Targeting the Captain I (Kuro)

A special delivery. These weren't rare, but the destination was; the second squad. Of all the divisions the rarely requested anything from the 12th. It seemed to have it's own special equipment and the means to acquire it. The 2nd squad was also the headquarters for the secret division; the Onmitsukidō. Irony was that so many people knew of the Onmitsukidō which was supposed to be spies. Still that knowledge didn't make them less effective. Knowing that they existed kinda made them more scary. Since his promotion the duty of deliveries was no longer a task he had to bother with. But his curiosity had gotten the best of him. He eagerly volunteered for it. The other seat-less shinigami in the squad weren't about to fight him for it. Truth be told if someone wanted to do more work, they were more than happy to let them. Well that was the attitude when he first joined. Everyone had things they rather do. So Arawn found himself in charge of delivering items to the second division. The contents weren't exactly a secret; the newly upgraded communication devices. There weren't many problems with the old ones, but updates were made for it's durability and battery lifespan. Arawn kept on his lab coat and started the trek to the other squad. He passed many people on his way there, but the lab coat kept many from approaching him. It was almost the same as wearing a captain's haori, but with effect of repelling others. He hated his squad's reputation, but at times it was useful. He made it to the doors leading to the 2nd squad's barracks without interruption. Two men stood watch at the massive gate.

"Greetings." Arawn said evenly looking at the clipboard in his hand to confirm the location on his map. "I'm here with a delivery for the 2nd division." The two men eyed him then nodded.
"Thank you, leave the items there and we shall have someone bring them in." He reached for the clipboard. Arawn quickly pulled it back. He wanted to take a look inside. He hadn't come all this way just to leave.
"I'm I was under orders to deliver it personally to your captain." the words spilled out of his mouth before he could think about them. Saying the captain was a good way to get their attention, but should they check it out, he'd be in trouble.
"Well I'm sorry, but we can't just let you in. We can sign for it. If that's okay." he motioned for him to hand over the documents.
"No, I can't allow that. You'll just have to bring the captain here to sign it. Otherwise I'll have to report it to MY captain, and that's something I don't want. I'm sure you can imagine how agitated he will be with me. Almost as much as your captain will be with you." The two men looked at each other again. The first one sighed. "Fine, I'll lead you to the captain. Let's just be quick about it." He pushed against the door and opened it wide. Arawn pulled the small cart behind him and followed. The grounds were quite interesting, it was a shame he couldn't stop and explore. The guardsmen kept looking over his should and telling him to 'hurry up' and 'pick up the pace'. The walked in relative silence otherwise. The thought then came to him; what was he going to say to the captain!? The man was leading him to the commanding officer. His babble about upsetting his captain had worked on the two guards, but would it work twice? The leader of a spy brigade wouldn't fall for such lies. Arawn's thoughts wondered as they passed many other lavish looking buildings. He had noticed that they had passed almost no people as they walked. That was rather odd. In such a big place there had to be the occasional wandering person.Finally came to a stop at one building.
"Well hurry it up, the captain is a very busy man." They had reached their destination and Arawn had no plan of action. The guard grunted again and knocked on the door. "Please tell the Captain we have a special delivery." The door opened slightly and a person dressed in black popped out looked and Arawn and then darted back inside.

As the delivery and deception along with it was being carried out, the grounds of the second squad had become near deserted. They abandoned their carefree nature and lived up to their stealthy spy reputation when members from other squads were in their area. As Arawn was escorted towards Kuro's office by the guard, they were being silently watched by dozens of hidden shinigami observing their every move. This practice had actually been recently assigned by Kuro as a way to improve their stealth abilities. If they could learn to hide themselves against other squads' members, then they'd have more practice for when such abilities were required in the field.

Kuro himself had noticed the change in activity level when the gate was opened. Grinning to himself, he got up from his desk and stretched lazily before concealing his spirit power and sneaking to a vantage point on top of the building next to his office. His guard seemed to be acting rather rude; a matter he'd have to deal with later. After the onmitsukido member inside the door had darted back inside, Kuro leaped off the building and over Arawn and the guard, landing on the path behind them they had just come from.

"Now now, it's not nice to lie to guests. I'm not busy at the moment. And I'm always willing to accept a delivery from Ryouta-san's squad members. So what are we in store for today?"

