Fly like a bird

Himawari’s eyes opened to a sky, a great endless sky both above and below her, the sky shining a brilliant blue, with great clouds drifting around her on a gentle wind that brushed against her skin the way a mother caresses the face of her child. Himawari felt a great tranquillity wash over her, there was peace for her in this world, a peace she could never explain nor experience probably anywhere else. The clouds seemed to swirl about her now, as if she were their gravitational centre, pulling them around her in an endless circle.

“What is this place?” Himawari said, her voice echoing in this strange world.

“This is you,” a voice spoke softly behind her. Himawari span around, only to find a tiny songbird hovering behind her. It was so small; it could nestle comfortably in the palm of her hand. It proceeded to do so, as she reached out for it. It preened its silver wings as it sat upon her palm before gazing up at her.

“This is you,” the bird repeated, “Your soul, your essence, the deepest inner workings of your mind. You can call it whatever you want. All I know is that this is you and that I live here.” A look of dawning crossed across Himawari’s face, “You’re my Zanpakutō.”

“Wow, you catch on quickly,” the bird replied sarcastically, hovering before her, “What are you going to do next, dance for me?”

“You know,” Himawari scowled, pointing at the bird, “For a pretty little thing, you’ve sure got a lot of attitude.” The bird snorted... somehow.

“Look who’s talking,” it replied, “I’m a part of you remember idiot. It’s only natural I’d have a similar personality to you.” It sighed, “Why are you trying to pick fights with me anyway? You’ve got way too much potential to be wasting your time, technically, arguing with yourself.”

“What in all of creation are you talking about?” Himawari exclaimed.

“This!” the bird shot back, indicating the sky around her, “The sky goes on forever, and you can do exactly the same. Your potential is limitless, just like the sky. And between us, we can achieve this. But only if you stop arguing with me.” It flew forward and pecked Himawari painfully on the head.

“Ow!” Himawari exclaimed, “There’s no need to batter my head in!” She swiped at the bird to push it away, but it was persistent. The tiny little thing continued to peck away at her head. She took one desperate swipe, and the bird finally flew off, returning to the position it had had before, fluttering happily before her. Himawari was very tempted to take the bird and wring its neck, but she had a feeling that wasn’t going to benefit her much. She took a deep breath, trying to calm the rage within her.

“Ok,” Himawari began, speaking slowly as not to enflame her temper, “What do I need to do.”


“Tell me what brought you here,” the bird simply replied. Himawari looked a little a taken back.

“Um, I wanted to learn more about you,” Himawari replied. She was certain the bird rolled its eyes as she said this.

“Of course you did!” the bird replied, “But why did you want to learn more about me? What’s driving you?” Oh, Himawari thought, um…

“I want to protect the people of the world. I want to know that with my-“ She was interrupted by the bird snorting once again.

“You’re not in a beauty pageant, woman!” it yelled at her, “All this talk of protecting people and ensuring that their souls are safe, yeah I get that that’s important to you. But I’m a part of you, remember. So I already know what the true answer already is. But you have to acknowledge it.” Himawari looked down at her feet, finding it unbelievable that she was being scolded by a tiny animal. She looked up at her.

“I want to be strong,” Himawari spoke once again, “I want to be able to step into a fight and I want to be able to win. Because…” Himawari paused as the words played over in her head, “I want to prove I’m worth something more than just a 12 year old drowned child.”

The bird was silent for a moment, “Your death bothers you.”

“It was too quick,” Himawari agreed, “I didn’t even realise it had happened. I left my family behind, and I should have been there to help them when things got difficult. Especially during the war.” The bird looked at her, with almost a look of sympathy on her face.

“Well, you’re getting better at the honesty thing,” the bird muttered, “Now we have but one thing left.” The bird’s wings spread and feathers suddenly blasted themselves in all directions. The feathers all glowed for a moment, before all changing into thousands identical versions of Himawari’s sealed Zanpakutō. Himawari span around, she’d never seen so many blades all in one place.

“All you have to do…” the bird’s voice fluttered in her ear, “…is to find the real one.” Himawari spun back around to look at her.

“But there are thousands here!” Himawari exclaimed, “And they’re all the same! How am I supposed to tell the difference?” the bird chuckled at her.

“That’s your problem,” The bird span around and flew off, disappearing into a light as she went. Himawari sighed. She looked around her; there were so many Zanpakutō here, she had no idea where to start, or how to tell the difference between them.

She made her way over to the nearest blade, reaching her hand out for it. The blade glowed as her hand got closer. It didn’t feel right. Himawari retracted her hand back, and looked around. She could try the same method with the other swords, but there were so many and they went on forever; Himawari knew that it would never work.

She pondered for a moment, So many swords. Trial and error was not her option here, so there must be another answer. That was when it hit her. It’s a riddle. You have ten thousand swords, how do you find the real one? She looked around; well when you’re usually looking for someone in a large crowd, you generally shout for them. But there was a snag with this theory; Himawari had no idea what the name of her blade was.

She sat down in midair, looking about her, going over everything that had happened so far in her mind. She looked over it in her mind’s eye; the tiny silver bird, the way the swords had appeared from the shedded feathers of the bird’s wings... wait... the feathers. She stood up; every single one of these swords had appeared from a feather from the bird’s wings; feathers of pure steel.

The name flew into her mind, like the bird she’d met here. She smiled to herself as she whispered, “Hagane no Tsubasa.” A great light emanated behind her and Himawari span around. One blade was glowing now, making its way towards her, rather than the other way around. She reached out and as the blade touched her hands, it disappeared, the tiny blue bird being left in its wake.

“Hello Himawari,” the bird chirped up at her cheerfully.

“Hello Hagane no Tsubasa,” Himawari smiled back. The bird shook its head.

“Hagane’s fine,” the bird replied.

“Ok,” Himawari laughed, “Hello Hagane. I’m pleased to finally meet you.”

Hagane no Tsubasa

Call out phrase: Fly Hagane no Tsubasa!

Description of released form: Hagane is a duel/melee type Zanpakutō, evolved to compliment Himawari’s skills in both unarmed combat and swordplay. It transforms from a katana, to a pair of elbow-length gantlets, constructed of black leather, with steel scale plating along the upper side of the arm, and steel knuckle protectors. Each extracts a blade, which has the ability to grow in length with each individual activated ability.



Abilities:

Ability 1: Tertiary Feathers: A blade the length of her forearm extracts itself from one of the gauntlets each. This initial ability is designed to catch enemies off guard, as Himawari is able to call out the ability quickly, even right in the middle of combat. This ability also uses Himawari’s own reiatsu to begin reinforcing the blade and armor on her shikai, allowing Himawari’s defense and physically strength to increase.


Ability 2: Gained after "200" amount of ZE.


Ability 3: Gained after "300" amount of ZE.

Approved. Very nice.