Night Stars and red snow. (Open)

The snow had seeped into the training grounds as Ezrachek took a heavy step into the training grounds. Looking around, he was satisfied that he was alone. This was a good place to find a haven. It was on the battlefield where he found his piece, he was at calm when he shed the blood of his enemies. He enjoyed hearing the pleas and begs for mercy as he mercilessly struck them down. He thought back to his fight on this very ground with Tenma Yamato. His anger grew to uncontrollable level. He unsheathed his Zanpakuto finding the nearest wooden training dummy and shattering into microscopic pieces. His rage was uncontrollable. He thought back to the fight with Shakaku on this ground, and then back to the Hot Springs. It had been so long since he spilled the blood of an opponent worth while. He longed for the bloodshed. It was driving him crazy. He would train endlessly, from the instant he woke up, to the hours late at night like this one. He kept reminding himself of the foolishness that he showed when he fought against Tenma. Foolishly agreeing to using the Kido, and then rarely using it. He hated himself for it, knowing that now in a battle against the hollows, he used it so sparingly. He vowed that he would never use Kido again unless a life or death situation as a self punishment for his foolish actions against the shinigami. He craved for blood more. He was loosing his mental stability, begging the heavens to send him an opponent that he could shed the blood of. A challenging one, but even deep inside he knew that he could not face a shinigami that now had capabilities as Shikai, and numerous other Kido. "Kono fakku!" He yelled out as he threw his Zanpakuto across the grounds. He had given into the rage that was cast inside of him. He sprinted over to the nearest wall, and with such quick speed and great strength, starting punching the surface of the wall over and over, with numerous repitions. He cursed aloud and said angry comments to himself, cursing himself for being so stupid. For the first time since his parents had been killed, he felt completely alone in the world. He felt like he could not trust anyone in the Soul Society. He thought of Tenma, Auryuu, the elder shinigami that saved him from the hollows, and then finally he thought of Shakaku. Tears rolled down his face as he screamed as loud as thunder. He gave one last punch as he burst a hole in the wall, a size barely bigger than his fist. Blood trickled down his fist onto his wrist as he raised his hand, extending his middle finger to the sky. "Kutabare!" He cried out as he screamed at the sky, hoping that there was someone above to hear him. He winced as his tears fell from his chin and mixed into his open knuckles, having the salt burn the wound. He collapsed to his knees, breaking down into a fall of tears. He imagined himself from an objective perspective. what a wimp! he thought to himself as he starting repetitiously striking the ground, wincing more as the dirt and dust mixed into his open knuckles. He looked up again, wishing only for death, but receiving no answers. He walked over to his Zanpakuto, kneeled and unsheathed it. He thought about taking his life. He screamed to the heavens one last time as the veins in his head started to bulge out and the dark corners in his eyes began to close in. He felt himself slipping from consciousness. He attempted the fatal thrust into himself, but with no luck, he fell sideways, hitting the ground and dropping his Zanpakuto.

The morning sun broke through the leaves of a nearby tree, spraying heavenly golden rays of light onto Ezrachek's face. He woke up with a feeling that someone had taken a sledgehammer to his head. He arose to his feet and grabbed his Zanpakuto, he winced, feeling a great deal of pain in his hands. He looked down, clearly not having a recollection of the previous night at the moment. He saw that his knuckles had dirt and dried blood on them. He spit on his knuckles, cleaning the dirt and grime free from the blood. He then wiped his hands clean on his shinigami kimono. He looked around, still alone, both physically, mentally, and emotionally. He then recalled the night before as his hand subconsciously moved to his Zanpakuto. His palm grazed it's hilt and he heard something resembling a deep growl. Ezrachek jumped from being startled and looked around, seeing if there was some sort of deadly animal. He found nothing and settled with the thought of him hearing things. He got up and found the nearest training post and swung at it, not doing much damage due to lack of motivation. His mind, until now, was completely blank, still trying to wake up. A mental picture of Tenma shot into his mind, and his rage grew strong again. He struck down vertically onto the post, splitting it almost in half, leaving the bottom still connected. "Hado 3! Crimson Strike!" He yelled as he shot the kido forward, blowing the two parts to the opposite sides of the training grounds. He looked around and was still enraged. "Come anyone! Challenge me! I am looking to fight! I am looking to spill my enemies blood! Like i am destined to do!" The fateful words left his mouth as a scream loud enough for anyone in the general area to hear. He wanted nothing more to fight at this time. He sheathed his Zanpakuto and sat down, waiting for an opponent, rage slowly increasing inside of him.

