bridges03: never heal faded scars [c]

Drop... drop... drop...

>>“Yeah well, at least I found a man, kiddo. Don’t forget how to breathe again, you hear, or I’ll hit you with my tiger claw.”

God, you really are such an idiot, aren't you? Kinda pathetic too, don't you think?... well, maybe just...

Izumi's smile was caught as Kawa opened her eyes briefly between breaths. Despite their banter and constant fighting, mostly due to the younger Captain's antagonizing, there was a strong bond between them. No matter how much the noblewoman would deny it upon questioning, she knew in her heart to be true. In some ways, the elder Lieutenant was more of a mother to her than her very own. Another blissful breath of content escaped her lips before the far softer pellets of rain awakened her from her inceptious dream.

Drop... ... drop... ... drop...

>>“Kawa, you…!”

Kawa's eyes opened to find the transfigured Quinn several meters out. His face had become grotesque as rays of light cascaded through portions of the now still and calmed clouds of blackish-gray, piercing through the shadowed version of her former lover and revealing its true, demonic form. Its features hissed as her very own Zapankuto spirit stood strong and defiantly against the darkness within Kawa's soul.

>>“Realized who she is! Kawa-chan, it’s time.”

A violent, unrelenting force of raw spiritual energy exploded from the deafening cries of the shadowed beast. Kawa instantly threw her hands up, her own spiritual aura explosively igniting and lashing outward to deter the infectious Hollowfied reiatsu. The beast became engulfed by the very darkness it bore from as the stench of deadly wrath engulfed the area.
Kawa's breathing was slow, careful, and focused... and as she did, it seemed time around her had remained in rhythm. The swirls of energy that chaotically surrounded the deadly cocoon became slower, and sound itself seemed to stretch as the clashing waters along the shoreline became less panicked.

>>“Wield me, Kawa-chan. We have to go all out when he comes out of there, because the real fight is just now starting!”

"Nagare!" Kawa shouted the command more sharply than ever before as she took to a full stand, snapping her dominant hand outward, fingers stretched to grasp the soon-to-form weapon. "Mizukitsune!!"

An explosion of water erupted from around the Yonbantai-Taicho's body, swirling so powerfully, it clashed against the Hollowfied reiatsu, more spherically engulfing the doctor as her entire soul pulsed to life. Her right arm, stretched fully out, became encased in a swirl of azure and sky-blue, glowing brightly and piercing through the sphere of rushing water. A cold sensation filled her arm, though not of discomfort... rather, tranquility. It flowed through her so naturally, so beautifully as her fingers, one by one, closed into a lightly balled up fist. A single joint at a time, the guantlet began to form, providing a protective form of weaponry up her hand, along her wrist, and up to her forearm. A swirl of water form around her wrist, constantly moving and flowing as it made an 8-shaped figure up behind her elbow, circling around her upper arm, then flowing back down to her wrist.

The Captain pulled her arm inward, then threw it out once more, cutting trough the sphere and shattering its existence as it splashed down, not upon her, but all around her form. As the darkened cocoon before her trembled and shook and grew more powerful even still, Kawa hurled her left arm out, similarly as before, extending her fingertips as far as they would go.

"Bankai!"

This time, a complete cylinder of water erupted from ten meters out, encircling her and reaching high into the sky. The vast intensity of water pierced even the clouds above, engulfing the rain itself, as the droplets now pulsated with her own spiritual aura. The winds changed, bringing the rain more closely toward the spiraling pillar of water. Once more, the young woman's arm was engulfed in a mixture of blues and teals, though this time, silver infused within the coloring, pulsating the very light that darkness feared, pulsating through the pillar at different points, until, just as before, the water exploded out.

"Shugosha Himekitzune!" As the immense flow of heavy rain dropped, Kawa held her left arm out before her; a second gauntlet had formed, but from her shoulder down just a bit passed her fingertips, resided a vast shield, with a pulsating, condensed glow of pure energy that poured out from Kawa's soul. With a roll of her shoulder, the woman brought the massive shield up, then smashed it down upon the sands below to rest, imploding the very beach before her with a torrent of water in three pointed directions, as though engulfing the very sea around her and expanding it out at her command.

