Paradigm Shift: Nori Haruo vs Senkaku Ningensei

The day was very cloudy. Although no rain was going to come any time soon, the wind was blowing like crazy. The heads of the trees were swayed to the side left and right, almost as in a hurricane. The very air itself roared with a blind intent as it traveled through the grassy plain, and nearby animals scrambled for cover in order to save themselves from danger. The storm was setting in.

And yet, throughout this, in the middle of the plains, there were two lone figures standing still in the distance. One was an elderly woman, wielding a cane with a blue orb on it as her standing crutch. The other was sitting cross-legged, a katana sword in his lap. The sitting one seemed to be meditating, while the old woman seemed to be looking on.

A lone figure trudged through the terrain alone, the dark green shawl it was wearing to shield it from the wind wrapped tightly around it's body. It stopped for a moment, hooded head surveying the plain slowly, before finally snapping back into attention and marching foward against the wind. A sudden updraft caused it to lose it's footing, making it slip on the already-wet grass and into the muddy ground below.

"Bullshit... Everything is bullshit... Can't go one fucking day without getting bullshitted..." it seemed to grumbled to itself, standing once again whilst whiping the mud of it's clothing.

"Hm?"

The old woman's ears perked up, and she looked in the direction of the rather coarse language in disdain. From the sound of things, it seemed like a young man was talking in such a manner. Yet, at the same time, she felt rather amused: who would dare step through such a threatening environment condition alone? Well, aside from them, of course.

It seemed to be coming towards them. She drifted her gaze towards the young man sitting in his hypnotic meditative trance. She only hoped that he would come back into the realm soon... whatever was coming could be a threat.

The young man, as his voice had identified him, paused suddenly. More people...? he echoed, the question resounding in his head more than once. More people, out here? He was supposed to find a suitable invasion point, to get all of Hell's forces in Soul Society at the same time without anyone noticing. Not find two little rats here nibbling on cheese and shitting all over the place.

Growling, he ripped his sheathed Zanpakuto off his and held in in front of him, shaded eyes glinting brightly despite the sun being blotted out by the weather as he continued towards them. An old hag and a sleeping brat. It'd be easy. Maybe he'd toy with them a little bit~!

"Well... what'd we have here?"

This bold move did not surprise the old woman any. An amused smile crossed her face, and she stood so eerily calm. "To threaten defenseless souls like us in this part of the forest..." She stated, looking over him carefully. "You're quite a cruel young man, aren't you?" She moved her walking stick...

...and gently nudged the young man behind him.

Instantly, he snapped out of his trance, eyes opening in surprise. "...Hunh...?" He muttered cluelessly, his head turning towards the old woman in confusion. "Why'd you snap me out of it...? I was close to--"

"We have company, Senkaku."

That was when Senkaku's eyes drifted towards the man in the threatening position. He did not have the same calm and rational actions that she did; he instantly sprung up to his feet, hand on the hilt of his Zanpakuto. "What do you want?" He demanded immediately, though with a tensely serenic voice and tone.

Defenseless...? Nori chuckled inwardly, amused. She called them defenseless, when obviously the boy had a blade of his own. It wasn't as if they were sickly, pale fat pigs who's stomachs were so swelled that they couldn't move on their own. Killing and eating the pigs would be nice. The Old Woman looked especially tasty.

"... Directions." he lied, continuing to march towards the Youth and the Hag. This would be easy! More so than usual if they believed him.

Immediately, Senkaku moved in front of the old lady, wasting no time in drawing his sword from his sheath. He tossed it away for the moment (much to the old lady's dismay), and raised it into a defensive stance, both hands on the hilt. "Don't you dare take another step!" He warned, voice raising in volume slightly. "What directions are you looking for?"

Nori's figure turned entirely red until it disintegrated completely, the ashes left over from his former figure scattering away in the strong winds. The silence it left them with for one long second was eerie. Then, finally, his form rematerialized behind Senkaku and the Old Woman, sword drawn. "Hallo~!"

He swung, aiming for blood.

CLANG!

But he had instead hit steel. The cold, hard steel of the boy who was now directing a hardened glare towards him. The old woman, however, did not seem to react to the sudden presence behind her, only turning her head to look at the both of them. However, she did step away slowly from them, knowing now that swords were drawn, there would be no negotiations.

"You really picked the wrong person to screw with..." Senkaku snarled, thrusting his Zanpakuto forward to push the man away.

"Oh really~?" Nori taunted, putting pressure on his right foot and tilting then moving his blade left, deflecting Senkaku's Zanpakuto upwards. Grunting, his lifted his left foot and thrusted it at the boy, sending him staggering a few feet backwards. His attention shifted to the Old Lady. "You're weird."

Landing in a crouched position, Senkaku scowled as he stood back up, a loathing acknowledgement for the man's physical strength. In response to the old woman, she sent a huff in return. "Hasn't anyone ever taught you manners, child?" She responded slyly, with a hint of indignance. "Your parents must've not paid much attention to you."

"They're dead." Nori growled. She was getting on his nerves. He'd have to kill her sometime; why not now? Using kogeru, he disintegrated once again, reintegrating above the Old Woman and swinging downward, aiming to split her in two.

