Rob
Pew Pew Pew
A Surprisingly Fitting Title
2320 Words
2320 Words
Beaks
Rob
Rob
The Division was quiet as she walked through the gates, an almost artificial hush that seemed to resent her even being there. Then again, why wouldn't it? Even if she hadn't cast the spell or struck the blow, Theron Ascania was gone...whether he was truly dead or not....he was gone.
Because of her actions, the Third Division had no Captain. A fact that was assuredly not lost on its members. And why was she here in the first place? Because the former Templar Queen, the former Captain of the Eleventh Division, the former, well, everything was going to try and join them.
Life was funny sometimes.
Just as the former Templar Queen thought it couldn’t get any quieter around these parts, the unmistakable sound of a blade thrusting its way through a wooden target resonated across the Third’s field.
Not once, not twice... but four times in quick succession did the dark purple-haired woman’s blade pierce through the wooden dummy’s heart. And again, and again, and each time... with each swing did the sound increase in decibels. It was as if the air around the woman was screaming in agony every time she struck through it.
Then, as Amaterasu Nana found herself facing not one, but four faceless dummies, she raised her blade one final time, turned on her heels and disappeared in a magnificent haze of fire. Every time she appeared behind one of the four targets she had already disappeared again, but that wasn’t all...
No, with each flash step, with every fifteen meters she crossed between one dummy and the other the ground shook in terror as every three meters an enormous ball of fire exploded outward. It left only dust and the scarred remains of a once proud dummy-kun army in its wake, and then the Third Division’s ground went silent again.
Though she was aware of the presence of someone close by her, she had not paid any attention to whomever it may have been whatsoever. She was simply too engrossed in her training to really offer up any of her precious time, but now that she was covered in bruises from heat to toe and bathing in the sweat of her efforts she finally turned to her guest of honour.
It must have been an odd sight to the former Captain of the Eleventh, though, seeing the vice-captain of the Third. Her kosode was dangling loosely around her waist, facing downwards to her feet, leaving her only with her white shitagi and an enormous amount of bandages wrapped tightly around various bruised body parts.
She had taken off her waraji for good measure. Not just because feeling the sand of the training ground directly on her feet made for easier movement, it was also easier to be barefooted when it came to executing flash steps.
It made you feel that bit more connected to the ground below, and the destination you had set for yourself.
Wiping off some of the dust and sweat from her face, she sheathed her companion weapon – her zanpakutou was still laying in her office, tightly locked away – and raised her right hand in a greeting fashion to Tsubaki while wearing a smile on her face.
"You certainly don't waste time, do you?" She managed the same polite smile that had served her since the falling out with her blade, though it was admittedly not strained in the least. She liked Amaterasu, admired her as both a soldier and as the leader she had the potential to be. After all, if she didn't like the woman the former Captain would not have been standing in the domain of a man she had a hand in killing.
"I didn't mean to interrupt, Vice-Captain. If you wish to finish your training before we speak, please feel free."
Shaking her head softly as she put her hakama back on she strolled over towards Tsubaki. “There’s no need for that, Mabara-san,” she responded with a smile as she motioned for the former Templar Queen to follow her.
“So, what can I help you with today?”
"Well..." She paused, trying desperately to think of something that didn't sound completely asinine. So, since you're probably going to make Captain soon since I bumped off the last one how about you do me a solid and let me join up?
Apparently it was possible for her brain to come up with something her mouth couldn't top in terms of stupidity. Wonders never ceased.
"...so, how is the training going?" She managed a quick smile and tried desperately to change the subject.
“Good,” Nana responded, “but that isn’t really an answer to my question, Mabara-san.” She smiled softly back at Tsubaki as she lead the two of them through the Third Division’s barracks and up to her office. Offering a chair to the woman she set some tea and poured in a cup for both herself and her friend before sitting down herself.
“You obviously came here with a purpose,” she continued, taking a sip from her tea. “And I don’t think that purpose was to talk about trainings, so I’ll ask again: what can I help you with?”
"Why are you doing this." It was a small, almost pathetic voice that left her lips as the woman stared down at her hands. A statement first and foremost, never intended to be a true question. In a sense, she was addressing herself just as much as Amaterasu. Why was she doing it? Tsubaki was unmatched in the ways of the blade by any living Shinigami, but her speed was modest at best, and pathetic if she was being truly honest with herself.
No, it was something else. Something rooted in a much more concrete context. It wasn't the Third Division she wanted to fight for, it was its Captain. When faced with a wanted fugitive in the maze of Dunan the girl...the woman did not relent an inch, despite Tsubaki carrying a previously higher office. In the midst of chaos when Captains and former Captains alike were scattered and unfocused, it was the Vice-Captain of the Third who had stepped forward. It was due to her actions that the Shinigami had all lived to return home. Amaterasu had saved her life not by directly intervening, but by rekindling the belief that Tsubaki could just as effectively save her own.
That was why she was there.
"You have no Captain, Amaterasu Nana." Her words started slowly, deliberate. The polite tone still lingered in them but there was an unspoken urgency lurking in each syllable as well. "That is my fault, and in the end it doesn't matter if my words and deeds did it or I struck the killing blow myself. Theron Ascania is gone." She slowly raised her face to look at the Vice-Captain once more.
