Met Along the Forest Road - Joint Training - NDE R

[Deleted]

This is a Joint Training thread for the Mod Soul Hebika Nara and the Rogue Garret. The Rogue has been traveling along a hiking trail for three hours, finding himself along the outskirts of Karakura Town once again. But this time he's come across an interesting individual.

[Deleted]

There wasn't much noise. There wasn't much noise besides the sound of his own footsteps, the sound of that massive weight clanging on his back. Sure, there were the songs of birds every now and again but otherwise it was quiet. His legs carried him down the same dirt road he had been on for the past three hours. It was obviously an established road, no doubt about that. Perhaps it was a hiking trail often used by outdoorsmen. Who knew? Garret didn't know that was for sure. The Rogue simply trudged along aimlessly, simply wandering during the day or resting when he could.

It was still early in the day, somewhere around noon. Garret still had plenty of time to travel. It would be a few hours until dusk came, and when it came he needed to be ready. He noticed ahead of him a gap in the trees. Perhaps he would be able to get a better view of where exactly he was once he reached that clearing. Was he by the mountains again? Another river perhaps? Or maybe he was to spend the night on the plains yet again. Stepping around a dead log Garret hoped it wouldn't be another field. They didn't add any sort of tactical advantage for him.

Entering the clearing he instinctively looked up. Narrowing his eye due to looking for the sun, Garret was relieved to see that it was still around noon. The sun was his clock, a clock that he needed to keep a constant look at. The path he walked upon began to turn, heading back down into the forest to the left. Yet Garret went right, walking up the small hill on the clearing. Upon reaching the top he blinked, looking down to the land below. All of the land had been developed upon. Buildings of this new age stretched as far as the eye could see.

Garret had accidently wandered into the vicinity of a city, and a rather populous one given the look of its size. Garret noticed a river cutting directly through it, with a large metallic bridge connecting the two halves. This place again? This was not the first time the Rogue had stumbled upon this city. He recognized both that river and bridge, though he had happened upon the city in a different location of the wilderness. Garret was unaware that this was Karakura Town, a city known as a hot spot for spiritual activity.

It made sense that Garret felt drawn to this location as he walked. Perhaps there was something special about that city, some sort of supernatural effect over it. The look the man gave the city though was not one of wonder, but discontent actually. Like the look someone has when they see their most hated food. The swordsman gazed down at the city with discontent, simply turning away and heading back for the path. Garret was born and raised in an era long since past. A time when houses were made from wood with roofs of hay or sticks. A time when great castles made from stone rose high into the sky. Men sent to their deaths on the back of horses, wearing suits of metal to defend themselves against the enemies they were sent against.

A time long since past. The Rukongai was similar to his era, so he felt some feeling of being home during his time there. But this new world? This world of horseless carriages, this world of stoned roads, it wasn't for Garret. Though, there was one thing similar to his old life. One thing that brought back the memories of his life, the nights. During his life Garret was a mercenary. Hired to fight for some rich kings army. To swing his blade against another man. Each day was a different battle, a different war. Similar to what was happening to Garret now. His life wasn't any different, just the enemy was. Walking down the hill the swordsmans attention was drawn to something along the path, prompting him to stop and simply look at it. He had no words to say, but still gave the odd thing his attention for this brief moment.

[Hebika Nara]

Such was the fate of the Mod Soul, to so perilously live with....complications that did so entwine themselves within the ins and outs of her daily life. The fact that, for the most part, 
she was either hiding or in some sort of turmoil, was nothing short of annoying, but at the very least she was....progressing. Ever since her encounter with Kurido she'd felt stronger, faster, better in most senses of the word, and of all things she had an esteemed sense of self-worth, his words having so incited a joy within her that she had not felt in quite a while since her reintroduction into the world of not having a true home. 

Of course her wandering out of Ireland was perhaps not the most....fruitful of endeavors. Sure the city was easier to hide in, but it was ever so busy and loud. Perhaps.... no loud was not the issue, noise hardly was he main vice, and truly she had far more pressing things to so involve herself with. No it was the fact that for all the people that so inhabited the place she did not have a suitable conduit with which to interact. She had been bitter, angry, and well.....pouty since her abandonment and the old man had somewhat rekindled her need for contact with others. And yet she had no means to properly exercise this new need of hers. 

