The Honor of the Beast (R closed)

[Deleted]

(Training for CTP)


"Get out of here!" One man would shout waving around a large stick. "Yeah go back to the wilds you beast!" another woman would join in throwing a rock at the large honey badger. The people of the outer rukongai have been getting more and more aggressive towards him as of late. Yes he has been coming in more and more, but the has not been causing that much trouble. Sure he had to steal a piece of meat once or twice to get by, but that was really the worst of his crimes. 

Zeferoth stood at a towering seven feet six inches tall which most of the time made it so everyone could see him coming. His body was covered in short grew fur as well as his ears. The fur on his arms was black and thicker making them look larger than they really were by a bit. His eyes were a dark orange. He had a long scar going from his right collar down to just under his ribs on the left side. Around his arms and legs were heavy metal cuffs that had once imprisoned him.

All of this made the beast man look very intimidating, and that is without the long sharp claws and teeth. He did have a little history with the two leggers around this area. He did have to steal from them from time to time when things got tough. He did not steal in the stealthy way though. He was able to intimidate those into not persuading him as he just took what he wanted and fled back to the wilderness with his ill gotten loot.

This time however he had no intentions of such a thing. He had not provoked anyone at all, but yet they all seemed to want to skin his hide. He did not want to cause any trouble to avoid the two leggers in black. He just kept his guard up blocking the rocks that the two leggers threw at him and took their insults quietly. It was an effort to suppress his primal urge to confront them head on since they were challenging him. He had tried to tell them why he had come, but it was clear that they were not interested in what he had to say.

[Shōkan Kawada Ⅺ]

Why was a Kawada in Outer Rukongai one might ask? The answer was simple, Shōkan was searching for an undeveloped area of Rukongai for the Kawada Clan to aqquire. They were looking to expand their horizons a bit, and real estate seemed like a good start. Unfortunately for Shōkan, every patch of every area he had looked at had been riddled with unsavory bugs, he had no idea why they were there, but it certainly made things significantly more difficult for him. Oh well, he would just have to continue his mission to the best of his abilities.

However, on his way back to the nearest town, Shōkan came across something peculiar. Several men where throwing rocks and slinging insults at a... Honeybadger? Seeing as he had nothign better to do, and he disliked the situation, Shōkan decided to investigate. Walking up behind the men, Shōkan let all the power he had as a shinigami go, which though wasn't all that high in his current state, was more than sufficient for a couple of pluses. The men froze as they felt his power, slowly and nervously craning their heads around to look at him. Seeing as he had their attention, Shōkan spoke in an ominous voive "You know, I really dislike people that discriminate others for no good reason..."

At the sight of the fearsome shinigami, the pluses quicky ran from him, fearing his wrath. They tripped oer their own feet in their haste to get away. Now that they were out of the way, Shōkan turned to the Honey badger standing a few feet away from him. Trying to ease its probable fear or nervousness, Shōkan walked towards him slowly and held his hand out for him to shake "Hello, My name is Shōkan kawada. Sorry about them, trust me, we aren't all like that." he said with a warm smile on his face.

OOC: Training For TTP

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Zeferoth noticed that the stones and insults have stopped coming at him when another black two legger approached. Great, he thought, they came to imprison him again. To his surprise, he saw that the black two legger was addressing the crowd of two leggers telling them to back off. Why would he want to help an animal man like him? Zeferoth was curios, but he was grateful none the less for the assistance. At least now he did not have to injure anyone.

"Hello, My name is Shōkan kawada. Sorry about them, trust me, we aren't all like that." Zeferoth knew that he was referring to the crowd of two leggers he just dispersed. He could still feel the power that the man could use even though he had no real way to sense energy. Even he would respect this man for his strength. Zeferoth looked at the man as he stood to his full seven foot height looking down at him. "I called Zeferoth. They not fully to blame. I cause trouble before during hard times." He admited to the stranger. He at least earned some trust for helping him.

