[4th/4th/5th] Week ---: Gardeners unite!

[Evergloam]

A collabu with Hare, Anshy and Ren. Much gardening, such flora, very pretty, wow. Crap turn is crap turn.

"Is Uchiharu-taichou going to allow us to visit him? He might be busy."

Two medics walked down the pathway from the Fourth Division and towards the Fifth's own little trap-infested place in the Gotei. Ansherina Miyahara and Ren Tegishahara, the two Fourth Division members who were probably the most enthusiastic about gardening and the like, were on their way to the Fifth to bear witness to the amazing gardens that were under the loving care of Haresuno, the Gotei's own personal gardener.

As the Russian and vampire neared the Fifth, Ren stopped in her tracks, looking at the division grounds. "Are you sure he'd let us even see the gardens?" she asked once again, taking the first step into the division. With that step, she fell straight into a pit, submerged underground until nothing but her head was above the ground. In a strange bit of humour, Ren looked like a potted plant.

She frowned behind her mask, trying to turn around to Ansherina. "Can you help me out of whatever this is? It's really tight and I can't even move my arms."

[183/183]

 

[Apeiron]

The two gate guards who had been standing watch approached the two healers. The one to Ren’s right looked like a woman who hadn’t gotten enough sleep, and the bags around her eyes were dark and sunken adding a couple years to her, her hair fell around her shoulders in a mess. When she spoke, her voice was scratchy and low. A perfect fit for someone who belonged at home in their bed from age.

“Careful, ma'am,” she said. Kneeling down, the woman helped to lift Ren out of the hole she’d fallen into. “Afraid we can’t let the two of you wander in alone like that.”

“The Fifth isn’t a very nice place,” her partner chimed in. He was big and stocky, with corded muscles that forced his uniform to fit tightly around his chest and shoulders. “At least not when you wander into No Man’s Land. You said something about gardens just now, didn’t you?”

“Looks like they wanna go into the Dome,” the woman cut in. Beyond the gates with no walls, overlooking the jungle that was No Man’s Land today, sat a solitary structure that looked almost like observatory. It sat atop a mountain whose cap had been sheared flat so the building could sit. “If the two of ya’ wait a bit, we’ll get ya’ a guide so you’re ot landing yourselves in deep water.”

[230]

 

[Nutella]

"Honestly, miss Tegishahara, I have completely no idea. I, for one, have never met Captain Uchiharu before, let alone wander his gardens," the blonde healer spoke as soon as the guard lifted her companion. To be fair, the Fifth was a particularly interesting place, though she never had the motivation to go all by herself. It was a pleasure, really, to have met Ren and have a companion.

"Oh and thank you. Would that 'deep water' be literal?" She finally spoke to the guard, smiling warmly. Oh of course, there were rumors of what the Fifth looks like. And it shifted with every person retelling their experiences.

​

p.s. Hare, Ren is a woman. xD

 

[Evergloam]

Ren dusted herself off, shaking the dirt and whatever else off of her shihakushou, finding her place beside Ansherina once again. "Thank you. We'd appreciate having a guide. We were planning on visiting the gardens with Uchiharu-taichou's approval."

She looked at the expanse of the Fifth from what she could see. A tame place at first glance, but it obviously hid the traps the Fifth was known for. God Hand, and the like, helped build the division. That was obvious when one looked at the large mountain the observatory resided on. It was a unique division to say the least.

 

[Apeiron]

The big guard shrugged one of his massive shoulders. “That really depends,” he replied. “Some days you’re lucky if it’s just water.” Turning away from the two medics, the guard walked off to call the guides.

Meanwhile, the woman folded her arms and watched the other two women curiously. “Ain’t much need for the Captain’s approval. You’re pretty welcome to come over and observe, so long as you don’t destroy, move, or otherwise damage the plants. The Cap likes his plants.”

