Episode 2: A moment's respite... peaceful, beautiful days.

Letha had been walking back from a friend's when she saw the other shinigami training. She stopped to watch and witnessed one of them being badly injured and taken to the fourth. I'll see if that other shinigami will train with me.
She walked up to the man who had been training with the now injured girl. She smiled and said, "Hello. I was wondering if you needed a training partner?"

"Hmm? Oh, but surely you wish to exchange pleasantries first?" Higgins felt the need to say that, mainly because no one else seems to care who anybody is. "My name is Higgins, and I would also need to know what you wish to train."

Alice makes it the Squad 4 with Serenity. She nervously looked around and saw no one walking by. Turning quickly to Serenity, wincing at the shooting pain that traveled down her left arm and back up to her shoulder. "You know, Collin and I can heal the wound with a simple kido. I'm sure I'll be fine if I go back. Collin likes to use his Kido as much as possible. Pleeeease?" Alice pleaded, nervous that she may be forced into asking a passing Squad 4 member to heal her so she can quickly get back to her brother. She blinked a few times and realized something. "Oh No. Higgins isn't here. Now I definitely need to get back. Without Higgins, Collin is sure to notice and worry... A lot." Alice shook her head and began walking back to the training area.

Collin managed to block both of the kicks, no matter how sloppy it looked he still block them but winced even at the light pain that shocked his nerves from the kicks. Smirking lightly to himself, he brought his body low and attempted a sweeping high kick at the girls.

He is polite. "I'm sorry for not mentioning my name earlier. I'm Letha. If you wouldn't mind, could we continue train zanjetsu?" Letha had been watching the previous fight and knew that Higgins would be a good person to train zanjetsu with.

"Very well." Higgins redrew his sword, and motioned for Letha to as well.

Phoenix jumped over Collin's leg at the last second. "You're not bad," she complimented him. "With some more training, you'll probably excel at hakuda as well."

Under the shade of a tree, near enough to observe closely but not so close as to interfere, a thin, golden-haired woman sat watching the group training together, her intensely blue eyes flickering happily at the sight.

"So this is how "friends" share happy memories..." She muttered distantly, a hint of sorrow in her voice. "Alexi was right... it does seem like a pleasant sensation."

Collin bowed at the praise but immediately went on the offensive again, throwing a few quick punches Phoenix's way and then bringing his leg around her to trip her. Collin still didn't notice that his sister was gone. It seemed that he was really having fun with this training.

Phoenix countered his punches but was distracted enough that she couldn't dodge Collin's attempt to trip her. His leg connected with hers and she started to fall forward. One hand touched the ground before she caught herself. "You learn fast."

Collin smiled and began thinking about other moves he hadn't used yet but stayed moving. Bouncing from one foot to the other, Collin made it look like he had a plan of action but in reality, he had nothing on his mind. Since it was a 2-on-1 battle, Collin had to think of when the other opponent would strike him and if he had the brains to move as quickly as Phoenix did to pick himself up before landing on the ground or blocking the attack before it hits him. Collin finally thought of a plan that might get him a few points of approval, but he had never tried it and felt that it might be useless as it would be sloppy. Closing his eyes and focusing his reiatsu, Collin tried the technique he had heard so much about from other and was hoping to preform it for Phoenix and Castor. After some focusing, nothing happened so Collin went back to the offensive. Maybe if he kept moving, it would be performed.

Serenity grabbed the back of Alice's top and tugged her back. "Your brother is busy training, and if he finds out you are injured, he won't be very happy. Now hang on." She snagged a lone Squad 4 member that was walking by swiftly, and explained the injury. He nodded in agreement about it needing to be fixed, and agreed to help.

Letha equipped only her katana, leaving her wakizashi sheated. She smiled at Higgins, ready to get started on training. "Well, let's start now." She went in to a defensive pose, waiting to see if Higgins would make the first move.

Higgins swung his sword at her hand holding the sword, in a upward diagonal motion.

Letha quickly blocked the attack from Higgins and put some space between the two. She then lunged forward, her sword pointed towards Higgins.

Phoenix paused as Collin closed his eyes. What is he doing? she wondered. It left him wide open to attack. She debated whether or not to take advantage of the opportunity, but before she decided, he had already opened them again. She decided to ramp the difficulty up a little. She feinted a punch with her right hand and then brought her left hand in for the real punch.

