A Spar among friends(Anna, Arawn)

It had been at least two months since Tim had ran into Anna Burū. The last time they had spent time together he had carried her for a mile or so after a massive Hollow attack. She had gotten pretty badly injured and it is possible that if he was not there, she would of lost her life. In fact, this was the first time that Tim's inner power had begun to reveal itself. As well as at least a week from the incident at another Squads barracks, where it had in fact burned to the ground. The attack still had no known origin, but it had gotten him out of a sticky situation. Though the owners of said barracks would always be keeping an eye out for him.

Deep within the Seireitai, behind high walls laid the training grounds for Academy Students. Though Tim was out of the Academy and within Squad 2's ranks, he still came here for training. The facilities housed everything that any Shinigami would truly need, it was a remarkable place to be honest. There was one decent sized building where trainees could find an assortment of weaponry and even training dummies. Outside of the building laid a large field where commotion, the clanking of metal and shouting could be heard.

Earlier that day Shibata Tim had sent a letter to Anna Burū's apartment. The letter held a long page of words, but the general summarizing of it would follow; "Dear Anna Burū, It has been quite some time since our last meeting and I was wondering just how you were doing. As well as how are your injuries coming a long? Hopefully you are well and recovered now. Alas I shall be at the Academies Sparring Grounds waiting for you. It's time to see who among us is strongest, a friendly challenge, yes.

Sincerely, Shibata Tim"

The letter would arrive abruptly to her mailbox and he hoped that she would show, though he knew of no reason why she wouldn't. As he waited in the Sparring Grounds he could not shake the feeling as if he was being watched. He had felt this way ever since he had left his apartment complex, like he was being tailed. Quickly he searched around and even looked over his shoulder, but did not notice anything out of the ordinary. So, he waited in meditation for Anna Burū.

Anna was walking towards the sparring grounds, again. She had been there yesterday to fight against a Vice Captain, and she, of course, went to squad four afterwards for a couple of hours. Usually she wouldn't do fights day after day, but this was a special exception. She had received a letter from a friend she hadn't seen for about two months, and she needed to find out if she was able to defeat the friend that seems to be rapidly getting stronger. Anna was looking towards the ground with her makeshift weapon, and she knew that she'd be at a slight disadvantage in this fight due to having a lack of sleep. She hadn't been going through insanity for a couple of days now, and so she was sure that her ability to fight wouldn't be interrupted.

"You again?" said a voice behind her, it was familiar but unknown still. She turned around to find herself looking at Eric, the guy who held a sword to her throat... "I had a feeling that you weren't a very fighty person last time I met you, but it seems I was wrong."

"It's merely a spar with a friend of mine. I haven't seen him for quite a while now, and so I thought that it'd be fun." she said in her Northern American accent. She was going to use that one for a while now, unless talking to somebody whom she probably wouldn't meet again for a while. This person, though, was somebody she wanted to learn from. What she would learn is beyond her, but that didn't matter. All she cared about was the knowledge. Before she could ask him what she wanted he was asking her a question.

"Is that your zanpakuto? It is oddly... Strange if it is. It isn't really able to aid you in battle, but I can teach you how to use it." Eric said. Anna raised her eyebrows and looked at the sword by her side. It wasn't a zanpakuto, but before she could tell him that he was already walking away. "Never mind, I already know the answer to that question. If you need to speak to me again, I'll be here." and with that he was gone. It was strange, because she didn't know what that was about or who he even was. Maybe it was somebody from her imagination? Only time will tell. For now, she needed to find Shibata. Turning towards the door she looked around, noting that it was quite empty today. Was something happening that she wasn't aware of? Quietly she walked with her reiatsu suppressed and she searched. Where would he be specifically? Out in the open? Suddenly there was something strange about the air. She then felt a reiatsu coming from the area, and she followed it with a smile. Walking from behind a corner she saw Shibata meditating, his reiatsu concentrated but still spontaneous.

"Hello Shibata." she said to him with a smile.

