Not exactly art, huh? [JT/Serraph]

[Raphael Laurent]

Raphael pulled his delivery truck into the back area of the amazon warehouse, put it in park and got out. It had been another hard and long day and Raph wasn’t exactly in the mood for any big social interaction, and so when his friend Mikey called, Raph hung up immediately. He’d been working his ass off on his own trying to perfect the power of the fullbringer. True to his word, he’d not joined up with anyone yet, though he was always keeping his eyes open for anyone and everyone that might have wanted him dead. There was still more work to be done, but he was finally getting the hang of things and was capable of pulling on the souls of objects to gain a fair amount of control over even the elements.



After getting changed back into his normal clothes he went on a bit of a walk around a nearby corner, before eventually taking a taxi a bit further out into an empty, and rather hidden, lot. He had to go to places like this so that he wouldn’t potentially injure normal people and so that normal people wouldn’t see his abilities. There were a lot of things that others had said that had stuck with him and he wasn’t exactly able to hold himself back. He’d been playing with all sorts of things. Utilizing this soul command power, he’d begun to mess with the wood in the area, setting it on fire and then putting it out immediately, making the metal in the area more malleable, moving and even freezing water. Even to the point of being able to make heavy things feel a great deal lighter.



He couldn’t lie that the workout exhausted him every time. He would practice for hours, moving from small objects to larger ones over the time spent. Raising both of his hands he started another fire on some wood that he’d piled up. Allowing it to burn for a few minutes, he waved both hands down putting the fire out. It was exhausting work, and he still wasn’t nearly done. Even as he sat down, sweat trickling down his face, he pulled out a bottle of water. He was really thankful no one came to this part of town, or at least, no one who would really care to look into what he was doing. It was a pretty empty place, though that was why he loved it so much.

[Serraph Quarrere]

Karakura was a fascinating place. 

 Shinigami would often state that it was the current "Spiritual Capital of the World", and nothing Serraph could think of would contest this. Battles are waged here. Powerful factions of those strong in the spiritual arts have headquarters here. It is for that reason why the Sexta Espada enjoyed visiting this place on his leisure time. Being the spiritual capital bore great fruit in regards to his search for knowledge. If there is something from most time periods, he could likely find something or someone having something to do with it here.

 Other times it was to experience new things and new people or experience that of which he had seen before with hopes of something different. There was a world of infinite possibilities here and Serraph would see much of it as he could. It was this that allowed him to do what he wanted, free of the negative bounds of those other deathly aspects. The aspect of curiosity allowed Serraph to seek any answer he wished, and for whatever reason. He wasn't bound to fight nor was he bound to self loath himself like certain other arrancar he had met. Serraph saw himself as the "Most Free" arrancar, but at the same time the "Most Imprisoned." His impulse to see, hear, taste, touch, smell, record, and share was otherworldly powerful.

 For example, when feeling a small influx of spiritual energy coming from a rather isolated, empty lot, Serraph was almost obliged to take a look. He was on his own time, so why not? Serraph had all the time in the world. The Sexta Espada arrived in a black leather jacket cut at his midriff and some black jeans and combat boots. Due to his midriff showing, he was able to show off the jagged black "6" etched into his pale flesh there. He hadn't made enemies around here yet, so he needn't worry. If any show, the number alone may be enough to deter most or draw out those he hadn't met before. Either way, it works. He doubt any of them would be able to catch him.

 He'd spot the young fellow playing with fire in midst of the lot, flexing his power to make the fire come and go. The Espada recognized this as some sort of exercise in the person's abilities, but of what sort he couldn't be certain as of yet. Still he'd approach without the care in a world, if only to get a better look. He kept his pressure under control. Although not quite concealing it, he did make it so that the other's concentration may miss the fact he was moving closer and perhaps to the point where he knelt at the other side of the fire, keeping a foot distance from it.

 "Waaatcha doing~?", Serraph quipped, his cane hanging lazily from his belt loop.

[Raphael Laurent]

Raphael almost always got incredibly invested in his training, and this time was no different; as a matter of fact, he was SO invested that when a strange man appeared to ask what he was doing, his concentration shattered. As a result, the fire that he’d been practicing to slowly build and put out was suddenly transformed into a towering inferno for a few seconds. He had leapt back and thrown his hands into the air like he just didn’t care, which was the catalyst for the out of control flames. The moment that he regained his composure, however, he was easily able to respond.

“You gave me a bit of a startle there. Hello. I’m practicing with my abilities, making a fire rise and then fall on my command, so that I don’t get rusty. I’ve got to practice hard, if I’m going to be able to do anything within this world or my own powers. Hell with how many things are, apparently, always wanting to kill me, I’ve got my hands full. Not to mention any and all other humans that might want to kill me for any number of reasons ranging from understandable to stupid.” With a swift kick, he knocked the large pile that he’d been working with off the stand and put another pile on, obviously intending to continue practicing, even with the presence of the newcomer.

