+3 Spirit Power

(Spirit power please. Thank you very much judges)

Kaito was woken up by the sunlight pouring into his eyes as the old man opened the windows of the shanty house that had been Kaito's home since his arrival in the Soul Society, but even though he had lived here for some time now he still wasn't used to the idea of having to wake up at a certain time which he displayed by his grumpy awakening. "Geez...ossan...I feel like I was thoroughly pushed through a meat grinder and then flogged in the city square all while being kicked by a wild donkey...wouldn't it be okay if I slept in once?" Kaito asked as he threw his pillow over his head to block out the light. The old man made it very clear that he had other plans as he karate chopped Kaito in the stomach causing the young shinigami to cough up air from his already throbbing chest, "You have much to do, kid" said the old man as he firmly placed his hands on his hips. Although Kaito only managed to open one eye at this point he caught sight of the old man's gesture and commented accordingly, "Careful Ossan...before long you will be wearing an apron and giving me breakfast in bed if you get that attached..." he joked cruelly. Once again, Kaito quickly discovered that the medium of the old man's choice in terms of communication was a very physical one as he slapped the back of Kaito's head with such force that one would wonder how the boy still remained conscious after such a slap.

Rubbing his head while eyeing the old man, Kaito caught sight of a certain look in the old man's eye that he knew would earn him another bust in the head if he brought it up, but he knew that things must have been really close if the old man was looking at him like that, "So...the last training session...what happened there...I mean to my body?" he asked. The old man glanced away giving Kaito all the answer that he needed, "Never mind that..." the old man said after a few awkward moments of silence as he strode across the room and opened up a small sack that had been sitting in the corner of the room. Sensing that something was going to happen, Kaito grunted as he pulled himself up in the bed so that he could have a better view of whatever it was, "I wonder what it going on since the old man is acting all strange this morning..." he observed. The old man turned towards Kaito with the sack and a devious grin that usually came before one of the many hair-brained training exercises that the old man was very fond of assigning to Kaito, "Wait...don't tell me you're expecting me to train after that horrific trauma?" Kaito asked bewildered. When Kaito said this a breath of relief seemed to escape from the man's chest as he came closer to Kaito, "The fact that you're saying such lazy things tells me that you are feeling like your old self once more..." the old man said with a warm smile.

Sitting up even further, Kaito cringed as he felt his entire being throb in pain as he sorely stepped out of bed and onto the cold wooden floor shaking just from the effort that it took to stand on his own two feet, "Your next training exercise will be to survive near a hollow's nest without any provisions for one month..." the old man explained to Kaito. At this Kaito lost his balance from his already thrashed body as he heard what the old man had said, "I thought hollows were those monsters that eat souls like you and me...and if that is so how do I survive a whole month against those things in this condition?" Kaito pointedly asked the old man. The old man helped Kaito up, placed the back pack on his back, and led Kaito outside the shack as they began to walk down the path that would lead away from the Rukongai area en route to the area where the Severing Tunnels was; in other words where many hollows were sighted. When they approached the cursed place Kaito could hear cries in the distance that indicated that they was action going even as he and the old man stood, "You have gotten to be kidding me..." the boy groaned as he looked up at the old man. The old man didn't return his look as he simply turned away and started down the path back to the Rukongai area while yelling over his shoulder, "Shut up boy, this is for my training research. If you didn't want to do it then you shouldn't have asked for power...see in one month" he finished.

Kaito sighed as he watched the old man's silhouette become a shadow against the horizon before he too started towards the teeth of the place where hollows resided since they wanted to catch unsuspecting souls that wandered too far away from the safety of other souls, but here Kaito was strolling around the area as if it were a tour sight. Strolling was actually a bit of an overstatement for the motion that Kaito was using to move because his body was so sore that he hobbled along the road more than he did any actual walking, but he still continued down the path until he reached what was referred to as the "Dark Forest". In the sack that the old man had given him was not food, but simple medical supplies that he would need should he sustain any greater injuries than the one's that he was currently suffering from, "Good thing I'm in such great shape or else I don't know how I would deal with this..." he thought sarcastically to himself. After a bit of wandering around, Kaito found a tree that he thought would make a great post while at the same time give him a fair amount of protection so he flung his sack up into the branch that was the lowest so that he could start climbing up to rest from all the tedious walking that continued to tear his body apart. No sooner had the bag landed on the branch did a hollow come barreling through the foliage after Kaito who without taking much time to react broke into a run in the opposite direction that the beast had been coming from.

