warriiors of the shadows
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Post by warriiors of the shadows on Jul 8, 2005 8:06:15 GMT -5
anyone wanting to rp a ninja and vampire rp come to this thread stay and lets rp
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Post by phonyboy on Sept 2, 2005 10:31:54 GMT -5
how do you play this game cant i see my person?
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Post by arberter on Nov 9, 2005 16:34:48 GMT -5
your not supposed to see your character, your character is a CO.
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Post by arberter on Nov 9, 2005 16:36:20 GMT -5
how do you play this game
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Post by skintradeki on Mar 26, 2006 10:58:06 GMT -5
OOC - Suppose someone better start the RP - -
Skintrade had wandered far from his home of Melania, travelling at night and sleeping through the day as he had to due to the curse in his blood coursing through his veins. He had left his clan, his worldly possessions, and his friends behind, tired of the endless battles between good and evil and the racial hatred between the races.....
After many weeks of walking he found himself in a mountainous area populated by humans. Fascinated by the physical expertise of a temple of monks he petitioned to stay. He was welcomed, albeit warily, and allowed to learn their techniques of self defence.
Training at night, a young monk approached him after a couple of months. "I have heard stories, they say you do not breathe or eat as we do. Is this true?" "It is true." Skintrade replied, stepping backwards from the young monk. "Why? I know you are from a foreign land, but are you not the same as me inside?" "No.... I am not the same.... I have... an illness." "You look strong and healthy to me." Said the monk, stepping forward. "My sickness makes me strong and healthy young one, please step away from me I do not wish for you to become ... infected." Skintrade raised a hand to stop the monk stepping closer. "How?" "My sickness, although not fatal, will kill you..." Skintrade turned and looked toward the east, "I must return to my bunk, it is almost morning. Please leave me be and ask no more." "I shall, for now.... What is your name?" "I have been given the name Skintradeki." With this he walked almost silently to his dorm.
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Post by rihochan on May 3, 2006 4:49:05 GMT -5
In the night a young woman in skintight leathers with a rather strange looking sword sheathed across her back appeared in his room. Immediately he sensed a sort of kinship with her. "Who are you young lady?" he asked. She looked at him with a sort of depthless sorrow in her strangely radiant amber eyes, "Do you not sense it? We are of a kind you and I... I was wondering why another of my kind had come to this place." He realised rather quickly that she was far older, and indeed more powerful than he was. However, he felt no fear, but rather a sense of comfort... for there was no desire for battle in her eyes. "I was simply travelling and I found this to be a good place to rest." He said simply and honestly. "I settled here around five-hundred years ago. The local villagers asked me for protection from the local bandits, and in exchange my needs are met without suffering on either side. I must request that you leave this area in the near future; for though your intentions may be benign, I cannot allow another such as myself to stay here long." She withdrew a vial full of deep red liquid seemingly from midair. "This is a highly concentrated form of our... nourishment. It will last you several weeks if you drink sparingly. When the vial is empty, please leave this place. Also, you should know that there is a ninja clan in the mountains to the west. It would be best if you avoided them. I have an understanding with them, but they will show you no mercy." With that, her body began dissipate into a black mist. He called out to her, "What is your name?" "Riho" she said as she faded into the darkness of the night.
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crusader2892hotailcom
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Post by crusader2892hotailcom on May 3, 2006 18:47:04 GMT -5
weird..............and where were you going with this might i ask?
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Post by rihochan on May 5, 2006 19:06:42 GMT -5
/don't post in a role-play thread unless you are going to role-play...baka/
Skintradeki found himself overcome with curiosity about the mysterious person who had visited him in the night, but he got the feeling that he would only be able to find her if she wanted to be found. Then his curiousity was aroused by another thing she had mentioned, 'Ninja? What could that be? I've never heard of such a thing.' He left his dormroom to go to the training grounds, still thinking deeply. A familiar voice called out to him from the doorway to the training grounds, "Hello. Going to training? You really seem to like training at night." It was the young monk whom he had talked to on a previous occasion. An idea occured to him, maybe this young man knew what a ninja was. "Do you know what a ninja is? Someone mentioned the word in my presence, but I am unaware of its signifigance." The young monk's countenance was transformed from his usual friendly demeanor to a rather cold and calculating face for a few moments, but it was gone before Skintradeki could be sure it was even there, "A ninja.... There are stories. They are spies, assassins, gatherers of information, and masters of all arts that are considered covert. From what the texts in the library say, they are trained from birth to a high level of skill, and they are willing to do anything on the orders of the one to whom they owe loyalty." The young monk's eyes became distant for a moment, "There are stories of independent villages that owe loyalty to no one... but who knows if ninja even exist? Often they take on tasks such as demon-hunting and the extermination of dangerous beasts... or so it is said." "I thank you for the information... now I will get to training." And Skintradeki thought no more on the subject that night.
In a room deep underground somewhat to the east of the monastery, the woman who called herself Riho seemed to be having a conversation with herself, "Maybe it is time I left this place. The people here have come to rely on me far too much for their own good." She was silent for a moment, as if listening for a reply, "I am inhibiting their growth as a people aren't I? This young one may be a sign that is time to move on." Her sword was unsheathed across her lap, the metal of the blade was a dull grey, streaked with midnight black and iridescent purple, "You think so too... don't you Sorrow?"
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Post by kenpachi on Aug 13, 2006 1:08:43 GMT -5
In a mountain village to the west a figure clothed in black sat within a circle of runes. Incense burned beside him, vapors rising and mixing, creating a fog. It spoke in a hushed voice " Blood will spill blood and and converge with the rise of shadow" Prone figures beside him rose and darted away as if they were never there.
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Post by rihochan on Aug 30, 2006 22:15:14 GMT -5
Riho walked from her hidden room, leaving a written letter to the villagers with whom she had done business for so long. The letter left detailed instructions about the disposition of the belongings she had left behind. Her sword resonated in the sheath at her side shivering with approval of her choice. The village was cloaked with darkness, and as always she felt herself filled with a strange sadness. She had watched generation after generation of these people grow up and die, always continuing on the same worn paths... even as she lived, trying not to become attached and utterly failing as the blooming flower of their mortality wilted again and again. In her pack lay hundreds of vials of her concentrated blood-serum, the product of centuries of alchemical research.
As she walked out of the village, a familiar black cloth-wrapped figure appeared before her on the road. "Do you finally leave, Bloodwalker? Will you now leave these to their fate?"
Her amber eyes were distant, as if she were already gone from this place in her mind, "Staying here will do no one any good. I am a stone and the people are trees. In the end the trees cease to grow when their roots meet the stone."
He looked at her without any discernable expression, "A darkness approaches. A sorcerer has begun to move as he sensed your desire to depart. He has allied himself with the renegades."
She was indifferent to this information, "It is your own fault for denying the renegades the right to develop their powers to the fullest. It is weakness to restrain the growth of your people's powers when you hunt the forces of darkness. The renegades would still be a part of your village if not for that."
"The sorcerer is of both your kind and my own."
This information did elicit a response, but even then it was only a mild sort of curiousity that drove her to ask, "What is his name?"
"His name is CaptainNoob."
A blazing rage filled her at the sound of that name, the name of the most powerful of her kind, "CaptainNoob, the one who recruits more of our kind without end. Who has discovered methods for expanding power without limit. You have my attention." (Sorry, Captain I couldn't resist)
With that statement, a silent agreement was made. CaptainNoob would be ruthlessly hunted down.
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Post by kenpachi on Aug 31, 2006 14:12:44 GMT -5
The Council had mobilized. "We must said someone" came a voice "but who? We cannot leave to investigate, yet this dire prophesy requires someone who can handle the bloodwalkers if they are truly here." "Shall we send the young one?" came another voice, " it is true that he is untried and weaker than most of us, yet he shows promise. He has grown faster than many of us. Kenpachi will you act on behalf of the Council?" "Yes" came a voice, younger than most of the rest, "I shall act if the Council rules such". "Then it is agreed" said the first voice and they all disappeared.
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Post by rihochan on Sept 11, 2006 2:49:36 GMT -5
Riho and the silent agent from the local clan were being assaulted by a large force of the renegades. Their battle was eerily silent, as again and again the renegades came at them. Riho had not drawn her sword, as drawing it in battle had a tendency to draw the attention of the entire countryside due to its unusual nature, so she was fighting almost entirely with her hands. Those slender digits were far more deadly than they seemed however, as renegade after renegade fell broken to the ground.
One of the renegades threw several shurikens at her, which she simpy avoided, then closed with the renegade, driving her palm into his chin from below and exposed his adam's apple. She then drove her other hand into his throat with a simple jab, ending his life.
Unfortunately, her human companion had fared signifigantly less well and was barely holding off three opponents. She turned to help him, but was surrounded by nine more renegades who appeared from the shadows. These renegades were different... Their scent was of her kind, an annoyance she really didn't need. "Feh! I guess I don't have any other choice." Her snort of disgust was the last sound she made before drawing the blade at her side. As she drew it she said in a voice that hinted at the depths of the true darkness that lies at the bottom of every soul, no matter how good, "Now you shall know why my blade is called Sorrow... you poor fools."
The blade vibrated in her hands as she drew her hand down the edge, parting her skin like rice paper, her blood running down the blade. The blade quivered, then she attacked, moving several times faster than she had before. As she slashed, a wave of darkness, of misty shadow flowed over the battlefield. It was a darkness deeper than the night, but it did not hinder sight...
