Never talk to strangers (Tao Ailin)

Eastern 12th district

He adjusted his mask as he moved along the back alleys shadowing his mark. The mask hid his smile, he so enjoyed these hunts. The gray cloak hiding him in the shadows, his steps quieter than a whisper. Playing the bad guy was so more exciting. In this case he was being both the bad guy and good guy. He peeked again at his target. The man walked slowly through the dark road, unaware someone was following him. He had just finish burglarizing someone's home. Despite his frail appearance he was quite an adept thief. This was the fourth house he had hit. Now he would liberate the very funds the man had pilfered from others. With a single leap he land right in the robber's path. The thin man gave a startled yelp.
"Ey matey, right startled me." he stammered. He tried to walk past , but the gray cloaked man stepped in the way once again. "Ya be needing somethin?" he asked
"Something." he said in a deep voice. Since masquerading as bandit Arawn had done much work in creating his persona Ashe. "A toll is to be paid for using my street."
The man looked at the strange figure and chuckles. "Yer street? Are you daft? You don't own this place." His right hand moved towards his hip. Arawn noted the movement. Last week the man had mugged someone at knife point. No doubt he reached for that weapon now. Arawn's arms moved beneath the cloak as he shifted his body slightly
"The fee for passage is much less than that of insulting me." he growled and took a step forward. The man reacted quicker than expected. The right hand swung up with a 4in blade. The dull blade pierced the gray cloak, but met little resistance as it seemed to hit empty air. His shock was obvious. Arawn wore the heavy gray cloak for a reason, not only to hide his figure, but his movements. The knife had missed it's target with him standing sideways. His right arm popped up and grabbed the bewildered man's wrist as his leg kick out. With little effort he tossed the man onto his back. The air was knocked from him leaving him stunned. Arawn sighed, it was too easy. Against ordinary folk his shinigami training made him nearly unbeatable. He bent over the still form to collect the spoils, when he heard footstep behind him.

Her eyes wandered from building to building as she passed into the district that she had been placed in when she had first come to the Soul Society. The quality of life difference between this district and the one she had ended up calling home was easily distinguishable. The citizens here lived in what seemed like a fragile peace, interacting with each other, looking for ways to improve their lives; some of them even had a drive to continue living after their death. ‘This district was never capable of being home.’ She thought as she looked around.

Stopping at one of the small shops in their market attention glimmered over the small trinkets. She had been to this district a few times before on a search for her family, but each attempt resulted in nothing but a tired body and a renewed sense of abandonment. And with her schedule lately, she couldn’t afford that amount of baggage to weigh her down. As she picked up one of the smallest items, a wave of familiar spiritual pressure ran over her, instantly catching her attention. Dropping the medallion, she started moving in its direction. She didn’t know where she recognized it from, but she needed to find out.

Pushing her body through the streets, she could sense that she was getting closer. Bringing herself to a stop, she could hear her footsteps lightly tapping on the ground as she took in the situation. ‘A bandit and an unconscious citizen. Can’t say that I’m too surprised to see that combination.’ She thought, a bit disappointed, her hand lightly gripping her zanpakutô.

“It seems as though even the higher districts can’t keep scum off their streets.” Her voice was faint, almost sounding as though she wasn’t herself. She had thought that she would know the person who had that kind of energy; had even hoped that it was a family member. “You must find it thrilling to know that you can easily take out someone much weaker than yourself.” A bit of sarcasm filled the last comment, but otherwise her demeanor went unchanged. She wasn’t one that was gung-ho about defending the public, but bandits didn’t rank high in her book.

His head snapped up at the voice. At the distance he could fell the spiritual energy from the short woman. Either shinigami or a student, the power was more refined than the wild talents that sometimes appeared in Rukongai. If he was right things had become quite troublesome. The trick of being a good bandit was avoiding the authorities' attention; in this case the shinigami. Mugging and thefts were were fine and good in moderation. Getting into a fight anyone from Serieti would be an express to their wanted listing. Still in Rukongai the walls had ears and the shadows have eyes. Backing down and turning tail weren't things someone could do. Some pickle he'd gotten himself into; fight and possibly bring the whole Gotei after him or runaway and lose what little creditability he had gained in the last weeks. He had to act fast, he grabbed the knife the bandit had dropped and flipped it in his hand.
"Leave child, this is none of your affair." Arawn spoke in a gruff voice as he tossed the weapon. The small blade struck the ground point first near Tao's feet. "I'd hate to have your mother weeping and mourning passing. It would spoil my drink." the die had been cast. It was an idle threat, Arawn dared not kill her, nor had he killed anyone in Rukongai. There were all rumors that he had spread. Even as he watched the young lady his right hand grasped his sword under his cloak.

