Another Day Another Division [Lerna, Mizu]

Another day, another Division! Recently Morikawa Mizu had been given the mission to build relations between the newly-formed 8th Division and the rest of the Gotei United. Today she found herself walking the grounds of the 7th Division Barracks, introducing herself with a slight bow of her head to various other Shinigami she came across, her golden hair bouncing around because of her refusal to walk by anyone without some kind of greeting.

Mizu's sandals clicked and clacked on the concrete floors before going silent as she stepped out onto the grassy terrain of the training grounds. She wondered how different her own branch's training grounds would look when construction was completed. Her flaxen eyes continued scanning the area until setting upon the section most populated by her fellow Shinigami. She opted to walk towards her compatriots before standing aside and observing. Perhaps they have different training regiments and I can learn something she thought to herself, hoping to either see something new or meet someone who could show her a thing or two.

How lng had it been? Quite a while now since she'd been in the Gotei. It was strange to balance her life on earth as well as the one up here. But well, that's what made it interesting right? That said, training with her fellow squadmates certainly was pretty interesting, if perhaps not quite as interesting as dealing with some punks down on earth. They were stronger, faster, but not quite as ....dirty in the way they fought.

Lerna herself had been sparring pretty much all afternoon, and had decided to take a bit of a breather, sitting off to the side as she watched the others having at it. Sand and dirt flying everywhere, all as she sat back and let out a soft little sigh, lounging slightly as she watched. At least until a certain something caught her eye. She paused, those lilac eyes scanning the new arrival. She didn't seem like anyone from her squad. And so Lerna smiled and offered a little wave.

"Hey there." She called out, mostly ignored by the rest of the crowd other than a few errnant glances. She smiled as she slowly stood up, wiping her brow before making her way over to Mizu and putting on a calm smile.
"Heya. There anything I can do for ya? Sorry the boys are a little busy with their matches. You need anything?" She asked, incase the woman was like...here for paperwork or something.

At first Mizu was unsure if the violet eyed Shinigami who had been previously practicing with other members of the Seventh Division was calling out to her. This was clarified when she stood, wiped away some sweat, and walked towards her making it obvious Mizu was indeed the intended target of the woman's acknowledgement. She appreciated this woman's willingness to go out of her way to greet her and so after returning her kindness with a deferential bow at the waist Mizu responded "Hello. I am Morikawa Mizu, 5th Seat of the 8th Division. I do not mean to intrude upon your training. As part of the 8th Division's initial mission, our members are meeting and mingling with our fellow Shinigami to help build relations."

Mizu's golden gaze set itself upon this woman's own, her sincere determination making the truth of her words apparent. She thought back to when she had first been given orders to interact with the other Divisions. At first she was a little disappointed, though no less determined to accomplish her objective. Walking around and greeting people was a bit of a directionless order, and she much preferred missions with specific parameters and goals. It was soon clarified to her that this was as much a mission as it was a challenge to see how she would go about interacting with potentially nonplussed or even hostile Shinigami who may not want to spare her a thought, much less a moment. As she studied this vibrant, golden-maned woman Mizu hoped she would be as friendly as her initial greeting hinted at.

Lerna raised a brow slightly, surprised at the news. Ah yea, they DID have an Eighth division now didn't they? Interesting. All the same she put on a smile as the woman explained the situation, giving a hearty laugh before she reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "Well hey welcome to the Seventh Division's Training area. Or well...one of em. You lookin to take part or just watch?"' She asked with a sly smile, raising her arms and slooooowly stretching her body a bit, getting herself a bit warmed up. Heck, if the girl wanted to join in, she may as well help welcome her, right?

Slowly, bit by bit, Lerna had been learning how things happened in the Gotei. But she still was kinda casual about things. Her time as a gang member certainly made her a little rough around the edges. But thankfully Lerna really didn't have to worry about that around Eighth. Lots of shinigami were very familiar with the world of the living and seemed to take to her somewhat thuggish way of speaking well enough. Certainly Mizu would probably pick up on that, but Lerna was also being plenty friendly so hopefully the woman wouldn't be too concerned.

Not being used to much physical contact Mizu tensed slightly when the woman patted her on her shoulder. Not wanting to seem like an antisocial weirdo, the golden eyed Shinigami immediately relaxed and responded to the woman's question "Thank you for welcoming me to your Division. I would gratefully take part in this branch's training, I'm sure it would be an educational experience. By the way, what would you prefer I call you miss...?" The last thing Mizu wanted was to be discourteous and call her new acquaintance something incorrect.

Not being the type to judge others based on their appearance or quirks, Mizu didn't assume any negative connotations from the 7th Division member's more casual and rugged speech. Her childhood friend Tsuna had spoken similarly when they first met after the girl had escaped the outer Rukongai Districts to find Mizu in the 3rd District. Upon discovering the people Tsuna had been running from were others more similar to herself, in that they were wealthy and came from prestigious families, Mizu quickly realized as a child just because someone was clean and dressed well didn't mean they were good. In the same way, being covered in dirt and speaking informally didn't make a person lesser. Thus Mizu smiled brightly at this stranger as she waited for her to introduce herself.

