Riverside Issues

[Mr. Butterfly]

Somewhere, a swarm of birds were tweeting happily. Somewhere, small forest critters were galloping about in a gay and joyous manner. Somewhere, rabbits were breeding and somewhere, turtles were racing hares. Somewhere, small elves worked in a jocund mood to make snacks for the world.

But not here.

Here, a river flowed slowly, making a winding path through its territory. The river itself was unimpressive and lackluster. The trees around the area were alive and well, green and growing, yet there was no life around, creating an eerie stillness. The river and its surroundings were coated in shade by the overcast sky up above. All things seemed serene if not too quiet. A poet could have had a field day if he was in a bleak mood. You know, until the Garganta ripped a hole in the air on the riverbank, creating a dimensional portal in the vicinity and causing the river to twitch for a moment, almost as if alive.

A lithe woman stepped out. Attired in white, the female turned clockwise to the portal and closed it slowly, sighed, and looked around. She pulled the cloak away from around her face, and short lavender hair fell around her head as a gust of wind blew in. Anaklusmos swept her hair back from her face, revealing a white carapace mask coating the upper right part of her face. Red eyes observed her surroundings, then Ana leisurely walked over to a tree and leaned against it, watching the river's methodical travel through the forest.

Odd behavior for an Arrancar. But, Ana needed a break. Allot had changed at 'home', allot that she didn't agree with at all - but verbally stating so would most likely get her killed. So, instead, she would journey to the human world to take a break. A well deserved break from the fighting and the chaos and disorder. Instead of the storm at home, she preferred to be somewhere where things flowed... like a river. She wondered why they didn't have places like rivers in Hueco Mundo. Water was pleasant - no matter what, it always flowed the way nature intended.

[Wanzer]

Makkuro Shiboo, Captain of Squad three, sits alone in his quarters contemplating the pressing matters that had flooded through the filter of the Seireiti down to him. The paper work that sat before him consisted of numerous instances of officers skipping meetings, actions of his fellow captains and detailed reports of the flow of people in and out of the Seireiti. Nobles and commoners, poor begging for food and even shinigami made the notice of the report. A few names continually show up and Makkuro sighs before circling the names on the list that appear more than twelve times in the series of a week without the listing of a shinigami on patrol duty. This list of names is then shipped off to the intelligence department; each of these Shinigami are then investigated and the reason for their repeated use of the transit is discovered for the most part. A few of the slier ones could get off the hook or would have passes to the real world that could be used for just such occasions. These instances had to be tallied against his subordinates whose jobs had been to watch over the gate; Shiboo hated having to discipline his own troops when he saw it unnecessary. His men were always tired, always pushed beyond their limits by other squads and by the cruel amount of hours put onto them by the rest of the seireiti. A deep sigh leaves his parted lips as the weight on his shoulders increases to a paramount proportion.

How many times this week had he had to punish his own men? How many of them had looked up at him with the sadness of a man broken by expectations? Each stared at him with the bleakness of faint understanding, before nodding off into some distant sleep without the ability to function for a few hours; they were then sent straight back to work. Days and days of this were often the case and a few of his members had to be sent to squad four due to dire exhaustion.

Makkuro can only stare at the pieces of paper before him and after twenty minutes of filing and storing, shipping and stamping, he had finished. Makkuro's eyes slowly glisten as he wipes away a tear of exhaustion himself and his eyes strain for focus as the long hours of dealing with his subordinates as decreed by the Central forty-Six and his own duties piled up. Yawning and deciding a break is in order, Makkruo stands and pulls out a pass for a trip into the living world. This slip of paper that grants access into the realm of the living is a sort of holy grail.

He thinks to himself before stepping out into the courtyard of his division's barracks. The area was quiet, a few of his officers sat around a large oak table eatting in silence; the air palpable with their dislike of each other. Every quiet munch or intake of food prompted a sneer or a look of contempt. It is abundantly clear that much work had to be done to make the squad function as a unit once more. Makkuro leaves hurriedly to collect his thoughts and passes his slip to a guard by the gates. The man through sleepy eyes tells the other to set coordinates for somewhere secluded. Makkuro nods to him, then tells both officers to call for replacements and makes it a direct order. The pair do not hesitate to do so as Makkuro disappears through the gateway into the living world.

The area he appears in, is almost like an illustration out of some depressing tale. A bleak world of gray with the sounds of some lazy river in the background, a near metaphor to the way life continues to just drone on no matter what happens. A constant reminder that only the greatest of humans would ever be remembered as anything, but a gravestone. Makkuro suddenly found regret and dismay in his decision to come to this place; a sigh of asphyxiation leaves his lips, before he senses someone else is in the area. Turning on his heel towards the presence in an effort to coax it out of its hidding spot wherever it may be, by showing he means no harm. He calls out in a gentle voice, seeking no fight and with no violence in him.

