Post by Celes Castellanos on Aug 21, 2018 0:54:19 GMT -5
Training for SP
A soft hum fills the early crack of down. The sound of sleeping. The shifting figure of the blonde-haired Shinigami trainee. The annoying sound of her gentle snore buzzing through the air. Like all good things, the silence is soon broken with the jolt of Celes entire body. As it shifts upward, she stretches her limps, thick and messy bed hair plaguing her otherwise normal routine. Quite the lazy one she can be. As rays of sunlight peek through the cracks, she realizes the predicament she is in. Shes is late again!
The young Shinigami wrestles to her feet, soon becoming entangled by the bed sheets she just sprang out of. A mighty thud later, the poor girl lands on her stomach, sprawled out on the floor. That still messy hair now in her face, she annoyingly blows a strand hair out of her face. Gently rising to her feet by utilizing her entire body, she now at least is ready to get dressed. As she prepares herself she notices that oh so special blade. Her unnamed blade. As she got dressed in her robes, she rushed back and got it, strapping it to her hip. With that dashed off.
As she rushed to the training grounds, she ran past a few people she affiliated with. Friends, acquaintances, and fellow students with the aspiration of becoming a Shinigami. Yet among it all, Celes couldn't focus on them. She was focusing so deeply on the task at hand. That was to make it to at least one lesson on time, but even that would apparently be impossible. Eventually making it, she burst onto the training grounds, a legion of eyes staring at her.
As those eyes kept staring at her, she did indeed shrivel and shrink a little bit. Looking past them, she saw the worst part of her. Their instructor was also staring at her. Making small treadings toward her, she saw the anger in his eyes. Celes was normally one to be early, but lately, she has been rather late on a quite occasions. She braced for the impact of his voice hitting her. "Let's get one thing clear, Celes. I do not tolerate any lack of attendance. Lack of attendance directly projects just how committed you are." He shakes his head and sighs. "I would advise that if you wish to make it anywhere here, you SHALL be on time in the future. A lack thereof will result in consequences..."
Her instructor truly hated scolding and lecturing Celes, but hell, if it was required he would not shrink. Nevertheless, he knew Celes has potential and as such, he was sometimes trying to be lenient. At this point, he returned back in front of the group as Celes lined herself up with her group. As she heard the snickers of her fellow classmates, she closed her eyes and looked down at the ground, clearly annoyed at her fellow classmates.
Not noticing the reaction from Celes' fellow classmates, he stood up straight and spoke with confidence and authority. "To be a Shinigami means to have the discipline, skill, and power to stand up for the Soul Society and to protect others. We use our abilities of swordsmanship and spirit to fight against the vile Hollows that threaten to destroy all we stand for. As such, we make sure to produce elite Shinigami with the ability to uphold the Soul Society's virtues." He took a deep breath as his eyes skimmed across the group. His eyes once again settled and he resumed. "Celes....Kaiser...step forward." Celes blinked at the mention of her name.
Moving forward exactly as instructed, she looked at the other student. She had heard of Kaiser some time ago. A successful student that despite not being a prodigy, had significant skills that were quite useful to someone of their caliber. As she looked at her fellow student, her instructor resumed once more. "Celes. You are to train with Kaiser in front of the others. For right now, I shall forbid the use of any form of Kido. Rely on your ability as a swordsman. Draw your blade and strike whenever ready."
Their instructor moved to the side and Kaiser took a step forward. His cold eyes staring into Celes', he drew his Asauchi. "Oh great. I get to fight the newcomer. The failure. The runt of the litter..." Those words hurt Celes as she in a clean motion released her own blade from its sheath. Holding her nameless Zanpakutou before her, she placed one foot in front of the other, holding her blade diagonally from her. She waited for the first strike, opting not to put herself out there.
Staring at her with deadly precision, Kaiser softly spoke with a menacing smirk. "If you won't strike first...then allow me to end this now." His cockiness seemingly getting in the way, Kaiser moved in a predictable linear motion at a leisurely speed of 40 which granted while above Celes' maximum potential, she was able to easily weave to the side, avoiding the predictable swipe to the side with his sword. Celes with determination in her eyes, swiped down with her own blade. The blade slid softly across his back, piercing through the back of the robe. This naturally causes a laceration upon Kaiser's back. Naturally, he yelps in a slight bit of pain.
