Praetorian

"Do you really think you can get away with this?"

Hayden made an upwards slash. His sword was held by the right hand in the usual back-handed fashion, so he was able to do by simply straightening his wrist. Nothing powerful, but it was a slash nonetheless, and he knew it was bound to catch someone eventually, or at least give an opponent a reason to put distance between them.

"Pathetic."

He returned his wrist to its former position, back end of the blade braced against his forearm, then brought his arm back, readied behind him. His left arm was in front of him, fist closed, positioned so that he still had a way to protect himself from a blow coming to him. After a deep breath, he conducted a full slash, the blade raised above his head.

"Weak!"

"Shut up," Hayden scolded as he rotated the blade in his hand, and followed through the initial slash with one going downward, holding the blade behind him with his left arm still raised.

"Do you really think you could achieve anything like this? With such a pathetic style?"

"What did I just say?" he asked, again bringing his sword back into his guarding position.

"Learn my name and then maybe you can command me, you-"

Hayden tossed the sword aside, letting it fall on the grass. The only way he could possibly get it to shut up lately. As long as the two weren't in contact, he was safe from the constant berating and bothering that his Zanpakuto had to offer, to the point where he would not hold it any longer than he would have too, lest he be driven insane.

He enjoyed the moment of silence, then slowly approached the sword with the sheath ready. His hand was sluggish to reach out, but as soon as he picked it up, he wiped the blade, and sheathed it soon after, though he could still hear the vulgar ranting from the obviously annoyed spirit.

He closed his eyes and set the sheath of the blade to the left side of his hip. With a deep inhale, he noticed the voice was silent for once. It would have worried the shinigami, were he not so relieved that he could perform his training in peace. With his left hand on the sheath, and his right hand holding the blade backwards, he felt he was ready.

He opened his eyes. The next action was to draw, which he did with a backhanded slash that he carried through above his head. He rotated his wrist and made a similar slash downwards, then brought his left and right forearms together in an X-shape, with the right in front and blade running along. He made a quick lunge forward, and slashed upwards again, with the left arm staying in its place. However, Hayden brought the blade back further than that, spinning it around before it settled parallel to the ground, passing beneath his left arm.

And in one single step, he threw the blade forward, standing tall to almost the full extent of his height, feet shoulder-width apart, with his right side in front of his left.

"Amazing," the voice spoke out finally. "Every single bit of that would have gotten you killed."

"I ought to have you melted into scrap," the man scolded, his lips curling into a snarl as he sheathed the talking blade which had no name known to him. "Maybe I could try my luck with a better spirit."