[Shōkan Kawada Ⅺ]

Hearing the badgers words, Shōkan thought about them, and quickly dismissed them. He looked at the anthropomorphic creature standing across from him, "I'm sure you didn't do it for no reason, while thievery and such is against the law, and therefore wrong... The laws of man are different from the laws of nature, and when life is on the line, there is only the law of nature." He gave Zeferoth his patented upturned eye smile, wors every time, everyone got reassured by that thing! Soon thereafter however, Zeferoth's stomach rumbled lously.

He eyed Zeferoth's slim form, "How about we make a deal?" He gave him a challenging grin, "Let's have a spar, if I win, you pay for lunch, and if you when, I pay for lunch!" He started heading to the traiing grounds in which he had in mind, when he had been scouting out the area he came across a clearing with a scenic view of a waterfall, it would suit their purposes perfectly. As they walked, Shōkan began thinking about his reasoning for this.

He could obviously tell that Zeferoth was hungry, and probably hadn't eaten in days. This way, Shōkan could get a hot meal in his belly. Not to mention of course, Shōkan was extremely rusty in his Hakuda, they'd been stagnating for a thousand years after all. With his experienced eye, he could see that Zeferoth had a lot of raw potential, those muscles and that body build meant that he was very strong and fast, and should make a very interesting opponent.

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"I'm sure you didn't do it for no reason, while thievery and such is against the law, and therefore wrong... The laws of man are different from the laws of nature, and when life is on the line, there is only the law of nature." So, this two legger had more understanding than Zeferoth had first thought. He was taking an interest in more than a few of the black two leggers that he had encountered. Something about them just draws him to them.

"How about we make a deal?" Zeferoth's ears perked up when the two legger said this. He looked at the smaller person with interest. "Let's have a spar, if I win, you pay for lunch, and if you when, I pay for lunch!" Zeferoth thought about the offer for a moment. Judging by his look, he wasn't that strong, but he was learning that there was more to these two leggers than looks and physical strength. None the less, he could not pass up the opportunity for lunch.

"Very well, I will take you up on your offer." He said in a low growling voice. He fallowed the black two legger to a clearing with a waterfall. It was a nice place to hunt, Zeferoth thought. Zeferoth did not know what to expect from the two legger, so he was going to take things a bit slower. He charged straight at the two legger slashing with his clawed right hand. He was aiming to rake his claws right across his chest. If the man backed up, Zeferoth would fallow up with a slashing upper cut with his left hand.

[Shōkan Kawada Ⅺ]

Arriving at the clearing, Shōkan gave Zeferoth a smile. "Make sure you give me your best okay? It's been... A long time, to say the least, since I've had a good fight!" Giving Zeferoth a look over, Shōkan continued "You look really strong too." Taking a hakuda stance some ways away from Zeferoth, Shōkan readied himself, and let out an old fashioned battle cry of "Have at you!", proceeding to lunge at the beast clan member with all the speed and fferocity of a pouncing tiger, as well as the grace of a junglee cat. He made sure to lighten the force of the blows however, as this was just a simple spar.

Weaving through punches and kicks, the two performed a primal, graceful dance of power and skill. While Zeferoth seemed to have the advantage in raw strength, Shōkan more than made up for it in superior speed. The two seemed fairly evenly matched, as it was obvious that both were holding back a considerable amount. After 30 minutes of so of melee fighting, Shōkan finally signaled for a stop. Breathing slightly from the exertion, Shōkan conceded. "Hah... hah... You're good Zeferoth, very good. What kind of fighting style is that anyway?" After hearing whatever the answer was, Shōkan would continue.

"Well, I am nothing if not a man of my word, come with me, we'll have lunch, and then, if you feel like it, we can train some more?" The pair headed of towards the nearby town, and Shōkan turned to Zeferoth, "So where would you like to eat at? It's on me, so you can pik whatever you want!" Shōkan couldn't help but be in a good mood, Zeferoth was a good sparring partner, his style of fighting was different, and his animalistic traits caused Shōkan to have to take a different point of view when fighting him.

