A rainy day (solo)

It was raining. While this was hardly spectacular, it was something that Arawn found interesting. When he first came to Soul Society he had thought the place was for lack of another word; Heaven. It was the paradise that each religion spoke of in their sacred text; a land of infinite beauty and light. But that wasn’t true at all. There was sunshine during the day with clouds dancing across the sky, bird singing in trees, and crickets chirping at night as the moon and stars shone down brightly. In the end it was like earth in every way. So it wasn’t a surprise to see it raining, but just felt so odd to him. He gave a sigh as the droplets slammed onto his window by the bucketful. Rain had it’s way of draining people of the will to work, or at least not go outside. While the will to go outside was gone, Arawn had been biding his time while it stormed. He had finished up two preliminary reports, six acquisition forms, four budgets, and was currently putting the finishing touches on progress report on Rover. Before the he had realigned the circuits on his grenade weapons. It was only minutes later he was done typing and uploaded the newly completed form to the server for filing. The paper copy he had before him went back into the file folder and then into the ‘OUT’ box. Quite frankly he was running out of things to do, Arawn pushed his chair away from the computer terminal and stack of papers. With a sigh he leaned back in his chair and spun around slowly. Why did it have to rain on his day off? Master Sung hadn’t sent for him, and he had a feeling he shouldn’t appear unannounced. Last time he had gone without word from his teacher there building was deserted, that or they were ignoring him.

Another sigh and closed his eyes. The sounds of rain on glass and the roof were hardly claming. Thankfully this wasn’t the first time it had rained. When that had happened he had found out there were several spots in the roof with holes. You would with a building being used as storage those in the 12 division would be aware of such things, and if they were wouldn’t it have been a nice to tell him about it. No chance. That first time he had quickly soaked and spent the time trying to block the holes, afterwards he spent the rest of the night sleeping in the lab. The next day the roof was fixed rather quickly with minimal damage to his things. Still compared this day he’d almost prefer a leaking roof. He’d tried playing games on his terminal unfortunately there were none. It was surprising he hadn’t thought to put some on there. Same went for movies. He made a mental note to ask Bryce to burn him some copies of the many sparring matches he secretly recorded. Unlike the computers in the lab proper his computer didn’t have access to anything aside form the main information sever. There wasn’t any internet feed just a direct line to the various achieves. Great for research, but horrible for boredom. Reading a book was out of the question; he’d just spent the last few hours sitting down and reading. More reading was the last thing he wanted. There was a third sigh as he stared up at the ceiling trying to think of something to kill time.

Slowly Arawn began to pace the floor. In a matter of moments wove his way past the chair, around the bookcase, and then back to the desk. He was getting stir crazy, he wanted to get up and move about, but there was hardly room for much activity. As he spun to retrace the steps he just walked he bumped into his zanpukto leaning against the wall. The clatter as the metal sheath fell to the ground was more than enough to destroy the tentative concentration his pacing had required. After polishing the blade earlier he had propped the weapon against the wall. There was barely any room for things down here Arawn bent over to pick up the blade; as his fingers touched the handle he froze. It was so obvious he needed room to move, and now he knew the perfect place. Grabbing the weapon completely he jumped onto his bed in the far corner of the room. Crossing he legs he pulled the weapon free from it’s sheath and laid it across his lap.
“Close your eyes and focus.” he muttered to himself. The falling rain became like white noise for him as he felt his mind drift. The beating of his heart calmed and then he felt the familiar chill as his body shifted into the inner world of his zanpukto. The softness of the bed faded from beneath him and was replaced by the rough stone. Opening his eyes he was sitting on the middle of a massive rock floating in space. The starry sky extended in every direction around him. There was no sun or moon, and yet the twinkling lights were enough illumination for this strange area. But the strangest part was the master of this realm. Wrapped around the large planetoid like a serpent was the golden dragon Huang Long snoring away without a care in the world.

