Stealing Souls (Ny)

"I've read your reports." The Captain responded flatly. "You come off like a madman. Your reports are so thick with hyperbole and exageration that it's hard to tell where I could place resources, and with your lackluster command style. I wasn't going to place anymore troops under your command."

"We don't have to believe anything you say." Chirped in the third seat as if he was a pigeon flocking in to take a crap on Setsou's head.

"Exaggeration!? Did you not see what just happened here!?" Setsou shouted up at the Captain. "I warned you that if you didn't help us that people would die and look at what happened!?" Setsou screamed. "You think that all of these deaths are because I couldn't lead my troops? Naoki will vouch for me once she wakes up. She knows the number of enemy that came upon us. I told you this would happen!"

"Exactly." The lieutenant responded matter of factly. "You have nothing to show for losing that many men in your command." She was obviously talking down to Setsou like he was a child.

"I call upon the Central Forty Six." The Captain called, looking about. "To pass judgement upon this failure!"

From around Setsou there were lights. Forty Five Green and one red. Someone out there disagreed with the Captains call to discipline Setsou.

"Very well" the Captain responded in an unsatisfied tone the light over him and his tribunal going out.

However the light above Setsou remained on. "Do you have a final statement before before your fate is deliberated?" A deep throaty voice asked nigh emotionlessly.

Forty five green and one red....that was disheartening. Despite his pleas all of Setsou's words had been for nothing. He hung his head low for a moment, knowing that most likely he was going to be executed...that or worse. Setsou would rather die than face an eternity of uselessness. He hated the idea of a cage that he would stay behind until he grew old, only occasionally let out to be made an example of.

"Before I go....may I at least know the identity of who sided against punishing me? If they would allow it, I would like to exchange at least words with them before judgment is sentenced."

"Very well." The voice called back, Setsou didn't have his Zanpakuto after all. The light over Setsou went off, when it came back on there was a man with a mask on in front of the disgraced Shinigami.

He was bigger, broad shoulders a full body, and head and shoulders above Setsou. He reached up and pulled the Mask off. The face would seem familiar to Setsou, when he'd gone to Naoki's house a portrait this man. He was none other than Naoki's father one of the Central 46. "Unlike my colleagues, I have an inside information. I have a daughter that regales me with her work every time I see her. And the people she works with, and how they are. Maybe she embellishes a little bit, but I'd trust my daughter over a man with an obvious vendetta."

"I've withheld your immediate execution. However, i'll try to stall deliberations until Naoki comes around she'll definitely be more persuasive." He explained. "In the mean time you'll be held in the lower levels here."

When the man came forward, Setsou was stunned to see who it was. It took a moment for it to sink in, but there was still some resemblance in the family. This man was Naoki's father. "Thank goodness she's alright," Setsou said under his breath. At least he had saved one life today by bringing her unconscious body back. He was grateful that this man would put his own reputation on the line in order to save a man that his daughter thought highly of.

"I owe you my thanks and my services if I come out of this alive," Setsou said quietly so that the others wouldn't hear them. "I'm sorry for what happened to Naoki. I'm sorry for all of it. With that number of hollow there was just so little I could do," he said weakly as he looked towards the man. "I hope you can forgive me for the damage inflicted on her. Naoki is a good shinigami, you should be proud."

"We'll see." Naoki's father responded. "Continue to keep my daughter safe and we'll call it even."

Elsewhere.

It was dark. Pitch black. Yet Kaito felt right at home. He was floating in the expanse, it was comfortably warm.... Was he dead? This wasn't bad... not really, for eternity.

"Wake up," a simple voice said as it reached through Kaito through the darkness. Kaito may have felt warm before, but this voice would be far more inviting than anything else he had heard before.

When Kaito opened his eyes, he would find that he was confronted by a shadow creature of some kind. It had no truly physical form, and yet it seemed to stand out in the darkness itself. The only thing that Kaito would be able to make out would be its outline along with the red blades on its arms and the piercing blue eyes that it had.

"Are you scared shinigami?" it asked in a very dark voice that seemed to echo around this world.

Kaito was taken aback he thought he was alone here. But the creature had surprised him. "Uhh..." Kaito seemed to try to examine the being trying to make everything out, "No... this place is familiar... where are we?" He looked around tyring to determine exactly what was going on.

The more that Kaito would focus, the clearer the creature would come to be. At first Kaito would be confused, but soon enough he would learn that the creature was indeed a shadow itself. He wasn't hiding the darkness, he WAS the darkness.