One doesn't shout loudly without drawing a crowd of people. Ezrachek's loud screams brought some people running thinking some crime was being committed. Those that gathered we shocked to say the least to find such a wild looking man roaring a challenge to anyone that could hear him. Most thought it was just a joke; someone making such a proclamation had to be insane, and yet no one stepped forward. They all huddled together watching him and wondering what he would do next. While more people came to watch the one man show; others pushed past and began their own training content to ignore the obviously troubled student. Arawn had traveled to the grounds to post a notice. Yet again he was going to need people to test out his android fighter. The last few helpers had quit due to increased patrols in the human world and work load. He had to push his way through the gather people to reach the front of the sparring ground. Being scientist made him curious, being human made him nosy, and so he had to find out what was going on.
"Is something happening I should know about?" he asked a nearby student with a light tap on the shoulder. The youngster let out a yelp of surprise not sensing the man in the slightest. It was probably more surprising that it was a shinigami that stood before them and not another student.
"I'm sorry sir!" she said with a hasty bow her hair in a ponytail nearly smacking him in the face. Arawn frowned it wasn't like he was a captain or something. He didn't need people bowing to him."This guy is screaming about blood and killing. We called our instructor we came as a class to train." Cocking his head to the side Arawn stared at the wild man. He noted the cuts on his hands, had he been in a scrape just recently? He was probably just wanting to blow off some steam. Arawn shrugged.
"Who is your teacher?" Arawn asked turning back to the young woman already slightly bored of the situation.
"Takahata" she said looking down. The name made the red haired shinigami stiffen. Takahata was the same instructor he had when he was in the Academy. He wasn't known for his gentleness. Chances were these students would be punished for not going onto the field. He didn't want them to get into trouble due to some barking dog. With a grimace he patted the young girl on the shoulder.
"I'll take care of him, you guys get to practicing before Takahata gets here." With that being said stepped purposely towards Ezrachek. "Excuse me; I think you should leave now, you're disturbing this class." He gave a half turn and motioned at the students now entering the field. "It would be best if you go back to the dorm and take some time to relax abit."

Ezrachek startled by the shinigami turned, shooting a glare towards the shinigami. Blinded by his rage, he wasn't aware of anything around him, he wasn't fully aware of the people around him, they were of no threat to him. He was, however, fully aware of his surroundings. "Hey! It's my right to be here! I can train just as the rest of these wimpy, weak little kids!" He yelled at the man as he shoved over one of the training students, who instantly jumped up, ready to fight Ezrachek, until Ezrachek turned towards the kid, gripping his Zanpakuto, eyes having a deep red aura upon them, the color of blood swirling inside the pupil of this rageful Ezrachek. The student automatically coward away as Ezrachek continued to step forward, unsure of himself, or the shinigami. He was finally coming to his senses. I... I want... I want to duel!" The words had to be forced from his lips, so they inevitably came across as a shouting demand. The entire grounds, once loud with murmur and chatter, was instantly silenced as everyone looked upon this rage-crazy student challenging this shinigami. "Not just any duel! No Kido! You would end me in a second. No Shunpo, it would also give you an unfair advantage aside from the fact that you are much stronger. We fight without swords as well, instead we fight with Bokken!" He said as he grabbed the Bokken from the wall.

