Trouble in Paradise [Disney Event, Medium, NDE]

[Kyomei Kuchiki]

Name: [Trouble in Paradise] - The Adventure Name

Participants: [Shizuka Sanamizu ✮ and up to 2 more participants] - Who can participate?

Location: [Dream Bubble outside of Myrtle Beach] - Where does this take place?

Difficulty Level: [Medium] - Easy, Medium, Hard, Extreme. How difficult is this adventure?

Setting: [NDE] Is this DE or NDE? Death Enabled or Non Death Enabled?

Plotline: [Shizuka has been shown the location of a Dream bubble by Walt Disney which has led her to a beach. She's not the only one contesting for this bubble, though. Once entry has been achieved, the dream begins with stories of underwater fantasies and a paradise in the open air and the sun. But not all is at it seems in the castle overlooking the beach...] - Explain the plot of your adventure.

Estimated Enemy Strength: [Class 4-3, on average] Estimate the strength of the NPC's people will fight in this adventure. Class 7-1, what is their strength on average?

Estimated Time Until Completion: [3 pages or so] - How many pages do you think this adventure will run for until it is over?

Starts: [After DM Intro] - When does the adventure begin?

Special Conditions: [Spots must be claimed before the intro goes up in order to be eligible for this adventure. Shizuka's allegiance is known (Walt Disney), but others joining this Adventure must state their allegiance in their claim post.] - Any special conditions, limitations, or other things.

[Senshi Odayakama (Crimson.)]

I shall join for myself Let's attack some mermaids? I honestly have no idea XD.

[Kyomei Kuchiki]

At the meeting place of sand dunes and salty waves there lies a disturbance in the fabric of reality. This private beach was a struggle to find, but Shizuka and Senshi made it at the same time. The Fullbringer and Shinigami both made it to the bubble and were sucked inside. Their mission? To stop whatever Conflict arose, whether through peaceful or aggressive means. They seemed to be the only ones sucked inside, for now, so they could either work together or work against each other. The end result would be shards and Crystals made of Dreams that could be hoarded or delivered to Hell or Disney.

As they touched the bubble, a warm wind filled the air, followed by the sensation of being soaking wet. Images flashed in their mind of a story that might be very familiar to the ladies. They Dreamed of two worlds, separated only by a beach. There was a world above the waves and a world below. A princess, daughter to the Lord of the Seas, left her world to join the world above the waves and marry a prince in a castle overlooking the home she left. That was the world that Senshi and Shizuka were entering. They would find themselves waking up on the beach, bare feet being lightly kissed by the waves. They'd now have a chance to interact while it was peaceful.

But how long would that peace last?

Shizuka Sanamizu ✮
Senshi Odayakama (Crimson.)

[Senshi Odayakama (Crimson.)]

Odayakama Senshi awoke confused on the sands as she stared into a blue sky. She was confused on what had had happened. Why had she woke on the sand in seemingly nowhere? The Shinigami had slowly sat up, only to lay right back down as a splitting headache rocked her mind. A story of some sort of mermaid princess wanting to marry a human prince went through her mind. She groaned as the water washed over her bare feet. Odayakama Senshi was a Shinigami, and Unseated Officer of Squad 9. The crimson headed officer had touched her side to see her blade was still tied neatly to her side. That much, she was most certainly grateful for. It was time to stand up, and so the officer begrudgingly forced herself to get on her feet. Her cerulean eyes were shielded by the sun from Odayakama Senshi's right hand. Where were they exactly?

The sea was a cerulean blue almost like her eyes as the waves were gently going out across the sandy floor. She knew not why she was here, so she supposed she would fight for herself if needed. She wiggled her feet on the warm sand as she looked over the horizon to see it was peaceful and clear on the ocean. That much was good news. However, something puzzled her for a moment. Was that someone else lying down on the grass a whiles away? Senshi not wanting to waste her energy had followed step by step leaving her prints in the sand only for the waves to wash them clean away. Soon, she had found herself in front of this individual. Who was this young woman?

The figure down below would be able to see a black robed figure standing in front of her with an outfit size two sizes too big for her and tied at the waist. She wore a sword on the right side of her body, and from that alone it screamed, "SHINIGAMI!" The reaper looked to be European in terms of hair and eye color, but yet was small and petite. Senshi only stood at the height of 5,4. "Daijobu? (Are you alright?)" A open hand had been extended to offer her help to stand. Normally, she would assume a human like this would be unable to see her, but this one had spiritual energy. That immediately showed she was not oblivious of her existence. If she were to accept, she would be hoisted onto her two feet as Odayakama Senshi would speak.