It was in this manner that she so found herself at the fringe of the city, attempting to get a better idea of what to do. It was at that point that she had a bit of a....slipup. She had found a child with a bowl of candy. Sure she probably should have been a bit more careful, and perhaps a bit less devious. The mother had been eating some as well, and she felt that perhaps it was an opportune moment to see if they had anything she could filch. Not that she needed much, but she'd been trying to find a map of the damned town for a while now, and a single mother seemed a reasonable person to carry a map about. At least she had thought so, she had not yet come to familiarize herself much with human culture. 

Of course then there was the....mishap. She'd been about to drop into the woman's bag from the branches of a tree when quite suddenly a woodpecker had decided to investigate her. One sharp peck and a squeeze she felt herself trying to sturggle as silently as she could against the fiendish avian, and she had gone and fallen right down. The mother had taken one look at her and screamed her goddamn ass off. Taking her baby and rushing off in a panic at the sight of her serpentine form. She WOULD have been offended, appalled at such a reaction. But she got some free candy out of the deal at least. 

However this also meant that animal control would be called and she needed to get her little tail the fuck out of there before she had humans trying to catch her or some shit. She honestly had no time for such issues and made her way away from that blasted city. She needed to find her way back to the airport and just get back to Ireland, this country was nothing but trouble for her. OR at least she made plans to do so, as the moment she was about to head up toward the forest, a presence caught her attention and she looked up to see the rogue that had so stumbled upon her locale.

Ok so she had no reiatsu sense to speak of, nothing beyond being able to tell when spiritual beings got angsty, but she didn't have any taste buds so to speak. The man could have been a hellspasn for all she knew so far as reiatsu sensing. Of course that was not likely, hellspawn had more than just smelly reiatsu to give them away. This man however was only given away by his apparel and she froze as she spotted him stopping as he had, apparently, so spotted her dull-lustered form amidst the grass as he, evidently, was on his way to Karakura. She stood very still, maybe he would think she was a stick?

[Deleted]

What exactly was he looking at? Garret had seen, and eaten, many different kinds of serpents during his travels. He found snake meat to be particularly delicious and rather easy to prepare. Cut off the head, peel back the scales and you had a nice noodle of meat to cook over a fire. Some people found the reptile to taste like chicken, but the wanderer would disagree. Snake tasted more like pheasant, but far less chewy and with more bones to pick out. It was easy to cook as well, making it a staple in Garrets diet whenever he got the chance.

So Garret had the idea of catching this particular serpent and giving it the same fate that dozens of its limbless brethren had been given before it. Yet, despite that idea there was a tinge of hesitation. Upon closer inspection of the serpent there were a few things that just seemed off about it. Firstly, Garret had never seen a snake like this before. He had seen many, yes, but none as designed as this one. The yellow diamonds along the serpents back stood out as something unnatural rather than a gift given by mother nature.

There was also an odd feeling Garret received when he looked upon the snake. Some sort of suspicion that it wasn't quite what it seemed to be. His single eye narrowed slightly as he watched the serpent, remaining still and trying to conceal itself in the grass. Had the wanderer ever witnessed this sort of behavior before? Often snakes simply tried to flee, slithering off as fast as their bodies of muscle would let them. Others would enter a defensive position, alerting Garret to their presence and displaying some sort of aggressive response.

But not this one. It was seemingly choosing to hide. It behaved rather differently, something that made Garret suspicious. He took a step towards the serpent, tilting his head slightly to get a different angled look at it. Head shaped like a spade, dull colored scales. Something was just off about it. "Oy...what exactly are you? Answer me." he suddenly asked, directly towards the snake. It couldn't be a Hollow, could it? No it didn't have the hole or the mask plus the beasts didn't come out at night. Right?

After a few moments of silence, Garret just sighed. How long had it been since he had ever talk to anybody. Here he was, rambling to an animal. "I'm talking to an animal." Garret sighed, shaking his head and reaching behind him. Most of the object he reached for was obscured by the brown cloak he wore, but its hilt was still visible. Garret grasped the hilt and pulled the weapon from his back and high into the air. The object he held in the air was shaped like a sword, but could it actually be called one?

It was far too large to even be a sword. Hebika would notice that the sword was actually taller than the man who wielded it. She would notice it was too rough to be called a sword, the edges looking dull. It was more of a slab of iron than a piece of steel. There was an odor about it too. An odor about it that reeked of corruption and taint. Instead of bringing the gargantuan slab down upon the serpents head, Garret instead shoved the sword into the ground. He followed suit, dropping down onto his butt and leaning against the sword.

