Quiet moments

Tyler sat cross legged on the ground near a tree with his eyes closed and his breathing was deep and slow. He was dressed in a white uniform with a black belt around his waiste. In front of him was his Katana lying on a white sheet he had brought with him, the white, black and silver sheathed weapon never touched the earth only the white sheet. Even the silver crucifix that hung from the bottom of the hilt was wrapped back towards the sheath next to the handle.

Ty's hands were flat ontop of his knees and remained there not moving while he meditated. His days at the academy were numbered and he had been investigating his possible options for when he left the academy, wondering which Division he might end up in. So far the hardest division to get any information on was the Second Division, which meant he had to double his efforts to find more information.

But now, he was doing one of the things he most enjoyed, finding peace and quiet in a world of constant activity.

A light wind blew across the acadamy grounds, rustling the leaves and grass. The sun was warm, but did not beat down like it would in the harse weather. Not that it would have mattered to the snake who slithered through the grass, She loved the heat, and wouldn't have minded a bit more today. The snake of coarse, was no ordinary snake, she was a shinigami. Not many people knew that Diath could turn into a saw scaled viper, and most people in soul society who spotted her didn't stick around to ask questions.

Of course, she only looked dangerous, but her venom was useless against the people here. Humans, normal ones, were not though. But then she didn't make it a habit of biting the people she was sworn to protect. She only it people who'd live, and only to scare away those who annoyed her. Again, not a common accurance, it was usually only her brother who succeeded in pissing her off enough.

Her brother, was also her captain, and she was a vice captain, of squad 3, to be exact. An affectionate, yet dangerous girl to cross, Diath almost rivaled a weak captain in power. As a human, she was 5'9" with yellow eyes that matched her snake form. She had long brown hair, and was considered pretty, even beautiful by some. But one would also see a certain snake like quality to her face, even if they didn't notice her eyes.

The snake had no real destination in mind, she had mearly come to the academy to slither through the soft grass in the sun. But as she did, she spotted a student, sitting alone by a tree. He would be hard pressed to sense her, and seing a green snake in green grass is easier said than done, so Diath decided to pay him a surprise visit. Its not uncommon for Vice captains to surprise students, but most came on foot.

Diath slithered up to the tree soundlessly to his side, raised her head, and let out a low hiss, hopefully to startle him. She bare her fangs in a manner most snakes could not manage, it looked like the snake was grinning.

The hiss from his side had no apparent effect on him, his eyes didn't even open at first. Infact he didnt even hear the hiss his meditative trance was so deep. The wind would play with his white uniform but otherwise there wasn't even a movement from the student.

After about a minute and a half his silver eyes would slowly open and his eyes would turn to the snake and smile offering a bow of his head before turning back to the front and his eyes would close again. Not being bothered by the serpent.

Diath waited for his reaction, waited for him to jump or realise she was there, but he made no move..... She was slightly disapointed. She hissed a few more times, but he seemed to ignore her, finally looking over to smile in her direction. Diath curled up into a coil and stuck her tongue out, tasting the air before speaking.

"Really? thats your reaction? most students start screaming before they realise whats going on.... " Her voice was raspy and masculine in her snake form, most people mistuck her for male. She didn't understand why her voice was like that, of the 5 shifters she knew or heard of, all were the same.

"Are you not even a little startled by a talking snake? I mean, you dont see this every day." She said. He probably wasn't goint to react. Well, what else could she do. She hissed while thinking. She moved to be directly in front of him and raised up a little. "I wonder, have you perhaps heard of me?"

"Most students haven't lived through what I've lived through." He responded about the others screaming and running away. "And seriously do the students have that little imagination....we are beings that weild magic and have weapons that change shape due to spirits inside of them." He shrugged. "And we fight demonic entities that can be multistories tall. A talking snake is rather low on my 'wow thats weird' scale."

He opened his silver eyes and looked down at her. "As for hearing about you, perhaps if I knew a name I may have. Otherwise...no I have not heard of a snake that can talk calling this area home."

Diath hissed. "I guess you've seen allot of things then. I dont have any hope of shocking you." The man opened his eyes and answered her. Diath looked at his silver eyes and her tongue flickered. "my my, you are a pretty one. I guess it wont do any harm to introduce myself. Close those eyes back up for a second."

Diath waited for him to look away and shifted. She didn't particularly care that he could see her, she was in the middle of the grounds, people were like to notice a shapeshifting woman. Hiding behind a tree wouldn't help. As was the case with most shifters, she ended up naked when she turned back. Then her hairpin came back, she activated it, and her clothes materialised right on to her, along with a second hair clip, her zanpakuto, and several bandages that covered several wounds she'd recieved in a fight with her brother.