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The two combatants traded blows both holding back considerably. Zeferoth could tell that his opponent was holding back, but for what reason he could not say. He was holding back so that he didn't injure his sparing partner too badly. He would not be able to buy him food if he was killed or injured. Non the less, Zeferoth was like a machine primed from years of fighting and hunting. He had been in conflict all his life.

Zeferoth had to admit that the two legger did put up a good fight. It was in the middle of the battle that the two legger had stopped the fight. Zeferoth was in the middle of trying to pierce the man's shoulder with his claws, which Zeferoth managed to stop easily enough. They were both breathing rather hard. Zeferoth was still able to go on, so he did not understand why the two legger was calling a stop to their fight.

"Hah... hah... You're good Zeferoth, very good. What kind of fighting style is that anyway?" At first Zeferoth was confused about what the two legger was asking. Then it dawned on him. "This is the way that my kind hunt and fight in the wild in the world of the living. I have survived countless fights for many years. It is the accumulation of all my experiences from both there and here. Though to be truthful, it is still odd fighting on two legs.

"Well, I am nothing if not a man of my word, come with me, we'll have lunch, and then, if you feel like it, we can train some more?" That was it? Zeferoth was not completely satisfied with the two legger ending the fight now, but Zeferoth was still very hungry, and he would be able to fight better after he had some food in his stomach. "Very well, after food, we will fight for real. No holding back like before." He wanted to push his body as far as he could.

The two returned to the two leggers' den. He still got the scowls and glares of the town's residence, but with the shinigami there, no one voiced their opinions openly. "So where would you like to eat at? It's on me, so you can pick whatever you want!" Zeferoth thought about it for a moment. That was all he really needed. "Any place with meat. That is all that I need to be satisfied with." He walked on all fours looking up at the man. He was just more comfortable when he was on all fours closer to the ground.

[Shōkan Kawada Ⅺ]

"This is the way that my kind hunt and fight in the wild in the world of the living. I have survived countless fights for many years. It is the accumulation of all my experiences from both there and here. Though to be truthful, it is still odd fighting on two legs." That was interesting. From the explanation he had given, Shōkan could only guess that the feral style of fighting was instinctive for beast clan members. This wasn't to surprising. All a fighting style really is, is condensed fighitng experienced. What Zeferoth uses must simply be the collective of all his battles as a beast. It was pretty good, all things considered. There were some holes in it however.

They continued walking as Zeferoth answered his next question. "Very well, after food, we will fight for real. No holding back like before." At this, Shōkan gave a grin almost as feral as Zeferoth. There somethign about fighting the giant humanoid that enticed Shōkan. Maybe it was the massive strength and speed he possesed? The animalistic fighting style? Shōkan couldn't say. All he knew, is that he couldn't wait to fight Zeferoth for real. And this time? This time he wouldn't hold back.

"Any place with meat. That is all that I need to be satisfied with." At this Shōkan's eyes widened a bit. "Zeferoth, Zeferoth... You'll come to learn that oone of the joys in being a sentient race is... The food. Ah, the variety. Sure, you can sustain yourself off of a hunk of meat, but filet mignon is oh so much more satisfying." Fortunately, Shōkan had accounted for just this type of situation. Turning towards Zeferoth, Shōkan gave him a warm smile, "Come this way. let me educate you in the art of culinary cuisine!" Heading off in a diffferent direction than the one he had been heading to, Shōkan led Zeferoth to one off the many Kawada safehouses.

There was usually at least one house in each region of Rukongai. Modest for the noble clans standards, but in places like this, the manor must seem massive. Usually each one was empty, kept secure with barrier kidou. But, seeing as how Shōkan had planned a trip to this region, Shōkan had a skeleton staff move into the manor for the period of his stay, as well as stocking it with food. As they entered, the staff, being the consumate proffessionals that they were, showed no discomfort at Zeferoth's appearance. instead, they bowed at the two, "Lord Kawada, welcome back." Giving a smile and a nod to the servants, Shōkan greeted them "Good to be back Jarvis. My firend and I are hungry for somethign to eat. Bring something into the outside garden would you?" Then as an afterthought, Shōkan added, "Make sure there's plenty off meet, as well." The butler bowed, "Wouldn't dream of it sir."