Outside the sparring area two men traveled down the road pulling a large cart. One man was of normal height with long red hair. The other man was quite short, he barely half the size of the first. What he lacked in height he made up for in width. The man was very fat in comparison to the red head. Instead of head full of black locks, he was balding. A large patch of skin showed on the top of his head.
"Why am I doing this?" the short man asked his brow covered in sweat. His breathing was quite labored and his feet kept stumbling on the flat earth. "I'm a scientist, I should be back in the lab!" he whined. The other man looked down at at him and shook his head. A octopus like tentacle moved to the short man's face and wiped his forehead. Upon closer inspection one could see that the shorter man was in fact a hunchback. From this enlarged backside sprouted a large muscular arm that looked quite out of place for such a pudgy man. In addition his left arm was the very same tentacle that had emerged.

"The reason you're doing this is because this is a two man job." The other man stated flatly as he pulled the bar. The cart was specially designed to allow even the smallest of people haul large loads. But even that technology had it's limits. The greater the load the more effort required. "That and you could use the exercise, Bryce." The man finished. Unlike the shorter man he was not sweating. As the two drew closer it seemed that the hunchback's complaining had increased. Arawn was regretting having brought him, but as he said; he needed the help and Bryce needed the exercise. The man spent so much of his time cooped up in the lab watching computers and terminals. It was unhealthy to say the least. This was by far probably the most time the man had been outside and in sunlight. For awhile there he had thought Bryce would burst into flames upon leaving the florescent confines of the research department. He shrugged as they reached the last leg of their journey and pulled up to the side of the building. The grounds were always so lively. "Plus you might get to see a fight in person rather than on a video feed." Arawn added as moved from the cart and walked into the building. Reluctantly Bryce followed him. Of the two Arawn had been there many times before. He wondered if Bryce had been given any shinigami training. The man had shown zero skills in kido, and had never seen the man with a zanpukto. Maybe not everyone joined the 13 Gotei's fighting force. Or maybe his skills had gone into decline after so many years. The drifted through the area until Arawn stopped. Bryce crashed into him from behind.
"Ow!" he said as he rubbed his nose. He wasn't hurt, but he felt like voicing his discomfort no matter how small. "Why'd you stop for?" Arawn had halted when he noticed a young woman with red hair. Despite his own, such a thing was rare to see. The woman had caught his eye to say the least. Of the people in the sparring ground she was one of the few not fighting. He wondered what she was doing there.

Tim lifted his eyelids slowly as he came out of his meditation. When he did so he caught Anna's smile and smiled in kind. "Greetings Anna, it seems that you did indeed receive my letter." He smirked a bit more now as he rose to a standing position. Examining her body, he noticed that she had recovered quite nicely. "I see your injuries have healed." He brushed the handle of his sword lightly.

With the formalities out of the way it was closing in on the time to spar with his dear friend. Unfortunately, Tim could still not shake the feeling as if he was being watched. He scanned over his right shoulder and then his left. After all the last thing he would want to happen is get Anna drawn into his own issues. Especially since she had just recovered.

Anna laughed. "How could I miss it? The most that could really happen is that it'd have forgotten to be delivered." Anna said as she felt a reiatsu enter the area, as though somebody had just entered the radius of her reiatsu sensing abilities. She turned around to see the outline of a person, but she just pushed the persno out of her mind and turned back to Shibata. She needed to train, and this was the perfect chance for her to train with somebody whom was about her level. She also needed to practice the use of her sword, because she did plan on keeping it, and possibly getting a fully crafted sword shaped like it. Anna unsheathed her sword and looked towards Shibata, ready to battle. Her hair fell in front of her face and her reiatsu was now not being suppressed.

"Let us start our spar..." she said with a kind, serious tone. It would be strange for Shibata to be fighting against her. He was still a bit more used to her fighting with him, and not against him. He would now see how seriously she takes combat some times. She would learn about his skills in the use of the sword, but her Kido would be able to protect her against him, even if he were to get into close range. There were also some techniques she wanted to practice, mainly something to do with the brain...

Anna was looking towards the ground through her long, thick red hair, and she was listening to her surroundings with intense concentration. If he were to make a single movement she would be able to hear it, but that wasn't why she was listening so intensely... It felt as though somebody was watching and waiting for the right moment. Not the person that she just looked at, but somebody else. Anna sighed as she would wait for Shibata to make his first attack, and she started to think about what kido she would charge. Maybe she would use some of her newer Hado in mixture with her Bakudo, but she'd have to be careful due to how much energy it'd take out of her. One mistake would put her on the end of his blade.