He winced as he took a stance once more and turned to face Celes. The cockiness was naturally still there and he glared. "Lucky shot, you insufferable wretch. You had to die to get here so you are clearly no match for me." Celes began to stare at Kaiser as something inside her snapped. She, with gritted teeth, growled. "You truly wish to lecture me on this? Comparing our abilities based on my death is just pathetic. If it were up to me...then you would either be rotting in a trench or dead on the floor...whatever comes first." With that, the instructor raised his hand and sighed. "Both of you. Stop it this instant. This constant bickering between you two will do us no good.."
Celes closed her eyes and sighed. The instructor keyed into Celes' response and nodded. "Listen up. If I hear one more bit of bickering from either of you, the offender will be disciplined..." He shook his head as he sighed. "Our job as Shinigami is not to badmouth our fellow students, but to learn from them. And I personally will NOT tolerate any taunts or threats towards one another..." He raised his and lowered it. "Reset and begin."
Kaiser and Celes stare at each other intently. As before, Kaiser makes the first move at a surprising speed for Celes of 35. As before, he makes a very linear move forward, looking to strike at her chest. His intentions are completely different as Celes begins to weave to the side. As she does so, Kaiser shifts quickly to the side, delivering a quick swipe upward at Celes' side. It ends with a screech from Celes.
Celes breathes heavily as she holds onto her side tightly. A large gash now flows up from her up all the way to her armpit. Naturally, she begins to bleed heavily, a now red stain adorning her robe's side. She holds her Asauchi with a shaky hand and with a smirk speaks softly. "I...is that all you got..?" The air suddenly feels denser in front of her as Kaiser uses a shunpo to enter the range of Celes. A quick kick to the stomach, she is lying on the ground, a blade directed at her stomach.
That condescending smirk looked down at Celes as she became incredibly annoyed by it. As she was there, he smirked and softly spoke. "Not all it seems." As he looked down, her instructor began clapping. He walked forward and with great pride in his eyes, began to speak. "Excellent job Kaiser. One of our finest students, but of course Celes is no slouch either." This granted was a good calm reinforcer for Celes.
Celes naturally was calm now. Then she heard it. That smartass snarky remark. "I told you. I will always be superior to you.." This ended up doing it. Celes remained silent and ended up reciting something in her head. "Arise god of thunder! Awake mother of storms! Unleash the lighting on the sinners!" As her reiatsu flared up slightly, her instructor noted something was off, but was not sure what. Celes suddenly raises her finger and without any delay, a lightning bolt erupts.
The instructor erupts in anger as he yells. "CELES!" as she quickly slaps her arm down. Too late, however, as Kaiser's own movement at least gets him someway out of the way. The bolt does graze his side and causes a small nasty burn that almost immediately chares the skin around it. Kaiser falls to the ground, a blood-curdling squeal coming from his mouth, the strike clearly being painful.
As Kaiser screamed in pain, he knelt down as his breathing began to quicken more and more, the pain obviously getting to him. Thankfully it didn't kill him or anything, but it sure looked like it hurt. The instructor says furiously. "Someone! Get him medical attention...he won't need a lot, but regardless..." He looked down at Celes. "And you...come with me." The instructor took Celes to the side out of sight. As they reach the boundaries of the training grounds, her instructor looks back at her.
Celes bit her lip gently and sighed. "If you're going to punish me...just do it..no exposition please." Her instructor blinked and shook his head. "Celes. You are a talented woman for your position, but I will say that you need to reel it back in. These past few days you have seemed so without focus and your temper has been out of control..." He begins to sigh and opens his eyes. "What's going on?"
A deep breath later, Celes' eyes open. "Lately I have been thinking about my sister....and my mother. Both died some time ago in the Human World. Closure was not really a viable option." She sighed and turned away, shaking her head. "I was left alone in the end..." Her instructor raised an eyebrow as his lip quivered gently. "I will admit...I empathize with you Celes...I really do, but there need to be consequences for what has happened here."
Her instructor looked at her as he mulled it over in his head. "I will not order your imprisonment. I believe that would be too extreme since nobody died or as severely injured..." Sighing and shaking his head from side to side, he continues. "However, disciplinary action will be given and I expect a full formal apology to Kaiser when he gets back." He raises his hand and presses it against her collarbone. "Make sure not to outburst like that again. I care for you Celes. Don't let me down because of a stupid mistake."
Celes could only nod as she began to think about it. Someone...cared for her. A rather odd notion to her given her history of regularly being abandoned by people. If it was not her family it was going to be someone else. Regardless, she sighed and just nodded in response. "Yeah, I understand Sir.." A reassuring glance was given to her by her instructor as he accompanied her back to the group.
