

The change was drastic, and everything about the man had shifted, from the casual stance he had in leaning back in the chair he had throned himself upon to the slight rest of cheek to the soft bed of flesh that was his palm. There was no tension, no worry, no semblance of the stringency with which he typically conducted himself. It was almost unsettling to her to see him in such a relaxed manner, despite the fact that he could probably tear her arms off at a whim. Hopefully such was not on his mind. 

Slowly, he drew himself to his feet, with a sluggishness that seemed to exude fatigue, as if the man with such fire in his words were, simply, getting old. She made a note of it as he walked closer, his attention shifting to her as he looked her up and down, her own head lowered as was, well, customary for an oar slave. She made no attempt at eye contact, and simply watched his feet as he surveyed her, that is until he reached out, tilting her head back up. Despite that tired, lazy posture she could still feel the stern strength in his limbs, so deceptively hidden beneath that weak stance. 

"It is not oft that your kind so graces Hueco Mundo with their presence. And even rarer that they come in the company of Shinigami. I know what you are, and I understand that, for the most part your kind do not speak so well." He murmured, pacing around her, almost predatorily as he slowly came to a stop behind her, leaning in as he let a soft whisper escape from him. "You however. Despite your silence. Have no such difficulty....do you?" He ventured.


She froze, surprise visible upon her face as her attention shifted to him, her eyes snaring only a slight smile as he watched the expression on hr face shift so suddenly. A chuckle escaped from him, casually bubbling from those stern teeth as his hand lightly patted against the back of the beastclansman, almost causing her to lose her balance were it not for the fact that at the head of the craft there was little to no jump or sway, eliciting a light smirk from the arrancar.


Before she could speak, he simply placed his hand over her muzzle, holding it shut as he began to move her, walking her into the main chamber of his quarters before promptly seating her before a vast expanse of quartz. IT was no doubt taken from the trees that grew in the desert, and as she stared, she recognized that it was some sort of picture. A Map specifically. The expanse of which was vast in her mind, that is until she noticed a small dot on it that read 'Las Noches'. She simply stared at that dot, it's size particularly, the expanse that was almost it's own territory of incredible size and power. Upon this map it was but a dot. A testament to the vat area the map represented. Upon it's quartz surface, a small doll slowly crept, seeming to almost be immobile if she did not hear the tiny, minuscule clicks of it's many legs on the quartz.



"This shows our exact location at any given time. I tell you this because you will be seeing a lot of it. I hardly think an individual of your exoticism deserves to be wasted down at the oars." He murmured lightly, standing before the map and looking down at it's gleaming surface, reaching out to lightly place a palm along the edge, as if to appreciate it's craftsmanship before he drew himself back to his feet and turned his back upon her, walking to the other side of the room. 

Of course she was perplexed, confused, and quite frankly unsure as to what was occurring. She knew that this didn't make sense. She didn't quite know why, but somehow she couldn't quite understand how this man would bring her up from below. She was not entirely familiar with the word 'exoticism'. But then she did understand that this was....unusual. She did not know exactly what it was that he had in store for her, but for now, she had been spared labor at the oar. She hardly thought it to be quite so simple. She'd come to understand Arrancar as, according to shinigami: Ruthless, loveless, evil beings. While she did not take such information to heart, she did not consider it so easy to trust the man just yet. 

@#

[Katekarin Mekatoku]

105 SP awarded

[Ajraka Kuchiki]

[CTP]

IT had been quite a while since the shift in her...position in the ship, and she already knew that her situation was not quite as....secure as before. True, she was much more free, able to move about the ship as she wished, but there was still a danger that loomed about her. While her arms were no longer tied, she felt the ever-present edge of threat at her throat, as if the entire crew were watching her, waiting for an excuse. Several of them stared at her, with a....variety of intent that so laced the sullen, dark eyes of the hollows and arrancar that ran the place. She had been in the midst of passing along the ports when one crew member in particular chose to have a.....meeting.

Before she could react she found herself pinned up along the inside of the ships interior, a hand having found it's way to her throat, causing her eyes to widen slightly as she was pinned and held in place. Almost immediately she saw who it was. The Hollow's name was Krigger, one of the adjuchas that inhabited the ship, and she cringed slightly as those claws tightened around her neck, tightening ever slowly as that nightmare grinned at her. The being was built like some sort of nightmarish horse, the mask itself a massive horse's skull with predatory yellow eyes that leered at her through the mask as she could smell the faint hint of his breath slithering from the opening for the mouth.