Hearing his voice, she couldn’t help but feel resentment towards the way he obviously felt about her. Being of her height and weight, she didn’t seem as though she could be a threat to anyone. Sighing a moment at his comments, she kicked the dagger’s hilt in an attempt to move it to the left side, her eyes never leaving the figure in front of her.

“Don’t worry. My mother doesn’t even know I exist. She can’t weep for a girl she doesn’t know.” Her voice was cold at the mention of family, her gaze wavering for a second. Years ago, she had wanted to find them, she wanted to be reunited with them. But days turned into months, and those turned into years and she stopped looking, stopped caring, and lived on her own. ‘He didn’t seem to mind knocking the wind out of that man.’ For a moment, her thoughts went to the man lying on the ground.

Her hand let go of her zanpakutô; in her more recent classes, it had been obvious how much she relied on it. “I wasn’t supposed to be doing things like this today. But I can’t just leave knowing that you just attacked a citizen.” Her voice was almost neutral. In truth, she didn’t care much about the man lying unconscious on the ground; she didn’t care that he was being pilfered for whatever he was worth. It was the bandit that really got to her, she blamed them for what happened to her home, the little boy who couldn’t move on, it was the only place she was attached to and now it was a wasteland because of people like this one in front of her.

"This is why I hate dealing with little brats." he sighed as he stood up. Not much taller than the woman, but enough of difference. He glared down at her from beneath his mask. His own hand released it's grip on his weapon. He didn't worry too much about her using a blade, more so his own. It would be quite problematic if people noticed his weapon going head to head with a shinigami. A zanpukto would be stronger than any blade a bandit could acquire even unsealed. "You've lived a sheltered life, little one. If you're protecting him out of justice you're fooling yourself. Justice is something they tell children to sleep better at night, but the truth is simple; might makes right." He kicked the prone body. Irony was in this case the man she was championing was an utter lowlife. The man let out a groan. "The weak are cattle to the strong. This is reality, and it's time for your lesson." He raised his left hand palm up, he beckoned her forth, but that was only a mild decoy. As he motioned with this left Arawn kicked out with his right foot aiming at the young woman's chest.

‘Little brat?’ Ailin’s eyes narrowed for a moment as she heard the man call her those names. Yes, she was small. Yes, for a Shinigami, she was somewhat young. No, she wasn’t a brat, but that could always be the denial talking. Listening to him speak, she could feel the irritation she felt for him building inside of her, the way he was talking down on her, the way he was acting as though he was better than her, the little remarks that showed what he really thought. “Why is it that everyone I run into lately has the urge to teach me a lesson?” Her words were clipped, though more thinking aloud than anything else. On a normal day, things like this would go on unbeknownst to her, she would ignore comments on her stature; she would disregard the jokes that people made about how young she looked.

Her eyes followed his movements, he was only a bandit from the Rukongai, in theory, it wouldn’t be hard to handle him, but that could ultimately lead to her failure. While her eyes followed his left hand, the corner of her eye caught a slight movement coming from the right of his long cloak. ‘A ruse.’ Barely having time to react, she moved her arms into an “X” formation in front of her chest, her feet pushing herself back in an attempt to avoid most of the damage. Feeling his right foot make contact with her arms, she jumped back, feeling a slight pain in her forearms, but that wasn’t something that was new to her. “It’s not really a justice thing if I’m being completely honest. I just don’t like people like you and what you stand for.” The words came out fast, but the tone neutral. This fight was real, a complete accident, but real nonetheless and she couldn’t let emotions get to her.

Focusing her energy into her right hand, she held it out in front of her, her pointer finger pointing directly at the center of his chest. “Hado #4: Byakurai!” Her voice was loud, a shot of lighting running from her finger towards the figure in front of her.

