Ezrachek's Nightmare

Ezrachek watched in horror that faithful night where his father and mother were killed. He had no memory to how they died, he just knew that he found himself in tears, covered in their blood, along with the blood of the men that he had already slaughtered that night. He saw the shinigami that was weakened now, nearing the brink of death, as he reached out an arm towards Ezrachek. He felt a strange aura inside of him as the shinigami sent his Reiatsu flowing into the boy. Ezrachek let out a gasp as the Shinigami the ground cold and lifeless. Ezrachek dried his tears as he walked out of the hut. He noticed a small boy crouching at the entrance. He yelped as she looked into his dark, deep red eyes. She was frozen in place, secretly knowing that they were related. Ezrachek shoved her to the side and continued on his path back to battle. ”If you ever get in my way again. I will kill you.” He called over his shoulder to the small boy. He walked forward and saw the battlefield over the horizons. His men were all dead. He looked closer and saw a man quick as light and unpredictable as the wind, as he moved from warrior to warrior killing each and every one of Ezrachek’s men. Ezrachek sprinted down towards the battlefield, holding tightly onto his katana. He gripped the hilt with his right hand and prepared to draw it. He reached the edge of the cliff and jumped far into the air. He flew far and landed hard on the ground as he rolled forward and continued his sprint towards the mysterious man. Ezrachek had hoped that he was able to catch the man off guard as he charged forward. He got within 5 meters of the man and he froze in his tracks. He had lost all sense of the man’s presence, and it was almost as if the man had disappeared. He heard a swushing of the wind and he ducked quickly, as the man’s katana swiped above Ezrachek’s head. He unsheathed his katana and swung it towards the man. He knew he was going to make contact, however when the blade would have made contact, the man had vanished from Ezrachek’s sight. He felt the presence behind him and kept his momentum with his sword, swinging it and knocking the man’s dagger away from Ezrachek’s back.

”You are fast and a worthy opponent. I will enjoy drinking your blood!” The man told to Ezrachek as the man raised his katana to his mouth, and licked the blood off of the blade. Ezrachek grinned as the man’s foolish actions had intrigued and surprised Ezrachek. He jolted forward, swinging at the man’s midsection. The man quickly blocked the strike and swung down onto Ezracheks left shoulder. The blade cut deep into his flesh, and would have severed his arm completely off, but Ezrachek had dropped his katana on the ground and caught the blade, stopping it’s momentum. The other warrior saw the katana on the ground and kicked it to the side, far out of Ezrachek’s reach. Ezrachek smiled and laughed as he threw the blade upwards, feeling the fresh air moving through his wound. He ripped off his left sleeve, as the blood dripping added an unneeded weight. His arms revealed over 1,000 scars on it. Ezrachek was shaking as the blood trickled down his arm. ”HAHAHA! You are trembling with such fear! You will never defeat me! Bow your head and I will be sure to sever it quickly so that you don’t feel pain! Before I do though, please inform me what the scars are for?” The man called out as he looked upon Ezrachek, laughing demonically.

”You misunderstand me. I am not shaking of fear. I am shaking because of excitement and adrenaline. I once again have found a warrior that is worth me using my true strength. I will add another slash to my arm. Another kill.” He yelled as he took out two Kama from his clothes. Ezrachek saw the man laugh and brush off his comment. ”Don’t be fooled by surface appearances. It’s true that these marks resemble kills but these are only the kills of the men who are strong enough to draw my blood and actually give me a challenge. Only those who are able to make me shake like this. I would have to have a tower reaching to the heavens to mark every regular life I have taken. Now tell me before I end your life! What is your name? Warrior who have slain my men in battle?” He demanded as the warrior choked on his laugh. Ezrachek took His Kama and walked towards the man. ”It’s not me who will die here! But to amuse you, My name is Urishu Lamir and I will be the victor on this day!” He yelled as he appeared in front of Ezrachek. Ezrachek let out a chuckled as he quickly dodged the katana strike. He hooked his kama, around the katana and twisted the man’s arm, causing the blade to fly loose and stab into the ground. ”Hyaku chishi sutoraiki! One Hundred Lethal Strikes!” Ezrachek yelled as he sprinted towards the man, using his Kama to first strike at the man’s Achilles tendon, causing Urishu to cry out in pain as he collapsed onto the ground. Ezrachek then swung around and sliced the man multiple times across the thighs severing every main artery in his legs. Ezrachek kicked Urishu into the air and quickly diced Urishu’s arms into chunks, stopping at the shoulders. He looked at the man, unable to move.

