RoseKnightJason

A Sea of Spells [Chapter 1: A Scrap in The Galley]

"You'll find I'm much better at dancing than you'd expect," Said James as his own blood formed spikes to track him. Up until now he had engaged in no jokes, or banter, really. His tone denoted, however, that he was already having fun. A 'captainly,' presence was now replaced with an almost childlike teasing. Seeing as Iava was closing in to attack at the same time as the volley, James suddenly changed direction.

Indeed appearing light on his feet, he reversed the circle in two quick steps. Walking out of the path of the arrows, and Iava's first slash. Now from Elizabeth's point of view, James was behind Iava. This would cause the first of the arrows going towards his flank to pass by, and the others would need to change direction unless the spell weaver intended to hit the sellsword. So at least for now, they were dealt with until Elizabeth redirected them.

The problem came the next half second, for Iava's first strike was a feint. Just short of being cut James raised his parrying arm to the strike. Small bits of bone chipped off like sparks as steel collided perfectly upon it's edge. Though he was close to injury there, he wasted no time in his counter. With a wild smile he pressed towards Iava, knowing full well the other foreigner was aiming to circle around to his blind spot soon enough.

He stabbed at her with his other bone spike, aiming for center mass to give it the best chance at causing damage. The head could be too quick, and duck out of the way. It was a deadly javelin now which aimed to skewer her. Still, he was not wildly charging into her range of threat. This attack was singular, and left open to fluid reaction from whatever source may come next. His other bone baton would be poised to guard or attack next turn. His wrists by this time, had completely closed up from the beginning of the bout.

Yet there was still the spirit talker. Surely some communion had happened from those deft footsteps changing suddenly. Her posture, the way she held her knife, something had changed. James was betting it was a possession of some kind. He had also heard of mages who could access their ancestral memory, but either way the skills would work out this same. This was an accomplished rogue he was now fighting. If he simply treated her like a warrior now without a proper counter strategy, he would get his throat cut before he knew it.

James had always believed in a good offense, so that's the way he went. On the top of his shoulder began to form some sort of welt. The flesh rose, and extended into a large ball with a stalk connecting it to him. In the same second it became a functioning, slightly overlarge eyeball which tracked Shiara.

While the eyeball grew, a flesh colored tentacle burst forth from the top of James's scapula. It grew rapidly to a full length of six feet, and by the time it was full size there was a curved spike made of sharpened bone attached to the end. It whipped through the air in an arc which threatened to slash Shiara diagonally across her whole body. James let out a chuckle as his two simultaneous attacks struck out at each woman.

@Izurich @Imia @Shylarah

Bleach: Rise Of The New Generation

Kobe's look of confusion matched Jin's as the two of them exchanged the most awkward of all handshakes. Kobe laughed again, reminding himself Jin wasn't simply a couple years older like he seemed. It made Kobe wonder exactly when the fist-bump had been invented. Before Jin could start the two of them walking up the street again, Kobe set down his food and grabbed Jin's wrist.

"Alright, if we're going to be friends you gotta know how to do this," Kobe felt a little prickle of embarrassment as he said friends out loud. He hadn't exactly confirmed up until this point that he thought of Jin as such. Kobe folded Jin's fingers into a fist, and then punched his knuckles before releasing his wrist, "that's a fist bump, courtesy of the 21st century,"

The crowd was beginning to thin out now, and the end of the festival hallway of stalls was in sight.

"I don't know, I guess. The teachers all told me my abilities were best suited for Frontline combat. Squad 11. That would be fine, but I've spent a lot of time this year building strategy. Sparring you, Asami, and Ageha, I feel like my battle intellect has grown. I'm not afraid of the Frontline, but I want to be more useful than that," The last words stunned even Kobe as he said them. Useful to whom exactly? He didn't feel any strong sense of loyalty to the Gotei 13, at least not yet. So where was this desire to be seen as useful coming from?

Hazy memories of emotions filled his head. The feeling of being robbed of his potential via his death. The betrayal, and anger he'd felt at the very idea that there could be a god controlling any of this, and that that god would choose to end him before he could ever accomplish anything. What was the purpose in his death, or his life? Maybe that's what he wanted so badly for now, a purpose. After Jin replied to his statement, Kobe simply asked:

"You?"

