Let the fighting commence!

The silence of the empty plains was all that greeted the Quincy Emperor Alexander II of the Ekkehardt clan. He had foregone wearing his cloak today, feeling it would only slow him down as he escaped his bodyguards. His grey Vandenreich uniform fluttered slightly as a gust of wind swept past him, ruffling his hair as it went. He had long since foregone wearing a Cross, finding them too much of a liability, and so had trained himself to be able to summon his spirit weapon without it, allowing him to be armed even without the recognizable Cross in his possession. Grass crunched under his feet as he moved. He had no intention of letting himself be attacked without a means to defend himself, not that his skills in the physical arts were lacking, but having a weapon in one's hand had a way of making oneself feel more secure.

Stepping out of a senkaimon, Lanying Baozhai, captain of 11th division and known as the Kenpachi, the strongest swords woman in all of Seireitei, was met with a grassy plain, as well as a man she had never seen before. Her haori blew in the wind, revealing her rather skimpy shihakusho which left her most of her stomach open, as well as her shoulders. Her zanpakuto could not be seen anywhere on her person.

She would blink at the man and rummage around in her right sleeve until she pulled out a small notepad, as well as a pen. She flipped it open to the nearest blank page and would write out a simple greeting, hoping that this being meant no harm.

"Hello." was all that was written out on her notepad.

Ekkehardt frowned at the Shinagami's sudden appearance. He was unaware of who this person was, and his skills in the spiritual arts was sorely lacking, but even from here he could feel the power rolling off of her. He watched as she raised a notepad and wrote a single word upon it and raised it up for him to see. Did this reaper take him for a fool? He would not let his guard down in the presence of her kind. But he would be slow about this. To rush would be foolhardy, better to let your opponent make the first move. "Hello to you, Shinigami. What brings you here to this quiet place? A desire to get away, perhaps? Or is it battle you seek? I know not your motivation, but if you seek conflict, know that it shall be returned in equal measure."

His lips twitched upward into something reminiscent of a smirk before it returned to its downturned position. Alexander's right hand relaxed by his side, but made no other movement, waiting to see what the woman would do next.

The young looking woman would shake her head at the man's question. She would write on her notepad again on why she was here. "Seireitei detected high reiatsu in the area. Sent me to investigate." These sentences would take up two of her blank pages as she showed them to the man. She had hoped she wouldn't have to fight. Despite her being the Kenpachi of Seireitei, she hated to fight. For good reason.

But if she was forced into it, she would be ruthless. She had remembered to bring her zanpakuto, which was currently tucked away in the left sleeve of her haori, which had been customized to still be able to flex even with her zanpakuto within it's confines.

She looked to the man with her blank stare and would write out another simple phrase in her notepad. "Who are you?"

He had stared at her silently for a moment, taking in her written words. Finally a chuckle escaped him, "You were sent to investigate a powerful signature and yet you have not the slightest idea what it might be, do you?" Alex shook his head in wonder, chuckling all the while. After settling down, he stared at her with his cold dark-blue eyes piercing her from where he stood, as if measuring her by some unknown scale before shaking his head in dismissal. "You are not worth my time, little Shinigami, but I find myself bored, so I will indulge your curiosity, this time."

He did a sweeping bow, "My name is Alexander von Ekkehardt, and I am blessed to be the Emperor of the mighty Vandenreich. I am Quincy, and you, little Shinigami are my prey." With that he flourished his hand and a gold and silver bladed broadsword appeared in his hand. He held it aloft before him. "Let us see what you are made of, Reaper."

Actions:

She heard the man chuckle and belittle her. She showed no reaction to this and listened as he introduced himself. She would write one more thing down in her notepad, a simple introduction of her name and rank. "I'm Lanying Baozhai. 11th Captain of the Gotei."

Upon finishing the introduction she would place her notepad back into her haori sleeve and reach into her left one to pull out her zanpakuto. A rather basic Jain, rather than the normal katana. She would unsheath it and remove her haori, tossing it aside to let it blow away, towards the man.

Sensing that this man meant harm to her, she decided to take the initiative and, using the distraction of her haori blowing towards him and blocking his vision, attempt to use shunpo to get behind him and slash her blade at his back.