Scratching at her cheek, the woman asked, “Any particular reason the two of ya’ came all this way to see our plants? Rumors got it that the Fourth and Ninth got something going on.”

[345]

 

[Nutella]

"Oh good sir. Our captains are doing a good job of keeping it in the wraps. Although I have heard rumors that it includes the sewers," the blonde healer spoke, giving a slight ho-hum a bit after.

"Oh and, we do not intend to destroy your plants, no!" She said, waving her arms in utter denial. "I would imagine that our little sewer escapade, if that be true, would be a terrible nightmare with the captain's plants on them. Or, we would rather not have our medicine replaced with seeds, thank you very much. The last thing we would want to do is to ravage someone else's plants, let alone another division's plants. It is just that...uhhh..." Ansherina glanced at her companion briefly, smiling warmly to her companion. "The Fourth's climate is not as ready for exotic vegetation. And we do not get to see fantastic flora at their fullest beauty."​

 

[Evergloam]

The vampire medic nodded, smiling. "I wouldn't hurt Uchiharu-taichou's gardens in the slightest. I used to tend to the Tenth's gardens during my time as a Mystic, so I know how important something like a garden can be to someone. I'd respect his as if it was my own."

Ren looked to Ansherina, then around the division. Perhaps she wouldn't need a guide if she memorized the landscape. Maybe if she didn't need one, she would have visited more often. 'You got sucked into a hole. What makes you think there aren't invisible holes everywhere else? Good luck memorizing this stuff, Ren,' Kyuketsuki mentally poked, causing Ren to visibly frown.

Sorry for the delay, I completely forgot that it was my turn.

 

[Apeiron]

“If ya’ say so,” the woman responded with a shrug. Beyond her, under the archway that marked the Fifth’s grounds beginning and ending, the ground rose up slowly until there was a yawning entrance leading below the ground. Two identical young men walked out from the entrance. Their shihakusho muddy, hair singed, and faces smudged with soot. Their brown hair was a mess, but whether that was on purpose or because of their training was a mystery. Both of them wore cheery, friendly, smiles that accentuated their ocean-blue eyes.

“Ari,” one chimmed.

“Oh no...,” the woman’s hand came up to her face, and she pressed her thumb and forefinger against the bridge of her nose.

“Kiro,” the other echoed.

“Did you send for them, specifically, Kutaragi?” Ari asked over her shoulder.

The big founder - Kiro - shrugged and replied, “Called the front desk, like usual. I guess they just were lucky.”

“We came as soon as we could,” they both stated in tandem. They walked past Kiro and around Ari, giving the woman an unusually wide space as they did so, before the twins stood in front of the medics. “Ladies,” they echoed, “we’ll be your guides.”

“My name is Kojima, Taro,” the one on the left stated.

To his right, the brother introduced himself with the same voice, “Kojima, Jiro.”

“Because we don’t want you getting hurt,” Taro went on, his tone flawlessly picking up where his brother left off, “and because we want to get you into the gardens as quickly as possible, the four of us will be using this tunnel to get around all the traps.”

“You two...,” Ari stepped between the twins and the medics, facing the boys. Her voice was a low warning, but pointless given how close everyone was. “...better not be up to something.”

Jiro feigned resentment, and exclaimed, “Miss Ari! Taro and I would like nothing better than to get these two fine medics as quickly as possible to the gardens.”

“Especially while the captain’s in,” Taro added, his blue eyes shimmering with a bubbling excitement.

Without waiting for anyone to ask any further questions, Jiro spun on his heels and hurried towards the dirt entrance, calling back behind him, “Come along ladies! Must hurry if you’re to see everything!”

Taro wasn’t far behind his brother, leaving the medics to follow them as they pleased. Down through the tunnel, across the Fifth Division grounds, into the Dome where people came and went past two huge stone doors that looked as if they shouldn’t have moved - either side guarded by a stalwart statue carved from marble.