'I am not my regret... nor my guilt...

I am not my sorrow... nor my pain...

I am not my happiness... nor my hopes...

I am not my dreams... nor my apprehension...'

The Yonbantai-Taicho lifted her massive shield as though it were a mere feather, stretched her arm out, then angled it at her side while bringing her right arm up, defensively before her. She curled her fingers so tightly, so intensely, that she could feel her own resolved formed within her fists. Anger... rage... regret... sadness... all of it, with each breath, became less and less weighted. Tranquility transpired through the chaos, engulfing her being, wrapping securely around her like a mother's warm embrace.

"You are not I," Kawa spoke out ostentatiously as with each, slow, rhythmic breath, her spiritual energy pulsed and lashed out, her energy flowing like a coursing river, a river of absolute purity. "And while I may not know the entirety of myself... I know that I'm Nothing... Like... YOU!

"Bakudō #63. Sajō Sabaku!" Whatever action was to be made by the awakened monster, Kawa would strike first, throwing her shieldless arm outward, thin digits stretched as a golden spark of energy erupted at her fingertips. Several golden tendrils of energy sparked to life at various points, then snaked instantly around the beast, entrapping it in golden yellow bondage as the Captain then threw her shielded arm out to grasp upon the binding kido's hold with a shifting step forward. Again, her gauntlet arm was hurled toward him, a sphere of azure energy pulsating to life within her grasp.

A muttered enchantment was then spoken, both post-speaking the spell's cast and mixing two together as a bead of sweat transpired upon her brow. An immense deal of focus radiated not only from her expression, but her form as well, solidifying her stance, yet allowing it to move in gentle, calm, focused motions, as the sphere of azure energy pulsated and sparked to life. With another sliding step forward, Kawa hurled the sphere of energy toward her target, expelling a wide blast of pure, raw, spiritual energy.

"Hadō #73. Sōren Sōkatsui!!"

A tremendous, unrelenting weight pressed down upon the world around her as the cocoon cracked, igniting a spiritual force that erupted and engulfed the entirety of the island. The young Captain had attempted to hold her ground, but after merely the second pulsing wave of spiritual energy, her body was hurled through the air, unable to keep her footing, and tossed like a rag doll nearly thirty meters back. After two tumbling rolls, the woman swung her hips and shifted her weight, hurling her body in a standing position in the direction she had been tossed. A light ping of spiritual energy lit at the balls of her feet, and again at the touch of her hand as she pressed against a groundless point in mid air, then hastily adjusted her position just in time to hear the multitude of inhuman cries from the transformed shadow.

As her bangs swayed over her field of view, teal eyes widened as, just moments after a far-sounded shout, the infectious spiritual entity was upon her, and behind it, a malevolent storm cast by the very darkness within her soul. The Yonbantai-Taicho's body acted on pure instinct, lucky enough to have her shielded hand higher up to position for a quick parry of the sword strike aimed for decapitation. A sounding thud deafened her ears as the force behind the strike brought a tremble to her shield and a violent shake of her arm.

'That Zanpakuto...' Gritting her teeth and clenching her jaw, Kawa let out a shout as she snapped her hips and extended her leg, attempting to kick the shadow away and build some distance between them. Her shin hit nothing but air as, just from the corner of her eye, she spotted the crimson visor pulsating into existence, and extended her gauntlet arm out to defend.

"Kkkch," the woman winced as once more, she tried to kick a leg out, connecting briefly with an arm-risen block, but used the change to kick herself back with a powerful burst of shunpo. A splash of crimson stained the waters below as a slow pant escaped the woman's lips. Along her forearm, through her gauntlet, a gash had formed, dripping blood down to her elbow and lightly falling into the water below.

A single strike from the beast had torn so easily through her gauntlet... she couldn't let her guard drop for a single moment.