The renegades screamed and fell to their knees, desperately clawing at their eyes and ears, as if they could drive out the endless despair that flowed from the blade. They were as helpless as babes, even the ones who had been turned, as Riho casually beheaded them one after the other as they tried to claw out their own eyes... with some success as the trails of blood and ruined eye sockets attested. The blade's misty darkness continued to flow over the battlefield, and a terrible wail of despair seemed to well from deep within the confines of the blade.
Even her companion was unable to completely withstand the blade's terrible power, and he was not the focus of its attention. He saw visions of loved ones not his own, growing old and dying right before his eyes in an endless procession until all that was left was a despair and a sort of mild curiousity... He realized that he was seeing something of her experiences. Then the last of the renegades fell to the ground, actually dead of the sheer weight of that terrible sorrow. Tears leaked from the ninja's eyes... tears that he had not shed in all his years of life as a ninja. "How... can you stand it."
She sheathed the blade, and the misty darkness flowed into the sheath with it. She looked at him, something of that endless sorrow in her eyes, "With time, one can become accustomed to anything... even despair." She turned her back before adding, "I distract myself with my endless experiments of various types. The village was one of those, as is the concentrated blood serum."
"Does it truly help?"
"Sometimes." With that she began to leap along the mountain ridge towards his village. After a moment, he gathered himself and followed.
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Post by kenpachi on Sept 13, 2006 14:27:08 GMT -5
A few hours later Kenpachi arrived at the sight of the battle. He looked around, observing the scene. “Strange, these renegades are different than all the others. I wonder…” he said trailing off, thinking of the meeting he had had after the council had adjoined.
“Sensei…the reason why the council decided to send me, I know it wasn’t because they think I will be able to handle the situation, is it what I fear” he asked his teacher. “I don’t know what all of them think Ken.” said the figure seated in front of him, “But well…” “They don’t trust me.” Kenpachi finished, “Have I not proven that I am loyal to the council after they took me in?” “It is not what you have done, but what was done to you that makes them doubt you. After all He is the one that they suspect is behind this. Just watch out for our friend out there, to mistake someone like that for an enemy would be fatal.”
Kenpachi suddenly was brought out of his thoughts as a new wave of black figures suddenly appeared all around him. “You will pay for what you have done to our comrades” hissed a figure behind him. Kenpachi turned slowly to face the speaker, “I’m sorry, you have the wrong person. Can you not tell what happened here? This is a thing far beyond my power. “You are of the Council, you lie and you shall pay!” Kenpachi sighed raising his hand up in the air “This is why I dislike dealing with renegades, all action, no thought. How do you intend to defeat me when all your men are dead?”
It was true; the others had fallen silently to the ground, their necks spouting blood. “Wha…What happened? This in impossible! This is crazy, insane!” stammered the now lone warrior, his legs giving out under him, his eyes looking blindly ahead. “May you find yourself with better senses in the next life. Bye.” said Kenpachi as he brought his hand down with a quick motion, his foe suddenly torn apart in front of him.
He glanced back at the scene of the original battle, noting the faces of those who died. “Hmm, it seems that we might have a chance to meet the fabled one.” He remarked to no one in particular. He looked towards his sword which was oddly shaped. It was short and thick with deep patterns running through it and as he stood looking at it changed shape to a normal short ninja sword. “To meet the fabled Riho…sounds like fun, doesn’t it…Madness.”
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Post by rihochan on Sept 15, 2006 1:18:02 GMT -5
As they got to the village outskirts, Riho sensed an unusual presence that caused her to pause and look back the way she had come, A strong presence for such a young vampire... I wonder which bloodline he his from? The fool... he is far too young to control a bloodblade... it will consume him in the end. Hmm... traces of a ninja's presence mingled with it. Too disciplined to be a renegade. She turned to her escort ninja and asked, "Do you number a vampire among your ranks?"
He seemed troubled, "Kenpachi... he was a promising student before he was turned. The Council managed to help him burn away the blood connection with his blood-father, but I'm not sure how reliable he is. Why do you ask?"
She sighed and turned away, "You will find out soon enough." She sat down cross-legged on the ground to wait. ____________________________________________________
Several hours later....
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The young one arrived, just as she had thought he would. Her escort moved forward and hissed a question, "Why are you here?"
Kenpachi looked at him expressionlessly, "The Council sent me to join you." His eyes filled with eagerness when they encountered Riho and he leaped to the attack, a kunai in each hand.
Smart of him not to use the bloodblade. If he were to try to use it on me, my blade would shatter his immature one. She avoided his first attack easily and slammed her palm into his back with lighting speed as he passed her, throwing him several dozen feet forward.
He turned his flight into a spin and absorbed the impact with his feet, launching himself with lightning speed towards her, her easy evasion only fanning the flames of his eagerness to challenge her.
Diffusing the force of the blow by spinning and then launching from the boulder. He is well-trained but... Time slowed for her and she simply walked around him as he slowly, to her enhanced speed and perception, moved toward her previous position. She held her palm like a flat plane and clinically drove her fingers into every joint of his body, pulverizing each one in turn, careful not to damage so much that his vampiric abilities wouldn't allow him to regenerate after their battle. She then walked over to the boulder and sat with her back against it and crossed her arms. Time sped up and he passed the spot where she had been.
He tried to turn around, but as he did he screamed as he felt the agony of his crushed joints, collapsing to the ground.
She rose and walked over to his twitching and helpless body leaning down to whisper in his ear, "You made three mistakes: First you attacked me without gauging my strength, second you tried to attack me a second time while not realizing I was holding back almost all my physical strength, and third you failed utterly to hide your aura before attacking me. The only reason I didn't kill you was because your aura only held an eagerness to challenge, not kill. You did do one thing right, you didn't draw your bloodblade. If you had done so, I would have drawn Sorrow and yours would have been shattered, obliterating a part of your soul and halting the growth of your power, forever limiting you to your current strength. Nonetheless...." She pulled out a small vial of purple fluid, seemingly from nowhere and poured the contents into his mouth, forcing it shut and rubbing his throat to force him to swallow.
His bones seemed to melt into putty and he screamed as the crushed joints rapidly reformed themselves. Then he fainted from the sheer agony of the forced healing.
She looked down at him emotionlessly, then took him up in her arms. She looked at the ground and suddenly a hole dug itself and she dumped him into it, the dirt flying back to cover him. "The formula is one of my older ones... a prototype. So it is a bit rough on the body, but he should be fine. He will wake up tomorrow, none the worse for wear. Hopefully, this will have taught him the value of caution." Her voice was indifferent as she said this, and she turned and began walking down to the village, her escort close behind.
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Post by kenpachi on Sept 18, 2006 8:21:20 GMT -5
After Riho and her companion had been gone for a few hours a hand shot up from the hole and pulled Kenpachi up, and he began to rummage through his bag, taking out a small pill and swallowing it. “Wow that stuff he gave me heals really well, better than the stuff in the village. She could do something about the pain though and it seems that it only works on vampires.” Kenpachi said. “And it’s nice to know that even the great Riho isn’t perfect. If I could contain my aura when I’m like that I would” he remarked taking his bloodblade out of its sheath “But she’s right, I wouldn’t have been a match for her even if I did use you Madness.” He disrobed, revealing a chest marked with signs and patterns, an elaborate spell meant never to be broken. “She’s not that bad, she could have killed me if she wanted to, and then she healed me. Otherwise I would have needed to feed before I did this.” He took his sword and began to trace patterns of blood across his arms, similar to those found on his body. As he did so his vampiric aura dissipated completely, his own human aura blocked by his training. The blood congealed and turned black as if it was ink. “Everything about her in the stories is true, if not more so. If I can’t beat her like this there is no way I can beat my sire, Captain Noob. I need to complete the ritual if I want to match them, even if it requires that I break the taboo to do so.” And with that he set out towards the nearby temple.
Meanwhile
The young monk approached his master, “Master, you have mentioned that those other bloodwalkers are gathering. I fear that the visitor is one of them. How should we handle him?” “Eliminate him.” Came the reply.
A few hours later
As Kenpachi approached the temple he heard sounds of fighting, not sparring, which was to be expected at such as place, but rather sounds of bones crunching and constant thuds against the walls. A monk staggered out of the entranceway, motioned to Kenpachi, and collapsed. “Help us…please” he whispered to Kenpachi, “ambush on the bloodwalker…failed. Please help us.” “You are aware that I am a ninja, correct?” “Yes gasped the monk as he slipped into unconsciousness. Kenpachi entered the temple not sure what he would find.