Alice gasped and whimpered as she was dragged off to a room by Serenity. The Squad 4 member left for a few minutes to get some supplies. "Fine... I'll.... stay but... Can you stay with me? I've never liked doctors..... They scare me." Alice blushed at the small request. She was sounding like a pleading child trying to get out of punishment.

Collin didn't see the second punch but somehow managed to get behind Phoenix quicker than he had expected. 'OW!... That was pretty sneaky...' He said as he held his side. He hummed to himself in curiosity. 'My reiatsu never used to be this high. I wonder whats stressing out Alice then?' Collin thought to himself as he aimed a fist for Phoenix but flinched suddenly in pain. 'She hit my arm? When did she hit me? I don't get it...' Collin looked at his left arm to find a cut, not a bruise. His eyes widened in surprise. There was no blood flowing from the wound but the dried blood around it signified that it had been bleeding a little. 'She cut me?! But when? How?' Collin ignored the pain of his arm and used his right arm for fighting instead.

Serenity nodded swiftly. "Naturally. I never have liked them greatly either. The faster this gets fixed, the faster we get back to some training." She turned to watch him re-enter the room and set about checking out her injury.

@Phoenix, Higgins: The longer you continue to train, the stronger you feel an impulsive bloodlust welling inside you. it's nothing beyond your control, but becomes more and more noticeable as time goes by.

“A woman?” Ikkaku’s brewing glare turned into a look of surprise when he found that the laughter had not come from one of his squad members, cowardly hiding from him while laughing at the braver ones’ misfortune. The laugh had been girly, sure. But he had been with Yumichika long enough to know that girly sounds can come from men too.

“Who are you and what the hell are you doing here?” he asked rudely, pointing at the stranger with his zanpakutou.

“They’re not very good, are they?” Jin smirked as she gestured to the fallen men. She had thought of her options. She could politely ask for training or simply learn by fighting. Given that the man was the Eleventh’s third seat, for once, fighting seemed to hold more chances of success. And while it was typically outside of her nature to goad people into fighting, she could now feel a sort of bloodlust growing in her. Deep in the recesses of her mind, she acknowledged that she would not have been able to resist starting a fight even if she had decided on the other option.

“What?!” Ikkaku lowered his blade, taken aback by the woman’s audacity to insult his men.

“It makes me wonder why the Eleventh is considered as one of the best combat-oriented squads,” Jin continued as she crossed her arms.

“The Eleventh isn’t one of the best combat-oriented squads. It’s the best combat-oriented squad.” Ikkaku tried to mimic the crossing of arms defiantly, but realized that he was holding something that could easily impale him if he wasn’t careful. “Who are you anyway? You’re from the Second, aren’t you? You Soifon-worshippers are the only ones who would dare insult us like that,” the man nodded as he asked his question.

“Oh me?” Jin feigned a giggle as she corrected him. “I’m still waiting for my squad assignment.”

The bald man’s smile grew vicious and his head sparkled ominously, “A newbie? And I suppose you think you would have done better than my men against me then?” Ikkaku leaned the flat of the blade against his shoulder arrogantly.

“I faced a powerful arrancar and survived. I bet none of them could say the same thing.” Jin leaned against the wall confidently.

Ikkaku let out a derisive snort, “You’re from that mission then. From what my captain told me, those guys were toying with you.”

Jin frowned for a moment as the comment hit a nerve before she continued with her act. “I still say I can do better than those guys. I may be new, but I’ve achieved shikai.” She pulled the kansashi out of her hair, making the Third Seat falter again in confusion, before she intoned her release command, “Sumalanta, Habagat!”

All at once, the weapon lengthened into a lacquered black staff about her height, and at the end of it, a full foot in length, was a shiny deep blue blade, smooth, sharp and curved on one side, dangerously jagged like lightning on the other. On its flat side were spiral markings that were familiar to Jin though she couldn’t place where she had seen them before. Now that she was staring at her shikai unabashedly, this being the first time she had really been able to inspect it, she thought the curled lines resembled clouds.

Ikkaku was on guard instantly, blade before him, one hand ready to take the sheath as a second weapon if need be. But as he looked at the naginata, so similar to his, and watched the woman ogle at her weapon in wonder, his eyes narrowed calculatingly and he turned his head ever so slightly. ‘So that’s what this is about,’ he thought.

It was certainly stupid for a newbie to goad him into a fight, but not so if they were trying to learn from him. Renji had done it when begging him for training stopped working. And his captain did tease him about a new cadet who had a shikai similar to his, and how she might someday grow to be better than him. ‘Well, we’ll just see about that, won’t we?’ he smiled smugly.

