Welcome to Paradise [Joint Training, R]

[Celes Castellanos]

Celes stood their with magnificince in her Shikai. It was an impressive array of weapons at her disposal as the Shinigami gained a defensive shield and a spear that certainly appeared to have more reach than her katana. Yet despite all this, Camila seemed excited. "YOU GO, CELES!" There was something certainly flattering behind this, but Celes chose to keep her composure. After all, this Shinigami was crafty and Celes knew that Camila would exploit an opening that she gave her. 

It seemed that they were looking at each other for a bit until Celes heard the other Shinigami pipe up again."I'm far from down to the count. I'll be fighting 'til the bitter end. I expect you to do the same." This left Celes with a hearty chuckle. It wasn't that this Shinigami could not do it in Celes eyes. She already showed far better reiatsu control. In that manner, they were leagues apart. Ultimately, Celes was the superior physical fighther. Her Shikai granted her the weapons used by devout followers of Aries.

Much like the spartans whom her Shikai represents, Celes fought with a combination of tenacity and brutal strength. Yet despite what many may believe, battle tactics was an important part of warfare that the spartans did not shun. As such, Celes inherited this understanding as well. Ultimately, she saw the Shinigami steel herself and Celes wanted to honor her by doing the same. She breathed calmly, trying to relax herself and her muscles so she could move to the best of her abilities.

It was muscle relaxation that led to a combination of fluid movement and a calm mind. Despite not quite being a full-fledged martial artist, Celes understood the basis of what it meant to breath in martial arts and how much muscle relaxation helped in combat. Tenseness led to a lack of proper range of motion which is something that Celes certainly needed not only with her large shield, but the spear that made it difficult to fight as she was accustomed to a katana.

Despite these preparations, Celes would notice that Camila simply made a mad dash at her. Celes was perplexed, but impressed with her abiltiy to face danger. It was a trait that Celes simply admired in everyone. To face something stronger than you with resolve with a form of strength that physical or even spiritual strength simply could not match. Celes smirked and once again just proceeded to maintain her composure. As she made the dash, Celes noticed the position of her weapon.

It seemed that Camila would place her strength albeit meager into this strike. As it came towards her, she was prepared, but then suddenly...nothing. Celes noted her dissapearance and having used the technique so many times herself, the girl noticed this simply as the Shunpo. The flash step that quickly accelerated her speed to unimaginable proportions, but she was not sure what the max speed of this girl was. It did not matter as Celes had a general idea of where she was. 

The Shinigami's presumption was correct as she felt Camila's fingers on her back. Springing into action, Celes quickly began to turn as it discharged. Celes even made sure to move at her absolute maximum speed and was lucky. This cheeky technique would definitely harm her as this next strike was Celes visibly flinch. The Byakurai simply ran past her skin as the electricity seared her flesh. It ran passed her skin and extended into the forests, but this burn would mark Celes most certainly.

As a retort, however, Celes growled and quickly continued her spin. With the spin she extended her foot and quickly tried to trip the other Shinigami. If that was successful and the Shinigami lost her balance leaving her temporarily airborne, Celes would with an impressive force of 250, slam her shield right ontop of Camila's stomach and push the Shinigami onto the ground with equally impressive strength. This would most likely severely knock the wind out of the Shinigami and admittedly if it worked, Celes was not sure if she could continue anymore.

Shikai: 2/10

[Deleted]

Upon seeing her technique leave a mark on the shinigami, Camila felt a sense of pride. She was ecstatic to see that she was able to leave a strong hit like that on someone that outclassed her as significantly as Celes did. She was incredibly proud of herself for such an accomplishment, and was more than willing to see where it led to in the future. Though, this time spent glamouring over herself in her head would almost immediately have to come to a halt, and Celes still managed to avoid the attack, and was preparing a counterattack of her own.

She tried to brace her upper body, preparing for some kind of hit toward her face or her chest, but a hit like that never actually came. No, the hit that went for her was aimed toward her feet; a trip. Had she known that something like this was coming, she would've definitely tried to dodge it, but alas, she didn't. In a moment's notice, she was hoisted into the air, unable to even begin to catch her balance. She was certainly airborne, and had a slight pain around her ankles, now.

Almost immediately then after, she felt an incredible pain on her stomach, as she was effectively smashed into the ground. She had no chance to overcome a hit like this, her head one again smashing against the ground. She would've been incredibly grateful to walk away from this fight without a concussion. Her head had hit the ground a total of three times so far, to her knowledge. Or was it two? See?? Even just after two or three times of hitting the ground, she was already starting to suffer from it!

Her breathing was incredibly heavy, and she felt like her ribcage was in shambles, even though it probably wasn't. She stared up at the girl, doing what she could to continue to steel herself; to continue pushing herself to fight. But, after a hit like that, she felt like she was down for the count. She was in no condition to continue the assault, and she acknowledged this fact. She looked to her left, seeing her Zanpakuto, and grabbed onto it, planning on using the blade to hoist herself- wait. Zanpakuto?

She quickly realized what might've happened. Her Asauchi was no longer, well, an Asauchi. It had changed shape; forged itself into a Zanpakuto in the midst of combat. Instead of the brandless, simple-looking katana, stood a broadsword fit for a king- no, a queen. And eventually, she'd be that queen, more than able to wield a Zanpakuto similarly to that of what Celes had demonstrated before her. She'd get her Shikai, in due time. She'd do what she can in order to reach levels akin to Celes, and she'd go above and beyond.

