Passing the torch[invite]

Thunk.



He hadn't moved to dodge the attack, or even bothered to block. The look in her eyes told him much, and that there was very much a determination to win, which in this case may have been to land a single blow. He would grant her that much, but Theocelese needed to know how she would execute this attack. Much to his chagrin, it was something that he would not be fond of, and from this, another lesson would be taught. "There are many warriors who have dedicated themselves to the Eternal War. Some, like myself, would never use such cheap parlor tricks to gain the upper hand until such a tactic is used against us. In a real duel, a fight to the death between myself and my sworn enemy, there are no back-side shots to be made. I will always come at you from the front, where you may see me. This is what my honour dictates until the enemy disregards their own honour." Theocelese said, slowly turning around.



"I will fight as you fight, and just as your environment to obtain a cheap shot on your opponent, I will use my own strength to see mine own strikes fall true." He hadn't expelled much of his Reiatsu, enough to severely slow down and hamper the girl yes, but she would not immediately fall to her knees from the force of it. His goals in teaching others changed often, constantly searching to find ways to poke and prod to make his students dig deep within their souls to overcome the difficulty of what he set before them. Shiro needed to do this now, to find the power within her own being to push back against the constricting force oppressing her future movements. Theocelese disappeared from his position using Sonido not just once, but twice. He doubted the girl could have picked up on his movements. The first sound of the static buzzing put him to the training gear, to where he scooped up another wooden sword, similar to the one he currently wielded. The second placed him behind the girl, where his assault began. He avoided lashing out at her kidneys once again, instead targeting her sides and upper arms. Like before, the power used in his swings would leave welts and bruising, but there was enough timing in his swings that would allow the girl to block or dodge. The first two swings, taken together, were once more taxation strikes and like the previous two, would have to be taken. The rest, however...



Attempting to leave the closeness of their range seemed like a moot point, as Theocelese would close the distance regardless. "Do not ever give into your enemy!" Theocelese bellowed in between swings, "FIGHT BACK YOU WHELP!"

There it was.



The Arrancar stopped in his tracks, the secondary wooden blade already having closed half the distance to the girl. The shock of what was done, no pun intended, was genuine. Shiro definitely had ties to Zues, there was absolutely no doubting this now. From his striking pose, Theocelese straightened himself up, quickly bopping Shiro on the top of her head. "Well look at what you've gone and done now. Hope you know your way around the shop class at your school....you replace what you break." He said the biggest shit eating grin the girl had probably ever seen him give. It was moments like this that his mind wasn't a roaring inferno. They brought him back to a better place, one where he could snap and be lost to the bloody haze in his eyes. He didn't say it verbally, but in his own head he thanked the girl. The relief was...it'd been so long since what was a heated moment didn't go a step further that he couldn't even compare it to anything at the time. "You can relax now, girl. Release your grasp and set your mind at ease. This may help dispel your power." He offered a modicum of advice. There was no way he could push Shiro just yet. The lack of color in her face suggested anything as equally intense as that last round would be it for her, and he didn't feel inclined to carry an armored dessert stealer at the moment. No, she had to learn to press forward before being able to relax.



"I learned what I needed to from you, today. Well done Miss Inazuma." The secondary sword slid into his belt, and he ruffled the girl's hair. He'd almost yelped when the static still buzzing in her hair shocked him, and Theocelese supposed he should have expected that. Now, time for one final lesson of the day. "We can leave these things out here, no one will displace them." He said, glancing at the still-broken training sword. He shrugged, and then tossed it behind him. "Let's go." Theocelese began walking back to the glass doors of the diner, expecting Shiro to follow him. Training wasn't finished until the tabard came off, but he wasn't going to say anything just yet.



"From now on, before and after our sparring sessions we will discuss our thoughts on the previous and current day. I already know the answers, but I must ask you for yours. What do you think I was looking to teach you today, and the day of your vengeance?" The Arrancar began, pulling out a cigarette from his pocket and lighting it. He inhaled deeply, and exhaled just the same. "What do you think you learned? What mistakes do you think you made, if any, and lastly...what would you like for dinner? Anything you want, you deserve it." He looked back to Shiro, giving her a reassuring smile and a thumbs up.



"I do mean that. I know I can come off as...repugnant...but I'm starting to think you're going to make me proud."

Theocelese's own pace slowed, turning to watch as Shiro channeled the electrical power into the sword. He watched with great amusement, so much so a hand went to his bearded chin to scratch for a few seconds. "It is, and could be one of many, Child of Zeus. We need but push your soul to its limits to find out what else is locked inside that head of yours." He looked back to Las Noches, deep in thought, but discarded the notions in his head. The Arrancar was just glad that the overly curious child hadn't felt inclined to ask him about the mysteries of his own powers. "If you've manifested it before, you have shown twice now you can do it. I cannot give you powers, but I am capable of teaching you things I know." He motioned outwards with his arm. A red orb the size of a baseball formed, before firing off into a gigantic red beam of energy skyward. The landscape became painted red briefly, until the beam sizzled out.



"I can teach you how to do something similar, if you'd like." He didn't mean at the current moment, of course. "We will, however, be going over Stepping. What I, and other Arrancar use is called Sonido. Shinigami do something identical, but it is called Shunpo. Humans like yourself, and myself included once upon a time, could do the same thing but with their own unique variations to them. Mine..." He recalled, and smiled, reaching a hand out to ruffle the girl's hair again. "Mine would make me disappear in a dark cloud, and upon landing at my destination, shook the earth with thunder."

