New Horizons (Joint Training)

[Deleted]

(OOC: Training for SP)

(Song in Thread Title)

Approaching the barracks of Squad 13 for the very first time, the young Shinigami-in-training glanced around in awe. It was as though she was now apart of a new home; a new family. Even though she had no idea what was going to happen upon entering, Camila couldn't help but smile. Just the thought of being able to chat with real people again was something she was ecstatic about. Albin grew to be a bit much at times, even though at this moment, he seemed as nothing more than a hallucination following her around. Chances are others didn't see him, that much as nearly certain. People around her usually shot Camila either concerned or dirty looks as she walked around Seireitei, seemingly talking to herself. Hopefully that wouldn't show upon introducing herself to the other members of the squad. Hopefully the meeting soon to happen was going to go well. Hopefully Albin would keep himself in check for most of it. Though that last one was a bit more improbable, it was certainly plausible. Only time would tell as to whether or not that would happen.

Camila was practically jumping with joy upon facing the entrance to the barracks. She turned to Albin, giddy with excitement. "This is finally it, I'm pretty much an official Shinigami at this point!" She said gleefully, "All of my effort has paid off!" Albin sighed in response to this. "You mean our effort? You're hardly the only person whose been striving to actually fucking do something with their life." Camila rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't even be here at the moment!" Albin's voice turned to a much more annoyed tone. For once, he was actually looking to avoid a fight. "Just calm down already. We'll settle this later, dumbass. For now, just focus on setting a good first impression, lest we get ourselves cast out of here." Thinking about it, he actually had a point. "Fine, Albin. Just don't say anything out of line for once!" The hollow simply nodded in response.

Taking a few seconds to collect her thoughts, Camila slowly pushed the door open, revealing to her the Squad 13 Barracks. She stood in absolute wonder at the building, taking in her surroundings as quickly as she could. "This is so cool!" She said, running around all over the place like a child on Christmas morning. Albin followed shortly behind her walking in, and just began to watch in embarrassment as the woman he was effectively forced to stay with ran all over the place like she was less than ten years old. "Calm down!" He shouted, "Stop acting like a kid and take something serious for once in your life!" Camila turned to face him, rather confused. She was a fairly serious person in general. Aside from this moment and a few others in her past, she took most everything seriously. What was he complaining about?

After a few minutes of the young Shinigami and her "friend" taking in the surroundings of her new "home", Albin decided to speak up once again. "You should probably start looking around for someone whose in charge. Hopefully we'll be able to get things squared away, and hopefully I can stay as far from you as possible while we're here." Camila sighed. "After all these years, you really haven't changed, Albin." She smiled towards him, and he looked away. He really didn't want any part of her. He didn't want any part of being here at the moment, but his current situation didn't allow for anything otherwise. Whether he wanted to be or not, the two of them were stuck with each other. "Though, you're probably right about finding someone in charge. Might be our best option at the moment." Albin did nothing but nod towards her. Seeing this, Camila turned her head away from him, and began to shout. "Captaaaaaain! New recruits are heeeeeeere!"

Albin took the time as soon as she started to shout to make his way over to her, and forcefully smack her on the back of the head, knocking her to her knees. "The hell is wrong with you?!" He shouted, "He could be doing something important at the moment, learn some fucking respect!" Camila began to push herself back up, eyeing down the hollow. "You're one to talk and you know it." Per usual, Albin rolled his eyes. "I'm not about to show someone like you respect when you don't deserve it!" "I don't deserve it?! Maybe not from much of anybody else, but I sure as heck do deserve it from you! If it weren't for me, you'd be dead right now with no chance of even existing!" "That's the fifth time today you've brought that up, how many times are you going to?!" "I'll use it as many times as I need to before you get the point!" Arguing was one of the few things that the two of them shared, and niether of them really enjoyed it. If left uninterrupted, the bickering between the two would likely go on for hours without stopping, multiple people still constantly glancing at Camila as she apparently argued with herself in the open.