Ignoring the large creature Arawn kicked off the large rock into the empty space. After rising several feet he felt the weightlessness affect him, and his jump became flying. The momentum sent him careening him towards a rock around the size of a car. Slowly he twisted his body flipping himself so the landed feet first against the new asteroid. With a grin Arawn kicked off from this rock with a burst of his spiritual power. The red haired man was sent flying towards the next stone. This time he didn’t flip himself over as he flew at the rock head first he reached forward with his hands. His fingers grabbed the rough surface as his momentum was transferred into the object pushing it back. Arawn moved his body more and they bother started to spin as they drifted backwards. He released the stone and was sent backwards as he craned his neck to see behind. There wasn’t much to see, more rocks and stars. He’d traveled some distance from Huang Long, but he could still hear the monster’s snoring. He recalled someone saying in space no one could hear you scream, this was not the case here. Blindly he drifted until he felt the back of his head impact with stone. It didn’t hurt thankfully. Grabbing hold he righted himself and used it to kick off in a new direction. And so it went he spent nearly an hour of ricocheting from rock to rock like some kind of strange amusement part. It was like watching a pachinko ball as it made it’s way to the bottom of the board. Even if it wasn’t the real world, this activity was tiring in moments Arawn angled himself back to the rock that held the still sleeping dragon. As he got near the rock he felt as gravity once more attached it’s shackles onto him. Then he dropped as if he’d been dropped from a third story building. He gave a grunt as his legs absorbed the shock. Arawn gave a small grin and sat down on the ground. If anything this place wasn’t too much better than his room, but something about it was calming. He couldn’t put his finger on what it was, but it was rather peaceful. As he thought this the dragon gave an especially loud snore.

Arawn stared long and hard at the creature curled on the rock. The beast was an amazing thing to behold; it’s sleek shining scales, it’s glistening claws, not to mention it’s incredible size. Still the creature’s attitude was the problem. It had been rather uncooperative in most situations, going as far to extort Arawn rather than outright helping him. Why such a unlikable spirit was connected to him was a mystery unto itself. He had heard stories of zanpukto being one with their owners and a harmonious partnership that is established. It would seem the books were wrong, or they avoided mentioned negative things about the process as to no deter those young hopeful shinigami. The young man rolled his eyes at the slumbering dragon, it had power to be sure, but he rarely did anything. Figuring he had rested long enough he turned to send himself back into the floating playground. As he rose a thought hit him; Huang Long didn’t do anything at all. Half the time he saw the beast it was sleeping!

As he Arawn launched himself back into the weightless darkness he floated thinking more on the matter. The more he thought about it, the more it started to annoy him. Floating in the void he focused his energy around his feet. Instantly he stopped floating as the reishi formed solid footing for him. Arawn quickly grabbed at a passing rock. The stone was slightly larger than his whole body, but with the proper footing size didn’t matter. It was easy enough to stop it from moving with both hands while he held himself stead with his feet. With a large grin on his face Arawn aimed the large rock at the slumbering beast. It was obvious he planned to launch the large stone at the dragon, but trying to throw it wouldn’t working in the current environment. Instead he let his reiatsu flare and placed his hand on the back of the asteroid.
“Hado #1: Thrust.” he spoke and his energies complied. The rock lurched forward as the invisible force struck. It was if he had launched it from a catapult. Arawn watched as the stone closed the small gap and headed towards Huang Long. Then the stone stopped abruptly. To say the least Arawn was confused. He had thought once the stone had reached the edge of the gravity field it would ‘fall’ on the dragon. Why would it stop short? The answer came in the sound of the mighty beast clicking it’s tongue. All too late did Arawn realize the snoring had stopped.
“Well, that’s quite rude don’t you think?” The golden serpent rumbled moving it’s head from off it’s arms. “You come in here unannounced and throw rocks at me?” The deep voice showed no sign of anger and yet it still sent a chill down the young man’s spine. Little by little the gold dragon uncoiled itself from the planetoid. It’s clawed hand reached up and pointed at the rock Arawn had launched. The rock that had been only slightly larger than himself looked like a small pebble before Huang Long.