It was a strange sight; the bodies of the incapacitated monks littered the floor, some bleeding silently. Shinradeki held no malice in his blows, rather sorrow at the fact that he needed to do such a thing. By now the remaining monks at the school were terrified, watching their betters defeated handily by the techniques that they had spent years perfecting. Launching a palm strike on the final monk Shinradeki turned to Kenpachi. “I trust that you are one of the ninja that were mentioned to me. As your only errand is death I have no choice to be rough with you” striking with his hand towards Kenpachi’s heart, launching his backwards on the ground. As Shinradeki turned to leave he suddenly became aware that his hand was bleeding, globules of blood splashing onto the floor. “Impressive strike” said Kenpachi rising, a vampiric aura once again spilling out of him where a moment ago there had been none. “You should have been killed with that strike” said Shinradeki, surprised, “And your aura…you are one of my kind? I did not sense it when you first came in.” “Your blow might have killed me if it wasn’t for this” replied Kenpachi, moving his hand with a flourish calling into view what appeared to be a sword wrapped around him. Rather it was interwoven metal with sharp edges that began at a hilt, seemingly moving of its own accord as it unwound itself, returning to its dormant form, a normal ninja blade. “This is my bloodblade, Madness, which I created myself through both ninja and vampire arts. As for my aura…well let’s just say that the seals blocking my nature don’t let anything through, I have to forcibly override them to access any vampiric abilities.” “I know this may sound direct but I would ask you to leave here. For the monks to not object to aid from a ninja they must be both terrified and desperate. I don’t know your past but it is obvious by the fact that you didn’t kill a single person that you have no wish for death.” There was silence while both contemplated the situation. “Why did you come here?” asked Shinradeki, challenging his foe to admit planned wrongdoing. “I recently confirmed that my own skills are insufficient and I sought a method to grow more powerful. However if you were able to so handily defeat this school without killing a single person there is nothing here worth learning. I give you my blood oath that they will come to no further harm by my hand.” The answer seemed to please Shinradeki and he left.
After he had left, Kenpachi sighed and said, “Ouch, he knows their moves better than they do” drawing a quick sign in his own blood on the floor. Suddenly all the blood, not yet dry on the floor began to gather at the spot. Steam shot up as the reduced itself to a gelatinous from. Kenpachi scooped it up with a small crystal bottle, slightly adding to its contents and suddenly exclaimed, “This is surprising. The potency level of the blood must he high, usually I only get one drop every gallon of blood” swallowing a drop of the precious formula, “Seems that one is stronger than I imagined.” He began to redo the seals on his arms muttering to himself “If I can’t increase my strength here as planned the ritual becomes all the more necessary. I suppose the only way now is to fight the renegades. By the time I meet Riho and the others I will be able to hold my own.” As his aura dissipated his body seemed to fade away into the shadows.
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Post by rihochan on Sept 18, 2006 20:41:07 GMT -5
Riho stood before the village's small council for only the third time in five-hundred years. The first time had been when she had survived the massed attack of the entire village's core of master ninja without taking a scratch. She had made a pact not to interfere in their affairs in the region afterward. The second time they had made an alliance to eliminate a coven of ancients that had moved into the area and attempted to form a sholthek to enslave the area's humans and transform the area into an extension of the Netherworld. The coven had consisted of over a dozen ancient vampires of roughly equal strength to Riho, and it was only through her most subtle techniques and strategies that they had successfully taken them down. That had been three-hundred years previous. In exchange for what little aid they had offered her, she had taught them the how a vampire created a bloodblade and how to destroy a bloodblade in such a way that the vampire died with it. She also taught them several forbidden sorcerous rituals, and infrequently exchanged alchemical formulas with them. Their most powerful concoctions were variations of ones she had given them over the last three centuries, and while she wasn't truly considered a 'friend' as such, she was considered an ally worthy of limited trust. She had also taught the making of special alloys that resisted the mental powers that many vampires relied upon to entrap the human will.
She knew that if she was calm and careful she could defeat CaptainNoob, but the problem was that he had such power that even if he were to be 'killed' he would simply enter the husk body of one of those he had sired. It was a particularly insidious technique, and it was the core of his reasons for siring so many vampires. She had, in fact, destroyed his body on several occasions, but each time she was unable to contain his soul to the body she destroyed. It filled her with rage merely thinking of it. She had sacrificed the only blood child she had ever sired in the last of these battles, over eight-hundred years previous. That child had in fact been a dear friend before she asked to be turned, and their friendship had only grown during their long centuries together. Indeed, for that time Riho had felt herself revitalised by what seemed to her to be an everlasting exuberance that embraced her when with that other. CaptainNoob's reappearance had cut that time brutally short, and the ensuing battle had reduced one of the greatest civilizations of human history to a barren wasteland devoid of life.
She had absolutely no desire to repeat that debacle in miniature in the mountains that had housed her for almost half a millenia. However, she also couldn't quite bring herself to walk away as she had all the other times she had met him since. They had religiously avoided each other since then, as both herself and CaptainNoob had been shocked by the devastation wrought by their terrible powers meeting. Thus it enraged her all the further that he had infringed on 'her' territory with his mad proliferation. She forced herself to calm down and return to the present where the primary part of her personality was calmly asking questions and recording the answers in her memory. It was one of the unique ablities she had developed over the centuries, deliberately splitting her mind into several pieces to handle however many situations had come up, and it had become neccessary to use it to isolate the enraged part of her mind before she slagged a large portion of the mountain range in the flames of her rage. A variation of the technique was used in the creation of the bloodblades, taking the strongest of the emotions of the maker and forging it into every groove of the blade, making of it a thing of power rather than an emotional or mental blindspot. Thus, if a bloodblade were to be destroyed, a vampire would find himself crippled and even weaker than a human child, vulnerable to anyone with a grudge and a length of stout wood.
Another of her unique abilities, the one that had allowed her to repeatedly defeat, if not destroy forever, CaptainNoob was the ability to literally use an opponent's own strength to kill him. It was a technique that required a sense of timing that was instinctively perfect, and so she had yet to meet a student who could carry it off besides herself. If it was done imperfectly, it would destroy both the wielder of the technique and the enemy. Some of her students had been perfectly willing to let that happen, due to the desire for revenge overpowering good sense. She had stood by and watched them consume the targets and themselves in brief but intense blazes of glory and shook her head in dissapointment.
The ninja had been speaking of making an assault on CaptainNoob's forces in their home base in the village of Varna, and it was this that forced the whole of Riho's mind to focus and made her speak in a tone of such absolute certainty that they could not deny her words, "NO! You will not foolishly attempt to attack the most powerful of all my kind. Even if he were somehow isolated he would destroy your entire clan in moments. I have a chance of defeating, if not killing him, but you have no such chance. Leave such matters to me, and don't waste your lives in such a fruitless pursuit."
They looked at her in shock, for she had only quietly asked questions up to that point. One of them attempted to speak, "But surely, if we all got together and ambushed him..."
She cut him off and ruthlessly quashed all resistence with her next statement, "Even if every ninja in the mountains, or all the ninja in the world were to gather here and strike with all the power at their command, he would still come out victorious. When a vampire reaches a certain level of maturity, he becomes invulnerable to the power of the merely mortal and even the younger vampires. I myself long ago reached such a point, and he did so even longer ago. It would be like flies trying to chew through the strongest adamantium. A completely pointless effort." With that she stood up and left the small council's hall towards the place assigned her by the elders.
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Post by kenpachi on Sept 19, 2006 15:12:32 GMT -5
Kenpachi sat atop the plateau; legs folded in meditation, letting only the slightest amount of aura from his body, a signal for the contact he was supposed to meet. His mind began to swim with the memories of his life in the village and for the first time he could remember, considered not returning. Returning would not only be admitting failure, but expulsion from the council and facing the crimes he had committed and that the Council had overlooked. His mind turned back to his contact, why wasn’t he here yet.
Suddenly a group of renegades, who had been silently been climbing the small plateau, gathered all around him, swarming him like ants. Suddenly Kenpachi vanished, his opponents glancing around, surprised. He seemed to suddenly appear from the shadows, a kunai in each hand, piercing the heart of the closest renegade and disappearing into the night again. He became a blur of motion, seeming to disappear only to rematerialize to end the life of one of his foes. As he felled the last rival shinobi he called out, “You can come out now.” A vampire stepped out of the shadow and asked “How did you know I was there?” a mild tone of curiosity in his voice. “There was no way ones as they could have sensed me, isolated with my aura so low. I confirmed this when they fell pray the Shadow Step technique, the one we perfected together Noah. I knew someone was out there, but I admit I’m surprised by my old friend and contact would do this. I always knew you didn’t like the council, but this?” “It was never the council I hated; it was the fact that they protected you. You killed my father that day. My rage made me develop my skills beyond you but as hard as I tried I could not make a blade such as yours. I had all but given up hope when appeared to, offering me the power that he had perfected on you and with that power I created Rage from the memory of that day.
He swung a gigantic sword at the ground, a huge shockwave emanating from his sword, knocking Kenpachi to the edge of the plateau. “Is that all you are going to do, simply let me take my revenge, that’s no fun, I want you to suffer first.” Noah taunted as Kenpachi rose grimly, is body altering itself, resulted in his vampiric form. “This is impossible” exclaimed Noah, “your power isn’t great enough to create a bloodblade, and our auras…they should be similar, but I can’t sense your lineage even though I know what it is. How is this possible?” “I have learned to access my powers without restoring the blood link to our sire. It weakens the effect but it prevents me from becoming one of his pawns. It seems that we’re still similar after all though, Rage, that’s what I believe you called it. It seems that we both used the same memory to create our blades.” Kenpachi finished walking closer to his foe. A muttered “Bastard” came from the now furious Noah.
The incident in question had occurred some years previously. They had both been involved in a training game, a contest of whom could strike whom only using a Shadow Step. These matches would drag on until one would be hit by the other with their kunai anywhere above the waist. They were constantly shifting, as one would appear the other would disappear, a pattern going on for over an hour. Suddenly Kenpachi moved to one side, feinted and slipped behind Noah and launched a strike. The blow never arrived, Noah’s father grabbing Kenpachi’s kunai and tearing it out of his hand, laying Kenpachi flat on his black with a blow to the face. Taking out his sword he proceeded to beat Kenpachi with the flat of the blade yelling, “Don’t…you…touch…my…son…you…freak…bastard!” punctuating each word with a blow, after the last word raising the blade as if to cut the young Kenpachi. As the blade came down it seemed as if a fell wind had blown through the village, the blade suddenly halting in Kenpachi’s bare hand. Kenpachi snapped the blade as if it was a twig and launched himself upon his foe. What happened is a matter of contention amongst many villagers, many being sworn to secrecy. All that is known is that Noah’s father was reduced to a husk and a scream, seemingly of both agony and delight, permeated every house.”