"Konichiwa. My name is Odayakama Senshi, Unseated Officer of Squad 9." Opening the introduction with her name and rank, how cliche. Senshi had a question in her mind that she ever so wanted to ask, but wondered if this human even knew the answer. "What's your name? Also, do you know where we are? I don't recall how I got here." The Shinigami had at the moment looked more like a young child playing dress up than a competent warrior. However, her spiritual power was larger than most in the Soul Society. Senshi had looked to her acquaintance in confusion with her eyebrows raised slightly. What did the story that went through her mind have to do with this place? She didn't know. She needed to head back to the Seireitei as soon as possible. 

Senshi did not feel so comfortable with the sand between her toes as it got everywhere. It was so uncomfortable as she could feel it already inside of her uniform. What made it worse was that the sun seemed to like black as it was drawn to her outfit. It made her feel hot and stuffy, but she would have to bare with it for now. She wished also that she had some sandals or maybe even shoes to protect her feet. What if she were to be running and she were to step on a random sea shell. That would be absolutely miserable as she has done that before in her former life and youth. She was not aware of the dangers soon to come, but perhaps she would be prepared for it whenever it came. 

For now, she had a stranger in front of her to talk to and associate with. Hopefully she was friendly and they could work together to get to where they needed to go. She was unfamiliar with the landscape, and she guessed already they were not in Japan. At least, she assumed so seeing it seemed she warped from one place to another. She was just really really confused at the moment on why things were. Odayakama Senshi unknowingly had a mission/task to perform, but for what purpose was it even assigned? That was the most interesting question thus far she had to offer. 

SPOILER: Click to show

Stats:

Strength:(70x.75)= 52

Speed:250

Spiritual Pressure:280

Reiatsu Strength:(400x1.5)=600

Light Aura:75

Dark Aura:25

Instinct:100

Senses:100

Energy Sensory:0

Wound Expertise:0



Total:1200


Skills:

Analyzing:2

Learning:2

Weapons*:2[Swords]

Martial Arts*:2[Aikido]

Battle Analysis:2

Mental Enchantation:1

Pain Tolerance:2

Kido:1

14/16 SKP

OOC:I fight for myself. I have no real allegiance. 

[Deleted]

A dream like memory started to fill his mind as he slept. Yet this memory wasn't his own, he saw flashes of a life under the ocean. A rebellious princess that spoke against her father the king, wanting to live her life in another land, eventually finding her self marrying a prince on dry land and watching over the old kingdom and life that she had left behind. It was all so clear and oddly vivid, yet he didn't understand from where this memory came from, it wasn't his own mind yet it seemed as if he knew this story from deep within his own heart. Nothing in this dream seemed impossible, or implausible it seemed more like a fairytale that warmed him to the core.

The sounds of waves gently crashing against the shore and the smell of salt slowly started to wake him from his dream like state. His soft hazel gray eyes slowly opened up to see that he was standing by the ocean. His metal boots brushing the soft waves away, there was a soft breeze that brushed softly against his white hair still covered up slightly by the metal and leather helm he wore. The rays of the sun slowly started to warm him up in all the armor and the long white cloak he wore. Even in this era Siegfried still wore armor as he was a proud knight of his king and a knight needed to be ready for battle.

The longer he stood their looking at the ocean the more his senses started to come back to him. He had been in the castle that his king had created, training in the room deep below the ground when he had been taken to this place. His face finally turned to see the two girls that were standing before him. One was strange and new wearing black clothing, similar to that of the grim reaper of old. Yet instead of being a skeletal figure that brought fear and loathing into the hearts of men when appeared, there was a face of a young woman with hair of fire and eyes that sealed the open sky within them. In terms of stature she was shorter than him, yet she carried a blade along side her, while lacking armor. Was she a simple bandit ?

Yet the other woman he knew very well and as his eyes gazed upon her his face turned into a warm smile towards her. It was lady Shizuka, it had been too long since he had spoken with her. Her bright and vibrant gold like hair was still amazing as always. Still it wasn't her most impressive feature that she had, no Siegfried knew what it was, her eyes. One as deep and vast as the ocean the other bright and vibrant as an emerald. Those striking eyes were something that he would never forget, nor would he want to. She had left a lasting impression on him for better or for worse and he was fine with that. He was a bit stronger now, not as strong as her just yet, but stronger.

“Lady Shizuka, seeing thy visage warms me to the core. It hath been far too long since our last meeting. Dost thee know what sort of witchcraft hath brought us to this place?” While he wanted to chat more and catch up on what she had been doing right now there was a big mystery to solve something had taken them from where they were and brought them to this beach the how wasn't as important as the why though. Why them? Why this place? What was in store for them and why did he have that dream fill his mind.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler - Click To View}


Strength ☣ [300] Points

Speed ☣ [200] Points

Spiritual Pressure ☣ [250]x1.5=375Points

Reiatsu Strength ☣ [50]Points

Light Aura ☣ [95]

Dark Aura ☣ [5]

Instinct ☣ [140] Points

Senses ☣ [100] Points

Energy sensory ☣ [0] points

Healing Expertise ☣ [0] points

memory:2
Battle analysis :2
Strength of Will:2
Chains:2
Poison resist:2
Bleeding Tolerance:2

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

"Oh man! What a place!" Shizuka shouted as she threw her hands up above her head, smiling at the bright sky above her.

