Lesson from the Legend[Joint Training Thread, NDE]

[Taien Hadohou]

"I. Have. Learned. Of. Ebb. And. Flow!"

Taien blinked for a moment. That phrase sounded vaugely familiar, but for the life of him, he couldn't figure out exactly where he had heard it. Taien would have pondered this for a longer period of time, but he was suddenly distracted by the freaking pulsing ring of water that Kyomei-San had just summoned. Taien briefly saw the change to Kyomei's eyes, which had turned a ocean-sapphire-ish color this time around, but he was observing the ring more. As with the wind beforehand, the ring of water around Kyomei looked practically alive. If it was like before as well, it was also a fairly draining thing to maintain. Kyomei however had taken the last lesson to heart, and released the torrent of power back from whence it came. The water quickly receeded back into the lake, and all was calm again. Taien was left looking at a smiling Kyomei, which made Taien grin back as well. More progress! Today really was going to be a good day.

"Haha! A wonderful display Kyomei-San! With the way things are going, we might be able to finish off the rest of the elements today, if you think you're up to it."

Taien's eyes gleamed as he grinned. He looked at the state of Kyomei's clothes and quickly came to the obvious deduction that they needed to be dried out. What element would be best for that?

"Ah, but excuse my manners, what kind of host leaves his guests cold?"

This time, Taien didn't even have to access the control panel. He simply snapped his fingers, and the scenery started to change once more. The lake seemed to dry up at an extremely fast rate, all the water being turned into steam as it escaped into the air. This, in turn, created a fairly thick fog around the area, which partialy obscured such changes as trees growing around the two, the sky fading to black as it turned from day to night, the sun sinking at a rapid pace, and the moon becoming the dominating feature in the sky, surrounded by sparkling specks of jewel-like starts. A stone fire pit emerged between Taien and Kyomei, filling itself with kindling and thick logs. As the changes finalized, the fire roared into existence, seemingly causing the fog to retreat and vanish into thin air, revealing what it hid.

Taien was, by this point, sitting on the ground near the fire, in the classic Seiza position, somehow having gotten ahold of a cup of tea. Taien eyed the surrounding area with an air of detachment, seemingly looking for something. He sipped his tea as his eyes fell upon Kyomei again.

"This seems fine for now. We'll take a quick break before we get on with our lesson."

Taien gestured to a cup in front of Kyomei, filled with a substance that looked somewhat like, but not quite like tea. It would be whatever Kyomei wanted it to be when he took his first sip. Taien continued to look around the area, as if something was eluding him. As he continued to look around, his look of consternation seemed to grow. It was actually looking like it bordered on a full fledged serious face. This was startling; it wasn't that Taien looked serious, but he generally never looked like this at all. As Taien took another sip of his tea, his eyes widened a bit, a loud "Ding!" going off in his head. His hand holding the tea met the empty hand like a hammer, the tea sloshing around in the cup a bit.

"Ah yes, that's it! I know what's missing now! Hold on Kyomei-San, things are about to get bumpy!"

Called out Taien as he smiled a mischievous smile again. He snapped his fingers once more. The ground from under the two seemed to stretch them away from the firepit. Which was a good thing to, seeing as the firepit suddenly doubled in size, the fire roaring higher and higher, till it looked like a gigantic inferno had just appeared in the middle of it. The trees around them caught fire, spreading the fire to all the reaches of the forest. Ash rained down like snow on the two, creating a weird surreal feeling to the already bizarre picture.

Taien however, didn't seemed worry about the situation. Despite the raging wildfire around them, the heat wasn't unbearable. Oh it was fairly warm alright, but it wasn't anything outside the tolerance range of the two. Despite the ash and smoke around them, they could breath easily; indeed, the scent of smoke and burning wood in the air wasn't all that unpleasant. Finally, despite the roar of the fire, Taien and Kyomei could easily speak to each other, as Taien was about to demonstrait.

"All right, this is much better. The best way to learn about fire would be to be in the middle of one, wouldn't you say? It's much more than just a force of destruction."

Taien walked around the perimeter of the roaring firepit to where Kyomei was, still holding his cup of tea. He took another sip as he stopped a few feet away from him. Taien looked at Kyomei again, his eyes seeming to dance with the reflected flames.

"Fire is another force of change, like Water and Wind, yet still a unique and extraordinary phenomena unto itself. While Water sits and waits, eroding mountains to sand, and Wind roams the earth, Fire is much more explosive, much more abrupt, much more sudden and chaotic. It reshapes the terrain, burning away all before it. It requires a very controlled and level hand to guide it, lest it break loose and burn the hand and consume the body."

Taien sat down, tossing his empty tea cup into the flames. He watched it for a moment as it was consumed, and then turned back to Kyomei. He gestured for him to sit down with him. They were going to do the meditation in the middle of a forest fire. Taien wasn't looking worried, and the look he was giving Kyomei told him not to be worried either. He knew what he was doing.

"All right, let's take it from the top!

Open the eyes of your soul, open the gate to your heart, the door to your mind. . . Let your senses extend beyond your body, your spirit beyond the physical plane. . . "

Taien once again started his chant, one that Kyomei seemed receptive enough to, and thus their foray into the elemental realm of Fire began.

"Feel the heat of the fire upon your skin, feel the warmth and withering wrath of the fire in your being. Feel also the wind of the fire upon your face, burning, blowing, aiding the fire, causing it to soar up into the heavens. What does the feeling tell you? What does the feeling mean?"

Taien hadn't talked about multiple elements before this, but now that Kyomei knew of Wind, the supportive element of Fire, something like this was inevitable.

"Hear the roar of the fire, hear the howling of the wind and fire in unison, hear them proclaim defiance to the heavens above. What is the sound of their cries? What is the message they proclaim to the world?

Taste the fire upon the wind, taste the ash and the smoke and the heat. Taste the fire's fury and it's kindness, taste the flavor of duality. What does it taste like? What is it's meaning?

Smell the smoke of the land, the smell of wood and smoke on the wind. Smell the wind as it flows through the fires, smell it as it heralds the conquest of flames. What is it's message? What is it's scent?

See the power of fire, see it burn through the lands. See the wind aiding the fire, see it driving it through valley after valley, across rivers and lakes. See the benevolence of fire, see it burn away the land so it may grow again. What is it's purpose? What is it's duty?

Learn from the burning flames, let them into your soul to ignite your passion. Let the lessons of fire reside within you, let it radiate heat and warmth upon your allies, and burning wrath upon your foes. Let your very being become one with the flames, as the fire becomes one with your passion and power."

This would most likely result in what happened before, except with fire this time. Lucky for Taien, he knew what would happen, so he went ahead and put a water veil around him so he didn't get burnt to ash by Kyomei. That would have been embarrassing.

[Kyomei Kuchiki]

Kyomei's eyes faded to their original color as he stopped channeling the water reiatsu. Feeling tired, but also still very energetic at the same time, he was delighted to see that Taien was pleased with his progress. They were sitting next to a campfire sipping tea when Taien had the forest around them sprout into flames spontaneously. They were warm, but they were also simulated, or so it seemed, so it didn't look like they could do harm, especially from this distance. So Kyomei began to meditate as Taien once again spoke of the elements. He entered his trance like state where he lost touch with all of his senses save for what he needed for the lesson. Touch was the first step to mastering the element, and the one that Taien started with. So the Kuchiki began to listen and feel.

"Feel the heat of the fire upon your skin, feel the warmth and withering wrath of the fire in your being. Feel also the wind of the fire upon your face, burning, blowing, aiding the fire, causing it to soar up into the heavens. What does the feeling tell you? What does the feeling mean?" The roaring flames were suffocating, they were stifling. They choked the Shinigami and little could hold him back. It took a lot of effort to remain calm when the heat of the flames beat at his face, especially as he needed to take from his knowledge of Wind to bolster the effect of Fire. But as he remained patient and suffered through the heat of the blaze, he began to feel the relaxation as it soothed his tired muscles and danced across his skin. "The feeling tells me that to be truly powerful and strong, I must be soothing and kind." The voice coming out of his mouth scared him for a moment. The feeling of the fire accompanied with the knowledge of Wind had started to transcend what had gone before.

In the past, Kyomei's eyes had grown cracks in the irises of the color of the element being channeled. Now, with Wind bolstering the Fire, his voice started to be changed as well. With a new confidence, he pressed forwards. The intensity of the heat had to be focused, and in his mind's eye he formed a sphere of condensed power. But that sphere wasn't hard or confined, it was loose. Something soothing couldn't be confined to a rigid shape. With the loose sphere created, Kyomei had a base to work off of, and he could continue the lesson. Having worked in the feel of the fire, he had to now focus on the sound of it. "Hear the roar of the fire, hear the howling of the wind and fire in unison, hear them proclaim defiance to the heavens above. What is the sound of their cries? What is the message they proclaim to the world?"

Hmm... that was a difficult question. Wind and Water were easy to contact, for they were the excited and the contemplative elements, respectively. Fire was the Angry element, the destroyer. It could be soothing, yes, but often that serene nature was overpowered by the fury and the wrath. The Kuchiki tried to listen to both sounds, listen to the Hearth and the Inferno at the same time. It was too much to try to incorporate both of them so soon in the process. So in order to accommodate both, the Shinigami tried something that the thought might be dangerous. He split his mental orb into two parts. Each part would represent one aspect of the fire, and would be merged later when they were more compatible. On the right was a soft campfire glow that crackled with the sound of a peaceful night. On the left was a raging forest fire that roared as it tore down the trees and left a wake of destruction.

While he wasn't proud of the fact that he couldn't harmonize the two orbs just yet, he would have to move on and form them independently in order to get a much better result. Then he responded to Taien's question when he had formed the twin orbs. "The Flames are in conflict. They seek to devour and heal. One cries out for Ragnarok, for Destruction. One cries out for Genesis, for Birth. They proclaim to the world that its sins cannot go unpunished, and its hard work will not go unrewarded." The voice was less refined now, as he hadn't fully mastered the sound of the fire. It was obvious that he had failed so early, but he was determined to get back on the right track to success.

Once again Taien spoke, this time of the Fire's taste. "Taste the fire upon the wind, taste the ash and the smoke and the heat. Taste the fire's fury and it's kindness, taste the flavor of duality. What does it taste like? What is it's meaning?" The Kuchiki licked his lips, but could not find any sort of kindness in the heat and the suffering that the chapped skin felt. The left orb became a clawed hand in his Mind's eye, capable of cutting at its enemies, which were many. His throat was dry and cracked as he pondered how anything that came of fire could be kind. Then, he remembered the tea that he had been given by Taien. Hot tea was a Harmony of Water and Fire. It balanced the rage and caused soothing thoughts to appear. Taking a drink of the tea, he felt the warm soothing liquid rush down his throat. That was how Fire was soothing.