“Are you aware” Kenpachi said, now only a few feet away from Noah, “that the council had begun research into the development of bloodblades, only for human use. They called it a “soulblade”. The general idea was the same as that of a bloodblade, only instead of using blood as the emotional conduit, to use aura generated through some of our spells in the ceremony necessary to forge such a weapon. The only problem is that aura doesn’t work nearly as well as vampiric blood. I created Madness from the rush of hatred, my will to survive, my first kill and the addition of vampiric powers to me for the first time using both methods, my favorite abilities and my memories determining the strength and form of my blade.”
“I can hardly see why this is important.” Noah replied, readying himself for a second strike. “Because you have become wrapped up in your new vampiric abilities and have forgotten what it is to be a ninja: To be loyal to the village, to never be caught alive, and to never let yourself be distracted in battle” Suddenly Noah’s body seemed to explode, blood spurting out of him like a fountain, his bloodblade completely shattered. “You used Madness while it was invisible to circle around me and Rage, nice” Noah whispered “How did I not see that coming?” “You were blinded by hate, just as I had been blinded by my madness until your father’s memories woke me up. Goodbye old friend.” Kenpachi’s face was a mask as he collected and distilled the blood on the scene and stored it in his crystal container, now about two thirds full.
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Post by rihochan on Sept 21, 2006 4:29:05 GMT -5
Riho calmly sat, cross-legged on a red mat on the dirt floor of the hut she rested in. To the casual observer, nothing would seem to have been wrong with this scene, except that sunlight was coming through the cracks in the hut's wall and ceiling and falling on her unprotected skin. However, there was none of the charring or burning that always occurred when a vampire was exposed to sunlight. Suddenly, that changed and her skin began to give off grey smoke where it was exposed to the light. She raised her hand, and the room suddenly became completely dark, the small burns on her skin healing in an instant. She smiled grimly and spoke aloud into the unnatural darkness, "Six hours, seventeen minutes... the rate of success is rising far faster than I originally anticipated. It seems my evolution is accelerating... I will have to go into a century of hibernation soon. Not even the dear Captain has yet reached this point of evolution... he has taken the more overt path after all. It is curious how our powers differ, even though we have the same sire. He shifts bodies and goes for sheer overwhelming power. However, my evolution has taken a more subtle path." She snorted a derisive laugh that seemed to be directed at herself, "It looks like I won't be able to do it this time. It is impossible to delay the evolutionary sleep for long. That boy may be the only option."
She contemplated in the darkness for several minutes before smiling and holding out her hand. A small vial full of black crystals appeared upon her palm, seemingly from nowhere, "That idiotic child is going to try to force his own evolution... I could see it in his mind. However... his methods won't give him enough power to complete the mission... and he can't use my method. This is the only option. I wonder if he will be willing to use it?" She smiled self-mockingly, "Of course he will. He is utterly committed to this course of action... even though he lacks anything but the most basic understanding of what he faces." Those black crystals were a dangerous mixture she had spent over four millennia researching. They were made from the blood of the original vampire mixed with several compounds that she had herself concocted. Her sire, the original, had always been indulgent of her research, and had even been willing to donate materials on occasion. The crystals had the effect of increasing a vampire's powers to a ridiculous extent for a brief time (several hours), but there was a good chance that it would burn the vampire out... literally. In the end, she had concluded that their use would be a desperate measure for a situation she couldn't resolve in any other way.
As she was about to go into hibernation, whether she liked it or not, she had no choice but to suggest the course of action to the boy. She had gotten used to being ruthless in her manipulations over the centuries, but there was always some part of her that objected to using others as tools to accomplish her ends, no matter how noble and no matter how much the person already wished to do what she was trying to make him do. She sighed and gently wrote several runes in the dirt, which glowed with purple light for a few moments. So he was there... She sat back to wait for nightfall, when she would go to his location and make her offer.
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Post by kenpachi on Sept 21, 2006 17:25:19 GMT -5
Kenpachi sat atop a great boulder, meditating. “I won’t ask you how you found me, in this state my aura is still unstable and I am unable to harness it as I usually would in my human form.” He suddenly said out loud, aimed at the shadows behind him, Riho suddenly appearing. “I admit that I can’t say that I am glad to see you. I had hoped to be more of a match for you the next time we met. I assume that you have learned the particulars of my state from the other members of the council.” “Yes, I have sensed your past but it would crude of me to simply crush their mental defenses to learn such details. I would wish to learn them directly from you.” Riho said in her usual, uncaring, tone.
“Very well. When I was a child our village was attacked by vampires. Using the methods of destroying bloodblades and our superior numbers we were able to stop the assault. What we didn’t know that the attack was simply a test for the organizer of the plot, Captain Noob, for a new invention of his, one he probably thought of after switching bodies so many times. He created vampires that are immediately able to create bloodblades, albeit immature ones. This technique, whereby aura is transmitted through the bite, was perfected on me, a new test subject after the other ones were destroyed. Immediately afterwards, before the transformation was complete, the council sealed my vampiric side. One day my desire to survive overcame the seal briefly, alerting the council to the fact that I still had such a beast residing inside me. They adopted me into the council, teaching me, granting me asylum against many people who saw a stake as the best course of action. They didn’t do so out of kindness, rather in the belief that if they didn’t I would join the renegades and become their worst nightmare. I learned how to loosen the seals so I could access some of my power without being overcome and I learned to make a bloodblade from your teachings. Does that satisfy you?”
“I suppose it will do. You wish to hasten your evolution and desire to kill your sire, Captain Noob. In that regard the two of us have common interest, but unlike me you have no method to carry out your desire.” Riho replied, tossing the container of black crystals, “Those are bloodstones. If consumed they will temporarily grant amazing power but if used the power will likely overcome and destroy you. Use them as you see fit. However I would like to offer you another use.” She said having her hand at the ground, runes appearing, a hole opening at the center. “If combined with the elixir you have been creating the power generated by these crystals will be amazing. If you choose to consume them in the circle I created over there all vampiric aura will be converted to the process of your evolution. Usually this process takes millennia, but that is time that you do not have. Needless to say there are risks, your soul will not be able to control a body so powerful and must undergo evolution as well. To do so rapidly requires the incubation of your new soul inside your body. After three days your soul will be unable to rejoin your body. The rapid changes to your mind and soul to do so in that time will put you through emotional agony, your soul itself could be torn apart, you could be driven insane. Your body will be in constant pain, and if you fail, will become an empty vessel for Captain Noob, and if it comes to that I will not hesitate to kill you. I cannot make the choice for you. Do what you will.” and walked away.
Kenpachi drew out the elixir he had been preparing, looking at it, then the crystals. Then smiling to himself and said, ‘Thank you Riho-dono. You know full well what I am going to do. See you in three days.” He stepped into the circle, poured the crystals into the elixir and drank. The effect was immediate, pain shot through his body forcing him to unconsciousness, the hole swallowing his body as it fell.”
Kenpachi was falling, falling through a dark place. Suddenly he was standing in an area surrounded by nothingness. His body still hurt though it was nothing compared to what he had previously felt. A giant serpent approached him, slithering at a fast pace, yet he felt no fear, only the feeling that he had met it somewhere before. “Madness?” he inquired. “Guilty as charged Ken. I am part of your soul and I shall guide you through your memories, the memories of others whose blood you drank, the memories of the progenitor of your race. Are you ready?” Before he could answer memories flashed through his mind. He was back atop the plateau delivering the final blow to Noah, the creation of Madness, alone in his quarters as he began to undo the seals around his body, the insane feeling he had when his powers had surged out of him for the first time, the shame he had felt afterwards, the heckling of the other villagers, the sealing of his vampiric side, the pain he felt as the council members reverted his changing body back to its original form, being bitten by a shadowy Captain Noob. Suddenly the memories stopped, and he found himself in front of a large door. Still panting from the metaphysical pain he was suffering he asked, “Wha…what is this?” Madness replied, “This is the Great Seal. It is what prevents the link between your sire and you from working. It is here because with it in place you cannot access the power that was stored inside of you. If you choose not to go through you will become stronger, within as little as 20 years you may be able to hold your own against Riho the way she is now, but if you seek to destroy your sire the only way is to access the power that he gave to you. Be warned, this could leave you completely helpless to his will.” Kenpachi thought a moment and walked through the door saying aloud, “As long as there is hope this is the path that I shall take.”
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Post by rihochan on Sept 21, 2006 23:41:05 GMT -5
Riho was somewhat amused at what she sensed from behind her, the boy really hadn't hesitated even a moment. Of course, there were limits to forced evolution. One was the rather high risk of true death. Forcing one's body and soul to evolve was quite naturally an unbelievably stressful process. The second, the one she hadn't told him about, was that when the process was completed he would be utterly unable to evolve any further. She found herself regretting manipulating him so harshly, but one uses what tools that one must. He had mistakenly believed that she was simply sensing his leaking vampiric aura, but the real reason she had been able to find him so easily was that she had placed a permanent psionic tag into his soul when they had fought. It was in itself a harmless thing, but it enabled her to sense him wherever he was and no matter how he changed.