As that one hand squeezed her throat, another hand pressed to her navel and began to...wander. She was immediately aware of what was happening and she narrowed her eyes as she peeled her lips back, hissing slightly as the male simply snickered in her face. "How adorable. No longer at the oars and already thinking you're part of the crew. How very interesting little furred one. But I should clarify, that you are not free. Your labor will simply be of a different....nature." he hissed into her ear, that hand that had began to rove along her fur suddenly stopped, those claws lightly pressing into the flesh, making her cringe ever so slightly.

Her reaction simply seemed to please him further and all at once those hands retreated, dropping her to the floor, immediately eliciting a spike of adrenaline as she bolted, hearing the hollow's echoing laughter behind her, those ears of hers tingling from that haunting sound. It was at that moment that it occurred to her what her new job on the ship was to be, as much as the captain had danced around it, she hadn't made a connection. But it was strange... She had sensed some hint of lure she had on him, as indeed she had certainly met souls of similar intentions. She had, in the past, certainly encountered them. However unlike them, and Krigger, she wasn't quite sure he had the same feel. No she had a feeling he had some sort of different.

She wasn't entirely sure what it was, and to be frank she didn't know quite how to handle the situation. Why would he have put her in this position? She was cunning, clever even, but she was still young and she couldn't quite figure out why he would do it. She had been passing over one of the grates when a soft ''psst" caught her attention, her ears perking as she turned her head, surprised as she noticed a face beneath the grate. Immediately she knelt down, tilting her head slightly as she noticed it was... Chojiro?

"Ajraka. Tonight we have a plan. We don't have much time but we need you to keep the Captain busy. It's very important ok? Do you understand?" He asked with a hushed urgency that so let a prickle of fear and uncertainty ripple up along her spine. She soon came to understand that this was not just some casual order. This was important. Life or death. And she needed to o her part. She nodded her head in silent understanding and she noticed Chojiro's face soften, shaking his head in silent admiration at how much she'd grown since they'd arrived.  Gently, he reached up, patting her hand through the grate, a silent gesture of approval before he vanished into the darkness. 

She swallowed, lifting her head slightly as she looked out the port of the ship. She knew what 'Night' meant. The Ship was capable of traveling above or below the sand, but it had a rhyme and reason to it. Every now and then the ship would rest, sliding under the sand and staying still  in order to regain it's energy, even the oarslaves would have a break. This would envelop the ship in it's own version of night when things were at their darkest. It had been almost eleven hours since it's last submerge, and it would not be long before the next one. 

Swallowing hard, she immediately began to make her way to the Captain's quarters, bolting along the deck, knowing he would be there. Slowing down, she entered the place at a slow walk, pausing as she noticed that the Captain was staring at the map, thoughtfully looking ad the quartz display. She flicked her ears and swallowed softly, making her way over and smiling, those amber eyes of hers brilliantly lit up as she moved up beside him and rested her head against his shoulder as she watched the display, a little move she had picked up quickly among humans. Surprisingly he actually reacted as they did. Arrancar continued to amaze her, and his reaction was one of those things that simply added to her fascination.

At first he turned, a slightly unamused look on his face until he saw who she was, and  those eyes suddenly shifted, genuine surprise on his face as he stiffened and as such began to perplex her. She never did understand how he worked. Out there he was stern, adamant, and commanding, and yet any time they were alone he was just...different. She didn't allow her surprise to show, simply smiling as she watched him regard her, not quite angry, not quite pleased, just thoughtful until at long last he reached out and lightly ran his fingers along her neck.

"And what might you want hmm?" He so inquired, a voice that seemed to only peek out in her presence. There was, of course, something else in his eyes, a sort of something she couldn't quite identify, as if he knew something. She didn't know what it was, what he was thinking, what it could be that he was so plotting. But she could not afford to think of such things. She slipped into his lap, that smile never faltering as she put her arms about his shoulders, years of seducing shiny objects from the hands of souls coming to fruition. 

He smiled, watching her, as if it was some sort of show to him. It was an unusual reaction and she wasn't quite sure what it meant, but she simply continued, leaning in and lightly pushing her nose against the man's, briefly seeming intimate, that is until the began repeatedly poking him in the face with it, that smile only widening a bit as he strained, and for a brief moment, she was almost sure he was trying not to laugh. That is until the noise started. 

