Two women walked toward the west gate.
"Are you sure about this?" the smaller one whispered to the older one.
"Yes, this is what we must do. We have spent all this time preparing, we cannot waste time going through a tedious academy. We know we are strong. We know we can excel. They will only believe us if we show them. You remember the plan?"
"Yes."
As the two approached the giant that guarded the gate, the taller one cried out,
"Jidanbo! Gatekeeper! We need to have an audience with a Captain. Will you give them this message or must we defeat you in battle to be let in?"
"Huh?" the giant looked down at the women and shook his head.
"No one comes in."
"So you refuse to deliver a message?"
"Jidanbo has never been asked to give messages. Jidanbo doesn't know if he is allowed. Jidanbo isn't allowed inside the Gate so he thinks not."
"Jidanbo, can you lift the gate and let us deliver this message," the taller woman held up a scroll, "Or must we defeat you?"
"No one comes in. You must defeat me. But that is a good joke! Two little girls defeating Jidanbo! Ha Ha! You are funny!" The gatekeeper let out raucous laughter.
"I pray, Gatekeeper, that you do not judge us based on appearance. Does this mean that you accept our challenge?"
"Yes, little girls. Be careful that you don't die. I don't want to kill you."
"We are not helpless little girls, Jidanbo. Please be warned."
"Are you ready?" the tall woman turned to her companion.
"Yes."
"Hurry little girls, I'm waiting for your first strike."
"As you wish Gatekeeper."
The smaller woman pulled a short sword out of her sleeve and the older woman slid off her Kimono to reveal a tight black qipao that cut off at the knee, black leggings cover her legs and a white belt held on a long raper-like blade. She drew the sword from it's sheath and held the cold metal to her lips whispering,
"Raikou-Touzoku be with me." Her companion held her blade's hilt to her forehead whispering,
"Iryujon-no-kiri let us fight."
In an instant they were upon the behemoth. Jidanbo only had an breath to draw his axes and block the first attack launched by the older woman. He felt a stabbing pain in his right heal. Looking down he saw a slash from the younger one's short blade. He roared with pain.
"You tricked me! You are warriors!"
"Did we ever say we weren't? We even warned you." the younger one said as she dashed to the giant's other leg. Jidanbo dug his cleaver into the ground narrowly missing the girl but effectively blocking her path. But the next thing he knew the older one slashed above his eye. It was a shallow cut but she had never meant it to be deep. The gash started gushing blood, blinding the giant in one eye. The more he rubbed at the blood the more came out. Both women lept back away from the giant for a moment.
"I don't think I can seal all of him." the younger one panted out.
"just get his weapons, that will be enough to disable him."
The pair jumped apart again and the elder ran at Jidanbo. He came down with one cleaver and the woman jumped and pushed off of the top of the giant weapon rocketing herself higher to Jidanbo's head. The moment the woman was clear the younger one pulled back one arm from her sword as if it was a bow. Two fingers extended from her back hand and she whispered a chant,
"Give the chains of the hell hounds a new grasp, out of the earth make bonds of iron. Bakudo 34." she lowered the blade of her weapon so it pointed at Jidanbo's wrist the sphere of light around her fingertips shot down the length of the blade and became larger finally hitting Jidanbo's wrist, chaining it with light to the ground.
"What?" Jidanbo screamed, "Why can't I move my wrist! Why?" he pulled at his arm dropping his other ax. The young girl pulled back and whispered again,
"Encase with steal that which should be taken, let the walls be of iron. Bakudo 12." the spell shot again through the sword becoming magnified and encased the other ax within green walls. Jidanbo turned to see his ax out of reach and sealed away. He screamed with rage at being weaponless.
The taller woman whispered in his ear.
"You had forgotten about me." and held the blade of her sword to his throat. She was perched on his shoulder hanging on to his ear.
"One move and I could slit your throat." Jidanbo nodded, his eyes rolled back to try to see her. The woman on the ground shouted up at Jidanbo.
"Do you accept your defeat and will you open the gate as according to your code?"
"Y-Yes!" Jidanbo's Adam's apple rose to brush by the blade edge.
"And do you agree to not harm us when we let you go?"
"Yes! J-Jidanbo will open the gate and not hurt the warrior women. Jidanbo promises!"
"Alright." the tall girl removed her sword and slid it back into it's sheath. She gracefully jumped down and landed in front of Jidanbo. She grabbed her kimono from the ground and slid it back on. The younger girl slowly approached Jidanbo's ankles where she had cut him. A light emanated around her hands as she hovered over the cuts. They quickly healed over.
"Jidanbo, lift me to your face." she said kindly. The giant did so and she quickly healed the cut above his eye. Jidanbo replaced her on the ground and she undid the kido holding his wrist and ax.
"Why do the warrior women help Jidanbo after beating him?" Jidanbo asked feeling his newly healed forehead.
"We do not seek to make enemies but allies, we do not wish to kill unless forced to. Jidanbo, we need you to open the gate now. Could you do that for us?" the older woman kindly asked the large gatekeeper.
"Yes. I will open the gate."
The giant leaned down and with a great heave began to open the massive gate.
When it was a fourth of the way up the two women walked under.
"Thank you Jidanbo!" the younger girl shouted back and the gate fell once more.
"Hush, they approach." the eldest woman whispered to her companion.
"Alright."