Another thing she had deliberately failed to mention to him was that even if he succeeded it was likely that he would begin to age once again. It would not be at a human rate, indeed it would very likely be unnoticeable to a mortal, but he would eventually die of old age just as humans do. She reflected that despite her pose of being a philanthropist, she was perfectly willing to use whatever tools came to hand to pursue her own vendettas.
She held up her hand and looked at the rapidly greying skin, It seems I can't put it off any longer. The fingernail of her right index finger lengthened and turned hard and sharp as a diamond. She brought it up to her wrist and carefully cut the vein, squeezing it to get a good flow before it sealed itself. The blood in the dirt began to swirl and flow upward to form a giant black chrysalis around her, until her entire body was enveloped. Once that was done, the chrysalis vanished and reappeared in a cavern deep underground. Already, Riho could feel the terrible weight of the evolutionary sleep coming upon her, drawing her into the darkness bit by bit...
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A little girl with the eyes the same shade of amber as Riho's appeared in the cavern, walking slowly over to the chrysalis. Her hair was midnight black, and she was in a strange flowing robe of dark crimson that enveloped her entire body. At her side was what looked to be a long dagger made of some kind of blue crystal. The girl walked over and put her hand on the chrysalis and spoke softly, "I'm sorry I left you mother... but I was too weak to fight at your side. As long as I was there you would be distracted by concern for my safety more than defeating him. If I had known that it would cause you such pain and create such a strong hatred, I would not have been able to do it."
Her eyes brightened and she suddenly seemed filled with a childish enthusiasm that thoroughly suited her form, "Grandpa Tiamaris was fun to play with. He knows all sorts of tricks and he showed them to me. I had lots of fun!" She winked at the silent black chrysalis and put her mouth to it to whisper, "He doesn't know that I'm here, but you won't tell will you?"
Her expression changed back once again to the slightly sad face she had worn upon her initial appearance, "Grandpa Tiamaris said it was part of your growth... but I don't really understand. Why would me faking my death make you grow?" She sat down on thin air and floated there, thinking for a few moments but she couldn't figure it out. Then her countenance brightened once more, "Oh, well... I'm sure I'll understand it someday. Do you want me to help Kenpachi-ni-chan? I hope you don't mind, but I used your tag to read him. He's sort of grim, but I think it might be fun to hang out with him for a while."
The crystalline dagger at her side quivered in its sheath, "What's that Mischief? Yeah I think it might be fun to play with him for a while. Lets do that while we wait for Riho-onee-chan to wake up." With that she danced around for a few moments as golden light enveloped her and she vanished.
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Post by kenpachi on Sept 22, 2006 15:58:58 GMT -5
Kenpachi staggered to his feet, the gate once again in front of him. “I’m sorry” said Madness, “If I knew how potent the memories sealed inside you I wouldn’t have presented the choice. It seems even the incomplete force was too much for you.” “Aww, that’s really too bad.” Came a voice seemingly out of nowhere, shortly followed by the body of a young girl. “But I guess you now have time to play with me then.” Kenpachi did a double take, “What are you doing here, this is the deep recess of my soul, you shouldn’t be here. Who are you?” The girl giggled and said,”I’m Yachiru. I followed you here through the marker my mother left. She’s going to be mad when she finds out its faded away. Come on lets play.” “I don’t have time for this, I don’t complete this I’ll die, don’t you understand.” Yachiru suddenly appeared next to him, her crystal bloodblade slashing his arm, saying “Play, let’s play Kenny.” Kenpachi, shocked reached for his bloodblade, not realizing that he no longer held the blade due to the fact that it was still materialized as his guide, the serpent. Yachiru giggled and said “Can’t win like that Kenny”, suddenly breaking up into several copies of herself. Kenpachi was beset from all sides by several Yachiru, deep gouges forming. He launched a barrage of blows but he only struck copies, each one seeming to create two in its place when destroyed.
“Come now you can do better than that.” Came Yachiru’s voice, now totally serious, “I can sense what my sire, Riho, thinks of you. She sees you as a brash young fool, but she respects you for your diligence. It seems that her thoughts were misplaced; you haven’t even accessed the blood power lying in your bloodblade. You have avoided using it with all your ninja tricks, but if you can’t use it you’re nothing short of pathetic. Everyone you have triumphed against is a joke, especially your little friend.” Kenpachi suddenly lost himself upon hearing the last comments of his opponent, pushing himself purely into battle not caring is he lived or died. Gradually he began to realize that he had never learned the unarmed techniques that he was using; it was as if he had studied under the monks at the schools for years. Without thinking he struck the ground on all sides simultaneously, a shockwave emanating from where he had struck all the Yachiru, turning them into what looked like blood.
“Good work Kenny, I knew you could do it if I added enough mental pressure. A person’s blood power comes from their greatest skill from before they were turned. In my case it’s the ability to be everywhere at once, yours the ability to learn quickly even if only from the memories of others.” Yachiru said, suddenly appearing above him, “I had fun playing with you, lets play again after you’re done with this. Bye” suddenly disappearing from his soul.
Kenpachi smiled, an action he had not taken in a long time and said to himself, “I had a great time to. I haven’t had this much fun in a long time, see you later Yachiru-chan.” Madness turned to him an asked, “Are you all right?” “Better than I’ve felt in a long time. Well enough to take on those sealed memories, after all it’s a strength I haven’t used in a long time. Let’s go full blast. Then we’ll take on all the other memories” “As you wish”
TEN YEARS LATER
The black chrysalis around Riho rose to the surface and Riho proceeded to rise from it into the full sun. She traced runes into the ground saying, “Where is he, and what has he been doing.” After a brief moment she said, shocked, “What is this, I can’t trace him, where is he?” A voice suddenly arose, “Have you tried behind you?” It was Kenpachi, “Did you have a nice nap Riho? I can’t wait to tell you what I’ve done these past years.”
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Post by rihochan on Sept 22, 2006 21:21:28 GMT -5
"Waking me like this wasn't a good choice. In this state my power is almost nothing. If you come against me now, I'll be forced to finish you. I can sense that you succeeded, but I suppose you already figured out the side-effect that I didn't mention before?" She was mildly irritated that he had had the gall to wake her, but it didn't really bother her as much as her words said. She honestly didn't want to have to kill him, he was interesting if nothing else, and figuring out a way to cure the side-effects would have given her something to do for a millennia or three. She sighed and sent out a mental call to her master, :I don't want to kill this child, can you please convince him to cease bothering me until my sleep is finished?
:Such helpless child to call out to me whenever you need help. His voice held the same amused tone it always did. It never ceased to amaze her that he found so much of their eternal existence to be humorous, even after a thousand years. What amazed her even more however, was that he never stopped making those silly jokes.
Kenpachi interjected into what he percieved as her silence, "You used me."
She looked him in the eye without flinching, "'We use what tools we must'. I couldn't do it, due to my body's imperatives, and I didn't force you to take those measures. I may have manipulated you, but you were all too willing to be manipulated."
:He's just like CaptainNoob was before that day... Master Tiamaris' mental voice was full of the feeling of bittersweet nostalgia.
CaptainNoob was a kitten back then compared to this one. He was more whole of mind than this one at the very least.
Kenpachi drew Madness and she could feel the tainted aura flowing from him like a cloak... just as she thought. He had followed the most direct of the paths to power. "I am strong now... stronger than you."
She smiled cheerfully and he recoiled at seeing such a bright expression on her normally expressionless countenance, "Right now, a little lost sheep has more power than me. Its taking everything I have just to stay awake. However... I'm not the one you'll be facing."
:Do I really have to? Tiamaris' voice had that whining quality he used when he just felt like complaining.
:It's not like you have anything better to do. You just sit around for years at a time staring at that weird rock of yours. She said exasperatedly. He got like this every once in a while. Mostly when he just felt like being contrary.
:Alright, alright... geez. Its not like I said I wouldn't. Black mist arose from the ground around them and before them appeared Tiamaris, the original vampire. He really didn't look the part. He wore a simple peasant's homespun smock and his hair was a filthy brown. In right hand was a perfectly smooth purple stone orb. He turned it absently in his hand as he spoke, "My daughter says you are being annoying. Now, I know that's not the whole story, but you should really avoid annoying her... Even in this state attacking her is an unwise proposition." His voice was a mellow baritone, and it rolled hypnotically over every word, seeming to draw Kenpachi in, then Tiamaris snapped his fingers and Kenpachi snapped out of it, "Sorry about that. Force of habit. Being the ultimate grandfather of all vampires makes me capable of controlling all vampires... no matter how they defend themselves. I don't even think about it anymore... and I have been playing with my orb for the last two millenia so I really haven't had any reason to restrain it." He tossed the orb into the air and said, "Well, lets get to it." He seemed to vanish, and her reappeared behind Kenpachi, his hands already plunged into Kenpachi's kidneys before he noticed.
Kenpachi toppled over screaming as his black blood welled from the twin wounds. The pain was beyond belief, for the old vampire had done more than just pierce his body, he had allowed electric shocks to flow out from his hands where they entered his body, rendering Kenpachi immobile.
