(6th) Bamboo Forest

[Dark Bunny Lord]

Intro:
A large bamboo forest stretches through part of Squad sixes quarters. The bamboo grow at an amazing rate, taken care of by a long old friend of Yasumeh who, while laking an affinity for fighting, is an unmatched Gardner and herbalist.
Do to the growth properties bred into the forest Yasumeh uses it primarily for squad sixes training grounds. In places large portions of thickly grown bamboo have been thatched together to form sturdy nigh unbreakable towers through which ropes and platforms run across the forest. Pit falls and shuriken traps litter the forest which is used nigh daily, often with widely varying objectives that change throughout a single session and vary from person to person training not only the physical but mental capabilities of participants.

 

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As he walked into the bamboo forest that Yasumeh had mentioned his eyes went wide and he shook his head ever so slightly. It really was beautiful. The bamboo here had to be the tallest he had ever seen in his life, even on earth. He smirked slightly as he walked through, opening his hands to let them trail across the stalks of the plants and actually giggling to himself. Being in such a place of beauty merely made the man happy. He had the forests at his own HQ, but they were trees, not bamboo and the environment of it was entirely different. He breathed a deep breath and smiled as he looked around. Gerard had quickly walked around a wall and sunk through a shadow and came through another close to the forest, so the speed of arrival had been rather intense. He sat down and closed his eyes for a moment, a hand on the chain of the kusari-gama, and he thought about his beautiful wife for a few moments. Time to show our fellow captain what we have become in these times of battle and torment. Through our lives as true samurai...and our lives now as spirits. He thought with a smirk, he was actually getting...excited for this sparring match, something he definitely had not expected.  

[Dark Bunny Lord]

Yasumeh walked out into the bamboo forest behind the 8th's captain, his hands never reaching for his sword as he took a position opposite to him.
"Beautiful isn't it?" he asked rhetorically, "makes for a great training field" he said noting how one could vanish within fifteen feet behind just the sheer number of bamboo while movements had to be carefully placed as well lest one run into the hardy stalks that shot skyward. Yasumeh pulled forth a sake gourd and began to chug it, the foul liquid escaping one lip as it ran down the side of his cheek. Corking it back up and hanging from his belt he took an awkward stance, staggering slightly as his center mass lowered, his legs wide but moving left and right as he seemed to stagger and sway. Both hands where held up in loose openings, his tum half out before bent and his fore and middle finger extended similarly bent at their furthest end back up whilst his other fingers held their natural slack shape. His rice pickers hat obscured the majority of his face and his sword hung loosely at his side.  

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He heard the man's voice and the sound of his footsteps as he approached, a lesson he had always learned to heed carefully, and one that nobody could use against him. Gerard smirked as he stood up from where he was sitting, the clothes falling into place and the chains around his stomach making no sound as he turned to face the man as he chugged the foul alcohol. The skill of absolute silence in movement he had attained through training with his assassin bride was invaluable in combat. His strange orbs locked onto Yasumeh now, his eyes were the strangest of the people he had met, though nobody seemed to mention it. The left orb was light rose in color, with tinges of yellow mixed in, and the right was a dark blue with light greens running through it, but the strangest thing about the eyes was that there were no pupils. It was almost as if the man was blind, though he was definitely not. "Aye, it is beautiful indeed." He said with a smile as he lazily walked forward towards the other captain without drawing the kusari-gama. He knew he could pull it free in a moment's notice, so the two foot sickle weapon stayed placed on his side, and the weight hung lazily by his other side. Again, as he moved no sound echoed from his steps nor anything beneath them. He was a phantom on the battlefield. As he walked towards Yasumeh he ceased speaking, it was now a time for battle, not banter. He knew the man's style was utterly unpredictable, and that was why he kept his distance at first, trying to gauge the man as best he could. He continued to walk forward however, now within an arm's length, if he reached out he could touch the outstretched arm of the other captain. He stood there for a small while before he made his move. In the blink of an eye he feigned to the right and then kicked off the ground, as soon as he was in the air he bounced off of a bamboo stalk and the chain unraveled in silence, the weighted ball shooting downwards towards the top of Yasumeh's head whilst he himself came down behind him, in the last nick of time he would pull the chain ever so slightly, redirecting the base-ball sized weight to move towards the right, the direction he thought Yasumeh may dodge in the last moment, but that was only a guess, and the man's style did not allow for many, if any, correct predictions.  