"We are in a place that only you are aware of. You and I are the only ones with power in this dimension. That's what you and I are...we are the ones willing to walk in to the darkness where others will not. Do these words comfort you?" the creature asked as it tilted its head.

Kaito nods with little hesitation. Though he's really not sure where he is or why he's here but he knows he needs to be here now. The last thing he remembers from the fight is getting separated from the group after the quincy showed up and started causing chaos.

"So..." Kaito knew he should know the answer to this. This person, err-thing seemed familiar enough to him, like he'd always known him. "Who are you?

"Who am I....good question," the creature said as he turned away from Kaito and seemed to stare at something. Kaito wouldn't be able to tell what, if anything it was, through the darkness. "I've asked myself that many time. I think I know...but to be honest I was hoping you would be the one to tell me that," the creature said as it closed it's eyes and seemed to merge in to the darkness.

Suddenly, the blue eyes opened again and they were MUCH closer to Kaito than before. "I know not my name....but you and I are bound through your sword shinigami."

Kaito held up his hand to where its chest was. It was warm. Was it his warmth? Or was that the background warmth? Kaito closed his eyes.

No. He was much warmer... like a blanket that Kaito used to curl up with when he lived in the Rokungai... He remembered calling that blanket something... it was a childish name, but something endearing...

"Ikimonokagemaru." Declared Kaito proudly opening his eyes to gaze into his newest friend's. He knew this person's name. He was a person, not a thing, Ikimonokagemaru was part of him.

((Ikimono-Animal Kage-Shadow Maru-boy))

"That name...that is it," the person said in that echo-like voice as it looked deep in to Kai's eyes with its own. "You are worthy of the power that I can give unto you," it said. "You must close your eyes," it said. Once Kaito did as requested Ikimonokagemaru took the blades and cut the thinnest of slits on to Kaito's eyes. Kaito would feel it, and yet not wince or feel any pain. "Open your eyes."

When Kaito did it, he was no longer surrounded by darkness. Instead he saw a giant world around him. Buildings, mountains, a whole world that he hadn't been able to see before. "You can see through the darkness, see the answers that no one else can. This is your power, to use this darkness even when there is only light around you," Iki said as it looked towards its master.

"Do not die before you can use this power....you still have much you need to do."

Kaito closed his eyes, then opened them when he was commanded, not only could he see but he himself had become the darkness. Darkness could see through darkness couldn't it? It seemed. Responding to his Iki, Kaito gave a confident affirmative statement. "I will."

Kaito's eyes opened up and there he looked up at what was essentially a cage. Within the cage... A bottle of water and a bowl of gruel. He was bandaged and in pain. His weapon was sitting beside him, but he could feel the Spirit Particles in the bars of his cell.

"I would have prepared something nicer but I didn't know when you'd be awake..." Came an elegant yet manly voice. It was him the Quincy Jager.

(Perhaps we should skip to Setsou's imprisonment/Bankai Training? Or perhaps a bad dream of Naoki's?)

Meanwhile...

"God this sucks," Setsou said to himself as he sat alone in his cell. As he was instructed, Setsou had been sent down to be held in the lower holding cells until his trial was officially carried out. Naoki's father may be on Setsou's side, but there was no way he was going to convince half of those men to believe Setsou. No...Naoki was his only hope now.

"Damn it, none of this would have happened if I had been stronger," Setsou cursed himself as he punched the wall in frustration. Normally Setsou would break such a wall, but these walls were made in order to stop shinigami from escaping, so instead his hand was injured. "If I was captain, I would have been able to know the situation called for more help....I would have had the trust....damn my captain," Setsou muttered. "That coward's going to get me killed."

With all this said, Setsou just slowly closed his eyes and began his meditation. It was what he always did in order to relax his mind. He usually did it before a battle, but for now he'd just have to settle with whatever comfort his mind could give him now.

"Look at you!" A Large man in armor scoffed down at Setsou. He would instantly recognize this "man" as the personification of his Zanpakuto. "Like a dog in the mud, whining because it got its nose slapped." The man's armor glistened his gauntlets were similar if not the same as Setsou's Shikai. He quickly moved up to Setsou and pushed him, palm to chest. Something he KNEW Setsou hated.

"He put you in here! But what are you going to do about it?" Assaiki paused. "What CAN you do about it?" He stepped forward placing his hand on Setsou's chest again and pushing. "Besides Whining like a little dog!"

((Sorry for it to take that long.))