Her ears flicked up as a loud boom reached her ears and she froze, very suddenly she panicked and immediately started to act, her tail wrapping around the man's waist and those arms around his shoulders suddenly tightened, her torso twisting as she attempted, in her desperation, to try and restrain him. And yet, to her utter shock and surprise, he didn't resist. He simply sat there, his eyes closed as he slowly inhaled before sighing slowly, tiredly, as if he had been waiting for this moment for a very long time, and those eyes opened, a smirk on hs face as he chuckled slightly at her, clearing his throat as she began to speak.

"So it finally happened eh... I knew it. I've been waiting fer this day for a long time woman. You think it's been sunshine and rainbows? Outside that there port is the meanest crew I've had in years. Surly, dauntless blights on Hueco Mundo. The lot of em are scum. Oh I know they been thinkin of killin me. Taking my position. Some of em even think they kin use the oarslaves to overthrow me and those loyal to me. Heheh...the fools. They're gonna die....along with me and my own. Ye'll get a few surrenderers.... ah know that." he stated, those eyes looking into her own, almost scary in their calm despite his words. 

"Yer  got te make sure though. That none of those skin-skippers takes over. What you're gonna do lass, is take a hold of my head. And you're gonna break my neck. Ahm no chump, they're gonna fear you once they find out. Enough to follow you until ye can figure something out. Be that gettin strong enough to rule on more than just heresay, or till ye kin find a replacement. I really am sorry though...." he murmured, shaking his head as he reached up, and lightly touched the side of her cheek. " This ain't no charity. I'm not bein kind to ya. I'm locking you to this ship... an if you try to leave as you are now. Ye'll be killed. This ship is yours now. She'll beck to your call. And she'll rely on you." He murmured, reaching into his pocket and producing a tiny little thing. A small pendant made from quartz, and put it around her neck, slipping it into her shirt before letting his hands fall to his sides. 

"Go on now. Do it. An just know.....that ahm sorry." He murmured. And after that she didn't quite know what it was. She understood his words, known that he was doing something to her, inflicting something upon her, a responsibility that would change her, possibly for the rest of her life. Yet when that soft command left him, and that apology finally finished escaping, riding on that last breath, she felt a compulsion. She didn't know where it had sprouted from, or from whence it had come. But before she could even think of it, she twisted her entire body, and with it turned the man's head. There was resistance for a moment, before she felt that bone breaking, and the man went limp.

For several long moments she simply stared, looking down at the man she had killed, and slowly she extracted him from herself, slipping away from him as the conflict roared outside of the cabin, those amber eyes locked onto him even as the door to the quarters were burst open and a sudden hush ran throughout the ship. She stared for just a while longer before turning to those that had broken in. A few of them she recognized, but for the most part, they were all looking as both her and the Captain. For a while there was nothing, no sound, no noise, nobody seemed to even breathe. 

Then, all at once, one of the oarslaves, a familiar one she knew from her own spot. His name was Kiju, and he was some sort of human. He was quite known to those around him as he had a bit of a snoring issue, so he had to sleep while holding his nose, and at times slipped. Though at that moment, he rushed in, grabbing Ajraka's hand and suddenly holding it above her head before he bellowed out. "Captain! Captain Ajraka!" he declared, and for the briefest of moments there was no reaction, before suddenly, all of them cheered out.

"AJRAKA AJRAKA AJRAKA!" that cry roared throughout the ship and before she knew it she was carried out of there, far too shocked to react as she was carried out of there and along the length of the ship. But of course she barely heard it. Barely reacted to it. Even as she was given the old Captain's hat. Even as she watched the freed slaves going through the bodies, asking them to surrender if they had survived, and slaying those that refused. Watching as the ship was brought under way and once more they began to slither through that sand, some of the slaves going down under, volunteers for the first shift to feed the ship. None of it registered. Even as she stared out at the brilliant moon, so bright after having been in the dark for those long hours, time that had passed so suddenly.

She could not speak, could not focus on her surroundings. She could think only of the Captain, his actions, hs words, his legacy that he had, so suddenly, and quite calmly so passed his job onto her. Why her? why now? What was it that had prompted it? She knew she had all the pieces. There was something she just couldn't put together, it was there, in front of her. She just couldn't put it together. Even as Kiju came to her side, to inform her that the shinigami she had arrived with had not made it, she still simply stared ahead. Stared and thought. 

In some way, she missed the man. She knew that, at least according to him, he had to die. Who would follow her if they did not fear her? For now at least. She was strong, fast, but not yet to the extent to be able to command the respect of the ship and those that had surrendered. But she missed him, she wished she could have spoken to him more, picked his mind, found out what had made him do what he had done , SOMETHING to understand the complexity that he had so laced into her life with but a single decision to pass it all to her. But he was gone, and now, she was in charge.

@)