High Noon [Closed. Shizuo/Ame. ]

For a few moments Hanako stood around the corner. She had only heard about half an hour ago. But as far as she knew, Magnolia was here for hours. Could she really stroll in like that? Well, it hadn’t been exclusively for Hanako but for everyone that wanted to attend, but still…
Hanako was unsure what how she should approach the other shinigami. When she was still in the academy herself there was scheduled training which she had to attend and that was that. Since she graduated there hadn’t really been any training with a fellow shinigami. These tryouts for the 4th didn’t really count.

Finally Hanako stepped forward into the training ground that had been reserved. It did really feel strange to be back at the academy. She hadn’t thought to enter these grounds again so soon.

“Excuse me, Everfrost-sensei, I just learned of your open training here. If it is still possible...I would like to train with you.” she said in a proper, respectful tone. Only a slight hesitation showed that it wasn’t too easy for her admitting a weakness. But even Hanako had realised at that point that, to prove that she was strong, she needed to become strong first. Determination and will wasn’t enough. And there was only so much she could do on her own. Even if she preferred training alone she had to admit to herself that her lack of experience determined her exercises. In short: she had run into a wall.

The other one, Magnolia Everfrost, wore a broad straw hat. Hanako couldn’t see half of Magnolia’s face, only below her nose. She had beautiful, red lips, but they frowned. It was the only hint at her emotion. There was a certain sensation of power emanation from that person, amplified by the somewhat mysterious look she sported. Hanako, in contrast, just wore her normal shihakusho, as always, which was standart except that it lacked sleeves. The sword tucked into the obi, like many others did. Her dark-red hair was braided into two braids that lay on her shoulders. Her blue eyes were bright and awake. There was nothing special about Hanako except for her height of almost two meters.

With a light, polite bow Hanako introduced herself.

“My name is Yamada. Hanako Yamada. I’m in the 4th division, realm enforcement. Onegaishimasu.”

(401)

Magnolia Everfrost

Song: UNKNOWN - Artist: UNKNOWN - Words: 310

”Sensei? Lookie here!! She called you Sensei!!! HAA” Raijin’s hearty chortle boomed within her mindscape as Magnolia studied the woman who had just recently arrived through her hat.

Yamada, or so the new recruit identified herself as, had a rather youthful look. Be it her dark crimson colored hair, braided neatly in a twin-tailed manner. Or the way she looked slightly timid, but mostly excited for the prospect of the training that would come. All of it screamed that this woman was green, barely just out of what the Shinigami populace had dubbed “Shino Academy”.

She couldn’t help but compare this girl to another new arrival. Elyss. A girl whose complexion and attire closely resembled the girl who stood before her, and yet had a personality almost diametrically opposed to Yamada’s.

Standing in the dusty training-ground though, none of Magnolia’s thoughts, nor her disposition would be something the other was privy too. Instead, only after Magnolia had finished with her mental assessment would she acknowledge that someone had indeed arrived. This acknowledgement was shown in the woman’s ruby red lips pulling into a faint smile, before she said in a light, and airy tone.

”It’s good to see that atleast someone from our division has the drive to improve themselves.”

Magnolia’s words maybe were an indicator to the other of who she was, at least when combined with her lieutenant's seal, which adorned her shoulder and chest, or the white robes she wore.

”I am Everfrost Magnolia, Vice-Captain of Realm Enforcement. “

Once introductions were out of the way, Magnolia raised her hand to the side, faint strands of spiritual energy wrapping around two blunted wakizashi, before pulling them towards the two. The visible result of the action of course being two blades flying over, embedding themselves blade-down in the dirt. Magnolia then reached forward, her fingers curling around the handle of her own wakizashi, asking her Trainee in a soft voice.

”Now, here’s your first question. What is a Zanpakuto to you?”

Coding BY: [THEFROST]

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Ouch. This Magnolia Everfrost, was the same one as the Lieutenant Everfrost, Vice Captain of her own division. And she didn’t realise. Embarassing. For a moment she blushed until she fought that back. At the same time the mentioning of the word “Captain” in conjunction with the Realm Enforcement brought back memories of her tryouts. Of her first meeting with the Captain. Her face transformed into a hard frown for a moment as anger rose inside Hanako. Anger about the Captain and his condescending behaviour. Anger about her own weakness. She looked to the side until she had her face back under control.

When Magnolia pulled in two blunted training weapons, wakizashi, she asked the younger woman, what a Zanpakuto was to her. Hanako was so surprised by that question that she forgot her anger for a moment. She took the wakizashi that was meant for her. Surprisingly she had the impression that the short sword was heavier than her own, full grown katana, but that might have been just an illusion because she was so familiar with her own sword.

