(closed match? Sparring amongst the Espada!)

The black haired youth entered out into the ... was it a courtyard perhaps? Seeing as this was 'Las Noches' castle, the illuminated internal area of the place had to be a 'courtyard'.

Merrow lazily yawned as he shuffled about. Really, it was boring around here in Las Noches when war was raging, especially when being forcibly recalled. He could have been out on the frontlines slaughtering with glee ... but nope, almost all the other Espada were called to duty. And he, having already enjoyed a massacre a short time ago, was kept back from engaging the enemy.

This deprival of battle really put an extreme damper on his mood, as he was no longer wishing out to seek out mayhem ... or even a practical joke or two. No, he instead shuffled about in the sun-shine filled desert, sloughing his feet in the wind sand as he grumbled bitterly to himself.

It wasn't even a few minutes out that he just decided to collapse on the sand and perhaps ... take a tan? Then again, he would never tanned despite being out here in the sun for hours, as it was literally an artificial one. That didn't mean it provided heat, so creating a nice warm 'blanket' of thermal rays that mostly were deflected by his choice of clothing(standard arrancar uniform).

"Bwwwwwwaaaah!! Why can't I go out and kill some damned shinigami?!" he mentally bawled in tantrum-like manner, while sighing heavily in reality.

OOC:(Crappy post to start out with, but will get better as we go. "Tan" is Jubei's playful manner of saying the suffix "san", in case you did not know.)

A creature clad in a grey cloak shuffled through the halls of Las Noches, in a careless, unassuming manner. Each step filled with the embodiment of his persona, a jovial and carefree waltz that carried the figure from and to uncertain destinations. There was an overly capricious air, which seemed to attach itself to this being resonating with a presence full of curious contentment. Walking at an excruciatingly slow pace, the cloaked figure changed direction, moving into what appeared to be a courtyard. There he stood silently for a few short moments before beginning his movement once again, heading toward the vague shadow of a person collapsed on the sand. Upon reaching twenty feet exactly from the black haired youth, the cloaked figure pointed his forefinger toward him, firing a Bala at his general direction. The green bullet of condensed reiatsu leapt from his fingertip, blowing through the air incredible speed, aimed for the youth’s chest.

”Hey, Hey, Hey. W~hy the gloomy, bored look? Certainly, there is something to do around he~~~re. Little Merrow-tan, why not play with meeeee.”

Dramatically loud words echo across the sands through a remarkably silly pitch. The Bala was but a harmless prank intended only as a friendly gesture, though in this man’s case those usually turned out to be brutal. Reaching up for the cloak hood, he pulled off the whole thing, and with a quick heave, tossed it to the side. This revealed an adult male in his mid twenties, with milky white skin and hair, the latter of which was extremely wavy and styled in a messy fashion. His appearance gave the impression of quite the good-humored fellow, having eyes that were habitually closed, a carefree grin plastered to his face, and cheerful expression. He wore a long mandarin-style Arrancar jacket, black sash, white hakama, and black and white boots.

Upon reaching that distance of twenty feet did Merrow notice the man. Evven though his own pesquisa would have picked him up a little bit sooner(though not by much), he had paid little attention to the 'alarms' blaring in his head that another arrancar was approaching. But now that the young-looking arrancar had noted the appearance of that person, another Espada no less, he immediately sprung into the air with a loud screech befitting a banshee.

His leap into the air took him out of the trajectory of the bala, thus avoiding the sudden blast moments before it came slamming to where had just been laying. Not that it mattered, as he gathered free-flying reishi particles to gather around his feet to form a platform that he could kick off from. And kick off he did, combined with a midway sonido to become a human cannonball.

While letting out a high-pitch squeal of joy, and flying forward at the unusually sudden speed of nearly 120 mph or perhaps a bit less, Merrow flew forward with all intents and purposes to tackle the Espada into the sand. This move, colloquially dubbed the 'Miuzerra cannonball', was something that all Espada had probably felt ... as youthful Merrow always launched himself at sudden ridiculous speeds all in the name of a compassionate tackle.

Of course, he had never tried to tackle Jubei before ... but there was a first time for everything, wasn't there?

He had desired for the humans to learn from the mistakes made in the past, becoming stronger, and more defined creatures. However, it appeared too much to ask as they had only succeeded in repeating their foolish mistakes repeatedly throughout the ages of history. They did so, without learning from those who came before them, their ancestors, predecessors, even prominent figures of the long-ago. Though it was shameful, seemingly to be very deep a thought, Jubei truly did not care. He remained as jovial and lighthearted as always, despairing not one single bit while pondering these thoughts. The only part that troubled him was the woman, for them, no matter what race or species were the same in his view. The closest to divine as anything could get. So naturally, the thought of their bodies being injured gave a dark, shadowy feeling. Horrid it was nothing could help such a thing since even the invasion on earth did not help change humans hardly any. Well, at least as far as he knew.

Force smacked Jubei hard back into reality when the youthful Espada, Merrow, launched toward him with a midway sonido letting out a high-pitched squeal, while travelling at some one hundred and twenty miles per hour.

“Eh?”