Her voice not that of a womans, she sat down before the student and said, "If you weren't already looking, its safe to now." She said. She looked him up and down, noticed the calm scent he gave off. "So whats got you so bound up in though? I'm Diath Xios, by the way. and you are?"

"Tyler Lomanski." He responded to her as he watched her transform, not because he was a perv, but because he was curious. "It is a pleasure to meet you Diath." He replied standing up, picking up his sword then folding up the sheet and sliding it over his shoulder and attaching the sword to his belt on his left side. He offered her a slight bow "I do not believe that I have heard of you or met you before."

He adjusted his uniform slightly straightening his shirt, a horrible looking scar on his chest appeared for a moment over his heart before the straightening covered it back up. "So what do you do around here?" He asked.

Diath stood as he did, not at all annoyed that he'd watched her change. no point being fussy, she had nothing to be ashamed of other than a few scares. One thing about her abilitiy was when she trasformed all wounds were gone, but they came back when she turned back, so she did flinch a noticably from the broken ribs on her right side, as she was standing.

"Tyler, Tyler.... Hmmm, your one of the students who's sparked quite a lot of interest around here. I heard you were a definate shoe in for a vice captain spot. No one actually said where though." She said. Normally this wasn't something a random person would know but Diath was vice captain of the 3rd squad. She was no ninja, but intelligence gathering was part of her job.

She probably would have fit just as well in the second squad, but the captain was a snake, and she didn't think they'd get on to well. Plus she could watch her brothers back. "If you haven't guessed, i'm vice captain of the 3rd squad, dont be fooled by my untraditonal garb, information is my line of work so i like to know about anyone worth knowing." Her garb was a tight leather outfit, bluegrey in color, with a leather pauldron and arm guard on her left arm. Her vice captain badge hung frrom her belt.

(check her app for a better idea of what she's wearing.)

"I had an eye on the second squads seat, but after my meeting with their Captain, it will appear that I am not very welcome in their house. So we shall see as it stands I have no home for the short or long term." He responded, "I do not know much of anything about the third." he responded when he offered a respective bow to her position when she mentions it.

"My garb isn't exactly normal either." he replied, although the white outfit was just a reversal of the normal black. "Changing into a snake is quite the interesting ability, is it something you can learn or is it a natural ability of yours?" He asked with a tilt of the head.

He moved his head a bit and his neck cracked, he had been in a slightly uncomfortable position and he had to work out a kink in his neck.

Diath nodded. "It went that bad huh? Dont be surprised, I've heard he's the most likable person." She said. "I'm not surprised, the 3rd isn't the best choice foe people who like to fight, or are inteligent. We're spys, we gather intel. No one realises how dangerous it is, actually, they think all the fun is to be had in the second." She said.

Diath considered his next question, thinking back to how she discovered her ability. It was about 5, 6 years ago now. She wasn't sure about temida, but she'd learnt it herself. "Its something you can learn, I guess. I mean, look at Yoruichi Shihōin, she could turn into a cat, not unlike my brother. I think thats how he learnt to do it. But my ability came natually, and it came with benefits."

Those benefits were increased hearing, smell and taste, fangs in human form when she wanted, the ability to see heat, super fast relexes and the flexability that allowed her to twist up into a ball if she wanted, although not exactly a common use.

"Yeah im getting to understand that about him," he responded. "But meh his loss." he shrugged. "Gathering information and 'spying' im only guessing is even more dangerous then what the Tenth does."

He looked her over carefully. "Does it hurt when you change? did it when you changed the first time?" He nods listening to her carefully. "Yeah special abilities appearing seemingly out of nowhere is something I am used too. Maybe you can talk to your brother about perhaps teaching me how to change like that?" He asked hopefully.

"Is there anyone else in the captains that I should avoid?" Maybe if he got the information now he could avoid a repeat of what happened.

Diath shrugged. "Only if you get caught. I've never been caught though." She said slyly. She shook her head at the next question. "Not at all, its pure magic really, even my wounds vanish when i change. I can ask him but he might not be able to teach you, i think he'd have figure it out on his own if he didn't find that book. The ability seems to run in the family, out younger siblings can do it too."

Diath though about it for a couple of seconds, but there was no one she could really think of. "The only person that comes to mind is the captain of the 6th. I've heard nothing bad about him, but considering he's the head of internal affairs, he's someone you want to be careful around. I'm not an expert but i've done my research on all the captains and vice captains, from the captain commander to Jensen reinhart of the 13th." Diath said.

Diath streached and yawned, her ribs giving off a twinge of pain. Despite the pain, she was full of energy, she smiled at Ty. "How about we get some excercise. I'd like to see what you can do in a fight, if your up for it."

-thread closed, continued in the challenge between Ty and Diath-