'Breathe, Kawa...'

A slow breath in and a slow breath out... her stance solidified as that crimson visor glowed brightly several meters out during their brief parting between exchanging melees. With pinched brows and eyes filled with focus, Kawa's bloodied hand griped into a tightly balled fist and threw her shielded arm out defensively before the two spiritual beings vanished from sight completely. Sounding, deafening blows cracked throughout the sky as blasts of raw spiritual energy were unleashed in extraordinary waves, Kawa attempting to hurl out spell after spell as the shadow continued to keep their battle close range, and any attempt to break off only allowed her a moment to recover before she lost him from her sight.

The Hollowfied spirit's strikes were brutal and relentless, aimed with precision though with speed beyond anything she had faced before. Such a wild tactic had forced the healer to remain on the defensive for most of the bout thus far, only managing to deter the rougher attacks while not quick enough to fully deter from the shadow's wrath. As they broke apart from yet another vicious melee, Kawa's body was riddled with wounds, her shield cracked, and a gash over her brow that flooded her right eye, leaving her with only one eye open. Panting heavily, Kawa reacted as quickly as she could, knowing that her current strategy was getting her nowhere fast. With a pulsating glow from her gauntlets, Kawa smashed her fist into the water, erecting a powerful sphere of water up from the ocean below, engulfing her body completely. Another pulse brought a second burst of energy outward, building a double-layered barrier around herself as she attempted to take the moment to catch her breath... or rather, hold it for the moment.

Within the spherical form of protective water was the very element itself. Literally sucking from the very ocean the barrier rested, a swirling, powerful current of water circulated within the barrier, infusing the very element within the young Captain's weapon and forcing both gauntlets to pulsate with each passing second. Due to the amount of time it took for her to produce this sort of technique, she felt the barrier would help to hide her true act, but with each clash of the shadow's blade, she could feel the threat of her defense breaking before she would finish.

'More... just a little bit more...'

With the rough waters continuously being pulled from below and drowning the Captain within, her breath was held to the point where her chest ached and her body tensed. Just a little longer... she just needed to hold out just a bit longer. With each generated pulse within the shield, the ocean around them began to sink as it continuously became absorbed at the doctor's command. Her lungs pleaded and trembled as she felt her throat closing; like a vacuum within her chest, the oxygen her body yearned for wouldn't be given unless she stopped trying to absorb the water, or dispelled the barrier. Just when she thought she couldn't take anymore... that she would rather drown within her own attempts at a final stand against the corruption within her soul... her eyes tightly closed... then, she heard the faint voice...

"Didn't I teach you to always breath... no matter what?"

Teal colored hues blinked open as again, she felt time slow all around her. The shadow was bashing against her barrier, calling out her name, though its voice seemed... distant. While certainly highly aggressive, his movements seemed sluggish; almost as though he were moving through a thick, dense form of liquid... and Kawa took in a breath. At first, her throat constricted against the liquid her lungs attempted to take in, coughing madly as she instinctively reached for her throat; the sudden sensation of drowning supposedly filling her with a sense of absolute fear and horror... but there was nothing. Nothing but comfort... tranquility... she could breathe. She could breathe within her own water.

And slowly, Kawa took in a deep, rhythmic breath, just as the barrier finally broke under the shadow's last strike. Those thin, blood-stained brows pinched in pure determination as she took in one final, deep breath. A tremendous wave of raw energy exploded from the Captain as the water being sucked into her gauntlets increased nearly tenfold. The ocean all around them swirled, creating a spiraling tsunami centered around the Captain herself, before shrinking and condensing within her gauntlets. Running only on pure adrenaline and a fume-filled tank, Kawa smacked her shielded arm out against the man's frozen blade and hurled a single fist straight into the Hollowfied monster's torso.

"Never wear his face again..."

Condensing every portion of absorbed spiritual energized water from her own inner world, Kawa unleashed it all into one final blast...

She gave it everything she had... and nothing less...