Bleach: Shattered Dreams [RP]

September 2, 2008, 6:38 PM

Prologue

Humans.

They live their lives in sweet ignorance of that which they simply cannot comprehend, that which could strike disaster into the very fabric of the balance between all known worlds. Hollows - normal human souls that, upon death, have been twisted through agony and despair into something dark and evil - stalk unseen through normal reality, feeding on other souls in order to quench their undying thirst. And so, Soul Reapers came into existence, Death Gods that fight the Hollows and keep the human world from complete annihilation.

For eons this balance has been kept, but, on one fateful day, this balance drastically shifted.

They struck into the very heart of Soul Society itself, seven ancient Hollows, known only in legend as Los Dioses - the 'Hollow Gods'. With the innate power to absorb all souls upon contact, even the most powerful Soul Reapers who had attained levels beyond all others, simply did not stand a chance. On that day, Soul Society was no more. With nothing left standing in their way, Los Dioses then turned their attention to the human world. It seemed as if nothing would be able to stop them.

Yet, all hope was not lost. Several Soul Reapers managed to escape the massacre at Soul Society and fled to the human world. It was here that they learned that, by performing an ancient and highly forbidden ritual of transferring their inner powers to a normal human being - in effect forging them into substitute Soul Reapers - that these new breed of protectors were immune to the soul absorption properties of the Hollow Gods.

Untrainned, and out of their depth, they are both world's only remaining hope...

Sign Up / Discussion Thread ||Profiles Thread

The Substitute Soul Reapers

1: Alia Fuji [Female]
2: Akioryu Yasuo [Male]
3: Namiko Jade Shino [Female]
4: Ryu Nakamura [Male]

September 2, 2008, 6:39 PM

It was growing dark, yet night had long since fallen. Her senses, usually so sharp and focused, began to drift in and out of a stable consciousness, yet sleep was the furthest action from her mind. Adrenaline surged through her body in waves of pulsing desperation, yet she was immobile and not exhurting her body. It had happened so suddenly. One moment, she was walking down a back-alley that was a shortcut to her appartment, and in the next, she was fighting for her life.

Alia Fuji emitted a wordless cry, but no sound could escape her lips as her throat was being crushed by the weight of an invisible entity that bore down opressively upon her. Deep grey-blue eyes were peeled wide in both shock and panic, as she could only grasp helplessly within the alley-way, raven-black hair flailing widely around her features, as her fists struck harmlessly over the flesh of something dark and evil.

"What's going on?! ... What's happening to me?!"

Her mind screamed the words over and over even as the life was continuing to be squeezed, bit by bit, from out of her form. Within moments, a howl filled the night sky, sending a chill that tore through to the bone. The pressure that she now felt was more than just physical, it seemed to immobilise her very essence. Before her mind's eye, she witnessed the passage of time, of her very life. Books, school, movies, friends ... it seemed the greatest injustice that it seemed to be over far too quickly. Was this all that she had to show of her life? And yet, it had always seemed like she had time to do more. Always more books to read, always more time to read them in.

Until now.

Tears began to fall from down her pale cheeks. The fight was quickly being drained out of her. Her thrashing lessened, her mind weakened, becoming numb. All that was left was darkness ... until a sudden blaze of light caused her to gasp and scream - as the immense pressure was suddenly lifted completely off of her body. There, in front of her, she saw him, a young man who was dressed in raven-black robes, and who wielded a katana that shone oddily in the light of the overhanging lamp-post. He spared a cautious glance for her, but never let his eyes leave the sight of the creature which her mind could still not even comprehend.

"Do you want to live?" The question startled her. Through the panic, pain and tears, she turned to look at him, dumbfounded. "Do you want to live?" He repeated, in the same urgent tone.

"Yes!" Alia cried, seeming to shout with all her remaining spirit.

At this, a small smile formed on the edges of his lips. "... Then fight!"

With a scream, Alia watched in pure horror as he drove his blade deep into her chest. Terror. Pain. Blood. Death. And yet ... she breathed. She still lived. It was as if time itself had slowed, but in that instance, she felt a power beginning to rise up deep within her, with a strength and magnitude that burst forth in an aura of overwhelming light.