While it was true she had a mission to do, she couldn't stop herself from getting distracted by the beauty around her on this amazing private beach. Her exploration would soon come to a close, but until that happened, she was happy enough running around and feeling the sand beneath her then-bare feet. She was carrying her signature heels in her right hand and enjoying herself to the fullest. It would be such a shame to waste this opportunity while she had it, but she knew it wouldn't last much longer. Unfortunately, she had a job to do that she volunteered for. She needed to get back to it.

Upon exploring the endless sea and sands, she came to realize the dream bubble she'd needed to find was present. It didn't take long for her and some stranger - another contestant, she assumed - to get literally sucked up into the bubble. The entire sensation was actually rather pleasant, and the two of them were suddenly transported somewhere even more beautiful than the last beach. Shizuka was still barefoot, but she held her shoes within her hand the entire time. After glancing around, she noticed the other person who went along with her and sneered to herself. She recognized this girl. She was a Shinigami.

Shizuka, still with her butt placed firmly on the ground from her landing, rolled her eyes as the being approached her. That was disgusting. These creatures never seemed to have any common courtesy! It was as if they thought they owned the place. How come they had to act all high and mighty? This Fullbringer was probably of a higher rank anyway. She didn't know how Shinigami ranks worked, but she was certainly sure it was the truth! Either way, she was displeased. A somewhat exciting trip became entirely too dreadful for her liking, and it all happened way too fast. Shizuka was seconds away from just offing herself right there.

"I'm fine," Shizuka responded, slapping the monster's hand away from her own angelic face. "Don't touch me."

Yeah, sure she was being a little cruel. But all this dumb little thing was doing was annoying her. She was asking entirely too many questions and all it was doing was pissing Shizuka off even more. She rolled her eyes in a very obvious manner and looked away, helping herself up off the ground instead of accepting any assistance. She wouldn't dare dirty her hand by touching it to the likes of this swine. She did suppose, however, that an introduction was appropriate. She had a special one for this particular moment, and she had been waiting for months for the right opportunity to dish it out.

"My name is Shizuka Sanamizu. I'm a Fullbringer. I know what you are, and I will kill you. Don't touch me."

“Lady Shizuka, seeing thy visage warms me to the core. It hath been far too long since our last meeting. Dost thee know what sort of witchcraft hath brought us to this place?”

Huh?

The woman recognized that voice. She turned herself around to divert her gaze from the creature in black robes, catching the eyes of Siegfried. Another Fullbringer was there! They outnumbered the Shinigami! A smile grew across Shizuka's face as she thanked Siegfried for being there in her own silent mind. She didn't remember seeing him in the meeting with Disney, but she also didn't recognize this other girl, either. She simply assumed that something was going on behind the scenes for these two to be present. Naturally, she didn't think much of it. They live in a world of magic, after all.

Nevertheless, the blonde knew that they needed to get it together. She wanted to have absolutely nothing to do with Senshi or whoever because of her kind, but she was okay with pairing up with Siegfried. She actually knew the guy and didn't mind him all that much. She assumed that he would have possibly gotten a bit stronger by now, which meant they would be in the clear when it came to battling anyone. Could they even make an alliance? She wasn't sure. For now, Shizuka just wanted to get away from this Shinigami. She reeked of disappointment. The Fullbringer chose to ignore her and turn back around to the man.

"Oh my gosh! It's good to see you, Siegfried! How are you?"

SPOILER: Click to show

{Shizuka's Stats}

Strength - [100] Points

Speed - [300] Points

Spiritual Pressure - [200] = [500] Points

Reiatsu Strength - [400] = [1000] Points

Light Aura - [60] Points

Dark Aura - [40] Points

Instinct - [200] = [100] Points

Senses [200] = [100] Points

Energy sensory - [0] Points

Healing Expertise - [0] Points

Total SP: [1400] Points

SPOILER: Click to show

{Shizuka's Skills}

[Weapon: Firearms] {4}

[Analyzing] {3}

[Stealth] {3}

[Strength of Will] {3}

[Honeypotting - The art of manipulation to obtain information. Basically, a girl gathers enough information about her target - male or female, doesn't matter - and dresses accordingly or changes how she acts to be able to get them to do whatever she wants or tell her what she needs to hear.] {3}

[Senshi Odayakama (Crimson.)]