The voice had come from behind them. He knew they had seen no one on the way to the office, it was startling for someone to suddenly speak. He turned to face the speaker. The guardsman had already turned and bowed. Arawn made no motion to reply or bow. He rubbed his chin as he though about the situation; something missing. Arawn's ability to sense energies and spiritual power was horrible at best. Even at such close range he felt almost nothing from the man. It was possible he was hiding his presence, that would explain how he had gotten so close without detection. But that aside the overall aura he projected wasn't all that intimidating. There was no feeling of power, of confidence. When he first met Captain Ayame Ryouta a small chill had traveled down his spine just being in the same room. He felt nothing like that from this man. The door to the office had barely closed when this man appeared, and he had come from behind. Could this be some kind of test? If the man before him was the captain he sought, that meant this visit was drawing to a close. Arawn suppressed his grin at the sudden idea that sparked to life. With a deep breath he made his move. His hand went to his sword at the hip. In a single motion he freed the blade and pointed at the man standing behind them.
"Hold it right there!" The guard's jaw dropped, his face paled, and his eyes widened. "This man is an impostor!"
"What are you doing!? That's the captain! Lower your weapon." The guard fumbled with his own weapon, but dropped the clipboard Arawn held up his hand making him pause.
"This man suddenly appeared behind us on an empty street, is your captain prone to sneaking up on people?" he asked softly.
"Well yes..." the man stammered
"Does he do such things to guests? Hardly proper etiquette for a captain." Quickly interrupted. The man quieted.
"You're crazy! He's the captain. Just look at him!" The man pointed at the man's white hoari. Arawn shook his head and frowned.
"Looks alone isn't enough, trusting only your eyes? Doesn't seem like a sound practice for your division." The guard balked, he was sweating now.
"Well ask him something only he would know! That will prove he's the captain." his face brightened at that idea. Arawn only raised an eyebrow.
"And I suppose you know something only the captain would know? Anything you know would have to be of public knowledge. In a place like this I'm sure whatever you consider private is well known." The man's face reddened, perhaps he recalled an incident he rather kept secret was untimely revealed to others. All he needed was one final push. "Is your captain a weak man?"
"What do you mean?" The man was struggling to think properly "Of course not! Our captain is wise, noble, and powerful man!" He gained some confidence in saying it aloud.
"Then what of this man, does he feel powerful? It there sense of nobility? Does this person radiate the strength of character you speak of?" The man looked at the man before them as if seeing him again for the first time. His face a scowl.
"No!" he grunted and pulled his weapon his hand shaking. He still had doubts, but Arawn was pleased. "S-so what do we do?"
"I'll fight him. Maybe if we best him we can find the real captain." Arawn said with a straight face, his eyes on the target before him.
"Fight!?" the guard's eyes darted back and forth between Arawn and the supposed impostor. "Are you serious!? What if he's the real thing!?"
"If he's as noble as you say he is then this shall be a long fight, he wouldn't overwhelm such a weak opponent. Otherwise I expect to be disemboweled within seconds, proving he's some malicious fiend come to do ill to the squad. Should that happen run and alert the others of his treachery." He said this last part loud enough for the other man to hear. Challenging a captain, but making it look like an honest mistake was tricky, but the shaky guard would easily back up his story.

Kuro could scarcely prevent himself from bursting out laughing as the 12th squad member led his guard by the nose. Scientists always had a way with words. He drew his zanpakuto from inside his robes and let a small amount of his reiatsu loose as he prepared for an interesting fight.

"I'm sure you know it's a harsh crime to attack a captain. But then again you can't be sure I really am one, can you?" Kuro didn't want to clear things up right away, and used his words carefully to feed into the tensing atmosphere. He dashed forward with an easygoing first strike aiming for a simple clash. Nothing elaborate was needed yet. I'd better refrain from releasing my zanpakuto too...otherwise this fight will be ended before it has a chance to be any fun. he thought to himself, knowing that his squad members (even the confused guard) would recognize his shikai as his weapon and step in to stop the fight.

Moving closer Arawn gave smirk. "Indeed I do know it's would be disastrous for my career to do so, but it's all a very confusing situation." He gave a shrug, his free hand gesturing at the guard observing "What I do now is to ascertain the truth." With those words he lunged forward thrusting his zanpukto towards the right. It was a horrible attack wide enough for anyone to dodge, but it's purpose was to move closer. He quickly twisted his wrist turning the blade horizontal swinging the blade left as he retreated backwards.

