Needing some help (Dray)

Kaiyo drummed her fingers along the table, her impatience even starting to annoy the patrons around her. The small social tavern was a bit more high class than those of Rukongai, but it still wasn't exactly where high society met for afternoon tea. However, as fr as she'd been told, it was a great place to meet someone, as it was central to most squad areas and even just a quick walk from the Academy. Given her recent combat success, Kaiyo had decided it was time she found herself a combat instructor.

Posters and flyers had always littered bulletin boards around Soul Society; Shinigami were often in high demand. Kaiyo had set the meeting place, put posters around everywhere and here she was, alone, half an hour her suggested meeting time. She blew gently onto her third cup of green tea, enjoying the smoke trail curling around her breath. Given the discomfort her Zanpakuto had been giving her whilst sitting on a chair, she'd plonked it on the large wooden table at which she sat.

The girl sighed lightly, drawing back her arms on the table as she rested her head for a while. Blinking silently down at her feet. She needed help, fighting was something she was only just getting used to, and it was something she desperately needed to get better at. Too many times had her sword flown from her hand with an over-zealous strike, or caught in it's sheath when she tried to prepare for combat. She hopeless without help, and helpless without hope.

Dray was lying in his bed reading a book and relaxing, one of his few days off duty when suddenly his phone began to ring. He sighed and closed the book holding it in one hand with a finger marking his place as he answered the phone, "Yes?" "Hey, it's Miller listen can you do me a huge favor? I was supposed to meet up with this trainee a little while ago but i got pulled into a patrol, can you take care of it for me?" Dray sighed and said, "Fine but you owe me big time, this was supposed to be my day off. Now where were you supposed to meet him?" "I was supposed to meet her at the mission pub, by the way her name is Kaiyo, thanks man bye!" and then he hung up. Dray stared at his phone for a moment then put a bookmark into his book and slipped it into his pocket as well as his wallet and then strapped his Zanpakuto to his back.

He stepped out of his room and did a quick little stretch to make sure he wasn't going to strain anything, then dashed straight towards the pub, running across the rooftops so that he wouldn't disturb others too much, it didn't take too long to reach the pub. He then realized he had no clue what the trainee looked like only that it was a girl and miller was supposed to meet her a while ago and her name was Kaiyo. He sighed and walked into the pub a little ways, the standing shinigami moving out of his way, more afraid of being zapped by his zanpakuto than out of respect. His Su Yari type spear had a tendency of zapping anyone who touched it that was not Dray and word had gotten around.

He glanced around the room looking for the girl and spotted one bored girl looking around with an annoyed expression on her face. Dray walked over to her and asked, "Are you Kaiyo? Miller couldn't make it so he asked me to come in his stead." and awaited for confirmation before continuing.

Kaiyo lifted her head at the mention of her name, unaware of the red mark her arm had left glaring on her forehead. She smiled weakly, already feeling guilty for her inner monologue raging at the people who were meant to show up. Recognising his shinigami robes, she rose automatically. Trying to show respect to your betters is difficult when you knock a table of green tea over as you stand up. Kaiyo squealed slightly as her flailing arms tried to scoop up the green tea. Her efforts were in vain; managing only to knock the pot across her shirt. A smashed glass and pot later, the poor girl just looked sadly up at her visitor, her shirt soaked in green tea. A single green leaf had even managed to find its way into her blue hair; a glaringly obvious tea leaf at that.

Amidst the chaos, Kaiyo could only laugh. Her soft giggle at least banished the patrons glares; a large grin formed from ear to ear as she waved across to the bartender, 'I'll pay for it i swear! I'm sorry!' He waved her off with grunt; it wasn't the first time someone had broken cups. Her hand moved up to the back of her head, ruffling her hair slightly as she looked around for something to wipe her seat with. In the end, she just took off her uniform top and mopped up the rest of the green tea.

Looking smaller than she actually was, there sat the student, still smiling with the innocence only a student could possibly possess and wiping the wet patches on her white tank top. 'Heh, sorry...Sometimes i get a bit nervous, erm, are you gunna help me train today instead then?' she asked politely, smiling at the bartender as he brought over two more steaming cups of green tea.