The right orb became a hand as well, but not clawed. It was a hand that had been scarred, but also healed. The well kept hand clasped the clawed hand and together they became one orb. It was very separate at the moment, almost completely divided into hemispheres, but it was one orb. The left half raged and screamed, while the right half whispered and sang. It wasn't perfect yet, but there were still two senses to go in order to mix them perfectly. Taien asked how it tasted and what it meant, and there was only one answer. "It tastes of ash, though also of hot tea. It is a bitter, spiteful taste, but also a warm and comforting taste. As for the meaning, it shows of the harmony between two warring natures. It is both sweet and sour."

The voice was nearly mastered. One more sense, and the voice would fully take over, and only the release and the eyes would be left to Kyomei's control. Eager to move on the the next sense, Kyomei listened patiently as Taien spoke of the scent. "Smell the smoke of the land, the smell of wood and smoke on the wind. Smell the wind as it flows through the fires, smell it as it heralds the conquest of flames. What is it's message? What is it's scent?" Mmmm, the first thing that came to the Shinigami's nose was the scent of summer. The warm breeze that brought the warm scent of the beach and of days in peace. It was accentuated by the smell of a barbecue, and all around pleasant. The right half of the orb grew in strength, overtaking the left half and interjecting portions of it into the angry side. The Infernal side had the scent of barbecue deep inside the heart of its territory, and for the moment the serene half became more like the serene two thirds. Then everything shifted when the ash attacked.

Suddenly the steaks were burning, the beach was volcanic and the summer heat was oppressive. All around was burning, causing the sharp smell of ash to assault Kyomei's nostrils. He wrinkled his nose in disgust, but held it in, breathing deeply of the pain caused by the flames. The scent of charred corpses was almost too much, but he persevered. The flames of rage that had been held back once again regained their full strength. The two parts were once again in equality, and the flames of rage had imprinted on the flames of serenity. The warm beach had gone from sun tans to sun burns and charred bodies. With both of the halves being separate, but existing in each other in a Yin Yang formation, Kyomei spoke and answered the question. "Its message is a warning. Of charred bodies and sun burns. But it is also a message of friendship. Of barbecues and relaxation. Its scent is the same."

Only one last step remained. "See the power of fire, see it burn through the lands. See the wind aiding the fire, see it driving it through valley after valley, across rivers and lakes. See the benevolence of fire, see it burn away the land so it may grow again. What is it's purpose? What is it's duty?" Kyomei opened his eyes, and the blazing forest fire burned at his eyes. His Kuchiki Hana immediately activated, cancelling out any blindness, making him watch with perfect clarity what was before him. The trees had been stripped of their leaves and were dying and falling into ash. Though despite that, the campfire still burned slowly and peacefully, the embers a soft glow that was perfect for cooking. Both of the parts of the orb split apart once more, but this was not a lack of control. They fashioned themselves into a sword and a shield, the sword of rage and the shield of serenity. Nothing more made logical sense. The image of the flames had been captured and harnessed into the forms of the halves, and the serene jewel at the bottom of the sword and the sharp blade at the top of the shield showed that either one could be beautiful or dangerous.

"Its purpose is to protect, to shield, to empower. It's duty is to cut down, destroy, purge. Together, they make up the phoenix. They are rebirth. They are passion incarnate and life blood immortal." Kyomei's eyes cracked red and Taien would see the greatest show of control that the Kuchiki had yet demonstrated. With the Wind emboldening the Fire, a shimmering sword appeared in his left hand. And with the Water balancing the Fire, a buckler appeared on his right hand. And behind him stood the wings of the phoenix, turning to ash the forest with every swipe but causing the seeds of rebirth to be sewn. "I have learned of Rebirth!" With a blast, the sword sent a wave of heat outwards towards the edge of the room and was consumed. The Shield took the brunt of a falling tree and destroyed the obstacle, giving itself up in the act. And the phoenix wings carried off Kyomei's body and purged the forest, leaving nothing but dirt and ash falling from the sky.

[Taien Hadohou]

"The feeling tells me that to be truly powerful and strong, I must be soothing and kind."

Taien both inwardly grinned and raised his eyebrows in surprise. It seemed that Kyomei-San was having a bit of a difficult time controlling the essence of fire supported by the essence of wind. That was understandable, the wind fed the fire with vital oxygen, let it move over obsticles like rivers and gorges to get to the other side for more fuel. It would be a bit different than what he had experienced before, more powerful and wild. Gaining control over the flames and harmonizing the dual aspects of fire was the first step. He was surprised, however, because he hadn't had the same sort of reaction when he was training with Takakaju-San. Kyomei-San was more intuned with the elements than Taien was, it seemed. Or he had a greater affinity for them. Either way, it was impressive. Taien continued on with his chant, and Kyomei responded again.

"The Flames are in conflict. They seek to devour and heal. One cries out for Ragnarok, for Destruction. One cries out for Genesis, for Birth. They proclaim to the world that its sins cannot go unpunished, and its hard work will not go unrewarded."

The voice Kyomei spoke in seemed split now; One part in his own voice, one part in the rage of the fire, and the last part in the kindness of flame. This was even more interesting; While it seemed like he couldn't properly merge the two aspects quite yet, he had split the two parts into separate entities, or so it seemed. It was a clean split so far, but that would change over the next few parts of the lesson of fire. Again, Taien grinned inwardly. Kyomei was learning, that much was for certain. To be able to split the aspect of fire into two different facets wasn't something most people could do. The lesson continued, Taien spoke, and Kyomei gave him his next answer after sipping some of the tea Taien had out for him.

"It tastes of ash, though also of hot tea. It is a bitter, spiteful taste, but also a warm and comforting taste. As for the meaning, it shows of the harmony between two warring natures. It is both sweet and sour."

Good, good, he was incorporating the lessons of Water he had learned into this. The training was getting to the point where multiple elements would flow over into each other, helping along the realizations and tying in the lessons with the rest of them. After all, it would take all five lessons of the elements to realize the shape of the technique Taien was teaching to Kyomei: the Soshi Senjigusuri, Element Infusion. This was the first technique Taien had ever developed on his own, and it was a blast being able to share it with someone else. Especially someone like Kyomei-San, who seemed like he would be able to help take the technique even farther beyond what Taien already had. Taien also noted that Kyomei-San was gaining a greater grasp of understanding into the element of Fire, which meant that their lesson on it would be coming to a close quite shortly. Taien gave his question and Kyomei gave his answer once again.

"Its message is a warning. Of charred bodies and sun burns. But it is also a message of friendship. Of barbecues and relaxation. Its scent is the same."

Interesting, it seemed like the halves were becoming one, or at least cooperating with each other. The reason Taien knew was because the voice had changed yet again, this one sounding of each, yet still separate. To be honest it was interesting. It was interesting to see how Kyomei-San handled himself in a situation like this, and also interesting because of the responses he had received so far. Taien actually had different answers for the questions he had given Kyomei so far, but it was interesting to see what Kyomei-San learned from the elements. The answers might be unique to the person answering them, which would make sense. No one was the same, after all. Taien posed his final question, and Kyomei gave his final response.

"Its purpose is to protect, to shield, to empower. It's duty is to cut down, destroy, purge. Together, they make up the phoenix. They are rebirth. They are passion incarnate and life blood immortal."

Taien's grin blossomed into a full blown smile as he witnessed the final lesson of fire being taken to heart. Kyomei's eyes cracked red this time, and his Reiatsu generated a sword of flame and a shield of fire, along with what looked to be wings made of fire. It was brilliant, powerful, and represented the element quite well. The wings reduced the forest behind him to ash, and blew away the ash that already was there. It was a remarkable kind of materialization, the very essence of what Kyomei had learned from fire. Fire was an element of duality, and wasn't the brute element that most people thought it was. They never really got to know what fire did for them. Kyomei-San, however, did know now.

"I have learned of Rebirth!"

The sword sent a blastwave of heat from it, the shield took the impact of a falling tree and disappeared while destroying said tree, and the wings continued to do their thing and reduce the entire rest of the forest to falling ash. Against the black night, full moon, and still burning campfire, it created an unusually beautiful scene to behold. Taien's veil of water warded off the impressive display from vaporizing him or something; even with the control Kyomei-San now had, that was an incredibly powerful display he had just shown. It was a great showing indeed! Taien was still smiling even as it ended, and he took a sip from a tea-cup he had gotten from somewhere. He walked over to Kyomei-San, light dancing within his eyes.

"Good work! You have three of five down now, and its really showing! You have a lot more control than you had before; You're really getting these lessons down! We'll be going to a much different place next for our training, but first. . ."

Taien snapped his fingers once again. The moon rapidly set, the sun came up, and it started raining. Time seemed to accelerate, and green shoots began to bud up through the ash. Suddenly, time seemed to spike forwards, as the green shoots shot up into the air, twisting and turning from tiny green roots to toweringly tall trees. The forest that had once been burned to ash had been reborn from the ashes of the old one, and it looked like this one would be off to a good start because of that. The fire and ashes of the old forest had saturated the ground with new neutrients and the like, which would allow the new forest to thrive for a long time, before the cycle repeated itself again, and the forest would once again fall, only to come back again and again.

They were standing in the middle of the reborn forest, which seemed to thrum with life around it. It was pretty awesome to have watched such a cycle, moreso to be a part of it. The fire Kyomei-San had generated had spread the ash all around, coating the ground and making it nutrient rich soil, which in turn facilitated the life that the birds and bees and other such carriers had brought. The forest looked stronger than ever, in fact. It was in the middle of spring, and buds of flowers and fruit were all around them. Cherry blossoms were floating in from somewhere, Taien wasn't sure though. Apparently the room had a flare for the dramatic. Turning back to Kyomei, Taien spoke once again.

"Right then, you look exhausted! We should end training for the day here, so you'll have more energy for the last two elements: Earth and Lightning. Those two should be really fun!"

Taien grinned at the thought of what was to come. So far, things had been going great! If Kyomei-San was even able to do half of what Taien thought he was going to be able to do, he'd still be a legend in his own right, if he didn't become one before then that was! Kyomei-San would be exhausted by this point though, and so Taien would help him back to the Sixth-Division barracks from the service tunnels. Having done that, he went back to his own dorm as well, after powering down the rest of the holograms and the systems programs. They'd be in use later. Taien crept into his bed, and dreamed with a slight smile on his face that night.

[Kyomei Kuchiki]

Starting to pant after unleashing such a glorious display of fire energy, Kyomei suddenly realized something. He was plum tuckered out. Having so much raw energy coursing through his body, unleashing it in massive waves, and just plain forging ahead without resting had left his body feeling hollowed out. With a snap of his fingers, the simulation room had rain pour over the ashen landscape, fast forwarding time to have a new forest bloom out of the destruction. [smear:FF0000]See? Even the waters flow... to soothe... the purge and... give back life... to the charred lands... Fire is not... a permanent destruction... I'm ready... to go to sleep now...[/smear:FFFF00] Limping back to the squad six barracks, Kyomei instantly fell asleep. He wasn't sure why he hadn't told Taien that the very next day he'd be taking the test to become the Kidou Corps Commander, but it would definitely come up in conversation soon. "Taien... would make a great... Vice Captain..."[/i]

Completed Day 2

[Kyomei Kuchiki]

+420 TP to us both.

