moonfang: (smug)
Zangetsu ♔ the bony king of nowhere ([personal profile] moonfang) wrote in [community profile] lostcarnival2018-01-18 01:47 pm

I cannot guess what we'll discover [closed]

Who: A boy and his sword
When: S2:D4
Where: Carnival training grounds
What: Ichigo is significantly more useful when his spirit is disconnected from his body. Unfortunately, none of the usual methods to knock him out of his meatsuit are available. Zangetsu has to get creative.
Warnings: Shenanigans


Zangetsu waits until the Nightrunners and whoever else have cleared out of the training yard for the day — or at least until there aren’t a million people around — to meet with Ichigo. It’s the first time they’d have really... interacted, since the shit with the Prince. Ichigo had needed time and space to recover from the whole incident. And besides, Zangetsu had been busy as well, bonding with his new pet.

Kaguya is there, too; it’s rare to see the sword spirit without his little winged ragdoll cat. Zangetsu has one of her many toys, in this case a bouquet of feathers on the end of a string, and is it swinging it through the air to train her aerial skills.

Well the training yard was just for the sapient members of the carnival?
eclipsingblade: (02)

[personal profile] eclipsingblade 2018-01-27 02:30 am (UTC)(link)
"Just gonna leave that there?" Right in the middle of everything? Man, Kon had him spoiled, that was going to be something he'd have to .. actually do on his own too.

He never thought he'd miss a mod soul.

The idea of konso successfully knocking him out of his body is a dubious one at best, he's pretty sure the only reason Urahara actually worked using his zanpakuto is it had that weird little mark on one end, and he knows Zangetsu doesn't have that. "Not gonna work."

But he'll try it anyway, because ... well, there's that tiny chance it might, and having a reliable way to shed his body would be really damn useful.
eclipsingblade: (08)

[personal profile] eclipsingblade 2018-01-28 07:00 am (UTC)(link)
"....Sure, let's go with that." GO PUT IT AWAY.

Or at least don't let it just lie there like an ugly lump of weird looking weirdness. Someone's going to come by, NOT see Zangetsu standing there, see the body lying there, and assume Ichigo did something nefarious!

And while he would that was not entirely the goal currently.

It's after the third tap that he reaches up with an annoyed expression to swat the sword aside; it's clear after the first one it wasn't working and damn it he didn't want a hilt-dent in his head! "Okay enough."

With that one anyway. He crosses his arms over his chest. "Not that I'm recommending it or anything but you are a hollow that'd .. probably .. work." WHY is he giving suggestions he really didn't want even Zangetsu to go reaching in and feeling around for his soul. "Let's try something else first anyway."
eclipsingblade: (15)

[personal profile] eclipsingblade 2018-01-29 05:33 am (UTC)(link)
"...Y'want me to ask the old man to field that while you're.. uh." Being all manifested. Then Zangetsu can have someone to yell at! Namely the other Zangetsu.

Who is absolutely eavesdropping right now, and not doing anything at all to help. Sometimes it's better to just watch.. and let them handle it.

If nothing else, it would be a meeting without battle, so far. They could use that much, and he'd just... observe.

Ichigo meanwhile gives a faint snort, he didn't spoil anything, he has ideas of his own! That they happened to share ONE idea didn't mean anything, certainly the others weren't likely to be in common. The easiest way would likely be to ask the ringmaster, but he wasn't keen on further debt at this point.

It's sort of interesting to see the mask from this side and know the colors are wrong. No red - but he'd seen other Vizard pull theirs it wasn't THAT unusual, except this time it's reiatsu he knows damn well and ... it should have red on it damn it. Red and black would look acceptably cool. The mask is caught and like all other times it feels.. like a mask. Charged with reiatsu, but solid and with that faintest coldness one might expect from porcelain, entirely ordinary except in all the ways it wasn't. He .. wasn't used to wearing it in this fashion. There's no strap. Pulling it on usually had it stick there of its own volition and he'd never questioned why.

"I dunno. This isn't usually how it works." It fits alright enough, adheres after a moment of fiddling on its own without him bothering it, the burn of red-black power familiar enough but not ... quite what he was used to, slightly off, slightly different. But he'd used Vizard power before in flesh and it hadn't kicked him out of his body then either.. now is no different. "..Feels a little weird," he adds eventually, voice distorted.

Still meat!
eclipsingblade: (07)

[personal profile] eclipsingblade 2018-02-04 03:18 am (UTC)(link)
There is the brief impression of a dry chuckle and little more; the old man isn't about to interfere in this. There's no reason to, so it's all on them. As it should have been from the beginning. Unless of course things turn suddenly and unexpectedly lethal. Accidents could happen...

Power though, it seems, is perfectly willing to live in human flesh or just reishi, and while it's familiar, it's also .. not getting him anywhere. "Would be good enough for fighting I think," he mutters as the mask wisps away into black and then nothingness. "It felt about right." But with annoying human meatsuit issues like not being able to stand on the air.