The swordsman sighed, eye taking a peak at the snake. "You're still here?" Garret asked, pulling open his travel bag and rummaging around through it. "Somehow I find my way back to the same city I tried to avoid once before. I suppose it means something." Garret talked. Who was he talking to? Himself? The snake? Or to anyone who listened. The man found what he was looking for, pulling a large piece of jerky from the bag. "World seems so small when you spend your days wandering the land." He took a bite of the meat, chewing it for a few moments before casting his gaze back to the snake.

Too be so small, so pitiful. Why hadn't it run away? "Though I suppose for you this world is much more massive than it is for me." Garret commented, looking at the jerky in his hand then at the snake. "Here" he tossed the dried meat in front of the small creature. "Take it or don't. Thanks for listening. Haven't been able to use my voice for some time." Garret murmured, closing his eye and relaxing against his sword.

[Hebika Nara]

She stared, watching carefully, her attention to her surroundings, specifically on a boulder not a few feet away. A lovely size if things went south as the male, or very unfortunate female, looked incredulously down at her prone form, those yellowed eyes looking back up at him. Not angry, not afraid, simply patient. Curious. And as he spoke out, his own weary voice cleaving the silence that had so briefly enveloped the pair of them, the lips that sheathed those fangs curled ever so slightly, too subtly to be noticed and recognized as a smile by human standards, but present none the less. 

As that blade sank into the ground before her, she let out a soft humm, that warm, soothing, motherly voice of hers spilling out as she lightly slithered forward and stopped between him and his blade, coiling up as she considered speaking to him, however as he continued to go on about his own situation, she began to piece together the situation itself. He didn't like Karakura any more than she did from the sounds of it, and she cautiously regarded him, surveying his state as he so drifted to the topic of his wandering, as well as, briefly, her size. 

As that Jerky was offered to her she tilted her head, looking at the offered meat before leaning up and lightly taking it, setting it within her coils, tucking it in and making it quite clear she understood him, and was quite intelligent, and of course if any doubt had so shrouded his mind in the throes of his presumed self-inflicted insanity so as to talk to what he assumed to be a simply striking-looking animal, she would sooth his self-doubts with that voice of hers that so seemed to glide lightly upon the ears and relax the tensed muscles that so riddled him.

"I am Me. To put it simply." she started off, a gentle glimmer of laughter lacing her words, giving the conversation a lighthearted flavor as she so swept her tail in the direction of the city as she continued. "I too am far from my usual tromping grounds. A far flight by wing, and more tiring a trek by foot. Having neither I crawl, no easy task I assure you. But alas, I shall return to Ireland at some point~ And thank you for the Jerky~ It smells quite lovely." she all but tittered softly, giving a girlish concealment of her mouth with that tail, as twere a woman unfolding a fan before their mouth. 

Everything about her was soothing, from the tone of her voice to the way she moved, down to her subtle spiritual pressure whose aura was entirely positive, almost completely enveloping in a glow of good nature, and she did so sense, at least for the moment, the male's lack of solid ill intent. She felt a glimmer of darker thoughts, that aura of hers giving her insight, if perhaps not the truest of sights, but she could tell that, for the moment, he didn't plan on harming her just yet. 

[Deleted]

Hebika was lucky, incredibly lucky in fact, that her voice was as soothing as it was. She had startled Garret slightly, far more so if her voice had been something rougher. A startled Garret was an attacking Garret after all. The Rogue gave a surprised look, gazing at the serpent as she, for it sounded like a she, communicated back to Garret, even thanking him for the jerky he had given it. So his intuition had been right. This wasn't a normal snake. Garret was quiet as she spoke, noting the way she raised her tail to hide her face. It was a mannerism that Garret recognized near immediately back from his days of being alive.

There was a time that the Red Dragons had been invited to the castle of one of the very kings whose army they had fought for. It was a celebration of a three month battle with a rival king. The Dragons had proved themselves to the King, and so had received an invitation to join in with the celebrations. It had been the first time Garret had ever stepped foot into a castle, and felt immediately out of place. He remembered the lights, the music, and the scent of cooked food. The endless ocean of voices that washed over him as he stood in the doorway, confused about what it was he was supposed to do while there.

Garret recalled his uncle, Daurth, trying to chat himself up with a small group of women. Their dresses stood out to the warrior, being large and poofy and seemingly impossible to move around in, as well as caking their faces in such heavy makeup. It was nice to remember something from back then, something that didn't involve the constant combat for once. Maybe he should remember more often, reflect on the times that were good. It would certainly put his mind at ease.