Arawn could imagine what a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle felt like. The blinding white light shot from her finger directly at him. It was his turn to raise his arms to guard, at the same time his instinct told him to dodge. A single shunpo and h. But that wasn't an option, such action would expose his identity. As the blast of energy hit he raised his reiatsu slightly to cushion the blow. The impact still pushed him backwards as the spell dissipated. A cloud of dirt was kicked up as his feet skidded across the ground. His body was tingling all over and his cloak was smoking and in tatters. He could feel the newly created air holes in the bandana covering his face.

"People like me?" he he forced himself to chuckle and then groaned. That spell had alot of kick to it. She was definitely a trained shinigami or a very promising student. "Do you hate those with strength? Or do you hate those that wield their power with a care for those around them?" He pointed to the house behind him. If he had dodged that spell it would have probably destroyed the home and it's occupants. "I'd be careful when firing those things if I were you. I didn't feel like dodging at first, but now I don't want to be hit by something like that again." Quite the reckless person to fire off a kido inside the town like that. Maybe it would be best if he did teach her a proper lesson. He pulled his cloak free from his shoulders.
"You don't know me girlie, but I'd say we're more alike than you'd like to admit." he threw the tattered cloth in front of himself, hiding himself from view for an instant. "Hado #1: Thrust." he spoke the spell quietly, and the effect was invisible. The cloak rocketed forward spread out like a net and hopefully blocking the shinigami's field of vision. He dashed behind the flying cloak/net and sidestepped to left to retrieve the fallen man's dagger. With a deft motion he threw the blade a second time directly a the young woman. The small blade would hurt, but not fatally injure her.

The girl could only stare as she watched the spell hit the man in front of her. She hadn’t expected him to take it head on, watching the dust kick up as his body was pushed back. Letting out a breath, she braced herself for whatever he could throw back at her, she wasn’t experienced, she wasn’t supposed to be doing anything like this, if the Soul Society caught word, they wouldn’t be happy. ‘I know I’m supposed to look at things from an unbiased perspective. . . I haven’t had a problem with it before, but-’ Her thoughts cut off as she tried to shake the feelings of hope she had just moments before. Straightening her stance, she looked at the smoke billowing from the form, hearing his voice once again.

‘With a care?’ Her eyes narrowed as she tried to figure out what he was talking about. The statement was something that she couldn’t fathom being true. Had he not just used his strength, his power, to knock out the man that was lying on the ground not 10 feet away from where he stood? “Don’t pretend like we have anything in common.” Her voice came out more enraged than she had originally planned, yes, she was mad, but she couldn’t let her emotions get the best of her. Taking a deep breath, her maroon eyes stared at the thing in front of her. “You use your power to pick on others, to knock them unconscious and then to steal things from their limp bodies.” It wasn’t a question. She had no doubt in her mind that what she was describing was indeed what he had just been doing when she approached.

Watching him remove the cloak from his body, she didn’t take notice to whatever else he was wearing. It wasn’t often that one met an individual in the Rukongai that was in more than a plain tunic. Without her notice, she saw the cloak flying in her direction at a higher speed than natural, the tattered fabric engulfing her small frame easily. ‘A kidô?’ Her thoughts swirled. As far as she knew, bandits weren’t trained in the demon arts, some of them were gifted with spiritual power, but she was under the impression that they didn’t pursue it. Lifting her arms in front of her, she reached to grab a corner of the fabric with her left arm in an attempt to pull it from her vision. ‘I just need to immobilize him. But if he ca-’ Feeling a pain in her left arm, she winced as she pulled it down; cradling it into her body, the man in her sight. Lifting her right arm in front of her body, she targeted the man. “Bakudo #4: Hainawa!” Her voice was low and strong, a yellow line of energy heading straight for the other figure.

Not dodging Arawn charged into the oncoming spell. He felt the binding rope constrict around his arms. He flexed his muscles but the energy line held. A well cast spell for lacking the incantation. To break the bonds would take a large focus of reiryoku. Unfortunately he couldn't do such a thing with the girl around. He would either have to wait for it to fade by itself or break her concentration. It was a good thing he didn't need his arms, he had closed the distance between them. The second option had some promise. Even with the strength of her spell, she like many students made the same flaw when casting; they stood still.
"Come on little kid you're going to have to do better than that!"
At the last minute he lowered his head ramming the young shinigami in the stomach. He pushed with his back, braced his legs, and raised his head back towards the right. While charging into the girl had seemed an amateur move, it had some purpose. Planting his head in small girl's center of gravity, and then using his larger frame to throw her without using his arms. Charge in like a bull, and toss her like a bull. His aim was to push her into the wall behind.

