Murderous Intent (Kanae, Armina)

In truth, to hear Captain Nagoshi speak of her own sword in such a way was actually somewhat of a relief for the 4th Seat. It was fairly similar to her own beliefs and Armina believed that she’d been right in her previous assumption that they did. She could understand that point of view all too well and it soothed her irritation up to a point. If the Captain could wield her sword in such a way and still find some semblance of control over herself then perhaps it was something that Armina could achieve.

There was a part of her that understood what she was being told. She needed to adapt in order to continue on her path to power although that would mean having to alter her philosophy, something that was not going to be an easy task for the stubborn blue haired woman to do. Would controlling her emotions and fuelling them truly grant her more power than continuing on her current path? Her rational and irrational sides were coming up against each other over that particular question and left her feeling rather frustrated again. She wasn’t a philosopher at heart and life had been so much simpler when she could just slaughter everything that she came across. Joining the Gotei had been as much of a pain in the bloody ass as it had been a benefit to her.

“Power is what I have craved for as long as I remember, since I was thrown into a cage and forced to fight for my life. I desire to become stronger than anyone and crush the heads of all those who find themselves in my path. In order to achieve that, I will do whatever is necessary. I understand the meaning behind your words, Captain but don’t expect me to suddenly take a liking to the rank and file scum. I will attempt to rein in my violent tendencies around them and instead channel such things into my training.”

She fell silent briefly, seeming to come to a decision and then added. “This wild beast would like to see what a true predator is capable of.”

As she listened to the icy-haired woman speak, Kanae stood silently, weighing her words. She was looking to gauge the sincerity in them, and as far as she could tell Armina was being honest. Strange. Though she could certainly say this Gotei was chock full of strange, often freakish individuals, it wasn't often she came across someone who reminded her of herself, even if in only superficial ways. At the very least she knew well what it's like to be put in a cage. Still, Kanae thought this woman showed....promise. Perhaps, she considered, Armina could be molded into a useful tool.

"I would never expect you or anyone else to like anyone. Camaraderie is for the weak, for those who need the people around them to function as crutches. Rely on no one because no one is reliable." At Armina's request, Kanae raised a hand and waved off her squad's unseated officers who recognized the ever-familiar start to a fight involving their Captain. A wide empty space was immediately made, with Armina and Kanae at its center.

"Are you a wild beast or simply a pup howling at the moon? Show me what you are, Armina Willsaam."

“See for yourself.” Armina replied, taking a deep breath as she activated her Bankai. “Wander The Frozen Wastelands, Hyokage Ryoshi.”

No sooner had she uttered those words, the area around her would begin to drop in temperature, the ground turning to ice in moments. The 4th Seat’s Reiatsu would mirror this, becoming as cold and frigid as the icy earth, her spiritual power seeming to try and rob the heat of the woman standing before her. It was no technique, simply a sign of the blue haired woman’s desire to dominate, not that she expected her Captain to be affected by such a thing. Still, it mattered not. A sign of intent was what it was. The ice would soon enough start to snap off from the ground and dart towards Armina, clinging to her body and adorning her in a set of armour, covering her almost from head to toe, giving her the appearance of a Nordic God. Her Zanpakuto had naturally changed shape too, taking on the appearance of a six foot warhammer, which she held in both hands, the grip covered in markings referring to ice and death, which was all that her Bankai tended to bring to any confrontation.

Words seemed to be rather pointless at this stage and they were generally non-existent anyway once Armina had taken on her advanced form. She became a conduit of battle, desiring nothing more than to destroy everything in her path. It was so simple and yet caused the briefest of smiles to creep across the face of the armoured woman, yet, it wasn’t a smile meant to convey anything other than what she wished. To splatter her Captain’s skull with the head of her Zanpakuto.

Forgoing any techniques for now, Armina would simply begin the fight by charging towards her Captain and attempting to smash her weapon down upon her, attempting to fulfil her desire in a single blow.

Another one? Including herself, Armina brought the number of Bankai users in her squad to a staggering five. Just as when Saera revealed her Bankai, Kanae was taken aback by this woman's as well. A thousand years ago Divisions rarely had more than one or two members capable of a second release, and now the Fourth had almost half a dozen by itself. Kanae contemplated what this could mean for the rest of the Gotei. As she watched ice spread from the Fourth Seat's location, she theorized her squad probably did have more Bankai users than the others simply because of its emphasis on battle prowess. Still, it didn't bode well for her plans for there to be so many people with Bankai.

With cold biting at her extremities, Kanae flexed her Captain-class Spiritual Pressure a bit and sent it pouring out in every direction, preventing Armina's from reaching her. She studied her subordinate's transformation, and guessed at its capabilities. In response to Armina's Zanpakuto changing form, Kanae brought her right hand to her own Zanpakuto and gripped its handle. When she did, a second sword appeared at her hip out of thin-air and she gripped it with her other hand, though she remained still otherwise. Still and waiting.