The swordsman watched the serpent as she spoke, taking in her words as they escaped her scaly lips. Her manner of speaking and the tone of her voice put the wanderer at ease, prompting him to give her his full attention. Garret was not a social character by any means in fact he was the sort of individual to drive others away. There was a legitimate reason for this, but somewhere along the way Garret seemed to have just adopted it as a part of who he was. He was never a social butterfly, but ever since the incident and his wanderings began he had become increasingly anti social.

Perhaps the reason he had not driven the snake away, or simply left himself, was due to the fact he desired a conversation once in awhile. There was also the fact it was a snake, an animal and not a person. For all he knew this could be fake, a manifestation of his broken mind taken shape and sound. Or, she could have just been something different. Once the serpent finished her words she would see the ends of Garrets lips curve upwards, his chest pushing out a little as a small chuckle escaped between his lips.

"A talking snake. Now I've seen it all. Just from looking at you something felt peculiar, suppose it's a good thing I didn't try to have you for a snack." he joked, looking down at the reptile. "You said something a moment ago that caught my attention, something about Ireland. Is that some land or a town, perhaps?" Garret asked. This was his first time hearing of such a land. It struck no chords of remembrance within him, but then again Garret rarely paid any attention to anything but fighting when he was alive. He could have very well have heard of this Ireland at some point in his existence, forgotten about it, and now this possible creation of his mind was using it to seem real.

[Hebika Nara]

A gentle smirk played across those serpentines lips as he seemed to respond ever so positively to her words and voice, noting that the old man had been right, she certainly did have some pipes on her. She relaxed herself, those coils slowly loosening as the swordsman too seemed to become less and less effected by the anxiety that had so enraptured him in the embrace of such acute worry, now soothed by her voice into a lull of relaxation and more rational thought. Of course she never thought about trying to play herself off as a hallucination. 

In any case she remained quite silent as the male spoke, and did so emit a soft chuckle upon the subject of him attempting to eat her, as that certainly would not have been a very fruitful endeavor considering she was not actually made of flesh, something that had he chosen to attempt, would have become abundantly clear as soon as he'd removed her rubbery skin, or simply had held her in his hand, for the joints and mechanisms of her insides were, perhaps not easily, but noticeably felt through her outer dermis, and no doubt would have tipped him off if he were paying attention to such details.

However onto the subject of Ireland she could not help but give a soft, wistful sigh in response to the topic itself, such was her love for the beautiful country, even if perhaps at times the weather drove some away, to her it was a beautiful country, and she was more than willing to voice her opinions. "It is a country on the contrary~ And so lovely a land it is~ Greenery and Lush terrain so wonderfully crafted by nature's hand that does so evoke a sense of warmth and homeliness within the soul, and skies that so capture the valor of it's people in whisps of brilliantly-lit display.


She raised herself slightly, proudly as she did so describe the place. "Even in it's inclement weather cycles it is not a dreariness or murky place like this abysmal town. It is a place of character, with beautiful clear windy springs, tranquil winters, and roaring rain-drenched summers with a ferocity that will put some hair on a lad's chest." she so swooned at her own words, or rather the memories they so depicted as she recalled the place that had so ensnared her heart. Oh it was a place she so longed for and did indeed miss to a considerable extend with such extended leave from the place.


Her attention drifted back toward the male and she slowly tilted her head to the side, that smile only widening slightly, as if to grow ever warmer in that heart of his, and draw from it even sweeter sensations of warmth that so contrasted the slight dip in temperature around them as the sun was well on it's way to setting. If you like, I could take you to see it. I'm sure a strapping man as yourself would more than appreciate the place." she offered, the idea of a traveling companion quite lovely what with her lack of knowledge as to what bringing him along would entail.

[Deleted]

Her words painted an excellent picture in his head. He imagined a land filled with green, of mountains rising like the backs of great beasts dotting the land, of rivers carving their way through the earth with fresh clean water flowing through them, giving life to the entirety of the land. It sounded spectacular. Garret was not one for art, nor was he one who could fully appreciate something's beauty, but he often found things that he would stop and gaze at. Something someone might want to draw upon a white canvas.