"There are those under your banner who will hate me for what I did in near perpetuity. I do not care. You showed a drive and sense of self in Raifuku's trap. A drive that I have seen in great, great men." The words slowly calmed, returning to the lucid cadence that the woman had so easily adopted of late.
"I came here today to ask for the chance to fight under your command, Vice-Captain Amaterasu."
“And what makes you think that you will be an asset to us?” Nana responded calmly, her eyes locked on Tsubaki. “I mean, if I have to be honest, Mabara-san, you’re not exactly what I’d call... fast.
“I won’t deny your mobility with the blade, far from,” she continued with a faint smile, “but I feel like you’d do better as a tank, plowing through enemy lines at your own leisure rather than getting in and out in quick succession on my leisure.”
There was a moment of silence as she took another sip of tea.
“I won’t deny you a transfer, Mabara-san, I would be an idiot for doing so. I just want to know why the Third? Why not go back to the Eleventh, the division that you called your home for so long now?”
"People change, and so too must the places they choose to call home." Tsubaki leaned back slightly in the seat, keeping her gaze level and her tone calm. "I thought I was doing everything in my power to ready them, to teach and train the men and women in the Blood Templar. However, to truly prepare them for what they need to learn...I need to step aside."
"I suppose they knew that. They are smarter than I ever gave them credit for. In the end, they ended up preparing me." Her hands started to tighten reflexively, then relented after she renewed her focus on them. "After I endangered the entire Division with my..." She smiled, clasping the two sets of fingers together in her lap. "...my indiscretion, I believe that remaining there would not allow them to reach the full extent of their potential."
"Ergo, we return to your main concern." Bit by bit the aura of polite serenity returned to her features, pouring over and filling the previous cracks of visible discomfort the former Captain had displayed. This was not the time for a heart to heart between women, this was not tea and gossip. This was a woman that she would be calling her superior, and much to her embarrassment that fact had been momentarily forgotten.
"Using the previous archetypes of the Third Division as examples, while speed is valued it is not the penultimate asset of Blitzkrieg warfare. Getting to the front lines first does little good if you can't make a difference once there. While you are ultimately correct that my mobility is not my strongest asset, my abilities on the battlefront are paralleled by only a few.”
The leonine irises sharpened, studying the Vice-Captain closely as she spoke. "If you need something taken out, I'm your girl. Matters of leisure shouldn't be a concern."
“Well,” Nana continued with a slight sigh, “I wasn’t going to deny you your transfer to begin with anyway, so I suppose it doesn’t matter either way.”
She still wasn’t really sure what the woman’s game plan was. In all honesty, though, she didn’t really want to know either. If she had an ulterior motive, that was her call. If not, great.
“Just don’t expect it to be run a la Ascania-san. I’m not him, and I’m not sure I would even consider myself as his protegé. He was never there for me, and even left me to die at one point when I needed him most.”
There was a tinge of anger and resentment in the woman’s tone of voice, but it was quickly overcome as she returned her gaze towards Tsubaki.
“If you have no further qualms about that, we would be more than happy to have you.”
"Amate...ma'am." Tsubaki looked down at her hands momentarily, trying to fight the unwilling recollection. Theron Ascania had been many things to many people, but for as good or as bad as he may or may not have been his blood was on her hands. "With respect, Captains make mistakes just like everyone else. He may not have been there for you, but as we are both aware you still live."
"We can be shaped by the successes and failures of those before us, whether it's by running towards those examples of away from them." Her hands clasped together almost out of a self-protective instinct, then slowly calmed as she spoke once again.
"With respect ma'am, just please be careful."
“Please,” Nana responded, “drop the ‘ma’am’. I thought we put that stage behind us already, Mabara-san.”
Letting the words linger for awhile she sighed softly as she recounted the woman’s words. Though she appreciated the gesture, she knew all too well what she could and could not do.
And what she should, and should not do.
“I have lived a long life, Tsubaki,” she continue in her uncharacteristically informal manner, “I think I know.”
It wasn’t often that she addressed someone by their first name alone, but somehow it felt right this time.
As bold as brass then. Very well.
She merely smiled and managed a polite nod. Whether it was something as simple as Amaterasu Nana not being in a mood for accepting advice or an inability to take it mattered little. All Tsubaki could do was offer, from there the matter had left her hands.
"If you have no objections towards my reassignment then I will take the matter up with your secretary. And I will devote the whole of my efforts to not giving those in your command any reason to resent or mistrust me."
The smile faded slightly as she began to rise from the chair, managing a polite bow before starting towards the door.
"...that is, any more reasons to."
“Ha!” Nana responded as a light hearted chuckle left her lips. “With as rich a personality as yours, and a headstrong commanding officer like me? I’m fairly confident you’ll fit right in with us.
“Anyway,” she continued, not wanting to keep the former Templar Queen any longer than she really felt comfortable with, “I’ll let Fia know you’ll be handing in your transfer and I look forward to working with you then, Mabara-san. Oh, and one more thing, about that Tempest Blade Style of yours...”
"Anytime you want to take the next step Captain, I'll be happy to help you." If there was a hint of hesitation in her voice, it was not lost in the practiced intonations of good manners. Whether or not Amaterasu Nana would be ready to learn the final intimacies of the Tempest Blade remained to be seen.
She could decline, of course. But now that she was outranked the teaching could simply have been ordered. At any rate, time would tell.
Time would always tell.