"Your ability to perceive movement isn't bad, boy. However, your movements are sluggish and you rely too much on raw power and speed. Your reaction time is far too slow. That is why forced evolution is such a limited technique... it takes time to grow into the true knowledge of power." All the time while he said this, he continued to toss that orb into the air and catch it over and over again. He turned to Riho, "I can see what you mean. He does have potential. When you wake up, I'll give you whatever resources you need to find a way to cure the side-effects." He turned back to the writhing Kenpachi, "You won't be able to find her this time, I'm afraid. That little one has a lot to answer for, giving you what you needed to find my little Riho like that." He scratched his upper lip with his left hand thoughtfully, "Come around after everything is resolved and I'll teach you how to really use that power. Oh, and don't try this again. I have the ability to extinguish your existence with a thought through the bloodlink." He turned back to Riho once more, but she was already back in the chrysalis. He walked over and put his hand on the lid, his eyes filled with sorrow, "The youngest and most wise of my children... Sleep and I will keep you safe til the time of awakening." With that, he and the chrysalis vanished, leaving Kenpachi in the dust.
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Post by kenpachi on Sept 23, 2006 19:01:22 GMT -5
Kenpachi lay writhing in pain in the dust, swearing to himself. He was angry at the old man who had done this to him, Riho, who had manipulated him into this position, but most of all he was mad at himself. Mad that after ten years of training, building his aura to the point that he thought that Riho, who he had discovered had begun her metamorphosis, was an equal match for him. What really angered him though was that they were right. He might or might not me able to confront Captain Noob in this form but he had never been able to use all the power that he had gained to its fullest. Granted he had come up with solutions, albeit temporary ones, to the current limitations. He had realized that his evolutionary process would result in his vampiric side overcoming his mortal even though he would still age. He focused of the merging of the two natures, making himself a dhamphir. In this state he found himself able to walk during the day (despite some loss of strength) and the aging process natural to dhamphirs slowed down his own aging process further. Although he could no longer evolve he could still grow stronger through training and the consumption of blood.
As he lay there a man approached him, “Ah. You are Kenpachi I presume. I am Nikolai, your brother; our sire sent me to gather you. He detected that you have grown angry at the dim-witted teachings of that old man and his daughter. Our sire had similar fight millennia back and he split away. He feels that you have great potential; he sensed it when you finally began to reopen the link between both of you. Unfortunately you have faced years of thinking telling you that you were evil, a plague upon the earth. We are not the curse, we are the cure, come to our side and become what you were meant to be.” Kenpachi motioned for Nikolai to lean closer, his hand still twitching with pain. “Yes what is it?” Nikolai intoned the two of them almost face to face. Suddenly Kenpachi lunged forward, his fangs piercing Nikolai’s neck and began to drink. Nikolai lunged back incredulous asking “What are you doing?” Kenpachi now rising exclaiming, “I am nothing…like…my…father!!” Madness flailing in his hand as he said so, hurtling towards Nikolai, his wounds healing with the infusion of fresh blood. Nikolai darted back seeming to easily avoid Kenpachi’s strikes. “Come now” Nikolai taunted, “You aren’t even making your blade invisible, I can do this all day.” Kenpachi smiled, though the joy behind it was that of a serpent cornering its prey and replied, “I don’t need to make Madness invisible for this, First Serpent Coil Strike!" Madness suddenly split itself three ways forming a net around Nikolai, snapping shut. Nikolai darted away quickly but not before his arm was tangled and sheared by Madness’ coils.
He leaped up and called down to Kenpachi “So you have chosen to stand against the mightiest vampire army the world has ever seen. You only have yourself to blame when I avenge this damage to my arm” and darted away. Kenpachi opened up his pack and pulled out a crystal, holding it with both hands. He closed his eyes and gathered the blood memory that he had taken from Nikolai. The crystal twitched and Kenpachi replied, “So that’s where the factory is.”
Kenpachi walked through the door at the factory. He saw the bodies of failed experiments and passed them by. He went down to the basement, unbolting the locks on the massive metal door that surrounded it. He walked through and was suddenly met with dozens of pairs of eyes, fearful and tired. They were all young vampires, trainees in the new army undergoing the steps necessary to call forth their bloodblades. “Are you here to let us out?” asked a young girl. Kenpachi ignored her, drawing Madness, it already unfolding itself with anticipation. I’m sure this will haunt me in years to come but you said it yourself Riho, screams emerging and wave after wave of young bloodblade was shredded, their owners failing to the ground, dead, “We use what tools we must” I believe is what you said. If I am going to fully eliminate the Captain I must eliminate every descendant of his that he can use as a body. Tonight marks the night that I start over again with my methods. I have focused far too much on pure strength. I must return to the masters of the sublime arts. He left the blood that he had spilled saying, “You got your fill didn’t you Madness? Let’s leave the rest for the others to see. We’ll go after the next one of these after we make a quick stop back home.”
The members of the council gathered in the sacred meeting hall. “Kenpachi has not returned. We must assume that he has turned rouge against the village and hunt him down before he is able to reveal our secrets to his creator.” “That seems a bit harsh” came Kenpachi’s voice, suddenly coming from a seat that had been empty moments before, “Just because I’m a little late? Well sorry to impose on you more but I need to learn every secret art known to the council. And fast, I only have another 90 years. I want our friend Riho to reawaken to a new world.”
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Post by rihochan on Sept 24, 2006 0:25:59 GMT -5
Out from behind one of the wooden stands in the council room came Tiamaris. None of the council members seemed surprised that he was there, indeed they looked at him with respect and even something approaching awe. His expression was as unnaturally cheerful as it was when Kenpachi first met him, and Yachiru was trailing along behind him, "You might as well. Riho designed most of your secret techniques anyways. It's not like he'll be able to seriously threaten her even with them."
The council members looked at each other doubtfully, but they seemed convinced, "We consent to teach you the secrets... at Lord Tiamris' request."
Kenpachi was stunned, what was a vampire doing in the center of the main ninja council of the entire world? "What is this? What kind of relationship does this one have with the council?"
One of the older council members started to answer, but Tiamaris motioned him to silence and answered the question himself, "I formed the first ninja clan at the request of an old friend. I occasionally intervene in council affairs when my interests intersect with the council's interests. The last time was... hmm.... Oh yeah, when I gave them the knowledge to seal your vampire side. Your mother begged me for help, and I've never been able to resist the request of a beautiful woman in black clothes." He shrugged as if the matter was of little concern. He rubbed his upper lip reflectively, "It was a coincidence that Riho met up with the council all those years ago. I asked them not to tell her about it... she doesn't need to know just how much influence I have."
Kenpachi was furious, he couldn't believe this guy! "Why don't you destroy CaptainNoob?!"
Those ancient golden eyes stared into his for a moment, and Kenpachi was almost driven to his knees by the force of the will behind them, "I still have hope that he will turn from his current path... Though he is now a twisted image of his young self, he was once a paragon of what a vampire should be. A warrior prince that stalks the land, slaying the wicked and overcoming opression from the shadows. Unfortunately, humanity's consistent inability to produce a stable, honest society filled him with a terrible frustration that slowly twisted him into what he is today. He wants to create a world ruled by vampires with him as their eternal emperor so that he can create his ideal society. I will not kill my own blood-child. I have never done so, though my blood-children have often killed each other."
Yachiru came over to Kenpachi, her eyes for once not full of mischief, "Cappy-ojiisan wasn't always like this... He used to be nice. If you had known him then, you wouldn't recognize him now." Kenpachi suddenly caught a glimpse of the terrible burden the ages had placed on this eternal child, and felt himself wanting to weep.
Tiamaris turned to him, "Something you should know... almost every vampire in this world is descended from CaptainNoob. My blood-children and Yachiru are the only ones not descended of his bloodline." He turned to the council, and his voice suddenly became far deeper, and every person in the room felt their bones resonate with the force of his command, "Teach him everything you know. Do not hold anything back." With that, he vanished from the room as if he had never been.
Yachiru had not gone with him, and her face once again spoke of the childish enthusiasm that he had seen the first time they had met, "Grandpa wants me to teach you too! He says that Mother won't be satisfied if you waste her time when she wakes up." She twirled and danced on air as the council and Kenpachi looked on bemusedly.
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Post by kenpachi on Sept 26, 2006 14:37:12 GMT -5
Kenpachi ducked a shuriken, a storm of them racing towards him. He nimbly avoided every one of them, spinning towards the senders of the throwing weapons. With his hands he struck the neck of one of his attackers, decapitating him. He grabbed the shuriken from his victim’s holder and shot shuriken back towards the rest, incapacitating them. “Good work Kenpachi, you are progressing rapidly. Soon we will take the weights to the final setting, this is amazing progress, I would have thought that for even you the Flash Step would take a month at least to learn. It seems that you will have mastered it within a week.” Said his teacher. “I’m ready to go to the last setting, are you sure this won’t go any higher. I mean, after that first day it wasn’t so hard and Tiamaris seems to be able to easily beat my top speed. Using golems just seems to not really push me to my limit.”
Kenpachi had returned to his studies, learning to focus the aura that he had built up the past ten years to good use. In a month he had learned methods of sealing his power for training purposes, resulting in great progress when he returned to his normal form. He learned to fully conceal and channel his aura in his vampiric state allowing him to use even the most precise spells he had learned as a ninja, to cast fire, make himself invisible and cling to buildings. His speed had gradually increased but the ability to accelerate the body’s molecules and essentially freeze time around him, an ability Riho had demonstrated to him the first time they had met still eluded him. He adjusted the knob on his weights, felt them grow heavier and redid the previous drill, this time his movements slowed considerably.