[Kyomei Kuchiki]

It had been a mere three days since the last session between Kyomei and Taien, however so much had happened. Looking back on it all, the Kuchiki was baffled at how he could have changed so much in such a short time. Kidou Corps Commander... So much more than I could ever have wanted... The exam had taken up an entire day, and the next two days had literally been slept away. After almost 48 hours of continuous sleep, the new Commander awoke fully rested and the wounds from his experience had healed fully. He felt empowered, felt strong, felt ready to complete the training that he had been going through for some time now. But there were more important matters ahead of him for the immediate future.

Hinnshi's long absence had left the Kidou Corps in disarray. Membership was next to nonexistent as no leadership tended to do that, so the first order of business was to appoint officers. Without missing a beat, Kyomei comprised a letter to the only person he knew that was capable of holding such a position as his second in command. Taien Hadohou might have wondered where the Kuchiki had been the past three days, as there had been no word from him nor sign of him in the Squad Six barracks, but when the letter came via Hell Butterfly, formally providing him an Academy diploma for exceptional talent and a spot as the Kidou Corps Vice Commander, all of the curiosity at the lack of correspondence would be dispelled.

"My good friend, welcome to your new home. You'll have that room all to yourself, and I've taken the liberty of extending the tunnel to the simulator to this door." When Taien had arrived and the two of them had greeted each other, Kyomei would lead him to a small statue. It sat on a wooden table, and was a depiction of a hand coming up out of a pool of water, holding a glass orb. Upon inputting an exact amount of reiatsu, the hand retracted into the pool and a bookcase popped open. "Cliche, I know, but the bookcase was the best place for it. It was either that or a trap door, and those are no fun to climb out of." A quick walk through recently carved out stone led into the same tunnel network that they had recently traveled through to get to the simulator.

Those familiar massive doors greeted them, the stalwart beacon to the Seireitei's strength. This time, Kyomei led the way, pushed the buttons on the panel, and opened the door. Already it was obvious that he had become so much more than the boy he had been just a few days earlier. He stood up straighter, walked with purpose, and had a sense of honor that came from the silky haori on his back. He walked a little bit forwards and, focusing reiatsu into the ground, made a keyboard jump into his hand. "Ah, I still remember how you did that. Anyways, my leading is done, I'll give the reins back to you. You are the one with the intricate knowledge of these elements after all. A flick of his hand and the keyboard moved over to Taien, ready to receive commands. "Make it so, number one."

[Taien Hadohou]

For the next three days, Taien did not see Kyomei. He had no idea why, but he was gone regardless. Taien was not idle in that time, however. He was preparing for the next lesson. Over the next few days, he toyed and tinkered with what settings he could on the simulator's hub screen. It was quite fascinating, and Taien really wanted to see what those with Captain-Level Clearance could activate. He did wonder where Kyomei had gone, but Taien was sure he could handle whatever came his way. He was a smart, powerful guy, and from what Taien had seen so far, he'd go places.

So then, it came as no surprise to Taien that he got a letter from Kyomei-San. Well, the letter part was a bit of a surprise, but not the fact that it was from him. It was also odd because it had been delivered by Hell Butterfly. Taking the letter from the flittering creature, it flew off, out of a window that was open. With practiced ease, Taien cut the top off of the letter, pulled the note out from inside of it, and read. He blinked a few times as he realized what had been delivered to him. It was. . . an Academy Diploma? Signed by. . . Taien's grin threatened to split his face in half. So that was what he had been doing!

Taien packed what little belongings he had, and went to the Headmaster's office. Opening the door, Taien had a quick discussion with him, said his thanks, and left. He'd be leaving the Academy today. Saying goodbye to his friends, his teachers, and all the rest of the people he knew there, Taien left his Academy days behind. His new road? Aimed towards the future. Thankfully, it wasn't all that long of a walk to the Kidou Corps Compound. While the Corps were seperate from the rest of the Gotei, they maintained a Compound within the Seireitei. It didn't take long to find his new Commander.

After the two had dispensed with the formalities, Kyomei had taken Taien around to see his new room, as well as show him the status of the Corps. The current outlook was rather... empty. Having your Commander vanish on you like that and never returning would do that, though. Aside from that though, it looked like the Compound itself was still in good shape. Taien briefly wondered about the Old Kidou Corps Compound, wondering if there was still any secrets left within it. Ah well, he could ponder that later. It wasn't long before they made it to Taien's new room, office, and home.

"My good friend, welcome to your new home. You'll have that room all to yourself, and I've taken the liberty of extending the tunnel to the simulator to this door."

After showing how to open the tunnelway to the Sim Room, the two went through, this time with Kyomei leading the way. It took little time till they were back in the original parts of the tunnels that led to the simulation room, and it didn't take very long to get to the doorway either. Kyomei activated the switches and buttons that caused the doors to open, leading them inside the brilliant white room once more. Apparently Kyomei-San had been watching Taien, or he had figured it out on his own, because he materialized the keyboard that controlled the workings of the room. However, it seemed like he was done for now, so he shot it over to Taien.

"Make it so, number one."

With a grin, Taien replied in his best fake french voice.

"Aye aye, mon capitan! Now, where did I have that. . ."

Rooting around in the databanks, Taien found what he was looking for.

"Ah, great! I have everything saved since our last session right here. Also. . . It looks like we can access some of the newer features here now! Cool! Something called "The Grand Coliseum", and "Infinite Mode". We'll see what those are later though. For now. . ."

Taien put his fingers just above the keyboard, so that it looked like they were hovering over it. Flicking it to the side, Taien caused it to speed away and break down into component Reiatsu. As he did so, he snapped his fingers. The room morphed and changed once more, back into the forest that they had been in before. It looked as lovely as it had been when they last saw it. However, that wasn't all Taien was going to do. He wasn't nearly done yet. They were jumping right into the next session! They were gonna get this thing done today!

Without warning, Taien snapped his fingers once more, turning the day to night once more, the moon directly over them. After that, things would get strange. By strange, I mean the two would find themselves shooting directly upwards at high speeds. The tops of the forest passed them by in a few moments, and they shot directly up into the air. They passed through the stratosphere, and into space. From there, the seemed to accellerate even faster, the stars becoming blurs as they moved. Their destination was obvious by this point. They were headed for the moon! This was going to be exciting!

As the two neared the surface of the moon, they slowed. They slowed to the point where Taien could safely do a front-flip and land on his feet. Kyomei would need to do the same, since they were still going head first at the surface of the moon. Taien and Kyomei had landed on the moon. The moon in the sky, a part of Earth that was apart from the Earth. This was where they were going to do their next training session. The next element? Earth. The Moon was Earth in isolation, there was no wind, water, lightning, or fire on the moon, only earth. However, that didn't really seem to matter, as the two could still breath easily. Gravity was reduced, as was on the real moon, but this simulation had air still as well. It would be embarrassing if they suffocated to death or something like that. Taien grinned as he turned to Kyomei.

"Welcome to the site of our Earth element training, the Moon!

Taien let Kyomei take in the sight of the surface of the moon, the craters and the rock formations, and the sight of the Earth from space, as well as space itself. They lived in a truly vast world, and the rest of the realm that the Seireitei and Hueco Mundo hadn't been explored yet either. It was one thing to see the moon from the surface of the Earth, but to actually see the moon from its own surface was. . . Something else. It was beautiful, in a desolate way. Earth looked pretty awesome from this angle as well, as did the Sun. It definitely was something someone had to see to understand. Taien sat down on a nearby rock formation, and gestured for Kyomei to do the same. They were here on a mission, after all. There would be time to look at the scenery later. Or now. Really didn't matter. What did matter, though, was that they got started.

"All right, Earth: Earth is a far different element than what we've been wielding so far. It isn't much of an element for change. Instead, it has a different quality. Order, fortitude, solidity. The Earth embodies those things, along with a few others of course. We'll be starting our lesson now, Kyomei-San! Get ready!

Open the eyes of your soul, open the gate to your heart, the door to your mind. . . Let your senses extend beyond your body, your spirit beyond the physical plane. . . "

This time was going to be a bit different however. Instead of staying next to Kyomei this time, Taien got up. There was a reason for this, but he was going to become a bit more animated during these segments now. It would be necessary to convey the rest of the lesson to Kyomei at this point in the training. Plus. it let Taien move about instead of just staying still! . . . Alright, and let him play around with the cool training tools the place provided him with. He did need to become more animated however for some of the controls to activate. With a sweeping motion with his arms, a windstorm appeared out of nowhere, picking up the pieces of lunar dust and blowing it around everywhere, though it seemed especially centered on Kyomei. It was also fairly warm, and felt more like sand than dust. Taien started talking again,

"Feel the wind across the endless desert, feel the heat of the sun in the sand as it blows across your face. Feel the sun, sky, and earth together in unison, feel them across your skin, hair, and mouth. Fire, wind, and earth, all working with each other to create these sensations. What are their goals? What do they hope to teach you with their pressence?"

Taien hoped to incorperate four of the elements into this lesson, and had an idea about how to get water into there. For now though, he had to help Kyomei-San harmonize and focus the lessons he had learned, as well as draw upon the previous elements and their respective attributes. They were nearing the end of their training, only two steps were left. That of Lightining, and that of realizing the true form of the Soshi Senjigusuri itself. For the moment though, Taien had to get on with the next step after Kyomei-San replied. Things were going to get interesting pretty quickly. . .

This time, Taien crouched to the ground, and touched it. Cracks started radiating outwards from the site, rapidly spreading outwards and casting a red glow from he inside. Kyomei would suddenly find himself in the middle of a lava flow, the heat of the molten earth radiating outwards. As with the fire, Convection was weakened here to the point that he wouldn't spontaneously catch fire. The area continued to warp and move, the lava flow expanding outward into a small lake of the molten earth. To the side, there was a waterfall. Water was constantly flowing down onto the lava, cooling it and hardening it into solid earth once more. Steam wafted upwards and was carried into the air. Caught by the wind and blown upwards, the steam condensed into clouds, which rained somewhere behind the waterfall. More magma was brought up, more water was made, and from it all, more land was formed.

Taien spoke again.

"Hear the heartbeat of the Earth, hear the sound of water on molten magma, the sound of their contact and conflict. Hear the wind, water, fire, and earth work in unison. Hear the birth of the new land, hear the of the land as it comes out to the world. Hear the harmonic chaos of nature. What is its sound, the birthing cry of the world? What speaks to you amidst the chaos and harmony, what does it tell you?"