Breathing heavily as he tried to ignore the screaming muscles that continued to remind him that he was in no shape to be running through forest while being chased by horned, soul-eating monsters such as the one that had taken a liking to chasing him currently. Each step was a laborious job, so much so that Kaito felt as if he was not only up against the hollow chasing him, but he was also fighting against the fatigue that threatened to break his body down to the core leaving him completely defenseless upon the forest floor. He went from running to more of a crippled duck hop in a matter of seconds as the hollow continued to close in on its prey; the hot breath of the hollow's blood soaked mouth washed over Kaito as if seasoning him for the meal that he was about to become. Closing his eyes Kaito tried to search his body for any stray amount of energy that had somehow hidden itself within his body because he knew that he didn't have much longer before he gave out to pure exhaustion since just taking on the hollow was not an option at all. "Damn old man...you really screwed me over this time..." he told himself as he continued to just barely avoid getting eaten by the hollow that snapped wildly at the meal that it sensed was coming and Kaito couldn't have agreed with it on that fact at all.

ooc: I don't really see this post as a spirit power post yet. It looks more like a speed post at the moment.

+1 Speed (the running from the hollow)

(Spirit power please. Thank you judges)

Kaito stammered through the brush that had appeared unexpectedly to his right hoping for some cover from the hollow that was dead on his trail, but he knew that it would only be for a short amount of time before the beast tracked him down once more and finally satiated its need to feed upon the young soul of a boy. Although Kaito knew all of these things he couldn't have moved another muscle even if he had truly attempted to because his body no longer responded to the signals that his brain had sent to it due to exhaustion. After moments of trying to find a safe enough place among the bushes, the young soul finally gave in to the weariness that seeped through his bones and commanded him to simply drop to the ground which was exactly what Kaito did without fail. Bated breaths still escaped from Kaito's nostrils as he tried to focus his mind enough to attempt to stand once more, but to his horror even his mind was beginning to fail him as his vision blurred and the most movement that he could manage was a small twitch of his pinky. "I can't stop moving..." he told himself as he lay helplessly in the den of hollows on the ground, "If I don't keep moving...then I will die..." he continued trying to motivate himself to no avail as his body simply refused to take action under no circumstances.

After a few moments of struggling against the tiredness that continued to seep through the boy's body he finally gave in to the exhaustion and passed out among the brushes finally accepting that if he were to be eaten as he lay there he would have no regrets about why he had chosen to live the way he lived. Pain was the first thing that came to Kaito's senses when he woke up once more and it wasn't just a small prick, it was the kind of pain that resided in the back of one's mind reminding them that they were on the brink of death and should tread through life carefully. Pushing himself up so that he could sit upright, Kaito sat against a tree as he panted from not only the pain, but the exhaustion that had come with moving with his body in such terrible condition, but even so he had to endure it all. Listening for a few moments to see whether there were any visitors that would make Kaito's day much worse than it already was Kaito decided that he had to get back to the medical bag that he had been given. Clawing his way up the bark of the tree that he had been leaning against Kaito braced himself against it so that he wouldn't fall right back to the ground negating every effort that he had put in to get up in the first place.

While there was no sun to beat on the pour defeated soul's body there was a humid air about the area surrounding the Severing Tunnels that made it insufferably hot which seemed to just suck away at the very little energy that the boy had left as he walked through the area with half open eyes trying to find the bag. Finally the night of the first day had met Kaito still searching for the bag, but he knew that to continue looking for it in the dark would almost guarantee his death since the hollows would have the advantage during the nighttime so he settled for finding a place to rest. Stumbling around with not much energy made it hard for Kaito to find places that were going to provide proper protection and an ample amount of secrecy from the hollows that liked to patrol. Swatting away a fly that had buzzed in his face for numerous hours already Kaito grumbled about how much trouble he was going through to find out what his purpose in life was, "This is insane...if I hadn't gotten beaten up by those ingrates then I wouldn't even be here..." he griped. Even as Kaito was stumbling through the forest he had to stop several times because his body couldn't handle the exertion of having to move around so much in one sitting, but at the same time he had to hurry before he made some very unpleasant company.