[Ludwig Verrlicht]

A slight breeze, with a slight chill passed by Ludwig as he walked towards the barracks, his barracks. He had a meeting that had taken him outside of his office which while he initially moaned and groaned about until after taking his first step out of his office. At that point he was ecstatic just by the weather. The day had been cloudy enough to cover the sun like it was a thick blanket with soft rolls spanning as far as the eye could see. Then the breeze, while others claimed it was “cold” it was merely a nice 50F with a soft breeze to caress all who graced the outside with their presence. To Ludwig this was in fact the perfect day. Calm, quiet, and just overall peaceful. Thus here he was this afternoon walking back to his barracks, specifically his office so that he could start on whatever paperwork he had there. Let alone meet a new member. Ludwig had made a note to introduce himself to his newest squad member, same as he’d do to any new member. With the hope that he could instill a sense of family into the new member and thus make their transition into the squad seamless.

Granted not everyone in the squad agreed with his mentality that everyone was family but he still tried to instill that sense of morals if only with subtle influences. Afterall in Ludwig’s mind the entire squad was his family and he’d already come out swinging to defend them against threats both internal and external. Who else would you do that for except family? Thus Ludwig had high hopes for this youngin to the squad. He couldn’t help but be curious as to what they’d look like. How they’d act. What their release would be if they had one or if they didn’t what it’d be once they did. He wondered if they’d end up rising through the ranks or simply stay on the lower echelon. A surprising amount of officers as well as enlisted wanted to remain on the lower end of the totem pole. Which was saying something because Ludwig hadn’t seen that anywhere else but in his squad. Perhaps though the workload scared off most others. Whatever the reason was he’d have to look into it at a later date.

For now though it was time to meet his newest member and given the ruckus he could hear outside the door he assumed that they must have already entered in. Seems he got a rambunctious one or at least one with high energy. Perhaps they’d be a good change from Wycliff’s lack thereof with regards to energy or work ethic. Hopes still high Ludwig entered the barracks through the front doors and was immediately greeted with a young woman yelling at….nothing. Well nothing as far as Ludwig could see. Taking a quick glance around the entrance area he noticed the other squad members were glancing at him with worried expressions and pointing in Camilla’s direction. Raising an eyebrow he eventually had one of the other squad members walk up and whisper into his ear about what she’d done since entering the squad barracks. Starting out with the initial childish wonder that most new shinigami had, travelling literally all over the grounds, and ending up with an intense argument between her and nothing. Though it was already noted that she talked to herself so perhaps she was arguing with herself.

Ludwig nodded to himself as he dismissed the observers quietly so to not interrupt and worry the newest member. Ludwig sighed internally already realizing he had another problem child. Still unlike Wycliff this one could perhaps be grown into something more than that but perhaps that was a lot to ask also. Still maybe he was being too biased, he had difficulties with his depression for years, still did. And arguments with himself were frequent at one point, sometimes even verbal. So perhaps there was some mental hoops Camilla would have to jump through before she was able to contain whatever was ailing her. Whatever the case was she was his newest member and he still had high hopes for her. Besides now that she was squad 13’s she was his family member. And he’d be going against his own mindset if he didn’t at least try to help her out where he could. And given the room was now cleared he had more than a private enough space to at least start helping, or at least provide an introduction.

“Excuse me miss? Would you happen to be the new recruit we were expeccting?” Ludwig spoke softly given he had been the only person here with Camilla. Apparently that was not going to work however as she was very much engrossed in her argument with herself however. Which was fair enough he’d just have to be a bit louder. “Excuse me ma’am. Are yo-” She was still arguing. Ludwig was slightly impressed honestly, he doubted she meant any rudeness so he wasn’t about to get upset over it but he was going to have to play a bigger part in getting her attention if this was how bad her arguments with herself got. Ludwig wasn’t exactly one to just go randomly touching people so there was only really one way to get around this. He’d have to use his spiritual pressure to weigh down on her, not enough to harm her of course but to jolt her out of her mental spiral.