Spoiler:

He tossed the second Bokken towards the shinigami. "My name is Ezrachek Rayone! Of the Faithful Rayone Clan! Faithful to their village and friends until they day we die! And I will be the best shinigami here, with time of course!" Ezrachek shouted as he waited for the man to snatch up the Bokken and fight against him. Ezrachek slid his his right foot back, and crouched low to the ground, going to the tiger stance, holding the Bokken slightly above his head, ready to spring forward and attack, or spring backwards, to defend or counter. He was ready for anything, as he waited for the shinigami to make the first move.

Spoiler:

His hand intercepted the thrown weapon by the fake wooden blade. Arawn could only stare at the man questioningly. All he had done was ask the man to leave, but now he wanted to duel. As several different counter arguments began to compile in his brain he looked at the students that had stopped practicing to look at them. When Arawn's eyes met that of the students he cringed. He'd seen that look before admiration and anticipation. Misplaced admiration at that. They saw his clothing and thought him to be some grand warrior and champion of justice upon helping to move the ruffian off the field. With a sigh he shook head and took a look at the waiting Ezrachek. This guy is a little too energetic he thought to himself. Arawn really couldn't handle people like that. He had a sudden flashback of Yue Nakamora his classmate in the Academy that literally was a bouncing ball of energy to the Z power. There was no way things weren't going to end without a fight. At least it would be a civilized fight. He took a practice swing with wooden sword. It had been awhile since he'd used a fake sword, it felt so alien almost unnatural.
"Arawn Dan'Shir, unseated, 12th squad." he said with a short bow. A string of murmurs rose from the crowd along with some groans of disappointment. It was a very common response when he stated his division. No one thought highly of his squad, and the rumor of their strange experiments didn't help any. Shockingly enough Arawn had discovered that half of those rumors were true. Still he didn't like living under the stigma of this squad. It helped at times; the opponents would often underestimate him. Let them think whatever they wanted, he would shatter those low expectations. Arawn gave the sword four more practice swings. The wooden blade hissed as it cut though the air. He had finally gotten a feel of the fake weapon. There was a faint smile on the shinigami's lips "Let's start with something simple." he stated as he dashed forward the bokken in his right hand. Once he got close to Ezrachek he stopped aimed a slash at the right side of the other man's head. Before the blade could touch him he pulled back and spun a full 360 and slashed at the left side of his ribs instead. It was one of the first moves he had created as a student a feint then an attack from the opposite side,

Ezrachek smiled as he recognized a move that he would have expected. A swing downward to the right. He moved the point of his blade to the ground, having it vertical to the right side of his body. At the last second he realized that the Bokken was no longer at his side. He realized that the blade was coming around to his left, and he sprung up off of his feet. An advantage of Crouching Tiger, the ability to make any sort of dodge readily. He waited until he felt the hard contact of the shinigami's Bokken hit his. He used the momentum of himself flipping sideways, and the contact of the two Bokkens to spin at a fast speed in front of the shinigami. He, using the momentum of his spinning and his own force, sprang his body flat, slowing the spinning. As physics states, energy can not be created nor destroyed, rather transferred. The energy from his spinning went into his arms as he thrusted the Bokken towards the shinigami's right side of his neck.

The shinigami watched the flipping and spinning student with interest. So much so he almost missed the counterattack. It was only a wooden sword, he probably stop it with his hand, but what's the fun in that? He would treat it like a real weapon. Avoid or parry. There was no time to raise his weapon, so that left the former. Normally he'd just shunpo away, but he was prohibited from using it during the match. Arawn raised his foot and kicked off the empty air. With but a little focus even air could be made into a stable surface for shinigami to stand. A simple trick most learned in the academy. Combined with a small jump the push of the kick was enough to move him away as the bokken came at him. With a small gap between them Arawn's hand went to his neck. Although he couldn't see it there was red mark where the wooden weapon had hit him. It had seemed he hadn't gotten away unscratched.
"That was a nice move." Arawn said honestly. "Clever, abit flashy, but still a decent defense." He finished rubbing the small wound. Giving a small shrug and waved his left hand at the student. "It's your turn now. Let's see what you can do." Arawn stood in simple back stance his left leg back and his right forward. The wooden blade grasped firmly in his right hand. He wasn't lying he was impressed with the student, it seemed he wasn't the wild man the other students thought he was. Obviously he had some training or just had a good battle sense. The people surrounding them had dropped the pretense of pretending to be watching and were all watching the battle unfold.