"Don't take your eyes off of me!"

Once again, his path was interrupted by another body slamming into his side - or particularly, Senkaku's body. The mid-air position he was in increased the distance he went to as he flew back, away from the two. Once again, Senkaku raised his blade defensively, his expression still tense as he looked at Nori. But a more calmer aura was felt from him. Obviously, he had used that time in order to regain his nerve and attack once more.

Mud piled up and overflowed, nearly burying Nori and covering him in filth. The wind blew more of it into his eyes, and from that distance on the ground, he was pelted by tiny pieces of wood, dirt, and rock that had been picked up by the storm. Immediately, the grass around him was flattened, and a funnel of wind surrounded his crumpled figure.

Needless to say, he was not pleased.

Immediately, he appeared before Senkaku, blinding him by throwing a combination of sand, dirt, and mud into face. Angling his Zanpakuto perfectly, he lunged at his damaged eyes, aiming to impale straight through the back of his skull.

Senkaku let out a strangled shout as the debris came into his eyes. His next move was instinctive: jumping back in order to avoid what would've been a fatal blow and an early end. When he landed on his feet again, he attempted to open his eyes, but was forced to shut them again. "...very resourceful." He said vehemently in compliment to Nori.

He had to admit, the guy was pretty tactical.

Once again, Nori turned on the woman, violently, lunging at her only for a strong gust of wind to knock his sword off course and miss her completely. Frustration rose within him, making him angrier than he would normally get. He stepped closer towards her, swinging horizontally so she would not be able to sidestep.

"...you seem to want to kill me quite badly for some reason."

This time, she didn't dodge. But she did raise her walking stick off of the ground. She twisted and lifted it with not the sickly movements of an old woman, but the movements of an experienced fighter. Her cane collided with the sword, but the blade seemed to only cut halfway, lodged into the wood and stopped by something underneath. With a reverse flip of the cane, she forced his blade down to the ground. "Hmph... and I was hoping you'd be a bit kinder and play with my son for a while..." She muttered in disappointment.

His eyes regarded the old woman coldly. Son... he mulled over, wondering what he should do. It was quite obvious to him, at this point, that the old woman was more experienced than himself. In a fair fight, he would lose, obviously. So why fight her? If he killed him in front of her, it'd leave her traumatized, most likely...

"What do I get for doing so?" he prodded, stopping his agressive movements with a look of intrigue.

"Oh, nothing. You're free to do whatever you want..."

The old woman released the grip her cane had on his sword, allowing him to remove it from the ground. A smile once again donned her face, even as she looked into the cold gaze of what anyone could assume was her enemy. "After all, who am I to stop you?" She asked innocently, eyes looking over at a rather irritated son. For the moment, he had lowered his blade, but his eyes continued to glare into Nori's back distrustfully.

Nori frowned. He wanted a reward. "Then I'm free to fight you as well?" he asked innocently, leaning Nasuka on his shoulder. His cold, agitated look changed into one of whimsy. He could just go into his Demon Form and bite her head off.

The old woman shrugged her shoulders lightly. "If that's what you want."

"Mmmm... Maybe later..." Nori mumbled, stabbing his Zanpakuto into the ground while still facing the woman. It glew bright blue before turning white completely, lengthening into a barbed staff. It's spikes pricked his hands, and he relished the ability to release it without the command. He'd have to make use of it in battle sometime.

"Seiiku." he stated dully, turning his head and watching in boredom as a sturdy pine tree burst out of the ground under Senkaku.

The boy's eyes widened, and he immediately jumped onto one of the developing branches before he dived off of it in a crouching lunge, landing in an expert roll. When he came out of it, he raised one hand off of his sword, a finger pointed towards his newly found opponent. The tip of his finger glowed an eerie green.

"Cero."

Upon his command, a mighty blast of condensed, green reiatsu tore from the finger and straight at his opponent with immense power and speed.

Gripping Nasuka tightly with both hands, Nori managed an incredibly powerful over-head swing against the cero, making it explode on impact and keeping the cero from actually reaching his person. Unfortunately, that didn't protect him from the explosion. He was thrown back a considerable distance.

This was the second time Nori had been caught off guard by a cero. It reminded him of that woman. Tereya..?... The name stood alone in his head for a moment. Why was he regarding her with happiness? She had been annoying... He growled. He shouldn't have just left like that. He should have stayed. He should have asked her to dinner or something.

"Why am I so stupid!?"

The pine tree behind Senkaku sprung to life once again, growing a considerably long arm-like trunk and slamming it's prickly top into his side.

This caused Senkaku to growl in irritation, his hand meeting the spiky weapon of the tree head-on. His sword bristled in the other hand. Why did he have to summon another moving thing that attacked him onto the battlefield? It was annoying enough his solo opponent already considered him to be boring. But, he really didn't care at the moment; the man had the gall to ignore him and attack his mother, and elderly woman! Some courage there.

He swung his blade upwards. The sword, backed by his own immense strength, cut cleanly through the branch that dared to strike him.