Without even touching the stone it fired right back at Arawn just as fast as it had been sent. Even as Arawn wondered how the dragon had preformed the feat, he had more pressing matters to take care of; dodge the rock. Now this in itself was tricky. While he was currently keeping himself standing by controlling the reishi at his feet it did little to help me move quickly. If he tried to jump out of the way he’d be moving like at 1/12 his normal pace. He had only one option; as the rock came close Arawn shunpo’d sideways. The asteroid went right past missing him completely.
“Well, I see why you did it.” The dragon said with a snicker as it flexed it’s fingers. “That was quite fun.”
Fun he says. Arawn thought to himself. It was true he has thrown the rock at the dragon, but he hadn’t expected him to throw it back. Still it aggravated just a bit the way in which he did so.
“Well we both missed, I‘d say we‘re even.” Arawn taunted trying to get the last word. Huang Long’s scaled eyebrow raised slightly as the man spoke. He seemed unfazed by the shinigami’s bravado.
“Really now?” The large serpent cackled. Those words alone made Arawn wary, but it was too late. Something struck him across the back of his head and knocked him from his simple perch. He was sent spinning end over end until he stopped himself once again by solidifying reishi at his feet. By luck he turned his neck just in time to see another rock flying at him from behind. He quickly shunpo’d and let the asteroid fly right past. The rock spun past within a couple of feet from Arawn. It hadn’t gone far when it took a sudden right turn and then doubled back at him. It would seem the dragon had no intention of letting things end that easily. Silently the shinigami marveled at the spirit’s ability to control the rock. The dragon had moved a rock without touching it before, but nothing like this. Another shunpo took him out of the rock’s path only to be swatted down by another asteroid out of nowhere. The blow came so unexpectedly Arawn lost control of the reishi at his feet. It was like a game of pool, the rock hit him and stopped and he continued the direction he’d been hit. Midway through his flight he suddenly felt the pull of gravity once more. A second later crashed onto the large planetoid that Huang Long occupied. He hit the ground, bounced, tumbled and finally rolled to a stop. Slowly the young man stood up again, the dragon looked at him and laughed. For the most part he was battered and bruised, but Arawn seemed okay.

“Bastard.” Arawn muttered as he gazed at the laughing spirit. His head and body were hurting from the sudden fall, and the monster’s laughter was hardly helping. Before he could grant voice to the string of curses in his mind he heard a whistling sound from above. Hazarding a quick glance skyward he saw the incoming trouble; the rocks had followed him. Jumping forward the two rocks crashed behind him and sent a shockwave through the large asteroid. Even as he turned to look at the fallen stones they rose back up until they were levitating a few feet from the ground. Arawn let his reiatsu flare and pointed with his right hand. “Hado #3: Crimson Strike.” He uttered quickly, but the rocks had split up one went left the other went right. The red beam of light passed harmlessly into the distance. Unfortunately Arawn didn’t have time to stand there looking at it as the rocks changed directions again and came at him from opposite sides. A simple jump sent him up and over the first rock, but the second shifted it’s course to hit him in midair. Back down to the ground he tumbled, but he got up just as quickly. It was just in time to avoid the rock falling on his head. There wasn’t much time to do anything as the second rock made it’s return trip looking run him down. A single shunpo took him high into the air he looked down as the twin boulders flew back and forth like vultures.
“Running away?” Huang Long rumbled. Arawn had been so engrossed in avoiding the stones he had forgotten about the spirit. “You came here because you’re bored and you can’t handle this little game?” he dragon snickers. Arawn could feel the vein bulge on his fore head. No way he was going to let the beast have the last laugh.

“A rather crude to be called entertainment.” Arawn spat back “Games usually have form and structure. I either get smashed by those rocks or dodge them.” The rocks below stopped moving and hovered in place. “With no real way for me to win, I rather not play.” There was no reason to take part in the dragon’s little “game” even if the injury was only in metaphysical world. The pain was real enough all the more reason to avoid such a situation. The dragon’s response was a clicking of his tongue followed by a deep chuckle.
“I guess you’re right, it’s hardly a challenge for you. Let’s make it more interesting.” with a nod of his head another rock detached itself from the cluster of asteroids the flocked around the large planetoid. Arawn involuntarily flinched at it’s approach, but stood his ground. Although irregular in shape the new rock was roughly the size of a basketball. It hovered there next to him for only a moment before descending to the waiting rocks below.
"So instead of two I need to dodge three, that's not very imaginative." came the shinigami's remark as the two larger rocks resumed flying in circles not with the smaller one at the center of their orbit. The dragon shook his head and wagged his huge clawed finger at Arawn.
"Nothing that simple." He pointed at the rocks and they froze instantly. "Your target is that third stone. Smash it and you win this little challenge." Arawn tried his best to suppress a grin. The third stone did give a new aspect to the task, but hardly beyond his abilities. An easy win and a way to show up the dragon. Before he could drop down the dragon continued speaking. "But you can only use your sword, none of that kido or those kung-fu tricks."