[Dark Bunny Lord]

Yasumeh watched, impressed by the lack of sound the man made. As he feigned Yasumeh made no movement other than his continued wavering stance, almost as if his sloppy martial choice had missed the movement the chain came down as Yasumeh turned slowly, falling backwards and hitting the ground with the back of his shoulders, one arm holding his gourd drinking more sake as the kasuri gami buried itself into the ground behind him whist the ball landed on the right. Yasumeh continued his backwards momentum as his feet toppled over his head in an awkward no handed hand-stand. His right leg hooked the chain over him between where the blade had buried itself in the ground, mere inches from his head, and the ball had landed. He tugged it close in an attempt to snare it's binder in place who would be trying to hold onto his weapon or to pull him closer as his other leg snapped out in a long bone shattering kick to his solar plexus.

Yasumeh would continue his fall and land on his chest in the dirt, sprawled out in a sleeping position, whether he struck or not. The entire movement seemed absurd and yet fluid, a precise movement that looked entirely on accident but with far to much power behind the pull and strike to be such.  

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Though the man's silence was useful in a battle, the true usefulness of the ability came later when he was in his shikai and bankai states. For if he could move through a persons shadow without making a single noise, usually they were dead before they themselves could make a noise. Then, in bankai, when he covered the battlefield in darkness, he could be anywhere he wished in moments, and nobody could see, but he could move within the darkness, shifting within the shadows and using his reiatsu sense to dominate the opponent in utter noiselessness. He watched the man's lack of reaction to the feign and he was surprised to say the least, but he figured it was all a part of the man's unorthodox style. He watched as Yasumeh grabbed the chain with his leg and he was prepared for the man to yank him forwards, so he braced himself, though he was still pulled by the man's sheer strength. Gerard had never been one of raw power, but of hidden prowess. He yanked the weapon from the ground with all his might and snapped it into his hand as he jumped, tucking and rolling through the air mere inches above the man's powerful kick. He felt the wind from the leg soaring through the air and when he landed he pulled the chain taught, sending the weighted ball straight back towards him. He carried the momentum on as he swung the weight in a circle above his head for only a moment as he took a jump backwards, seeming to hover back a few feet versus actually jumping, and when he hit the ground the momentum of the weight immediately changed, this time he shot the weight downwards towards the man laying on the ground, though he aimed it high and further than the body was in order to have the attack perfectly placed for the man to move, if he stood or propped up in any manor the ball would crash into him, and if he slid forward the ball would land downwards upon him, if he stayed still, well that was the second part of the attack.

As the ball whizzed through the air, Gerard lept forward, gripping the chain itself instead of the kama, and he swept the kama forward as the ball shot with it, the kama aimed at a long sweeping strike in an arc that would carry it only inches above the ground. The attack left few holes, but he imagined the captain would find them. He had wondered just how much damage that kick would have done if it connected, he knew Yasumeh was strong, but he had no idea just how strong. The man was a monster. He had felt it just in the speed and the wind that the kick had kicked up when it passed beneath him. A truly worthy foe. He had a lazy smile about his face as he went about his attacks, all his motions seemed to be lax and fun, though he was taking this fight a lot more seriously than he took any spar before, probably because of the excitement it had kicked up in him.  

[Dark Bunny Lord]

Yasumeh watched as Gerard continued to launch multi-pronged attacks, knowing he was trying to corner Yasumeh and thinking ahead which he rather liked since it meant his foe was intelligent enough to make set ups. He weighed the options in his head and was happy that his style was a reactive one, built to take advantage of a foes attacks and strength and twist them around to his advantage. Gerard was fast, and while his strength might not be completely up to par with Yasumeh's it mattered little as he was using a blade. Yasumeh's own strikes needed to contain quite a bit more punch to gain the equivalent effect of a weapon and his sword truly was no help. It was almost funny he thought, the 8th squad captain had just been speaking of respect and harmony with ones spirit and to most it would seem Yasumeh had no such harmony do to his refusal to use the weapon until shikai, but in reality the spirit was just as lazy if not more so than he was and demanded rest until released.

Yasumeh slid his body forwards along the ground causing dust to shoot up around them to avoid the downard strike of the ball, only his upper back moving as the lower half of his body arced upwards at the waist in almost a half handstand. One leg snapped out before the chain with expert precision, catching the chain before the blade itself so that it would wrap around his leg and cause it's swinging to stop. Both his hands then lashed out to grab at Gerard's ankles, powerful grips shoving his thumbs into pressure points should he strike as both legs then began a quick bicycle like motion striking towards Gerard's lower armpits in an attempt to damage each that controlled his weapon at the most easily disjointed part of the arm.
He knew Gerard had a few things on him, distance and silence. By aiming to take out his arms he not only would slow and weaken his strikes with the Kasuri Gami but he was also attempting to keep him close, making himself appear vulnerable on the ground as nigh any other foe would have been panicking to get up out of such a vulnerable position. The standard bait and lure of the style was it's strength and risk, the greatest reason why many that viewed it had brushed it off as nothing more than a flashy show piece that had no place in real combat.