That night Kenpachi felt desperate. He had completed the drill set forth at the highest setting and still he was unable to be even close to matching the speed he hoped to attain. Suddenly Yachiru, seated on the building above him called out, “Come now Ken-Chan, why the long face? Are you tired from training? Let’s play a game to cheer you up.” Leaping down and grabbing Madness and leaping back up the building and yelled “Catch me”, Kenpachi soon following in hot pursuit. Yachiru seemed to easily evade Kenpachi’s movements as she leaped across buildings giggling with delight. “Come on Ken-kun, you can do better than that.” Kenpachi paid to attention to her taunts and focused his mind around a point ahead of her. Suddenly it seemed as if everything had slowed down except for Yachiru, suddenly dashing ahead of her, stripping her of Madness. “Good work Ken-Chan” Yachiru replied enthusiastically, “Mother’s method worked.” Kenpachi looked at her, confused. “You don’t get it do you. Well, those weights’s you’re wearing weigh down your aura as well as your body. Riho designed them for training. By speeding your body up while under duress you now should be able to move quickly with no trouble at all. All you need is practice and here comes some” she said, addressing his silence, suddenly disappearing into the night leaving Kenpachi panting from exertion.
Kenpachi, now more focused on his surroundings detected an aura, one of another of his kind approaching him from fifty yards away. His aura seemed to expel darkness even more then Kenpachi’s had when he had revealed himself to Riho. When he came closer to Kenpachi he intoned, “Greetings. I am the Calchis, the Dread Vampire, sent as a weapon to counter the greatest enemy of my master, Riho. I am a candidate for the Council of the Pentagram, Captain Noob’s elite force, put forth for the express purpose of eliminating her. You shall do as a hostage, come Fear, immobilize him with the fear of the dark abyss.” A sickle on a cord swung towards Kenpachi, who though tired, dodged out of the way, the blade nicking him tried to get out of the way. Suddenly a vision appeared in him mind, his body quavering as his soul was expulsed, drifting toward an unknown destination, and suddenly a great nothingness. Calchis turned and began to walk away, muttering a hastily muttered plan to use Kenpachi to reawaken Riho and challenge her when two shuriken entered his back. “Come now, you’re going to try to take on Riho. It would shame me if a two-bit charlatan like you were to take on the daughter of Tiamaris before me. If anyone is going to defeat her in combat it’s going to be me. I haven’t fed for a month and Madness wants to have a little him” Kenpachi said an air of taunting in them as if he hadn’t a care in the world.
Calchis was taken aback; his technique had been likened to Riho’s, able to immobilize all but the most mentally staid vampire. How could this stripling, less than a century old defy him? “Well now, there is only one choice. To enter you mind to find your true fears and leave you a babbling shell. Show him your true form Fear.” His bloodblade suddenly split into several different blades attached to chains meeting at the hilt. Kenpachi stood his ground as the blades pierced his skin.
Calchis was floating within Kenpachi’s consciousness. He found no place to stand, caught amongst the drifts of memories, swept up in them as giant waves carry a ship. He wandered dazed and confused through this strange place until he came to a door, not a huge gateway, but rather a cell into which he walked. He heard himself scream and pull himself desperately back into his own body, it collapsing upon his return. “Your mind…what are you?” “I am what your master forced me to be” Kenpachi replied, and then chuckling to himself, “And I’m just a little insane. But not stupid, that’s an interesting and useful power you have there. I think I can put it to better use than you can. Swallowing Serpent!” Madness snaked out, splitting itself into multiple pieces, engulfing Calchis, the bulge sliding along its length and through the hilt. “So Noob is gathering a force. Sounds like fun.”
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Post by rihochan on Sept 26, 2006 22:50:33 GMT -5
Tiamaris looked down at the scene of the battle with Calchis with a look of satisfaction. He turned to Yachiru who sat on the edge of the cliff beside him, swinging her legs back and forth. "It happened a little sooner than I anticipated, but he should be able to take care of this new coven of CaptainNoob's fairly easily. Unfortunately, he is still relying on blood memory for information."
Yachiru looked up at him curiously, absently stroking Mischief's hilt with her left hand, "What do you mean?"
"Implanting false blood memories in a blood-child is easy for a vampire of CaptainNoob's skill. Its all too likely that he will meet up with a task beyond his ability if he continues to pursue this tactic." Tiamaris rubbed his upper lip with his right hand while his left worried at the purple orb that never left him, turning it over again and again.
"Do you think Cappy has done that this time, Grandpa Tiamaris?" Yachiru queried.
"My vow prevents me from entering his mind without permission so I do not know. However..." He hesitated for a moment...
... and Yachiru completed his thought, "You want me to go along and make certain?"
"He still fails to understand his own true nature. Like you, he was turned very young, but unlike you he was turned for a specific purpose. No matter what he seeks to do, he will in the end fulfill that purpose if he is not watched constantly." Tiamaris had a very grim look on his countenance.
"What do you mean?"
"It's best if I don't say anything. At this time, CaptainNoob's plan is far from completion. Your mother did me an unintentional service by giving him that thing. It set back his plans by several years at least." He started to walk away and mumbled something, seemingly to himself, "She gave him more than he realized... I doubt he will ever understand the full extent of that gift." ______________________________________________________
Yachiru stuck out her tongue at the retreating back of Grandpa Tiamaris. The old man was always so stingy with his secrets!
Mischief called to her in her mind, :The old man sure knows how to annoy us. You wanna put a frog in his pants again?
Her eyes lit up at the idea for a moment, but she sighed regretfully and shook her head, "I can't disobey Grandpa. His orders were clear this time. I am to keep Kenpachi-ni-chan from getting himself killed when he hunts that coven, and to do that I have to watch him closely."
:The boy's skill is growing, but he still fails to understand why Mistress Riho is so skilled in the use of those techniques. Is it pride?
Her eyes for once looked her true age, and she spoke seriously, "Mother gave him what he needed to use the basics, and master them well. However, he will never fully master the techniques that she developed. His mind is just shaped too differently. They don't think alike at all. He is a hunter by nature, and mother is a scientist by nature. Some of the powers they can use are the same, but he will have to develop techniques of his own if he wants to survive long enough to face her."
:Not even the Captain understands the use of a bloodblade fully. Hell, not even a bloodblade understands a bloodblade fully. Only the Mistress understands because she is the one who created the first and most powerful bloodblade. Mischief's mental voice was very quiet and serious for once.
"Mother's mind is peculiar even to Grandpa Tiamaris. He says that even when she was human she didn't think like a human." Yachiru played around with molding some nearby shadows into weird shapes as she thought. "What do you think he meant by that?"
:Mistress Riho... she thinks in terms of millenia. Even the Captain and Lord Tiamaris think merely in terms of centuries. Many of the research subjects she set loose among the human population have thousands of descendants now. I don't think its a coincidence that the bloodlines of those subjects always happen to activate their abilities just when they are needed for her purposes. Even Kenpachi down there is a descendant of one of her research projects. Who knows how long ago she set his bloodline among the ninja, waiting for neccessity to force his ability to the surface?
Yachiru's blade had been around for so long that it had developed a personality uniquely its own. While its basically michievous nature hadn't changed, it was now a source of wisdom and a friend with a perceptive judgement superior to her own. His insights into the people around her had saved her on numerous occasions.
She smiled brightly to herself, Mischief always overlooked one thing when talking about Mother. She loved a challenge as much as anyone, and Kenpachi looked like he might be an interesting fighter if he could just develop his own techniques rather than relying on the ones of others. She would be happy to grant Mother's desire for a fight to kill her boredom. She sensed Kenpachi begin to move, and latched onto him, hiding her presence inside his own, letting his momentum drag her along for the ride. Yachiru didn't see any reason why she should waste her own power to move along with him or get ahead of him, and anyway it was more fun this way. She giggled as he accidentally went through a wall and she dodged the debris while keeping herself latched onto him and avoiding detection. This was fun!
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Post by kenpachi on Oct 4, 2006 5:08:37 GMT -5
Kenpachi raced along the ground towards the forest that lay ahead of him. Reaching the trees he leaped from trunk to truck like a deranged pinball. Kenpachi called back, “Are you having fun Yachiru?” eliciting a response of, “Aw, I was trying to stay hidden Ken-chan. How did you know I was there anyway?” “I could hear you giggle all the way, did you have fun?” Yachiru smiled, Kenpachi seemed to know what she had been doing and he didn’t care. “So Ken-chan where are we going?” “I don’t know, I just felt like running after that bit of fun. They say that so exercise after eating is good for you.” Yachiru paused, what he just said, it’s as if he just… her thought trailing back to the battle she had watched unfold.