Ichigo had not really ever dealt with the full hollow. Other people did, and he'd seen the side effects. The suggestion alone draws a sharp shake of his head. That seems like a really bad idea. "And who's going to be able to stop you when you go off on a rampage?"

When. Not if. Because that's how it worked in that form, nobody was safe, even friends. Maybe especially friends, as they tended to draw attention. He knew he wouldn't be able to. Not like this. Not ...when he felt so much weaker than he should be. Zangetsu wasn't known for his calculated thoughtful actions and calm rational decisions on the best of times, when instinct was in full control even less so.

I can prevent any harm from being too dangerous.

The murmur is familiar enough, and that the old man seems fine with all of it is seriously irritating. "Yeah that's great but what about everyone else?"
eclipsingblade: (14)

[personal profile] eclipsingblade 2018-02-04 05:19 am (UTC)(link)
That's what blut is for. While Ichigo had no control at all over his quincy heritage, one of his two embodiments of power had absolutely no issue doing the same. It just required being worthwhile doing so, as opposed to leaving it up to Zangetsu.

This might not qualify as leaving it up to Zangetsu, but there is still the sense of unflappable certainty from the third part of their odd triad.

"Yeah as I recall it ain't always hunger, especially for the bigger ones. Obsession and crazy seem to do just as well." Ichigo frowns, crossing his arms over his chest. He really doubted some fairy was going to be able to stop and contain the thing that caused the devastation he remembered after Ulquiorra, and he'd rather not find out he's right. "Since you've never wanted to before that's not exactly a glowing reason to think now is gonna be a good first time."

The old man could offer advice. Frequently he does. But his silence this time is deliberate. While he could heal the harm done, it's up to them to trust each other enough to try it out. It was a good learning opportunity. Certainly he knew Zangetsu wasn't about to destroy the entire carnival in a sudden rampage.

But butting in wouldn't help build the bridge they so desperately needed.
eclipsingblade: (10)

[personal profile] eclipsingblade 2018-02-05 06:59 am (UTC)(link)
He's going to refuse. It's a given, he had no reason to trust and plenty of reasons not to. It's written in the tightness of his shoulders and the way his eyes narrow, only silence and a critical gaze meeting the outstretched hand.

Of course Ichigo isn't going to compromise that easily, there was nothing from either Zangetsu that he hadn't had to steal or have to win - and with this one it always came with violence, the risk of possession and worse, risk to his friends. There is no trusting a Hollow that was still held sway by its instincts. Some maybe could be - like Coyote Starrk, who in dim recollection seemed mostly motivated by the incredible powers of apathy and laziness.

But not Zangetsu. He draws himself up a little, expression dark, lips pressed in a thin line; if mistrust could be any clearer it would be written out.

"Alright."

That's not refusal. Not exactly. The suspicion is still painfully clear, but ... just this once. Trust is earned, but also needed an opportunity TO be earned.

If it went badly, it would be confirmation of what he was already certain of and would rather think is a thing of the past. Wanted to believe, in the face of bitter and painful experience.

But if it didn't go wrong, if it didn't, and such an easy, effortless opportunity to claim the goals Zangetsu's said he'd had for years simply wasn't taken even with the opening right there... maybe he'd finally be able to put aside that bit of Vizored training that demanded he control and subdue his other-self.

Maybe. Maybe it could be a better idea of what normal shinigami have with their zanpakutos.

"Just try not to break anything." And it's certain he doesn't mean himself. The entire rest of the carnival was more of a concern.
eclipsingblade: (03)

[personal profile] eclipsingblade 2018-02-10 01:29 am (UTC)(link)
He doesn't want to. He's seen the side effects before.

Either Zangetsu was capable of far more control than Ichigo's ever seen from him or ... hopefully someone else in this carnival would be able to stop him. He'd try to interfere himself of course but he held no illusions of being capable of it while wearing living flesh and blood.

All else that remained was.. waiting. And finding out just how big of a fool he is for even agreeing to it. The lack of anything at all from the old man was NOT helping. The blast of black and red reiatsu isn't unexpected.

The shape left behind on the other hand, absolutely is. He'd never seen it, there weren't mirrors or photographs or anything of the sort in Shinji's House O Headaches, and it certainly isn't the form he's expecting. This one is ... rather lizardy.

Except without a lizardy snout. The rabbit legs seem to work just fine with it, though the ears.. are still... utterly ridiculous.

It's a little too serious to snrk, but he almost does anyway. "Where did that form come from?" There's a twitch of shoulders, an immediate coiling tenseness he could no more repress than he could suddenly sprout a second head when it comes to hollows, but anything further he does manage to keep ahold of.

For now. It's a struggle with anything even remotely like faith or trust, and he's not having an easy time of it at all. Ichigo is, at least, trying.
eclipsingblade: (12)

[personal profile] eclipsingblade 2018-02-12 03:54 am (UTC)(link)
If he could break the association of rabbit, it wouldn't be so bad. Plenty of animals had long ears.