“A Zanpakuto?” she asked and her left unconsciously touched the sword in her obi.

“A Zanpakuto is the manifestation of our powers. A part of our souls.” she said after a moment of hesitation. This was pretty much the textbook definition of a zanpakuto. A definition valid for every shinigami.

But was it?

She looked at her own sword. The wrapping, the tsuba, the sheath...it all looked...what? Shabby? Not really. It showed some signs of wear, but everything was in good shape. The steel of the blade was of exquisit quality. Even the wrought iron that made up the tsuba, for example, was maybe blank and boring, but it did the job it was supposed to do. Everything on her sword was doing what you would expect of it, and nothing more. So was it a Zanpakuto? Or was it just an Asauchi and she was unable to imprint herself on that weapon? Maybe the textbook definition wasn’t valid for her.

“Don’t know if mine is, though.” Hanako mumbled under her breath and instantly wished she hadn’t. That was the frustration speaking and it had no place here. She didn’t want it to have a place here. She didn’t want to look weak in the eyes of her lieutenant.

The problem was, there wasn’t anything else for her to say. What was a Zanpakuto to her? A weapon? Forged steel? The soulcutter sword? A symbol? A joke? Everything and nothing. She could easily cite all the lore about Zanpakutos that was common knowledge. But nothing more. Nothing out of her own experience. Hers didn’t have a voice she could her, she didn’t feel any power from it. It had no name. It was just...a sword.

So Hanako just held the wakizashi that Magnolia had given her, waited for further instructions or questions and said no more. She didn’t know how to answer anything else.

(508)

Hanako honestly had no idea how to answer Magnolia. She hadn't expected to hear these words from the Vice Captain. She hadn't expected her to be so...so empathic. Of course she knew so much more about Zanpakutos than Hanako, probably more than most in the Gotei. She had the experience. Still, even with that faint smile and the words that were just the right thing at the right time, it was hard for Hanako to believe what she heard. But how could it be that so many of her former fellow students knew the name of her Zanpakuto and she never heard it? How could it be that her sword was silent?

Hanako watched as Magnolia let go of her training-wakizashi and her eyebrows rose a few milimeters when a full-size Oodachi landet in her hand. It seemed blunted for training purposes but it was also a good 30 centimeters longer than her own sword, which was a normal katana. Impressive.

"My sword hasn't been whispering anything to me." Hanako said, no, whispered herself.

How could she help her, how could Magnolia help her find anything that maybe wasn't there? Hanako was truly convinced that there wasn't any whisper to be heard. There was such a big gap in her life and in her mind that it had filled with all the voices of doubt and frustration. And they screamed and yelled so loud in her head that she sometimes couldn't even hear her own thoughts, much less the voice of a Zanpakuto. She did so much to ignore the voices, training, working, training again, but they were always there. Best she could do was push them into a far away corner of her mind, suppress them until they were quiet enough that she could choose to ignore them.

But most times she had been alone. When Magnolia spoke and let her feel her intend, Hanako could physically feel the joy for battle and the vast power that lay behind the calm outside appearance. For the first time she could also see Magnolia's eyes, if only because they glowed. This was different. It felt different. It wasn't at all like the solitude she had chosen herself whenever she could in the past. It touched something inside her mind. It infected her and planted a seed in Hana's chest. A warm feeling, small but undeniably there. Confidence. Energy. Still, she didn't know what to say, probably wouldn't be able to get a word out anyway.

'Alright' she thought to herself and drew a deep breath. With her thumb she popped her sword loose and with her right she grabbed the hilt and drew it. She chose a classical stance, the sword before her belly, the right hand right at the tsuba, her left at the pommel, the tip pointing at Magnolia. Right foot forward, left foot a bit behind. She guessed that there was no chance in hell she could hurt Magnolia, even if she really wanted, even if she landed a direct hit. She had some experience in that department.

Then she leaped forward. She was planning to hit Magnolia's sword with the flat side of hers, pushing it away. When her katana would bounce back she would use that motion to help bring it back up and above her head for a yokomen'uchi, a diagonal two-handed overhead blow.

(560)

It surprised Hanako how strong this simple blow had been. Magnolia had met her blade with a rising slash. When steel collided with steel Hanako’s armst hat held the sword were jerked up and the sheer force excerted threw her back in a cloud of dust.