Ezrachek smiled, with a sense of confidence as he saw that he had made contact. In a real battle, that would have been a kill against a normal enemy. Ezrachek knew that this Arawn was not normal, but he considered it a small victory. Ezrachek stoop up, stabbing his Bokken into the ground, unsheathing his Zanpakuto and raising his left sleeve, reavealing over 1,000 scars that appeared to be cut scars. Ezrachek, still having his demonic aura with him, brought the blade to his own arm,and sliced an inch long cut across his arm. He smiled and laughed maniacally as the blood rolled down his arm. He replaced his sleeve to it'a previous location and sheathed his Zanpakuto "In the real world, that would have been a kill. Worthy to make a note of. Don't be fooled by surface appearances Arawn! Those 1,000 plus marks are not all my kills, only the ones that really give me a challenge. Warriors like yourself that i will only fight now. The ones that are so much stronger than me that i shake with excitement at the thought of beating them." Ezrachek retrieved his Bokken and looked down at the shorter shinigami. He remembered back to his classes in which he learned how to use the air as a surface. He focused his thoughts and kicked off the air, flying towards Arawn with as much speed as possible. He struck at the rear of Arawns legs simulating a disabling strike. Ezrachek slowed his strike to intentionally be blocked, if he did, he would keep is Bokken connected to Arawns Bokken as he used the air as a circular wall surrounding them both. Ezrachek ran in a cirlce, raising himself slowly in altitude, constantly kicking off of the air. He reached his fastest speed and kicked off the air, crossing behind Arawn as he raised his Bokken to Arawns throat. Ezrachek then would stop himself with the air and drop himself to the ground, still holding his Bokken steady to Arawns neck, dull side towards his neck, ready to strike at any counter.

A scowl came upon Arawn's face as the man made his proclamation. The young student's words hit a nerve in the shinigami.
"What are they teaching students these days?" he said rhetorically as he shook his head in disgust. "I guess I'm wrong." Arawn closed his eyes and slowly rubbed his temples. "I've studied cultures where warriors would mark themselves after a honorable and noble hunt. A proud way to display their achievements to their tribe. But that..." the bokken pointed to the man's arm "is just pathetic." Shaking his head he stared at the man before him. How could such a person be allowed to become a shinigami? There would only be troubles in the future. "There is nothing honorable or noble about those that mark, and I'm sure the rest are equally questionable." he stated flatly. "You place shackles on me, tell me not to use all my power, then claim victory over something so minor." The left index finger tapped the red mark on his neck. "Such a thing only bolsters false pride. And such pride is a fragile house of cards." Arawn gave a mental nod, it would fall upon him to knock such shallow pride down. If not it would be that much harder when he went against someone more serious. What he had thought would be an exhibition match, a friendly exchange, was now becoming something else. He only hoped the boy learned something when this was over he thrust his bokken into the ground.
Ezrachek charged him and Arawn moved. Moving in a straight line it wasn't hard for him to plot an interception course; especially when he was the target. Moving forward he reached out and grabbed the man by his wrist that held the bokken. The other arm grabbed his shoulder and pushed his forearm against the other man's neck. Holding him thus he skidded to a stop. "I don't need shunpo to catch you." he said softly as he jerked and heaved with all his strength to throw the man to the ground.