Thankfully Ludwig’s gravitational pressure was less intense even at its strongest while he was sealed so at this current point in time he wasn’t going to need to be too careful. If he had been released however that would have been an entire different story. With a deep breath Ludwig began focusing his energy on Camilla, not with harmful intent but to make his presence more obvious and apparent to her. Within moments she’d begin to feel his energy on her like a weight. Slowly but surely continuing to weigh her down with an ever increasing pressure on her entire body. Once she’d stopped her argument with herself and glance in his direction he’d stop and simply smile at her. His spring green eyes already apologizing for having to his spiritual energy on her. He’d end up chuckling and extending his hand out, though once she looked over his way he wouldn’t really need to introduce himself. His haori, though black and silver instead of white would be obvious enough that he was in fact the captain of the squad. “Good afternoon, my apologies for weighing you down there but it seemed like it was the only way to bring you back from your argument. My name is Ludwig Eisenhart Verrlicht, Captain of Squad 13. You wouldn’t happen to be the new recruit I read about would you? I was informed by the academy that I was going to get a new squad member, well more like family member but that’s more my mindset than anything. Regardless welcome to the squad 13 barracks.”

[Deleted]

Camila's arguing with Albin was quickly stopped as soon as she felt herself being weighed down for no apparent reason. Albin's voice seemed to fade from her mind as she turned to see a man nearby, holding out his hand. She quickly glanced him up and down, noticing the robes he was wearing, and quickly realized he was the captain. She quickly began to panic, and apologized immediately. "Yikes, I am so, so sorry! I was just arguing with my 'friend' over here." Camila pointed to Albin, who, in her eyes, was standing next to her, and waving to Ludwig. Though the only thing that he would be likely to notice was a bit of a slightly more noticeable spiritual pressure coming from Camila. He obviously was not there.

She continued to listen to what her Captain had to say, and eventually began to speak. "Oh, greetings Captain! We are those new recruits! Camila Adaronde, pleased to meet you, sir! And this is Albin!" Camila held her hands into the open air, even though she could clearly see the man next to him. "Hey," Albin said, once again without Ludwig hearing it to begin with. "Also, family member? I can get behind that!" She began to remember her family, the same people she lost roughly eleven years ago. She needed to forget the past. This would certainly be a good way of doing that! "Also, thank you for the introduction into the squad! I look forward to working with you!" 

With this, Albin followed up with a snicker. Camila quickly turned to him, with a rather angered look on her face. "What now?" She asked, glaring at the "man" standing next to her. "Nothing, nothing. I just find it kind of funny that you're so quick to try to forget your past." Camila stood dumbfounded, and took a moment to remember that Albin was still within her head. He was still able to completely interpret her thoughts. "Just shut up, dang it!" She shouted, turning back to Ludwig. "I'm sorry, where were we? Oh yeah! Would you be willing to do a quick little spar with me? I'd like to see how much of this stuff from the Academy is still applicable, and how much of it will remain applicable!"

[Ludwig Verrlicht]

The conversation was...awkward in a way. Ludwig hadn’t actively dealt with someone who had a mental ailment that made them see things. In fact he himself had never just “seen things”. He’d been weighed down, felt worthless at times, and even had been suicidal at his lowest moment. But seeing things? That was never apart of his symptoms so in a way he was completely out of his field of expertise or even his thought process as it’d require a whole new mindset to work with. Ludwig simply took a breath and nodded as the Camilla talked/argued with both him and her “friend”. In truth this also baffled him that she was considering this being a “friend” when he only argued with her. This was definitely NOT the type of person he’d call a friend but there was probably some deeper meaning behind their relationship that Ludwig was willing to delve into for the time being. So with that in mind he simply let it go, nothing he could do and he doubted Camilla came this far along without having seen squad 4 at least once. Which meant she had to have talked to someone more knowledgeable on the matter and they’d either been unable to help her or she’d been deemed “within standards” for one reason or another.

One mental note later and Ludwig caught onto her last comment, more so a question than anything. Camilla had requested a spar from him. This was...interesting in a way. Usually he had spars from those with at least a bit more experience and ability as usually he’d dominate the fight even while holding back. Even more so than usual Ludwig was a bit hesitant to outright accept this request. She was a freshly graduated shinigami and hadn’t done much more than learn the VERY basics of swordplay, kido, even just general knowledge and theory behind things in the spiritual realm and the Soul Society. Still if she was asking for this, knowing he was a captain, then there had to be a reason. Something at least. So Ludwig decided to humor her and at least entertain the thought though his final answer was still undetermined. “Likewise I look forward to seeing how you both grow and interact with the other squad members. Though we will not work directly together I am always available should you have a question or need to talk about something. Open door policy, though I ask you knock on the door first haha!”