"Ah, somethingg you'll learn about money, is that it can buy the best help." Shōkan said to Zeferoth as they made their way to the garden at the back of the manor. The place was beautiful, flowers of all sorts provided colors galore that lit up the vibrant place. Plenty of trees, mainly sakura blossoms provided shad from the heat of the day. Shōkan made to sit at a table the servants had already set up under one of the sakura trees, leaving Zeferoth to either sit himself in a chair, or stand, or sit on the ground even. Only a few minutes after they sat, the chef's came out, carrying several silver pans, laying them out at the table. "Lord Shōkan, may I present today's meal. Filet Bluefin Tuna, Caviar, a scrumptious salad, and your favorite chococlate truffle for dessert."

Turnign towards Zeferoth, the chef continued, "For the guest? A large, 12-ounce filet mignon, seasoned to perfection, along roasted brussels sprouts with house-Smoked ham and halt agrodolce, bon appetit" The chef finished, and the company of servants left Shōkan and Zeferoth to their meal. Shōkan picked up his silverware, and began eating with the grace of a noble, leaving Zeferoth to eat his meal as he wished. He didn't mind however Zeferoth did it, the only reason he ate so gracefully was because it was ingrained in him from a very early age. Nothing less was expected from the heir of the Kawada Clan.

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The look on the two legger's face did not go unnoticed by the beast man. Zeferoth almost found it amusing that he could get such a reaction out of the otherwise unshakable two legger. "Zeferoth, Zeferoth... You'll come to learn that oone of the joys in being a sentient race is... The food. Ah, the variety. Sure, you can sustain yourself off of a hunk of meat, but filet mignon is oh so much more satisfying." Zeferoth snorted loudly forcing the air out of his nosterals. 

"I have been satisfied enough by raw meat for my entire life. I have spent years still hunting in these wilds and the meat tastes just the same as the Savannah." He paused turning his attention to the road in front of them. He thought about how much he might be missing. Maybe trying to be more like a two legger would not be that bad. "But, I will go along with this and try your two legger food. Meat is still meat no matter what two leggers do to it."

"Come this way. let me educate you in the art of culinary cuisine!" With that the two legger was taking them down a different road than before. Zeferoth looked curiously at the two legger before fallowing. The two legger seemed to know what he was talking about, so Zeferoth decided to trust him. Zeferoth looked at rows of two legger dens which looked different from where they usually serve two leggers food. 

They stopped at one house in particular. It smelled slightly different than the rest of the nearby dens. They entered the house and all the two leggers inside bowed to Shokan and then another male two legger approached them. "Lord Kawada, welcome back." Zeferoth had to conclude from that that Shokan was the alpha of this pack of two leggers. Maybe beasts and two leggers were not so different, he thought as he continued to fallow Sokan.

"Good to be back Jarvis. My firend and I are hungry for somethign to eat. Bring something into the outside garden would you? Make sure there's plenty off meat, as well." That pretty much confirmed it for the beast man, but he was not going to say anything while he was in the territory of the two legger. "Ah, something you'll learn about money, is that it can buy the best help." Zeferoth looked up at the man. He was begaining to understand the society of two leggers, but money was still something he had a hard time understanding. 

"If you say so, but to me this 'money' thing seems to make everything more complicated then needs to be. Why not just assert dominance and force them to serve like other packs?" He looked around at the amazing sight that was the garden. Flowers everywhere and the shade of the trees looked like an ideal resting place. They went to one of those things two leggers sat at which Shoka sat down quickly. Zeferoth was unsure what to do, so he just sat on the ground. His height was more than enough to make sure that he was able to reach everything easily.

Another two legger came approached them with the smell of food on him. He must be the one that makes the food, Zeferoth thought with a smile widening across his face. The food smelled better than anything that he hunted in the wilds. He could not even imagine how it must taste. After the two legger set the plate in front of them, he left with the others around them leaving them alone. That was all that Zeferoth needed to start digging into his meal.