Leaning on what he thought was going to be his last chance of survival Kaito stared up at the tree and could feel his muscles already telling him to give up because they wouldn't respond to him trying to climb up such a high tree in the first place, but he gritted his teeth as he threw his right hand against the bark so hard that it dug into it. Taking in as many breaths as he could Kaito lifted his left hand to try and take a firm grip of the bark on his way to try climbing to the second highest branch where he saw that the leaves would provide him some shelter as he slept. Sweat had already begun to break out in tiny beads as he stretched his right hand once more causing his already throbbing abdomen to scream in anguish making him cringe as he dangled for a moment before pushing upward with his feet again. As Kaito tried to reach yet again, he realized that his arm wouldn't move forward because the moment that he attempted to move it again would be the same moment that he fell to the ground once again becoming bait for anything that walked by. Resting his head against the tree as his limbs continued to shake from the sustained effort of trying to hold on to the bark, Kaito tried to think of anything that could possibly benefit him in this situation only to find that his mind only drew blanks as it had finally shut down on him.

Being stuck in the middle of his climb made it even harder for Kaito to try harder so that he could make it up the tree because he knew that he still had more than his body could handle to try climbing over and no amount of will power would be able to push him through it; at least that was what he had thought. Then Kaito remembered what he had encountered during the second reishi particle training session where he had almost lost his identity to the "other" side of himself because of his lack of self assurance and ability to believe in himself. Thinking about this brought a look resembling determination into Kaito's eye as he reached upwards once more pulling himself up against the will of his already exhausted muscles until he had finally reached the branch that he had been hoping to find. When he got up there he found that there was a small bag that greatly resembled his own medical bag, but he wasn't sure as he was already fading into unconsciousness so he quickly hid himself in the leaves and passed out. As he drifted off to sleep, Kaito could feel every fiber of his being aching as he drew in each breath, but even as a young soul he was happy with the fact that he could force himself out of tough situations like he had just now.

+2 spirit power

(Spirit power please. Thank you judges)

Kaito awoke in the tree with a dried crusty line of drool leading from his mouth onto the tattered cloth that he had borrowed form the old man, "Just my luck...it seems even when I'm passed out I can't just get the better side of the bargain..." he sighed as he pushed himself into a seated position on the branch. As he did this a wave of pain shot through his chest, back, and legs causing him to pause in his movement and quietly shut his eyes as he waited for the pain to dissipate from his mind. As he was released from the grip of his injuries, the young boy surveyed the area around him to make sure that there were no unexpected visitors that wanted to have him for lunch once he decided to jump down from the branch, "I'm going to have to find a better location if I'm going to live for a whole month..." he reasoned. With this thought in his mind, he slowly got to his feet as he balanced himself on the branch that had served as his protection for the past night, but now had outlived its purpose. Remembering what the old man had once told him about the hollows that lived around the area, Kaito wondered how he was going to get down from the branch without making enough noise to alert the blood thirsty beasts that only lived to consume others.

Once the young soul decided that it was safe enough for him to move about he slowly made his way down the tree despite the agonizing protests of his muscles in search of a more suitable hiding space in case he ended up encountering any more deadly predators. As it had the day before the sun blasted the nape of his neck through the foliage which made the trip all the more uncomfortable as the humid, lush forestry didn't leave the boy much room to breathe so it wasn't long before he was already feeling dehydrated. Each step that he took reminded him of how much his body hadn't healed since the last training session which had in fact nearly cost him his life, "Why do I even want power so badly?.." the boy asked himself honestly for the first time. Woozily taking steps through the soft soil with bare feet, the young soul asked himself for the first time why he had chosen to follow the old man back to the shack where he had already gone through much hellish training. "Is it because I want to find out my destiny?...my purpose?" the boy toyed with the thought as he squinted his eyes when rays of the bright sun broke through the canopy layer of leaves and shined brightly in his eye.

The boy stepped cautiously through some brushes not wanting to create an invitation for any unwanted strangers that would take a carnivorous interest in the boy's presence within the forest, "Geez...leave it to that old man to put at death's door step..." he complained angrily as he continued on his path. At this point his body was covered in sweat from the exertion of moving the already damaged muscles without much rest so all Kaito had to go on for most of his trip was sheer will power which was slowly ebbing away with each step that he took. Each bated breath that raked Kaito's lungs made the poor boy shudder in pain and the last one was worse because now the air was cooling which took away the warmth that had soothed his sore throat and chest area. The unrelenting cold air bit into Kaito's lungs with fury and he took no more than two breaths after the sun had moved past the mid point before he doubled over wheezing from exhaustion and his body being overused. When the wheezing finally stopped Kaito clamored back to his feet with a sickly look on his innocent, young face, but he still had a fire that burned behind his crimson eyes as he continued to search for the shelter that would protect him for the month that he needed to stay alive.

