[BSD-RP] Soul Society: Southeast Seireitei

[BSD]

Masked by nearby constructs and buildings, various individuals that served the Second Division roamed the entire courtyard squads. The actual members of said division were currently in attendance elsewhere, associates still had to be around should anyone dare infiltrate or unauthorized to come. They moved in utter transparency; movement in nearby trees, buildings. The sound of their footwork was one with the wind that gently picked up throughout the vacant courtyard. Though members of this division were absent, two wanderers, rather fellow Shinigami not apart of this squad had made themselves known. Two of them, in fact. They were observed from a distance, countless eyes laid upon them to where these Shinigami could “feel” that they’re being watched. Like a peeping-tom, though there were many, they continued to move closer. Treading undetected as they’re known to do so, they listened to the introductions of the two trespassers, one of them anyway. Suddenly, the myriad of detected entities had emerged from the shadows and buildings that surrounded the two Shinigami. Yes, these were in fact the members of the Covert Ops that operated underneath the Second Division for generations.

This sudden assemble made them circle around the two abruptly, some scattered throughout the rest of the courtyards on the rooftops. There were about a dozen of these men that stared down the members of Squad Thirteen. Refraining from hostile intent based on their reasons of stepping foot in the courtyard, the men closed in on them just a bit, but kept a reasonable distance. To the left of the duo from the Thirteenth Division, one of the members of this Stealth Force stood out; the rest had most of their faces covered. This one, however stood out and his existence was more vibrant than the rest. It seemed they would get an answer out of him as he walked forward.
"Hold it! This area is strictly off limits regardless of your reasoning of being here. We are given orders to remain on guard and patrol the courtyard.. And await until further notice.” He paused, and thought just what exactly was the order given? He sure as hell didn’t know, only following orders without a second thought; such is his duty as a member of the Covert Ops. Suddenly, a recap of what the male from the Thirteenth Division had said made this brown hair individual look at him with a puzzled look. “Hold on...Vines..?” He couldn’t comprehend this for some reason, yet he did not know where to begin his response as an answer, surely they could read his obliviousness. Perhaps he simply did not know, or perhaps he simply did not want to tell anyone that isn’t among them or given an order to tell. Meanwhile, only a couple of these men that patrolled the rooftops of this courtyard had went to the direction of the Maggot’s Nest. There’s only two people that could be well-informed of the matter and to report to thus far; Xiaolin who was given direct order by Captain Makuro to ensure everyone’s safety, and Captain Makuro himself. But what of the latter’s whereabouts? Should these here masked individuals turn the two Shinigami away and if so, would they leave with an answer not given?

 

[BSD]

Like the oblivious bunch they were, even the seated officers had yet to understand what’s going on. After the monk had called forth the fellow seated officers, he expected them to have not have the slightest idea on the matter. He expected more from the Fifth Seat however, given her duties as the inner corps leader. Much to his surprise, though not noted, Xiaolin tried to piece together the puzzle, he didn’t like being in the dark whatsoever. Whispers among the crowded division had continued about, just after Sakiko had stated briefly on what she may have known. The Third Seat was not pleased with this response, but there was no need to make more of the problem in her response. The inner corps is the division out of the rest of the Covert-Ops known to carry out their tasks in relaying information diligently, but there was no lie in her or no secrets that she withheld, from what he could see. These whispers from the lower seated members grew a bit louder to the ear; they wondered how long they’d be kept here, how can they lax, and just how long they’d keep the prisoners away. They had all the space they needed to relax and take a breath; this area was expanded on for purposes just like this should a problem arise.
The thick layer iron door pulled open from its closed frame as Xiaolin and possibly the rest of them turned their heads in that direction. There were two members of the Covert-Ops that effortlessly made their way to the Commander of this Detention Unit and his companions. Covered from head to toe, their black clothing enveloped their entire face except their eyes, keeping their identities safe. “Sir. We have a situation in the courtyard of the Second Division, spoken in a masculine tone. This peaked Xiaolin’s interest as he grew disquiet on the matter. His light brown eyes looked at the individual who spoke first, nodding to have them continue on. “ We have two members of the Thirteenth Division in the Second Division courtyards. They insist we provide them with answers. ”
The monk squinted at the masked man. “ Answers, hm? Answers about what? Explain yourself.” The masked individual looked Xiaolin right in the eyes, a big mistake should one wish to misguide him with information. The Third Seat’s eyes seeped through the bloke’s soul with such an expressionless face that he always had. “ They seek answers as to why there were more members of the Stealth Force at many of the other squad’s Division Grounds, including their own. They mention most of our members had been devoured or killed by mysterious vines .” An immediate quirk of Xiaolin’s left brow went up, his expressionless face went to a more puzzled one. It couldn’t be, maybe it was a coincidence. The latter recalled the Lieutenant of the First Division being capable of such a feat, spoken of throughout the entire Gotei 13. Come to think of it, he had an odd feeling on the matter prior to leading his fellow members to the Maggot’s Nest. The Monk had pieced some of the puzzle together just now. There’s clearly something going on and if it was such great urgency, the Captain and Lieutenant of the Second Division would’ve made it known to them all.
He looked at the two seated officers next to him, following a deep sigh. “One problem after another” The two messengers awaited for a response; “ Sir. Your orders?” Not even giving them the attention, his eyes were settled on his two comrades. “Captain Mukuro may very well be hiding something from us. We may have been given an order to stay here, but that was specifically for the lower ranking members below us, it’s why I called you both up here. Should you wish to stay with them, that’s fine. I’ll go see what’s going on myself up there.” The monk couldn’t have been more clear, it was time the seated officers caught on to some clues left for them. Would they be breaking a direct order? Or should they remain behind further prove how clueless they were? Or is the Third Seat taking unauthorized action for a simple misunderstanding? Xiaolin had already made up his mind, he simply awaited an answer from the two.

