Post by Celes Castellanos on Mar 12, 2021 1:02:36 GMT -5
The Soul Society. A realm inhabited by the Shinigami, souls touched by a life after death, who defended the realms as best as they could. Sure they had a rigid system, but ultimately they meant well. After all, unlike the Arrancar, they weren't bloodthirsty savages. They had rules and regulations. Naturally, they also had a rigid system of Squads known as the Gotei Thirteen. Naturally accounting for 13 squads, each had a Captain, a Vice Captain, three seated officers and any number of Unseated Shinigami.
Among these Shinigami, Celes was the Vice Captain of Squad 10. Recently promoted a few months ago, Celes was the headstrong and combative Third Seat of Squad 11 once. However, stagnation would catch up with her as she sought more for herself. Celes was a battle hardened warrior who sought nothing more than to improve who she was. If she was not even a bit stronger than the day she was before, something was terribly wrong. The part of the warrior was truly one filled with hardship and constant self-reflection, but Celes did not mind. Nothing compared to the thrill of combat.
It was exactly this belief that would lead Celes to sit on a rock today. Farther out from the Squad 10 Barracks was a nice little serene spot that Celes had found. Surrounded by the swaying of trees, the small spray of grass on her face and the solid fortitude of this rock that she sat on, Celes would be taken back to the days when she was learning Baguazang. It was a martial art that relied on relaxation and truly becoming one with the world around her. It was what Celes loved so much about it. Nobody would truly disturbed her here as not only was it a little harder to find, but Celes had made sure to tell her Squad mates to never disturb her in this area. It was her meditation spot, but today it would serve as so much more.
Among the Shinigami, there was a release that everyone got. This was known as the Shikai. Those experienced enough to earn it were granted a supernatural power that was truly unique to them. Celes was no exception. As one of the only physical Shinigami in the Soul Society, Celes utilized the battle fury and fighting spirit of the ancient Spartans in ancient times. They were known for their ferocity, tactical genius and brutal fighting strategies that Celes had adopted. Even her Zanpakutou was unique as it was a twin set of Katana that would become a spear and a shield.
Since Shikai was a release that everyone got through enough time, patience and experience, Celes wanted to improve her capabilities further. Among Soul Reaper legend, there was the Bankai. Bankai was the second stage release of a Soul Reaper that granted them abilities that the Shikai could only hope to give. Naturally, it was said to require extreme fortitude and decades if not centuries of training to obtain it, let alone master it. The young master tactician, young for a soul reaper atleast, knew that she had to obtain this fabled release. It was the next logical step to becoming stronger.
Within the Academy, Soul Reapers learned that Bankai was obtained through rigorous self reflection, almost endless self-training and required a powerful sense of self to even hope to unlock. Celes felt she had all of those qualities. In theory, obtaining Bankai was simple. Each Shinigami had an inner world which the Zanpakutou spirit inhabited and Celes was not exception. Unlike a number of Shinigami, however, hers was a split world. She had only recently found out that one of them is inhabited by a murderous Hollow who sought to take over Celes' consciousness, twist her body and use it for his own desires.
The inner world was a sanctum in which any Shinigami could learn from their Zanpakutou if they knew its name and even moreso, found a way to enter the inner world. This was simple. What made Bankai unique was to will yourself to summon the Zanpakutou spirit in the real world. Celes' big sister, not by blood, had shown her the technique for how to enter the Inner world. It was known as Jinzen and would allow a Shinigami to commune with their Zanpakutou spirit. It was however, much more difficult to summon the Zan spirit to reality and have it train you.
Celes felt that this would be especially true in her case since her Zan spirit, Yunorashi, much like herself was battle-hardened. Despite the fact that her demeanor was that of a child, Celes knew that Yunorashi had an inner strength that Celes couldn't hope to rival anytime soon. She had to, however. If she was to unlock Bankai, she had to push through. She had to be able to pull Yunorashi from the inner world to reality. After minutes of concentrating, Celes sighed at her lack of progress. She had tried numerous methods. Focusing on herself. Focusing on Yunorashi. Hell, she even tried focusing on her Hollow, but that didn't prove fruitful either albeit, Celes was more thankful for the latter than anything else.
Something seemed to be missing in the equation. Celes pondered it over, but then she had the idea. Typically, she entered the inner world whenever she had a concern that she needed clarified or addressed by Yunorashi. What if in this case, she had the opposite. What if Celes had focused on Yunorashi's needs and wants. It would prove difficult, but it was worth a shot. Yunorashi was like a mentor to Celes and she had remembered many of their conversations. Her Zan spirit always told her how they would fight together always. How they were a team.
After what felt like minutes of focusing, Celes felt her reiatsu flare and take shape. Her body began to vibrate ever so slightly as this reiatsu grew and lifted itself before arcing before her. She couldn't stop now. There was now way that she could do something like this again today. As her focus hardened, she felt that formless reiatsu begin to take shape. As she opened her eyes, the form began to resemble Yunorashi. Closing her eyes once more to finish the process, Celes would find her dissapeared when the process felt like it was complete.