It wasn't until Kaito had come to the center of open area in the forest that he noticed that there was a strange noise that seemed to follow him whenever he took a step in any direction, but the boy's exhaustion had caused him to dismiss it as nothing more than the wind playing tricks on him. As he reached the center of the clearing, Kaito's eyebrows furrowed as he clutched the strap of his satchel that held the medical materials, sweat dripping down the boy's forehead as his anxiety grew with each silent moment. With bated breath, Kaito's half open eyes tried to catch any movement that would give away an preemptive attack, but with weariness seeping through his veins along with the blood that rushed just to keep him moving Kaito was sure that he would miss small details. "Something is here..." the young soul thought to himself as he tried to edge towards the end of the clearing where the trees provided him with a place to run, but just as he made his first step the ground burst open behind him and along with it came a flurry of sound. As he whipped around to see what had come to attack him, Kaito felt the cold feeling of enamel slicing through skin before he even knew what had happened.

A few moments passed as Kaito stood in complete stillness wondering what had just taken place, but then he heard the sound of a liquid dropping against the ground which caused him to instinctively look down at his feet, "What...the...hell..." he muttered. At his feet a pool of blood had already begun to form and Kaito's gaze followed the trail of blood back to his cracked open chest which also included his entrails hanging out in broad daylight for him along with the rest of the world to see. There was no pain, just a sense of weakness flowing into every facet of Kaito's body as he wobbled forward a couple of steps attempting to make it to the edge of the clearing so that he could hide, but once again he was obstructed by a huge figure that was salivating at the mouth. The boy's vision began to shake at the sight of the hollow that had burst of the ground and he found himself dropping to his knees before he knew it, but once again he felt a strange sensation that he wasn't in pain and that he wouldn't die. It seemed the hollow was examining what the boy would do next as Kaito refused to fall completely on the ground, "Get..up.." he told his body as he placed his hand on his knee so that he could prop himself up. Once he did that he stood up defiantly in front of the hollow panting as he struggled to keep his vision focused and to remain on his feet, but one thing that Kaito knew was that he wasn't going to be devoured at the hands of a hollow; he had determined that the moment he stood up after the flesh rending attack.

+2 spirit

(Spirit power please. Thank you judges.)

Each haggard breath that the young boy drew him made his stomach feel as if it being pulled in and out by some very unfriendly force, but Kaito refused to acknowledge the pain since he knew that the moment he gave in would be the exact same moment that the hollow would kill him. Currently the beast was allowing saliva to drip from its mouth as its hot breath made its way across the space between itself and Kaito, smothering the boy in the dank smell of sweat, blood, and fear. With the shape that he was in now, Kaito was surprised that the stench of the hollow wasn't enough to kill him, but he quickly pushed this thought out of his head as he tried to figure out what his next action should be, "Running away is probably the best option here..." he reasoned. Shifting his weight so that he could check how well his body would hold up in a foot race with another hollow, Kaito quickly found out that there would be no running today as his carved entrails dangled in the air near his waist. The fact that he couldn't come up with any situation that involved him getting away from the hollow filled him with dread as he slowly began to realize what the only option he had left to do was.

Quickly scanning the area for a weapon that would help him survive the fight somehow, Kaito saw that there was a sharpened tree branch that would serve him well as a spear; the only problem was that same branch was no more than a couple of feet from one of the hollow's pincers. Annoyance and anxiety began to fill Kaito as he began to see that nothing in this situation was a scenario which he could simply take advantage of, but he knew that he would have to make things work for his sake. Taking one step in the direction the stick was in, Kaito felt as every one of his eviscerated abdominal muscles twitched along with his movement, but the young soul refused to let the hollow see the pain that he was feeling as he maintained a stoic expression. Despite the methods that he was trying to use to calm himself, Kaito found himself breaking out in a cold sweat making him look a bit deranged, "I didn't survive everything just so I can become chow for same low rank hollow..." he told himself defiantly. After a couple of moments the young boy found himself only a stone's throw away from the hollow and he was sure that if the hollow had decided to attack that he wouldn't be able to anything, but die in that case.

Keeping that in mind, Kaito decided that he should proceed slowly so that the hollow wouldn't become riled up by any sharp or quick movements; currently the heartless creature eyed him with a wild hunger in his eyes that seemed to be oddly well contained by the beast. Although Kaito found this to be very curious he didn't take any time to wonder about it as with every passing second more of his blood dripped onto the ground leaving him with less energy to continue his plans with. The blood loss had been so dramatic that he was already beginning to feel weaker and he actually stumbled a bit as he made his way to the branch, but he quickly regained his alertness as he remembered that he was in the presence of a being that would want nothing more than to devour him. The closer Kaito edged to the stick, the more he began to wonder what it would mean if he got the stick because it was then that he realized that it wasn't guaranteed that he could fend off the beast with it in the first place. At that moment Kaito's legs gave out from the terrible condition that he was in physically and Kaito dropped to the ground, "Shit..." was all that he could think lazily as the world seemed to slow down as he rolled to a stop face up.

