ooc: obviously this will require further posts- i'm not sure what the requirements for bankai are now...but i might as well post this and get started.

Ryouta now sat in what he considered the most secluded place in Seireitei, a place called Ugendō’s garden. Ryouta had found out that it had been a favorite spot of former 13th Division Captain Ukitake Juushiro, and was well pleased with the tranquility of the area. He breathed in deeply and sat down next to a small pond that had a stream/waterfall thing going into it. The sound of running water relaxed him.

Ryouta drew his Zanpakuto and laid them both across his lap. He closed his eyes and reached out to Raikou Arashi. He appeared in the middle of the African Savannah again and looked around for the albino lion that was Raikou Arashi. It wasn’t hard to locate him; after all, Raikou Arashi stood a good 10 feet tall. Today he was standing on the edge of a cliff, staring out across the seemingly endless savannah.

Ryouta approached him and stood beside him. “It’s beautiful…like a sea of grass. The light reflects off of it like it would off of water,” Ryouta commented on the majestic view before him.

Raikou Arashi growled an affirmative. “Yes, my home is a beautiful place. I am glad to see you appreciate it.” He laid an affectionate paw on Ryouta’s shoulders. “Tell me, other than to take pleasure from my company, why have you come?”

Ryouta stared Raikou Arashi right in his disconcerting red eyes. “I want you to teach me…Bankai.” Raikou Arashi’s eyebrows rose in surprise…and also admiration.

“Never shy to say what is on your mind,” Raikou Arashi chuckled. “Yes, I think it is time for you to gain this closeness in our bond. Be warned though, the road is hard.”

“I hold no illusions about the difficulty of achieving Bankai. Regardless- I will face anything to obtain it,” Ryouta said.

“Good, I admire your resolve.” Raikou Arashi shook his mane. “Come.” He bounded off the edge of the cliff. Ryouta rolled his eyes, but followed with clear eagerness. As he fell, he saw Raikou Arashi hit the ground, and then spring upward, past the edge of the cliff, high up into the clouds. Ryouta skidded to a halt with Hohō, and then flash stepped after Raikou Arashi.

As he got higher and higher, he noted that it didn’t become harder to breathe as he did so. However, he did notice that it got somewhat cooler, and every time he passed through a cloud, he got covered in condensation. Ryouta emerged from a particularly thick layer of cumulus cloud spluttering, and then glanced around wildly. Raikou Arashi was standing on the battlements of what appeared to be a castle of sorts, only it was floating seemingly without support at a fairly high altitude.

Ryouta could only gape in amazement for a couple seconds. Raikou Arashi roared out to him. “The SKY is my true domain!” Ryouta gulped. “Yeah, yeah, I can see that.” He flash stepped to join Raikou Arashi on the battlements. “So, what must I do to prove myself worthy?”

Raikou Arashi waved his hand. The empty sky around the castle suddenly became covered with cloud. Then, the clouds seemed to reach out tendrils everywhere. The tendrils shimmered, and then, all around the castle, blades of every shape and size were lying across the field. “The test is…to find the true form of your Zanpakuto.” Ryouta looked down to see the ninjato that usually filled his sheathes were missing.

“And at the same time…you will fight me.” Raikou Arashi roared, and sent Ryouta flying out across the battlements to skid across the clouds until he came to a halt in front of a blade shaped like a scimitar. As he picked it up, it split and became two. Ryouta assumed a fighting stance…

Raikou Arashi leaped from the battlements of the castle with a roar and plunged down toward Ryouta. Ryouta crossed the scimitars so the flats of the blades would block Raikou Arashi’s savage punch. As Raikou Arashi’s massive paw hit the blades, they cracked and then splintered beneath his force. His fist traveled straight through the metal shards and punched Ryouta in the stomach.

“Oomph!” The wind was knocked out of him as Raikou Arashi’s fist drove into his stomach. Ryouta fell backward through the cloud floor, back down toward the savannah. “Damn, that hurt like a b*tch!” Ryouta muttered as he fell down through the clouds. That had truly been a savage blow- he was sure that Raikou Arashi had not been holding back. Ryouta desperately gathered Reishi underneath him to slow his fall, and then raced back up to the clouds.

He burst through the clouds and grabbed the first weapon he could lay his hands on. It was a halberd. “This could keep him at bay…” Ryouta leveled the halberd at Raikou Arashi. “Bring it on!” he crowed. Raikou Arashi roared at him; Ryouta was tensed and ready for it- he flash stepped out of the way and came in with the halberd blade swinging down on Raikou Arashi’s head. Raikou Arashi brought his guarded left paw up and parried the blow. Ryouta saw the blade crack under the intense force it was experiencing.

He flash stepped back and dropped it through the clouds. “That can’t have been your true form- it was too weak.” He reached down and grabbed a hilt. It was a maul (a sledgehammer type thing). He hefted it experimentally. It was surprisingly light. Ryouta shrugged, and then flash stepped above Raikou Arashi again, bringing the head of the maul down with devastating force.