The Shinigami would exclaim in a bit of anger. She spoke audibly. "You have got to be kidding me. I got this far only to fail! I swear, I will never get to Bankai at this rate." Celes closed her eyes as she leaned backward on the rock. As she did, however, she could hear a bit of giggling. She began to exclaim. "I swear. If someone is playing a prank on me and disturbing me while I was in complete zen, I am going to murder you!" As Celes opened her eyes, however, she saw the perpetrator. Her eyes would meet child-like eyes as she looked at her tanned, white heard Zanpakutou spirit.
Completely speechless, Yunorashi would speak first. "Well if you don't want me around then you shouldn't summon me here, silly!" Yunorashi would once again giggle. After all, Celes was being a bit of a silly thing. She hadn't even realized that she successfully summoned Yunorashi until she was directly in front of her. Celes exclaimed in a bit of shock. "Oh Yunorashi! I wasn't expecting you to appear. I..I.." Her Zan spirit smirked and simply retorted. "Of course you were expecting me. You summoned me after all. So this is what the real world looks like. Well if I am here, I assume there is something you wish to ask of me. Though I think be both know the answer to that."
Celes nodded and despite the fact that it typically would need no real explanation, she decided to justify herself anyway. "Yes. Yunorashi. You once said that we would pursue higher avenues of strength together. Well today I will hold you to that. I want to learn the secret of our Bankai." Raising an eyebrow, Yunorashi smiled and chuckled to herself softly, the pendant necklace around her neck swinging. Her voice ever gleeful, she would speak plainly. "Ah. I expected as much. You want to know my real name. Well I certainly don't mind. But we both know these things don't come easy Celes. If you desire this power, then you will have to earn it."
With that being said, Yunorashi would disappear from Celes' view. Was she still that bit much faster than Celes? Only time would tell, but if Celes did not look over, Yunorashi would whistle. With gleeful anticipation, the Zanpakutou spirit drew swords that appeared identical to Celes'. The Shinigami was not surprised. After all, Yunorashi was a reflection of her inner self. Of her power. Celes was not surprised that she immediately drew her blades.
Once Celes got off the rock and before she even had a chance to draw her blades, Yunorashi would already be ontop of her. Celes knew that Yunorashi was ruthless, but this was taking it to a whole new level. Was she going to be this serious to have Celes prove that she was worthy of Bankai. If so, then Celes was not about to disappoint. Her reflexes kicked in immediately as the Shinigami weaved to the side and was prepared to retaliate. Her fists before her, Celes would attempt to barrage Yunorashi with a series of unarmed strikes. It seemed that Yunorashi was prepared for this, however.
She began to dodge the strikes effortlessly. Not only was Yunorashi a reflection of that Spartan spirit that Celes embodied. She was the spirit of Sparta. She would do anything to make sure that Celes was ready to take on the type of power that Bankai would give her. After all, it required a clear head and iron resolve to train to this point. Celes kept up her barrage as Yunorashi quickly weaved in between her attacks, using a simple palm strike to send Celes away. As she was sent away, Celes would feel herself slow down as it created distance between the two.
It seemed that Yunorashi was now waiting, however as she sheated on her blades and smiled at Celes. The Shinigami smiled back and with ferocity, drew her two Zanpakutou. With incredible speed, she would attempt to blitz her Zanpakutou spirit, but she knew better. Yunorashi knew all about Celes and her fighting style. It was clear that she was going to for a series of strikes that would hide her true intentions. Two strikes at different cadence from each side would originate from Celes as she smiled. Using a Hakuda technique known as Different Tempo, Celes would quickly change one of her strikes to an upward slash.
The Zanpakutou spirit predicted this and simply leaned backwards with impressive agility and flexibility. She would smile and giggle, speaking in the middle of their fight. "Gonna have to do a little better than that Celes." This would elicit a smile from the Shinigami as Yunorashi finally took note of what Celes was doing. Quickly throwing one of her Zanpakutou into the air, her hand would then come to the blade above her as with a Shunpo Karin, she would bring the blade down with impressive speed. Yunorashi, however countered with her own Shunpo Karin.
It happened in an instant and Celes was suprised that Yunorashi was still able to react to this use of misdirection. Her blade came above her head as Yunorashi simply blocked and parried the attack. Stepping to the side, Yunorashi would go for a diagonal slash, amplified by her momentum. Celes knew that she had to take the hit. She did her best to flex her muscle. As she did, the blade would hit her shoulder, but would not nearly go deep enough to bleed. Her flex had definitely saved her there. Despite her stature, Celes knew that Yunorashi was stronger than Celes, but she was holding back. Else she may have not had a shoulder anymore.
It was by this time that the blade that Celes threw into the air would dig into the ground. The Shinigami simply plucked it from the soft earth beside her and spoke clearly. "Are you going to get serious at all Yunorashi. Or are we going to keep this at a level below what we both know we are capable of? Stop holding back and fight me truly. As a warrior, you know that there is no greater honor to your opponent than giving your all." Yunorashi smiled and smirked. "Sharp eye, but we will see if you can handle this." Both Yunorashi and Celes seemed to have the same idea as they both spoke in unison. "By blood may my spear earn its name. By Aries, may my shield carry my broken body home. Name me the Goddess of War, Yunorashi."