The last thing she had been expecting was for the man to charge at her. All of the other students she had sparred with had never tried to attack without the use of their arms. Then again, it was basically an unwritten rule that all students would avoid contact with direct attacks. This one in front of her had already taken a Kido with no attempt to dodge and was still going. ‘This isn’t supposed to be how this works.’ Her thoughts on what to do next were jumbled; she couldn’t remember ever fighting someone who fought like the one in front of her. As her body was flying through the air, she knew her Kido had been broken. How he had known that all it took was a lack of concentration to break such a thing was beyond her.

Her chest hurt like hell, her lungs feeling as though they were going to collapse in on themselves. Lifting her right arm, she gripped her left arm. The wound from the dagger wasn’t deep, but it ran quite a way along her arm. Lifting her right arm, she tied the arm of her shirt in a way that would cover the cut, she didn’t have the time to worry about it right now. ‘Whoever thought practicing with wooden weapons was a good idea probably never got attacked with real metal.’ She knew her thoughts were just out of frustration. Even though she was about to graduate, even though she had gone through years of training, a mere bandit was able to fight on par with her, if not better.

Taking a few quick breaths, the girl opened her eyes, pushing her petit frame off of the wall. “Bakudo #5: Senko.” Watching the flash leave her extended hand, the girl didn’t wait to see if it affected him or not. Pushing herself towards the figure in front of her, the girl twisted her body. Bending at the waist and bringing her left foot up so as to kick the male in the chest. With her small frame, she couldn’t hope to do too much damage with one kick, but poured all the power she could behind it. “Don’t call me a little kid.”

Arawn flexed his newly liberated arms. He was slightly amazed she stood after taking the hit. Such a move would have winded a larger target. The girl had fire in her belly despite the size. He couldn't help but smile beneath the tattered mask. She'd be a fine addition to the 13 Court guards. She staggered against the wall. Her injuries taking their toll. Spirit wouldn't be enough. Retreat was a more practical option. If he himself had faced such an enemy, he'd be thinking escape. The difference in strength should be obvious by now. Her arm was stained crimson. Perhaps the knife had done more damage than expected. If she got treatment it wouldn't cause any problems with her duties. But the fire in her belly reflected in her eyes. Still so much fight left.
"Give up, shorty. This isn't your night, and it won't be in this life." He spoke in the deep gruff voice. His hand went to his sword, a bluff, but perhaps a potent one. "Cutting down a shinigami ain't my idea of fun." There was a flash of light.

Giving herself a smokescreen to run away? No. Even blinded he could hear the foot falls of her approach. "Shit." he grunted. She was going to attack. Why push herself!? He could only curse himself. Blinded he couldn't tell what kind of attack she was launching. Was it her sword? Another kido? A strike? He could only wait.
It was a short wait. The petite girl's foot contacted his chest. He wanted to scoff at the simple attack. Her injuries probably preventing her from thinking properly. A kick wasn't going to cut it. But then he felt a surge of power rush behind the blow. "Sonofa_" A kick fueled by desperation was one thing, a kick fueled by reiryoku was another. And the latter hurt a hell of alot more. The girl's attack knocked him off his feet and sent him flying. The short flight ended and Arawn landed flatly on his back. It was his turn to be winded, he groaned as he tried to sit up. His reward was a pain in his side. Cracked or broken ribs. He chuckled despite the situation. Such a promising young girl. Laughing made it hurt even more. Quickly he stopped.
"That last blow was really something." He grunted again as he stood up. His hand grasped his weapon and pulled it from his side. Arawn didn't pull the blade free, he left it in the sheath. "It would be an insult not to respond in kind." He ran forward directly at her, each step agony as it jostled his ribs. A the last two feet he sidestepped and went into low leg sweep. His left leg swung out as he spun kicking the girl's legs from behind. He continued the spin and brought his sheath around with the swing. Hitting her in the back as well as her legs at the same time.