"Not what I need right now," Setsou said to himself as he closed his eyes. His Shikai would be able to speak to him anyway, but Setsou just really didn't want to have to deal with this guy right now. He was under enough pressure and issues as it was. Why couldn't he just be left alone.

"There's not a damn thing I can do about it. I said what I could and the only reason one man kept me alive was because Naoki talked about me.....unless she wakes up I'm going to be killed. It's his word against mine," Setsou said irritably. "So why are you even here?"

"You Brat." Assaiki scoffed again, because Setsou unlocked his Shikai at such a young age, Assaiki first addressed him as Brat, however in its own way was an endearment. "It's your word against a Captains?" He reached forward and pushed on Setsou's chest. "Oh a Big Scary Captain!" He shook a little showing off some shockwaves. "Pff!" He dismissed.

"What MAKES a Captain!? Experience? Wealth? Connections? A miserable pile of secrets?" He waved his hands the dust around him unsettled. "CRAP!" He shouted, causing the dust to disperse to invisibility. "Power makes a Captain!" He explained knowing from Setsou's experience. "What if you HAD that Power!? Wouldn't your word be the same as a Captains!?"

It only took a moment for Setsou to realize what the spirit was getting at. The pieces came together after that, and Setsou's eyes widened as he realized what needed to be done. "You're suggesting that I learn the Bankai of my Zanpaktou," Setsou said as he looked over at his dearest friend. The one that had helped to save his own life, and many others, in his term of service.

"If I learn the Bankai and beat the Captain in a battle, surely everyone will see that he was unfit to decide how many men to give me. He'll lose his reputation, then there's no way that they could convict me," Setsou said as he brought his hands together in a single clap as all the pieces came together.

He looked towards his friend and gave a small smile. "I've never been so desperate before....hopefully this will help me learn what I need."

"What else can you do? Perhaps conferring with your only other ally? Perhaps he has some other insight when you achieve Bankai."

He crossed his arms. "I will give you the secret of Bankai." There was a dramatic pause. "But you must touch me." With that Assaiki appeared back a ways. This test wouldn't be as easy as it sounded. Assaiki was a master of shockwave combat, shockwaves that would indeed be the weapon of Setsou if he achieved it.

Setsou was quiet for some time as the challenge was spoken. He was no fool, and he knew that there was more to this than Assaiki was letting on. This wasn't going to merely be a game of tag, this was going to call Setsou to challenge everything he knew about his Zanpaktou and how it worked....it would not be easy.

Without warning, Setsou quickly sprinted forward at the zanpaktou. He knew that it wouldn't work, but he was hoping to force a reaction from the spirit. From there Setsou would have to adapt and make a plan.

"I thought we'd be pasted this brat." Assaiki raised his hand and sent a wide shockwave at Setsou sending him sliding back, it wouldn't hurt it'd just destroy all the progress that Setsou had made to getting to his Bankai, in that try.

"Remember everything I taught you. Remember what you already know." He challenged Setsou to use his head, shockwaves were powerful but there was much more to them than simply pushing someone around.

"A shockwave is formed with mono-directional energy is passed between several parallel molecules en mass." There was a lot of science talk, but the two of them had already been over it. It was merely a matter of time before Setsou got it, Assaiki was sure of it.

Setsou breathed heavily as he looked towards Assaiki, the spirit of his blade. This was one of the things that Setsou always thanked the spirit for...he never allowed Setsou to hold himself back. He always forced Setsou to be his best, never let him become lazy with his power. Setsou had often wondered if Assaiki made it a goal to make sure that Setsou didn't end up like the Captain he served under.

Setsou knew that a straight charge wasn't going to be enough. A shockwave was too quick and fast to move in a straight line. Setsou was going to have to change his movements...which might be difficult given the size of the shockwaves that Assaiki could create. Still, Setsou would have to try and just adapt.

Setsou ran forward again, but after a moment he started to flicker from location to location, trying to make a stranger and more jagged path that Assaiki would have a harder time dodging.

Assaiki watched Setsou approach, it was obvious that the original shockwave wouldn't work, Setsou would dodge two shockwaves before getting close enough to touch the spirit of his Zanpakuto. As his fingers would reach forward He'd be sent back, the shockwave clearing the dust from the room, and pushing the wanna be captain back a hundred yards further than he'd started from. "Brat! Use your head! The only thing that can stop a shockwave is a force equal to the force of that shockwave directly applied to one spot." Assaiki called, taunting him, did Setsou get that close on his own or was Assaiki toying with him? Dangling the secrets of his Bankai just out of reach in front of him?