Dray watched as she raised her head, a mark on her forehead created a small smirk on Draylon's face. Then she suddenly stood up, hitting the table and the tea started to move towards him which she flailed at trying to stop in and only managing to knock it all over herself instead and both pot and cup broken. Dray had shifted back a few steps and covered his face with his hand as he didn't really want to see what had happened, as he peeked out from between his fingers he saw her soaking wet with a leaf in her hair and starting to giggle. His hand covered his mouth as he started to chuckle at her embarrassment.

She ended up taking off her uniform top and started to mop up the tea with it, apparently wearing a white tank top underneath which was thankfully mostly dry. She looked over at him and asked if he would be helping her train today as the bartender brought a few drinks over smiling at him as well.

Dray took in a deep breath in and let it out, then pulled over a dry chair and sat down at the table, pulling over one of the mugs of tea and looked across the table at her. "Apparently, Miller just called me and asked me to do a favor for him so apparently I am, Greeting Kaiyo, I'm Draylon Karosu 8th seat of 12th division. Now what kind of training was Miller going to instruct you in?" I sure hope that its something I'm good at like kido or long range combat if it has to do with combat, otherwise i can pretty much handle it if it doesn't have anything to do with combat. He looked expectantly across the table at Kaiyo as he sipped his tea.

Kaiyo didn't know who Miller was, not by name at least; the Dray'man seemed nice enough though. After her initial shock, Kaiyo decided she could at least relax enough to train with the man. She smiled to herself as he began to sip his drink, a small gesture, but again one that she found all that more settling. A tinge of panic prickled along her spine when she realised she hadn't even formally introduced herself to the man, who had clearly been hassled by coming here. Kaiyo passed it off with a small and sharp smile, her eyes blinking with terror for just a brief moment.

'Well, I asked just for some combat training in general, so I guess whatever you'd be willing to teach me would be great.' Kaiyo brought her cup back up to her lips, gently blowing the drink as her eyes wandered up and down the man. He seemed a bit more edgy than his calm attitude was suggesting so far, but this was from the mild mannered girl with blue hair so she couldn't judge too much.

Her eyes wandered across to her blade, a lifeless void of energy resided on the table, somehow having escaped the green tea flood; it seemed to be glaring up at her. One day she'd understand that sword, just probably not any day soon. 'You don't mind do you? Erm, what I mean is, I know you're filling in, so you're not busy or anything are you?' Her tone was softer this time, more relaxed and genuine. It was her eyes, for as much as she was an awful liar, Kaiyo did at least have sincere eyes. Kaiyo had only assumed that her combat trainer would make her fight to see how bad she was, but only now was she considering she'd have to practice isolate skills; a potentially embarrassing task.

She mentioned that she was just interested in some general combat training so whatever he wanted to teach would be fine. That made things easy on him, he thought about the different kinds of combat techniques he could teach her. She asked if he was busy and if it was okay for him to teach. "Today is my day off so no I'm not busy, I end up doing this kind of thing all the time so don't feel guilty about it."

He looked at her up and down, checking out her build, it seemed that she had a good build for speed and decent power but not much strength, looks to be suited towards ranged combatant or support much like himself. So i'll check out how good she is at kido and distance fighting and skirmishing. "How good are you at kido? and how are you at long distance fighting and skirmishing? Fill me in on everything you know about yourself related to your combat abilities."

Kaiyo's smile froze on her face, glued in front of the panic seeping from her body. She hadn't expected a bloody test on it. The girl calmly placed down her cup, her hand moving up to ruffle her hair; a defensive move she'd come to learn. 'Erm...' Her kidou was average at best, long distance fighting; did he mean with like a bow and arrow? As for skirmishing, well the foreign word meant no more than surfing the web meant to elderly people. Kaiyo licked her lips, preparing for her rambled response as her mind rattled through what she knew of her own combat abilities. This kind of self-reflection was un-heard of to the girl and was clearly not her strong suit.

'Erm, well my kidou's alright, if i focus on it and i don't think i've ever tried long distance fighting or...' She paused, opening her jaw to get her mouth around the word; she was fairly certain she'd pronounced it wrong as well, 'Skarmishing...' She could feel the heat rising, her cheeks tinting a light rose shade of red as her eyes darted around for escape.