Ezrachek felt a sharp pain as he was snatched from his charge and then thrown to the ground. He looked at Arawn and took a moment to study this man. He was shorter than Ezrachek and much faster. He was stronger in every aspect. Feeling hopeless Ezrachek raised his sleeve once more and spit on his arm. He began to wash away the red marks that appeared on his arm that he faked on his arm. He took a wrap from his shirt and wrapped the one true cut. "I see my mirage failed to work as a scare tactic. I cut myself to calm my nerves. I was getting to cocky and realized that i needed to calm my spirit. You saw the mirage, but the scare tactic failed. I must not have been convincing enough. I will have to work on that." Ezrachek proclaimed as he realized the error of his ways. This wasn't going to stop him from trying his best. He knew he was going to lose. The winner is decided from the very beginning. It was not in fates telling that Ezrachek would win and he knew this. He would, however, give Arawn the best struggle he could give. That was the only way that Ezrachek could get bettet. He walked over to his Bokken and picked it up. "On second thought, we are not slaves, being forced to fight. I was wrong, sir. We fight with every power we have. My only wish is to learn such techniques from you." Ezrachek said with a polite bow, never taking his eye from his opponent. Ezrachek went back into his crouching tiger stance, waiting for the next strike.

The red haired man snorted at the man's confession. A bluff? A ruse? That knowledge did little to quell the annoyance Arawn had felt. For all intents and purposes he was angry. It wasn't silly to let such things get to him, but the whole situation reminded him of that delinquent student he had faced long ago. That man too had been a braggart and then quickly recanted once he was on the losing end of their fight. It was almost exactly the same. Even now it wasn't respect that drove him to be polite, it was fear. Fear of defeat or perhaps fear of the power Arawn might possess. Either or perhaps both.
"Such a ruse won't work against a hollow." He said simply "And against a stronger appoint such a thing will only raise their ire as it has mine." He kept his eyes on the young student. Making no motion to retrieve his bokken he gave a dismissive wave.
"The rules will remain as they are, there's no need to change them. Just know that the limits set aren't as confining as you hope." Arawn pressed the knuckles of his right hand against the open palm of his left hand and bowed. If he truly wished to learn, he would teach like his master had taught him; hard work, effort, and pain. "Let us continue." He released his reiatsu and let it flood around as he raised his right hand over his head
and it then flowed to that one spot. Sa Shin Mu: Beck-ho His arm fell like a hammer, the ground cracked and honeycombed from the pseudo weight his pressure granted it. Arawn's right hand was buried in the earth from the heavy strike. He gave a grunt as he released his stored reiatsu, the ground exploded sending rocks flying at Ezracheck from the shockwave. A cloud of dirt was sent airbone all about the two fighters. Under the sudden smokescreen Arawn dashed forward with nothing more than a simple punch. Even with the smoke it was a small feat to detect the other man's position.

Ezrachek flinched as the rocks flew towards him. He allowed most of the rocks pelt him, as he found the heaviest one and grabbed it, he swung around, timing it well and thrust it forward towards Arawns face just as his fisy broke through the smoke. Ezrachek grunted as he jumped, and felt the fist hit deep into his abs. He had avoided the hit to the face, but it still hurt. Ezrachek hit a wall, creating a small crater in it. Angry, Ezrachek punched the wall as he jumped up, feet pointed to the wall. He pushed off, and just as he came close to Arawn he threw his Bokken forward, hoping that it would hit him somewhere painful, anywhere painful. Ezrachek then extended his hands and wrapped his arms around Arawns throat. "Did I forget to mention that I excel at close quarters combat better than swordsmanship?" He whispered into Arawns ear as he dug his knee into his back, gaining leverage, and pulled his arm back onto Arawns throat, showing his muscles and veins bulging out, to intimidate any other student thinking about challenging this man. Even that Ezrachek was to lose to this man, as he was with Tenma, he would never lose to a warrior of equal strength.