Taien snapped his fingers again, and a new change came over the area. The water increased, washing over the field of magma. It also washed over Kyomei, though he wouldn't be wet from it. Steam floated around them as the magma cooled and hardened. As it did, grass grew, flowers sprung up, and clouds hung in the sky. It was still the moon, but now it looked more Earth-like. A light drizzel had fallen, disturbing the dust and dirt. It was a rather serene image. A forest within sight was having rainfall as well, albeit a lot more of it. Once more, Taien spoke.

"Take in the scent of rainfall upon the open plain. Smell the scent of dust after rain, the smell of raindrops upon flowers, and the smell of wet rock and grass."

Taien stopped there, but he wasn't quite done yet. The scene shifted from the plains and too the forest, after Kyomei had given his responses for it. This was the second part of the "Smell" that Taien had prepared.

"Take the scent of the forest in as well, smell the wind flowing through it and its scents. Smell the trees, the wood, the moss, the plants, smell the scent of life after rain. What is the scent of the Earth? What does the scent remind you of, what memories does it stir?"

Taien had slightly changed up the order of the senses for Earth, for the purpose of changing it up a bit from the norm. It probably wouldn't differ too much, but Taien decided to try it out anyway. Perhaps he'd get a different answer, perhaps not. In any case, the third part of the Earth Training was done, and therefore, another change in scenery was needed! They went deeper into the forest this time, trees and plants flying past them. They dropped out into a clearing in the dense growth, which seemed to be rimmed with fruits of all kinds. However, Taien did not pick a fruit off of the branches yet. Instead, he thrust his hand down into the ground, easily parting it. He grabbed something from within and tossed it to Kyomei.

"Catch!"

Kyomei would have to catch the object before it hit him. Interestingly enough, the lower gravity was still in effect from being on the Moon. The earthy projectile sailed through the air to Kyomei, whereupon he would discover what it was. It was a potato. A simple, plain looking potato. Taien's smile at it contained a message that probably went something like "Go on, take a bite out of it!". So Kyomei would have to do that to advance the lesson. What he would taste however, would be entirely dependent on what he learned from it. As he did so, Taien began to speak again.

"Taste the flavor of the Earth's bounty, the texture and crunch, taste the harvest of Earth, Water, Wind and Fire. Taste the efforts of Nature and Man, the struggle that brought life to this crop."

After that, Taien walked over, grabbed what looked like an apple from the tree, and tossed that to Kyomei as well. As with the 'potato', it's flavor would change depending on what Kyomei had learned so far about the Earth.

"Taste the endurance of the Earth in each bite, the fortitude and strength required to survive to fruition. Taste sweetness and bitterness in the struggle for life and longevity. What flavor has the struggle produced? What does it tell about the quality of the Earth?"

Taien was grinning now. His favorite part was about to come up next, now that they were done with the other four senses. Kyomei now needed to see the Earth in action, which Taien would happily oblige. Taien gestured for Kyomei to stand up for this next part, as they would be changing locations once more. However, instead of a lush jungle or forest or what not, they were once more transported back to the barren scape of moon they were on in the beginning. It was here they would see what the Earth had to offer. Taien cracked his fingers and grinned a wide grin at Kyomei as he prepared.

"See the power of the Earth, the power of the tectonic plates as they slide past each other."

Taien pointed the middle and pointer fingers on both hands downwards at the surface of the moon, and sliced them past each other. The effect was instantanious; the surface of the moon began to shake and quake, cracks forming in the ground. Huge gaping holes opened up as the seismic event went on, driving the cracks and holes to become even wider and more ragged. It was a powerful display, though the two wouldn't feel it. They were hovering off the ground a few feet, too better observe the event and too not get their vision shaken up.

"See the Earth as it is formed, see the molten magma of the Earth's core as it rises through the crust and up into the air, see the unity of Fire and Earth and Water working in harmony to make more land."

Taien clapped his hands together as if praying, and then slowly pulled them apart. The ground shook and groaned as it split apart, and then bulged outward as something started to emerge from within. With a thrust upwards with his hand, Taien directed the flow of the forming volcano. It exploded into the air like a torpedo of earth, and as it did so, it rumbled. Thrusting his palm at it, Taien caused the volcano to erupt. It exploded upwards, causing lava to rocket to the heavens, as well as flows of lava to snake down. They snaked into a lake of water that hadn't been down there a moment ago, causing steam to his and rise out of the contact.

"Observe the fury of the Earth: Landslides, Mudslides, Rockslides and Avalanches, see them all as they unleash the raw power of Water and Earth and Rock and Snow."

Taien flicked his hand downwards, and each of the aforementioned disasters struck down the side of the volcano along side the lava. It was a surreal sight, especially since they seemed to be demolishing the forest that had just sprouted up on the sides of it. Down and down the forest fell, unable to cope with the raging destruction. By fire, earth, water, and snow, the forest was crushed under the disasters. It was quickly swept into the waiting lake below, which stopped them all, just like the lava. After flicking towards them again, the disasters stopped. Taien pointed once more, this time to a more peaceful setting.

"See the kindness of the Earth; The beaches, plains and forests. The serene places of nature, where one goes to contemplate their place in the world. See how Fire, Water, and Air work with the Earth to provide it it's fruits."

As with before, these things sprung up as Taien pointed to them. The beaches poped up with warm sand, cool breezes, and lukewarm waters to swim in. The plains provided ample gusts of wind and perfect places to watch the grass move like waves in the wind's ministrations. The forests cast cooling shade and places to sit and rest to avoid the sun, the calls of creatures hanging in the background. Along with caves and the like, this painted a very calm picture in contrast to what was going on before. It was sort of like the contrast between the twin natures of Fire from before. As these things faded away, including the volcano, Taien directed Kyomei's attention to the hanging sphere above. The Earth itself.

"See the Earth, suspended by a thread upon nothing, how it orbits the sun as the moon orbits it. See it's people, Mankind. See how they have both endured hardship, wars and wastes, destruction and terror. The immovable Earth and the tenacious people that inhabit it, their indomitable will to last and survive. See the fortitude and strength of the Earth in both of them."

Taien closed his eyes and then looked to Kyomei once more.

"Let the indomitable will of the Earth flow into your soul, let it strengthen your convictions as you support your allies like a mighty mountain. Let your enemies fall before you like a forest before an avalanche. Learn from the Earth, let it's teaching flow through your soul. Let your soul become one with the solidity of the Earth, as it becomes one with your principles and convictions."

This was the final step. What would Kyomei learn from the Earth? Taien was ready for whatever he came up with. He grinned as he watched.

[Kyomei Kuchiki]

Hmm... what could those modes be? Infinite Mode and the Grand Coliseum? Whatever they were, it would be interesting to discover their functions later on, after finishing up the training into the elemental threads of reiatsu. Inside his soul, the Kuchiki felt as though a tapestry was coming together. It had reds, greens, and blues, but was missing the earthy colors and the final primary color, yellow, that would allow for all the visible colors to be had in this internal masterpiece. While Taien fiddled at the keyboard controls, Kyomei was examining the room one last time before it changed completely. The white, tiled room was pristine, as if none of the explosive things that the Shinigami had done even began to scratch its surface.

The forest from the site of the fire training returned, but only for a moment. The ashen landscape had been restored to its full green beauty, and the sweet smell of tree sap and flowers was in the air. Was this where they were going to train for the element of earth, in such a natural environment such as this? Taien had one of his trademark grins set into his face, as if he knew what Kyo was about to ask. "We staying here?" In response to the question, the new Vice Commander snapped his fingers and the sunrise fast forwarded into a sunset, revealing the moon and stars overhead. It was a lovely and clear night, even if it was fabricated, and the cool air seemed like it would be perfect for training.

But the transformation didn't stop there. There was a sudden and growing feeling of being pulled, and though the Commander tried to duck down to keep himself safe, he just couldn't summon up the muscle strength as he felt his body stretched upwards. Soon he was lifted off the ground and hurtling at the far reaches of space. All that was between him and the vast void was the moon, and it was coming up fast. Upon getting closer to the big rock in the sky, they began to slow down. Taien performed a flip, but the Kuchiki decided to show off his acrobatic skills a bit. As they approached the moon, he swung his arms out and cushioned his fall with them, transitioning the energy up and out of his arms and into a front hand spring.

The isolation of the moon was fascinating. Looking up at the simulated soul society was interesting, as it was constantly expanding further and further, new rocks spontaneously generating in the wilderness. What made it do that? Was it the growing power of the Soul King manifesting as the reishi of the Wilderness, or was it some other unexplainable phenomenon? Whatever the reason for the ever expanding territory, it was being simulated right before his eyes. Was that actually how it happened, or was it just a guestimate, the Kuchiki was interested to find out, but that would have to happen later. For now, the new Commander and Vice Commander pair had plans to wreck stuff, and learn some things.

SPOILER: Click to show

You may have to repeat it once or twice

Taien made a small checklist of things that earth embodied. Order, fortitude, solidarity. All very rigid, unchanging things. But reiatsu, by nature, is very flexible and shifting. Reiatsu wibbles and wobbles, but earth and stone don't do that. It might flow, like sand, but still remains set in the crystalline patterns. So cracking his knuckles and releasing pent up air in the joints of his neck, Kyomei began to get into the right mindset for training. "Let your senses extend beyond your body, your spirit beyond the physical plane. . ." Breathe in... Breathe out... it feels weird, being on the moon and all, but it had to be done. Breathe... in... Breathe... out... Kyomei let the pure air run through his lungs, reminding him of his lessons of air. He licked his lips, reminding him of his lessons of water. He then rubbed his arms, the friction reminding him of the lessons of fire.

He was now ready for the lessons of earth. He was about to close his eyes and meditate, when he noticed Taien standing up. So the form of meditation that he had been earlier performing wouldn't work as well. He couldn't shut down all of his senses and then add to his construction of the reiatsu, he'd have to do it a little differently. The new Vice Captain stood up and made a sweeping motion with his hand, sending a wave of dust across the surface of the moon. It was warm, and gritty, like desert sand rather than lunar dust. This would be weird if it wasn't an underground Captain Level Simulator... just then, before Taien began to chant, Kyomei had a thought. If Ryuujin Jakka hadn't been able to do much to the wall, and Taien couldn't but scratch it... Had they found a Zero Division training site? The new Commander hadn't heard too much about them, but he knew they were leagues more powerful than any Shinigami in the Gotei 13...

The Kuchiki was snapped back into reality as Taien began to chant. "Feel the wind across the endless desert, feel the heat of the sun in the sand as it blows across your face. Feel the sun, sky, and earth together in unison, feel them across your skin, hair, and mouth. Fire, wind, and earth, all working with each other to create these sensations. What are their goals? What do they hope to teach you with their pressence?" Once again taking in the feel of the sand, feeling it scrape across his skin and cloud his lungs, feeling it clog his hair, assault his pores, Kyomei took a deep breath in, taking a large mouthful of sand into his lungs. This time, with the difference in Taien's methods, Kyomei would physically form the reiatsu in parts, instead of internalizing it. Inside his lungs was a maelstrom, wind reiatsu swirling the sand keeping it separate, and fire reiatsu crystalizing it. Earth wanted to cover, it wanted to move across the waters, the base form of the planet, and blanket everything. It wanted to be the support underneath human kind's feet, and be the hope of life to animals and plants.