Arawn stiffened at those words, with kido the task would be remarkably simple. Without them the level of difficulty was significantly greater. Now it was somewhat challenging, but the odds were still in his favor. The gold beast stroked this chin as he eyed the shinigami.
"Now what are we wagering for this little contest?" he said softly. Even his low voice was loud enough to a human's voice yelling.
"A wager?" Arawn stiffened yet again, why ask for a reward? Was the dragon so confident he couldn't succeed? It would be even sweeter to gain something for his efforts. He could already guess what the Huang Long wanted .
"Well when I win I require a day of rest, I can do without your constant visits." A small surprise. He had expected another 'date' with Lady Rhang, but it was quite similar. "Time away from his master, what a kind zanpukto." Arawn thought to himself rolling his eyes. With a little thought he quickly came up with his own
"In that case I want the opposite; you give me help free and clear. No bargaining." He stated evenly. Even as he spoke the dragon's eye twitched. It was hard to hide such action on the dragon's large face. It was obvious he had it a nerve.
"Agreed." Huang Long spoke through clenched teeth. To this Arawn nodded and release his hold on the particles at his feet.

Once he landed the rocks resumed their motion, Arawn lost sight of the smaller stone as a larger rock tried to ram him head on. Even as he moved the second boulder had already began it's approach. As he dove sideways to the ground he reached for his zanpukto at his waist. Tucking his head he rolled on the hard stone and bounced to his feet with the blade in hand. The two attacking rocks had already recovered and were coming at him once again, he spied the target behind them. It was a simple strategy; protect the general by keeping him in the rear. Simple and effective, but this wasn't a normal fight. With a burst of energy he shunpo'd past the two oncoming rocks only to appear within feet of the of the target stone. Without batting an eye he swung his weapon at the floating rock. The smile on his face vanished as his sword stopped.
“What the hell?” There was little time to be confused as the dodged attackers now slammed into him from the side. Arawn was sent to the ground. He tried to roll over, but the heavy rock dug into his back pinning him down. Now laying on his stomach he tried to push himself back up, but then the second rock landed on his legs. With only his arms pushing the rock off would be impossible. Dropping his sword from his hand he tried anyway. As the seconds ticked by the weight of the stones seemed to increase. Arawn could feel the life slowly being squeezed from his body.
"Ugh......I g_give, I surrender!” he finally shouted and let his arms fall limp. With a grunt he punched the ground with frustration as the rocks got lighter and then rose off him. Snarling he rose to his feet and stared at the spirit. “You cheating bastard! I couldn’t touch that rock!” he shouted pointing at the still floating target. The dragon only raised an eyebrow and gave a look of indifference. As hard as it was for him to hide the twitching eye, it was harder to hide the widening smile.
"I don't know what you're talking about." he said coyly. The smaller rock rocketed off the planetoid and back into asteroid belt. Arawn watched it's hasty departure with a scowl on his face. "The contest has ended and you've lost. I trust you'll keep to your end of the bargain." The red haired shinigami could feel his ears and face heat up as the fury filled him. Now that he won, the spirit was trying dismiss him. Even in the cloud of anger his mind tried to find some way to salvage the situation.

"Double or nothing!" he shouted as soon as the idea came to him. Just as quickly he slapped his hand over his mouth. He regretted those words almost instantly; the same conditions as before with twice the stakes. Why was he jumping back into that bear trap? Huang Long was equally surprised by this outburst. This time he didn't hide his smile which soon erupted into a hearty laugh showing the row of fangs that lined his massive mouth.
"Very well then." the spirit snickers as the small rock flew back down and the large boulders began to hover around Arawn menacingly. He reacted by shunpo away before they could get close. The memory of being smashed beneath them hadn't faded; plus he needed time to think. Time wasn't something the stones were willing to give. One boulder came in low while the second came in high they were so close together it was if a single large rock was coming at him. The smaller target rock hung in the air as it's two brethren moved. It looked defenseless, but Arawn knew it was well protected. The question was why did Huang Long put up any offense? The answer was simple enough; he wanted to see Arawn squirm. Even as he side stepped the oncoming attack they rocks separated and came from different sides. From the left and the right they synchronized their assault. The stones criss and crossed forcing Arawn dodge. Their timing and spacing was perfect, as he dodged left the right hit him and spun him around. As stunning as the impact was the sudden spin disorientated him enough for the second second pass to be more successful. The rocks came again this time not just a friendly nudge. The red haired shinigami was ran over by the twin rocks. The tumble against the rough ground was less pleasant head first. Something warm trickled down his face as he popped up to avoid being pinned once again.

