A New Day (Arawn)

It's a windy day at the training grounds today. Katsumi was feeling a lot better about himself. Whoever this mysterious character is that keeps showing up has really taught him a lot. Today was Zanjutsu training for all the academy students and Katsumi was anxious to get started. The students were taken out to a rocky plain with just a few trees around. It seemed like the perfect area to get in the training. "Listen up everyone. Today you are going to Zanjutsu train. We've done this a thousand times and this time I would like for you to use everything we showed you." His deep throat cut voice always made Katsumi wander what happened to him. The teacher had a scar going down the right side of his face and continued to his mid chest. Whatever happened to him, it messed up his vocals bad. However the scar only made his demeanor look much more intimidating. he was a tall built man. About 7 foot 4 inches and 314 pounds of pure muscle. His bald head shinned in the sun and Zanpakuto was strapped upside down on his back. His eyes were white as the snow and some even wandered if he were blind. "If we're going to go all out, why don't you let us use our Zanpakuto's?" A short girl from the back of the group spoke up boldly. She was the smallest of the group, but granted, she was the fastest also. "Very well. Today you will learn a lesson you will not forget."

The wind began to blow and larger reiatsu was felt by everyone. "Today you will not be fighting against each other. Instead I have some volunteers from the 12th squad who have agreed to participate in your training." Katsumi is a fighter and loves to really get in on a good fight. Not sure what to expect, he began to talk to himself. "Today is the day you get your chance to show everyone what you have. Don't screw up Katsumi." "Katsumi, if you have something you want to share with the class, please speak up." Katsumi quickly looked up with a dumbfounded look on his face. "Oh..n-n-no sir. Sorry sir. Just anxious to get in some training." The teacher began to grin and walk towards a tree with his hands behind his back. "Good....I want you to meet you opponent. Your first."

The man had said volunteers, but truth be told it he was the only one. The other shinigami were either unassigned soldiers or from other divisions. Arawn didn't feel like arguing, but it was obvious at the mention of squad 12, most students laughed. Arawn was used to this response, the R&D department biggest muscle was their brain, no one felt threatened. But they were wary of the strange mannerisms. If angered the offender might find themselves on the business end of a strange experiment. At that Arawn chuckled. He gazed at the instructor; the man was quite scary up close. He was happy to have me move away so that he could face his opponent.

"Greetings." Arawn said sheepishly. Fighting some total stranger was awkward, and more so when said person is bigger than you. "My name is Arawn, nice to meet you." He shrugged his shoulders and took a deep breath. It was time to get serious. He pulled his sheath from his shoulder til it came to his hip. His right hand on the handle he pulled the blade free and slashed from left to right in one fluid motion at the other man's waist. His left hand still grasped the sheath and swung it behind the blade aiming this time at the head.

When Katsumi saw the man he began to quickly look over him. He seemed like the smart type of guy. It seemed a little odd that his sheath was high up at the shoulder. None the less he seemed to be well guarded. "Nice to meet you. My names Katsumi." When Arawn began to swing violently Katsumi began to step backwards dodging one after the other. Unprepared for his swing with the sheath, Katsumi took a hit to the left side of his face. Katsumi grinned and began to chuckle. Whipping the blood from his cheek, Katsumi looked at Arawn dead in the eyes. "I guess you are smart. Attack your opponent before he can even unsheath his Zanpakuto." Katsumi gripped his Zanpakuto and quickly unsheathed it as he jumped up towards Arawn. Coming down hard above Arawn, Katsumi swung a hard strike downward and landed himself behind Arawn. Turning quickly he swung a high strike across the face followed by a swing downward towards the stomach. Katsumi jumped back and quickly reset his stance. With a huge grin on his face, he Katsumi, looked at Arawn and waited to see what he will do next.