She continued none the less. 'I'm fast though, and agile i guess, like, hard to hit...' Her voice trailed off; this wasn't working. Kaiyo lifted her gaze, a burning resolve illuminating her eyes as she looked straight across the table at Dray. 'Look, I only just started fighting, I mean i would before, i refused but now i get why its better to fight...I need help with being in a fight- just fighting in general. I mean, I haven't even spoken to my sword yet; not once' Her words tinted with sadness at the end, it was true, whilst most students had at least encountered their blades spirit, Kaiyo's just felt empty.

Dray stared at her for a moment, stunned at how little she knew then covered his face with a hand and looked down and mumbled, "miller....." He paused in that position his mind racing about where to begin, after about 10 seconds he decided that it would be best to just figure out a tactic for her and teach her how to use it, and he didn't want to decide for her.

He raised his head and looked across the table at her and said, "Pay your tab, then meet me at the Training Field immediately, we'll continue there." He stood up and tossed a small coin on the table for the tea he had drunk and walked out. The he dashed over to the Training Field to wait for her arrival, quickly securing a zone for them to train in.

Kaiyo's cheeks burned even brighter when Dray muttered something under his breath; clearly he'd seen through her mild disguise to pretend she had any idea what she was doing. He switched to serious fairly quickly though, fast enough for Kaiyo to be taken aback a moment. She could only say she was a little in awe of the man; thrown into a situation he hadn't been expecting and managing so well to take charge of it. There was some envy of such an ability in there. So stalled by her own thought the girl missed her chance to even respond; instead she was left staring blankly at the twirling coin he had tossed onto the table before he left.

Serious head on, Kaiyo nodded firmly, bundling her soggy shirt into her arms as she fumbled around to put her Zanpakuto back on her hip. Tying that damn obi sash was just not a skill of hers. The girl flung the remainder of the bill on the table, remembering to add extra for the broken humiliation. She was nervous, she could feel it racking against her mind, tightening her chest and beating her heart faster. Displaying her 'skills' was not going well so far.

After hurrying for a long time; Kaiyo finally found the right training field. She dropped her wet shirt on the ground as she rushed towards her new sensei. Smiling and waving across at him when she saw him. The girl ground to a halt in front of him, bowing low as she spoke to his feet. 'I'm ready to learn whatever you can teach me new-sensei'

Dray arrived at the training area about 5 minutes before Kaiyo and had thought about recruiting a nearby shinigami to help him show her the value of the training and go into practical training but decided against it, deciding to run over the basics and his intentions with kaiyo instead, and see her reaction and intentions as well.

A little while later Kaiyo showed up, waving at him from across the field and running over to him, announcing she was ready to be trained. Dray looked at her for a moment wondering where to begin. "Before we get into practical I want to talk about theoretical and your goals in more detail. There are a lot of things you can learn, such as close quarters combat, long range, skirmishing, which is engaging close range and disengaging or mixing it up. Then there is whther you are going to be support or attack or a mix of them. Attacking of course hurts the enemy, where support could be anything from controlling enemy movements with kido or melee skills or defending allies and such. I am personally an all rounder the only thing i really cant do that well is melee fighting. Think about your skill sets and your physical attributes and think about what you want to be, personally i would recommend you to be a skirmisher but ultimately I am going to let you decide."

Dray paused to let her think about it and after a while said, "There is also a technique i can use to perhaps help you get in touch with your Zanpakuto faster but it can be dangerous, so im going to give you that option if you so desire. Take your time to think about it and let me know what you decide and then we will begin." Dray sat down on a bench and looked at Kaiyo, watching her reaction to what he had said.

Kaiyo rose her head slowly as Dray began to talk. Her mouth remained ever so slightly open as her eyes glazed more with each word that fumbled through her ears. It was starting to feel like a pop quiz; and she'd never really tested well. In all honesty, she was lost at theoretical, but in the interest of being a good student, Kaiyo's mind struggled to follow Dray. She nodded along, her bewildered expression still firmly planted on her face. In fact Kaiyo's train of thought became quickly consumed by the rogue thread of clothing on Dray's shoulder. Still, she was catching the general message and really, Kaiyo wasn't sure where her strength lay. The idea of getting hit less was as appealing as ever though.