[781]

 

[Evergloam]

“Oh, the captain is in? That sounds, umm... good?” The blonde healer looked aside to her partner, who seemed to be more enthusiastic about seeing the captain and visiting his garden at the same time. “Is it not, Miss Ren?”

Soon, darkness engulfed them. A more beautiful darkness than the dim lights and concrete mazes of Seireitei’s sewers, in the very least.

“It does, Ansherina-san,” Ren replied with a smile. She walked beside Ansherina as the two followed the twin guides through the tunnel and onward.

“Ghost Fire.” With a small bit of reiatsu, she summoned forth two balls of beautiful flame. She held one out to Ansherina as it floated to the Russian’s shoulder, illuminating her path better. Then, idle chit-chat began. “Do you suppose Uchiharu-taichou could tell us some useful techniques for tending to the gardens in the Fourth?” she asked, just above a dull whisper.

“Mmm, if he has enough time to spare, why not? He just might. And might not. I truly hope that he is in a good mood, then we might have some time to ask.”

The woman nodded, smiling. As they continued walking through the tunnel, the slight echo of a trap going off here and there, she called out to the twins who guided them. “Are we close to our destination?”

A slight yelp escaped from Ren’s companion as Ansherina nearly missed a trap. A man-eating plant, by the looks of it.

“I would be so happy if we were,” she spoke shrilly, staring back at the plant before buttonholing Ren.

combo turn sup.

 

[Apeiron]

“We are,” one of the twins replied. Whether it was Taro or Jiro was in the air, but ahead of the party the twins stopped at a dead end. “Above us is the entrance, some couple hundred feet up. Kinda surprised neither of you noticed.”

Elbowing his brother, the other twin looked back at the two women and said, “Rather than bother with all the dangers of our home, we thought it best to make this tunnel ahead of time.” He raised a single finger to his lips, sheepish. “Don’t tell that to the captain though. He’d be awful unhappy about us skipping our training.”

“But why train harder when you could train harder!” the first twin chimed in with a barking laugh. He’d placed both of his hands against the dead-end and once his comment was done, returned to focus on the wall of rough stone.

Turning to the women, Taro said, “So you know, Jiro is dropping you two off on the third floor.” He reached into his uniform and pulled out a piece of paper. “Once you’re inside, the two of us will need to collapse the tunnel so the captain doesn’t find out. Rumor has it he manual changes the grounds somehow, but I don’t know how much I believe that. Even so, better not to risk it.”

Extending the paper out to the healers, he continued, “On here are the numbers for either my or Jiro’s phone. When you done, and the captain doesn’t lead you back out, call those numbers and we’ll come pick you up.” His smile widened and he added with a wink, “The offer extends to missions and nights free.”

Ahead of them, the wall Jiro had been working on crumbled away into a doorway large enough for one person to walk through at a time. Heaving a sigh, Jiro sagged and stumbled out of the tunnel where - if their eyes weren’t deceiving them - sunlight hit him.

Taro walked out shortly after his brother, saying with one finger pointed to his left, “You’ll find the captain somewhere over there. Careful not to go to the right or you’ll get lost in the maze.”

[1145]

---

Name a tropical plant and you'll find it on this floor. Floor below will have temperate plants, and the final floor has rare and exotic plants that require special care.

 

[Evergloam]

“Thank you,” she muttered to the two founders, rather distractedly as her silver eyes gleamed of pure wonder. It’s as though an entire floriographic collection had jumped to life! She had heard stories, but the reality was, perhaps, too beautiful to put to words. A flurry of colorful flowers amidst the light and emeralds of the dome, plentiful, whichever direction one choose to look.

“Miss Ren. Do you think Captain Uchiharu managed to obtain even the Living World’s exotic flowers in here?”

The vampire stopped to look at a beautiful rose, a few drops of dew still clinging to its lovely red petals. She took a quick inhale, the aroma of the dome alone coming off as strong and lovely. A menagerie of smells, from the most beautiful and most plain of flowers, filled her nose and made a smile begin to form on her lips.