He immoderately went for the meat first. He ate fast and savagely like he was afraid that Shokan would fight him for his food. The flavored of the food overwhelmed Zeferoth's mind for a few moments. It was like nothing he had ever tasted. It made what he had been eating seem like complete garbage in comparison. He moved on from one thing on his plate to the other. It didn't seem like he was even stopping to breath.

"This is so much different from anything that I have had before." He said once he had finished his plate. It was basically clean except for his spit all over it. There was not even a crumb left on the plate. He looked at Shokan pushing the plate to him asking permission for more. "I would like more if possible." He licked his lips quickly trying to savor those flavors. It would seem that Zeferoth had pulled a full one-eighty. He was quiet, cautious, and standoffish around the two legger, but now he was quickly warming up to him. It could be said that the quickest way to befriend him was though his stomach. 

[Shōkan Kawada Ⅺ]

"If you say so, but to me this 'money' thing seems to make everything more complicated then needs to be. Why not just assert dominance and force them to serve like other packs?" Shōkan gave Zeferoth a curious look, would this fly over his head? He might as well try and explain it to the man... er... Beast... er.... Person. "Well Zeferoth, it's not money that makes things complicated. Currency is actually very straight forward, the thing that makes it complicated is what it's founded upon." Thinking back to his experience as a clan head, Shōkan continued. "What is money founded on? To put it simply? Faith. When I pay these servants, they have faith that the money has value. And the stores that they go to spend that money have faith that it has value. Without faith, all money is just paper."

"Of course, then we think about the point you brought up. Why don't we just dominate each other like packs in the wild? Firstly, we do. Just not in the way you're used to. In society, there is always a hierarchy. In the SOul Society, it's the Gotei 13, with it's Captains and Vice-Captains and seated officers. Those positions actually are decided by strength. The difference you get is with th erest of society. For sentient beings, there is more value to a person than sheer power. Maybe that person is charismatic? or they have a special skill like healing? Human society is actually ridiculously complicated, most people don't realize it because they're learnign it from birth, but for someone like you, who's coming from a completely different world, its obvious."

For Zeferoth, this wasn't just a conversation. This was training just as important as the spar they had earlier. A perosn can survuve without combat training, but lacking in social skills is far more debilitating than lacking in fighting ability. Of course, part of social interaction was... FOOD. "This is so much different from anything that I have had before." Zeferoth said once he had finished his plate. Looking back to Shōkan, "I would like more if possible." Shōkan gave Zeferoth a smile, his nigh child-like wonder at the food was quite amusing, "Of course!" Shōkan didn't even need to ask the chefs for another round, they had been making it before Zeferoth had even asked. That was how good they were... Initiative was truly priceless.

There was a lag in the conversation, Shōkan decided to fill it, suddenly beginning "I was born in the year 641" He turned towards Zeferoth "I am also the only child of Hiroto Kawada and Kyoke Kawada, grandson of Jinbei Kawada, and once heir to the Kawada Clan." Shōkan held himself proudly as he recited his heritage, and why shouldn't he? It was a bloodline to be proud of, a bloodline of immensely powerful, honourable warriors. "At the age of 40, I became Captain fo Squad 13, and Head of the Kawada Clan. Over three centuries after that, there was... A disturbance in teh World of the Living." At this point Shōkan was getting ahead of himself, Zeferoth didn't need to know about that just yet...

"Anyway, long story short, I was sealed in an alternate dimension for over a thousand years, and when I came out, almost all of my power was gone. Leaving me but a shadow of a fraction of my former self. What you see know is me tryign to regain just a little bit of my former power. My clan needs every shred of it I can dig up to weather the storm to come..." Shōkan gave Zeferoth a curious look, "Now that you know just a bit about me, why not tell me a bit about yourself? I'm awfully curious as to how you got here in this situation... Zeferoth." He didn't know exactly why he told Zeferoth all of that, it certainly wasn't necessary... Perhaps he felt a certain kinship to him, being thrown into a world so totally different from the one he was used to...