"Hello? Is someone there?"

[Mr. Butterfly]

Anaklusmos had lost herself in river watching. She felt as if her senses were heightened toward the river as her focus increased - she picked up on its subtle sounds and babbling, and picked out a notable current in the water. She might even have hummed, but if she did, she would never acknowledge it and if anyone else called her out on it, they'd die. I wonder how long I can stay here. Maybe for a -

Ana's eyes grew wide as another reiatsu signature entered the area. Almost as if on instinct her body adjusted and she found herself behind the tree and trying to suppress her reiatsu even further until she could learn more about this other. She found him - her eyes trained on the shinigami attire. Crap. He didn't seem to notice anything - namely her - at first, which worked perfectly for Ana. Maybe this guy would simply go away or pass on by. The last thing she wanted was another battle-ready shinigami who figured that he could kill all the Hollows whenever he wanted. Calculations went off in her head... it took her roughly 8 seconds to open a sufficient Garganta... In those 8 seconds, could this detain her, or worse?

Her thoughts were cut short as the shinigami picked up on her presence and turned, calling out. But, there was something....different. There wasn't a trace of aggression at all. Maybe I can reason my way with this one. Or, if he does plan on attacking, I can stall long enough to figure out a plan. Ana stood up, and took a step out into the open and faced the shinigami.

"I am here." Anaklusmos tried to keep her voice calm, but her eyes betrayed her and showed how anxious and suspicious she was regarding the newcomer.

[Wanzer]

Makkuro's eyes caught sight of an arrancar leaving the cover of some bushes and a tree; she came into the open the moment he called to her which took him aback the instant he saw her. Most creatures with the ability to sense him immediately fled upon the slightest idea that he knew their location, but this one freely came out to him. One of two things could have taken place in this arrancar female's mind; first she could have thought that she stood no chance in a fight or out running him and the best option is to reason with him, or two she thought they could talk as they were both alone. Such an idea as the later was highly unlikely, but the consequences of meeting were ones he wished to see. Calculating everything about the area and making sure that no other pressure was in the area, he allowed his guard to drop around the arrancar girl. After all, if anyone else was in the area he would be able to sense them, especially if they were as poor about hiding their spiritual pressures as she was. Granted, she didn't appear to be doing anything, but taking a break and a Shinigami captain falling from the sky atop of someone seemed highly unlikely. In fact the idea now seemed so ludicrous to Makkruo, he couldn't help but let a few chortles escape his lips between the small area where the lips are thickest.

"Well, this is certainly a meeting that many would think quiet impossible. I'd say the odds of this particular event are astronomical at best and near impossible at worst. I would suppose that it is inevitable to happen eventually, but I'm fairly certain it would be in a much larger area and not some backwater place like this."

The Captain smiles at the Arrancar, not debunking her for her race; he has seen enough of that in his life. Oppression and segregation were two things he could not deal with and he always attempts to go into every meeting with his hand extended in friendship, not with a sword thrust to the gut. Warfare appealed little to him and he thought more of ensuring his friends and allies' safety over killing his enemy. He knew their were situations that called for such bloodshed, but those moments were rare for him. The occasions usually were mixed with members of his squad or other members of the court guards being beaten first or himself being attacked. He knew about self-preservation and above all else practiced it, though he hated to kill or strike another being; he knew he often had to survive. Makkuro plays with the edge of his left sleeve's frill, he wondered why he kept wearing them, but then he remembered it was a gift and smirked. After all, how could he not wear something that everyone said became him, his outfit was comprised of the normal shinigami attire with frills coming out around the neck and from his sleeves. Each frill was stitched with several holes across the center allowing them to breath easily; Makkuro was thankful for this as he often felt confined inside of his normal attire. Their white color made a good contrast with his salt-and pepper hair color and gave him a more refined look than most shinigami.

He speaks again after playing with the frill and makes eye contact with the arrancar for the first time. He notes that she is attractive in an odd way and the mask fragments on her face add to it slightly, but in some eyes could easily take away from it. Makkuro's idea of the mask fragment is something exotic like the dot on a Buddhist's forehead or a deep tan on a foreign girl. He allows himself an inner laugh at the comparison, but he can't help but allow the exuberance in his soul to spread to his body.

"Forgive me if I startled you, but would you mind if I asked what you were doing here? Oh...my manners have eluded me, my name is Makkuro Shiboo, Captain of Squad Three or the Gate Guards."