What a surprise it was for the crimson haired Shinigami. She had walked up to the feminine figure with the full intention of kindness and help, but when she held her hand out, it was slapped away with a look of disdain. The young Shinigami looked confused as the human had then spoke some rather hostile words. The woman said that she was going to kill her because she knew what she was? She didn't say she was going to kill her if she antagonized this woman more, simply that she WAS going to be killed. The redheaded reaper had looked at her with a plain look that looked like a sad frown, but then the reaper just turned and began to walk off into the other direction of the beach. No need for the unnecessary conflicts. She just walked step by step being mindful for any sharp rocks or such that might be lying around. If she were to be attacked, she would retaliate as necessary. She dare not lower her guard any longer in front of this woman.

Next thing she knew, she heard an old timey voice asking Shizuka what witch magic had brought them all here. That made Senshi wonder if her appearance in this location was due to supernatural manipulations. It seemed that the fullbringer was acquainted with this new figure so she would leave them to their own devices for the time being. Odayakama Senshi had wordlessly walked off through the sand to the east end of the beach. She assumed immediately the other figure was also a fullbringer. Hopefully if she left the two humans alone, they wouldn't trouble her. Now, what in the world was she going to do here on this questionable beach? Now she had two worries in the form of fullbringer, and also in the sense that she was lost in a place she didn't know.

The young Shinigami had traveled further and out of sight of the humans before she sighed audibly. Reaching into her robes, she had taken out a pair of glasses before slipping them onto her face. It was mostly for aesthetics but was a neat little invention of squad nine to help people be near or far sighted without straining the eyes so much. She would be on guard as she wondered if whatever sent them to this beach was still around. It was a shame she had to work alone as civility wouldn't work with the other two most likely. She had to fend for herself, and so she wondered what else might be here other than beach. What was the rest of the environment like in the distance farther inland. Senshi would walk to find out. Whatever magic user had brought them here might still be present and perhaps it could send Senshi back home.

It was Senshi's first time being anywhere else than Karakura and the environment was foreign. She was unable to discern where they were based off the environment although she wondered if they were in the American lands? She wondered what the story that flashed through her head had to do with anything. It really didn't matter at this point, but Odayakama Senshi couldn't stop thinking of the trivial. Her blade was sheathed as she would occasionally shake her uniform and clothes to rid them of the horrid sand. A cool breeze had blown smelling of salt. It was a wonderful aroma seeing the last time she was at a beach was nearly a century ago. It sure was nostalgic and brought back memories of her past encounter with Wycliff. She wondered if he were here maybe.

[Kyomei Kuchiki]

"Are you lost, dear?"

A voice interrupted Senshi's solitude, coming from the land side of the beach. A woman started walking towards her, a basket of seashells in her hand. The woman wore a beautiful purple dress that was hiked up around her waist to avoid getting too much into the sand. The key piece of her outfit, though, was her tiara and seashell earrings. She was definitely royalty, given the elegance of her dress and her accessories. She looked friendly enough, and seemed to care about Senshi and if she was lost or not. "You look hungry, would you like to come to my vacation home for something to eat? It's away from the sand, so you'll be able to get it all out of your clothes."

Meanwhile, Shizuka and Siegfried were catching up while a group of people started making their way towards them from the castle in the distance. They hadn't arrived yet, but the person who stood out the most was a woman with bright red hair alongside a handsome prince. They were surrounded by six soldiers carrying spears made out of coral and seashells. It was an odd looking weapon, but looked quite dangerous to be stabbed with. Their intentions were unclear, but there was a wicker basket in the princess's hands, so much could be assumed about their intent. Hopefully Siegfried knew what a picnic was...

[Senshi Odayakama (Crimson.)]

As it happened to be, Senshi had soon heard a friendly voice call out to her. There was a beautiful woman wearing a purple dress as well as a tiara and seashell earrings. A lot of questions would go through the redheads mind at the moment. One of those questions was how this woman was able to see her unless she was a spiritually aware being of some sort. The Shinigami had turned to the woman who seemed to be a princess or perhaps queen. The Shinigami had bowed politely as the woman had invited her to come to a vacation home for something to eat and to get the sand out. It was awfully tempting, but something wasn't right. Just from looking at her she should be able to identify what she was, but she lacked that ability at the moment.

“Gomenosai. My name is Odayakama Senshi and it seems that I am lost. I'm far away from home and I don't know how I got here. It would be greatly appreciated to have some assistance, but may I ask your name your highness? Also, may you please explain to me where I am? I'm unaware of where this place is.” The red headed reaper would listen before following the woman on the trail. Senshi was hoping that there would be no violent confrontations on this trip, but was more than prepared for it if need be. Armed with her arsenal of Kido and soul slayer by her side, she had little worries on the world around her. However, she was curious on this woman's powers.

