and i am a weapon of massive consumption

[priorcommitment]

In the time that Ishiah's known Okumura Rin, he's quickly learned that the young boy isn't someone who learns by theory or instruction, but instead through practice. To someone who has had the skill built into his mind by design, trying to find ways to ramp Rin up in the ways of swordfighting is difficult. Extracting his power in a manageable way, even more so.

But the more time Ishiah spends with the young boy, the more he comes to realize the depth of the power and potential in him. In the short term, Rin needs to be able to harness that power for good; in the long run, Ishiah would prefer to be someone who knows those abilities inside and out, in the event that he ever has to fight them directly.

The situation reminds him of Caliban's in more ways than one.

Ishiah makes his way over to an abandoned warehouse out beyond the suburbs, wanting the privacy and space necessary for Rin to speak frankly about his power. In time, he plans to make the very same trip with Rin's brother, not entirely convinced that Okumura Yukio is as fully human as he would have others believe. But in the few interactions he's had with both brothers, it's clear that being in one another's presence makes both of them hold back in ways.

"Rin," he says, lifting his gaze when he hears steps echo within the wide walls of the main room. "Thank you for taking the time to join me."

Comments

[phosphor]

"A little more." Rin can admit it honestly. "Mephisto told me that I lack control because I'm afraid. But of course I'm afraid. How the hell do you not be afraid of something like that?"

He lowers his face, narrowing his eyes.

"I know I can save people, but that power can still hurt people if I let it get out of control. I can be confident. But nobody's confident all of the time."

[priorcommitment]

"I haven't witnessed enough of your power to say whether I would consider you confident or afraid while wielding it. But Mephisto has a point. You should be cautious about how you use your power, but fear of power itself has never helped hone anyone's skill," Ishiah says, watching closely as the boy's stance grows dejected, his shoulders slumping slightly.

"Any kind of power can hurt people if it's allowed to get out of control. The source of your power doesn't make that as different as you think."

He lowers his hand to the hilt of his sword. "I do want you to try. Letting it all out. I have confidence that I'll be able to stop you if things get out of hand."

[phosphor]

"I ... " Rin trails off, looking between Ishiah's hand and his sword with a strange kind of fear. Rin isn't afraid that he will be hurt He is afraid of what will happen if he isn't. He can scarcely find words to communicate what he experiences at the thought of doing something like Ishiah is suggesting. Even when he'd been soundly beaten the second time, fighting with Amaimon ... had not been unpleasant Only losing had been. Rin doesn't want to lose a second time.

Even knowing that it shouldn't, he feels satisfied, when all of the power that he has within him is drawn out. There is a part, which he does not want to recognize, which only has contempt for the way he's been handling himself.

Rin is terrified of that part.

"How much confidence?" he asks, boldly honest Rin doesn't speak from ego; only caution.

[priorcommitment]

Ishiah's gaze trails down to Rin's sword. If Rin were to unleash all of his power at full force, Ishiah doesn't doubt that he'd be overwhelmed, and easily. While his experience gives him a fair amount of upper hand in a battle, the truth of the matter is that he's still barely above the speed and strength of a human at peak condition. Any abilities outside of that have been dampened ever since he made the choice to become peri.

If he keeps training Rin, someday, the idea of a battle between them will become a matter of course.

But Rin's lack of basic training and uncertain will make Ishiah confident that he has the upper hand. For now.

He releases his wings in a flash of heat, white and gold barred, spanning impressively as his hand drops the hilt of his sword.

"Confident enough."

[phosphor]

Something about the sudden, flashy display of Ishiah's wings, like something straight out of a stained glass window, pisses Rin off a little, in turn with Ishiah's unwavering confidence. Pisses him off enough that he doesn't reconsider, slipping Kurikara out of its sheathe with a small gasp. Having the sword unsealed -- having that part of himself unsealed -- makes him even more uneasy about Ishiah as a presence.

He trusts Ishiah. The crawl in his skin doesn't.

Rin shifts his grip on the blade, before springing forward to jab at his target. Enough practice with Shura has made him confident enough to swing without worry that he might hurt Ishiah. They are allies. But Ishiah is a stronger swordsman than Rin is, as Shura was, and if he's to learn anything, he can't hold back against a better.

He grist his teeth, gathering his strength behind him. Overpowering an opponent is about the only option that Rin usually feels he has. Even after training with Rukia for so long, his instinct will always be to go in strong and hope he finishes that way as well.

He lets out a deep growl when their swords meet, the impact racing up his arms and into his teeth.

[priorcommitment]

Ishiah's eyes widen immediately, roving over Rin's form. Not entirely clumsy, and appropriate for the weapon he bears — it's probably the work of the reaper training Rin. Even though Ishiah's plan would normally be to evade the attack, were he fighting in earnest, he needs to have some idea of the scale of Rin's strength.

So he stands in place, bracing his arms as Rin's blow spreads through his entire body, the scrape of metal rushing all the way to the tip of his wings.

"So you draw on your power for brute strength. Just striking wherever the sweep of your arm takes you. That won't work in many cases. You need to develop your instinct," Ishiah says, his arms quaking as he continues meeting hit after hit, then ducks to the side with a sweep of his wings, gaze fixed and waiting to gauge Rin's reflexes.