Unfortunately he knows they're the ears of a bunny. But laughing about it is a little harder when faced with a Hollow, and not one of the more human ones or even the recognizably part human resurrection forms. He knows exactly who he's dealing with, the reiatsu's the same.

But 'little' hollows tend to be more dangerously unpredictable. The humanlike ones could at least be talked to. It's difficult to set aside. Difficult to not twitch away when touched, a part of him still expecting claws to dig in and that ear-searing scream to start up. It doesn't, of course. He still expects it a little.

Understanding those distorted words isn't really a matter of hearing, and that perhaps cements things a little more than not being attacked does. "'White'." The word is echoed blankly; although he did get a rundown of a certain precious backstory it was.. lacking in things like what Aizen had called that thing. Isshin hadn't known. It doesn't connect to anything, Zangetsu had always been him even if he hadn't wanted to acknowledge it.

And apparently it seems, should he grow too attached to the world to move on his fate was to be a big ugly lizard. Not even something cool like a dragon.

But there's no connection to 'White', no sense that the form he had seen was closer related to it than to what was his true nature. Whatever his 'true nature' should have been; hadn't that been robbed of him before he was even conceived? Whatever could have been, should have been was long lost. Zangetsu had been meant to be something different, once upon a time. Perhaps closer to Engetsu, whatever it was. Perhaps that too was inherited, link upon link down the chain.

"Anyway that's frickin creepy, let's get on with it."

A possible future. What happened to zanpakuto, if their shinigami did become full hollows?
eclipsingblade: (Default)

[personal profile] eclipsingblade 2018-02-13 04:58 am (UTC)(link)
There might not be a lot of warning, or really any, but Ichigo's already expecting an attack. It's sort of required for what they're planning on, it's just a matter of degree. Whether he'd be left with bruises or stitches.

The matter of 'White' will have to wait. Now's not the time, and Zangetsu doesn't excel at communication on a normal day, never mind when he's a hideous lizard thing.

At least, he thinks as the blur of white tail swings at him, it's not the claws.

He's taken far harder blows before, many, many times but the point isn't to cause harm .. much ... so much as it is to hit the part that is actually TANGIBLE to the spirit world. Living bodies are not, and the tail passes cleanly right through, not even ruffling his new teeshirt as he buckles like a puppet with his strings cut.

Well part of him anyway.

The rest of him is kicked head over heels in a brief tumble of dust and black cloth.
eclipsingblade: (02)

[personal profile] eclipsingblade 2018-02-16 04:05 am (UTC)(link)
Moving around limp meat is easy enough, hopefully nobody would turn up and see bodies all over the place and begin wondering what the hell it was they were up to.

Clearly this is just cloning practice or something.

Well. On one hand it worked. On the other if that's what he had to rely on each time things were going to get troublesome very, very quickly, especially if Zangetsu simply wasn't around. He was loathe to go into further debt with the Ringmaster, but there might not eventually be another option.

The weight of two blades is not yet familiar, he hadn't had them both long enough TO develop a familiarity, but it was nice to not be unarmed. Or have to rely on a bow. It didn't ... mean to him that Zangetsu still wanted to be around. That he might not be carrying around an empty blade.

Don't think about it for now. He sits up, a glance cast at the debris Zangetsu's leaving in his wake. It'll disappear eventually, like discarded masks inevitably did, but it was still strange and uncomfortable to see. Reminded him of the half-skin he'd seen in Shinji's Funhouse. Maybe he really should have asked them what his inner hollow looked like. .. Should he have asked what theirs seemed like? Is this the relationship they had with their own zanpakuto? Too late to ask now, and not too many of them seemed likely to be the sorts to even answer to begin with.

Hachi maybe.

The offered hand is eyed before being accepted. Ichigo's still clearly not exactly pleased with all of this but he'd also ... not rejected any of it. Sometimes steps are hard to take, and he didn't have to LIKE it to do it anyway.

"Nah. Just some other stuff. Never thought I'd actually miss Kon." He was useful!

Now that you are properly equipped for battle, make use of it.

The old man's prompt is only delayed long enough to allow Ichigo to regain his feet. It wasn't Zangetsu that really struggled with fighting alongside others if he had to, truthfully..
eclipsingblade: (04)

[personal profile] eclipsingblade 2018-02-24 04:40 am (UTC)(link)
Something would likely be done with the corpses! .. Except they're not corpses and are going to be needed again later. That too was rather inconvenient.

"Probably. Not interested in getting even more into debt with these people though." One year. A lot could happen in one year. At the end of it, he'd have what he wanted.. and Yhwach wouldn't be an issue anymore and ... Zangetsu's freedom comes to a sudden end.

Once on his feet he spends a moment rearranging his clothing, he wouldn't usually bother but they're not launching immediately into a fight and he's a bit uncomfortable with how certain things are riding.

There's an acknowledging grunt at the technical-question-that-isn't. "He seems to think we need to work together." Instead of fighting each other. "Can you hear him out there?"