Raikou Arashi beat the maul’s head aside with his right paw and fired off a counterattack. He launched several punches at Ryouta, who, after several failed attempts to block with the unfamiliar and unwieldy weapon, gave up, dropped the maul and flash stepped away. He was bleeding, battered, and bruised all over the place. “That weapon…way too unwieldy to be you…I seem to recall you saying something to me once…that you were a ‘fine assassination weapon.’ So…your true shape is something assassin-like.”

Raikou Arashi said nothing. Although he did look slightly pleased. Ryouta glanced around for something resembling an assassination weapon. Deciding that just looking over the weapons was futile, he began systematically going around ripping the hilts out of the ground as Raikou Arashi looked amusedly on. Ryouta pulled out a myriad of weapons and upon inspection chucked them down through the clouds: a jian, a wazikashi (which he briefly tried to use against Raikou Arashi, but failed), a trident, a flanged mace, and a pike among many of the weapons he tried.

Raikou Arashi laughed as Ryouta picked up what seemed to be the umpteenth weapon. These appeared to be gauntlets of some kind. He slipped them on and noticed that there were metal tube-like ridges in the space behind each of his top knuckles except for his thumb. “What kind of weapon is this?” He ran a little reiatsu into the gloves. To his surprise, at the end of each of the metal tubes, a blade a finger’s width wide and about an inch long came out of each finger. “Huh. Interesting.” Ryouta ran more reiatsu into the gauntlets, and the blades grew longer until they reached about a foot in length; the blades became slightly curved as they became longer- but strangely, they ended in hooks (like Wolverine’s claws, just with hooks at the end). Both edges of the blades appeared sharp. In addition to this, the gauntlets had guards around the wrist and parts of the hand area- making it very good protection for his hands. It appeared that if he didn’t want to kill, they would make excellent bludgeoning tools to subdue an opponent as well, as when the claws were fully retracted, they were replaced by round little caps that would most certainly dent skulls.

Ryouta turned to face Raikou Arashi. “If this isn’t what your assassination weapon is, I’m a Hollow.” He brandished the claw weapons at Raikou Arashi.

Raikou Arashi only shrugged and smirked. “I am not just an assassination weapon,” he said cryptically. Ryouta’s eyes narrowed. “Oh?” Though he seemed outwardly calm, inside he was thinking of all the other possibilities of Raikou Arashi’s power. It can’t be that he becomes another weapon…maybe he has defensive properties as well? Armor? At this thought, the world seemed to stand still for the smallest instant.

Dark clouds seemed to surround Ryouta and obscure him from sight- when they cleared he stood wearing a set of armor that adhered very closely to his body shape. It was shiny black and trimmed with some unknown bluish-white material that resembled lightning. There was a lot of it around his neck area- it looked as if he was wearing a scarf. Not only that, but it seemed to combine both the Western and Japanese forms of armor and take the best of both styles. Ryouta looked at it in amazement. “Whoa…” Then he looked up at Raikou Arashi. “OK, looks like I’m ready to fight ya for real. Here I come!”

Ryouta ran at Raikou Arashi. The armor didn’t clank at all while he ran, and more amazingly, it didn’t seem to weigh anything either. Ryouta extended the claws to their full length as he ran. As he neared Raikou Arashi, he jumped and came down with a slash with his right claw aimed at Raikou Arashi’s left shoulder. Raikou Arashi jumped back and aimed a blow at Ryouta with his right paw.

Ryouta flash stepped and appeared on top of Raikou Arashi’s paw. “Ha!” He stabbed out with his left claw at Raikou Arashi’s face. And then, for the first time, Raikou Arashi flash stepped. What?! Ryouta whirled only to have one of Raikou Arashi’s massive paws take him in the torso and send him flying back. Ryouta hit the clouds hard and made a long track through the fluffy whiteness. He stood and faced Raikou Arashi again. “Shuurai!” He slashed down with both claws and was pleased to see a large blast of reiatsu erupt from both. Raikou Arashi flash stepped- Ryouta crossed his claws and blocked his strike with an iron guard…

Ryouta struggled to keep Raikou Arashi’s massive strength at bay. His claws rattled against each other as he tried to resist Raikou Arashi’s formidable strength. Ryouta breaths came harshly as he felt his muscles burn. “Tell me, Ryouta, what do you know about achieving Bankai?” Raikou Arashi roared.

“It means being able to manifest ya physically in my world,” answered Ryouta. “To achieve further power.”

“So tell me…why are we not having this conversation in your world?” Raikou Arashi asked.

“…Fine.” Ryouta retracted his claws and grabbed Raikou Arashi’s chest plate. “Come with me.” He concentrated; let his reiatsu build to its highest point. His hair pulsed with a life of its own; it resembled a sea anemone. Then he used his reiatsu to surround Raikou Arashi. Raikou Arashi responded in kind, enveloping the both of them- giving his reiatsu to Ryouta to use. If forced to explain the process, Ryouta would’ve been hard-pressed to come up with a good explanation of how he had done it, but all of a sudden, it was like they were traveling through a long path with vast emptiness around them. At the end was his world; at the other end was Raikou Arashi’s. There appeared to be other paths around them as well- other people’s Zanpakutos? Ryouta didn’t know- it didn’t matter. He and Raikou Arashi raced for the entrance to Ryouta’s world.