”Repent for your sins and make your last wishes with your God!” Ezrachek yelled out as he swung his two Kama quickly, cutting every single main artery and vein in the man’s body. He made sure to leave the man living for all 99 strikes. He raised his Kama to the man’s throat. He looked down in the man’s eyes. Urishu screamed a hair-raising scream as he saw the demonic look in Ezrachek’s eyes, a deep crimson red, as if the pupils had blood swirling around inside. Ezrachek cut an X in Urishu’s throat, grinning as the blood squirted from the man’s throat. He was still for the most connected by the flesh. Ezrachek was about to put the finishing touches on his secret technique. He drew back and kicked the corpse hard enough to burst the body into multiple parts, sending the chunks across the battlefield. He took his dagger from his clothes and cut another mark into his arm.

Ezrachek shot up in his bed in a cold sweat as he awoke from the nightmare. He wiped the sweat from his face as he looked over, feeling safety as he saw that his Zanpakuto was still there. He quickly looked at his left arm, covered by his sleeve. He raised his sleeve, expecting to see the many marks. He saw nothing as the memory that his body was cleaned resembling his soul’s purification in the process of him becoming a shinigami. He laid back and let out a long sigh of relief. He waited a few moments to collect his thoughts. What was that about? Why am I having these dreams? Why the sudden revelations of these memories that he had long suppressed. He gave up on finding the answers and walked outside. The sun’s golden rays flashed through the leaves blowing in the wind. He smiled as he felt to cool winter breeze. He looked down and saw that snow was covering the ground of the Soul Society. He looked around and saw the other students running around and playing for the last few minutes that they had before they had class. Ezrachek groaned as he remembered that he had class. He decided that he would go and fight through the suffering and hopefully if he was lucky, they would be learning about Kidou. He grabbed his Zanpakuto and ran off to the class, hoping that it would take his mind off of things. He entered the classroom and took his seat. ”Ok class! Settle down now! We are going to be working on focusing our reiatsu, with using certain elements to our tactical advantage. If we have time I will teach you all Hado #4, but only if we have enough time.” YES! Ezrachek thought to himself. Another easy day. He looked around and watched as his friend sat next to him. He gave him a welcoming nod of the head and looked back up to the class to see a frightened boy. ”Ok class, It seems we have a new student here today. He supposedly comes from a village not well known around the world.” Ezrachek looked in amazement as he realized that this boy standing up in the front of the class, nervous of her first day, was that small boy from his village when he found his father and mother dead. He blanked out so that he couldn’t hear his full name, all that he heard was that his first name was Ryushiro. They all walked to the lake near the academy. The teacher walked onto the lake, not sinking, but walking on the surface. The newer students gasped and made noises of ooh and aghs. Ezrachek wasn’t all that impressed, cuz this was his second class on this. They had just went over this last week. It was normally the first thing that you learn in the academy, but since the new students there had to learn it, Ezrachek was forced to be the example as he walked forward, to the edge of the lake. He stopped at the base, and focused his reiatsu. He took a step forward and stayed on the surface of the water. He wanted to show off his skills to the young students, so he began to run circles around the instructor. ”Well Ezrachek since you have so much energy, possibly you can show these students one of your honored combos dealing with elemental combat.” Ezrachek nodded with a grin as he ran faster and faster around in a circle, once he reached about half his top speed, he focused harder, kicking off of the air, and then running in a spiral formation in the air, making an egg shaped path as the slowly reached his path. ”Hebi no kiri no sutoraiki! Serpent mist strike!” He yelled out as he pushed off the air, heading straight for the water. He unsheathed his Zanpakuto and stabbed it into the water, where the instructor had placed a target that was levitating over the water. The Zanpakuto drove the target under the water. Ezrachek raised his blade as his prize was still on the end of the blade. He swung it, sending the dummy free of his blade. He looked around with a cocky grin.