"They want to be the silent giver, the support that life needs, deserves, and wants. They want to teach me to give." The sand was dangerously close to the linings of Kyomei's lungs, but he wasn't afraid. He could control it, he was sure. As he wasn't internalizing the reiatsu yet, his eyes remained their normal colors, and probably wouldn't change until he started going from the physical to the metaphysical. So for now, the only indication that Kyomei was learning anything was an extra thumping in his chest, a second heartbeat of sorts as the sand contracted and expanded, still forming into crystals. Each time it pulsed, his chest visibly expanded a little bit. The rhythmic beating of his chest, accompanied by the emptiness of the moon might be enough to have even Taien notice it.

The other Shinigami didn't seem to be worried about the difference in Kyomei's methodology, instead moving on and placing his fingers into the ground. The moon started to crack, and though Kyomei knew it was a simulation he still felt sad that the proud celestial orb had been severed so easily and so massively. Molten earth began to stream out of the ground, and as a waterfall rose up to counter it, new land repeatedly was formed as the lava was cooled, made anew, and cooled yet again. The rising of the hissing steam was a steady noise that echoed across the empty terrain. The water rose up and left by way of steam, and rained down somewhere else, however Kyo's attentions were focused on the lava being cooled, then pouring out again to make new stone. It was an interesting process, one that inspired the Kuchiki.

Inside himself he began to form the next step of his lesson, even before Taien began to chant. Needing to physically form each part of Earth, his sight was the greatest teacher, at the moment. Taien's teachings definitely helped tremendously, however they just didn't compare to the visual aspect, when that was what the Commander needed to make something physical. Stooping to the ground, he cupped his hand and grabbed some of the mostly cooled lava, pouring water reiatsu into his hand to protect it and finish the hardening process. This resulted in an arm covered in solid obsidian, freshly cooled.He repeated this until his entire body was covered, his own obsidian cocoon. When he emerged... what would he be?

"Hear the heartbeat of the Earth, hear the sound of water on molten magma, the sound of their contact and conflict. Hear the wind, water, fire, and earth work in unison. Hear the birth of the new land, hear the of the land as it comes out to the world. Hear the harmonic chaos of nature. What is its sound, the birthing cry of the world? What speaks to you amidst the chaos and harmony, what does it tell you?" Though his body was covered, his eyes and ears still saw and heard, and he meditated on those words, preparing an answer. The earth and the fire merged to make the magma, which then fused with the water to make stone and steam, the latter of which floated off into the distance. What could he learn from that? Like with fire, he had been hearing of birth and rebirth, and he could expand on that. The birthing cry of the world, huh? The mix of chaos and harmony in orchestral form? That seemed a lot like the methods of fire.

"The birthing cry of the world is a cackling homage to the flames of birth and rebirth. Hiding among the flames of chaos and harmony is a still small voice, the strength and fuel for the flames." The waterfall increased in force, washing over the moon and transforming it into a beautiful field, rain pounding into the dust. With the scent of dust in his nostrils, Taien asked him to ponder that smell, reflect on the memories that it brought up. Memories of the Rukongai stirred, memories that hadn't been brought up in a long time... He was just a young soul, recently awoken in an average district, not knowing who he was save for a name. His name was Kyomei Mitsukaru, Resonance Be Found. Everywhere he went, dust and dirt followed, the Rukongai being filled with the smell of travel and movement.

There were key moments in his life that were filled with the smell of the rain mixed with the ground. In his first ever training with another student, Kisune Karnon, he had been covered in dirt, and though it drove him crazy, he persevered. Through that experience, he learned to welcome in the dirt. Later on in his education, he had gone up against a different student, Akeru Kurohi. That student had fired off large Kidou that tore through the terrain, kicking up huge clouds of dust, and though he had been thrown to the roof, he still managed to catch the student through the back with a kidou, though on accident. Akeru just hadn't moved when threatened. The smell of the broken roof, the rubble, the dust, it was all so clear, the memory. The other student falling off of the roof, landing face first on the ground... It caused Kyomei to reexamine his life, and found for the first time that what he thought to be true his whole life, had been a lie.

What he had thought to be his Zanpakutou, an expression of his soul, was nothing more than an etched pipe. Casting the broken illusion from his person, he had gotten rid of it, purged it. But that wasn't the memory that was brought upon by the dust, just an offshoot from the original memory of Akeru. The second memory of Akeru, where he shielded himself with dust and boldly leapt at his opponent, striking him down and ceasing his madness. That was a memory of dust... And another one, of his final day in the Academy... When Taien had given him a taste of his strongest Wind Aura, so much so that he flew, kicking up dust every time that he got close to the ground and pushed off. The smell of that was fresh in his mind. And the final memory... of the test just a few days before. Though it was a Zanpakutou induced simulator, still there was so much dust and dirt that had been kicked around by that arduous fight.

So when Taien asked what memories the dust and rain called up, there was only one logical answer. "Too many to name." And then the scenery changed to a lush jungle, so that Kyomei could complete the scent of Earth for his conjuration. The jungle surrounding him, and the memories spurring him onwards, he began to shape again. It was going to be a difficult step, a bit painful, but it had to be done. The crystalline sand was going to need to be transformed into reiatsu eventually, so Kyomei began to take the first step. With his memories as his resolve, he began to push the crystals into his flesh, working them into his reiatsu centers. He let out a sharp cry, and his cocoon of earth cracked a bit, allowing him to move about even while covered.

Taien tossed him something, and he went to catch it, only to have it cook in his hand. When he looked at it, he found it to be a freshly baked potatoe, courtesy of a lava suit. Opening his mouth wide, he bit into the potatoe, as urged on by his friend. The flavor was of a common, earthly starch, but the rugged texture and soft flesh inspired him. Even though Earth was solid, unchanging, it could still be soft and malleable. The shards of crystallized sand softened up in his reiatsu stream, soaking in the waves of raw energy. It wasn't yet ready, but it was being broken down into his system. "Taste the endurance of the Earth in each bite, the fortitude and strength required to survive to fruition. Taste sweetness and bitterness in the struggle for life and longevity. What flavor has the struggle produced? What does it tell about the quality of the Earth?"

"The struggle has produced a flavor sweeter than honey, softer than a pear, yet rugged and tough. It tells me that solidarity does not require solidity." Only one step left. The lava cocoon shed off of his skin, revealing that he had started to go through a spiritual transformation. His veins were bulging in his neck and arms, throbbing with the thick stone that was being absorbed into them, and his eyes had started to glow. As his eyes were already brown, the change wasn't very visible, but it was still possible to make out a little difference in how his eyes looked. He looked ready, and determined, to make the final step in the process. Sight. With that, he'd be able to visualize and materialize fully the earth reiatsu, and would be just a single step closer to fully realizing the power of elemental reiatsu.

Taien's arms were an orchestra, conducting a brilliant show of the amazing nature of Earth. Lava, the creation of earth, the rise and fall of forests at the hands of all sorts of physical forces. It was a beautiful and surreal sight, watching the volcano appear and be struck by so many forces. All of them seemed to incorporate the other elements, as if the earth didn't have a use on its own. Why stay on your own when you can help out others? Taien showed huge landscapes, showing the vastness of the Earth, marvelous virgin territory unscarred by the hands of man. The purity of these landscapes was what Kyomei needed to complete the form of reiatsu. The energy dripping out of his pores, running off like an avalanche or a mudslide, gathering together like a mountain, holding itself up like a planet, that was what Kyomei needed.

As the brown energy rose higher and higher, like a great mountain, Kyomei spoke. "My friend, you are wrong... The Fire, the Wind, and the Water don't work hand in hand with the Earth. They just take from the Earth. It supports them, willingly, without complaint. It is happy to help." Motioning himself, taking control of the simulation and causing a fire to break out in the forest, a flood to overtake a riverbank, and a tornado to crash through a landscape. Then a rock rose up and the rain and the wind eroded it away to nothing in a fast forward view. "Even though rain gives to the earth nourishment, it takes away more earth in the process. That is why..." The mountain of reiatsu exploded outwards, the images of lava, a mudslide, and a sandstorm pouring off of the Kuchiki's body. "I have learned of an Unyielding Support!"

[Taien Hadohou]

SPOILER: Click to show

"They want to be the silent giver, the support that life needs, deserves, and wants. They want to teach me to give."

Taien had observed what Kyomei-San had done, and approved. He was getting it then, the fact that these last two lessons had to be different than the last three. Now, Kyomei would need to get directly involved with the elements, as opposed to simply internalizing the concepts and teachings. These last two had to be felt with the entirety of the Soul, Body, and Mind, and it really seemed like Kyomei was taking it in with gusto. He was also going to need to utilize the other elements in the next few parts of the training as well. The structure of the Soshi Senjigusuri was based around that, having all five elements and being able to use them all in harmony.

Still, what Kyomei was doing was pretty intriguing. He couldn't be too sure, but it looked like he had breathed in part of the sandstorm. Were it anyone else, it probably would be suicide. Knowing Kyomei however, he more than likely had a good idea of where to go with it. That said, the whole second 'heartbeat' thing was pretty cool. If he even broke his concentration for one moment, it would probably mean pretty bad things for him. Taien had faith in his Student/Commander though. He was intrigued to find out what Kyomei would learn from this.

"The birthing cry of the world is a cackling homage to the flames of birth and rebirth. Hiding among the flames of chaos and harmony is a still small voice, the strength and fuel for the flames."

A small smile adorned Taien's face. Good, he was catching on to that as well. Utilizing the other elements wasn't something new, however, utilizing the teachings and the lessons learned from the other elements, in this case the lessons of the Fire of Rebirth. It was necessary for the final steps of the training. Or so Taien thought, this was the first time he'd done something like this before, and he was more or less winging it and doing what felt right. So far that feeling hadn't failed him, so he'd keep this up till the end. Of which, the end was getting closer and closer.

Taien reflected on what was learned so far. Of Change, of Ebb and Flow, of Rebirth. . . what lessons would Earth hold for Kyomei? More importantly, what would his answer be? Every person would have a different answer for the questions, Taien was sure, because everyone was unique. Everyone saw things from different viewpoints, and this training had helped him understand that. What would Ren-San's answers be? What would Kubi-San's, Yuki-San's, even Reti-Sensei's? What would they answer the questions with?

"Too many to name."

Taien grinned a bit at that. Good answer. Just as there were too many drips of rain in the sky to count, the amount of memories that Kyomei-San must have had was probably huge. Good and bad, clear and faint, memories and experiences were what made up a person. Even a clone of a person would be a different person, because they would have the experience of being a clone of someone else. It's what made everyone unique, aside from the spark of life. It was odd then, that spirits of animals showed up from time to time in the Seireitei and Hueco Mundo. Why was that? What set some animals apart from others? T'was a mystery.