She then decided to only use weak kido. If she could spam the kido against Shibata then he would have to dance around more, giving her a lot more room in attacking. Of course she would try bakudo more than hado at first, just so that she could end the battle more quickly than he'd expect. He was a sword person, and she was more used to her reiatsu.

"See a fight is about to start." Arawn said to his hunchbacked friend. "Let's watch this abit." he said and moved towards the far wall. Although Bryce sighed he didn't hesitate to follow the taller man. They were quiet as they moved across the room to get a better vantage of the fight going to unfold. Often Bryce was indeed watching such matches via the surveillance system he had hacked into. Of late he had been selective in his access. Still he enjoyed watching the multitude of shinigami square off against one another. Unlike fights with hollows they often employed more skill and tactics when combating their fellow shinigami. Such fights were common place, but very thrilling to behold. Arawn had spent many a night watching such matches too, but he preferred taking part then observing. That was probably why he still was doing patrols in the human world. Even if he wasn't overly violent, he needed to physical activities as much as he needed mental stimuli. Still he didn't crave blood and gore like so many battle luster may seek. He saw combat as a challenge both mentally and physically. You opponent was a puzzle; one to analyze and observe. Upon understanding your foe, you then used your body to counter and conquer them. The challenge of combat is what he sought. To push himself. For his skills to go untested was a waste. He smiled as the two readied to engage. Already his heartbeat was elevated. What level of skill did these two hold?

"What about our delivery?" Bryce asked. For a second Arawn had forgotten that the other man was there. Snapping out of his daze he looked at his friend. Suddenly being so serious was odd for him. Sure enough the hunchback's tentacle was waving wildly like an excited dog. It was hard for the shorter man to hide his emotions with that thing hanging on his arm.
"It can wait." Arawn said simply. "After this match we'll bring them inside. Not like anyone can steal them locked up like that." True enough there was a biometric lock on the cart. Someone trying to move it would be in for a shock. Both figuratively and literally. Enough volts to light up a small city. The poor soul would quickly regret that decision to be sure. He turned his attention back to the fighters.

A smirk formed across Tim's face once more. He could sense how stern Anna had become as of late. Her body tensed up as her mind battled itself on what approach to take against him. Of course she would know that he was far more common to use a sword than Kido, Bakudo or even Hado; he would use this to his advantage. In a short amount of time she would reach for her sword, but Tim would not. He crossed his arms and awaited for her to move first. His speed and fighting capabilities were his strengths, besides his swordsmanship.

As he scanned Anna he noticed that a tall man and a shorter man pulling or pushing a cart into the sparring grounds. It wasn't uncommon for fellow Shinigami to venture in here, in fact it was fairly common. It seemed as if they wished to just observe. So, he payed them no mind. "Make your move Anna." He said calmly. Awaiting for her to reveal the plan that she had finally coordinated in her mind.

Anna hadn't moved at all, but still the energy needed for her Kido was building and ready to be used. Anna was standing still and alert. She was ready for anything really, even a tricky attack from out of no-where. Okay, so no she isn't ready for that, but the point is she's ready. Anna was waiting for Shibata to react and do something, to even try and attempt using kido on her, but nothing happened and it seemed as though the air was going to explode from the silence. Anna knew patience rather well, but Anna had to make sure that she could determine when an where to fight. Anna waited for the right moment, and before she knew it the moment came. Somebody had tried to find there way into the cart that the two people whom were watching brought in. There was loud screaming and a ton of people were confused and started to look at the cart, and this would hide perfectly what Anna was about to do. The crackling and screams from the person trying to get into the cart would be enough to distract Shibata, but with it being behind Anna he would have to look directly past her. Anna raises her hand and speaks rather quickly and quietly so that the sound of her voice would be smothered by the screams.

"Hado 4 Byakurai!" she spoke, and out came a bolt of lightning with her running right behind it. To Shibata it would just like part of the crackling and screaming that is going on behind her, but of course he would see through it sooner or later. This would, of course, cause Shibata to pay attention to dodging the attack, but also the attack behind an attack. Anna would be silently rushing to Shibata with her sword sword in hand, and she would make a quick swing as she slid on the ground beneath her, kicking up some dirt that would fling itself onto Shibata's clothing. There wouldn't be a single thing to stop her from hitting Shibata except for Shibata himself.