She was Alia Fuji - daughter of Amaru and Keiko Fuji, a family who had lived in Karakura Town for generations. She was Alia Fuji - an apt 19 year old student who excelled in her studies and loved both knowledge and books. She was Alia Fuji - all her dreams and aspirations for a future as a teacher, to share her knowledge with others and help them to learn. She was Alia Fuji - a strange slender form that was sprawled out on the floor with a blade plunged deep into her chest.

And yet, in that moment, Alia Fuji became so much more...

RP Notice
All participants are now free to make their introductionary post within the role-play. Within it, you must describe your character, with some fragment of their life or past, and end with a sudden Hollow attack with a chance for survival by an unknown Soul Reaper. Those characters who have some innate spirit sense are allowed to actually 'see' and describe the Hollow that is attacking them.

The second post you make will then be their actual emergence into a Substitute Soul Reaper, where your descriptions of clothing and Zanpakuto (katana) will be added to your character profiles. You will then be guided through a tutorial of combat.

If you have any questions or queries at all, please feel free to post them within the main discussion thread. I'm more than happy to answer them.

September 2, 2008, 7:26 PM

Akioryu stepped through the dark streets, he often walked alone at night when none where around so he could think clearly, however tonight would be like no other night. As he was nearing his home he suddenly felt a strange presence behind him, as he turned to face it he was struck back by an unseen force. He looked up and saw a strange near-invisible creature before him, he couldn't make out the features but he could clearly see its presence, even in the dark. Akioryu quickly climbed to his feet and tried to run from it, after walking no more than 5 steps he was grabbed and lifted by his feet over 20ft in the air, then the creature's features seemed to appear, it looked sort of like an ape apart from the skeleton mask and hole in its torso.

Akioryu was almost in the creature's mouth when it fell back in pain and dropped Akioryu. As he got up he saw another man, he wore black robes and was wielding a katana, his hair was tied into a long ponytail at the back and he bore an expression of relief and seriousness.

"Are you prepared to fight for your life?" The man asked

"What do you mean?" Akioryu asked

"The world needs heroes, and you are one of the chosen, now prepare to accept my powers" The man stated.

The man then grabbed his sword in both hands and walked toward Akioryu, then swiftly he rammed his sword into Akioryu's stomach, too scared to move he was frozen on the spot. Awaiting death he closed his eyes though his strength didn't fade, instead it began to rise dramatically. Akioryu saw the man, now he was unarmed and looked very weak, like all his strength had been drained.

"Now fight" The man ordered.

September 2, 2008, 8:45 PM

As Akioryu looked over his body he noticed that he was now wearing the same outfit that the man wore, only his was in a smaller size to accomodate his height, he also had a sword over his back, from the feel of it it was a katana, like the man's one. As he turned to face the creature he pulled on the hilt of his katana and pulled it from his sheathe, the sword was almost as long as his body and only 3 inches wide, it had a sharp edge and almost seemed to will Akioryu to fight. As he readied his sword in both hands he ran towards the creature with his sword on his right side and as the creature tried to strike him he leapt over its huge arm and lifted his sword over his head and struck at the creature's skeleton-like mask. Light erupted from the wound as Akioryu landed to the floor and quickly ran between the creature's legs and tried to hide underneath it where he couldn't be seen.

Profiles · September 3, 2008, 10:02 AM

Alia Fuji

The intense emanation of light slowly began to fade, retreating back into the confines of her physical form. Her mind still reeled, unable to comprehend everything that was happening, but knowing that it was something beyond anything that she had ever known. It seemed an eternity before her vision gradually returned, but when it did, she took a sharp intake of breath at the weapon which now rested lightly within her grasp. The mixture of sensations that gripped her was intense. It looked so foreign, and yet, also so strangely familiar - all at the same time. It was as if she had just spotted an old friend, not seen for years, in a crowded street and yet, she also felt the sensation of it being a simple extension of her own body; something that was seen every day and paid little attention. It was a strange and confusion feeling.

The blade was short, about half the length of her height, an astonishingly beautiful surface that seemed to shimmer with a faint eerie moonlight glow. Etched onto the blade, near the joining with the hilt, were a set of runic symbols; it's meanings lost to her. She lifted up the katana, and gasped once more at how light it was. She should never have been able to lift it with her strength and stature. Her eyes drifted towards the hilt, which was raven-black, strangely matching the colour of her hair, with grooves to better grip the weapon with.

"... Impressive." The voice startled her. Alia spun to the side, discovering the strange young man who had impaled her only moments before. He continued to smile, a slight nod of his head revealing his appreciation. "That is a truly beautiful Zanpakuto."