Both of their respective Zanpakutou would undergo its respective release as they both now shared the same weapon of a spear and shield. Yunorashi smiled and cracked her neck. "I hope you are ready Celes, here I go!" With a quick movement, Yunorashi would be upon Celes once more. This time she would use a strategy that Celes had recently used on Priscilla. Her shield would come up, attempting to shield slam the poor Shinigami. This would naturally lead into a thrust. But Celes was ready. It was her usage of it, after all, that made her realize what her Zan spirit was going for.
With subtle shifts of movement, Celes blocked the shield with her own shield. However, Celes would dig her spear into the ground as Yunorashi went for the thrust, Celes would make sure to grab the spear. Admittedly this, Yunorashi was not expecting. With what was most akin to a spartan kick, Celes slammed her foot against the shield. With a powerful thud, Yunorashi slid backwards a few feet and smirked at the Shinigami. She would take a moment to congratulate Celes.
"I see that you have gotten more clever Celes. You know you can't fight me conventionally so you use space-making tools and strategies to disrupt my attacks. I wonder though, when will you counter attack." Yunorashi would quickly thrust at Celes with her spear. Celes prepared for this and began to hide behind her shield. She purposefully did not pluck the spear from the ground as she was preparing something else. As she hid behind the shield. Celes focused reiatsu into her muscles. Despite the fact that her muscles were flowing with reiatsu, she would begin to essentially overclock her muscles as she swiftly parried the next spear strike, leaving Yunorashi wide open. Releasing the built up tension in her muscles, Celes would unleash one hundred strikes that lashed out at Yunorashi like wolves fangs. It was a powerful technique and one that her Zanpakutou spirit was not prepared for.
With her experience and adept speed, she was able to dodge a good few at first. She would soon become overwhelmed as numerous fists began to connect, almost pummeling Yunorashi. Once the barrage ended, she gasped for air and chuckled. "Now now. That was excellent Celes. Using Hakuda instead of your spear truly threw me off. I can see that you came prepared for this fight. Though I would be a fool for thinking that you wouldn't. After all, I am a part of you."
This little piece of praise made Celes feel proud. She was actually getting Yunorashi into a position where she actually was forced to go on the defensive. Atleast this is what Celes thought. That brief moment of elation was all that Yunorashi needed. She quickly descended upon the Shinigami and before Celes had time to react, simply tapped her forehead. At first, Celes had no idea what was going on. She would find out in mere moments, however as she was starting to struggle, becoming bound in chains. Celes winced and screamed out in discomfort. It was clear that her moment of relaxation would be a dangerous move.
As Celes struggled against the bindings, Yunorashi smiled as they slow grew tighter. This admittedly caught Celes off guard as she was not expecting it. After all, it wasn't something that she tended to use on others. It was a suppression tool. It was too be used to bind those filled with hope to crush it. It wasn't something that she relished. Yunorashi did tell her that she would go all out and it was clear that she was going to do. As Celes tried to struggle in vain, she began to see Yunorashi charge up what seemed to be a set of spear strikes as she hid behind her shield much like Celes. This was all too familiar to her as the Shinigami frantically struggled. This would be in vain, however.
In what felt like an instant, 2 dozen sets of spear strikes laid into Celes. She felt each puncture and even though Yunorashi was holding back, it was clear that Celes would take a good bit of damage from this. She screamed in pain, but tried to silence herself after a moment. This was not only to avoid attracting any attention, but to also not show any fear in the face of adversity. As the set of spear attacks stopped, Yunorashi looked past her shield and noticed as Celes was riddled in puncture wounds. Deep enough to bleed somewhat, but not enough to cause her to die from them.
Looking into the air, Celes screamed in rage as she broke through the chains. They had tightened over time and as such she needed time to recuperate. After all, they were chains that could break the hope of anyone that was under their influence. As Celes fell to all 4s, she gasped for air. Yunorashi looked at her and chuckled. "Pride destroys the footholds of victory Celes. Remember that. You took those strikes well, but it is time to see whether you can really handle taking this to the next level." Celes nodded and sighed as she tried to catch her breath. "W..what more could there be to this Yunorashi?"
The Zanpakutou spirit smiled. She would not speak and would instead jump backwards. Suddenly, her reiatsu flared wildly. It was clear that she had something planned, but this felt so much different than what Celes was used to. After some time and without any indication of words, Celes felt reiatsu that Yunorashi was commanding change physical shape. A blinding flash of light eruped as she stood there, Celes' mouth agape.
Not only did Yunorashi have the traditional spear and shield. She was also wearing what appeared to be akin to spartan armor. Was this Celes' true power. The power of her and Yunorashi's Bankai. Yunorashi simply smiled and grinned. "It seems you are taken aback by this. I'm not fully suprised. This is the first time that you are seeing this after all. Prepare yourself Celes. Steel yourself and strike with the fury of 300 spartan warriors."