Once more Arawn was glad he no longer wore conventional glasses; the last fall would have crushed them. Looking up the two large rocks were coming at him once again. He hopped over them rather than trying to move left or right. He turned to look as they make a U-turn and came back.
"That didn't work out too well " Arawn muttered as the rocks swooped at him together from the right. This time he tossed himself flat ducking under their charge. "These things are in the way." he said to himself. "I have no chance of smashing that stone with these things hounding me." He hazard a glance at his hip; his sword was still on the ground back where he had dropped it after the first attempt. With a groan he shunpo'd to it's location, as he bent to recover the weapon the boulders has already changed their trajectory. Well he had his sword back, but nothing had changed. It was then it hit him, not the rocks, but an epiphany. His hand tightened on his sword as he turned to face the two attackers. It was too late to dodge, but he had already raised his weapon. With a single swing he managed to cleave one stone vertically in half. Both halves crashed to either side of him. The second boulder went flying by, in an instant he shunpo'd. When he reappeared in front of it he was already swinging his weapon once again. With that the second rock was slashed in half like the other one.
"Impressive." Boomed the dragon high above him watching the spectacle, he clapped his claws together making a thunderous clapping noise. "I could attack with those halves you just made, but it doesn't matter since you can't break the barrier." To accent the point the basketball sized target hovered into view. Releasing a primal yell he clutched his zanpukto and leaped upwards. Arawn brought his blade down at the floating rock.
The sword impacted, but not one the stone. It had struck the empty air and glanced off to the side. Undaunted he attacked again this time a horizontal slash. This time when the blade hit the strange barrier he tried to push it forward. No luck, for the next three minutes he slashed wildly at the floating rock. All the while Huang Long laughed at the man's futile efforts.

Arawn stood there and looked at his weapon. The blade and rock were perfectly fine. Breathing heavily the shinigami fell to his knees and dropped his weapon.
"Giving up? I'll say you put on quite a show of it." The dragon remarked still smiling.
"Not yet." Came the response as the shingami stood again and approached the shielded rock. Spreading his arms wide he then reached for it. As his hands stopped as the encountered the barrier. As he applied pressure with his bare hands he could feel his hands being pushed back. The shield was strangely cold to the touch, and he could feel a small bit of air brush the hair on his arms.
"Think you can smash it with your hands?" the dragon mocked him even now. "You've gone mad it seems." The huge spirit started to laugh once more.
"At first I thought you didn't want me using kido to prevent me from just shooting down this thing." Arawn said as he flexed his fingers against the invisible shell. "But if you were going to use this barrier, why would it matter if I used spells?" The dragon's laughter stopped. "And then you restrict me from using Sa Shin Mu. Very strange, right?" He turned his head to look at the no longer laughing beast. "I wonder what would happen if I do this?" Spiritual pressure exploded out of Arawn's body. "I got so hung up on not using kido, I forgot I could just do this." The pressure intensified and a crack appeared along the rock's surface. "My first request is you teach me how to create a barrier like this one." Gritting his teeth Arawn gave a yell as golden glow spread across his body. The light grew brightly and then exploded. When the light vanished Arawn stood in a large crater. His hands were still spread apart, but there was nothing to be seen. His clothes were burnt and smoking, he staggered forward a couple of steps then fell down. It would seem he had expended too much energy. Slowly his body started to fade from the inner world and back into the regular realm of sleep

Shikai ability: 王の玉座 (Throne of the King/King's Throne) - This ability creates a 1ft repulsion field around Arawn's sword. While this is effective against solid/physical objects; it is unable to affect pure light or energy. In addition to pushing objects away from the designated area it also forces the air. Thus creating a vacuum around the weapon. Since it's area of effect is the same as the first technique it's impossible to utilize both skills at once.