The Legendary(?) Healer Arrives! (Open)

In a world ripe with violence and sin, one lone woman was the voice of mercy and love. She, and only she, was willing to defy the senseless corruption of this world. For she was a literal angel in a world of foolish mortal men.


"Stop staring off into space, dumbass, and move those coolers already!" A gruff voice shouted across the square.

"Y-Yes, Boss! Right away, Boss!" Va'tet shouted, startled by the middle-aged man. With a grunt, she shouldered the large water coolers and jogged across the training grounds.

Today she was assisting a joint training exercise, providing first aid as well as ensuring the men and women were properly hydrated. After all, this was one of the most important jobs dehydration was a very serious threat, after all, making hydration management crucial.

This task could only be entrusted to someone as capable as herself. It was a delicate balance between ensuring the trainees had enough water but not too much, for that could also lead to its own issues. Though Va'tet was somewhat disappointed that once again she was not permitted to train with the others, she knew her position was important. The boss had told her so himself.

The large wings coming from the back of her armor moved slightly, creating a faint breeze around the Angel. It was certainly hot today, she thought. Her breastplate's inner lining was slick with sweat in only a half hour. She considered cooling off with a drink of the ice water, but the boss' words repeated themselves in her head.

"This is for the people actually doing something today. You can get food and drinks when you're off the clock, got it?"

So, in addition to providing this lifesaving liquid, Va'tet was assigned to guard it from theft! It was truly an important task. Though as the minutes dragged on, Va'tet lamented she had neglected to bring any food or beverage of her own. The boss had said she could go straight home after helping him, so she supposed she only had twelve hours to go.

Yuudai let out a sigh as he walked towards one of the big arenas in the training grounds. There was a training exercise today, and since he had been given his seat he had to come and evaluate those that served under him. Though he hated the more admin and reports part of his position, that was not what had him feeling a bit down about this. It was the fact that because he had to keep an eye on everyone he wouldn’t be able to participate this time. “Perhaps someone will lose a limb and make it interesting to watch at least.”

The shinigami entered the arena to the sight of a bunch of people running around setting everything up and making sure it was all ready. One of these people caught his eye, one he recognised from the files. What was her name again? Vate? Vaty? Va’tet, that was it. He headed in her direction, sidestepping every few steps to avoid the scampering setup crew.

As he approached he looked her over, curious about the armour she was wearing. Shinigami didn’t usually wear armour, especially for an exercise like this. Either she was incredibly weak and needed it for defence, or overly strong and she was using it as a handicap to not overwhelm the other rookies. Surely the former isn’t possible otherwise she would have never graduated, must be the latter. Was she ok? She seemed extremely uncomfortable. Perhaps it was the heat under the armour. He let out a sigh, he remembered when he used to think the same way. Pushing yourself to the limit was the only way to train. Fortunately he had since learned otherwise, he should share this knowledge with Va’tet so she didn’t have to learn the hard way like he did.

Yuudai shook his head slightly as he finally reached the woman, “Greetings Va’tet. I am Yuudai Oshiro.” He stepped up beside her and turned to face in towards the arena to watch the workers do their thing, “You should have some of that water. Otherwise you might not last until it’s your bought, let alone be able to fight at full strength." He flashed a small smile, "Not putting your best foot forward at these events will only hinder your training, and possibly earn the ire of those who can’t train fully because you couldn’t stand tall.” While his words were quite matter of fact, he spoke with a warm tone, he didn’t want to come off unfriendly.

Va'tet flinched when she was spoken to unexpectedly, still lost in her own world. She still managed to bow to her superior but it was shakily done at best.

She was briefly struck with indecision due to the offer of water. "Good Morning to you, Officer Oshiro. I am Va'tet, as you know. But... Boss said I'm not allowed to have any water 'since I'm not doing anything today' were his words," Va'tet said, pointing to the middle-aged man. Like herself, he was Unseated and only outranked Va'tet due to having served the 3rd longer. "Boss said I can buy my own water after I sweep the training area after the bouts. I'll need my energy for that, so he said I wouldnt be training again today since I have more important tasks to focus on." Va'tet, of course, had no idea she was essentially ending the Boss' career by saying he was contradicting direct orders from above by preventing Va'tet from training and forcing her to do all the clean up after. Let along preventing her from eating and drinking all day.

The large wings on her back rustled as Va'tet turned slightly to look at her companion. Being a seated officer, Juudai outranked most people here. She wondered if anyone would be a suitable partner for him.