She was suspicious and therefore kept her guard up at all times. The woman could obviously see the weapon at Senshi’s side. Then again, this woman was far more polite and welcoming than the first human she saw on the beach. Perhaps even if she was a fullbringer, she had no bad grudges with Shinigami like herself. The cerulean eyes of Senshi were sensitive to the bright sun, so she shielded them with her free hand. The sand was irritating more than anything, and she would be grateful to get out of it. Walking and following the woman, she decided to stay quiet to see if she had any questions for the seemingly young female. Perhaps the royal figure could sense Senshi was tense all this time, but there was no definite answer.

Senshi after five minutes of walking was no longer concerned with the two figures from before on the beach. Senshi licked her lips as sweat beaded on her forehead. Why did the Shinigami have to wear black instead of a more sensible color that was lighter? Senshi thought of water or iced tea to help refresh her. She considered ditching her to bed at this point, but would deny herself the luxury seeing a stranger was in front of her. Hopefully she would escape the agony of the heat soon. "Excuse me...but. How much longer until we reach your summer home?" Senshi fanned herself with her right hand as she wiped her forehead for the seventh time since their depart.

[Deleted]

He was glad that Shizuka had a warm welcome and seem rather put together given the situation that they had found themselves in. He wondered if she had something like this happen to her before. If she did it would answer why she seemed so calm given that they had all been brought to a strange land without explanation. Either way his attention was drawn to the red headed girl that walked away without saying anything else. It seemed as if whatever she had wanted or needed was answered and she was done with the two of them. That was fine, he wasn't exactly too sure as to why her clothing made him feel rather uncomfortable.

“I hath been well, lady Shizuka, I ask thee how hath thee been?” For now exchanging pleasant words would calm his state of mind slightly as he tried to adjust to the fact that he had been affected by witchcraft. “Lady Shizuka allow me to be frank if I may. Hath thee any knowledge as to where we are and what hath brought us to this beach?” The faster that he got him self situated in what she knew and the information that they knew the faster he could try and get them home. Even if Shizuka was vastly stronger than him he still had a duty as a knight to try and get her home safely.

He was a knight, it was his responsibility to keep the innocent from getting in harms way. He couldn't stand it if he actually allowed harm to come to her. She was his friend, and that meant that right now he was more concerned with getting her home safe and sound rather than himself. It didn't matter to him where or when he landed he knew he could take care of himself and survive off of the land if needed, however he didn't want that same fate to fall on her. For that to happen to her, for him would be worse than dying, given that he had failed at his job.

Still they didn't have too much time to talk given that they wouldn't be alone for too long. Siegfried would see them coming towards them. A group of eight people, six of them armed with weapons and what was clearly two people of royalty or nobility beside them. It appeared to them that this was an outing that they had planned. Before Shizuka could say anything to them he turned to the group approaching them and spoke. “Forgive this knight for setting foot on thy land without thou approval. I come not with harm in mind. Both I and the lady I am sworn to protect hath landed in a land so strange and foreign to us. Might I humbly request for thy assistance.” Siegfried then lowered his head and bowed before them as a sign of respect.

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

"I've been good!" Shizuka giggled. "But I'll be honest with you. I have no idea what's going on. I remember this story from when I was a kid, but I'm not very sure why any of this is happening. I think we just need to go along with it."

But before she had a chance to catch up anymore, a princess appeared with a group of what seemed like protectors of some sort. Maybe they were guards or something like that, but it was startling, nonetheless. She didn't get much of a threatening feeling from these people despite their weapons, but she decided it would probably be best to engage them a bit. She wanted them to know she wasn't a threat, but she could be in a matter of seconds, if need be. She didn't want to fight royalty, though. It was hard enough in the Human World with everybody being related to some kind of hierarchy, but she was slowly getting used to it.

"Um. Is there anything we can help you with?" Shizuka asked, cocking her head to the side in a dog-like way.

[Kyomei Kuchiki]

OOC: Siegfried has left the site. Irina will replace him in the following series of posts.

As the Shinigami and the lady in purple left the sand, finally, they reached a grassy hill with a fair sized house on top of it. The lady let the hem of her dress fall so that she didn't have to keep hiking it up out of the sand now that they were walking on grass. "My name is not important. You may simply call me "My Queen". As for where you are, you are in the great Queendom of Atlasia. Now, let us finish this climb and get you out of the sun. Your excessive sweat is starting to smell." The Queen led Senshi up into the house, the entry way of which was filled with various seashells and coral and all things oceanic.

