Bleach: Online World is a fun and exciting way to exercise your creativity and escape into a world you help build! It is an expansive roleplay experience depicting the entire Bleach Universe, but this time we control what happens. This is a great place to meet new people, make friends, and come to have fun and relax for a few hours as you lose yourself in the mind of a character that you design!
Here, you decide your own destiny as you forge your way through Soul Society as a Shinigami, or through Hueco Mundo as a Hollow. Travel the world as a human, or corrupt it as a Bount. Hunt your prey and escape your enemies as a Quincy, or put on your mask and roar as a Vizard. Whichever path you choose, your role in this expansive, alternate Bleach universe is up to you! There are no canon characters to deter or impede you, and everyone can help each other build their story! So what are you waiting for? Hop on in, and get started!
If Grodd could growl, he would, but mute as he was he could just snarl his teeth in the general direction of the Third Seat and be content with that. Grodd was not a fan of this event, though he didn't have a problem with the penalty for failing, since he rather enjoyed sleeping outside. The ridicule was annoying, though, as other members of his squad tended to jeer at him for being a failure of a scout. Many of them felt that he should never have passed the entrance exam into the squad anyways, so they took their chances to tease him when they could. He dealt with it in kind, but they never did understand his insults spoken through his hands.
Now bound to Shin, the man's near nakedness definitely seemed to bother the Shinigami from Squad 6. He nervously pointed in a direction and suggested they go that way, but he definitely wasn't confident. Grodd just rolled his eyes and crouched down. As he bent his knee to the ground Shin was forced into the dirt as well. Grodd drew a crude picture of a pig, basically just an oval with a circle head and stick legs, then drew a few wiggly lines. He drew an arrow from the pig drawing to the wiggly lines. The wiggly lines were supposed to represent a river, but it would be up to Shin's intelligence and creativity whether or not he could actually see the image of a river in Grodd's crude art.
An awkward silence filled the air after Shin's half assed suggestion. It was definitely clear that Shin wasn't exactly thrilled to be bound next to a naked man twice his size. Everything about it felt strange but he was a Shinigami and he knew he would have to suck it up and deal with it. At least so they could win the task, then Shin could gloat about it later. A true god does what he has to do, even when it's less than ideal. That's what separated a true future god from mortals, the ability to do things that no one else would be able to understand, not be able to even dream of achieving. He would have to perform feats simply inconceivable to the average man.
Or in this case complete this task.
Without warning Grodd moves down and Shin's body was forcefully dragged down with him. Shin noticed he had begun to draw lines with his finger in the dirt. First he drew an oval, along with legs and a tail. The tail confirmed it in Shin's mind, this was a pig. That definitely meant Grodd knew something Shin didn't, or at least had a much better idea than Shin did. After all, all Shin could muster was to point in any general direction. This seemed almost planned, well-thought out. The only problem was the communication. It only makes sense that he would know, after all, he's probably done this challenge plenty of times. Shin raised an eyebrow at the pig, but Grodd wasn't done.
He began to draw lines, lots and lots of lines, and they weren't straight either; they were wiggly like waves. The fuck do wiggly lines have to do with a pig? Shin had to think and he had to think hard. He was only good at analysing when it came to a battle, all of this detective and decoding shit simply wasn't for him. If he couldn't stick a katana through it then he couldn't analyse it - at least not quickly. He stared at the drawing for what felt like an age but in reality was barely longer than a minute. He mentally racked his brain for an answer, he knew he was wasting precious seconds, the clock was ticking.
Waves, what do the waves represent in relation to the pig? What would a pig have to do with waves? There were plenty of waves everywhere, but they were surrounded by a forest. Sound waves? No, that didn't make any sense, sound was everywhere. Visible light waves? That made a lot more sense, maybe he meant waves in relation to light waves. So the pig was in a well lit area? Shin glanced to the sky. No, they were outdoors, this meant everywhere was lit, with the occasional tree blocking out the sun. Fuck sake. Waves, what did waves mean?
He immediately thought of water waves, but this wasn't a beach, where would water waves be-
BINGO!
They weren't waves, it was just water. Shin immediately thought to all the childish drawings he had seen. Kids usually drew water in the form of wiggly lines. And based on what he had seen, this guy wasn't exactly an Einstein. And where would water be in a forest? Either a water fall or a river, maybe even a stream. "Do you mean a river? If that's what you're thinking about then let's go to the nearest river, before someone else gets there first! Shin exclaimed, pretty proud of himself for thinking it up.
Grodd nodded at Shin and spun around so the two Shinigami were back to back. It would be a little bit uncomfortable with the Bakudo holding their legs together, but better than trying to chase a pig with three legs. Bending forwards, Grodd lifted most of Shin off of the ground and began to run towards the river he knew was off towards the north. The pigs liked water and mud to keep cool, so that is where they were found most often. The other squad 3 members would have realized this, so they would have gone straight there also. Hopefully Shin and Grodd would have the advantage of being closer and moving more efficiently. Once they located a pig, Grodd planned to use the Bakudo Horin to capture one, but he was definitely up to hearing any opinion from Shin. After all, Grodd always lost this event...