Kuro matched Arawn's step in and brought his blade up vertically to push and parry his strikes. He mixed in some hand-to-hand combat by blocking the left swing while holding his blade with just his left hand and throwing a straight punch with his right fist. The fist found nothing but air as Arawn's retreat took him out of Kuro's range. Kuro grinned at the way things were going, but decided that the warm up was over. Focusing a small amount of his power, he shunpoed twice in quick succession. The first took him right next to Arawn's sword arm where he feinted with a quick slash at his foe's face. Before the blade reached Arawn, Kuro's second shunpo carried him behind Arawn, where he struck with an open palmed thrust aimed directly at the center of Arawn's back.

As the "fake captain" vanished Arawn couldn't help, but smile. Already he could feel the large gap between them. Gap was putting it nicely, the difference was a deep chasm. One that seemed nearly bottomless. Experience from countless battles, and studying. Such power and skill would make anyone envious. To be on the receiving end on such strength would fill that same person with dread. He could feel this fear welling up inside of him, as the man reappeared and disappeared and struck him from behind. The blow sent him to the ground face first, Arawn tucked his body and try to roll. He half rolled landing on his back. Quickly he pushed to his feet. There was doubt this man was truly the captain. Arawn realized his hands were shaking his heartbeat erratic.
"Stop shaking." he whispered to himself. But you can't control fear with words. He was frozen, just like with the Menos Gradne's attack. His legs started shaking and vision was blurry. Something ran down his cheek, he touched his face free hand it pulled away wet. Was he crying? Crying like a babe in front of a captain? His eye locked on his wet fingers. He fell to his knees and closes his eyes.

When the eyes opened he wasn't in the 2nd Squad Barracks anymore. He was on his knees on a rock floating in near darkness.
"So you've lost." came the rumbling voice. From his solitary rock he saw Haung Long, it's massive golden body coiled around what looked to be a small boulder. Wasn't it's bed bigger last time?
"I knew I wasn't going to win from the beginning. I just didn't expect this." He spoke looking at his hand. "My body just..."
The dragon sighed "What do you know of this place?" his voice softer, yet still booming. Arawn looked around at the darkness, the stars, and floating asteroids. "This place is you." His arms gestured to the rock his body was wrapped around. "And these are your friends, family, lovers, rivals; everything. This is your life." The dragon's hand pointed from rock to rock as he spoke. Arawn only stared at the endless floating field of stones, there were so many.
"This is how you've lived your life. All these things are a part of you and yet they're not. They are all at a distance." He watched the rocks orbit around them some passed close, but drifted away.
"I had friends. I saw my family every other weekend. I babysat my nephews!" he couldn't accept the dragon's words. He wasn't a loner, he was always surrounded by people that cared for him. Laughing, joking, having fun. There were so many good times he could remember.
"You didn't feel anything for them." Arawn felt something tingle in the back of his head. "You did what was expected. Life was a test, and you gave only the right answers. Like a robot performed you all your work diligently." Arawn wanted to respond yet couldn't. "And then you died. Such a swift and sudden death. Liberated from the flesh you changed, you finally started to grow. Your second life as a shinigami was exciting." The mighty dragon uncoiled it's body and floated closer to Arawn. As it removed it's body pieces of rock broke from the small boulder and drifted away. The rock was getting smaller. Had Haung Long been keeping it together.
"And then it appeared; the menos. And you feared for your life." The golden beast smiled warmly, which was hard for a dragon, it was still intimidating. "If you did nothing you could have lived, and yet you didn't. Knowing the right answer you took the wrong path."
"But it was the right answer! A shinigami should give their life to protect the innocent." Already the beast shook his head.
"It wasn't about them, it was all about you." Again the tingle in his head "Fear, shame, guilt, you felt these and wished to redeem yourself. It was never about them. For a moment you stepped off the path and that is why I came to you." It's hand pointed to the deteriorating rock behind him "Do not falter." Everything went dark.

His eyes snapped open. He was on his knees in the squad 2 barracks. He looked at his opponent; the powerful man before him, and he stood.
"I'm sorry you had to see something so disgraceful." he said wiping his face with his sleeve. He grinned "Shall we?" He shupo'd, but came to a stop only a four feet from Kuro. He ripped his lab coat off and tossed in front of him. The white jacket was like a leaf on the wind as it floated between the two combatants. Arawn quickly thrust twice with his sword, the blade cut through the thin material towards the target on the other side. His reiatsu still flaring he shunpo'd again, this time past Kuro. He appeared and spun on his heel as he whipped his hand around to aim. "Hado#17: Smite." The large purple octagon battering ram took shape and hurtled itself at the back of the captain.

