[All 3rd/5th] Week ---: Footsteps of Thunder and Lightning

[Doc]

In a contest between crushing an advancing threat and winning a foot race, Gorou would forever direct his efforts toward succeeding at the former. Just as quickly as he’d stowed his blade it was retrieved again while his feet came to a grinding stop. To counter the swamp creature’s charge he made one of his own, blade raised above his head with both hands.

When the beast and the ronin met the blade was brought down with all the might that could be placed behind it. So long as the beast could be felled he’d be able to focus on the race but until then he would focus on what he knew best: battle.

114[731]​

 

[Apeiron]

Haresuno’s lips compressed into a fine line as he watched the first batch of Blitzkrieg members begin sprinting. He couldn’t see them all from where he was at the finish line, but the moment he had released the Third Division into their trial monitors popped up in front of him and Nana. Each picture clearly focused on one of the five from each of the seven lanes.

Currently, however, three monitors in particular were on the screen.

“You’ll have to talk to your senior members,” Haresuno remarked as he watched Gorou charge his opponent. He didn’t explain further, but he suspected Nana could already tell what had led to the remark.

---

Duskdrinker continued to ravage the terrain as Tsubaki hurled herself forward. A myriad of different traps snapping and hissing as the blade destroyed them along its path.

For now her path remained clear with her counter running. The familiar scene of destruction ahead of the powerful Blitzkrieg, and behind her the reforming of all that she had destroyed so casually.

00:00:24​

---

Manzou’s recovery was far from graceful, but grace was far from the man’s mind - as it should have been. Not wasting what little time he had, the sixth seat pushed on through the snow. Puffs of loose snow rushed upwards in swirling gusts that turned towards him and barreled their way along the narrowing pathway. Along with the sound of howling wind and nipping cold, slow creaking - distant from its sound - was also there.

Ahead in Manzou’s way was a rickety bridge made of old wood, dark and stained from the rare melting ice and snow. Fraying rope raced from one end of the bridge to the other, and as the wind blew the seemingly sturdy bridge swayed gently.

His clock continued to count down.

00:00:24​

---

Sadly, for Gorou, his valiant charge against the swamp creature proved useless.

Sword in both hands, racing to strike down the beast, it looked as if the swordsman would slice the thing in twain and move on, but the sword in Gorou’s hands never came down.

In that moment before his swing, the creature cursed. It was perfectly clear to the samurai, as his sword began to move.

“Fuck.”

Then it dropped, rolling on its shoulder to Gorou’s left. Something leaped from the creature’s hands and snagged the Blitzkrieger’s ankle and pulled taut. Before he could turn to see what the creature was doing, or what had gripped his ankle. The water parted around the two and the earth swallowed them whole.

His counter continued on.

00:00:24​

[2847]

Beaks: You're just destroying the lane - so absolutely nothing is happening to you. And yes, you still need to post in the event that you ever decide Tsubaki wants to stroll the rest of the way.

Ketch: S'all good, broski. Carry on.

Doc: You're nabbed for a round. Beaks and Ketch will post and then I will release you.

 

[Chef Bryardee]

Manzou’s straightforward march came to a halt at the bridge. Spanning a deep chasm, the sixth seat looked on the bridge carefully, his eyes laden with both discernment and bemusement. Assaying those heavily-frayed connecting ropes, the way it teetered so easily in the wind, and the age-old, fragile planks that were suppose to support his traversing, he searched everywhere else around him, thinking this to be no more than a prank. The rather unobtrusive, flat walls rising upward on either side of him and the glacial path on the other side said otherwise.

Even still, he was hardly convinced.

His first step onto the bridge was careful, the teeth of his geta clicking quietly against the dark wood. Though his own weight was held, the cumberous blade held up at his side forced an almost painful groan from the straining rope and warping wood. The man clenched his teeth hard, nervously, and his stomach shot into his throat again.

Step by step, Manzou moved forward. Those that followed behind didn’t follow until he had reached the midpoint of the perfunctory overpass.

[181/1,485]​

 

[Beaks]

This is too easy. No, this is sad.

A flicker of darkness and the blade reappeared in her hand, launched forward into the glade just as the one before it. Just as before, a swath of shattered trunks and broken branches littered the lane as the former Captain launched forward through the freshly cleared path. Either the woman had scored the easiest route somehow, or the reputation of the Fifth Division's grounds were somewhat...exaggerated.

Is this what pity feels like? Do I feel bad about this?

Duskdrinker formed into shape in her hand once again, hurled with both hands like a large unwieldy discus into the forest once again. As if only to break the monotony, a bolt of arcing blackness fired from Tsubaki's right hand into the broken and battered woods, detonating the shattered vegetation and making the way forward unnecessarily clear for her advance.

"...nah."

[147/554]

 

[Apeiron]

The water bubbled and thrashed for a moment. The counters for lane three disappeared and reappeared almost at random while some fell victim to more and more traps. At this point, very few of the Third Division had members passing if any.

Gorou was finally released from his temporary prison. Soaked from head-to-toe in mucky water, the samurai pulled himself out and onto the rock path he had started on.

His very own counter scrolling with his time.

00:00:36​

---

Manzou’s slow and careful steps across the rickety bridge were well warranted. Several times as he stepped across the swaying construct, planks - rotted from age and water - splintered and dropped far below towards the perilous bottom where sharpened stones lay waiting.

One by one behind him, other members of his division followed. Each one carefully waiting for the other to get ahead of them. The bridge held their weight, and towards the end, Manzou had spotted and marked two poorly done traps as he picked his way across - making them apparent to those behind him.