Her thoughts were broken by the whizzing sound of an arrow headed towards them, burying itself inches from where they had been seconds ago. Several more followed thudding into the trees as Kenpachi easily dodged, finally returning to the ground to face his attacker. It was a human, or rather a woman who appeared to be the same age as Kenpachi’s did. Dropping her bow and arrow she drew a sword, hurling herself at Kenpachi, the vampire gracefully dodging all of her blows. Suddenly she thrust at him, overextending herself. Kenpachi grabbed her arm and using her excess momentum hurled her into the air only to have her launch off of a branch and come back to him. She’s not bad…for a human. She couldn’t stand up to a ninja though. I wonder if this is how Riho felt when she first faced me. Dodging the downward flight of his adversary he spun his leg around hitting her in the back of the head, adding onto the force of gravity as she hit the ground. “The others will take care of you” she muttered before falling unconscious. “I wonder if she meant these others?” came a voice from the woods followed by a sickening sound of dead flesh landing in the dirt as a series of heads tied together by a blood-soaked rope “They were a family of vampire hunters, as if those foolish mortals could stand a chance against a true vampire. That one you just fought was supposed to be the strongest one. Looks like I can have some fun with you though. The title I get for killing you will make the name of Simon the most feared after the Captain’s”
Two spinning curved blades shot from his hands at lightning speed arcing towards Kenpachi. Kenpachi leapt back only to find the blades following him as if they could sense his every movement, burying them inside his body. “It seems that Nikolai is getting weaker, he held you in high regard, but you have a weak heart, no conviction and slow movements. Obsession, lets end it with this next strike.” His two shrike blades coming back to his hands. Kenpachi just smiled adjusting something on his legs and saying “So you want to see me move? Let’s try things without my weights” Riho’s training devices falling to the ground. “Are you really that stupid” responded Simon, “Increasing your speed won’t do anything, once obsession locks onto your aura signature it’ll follow you for all time. Strike Obsession!” The two blades streaked towards Kenpachi when suddenly an image appeared out of nowhere, the blades slicing through it and returning back to their master. This had never happened before to Simon, to so easily trick his blade with illusions chilled him. “Let’s see you try that again!” he yelled as more and more figures who appeared as if shrouded in mist, his bloodblade cutting through them all to reveal a perfectly empty field, only the unconscious vampire hunter visible.
“Behind you.” Came Kenpachi’s voice as Madness split into five pieces and flew towards Simon, spinning in coils towards him. Simon jumped back narrowly avoiding each as the pieces snaked around him in an elaborate dance. Desperate Simon launched Obsession yelling desperately, “I will be the one to kill you! No one else will have the honor!” Suddenly the wires on which his shrike blades were held were torn apart, Madness’ coils striking him leaving him spouting blood.
Yachiru stepped out and addressed Kenpachi in her usual cheerful manner, “Did you learn some new tricks Ken-chan? They look like so much fun.” Kenpachi smiled a bit and replied “Well, not exactly new, I’ve been working on techniques to use with Madness for the last ten years and recently I’ve learned to bend my aura signal a will. There I created illusions with one signal and then switched to another as his blades came. Simple, but fun.” “Kill me.” Simon ordered, slowly rising to his feet, “I will not go through this world powerless.” Kenpachi walked up to him and said coldly, “If you listened to anything Nikolai told you would know that I have a certain disrespect for authority among vampires” his hand reaching out stabbing him with his fingers, letting the blood gather on a crystal. “This is a blood pose, it will your direction wherever you go. I won’t kill you, that honor belongs to that girl. Now run, this will be a good hunt.”
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Post by rihochan on Oct 8, 2006 4:46:00 GMT -5
As Kenpachi left, Yachiru called out to him, "Go on ahead, there is something I need to confirm."
He looked back at her and raised a brow, "Do whatever you want, but if you can't catch up its your problem." He quickly vanished into the forest.
Yachiru knelt down beside the vampire-hunter girl, examining her carefully. "Grandpa's sense of humor is getting really warped, isn't it Mischief?"
:The old man's always been like that. It's just like him to send one of Mistress Riho's mortal descendants into an area full of her experiments.
She sighed and shook her head in exasperation, "He was probably getting bored of waiting for something to happen. Mother isn't going to be happy if she wakes up and finds out her descendants are gone. Looks like we'll have to take a little detour to Mother's research lab." She gestured with her right hand, and an azure teleport circle appeared around them and they vanished. ______________________________________________________
Inside the lab Riho left... ______________________________________________________
The lab was a classic example of Riho's work. Alchemical machinery of various types lined the walls. Tubes with strange human-like beings, and hundreds of blades of various types cluttered the floor at the center of the room. Indeed it looked as if she had just thrown everything around at random. Yachiru sighed as she looked at the mess, "I see Mother's labs are as messy as ever. Oh well, at least the organization hasn't changed." Yachiru walked over to one of the piles of alchemical equipment and rummaged around for a few moments, coming up with a vial of blue fluid.
:You sure using that is a good thing? The girl won't thank you for the splitting hangover she'll have when she wakes up.
Yachiru looked at the hapless vampire-hunter girl on the floor and sighed once again, "It can't be helped that Ken-chan doesn't know how to restrain himself properly. Mother's healing potions are the only things likely to save her life other than turning her. Somehow I doubt that Mother would appreciate me turning one of her descendants."
:That is true. She has always treasured them and watched over them. Ironic that they turned into a clan of vampire-hunters, don't you think?
"Mother planned it that way. I don't know the particulars, but she seemed to think it important that they become hunters." Yachiru said absently as she poured the fluid gently into the girl's mouth, closing it with her hand and rubbing her throat to force her to swallow. The girl's color, which had been somewhat pale and wan up to this point, quickly went back to normal within moments. "I'll send her to her clan's safe haven now. Can't have her seeing me and trying to slay me." Another teleport circle appeared around the girl as Yachiru stepped back. The girl vanished and Yachiru once more cast the spell, and was surrounded by azure light, "Time to go back to Ken-chan. I wonder what kind of trouble he's managed to get into? He's probably had the dubious pleasure of meeting Kaito-chan by now." She giggled. "Kaito-chan is beyond him right now."
:I've always wondered why Kaito allied himself with Captain. He doesn't really have any interest in ideals or ruling the world. He's always been so carefree and footloose.
Yachiru giggled, "Kaito-chan is easily bored. He's killed more of Cappy's blood-children from boredom than Mother has killed in her rage. I just hope he doesn't beat Ken-chan up too badly."
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Post by kenpachi on Oct 12, 2006 15:56:05 GMT -5
Kenpachi held the blood pose aloft watching in track and he left small signs to remind himself of where he had been Will she be up yet? I only knocked her out but she probably hasn’t awoken yet. He felt his blood heat in his veins, a rush of electricity through his whole body. He stopped, panting for breath and said aloud, “Madness, I know, I know. Can’t you control it?”
Sorry, it really wants to come out. You just fed on that wannabe Riho so it’s trying to come to the surface. If you want to eat, you sometimes have to have a little stomachache.
The blood pose suddenly twirled and a gigantic fist seemed to come out of the trees, smashing the trunk of the one Kenpachi had alighted upon moments ago, the blood pose following it and it spun back. A lumbering creature hurled itself at him, the air trembling as it rushed forward. Kenpachi slung Madness’ blade against its hide, gouging deep into the creature. The monster let out a primordial scream and continued in its rage towards Kenpachi. Kenpachi spun away, the creature’s claws raking his body. Kenpachi called back Madness and as the creature raced towards him he thrust with Madness, the blade piercing the beast’s skin. The creature continued unfazed until Kenpachi suddenly pulled back on Madness’, several strands forming a large barb pulled out of its body, rupturing its heart
The creature let out a roar and fell to the ground, dead. The body began to smolder, eating away at its muscles. “Strange, the blood pose in pointing directly at that thing. Is it…?” A voice suddenly called out “Correct” punctuating the blows raining from weapon towards Kenpachi, “That little pet of mine is that “Simon” you were looking for.” Kenpachi leapt back and looked at his foe, a tall man carrying a square blade attached to two crossing wooden poles. Kenpachi looked at him critically, “Are you one of Noob’s assassins?” “Yes, but don’t worry I wasn’t called out here to kill you, the Captain was very upset about that, he has special plans for you. I was sent out here to eliminate this insect. A vampire with his bloodblade destroyed is truly pathetic; fortunately Rebirth can make them more useful.” He said nonchalantly raising his blade for another strike. “It takes anyone it kills and transforms them into something a bit more invigorating. I have to thank you for that bit of fun, usually a vampire doesn’t fall prey to an attack like mine but when you destroyed Simon’s bloodblade it allowed me a bit of fun.”
Kenpachi swung Madness towards his enemy a lightning speed only to have him spin away and latch his weapon to Madness’ long whip like embrace, hurling Kenpachi to the ground. In a flash the blade came down like a guillotine going deep into Kenpachi’s skin. “My weapon doesn’t grant me power to use in battle, the extent of my combat abilities I do myself. You take for granted the amount of time and work you really need in order to become a true fighter. You have no idea how much work it took a make wounds like that last on a vampire. It makes things more interesting when you don’t heal automatically. Now get up and fight. If you put up a decent resistance I’ll only beat you to a pulp.”
Kenpachi rose slowly staggering to his feet. He chuckled darkly to himself as he coughed up blood and said in a rough tone, “Time and practice huh, the two things I lack the most. Fortunately what I lack in those I make up in sheer desperation and drive.” With a fluid motion he snapped Madness back into its short form and thrust it into his heart. “Suicide? You disappoint me” replied his opponent mockingly, “I thought you were stronger than that. I guess you really are insane. ” Kenpachi looked straight at him, a smile playing about his lips, “Oh, I’m crazy all right, but this isn’t suicide. It makes it easier to do this.” Suddenly Madness’ hilt began to dissolve into his body, his wounds beginning to heal, “I hate doing this, it requires me to feed at an astronomical rate and it takes so much energy to go back.”
His skin, after healing began to harden forming creases on his body, his eyes changed from their usual shape into slits, the fingers on his right hand melding together and forming fangs, a second mouth. The man looked bemusedly at him, “Well, well, it seems that the stripling has a few more tricks. Full bloodblade integration, I’ve only heard of such a feat. You may prove a worthy foe at last.”
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