The Shinigami realised that this would be a rather difficult task very, very quickly. Him taking the lead would be virtually impossible since Grodd was much heavier and bulkier than him and dragging him around would be impossible. On the other hand, Shin did not fancy being dragged around like a rag doll while chasing a pig. At the moment, the only way they could have a hope of finishing this challenge was to work together - unfortunately, even that seemed impossible at this point. Shin knew that Grodd couldn't talk, he had deduced that rather quickly; he had not said a single word to him, even when relaying crucial information.
It was clear he was some sort of mute, which made this even more difficult since communication was key. This is why I hate working as a damn team. It was true, Shin was used to working by himself, in his eyes, a true god wouldn't need the help of others. He would only complete his path to transcendence when he achieved true independence. Still, he knew it couldn't be helped at this point - he needed to adapt to the situation. He was good at that, being fluid and being able to go with the flow. It was a skill he would need to employ now, adaptability.
He knew Grodd wouldn't talk, however, he did seem to understand what Shin said to at least some degree. That meant it would be easy to Shin to communicate with Grodd but harder for Grodd to communicate with him. Shin didn't know sign language, and his out of battle analysis was mediocre at best. This meant he would struggle to understand any complex physical signals thrown his way. Still, at most Shin only anticipated points and grunts, nothing too complex given the nature of the task. "So erm, how are we going to- WHOA!" before his sentence could be finished, Grodd took matters into his own hands and hoisted Shin off the ground by bending forwards.
For a split second, Shin panicked at the unknown. He didn't quite know and struggled to figure out what the purpose of this was but he quickly realised. So we're faster. Speed would be a deciding factor in this, for definite. Furthermore, most people would know that pigs were likely to be in muddy, wet areas; the only place that fit such a description could only be the river. That meant other pairs would be attracted there like moth to a flame, this meant that catching the pig could come down to split second moments and who was faster than who. Having two legs instead of three would definitely help on this front. "Right, that sorts it out." Shin muttered, grinning slightly.
Despite being a mute, he had great ideas. Granted, he had probably done this task many times before. "Since the pig is all greased, probably best not to catch it with our hands," Shin paused, choosing his next words carefully, I'm not exactly the best with kido, so I'll leave binding the pig up to you; I'll focus on making sure the other pairs don't get a pig before we do." Shin explained, in all honesty the plan sounded good. He exhaled and waited for Grodd to lead them to the river. After all, he knew these parts much better than he did. Still, despite his unfamiliarity, Shin was strangely confident.
"Right, let's go."
Despite his confidence, it was much easier said that done.
The event was on! Grodd began to run, but it was quickly apparent that it was going to be a challenge for him. With his left leg unhindered but his right leg weighed down by the entirety of Shin's body attached to it his movement was seriously affected. It was like he had a terrible limp. Thankfully, he got into a rhythm and managed to make good time. Shin would have a perfect view of behind the pair, but unfortunately he wouldn't really be able to see where they were going without contorting his body uncomfortably and slowing Grodd down by putting the two off balance. However, Shin wouldn't have to be blind for too long, as they quickly approached the river.
Right on cue, the squealing of a pig could be heard running for the river. It wanted to clean itself of the grease by immersing itself in the water, but it wasn't having a lot of luck by rolling around in the shallows. Grodd hobbled right for it, raising his right hand and mentally preparing Bakudo #9: Horin. The orange rope emerged from his hand, moving right for the pig. However, someone else had a different plan in mind. Coming from the side, in both Shin's and Grodd's blind spot, emerged a bolt of lightning. Grodd shrugged Shin onto the ground and turned so they both could see the attacker. He was frustrated to be foiled in what would be his first victory over this dumb challenge and looked to be fighting mad.
The pair of Shinigami in front of Shin and Grodd were seated officers both, from Squads 3 and 5. The Squad 5 Shinigami, who neither Shin nor Grodd would recognize, still had his hand in a "finger gun" formation. He wore giant goggles that seemed to allow him to see things from farther away... or something. Grodd thought that they just looked dumb. What looked especially dumb was the big goofy grin on his face. The Squad 3 Shinigami, whom Grodd knew all too well, was a relative bully who knew that he could push people around. He currently had the Squad 5 Shinigami held up under his right arm, which just made the pair look extra dumb, in Grodd's opinion. Which deserved a flipped bird in their direction.
"Now Grodd... That's no way to address a superior officer. Especially when that officer is carrying someone who can blast your Bakudo to smithereens with one of the weakest Hado there is! You best not mess with us or you'll miss your chance at a pig yet again!" What followed was the worst laugh in the history of the Seireitei. It sounded like a mixture of a yak dying and a sheep fornicating with a dolphin. "Ay-hyuk arg arg ay-hyuk! Ay-hyuk arg arg ay-hyuk! Ay-hyuk arg arg ay-hyuk!" Grodd flipped him off and cast Sho out of his raised middle finger to shut him up, even though he knew that the man and his partner would be able to defend against it. That laugh just drove him insane! Meanwhile, Grodd hoped that Shin had a plan for how to secure this pig and get it away from these powerful Seated officers.