The Queen welcomed Senshi into the main living room adjourning a dining room filled with place settings. It would appear that a meal was about to begin in the other room, but the Queen held up a hand to have Senshi stop before entering the room. "Before we sit down to eat, I need something from you. If you are to stay with me in my home, away from the sun and away from the sand and away from my barbaric neighbors to the west, then you will give me a lock of your beautiful red hair. You will cut off a small piece and place it into the locket on the table. If you do not, you will be unwelcome here."

Meanwhile, Shizuka was greeted by the entourage coming from the direction of the nearby castle. They seemed very on edge and the soldiers held onto their weapons tightly. "Excuse me, but what are you doing so close to the water? Don't you know that it's dangerous? You don't even seem to have any real weapons on you that would help against the monsters. Come, come away from the water and join us for a small picnic? We haven't had any visitors in a long while." As the princess was talking, a lightning bolt struck the ocean even though there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

"Is that... a canoe of... cardboard? Someone get that strange person out of there quick before the sea monsters arrive!"

[Senshi Odayakama (Crimson.)]

The mysterious woman in front of her spoke, mentioning that her name wasn’t important. The woman in front of her was royalty and wanted to be suggested as such. Senshi had stopped right there as she was informed she was in a land known as Atlasia. She wanted to say something here and then. “I apologize for my rudeness, but I will not be calling anyone king or queen. It is against my morals as I do not support monarchy or matriarchy. I know that this is likely insulting, or perhaps disrespectful. However, I won’t call you by a royal title. I do not support nobility and royalty reign.” She was silent as she didn’t believe this woman to be a queen anyways.

A queen was a woman who would be kept under watch by an entourage, guards, handmaidens, and a plethora of servants to hold and meet her every desire. A queen did not wander by herself and certainly not to a beach barefoot. Not any queen she had heard of. If she were to still be escorted to the woman’s home, she took note of the surroundings. It seemed that this home had quite a few ocean related accessories. She was guided to the main living room where she could smell something cooking in the next rom. It was then she realized, she was hungry and thirsty from the trek as well as from the heat of this beach.

Surely if someone was cooking at the moment, they were this queen’s servants. So, perhaps she was royalty after all. Senshi stood there, taking off her sandals at the entrance and now stood with her white foot wrappings up to slightly above her ankles. She stopped when instructed and was told that if she was looking for hospitality, she was to give a lock of her hair of all things and give it to this so called queen. “A lock of my hair? I am thinking this is a custom of this land, and if that is the case, I shall do it.” Besides, she didn’t really have anywhere else to go although she also kept note of the so called barbarians in the west. Drawing her Zanpakutou, she had raised her blade to her hair before stopping and lowering it. Something didn’t seem right about this whole scenario. Therefore, simply ask a simple question.

“I apologize, but before I do cut my hair. May I ask why it is that it is required of me? Why is it that this is a custom? As a foreigner, I am sure you would have no issue explaining this to me. Would you also please do inform me of these barbarians of the west? I have been wandering for quite some time on that beach and have found no one other than you and...well, nobody of importance.” The blade was held in her left hand as Senshi’s sparkling blue eyes looked to the small locket and then to this woman. This woman was a spiritual being considering the fact that she was able to see her. It wouldn’t be wise to do anything that she asked...especially at such an odd request without explanation. Senshi had learned from her past mistakes about trusting strangers. Was the woman in front of her a fullbringer? Senshi would try to identify at least what race she was as that should be possible at least.

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

"Huh? The water?" Shizuka asked, gazing out towards the open ocean before her.

As the human girl pulled memories from her mind, she came to recall the story of The Little Mermaid and the sea witch, Ursula. As soon as these soldiers mentioned something about sea monsters, she began thinking of the old movie she saw as a child and remembered the fight between Ursula and everyone else. The prince had stabbed her through the stomach with his ship. If he and the red-headed girl were here on land, it's possible those events already happened.

So did that mean this was all present-time rather than just reliving the whole story? Shizuka looked back towards the group and smiled a genuine smile their way. The least she could do was entertain them, and she figured it'd likely be best to hide her Fullbring from them unless she really needed it. In time, she was sure to use it. Right now, however, she wanted to avoid startling anyone if she could help it.

"I'll come with you! But I have a few questions," Shizuka started as she joined their group. "I guess my first one would be something like... Do you know anyone by the name of Ursula?"

[Irina Davayte]

Friday was Irina’s day to do laundry, but first, she wanted to get a start on her end-of-term project for Engineering 101. It wouldn’t be due for a couple of months, but Irina was excited to get started. The manager where she bought her groceries had set aside several large cardboard boxes for her to take home. The only other material permitted for her project was packing tape. She had originally figured it wouldn’t be too hard; the problem would be finding the time to work on her design. After a fair amount of research, she was ready to build today. The tape provided a fair amount of water-proofing, so long as she used two offset layers. And she only needed to support her own body weight of less than 120 pounds, which would make for a much easier run than the heavier people in her class. She expected that her cardboard canoe would perform quite well.