If Hebika was a realtor and trying to sell Garret a plot of land, she would have made the sale. Her words were enough to convince the man to try and find his way to this country of Ireland. It would probably be a long trip, an incredibly long trip actually. A trip that would no doubt be incredibly bloody. Each night would be one battle after another. If Ireland was as beautiful as this serpent said, perhaps the trip would be worth it. No doubt he would consider it, maybe even begin to plan for that trip tomorrow. Granted, if he survived to see tomorrow. No, he would. Garret would survive; there was no doubt about that.

But then the serpent said something that immediately caught his attention, it was an invitation to travel with him, to lead him to the land that she so proudly spoke of. Perhaps she noticed the sudden change in Garrets demeanor. The single eyed man looked at her, the enjoyment he had in that eye was gone, replaced with a cold nothingness. He wasn't mad, no. Rather, what she said had just reminded him of his struggle. Garret lowered his gaze as his lips pulled back, turning into a smirk. A small chuckle escaped his chest. "I wouldn't make good travel company, little one." Garret said, shaking his head slightly.

How could he? This swordsman was the last person anyone wanted to be around. It wasn't that the man himself was dangerous, well to anyone who didn't try to do him harm, but rather it was the luggage that the man had in tow that was. The luggage that the sun kept at bay. Garret no doubt had interest in Ireland, that was for sure, but to travel with somebody else was out of the question. Garret refused to be responsible for someone else. He didn't want anyone else's blood on his hands. Not anymore.

Leaning back on his sword with a sigh, the swordsman looked back at the snake. "I'm not going into that town not because I think it's dreary, I'm staying away because I will only bring destruction. I'm cursed, little one. It isn't safe to remain near me, especially when dusk has fallen." Garret explained, pulling his gaze from her. It might have been nice traveling with her, but something like that just wasn't possible. While it was true that she was just a snake, a creature that could hide, Garret still didn't wish to be responsible for anything that happened to her.

Garret could never forget. How could he ever forget that moment when his peaceful existence came to an abrupt end? That night when the Osen first manifested in Garret. "That blond haired Shinigami called it an Osen, a taint upon the soul. A corruption that for some makes every waking moment a nightmare. For me, those nightmares come at night. They come searching for me, mouths drooling for my flesh and my blood." Garret hissed. His voice had grown cold, the gaze he was giving Hebika was different from before. "Every single night is a battle. It doesn't matter where I am, no matter how secluded I am, they still find me. For every one I cut down two more take its place." Garret continued, looking away from the false snake.

Closing his eye the Rogue felt a tremble flow throughout his body. Talking about this was bringing back the memory. Not just any memory, but that memory. Stop it Underneath the cloak his arms had been crossed, his right hands fingers digging into his left arm. "Can you imagine it, little one, fighting for your life every single day knowing that even if you manage to survive it will just begin again the next day?" Garret asked. That sinister aura that Hebika felt earlier, the one that had never once been directed at her, was flaring up within him. Her eyes, those beautiful blue eyes, the ones that he could stare into endlessly, the ones that made him feel like he could just fall directly into. Enough!

His nails broke through his skin, pulling it back and exposing the raw unprotected meat beneath his skin. Beads of blood formed, trailing down his bicep and getting under his nails. "If you traveled with me they would come for you too. It's why the Shinigami threw me out of the Rukongai. They feared that if they brought the executioners blade down on my head my curse would spread to the entirety of the Rukongai. I'm dangerous, little one." Garret concluded, averting his gaze from her. The aura was dying down now, as his expression softened. He pulled his hand away from his stinging injury, closing his eye as he did so. "It isn't something I want someone else to endure."

[Hebika Nara]

Hebika tilted her head slightly at his words. It was....interesting. Of course he said such things, with such passion, with such determination. One would think he were saving her from some terrible fate. But looking up at him, all she heard was his arrogance. It was not an intentional arrogance, nor one of pride or spite. It was simply his nature, the nature of any human soul to so believe in one's own misfortune, to so mistake the revocation of that human blessing of 'safety' as some type of curse. She closed her eyes and for a long while she said nothing, looking around until she spotted, in the distance, a deer. She fixed upon it, watching as it grazed.