The larger man could move well despite his size. It reminded him of someone else he knew. Such thoughts weren't a good thing during a fight, the taller man succeeded in getting behind him. Arawn spun in place just as Kasumi's sword slashed at him. The spin was perhaps the only thing to save him from getting a new breathing hole. Instead he recieved a cut across his cheek. He stepped back in time to avoid the secondary attack to his stomach. Warm blood flowed down his face from the new cut. He grinned and wiped it way with his sleeve. Arawn chuckled.
"I guess what I lack in strength I make up for in experience." he spoke eying his target. "I fought someone of your stature before. " He now grinned and lunged with his sheath before, but it was only a feint. He pulled the blunt edge back as he made an upward slash with his sword. As the blade rose on the upswing, so did Arawn. He had jumped and now airborne be brought the blade back down upon Kasumi.

Katsumi was surprised that Arawn was able to dodge the second swing of his Zanpakuto. "That was impressive." As soon as Katsumi finished his words, Arawn became airborne. Katsumi knew if he stayed where he was it would be hard to defend himself. Arawn was coming down hard at Katsumi. Katsumi jumped up to meet Arawn in the air. Knowing Arawn had the higher ground Katsumi jumped in a slanted motion just avoiding Arawn's Zanpakuto. Katsumi began to swing violently. Both fighters still in the air, the students below watched in awe. Not realizing it, Katsumi was in the offense. Trying to keep his opponent at bay, Katsumi knew that he needed to keep the upper hand. Katsumi finally charged at Arawn with a swing which landed dead center on Arawns Zanpakuto. Turning quickly Katsumi grabbed Arawn's arm which held his Zanpakuto. "Got you now!"

OOC: Small note Arawn has an asauchi. Never got a zan


For a student the man's sword skill was well above those he'd faced. He could probably take a seated shinigami. Their collision in the air showed him that much. The might battle it out for a while before an obvious victor. Someone had to break this deadlock. While Arawn thought this over Kasumi was the first to act. In a swift motion he closed the distance and grabbed Arawn's right hand; disabling his sword. Quickly he proclaimed his win, but to this the shorter shinigami only grinned. He swung the sheath low into the Kasumi's knee, spun the club like weapon and thrust it at the man's chin.

After trying to disable Arawn, Katusmi found himself in a state of pain. Oddly enough the pain seemed a little more then he expected. The hit to his chin is what did the most harm. After pulling himself together, Katsumi eyed Arawn. Watching the man grin only got Katsumi's that much more interested. "Alright, now this is what I like." Katsumi, ran towards Arawn with his Zanpakuto ready to strick. With a quick spin, Katsumi swung with his Zanpakuto and followed with a round house kick to the stomach. Arawn was thrown a little ways. Before he could regain his stance, Katsumi charged him again.

Not only did he show strength in skill, but it would seem his body strength was also quite high. This knowledge came at great cost, Arawn barely dodged the blade only to be kick in the stomach. The air was forcefully ejected from his body and he was knocked backwards from the opponent.
"That's one way to gain some distance." he coughed. He looked up as Kasumi came right at him. "Like an angry bull." he muttered. It was no time for jokes, but his mind kept ticking away. There was no way he could counter the full on charge, but that didn't mean he had to stand there and take it. His reiatsu exploded outwards and he kicked off the ground with all his strength launching himself impossibly high into the sky.Twenty perhaps over fifty feet. The wind whistled as he shot upward then his momentum died and he hung in the air a moment catching his breath. The crowd below was silent at whole spectacle.
"Let's see if you can handle this!" Arawn shouted over the wind as he plummeted down from the sky. He pointed his sword at Kasumi while falling like a stone.

OOC: This will be interesting

Katsumi was taken by surprise at the reiatsu. For a moment he forgot that Arawn was a seated shinigami in the 12th squad. The display of his reiatsu opened Katsumi's eyes. He got a tense look on his face. "I think I've gone too far for my own good." He whispered to himself. Katsumi looked up to find Arawn coming at him rapidly and his reiatsu was at a higher level then before. Katsumi knew that if he didn't react quick he was going to be crushed. As Arawn closed in Katsumi did the only thing he knew he could. Quickly rolling to his right, Katsumi just barely dodged the blade of Arawn's Zanpakuto. However the force of reiatsu that was released when Arawn hit the floor threw Katsumi into a tree near by the training field. Katsumi was no longer fighting to show what he had. He was fighting to keep himself from getting seriously injured. "I can't let him take the upper hand." Katsumi whispered again to himself. He stood to his feet and held his Zanpakuto forward. Katsumi began to shout and grunt. He never tried to fight with reiatsu before. Brute force was his means of fighting before. For the first time he felt himself get a wind of energy. Katsumi stepped forward and with another shout swung back at the tree. The tree came crashing down and Katsumi gave it a hard kick sending the tree flying toward Arawn. Katsumi charge behind the tree ready to strick at Arawn.