“Well, missy, there’s no way you’re going to do any better than these groaning oafs if you just stay there and stare at your beloved shikai.” He raised his blade and his sheath, performing the ritual that had heralded many an enemy’s doom in the past, as he yelled the command, “Nobiro, Houzukimaru!”

Phoenix noticed Collin's sudden wince of pain and started to grin in satisfaction before she caught herself. This is only practice, she reminded herself, thinking that her inner hollow must be affecting her thinking.

Alice smiled nervously as the 4th Squad member made it back to the room carrying bandages, gauze and a few other things covered by the bandages. Alice drifted off into her own world, closing her eyes, she fell into a half sleep. She was very aware of her surroundings and flinched a few times when the stinging of medical ointment was applied onto her wound. 'Collin... Hows your training going I wonder...' She thought to herself, not noticing that her wound was dressed and she was being told to leave.

Collin sighed, feeling his reiatsu drop drastically. 'Much better. I wonder what that was all about then...' Collin began breathing deeply, wincing at an almost unnoticeable stinging coursing through his arm. He limply left his wounded arm at his side, watching it swing was he moved. 'If I move it too much, the wound might open up again.' Collin concluded, not wanting anyone but mostly himself to be freaked out by his blood. Winding back his right arm, Collin sped forward toward Phoenix intending for a fast right hook to her ribs.

(First post, woohoo!)

-???-

Asashi slowly drifted, his mind knowing only pain. Well, pain and the two arguing shadows in his head.

"Hey! Wake up! WAKE UP! Geez, this never would've happened if you called my name, or hell even her name. Hey, do you think he's dead, Suzu?"
"Of course not, you moron. If he died then I would finally be rid of you. And don't call me that, ____!"

'Huh? That last word was muffled. Geez, my face hurts. And so does my whole body. I wish these two would just shut up already...'

"Well pardon my manners princess, but so long as you call me ____, I'll call you, Suzu"
"Why should a goddess like me degrade herself by calling a pathetic asauchi like you by her full name huh?

'Maybe if I hit myself hard enough I'll wake up' Asashi tried moving his arm 'Damn I can't move'

"OH THAT'S IT!! GET OVER HERE SO I CAN KICK YOUR UGLY TIN ASS INTO NEXT WEEK!!"
"GLADLY YOU HIDEOUS LITTLE COPYCAT!!"

The two blurs were just about to start their third fight this hour when a third white shadow muttered something "I swear, as soon as I'm in control both your asses are outta here"

"CAN IT, WHITE BOY!!!"
"CAN IT, WHITE BOY!!!"

The white shadow just chuckled and faded away. But before vanishing completely it glided over to where Asashi lay. "Time to get up, Sleeping Beauty. You don't want to disappoint Reika" it said, slamming a fist into Asashi gut....


-Squad 4 Barracks-

-Relief Station-

Asashi's eyes quickly snapped open as a wrenching pain shot through his stomach. He tried to get up but something held him down. His eyes quickly scanned the room (or tried to, all he could see was the ceiling). "W-where am I?" he tried to ask in a calm manner, but he was kinda feeling claustrophobic. "Relax, you're in the Squad 4 Relief Station. Try not to move so much, you were injured badly during the graduation exam" That's when something clicked into place for Asashi "THE EXAM!!" He shouted and suddenly sat up, startling the poor nurse and the other patients. He quickly got outta bed, mumbled an apology to the nurse, grabbed his things, changed, and took off for the Shino Academy, hoping to find Sentaro-Sensei, Kiyone-Sensei, or even the very scary Nanao-sensei, completely unaware of the new scars adorning his face and chest. That weird dream from before all but forgotten.

(Yay! Done. Let me know if I screwed up so I can fix it)

"I think we should stop for now. I'm getting quite tired." In actuality, Higgins felt that if he didn't stop, he would end up hurting Letha from not being able to stop the urges to do so. Higgins sheathed his Zanpakto and went to sit and gather his thoughts.

Phoenix raised an eyebrow, catching Collin's fist. "You telegraphed that move with the windup, you know." She gave him what she hoped was an encouraging smile. "That might work against a hollow who is distracted, though."

Serenity watched closely as the 4th squad member dressed her friends wounds and as Alice bobbed in and out of a state of awakening. As the member finished, she lifted Alice over her shoulder and carried her to a bed to the side to rest. Serenity gathered a pencil and paper, wrote Alice a short note stating that she was going to train again, and head back over to the area they had been training in. She watched as some of the others finished up, as others were still yet training.