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Post by Lt. Nanao Ise on Jan 12, 2016 11:47:31 GMT -6
"Reaching for Hope":Nanao exited the dining hut as another unpleasant turn of discussion started from the lower ranks and file members of the prisoners. That even without a consensus of his fat, more and more of the Gotei were saying that the Captain Commander was broken and better off dead. It was like a burning lash to her heart.
Nanao’s tired violet eyes closed and reached to push her non-existent glasses up. A couple tears slipped down her fingers. Huffing, she wiped them away. “He will return. He will.” She looked to the looming walls of the maze.
“When we find a way out, that talk will stop.”
She blinked away more tears. “Being without glasses is inconvenient.”
Someone ran up behind her. “Lieutenant Ise?” She turned around. “Ashimitsu?”
“Have you seen Shizuka?” he asked, panting. “She slipped past Naomi when she was tending to Kairo. And she’s not slapping a wet cloth on Renji’s head either.” “Suzume? No, I haven't,” Nanao replied, looking around them quickly. “Who’s watching the gateway?”
“Ikkaku and Captain Mutsu,” Tsukiro muttered, turning around. “She’s not that way. Damn it,” he rubbed his head, “where could she have gone?” “Many places,” Nanao replied, lifting her hand to fix her glasses but fixing her bangs again. She pushed her worry aside and focused on the young captain, pushing him forward. “She’s the smallest of us and one of the least predictable. Tell me where you have looked."
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Post by Suzume Shizuka on Jan 12, 2016 12:15:18 GMT -6
Meanwhile, Suzume was staring up a tall pine tree next to the wall, her hazel eyes narrowed, hands clenched at her side. "There's got to be a way out of here. They can't have covered ALL exits." She threw a rope around a branch up high. Tugging it until it slid closer to the trunk, she threaded a loop into the ends and pulled the resulting knot upwards. The rope held. Grinning, she wrapped it around her waist, tied strips of cloth around her hands, and started up, her eyes on the sky above.
A few minutes later, she slipped on a branch. Wrapping her arms around the trunk, she held her place, eyes narrowed as the branch broke beneath her. "I am not falling this time, assholes. I'll show you." She checked the butter knife she had sharpened in her sleeve. "I'll avenge Momo." She continued up.
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Post by Karin Kurosaki on Jan 12, 2016 17:45:20 GMT -6
“Revenge is all and good but only if you live to tell the tale,” came a voice to her right. In another wider tree, Karin sat watching her. The rope’s a good idea, but I’ll warn you. The branches get thin fast on those. It’s a trick of the light that it looks like we can get higher.”
“I don’t care.”
Karin blinked. “You don’t care?” she repeated.
“I don’t care,” Suzume snapped once more. She looked to the wall nearby, fingers tightening around her perch. “I’ll climb the wall next. We won’t be trapped in here like slaves for long.”
“That’s not a good idea,” Karin muttered.
Suzume growled and reached higher. “Shut up.” Her grip faltered as her fingers broke a smaller branch but grasped at the rope higher up. “I am not falling.”
Karin rubbed at her temple and stood up. “Trust me,” she called out, hoping to stall her. “It looks pretty sheer. It’s too dangerous to climb without gear, without a rope that could get high enough-”
“STAY OUT OF IT, HUMAN!”
Karin raised her eyebrows. “Yes I am human, but screaming like I am the enemy is only to get you a broken leg at the very least.”
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Post by Suzume Shizuka on Jan 12, 2016 17:55:20 GMT -6
Suzume glowered at her. “You’re trying to stop me. Like everyone else. It’s not going to work.” The tree swayed in the wind, and her eyes squeezed shut. It stopped. She sniffed, hands trembling. Her eyes narrowed, making them stop. She breathed out. “There’s a way out. There has to be.”
I won’t be trapped. I won’t be useless.
She could not be someone's prey again, a stray just relying on luck.
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Post by Karin Kurosaki on Jan 12, 2016 18:19:44 GMT -6
Karin sighed. She could either go for the others or switch trees and help her. And since the midget had a sort of mad determination to her, if she was left alone, she probably would throw herself at the stone wall. Karin walked slowly across her large branch, reaching for a connecting one of the nearby tree.