A Sea of Spells [Chapter 1: A Scrap in The Galley]

Well this is already not going how I planned, is what went through James's head as Iava stepped right into the stone outcropping he occupied. He backed away from it's entrance as he did so, and moved around to the side to follow her circling. He thought, stupidly he supposed, that he would be picking fighters out of the small crowd left behind. He should have known there would be at least one person psycho enough to volunteer before he could have the chance. What's more, it seemed the warrior had already agreed to a team up with the two other women in the crowd. As if he already wasn't taken by surprise, THIS was certainly unusual.

James was no misogynist. He had sailed with women and served under a female captain. Yet it was still a strange sight to see three of them all showing up to the same pirate crew. Not only this, but by the looks of things they were three women more than willing to fight. How interesting, and unusual indeed. James had never expected to be the face for outlaw inclusion, but if they passed his test he would certainly welcome the feminine perspective aboard his new ship. He would have to make sure not to underestimate them, first.

"Surely you would allow a man to draw his weapons?" He said, splaying out his empty hands to either side to show her his palms. Then, a split began to form near his wrist. Two stark white, spiked poles began extending from them. They grew until they were about three feet each. Small beads of blood ran down them leftover from the splitting of his skin.

Then as he dual wielded the things he crouched into a more full fighting stance. One he held forward ready to parry, while the other stayed poised by his head ready to attack. He curtly nodded at Iava, his eyes telling her he was now ready for her advance. In his peripheral vision he stayed aware of the two other women, and stayed about halfway from that entrance towards the back wall. Getting cornered this early would mean a swift death, especially with whatever ranged attacks that blood mage may have.

He was already formulating counter strategies based on what he already knew. In all of them, he would have to tire out Iava. No way a warrior of this caliber was going to let him take his attention off her. If he didn't pressure her hard enough, he would end up being picked apart by her support. This meant an aggressive and fast paced approach. If he could get her to slip up, he could deal some meaningful damage to her or one of the others. Now the question was how, and when.

Bleach: Rise Of The New Generation

@Brink I've been told to watch that show so many times I need to get to it.

What I especially like about them as a combo is their personalities are similar but their abilities are polar opposites. Jin is evenly spread in stats and abilities, and Kobe is focused almost entirely on swordsmanship. Even his hoho is just there to make his main attacks more effective against a faster/more skilled opponent. They have opposite strategies of balance your options, or go all in on plan A

Bleach: Rise Of The New Generation

Kobe finished off his snacks, as he waited for Jin to rejoin him and reply to his counter-inquiry. Kobe once again smiled widely. Jin played the part of melancholy sometimes, but there was a fire beneath the still pool that was his mood. That's often what fueled their conversations, and fights.

"Too strong to die," repeated the younger spirit with a sense of whimsy, "now that's a goal worth sweating and bleeding for. It's a deal then," Kobe outstretched his fist for a bump towards Jin. Then, he moved onto another stall. He had his appetizer and now wanted a something filling. A grilled squid, and a basket of tempura were snatched up by him in moments. He gave a shy thankyou to the vendors, his behavior switching somewhat drastically when he wasn't talking shit to Jin.

"Do you ever wonder if you got a proper funeral the first time?" He asked Jin without looking at him. As he paused for an answer, their footsteps in tandem tapped along the cobblestone. They were getting further away from the stage, Kobe subconsciously leading them nowhere in particular.

@Brink

Bleach: Rise Of The New Generation

@Brink in that case, I'll just have Kobe call himself the fashionably late type lol

Bleach: Rise Of The New Generation

@Brink I thought of a dope ass line, if you'd be willing to play along in your next post. Jin says something like,

"Shouldn't we go speak to the Captains while we have the chance?"

And Kobe says

"Nah, let the overachievers go first, because they're going to anyways," pointing towards Ageha already speaking to the captain of the 11th, "You and I, Jin, are the fashionably late types,"

Bleach: Rise Of The New Generation

Kobe laughed hard at Jingoro's taunting. He stood up off of his Zanpakuto, which morphed into an Odachi at his belt in a red glow of light. He rested his arm on it, and replied to his friend with a smile.