A nice counter. Arawn thought as he got a face full of rock. Even with all the smoke the man didn't give up. At least he had the determination to keep fighting. That alone was a redeeming trait. He smiled despite himself the anger at the man slowly dissipating. A single punch wouldn't be enough to squash Erzachek nor would the rock be enough to stop Arawn. The smoke cleared and the student came back into view just as he came flying through the air. As he appeared he tossed his bokken at Arawn's head. He quickly swatted the weapon from the air as the student landed behind him and wrapped his arm about his neck. Again Arawn was impressed it seemed he has some skill other than bravado. A very nice grip he had, he could feel the air and blood being denied to his brain. It was probably be only a matter of moments before he knocked out. The knee to his back was all the motivation he needed to inflict some real pain on the man. Arawn kicked off the ground as hard as possible sending him and his captor skyward over thirty feet straight up. His left hand grabbed at Ezracheck's face the right hand pushed on his chin. Hold on tight, you're going for a ride he said to himself not wanting to waste what little air he had for a taunt. Pulling his knees up to his chest he kicked off the air sending them both plummeting back to the ground flipping end over end. Their combined weight, the spin of their flips, and gravity increased their rate of falling exponentially. Arawn knew he probably wouldn't walk away from a fall like this. Good thing he had something to cushion his fall. With one final rotation the two men slammed into the ground Ezracheck first.

The air escaped Ezracheks lungs as he slammed into to the ground. Or so it seemed. During the rotations, Arawn had seemed to fail to notice that Ezrachek had loosened his grip. Ezrachek had focused all of his energy to push his legs against the air. It didn't stop his fall, but severly reduced the speed. It was the difference between a shattered rib cage and a broken rib or two. Three to be exact. Ezrachek laughed as he kicked Arawn off of him. He regained his crouching tiger stance and then he felt it. A warm liquid touched his lips. He rubbed his lips and looked at his hands, finding the deep crimson liquid on his fingers. His nose was bleeding. How!? I don't remember being hit in the face? Ezrachek thought to himself as he felt something shooting up through his throat. He hit his knees to the ground, as blood poured from his mouth as he caughed up quite a good amount of blood. When the blood spill was over, he stood back up, ready to fight, unwillingly to quit. Quitting a fight was not in his dictionary. He thought about quitting. He knew that he was not going to win. But he was not the type to give up. He smiled as the smoke settled and he saw Arawn. "Nice hit. Must've broke a few of my ribs, could have killed me though, old man." Ezrachek caughed out as he went to his fighting stance, left foot forward, right food back, and both hand remaining at his.center of balance. He took the time to meditate and regain his composure as he waited for Arawn to make the next move.

Although Ezracheck broke his fall the impact with the ground was enough to stun even Arawn. He made no resistance as the student kicked him away and stood. Arawn was a little slower to rise to his feet. His legs buckled, his back hurt, and his left arm felt quite numb. That wasn't something he would be doing any time soon. He probably should have used his spiritual power to cushion himself, but it would have reduced the damage to Ezracheck as well. With a groan he righted himself and examined his foe, as he stood his head started to pound like someone was playing it like a drum. The young man looked much worse than he felt. Coughing up blood was definitely a bad thing. The crowd of student shared his sentiments; there were alot of murmurings from those gathered. The concern on their faces was plain enough to see. They didn't like the rough man, but they didn't want to see him dead. Arawn gave a sigh and reached into his inner shirt. Without looking his right hand found the phone hidden the pocket. Thankfully it was built to be tough there was no damage to it at all. Silently Arawn wondered how well the electronic would stand to a hollow's attack. That thought passed quickly as he began dialing the code for medical aid. The phone beeped twice to confirm and Arawn confirmed his selection.
"You've lost." the shinigami said sternly. "There's not bravery in continuing this any longer." The group let out a collective sigh of relief, they probably thought he was going to keep fighting with the student. "I've called the 4th squad, lay down and wait for them to arrive. No point hurting yourself further." Both were injured, chances were even Arawn wouldn't be able to put up much more of a fight either.

Ezrachek cursed as the shinigami refused to fight, but he secretly agreed. Much more of this and they would both end up seriously hurt. "No need. Call them back. I'm not weak, old man. This is not my first broken set of ribs." Ezrachek took out another, larger roll of medical rap, and wrapped his ribs and set his Bokken down in the respective case. " I will walk. Arawn, you opened my eyes today about the true way of the shinigami. Thank you, but don't think i won't be back after graduation for my rematch!" Ezrachek laughed as he gave a goodbye wave to his new friendly rival. Ezrachek walked slowly, careful not to cause further damage, as he continued onto his path the squad 4 barracks.