As her foot connected with the man’s chest, she could feel herself almost collapsing. Bringing her foot back to the ground, she used her hands to push off the dirt, standing as she watched his body fall to the ground. “What makes me any different from him?” The girl said with a small gesture to the body the man had kicked just moments before. Her breathing was ragged as she spoke, her lungs feeling as though she wasn’t pulling in enough air. She almost regretted the question once she spoke it. There were obvious differences between regular citizens of the Rukongai and of the shinigami who lived in the Seireitei. But why would that matter to him? As long as he won, as long as he walked away, then what difference did it make as to whom he was fighting?

Watching the man jolt towards her, she could only hope to dodge his next attack, if he landed another one on her body, she didn’t know if she’d be able to recover. ‘He has to be hurting.’ Her head jerked to the side as she saw him move, but she didn’t have nearly enough time to counter, nor did she have enough time to dodge. Feeling pain in the back of her calves she winced, but the pain in her legs felt like nothing compared to the pain she was feeling in her back. What she had just felt in her lungs being amplified by the amount of pressure he put into the swing, the force sending her body plunging forward. Hitting the ground, the girl pushed her body back up, her movements only a little stiff. She would never let anyone know how much exertion such a simple action cost her, but she needed him to think that her injuries weren’t as bad as they were. She couldn’t take much more of this, just the small movements it took for her to breathe caused her pain; but she couldn’t allow herself to give up.

‘There is no question here. I should run.’ The girl’s thoughts betrayed everything she knew to be right. She had been told not to push herself like this on multiple occasions, had been told that sometimes it was just a better option to give up, but she hadn’t actually given it any thought. If she ran away from things like this, from pain, from struggle, than how could she ever face herself? Charging at the man again, the girl raised her reiatsu a bit. As she neared her target, she jumped, somersaulting through the air; she positioned her body so that her feet would hit his chest near the same spot she had just kicked.

She was still conscious, well wasn't this a surprise. He couldn't use all his strength, but still it was a strike that would have felled many a person. Her training had definitely paid off. Still she had to have a limit, with the pain in his side growing Arawn was fast approaching his own. He'd have to get some attention to the injured ribs. At this point he could probably get away without the girl giving chase. But trying to escape might just encourage a pursuit by the young woman. He sighed. Maybe he was over thinking it. He eyed the downed man still laying in the street. There was still business to finish as well.
"It's over kid, just go home. Justice is blind for a reason; she can't bear to see the truth." he kept his grip on the zanpukto as the young shinigami pushed to her feet. The light in her yes hadn't died, but it had wavered. Doubts, fear, regrets, such things could muddle the mind in a battle. Arawn had them too, but being able to work around them was necessary. As a student he took fighting so lightly, it was almost like a game. But a true fight with life and death is what awaited him outside the academy's walls. Would this be enough to open the her eyes? Could this experience be enough to prepare her for that tough and long road? He could only hope. She dashed at him again. Another frontal assault, perhaps she thought it would just as successful as the last one. It probably would if she had blinded him like last time.

As the girl somersaulted Arawn grasped his weapon with both hands and swung his sheathed weapon like a baseball bat at her body. In a fight there are many factors that decide if an attack is successful or fails. Most fixate on strength or speed. Still there is another important factor often overlooked; reach. Arawn's height, arms, and sheath gave him a greater reach than the woman's legs. Before the feet could connect he swotted her from the air and into the ground. Pain exploded behind through his body. He had twisted his body too far, his rib cage throbbed. Arawn could feel something stabbing him now. I might have overdone it. he released one hand from his weapon and held his side.
"Don't feel bad, kid. Everyone fails." he spoke in the fake gruff voice. It was true; everyone falls both literally and figuratively. He could only hope that this small setback didn't have an adverse effect on her.
"Justice is or should be meted out objectively, without fear or favor, regardless of identity, money, power, or weakness; blind justice and impartiality."(thank you wiki) he said quietly more so to himself. He shuffled over to the downed man and bent over to take the remaining money. Bending in his condition was a horrible mistake. He nearly fainted, but managed to right himself and retrieve his tattered cloak. Arawn dropped some coins, but dared not try and get it. With another groan he shuffled into the shadows, and then shunpo's into the empty night.