However, the Seireitei did have such beings. The most noteable one was that of the Ninth Division, Raion Souretsu-Taichou. He also had a penchant for being extremely drunk all the time, every time. Taien hadn't had the chance to meet him yet though. Some time later then. Right now though, they were still training. So far, Taien was admiring Kyomei's useage of the elements. How many people would go as far as submerging their entire body in lava? Granted, it was a simulation, but still. Then again, he was the Kidou Corp Commander for a reason.

"The struggle has produced a flavor sweeter than honey, softer than a pear, yet rugged and tough. It tells me that solidarity does not require solidity."

Now, Taien wasn't the most "socially adept" person ever, but even Taien knew that people were social creatures. If someone were to loose contact with another person for a prolonged amount of time, they were likely to go, pardon the french, batshit insane. People needed other people around, plain and simple. The Earth was sort of the same in that way. Earth tended to accumulate more Earth over time, and Earth was strongest when there was a lot of Earth around. Take for example stone. A single stone on it's own isn't really that threatening or imposing or what have you. Have a freaking mountain of stone? Whole lot more imposing/threatening.

Now the Earth training was coming to an end. There was one more element left after Earth, along with pulling together the true shape of the Soshi Senjigusuri together. Perhaps they would test out one of the other modes as well, if they had the time and energy. For now though, the final sense of the Earth Element was coming into play. Sight. Sight was very important. It wasn't just to show the power of something, it was to show what something could be. Earth could be many things. Calm, wrathful, still, moving, sinking, rising, Earth could be many things

"My friend, you are wrong... The Fire, the Wind, and the Water don't work hand in hand with the Earth. They just take from the Earth. It supports them, willingly, without complaint. It is happy to help. Even though rain gives to the earth nourishment, it takes away more earth in the process. That is why... I have learned of an Unyielding Support!"

Huh. Interesting. Apparently Kyomei had a lot more control over the simulation than Taien thought previously. Though that probably had a lot to do with his new rank of Captain. Or rather, a ranking equivalent to that of a Captain. He had taken control from Taien for a moment, similar to that of before, to showcase what he had learned from Earth. It was, in Taien's opinion, impressive. It was an interesting take on the idea of Earth, and it was now Kyomei's lesson from Earth. Little by little, Taien learned more parts of Kyomei's personality from these simple lessons. The question of 'What would your answer be?' still hung around in his mind though.

Oh. Right. Big ol' huge blast of Reiatsu. Fortunately for Taien, he had picked up a buttload of new techniques in the three day timespan. One of which being a fairly high leveled Bakudo. So, he mentally cast it. Adding in the elements of Wind and Water to counteract the Fire and Earth, the thin rectangular shield of Danku erupted into existence. It's prescience warded off any damage Taien might have taken from the display Kyomei had show off. However, that also marked the end of the Earth training. Kyomei had now visualized and internalized four of the five elements. There was one left. Taien's grin grew; the next one was one of his personal favorites, aside from Fire and Wind. He didn't seem to use Water and Earth that much.

"Well then Kyomei-San. . . we only have one more element to go! Four down, one left. Lets see what we can learn from this last one, eh? First though-

Taien pointed to a random stretch of lunar expanse. With an audiable "Sproing!" sound, two squares of the surface popped open. Taien dashed to one and jumped in. A very loud sound started to radiate from it, the same sound one would associate to things such as a large mechanical life exerting its hydraulics to push something up. Low and behold, it appeared. It was. . . a cannon. Taien's head was poking out of the barrel of the cannon. It was both extremely comical and just plain 'Waht.' at the same time. Light dancing in his eyes, Taien pointed towards the Earth.

"Race ya, FIRE!"

A thunderous explosion later and Taien was flying through space, never mind that sound shouldn't have been audible in space in the first place! Screw physics! A faint cry of "GERONIMOOoooo..." could be heard as Taien sped off towards the planet. Since Kyomei had a pretty good grasp as to how the simulator worked, he could always just teleport to the surface if he wished. But where would the fun in that be? None at all. Besides, this, sort of, tied in to the next lesson as well. Sort of. It wasn't at all an excuse to have Taien shoot himself out of a cannon, no sir.

Regardless of what Kyomei said or did, Taien would arrive at the next destination. Flying through the air, and abusing the simulation a bit, Taien slammed his palms on the ground as he neared it, flipped through the air, and stuck a perfect ten point landing! Of course if this was in real life, he would be horribly maimed. Thankfully they weren't in real life, so Taien got to have some fun with it. Anyway, their new destination was a large, open field, surrounded on one side by a forest, grasslands on another, and a mountain on the third.

Turning to Kyomei, Taien spoke once more.

"Well, here we are. The final site of our second-to-last training session. The final element, and one of my favorites. . . Lightning!"

Pointing to the sky, a bolt of lightning suddenly appeared. It would now be noticed that the sky was exceptionally gray. It was a massive storm, a supercell! Lightning danced withing the confines of the clouds, sheet lightning exploding across the sky, lighting up the otherwise dark and dreary world. It was quite a grand performance, flashy and powerful. As was expected of an element such as Lightning. It demanded people to witness its power and gape in awe.

The two of them were in the middle of such a storm. This would be their field of training, where they could fully harness the element of Lightning to its fullest. After all, what better place to train than in the middle of a massive storm? According to Taien's logic, none a place was better than this. The cool part about this though? They were going to be experiencing the elements of not just Lightning, but the storm itself! Water, Wind, Fire, Lightning, and even Earth. All were a part of the storm in one way or another, whether a part of it or a product of it.

"Now. . . Lightning. Lightning is. . . different. It's different from the other four elements. Though that could be said of the other elements in relation to themselves, Lightning is a bit more special. Why is that though? Well. . ."

A grin.

SPOILER: Click to show

"That's what we're here to learn, isn't it!? This last element is going to be a bit like Earth in one regard. This needs to directly involve you. You'll need to both learn from this internally and externally to achieve the final result! Now! Let's begin!"

"Open the eyes of your soul, open the gate to your heart, the door to your mind. . . Let your senses extend beyond your body, your spirit beyond the physical plane. . . "

Taien took a deep breath in. All right. This was it. The final countdown.

Five, Feeling. Taien had a good idea of where he wanted to go with this. Taien's arms thrust upwards at the storm, as if to pierce it. Like a conductor, Taien coxed the winds and rain out of the clouds, the fury of the lightning and the booming thunder. The storm was in full swing now. Wind and rain and sleet and hail buffeted them, the full force of the storm slamming into them. It would hurt, yes, but not quite as much as if it was a real storm. Kyomei needed to experience both the lightning and the storm to fully realize the element.

"Feel the storm, the howling winds and the freezing rain! Feel the driving wind as it pushes the storm even higher and father, across the land, driving the rains and sleet! Feel the thunderous force of the heavens as lightning races across the sky like bullets shot from guns!"

The next part of feeling would be a bit. . . dangerous. Dangerous how, you may ask? Taien caved his hands inwards, towards himself, and a massive bolt of lightning slammed down at him. Deftly, and quite impossibly, Taien snatched the bolt out of the air, grabbing it and twisting it around in his hands. Tzuri Raiden didn't earn its name by binding water, after all. Working the lightning in his hands, Taien turned to Kyomei. He had a look that said both "This is gonna suck, sorry." and "CATCH!" at the same time. It also said something like "TAKE THIS LIKE A MAN!". He redirected the lighting at Kyomei's body with one deft motion.

To experience the feeling of Lightning, he needed to feel what Lightning felt like. Simple right? Except it was lightning. Lightning didn't tend to do good things to the human body, and even a Shinigami body wasn't very receptive to the element. Taien wasn't too worried however. Kyomei had stuck his hand in freaking lava before and wasn't singed. How he internalized the Lightning and the storm though was yet to be seen. Taien had faith though. Faith in his friend, his abilities, and even his own prowess.

"Feel the power of the lightning as it surges through you, feel the flow of its power as it conducts through you! What is this feeling?! What does it mean, what does it bring with it?!"

Right, that was one sense down. One down. . . Four to go!

Four, Hearing. Another simple one, Taien simply drew from what he had already coaxed out of the storm. The lightning seemed to increase in rapidness, striking across the sky and into the ground, booming thunder akin to cannons going of exploded all around them. The roar of the storm, the sound of rain and wind wizzing right past their ears was nearly deafening. It was a superstorm after all, it was going to be really, really loud. Despite that, Taien's voice was quite clear and audible over the noise.

"Hear the roaring of the storm, the sound of angry gods fighting amongst the heavens! Hear the wind as it drives the rain and sleet and hail, hear as the storm shifts across the sky! Hear the rain as it hits the ground like thousands of glass spears, the ice and the sleet as it freezes! What is the rhythm amidst the chaos, the pattern in the unseen?! What is the message hidden among the noises?!"

All right, good. He didn't have to really do all that much with that, since it was mostly all there to begin with. So far so good, no life threatening injuries or anything yet. The wind and rain and lightning increased in intensity once more. It was as if the very heavens turned on their faucets, and let loose the resulting titantic flood of water down onto the unsuspecting earth below. Dust and dirt became mud, and the mud was pounded into a slurry as the rain and sleet continued to come down on top of both of them. It was freezing by that point, but they were at the halfway point now! No time to stop this crazy train.

Three, Smell. Smell would be a bit harder to place, if only because the wind was whipping everything away. Taien did have an idea however. Directing the storm once more, lightning and wind arced about the two. The smell of burning ozone and the icy cold touch of the rain soaked wind dashed into their faces. The smell of the storm, the mud, the rain, the wind, lightning, and everything else involved could be smelled. In the distance, a fire raged, sparked by the dancing lightning in the sky. The smell of the smoke whipped by the two as well.

"Smell the storm, the scent of the storm, the prescience of the storm! Smell the burning air as the lightning passes through it, the icy daggers that are the wind and water! Smell the scent of the earth as it it pounded into nothing, the smell of a raging fire, unable to be quenched by the fury of the storm! What are the smells the heralds of?! What message are they bringing to those caught in their path?!"

Good, Smell was done, which left two more to go. The Taste and the Sight of Lightning. Granted, it was feeling more like "Storm" than Lightning. That was okay though. A Storm and Lightning went hand in hand. Whether that was a natural storm, a simulated storm, or really, even an ash storm! Lightning sometimes just flashed through, regardless of storm prescience or not! For this training though, Kyomei needed to experience the full force of both Lightning and the Storm though. Why? It incorporated all of the previous elements. That was what they were marching towards. They were almost done by this point.

Two, Taste. This was the second to last sense, and Taien actually knew where he was going with this one. The storm danced to his machinations once more, lightning surged all around them, the air filling with static electricity. Lightning surged and danced around them in unnatural patterns, filling the air with crackling energy and frozen wind. It was a massive, powerful display, but that wasn't what they were here for. They were here for the taste of Lightning. While Kyomei might have gotten a taste from the Feeling of Lightning, this needed to be a bit more in-depth. He needed to be bit creative with this.