"I do not think I should waste energy on fight anyway. If anyone gets hurt, they'll need my healing after all. Not even boss can beat my Kaido skills!" she gloated, not that she'd set the bar very high to begin with. Though it was true she had a rare talent for Kido.

Yuudai turned slightly towards Va’tet, but still kept an eye on the arena, “You are part of the Third division, the Kido Corps are you not? While we are not purely combat focused, we do often have to rely on those skills. You should train whenever possible.” He shook his head as one of the workers tripped and nearly dropped a box of supplies.

‘Perhaps if they weren’t running around like maskless Hollow, they would actually be more efficient and get done quicker.’
‘Remind you of anyone? Perhaps a year or two ago?’
‘Alright! Everyone starts somewhere. But we all have to go somewhere too.’

The man turned to look on Va’tet proper, “Well I suppose if you’re a kaido specialist you could call tending to the wounds of the fighters training, just don’t neglect actual combat either.” His smile faded slightly as his tone became more serious, “You can’t tend to others if you need tending yourself. On that note…” He nodded towards the water, “Drink. If you pass out from overheating you can help no one. And missing out on both combat and medical training wouldn’t look good on my report now, would it?” His warm smile returned, “Besides it’s no fun to just stand on the sidelines and watch, you should get stuck in when you can.”

Yuudai leaned sideways to peer around the woman and look at her boss, “Except you, you get to go fetch the bandages from the medical building. We can never have too many.” He straightened again and gave Va’tet a wink to go with his grin.

Va'tet nodded at the officer's words, gratefully taking a drink of the ice water. Despite her bulky armor and the white wings shifting on her back, she was surprisingly graceful with her drink. With a quiet sigh of appreciation, she set her cup down and lifted the sheathe at her hip to look at her Zanpakuto.

The weapon was... garbage. In all the gotei, it was doubtful any Zanpakuto was in bad of shape as hers. The sheath was rotten and too short, the blade exposed at the end. The wood and wrap around the pommel were clearly made by hand, and roughly sewn together. Specks of rust dotted the guard, which was malformed.

But she smiled warmly at her weapon. "You may laugh if you wish, but my mother always said that simply having one's own Zanpakuto was proof of taking the first step towards becoming a true hero. Its a reflection of ones convictions. Your soul. When I recieved my Zanpakuto, I remember thinking it was the most beautiful blade in the world," she said to Juudai. "oh, um, not to disrespect your own, sir. I'm sure your Zanpakuto is lovely."

Va'tet stretched, standing upright; she was surprisingly tall. "If you insist, sir, I suppose I will have to take part in the training today. It'll be my first in a while, however. I'm afraid I cant claim confidence in my swordsmanship, but I'll do my best!"

Yuudai cast his eye over Va’tet’s zanpakuto when she held it out. It’ looked like she found it in the bin of a second hand store, but everyone’s zanpakuto was different. Some more than others. As long as the difference is only visual and it still functioned as a weapon, the man wasn’t particularly worried about it’s looks.

The man smiled at her mother’s words, “Well she was mostly right. Our blades are aprt of our soul and reflect some of our characteristics.” He untied and held his own out slightly, “As for a reflection? Perhaps in a grey mirror. The parts of us in our zanpakutos are often the parts of us we don’t like or don’t want. The bits we repress and reject. You mentioned being a hero, well, perhaps that is why your blade has the look it does. Perhaps your blade contains all the attributes you think a hero doesn’t have.”

The shinigami returned his blade to his side and began retying it, “Just remember we become stronger by communicating with our blades, learning from them and accepting their traits as our own.” He chuckled lightly, “If you think about it, heroes are heroes because they accept their flaws and grow stronger by overcoming them, shinigami do the same. In our own way.”

‘Well well, look who became all wise and teacher-like. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’ve been reading some of the books in here.’
‘Shut up you.’

Yuudai looked back to the woman, “I would say don’t push yourself too hard, but you don’t seem the type to listen to that.” He smirked, “But a lack of confidence means you should definitely train that skill. If you lack the confidence to protect yourself, how can you protect Soul Society?”

Va'tet put on a confident smirk, holding her head high. "With all due respect, sir, I only said I wasn't confident with my blade. But a Shinigami has far more in their arsenal than swordsmanship."

This cockiness was more herself than her previous attitude. But etiquette stated that one must submit to their betters, after all. However, she was Va'tet, she reminded herself.