Getting to her feet, Celes only felt that she wanted to earn this power. She wanted Yunorashi to feel like she deserved it. She would just stand there. Her shield in hand and her spear to the side. Was she taunting Celes. The Shinigami admittedly took this a little to heart. This time, Celes would descend upon Yunorashi yelling. "Now who is leaving themselves wide open!" As her spear connected however, it would simply press against the spartan armor. Much like a Hierro, it wouldn't even pierce it. It would not leave a dent. Yunorashi smiled and smirked. No response was necesarry.
The Zanpakutou spirit would suddenly dash within a few feet of her to the side. Celes knew this as not a Shunpo yet she moved so flawlessly. So effortlessly. Celes tried to maneuver her shield in time, but it was too late. Yunorashi would hit her with the spear in a quick jab. This certainly hurt like a bitch, but Celes endured it. She gritted her teeth and held her side as she looked at her Zanpakutou spirit. Not only was there the wound, however, but Celes would notice a mark appear layered above the and around the wound. This could not mean good news and she braced herself for whatever it could be. She was not sure, but nothing happened. Was it a lingering effect? Maybe. No matter what, Celes knew she did not want to get hit in the same area twice, She just had a weird feeling about it.
It was then that Celes remembered a vision of what her Inner Hollow had done to Priscilla. She breathed out calmly as she suddenly lunged forward, faking out Yunorashi as she dug her spear into the ground. With speed and acrobatics, Celes spun around the spear like a pole and tried to hit Yunorashi much in the same way that her Hollow had barraged Priscilla. It was useless, however as Yunorashi parried the hit not with her shield, but with her arm. Celes' eyes widened as Yunorashi grabbed her leg and flung her before her. Celes had the experience to land on her feet, but damn that was disorienting.
Yunorashi sighed and smirked. She would speak calmly. "I think it is time to bring this to a close. Survive this last attack and we will go from there Celes." As Yunorashi seemed to be preparing her next attack, Celes decided to do her own final attack. Much like with Priscilla, she knelt to the ground. She had to see if Yunorashi was capable of clashing with Celes' own Hakuda. Yunorashi quickly began to run forward. Celes in her sudden movement, reacted and dashed forward. In what was almost an instant, Yunorashi twisted in midair and was prepared to hit Celes with what would feel like a shield slam. As Celes collided with her, punching her shield, there was a sudden burst of light. The wind pressure alone would be enough to knock anyone close by straight off of her feet. Such was the power of these two titans clashing.
In that moment, Celes lost consciousness. Had she done it? Was this the moment? As the Shinigami awoke, she noticed the torn up landscape. Not only that, she noticed that Yunorashi was laying on her back seemingly unconscious. Was this the moment that she would subjugate her Bankai? When she would subjugate Yunorashi's power. Walking towards her, Celes sighed as she looked down upon her Zanpakutou spirit. Her spear in hand, Celes held it to Yunorashi's throat, but it was then that she realized. This was her partner. Her Zanpakutou spirit. What would she be if she maimed her here and now. Celes would kneel and dig her spear into the ground beside her. She would then slowly take Yunorashi into her arms and hold her close.
Yunorashi would slowly awaken and yawn. "Mmm..Celes. Well I am still here. That was one heck of a burst." She looked at Celes' spear in the ground and smiled. She would quickly dissapear from Celes arms. The Shinigami would look around frantically, but Yunorashi was just beside her giggling and smiling like her usual self. "Congratulations Celes. You passed the test!" The Shinigami couldn't help, but blink in response. "A test? What test?" Yunorashi shook her head and ruffled Celes' hair before embracing her. "THE test."
Celes couldn't help, but eye Yunorashi with confusion. Her voice would tremble a little. "But..I failed. I didn't beat you. If you were an opponent, my weakness would have maybe left me dead now as you may have stabbed me in the back for my kindness." Yunorashi laughed audibly and sighed. "You are such a dummy sometimes Celes. Think about our release phrase. We ask for Aries to offer us the title of god of war. Who was the antithesis to Aries."
It would take Celes a bit to think about it, but she blinked and answered promptly. "His sister. Goddess Athena. Wait...the test. It was whether I would stay my weapon. Whether I would offer the hand of peace instead of war. That was it wasn't it?!" Yunorashi smiled and rubbed Celes' head. She would smile and yell. "Bingo." With that, her armor would disappear as well as her Zanpakutou. Yunorashi began to slowly crumble into reiatsu as she was being absorbed back into Celes. As she slowly did so, she would speak calmly to the Shinigami, imparting words of encouragement.
"I am so proud of you Celes. I knew from the moment that we bonded that we were meant for one another. Remember as I said before. We are one and will always fight together. If I can help it, I will never let anything happen to you. I promise that. Rest and I promise that you will know the secret of your Bankai. And Celes.." Celes looked up at her as her head was left. "Stay weary of that Hollow. We will defeat him together." With that, Yunorashi faded away and refused with Celes' spirit.