So, Taien stuck out his hand, and a small, cylindrical object appeared. What was it? It was a double a battery of course! Holding the small object up, Taien directed the lightning into it. Thousands of volts were surged into the small container, and it didn't look worse for the ware. A few moments of this passed, and it finished. Inspecting it for a moment, Taien tossed it to Kyomei. It was obvious what Taien wanted Kyomei to do. He wanted him to lick the battery! Normally such a practice was not really dangerous, but. . . There was no telling how much power was in that thing. Another difference about this part of the training, it focused more on Lightning than on the storm as a whole.

"Taste the flavor of the Lightning across your tounge! Taste the tingling sensation and the flavor of metal! Taste the dance of Lightning on your tongue, taste the power contained within it! What is the flavor, what does this flavor fortell?! What does it taste of, the power surging through you?!"

Well all right. That probably could have gone better, but it was done now, and there was only one left. The one Taien had the best idea for, as well as being one of the most fun to use. So, Taien was fired up for this last one, metaphorically speaking of course. He was sort of soaked otherwise. In any case, they had just one more sense to do. One more to go, and they'd be done with Lightning. When they were done with Lightning. . . they were done with the entire set. All five would be complete. The last challenge would be to see if Kyomei could realize the shape of the technique from the lessons.

One, Sight. Taien's grin threatened to split his face in half. This was the part that it was all accumulating to! Like a Maestro, Taien started out small. Flashes of lightning across the clouds and across the horizon rang out, illuminating the darkened gray expanse. Booming thunder punctuated the monotonous beating of the rain on the slurry that was once the ground, filling the air with a sound not unlike that of water hitting water. All right, the warm up was over. . . The show. . . would commence.

"See the power of the Lightning! See as it streaks across the sky and planes, the flicker of light as it strikes and vanishes! See the majesty and strength of the Lightning in each bolt!"

Taien's tempo increased. The tempo of the flashing lightning increased, drawing closer and closer. It was an awe inspiring sight, as well as quite terrifying. The cool thing about it was that the lightning was actually going upwards and into the clouds! It was quite interesting when one knew what Lightning really did. Taien wielded the lightning around them like a champ, causing bolts to slam into the ground, around in the air, and just generally make a lightshow out of it. It was in the Elements nature, after all.

"See the Lightning as it races upwards from the earth and into the sky! See how it cuts through the rain and sleet and wind! See how the Lightning sparks a fire in the middle of a sun dried field, how the wind fans the flames, and how it grows into a wildfire!"

By this point, the lightning was converging on them. It was a grand, theatrical show, the lightning flashing and booming all throughout the open plane, illuminating the darkened area. They were getting closer and closer to the two. The sight was just insane, lightning was dancing everywhere! In the clouds, on the ground, in the water, just everywhere! Taien's final movement caused five pillars of lightning to slam down all around them with a massive 'BOOOM!'. The storm was abating.

"What do you see in the flashing of the lightning, what images are recalled in that split second of light? What connects all of those messages and images together?"

That was the final line. Only one thing left to do now. . .

"Learn from the majesty of the Lightning, from the brightening light and crashing thunder. Learn from them, let them into your soul, let their power and inspiration show through your own. Let the lessons of Lightning reside with in you, let your judgement be swift and absolute, let your foes fall before you, and your allies illuminated by your power. Put them aside, let your soul become one with the current of Lightning, as the Lightning becomes one with you."

[Kyomei Kuchiki]

Taien put up an impressively strong barrier, however he never was in any danger of being attacked by Kyomei. The waves of mud and snow had been off in the horizon, close enough to see but not close enough to be a threat. Kyomei wasn't about to harm his friend and subordinate officer, so he had kept them at a safe distance. As he did this, he watched Taien's Danku very carefully. He understood how Danku worked, how it was a primal defense, but that had a different glow to it. Wind and Water reiatsu had been mixed in... So this is the level of training that they were almost to. Having harnessed the pure elements, he should be able to mix them into other kidou to boost their power. He also noticed how the wind and the water were placed to counteract the fire and the earth that Kyomei was using.

The forest faded once more and became a lunar terrain, the Land of the Living hanging above them in the sky. Pointing to the ground, two squares were sent flying like in a cartoon, and a rumbling cannon appeared. "Heh, nice touch." Running and jumping into his own cannon, he heard the challenge of a race, and was set back as he had yet to fire his own cannon. But that wouldn't stop him for long. Firing his cannon after the Kidou Corps Vice Commander, and augmenting his flight with a Surasutoeria, he shot out of the cannon at insane speeds. But that alone wouldn't allow him to catch up to Taien. Conjuring the keyboard, and imputing a few keystrokes, Taien would find that even though he thought he was headed towards the earth the whole time, he actually took a loop and then headed for it.

Thus, Kyomei got to the ground first, and was sitting upon a large rock and yawning when his Vice Commander arrived. "Boy... it sure took you awhile. It wasn't as if... you took a potty break or something, was it? Because I'm pretty sure that training stops for no bladder." It was all light hearted banter, with a big smile set on the Commander's face. He was having fun, and both of their large senses of charisma were working in harmony rather than competing. The rush of almost having the training complete, of almost mastering all five elemental forces... it was a lot, and the Kuchiki was feeling quite giddy. Not only was the environment going to be positively electric, the atmosphere was also such, as Kyomei and Taien were upbeat and ready for the last, and most spectacular, element.

The two stood in the center of an empty field, ready to train. There was a mountain in one corner, reminding Kyomei of his recent training of earth. There was a forest on another side, reminding him of his training with fire. A grasslands was set in between the two, and it was raining, reminding of him of his training with water. And a cold breeze began to blow in as the storm clouds built up, reminding him of his training with wind. All of the elements were watching, judging, waiting to see what would happen, and if he could handle the most volatile of the elements. Once again, like with most of the elements, Kyomei loosened up. He cracked his knuckles and twisted his back to get all the kinks out from bathing in lava, and then was ready to go.

Dry lightning cracked across the skies, as the storm clouds gathered in Kyomei's eyes. This was looking like a mean storm, but the bolts of lightning were like angels descending into the ground. Kyomei was no weatherman, but this was twister weather. He prayed that it didn't come to that. The sirens of the simulation started screaming out, as they could pass out from the energy. There was no cellar to be locked into to protect them from this storm, they'd just have to take their chances and fight back, get revenge on the storm once they had gotten up enough mastery. Glass panes rose up out of the ground around them at Kyomei's command. "Let's shatter every window until it's all blown away."

Understanding that he'd have to again make the lightning inside his physical body and inside his mind, they were ready to begin. "Open the eyes of your soul, open the gate to your heart, the door to your mind. . . Let your senses extend beyond your body, your spirit beyond the physical plane. . . " His eyes needed to be kept wide open in order to best protect against the element that was going to be completely and utterly brutal if not handled correctly, so he instead focused on Taien's words, hearing them and steeling his mind. He shut out the other distractions, until there was nothing left but primal functions, elemental lessons, and determination. His eyebrows bunched up and his face developed a determined scowl, and he was set to get elbows deep into Lightning.

SPOILER: Click to show

Upon command from Taien, the storm grew stronger. It had been hovering, waiting to unleash its built up fury. With his hands like a Maestro of Monsoons, the wind and rain started to fall in carefully orchestrated waves. First came the ravenous wind, howling and tearing at both of the Shinigami's clothes, ready to tear them apart. The rain was immediately after, pelting Kyomei with sheets of the cold liquid. Sleet and hail seemed inconsequential after that, as he was already wet and a little buffet here and there hadn't killed him yet. So he just stood with his chest outwards, bearing the brunt of the storm, a crazed look in his eye. "This rain is nothing. I've already become its master. Bring on the Thunder!" And bring it, Taien would.

A lightning bolt flashed down, and in a mere fraction of a second, the Vice Commander's hand shot out and grabbed it out of the air. Shaping it by rolling it in between his hands, he gave Kyomei a mere moment to prepare by flinging it outwards. The Kuchiki was amused. His second in command seemed to be egging him on, daring him to take the brunt of it, urging him to accept the shock, feel its strength rush through his veins. But Lightning wasn't like earth. Kyomei couldn't just breathe it in and hold it in his lungs, safely away from his heart. The lightning would knock him out if he let it grow out of control. So he had to catch and tame it first. And he had to do so in a mere fraction of a moment.

The smell of dirt pouring off of his body, Kyomei reeled back and flung a fist at the lightning bolt coming his way. When flesh met energy incarnate, there was a jolt of pain that erupted through Kyomei's arm, but he had a plan. The ways of earth balanced the ways of Lightning, and by forcing a bit of earth into the bolt that had come at him, he forced into a rigid form. The lightning had been tamed into a cartoonish bolt like Zeus might have, resembling a long spear in a zig zag formation, sticking out of the Kuchiki's extended fist.The pain was great as the cells in his hand slowly were overloaded with energy and caused to explode, but he kept it there.

In the midst of the pain there was a spark, no pun intended. Reaching down into the ground, Kyomei fashioned stone gloves to insulate his hands partly. He would still feel the rush of energy dangerously approaching his vital organs, but he was letting it arc off his arms into the ground in order to stay safer. As he held his Zeus Bolt, the sleeves of his clothes slowly peeled away as the lightning leapt out of his skin. As he felt the cells in his body warp from the energy, felt them die, he also felt them be reborn. The energy was a catalyst for the natural state of regeneration, thus making new cells from the components that it had blasted apart. It was curious, to feel the cells change so much. Taien asked what he had learned, and Kyomei realized that he had learned nothing new. Rather, he had been reminded of something else.

"I have been reminded... reminded of change!" Kyomei's eyes were shot through with green cracks as a green layer of pure Wind Reiatsu coated his left shoulder like a pauldron. Just as the Wind had been an element of change, so too was Lightning. As in response to the Commander's actions, the storm increased in intensity as Taien sped up the tempo of the Storm Concerto. The wind increased in fervor, while the sheet lightning in the clouds started to increase in frequency. The glass rods surrounding the field quivered in anticipation, ready for the coming storm to shatter them and spread them far and wide. With the thunder increasing in volume exponentially, Kyomei needed to steel himself quickly in order to receive the lessons of the sound of Lightning.

Kyomei lifted his head to face the rain, letting it pour over his face. His Zeus bolt crackled in his right hand, but was still staying strong. All around him was a choir of thunder, brought about by the rapid expansion of air each time a flash of lightning hit one of the tall glass poles. The sounds of the thunder pounded at his ears, though he could still hear Taien clearly due to the simulation filtering. The rhythm inside the chaos, eh? What chaos? All Kyomei heard was the sweet music of pressure waves. The colors of his synesthesia caused all of the thunder to cast a honey glow over the world like an Instagram filter, and the Kuchiki was bathed in the warm feeling. In and out the thunder came and went, like the rhythm of the tides. Much like water, the thunder moved. "I have been reminded of Ebb and Flow!"