"I'm the beautiful and powerful Angel of Mercy, after all. When it comes to magic, I doubt the rabble here can hold a candle," Va'tet laughed haughtily. She thumped her breastplate with a fist as she returned her Zanpakuto to her side. "Needless to say anyone with any talent for mysticism will already belong to the Third, so I doubt this cross-training will have any standouts in that regard."

Va'tet thought she sensed some disappointment from her hip, but figured it was her imagination. It was somewhat strange that the side her Zanpakuto hung from suddenly felt heavier, but this she chalked up to the heat of the day playing tricks on her mind.

Yuudai chuckled at the respect remark, it still felt odd to be in charge of others, “A good point. Just don’t neglect other skills too, you never know what will happen in combat. Besides, I could probably beat most of the Fifth without Kido. Likewise I expect some of them will be gifted with Kido. They are the combat division and, as you just said,  kido is very good in combat.”

He turned back to face the now near ready area, “These events aren’t just to develop teamwork. They allow the seated officers to see the skills of members of other divisions and enact transfers if we think they would be a better fit.” Looking back at Va’tet, he smirked, “And take note of our own members shortcomings to organise better in-house training regimes. Especially as many Shinigami have yet to even accept they have flaws, let alone confront and surpass them.”

Va'tet grinned. "One cannot help but pitty those types. Not everyone can have the good fortune to have been born beautiful, smart and powerful, or to have the will to achieve such through their own efforts." Va'tet looked at the nearly ready arena. She wondered if and when her bout would be, since her senior officer seemed intent on making her practice.

That would be a thing to look forward to, though. She couldn't recall when she'd last seriously practiced with another.

"Will you take part in the training as well, Officer Oshiro? Most assembled here seem to be unseated like myself."

Yuudai glanced sideways slightly at the armoured woman’s comment. He was unsure if she was making a joke or was completely oblivious to what she just said and her expression gave no clue as to which. Either way he made a mental note to go over her file proper later just in case. Though he could sense a growing excitement in her ever since he said she should practice, which made him smile slightly. At least she seemed to be in the right squad for now.

The man let out a shrug at her question, “Perhaps. I would like to, however my job today is to gauge the skills of others. If it seems today's bouts don’t quite push someone enough for me to make an accurate assessment I, or one of the other officers, will step in to offer them a greater challenge. But we will see where the day leads us.”

Va'tet was eager to begin practice, but... as it turned out she was a last minute admittance to the roster. Her turn wouldn't be for some time. But, she could at least watch the first couple matches.

In the meantime, she drank a cupful of the water to quench her thirst. Her Armor, though relatively light, was quite warm since she wore padding between the standard Shinigami uniform and the armor proper.

As she watched the starring bouts, however, she frowned. "I hadn't had very high hopes, but this... Va'tet murmured. It seemed that most bouts simply came down to whomever could use their Squad's favored tactic fastest. Those belonging to the 3rd almost universally went to kido, while the others went in for hard and fast swordplay. Judging by the first three matches, nobody wanted to go beyond what they were comfortable with.

Yuudai stood and watched as the first fights happened, occasionally taking notes on skills and shinigami that stood out. Both good and bad. He had his head down when Va’tet voiced her displeasure with the duels and their lack of substance. He happened to agree though not because the fights weren’t ‘entertaining enough’. All the techniques were clean, practiced and mechanical. There was no creativity, no lateral thought, no surprises. A smile crept onto his face as he had a thought. Glancing up as the winner of the last bout celebrated, he pointed at him while keeping his hand hidden under his clipboard, “Byakurai.”

The lightning streaked through the air and blasted the unsuspecting Squad Four shinigami, nearly knocking him off his feet. He turned to look over at where Yuudai and Va’tet were stood and shouted, “Who did that?!”. Yuudai turned too look at Va’tet and feigned shock before looking back at the fighter, “It seems my companion here wasn’t impressed with your performance. Are you going to just stand there and let her sucker kido you like that?”

Yuudai turned back to look at Va’tet and gave her a subtle smile before using hoho to quickly blink roughly twenty feet away so he didn’t accidentally get hit by the Byakurai coming in the pairs direction from the offended fighter.

Va'tet was going to voice her displeasure with her senior, but he ran away after instigating a fight. So, she did as she was trained to do; defend herself.

"Hado number seventy eight: Zangerin." Traditionally, one used their Zanpakuto to charge the energy of this attack, but Va'tet instead used her hand, held straight like a knife, and swung it at an angle to fire her sell harmlessly into the air after it cut through the pale lightning.

