A Glass Encasement

Shikyo

Shikyo lay in his bed, attempting to sleep but awoke at the sound of his voice. Sitting straight up he looked around his room. He saw no one and after deciding it must've been his imagination, rested his head back on his pillow. His mind wandered to the various task he would have to do the next day as he slowly drifted into the plane of the unconscious. He was nearly there when he heard his name once more, this time more forcefully.

Shikyo!

He threw the blanket off his body as he twirled his body, sitting on the edge of his bed. He knew now he wasn't hearing things but as he concentrated on the sounds of the night, the only audible noises were the few bugs singing outside his window and the creaking of boards as people moved through the hallway on the other side of his door. Sticking his head out of the room he asked a passer-byer if someone called his name. When he received a no he slowly shut the door and moved back to sit on his bed. His confusion subsided when he turned to see his Zanpakuto glowing with a dull blond light and his name echoed through his mind again, and this time he knew who was calling him.

Shikyo! Get up!

Picking up the emerald staff he held it in his hands across his lap, waking himself as he prepared his mind to enter into the world of his spirit. Soon enough he stood in the familiar expanse of sand where Miku resided having to wait only a bit longer before the fox-like image of his Zanpakuto rose from the ground before him.

"What is it Miku?"

"I know how much you enjoy your sleep but this cannot wait." The voice intruded his mind as it always did, the feminine spirit's mouth never moving.

Shikyo smiled sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head. "That's true but I'll always be able to learn from you whenever I have the chance."

"Good. The level of communication we have is growing and as such as our bond is stronger, allowing you greater access to my reiatsu. However there are still things you need to learn about my abilities as your training continues."

Shikyo listened intently, knowing that Miku always chose her words carefully and didn't say something that wouldn't help him.

" You learned my name and that alone increased your ability to channel my power, but you must also learn the names of my abilities if you truly want to experience their power. The best offense is a good defense and as such you must learn to protect yourself so that you can better protect others." As she said this the sand in front of her seemed to rise as it converged upon itself, forming a large tiger before shifting into glass. The beast bared its fangs at Shikyo as the shinigami felt Miku feeding it her spiritual pressure. "Learn to protect yourself or perish."

Shikyo leapt back as the tiger charged forward, moving with its signature cat-like speed as it swiped its claws at Shikyo. He looked around for the golden blade but found nothing as he rolled out of the way of the tiger's pounce.

"My blade!" Shikyo called to Miku, who only shook her head as she rose her hands, summoning a second glass tiger from behind Shikyo who caught him with its sharp claws and left three bloody scratches on the back of his neck. It seemed she intended him to learn this lesson without her help as he leapt into the air and out of the reach of the twin beasts' paws. The tigers however were no regular animals as one disappeared from view, reappearing above Shikyo with its fangs leading the way, intending to latch itself onto the shinigami. "Shunpo?" Shikyo recognized, unaware of the extent of power Miku had given the tigers in this realm. "My blade offers you a variety of abilities. Use your mind and find the one that will help you."

Shikyo knocked the tiger's face away from his body, his hand immediately beginning to bruise from connecting with the reiatsu powered glass but he shook it off as he performed a spinning kick to send the feline crashing to the ground. Shikyo thought about what Miku had said, channeling reiatsu through his hands as a column of sand rose from the ground, spinning around his body as he converted pieces of the sand to glass and fired the torrential attack toward the tigers. Miku shook her head once more as she reiterated, "The best offense is a good defense.

The spinning glass shards collided with the tigers, the attack bouncing harmlessly off their reiatsu infused bodies as they merely roared at Shikyo, running toward him with amazing speed. Thinking quickly Shikyo rose a glass shield in front of him from the ground, intending to stop their progress but one of the tigers executed a shunpo once more, appearing behind him and pouncing, catching him under its massive weight as it pinned him to the desert sand.

"What if there's multiple opponents? Miku questioned. "You have to consider every possible angle of attack.

Allowing his reiatsu to flow through his body, he held the tiger's face away from his own, the fangs coming within inches of piercing his neck before he stopped the attack. Channeling his spiritual energy into his feet he kicked the beast off his body, rolling away as he hastily stood in his defensive stance, only to see Miku raising a third tiger from behind him. The three beasts now encircled him, slowly getting closer as they released a low guttural roar as they threatened to attack. Shikyo's mind raced as he thought about what Miku had told him, he needed a good defense, once that took into account all angles of attack. The answer hit him like a slap to the face as he leapt into the air, encircling his body with sand before it converted to glass around him resulting in a transparent orb that encompassed his entire body. The golden energy surged from his hands and through the sphere as the tigers leapt at him, crashing into the shield and bursting into thousands of pieces upon contact.

"Good." Miku stated as she watched Shikyo hovering in the air. "With that you will be able to protect yourself in dire circumstances, but beware as you will not be able to attack from within. As Miku said the last part the glass around Shikyo shattered, causing him to put his hands in front of his face to protect himself and as he opened his eyes he realized that he was once again back in his room, the emerald staff glowing with its golden illumination for a few more moments before the light faded.

Ability 2: The ability is activated when Shikyo announces the phrase "Bind the Sands Miku." Shikyo expands the sand released during the activation of his first ability so that it forms a sphere around him before converting to glass, resulting in a transparent "bubble" of sorts that serves to protect him from attacks. The sphere prevents most energy-based attacks and low to mid level kidou from reaching Shikyo, however the shield will begin to erode if placed under constant pressure from physical attacks. Because Shikyo must constantly stream his reiatsu through the sphere to keep himself safe he is unable to attack while his ability is activated, and due to the amount of energy it requires to maintain he doesn't remain in the sphere for longer than 5-10 minutes (the time the defense can be maintained as well as how much it can withstand before breaking is directly proportional to Shikyo's spirit power; i.e. for every 5 spirit power over 15 he can maintain the sphere for an additional minute and block a slightly higher kidou or energy based attack. Although he cannot change the fact that it will erode under physical attacks, the higher his spirit power the more pressure the sphere can take before it shatters).

Approved, i like the balance given to the ability well done.