After building a small scale model and floating it in her kitchen sink, she carefully measured, marked, and cut the cardboard for the real canoe with an x-acto knife. She had almost covered each panel for the canoe in packing tape before joining them to each other, when her phone vibrated in her pocket. She picked it up quickly, tangling up the tape in her hand. She cut the tape with her right hand, crossing over her left one to open the message on her phone. She made it a habit to never let alerts go unchecked, in case there was a Hollow nearby. Instead, she found an email from Kazura.

”Ms. Davayte,
There has been a disturbance in America, right outside Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. There isn’t much else that you need to know about this mission. I don’t know all of the details yet, but I do know that there will be conflict. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, will be to stop this conflict however you can. But as peacefully as possible if possible. If violence is necessary, it is approved. There may be other spiritually strong people there that may get in the way of a peaceful resolution. Be careful, I don’t know what I’m sending you into. But I’m more than confident in your new abilities.
Sincerely,
Kazura “

She paused just for a moment. Her spring break was coming up, so she would have no classes all week. She decided to go for it. She had been planning stay at her home-away-from-home in Japan for her break, to work on her schoolwork, and put in some extra hours at the office. She envisioned the pile of paperwork that would stack up on her desk if she went on a trip. But Irina was always up for an adventure. ”When can I leave?” she responded simply. She hadn’t always sent emails that short, but as her first year away from home in Russia progressed, she became more concise in her communication. She liked to think of it as efficiency. Now that she was away from people who were willing to listen to her endlessly, she found that she preferred to speak only when necessary. This had a great side effect: when she finally spoke up, people listened.

Later that night, she was in the airport for her third-ever plane trip. Not exactly a world traveler, she was nervous, but tried not to show it. As was her habit, she was brisk with the airport staff, but didn’t run into any problems with Airport Security. A blonde nineteen-year-old headed to the beach for spring break apparently didn’t raise any red flags. She disliked being thought of as a college student who was just looking for a party, but she had no real choice but to tolerate it. As she waited to be called to be seated with a textbook in her lap, her phone buzzed, and she snatched it up quickly. Instead of an alert about a Hollow, or another email from Kazura, she found a text message from her long-time best friend Altan.

”Hey, how’s it going? Isn’t it time for your spring break? What are you up to?“ Irina hesitated. Again, she didn’t want to be pegged for a college student looking for a good time, but Altan knew his serious best friend well enough to know that she wasn’t like that. ”Headed to the United States for spring break,“ she responded. ”Really? Wow. That doesn’t sound like you. What are you doing over there? he asked. Well, she couldn’t answer that very accurately. Altan didn’t know anything about her job, or really about anything of spiritual nature. She had to really keep him in the dark about the things she was up to. She wasn’t used to that. She was accustomed Altan knowing everything she was up to. Really, up until she left for school, she didn’t have to tell him much of anything: he was always with her, so he always knew.

”Just relaxing. Going to the beach,” she responded. Wow, what a bad lie. Altan knew that while she had never been to the beach, she hated hot weather, and hated humidity. Her favorite vacation was skiing. She would normally prefer to spend her holiday anywhere but the beach. She supposed he chose to ignore her lie, because he responded ”Well, enjoy your adventure. By the way, I just wanted to tell you: I sort of started seeing someone I go to school with. Not sure we’re really dating. We just worked on a project for school together, and went out for coffee. We’ve been hanging out for a few weeks. You’ll like her. She’s sweet.” Irina made a face. Altan hated coffee. What was he doing drinking coffee with some girl he barely knew? Altan was nearly as slow to make new friends as Irina herself. It wasn’t that he was any more extroverted than she; he just had a friendlier personality that put people at ease. Irina’s demeanor put people on ice. She wasn’t rude; just somewhat cold, as she preferred to keep people at a distance until she was comfortable with them.

Irina’s flight was called, so she shut off her phone. Not that she would have responded anyway. Altan had asked her to marry him the previous summer, about 8 months ago. While she loved him more than anyone in the world, she had frostily declined his offer. She treasured their friendship, and didn’t understand why he would want to do anything that could change it. Additionally, they were only eighteen at the time, and she wanted to explore her world before settling down…that is, if she did ever want to settle down at all. Sure, she loved Altan, but she thought she loved her independence more. Still, it upset her in a way that she couldn’t quite understand, to hear that he was dating someone else.