As his eyes began to roll into this head, Kaito saw the beast roaring over him apparently ready to take the meal that it had been patiently watching, but Kaito didn't hear any sound nor did he even feel any fear, "It doesn't matter anymore...I guess the point is I tried..." he told himself. There was a part of him that still wanted to fight, that still wanted to try and move, but Kaito simply wanted to silence that part of him so that he could stop struggling for something that seemed to be so far away, "It's pointless in the end anyway...". It was then that he thought about the meeting with his "other" self where he had nearly done the same thing because he felt that it was too hard for him to continue to fight. The boy opened his eyes wide as he could almost feel the "other" him laughing at his weakness, mocking him for his lack of faith and his inability to fight for himself, but this wasn't what motivated Kaito; it was the fact that he would have been proven wrong when he told the specter that it was his destiny to write. Rolling away an instant before the hollow's face bore into the ground shattering the earth in its wake, Kaito scrambled to his feet clumsily to snatch the stick from the ground.

Now that the stick was firmly in his grasp he whirled around to face the hollow as the beast angrily glared at Kaito for making it eat dirt it seemed, but Kaito didn't care as he stared impassively back at the beast, his eyes were completely devoid of any fear or resignation. It felt as if he was flying and that he was capable of doing anything, but Kaito knew it was more than that because it felt as if the air around was beginning to quicken, "What is this...what's happening here?" he wondered without removing his eyes from the hollow's eyes. Even though Kaito had no idea what was going the hollow seemed to understand something because the moment that Kaito felt the strange change in the atmosphere, the hollow took a step back as if it were afraid of something. With the stick in his left hand, Kaito for some reason placed his hand on his abdominal area to find that his blood had coagulated and despite the fact that his intestines were still for the most part exposed he didn't feel any pain. The young, naive boy smiled as he stared into the hollow's face, "This must be...my spirit power..." he said with a bold confidence that he didn't quite understand, but allowed to take over, "Maybe I can do this..." he thought as he raised the stick and pointed it at the hollow with renewed sense of self worth.

+2 spirit power. nice post. keep it up.

(Spirit power please. Thank you judges.)

The young boy faced the hollow with confidence as the beast bellowed in anger at the notion that such a small prey would attempt to challenge him in such an open manner, but Kaito didn't care as he walked slowly towards the hollow with the tip of the spear still aimed at the beast. Although Kaito was confident he still felt nervous about how this may turn out considering he had never really had any combat training, but as he stared into the eyes of the hollow he realized that there was nothing more to this fight than both of them putting both of their existences on the line. For some reason Kaito felt not just confidence and anxiety, but now he felt respect for the hollow's existence and nodded towards the beast knowing that one of them would die in this forest. At the boy's nod, the hollowed lurched towards Kaito with a roar, but the young soul rolled away just in time to avoid being decapitated by the many sharp barbs that lined the hollow's body, "Whew...that was a close one..." he said as he blinked a bit of sweat out of his eye. Taking the hollow's off balance stature, Kaito got up quickly and ran towards the hollow with the sharp branch cocked at the hollow, "I have no choice, but to win if I want to survive this..." he convinced himself.

An enraged sound escaped from the hollow as it swung one of its large pincer like claws in order to counter Kaito's attack and since the boy didn't have any experience in combat he only relied on his instinct which was to bring the stick over his head while closing his eyes as he continued to run in the direction of the hollow. The impact knocked Kaito off his feet and sent him sailing through the air until he finally slammed into the trunk of a tree unrelentingly, "Damn..." Kaito cursed as he winced in pain. The confidence that he had been feeling in the fight had given way to reality as he opened his eyes to stare at the hollow advancing at him with a frenzied pace, but he wasn't going to give up as he stood up and ran towards the hollow once more. A small tapping sound was heard with each footstep Kaito took on the hard ground, he could even feel as the air resisted against his forward progress; all these sensations seemed to be magnified as tried to think of a way to get past the deadly weapons that the hollow had at its disposal. Again the hollow swung at Kaito with one of its pincers, but this time the boy leaped over the flying pincer with the crude spear poised to strike as he landed on the ground once again.