The only word that came from his mouth, as Merrow tackled him onto the ground and sand, crashing into it with incredible force. The force skidded Jubei across the ground, leaving a body print where he had been dragged, his hierro absorbing most of the shock though there was still some pain… Somewhere in between the impact to the ground and the moment, he stopped moving, he had been separated from Merrow during that time. A few feet away, he stumbled to his feet, and said with an utterly ridiculous grin plastered to his face,” ni~~~ce one, you got me th~~ere,” he retorted with ”buu~~uuut,” he shouted. With an immense movement of speed, a sonido with no second of hesitation, he appeared directly above the location, which his fellow Espada was. Palm outstretched, light blue reiatsu formed over his hand, condensing into a powerful Cero blast that was then released toward the youth. The Cero was massive and powerful, yet there was more than enough time to dodge the burst, even without sonido. Jubei had left a great deal of time in between his words and actually firing the Cero. ”Mine is better.” All was a prank to him, the Cero included.

Merrow's gleeful greenish eyes looked up, as he calmly sat there from after the impact with the largest grin he had ever mustered. If he were some other mammal that possessed a tail, no doubt that tail of his would be wagging without end.

His innocent gaze then looked up into the blue ball of destructive energy that crackled above his head.

"Mu?!" he calmly asked aloud, in his quizzical manner, a foolish and childish one at that. He didn't even clearly register that Jubei was intending on firing a Cero at near-point blank. No ... he didn't even REGISTER that this blue ball WAS a cero. The only thing that he recognized was Jubei ... and as much as he hated the fact that this man was both the strongest and the weakest of the Espada, he was so overjoyed to see a fellow arrancar still here in Las Noches that he didn't give a hoot that the man was trying to 'kill' him.

Actually, he cannoballed Jubei ... AGAIN. Although a close range tackle was not as powerful as his long distance, trans-continental ballistic shot. Rather, he jumped up, despite being extremely short in comparison to Jubei, high enough and with enough momentum to attempt to latch himself onto Jubei in a friendly childish gesture of embracing. Really, he acknowledged Jubei as his elder ... so, perhaps that was the cause of his next words!

"Jubei-nii-san! I'm so happy to see you!!!!" he cried out with a compassionate bawl that was further emphasized when he tackled and hugged the Decima. And from the sudden moment he jumped up while the Cero was slowly discharged meant that, at the last moment, he leapt forward and out of harm's way ... by glomping the older Espada.

And now he was dangling there, as his short stature would not permit him to hug and have his feet on the ground. But he, like an innocent child, continued to embrace the sibling-like 'friend' of his.

OOC:(Pathetic, I know. I have no drive, no inspiration, no motivation, and it seems I am in a rut I cannot climb out of, only sink further and further down, only to get worse. Well, maybe the fight will pump me up, who knows. *frown*)

They say that children are the cruelest, evil of all creatures. This certainly had some truth at least; their innocence allowed them the shelter of mind to do truly horrid things. That applied to this youth, who did not seem to realize that the Cero fired only moments ago was bearing down on his location. Now that he thought about it, it did not seem the boy even registered the entire event at all. Tackling seemed to be all that Merrow did during the entirety of Jubei’s own appearance. Actually, he had tackled Jubei again, consequently avoiding the Cero in the same breath. In response to the tiny Espada hanging off and hugging him, Jubei simply replied. “Heh. You are energetic as always, are you not, eh, shorty?”

OOC: Okay ... that's it. Enough berating yourself, Ashura!! Good lord, no matter how long or short or detailed or sparse or compacted or fleeting your posts are, no matter what characteristic your writings may have or lack. There IS NO DENYING THAT THEY ARE EXCEPTIONAL POSTS NONETHELESS. Stop criticizing yourself! Geez! I mean, a bit of pessimism and humility is all right, but ease up, please?)

IC:
The small tuft of black hair twitched during the embrace. The all so sudden mention of the 'taboo' word had jolted Merrow harshly back into the reality of this situation. His glee had faded, his smile twisted, his eyes twitched as though he were falling asleep, nerves in his mind sent off all sorts of alarm signals. And slowly, he let go off the ocne tight grip he had, and plopped onto the ground.

"Did ... he ... no ... he did not just ... call me ... 'short'?! No ... no ... no no no .... nonononononononononononono!!!!!!' his mind screamed aloud reminscient of some banshee, as his face slightly convulsed ... his grin turning into a forced toothy smile. The youthful arrancar calmly picked himself up, brushing off whatever sand had gotten onto his outfit, and calmly took a few steps away from Shishigami.

To him, the day that had become unbearably bright ... clouded instantly. The white sand held a darkened tinge, the joy that had been present had rotted away, the omnipresent smile giving way to forced gesture, his springing steps turned into light stamps into the ground. Blue skies turned grey, white castles held blemishes. Or so the world appeared in the mind of Merrow, whose nearing to unrestrainable fury tampered with his ability to rein his reiatsu.

"Jubei-nii-san ... I have something really important to tell you.

I.

AM.

NOT.

A SHORTY!!!!"

His voice had initially been a sing-song voice, although with a dash of venemous tones in there as the words were forced out. And eventually, the sing-song charm gave way to feral growling ... which gave way to a primal roar, backed up with a sudden blur of movement.

Although he had every intention to injure the Decima, a 'bastard' in his own opinion as this man held a unique rank that Merrow had always despised due to bad relations before ..., and while Merrow was sailing through the air with absolutely ludicrous speed and force. And his leg extended out in a flying high point 'side' kick, that was aimed right for the face of Jubei.

The total amount of damage, if this kick landed, was going to be VERY minimal ... truely more for a comedic effect, had Merrow been planning one. But no, his mind was frazzled at the moment that all he could think of was lashing out immediately in response to the user of the taboo word.