Tossing her alabaster hair over her shoulder, she looked around to see if there was some sort of answer and not a guess to Ansherina’s question. Sadly, none yet. “I’m sure Uchiharu-taichou has all sorts of flowers. Exotic or not. Perhaps he has more than we thought even existed?”

“Probably,” she breathed between her lips, her feet moving towards the plants even without her will. Mesmerized would be an understatement of what the blonde healer felt right at that moment. “Chances are, he might be the one doing those collections... that would not be quite impossible, would it?”

She leaned closer to a small plant, carefully examining its features without touching its blooms. “Do you suppose these plants would bite? I mean, you know... magic and other shinigami stuff...”

Ren blinked at the question, walking further into the dome. Amaryllis plants decorated an area to her left while azaleas decorated her right. “They might bite. Venus Fly Traps do, and some other plants secrete a type of poison or toxin. What if Uchiharu-taichou bred some to cast kidou?” she laughed at the idea, admiring the amazing flora and fauna around the two healers.

The blonde healer quickly turned her gaze at Ren, eye widened and visibly pale. “Mother of god, please, no. That would make this biodome the ultimate anti-zombie fort!” This renewed view of the plants made her look around briefly to examine the flora. Nope, nothing of that sort... for now.

“I would suppose venus flytraps would be more manageable, thank you.” With a reluctant laugh, the woman carefully turned back to the various orchids, just what she was examining before Ren’s glorious kidou-casting plants idea. It was a flurry of violets, pinks and whites, with the occasional yellows and oranges in the collection.

“These ones are absolutely lovely!” The healer leaned in, getting only a closer look without even attempting to touch the plants.

Ren smiled wide, running through a small area of plants to find a beautiful Weeping Willow tree, with branches that covered the grass and small common flowers below. The former Mystic pointed at it, grinning as she turned back to Ansherina. “I tried growing one of these back in the Tenth Division. It never matured, but it was doing well when I left!”

The vampire leaned against it comfortably, closing her eyes. The feeling of the hard trunk against her was such a familiar feeling from her time as a Mystic, where she spent days tending to her gardens in the Tenth. She reached up to one of the descending branches, gently caressing its leaf between her fingers. A smile stayed on her face as she opened her eyes to look over at Ansherina. “Should we move on? Maybe we should find the captain after all this.”


“I suppose so, yes,” she nodded meekly at the other healer before shooting the precious orchids a last glance. Together, the two healers walked through the temperate warmth of the biodome, under the tunnels formed by the foliage and veered away from the right side of the dome.

 

[Apeiron]

“You shan't wait very long,” came a bass voice.

Towering above most men at six-foot and five inches, Haresuno Uchiharu was not a hard sight to miss. Even in the surrounding flora in all its deep greens that mixed with pinks, yellows, oranges, and various other colors, the stark white color of his haori stood out against them.

He strode out from a walkway hidden by the boughs of the willow tree and other plants, wearing the standard shinigami uniform with a zanpakuto at his hip and a satchel over his shoulder hanging opposite. Long black bangs framed the captain’s angular features, and drew most of people’s attention to his silver glasses and cyan-hued eyes. Currently all of his attention seemed focused on a book that was in one hand, his brow was furrowed and gave his face a fierce glower.

Despite his brooding expression and imposing height, the way he carried himself was a surrealistic blend of fluid and natural movements that seemed intentionally picked by some unknown criteria. As if every step was meant to place him where he needed to be for whatever might happen.

Closing his book and returning it to the satchel, the Captain of the Fifth Division dragged his eyes from one side of the room to the other. They took in the world for what it was, and all who existed in it where what they appeared.

“Now then,” he began, a small and simple - if somehow awkward looking - smile spreading across his face. “I believe the two of you are the ones making all the racket I’ve been hearing from down stairs. Is there something I can help you with?”