Bringing the makeshift spear down with all his might, Kaito managed to pierce into the hollow's right shoulder despite the thick layer of skin that enveloped the hollows, "Alright, I just need to be cognizant of the incoming attacks and everything should be okay..." the boy coached himself. Ripping his weapon out Kaito leaped from the hollow's shoulder back to the ground so that he could get away in case the hollow decided to launch an attack when he was so close, but just as his feet touched the ground the hollowed let out a roar of anguish while flailing about. The massive tail that the boy had failed to notice before crashed into him before he could react to it, the force of the blow sent him crashing into a near by brush. After a few moments of allowing the pain to soak through his body Kaito tried to sit up, but then his abdominal area began to throb in pain and he began to cough up blood, "Just one hit....and I'm already like this..." he murmured deliriously to himself. If as if things weren't bad enough, Kaito saw that the hollow had recovered from the initial shock of having been wounded and now set its hateful sights upon Kaito with vengeance in its eyes.

Blood dripped into Kaito's right eye and he was forced to close as he raised his right hand to try cleaning out the foreign liquid so that he could see again, but it was at that moment that he discovered that his arm was broken, "Most likely it happened during the fall..." he calmly assessed his wound. Without having much time to take in everything that had just happened to him, the hollow came slithering over to him while hissing and Kaito forced to struggle to his feet prematurely before he could find out what was wrong with him. Letting out a grunt, Kaito forced himself to deal with the pain as he barely made it to his feet, but then he noticed that he didn't have the stick in his hands just as the hollow's mask came crashing towards him as the beast leaped into the air. With widened eyes, Kaito hobbled just out of range of the body slam that the hollow had attempted and he fell down right next to the stick as the hollow clawed the earth trying to make its way to Kaito. Grabbing the stick, Kaito whirled around as he lay on his back watching as the hollow was now hovering over him, its saliva dropping onto his clothing and for some reason the boy felt a tingling sensation before it became a full-fledged burning sensation.

In the instant that Kaito's eyes shut in pain as he tried to deal with the anguish that was irrupting from his searing flesh the hollow's head came boring down upon the young soul, but luckily the boy managed to gather his wits about him enough to roll away thus avoiding being devoured. "Geez...that's twice now that this wicked thing has had me near the brink...of death..." the boy whispered as the pain caused his body to go into shock, but the boy's will was strong enough to keep him conscious. Unfortunately his slight hesitation gave the hollow enough time to rush over and pin him once more, this time dropping him to the ground before he could really react; for the first time in his life as a soul, Kaito felt what it meant to be truly desperate. The boy's heart began to beat so loudly that he feared that the hollow would hear and decide to bite into the juicy muscle first, "I...I...I don't want to die!" the boy shouted in his mind repeatedly as he frantically used the stick to stab away at the pincer that held him down futilely. After a couple of minutes the hollow's reached its face down when Kaito had exhausted himself and was laying flat breathing heavily on the ground underneath the weight of the pincer. The hollow thinking that it had defeated the boy at last slowly reached its face down in an attempt to eat its well earned meal, but at the last second the boy pierced the sharp branch through the roof of the hollow's mouth with a look of sheer determination despite all the injuries that he had incurred.

+1.5 Spirit Power

(Spirit Power please)

Kaito's body shivered in pain as he unsuccessfully tried to catch his breath, he began to realize that there was a very good chance that he was going to die at the hands of this feral beast that wailed in front of him, "I can't believe my life is going to end like this..." the young boy thought in genuine horror. The stick was still embedded in the roof of the hollow's mouth and young Kaito scrambled to remove his body from the grip from the ominous pincer that had him pinned to the ground, but he was having no luck. Fortunately as the hollow tried to deal with its pain, it raised the pincer that had been holding Kaito to the ground thus releasing the boy from its clutches while at the same time providing him with the time he needed to run away into the nearby forest. Hurrying to his feet, Kaito started hopping towards the forest on his only good leg, but then he heard an angry hiss from behind him and he turned around to face the hollow once more; even Kaito didn't understand why he had turned back into the face of danger. A voice in side him began to resonate louder than all the fearful thoughts that had been flitting about in his head, "Why are you here? Is it really to run away from the beasts that you will have to face anyway at some point?".