As the days passed, Celes would undergo a variety of tasks to try and 'redeem' herself. The first was temporary suspension from training. This prevented her from training in any way shape or form, but thankfully she had the ability to practice in her room without any real form of equipment. She soon addressed a formal apology to Kaiser among various other tasks to make amends in some way shape or form, but in the end, she was only following orders.
Now finally having paid penance for what she has done or according to the instructor what counts as penance, it was late and Celes couldn't sleep. Celes was awake late at night and quietly left the building. Not quite a member of a squad yet, Celes had some freedom in leaving. As she slowly slid the door open, she began to tread lightly to the training grounds. She wanted to make up for the time she couldn't do anything due to her punishment.
As she reached the training grounds, she looked around and looked for anything that would potentially pierce the veil of silence. She did not detect any form of spiritual pressure nearby although her ability to sense spiritual energy was not too strong, to begin with. As she faced one of the dummies present in the training grounds. She gently bent her knees taking a stance as she turned her torso to the side. With one hand on her Asauchi, she drew it quickly and held it to the side. In that quick motion, a deep cut appeared on the chest of the dummy. Thinking of how to continue from here, she brainstormed possible maneuvers she could perform. Currently, she was simply looking to improve her swordsmanship ability as she had not yet developed her Zanpakutou much like any of the other students.
Returning the blade to that normal position, she repeated a few executions of the same maneuver to practice on the speed of her swordsmanship. A few times would soon turn into dozens as she continued trying to maintain consistent form and speed. Granted, being out like this have her a thrill and rush of adrenaline. One that she has rarely felt when training with the many other trainees she normally associates with.
This would continue until she hears a rustling of the bushes nearby. In slight shock and fear that blade she held was now directed towards the sound. Out of the bush came someone she did not quite expect. It was Kaiser! As she dropped her blade she took a moment to take note of him. His body riddled with stitches and that nasty scar on his side, he smirked at Celes. "Now now...we don't need a repeat of what happened last time, do we?"
As Celes withdrew her blade and scoffed, she stared at Kaiser before turning her back to him out of spite. "Just tell me what you want Kaiser...Are you here to tease me about training or my ability?" Her rightful cold disposition was met with a surprising and friendly hand landing on her shoulder. She turned her head, looking at Kaiser who seemed remorseful or at least his eyes seemed to say so.
Kaiser's voice sounded soft, yet still had that same commanding presence behind it. "Look Celes. That stunt earlier got me good. I did not expect that of you and I have come to apologize for the cruelty I have exposed you to...I heard about your past and am deeply ashamed of what I teased you about. I hope that we can see to drop this barrier between us. Maybe seek a fresh start?.." His normally teasing voice was genuinely sorrowful about his actions.
Celes genuinely thought it over a bit. As she juggled it in her mind she liked the idea of ending this feud between the two of them. With an apathetic voice, but a gentle smirk adorning her face, Celes softly spoke. "I...I'll consider it.." With that she left to head back to the room she was supposed to be in. As she got ready to actually take some time to rest, she looked at her Asauchi and thought for a moment. Before heading to bed she wanted to try something that may be considered crazy.
She had heard about this from more experienced Shinigami who had developed their Zanpakutou, forging a bond between the two. Celes pondered and took a meditative stance as she said placing her blade horizontally over her lap. She was going to attempt Jinzen, the form of communication between a Shinigami and a Zanpakutou. She sighed and closed her eyes as she prepared for this.
As her eyes closed, she tried concentrating on the entirety of the blade. The hilt, the blade, every portion of it. She knew that her Zanpakutou had not been developed yet, but perhaps she could try this. Even if she heard nothing and failed, the experience itself could be worthwhile. She softly thought, "Is anyone or anything there....?" Her question was met with the utmost silence. The only sound that filled the air was the wind outside. Her ears twitched as she tried to listen for the slightest hint of a response, but there was nothing.
She sighed and opened her eyes again. She set her Asauchi beside her and smiled at it. She began to think to herself once more. "One day...when you are a Zanpakutou and are a spirit...I promise I will talk to you all day..." Celes ended her night with that final thought as she slowly lowered herself into her bed. As she closed her eyes she almost immediately dozed her, the prior training really getting to her, but it's nothing that a little bit of sleep could fix. The last thing that could be seen was the rustling of her body, the subtle movements of her form as she sighed happily before she sank into a deep slumber.