" Do you know why a deer is so cute? With it's ears twitching this way and that. Those big wide, glossy eyes looking at you. And when you so approach them they freeze, and to many this seems stupid, especially on a road. But there is a reason for all of this, why this animal seems so innocent and endearing. It is in a state that is completely foreign to most humans. That is.....aside from you." She noted softly, her attention turning from the deer to the Rogue. " It's ears twitch because it is constantly hunted. It's eyes are large so that it can easily seen an approaching predator. And it freezes because if it were to run at the first sight of trouble, it would draw attention to itself. Unlike every human in this world, who is given respite throughout their lives except in rare exceptions, every animal upon this planet fights their entire lives. To survive predators. To survive Starvation. To Survive sickness. To survive loneliness. "

She shook her head slightly at him as she gave a light chuckle. "Even now, you only feel a portion of the suffering those beneath humans live through. You may be cursed at night for a human. But as a creature, you are blessed by day." She so explained, taking a brief moment to watch as the deer suddenly sprinted off, to who knew where. In any case she slithered forth and lightly tapped at him with the tip of her tail. "The only thing you have to offer me, i safety in numbers. And your company. Simply because you cannot also offer me the safety humans take for granted does not change that. Wether or not you are with me, I will still encounter hollows. Sure it may be not at the volume you bring, but so far you seem to be able to handle the number of hollows that you encounter." she reasoned.

She smirked, confidence radiating from her, as well as lacing her words with a vim surprising for one of her small size. "If anything, it would be an improvement for me to have an ally for once. And with the both of us I'm confident we'll have no issue handling those that come across our path. Suffice to say, regardless as to wether or not you plan on joining me, I shall be making my way back to ireland~" she stated simply, a light shift of her coils, almost a shrug of sorts as she glanced off into the distance, as if to, momentarily, disregard his presence and simply speak more to herself than to him directly.

[Deleted]

He found no words he could use while she talked. He listened, for it was all he could do it. The swordsman simply listened without speaking, taking what she said and thinking upon it. He looked on to where he had seen the deer, the same that Hebika used for inspiration for her little speech. A creature that seemed so simple and yet was able to inspire such words. It was obvious that Hebika was no ordinary creature, something far older than any normal snake or person. Garret watched as the deer fled into the woods, watching it bounce between the trees before vanishing from his sight.

Garrets attention was drawn to her when she tapped him with her tail, his eye gazing down and watching her. That fire that had begun to burn was dying out, that expression he wore earlier was gone and replaced with one that was calm. Watching her as she spoke, Garret felt like a student sitting before a teacher. How come everything she said made so much sense? Was she right though? Perhaps Garret was focusing far too much on the negative side of things. Each and every night was a promised battle, a war that he alone waged against the Hollows. Every time that Garret saw the sun though, it only reminded him that it would begin again.

He let her finish speaking; noticing her turn away as if her interest in him was gone. He was quiet, lost in his own thoughts. What she said had made sense. Garret had noticed it, that each night the number of Hollows was increasing. It was sporadic, sometimes, between the number of the creatures that came for him, at least at first, but now it was a near constant increase. It wasn't just the numbers but the strength of the monsters as well. He was beginning to draw in stronger Hollows, ones that posed a serious threat to him if he ever slacked. It meant that his Osen was getting stronger much faster than he was. Garret needed a way to close the gap between his curse and his lack of power.

The best possible solution right now was to make allies. Safety in numbers was, most of the time, a fact of life that could not be argued. From the way she spoke, so full with confidence, Garret suspected that maybe this little snake was able to fight against Hollows. She mentioned she would still encounter them, but how she dealt with them was a mystery to the wanderer. She didn't seem to mind his company during her long trek back to Ireland, and if things went south Garret could simply vanish if he needed to.

It all depended on how things went this coming night. If he went with her she too would be cast into his battles. But she didn't seem to care. Garret finally made a sound, a sigh, lowering his gaze. "If you'll have me and my luggage, then I wouldn't mind making the trek to Ireland with you." Was this a mistake? Too him, this wasn't a good idea. He didn't want to endanger her, but everything she said made it clear it didn't bother her. She was confident the both of them could handle any Hollows that came for them. Her confidence was impressive, something the swordsman wanted to see when the time came. "I never did get your name, if you have one. Mines Garret, what's yours?"

[Hebika Nara]

She was pleased to find that he was so receptive, even as she was talking she could see his expression shift, soaking her words in like a sponge as she so enchanted him with her words and point of view, seeing realization hit him as his beliefs and possibly even his point of view on his little curse may very well have changed thanks to her and her explanations and wisdom. It was actually pleasing to see a youngster so receptive to her tutelage and even more impressive was the fact that he had been so decisive in his shift in opinion.