“Hang on,” she called out. “You’re going to get trapped if you go too high.”
“I said leave me alone.”
“Like I am going to do …. that!” Karin growled, leaping for the rope and grabbing it with one hand. Her other hand wrapped around the branch above her.
The girl squeaked as the rope tugged in her hands. “Stop that!”
Karin kept her grip until he feet found a firm footing. “Then come back down,” she called up.
How was she getting up that pine so fast?
Because she’s small and I’m not, Karin muttered to herself, grabbing the rope again to aid her descent in the close-confined tree.
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Post by Yumichika Ayasegawa on Jan 15, 2016 10:46:09 GMT -6
“As amusing as it would be to watch a panther catch a sparrow,” a smooth voice called out from below them both, “I think it would be a better thing for both of you to come down. People are looking for you.” Yumichika bowed as Karin glanced downwards from her position on the rope
“If I come down, why would she come down?” she called back.
Yumichika smiled. “Because I have a way with women,” he murmured, eyes dancing with some nefarious scheme, tilting his head as Suzume climbed another yard on the pine tree. “At the very least, I would get out of the way, dear panther.”
Karin blinked down at him but inched around the tree, wrapping her arms around the trunk.
Yumichika clicked his tongue quietly at Karin’s disbelief in him and reached inside his kimono, pulling a kimono sleeved feminine shirt out and fluffing it. “Oh little sparrow way up high, there’s something down here for you~”
“Leave me alone,” came the snapped reply.
Yumichika looked Karin’s way and winked. “But if you don’t come down, I may just take the thread of this shirt to repair a certain rip in my kimono. I mean, look, it’s snagged already.” He pulled on one embroidered sparrow on the blouse. “It would serve my purpose much better.”
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Post by Karin Kurosaki on Jan 15, 2016 11:17:27 GMT -6
Karin was utterly confused how this would work before the tree shook and a branch fell down from the top of the tree.
“GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY SHIRT!” Suzume screamed.
“You’re going to have to get lower if you want to even have a chance of hitting me, Shizuka-chan.” He patted the blouse and titled his head. “The fabric would make good patches when we run out of bandages, too.”
Karin raised an eyebrow then chuckled as pinecones rained down on Ayase.
“GET YOUR HANDS OFF RANGIKU’S SHIRT OR I WILL BITE YOUR HAND OFF, AYA!”
“You can’t do that when you’re that far away,” he responded, running a hand through his hair. “And your aim is off without your powers.” His eyes narrowed. “You realize they’re gone, right?”
That seemed a silly question.
“No, they’re not. It’s an illusion! And if I get high enough, this whole nightmare will end.”
Karin raised an eyebrow. “Come on,” she exclaimed. “This is way too elaborate to be a silly game.” Her eyes narrowed. “Damn it, if you go any further on that branch, it’s going to fall.”
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Post by Suzume Shizuka on Jan 15, 2016 11:29:11 GMT -6
Suzume shook her head quickly, pushing backwards towards the trunk as the branch wavered with her movement. “I’ll show you,” she called out. “It’s the only thing that makes sense. We’re stuck in an illusion and someone has to break it.” She reached upwards again.
And squeaked as the whole tree shook from underneath her. “Stop that!” she yelled out, looking down. “I am not going to stop.”
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Post by Yumichika Ayasegawa on Jan 15, 2016 11:30:21 GMT -6
Yumichika dropped the board he had pounded against the trunk. "Don't you want to get this from me first?" he called out, waving the shirt at her. "It's really fine material and just what I need. But if it really is a present from Matsumoto, it would be a shame to use it." He sighed theatrically. "But I just can't help myself. I can't stand holes in my outfit. And comfort in prison is important to one's sanity."
He paused, waiting for his words to take effect.
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Post by Ilian Cassius on Jan 17, 2016 18:02:53 GMT -6
Dropping down through the dome of the Maze, Ilian landed on the branch the young woman was standing on. Her arms were wrapped around the trunk of the tree as she held on for dear life.
Her friends called out to her in a panic and screamed for the intruder to get away from her. The Kurosaki woman moved quickly toward them, but not quick enough. Tapping on the shoulder of the one holding tightly to the trunk, Ilian drew close to her ear and whispered.