Huh, she was a bit of a fancy talker huh? It was strange to say the least, but she didn't mind it. The serpent honestly had no real opinion either way when it came to how shinigami conducted themselves, but it WAS always a little interesting to note the differences. Lerna gave a little nod and gestured off to the side where a section of the courtyard wasn't being used, promptly walking over to a little clearing and humming a bit to herself.

"You can just call me Lerna. I'm just one of the unseated officers." She pointed out, at one point she had looked forward to rising in the ranks uner Murasaki. But well, that hadn't really been in the cards, and so now she just kinda was settled where she was. "Now then. Usually arund this time of day we do a couple sparring matches. Got any preferences for any restrictions you want in place?" She asked, naturally giving the visitor the agency to decide all that. Maybe she specialized in zanjutsu, or Kido, or just wanted a hand to hand bout. As the guest, Lerna was happy to let the woman choose for herself what kind of rules and intensity she wanted to apply to the fight.

It didn't really matter to her, not like she was going to be going all out against the gal unprompted.

Following the woman, Mizu considered how grateful she was for the level of hospitality the other Divisions had given her. Every time she had gone to introduce herself to Shinigami of other branches they welcomed and helped her immediately and without expectations. This Lerna was the latest in the line of people Mizu had been grateful to meet. She was a bit surprised to learn Lerna was an unseated member of her Division given her air of confidence and what Mizu could sense of her.

Lighting up at the notion of a friendly spar Mizu immediately smiled and nodded her head at the offer. She didn't have many opportunities to hone her Shinigami skills these days as she was so preoccupied by paperwork and getting the 8th Division up and running. This would be a good chance for her to not only see what she needed to improve in, but also potentially learn from her new acquaintance. "If it pleases you Lerna-san, I am willing to spar with no restrictions. A Shinigami should be adept at all aspects of Zankensoki to be adaptable to all situations." While waiting for her reply Mizu took a few steps away then turned and bowed respectfully at the waist in Lerna's direction.

Lerna chuckled softly and gave a big grin as she watched Mizu squaring up across from her. She herself also taking a moment to bow at the waist before taking up a combative stance. Gently cracking her neck as she took a moment to eye the woman up and down, making note of posture and stance and stuff. A hand shifting to her waist, where a gourd settled. A small little thing, but with a handle sticking out of it.

Steadily, Lerna peeled her zanpaku'to from the gourd itself, MUCH more blade spilling free than seemed possible given it's size, the blade wet with a sheen of fluid as Lerna promptly held her zanpaku'to up at the ready. A slow, steady breath taken as she focused on the woman before her. "Sounds like we got ourselves a match. Feel free to make the first move if yer feelin confident." she chimed with a playful wink towards the woman. Naturally she wasn't gonna go full force right off the bat or anything, so she wanted to see how Mizu would play things. Get a sense for just how hard the gal wanted to go.

This was, after all, all for familiarity and building comradery or something, right? She had to make sure that this gel left feeling like she'd gotten a good taste of the seventh division. Or well, as much of one as an unseated member like Lerna could provide at least.

With Lerna in agreement for their spar and preparing to battle Mizu readied herself by placing her right hand on her Zanpakuto before drawing the weapon as her foe did the same. Noticing the seemingly impossible length of Lerna's weapon, as well as it's moistened sheen, Mizu was already concerned about this woman's abilities. Most Zanpakuto she knew of did not have unique sheathes or obvious sealed powers. It was clear to her this duel would likely contain many surprises for someone like herself with such limited experience.

When Lerna made clear she would allow Mizu to make the first move, she nodded her head and gripped her lilac-bladed weapon before shifting weight from her back to front foot and took off towards her bubbly foe. Knowing she wasn't elite in any category of combat Mizu knew she must first test her opponent to gain intel, with which she could then formulate a strategy. Deciding the best plan of action would be to deduce the purpose of Lerna's Zanpakuto's liquid coating Mizu opted for a straightforward attack by striking downward with her own weapon at the woman.

Lerna smiled, noticing the glance Mizu had toward her zanpaku'to. Ah, noticing the odd details of it huh? Well she was certainly glad to see the woman was paying attention, and as Mizu promptly charged in with that straight, direct attack, Lerna promptly shifted to the side and swiped with her blade, nothing hard, but a firm slash of her own weapon to knock Mizu's blade to the side, but not so hard that she would lose her grip on the weapon, just a little flick to deflect the attack before she lunged in and brought the pommel of her weapon a short distance from Mizu's face. Of course, she expected to stop the thrust of her handle short, but there was also the chance that Mizu would either dodge or do something to block the hit anyway. Either way, Lerna kept that relaxed smirk all the way through, taking a few steps back and giving Mizu some space as she did.

"So, Mizu. I heard you're part of that new squad. What made you decide to pick Eight for your division?" She asked casually enough, hardly seeming to be so focused that she couldn't have a conversation while they exchanged blows. Everything about Lerna certainly seemed to say 'Chill' in one way or another. Her loose stance, her calm expression, much less the casual conversation during their spar.