"Zan-paku-to?" Once more, the words brought forth that strange sensation - it sounded so foreign, and yet so highly familiar.

He nodded to her. "That will take some getting used to. You may not realise it, but a wealth of knowledge and skill has just been imparted onto you. It will take some time before you can recall it properly." He turned, glancing at something to one side of them.

It was then that Alia saw it, the strange demonic beast that had attacked her early. She took an unconscious step back in reflective horror. It was large, the shape of a twisted snake, with a pale white mask that covered it's face, and a large gaping hole in the middle of it's chest. It was a sick and dark thing that seemed to emanate pure evil.

"A Hollow." He explained. "A normal human soul twisted into what you see before you. But we can bring it peace." He turned to stare into her eyes with a deep intensity. Her mind suddenly flashed with every supernatural text that she had ever read. Demons? Fallen Angels? Creatures that stalked the night? "I am a Shinigami, a Death God ... and now, so are you." The words hit her like a wave. "It is up to you now. You must fight and cleanse this Hollow. Show me that I did not make the wrong choice in choosing you."

With that, he picked up his fallen blade and suddenly jumped into the air with astonishing speed and agility. He landed lightly on the roof of an adjorning building, then crouched down; better to view the entire proceedings. Horrified, Alia turned back to face the Hollow. She should have been completely terrified to her very core, but she also felt the courage and power of something that was continuing to grow inside of her. Alia took a step forward with a pair of wooden sandles, and finally noticed the outfit that now graced her form. She wore a robe similiar to what the man was outfitted in, a raven-black robe that was tied to the waist by a white ribbon, and that gradually transitioned out into a skirt. A plain white undershirt could be seen emerging through the slit of the robe that ran across her chest.

"I will fight..." She whispered, and with that, she launched herself forward.

Profiles · September 3, 2008, 1:49 PM

Akioryu Yasuo

His long ponytail fluttering slightly in the nightly breeze, the weakened Shinigami nodded his head appreciatively as, from the moment he wielded his Zanpakuto, Akioryu's battle sense had seemed to awaken from deep within him. He silently watched as Akioryu struck the Ape Hollow hard across it's head with his blade, before diving into the momentary safety of it's legs. The Ape Hollow however, roared out in fury. It suddenly swung it's long muscular arms, their length easily reaching under it's legs. Akioryu was struck hard and sent flying towards a nearby wall.

"Careful." The Shinigami stated as the dust and rubble slowly began to settle. "It's strong, but somewhat slow. Use your speed to your advantage."

Akioryu Yasuo
HP [500 / 500]
SP [150 / 150]
Attack [50 / 50]
Defence [5% / 5%]
Kidou [50 / 50]
Kidou Defence [5% / 5%]
Kidou Control [3 in 6]
Agility [3 / 3]

VS

Ape Hollow
HP [1000 / 1000]
SP [60 / 60]
Attack [80 / 80]
Defence [15% / 15%]
Kidou [20 / 20]
Kidou Defence [2% / 2%]
Agility [2 / 2]

[Attack] Physical Strike [0 SP]
[Defend] Reduce damage by half [0 SP]
[Pound] Double strength attack [10 SP]
[Grip] An attack that reduces an opponent's defences [10 SP]
[Wild Swing] An attack onto all opponents [0 SP]

As Akioryu got back onto his feet, the Shinigami turned to him once more. "Your agility stat defines your ability to trade blows with that of your opponent. You currently have 3 Agility - this means that you can issue 3 commands, per round, onto your enemy. At the moment, you have a few commands at your disposal. These will grow as you develop your skills."

Starting Combat Commands

[Attack] Launch a physical attack onto an opponent [0 SP]
[Parry] Deflect an opponent's attack on the same turn. If physical, will be half your Defence stat. If Kidou, will be half your Kidou Defence stat [15 SP]
[Kidou] Use a spiritual attack onto an opponent [Various SP]
[Flash Step] Evade an opponent's attack on the same turn and strike back at an opponent [30 SP]

Your profile has been updated with these commands and a list of starting Kidou.