[1425]

 

[Nutella]

"I-- oh, Captain Uchiharu!" Ansherina was startled by the captain's sudden appearance, that if she was near the thickets of vines, she would have inevitably tripped. "I apologize for the inconvenience, if there was any," she said, bowing courteously at the captain as she would.

"We wanted to visit the biodome mostly to discover and marvel at your collection." With a smile, she glanced to her partner before adding, "Although I would, of course, assume that Miss Ren has something else."
​

 

[Evergloam]

The vampire gardener felt her body tense up at the arrival of the captain, though it may have been his voice overall that scared her at first. When he came into view, he appeared docile. Well, he was a man of the gardening ways, after all.

Ren eased her muscles slowly, slipping out of her tense shell as she listened to Ansherina explain their desire for being in the Fifth's gardens. Following suit, Ren offered her own explanation to the Founder. "My purpose is the same as hers. I did have a few questions about how someone could create an amazing work of art like your biodome, however."

 

[Apeiron]

The captain gave a sage-like nod of understanding.

“The two of you are more than welcome to come and study in the garden. I’ve worked out an agreement with the Ninth that we’ll be doing a joint study with the Fourth for various applications.” Tapping his chin with his index finger, Haresuno mumbled, “Though that would be purely business. Hm.”

Allowing his hand to fall away from his chin, he went on, “Anyways. I don’t mind visitors provided they’re not destroying my things.”

He turned his cyan eyes to Ren, then, focusing on her as the chose his words carefully.

“The majority of this,” he paused and waved a hand around at the garden, “is personal interest. I spent a good majority of my free time tending to the Arcane Specialist’s own grounds back when it was the Tenth, and I share a certain affinity for plants. The rest comes from the interest and careful hands of my division members.” He added as an afterthought, “And some help from outside parties.”

“I’m willing to be the two of you have more than a idle interest in gardening, yes? You don’t appear to be simple flower-admirers.”

[1620]

 

[Evergloam]

“I-um, actually, I am just a normal flower-spectator,” she spoke with a rather nervous laugh towards the captain. “Miss Ren grows plants on the roof, I take care of the garden near the lake. In every sense of the word, I came here to vy for new plants to beautify the Fourth. Umm, at least, that was what I thought I came here for...” Ansherina smiled awkwardly, slightly fiddling with her fingers as she threw a glance towards her companion.

“If miss Ren has other reasons for pulling me, I would have no idea.”

“I asked Miyahara-san to join me because your gardens are famous in the Gotei. The Tenth’s are beautiful, but yours are near perfection.” The vampire slightly nudged her friend forward, as if speaking in front of the captain was embarrassing.

“I believe I have more than an idle interest in gardening. I’ve tended to the Mystic’s gardens for months, and have done so well enough. But when I transferred to the Fourth Division, I lost my garden area. I was hoping to come here in hopes of learning how to go about rebuilding a garden even a fraction as amazing as this one, Uchiharu-taichou.”

Oh, she made no mention of it. Good. The healer sighed inwardly, finally dispersing the thought that Ren might be among those who randomly pulled her around to coerce her into a training session of sorts.

 

[Apeiron]

“Hm...,” the captain replied. His cyan eyes dropped to the floor and his brow knitted into a tight frown. “For you, Miss Miyahara, I can recommend several water lilies you might find to your liking. Failing that there are iris, canna, blue bells, or even bengal tiger flowers.”

He finally looked up and smiled, “Personally I believe the pink sunburst canna make for a wonderful addition to a quiet pond. It should make for your ‘normal’ flower viewing to be more pleasant. But I’d be more than happy to help you choose another if you’re not a fan of pink.” Judging by her obi, Haresuno doubted that was the case.

“And as far as you are concerned - Miss Ren, was it?” He waited for the other woman to nod before he continued, “If you want something even close to this it’ll require dedicated work of you and maybe one or two others. The Tenth’s grounds were special in that Lilith had them arranged in a particular pattern, one that helped bring a level of serenity and beauty to mind when one entered.