“As for your request I’d like to know why you want to test out your knowledge against myself. There are far more suitable sparring partners such as the lower level of seats. Specifically 6th through 10th. I imagine they’d be far more easily able to apply your knowledge to as well as much more to your current level of strength. That aside I’m glad to hear you approve of the family mentality we try to have with our squad mates. I understand there will be a number of them you won’t get along with or like, some you may even vehemently think aren’t your family. But the fact is we take care of one another, especially when you’re sent out on a mission. At least we offer a hand even if it’s not taken up by the other. The squad lives and breathes by our team work so it only makes sense to think of ourselves as a family. The sad fact is most don’t have any in the Soul Society as it is so while not related by blood at least being in the same “household” is something that ties us all together.”

Ludwig mentally groaned at himself for holding a miniature “speech”. He didn’t mean to but the fact was he genuinely wanted his squad to view each other like this. They needed to in order to continue to grow and survive. Thankfully Camilla seemed to agree so far but hearing her thoughts on the matter would show more of where she stood so he listened patiently for her response. Especially if she mentioned anything the other said to him in particular or towards herself. Ludwig had some notes on file at least for Camilla, for this Albin, he had nothing. Couldn’t even see the other so for the time being he’d have to learn via Camilla either by directly asking or by her comments towards the other. He was leaning more towards the latter just so he could have a bit more of a baseline to form questions from. His true hope though was that this other being wouldn’t hinder her potential and capabilities. The last thing she or the squad needed was someone who couldn’t make progress with themselves. Especially with the recent times being pretty good on the whole.

[Deleted]

Camila listened to her captain speak, enticed by his description of Squad 13. She enjoyed the "family" viewpoint. It couldn't have been easier to tell that this was the squad for her. Having someone like Ludwig lead seemed to be an exceptional idea to the young Shinigami. He certainly seemed able, and had a sort of accepting nature to him. She'd have to remember that later on, should she need to confide in him at all. Something told her he'd be willing to hold a secret rather well. At least, better than the rest of the squad, of which she still had yet to meet. That being said, she thought of Ludwig as a sort of father figure. He seemed willing to take up that role alongside squad captain, anyway, so was that such a bad idea to think of him like that? It brought a smile to her face. Whether he did it actively or passively, or whether he knew or not, Ludwig was going to be someone who could help her forget her past.

She giggled at Ludwig's comment on her wanting to spar with him, knowing exactly how to explain her point. "Have you ever played through The Companions route on Skyrim? It's basically the beginning of that! I'm just looking to see if what I know would be able to hold up against a defense like yours! I obviously don't expect to win. Plus if I were to spar with someone else in the squad, what're the chances both of us would walk away relatively unscathed? We'd both probably go all-out anyways, so there's a very high chance of injury for both parties that way. If I were to be pitted against you, Captain, I doubt you'll be hurt by me, and I'm able to see where any shortcomings are in my attack patterns!" Camila ended this little rant with a smile and a giggle. For someone talking about battle and trying to improve her ability to potentially take a life, she was incredibly cheerful about it all.

Albin decided to interject on the whole situation. "Aren't you worried at all that he'll kick your ass? Not to bash on your weak ass, but you're not exactly suited to be threatening a Captain. Don't forget that I'm here too. I don't need you dying on me, else I'll never get out of this hell." Camila sighed. "I know what I'm doing, jerk. I'm not going to get myself killed. If you've got a problem with what I want to do, then fight me ab-" Camila was immediately cut off by a swift punch, coming from the thought-to-be nonexistent being. Truth of the matter was that her Spiritual Pressure was definitely... stronger than it should've been at her current point in training. It wasn't unreasonable for Albin to physically influence the world around her for a split second. Camila immediately took a knee after his fist connected with stomach, "falling through" him, in a sense. Nothing about him seemed to be real anymore. Though, he was certainly real all of the time. Just not quite real enough.

[Col Arana]

I count 21 paragraphs, so that works out to 105 TP, converted into 53 SP for Camila.