((Lol, Yasumeh's fighting the majority of this combat on the ground so far))  

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A glint passed through the captain's eyes as he watched Yasumeh's reaction to the double attack. The man was damned good at evading and responding, this was no hidden fact. He easily slid around the attack and even snagged the chain yet again with his leg from on the ground. But this was the rouse of the attack, for he had hoped that the man may do what he had done in the last attack and grab the chain with his leg. He had been actively analyzing the man's style as well as he could in the early duration of this match, and as such he thought he knew what he had to do. But he didn't like it at the same time, this was going to involve some very unfortunate pain he was sure of it. The opponent was cunning however, so he was not cocky enough to believe that it was a sure-fire way in, and he knew that even if the strike was successful, it would not do nearly as much damage from the close range he would be in as he wanted it to. But...it was indeed worth a shot. After the chain was grabbed he felt the man's arms on his ankles, driven into pressure points and he felt his knees bend, nearly giving way, he did not know how strong the man was until this very moment. His risky strategy would indeed involve some unfortunate pain.

However, the man did indeed, as he had hoped use his legs, coming up in a bicycle kicking action and he smiled bright, his attack was slightly weak when using naught but his hands, however, it was within his defense that he reigned supreme. He had gained the ability to super-condense his muscles and make them like armor plating at the cost of expending his reiatsu, but he knew he couldn't use much of it, for he had to keep his reiatsu in check for the rest of this contest. He pushed the reiatsu into the muscles all along the inner armpit and shoulder areas to strengthen them, but only enough on contact that they wouldn't be bashed out of their sockets. The feeling of the contact with Gerard's armpits would feel like kicking rock. But it was then that the reaction had to occur. He swung his arm, still holding the chain in his hand, and attempted to wrap the man's legs together with it, instantly spinning in a semi-circle, not waiting to find out if he had strongly wrapped the legs enough, or if there was an escape from Yasumeh. The maneuver was risky, and had to be done in moments or it could not be effective. The semi-circle turn was meant to suddenly rip the other half of the chain, with the weight on it, pulling it around to the right and across Gerard's body and behind him, hopefully slamming into Yasumeh's body, though the man could have moved, he was unsure. As soon as he saw the weight pass by him he prepared himself for a reaction, turning to see what may be coming his way.  

[Dark Bunny Lord]

Yasumeh felt as his feet hit tough bound muscle, it bruised the heel of his feet a bit but it was nothing a slight change in the attack couldn't fix. He quickly focused the majority of the strength in vibrating his feet to replicate his quivering palm strike upon his feet, the kicks on the outside would feel like nothing more than moderate touches. Nothing to painful than a joking dead arm but that was when the true power of such strikes kicked in, the kinetic energy was rerouted into causing a wave of vibrations through the struck object. In simple terms this would build to the level to crack bone or cause organs to rupture yet luckily for Gerard there where no organs where he was hitting and there was very little mass around the armpit giving the wave of vibration little time to grow causing, at most, ruptured blood vessels and bruising within the muscle itself.

As the chain came around his other leg his mind quickly began working through the possibilities of combat once more. His opponent had slowed him down, likely trying to gain some distance or at least restrain him, a difficult task for a style that thus far had involved fighting whilst completely prone against an armed opponent but a direction none the less better than the one taken thus far. Yasumeh's hand met the ground as he pushed hard with both, spinning with the chain itself and unraveling him. He came full circle and landed on both feet, his back to Gerard as he leaned almost impossibly backwards to the point that one would be certain he'd fall on the ground once more, his gourd in hand pulling more of the sake down his gullet. His feet where a bit sore but he had avoided the brunt of the attack by simply moving with it, the fluidity of the entire action impossible for someone who had adrenaline coursing through their veins do to the rigidness it would cause... of course... that's what the sake was for.  