“She thought she’d been particularly clever.” A smug smile spread across Haresuno’s face as he turned to look at his own work. “Perfection is a good word,” he finally said, his head giving a sagely nod, “though I would hesitate to ever use it.”

Turning back so that his cyan eyes were focused on Ren, he offered, “If you’d like I can have one of my founders help you create a gardening area of your own, and even supply you with some rich fertilizer and seeds to begin with. Aside from that the library here has a fair selection of books on gardening that you’re welcome to, and I can personally tell you where to find certain plants.€

[1921]

 

[Evergloam]

The vampire smiled as Haresuno spoke of the Tenth's gardens and how she could possibly begin a garden of her own, much like he and Lilith had done in their divisions. Even Lucia had beautiful gardens, though the memory of them was a blur. Too much of her body being flung around, not enough admiring of the area.

"I wouldn't ask you to take a member of your division from you, but if it would help, I wouldn't reject the assistance," Ren admitted, smiling softly at the Founder. Joy began to bubble in the pit of her stomach, rising like some sort of roaring flame that continued to rage forth until she was grinning almost ear-to-ear. The idea of her own little garden was great.

"Where would this library be, Uchiharu-taichou?"

 

[Apeiron]

The captain laughed. It was a strong, hearty, good-natured laugh that resonated throughout the gardens.

“I’ll be sure to let Captain Amaterasu-Frey know that she can expect some renovations then,” Haresuno commented when his laughter calmed. Taking either of his hands and slipping them up their opposite sleeve, he answered the other gardener’s question, “You’ll find it down one floor on the fourth floor, along with the training rooms and some of the personnel barracks. The greatest advantage to having a subterranean-established headquarters is that there’s plenty of room to expand!”

His voice trailed away as he turned around. Nodding for them to follow, the Founder-Captain began to explain his division some more, “From here there’s a stairwell you can take to the next level of the gardens. Once there it’s a matter of finding the exit and taking a left. The library is hard to miss compared to the training rooms and barracks.” He looked over his shoulder, smiling, “Great big oak doors and all. Polished so that it shines like a mirror and rubbed smooth so that the grain is too fine to notice.”

He began to lead them through the gardens until he reached the stairwell he had mentioned. It was a simple spiraling staircase that wound its way downward.

[2134]

---

If you guys have any character plot stuff you'd like to get moving, now wouldn't be a bad time for that. Aside from that we should start wrapping this up shortly or run out of material.

Let me know what you want to do.

 

[Nutella]

"Oh, I am pretty sure a burst of flowers amidst the emerald greenery of the Fourth's pond would make all the difference," she noted, nodding back to the captain. In her mind, she could almost imagine what a touch of flora could do to their garden. Oh so lovely.

She listened silently to Haresuno and Ren while they walked down the spiraling path to the library, until a question made itself present at the back of her mind. "Um, Captain Uchiharu, there is something that I constantly wonder about. Are there a lot of medicinal plants that are both beautiful and beneficial to the health? Most of those that I have seen were leafy ones, not much to show. But, you know, perhaps the garden can be viewed in a new light if it had more function than decoration... aside for color therapy to the patients and visitors, of course..." For a while, she remained silent. But then, if she couldn't say it now, it might as well remain kept at the depths of her mind.

"Oh, and I hope you do not mind me asking too many questions at once, if not unrelated to each other. Ummm... are you open to training for interdisciplinary techniques? Umm, you know, mixing techniques from different skill trees and what not? I heard you were particularly skilled in all disciplines soooo... I just wondered if I could um, you know, ask?" A slightly nervous laugh escaped the mousey healer's lips. She shouldn't be doing this, really, but the number of people nagging her to do such was increasing by the day, from family members and work colleagues alike. She might as well drop ask from someone whose expertise lies on the field.
​