Another wave of reiatsu ripped through his body, manifesting in blue cracks in his eyes and a hovering blue orb behind him. The bolt of lightning was shaking in Kyomei's hands as the pulsing of the lessons of water began to shape it. Wind had given it sustained life through the constant change, and water now gave it shape. Out of the green pauldron on Kyomei's arm emerged a writhing mess of blue bones, not perfectly shaped but having a sort of form attached to them. Meanwhile the shaking Lightning bolt was quickly becoming destabilized. Taien would have to act fast or his superior officer might lose control of the volatile element. Next was smell, and the Kuchiki hoped that he could get the Zeus Bolt under control by then, else he would have to start over.

The Vice Commander willed the wind to swirl around the scent of the area. All that Kyomei could smell was the burning of flesh, the scent of melted glass and sand that had been turned into an amorphous solid by the massive energy that had been dancing all around the two Shinigami. Smoke and flames had been kicked up, once again assaulting the Commander's nostrils. As if he hadn't gotten enough of the smell of ash and death from his training with fire. But as he inhaled more deeply, he noticed the transformation from glass to liquid, from sand to glass, from liquid glass to pillars of natural sculptures the likes of which no artist could capture. The Zeus Bolt began to change shape, folding in on itself into a ring of energy, feeding into itself and eating itself all at the same time, like an Ouroboros. "I have been reminded of rebirth!"

Red cracks lit up his eyes as a ball of red reiatsu appeared behind him next to the other two. The blue mess of bones was coated in bright red feathers as a pitiful excuse for a wing started to form. Due to the lack of stability in the bones, the poor excuse for a limb just flopped around as Kyomei moved. The ring of lightning, however, was looking as strong as ever as it broke physics by sustaining itself. But if Taien looked closely, he'd easily be able to see that the pain was starting to creep up on his Commander. His arms had been put through a lot of bolts that were exiting them, and his non-armored shoulder was starting to generate bolts too. Too much more, and the insane amount of voltage would hit his heart.

But Kyomei was as determined as ever to keep going. The next sense to master was taste, which was going to be strange for lightning. Taien held out his hand, and a double A battery formed, which was subsequently filled with an astronomical amount of lightning. It was tossed at the Commander, but he swatted it down. Kyomei had a better plan. Bearing his disk of Lightning, he tore into it with his teeth. The surge of electricity through his body seemed unearthly, as if he was going to die on the spot, but he had a secret. Hidden in the palm of his hand was a simple Kidou Fusion, Kaze Utsuwa and Byakurai. This siphoned off the electricity in his body into an orb in his hand, keeping it safely away from his internal organs. But even with that, Kyomei's hair spiked up, especially the hair on the back of his neck, and a bit of smoke began to rise up through his nostrils.

Even though he was tasting the full brunt of the lightning, he was still fairly safe, even more safe than he had been before he was binding the lightning into his hand. The bound lightning would help him understand the element, however it wasn't complete. It was artificial. It was reiatsu with lightning chilling alongside it, not reiatsu made up of lightning. But yet, the lightning that ran through the Kuchiki's body reminded him of a lesson that he had learned not but minutes earlier. The rush of energy felt good, no, it felt great. It felt amazing to be supported by the lightning, urged forwards, and given the strength and stamina to do so. So with a sickening crunch of the ground, followed by more brown cracks in the Commander's eyes, a brown orb grew into existence next to the other four. There was a firm determination in his eyes as the final sense approached. "I have been reminded of Unyielding Support!"

Lightning simultaneously struck all of the glass rods that had survived, sending a shower of glass up into the air as if in slow motion. As Taien wielded a symphony of sparks and bolts, the shards that had been blasted upwards were hit again, arcs of lightning bouncing in between each and every little fragment, forming a brilliant light show. It was almost as if their own little Faraday cage had been made out of glass. It was a majestic show, greater than anything that Kyomei had previously seen during their training. Similarly, the rhythm of the music of the storm was causing the Kuchiki to drift into a trance. The electrical orb just felt natural inside his body, and arcs of lightning danced around him without causing pain. He merely willed their existence and their end. This was the true form of lightning. As a yellow orb appeared at his back to join the four others, he spoke. "I have learned... of LIFE!"

[Taien Hadohou]

SPOILER: Click to show

As the Maestro of this piece, it fell to Taien to end the concerto. Like a master of the land, Taien brought down his hands in a final, sweeping gesture. Everything stopped at that moment. The lightning, the wind, the rain, hail, and sleet. Everything froze and stopped. Like a dream, it all melted away. The clouds in the sky began to brighten and break apart, revealing a clear blue sky with the sun shining down brightly on the two of them. It was a stark contrast to the gigantic storm from before. The ground was drying up, becoming less muddy, the grass stood up and waved in the wind, and a few fluffy white clouds that were all that were left over from the storm floated peacefully above.

This really was it. This was the ending of their training session together. It had taken quite a long time, various interruptions, adoptions, and promotions, but it was finally the end. There really was only one step left before them, one step over the edge of the finish line. It was both the simplest and most complex step simultaneously. All that was left was to combine the teachings of all five elements together, to really, truly combine them, and from that, reveal the shape of the technique Taien was teaching to him. This was really it! This one last step was all that was needed for Kyomei to learn what Taien was teaching him.

"Well done. . . well done Kyomei-San! Five elements, five lessons, twenty-five teachings. We're nearing the end now. All that is left is to take the lessons you have put aside, take them and combine them. Learn how they coexist together, how they support one another, and how they oppose each other. Learn from all of them, and combine those teachings, and you will reveal the shape of the technique. The true shape."

Well. Taien really didn't have much to do now. This last part was Kyomei-Only. He needed to figure out the shape on his own, both to understand it completely and to be able to master it for himself. How he would tie it all together would be interesting to see. Taien's own training to replicate what Takakazu-San had been able to do was rather short. He had been able to create a technique with what he had seen, and hadn't done all of the elaborate training he had done here with Kyomei-San. In fact, he had made most of this up on the spot, all for the purpose of teaching Kyomei. So he was intrigued to see what Kyomei did.

The Lessons of Wind, Water, Fire, Earth, and Lightning. Kyomei had learned of Change, Ebb and Flow, Rebirth, Unyielding Support, and now Life. How would he tie all of those lessons together? What would he learn from all of them at once, in a combined state? Moreover, what would be the shape of his Soshi Senjigusuri? While Taien was teaching him the technique he had made, this was sort of 'from-the-ground-up' making it for Kyomei as well. It wasn't just Taien's technique after all. While the two techniques would be the same, or similar at least, they were also completely the owners. Taien's was Taien's, and Kyomei's was Kyomei's. It would be like that with whoever they trained as well.

There really wasn't much left to do other than watching Kyomei work. So that's what Taien did. He observed his student, how he utilized his Reiatsu, and various other aspects. This last step had to be juuuuust right. Taien wasn't sure if there would be a second chance to try it, but it didn't hurt to get it on the first try. Taien knew Kyomei could do something like that though, especially with his current level of power and knowledge. It wouldn't be overly challenging, but it most likely would be difficult. This was a rather powerful technique he was learning, after all.

[Kyomei Kuchiki]

Ok... It was up to Kyomei to finish this. Everything had been leading up to this, and now it was his responsibility to tie it all together. Taien had been the greatest of teachers, but now, all that he could do was help himself. The weight of everything he had learned pressed down on him, and for a moment, he saw with perfect clarity what he had become because of this study, because of this research. It had been due to Wind Reiatsu that Sozen had found him and brought him out of the Academy, and in turn how Kyomei was able to bring Taien out of the Academy. This study, it was so much an integral part of who the Kidou Corps Commander now was that he could see no other option for how to tie it all together. And to do so, he'd need a table.

He used the simulator to give him a tree and an axe. With his own hand he cut down the tree and stripped it. It didn't take him too long. He fashioned a quick table by threading boards together with Horin, then sat down to work at it. The wing that still stretched from his arm had been given life at the spark of Lightning, which was causing it to flap around as if animated by some inner force. Kyomei was strong though, and he had no trouble keeping himself grounded. Stretching out his wing made up of all the elements, breaking it apart into its component reiatsu, and focusing it into the table, the porous wood was filled with the energy, solidifying it into a superconductive igneous lava rock table.

The newly solidified table had five bowls impressed inside it in a star formation, that all had a channel that lead to a deeper bowl in the center. With his orbs of reiatsu circling him, he prepared to complete the Soshi Senjigusuri. "Water..." The blue orb was placed into the top most bowl. "Lightning..." In the bowl clockwise from water went the yellow orb. "Earth..." In the bowl clockwise from lightning went the brown orb. "Wind..." The green orb was next to be placed, clockwise from the earth orb. And then the last orb was placed. "Fire..." The reiatsu spilled over their bowls due to the channels and pooled at the center, becoming a gross, sickly color. Something was wrong, and Kyomei needed to fix it, but how?

Oh, that was easy. He needed to bolster the elements with each other. They couldn't exist on their own and then be fed to the pot, they had to communally exit. Drawing more channels into the sides, in the shape of a circle connecting each of the bowls, the overflow of the reiatsu now pooled into another element. Water supported Electricity, and so on, which gave them increased potency and purity. When the center bowl was emptied and the empowered elements were poured into it, the center bowl glowed with an inner light of the brightest white. Yes, that was how it was supposed to look. With his hand raised, Kyomei began to work his fingers like a puppet master, pulling on invisible strings and shaping the elements, both the pure pool at the center and the empowered bowls on the outside.

What began as a small table made out of wood and kidou had become a stone altar with a six course meal on top. The fire had been shaped into the form of extremely spicy peppers, the water had taken the form of a hot soup, the earth had become corn on the cob, and the wind had become a pie dessert. And at the centerpiece of the table was a giant bowl of mashed potatoes. Tucking into the food, he could feel the power of them, listen to their training, never forgetting what each one could teach him. He saved the best for last, the bowl of mashed potatoes at the center. Those he did not eat, but rather left as a reminder to what he had learned most. When his meal was done, in a matter of moments, he left plenty for Taien to partake of if he wished. Then, he finished the training for good.

The now empty bowls stood in a pentagram around the bowl of mashed potatoes. In his hand grew a Shakaho, but it wasn't ordinary as the Vice Commander would realize. Inside was supported a base element and the other element that supported it best. He fired the Water supported by Fire Shakaho into the water bowl, then proceeded to continue for every one of the elemental bowls. And when he got to the bowl of mashed potatoes, he combined them all to get the Holy Shakaho. The resulting blaze was majestic, even more so when the six flames wove together into a pyre of testament to the moment. It burned for hours, and would continue to burn long after Taien and Kyomei left. "Let this conflagration of colors be a sign of our bond. Commander and Vice Commander. Together, what would dare stand in our way?"

[Zeich Yajuu]

106 paragraphs total (not including short ones or medium dialogue ones) at 10 TP/2 paragraphs is 530 TP each. Good work, both of you.