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Gerard had felt it immediately as he was attempting to pull off the maneuver, but he had not stopped to think about it until it had already been finished. His arms ached slightly in his armpits now, and he could feel the soreness in the muscles, but it was not a debilitating strike. Should have used a bit more reiatsu I suppose. Underestimated that one. He thought as he looked at the man. "Good kick man. That one actually got to me a little. Unexpected, but very very cool." He said, scratching the back of his head with a childish expression on his face. But there was not much more to expect from Gerard's attitude during a sparing match, the man didn't like to get serious during the worst of times, let alone during a spar, though, he was indeed trying to fight the man on par...thus far he was being bested. And he didn't mind that, but at the same time, he wouldn't mind changing it either. He smirked as he wound the chain back up, now he had the chain wrapped around his arm and the weighted ball held tightly within his hand. A punch while holding the solid object reinforced his knuckles and allowed for a much more solid connection, and at the same time, it allowed for close-range release in a very instant speed to shoot the weighted ball outwards. He was slightly disappointed in the apparent ineffectiveness of the maneuver he had attempted, but he knew eventually he would score his hit, he had given one to his opponent in attempt to score his own, which was not always the best of things to do, however, it had been worth the shot to him.

He breathed a sigh as he stood there and he thought, trying to figure a weakness in the style. But that was the problem with the drunken fist. It was a style that was utterly unpredictable, that could strike at any moment and fake you out around every corner. How do you fight something that you can not predict? He ground his mind on it and he decided that there was only one thing that he was doing extremely wrong. Over thinking. He took a deep breath and he kissed the chain around his arm. Asami. My love. He thought for a moment with a smile as he looked at the man. It was time to try again he supposed. As the man continued to drink the sake he smiled and he charged forward, a blunt and straightforward attack, something that had many holes. But as he got closer, before the range was close enough for the man to lunge or use his feet to do something strange, who knows what he could do, he dropped low, balancing on the hand holding the weight as he swung his foot in a sweeping kick towards the man's ankles, but what the man may not have noticed was as he had moved to balance upon his one hand and kick he had let the chain end with the kama drop and loop his leg, and as he swung the kick the kama came upwards above it towards the man's ribs. As soon as his kick has made a circle he switched hands he was balancing on and he threw his fist in what looked like a straight jab, though at the end of the punch, which of course fell short of the opponent, the weight snapped out, and as it hit the correct velocity, the trap doors on the outside of the weight flipped, creating spikes to pop out of the ball, making it not only bigger, but more dangerous. The ball was shooting faster than he had let it go before this time, and a straight trajectory for the man's sternum.  

[Dark Bunny Lord]

"Don't be so modest, that would have dislocated most peoples arms, that quick thinking saved you from being crippled fairly early. The bruisng you felt was from my quivering palm... I created it to get through heiros of Arrancar by creating a violent wave of vibration instead of relying on getting through a tough exterior" he said smiling his facade of the drunken boxing style dropping only as he spoke then returning once more. With his back still arced at a nigh 90 degree angle to his waist and his arms at his sides, one holding the gourd, he spotted the kick coming his way. Instead of taking the obvious route and trying to jump over it he instead fell backwards, both shoulder blades coming down hard onto the foot.
Pain shot through his back from the, what most would consider, very reckless maneuver, yet the blade and punch sailed over whilst he retained a hold on Gerards foot from simply his own body weight and, if nothing else, would through him off balance and possibly even sprain his ankle do to the power he had put into the spinning low kick. Crossing one leg over the other he brought up the gourd quickly to drink, the move actually a solid punch with the heavy re-enforced gourd aiming to strike just above the crotch, a pull he wouldn't normally do if it hadn't been a spar... but there was no need to inflict such pain on a friendly fight knowing if he did hit the message would be sent where his hand -could have landed-. As it struck the sake would pour out again in a messy spill over his lips.  

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((Sorry this took so long, I had a female friend come down for a couple days and hang out. ^.^))

"Quivering palm eh? Interesting. Very interesting. I will have to remember that for the next strikes that come in." He said with a laugh as his foot was landed on, even while being foiled in combat, he was giggling about their conversation. The man was a child at heart, and he refused to take this too much more seriously than that. But as the foot was landed on he moved his body with the twist so that the ankle would not sprain, for the act of landing on it in motion could easily do so, or even worse. However, that wasn't to say there was no discomfort, it still did hurt. He watched the blade come overtop of Yasumeh and he noted its trajectory, because the blade soared over, it was coming back around and towards him. The ball as well going in a straight shot over Yasumeh. He watched the punch coming in and his eyes widened. He had learned to become quick with his weapon, and that was the only reason he wasn't receiving a very painful shot far too close to home. He used one hand to keep himself balanced, propping himself on the ground, this being his weight chain hand, and he pushed up, hopping off the hand only to pull the chain and change the balls direction in a flash, the ball whipping backwards the very short distance (for he pulled the chain as it was missing his opponent) and the ball shot past Yasumeh's arm, though going a direct route beneath it and as the ball hit the earth the chain went taught, directing the arm off to the side, and thankfully away from Gerard's crotch. With his other hand, he reached and snagged the kama end of the weapon as it came around, and drove it downwards towards Yasumeh's chest, though he ensured if the attack was missed, he wouldn't be stabbing himself in the leg that his opponent was landed upon, he was prepared at this short distance to change direction with the smaller bladed weapon to encompass the man's dodging, he was sure Yasumeh could sneak out of it with his style, but he knew it was a very dangerous spot for most to be in. Having missed a strike perhaps he would have the man at a slight off-balance moment.  