Taking her spear and plucking it from the ground, Celes sighed as it would return back to its original shape of a Katana. The same would happen to her shield. She would be more than ecstatic. She was on the cusp of unlocking her true power. She just needed rest to collect herself. Taking one more look at the surrounding environment, she sighed. "Maybe...we overdid it. Oh dear. More paperwork." She sighed and smiled, heading back to the Squad 10 Barracks to write her report and spend some much needed time resting.
Among these Shinigami, Celes was the Vice Captain of Squad 10. Recently promoted a few months ago, Celes was the headstrong and combative Third Seat of Squad 11 once. However, stagnation would catch up with her as she sought more for herself. Celes was a battle hardened warrior who sought nothing more than to improve who she was. If she was not even a bit stronger than the day she was before, something was terribly wrong. The part of the warrior was truly one filled with hardship and constant self-reflection, but Celes did not mind. Nothing compared to the thrill of combat.
It was exactly this belief that would lead Celes to sit on a rock today. Farther out from the Squad 10 Barracks was a nice little serene spot that Celes had found. Surrounded by the swaying of trees, the small spray of grass on her face and the solid fortitude of this rock that she sat on, Celes would be taken back to the days when she was learning Baguazang. It was a martial art that relied on relaxation and truly becoming one with the world around her. It was what Celes loved so much about it. Nobody would truly disturbed her here as not only was it a little harder to find, but Celes had made sure to tell her Squad mates to never disturb her in this area. It was her meditation spot, but today it would serve as so much more.
Among the Shinigami, there was a release that everyone got. This was known as the Shikai. Those experienced enough to earn it were granted a supernatural power that was truly unique to them. Celes was no exception. As one of the only physical Shinigami in the Soul Society, Celes utilized the battle fury and fighting spirit of the ancient Spartans in ancient times. They were known for their ferocity, tactical genius and brutal fighting strategies that Celes had adopted. Even her Zanpakutou was unique as it was a twin set of Katana that would become a spear and a shield.
Since Shikai was a release that everyone got through enough time, patience and experience, Celes wanted to improve her capabilities further. Among Soul Reaper legend, there was the Bankai. Bankai was the second stage release of a Soul Reaper that granted them abilities that the Shikai could only hope to give. Naturally, it was said to require extreme fortitude and decades if not centuries of training to obtain it, let alone master it. The young master tactician, young for a soul reaper atleast, knew that she had to obtain this fabled release. It was the next logical step to becoming stronger.
Within the Academy, Soul Reapers learned that Bankai was obtained through rigorous self reflection, almost endless self-training and required a powerful sense of self to even hope to unlock. Celes felt she had all of those qualities. In theory, obtaining Bankai was simple. Each Shinigami had an inner world which the Zanpakutou spirit inhabited and Celes was not exception. Unlike a number of Shinigami, however, hers was a split world. She had only recently found out that one of them is inhabited by a murderous Hollow who sought to take over Celes' consciousness, twist her body and use it for his own desires.
The inner world was a sanctum in which any Shinigami could learn from their Zanpakutou if they knew its name and even moreso, found a way to enter the inner world. This was simple. What made Bankai unique was to will yourself to summon the Zanpakutou spirit in the real world. Celes' big sister, not by blood, had shown her the technique for how to enter the Inner world. It was known as Jinzen and would allow a Shinigami to commune with their Zanpakutou spirit. It was however, much more difficult to summon the Zan spirit to reality and have it train you.
Celes felt that this would be especially true in her case since her Zan spirit, Yunorashi, much like herself was battle-hardened. Despite the fact that her demeanor was that of a child, Celes knew that Yunorashi had an inner strength that Celes couldn't hope to rival anytime soon. She had to, however. If she was to unlock Bankai, she had to push through. She had to be able to pull Yunorashi from the inner world to reality. After minutes of concentrating, Celes sighed at her lack of progress. She had tried numerous methods. Focusing on herself. Focusing on Yunorashi. Hell, she even tried focusing on her Hollow, but that didn't prove fruitful either albeit, Celes was more thankful for the latter than anything else.
Something seemed to be missing in the equation. Celes pondered it over, but then she had the idea. Typically, she entered the inner world whenever she had a concern that she needed clarified or addressed by Yunorashi. What if in this case, she had the opposite. What if Celes had focused on Yunorashi's needs and wants. It would prove difficult, but it was worth a shot. Yunorashi was like a mentor to Celes and she had remembered many of their conversations. Her Zan spirit always told her how they would fight together always. How they were a team.
After what felt like minutes of focusing, Celes felt her reiatsu flare and take shape. Her body began to vibrate ever so slightly as this reiatsu grew and lifted itself before arcing before her. She couldn't stop now. There was now way that she could do something like this again today. As her focus hardened, she felt that formless reiatsu begin to take shape. As she opened her eyes, the form began to resemble Yunorashi. Closing her eyes once more to finish the process, Celes would find her dissapeared when the process felt like it was complete.
The Shinigami would exclaim in a bit of anger. She spoke audibly. "You have got to be kidding me. I got this far only to fail! I swear, I will never get to Bankai at this rate." Celes closed her eyes as she leaned backward on the rock. As she did, however, she could hear a bit of giggling. She began to exclaim. "I swear. If someone is playing a prank on me and disturbing me while I was in complete zen, I am going to murder you!" As Celes opened her eyes, however, she saw the perpetrator. Her eyes would meet child-like eyes as she looked at her tanned, white heard Zanpakutou spirit.