"As a matter of fact, I do have a qualm or two. Firstly, one should never be caught unawares by such an obvious sneak attack, regardless of its source," Va'tet said, giving her senior the side eye. "Secondly, when one is attacked, they should respond with overwhelming force in retaliation. To fight is to display your power against your opponent's; holding back dishonors them, yourself, and more importantly your division."

Va'tet spread her arms wide, speaking loudly. "The only time you're allowed to hold back when attacked is when victory is absolutely assured. Gaze in horror at your own weakness- Kurohitsugi!"

Was it overkill? Absolutely.

Was she still going to do it? Absolutely.

Va'tet's spiritual pressure erupted as she called upon the Black Coffin. Harsh gravity would start to crush the man and push back those around him. If nobody stopped it, it would form the all-powerful coffin and lacerated him from head to toe.

Of course, Va'tet wasn't insane. She was only going to use... ten percent of the spells power. He'd probably live. Especially with a highly trained medic on scene. As long as he didn't die instantly, that is.

Yuudai Took a few notes as Va’tet joined the fray. While her actions and responses to her opponent were not technically incorrect, they were more becoming of a member of the Fifth than the Third. Her aptitude with kido was clearly the reason she was placed in the Third, but her attitude should have landed her in the Combat Division.

Then she went on the offensive. An overwhelming offensive as she would put it. Yuudai saw the Kido begin to form around the helpless shinigami. This kind of attack was fine when sparring against lieutenants or captains, but for unseated such as these it was too much. He took a step forward;

“S̸h̵a̶d̷o̷w̴s̶ ̵f̷l̴i̶c̴k̶e̸r̵ ̶a̴n̷d̸ ̶r̶e̶f̸o̴r̶m̷,̸ ̴s̶h̷i̴n̴e̶ ̷y̴o̴u̵r̶ ̶l̸i̴g̶h̷t̸ ̴t̶h̵o̴s̵e̴ ̸w̴h̷o̸ ̷d̶e̶n̷y̵,̴ ̷r̵e̵v̶e̸a̶l̵ ̵o̴u̸r̷ ̸t̸r̴u̷t̴h̵.̵ ̵D̵a̶r̸k̶ ̷M̶i̶r̷r̷o̶r̷!̷”

The sound of glass shattering thundered across the area, then as suddenly as it started it stopped and when it had Va’tet’s kido had been reflected on her. He was sure she would complain later, but it was at least part of his job to keep these morons alive long enough to actually be helpful. The now free’d shinigami fell backwards and seemed to simply be happy to be free. As for the now encased Va’tet, if she thought this was a suitable attack to make, then surely she would know a way out.

Yuudai leaned back against a wall and took a few long deep breaths, this non-kido stuff was still extremely draining on him. It seemed true that these incantations could be far more powerful than standard kido but their reiryoku needs and potential recoil were just as massive.

Va'tet's affinity for Kido was very high, but with Bakudo she wasn't as good. So, she gazed out quietly as the black box closed around her. Just before it closed, she started another chant.

Her words were cut off as the box sealed around her. But, after a moment, the high level spell started to swell, distorting before finally breaking apart, with a burst of reishi.

Obviously, Va'tet was far from unharmed. The wings she wore were broken, missing more than half their feathers, and her armor was cracked and dented. Blood dripped from the joints in her armor.

Her breathing was ragged as well, but she remained on two feet. She estimated more than half of her spiritual reserved were used between her consecutive kido. She was, after all, still rather fresh from the Academy.

"So... will that... be all?" Va'tet's voice was slow and measured, a sign of how injured she was.

Yuudai took a deep breath and recovered himself. He walked over to Va’tet, snapping his fingers at some medics to look at her more serious wounds. He cleared his throat before speaking, “While I applaud your enthusiasm and gusto, do remember causing serious injury to each other in sparring is not recommended. Not only does it mean that we would be a shinigami down should an emergency happens but it will also breed animosity among your peers. And that can be far more dangerous than any Hollow.”

He jotted down a few notes on his clipboard and turned to leave before pausing for a moment, “That said, your philosophy is perfectly sound in real combat. Now get fixed up and absorb today properly.” The shinigami chuckled lightly and walked away to collate his notes and make a proper report for Zenji. He had to get it done by the end of the day as he had something he wanted to do tomorrow.

/exit thread