Using his reiatsu as a cushion he survived the death dive. He hadn't expected it to work, but was happy enough. That joy would have to wait until he finished off the opponent. The force of his attack had shaken the other man, but he recovered quickly enough. He turned to look just as a tree cam hurtling at him. Before the tree hit he shunpo'd in the same direction. In an instant he was gone from the spot only to appear seven feet behind and behind Kasumi. He cussed under his breath. While he could shunpo in the right directions, he had problems with distances not to mention he was still facing away. He spun and dashed behind Kasumi with a downward slash with both sword and sheath.

Katsumi was ready to finish this fight. However he was underestimating the speed of Arawn. As Arawn disappeared Katusmi stopped in his tracks. "Where did he go?" He whisper under his breath so that his classmates wouldn't know he lost his opponent. From behind Katsumi heard a grunt and felt a reiatsu coming towards him. As he turned he knew what just happened. Arawn's distance was off. Katsumi tried to step back and avoid the attack. Arawn's Zanpakuto came crashing down on Katsumi's left shoulder down the left side of his chest. Katsumi fell to one knee and a numb pulsating feeling came over Katsumi. A warm sensation of blood filled the coat of Katsumi. "I guess I wasn't fast enough for that one." Katsumi said with a grin and a chuckle. Katsumi stood with his Zanpakuto forward. Whispers of, "why doesn't he stop?" and "is he crazy" filled the air. Katsumi wanted to win this fight. However he wasn't sure if his strength would hold up.

He looked at the man rise to his feet. Truly a noble action. Most would remain on the ground writhing in pain. Arawn smiled. Yes, this man reminded him of someone he knew. He bowed to Kasumi and sheathed his sword.
"Damn! I can't believe I did that." His voice almost a monotone he looked at Kasumi and winked. "I yield!." he then shouted.
The crowd gasped, and the instructor stepped forward. "What are you doing? Continue with the duel!" Arawn had expected such of the man. He turned to face the larger man and shook his head.

"I will not." he said quite evenly. Before he was fearful of this man, but now his adrenaline pumping, he wasn't so disturbing. "This was supposed to be an honorable fight, I used shunpo so it is my loss."
The instructor's face was distorted into confusion. "I didn't say you couldn't_"
Arawn held up his hand and cut him off.
"The fact I HAD to us it, is the true matter." Arawn kept his face straight, but mentally he was smiling. "I'm not of high rank and skill, but for me hard pressed to use such an technique means this man surpassed my normal skills. Is there any way for an academy student to counter shunpo? Have you taught them such a skill?"
The instructor bit his lip, as he tried to think of a response. Arawn continued.
If this were to continue and I employed such a technique the victor would be obvious. Wouldn't it?" The burly man reluctantly nodded his head. Again a mental smile. "Look at him." He pointed at Kasumi. "So much damage and he still got back up. He won't let it end so easily. Do you want him mortally wounded? I think that would be counter productive."
The large man considered Arawn's words, then sighed shaking his head. "Fine." He turned to the other students "Match is over. Next pair come forward."

The man's back turned Arawn went over to Kasumi and held out his right hand. "It was a good match. Sorry about that last one." He gave him a small smile. "Perhaps another time we can try this again. But first let's get you some medical attention.

As Arawn turned to talk to the instructor, Katsumi knew the match was over. Katsumi stabbed his Zanpakuto into the ground and fell to one knee. Breathing heavely, Katsumi looked at his fellow classmates with pain. Arawn turned to Katsumi and shook his hand. "I'm ready for that medical attention whenever you are Arawn. Hopefully there's some good looking nurses." Katsumi said with a smile on his face trying not to show the pain he felt. "I'm going to learn how to move like that one day my friend. Then we'll do this again." He said as Arawn helped him to his feet.