"Don't forget that you will need a sword to fight me with." Anna said without hesitating. Her blade was aimed to hit his sword hand, and if it missed Anna had another plan in store for him. She had planned to strategically place herself at an angle where she could step to his side and kick at the back of his knee, and this would of course cause him to fall onto one knee if successful. That is, if the sword didn't hit where it was aimed to hit. If it did hit, she'd then go with an elbow to his face. Even though he was a friend of hers, a fight was issued against her, and she wasn't going to go easy. She hoped that he was the same.

Both Arawn and Bryce turned as they heard the scream coming from behind them. They looked at each other and shared a knowing smile. The security device was working. Very well for that matter. In the past there had been thefts from such wagons, but now it was a source of entertainment for those in the 12th squad. Sometimes they'd purposely leave it alone somewhere to see who would attempt to breach it. Like a bug zapper the masses continued flock to the unguarded transport. An honest person wouldn't have given it a second thought. Unfortunately there weren't many honest people. Bryce started off in the direction of the cart. Arawn was about to follow when he heard the second crackle of energy discharging, not to mention the last part of Anna's words. He turned just in time to see the young red-haired girl making her move. A blast f kido and a follow-up attack.

As impressed he was of the combo he was abit disappointed. A fight would undoubtedly unfold. Bryce might enjoy such a thing, but not Arawn. Although it was Arawn's own interest that drove him. Fights were such simple things. A contest of strength would be more entertaining.
"Hado #2: Reel" Arawn spoke as his reiryoku bubbled forth, his right index finger aimed at Anna's back. He didn't take the time to chant thus decreasing it's power. It might not completely pull the girl away, but the kido might be enough to separate the combatants; preventing contact. With a second burst of spiritual power he flash stepped between the two. "Sorry for the intrusion." He said simply as he took up position in the middle. He did his best to sound professional. Proper speech to make a good impression. "I assure I mean you no harm. I am but a lowly scientist in the 12th Divsion." Arawn gave a deep bow as if he was addressing a king or some other royalty. "Your fighting spirits have moved me. I was wondering if you're will to take part in a little experiment?" He looked from one to the other to see if they were responding well to his words. But he knew better than to just rely on words alone. Many things drove a man, and Arawn was sure draw them in. "Of course you will be compensated for your efforts. I promise your fight will much more enjoyable if not more exciting." Yes, he had learned to tempt not only hearts, but minds as well. His previous tests with ROVER had shown him that. Still it didn't mean they would readily agree. There were other cards to play, but he was loathe to resort to such methods. Arawn ended his proposition with another bow trying his best to keep the respectful air.

It seemed that his plan had worked, wait Anna out and force her to act first and indeed she had. With a Hado strike, she summoned a lightning strike towards Tim and then followed with a fury combination of attacks. What she had not expected was his quick reaction to defend himself. Quickly he reached for his sword and in an instant he had draw his blade and blocked the lightning strike. It was remarkable really, how he could glance a lightning strike off of his blade, but he had indeed done it.

Then Anna was skidding towards him with her combination attack, but before she had reached him someone had came out of the blue; halted her advance and appeared in between the two. It was quite rude actually. The stranger then proceeded to offer them compensation if they would participate in his little experiment. This agitated Tim quite a bit. How dare this individual interrupt their duel, even if it was among friends and it wasn't nearly that important.

"You insult us by interrupting. We are both quite capable of handling ourselves. Speak quickly stranger."

As Anna was rushing to continue the attack, she felt something tug at her and she then felt herself skidding to an earlier stop than what she wanted, and this angered her quite a bit. She knew there was an interruption and she kept her sword ready to defend from Shibata just in case. Suddenly a man shunpo'd right between them both, and she could feel the spiritual pressure from it. Anna looked over to the man who had just stopped her. She was very angry with the fact that he interrupted the battle, and with the fact that he used kido on her. She stared at him and listened to his talking before she decided what to do, an interesting idea set forth in front of her. First, though, she wanted to release some of the steam from this guy interrupting, her mind slowly breaking, as though it were going to let the insanity reach back out and enter the world yet again.