Actions:

Sensing the strike, Alexander merely hardened his skin by way of Blut Vene, letting the attack roll of his back with only a faint patter showing where the attack had attempted to cut. He twisted his head to look sideways at the captain, "Was that supposed to do something? Let me show you a real attack." And with that he spun around and slashed right back, using his superior speed as well as his mastery of the weapon to full advantage.

Actions:

Her face would grow a frown as her attack was blocked, a rare thing as she was usually pretty well matched when it came to speed but her sheer power would win out. But that was not the case with this...Quincy Emperor.

She would pull her blade up along her side and attempt to block the attack, hoping that her own mastery of the blade would keep her safe. She didn't need any more scars than she already had.

Alexander merely raised an eyebrow as the woman blocked his blow. He then began send his reiatsu through his blade, the golden half lighting up slowly as it began to charge. He had no reason to speak to the woman any longer, words only have a place in battle when the other is in a position to lose or could lose their cool. Neither applied now. Sensing an opening, Ekkehardt then threw his right leg out, kicking at her chest.

She let out a low grunt as her opponents kick connected with her chest and sent her flying backwards. She was only able to stay standing due to sheer luck as well as her own skill, however just barely. She could feel that she was outclassed in this battle and would to do something drastic, a feat she rarely does.

She held her zanpaktuo level with the ground and, gripping it tightly, would finally speak. "Return, Yan!" Her voice was calm and mellow, quiet even and barely audible. But it was enough for her zanpakuto as it was released. After she spoke the release phrase, a storm of leaves came out of nowhere and enveloped the captain. The leaf storm only lasted a few seconds before dissipating and Lanying now held a rather large guandoa.

The blade was about a foot long, the large pole that made up it's handle being 6 feet. The guard was rather basic, but was in the shape of a bird's head, it's mouth opening up to the blade. From just below the guard hung a large green ribbon that seemed to blow when there was no wind.

Now she was serious. She only released her zanpakuto with the intention to kill, which was rare for her despite her position as Kenpachi.

Actions:

Ekkehardt shook his head, his opponent was already using her first release, and he was still raring to go. He had foregone charging his blade in favor of kicking, but now his power was surging through. He could only speculate what she could do with her new blade, although if the appearance of those leaves was any indication, they would probably play a part. A smirk appeared on his face as his looked upon his desperate opponent. He had no doubt she was skilled with it, as a captain of the 11th Division was presumed required to be, but that did not mean she was a match for him.

Actions:

For the first time in ages, her face was showing an emotion. It was an emotion she hated to show. It was hatred and anger. Her eyes were no longer their blank stare, but instead were cold and steely and her tiny mouth was locked in a slight frown.

Noticing that this...Quincy Emperor...wasn't going to do anything, she would grab the long green ribbon and untie it from the guandoa. Upon it's removal, it would turn into a torrent of leaves number up to 1000. She would then send all of the leaves towards him, taking advantage of his stalling.

Actions:

Ekkehardt frowned as the woman's demeanor changed, showing her resolve to fight. He had of course expected that she at some point would lose her cool, but she was far from wild in her anger, as she gathered hundreds of leaves around her before launching them at him. He was deliberate in his movements, and in a flash of speed he quickly outmaneuvered the approaching leaves, and with only a piece of cloth left behind for them to tear apart as his afterimage remained where he was once standing. He used the opportunity to appear behind Lanying and swing his blade at her back, glowing a molten gold from the light stored within. He hoped she blocked it, as his weapon's power was so great that it damaged even a released Zanpakuto upon repeated contact.

Actions:

Site Rules: Posting Conduct wrote:

2.   You only have 36 hours to respond to a fighting topic before forfeiting your turn.

When no response came, Alexander's blade cut from Lanying's right shoulder to left hip, leaving a burning trail as it did so. He frowned at her lack of response, having expected better of the captain. "If you will not fight to your fullest, know I shall do the same." But he would not let himself become complacent, as one hit does not necessarily mean a victory. And so with that in mind he twisted the blade in his hand until the gold edge was facing upward at a northeastern angle before swinging it towards the woman's back again, intent on deepening the wound on her back.

Actions:

(OOC: I apologize for the lack of response. Family business came up and I forgot about this fight. As I have no way to defend against your attack Ekk, I humbly admit defeat. Please forgive my lack of a response. *respectfully bows*)

OOC: My only regret is that we weren't able to see it to its conclusion. It was fun while it lasted, so thanks for the fight.