Only two steps away from the end, a breath’s edge from safety, and the strain of the rope groaned audibly. From start to finish, the two Blitzkrieg members who caught up with the Sixth Seat froze in their tracks and their faces went ashen.

The rope began to unravel, shuddering the bridge with a series of small snapping sounds.

00:00:36​

---

Meanwhile, as the other two struggled with their trials, Tsubaki’s wanton destruction had worked. For her and her alone the end was in sight now. As the other members of the Third hurriedly tried to keep up with her clear path, it was ultimately futile. The land reset itself in the wake of the great swordswoman, and with it all the perils meant to hone Tsubaki for her new division.

As dying plants withered under the extreme heat she had introduced, her counter rolled forward.

00:00:36​

[3148]

 

[Beaks]

No fanfare, no joyous celebration. Crossing the finish line was little more than just that, crossing the finish line. The former Captain gave only a passing glance over her shoulder to watch the trees quickly rebuilding and regrowing the path she had cut with near impunity.

Trying not to let her massive disappointment show too much, Tsubaki turned her attention back towards the attendants who were waiting to receive those who succeeded in the course.

"Please tell Captain Uchiharu that I'll be coming to hopscotch unsupervised on his grounds now that I know they're harmless." Before starting off, Tsubaki gave a moment's thought to either consulting or confronting her own Captain about the exercise, but decided against it. Her own task was complete, the unseated turtle had accomplished what the seated speed demons were still struggling with. Giving the private thought a momentary smirk, the woman walked without another word back towards the ground of the Third Division.

[158/712 Probably Final]

 

[Chef Bryardee]

Ambling in deliberate and cautious steps across the threadbare bridge, both eyes widened and locked on each withered plank barely able to support his weight, the sound of the twine snapping and twisting jolted him and brought his eyes up to the other end of the rickety span. The braided rails he clung to kneaded and yielded outward, the entire bridge itself swaying left and right as Manzou tried to regain his center of balance.

“You’ve gotta be f---!”

The Blitzkriegers behind him lost their stomachs just as he had. Looking over his shoulder, Manzou saw his fellow division members recoiling and jerking back and forth, throwing the bridge back and forth even more. His mouth opened to shout at them to stop moving, but before he could, the bridge finally gave way. The walkway snapped from the end ahead, and swung down. Those not quick enough to grasp the railing went with it. Manzou and those few hung on for dear life, helpless to save those falling into the deep abyss below.

Before a sigh of relief could be had by any, the thread paling began to creak and whine, each thread slowly---almost teasingly---snapping one by one. Moving quickly once again, the arms of the great basilisk flared to life once again, black flames erupting from his center and coalescing into a copious arms of reptilian talons and scale-ridden flesh. The arm reached out and clasped two of his teammates behind him just before the wire snapped behind them.

The trio collapsed down with Manzou bearing his weight and all those depending on him into his grip. They slapped harshly into the wall of the ravine, though, the sixth-seat didn’t let his grip loosen.

Groaning through clenched teeth, the raven-haired man steeled himself once again, and willed the arm of Tatsunokuchi to heave back and toss the two Blitzkriegers skyward. Two men in black uniform disappeared over the edge, hitting the ground with a distant thud.

Tired, frost-bitten, and ailing, Manzou took in a deep breath, shelving his aches and pains for the task at hand... just before the rope lapsed downward! His eyes flared open and his stomach shrunk. The beam connected to the rope stopped and caught him for a second. Manzou held his breath for a short moment, not sure whether to move cautiously or get to the top before it gave way altogether. The arm of basilisk faded, and he stilled himself, lost on what to do.

“F...”

There was one loud snap... and then the fall.

Final [422/1,907]​

 

[Apeiron]

“One minute for Tsubaki,” Haresuno remarked, his voice somber, “a minute fifteen for Manzou, and...,” he sighed. “Two minutes and thirty eight seconds for Gorou.” Turning up his eyes to Nana, he shook his head - disappointment at their failure. “The most prominent members of your division can’t even pass a simple test while less skilled and less powerful individuals under your command pass them by.”

Turning away from Nana, and to the scoreboard, Haresuno watched as names lit up in green and red.

Manzou was the only green out of the three he mentioned.

Stepping down from his command post, the Fifth Division’s captain walked out into the field of shinigami. The majority of them panting and sweating from their struggle. He admired those who had given their all. Striving to prove themselves before the Soutaichou, through Haresuno, for Nana.

They did not want a dead Third.

Nana was blessed for that.

More were still pouring in through the seven finish lines, but it no longer mattered. He had the numbers he needed.

“Members of the Third Division, I want to congratulate you all on your hard work in the face of this challenge. Many of you gave it your all, but found that it fell short... Do not be discouraged.” Throwing his hands out in a grand gesture, as if he meant to bring all the shinigami in front of him closer, he went on, “In my time I have seen the Third Division bounce back from some of the toughest challenges seen by any division in the Gotei. As you have proven here, you will continue to do so.

“Do not be discouraged.”

Dropping his hands to his sides, his cyan eyes drifted over the ocean of black shihakushou. “You will continue to survive. Look towards your peers for help, continue to grow, to live, and to push yourselves.

“But you will not join the ranks of the Gotei so soon.

“Do not be discouraged..., but you have all failed.”

Final [3480]

Failures include:

Tsubaki: for not even bothering with any of the test.

Manzou: releasing shikai within Seireitei.

Gorou: Failed to get passed the first trap in the first 30 seconds....