"Hmph." Kanae frowned, her eyes narrowing as she watched Armina rush toward her. If this is how fast she moves, this will be over quickly. she thought to herself, analyzing the woman's strengths and weaknesses at every opportunity. When her challenger eventually came within striking distance, Kanae leapt into action by drawing one sword which she promptly used to gently deflect Armina's weapon. In the same motion, she leaned forward and dodged past Armina, during which she drew and swung her second Zanpakuto in a wide arc across the taller woman's side. As elegantly as a dancer, she came to a stop and turned in place almost a dozen feet away from the icy woman.

There was the distinctive sound of metal against ice as the blade of the Captain clashed against Armina’s armour. It was a telling blow and a warning to the Fourth Seat as to just what she had gotten herself into. Her defence held for the time being although the tall warrior was uncertain as to just how many strikes her Bankai could withstand against such a powerful foe. Perhaps that was a part of what the spar was all about. To discover just how far she still had to climb in order to reach the pinnacle of her powers. She wasn’t afraid of the truth and knew that her training had only begun but that was only motivation for her. Third Seat, Second Seat, Captaincy and beyond. Such titles had never meant that much to the warrior, who’d sought simply raw power and nothing more but perhaps there was something to be said for them. A goal to focus on maybe? Perhaps.

Turning to face Captain Nagoshi, there wouldn’t be a single word uttered from the blue haired woman although that was just as much an effect of her Bankai as it was a personal choice. There was something that changed when she entered her most powerful state, a change in psyche that robbed her of…her humanity. She became what she claimed to be, a beast, hiding in the form of a Shinigami. It could be seen in the eyes of the Fourth Seat, a look that spoke more than her words ever could. At that moment, all she wished was to destroy the woman in front of her and revel in the blood that would be spilled. Nothing else mattered.

A swift enemy was irritating and so Armina would briefly spin the handle of her hammer, releasing ten sets of icy chains that would burst forth and home in towards the Captain, in an attempt to slow the woman down. Ensnaring her completely seemed unlikely but in the distorted mind of the Fourth Seat, it was an image that she could not shake. Captain Nagoshi was a fierce warrior and her spiritual pressure was immense but it was not fear that it was drawing out of the blue haired woman. It was something else but just as potent.

Something had changed in her subordinate. Though normally a bit disturbed, the blue-haired woman seemed to Kanae to possess an even fiercer gaze now that her Zanpakuto had been released. Such a thing was hardly surprising to her, after all in Kanae's estimation it was only natural for a sense of seriousness to pervade one's Bankai. It was, after all, for every Shinigami a final, ultimate resort. Yet the people in this squad used it so recklessly, throwing it around like it is no big deal. Kanae was beginning to think Shinigami these days use it as a crutch more than anything else.

Another one with chains? Is this a joke? When Armina summoned almost a dozen frozen chains, Kanae was reminded of the chains created by Saera's Bankai. Maybe, she thought, they can start a club. Even as the chains flew through the air to ensnare her Kanae's gaze remained hyper focused on Armina herself. Like a jungle beast hunting its prey from the shadows, she was silent and waiting patiently for just...the right...moment. Now!

Kanae shot forward like a bullet not half a second before the deluge of chains would have reached her. In a flash she was suddenly just before her subordinate, swords in hand, a terrible glint in her eye.

Sazaeta (刻餌食, Minced Feed)

As quickly as she appeared, Kanae let loose with a flurry of blows with her swords across Armina's entire armor-clad body. The number of strikes all appeared to happen in the same instant, a sudden torrent of steel brought down upon the Fourth Seat.

It was a frustrating situation to find herself in and the frown that was already on Armina’s face deepened as the Captain’s barrage of blade strikes battered against her armour, continuing to chip and break off parts of her defence. It wasn’t a good sign at all and the blue haired beast knew what the full breaking of her armour would bring about. It was the core of her Bankai and its destruction would mean the end of it. It was an irritating weakness but had honestly not been much of a concern until now. Her form truly was immature, a term that she despised but one that was apparently true. More training was required against stouter foes, that much was for certain. What was worse was that she had little else to back her up, as Kido has been an art that she’d never truly studied, despising the rituals that came with the art. Why waste time uttering an incantation when you can just take someone’s head off with a sword strike or punch to the face? Such a way of thinking seemed awfully stupid now.

Reluctantly, Armina was forced to use her fairly inadequate Shunpo to try to move behind the Captain and deliver a two handed blow with her freezing hammer, attempting to turn her opponent into a bloody stain. The advantage was obviously with her opponent but the 4th Seat had known that from the start. What she had wanted to see was the power of someone in the Gotei who understood the meaning of the word. Armina wished to dominate all those before her as the Captain did.