Something about the voice and the question that had been posed to him struck a cord within his being as he struggled to remain on his feet in the wake of the advancing hollow, "...That's right...I...I...I am here for a reason" he defiantly roared at the hollow. When he made that statement he was once again given access to the abundance of energy that he had felt before within his body and he stood straight up as he gazed into the hollow's dripping fangs; a mixture of saliva and blood leaked in rivulets as the beast panted spewing its hot breath in the vicinity Kaito was in. Ignoring all the pains that he had felt before, Kaito took one step forward and he felt a twinge of pain that made him stop for a moment as he closed his eyes shut while a few tears leaked out. Opening his eyes to the hollow once more, Kaito frowned determindely as he fought off the pain that was throbbing at multiple points of his body and broke into a sprint towards the hollow with adrenaline pumping through his body. As each foot pounded into the ground, Kaito felt the soil of the ground beneath him in detail and for some reason even the smells that were around the forest became magnified, "What is this sensation...?" he asked himself as he kept on running.

His awareness seemed to make everything around him even more clear than it had been when he had been put under the duress of the reishi particle training and he began to realize what it was, "This is...this the brink of death!" he calmly told himself. The hollow attempted to counter Kaito's onslaught with one of its huge flailing pincers and Kaito moved to dodge out of the way, but because he was an inexperienced fighter at this point he completely misjudged the range of the attack which lead to the giant claw slamming into his body. The young soul's awkwardly large body was sent crashing through the depths of the forest until it finally hit a tree and he landed on the ground with a sickening thud, but Kaito wasn't giving up yet. Raising his head he looked to see where the hollow was and he let out a small laugh, "Yea...that was stupid...attacking a giant beast with no weapon...at least I learned my lesson..." he joked, but then he put his head down as he coughed up blood. Pushing himself up from the ground, Kaito staggered a little bit until he ended up leaning on a tree with a euphoric smile on his face and the hollow slithered its way through the twisting forest towards its prey once more.

Sucking in a deep breath, Kaito winced again as he felt one of his ribs shift painfully within his body as he attempted to inhale, "Looks like I'm in trouble if I take much more beating..." the young soul said with a playful tone to his voice; this was a time before Kaito was lazy and refused to suffer any reason. Sensing that Kaito was near the end of his line, the hollow picked up speed as it's scaly body winded through the brushes on the ground; saliva dripped from its mouth as its bright red eyes glared at the young soul. Kaito refused to become the meal of a savage beast so he stood up on his own two feet despite the difficulty, but because of the damage that he had already taken he couldn't counter the hollow's movement when it snapped him in its mouth in one fluid motion. Luckily, Kaito was able to grab ahold of the hollow's teeth so that they wouldn't clamp down upon him, but the beast was moving at wild speeds as it tried to crunch the young boy between its eager teeth. Kaito could feel as each of his muscles began to atrophy under the stress of trying so hard for so long; it wouldn't be long now before his strength was completely used up and he would be nothing, but a delicious aftertaste for the hollow.

A glob of spit fell onto Kaito's shoulder as he struggled to keep the teeth from crushing him which made him look up into the rough of the hollow's mouth only to find that his weapon was still lodged into the upper roof of the hollow's mouth, "Maybe there is still a way after all..." he said wearily. As if sensing, Kaito's hope rising the hollow's teeth beared down upon the young soul with more force than before and one of the jagged teeth sliced into Kaito's shoulder causing him to grit his teeth as he held back a scream. The tooth continued to burrow into Kaito's shoulder, but he saw that the stick was nearer to him and all he would need to do was sacrifice his shoulder so that he could attain the weapon that might help him kill the hollow once and for all. Kaito knew that he would have to allow the tooth to sink deeper into his shoulder so that he could reach the stick that was embedded the roof of the hollow's mouth so he quickly allowed the upper jaw to sink a little while reached for the stick and pulled it out of the hollow's mouth. Both being screamed in extreme pain, but then Kaito opened his eyes which had been shut in pain and slammed the sharp stick through where he thought the hollow's face was and essentially cracked the mask from the inside. The hollow dissipated and Kaito fell through the air helplessly until he hit the ground, bouncing up twice before he limply laid prostrated on the ground with absolutely no energy left to go find a hiding place.

+1 Spirit Power

(Spirit Power please.)

It wasn't any less than two or three days before Kaito would find himself laying upon the ground blinking away specks of dirt from his face as he struggled to regain his bearings once again, but the young soul immediately remembered where he was and what he was doing in that spot. Scrambling quickly to his feet, the boy looked down at his torn clothing, roughly searching through them to see if he had sustained any of the injuries that he had gotten from the fight with the hollow, but much to his shock he was healed save for a few scabs. "What is going on with me?" the boy asked himself out loud as he raised his hands into the sunlight and stared at it in awe; flashes of the intense battle with the hollow came bursting forth in his brain even the parts where spurts of strength gave him the ability to continue fighting on. Up until this point the young soul had been accepting the old man's training without much question, but he hadn't really expected it to bear any fruits especially not in such a big way. "That old man...he said I had one more training session left..." Kaito recalled with his mouth slightly agape as he stood dumbfounded in the forest of hollow that was located in the edges of Soul Society, "...if I take another training session with that guy...I'll be invincible" he concluded imaginatively.