Something brought back the girls attention though; something a little more interesting. Kaiyo blinked away her confusion, adjusting her stance so that she was standing up straight. Her eyes wandered up to the man's own gaze, she pegged so much hope in what he could teach her. Perhaps she just trusted him too much, he seemed trustworthy though. Oh well. Her hand moved unconsciously to the back of her head when Dray sat down. Her mind ticking over what he'd said as she ebbed a step closer to the man. Allowing a small sigh to release her tense stance, she smiled. 'I think i'll trust you're guidance with skirmishing' a hint of pride glimmered through her correct pronunciation this time. Still, Kaiyo just couldn't help herself. 'But...' A quick check of her feet brought her closer to the man, her smile only seeming more sincere than before. 'I'd like to try the hard thing, the one to help me speak to my sword. Please' A gentle breeze echoed through the grass beneath her feet, knocking aside her Zanpakuto against her hip.

Dray looked up at Kaiyo, not surprised at her choice, all of them seemed to make it, though many regretted it later. Zanpakuto spirits were most likely to try and contact the person, when they were in danger of losing their life, even if the person couldn't understand the spirit. Though with his technique he usually had to explain afterwords and once they know he isn't really trying to kill them they usually don't feel in danger and it wont work anymore. But if we start off with that we probably won't be able to do anything else, because she will have to take time to heal. Eh, it's her choice.

Draylon stood up, did a quick stretch, then pulled out his spear from the strap on his back and turned to Kaiyo and said, "Well I guess it's time to begin." Draylon looked around the field which was now mysteriously empty and grinned sadistically then said under his breath, "no witnesses."

Draylon leapt back and said in an almost hissing voice, "If you can survive for 10 minutes I'll teach you, if you die... well... at least I had fun" Draylon let a sadistic grin spread across his face and a deep chuckle pass his lips. He raised a hand at Kaiyo and said, "Bakudo 2: Hanko-Nensho" Then shunpoed to Kaiyo's and swung his spear around in a horizontal arc attempting to smash the shaft of his spear into her side, trying to sending her flying towards the center of the field.

The girl fought the urge to step back as Dray rose; he was tall. Intimidating even, especially for a girl placing her life in his potentially capable hands. Then the kick came, the pang of regret that chased up her spine as the man unsheathed his spear, that was definitely not calming her nerves. Her muscles tensed; contracting with fear as sweat began to form at her furrowed brow. Fun...That seemed like a term to be used very loosely in this current situation. The laugh only confirmed Kaiyo's very recent suspicion, that this man was absolutely stark raving mad. She'd tell a doctor later- if she was alive to do so. 'B-but, i....' She had nothing to say.

Like a deer in the headlights, she stared at the man's hand as it glowed, his spear glistened in her peripheral vision. The anachronism that was Kaiyo's past, flashed before her eyes. Oh so she would have liked, instead, the girl had just enough brain power to register the binding spell that blocked her own reiatsu. That sensation that seasoned warriors would recognise registered in Kaiyo; she was fucked.

For all of the girl's speed, she was not a fighter, not yet at least. The saving grace of her lacking combat skill failed her, and Kaiyo had only half brought up her elbow to block the strike when it hit her. Having half turned to avoid and block in some simultaneous failure of instinct, Kaiyo was floored. Flying back over her left shoulder as she scrambled up to her feet, her face wincing from pain already. Finally settling into a fight ready mode, the girl unsheathed her own blade.

White knuckles gripped the handle with all her might as the blue haired girl rushed forwards with all her speed. Whipping strands of hair flicked against her drained expression as she raised her sword. Deciding she would try and strike straight down at his torso, her breathing was out of time but an attack was an attack; right?

She had tried to block his strike to little avail, Draylon wondered if he had set the time too long, then realized it would just add to the level of fear when she realized she could never survive that amount of time. She hit the ground and rolled back to her feat and unsheathed her blade. Dray watched her with an amused expression on his face.