"Its not an illusion and to prove it; I am taking you as my play toy." He grinned madly at her as she turned swiftly almost falling out of the tree. However, Ilian grabbed her just as the Kurosaki woman landed to the branch they were standing on. Ilian grinned and gave a small wave.
"I will be back for you later, Baby Doll."
He, and the woman they were calling Suzume, vanished from the Maze.
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Post by Karin Kurosaki on Jan 17, 2016 18:49:58 GMT -6
Karin fumbled and caught the branch above her just before she lost her balance. “I take it back, Assh-” The branch splintered and Karin cursed as her vision blurred and she started to fall. She reached out and grabbed another one but broke it too. Karin’s eyes narrowed, keeping it up and finally snagged the rope. .
“Fuck!” she spat, as the rope yanked at her shoulder. “I definitely don’t owe you anything, assholes!”
She tossed her head back as the tree’s quaking stilled, hearing her brother’s voice.
“Karin! Damn it, Karin, are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” she called back. “Just tore my shoulder and got a few scrapes.”
She lowered her head to the rope, beating back the sting of tears. “I can’t really move either,” she admitted in a lower voice. But it seemed her brother had heard her. They were coming up to get her.
Poor girl. Being so close to freedom and being confronted by a nightmare.
She could relate. Her bloody hand tightened on the rope.
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Post by Yumichika Ayasegawa on Jan 17, 2016 18:53:20 GMT -6
As Tsukiro and Ikkaku climbed into the tree to help Karin down, with Nanao and Kotetsu at the foot giving orders and Ichigo making sure she didn’t pass out, Yumichika took a few steps back and watched, folding the precious shirt the fiery lieutenant had been forced to leave behind. So much for a bright moment. Yumichika looked to the spectators who had been drawn out by the drama and misfortune. “But then again,” he whispered, “she made a mark.” And they now knew how some of their own had been disappearing. Like gods, their enemy could descend from the skies and without their powers, the prisoners could only wait for their fate to be woven. A glitter set in his eyes. Or defy it and call the gods out. |
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Post by Set on Jan 20, 2016 22:09:35 GMT -6
"The Merge of Power”: (Continued)
A gate opened as Set stepped from inside, his eyes scouring the area for the Substitute. When he saw him come out of one if the huts, Set walked toward him. The closer he got he pointed at the orange haired man.
"You are to come with me by order of my Master, Aizen Sousuke. If you resist I will take you by force."
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Post by Karin Kurosaki on Jan 20, 2016 22:20:07 GMT -6
Karin’s eyes narrowed. “Like hell you are!” she snarled, dark eyes flashing. She stepped forwards.
Ichigo spread his arm, keeping her behind him. His solemn eyes met her own. It usually calmed her. This time, it just pissed her off. “No!” she snapped. She glared to the intruder. “If he wants you, he can fight for you in a fair fight. They’ve done enough!”
“Karin….”
“I said, no, Ichigo!” Karin’s hand tightened on his shoulder. “You are not just going to let them take you away.” She turned back to the monster. “You heard me. So give me my blade and I will fight you for him.”
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Post by Captain Tsukiro Ashimitsu on Jan 20, 2016 22:44:28 GMT -6
Nearby, Tsukiro shook his head and started over. As she made her argument, silenced her brother, and set her challenge, he couldn’t help a chuckle. But he increased his pace, setting his hand on her shoulder before she could step any closer to the dangerous creature that had entered their domain. He wasn't letting any of his friends get hurt if he could help it.
“That’s really not going to happen, fire starter,” he stated quietly.
“Who you calling fire starter?” she grouched.
“You’re not ready for him,” Tsukiro reasoned quietly.
“I don’t care.”
“Karin….”
“Shut up, Ichi!”
Tsukiro sighed. “Come on, Karin, you have to let him go.”
“Like hell I do!”
Tsukiro shook his head slowly, too reminded of himself when he was younger. Well, at least he knew what to do. Before anyone could react, he threw a punch straight to the young woman’s gut, bowling her over. Recalling her own athletic training, he added an elbow to her back. “Sorry then,” he murmured to her as he held her up. He looked to Ichigo. “Good luck.”
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