"Every attack or Kidou you use must be directed at a certain body part of your opponent." Continued the Shinigami. "Striking specific areas will weaken a Hollow accordingly. But be warned, you can also be attacked in these areas, so stay alert. Striking their Head will weaken their Kidou strength. Striking their Arms will weaken their physical strength. Striking their Chest will weaken their physical and spiritual defences. And striking their Legs will weaken their ability to act. Always remember these in times of trouble." The Ape Hollow roared, and began to charge towars Akioryu. "Now ... show me what you can do."

RP Information
You know have all the information you need in order to begin combat and start getting used to the system involved. Any questions, feel free to post them within the main discussion thread.

September 3, 2008, 6:44 PM

As Akioryu saw the Ape charge towards him he readied his sword across his back and ran for the Ape, as it ran for him he slid under it's attack and lifted the sword up and hacked at it's left leg before vaulting himself back to his feet. He then turned to the man while his enemy was down.

"You'd better stand back, this could turn ugly if its attacks become more wild." Akioryu said to the man, the man then nodded and began to limp away from the battle.

"You bastard! Just wait till I get my hands on your puny neck!" The Ape shouted, enraged by the attack.

Akioryu then thought back to all the times he had defended his friends, this was like one of the many times he had come to people's aid.

"Before you continue... It would be best if I told you of 'kidou' the spells we Shinigami are in command of, we can all perform it, some better than others." The man called out.

"Excuse me? Kidou? How do I do it?" Akioryu asked inquisitively.

"Merely clasp your hands together and concentrate your spiritual energy, then open them up so your palms face the target, then speak the name of the spell you wish to use." The Shinigami instructed. "As this Hollow is in the form of an ape it is safe to guess that a 'fire' attack would be most appropriate, so repeat after me... 'number 31, red flame gun', okay your turn."

Akioryu did as instructed, he clasped his hands together and closed his eyes as he gathered his spirit energy as best he could. he then opened them toward his oppenent and then alertly opened his eyes and shouted "NUMBER 31! RED FLAME GUN!" from his hands shot a large fiery projectile which struck the ape, quickly setting it's legs alight. "Wow... And i have this power?" Akioryu spoke to himself, looking at the palms of his hands in awe.

September 3, 2008, 10:30 PM

“Hahahaha! That was fun! Do you remember how he leapt out of that building and used his cape to fly? I mean, maaaaaan, that’s just plain awesome!”

On that dark night, Ryu and a couple of his friends were getting out of the movies. As usual, the loud Ryu kept on commenting and trying to perform most of the movie’s more action-packed parts while the others just nodded. Normally they’d be laughing by now but it was close to midnight and they all were tired. Well, not all of them. Surprisingly the brunette seemed to be filled with enormous amount of energy, just as if he had woken up a few minutes ago. Little by little, just as they arrived at the theater’s entrance, the friends began to say goodbye and walk off, each of them heading straight to their homes.

“This sucks” thought Ryu as he walked through the empty streets. He had had a lot of fun with his friends tonight and he hated the fact that it was all over and that now he had to go home and get ready for school tomorrow.

“Ugh! School….” The boy dropped his head, letting out a loud sigh. If there was anything that he hated in this world it was school. He had to wake up early…and he sucked at it. Besides, he had to sit down for hours and hours, listening to the boring sermons of his teachers. God, it was torture, pure and plain torture! But he had promised himself to attend… his brother was killing himself just to ensure his education.

These sure were hard times for the Nakamura brothers. They had lost their parents when his brother was his age and he was only 8. His bro had taken the difficult choice of getting out of school to get a job, so that both of them could eat… It hadn’t been fair. Kojiro had always been good in school and his dream had always been to enter a prestigious college here in Japan. But destiny shattered his dreams and now he literally worked his ass off, working at ungodly hours so that the brunette could get a decent education. Life sure hadn’t been fair and his skipping school would be like destroying everything his older brother had worked so hard to achieve. No, he just couldn’t do that.

Rising his head, Ryu looked at the full moon that floated on that endless sea of stars. There were no clouds on that warm night and that had been the main reason to why he had convinced his friends to go out and do something. It had taken him long enough to convince them to go to the movies on a school night, but he never gave up easily. Grinning, he thought he was lucky to have the friends he had. Even though they barely knew each other, they had greatly helped Ryu cope up with his loss. He had to be grateful for that. Life had taken a lot from him, but had also given him lots of things in exchange… like his friends and his wonderful brother.