“You want to dominate her and not just on the battlefield either.” Her Zanpakuto murmured in the woman’s head, seemingly amused.

With chips of ice sent flying through the air, it was clear to Kanae she was making progress on her subordinate's armor. It was certainly resilient, that much was obvious; but it was still immature. Incomplete. The same had been true for Shura and Saera as well. Not even Vice Captain Rio's Bankai was in a more advanced stage, incomparable to the legendary releases Kanae had fought against a millennium ago. With training and more experience she figured they could improve, and had already made up her mind to follow their progress closely to see who would and wouldn't prove useful.

Armina's Flash Step was simple enough for Kanae's eyes to follow, but she already guessed at what the aggressive woman had planned. In close quarters like this, attacking from behind was a straightforward way to gain an advantage. It made sense. Kanae stared forward as Armina reappeared behind her and brought her hammer down with enough force to crack the earth, but her attack would find itself stopped in its tracks.

In a single fluid motion Kanae spun in place, combined her two swords back into one, and wordlessly released her Shikai. The outpouring Reiatsu would crack and shatter any remaining ambient ice still clinging to the environment, while her sword would suddenly find itself swung upward, its blade catching Armina's Zanpakuto between them. Sparks flew from the clash and the force the two women struck with sent forth a gust of wind that blew away chipped ice and dirt alike.

"Armina Willsaam, you may fight ferociously and with a Bankai but you lack the skill to use either properly. Wanting to be strong, to win, might get you out of that little Academy and even a promotion here and there but it's not enough. Real power, the power you can use to do what you want, to live freely, requires much more." Upon finishing her short speech, Kanae flicked her wrist and sought to knock Armina's hammer away, then turned slightly and slammed her foot directly into the icy woman's abdomen to possibly send her reeling backward.

There was a rather loud crunch as foot met armour, the result being that the 4th Seat was knocked backwards a fair distance. She remained standing but there was another noticeable dent in her armour. It had felt like a mule kick and Armina was under no illusion as to just how physically strong that the Captain was. Even the simplest strike was filled with power and the 4th Seat could feel the rumblings of jealousy briefly overcome her. For all her training and years slaughtering all those in her way, it all came to nought against this woman. It was irritating, irritating beyond belief and had speech been available to her then she may have spoken of it. Yet, as it was, she was unable to, muted by the effect of her own Bankai, a disadvantage which up until now had never bothered her all that much. She released when the time for words were over so what did it matter if she was unable to? How ignorant.

Still, the fact that she was unable to respond didn’t mean that she hadn’t heard and there were words that she’d reflect on later. There was much for her to consider once the fight was done and Armina pondered about whether her entire story up until now had been nothing more than simply the prelude. As annoying a thought as it was, it also gave her a kick in the ass. If it took centuries more to achieve her full potential then so be it and nothing would prevent her from doing so, whether it be human, Shinigami or anything else. She wished to stand at the peak, not simply stare up at it, wishing it were her.

There was still pride within her, of course, resulting in Armina chugging forwards again and launching a horizontal attack with her hammer that was directed at Kanae’s upper body. She doubted that simply striking at the Captain with blows of this quality would do an awful lot, given the woman’s speed and strength but the 4th Seat still desired to see more. Raw power was a term that she’d heard of before but words could only explain so much. To feel it for herself was what she sought.

The Fourth Seat's continued silence spoke either to the woman's arrogance, uncertainly, or something else altogether; Kanae couldn't be sure of the cause. At the end of the day, it didn't really matter to her whether Armina agreed or disagreed with the lesson being pounded into her. People change or they don't, Kanae couldn't be bothered with caring about which path they end up on. At this point so long as her subordinates weren't constantly making a mess of things like that Shura, all was fine and dandy.

The crunch of ice was felt beneath Kanae's foot as she sent Armina back a handful of feet. She observed her handiwork and noticed while damage had accumulated on the woman's armor, it was still managing to hold together.

Her Bankai is durable.
Not durable enough, Kanae.
We'll test it with that, Tosatsusha. See how it holds up to scrutiny.
Oh~? Are you sure you won't kill her? That Captain Commander of ours may be displeased.

A grimace overtook Kanae as she was reminded of Murasaki. Her Zanpakuto knew exactly the effect bringing her up would have on Kanae, and he broke into a fit of laughter as his partner gripped him tight in his sheath and focused hard on Armina. Then, in a flash, Kanae drew and swung her sword through the air, seeming to cut nothing; but it was clear she had something else in mind. A wide arc of neon green flew from her sword and shot through the air like a bullet. This Dantōdai Koroshi was a blade made of horrifically caustic acid, and was aimed directly for Armina.