The pair stood still as a unit of soul reapers surrounded them.
"Who are you? How did you get in? What do you want?" the leader of the unit called out to them. The women raised there hands up in a universal signal of surrender.
"We wish to speak to Captain Ukitake. We come here humbly with that request. My name is Rose Fiorito and my companion is Tiffany Aurora. We have a message to deliver to him." again the elder girl held out the scroll.
"How did you get through the gate?" the leader asked.
"We challenged Jidanbo and won, as per his code he let us through."
"You expect us to believe that two girls defeated Jidanbo? And more you are civilians. Now how did you actually get in?"
"You don't believe us, of course." Rose turned to the younger girl, "Tiff we shall have to show them. You," she turned to the unit leader, "have your two strongest men come forward. We challenge them. A fair fight, the first pair to be disarmed or at their opponent's mercy lose. Do you agree?"
The leader laughed,
"You expect us to fight a pair of civilian girls? Well fine then, but we won't go easy on you. Men, who will fight with me against these two 'fearsome warriors'?" his tone was disparaging. Tiffany's jaw tensed and hands clenched.
"Peace Tiff, we shall show them." Rose whispered, "Just be on your guard."
"Yes, Rose." She whispered back. A big man came from the unit, his muscles looked unnaturally large and he had his hair shaved flat on top. He towered over Rose's five-eight frame by a good six inches.
"I shall fight the scary women!" he laughed at his own joke along with most of the unit.
"Are you ready?" Rose asked. The men turned to them, "Alright, Tiff..." the younger woman nodded. She pulled her sword from her sleeve and Rose shed her kimono again (startling the all-male unit), she drew her rapier from its sheath and held it to her lips again.
"They have Zanpakuto!" the leader cried.
"Raikou-Touzoku be with me."
"Iryujon-no-kiri let us fight." they were upon the two men in an instant. These men were faster than Jidanbo. Rose went for the larger man, Tiffany the unit leader. Rose and the large man went to it with swords flying. The man was purely offensive. But she parried his blows easily.
His movements are so slow and big. He has so many openings. Let's have a little fun.
Rose smiled a cold smile. She lunged at the man slashing him cross the chest. The wound was shallow but the big man was still very surprised. The next opening he left was at his ankle, Rose stabbed it: not deep, but enough to hurt. Blood covered the tip of her saber. The man roared in pain.
Tiffany circled the unit leader. He pulled his thick Zanpakuto from it's sheath and held it in readiness.
"Go ahead girl, I'm waiting." Tiffany whispered to quiet for him to hear,
"Shakkaho, hado 31." the red ball of energy was magnified through the blade of Iryujon-no-kiri and fired toward the leader. He narrowly dodged and turned to scoff at Tiffany but she wasn't there he turned in time to see her slash down his arm with her short sword.
There isn't enough room here to use kido more than a little, Iryujon-no-kiri forgive me. I must use more short range weapons.
Tiffany slid her Zanpakuto back into the sheath in her sleeve and pulled out two daggers. She held one in each hand. Again they circled each other. She lunged at him and slashed at his shoulder he parried with his sword. Tiffany guarded herself well. Using her smaller frame to her advantage, she slid under the leader and slashed his back.
"Ahh!"
Rose was having a time of it. She was finally fighting a soul reaper and she had already figured out how to beat him. He had dozens of cuts and slashes in various places. However, the man's movements were slowing and she was growing bored with the fight.
Tiffany was fast; before the man had had time to fully turn around she had slashed his Achilles' tendons thus rendering him immobile. He screamed in pain.
"Bind him, Sai Bakudo 1." she whispered and the man's arms clamped behind his back. He dropped his sword. He was defenseless, now completely at Tiffany's mercy.
Rose was going to end this. The large man was breathing heavily and he had blood running all over his body. She lept into the air just as his sword came around in a sideways arc and used the blade as a spring board jumping over the large man to get behind him. The sword skittered out of the man's hands from the unexpected pressure at the tip. Rose landed behind him gracefully bringing the sword to his throat.
"About time you finished." Tiffany called over from where she held one dagger to the leader's neck. She had finished a few minutes earlier.
"You're done already? Damn."
"You would have beat me if you hadn't played with him so much. Look at all those scratches you put on him that needn't be there."
"I suppose." she then turned to the leader, "Do you accept your defeat?"
"Yes." he choked out between gritted teeth.
"Will you take us to Captain Ukitake?"
"Yes."
"Thank you. Now let's see to these injuries." both Rose and Tiffany went about healing the two soul reapers they had defeated. When the leader stood up after his tendons had been healed he asked,
"Why did you heal us? We could have attacked you right after."
"Because," Rose stood up from healing the big man, "We trust that we have proven ourselves and that you wouldn't dishonor yourself by resorting to dirty tricks in front of your men." Rose knelt and wiped the blood off her sword, stood, and sheathed it. She slid her kimono on again, thankful that she had tossed it to a patch of grass and not sullied it in the dusty road.
"Now would you please take us to Captain Ukitake?"
The two beaten men stood to look at their unit. The rest of the squad were gawping at the two women. Neither of them even had a scratch, the younger one wasn't even sweating. They had all fought there unit commander before and lost, yet this girl beat him in a few minutes.
"Yes, come with us." the unit commander sighed and turned to lead them to the squad 13 barracks.