Completely speechless, Yunorashi would speak first. "Well if you don't want me around then you shouldn't summon me here, silly!" Yunorashi would once again giggle. After all, Celes was being a bit of a silly thing. She hadn't even realized that she successfully summoned Yunorashi until she was directly in front of her. Celes exclaimed in a bit of shock. "Oh Yunorashi! I wasn't expecting you to appear. I..I.." Her Zan spirit smirked and simply retorted. "Of course you were expecting me. You summoned me after all. So this is what the real world looks like. Well if I am here, I assume there is something you wish to ask of me. Though I think be both know the answer to that."
Celes nodded and despite the fact that it typically would need no real explanation, she decided to justify herself anyway. "Yes. Yunorashi. You once said that we would pursue higher avenues of strength together. Well today I will hold you to that. I want to learn the secret of our Bankai." Raising an eyebrow, Yunorashi smiled and chuckled to herself softly, the pendant necklace around her neck swinging. Her voice ever gleeful, she would speak plainly. "Ah. I expected as much. You want to know my real name. Well I certainly don't mind. But we both know these things don't come easy Celes. If you desire this power, then you will have to earn it."
With that being said, Yunorashi would disappear from Celes' view. Was she still that bit much faster than Celes? Only time would tell, but if Celes did not look over, Yunorashi would whistle. With gleeful anticipation, the Zanpakutou spirit drew swords that appeared identical to Celes'. The Shinigami was not surprised. After all, Yunorashi was a reflection of her inner self. Of her power. Celes was not surprised that she immediately drew her blades.
Once Celes got off the rock and before she even had a chance to draw her blades, Yunorashi would already be ontop of her. Celes knew that Yunorashi was ruthless, but this was taking it to a whole new level. Was she going to be this serious to have Celes prove that she was worthy of Bankai. If so, then Celes was not about to disappoint. Her reflexes kicked in immediately as the Shinigami weaved to the side and was prepared to retaliate. Her fists before her, Celes would attempt to barrage Yunorashi with a series of unarmed strikes. It seemed that Yunorashi was prepared for this, however.
She began to dodge the strikes effortlessly. Not only was Yunorashi a reflection of that Spartan spirit that Celes embodied. She was the spirit of Sparta. She would do anything to make sure that Celes was ready to take on the type of power that Bankai would give her. After all, it required a clear head and iron resolve to train to this point. Celes kept up her barrage as Yunorashi quickly weaved in between her attacks, using a simple palm strike to send Celes away. As she was sent away, Celes would feel herself slow down as it created distance between the two.
It seemed that Yunorashi was now waiting, however as she sheated on her blades and smiled at Celes. The Shinigami smiled back and with ferocity, drew her two Zanpakutou. With incredible speed, she would attempt to blitz her Zanpakutou spirit, but she knew better. Yunorashi knew all about Celes and her fighting style. It was clear that she was going to for a series of strikes that would hide her true intentions. Two strikes at different cadence from each side would originate from Celes as she smiled. Using a Hakuda technique known as Different Tempo, Celes would quickly change one of her strikes to an upward slash.
The Zanpakutou spirit predicted this and simply leaned backwards with impressive agility and flexibility. She would smile and giggle, speaking in the middle of their fight. "Gonna have to do a little better than that Celes." This would elicit a smile from the Shinigami as Yunorashi finally took note of what Celes was doing. Quickly throwing one of her Zanpakutou into the air, her hand would then come to the blade above her as with a Shunpo Karin, she would bring the blade down with impressive speed. Yunorashi, however countered with her own Shunpo Karin.
It happened in an instant and Celes was suprised that Yunorashi was still able to react to this use of misdirection. Her blade came above her head as Yunorashi simply blocked and parried the attack. Stepping to the side, Yunorashi would go for a diagonal slash, amplified by her momentum. Celes knew that she had to take the hit. She did her best to flex her muscle. As she did, the blade would hit her shoulder, but would not nearly go deep enough to bleed. Her flex had definitely saved her there. Despite her stature, Celes knew that Yunorashi was stronger than Celes, but she was holding back. Else she may have not had a shoulder anymore.
It was by this time that the blade that Celes threw into the air would dig into the ground. The Shinigami simply plucked it from the soft earth beside her and spoke clearly. "Are you going to get serious at all Yunorashi. Or are we going to keep this at a level below what we both know we are capable of? Stop holding back and fight me truly. As a warrior, you know that there is no greater honor to your opponent than giving your all." Yunorashi smiled and smirked. "Sharp eye, but we will see if you can handle this." Both Yunorashi and Celes seemed to have the same idea as they both spoke in unison. "By blood may my spear earn its name. By Aries, may my shield carry my broken body home. Name me the Goddess of War, Yunorashi."