He looked at his watch. “Crap! I can’t believe it’s this late! I’m sooo not gonna get up tomorrow”. The boy decided to take a shortcut through the alleyways which, unlike the main street he had been walking up until now, were only lit by the moonlight. He didn’t like going through there, especially at night; he always had the sensation somebody observed him….Paranoia or not, he needed to go that way or else he’d come home really late.

Turning to his right, Ryu went into the narrow alley that led him into a maze of back streets, lanes and other tight passages in which he was barely able to move. As the minutes passed and he got deeper and deeper into the dark labyrinth the boy couldn’t help but feel that somebody was watching him. Although he always got that feeling every time he went into a dark, lonely place at night and was starting to get used to this, that didn’t mean he liked it. He quickened his steps, turning his head around from time to time.

“What the—?!” The brunette gasped. He swore he had seen something red a bit to his right… He turned his head around and, using his cell-phone to light the area he finally found it… An arm, a severed arm, laying a pool of a red, sticky liquid. The boy panicked. This had been a bad idea after all… He didn’t think it twice and started to run towards the nearest exit. Or better said, that’s what he wanted to, but he felt something just as hard as a brick wall hit him straight on the chest and moments later, he was flying in the opposite direction and came to a stop just as he hit the wall behind him.

His breathing stopped for a moment. Desperately, he forced his lungs to suck in that precious air while his blank mind tried to understand what had just happened. It was really dark on that alley, but in the dim light Ryu managed to observe the silhouette of something…..something really big that was slowly walking towards him in what seemed to be four legs. In the dim light, he saw that the dog-like creature had a horrible white mask, a big hole in the center of its body and eyes that told him immediately that that thing was hungry…and was staring at his dinner.

The boy tried to get up, but his legs didn’t respond. He tried to use his arms but his muscles cried out in pain every time he moved them. There was no escape… But he refused to accept the fact that he was going to be eaten by that thing. Using whatever will power he had left he managed to slowly stand up and tried to run away. Well, running was not the right word for it; it was more like limp. Every part of his body was crying out in pain and he felt as if his muscles had been set on fire. But it was no use; the creature jumped in front of him, cutting his escape route. Then, a second later it had jumped forward, opening its mouth, tearing the boy’s head out of his body—

…but the creature came to a halt a few inches just before it got a chance to bite at his head. A person in black robes, wielding what seemed to be a katana had jumped just in front of him and had used the blade to block the creature. Muttering all the strength he had, the man slashed at the mask, apparently killing the wolf-like creature.

“Huh? W-who’re you?!”

The man turned around with a startled expression. He was a relatively young man who couldn’t be older than 25, had dark, short hair and had a brown right eye while the left one was covered by a black eye patch.

“You can see me?” His surprised eyes examined young Ryu, who had fallen to the floor again and was clearly in pain. “That’s surprising. Not many people can see us. You have high spiritual energy… all right, let me check on those wounds of yours”. He extended his hands around the boy’s chest and a greenish ball of light suddenly appeared. The pain on the brunette’s body slowly started to fade away.

“I’m surprised you were even able to move with those wounds of yours…” said the man. “Well, I better get going. The other one should be nearb—“

“WATCH OUT!”

Another one of those wolf-like creatures had leaped out of a rooftop and had pierced the man’s body with two horns that protruded out of the mask.
“
Crap…” said the man, spitting blood. He fell to his knees but grabbed the creature’s horn with his left hand as he did so.

“Kid… you want to live?”

“What are you….?”

“You want to live or not?” The man had an expression of great pain. The creature had probably stabbed a lung and the libber and was trying to pull its horns out of the male’s body. “Look…I don’t…have enough strength…to kill this beast… There’s only one way…to get out of here alive…Unless you want to die…”

“I want to live!!!” cried Ryu. The man smiled and, grabbing his katana with his right hand, he used it to pierced Ryu’s chest.

What? The boy didn’t understand anything. His surprised eyes looked down at the sword and his mind told him he was going to die. There was just no way he could ever survive with a sword piercing his heart and he could do nothing but to accept it. Death, the end of all things. It was the destiny of all living things to meet their end sooner or later. But his destiny had come on much sooner than he thought. He felt how his breathing stopped, his eyes closed, the strength left his body, and how his mind froze….but he didn’t die. Why hadn’t he died? A split second later he felt how a great strength entered his body and how light enveloped him completely. He had ceased to be human and had become something else, something much more powerful…

(Phew! Enjoy my uber-long post xD)