"You are correct on all accounts." Theocelese said, reaching out to put his hand to the field. His palm sizzled and cracked, the electricity not even so much as charred his skin. It...tickled, somewhat. "You must be extremely cautious when you are in attendance at school. Just because your fellow humans cannot see your power does not mean you cannot do harm unto them." He said this as he turned around. The look in his eyes changed. Once where there was a serene kindness in the golden lenses, there now burned a fire streaked with madness. His body shifted to a brawler's stance, right arm held out as if he were cocking back for a punch. "I'm impressed you're able to do this....but here is one last lesson for the day, girl. Be wary when you cage yourself in with the lions and wolves. You may clip their claws, but know they can still bite. This is going to hurt you. A lot."



At the last two words, Theocelese exploded from his position. It wasn't a Sonido, but rather something else meant for quick escapes or surprise attacks. He flew as fast as a Bala, arm still held out. Much like a cavalry soldier's sword, the appendage wouldn't be swung. Rather, momentum and force would do its job, and the current opening he was going for was right for Shiro's gut. It wouldn't be a debilitating attack, or even a fatal one at that. As the Arrancar said...the pain would be difficult to deal with. There was also the chance the potential blow would knock the air out of her lungs and knock her over, but given a somewhat advanced warning....maybe Shiro wouldn't be taking the full hit. If that were the case, he'd actually make her pancakes bigger than a medallion.

Upon reaching the maximum range of Dash, and after having hit Shiro with a glancing strike, the Arrancar's form shot back to the direction he landed at. He could have sent out a secondary strike on the return back to his original starting position, but instead would leave the girl to take in the lesson now at hand. Had she just returned back to Las Noches for get ready for dinner, this could have all been avoided. To his surprise, Shiro still stood. No matter. He aimed one finger at the girl, a frown etched onto his bearded face. "I hope you can still fight after that show you put on. The fact you haven't dropped tells me there's still something left there in there. You put me in this cage...and now you better get to moving." The words came out as a growl, and not a second after the last word left his lips several Bala were shot at Shiro.



These would hurt just as much as the glancing blow, and all three were shot in a semi-scattered manner. The first traveled directly at the girl, the second was aimed a foot or so off to the right, and one to the left. He knew she couldn't use Reishi to ascend skywards to dodge, and so he targeted the only viable areas she could move, left or right. Now he was curious to see what Shiro would do in this particular circumstance.

"Well done, girl. I thought you pushed yourself to your limit earlier, but it seems that was not the case." He looked to the cage still crackling around them for a few long moments, but said nothing at all. He inhaled sharply, both arms crossing over his own armoured chest just as the intake of air left his chest now. "All attacks are lessons on their own. You knew you could not move to either side, and so you did the only plausible thing at the moment: You defended yourself on only what was the only clear threat. Remember this, as there are many who would play foul tricks upon you with attacks like those, as well as in melee combat." The only reason he hadn't fired the two Bala at full power which went sailing away harmlessly at the sides was the 'what if' scenario had Shiro decided to try her hand at being graceful. Gods knew he'd suffered at his own attempts to do such a thing on many occasions. He approached Shiro, going down to one knee in front of her. "This is something I wish for you to take to heart, Shiro. A saying an old friend of mine used to tell me...



Pain is an illusion of the senses. Fear, an illusion of the mind. Beyond these only death waits as silence judge o'er all." He'd rise after the words were spoken, and Theocelese's face shifted to something more neutral, but his lips still curved upwards in a smile. With a hand extended downwards meant to aid in the girl standing up, he spoke once more. "We are done for today. Tomorrow we continue, and the day after that, you will rest."

"Easy, girl." Theocelese said, helping to stabilize Shiro from falling to the ground. Beyond the naivety and cluelessness lay a noble tactician and proud warrior. It couldn't be helped, though. That part of her would come with age, the girl being just a child and all. With no effort, Theocelese picked up the now sleeping student of his and carried her back to her room. The most he did to make her sleep somewhat decent was the removal of her bracers, greaves, gloves and boots. The chainmail and tabard, however, she'd have to take off after waking up. To remove those things wouldn't have been untoward, as there was plenty underneath the outer-layer of fabric and chain linked protection. Another lesson in its own way, don't push yourself so hard you wind up uncomfortably sleeping in a lot of heavy armor. He did, however, tuck Shiro into her bed. On the television, he put on the background noise of a thunderstorm.



The next morning, Shiro would wake up to a similar layout of breakfast that Theocelese had cooked for her before. Only this time, it was a good helping of buttered toast, ham steaks, bacon, scrambled eggs with cheddar and not just chocolate chip pancakes, but blueberry as well. She asked for both...but didn't get the dinner-plate sized ones she may have expected. These ones were roughly the size of a small saucer...but there were four each, at least. As per usual, there were a selection of drinks to be had. Water, milk, and pulp-free orange juice, as well as herbal tea and a few pills. Aaannd, just the same as the first breakfast, a little note card was left on the side table.



'Hope you slept well despite still wearing your gear. Eat up, you're going to need to build up your strength for today. Drink your water first, please, and take the medication. I'll be downstairs.



PS--You drooled all over my tabard. Thanks for that.