Hanako’s surprise changed into a shock when she realized in a split second that this could only have been a fraction of Magnolia’s power. If she’d struck with all she had, it would have split the younger woman in two. Hana clenched her teeth and bared them like a wild cat. It was maddening. This gap in power. Every one. Every. Single. Shinigami. In. Existence. Everyone seemed tob e stronger than her. Not only by a little, not because their technique was better. But basic, raw power. It was like battling against a waterfall. Or a mountain. An unstoppable force. And even the lieutenant, that had offered a training herself, had shown her just how inadequate she was as a shinigami.

Even before the dust settled Hanako looked back at Magnolia. No, she looked at the spot where she had been. Behind her, Magnolia was behind her. Hanako turned around as quickly as she could, but already she saw steel flashing in the corner of her eye.

In the last possible moment she brought her sword up. Oodachiand Katana connected and Hana could feel every last bit of force through her arms. She wasn’t able to absorb all the force and was driven back yet again. When she came to a stillstand again her forearms and hands were almost hurting from the impact, but not quite yet.

A moment passed and Hanako looked at Magnolia, her sensei, her lieutenant. Her words echoed through her mind and mixed with the feelings of strain from her arms. Suddenly, the tall woman realised that she really and truly believed that Magnolia was sincere and that there were no ulterior motives. The small seed that had been planted in Hana’s chest seemed to grow into a seedling. Still small and fragile, very, very fragile. But still there. It felt almost like she could trust that woman. The most amazing part was that Hanako could feel all this even through the storm of her feelings, through all that raged inside her. Still, it was far away from calming it.

There was something more. Something new, something suddenly present and strong. Hana couldn’t tell, i fit had maybe been there before, but suppressed, or i fit was something entirely new that never before had a chance to grow.

„I won’t give up.“ Hana said slow and with a firm voice. And this time it wasn’t just her pride, her need to prove her worth. It also wasn’t the same affection and connection Magnolia felt for and with her Zanpakuto. It still was only a sword to Hanako, a piece of steel. But there was something new she felt. This time she felt joy. Fort he first time she enjoyed a fight.

„I won’t give up!!“ she cried out as she charged.

She took a step forward and then lunged to the side to change her angle of attack, then she executed a diagonal upward strike.

(547)

The hit with the broad side of Magnolia's sword was hardly more than a pat on her side, compared to what the woman was really capable of. Yet Hanako felt it, more in her pride than her body. When she saw Magnolia lift her blade, she brought her own up.
Although she expected the blow to be powerful she realised in an instant, that it was even more powerful. She felt in the moment the blades connected that she wouldn't be able to fully block the Oodachi, so she let the tip of her blade drop to deflect it, rather than stop it.
When the next swing came Hanako jumped back and out of range.

'Oh Girl, Magnolia is strong.' Habako thought. She could barely face her on even ground, even though Magnolia was holding back most of her power. It was hard to imagine that Hanako herself could ever reach that level from where she was now.

"I have trained much with my sword. It doesn't feel foreign or anything." Hanako answered Magnolia.

"I also know the theory about Zanpakuto, and I have seen many classmates from the academy achieve Shikai shortly after graduation. Some even before. And I guess that you can even use your Bankai. But who says that every Shinigami has a Zanpakuto? I have never heard or felt anything that lives in here."

She waved a litte eith the blade.

"I can hear no voice. Granted, I like the sword. Weight and balance is perfect for me, i even like the feeling of the hilt-wrapping. But I can't remember that it ever tried communicating with me. Maybe it is just lump of steel."

Doubt could be heard in Hanako's voice. But not only about herself or her sword. That was still there and as always it was hard to keep it in check. Maybe now more than ever. Magnolia, as magnificent as she was, was a reminder of what a Shinigami could achieve and from what Hanako was so far away. It almost hurt physically. It was also a reminder that, while most Shinigami had a part of their soul, that was their companion, Hanako only had darkness and a raging current of contradicting emotions, she couldn't really stop. Little did she know that this raging current was drowning out a whisper that had been there for a very long time. It just wasn't loud enough to cut through.

The second reason for the doubt in her voice was that her belief, that her seord was maybe just a sword and not a Zanpakuto, was beginning to totter. Magnolia spoke with such confidence, sincerety and honesty, that it was impossible to ignore, even for someone like Hana. She wasn't so sure anymore.

Hanako raised the sword above her head.

"I just don't understand what it is, that allows one to hear this voice."

Now there was the typical frustration again in her voice, mixing in with all the other emotions. Oh, how Hana hated herself for that.

Hanako's next attack was a overhead blow, vertically down, with all the strength she could muster. Maybe Magnolia would feel this, when she blocked it, although Hana doubted it.

(531)