”So mister Rayone, do you wish to give it a try?” Ezrachek looked at the instructor in complete confusion as he pointed at the target. ”What do you mean teacher? I just did it!” The teacher turned to Ezrachek and pressed a finger to his own lips to tell Ezrachek to silence himself. ”Not you Ezrachek. Mister Ryshiro Rayone, your little brother.” The words struck Ezrachek like a hammer to the chest as he lost all thought of what he was doing. He felt his ankles become wet for a split second before his entire body was submerged in the lake. He had lost his focus and therefore was no longer able to stand on the water. He swam to the edge and walked out of the lake, angry and confused. ”There is no way possible that the little runt over there Is my brother! He is much too small to be a Rayone! My father made warriors! Not runts!” Just as he had finished his yell, he noticed that Ryushiro was now right behind him, holding his own Zanpakuto to Ezrachek’s spine. ”A warrior’s strength is only bested by his enemies speed. How dare you insult me and our father’s name!” Ryushiro threatened as he stepped away from his older brother and removed the blade from his spine. Ezrachek had never felt such a feeling of rage before in his life. Not even on the night prior to his spar with Arawn. He looked around, all the kids laughing at him. ”Excuse me teacher, for I’m about to whip this kids ASS! Hado #2!” He called as the kidou shot out of Ezracheks left hand. With his right hand, he placed his palm onto Ryushiro’s stomach. ”Hado #3! Crimson Strike!” Ezrachek yelled out as the red Kidou shot from his palm into the body of Ryushiro. The small boy went flying through the crowd of students as he slid across the lake, constantly staying atop it’s surface. How!? Ezrachek thought to himself as he watched his brother run across the river. He had the same spiritual pressure as Ezrachek, but he was much faster. Ezrachek laughed as he remembered his past comment. Ezrachek laughed as he remembered that his swordsmanship is unmatched within the academy. He drew his Zanpakuto and looked up, seeing that Ryushiro had already drawn his Zanpakuto and was slashing in the direction of Ezracheck’s rib cage. Ezrachek quickly blocked the strike with his blade, and with the hilt of his Zanpakuto smashed it into Ryushiro’s face. As the boys head whipped backwards from the strike, Ezrachek slid behind him, grabbing his hair and pushing him forward. Sliding back to the front of Ryushiro, Ezrachek slammed his knee into the face of Ryushiro. Ryushiro then took the momentum of the strike and did a backflip and jolted forward into striking distance of Ezrachek. The teacher and the rest of the students stepped back and watched the fight unravel as the two brothers needed to fight this one out, or they would never be able to graduate. They began a quick parry of sword clashes and strikes with ducks and jumps combined in the volley of swings. Ryushiro, having the speed advantage, gained a leverage and took a step forward as he swung at Ezracheks left side, while Ezracheks defense was on his right. Ezrachek then took a step forward, as the blade hit his ribs, but only went in a small portion.
Ezrachek saw his brother’s confused face and decided to explain what he had done. ”The one step difference. You swung your Zanpakuto thinking that you had enough room to make an effective strike, and at the original distance, you did, but by taking a step forward you decreased the distance between us, and while the step forward gave you more momentum in your strike, it decreased the time that you had to complete your swing. By myself taking a step forward, it doubly decreased the time that you had to swing you Zanpakuto, and it combat time is equivalent to momentum. It’s a risky move, that only those warriors who have truly faced the fear of death would have the guts to do. Face it little bro. You will never be as good as me. I am the best warrior of the Rayone clan, and I always will be.” Ezrachek said as he took a step back away from his brother. He took a bandage wrap from his uniform and undressed the torso portion of it. He wrapped his ribs to protect the small wound until it healed. He looked at his uniform top and cursed. Another top that he had to pay the academy for. He tossed 10 ryo to the teacher for payment of a new top. The teacher then stepped forward and separated the two boys. Ryushiro was crying deep blue tears at this time. ”Yes! You are the best of the Rayone clan! And that’s why you killed mother and father! Because they were going to give the heir of the head of the clan to me! You couldn’t be trusted because you killed everyone in your path. You have changed though brother. You told me on that death filled day that if I ever got in your way again, that you would kill me. You didn’t, so either you have gotten weaker, or you have grown soft.” Ezrachek glared at Ryushiro with his deep crimson eyes. ”You know nothing about me boy! Hado #4!” Ezrachek yelled out after shoving himself free of the teachers grip. He hit his brother with the hado, knocking him onto his back. Ezrachek rushed over to his little brother, unsheathing his Zanpakuto. He stabbed down, just barely missing him, but stabbing through his uniform. ”I could kill you at any moment. This is a good day, we practice Kidou, so im not going to let you ruin my day! And how dare you say that I killed our parents!? I wasn’t even there when they died. I had blacked out.”

