I cannot guess what we'll discover [closed]

[moonfang]

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?

Comments

[moonfang]

Ha!! Success! Finally. Zangetsu turns back in time to catch Ichigo’s soulless body in his arms, easy enough to do when he focuses on touching the physical matter instead of the spiritual. He ensures that the body lies in a comfortable position so Ichigo doesn’t come back to a stiff neck or some other garbage like that.

The he stands upright, and begins walking over to where Ichigo rolled off to. As he walks, the reptilian form cracks and begins sloughing like old bits of porcelain. By the time he’s reached Ichigo, he’s back to normal. He crouches by his master and offers a hand.

“Knocked the wind outta ya, huh? Hehehehhe!”

Though it seems Ichigo’s fears about having to learn to use a bow were unfounded; both swords popped out with him, including the normal black version of the sword Zangetsu himself wields. It was separation— not severance.

[eclipsingblade]

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..

[moonfang]

Ha! Cloning projects. Yeah, that's what it would look like to the casual Carnival-contracted observer. Two dead bodies and their living clones in different clothing. Kind of a mess, actually.

But... it wasn't the most quick and intuitive way to get Ichigo in soul form. If Zangetsu had to transform and whap him every time, it wouldn't work in a fight situation where time was of the essence. Perhaps they'd have to ask the Ringmaster for a Gokon Tekko...

Zangetsu jerks Ichigo to his feet, kicking away one of the shed pieces of skin idly once he does so. As expected, that piece, and the others, flake away into nothingness. "Or Rukia's glove. I wonder if the Ringmaster can get us one."

There's a small knowing smile, and Zangetsu tilts his head to one side.

"The old man wants us to do some training, doesn't he," a question, technically, but phrased as a statement. He knows good and well what the Old Man's thoughts about the matter are.

[eclipsingblade]

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?"

[moonfang]

Definitely not just corpses. Much more important and useful than corpses. Corpses that could be possessed and used!

"She probably wouldn't charge a whole year fer it, but whatever you think. I'll figure somethin' out. I always do."

His freedom. His freedom was just a weird sort of bonus. It wasn't anything he ever really wanted, not really. Sure, it was interesting, and it was an opportunity he enjoyed having. But would he be happy to go back to how things were, free of the pain of being a free Hollow? He was looking forward to it. But hey, all life experiences were worthwhile!

"Mmm... kind of? As long as he ain't bein' private to just you. But he's right, you know." Like always.