He clutched his hand into a fist as for the first time since he had become a soul in the world of spirits he felt excitement shoot through his elongated frame, "Alright...all I have to do is survive this forest for another couple of weeks and then I will get that training from him" the boy cheerily thought. As if responding to his excitement an unwelcoming rustling was heard from the bushes not too far from where he was standing and the young soul immediately forgot all grandiose images of how he would become strong as he broke into a sprint without ever looking back. Night fell and the boy was still running deeper into the forest area in hope of finding some shelter that wouldn't leave him completely vulnerable to attack, but he wasn't having much luck. Panting, hungry, and sweating, young Kaito finally gave up on his search choosing instead to drop at the foot of one of the surrounding trees so that he could rest, "Damn...I can't see myself getting stronger like this..." he muttered miserably to the ground. Each breath burned deep into the boy's lungs as he hadn't still fully recovered from his near death battle with the hollow; for some reason he didn't mind feeling any pain since it was an indicator that he was still alive, which was more than he could ask for in his current position.

Suddenly pelt of rain began to fall through the canopy of the forest and onto the young soul's worn out body, but he knew that he would most certainly have to find somewhere to sleep at this point or the rain would be his cause of death; especially in the pathetic state that he was in. "I think the old man's idea of training simply means that he is going to bring you as close to death as possible..." Kaito grumbled as he raised himself onto his two feet once more and ran deeper into the forest. Since he wore no shoes, Kaito's bare feet slapped against the forest floor, completely subject to the forest's hostile nature which included twigs springing up to sting the underside of his feet or the slick mud would cake the bottom of his feet making him more susceptible to falling down. The entire endeavor was draining on the boy as he hunted for shelter in the hostile area in the forest, but he never once thought about laying down to give up; in truth he thought about it more times than he would admit, but the point is he never gave in to those desires. After many stumbles, falls, and wounds that would continue to sting for the next couple of days, young Kaito Saruwatari finally found the shelter that he had been looking for.

In the following weeks, the trials that the boy would face only increased in intensity as he struggled to find food in the barbaric jungle where the only things to eat were other living things; on more than one occasion, Kaito found himself feasting on the small insects he found crawling in the soil. The hardships of surviving not only the less than stellar diet, but also having to deal with the appearance of the vicious hollow that roamed the place gave Kaito a more feral and grotesque look. His muscles leaned and his body seemed to respond to the harsh environment in the manner that an animal would develop an adaptation; before long, Kaito found himself able to go without water for long periods of time and his sense of timing had sharpened to a precision that was almost innate. While his physical attributes increased dramatically from many days of starving and running away from hollows, Kaito also developed his mind as to how the hollow's behaved so that he could better predict his opponent. He would hide in the shadows of the brushes as he watched how the hollows hardened their bodies by rubbing raw against the tough wood of the tree bark which would cause a reaction with their skin bringing out hardened, leathery shells.

Although Kaito didn't take up the method for himself, he found ways to harden his own body such as many hours laboring while he set up traps around his shelter which he slowly turned into a fortress that would serve him well in the short time he stayed there. Each day Kaito would go out and hunt down food in the light of day, then he would would do some work on the defenses of his area which would involve lifting heavy pieces of wood so that he could move them around the area so that hollow would know to stay away. When he wasn't working upon his fort, he developed arrows and a club with which he practiced fighting with day in and day out until he crudely had some sense of fighting so that he was able to defend himself somewhat in a fight. Finally the day came where Kaito heard an unfamiliar noise in the forest; his ears had become trained to the sounds of the hostile place so much so that he knew each noise like it was an instinct to know. When the sound came close enough to his home, Kaito quickly snatched up his weapons and leaped down from his canopy home while bearing his teeth at his target whose location he was able to sense by simply reaching out with his mind; a trick he had picked up in his time in the wild. To his surprise it was the old man wearing a huge backpack and a frightened look on his face as he stared at the improved Kaito, "This place really did a number on you, boy..." the old man said as he relaxed his body and began to walk back in the direction he had arrived, "Come on...its time. You look like you're ready for the last session" he said with a wave of his hand.

+3 spirit Kaito