Finally deciding to risk it, Raphael looked up at the stranger and now witness to his training. It was odd… His hair was a deep crimson red, same thing with his left eye, but his right eye was…white and almost looked calcareous, lacking the same shine and shimmer that he came to expect. Then there was his skin… Painfully white, and being Caucasian himself, Raph knew what he was talking about when he thought of the phrase. As a matter of fact, it almost appeared to be paper…and he swore that he saw some black substance tracing out “veins” in this man.

“Imma guess you’re a spirit of some kind,” Raphael muttered as he watched the pile of wood and focused on it, slowly creating sparks along the wooden flesh. “What brings you here, if you don’t mind my asking? Not that it’s necessarily any of my buseiness, of course, but I know that you didn’t come here just to watch a random powered human practice on their ability out on the edge of town. Oh, right. My name is Raph, by the way.” Whatever he said, Raphael would have to be careful; he was again in the presence of something that could, no doubt, easily kill him.

[Serraph Quarrere]

"Indeed.", he'd answer, bowing elegantly at the waist in greeting before rising. A question of that sort would imply that this person was one of a more "Living" flavor of being, a human that has acheived, been born with, the ability to interact with the spiritual realm. Humans such as this held so much potential, but alone they served little more as bait to those with hostile hearts. Hollows, Arrancar, even the few bounts roaming around would more than love to snack on this youngster.

 "I am Serraph Quarrere, Sexta Espada and Lord Librarian of Los Noches.", He'd iterate with a modicum of boredness. The initial stages of meeting another was a necessary step, albit a boring one. At the very least he had a name to match this human's face though, and that is fairly valuable, especially if the boy grows particularly strong. Serraph glanced about the area as if to ensure they were really the only ones around here. The Espada's presence would keep mosts pests that are in the know away, but many were fairly low on the intelligence side of things.

 The Espada cautiously approached the flames and sat across from the smoldering remains of the fire, ensuring he wasn't too close to its dying heat. "I'm here because I'm curious, and there's little more to it than that. Why wouldn't I approach one i've never seen before and watch him test his abilities?", he'd continue with a glimmer of interest in his eyes as he looked over the human with a rather hungry look in his eyes. He was enjoying this dialogue, these questions. After all, one question will lead to two, and from two to four, four to sixteen, and so on and so forth.

 "Why are you here alone? You do realize this is a warzone for sorts, right?", he'd pose the first question as his fingers slid over the shaft of his cane, placing it delicately in his lap. "You're lucky that I was the Espada that found you here. Had it been any of the others, you wouldn't have noticed them crushing you flat."

[Raphael Laurent]

Raphael watched the man. Serraph Quarrere, a fascinatingly spanish name to be sure and it made him wonder if, whatever this creature was, had been spanish in life or if this was something most of them did. It had also called itself an espada. What in the world was an espada? Yet the way that the creature said the words “Las Noches”, made him think that it wasn’t from the Seireitei. It concerned him and he was immediately more concerned with this thing watching him work on his abilities. Afterall, if this thing was a hollowform of any kind, then it observing him could prove to be more detrimental than instrumental. Regardless, he was already quite deep in and stopping now wouldn’t help anything.

“I dunno, I guess.” Raph’s reply was confirmation that he have a problem with it, or at the very least knew that there was nothing that he could really do about it otherwise. “I’m still of the living, so we don’t tend to be too keen on people seeing us. Most usually because when people DO see us there’s an eighty percent chance of them freaking out, running off and getting a police officer and/or taking a picture of us and putting it on social media and then there goes our ability to hide amongst the living easily. That or some government van comes, takes you away and puts you in some kind of…facility to hide you away.” He shrugged, slowly raising a hand and concentrating on the fire again. “Not too keen on any of that shit happening. I like my freedom, if you can believe it.” The flames in front of him grew only a little bit, to about the size of a campfire, before he moved his hand down again and the flames dropped in size down to embers. Then he stopped and wiped his forehead.

He watched as the man lay the cane upon his lap; perhaps he would be able to get some more information, tit for tat, as it were. Regardless, he’d need to be careful as he moved forward. Something told him that a creature like this was dangerous, but he had no idea what specifically it was. “A warzone?” Raphael asked, looking at Serraph, before nodding. “Yeah, I know that this is a warzone. It’s pretty much the only reason that I’m out here alone. My mother once told me that the greatest blade is forged in the hottest fire.” Absentmindedly, he rubbed at something that he seemed to be wearing on his neck. “Thus, I have resolved to making myself one of the greatest blades that has existed.”

Once more that word: Espada. He knew that it was spanish for “sword” but the way that this man used the word, Raphael felt a bit clueless about its context. “Espada… That’s spanish for sword, yet you say it like it’s a title.” He pulled two bars from his pocket and held one out to the other man. “Granola? I don’t really know that spirits eat normal human food, though I do know that you all don’t need it. Always feel like eating with company makes the food a bit better.” Whether the man took it or not, Raphael would unwrap his and take a bit out of it.