Kuro watched as the complicated emotions played in the eyes of his opponent. Such a storm was raging inside of Arawn. Kuro remembered the days of his beginnings, particularly the many times that he had come close to death while fighting against seemingly impossible odds. He smiled with satisfaction as Arawn overcame his uncertainty and rose to fight again. The ripped lab coat added some annoyance as it obscured Kuro's vision, cutting the time he had to react to Arawn's sword thrusts in half. Kuro managed to dodge the first, but was caught off guard by the second and was nipped by the blade and received a small scratch on his right arm. This turnout only made him more excited. Personally witnessing the growth of a kohai in front of him was a thing that pleased Kuro immensely. He watched Arawn's move as he shunpoed around him and stopped behind him just like Kuro had done to him earlier. Kuro didn't waste time by turning all the way around. The first moment he heard Arawn's voice behind him, he leaped straight up into the air, dodging the kido attack. He descended quickly, deciding that the fight had gone on long enough in his opinion. He didn't want to get too serious and crush Arawn's newfound determination by injuring him. "Concentrate, Seishou-Seijin!" he roared as he neared ground level. His short blade transformed into his black and gold gauntlet shikai, which he filled with power as he slammed his palm into the ground underneath himself and Arawn. The earth was torn apart by the force of Kuro's attack, cracks branching out while small bits of dirt and rock were flung out from the point of Kuro's strike. Kuro stood up straight again and brandished his weapon clad hand, letting Arawn make the decision of whether or not they should still continue this fight. Kuro only hoped that his earlier thoughts of his squad interfering were mistaken if Arawn chose to continue.

The strike to the ground made him stumble backwards and fall to his knee. Such a blow had caused so much destruction. This was a captain. It would take the smallest of effort for him to crush him. But he already knew that, he could feel it, but he wouldn't let it deter him. Sa Shin Mu: Beck-Ho His reiryoku and reiatsu pool into his fist as he slams it into the ground. There is an small explosion that shatters the ground and sends chunks of rock at his opponent. Using that as a diversion Arawn uses shunpo again this time he appears nine feet above Kuro. In using the techinque from higher up the effect is greater adding the speed of his descent. Sa Shin Mu: Beck-Ho He drops like a stone. Arawn hit the ground creating his own cracks in the earth and shattering stone. He released his hold of the reiatsu. The pressure came off as a small wave of force pushing the rock he had just crushed airborne. A new shower of larger stones flew in every direction from the point of impact.

Kuro was impressed by the replying combo of attacks that Arawn launched in return against his zanpakuto's power. It was made even more devastating through use of the loosened rock that had been cracked loose by Kuro's strike. Very resourceful... Kuro leaped back from the showering debris and held out his gauntlet in front of him. As he moved back, he poured power out of his palm to form a thin barrier of energy extending from his hand in all directions shaped like a golden man-sized shield. The barrier blocked the flying stones and allowed Kuro to think about his next attack. Maybe it's time for more trickery...

After the stones were settled down, Kuro made his move. He dissolved the energy barrier on his palm and extended more power out of his gauntlet in the shape of a long, long blade. It was about four times as long as Kuro's own height, shining with his power. He brought his arm back, then swung the giant weapon in a sweeping horizontal slash at Arawn from a distance. He just wondered how Arawn would respond to an attack from such an unusual weapon.

As impressed as Kuro was with Arawn performance; Arawn was surprised he had lasted so long. The initial fear had faded, but was not forgotten. The man that stood before him wasn't fighting at his maximum, where as Arawn had to go all out just to make him take a couple steps back. He could only watch as his latest attack was easily thwarted by the captain's gloved hand. With ease he managed to defend himself against the wide area technique. Arawn silently wondered what else the glove was capable of. The next moment he got his answer. His eyes widened as the massive blade of energy took shape.
"Holy shit." he muttered. Once again he lost his composure, but this time with good reason. The scale of the weapon might as well be the scale of the power between them. But this was no time to be impressed. The weapon wasn't a bluff, a large attack was imminent. Grasping the hilt of his weapon with both hands he pointed the blade downwards. His body snapped forward and slammed the zanpukto into the ground all the way to the tsuba. "Drift, Haung Long!" he bellowed. Kuro was already pulling the huge energy weapon back to swing. Arawn's weapon shifted as he pumped his reiryoku through the now golden hilt. The captain's weapon had already begun it's swing. He could dodge it, but he had already resolved himself to take the strike head on. He could only pray he his haphazard plan would work. Seconds before the huge energy hit him, Arawn pulled on his blade. The captain's and his own attacks had shattered the ground. Arawn's weapon made things light and float hardly a combative effect, but even that had it's uses. When Arawn yanked the golden handle, instead of pulling his zanpukto free he pulled up chunks of dirt and stone. To anyone observing it looked as if the earth rose into his hands, a boulder on the tip of his fingers. The captain's attack and his rocky defense collided.