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Zeferoth got the jist of what Shokan was talking about. He locked eyes with the two legger as he explained how exactly money worked in two legger society. The physical properties of the money itself was not what made it valuable like it might with trade among the clans, but instead it was this faith that gave it value. Just the assumption that it is what they say it is. It was not as concrete as Zeferoth would have liked, but he still listened with interest. He found it interesting how different their two societies were different. He wanted to learn more.

He also took note when he said that the two leggers were also bound by strength like the beast clans, but it was in a slightly different way. Instead of the strongest making the decisions all the time, it seems that only part of it is ran that way. The gotei thirteen, were those the two leggers in black like who he was talking to? He did hear other black two leggers refer to some of their own as captains and even something called vice captains. He was confident that they were also called shinigami from what he heard in the world of the living.

Then there was silence. It was only then that Zeferoth looked away from Shokan to think about what he had just heard and about his situation in general. He still didn't fully understand why this two legger was so nice to him. Most of the two leggers, even the two leggers in black, would just try to run him off as soon as they saw him, so why not him? Why does he not shot at him, invite him into his den, and even feed someone he had just met that is looked down in their society?

The two legger broke his thoughts when he started talking again. He was talking about his own past. Maybe now was the time to really get to know this strange two legger. He told who his family was referring to another father. How could he have two fathers? He really didn't even know his own father. Honey Badger females raise their young alone. Any males would try to kill the pups in order to mate with her.

He listened how Shokan went to the other world because something was going on there. He ended up in an alternate dimension whatever that was. From what Shokan was describing, it seems that like Zeferoth, he too was an outsider now. He was outside of his own time and everything was new to him as well. Maybe that was why Shokan was acting this kind to him. They were both outcasts in a sense trying to adjust to a new world.

Since he was kind enough to tell his story, Zeferoth thought that it was only fair that he told his own history. "I lived in the other world born to a normal honey badger. I was not the only one though, I also had a sister. For the first year my mother would do all the hunting while me and my sister played and grew in our den. It was a hard existence in the Savannah. Sometimes it would seem that there would not be enough food for the both of us.

"Even then I was unusually large when it came to honey badgers. When I was strong enough to go outside the den, I would often protect my smaller sister from the local predators such as, snakes, jackals, and other such animals. I would also hunt with my mother so that we could gather twice the amount of food." He paused thinking back to that simpler yet equally dangerous time in his life. He was suddenly saddened. He did not know exactly way, but it was plain on his face. He shook it off and continued. 

"Of course our mother died of old age leaving just me to take care of my sister. She was still rather small and quite naive to the dangers around her. She nearly got killed by a sly serpent. I managed to drive him back time and again each fight growing in ferocity. It was like we were fated to fight each other. Me and that one serpent. I can still see it now when I close my eyes. It's lightning quick strikes, and sharp fangs full of that irritating venom.

"Then one day, two leggers caught me while I was out hunting. I was separated from my sister telling her to run and watching her disappear in the tall grass. The dark two leggers brought me to their den where they forced animals to fight for money and sport. Due to my size and ferocity, i became a quick favorite among the dark two leggers. I was not the only one that they manage to catch for their little fights. That serpent was also a popular champion.

"Again we fought many times throughout our separate careers, and each time our fights became more and more savage, and our injuries more and more severe. Then it was one day where we faced off for the last time. My claw managed to pierce the head of the serpent finally killing the fiend, but he too made the killing blow. His bite struck my chest and a fang pierced my heart killing us both in one attack."

He paused again to ponder the fate of his sister. He wondered if she was still alive, and if she was able to mature enough to bear her own children and pass on their legacy in his place. He wondered if the dark two leggers have caught her too and forced her to fight for them. He wondered if she was killed by a predator that he was supposed to protect her from. "I now am concerned. I wonder about my sister. If she is alright."

[Amagai Kuchiki]

56 paragraphs = 280 CTP for Zeferoth, 280 TTP for Shokan.