Ryushiro explained to his older brother that he did kill their parents and that the reason that he did not remember it was because it was his brain’s way of concealing that event that was too emotionally painful for Ezrachek to realize, and so his mind automatically suppressed the images and all memory of the action in an attempt from a potential self-destruction that would follow. Ezrachek refused to believe such a thing, and inevitably stormed off to his quarters.

A few weeks had passed and Ezrachek was now a full shinigami and a member of Squad 2. He was still waiting for a mission from Captain Kuro, and would occasionally go to help the instructors with helping the student. It was another Kidou day at the academy and Ezrachek requested not to be with his younger brother’s class. His wishes were confirmed when he found that he was attached to a class that was scheduled to graduate this upcoming end of the week. This made Ezrachek happy, finally some people closer to his level. His spiritual pressure had grown some since then, and he was ready for anything the teacher would have him do. He walked into the classroom before the lessons started and asked the teacher what they would be doing. ”So any spars or demonstrations today instructor? Maybe a spar with the top classmate, so I can show him what it means to truly be the best.” Ezrachek asked as he looked at the instructor. ”The best, huh? We’ll see. You will be doing a spar today, however, not against a student. I want you to show them your new Kidou that you have recently learned, and therefore you will be fighting me.”

Ezrachek sighed as he sat in the back of the classroom and waited for the class to begin. ”Bakudo #19! Energy Fade!” Ezrachek whispered quietly to himself as he hid his reiatsu and smiled as, one by one, students filed into the classroom, not noticing the shinigami at all. It was finally paying off, all the hard work and all the training to finally become a part of Squad 2. The teacher began with a lecture about how Kidou is to only be used in certain situations and that academy students are not to use it against each other unless in battle or training together, for it could be extremely dangerous. He then turned his attention to the background, remembering the Ezrachek was still back there. He spoke, telling the class to turn around and gasps spread around the classroom as they finally realized that the shinigami was in the back of the classroom. ”Dude’s Spiritual Pressure must be nothing, I didn’t even feel him in the classroom when I walked in.” The kid laughed as Ezrachek released the Bakudo, flaring his Reiatsu out throughout the classroom, and bringing the kid to his knees after falling out of his chair. ”What was that about Spiritual Pressure, Kid? You don’t know anything do you?” Ezrachek glared at the kid as he took his seat once more. Ezrachek walked to the front of the classroom, his footsteps echoing throughout the room due to the deafening silence that all the kids created out of sheer fear. Ezrachek took his place next to the instructor as he explained to the class that Ezrachek and he was going to work together in a Kidou demonstration, to show the kinds of kidou that are available to learn after graduation. The kids silently cheered, still scared of a strike out by Ezrachek. He laughed. He was glad that they feared him, as he loved when people feared him.