She charged forward at him with a downward slash at his chest, as she charged he mumbled, "Reishi blade." And a blade formed itself out of reishi on his left arm and he backhanded the swinging blade hard, knocking it to the side and pointing the tip of his spear towards kaiyo and firing a bolt out of the tip at her. Dray then leapt high into the air and hovered there, and started rapid-firing bolts of electricity towards Kaiyo,

He had to be kidding. The shredded rationality of the girl was sure he wouldn't actually kill her, well, almost sure. Given the way he was acting, she thought he actually might. Once again, it was left to Kaiyo to watch her downfall. She hadn't even heard him call the spell, so it came from nowhere. The shock made her lose her grip on her own blade, sending it hurtling away from her. In the time she could look back at, the spear shot her back. Her small frame contorting with the current that forced its way through her body. A small cloud of smoke twisted around the girl when she landed, groaning in pain.

She took a moment to regain her bearings, blinking hard as the tilting word around her settled. The girl sat up slowly, her eyes screaming where her voice failed as she threw her body to the side; avoiding the first of the onslaught. Lightning again, god she hate lightning. She was slower than normal, the first strike had knocked her for six and that damn electricity was still jarring her body movements. She was drained and weak and convinced that ten minutes had been far too ambitious.

Her mind grappled with thinly strung tendrils of ideas, but her constant need to dive, roll and jump out of Zeus' way making things difficult. She growled in annoyance, like a cat caught in a trap. 'How is this even helping!' There was a rise, small and subtle and beyond recognition for the girl, but the small fluctuation of her reiatsu had surely meant something. Just a few metres from her blade now, Kaiyo dropped to the left, sweeping her right foot back out for balance as she lunged to her right. Changing direction again as she swan dived to her left, plucking her dark blade from the earth as she moved. Not quite fast enough. Another bolt of lightning dropped through her shoulder. Veins bulged in her neck as she gritted her teeth through the searing jolt. She really hated lightning.

Kaiyo had never felt so beaten up and honestly, she would had given up if she didn't think it would just result in her execution. Eering on her last ounce of strength, she leapt into the air, taking two more sodding lightning bolts as she swung her blade as fast as she could; criss-crossing at Dray's torso with desperation. Not for long though, Kaiyo herself hadn't yet mastered the whole walking on air thing, so she was going down. Registering only her stubborn personality, the girl just decided it wouldn't be alone. Whether or not her strikes had landed, she had to get him out the sky. As soon as she felt herself falling, Kaiyo wrapped her arms around the man; trying to angle it so he'd hit the ground first. However the landed really, it was gunna sting like a bitch.

He watched her take the full brunt of the blast as she spun around and hit the ground, smoking and she groaned in pain. He leapt up into the air and started firing bolts of energy all around her, she took to diving and rolling around in order to dodge his attacks while heading towards her sword. We can't make it that easy. He fired a bolt directly at her and cracker her in the shoulder.

She looked up at him, Dray could tell she was desperate, and felt like he should stop, but he reminded himself she had asked for this and it was for her own good. She leapt into the air at him, Dray had to marvel at her bravery or stupidity, he wasn't sure which it was, he fired a few bolts, both of which hit her, but she grunted through the pain and sliced at him quickly, he leaned out of the way of the first one and barely dodged the second, his clothes being cut by her blade. She latched onto him, and he was honestly confused at what she was doing, but he decided quickly upon his next action.

He grabbed onto her tightly with one hand and leaned over and whispered into her ear, "Hado 27: Reishi Blade." and formed the blade on his free hand, thrusting it towards her abdomen, carefully avoiding any vital areas, then tightened his grip with his hand and threw her hard at the ground, intending to follow behind and smash his knee into her gut, then just start beating her barehanded, while keeping an eye on her level of panic and how badly hurt she was.