"That was..." she began to say, "that was something else. Your Shikai is truly, truly amazing, Celes. I was glad to have gotten to experience it." She shot Celes as much of a smile as she could, and forced herself up. She was unofficially waving the white flag, here. The fight was most certainly over, but it was an interesting learning experience for her. She very much wanted to unlock a Shikai like that of her own. Having a Zanpakuto now, she was already starting to take the first step toward that. She wasn't a failure, after all.

[Celes Castellanos]

It was with great ferocity and determination that Celes slammed Camila into the warm dirt ground. Perhaps she had gone a little overboard as she could feel and hell even hear the crack of Camila's back and head against the battlefield floor. Celes was admittedly going a little autopilot and just found herself to do what she felt like she needed to do to incapacitate someone. Thankfully, she had the foresight and control to stop herself from absolutely crushing this girl. That being said, it still hurt like a bitch most likely.

It was then that Celes watched the girls' labored breathing. It seemed that she just had the wind knocked out of her, but she most definitely could not continue against someone of Celes' caliber. The combination of the Shikai and her battle experience made Celes a worthy opponent. Camila was no slouch either despite having less experience, but high spiritual capability. Celes could see that without a doubt and knew that she would make an excellent sparring partner in the future.

Despite all this, Celes yearned for someone to come who could match and surpass her in physical strength. She had put so much time and effort into it that she needed to clash blades with someone equally as strong as her. It was the only thing that could truly satiate her want for combat. At the end of the day, the Shinigami wanted to just get better. What else was there for a warrior such as herself. Her fighting spirit burnt brightly and needed to be expressed else she may burn alive.

Celes admittedly smiled as she watched Camila rise to her feet, but a change had arisen. By engaging in combat with her, Celes had a pretty good idea of what her Zanpakutou looked like. It was normally a katana, but now...it seemed to be a broadsword. Something unwieldly that Celes would most likely never use, but it seemed ideal for the combat style that Camila had even though she overall just seemed to lack physical strength. Her cutting power was admittedly rather impressive though.

Celes would sigh and chuckle as her Shikai dissipated, the shield becoming a katana again and the spear shortening as the blade lengthened and the staff became a tsuba and tsuka again. Celes "sheathed" both of her Zanpakutou around her sash and smiled at Camila. The girl had talent. Celes could see that. She just needed honing. This was something that Celes could not help with. She was not a spiritually inclined individual. Well...she used to be, but she chose great physical strength over the use of her spirit.

That being said, the Shinigami would pivot on her heel and begin walking out. Before she left, she looked back and spoke befitting of a teacher talking to her pupil. "Remember. The path to self-improvement never ends. Only a fool is satisfied with where they were the day before and find it okay to continue on without feeling that they need to get better. Such is the will of the warrior. Such is the will of my fighting spirit and my way. Remember to keep training. If those injuries become too severe...check by the Medical Squad."

The Shinigami would just smile and leave without much of another word. On her way to her destination she could not help, but think about the battle she just participated in. After all it left her so pumped for more, but Camila just could not satiate her physical needs. She needed more. Someone to contest in physical strength. They also needed a Captain. Squad 11 did atleast. Celes knew that there was a Vice Captain, but had admittedly never met him. He never seemed to show.

As Celes ended up around the Barracks of Squad 11, she sighed and opened the main door. She quickly went to her own room and felt like she just needed to nap. It wouldn't hurt. After all she just spend a good time fighting and training with another. As Celes looked over her bed she smiled and quickly fell over. Landing atop the bed, she nestled her head into her arms and just blissfully drifted to sleep, knowing that sleep would also help her wounds heal faster.

[Deleted]

Camila smiled upon hearing Celes' words. She was right, after all. Practice was going to make her succeed where she needed to the most. Constant training and pushing herself was going to allow her to excel where she needed to the most. And, most importantly, sparring with new people was going to push her to overcome her weaknesses where she needed to the most. She was still a fledgling shinigami, after all. She had a very long, convoluted path ahead of her.

That being said, though, there was a lot she needed to get done before she'd be able to ever reach a point where she could stand alongside and fight with Celes. She needed to get much, much stronger, and she needed to do so as quickly as she could. Granted, she wasn't going to earn Bankai in a day like she had hoped, but at the same time, she felt like down the line, she may have a chance to actually succeed in life. Well, her second life for that matter.

She looked around after Celes left, and admired the Squad 11 barracks. She'd grow to remember this area for the place where she got her ass handed to her quite quickly. That being said, though, she wasn't going to let that happen forever. In due time, she wanted to be able to stand up to Celes as a rival. She wanted to be able to equal that girl's abilities, and fight on a similar caliber as her. She would one day, but today probably wasn't that day, unfortunately.

As she left the barracks, Camila began asking around to find the Medical Squad. She certainly felt incredibly injured, even if she suffered from no real bodily damage. Though, that was quite unknown as to whether she did, hence why she was going to figure that out. Upon eventually learning where the squad was located, and where a medical center was going to be, she effectively made haste towards there, though still somewhat proud of the marks left on her body, a faint part of her hoping they'd scar, as to permanently lock Celes in as a rival of hers.

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

108 paragraphs total / 2 = 54 x 10 TP = 540 TP total for both participants