[Dark Bunny Lord]

As Yasumeh's arm was flung to the side the sake spilled across his face and onto the ground. He looked at it misty eyed as Gerard's weapon came down towards him looking to strike his midsection. With a powerful kick off the ground he slide on his back through Gerard's open stance and behind him. Taking the sudden surprise position combined with Gerard's weight committed to the attack he arced his back upwards, leaning on his shoulder muscles, his legs seeking to wrap around the mans neck with his hands pushing him into a hand stand once more finding himself not only fighting on the ground but upside down.
His strength and speed in melee increased with the sudden anger of the spilled drink and the legs would seek not only to choke the consciousness out of him but also to literally lift his body off the ground and flip him down onto his head as Yasumeh himself would fall onto his stomach, reversing the -on his back- position he had held thus far.

Gerard was good, but his weapon had far more range and thus wasn't able to be used to it's full advantage at such close quarters whilst Yasumeh fighting unarmed had little to absolutely no range making all his training into fighting in such a manner.  

[Zavits W]

Natsuki had been silently observing the little bout from the high vantage point of the bamboo. It was naturally strong and the larger stalks supported her weight with ease. As long as she positioned herself between two there would be minimal movement from the bamboo. She was there silently for quite some time, if she wanted to be unnoticed it was hard to pick her out of the surroundings. The man's zanpakuto was a weighted chain and kama. The extra ranged it granted to his attacks was rather impressive however in short range the excess length of chain could easily be a detriment as it could be used in many methods by one's opponent to hinder the wielder with relative ease. These kinds of matches were often useful in gauging ones weak points, that way in real combat they could compensate for said weakness and become even more useful a piece in that time. "It is better to not maim each other here just remember that..." Natsuki chimed out rather whimsically having taken note of the spilled drink and the likely to arrive 'revenge of the lost' battle to ensue from yasumeh. Though it was likely to be light-hearted in nature it was easily more dangerous than his normal attitude.  

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Gerard watched the sake spill from the man's lips and he almost smirked, looking at it more as a baby spilling his bottle as the man came back at him. Not to say that Yasumeh was a baby, it just inspired the thought in an instant when he had seen it. He watched as Yasumeh slid past him, nothing he could do about that, as he was already in the process of attacking, an attack that he was right sure would miss. However, he was preparing himself for the onslaught that he knew would follow, for he was in a very weak position. He felt the man's legs wrap upon his neck and he grinned as he immediately rushed his reiatsu to the location to reinforce his neck, causing him to feel the legs there, but there was no choking feeling. He acted as fast as he could, knowing that the choke was the least of his worries. He Ripped on the chain as hard as he could, having the weighted end soar past him and attempt to wrap around the man's arms where he was grounded, and as the weight would come flying around it would not be a pleasant feeling when the chain crushed tighter and tighter around his arms. He felt his body begin to move as Yasumeh threw him backwards, aiming to land him on his head, and he merely moved while in the air, having complete control over his body, since he was not being disoriented by the loss of air as most people would be in the situation. He used the kama end of his weapon as he was being thrown to drive it over his head, aiming to sink the blade into the opponent's thigh. He released the reiatsu on his neck in the last moment and pumped a little into the areas of his head he was about to be slammed on, though he didn't want to sacrifice too much, so as he slammed into the earth he still managed to feel a good chunk of pain, and his nose bled ever so slightly.
He moved quickly though, as soon as he had hit the ground he reefed again on the chain, and he sprung with his hands at the same time, reefing his head free of the man's legs and pushing himself into a backflip that landed him at a safer distance. If Yasumeh's arms had been snared he would be pulling the man with him him, which would hopefully land him in a spot of bad, luck, if the hands had not been snared, he would merely be getting his chain back to him, and they would be at square one once more. Though this time Gerard would have a bit of a bloody nose.

He looked up to Natsuki with a smirk and shook his head. "My lovely lady, if we maim each other it is in the name of fun and it will give the fourth division something to do. Remember that!" He said with a laugh. His mind still very much on the battle at hand.