No anxious murmuring or uncertainty. He was firm in his shift and it was pleasing to know he wasn't dragging his feet on the matter, certainly much better than she could say for some others that had crossed her path. Actually most people got pretty hung up on the fact that she was a talking snake, now that she thought about it, so really he was doing quite well in general in handling the situation of her enigmacy. So for now she was quite pleased with him considering he didn't seem very old. Well...mature. Sure he had some manliness to him but he was not yet at that ripe age where wisdom had settled in. Even so he was quite the sharp lad. 


At his acceptance she gave him a soft, pleased smile, and gave a soft bowing of her head, calmly lavishing him with her courtesy as that warm voice was expelled once more from her lips and would make it's mark upon the air itself. " I would be greatly pleased to travel with you Garret, my name is Hebika, and it is quite the pleasure to meet you." she noted with a bod of her head, flirting just a little as once more that tail slid up to conceal her mouth, not that a snake's face was very conducive to expression anyway. It was simply something she had a habit of doing,  just like the whole flirting fiasco, it was just something to do.

[Deleted]

So she went by Hebika, huh? It was a nice name. The snakes flirting had no real effect on Garret, as one of the many mental issues he suffered from kept him from feeling any sort of lust or affection for anyone anymore. Camaraderie, yes that was entirely possible after some time. But affection? Romantic affection? Garret would never feel something like that again. Of course Hebikas flirting did not mean she had any of those sort of feelings for Garret, it was only in her nature to be so. But regardless, any show of toying with Garrets heart would be like trying to seduce a statue. It wouldn't happen.

Nodding his head with a small smile he was pleased that she would allow him to travel with her. Ireland sound like a wonderful place to visit, though it was more than that. It was far more than simply having Hebika as company, as another pair of eyes and a voice to converse with. It was a goal. A solid goal, something that the swordsman had not had in a long time. All he had focused on was survival, pitting himself night after night against the endless hordes of the masked monstrosities. Did Garret even remember what it was that he fought for anymore. Had it gotten lost somewhere amongst the field of battle.

No. How could that ever be forgotten. How could Garret ever forget what it was that drove him forward. That single blinding hatred towards those monsters That fire inside him that wanted to burn, that wanted to consume them all. That hellfire that was the berserker, the rampaging warrior who would never stop swinging. It had awoken twice now in Garrets life times. Once in that forest with his uncle, the same forest that could have very well become Garret unmarked grave. The second was when Cassandra. He pushed the thoughts aside, taking a breath.

The injury he caused himself was stinging. Why did he do that to himself? Was it an attempt to pull his unfocused mind back together? Garret didn't know. Looking up at the sky he scowled. They had rested long enough. "It would be best if we got moving before the sun gets too low, little one." Garret commented, head still curved back as he looked at the sky. "But before we go, there is something I wouldn't mind asking." he finished, lowering his gaze down to Hebika. "The instant I saw you I realized you were no ordinary serpent, and these last few minutes have only confirmed that realization. It's not that I am bothered by you, while some would no doubt be because of religious context, but there is a question still plaguing my mind." Garret began.

"You mentioned earlier you would still encounter those monstrosities. That must mean you've dealt with them in the past. There are two possibilities here, either you ran from them which I honestly doubt or you were able to deal with them. What, may I ask, exactly are you? Are you some lost spirit like I taken on the form of a serpent, or something more? Plus, how exactly were you able to manage against the Hollows with a form so small? You spoke with such confidence before that I could not believe you ran and hid." Garret questioned. It was something he wanted to know, especially if he was going to be traveling with her. For someone to travel with Garret they would need to be prepared for what that meant. That meant never again getting a good nights sleep, resting during the day and traveling while fighting during the night.

Hebika was obviously more than she appeared to be, of that Garret was certain. Perhaps she was like him, a spirit whom escaped the Rukongai. Perhaps she had forgotten what she had once looked like, the power of the mind transforming her ethereal form into that of a serpent. But that didn't explain how she was able to survive the Hollows. Garret simply wanted to know what it was she was bringing to the table. It was obvious what he brought, he was resting on it right now. His form, his body, clearly showed how he fought. Those arms, like the branches of a red wood tree, were massive from the constant swinging of that sword. It was heavy. Incredibly heavy. No one man should have been able to wield such a thing. But he could. It was his weapon.

[Hebika Nara]

[Thread has ended and is ready to be graded. Transitioning to a PVP thread. ]

[Katekarin Mekatoku]

+310 TP to both participants