Mastering a Technique [Private]

It was a known fact that the forest just outside of Jurinan in West Rukongai was the favorite place to train for many Shinigami. The tall trees, the small plains, the rivers that ran in and out of it were things that were sought after when in need of some peace. To the girl, it was new territory; it was rare for her to venture outside the walls of the Seireitei, even more rare for her to stay within the upper districts. But no one would come looking for her here; here in the outer parts of a great city would be the only place she could picture finding any form of solitude.

It wasn't a secret that Ailin wasn't the best at mastering new kido techniques. Often times spending days on it before getting a glimpse of its true form; spending months on it before considering it a viable weapon. Like most, she had read through all the kido she was expected to learn, picking and choosing the order in which she would attempt them. Her current endeavor was one that wasn't like the other kido she employed; most of th ones she used being one-shot explosions, the only manipulation needed to master being that of a cannon waiting to explode, or a net waiting to be cast in the direction of its beholder. The one she was attempting today, she had little knowledge of, only hearing about for a brief moment. She knew it was different, but even with the incantation memorized and the desired effect, the girl knew it was one she wanted in her personal arsenal. This technique was newer than most, only a handful of Shinigami taking the time to master it. Knowing this little piece of information, she knew it would be the perfect attack against multiple opponents or even one of a higher caliber than herself.

'Imagine your energy as though it was a palpable object. You can feel it. You can bend it. You can shift it around; controlling its movements to be whatever you want it to be.' Her eyes closed as she concentrated her energy into the form she always pictured it to be. A small ball of reiatsu alighted in the palm of her hand as she concentrated. Opening her eyes, she focused on keeping the energy with her, keeping it moving, keeping it stable.

Splitting the energy into the 10 small spheres that were expected, Ailin focused her sight on the three targets ahead of her. Lifting her right hand, an incantaion could be heard leaving her lips. "May the arrows of my soul, be guided by my will, to reach their true destination." As the last word left her lips she forced a small movement through her wrist; releasing her grasp on the spheres of energy. But instead of lining up as she expected them to, she watched them fly in a haphazard manner before dissolving completely. Breathing heavily, the girl centered herself one more, looking around to make sure there was nothing left of her mistake.

Draylon had gone out to the forest to get some peace and quiet while he read his new book, "Documented Hollow abilities." After a few hours of quiet reading, he heard something off in the distance approaching. As he watched a small female shinigami came out of the distance. She was obviously focused on something, otherwise she should have felt him, even if he was sitting in a tree reading a book and not moving.

As he glanced down, he saw her hold out her palm and form an energy ball, then break it into 10 smaller balls. I wonder what she is doing? She aimed her hand and said, "May the arrows of my soul, be guided by my will, to reach their true destination." and suddenly the spheres started flying all over the place and then they dissolved.

That was my technique, she is doing it totally wrong, I'd better help her out before she hurts herself. He looked down at the girl and called out, "Hey there, I hate to break it to you but you are doing that technique all wrong. You're attemping Hado 20. Arashi-Tomoshibi, right?" He hopped down from his seat on the tree and started to walk over.

When she was completely sure that all the spheres of energy had faded, the girl let her eyelids fall; closing herself off from the world. Taking a few deep breaths, she prepared herself to attempt the technique again. Her first try hadn't been as disastrous as she thought it would be; though it was obvious that it could've gone better. 'Imagine your energy as though it was sonthing you could mold. Able to move-' Hearing a voice, her eyes opened, the energy in her hand dropping instantly as she turned her head to where the voice came from, her body tensing. She hadn't felt another person's presence here, at least not one that would recognize a Hado when they saw one.

"Arashi-Tommoshibi." Her voice was barely louder than a whisper. She didn't know if that was the name of the Hado she had been attempting, that piece of information wasn't one that she had remembered. "I'm not sure." Her eyes stared at him as she said the words, her tone blunt at best. She didn't recognize the boy, but that wasn't really a surprise to her. There weren't very many people she recognized by face, even fewer by name.

Letting out a breath, the girl's eyes flickered left and right; scanning for any other surpises the area might have for her before returning to the one approaching her. "I didn't realize anyone was here. I'll be leaving now." She said as she looked at him. Her hands moved to push her hair behind her shoulders as she walked to pick up her belongings.

Draylon was a bit surprised at the timidness of the girl before him. She looked around then started to get ready to leave. Hmm, I could just let her walk away and go back to my book, or i could actually teach her how to do Hado 20 properly. Draylon reached up and rubbed his head with one hand, then calling out after her he said, "Hey wait, I can teach you how to do it properly if you want, trying to figure it out on your own will take a long time."