"Bakudo #1, Sai!" she says with anger, and she attacks the man before her with the bind. It was only fair, one kido for another. If he moved out of the way, the kido would be fired at Shibata, which is a slight plus for her. Otherwise, it would bind him slightly, but she knew that he'd probably break out of it rather quickly. After hearing what Shibata says, she sighs and decided to get more information, quickly.

"I don't care about compensation. Just tell me why you interrupted, and what this experiment is about, please." she said, and not knowing his name she decided not to skip the common exchange when you meet somebody. "By the way, I am Anna M-" she stopped, having almost given away her real last name, and before she knew it she heard a slight chuckle to her right, and looking that way she saw the man she knew as Eric. She quickly turned back to the other two. "Anna Burū. May I know what your name is, stranger?"

She put her blade away knowing that the battle was being postponed for a minute or two. However, she was rather curious about what this experiment was, and also about who this person was. They decided that they were important enough to interrupt a spar that he had no business in, and something that interested her more was that he brought a friend, and what looks to be a delivery. They were running an errand it seems, but the person in front of them didn't seem to think that was important.

While the one shinigami was quick to listen it would seem the red head wasn't so willing. The fiery haired girl reacted with a spell. A binding spell no less. It wasn't hard to take the scientist by surprise as he was trying his best to appear humble as to bow to the two combatants. There was little he could do as he arms were suddenly forced behind his back as if by some invisible hand guided them. After his own spell and shunpo Arawn had relaxed his reiryoku so even a simple spell like this could prove challenging to break. Instead of struggling he accepted it. The girl looked to follow up on the spell, but stopped. Arawn himself gave a slight sigh of relief. He had indeed interrupted their battle as the girl said, so he was willing to bear with their ire if it got them to listen.

"You may call me Tasha. Tasha Rinsley." Arawn lied. He rarely gave out his name on unofficial business. "A member of the 12th squad as said. This is my companion Bryce." He gave a nod in the hunchback's direction since his hands were unable to do so. The truth of the matter we have observed the bouts herein on many an occasion." As he spoke Bryce twitched, but Arawn continued. "As exciting as these matches are we find them abit inefficient." The red haired man rose from his bowing position and began to walk around the two shinigami. "Training is indeed essential to the growth of a soul reaper, but to go after each other so savagely. True, you can be healed by the medical squad, but even that has it's limits. There are some injuries that cannot be healed. Shinigami can be put out of action due to an overzealous sparring partner or a simple accident." He was circling around the two as he spoke, he would cast his eyes at each in turn as he drew close to them.
"It is possible to train using wooden weapons, but such training lacks something. Perhaps it is the element of danger or threat to life that makes it so." Arawn shrugged, an odd gesture with one's arms bound so. "Through some hard work and innovation we've come up with a delightful compromise. A way to keep battles thrilling and eliminate the risk to a warrior's potential." Arawn had stopped his pacing and looked over at Bryce, but then turned to face Anna. "If you'd be so kind as release this spell, I'll show you what I'm talking about."

It was quite obvious that Anna was as peeved as he was about this intrusion. It was one thing to stand on the sidelines and watch a bout between two, but completely another matter to interrupt in such a matter. Not a wave or a word, the man had chosen to use a spell on Anna and step in-between the two. Something that he, personally, thought was rather a risky maneuver. For if the man wasn't a very capable one, he could be ripped to shreds by one of Anna's Kido's or mauled to death by Tim's bare hands and his head kicked completely off his shoulders by one of his own legs. The man had taken a big risk and although he could not sense his complete Spiritual Pressure, it was obvious that the man had a considerable amount; whether he was masking it or not.

Tim simply watched as his companion quickly wrapped up the member of the Twelfth Squad, Tasha Rinsley. After which he had explained that he had a new method for Shinigami's to train in a more controlled and less dangerous environment. However, what ever method the man had devised to bring about the illusion of danger and strife would indefinitely never compare to the real thing. At least, this is what he believed in his own mind and heart. Danger and the fear of loosing something were indeed invaluable tools for training Soul Reapers and as thus brought about impeccable training; at least the most that one could receive without being in any life threatening danger from enemies.