((OOC: Sorry a thousand times over for the late reply- I hope it's worth the wait! ^^))

His words caught a lapse of time, her pale expression hollowed by disaster. A phantom of delight, a glistening apparition of despair set in stone for that brief moment. Brief was long enough. Yet behind it, Kaiyo felt an unsettling calm; like that familiar feeling of dread a long lost friend and a love not yet experienced. It was like nothing she had ever experienced. To feel so comforted by her impending doom. A timed blink was as long as it lasted, a doppler effect of her emotional roller-coaster, speeding along without her. How strange.

Darkened coils of hazarded blue splintered her glistening gaze. They bolted wide open when the pain hit. Insurmountable beyond her wildest beliefs. Kaiyo had always assumed at such heights of agony people just died; she had been sadly mistaken. Her shirt clung to her body, sticky with her warm blood as her body went limp. A single croaking whispered shuddered through her body; too quiet to hear beyond the sound of her body hitting the ground. The impact made her spine curl, the sliced abdomen didn't enjoy such a reflex and the knee too her gut followed too quickly from the pain. It was endless. Tears trailed down her grazed cheeks, stinging her wounds as she tried to keep focus on the man trying to kill her. Blurred vision cried with her sobbing as she staggered back up to her feet. The dejected voice called louder to the deaf girl.

Instinctively, she brought up her guard to block the bare handed beating. Though Kaiyo could have sworn there was still excess reiatsu jarring around the man's fist. Her neck twisted to the side on the first strike. The bruise was already starting to form when Kaiyo even realised that she'd felt the hit; she was already in so much pain...

'Fight back!' The snarling voice was not her own and yet it held command over the girl, authority that her feeble mind could not battle. The darkness crept deeper into her eyes, her contorted expression softening ever so slightly. Kaiyo couldn't win, but that wasn't the thought. All she had to do was fight back and for probably the first time, not give up. Her reiatsu peaked in a spike that the girl was too oblivious to even notice. Her guard came straight up as her small, battered fist shot forwards with a right handed cross, her hips turned behind the strike for more power and in her last flurry of energy she kept pushing forwards.

Jab. Jab. Cross. Uppercut. Rear-roundhouse kick. The horrendous pounding of her chest shook her core, pulsating her rattling heartbeat in her ears as she bled profusely. A girl on the edge; for transient sorrows or simple wiles; she fought on. Left hook. Right hook. Jab. Jab. Cross.

The tear stains dried on her muddied and grazed cheeks, there wasn't the time to breath, she just had to fight, to attack, to put her all in this. Her final stand. Surely.

Draylon felt her blood gush onto his hand as he drove the reishi blade into her gut, her eyes wide as the blade sliced into her, and she slipped down and slammed hard into the ground in a daze, she looked nearly broke. He dove down and drove his knee into her gut, a small cry coming from her lips as tears flowed down her face as she crawled back onto her feet. She brought up her hands to block his fists as he pushed forward.

Dray glanced down and saw the blood flowing and decided that it should be ended here. He had stopped paying that much attention to her and took a punch to the face as she started to fight back with a vengance, something happened.
Probably the reason they were there in the first place, good now it was time to stop this. He dodged backwards and shunpoed behind the girl swinging his elbow to the back of her head in a knockout strike.

There was a man standing off in the distance, Dray made a quick motion towards him and he started running over. Dray had arranged for a 4th squad medic on standby for when their training was over, to make sure she would be alright. He just hoped she didn't hate him for what he had done.

She already felt like she was battling through a dream, the lucid moment short and far between as her swaying world collided with her strong battle intent. As quickly as the man had vanished, she was knocked to the side; the final strand of pain snapped through her body. The darkness of wakeless dreams slid around her eyes as she dropped to the ground. Out cold.

The girl's broken little frama seemed all that more fragile for its beaten state. Her day had definitely gone differently to what she'd expected from her trainer. Perhaps she'd grow from such an experience, she could only hope so. For the time being, she dropped into her comfort zone. The silence of the dead of night. Living among the shadows, never could a dream be so vivid, so alive and so void of life. As strange as this place was, it was her own; the pulsing world of her bare soul. Charred and broken, and from the distance beyond its booming silence; grew something new entirely. A new protector for a new girl. Her Zanpakuto; born from adversity and more deadly than ever.

For now though, it remained a whisper. An unknown voice commanding her to fight on, to not give up and never die again.