Learning What Matters

Ryouta strode up the side of a hill near the Shinigami Academy. He yawned as he sat down, laying his Zanpakuto across his lap as he did so. Ryouta concentrated, let his reiatsu flow into his swords. He felt his mind slip away...
All of a sudden, he was standing in the middle of what appeared to be the African savannah. "Uh...what?" Ryouta stood and looked around. I wonder- isn't my Zanpakuto's true form supposed to show up now? Ryouta sighed.
He heard a growl from behind him. Turning around, Ryouta saw a very strange sight. A muscular albino lion with glowing red eyes was approaching him. It was standing on its hind legs, and wore armor reminiscent of a samurai warrior.
“So…you are…?” Ryouta looked up at the imposing figure. He looked to be at least 8 feet tall.
“It is not permitted for you to know my name until you prove you are worthy,” the lion spoke with a voice that was very gruff; his speech had a purring, growling quality to it.
“That’s fine, it’s not supposed to be easy anyway,” Ryouta spoke casually. “So if I have to prove myself worthy, I assume there’s some kind of test?”
The lion kneaded his brow as if frustrated. “Damn it, do you get how one learns their sword’s name?”
“Yes, by forming a bond with it,” Ryouta said.
“Walk with me.” The lion began walking across the seemingly empty savannah. Ryouta shrugged and followed him. They walked for about 20 minutes in complete silence.
“Umm…have we bonded yet?” Ryouta tapped the lion on the shoulder.
The lion appeared to be shaking. *ROAR* He whirled on Ryouta. “Do you have any idea how irritating you are? How frustrating it is to be wielded by someone like you! You act like a petulant child, and you shy away from fighting because, not because you have a problem with spilling blood, but because you are too damned lazy to engage in honorable combat!” The lion was pretty much frothing at the mouth. “You do not deserve to wield me, and I have not seen any qualities that endear me toward you.”
Ryouta took a step back. “Wow, dude, I can fight…”
The lion glared at him. “Then do it!” Out of nowhere, the air around them began to shimmer. And then, standing all around them was a vast horde of identical Hollows. They stood upright, and resembled either hyenas or jackals. Ryouta drew his blades. “I can fight.” He threw himself into the crowd of hyena Hollows, and began flash-stepping around and essentially slashing them to pieces. Behind him, the lion had thrown himself into the fray, using both his teeth and enormous paws to batter the hyena Hollow to pieces. This continued on for 5 minutes; there seemed to be no limit to the number of Hollow that showed up. If this is a test- nothing’s changing. So…these Hollow aren’t real. I’m doing something wrong.
Ryouta heard an enraged roar. He turned in mid-slash to see that the lion had a large gash in his arm, which appeared to be bleeding profusely. In an instant, Ryouta abandoned the Hollow he was fighting and flash-stepped over. His rage seemed to fill him. “Bakudo no Yo: Hainawa! Hado no Ju Ichi: Tsuzuri Raiden!” The yellow rope exploded everywhere, wrapping every Hollow in it. The rope glowed eerie blue as did every Hollow it touched- and then they all exploded in a burst of electrical energy. Ryouta rushed to the lion. “Are you all right?”
The lion stood. “I am fine. You have passed the first test. But you still have not earned the right to know my name.”

The strange pair continued across the empty savannah. Ryouta was thinking very hard about what test he had passed. It’s unlikely that it was a test of my actual fighting ability; he would know that already. Perhaps it was because I acted without hesitation when I defended him…
The lion’s voice sent him out of his reverie. “Sit.” They were beneath a giant tree that seemed to reach up forever into the cloudy sky.
“It looks like it’s going to rain,” said Ryouta.
“Why did you say that?” asked the lion.
“That’s what friends do. We talk about pointless stuff like that, and move on to other more important things,” Ryouta explained.
The lion blinked. “You’re insane.”
Ryouta nodded. “Probably. So, was the fact that I acted without hesitation the reason I passed your test?”
The lion opened his eyes in surprise. “You’re more perceptive than you look. Yes. But that’s not all. Your next test is arguably harder, but also arguably easier.” He snapped his fingers, and an image of Himawari Fukuyama appeared. It slowly seemed to solidify and become real.
“What the-?” Ryouta stood.
“She is your friend, is she not?” the lion asked.
“Yeah, we spar together, and we drink together,” Ryouta answered.
“Yes. Would you consider her your nakama?” Ryouta thought for a second. “Yeah, yeah I would.”
“Hmm…” the lion stood, then quite unexpectedly lashed out and smacked Himawari into the tree. She essentially broke. It was if all her bones had broken, and blood leaked from every orifice.
Red filled Ryouta’s vision. At first he registered only shock. Then, complete and utter rage. Without thinking, he pulled out his ninjato and attacked the lion with a wild cry, swinging over and over again, attacking purely on instinct and anger. Again and again he struck, faster and faster and faster, until his blades were a blur of silver. The lion was overwhelmed, and finally, he lay on the ground with Ryouta’s blades at his throat.
“Explain!” Ryouta’s eyes were filled with both anger and tears. The lion snapped his fingers, and Himawari seemed to vanish, blood and all.
“Huh?” Ryouta relaxed for an instant. In that instant, the lion shoved him away and stood.
“Good, you pass this test. You have shown that despite your lazy exterior, you will fight to defend and protect those you care about. And you have shown yourself to be intelligent and resourceful. You have shown the ability to be selfless. You have earned the right to know my name, and my favorite haiku. Inazuma ni koboruru oto ya take no tsuyu (A flash of lightning! The sound of drops Falling among the bamboos). My name is Raikou Arashi.”
Ryouta blinked, and in that instant, he was back on the hill. The lion was gone. His ninjato were on his lap, and felt strangely warm.

Call Out Phrase: Inazuma ni koboruru oto ya take no tsuyu, Raikou Arashi.
Description: In its released form, Ryouta’s two ninjato become a pair of hook swords.
http://warriorspath.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/hook2.jpg that is the general idea. The hilts are wrapped with white leather, and are, as shown above, weapons in themselves. So basically, two longswords with curved hooks on the end, with blades over the hilt and a spike at the bottom of each hilt.

Ability 1: Inadzuma (flash of lightning) With the command “Shuurai” (strike, as in lightning), Ryouta can send spinning arcs of electricity/reiatsu at his enemy. That is, his reiatsu accumulates in a circle around the hook area, and then he swings his swords and releases the spinning electric projectile. Either that or he can charge an electric arc along the entire length of both his swords. Obviously, this is more destructive upon impact, but the smaller version has the advantage of being 10x faster (this will improve over time). Upon impact, the electric arcs can either explode or simply cut through, depending on what Ryouta wants it to do.

Approved. Seems good enough, well done.