This Tasha Rinsley of the Twelfth Squad did however have an interesting idea, but Tim would be resilient to it. As he watched Anna hold him tightly with her Bakudo, he pondered just want Anna would think of the mans ideals. He then crossed his arms and nodded at his companion, in a manner that would allow her to understand that he had his eyes on him, just in case. No words were required between the two, they had grown a strong bond in the short time that they had known each other. After all, it's not every day that someone saves your life and walks miles and miles to bring you to safety; which he had done for her. Likewise, if he would not spare any breathe for his companion in a situation as this, he would not waste any on this man.

Anna listened to the man she had just bound in Kido, and smiled as he didn't struggle against the kido. She wouldn't let the man go unless she felt that it was necessary. It was... Her own way of being mean. She wasn't going to hurt the person, just make sure that they wouldn't pull all of the strings. He was a scientist of the twelfth division, and he wasn't willing to tell the truth about his name. Anna was easily able to tell when somebody makes up a name. He didn't even hesitate, and being a scientist conducing said experiment without giving any knowledge about what it is? He wouldn't dare give out his real name in case something were to actually happen, and people were to go looking for him through his name. That, and honestly Anna knew that she'd have hesitated in even using her fake name with such a predicament.

She, however, let the person continue talking and spewing out information. Some sort of training or something like that? She listened to everything he said without losing a word of information. Training with the element of danger is what makes it... Training.

The man finished and Anna looked over at Tim and saw his arms cross, and a nod. Anna knew what he meant by the nod, but she didn't let the bakudo be released just yet. She had some questions of her own, and she had some exploring of this person to do.

"First, I have a little to say. I will start by saying I don't like being lied to, and I would like to know your real name. Next, I want to know why you interrupted us of all people, and why you didn't just pick somebody else to interrupt and give your little test to? After you answer that, why are you acting so shadowy? You don't seem to be a very open person..." she said with an almost quiet voice, and she also said it with an Irish accent.

She then looked over at the person he called Bryce. Anna didn't doubt his name much, but she still doubted the more normal persons name without any problems. However, her mind moved back to what she had heard the person say. The thrill of battle without the risks? She was almost accepting to the idea, because she wasn't really fond of having the ability to seriously harm or even kill somebody. That's one of the reasons she tends to try not kill whatever she finds, because she is actually rather scared of the idea of killing. However, she kills because she has to, and because she knows it's the only way to set things right...

Even though she knew that some of the things she wanted to achieve would involve the death of many people. It'd require the death of some strong people and some weak...

As she waited for the answers, she was ready to release the bakudo. The moment that she expected he was telling the truth she would let him go...

If he persisted with lies and deception then she would use yet another kido on him, and this time it'd be Hado.

Before he could answer, though, she said a few last words.

"Do not lie, either."

Ah suspicion, nothing wrong with the girl not trusting a stranger. It was to be expected. If they had been too trusting he might have been more worried.
"Tut, tut, my dear." Arawn spoke. "I can understand your annoyance, but there's no reason to call me a liar. My name is as I say, but it seems you won't believe me. Bryce could confirm it, but you probably won't believe him either. My name is Tasha, but you can call me whatever you wish if it make you happy." He gave a short bow. "If you must know to why I selected you it's rather obvious; you both are rather inexperienced shinigami." He turned to Tim first. "The way you hold your weapon, the posture. Perfectly mind you, but stiff. You've either not developed your own style or haven't realized your true strengths. It takes time to move away from the standard techniques taught during the Academy. In most cases the shinigami develops a method based on their weapon or their own experience." He swiftly turned from the young man to the red haired woman. "And for you." Arawn gave a small chuckle. "Using kido." For a moment he flailed his bound arms. "It seems you take pride in your ability in spells, but you seem rather haphazard in it's usage. Byakurai as an opening attack between friends? You could have killed him had it hit. What was going through your head?" He stared at the girl. "Did you notice that?" he gestured his head in the direction Anna had cast the spell. Sure enough there was a burn mark on the wall where it had hit. Luckily there was no one in that direction to be hit by the wayward spell. " If I hadn't stopped the fight I'm sure you'd have done much worse. Why did I choose you? I was saving both a life and a possible career. Now, my offer still stands. I would like to help you, and I promise to compensate you for your time." Inwardly Arawn reflected on the matter. It would seem that in he would have to resort to his other choices. Nothing too trying, but he was more than able. In the end it was up to them to agree, but he was sure that the fight would end with someone being dead due to their reckless nature.