Both of their respective Zanpakutou would undergo its respective release as they both now shared the same weapon of a spear and shield. Yunorashi smiled and cracked her neck. "I hope you are ready Celes, here I go!" With a quick movement, Yunorashi would be upon Celes once more. This time she would use a strategy that Celes had recently used on Priscilla. Her shield would come up, attempting to shield slam the poor Shinigami. This would naturally lead into a thrust. But Celes was ready. It was her usage of it, after all, that made her realize what her Zan spirit was going for.
With subtle shifts of movement, Celes blocked the shield with her own shield. However, Celes would dig her spear into the ground as Yunorashi went for the thrust, Celes would make sure to grab the spear. Admittedly this, Yunorashi was not expecting. With what was most akin to a spartan kick, Celes slammed her foot against the shield. With a powerful thud, Yunorashi slid backwards a few feet and smirked at the Shinigami. She would take a moment to congratulate Celes.
"I see that you have gotten more clever Celes. You know you can't fight me conventionally so you use space-making tools and strategies to disrupt my attacks. I wonder though, when will you counter attack." Yunorashi would quickly thrust at Celes with her spear. Celes prepared for this and began to hide behind her shield. She purposefully did not pluck the spear from the ground as she was preparing something else. As she hid behind the shield. Celes focused reiatsu into her muscles. Despite the fact that her muscles were flowing with reiatsu, she would begin to essentially overclock her muscles as she swiftly parried the next spear strike, leaving Yunorashi wide open. Releasing the built up tension in her muscles, Celes would unleash one hundred strikes that lashed out at Yunorashi like wolves fangs. It was a powerful technique and one that her Zanpakutou spirit was not prepared for.
With her experience and adept speed, she was able to dodge a good few at first. She would soon become overwhelmed as numerous fists began to connect, almost pummeling Yunorashi. Once the barrage ended, she gasped for air and chuckled. "Now now. That was excellent Celes. Using Hakuda instead of your spear truly threw me off. I can see that you came prepared for this fight. Though I would be a fool for thinking that you wouldn't. After all, I am a part of you."
This little piece of praise made Celes feel proud. She was actually getting Yunorashi into a position where she actually was forced to go on the defensive. Atleast this is what Celes thought. That brief moment of elation was all that Yunorashi needed. She quickly descended upon the Shinigami and before Celes had time to react, simply tapped her forehead. At first, Celes had no idea what was going on. She would find out in mere moments, however as she was starting to struggle, becoming bound in chains. Celes winced and screamed out in discomfort. It was clear that her moment of relaxation would be a dangerous move.
As Celes struggled against the bindings, Yunorashi smiled as they slow grew tighter. This admittedly caught Celes off guard as she was not expecting it. After all, it wasn't something that she tended to use on others. It was a suppression tool. It was too be used to bind those filled with hope to crush it. It wasn't something that she relished. Yunorashi did tell her that she would go all out and it was clear that she was going to do. As Celes tried to struggle in vain, she began to see Yunorashi charge up what seemed to be a set of spear strikes as she hid behind her shield much like Celes. This was all too familiar to her as the Shinigami frantically struggled. This would be in vain, however.
In what felt like an instant, 2 dozen sets of spear strikes laid into Celes. She felt each puncture and even though Yunorashi was holding back, it was clear that Celes would take a good bit of damage from this. She screamed in pain, but tried to silence herself after a moment. This was not only to avoid attracting any attention, but to also not show any fear in the face of adversity. As the set of spear attacks stopped, Yunorashi looked past her shield and noticed as Celes was riddled in puncture wounds. Deep enough to bleed somewhat, but not enough to cause her to die from them.
Looking into the air, Celes screamed in rage as she broke through the chains. They had tightened over time and as such she needed time to recuperate. After all, they were chains that could break the hope of anyone that was under their influence. As Celes fell to all 4s, she gasped for air. Yunorashi looked at her and chuckled. "Pride destroys the footholds of victory Celes. Remember that. You took those strikes well, but it is time to see whether you can really handle taking this to the next level." Celes nodded and sighed as she tried to catch her breath. "W..what more could there be to this Yunorashi?"
The Zanpakutou spirit smiled. She would not speak and would instead jump backwards. Suddenly, her reiatsu flared wildly. It was clear that she had something planned, but this felt so much different than what Celes was used to. After some time and without any indication of words, Celes felt reiatsu that Yunorashi was commanding change physical shape. A blinding flash of light eruped as she stood there, Celes' mouth agape.
Not only did Yunorashi have the traditional spear and shield. She was also wearing what appeared to be akin to spartan armor. Was this Celes' true power. The power of her and Yunorashi's Bankai. Yunorashi simply smiled and grinned. "It seems you are taken aback by this. I'm not fully suprised. This is the first time that you are seeing this after all. Prepare yourself Celes. Steel yourself and strike with the fury of 300 spartan warriors."
Getting to her feet, Celes only felt that she wanted to earn this power. She wanted Yunorashi to feel like she deserved it. She would just stand there. Her shield in hand and her spear to the side. Was she taunting Celes. The Shinigami admittedly took this a little to heart. This time, Celes would descend upon Yunorashi yelling. "Now who is leaving themselves wide open!" As her spear connected however, it would simply press against the spartan armor. Much like a Hierro, it wouldn't even pierce it. It would not leave a dent. Yunorashi smiled and smirked. No response was necesarry.