 

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Sakiko would have returned the sixth seat's bow with a respectful one of her own she wasn't one for being rude after all she was taught better than that. It was after the quite girl had joined them that she would have given her meager explanation for her lack of knowledge and noted that it wasn't just her that was frustrated with how absolutely little that she knew. She didn't have long to dwell on it however with the sound of the door opening into the room even over the sound of the disgruntled murmurs around them she turned to look at the omniotsue that joined them. She noticed the adiobile hush that came over some of the ones in the crowd. The seated were not the only ones that had noticed the entrance and in a group of assassins, most of them knew how powerful information could be. She folded her arms across her chest caught between the need to know and want to ask them to keep the information between just them, she didn't want there to be a panic and the look on the returning men told her that the news could do just that.
She didn't voice her concerns however she didn't want to delay the information knowing that it had to be something important. She listened intently to what they had to say and her large yellow eyes widened at the information. Plants. If plants where attacking then she knew the same information that Xoilin did and that had to be the work of the lieutenant of the first division though she knew something that Xoilin likely didn't thanks to the reports of the messengers. Her eyes would dart up to him wondering if she should keep the information to herself or if it would only concern him more. Then again their lieutenant was a capable girl despite the airheaded nature. She knew the girl could take care of herself and likely was doing so. For now, she wouldn't raise any flags when they had their own problems to deal with in the form of more people with fewer answers then them themselves.
She wasn't sure if going to meet them would be a wise idea. They were supposed to remain in maggots nest wheren't they or was Xoilin right? Was that only for the lower members? She had her doubts about that, if that was the case wouldn't they know more about all of this and exactly what was going on. Still being stuck in such a crowded place didn't exactly sit all that well with her and the eyes that were on them were making her more and more nervous. She gave a nod to Xoilin that she would be joining him and her eyes would move to Fujioko wanting to know if she would be joining them as well.

 

[BSD]

Though it was a relief that she was not the only one in the dark, it was still quite the annoyance that there were no answers to be found even with the seated members. Continuing to observe the situation while still partially facing Xioalin, bright eyes bounced around from person to person. Though there was still unease heavy in the air, it seemed the squad members were slowly beginning to steady their nerves and pay closer attention to their situation. Unsure of what to do or say herself at the moment she remained quiet and simply stood guard in her own way. A negative word about their Captain and second in command never left the lips of a single member, but the sounds of irritated discord was starting to rise up around her. She found no reason to interfere with them simply blowing off some steam. There was no talk of disobeying their orders or doing anything else stupid or reckless, and with no disrespect toward the seated members the exchanges seemed harmless enough. As well as potentially helpful. Let them stew for a little while and calm would reign over them once again. In fact, if it weren't for her position she supposed she might be grumbling right along with them. The entire ordeal was so strange it was impossible to not wonder what in the world was going on.
Still paying close attention to the happenings around her she was almost startled by the door opening, the feel of the new arrivals reaching her as soon as they had entered the cave. Turning to look to them, hoping they would have news, she waited silently as they approached the Third Seat. If possible, she was all the more at attention now as the one man spoke. Eyebrows knitted in confusion at what they had to say. They provide them with answers? They hardly had any of their own, what were they supposed to say to anyone else? And why would they be coming here to ask? An ominous feeling stirred up in her as she continued to listen.

She knew, at least, what the vines meant. Or at least their source, which could only be from the right hand of the First Division. But why? Her usually smiling face began to grow grim as she heard more and more. What was happening? Why were they being locked away? Head turning quickly with attention as the Third began to speak to her and the Fifth Seat, she blinked for a moment at his words. His eyes made it obvious there was more than just a 'do whatever you choose', though it was unclear to her exactly what he wanted from her. Instinct spurred her to wish to go with him to investigate. Obviously something big was happening and it felt wrong for her to be locked away and useless to the higher ups in their Division. She had a gnawing feeling they were in some sort of trouble themselves, and staying here did no one any good. Besides that, however indirectly, it did sound like an order. Or at least, she supposed, that was how she was going to take it. Giving a quick bow she nodded her head in affirmation once she had straightened. She was ready to go and ready to follow him, to see what was happening outside of this cave.

 

[BSD]

Katsuo moaned. Why were shinigami always so by the book? If they took things out of context only sometimes and went out of the ordinary or expected, maybe some of them would live just a while longer. Oyama moved closer to the barracks and an onmitsukido member finally showed themselves, Katsuo flash stepped toward Oyama to stop her from moving further as they had told the two members of squad 13 they were in an area that they weren’t really allowed to be in. Of course he knew that… but he thought this was really important. They didn’t know about the random members around everyone else’s barracks nor the vines that ensnared and killed them? Maybe his hunch that not every member was behind whatever was going on was a good one.
“Yes, Vines… This is a deeper situation that calls for cooperation between squads and a little bit of investigation… I’ve only come in good intention to help in any way I can. I’ve had a hunch that not all members of squad two are behind whatever is happening, it could be some of your division have become traitors to the seireitei. I really, REALLY don’t want all of you imprisoned for the acts of a few bad apples…. Just explain the situation so we can help, it’s all we ask!”
He knew how that felt. Being thought of as a traitor because some of the group did a very bad thing. It happened all the time, that saying a few bad apples spoil the whole bunch… it was usually everywhere. Shinigami… or at least most of the noble ones, think themselves superior to humans in every way, but to Katsuo, after studying humans and spirits, in all shapes sizes and personalities, they were all so much alike, he couldn’t differentiate between the two. They both made choices… whether it was a bad choice or a good one, determined what type of person or shinigami they were. Despite being brash and brazen, Katsuo was a soul that looked at both sides of the road before crossing.