The students were outside within 5 minutes and all standing around in a circle talking. When Ezrachek and the instructor walked in, they all snapped to and the talking ceased immediately. To be honest, Ezrachek was a little impressed with their respect for their instructor. Ezrachek had respect, but showed it differently, as he always developed more of a kinship and a friendship with his instructors, and showed respect by joking around and talking to them. Ezrachek walked to the center of the sparring grounds and began to meditate as the teacher began explaining that the two shinigami were going to dual using Kidou techniques. As the teacher and the students were distracted, Ezrachek stood up and readied himself mentally and psychologically for the spar. He was going to need it if he wished to even come close to beating the instructor. The instructor turned around and faced Ezrachek. They both bowed and Ezrachek instantly went to his Tiger stance. The teacher started the dual by shooting a white lightning bolt from his fingertips. Ezrachek easily dodged it as he landed on the other side of the instructor. As the instructor was turning around, Ezrachek called out. ”Hado! #12!” Needle Release!” Ezrachek sprinted towards the teacher, swinging at his rib cage. The teacher easily blocked the strikes as he placed his palm quickly to Ezrachek’s chest. ”Hado #3! Crimson Strike!” The instructor called out as Ezrachek quickly places his spiked palms on the man’s forearm. Ezrachek was thrown violently backwards and he made contact with the wall hard enough to make a small crater in it. The instructor flung the blood from his arm that was created by the needles slicing his arm open when they were thrown back with Ezrachek. It was a good counter, but neither of them were going to admit it to themselves, or each other. It was time for a fight. Ezrachek smiled as the crimson swirled into his pupils. ”Let’s try something different this time! Hado #20! Arashi-Toboshibi!” Ezrachek commanded as he shot ten arctic white balls of energy from the palm of his hand. He concentrated on them as he flew them towards the teacher, fanning them out just as he did before. Just before contact, The teacher called out ”Bakudo #8! Seki!” As the shield popped up just as the explosions started. The students shielded their eyes from the bright white explosions that were caused by the energy ball. It kicked up a tremendous amount of dust, and rendered the sight of both contestants. Ezrachek used this time to his advantage. ”Bakudo #19! Energy Fade!” He commanded as hid his Reiatsu completely, becoming practically invisible to his challenger. He found the teacher in the midst of the dust just as it was clearing and decided to get close. ”Hado #12! Needle Release!” Ezrachek called out as he swiped at the instructors head. He easily ducked and reeled around to strike a hard palm at Ezrachek’s chest once more, this time not using any Kidou, but the sheer force of a Squad 11 member’s strength to send Ezrachek flying back once more. ”Hado #4! White Lightning!” The teacher called out as a snow white bolt shot from his fingertips and sped towards Ezrachek. The bolt struck hard into Ezrachek’s shoulder and he fell to his knees. The instructor walked up to him and placed a palm on his back. ”Hado #3! Crimson Strike!” The instructor commanded as the energy blast sent Ezrachek to the dirt floor in an instant, sending blood from his mouth and nose as his face smashed into the dirt.

The instructor wasted no time to finish the battle. ”Bakudo #1 Sai!” He called out as Ezrachek’s arms were instantly bound behind his back. Ezrachek was helpless as he raised to his knees, face bleeding. The instructor then unsheathed his Zanpakuto and placed it to Ezrachek’s neck with the point cold as it touched Ezrachek’s throat. ”You see class, It wasn’t the Ezrachek was weak, because believe me, He is one of the best that the academy has had, although between me and you, it seems he has lost his trust. Haha! All jokes aside, He was not quick enough in his Reiatsu. Now my lesson was not to beat up on Squad 2, no matter how much I love to do that, or to show you good prospects of Kidou. It was for Ezrachek to show you the new abilities that are available for you to learn as an unseated shinigami. If I were any weaker, He would have one with his spiked needles and energy fade, however I was quicker and stronger, but that’s just because of my experience, and my better squad! Haha!” The instructor joked with his class a little while discussing the rest of the lesson as he released Ezrachek from the binding and allowed him to go back to Squad 2’s Barracks, where Ezrachek waited for Captain Kuro to send him on a mission.
(OOC: This thread is leading onto another thread, but as far as this portion of the story, it’s over and ready for eval.)