"Don't get cocky just because you're up in wins for now," Kobe looked away and shook his head, but his smile stayed denoting he was having fun already, "I'd tell you to step into a side street and we could settle this now if I wasn't so damn hungry. Let's go see what's on the menu," Kobe tossed his head towards the stalls and began stepping slowly to lead the way.

The aroma as they drew closer was admittedly heavenly. Kobe tried not to think too hard about how eating worked in the Soul Society. If he was dead, he should have no sensation. In fact this should all be a construct of spiritual energy. How could he have taste buds to taste it with, if he didn't have a body? How could the food interact with those taste buds if they're merely a spiritual image left behind by his original body? Spiritual energy in the shame of a taste bud. Thinking about it made his brain hurt.

Yet, as he bit into the takoyaki he ordered, he wanted to roll his eyes at the sensation. Real or not, the food here was the greatest thing he had ever eaten.

"What did you get Jin?" He said, turning back towards his friend and inspecting what he may have found amongst the rows of otherworldly eats. After Jin replied, Kobe pondered the question he had asked before they came for food.

"I don't know if we have a choice. In getting strong. Like you asked. Don't you think it's survival of the fittest? If we're going to get strong, we will be strong. If we don't, we'll die,"

@Brink

Bleach: Rise Of The New Generation

Above the crowd of people, near the back, a figure floated in the sky. A tightly wrapped spear with red ribbons of cloth hanging off the end, supported a man sitting on top of it. He sat with one leg dangling off its side, and his arm rested up on his bent knee. Leaning his head into his hand with a bored expression, the other hand held a straw-thin pipe up to his lips. He had never smoked in life, but now the smoke wouldn't effect his cardio considering he was dead. Small puffs trailed away from him, dissipating into nothing against the night sky. Kobe wasn't exactly anti-social, but had shown up way too early. So when a bunch of other Shinagami he didn't know began filtering into the courtyard, he released his Shikai and retreated into the air. He had been quietly smoking and waiting for some familiar faces to pop up since.

Before he knew it, the crowd was too dense with black robes for him to even pick out one of his friends. Hell, he'd do with an acquaintance at this point just to feel less singled out. So, he just sat where he was atop his Zanpakuto and listened to the Captain-Commander's speech.

The words "Promise to get stronger," rang out like funeral bells in Kobe's head. He had made that promise to himself unprompted when he'd entered the academy. Since his death, he had the feeling that he hadn't lived up to his full potential in life. He refused to make that mistake again. So his academy days had been filled with extra training and studying. He had gone out of his way to find the top students and ask them for tips, or sparring matches. Asami and Nakejima had obliged him more than once, which he was grateful for. Their Illusion-type Zanpakuto had awakened him to the fact that strength was not the only thing he should strive for. Without a proper strategy, someone with more versatile abilities could easily run circles around them. This had been a valuable lesson.

His grades still weren't perfect, he had NO Kido ability to speak of, but he had graduated as one of the better power-type Shinagami and been rather proud of that fact. Still, the Captain's question left him wondering, have I gotten stronger? Really? this self doubt would not leave him, so he scanned the crowd and took another puff to distract himself from it. Then he spotted Jin, and it was as if a chain around his chest made from anxiety had loosened a bit. By this time the Captain's speech was over, and there was enough room between the groups of friends for him to lower himself down next to his friend.

"Damn, who knew the Captain-commander was a brazen alcoholic. Makes me feel not so bad about this little habit I've picked up post-mortem," he commented to the other man, tapping out the ash from his pipe against the hilt of his spear. He deposited the item into the folds of his robes, and looked at Jin with a mischievous grin. Past the other man, he spotted Nakejima standing amongst the crowd. Catching her eye, he gave her a polite waive and turned his attention back to Jin to hear his reply.

Characters mentioned: @Psyker Landshark @RevekaRed @Brink

Bleach: Rise Of The New Generation

@Brink Sick. I haven't read the IC post yet, but I'll go ahead at some point today! Probably just walking around, talking about swordsmanship. I might have Kobe at some point talk to some of the captains around, looking for advice on how to improve. That's the only idea I have for now, stay tuned