They burst out, appearing in the calm serenity of the garden. Ryouta blinked- he felt very tired all of a sudden, but also exhilarated. “It would be a shame to continue our fight here and ruin this garden,” he said. “Let’s take this up to the sky.”

“Agreed.” They both bent their knees and jumped, bringing themselves high up into the air. Ryouta extended his claws again, and then flash stepped behind Raikou Arashi. He slashed down at his back. Raikou Arashi twisted and used the guard on his massive paw to block the attack. Ryouta responded by flash stepping in front of Raikou Arashi and beginning a complex stabbing attack at Raikou Arashi’s torso.

As Raikou Arashi fended off the attacks with surprising agility, he said, “You have yet to discover the true nature of your Bankai- that armor…is not just for protection!” He brought his paw down upon Ryouta’s left shoulder, sending him plummeting towards the ground.

Not just for protection…thought Ryouta. He used Hohou to slow his fall and stop so he could look up at Raikou Arashi. Then that must mean it has offensive abilities beyond the obvious… He looked at the armor again. Ryouta noted that it looked a lot like a thundercloud just waiting to blast something with lightning. Maybe… Ryouta channeled reiatsu into the shoulder guard on his right side. It shimmered, and then seemed to dissolve into a black cloud that crackled with blue electricity.

“Ha!” Ryouta sent the black cloud after Raikou Arashi. Raikou Arashi struck out at the cloud and somehow swatted it away.

“It takes more than that to overpower me! Especially when it is me you are wielding!” Raikou Arashi roared down. Right… thought Ryouta. He channeled reiatsu into the rest of his armor- it too dissolved, except for his bracers and gauntlets with claws. All the clouds gathered together to form one immense black cloud- it was perhaps the size of a skyscraper.

“Swat this!” Ryouta sent the immense black cloud at Raikou Arashi. He closed his eyes and focused. The cloud began to swirl, like a hurricane would. Raikou Arashi disappeared into it. “Haaaaaa!” With increased effort, the hurricane began to crackle with more and more electricity. It swirled with faster and faster rotational speed, until-

“Enough!” Raikou Arashi burst from the hurricane's midst. “You have discovered your Bankai’s initial ability. We are done for today.”

Ryouta gathered the cloud back into armor and then sealed his Zanpakutos once more. “Wait…I don’t know the name of this-”

“Shugotenshi Raikou Arashi (Guardian Angel of the Lightning Storm) is my true name,” replied Raikou Arashi. “And the name of the technique you just learned- is Kazeshini Unkurojou (Death Wind Above the Black Clouds).”

Ryouta listened intently and nodded. “Hang on a minute- if ya’re an angel…where are yer wings?”

Raikou Arashi looked at him with an inscrutable expression. “You are observant as always. You will find that out when the time is right.” He faded away back to his world.



Bankai Template

+4 to Spirit power, Speed and Fighting Skill.

Call out phrase for Bankai: Bankai…Shugotenshi Raikou Arashi.

Description of the Bankai: Upon using Bankai, Ryouta’s blades will glow and become pure reiatsu. This reiatsu will spread all over his body and form a suit of shiny black armor trimmed with lightning blue material. There seems to be a lot of said material around the neck area- it resembles a scarf there. The armor is very compact in that it fits Ryouta’s body tightly and allows maximum movement. It is very light. The gauntlets have round little studs on each of the knuckles except the thumbs, and from each of these studs a claw about a foot in length can extend (the length of these claws is adjustable to anything within a foot.) These claws are slightly hooked at the end.

Abilities:

Ability 1: Kazeshini Unkurojou
Description of ability: By dissolving parts of his armor, Ryouta can form and control a black cloud that is charged with blue electricity. The denser the cloud, the more damage it does. For example, he could surround a circular area with a two mile radius with the cloud- but the cloud would not be very dense, and thus would only be able to kill low-level Hollow in the area. By decreasing the area the cloud is spread over, thus making the cloud denser, Ryouta can do more damage. For example, surrounding an Arrancar in a hurricane like formation that is dense and black will do far more damage to it than if it was standing in that two-mile radius of cloud. The lightning within the cloud(s) does not explode upon contact. Instead, it burns and lacerates- so if Ryouta formed a small hurricane around a small roughly humanoid target, it would be simultaneously burned and sliced to death. The weakness of the technique is that Ryouta trades defense for offense.

hmm okay try and be careful when dealing out the damage from your first ability, i reckon as long as you use it fairly like you explained it should be all fine though ^_^
apologies for the wait but congratulations Ayame Ryouta, you have just achieved Bankai ^_^
expect to see this in your character bio shortly