Early the next morning, she hadn’t yet heard anything else about the “disturbance” in the area, so at 10:00am, she put down her study materials and reluctantly hit the beach, which was behind her hotel. Not one for frivolity, she wore a t-shirt with crisp, freshly-ironed Bermuda-length shorts and sandals. It was probably the most casual outfit she had worn outside of her home in a year. She also carried a small backpack, which contained her keys, wallet, telephone, and her grandfather’s sword hilt. Lately, she didn’t like to leave her sealed fullbring behind when she went anywhere. She felt safer knowing that she had a weapon on her, so she had packed a bag to check as luggage at the airport, since didn’t want to go through the drama of explaining that it wasn’t functional…Which wasn’t even really true.

The white sand looked nice, at least: kind of like snow. She gingerly walked from the sidewalk into it, and was dismayed to find that the stuffy air felt even hotter than before. Her sandals seemed to burn from the heat radiating off the hot sand.

She walked toward the water, hoping to find some respite from the oppressive humidity and coal-like sand. The sand had a nice “give” to it; she made a mental note to go for a jog along the beach early in the morning, if she got a chance. It would be a great way to strengthen her legs. She stepped into the water, barely getting ankle-deep, and let the waves lap around her feet. The water, at least, felt great: just cool enough to keep the sand from burning. She mentally groaned. She hadn’t brought sunscreen, and would surely burn and look like a lobster. Her arms already felt like they were burning. So she went inside, and got back to studying.

She finished her Calculus II work, and moved on to Physics II. She wrapped that up, and it was only 3:00. She sighed. For the first time in forever, she had nothing to do. First, she thought of Altan, and was angry that he could bother her from so many thousands of miles away. Instead, she directed her thoughts to her end-of-term cardboard canoe project. It was too bad she’d left all her materials back home at her apartment. But she supposed there had to be a store around here somewhere… She could get started on a prototype. A half-hour later, she was busy with several large boxes and a few rolls of packing tape. Soon, a nine-foot cardboard canoe took shape on the floor of her hotel room.

She knew that if she took the boat outside, people would try to talk to her about it. But she was itching to try it out, even more than she wanted to avoid awkward, unnecessary conversations. So she put her things in two layers of gallon-sized bag for water-proofing, but on her backpack, and threw the cardboard oars inside the canoe. She scooped the canoe up under her arms, and navigated to a freshwater lake near the beach. Thankfully, it was devoid of people, who she assumed were by the ocean, playing in the sand.

She set the boat in the water, and was glad to see that it seemed to be holding water. She cautiously stepped inside. She wouldn’t take the boat out far; she was only an adept paddler, and wanted to practice that with a proper boat before graduating to this makeshift one. She had reached about 10 meters out, and was about to turn back when she spotted something strange across the lake. It was a large bubble, maybe larger than Irina herself. She had to check it out. So cardboard canoe or not, she paddled out toward it.

The bubble was white: not the color she would expect to come from a lake. In fact, she recalled that it is very difficult to give a bubble any visible color at all; the walls of a bubble are so thin that the pigments spread out, making them pretty much always clear. Suspicious of its properties, she carefully poked it with a cardboard oar. The oar was immediately sucked into the bubble, disappearing. Irina quickly fished in her bag, unzipping the two plastic bags while trying not to rock her boat, which had sprung a small leak on the starboard side, and produced the hilt of her grandfather’s sword. She wasn’t sure what was at play here, but she thought she had found the source of the disturbance in the area.

Irina zipped her bags, placed them in her backpack, and secured it on her back before touching the bubble herself. She probably should have been more worried about the fact that she didn’t know where she was going, nor how to get back, but her mental faculties were perhaps a bit off due to thinking about Altan in the back of her mind. She felt her mind whirl out of control, dreaming about a movie she had loved as a child, but not because she liked princess movies, because she had adored the manipulative villain. Around the age of five, she had been known to chase her brothers around the neighborhood, wielding a pointed stick and shrieking “I am the sea witch, and I'm gonna get you with the water an' my magic powers!” Of course, she was now grown and barely a proficient swimmer, so she was horrified to find herself off the shore of an ocean, in a leaking cardboard canoe, with only one paddle in her lap and the other whipping around the water two meters away from her.

SPOILER: Click to show

Stats:

Strength - [70] Points

Speed - [95] Points

Spiritual Pressure - [150] x1.5 (225) Points

Reiatsu Strength - [150] x1.5 (225) Points

Light Aura - [70] Points

Dark Aura - [30] Points

Instinct - [80] x.75 (60) Points

Senses - [80] x.75 (60) Points

Energy sensory - [50] x.33 (17) Points

Healing Expertise - [0] Points


Abilities:

Weapons: Swords {2}

Strength of Will {2}

Crafting/Forging {2}

Lack of Fear {1}

Pain Tolerance {1}

Cold Tolerance {1}

Alcohol Tolerance {1}

Learning {1}


Total SP: [675] Points