The long energy blade took a bite of the clod of earth Arawn used to defend himself. Small bits of rock and sand fell away from the mass. Due to the anti-gravity of his weapon, it made it it seem like only a dust cloud. This is where his plan was flawed. While the boulder was well over three times his height and width; it was weightless. The many rocks and sand kept their consistency, but that just meant it was a stone shield and nothing more. The weight of the clod would have given him sufficient leverage to ward off the blow. As such the strike had little problem pushing him back and bowling him over to the ground. Arawn didn't tumble for long, but stopped quickly due to the earth clod that dragged behind him. He scrambled to his feet. The man made boulder was now half it's original size and girth. Parts of it were still smoking from the contact with the other man's weapon. He had succeeded and yet he had failed. Holding the remaining stone with his left he slowly extracted his golden weapon with his right. He quickly assessed the situation. He had some idea of the captain's weapon was capable of, but he doubted that was the extent of his ability. The man had made a shield and sword, a large one, using the energy from his palm. It would seem the gauntlet gave him the ability to shape energy, but he'd only used crude shapes so far. Arawn quickly reminded himself that the man was undoubtedly holding back. It was possible he could make more dynamic objects. At the same time the captain probably hadn't discerned the nature of his own weapon. With a grin, he jumped a good 7-8 feet into the air, bringing the boulder with him. He raised the rock over his head and spiked the large ball down at the captain. Arawn shunpo'd to the ground charging the other man and slashed as the large stone came hurtling down.

Kuro was slightly surprised as Arawn unleashed his shikai to oppose his attack. The large mass of earth used to block his attack was impressive but disappointed Kuro. It hadn't been the reaction he'd been hoping for, which reminded him that things didn't always develop the way you planned on the battlefield. He dissolved his blade and quietly observed Arawn. Regardless of how his move had differed from Kuro's expectations, the reaction had let him know one thing: Arawn was still aware of the difference in their abilities and was being more cautious because of that fact. He looked at Arawn's weapon and sailed through his memories again as he tried to analyze it. Could it be an earth controlling zanpakuto like the rogue shinigami that Kuro had fought when he first obtained his shikai? Something told him that wasn't the case; the resistance from the clash of his blade against the mass of earth was wrong. It seemed too light...but Kuro didn't know what to make of that yet. He decided he'd figure out more as the fight continued, a decision made not a moment too soon. Arawn was beginning his next attack as Kuro finished his thoughts.

Kuro didn't have long to think about his move. Arawn was closing in with the boulder, running too easily for it to weigh as much as it should. There didn't seem to be any stress on his motion at all, which was very strange. Kuro decided that he'd need to apply some brawn to overcome this obstacle. When Arawn jumped up and raised the stone over his head, Kuro pointed his open palm up at him and let loose some more of his power out of his gauntlet. The shot up straight like a beam, until it came close to the rock. Kuro extended branches of energy from the tip and wrapped them around the rock, catching it in a vice like grip. He felt the weight of it pulling down and quickly surged some of his power inside of his gauntlet to fuel his own physical strength. He pulled down on the boulder and slammed it hard into the ground below, shaking the floor of the second squad grounds violently. Through this commotion, he noticed Arawn's attack and grinned as he shaped an additional branch of energy from the mass extending from his hand to form a thick stick of energy in front of him that parried Arawn's attack. Figuring that most of his shikai's tricks had been revealed, he spoke with pride for his weapon that he'd fought with over the years. "My zanpakuto allows me to utilize my spirit power in any way necessary in a fight. I can use it internally to boost my own strength, or externally to attack. It's a very versatile ally in battle." Kuro broke off the long part of his energy, which quickly faded when cut off from his will and concentration, and fueled his strength with his power again as he pushed back with the energy stick to throw Arawn away from him. He stayed where he was, deciding that he'd counter attack more aggressively after Arawn made his next move.