The Zanpakutou spirit would suddenly dash within a few feet of her to the side. Celes knew this as not a Shunpo yet she moved so flawlessly. So effortlessly. Celes tried to maneuver her shield in time, but it was too late. Yunorashi would hit her with the spear in a quick jab. This certainly hurt like a bitch, but Celes endured it. She gritted her teeth and held her side as she looked at her Zanpakutou spirit. Not only was there the wound, however, but Celes would notice a mark appear layered above the and around the wound. This could not mean good news and she braced herself for whatever it could be. She was not sure, but nothing happened. Was it a lingering effect? Maybe. No matter what, Celes knew she did not want to get hit in the same area twice, She just had a weird feeling about it.
It was then that Celes remembered a vision of what her Inner Hollow had done to Priscilla. She breathed out calmly as she suddenly lunged forward, faking out Yunorashi as she dug her spear into the ground. With speed and acrobatics, Celes spun around the spear like a pole and tried to hit Yunorashi much in the same way that her Hollow had barraged Priscilla. It was useless, however as Yunorashi parried the hit not with her shield, but with her arm. Celes' eyes widened as Yunorashi grabbed her leg and flung her before her. Celes had the experience to land on her feet, but damn that was disorienting.
Yunorashi sighed and smirked. She would speak calmly. "I think it is time to bring this to a close. Survive this last attack and we will go from there Celes." As Yunorashi seemed to be preparing her next attack, Celes decided to do her own final attack. Much like with Priscilla, she knelt to the ground. She had to see if Yunorashi was capable of clashing with Celes' own Hakuda. Yunorashi quickly began to run forward. Celes in her sudden movement, reacted and dashed forward. In what was almost an instant, Yunorashi twisted in midair and was prepared to hit Celes with what would feel like a shield slam. As Celes collided with her, punching her shield, there was a sudden burst of light. The wind pressure alone would be enough to knock anyone close by straight off of her feet. Such was the power of these two titans clashing.
In that moment, Celes lost consciousness. Had she done it? Was this the moment? As the Shinigami awoke, she noticed the torn up landscape. Not only that, she noticed that Yunorashi was laying on her back seemingly unconscious. Was this the moment that she would subjugate her Bankai? When she would subjugate Yunorashi's power. Walking towards her, Celes sighed as she looked down upon her Zanpakutou spirit. Her spear in hand, Celes held it to Yunorashi's throat, but it was then that she realized. This was her partner. Her Zanpakutou spirit. What would she be if she maimed her here and now. Celes would kneel and dig her spear into the ground beside her. She would then slowly take Yunorashi into her arms and hold her close.
Yunorashi would slowly awaken and yawn. "Mmm..Celes. Well I am still here. That was one heck of a burst." She looked at Celes' spear in the ground and smiled. She would quickly dissapear from Celes arms. The Shinigami would look around frantically, but Yunorashi was just beside her giggling and smiling like her usual self. "Congratulations Celes. You passed the test!" The Shinigami couldn't help, but blink in response. "A test? What test?" Yunorashi shook her head and ruffled Celes' hair before embracing her. "THE test."
Celes couldn't help, but eye Yunorashi with confusion. Her voice would tremble a little. "But..I failed. I didn't beat you. If you were an opponent, my weakness would have maybe left me dead now as you may have stabbed me in the back for my kindness." Yunorashi laughed audibly and sighed. "You are such a dummy sometimes Celes. Think about our release phrase. We ask for Aries to offer us the title of god of war. Who was the antithesis to Aries."
It would take Celes a bit to think about it, but she blinked and answered promptly. "His sister. Goddess Athena. Wait...the test. It was whether I would stay my weapon. Whether I would offer the hand of peace instead of war. That was it wasn't it?!" Yunorashi smiled and rubbed Celes' head. She would smile and yell. "Bingo." With that, her armor would disappear as well as her Zanpakutou. Yunorashi began to slowly crumble into reiatsu as she was being absorbed back into Celes. As she slowly did so, she would speak calmly to the Shinigami, imparting words of encouragement.
"I am so proud of you Celes. I knew from the moment that we bonded that we were meant for one another. Remember as I said before. We are one and will always fight together. If I can help it, I will never let anything happen to you. I promise that. Rest and I promise that you will know the secret of your Bankai. And Celes.." Celes looked up at her as her head was left. "Stay weary of that Hollow. We will defeat him together." With that, Yunorashi faded away and refused with Celes' spirit.
Taking her spear and plucking it from the ground, Celes sighed as it would return back to its original shape of a Katana. The same would happen to her shield. She would be more than ecstatic. She was on the cusp of unlocking her true power. She just needed rest to collect herself. Taking one more look at the surrounding environment, she sighed. "Maybe...we overdid it. Oh dear. More paperwork." She sighed and smiled, heading back to the Squad 10 Barracks to write her report and spend some much needed time resting.