Draylon paused for a second while looking at the girl. She will probably need more proof, I guess I will show her how it is really done. Draylon held out his hand and said, "May the arrows of my soul, be guided by my will, to reach their true destination. Hado 20, Arashi-Tomoshibi!" 10 small balls of energy shot out of his hand and hovered in the air above him. He then made them start flying around him in zig-zags. "I am one of the few people in soul society that fully understands this technique. I am willing to teach you how to do it, What do you say?" Draylon looked at the girl expectantly, waiting for a response.

Hearing the words leave the boy's mouth froze Ailin in her tracks. With her head turning to look at him, she could feel the spheres already going rampant around the two of them. 'Properly? He's offering to help?' Blinking a couple times, the interest in his offer was apparent in her eyes. It seemed as though everywhere she turned people were always claiming to want to teach her a lesson, some even going as far as saying that she hadn't passed their test. This boy didn't seem any different than the others, the only thing that made him stand out was the fact that he was giving her a choice.

From the way the boy held himself, it was obvious that he was confident in his ability to teach her. She had been expecting to keep hashing out the Hado until it was somewhat stable; whether that would've taken her a couple days or a few months didn't seem as a problem to her. In all truth. . . Finding someone to teach her hadn't even crossed her mind.

Nodding her head, Ailin walked back towards him in the center of the clearing; every now and then her eyes would glance at the spheres flying arounf her. "I'd love for you to teach me, but I have one question. . . What's in it for you?" The skepticism in her voice was obvious, her eyes returning to gaze at him. What could the boy possibly expect to gain from this experience? 'I can't just expect things to be given to me. That isn't how society works.' Those thoughts ran through her head as she waited for him to respond.

He looked over at the girl slightly puzzled as to why she would ask that, he calmed the orbs down and made them stop moving. Thoughts buzzed through his head as he thought about why he was willing to help. "Because if I make another shinigami stronger, it will increase your survivability and you will have a better change to kill more hollows? Because I am a nice guy and I want to help you? Because it makes me happy to see someone with a healthy interest in the technique I created? There are a lot of different reasons why I would want to help you. Rather the question I would want answered is, why wouldn't I help you."

He looked at her with slight sadness and puzzlement. What is going on in her squad that makes her so suspicious of others trying to help her? He waited patiently for her response, making the orbs float in a circle above him.

'A nice guy.' A small smile could be seen on her face as she listened to the boy practically dance around her question without knowing he was doing it. She hadn't asked him why he was willing to help her; though the question was swirling in the back of her mind along with a few others. Shinigami, thought being spiritual beings, were still closer to humans than most wanted to believe.

Was it such an oddity that she was a skeptic? A pessimist? What was so strange about not seeing why a person would want to help her when there was no foreseeable gain for them? Perhaps the boy was one of the few that cared about what happened to the people around him, but even so asking him what he would get from the experience should've been expected. 'Because you don't know me and on a personal level; this will do nothing for you. Those thoughts ran through her head as she looked at him, confusion showing on her face when she saw the sadness in his. "I didn't think you had a reason to want to help me. It's not everyday that you meet someone who claims to be nice and actually means it." From heer tone she sounded as though there really was no other answer to his question.

Turning her head up, Ailin looked at the orbs floating above his head. His complete control over what they did easily amazed her. She had problems making them do the simplest movement a destructive art could possibly need - Hit a target. Why was it so hard for her to do such a simple command when the person in front of her seemed to handle the kido with such ease?

Draylon looked up into the air fro a few moments thinking, and the balls stopped moving. He said, "Technically even being nice does have its own purpose, for example, for me being nice will make me happy because being nice will make others happy, and seeing others happy because of my actions makes me happy. So if i don't think you will appreciate it I probably won't help you, except under certain conditions. I would expect others to be the same way. So technically we all have our own purposes, even if it is just to make you happy. Basically everyone is 'nice' because we expect some kind of reward, in which case i have to question the meaning of the word 'nice'.

Draylon blinked a few times and looked at the girl before him and said, "Sorry, sometimes i go off on a topic like that, where were we..." Draylon paused for a few moments as he thought back. He suddenly remembered and said, "Right I was going to show you how to do Hado 20."

He thought back for a second then said, "I think it would be best I taught you the way I learned it, it may not be the best or most efficient way but its the only one I know. First I want you to only create one orb, make it kind of like a round egg, the energy inside should be somewhat unstable, and the outside something like the shell, so that once it makes contact it will break and release the unstable energy, thus detonating. The controlling outside of your body will be the most difficult, you must always remember that it is YOUR energy to be manipulated." Draylon thought for a second then continued, "Think of it this way, the other kido you form your energy into the shape you want then release the connection and fire it forward, for this one, you are firing it without releasing the connection to yourself, thus you maintain control. Maintaining control of your energy outside your body is the most difficult part of this technique, and you need concentration to do it, just as you need concentration to form a kido. So try forming one then manipulating it, once you are confident try to control 2 and so on."

Draylon sat down against a tree and made the 10 orbs above him crash into each other in the air, making them detonate.