He was only half surprised when the energy branched and intercepted his attacks. "Sometimes being right wasn't what it cracked up to be. " he said under his breath. The captain telling him such could only mean that he didn't care if Arawn knew what his weapon could do. Such confidence would often be the downfall in any other opponent, but not in this case. There wasn't any arrogance in his voice. He was merely stating a fact. He could try another kido but it would more likely be met with the other man's shikai. Upon learning what the zanpukto was capable of he had doubts about his chances to win.
"So you're giving up again?" Came a familiar voice
"Well there's no much I can do at this point." he whispered. His eyes wide he whipped his head from side to side to find the speaker. Finally he looked down at his weapon. "You can talk!?"
"We've spoken before why is this such a surprise now?" He could hear the annoyance in the creature's voice. From what he had read spirits reside within the weapons. And yet nothing about the zanpukto speaking other than in the dream world they usually resided.
"Yeah, but_" he felt like a fool arguing with his blade in front of his opponent. "I appreciate what you did before, but this is different. Surrendering is probably my best choice."
The dragon sighed. "Well, since you did try, I can lend you some help. Give me your reiryoku."
"That's not going to help much." Arawn stammered
"Do it!" It roared. He did as he was instructed as he felt his energy pump into the golden blade. But then he could feel another energy join with his and then flood his body. A reiatsu greater than his own. "Good, now release.

As commanded he let the energy out. The effect was immediate; his whole body went light and he started to float. It was like he was dropped into a pool of water. He was about to comment when he noticed it wasn't just him. The rocks on the ground were also floating.
"Ummmm, what did you just make me do?" he asked in a whisper as he floated. He tried to keep still to prevent himself from flipping end over end in the air.
"空白の空気" the voice yawned "Unlike you I can influence a larger area. A good six meters or so."
"Well that's nice, but how does it help me? "
"Maybe it will leave a good impression before you surrender." it snickered. "Good luck with the rest." the voice said as it faded away.

"Marvelous...a fine zanpakuto for a member of the 12th squad." Kuro spoke out loud with admiration for Arawn's abilities as he observed the new display and finally pieced together what it's theme was. "A weapon that allows you to break the rules of nature, just like scientists strive to do all the time. Hahaha."

Though he was impressed, Kuro figured that this was no time to be overly friendly. They were still in a spar after all. He held out his left hand aiming his open palm at Arawn now floating with a number of rocks around him. "With an ability like that activated, it'd be extremely difficult for me to fight you physically with any means of brute force, seeing as my strikes would have no weight behind them. So my only real option is to show you the final ability of my shikai."

Kuro gathered a large amount of energy into his gauntlet, making the jewel on his palm shine with a bright red light. When he felt that he had enough energy compressed to make a devastating attack, he let loose the energy which fired out of his palm in the form of a large golden beam. It sailed towards Arawn like a golden cero, quickly approaching him and his weightless field.

Arawn stared at his weapon in disbelief. While true he had perhaps 1% chance of winning, he now had 0% floating in the air. He could only stare as the 2nd squad captain gathered the energy on his palm. "That looks quite painful." he struggled to move, but his body wouldn't react as needed. The futile attempt at motion only sent his body spinning slightly in the weightless space. It was too late, the captain released his attack and the bright flash of light rushed to meet him. Desperate Arawn crossed his sword and arm across his face hoping to shield himself even just a little bit. The golden light blinded him as it engulfed him and detonated.

When he awoke he found himself crashed into the side of a wall. Every muscle in his body hurt. He blinked; his body hurt? He quickly examined himself. His whole body smoking yet not severely burned. Having finished the examination he finally noticed he was no longer in the 2nd squad barracks. What had happened? Moving slowly he examined the crater he was laying in. It would appear that he had been knocked a great distance before crashing into the wall. "But that last attack..." he staggered, it would seem he was more hurt than he imagined. No doubt the impact had a part to play in that. His head pounded as he tried to figure out what happened. "I was weightless and floating, how could I survive that attack?"
He should have been incinerated. The golden kukuri was still clutched in his hands. An explosion creates not just fire, but force. Had being weightless saved him? If that was true; Haung Long had saved him. Had the dragon planned that from the start? He shook his head as the weapon shifted back to a katana in his hands. Using it as a walking stick he limped away from the crash site. The problem was he wasn't sure where he was and thus didn't know which way to go. With a sigh, he picked a direction. Hopefully he'd run into someone and ask for directions to the 4th squad. Each step was agony and his head was starting to pound louder and louder. But he was lucky it was only that much.