Lavender, Rose, Sage [w/Yuki]

The night air was the same as it had always been. Nothing had changed. The sun-warmed streets of blacktop and concrete held the day's heat and released it slowly into the cooler air above, the dry crispness of civilization mixing with the dewy twinkle of nature's night. Intermittently, a lonely car drove down a residential street stirring the silence with the hum of its motor and the putter of its exhaust. All of the details were the same. Yet in spite of this, tonight was different.

Geminae de Loure was in town. A French national easily noticed as out of place in the day or under the smoky lights of a bar, looked the same as anyone else out here at night. A slick bodysuit clung tightly to her figure. Black and velvety, the clothing reflected little and let her move freely; the ideal getup for pursuing her pray. And what was that pray? The same creature that came at the end of a very hard lesson back in America: A Hollow. Two years gone by and her life had changed so much in that time, she had done so much good in such a short time already but it wasn't enough. It was too small. She was too small.

Standing in silence with her head cocked, Geminae listened carefully with her ears and her heart, reaching out into the night to try to grab into the twinge she had felt before. At this distance, only its periodic flares of undisciplined energy were guiding her closer with the promise of a more permanent lock. She had to act fast, be decisive, stay on task.

Another flare off at about 45 degrees. Something different than the Hollow she was pursuing but...not as uncontrolled, not as angry. Something wild, yes, but different. One mystery at a time...

Bounding down the street, she reached behind her head and grabbed the small rod of metal and plastic latched onto her back and thrust it forward. As her body language jolted the device, its arms sprang loose their potential energy and deployed along with a tight-pulled strain: a collapsible shortbow. She was off to hunt.

Night. The best time to be out and around. At least, for Earth. It meant more Hollows. It meant more hunting. It meant, most importantly, fewer bystanders. But already something was different.

She had been tracking a Hollow, yes. Their disgusting stench was easy to catch. But something else had been moving almost parallel to her. Something else was also on the hunt. Not a Hollow, nor was it a Shinigami. It smelled Human. But it also smelled off.

Maybe the Hollow's trail is messing with my nose. Could be something else too. Damn.

Wait. No. This was a good thing. Well, not for her, but for her reports. She'd run into a few too many special Humans recently. Perhaps she could take this chance to make an observation? It would be a good intelligence gathering exercise.

Yuki slowed her pace. Not by much, after all she didn't want to give the impression that she was being deliberate about it, nor did she know whether or not this unusual hunter could actually track her. Besides, this Hunter was already a bit faster than she was. They had been gaining more steadily upon their shared prey. Still, it was good to be careful.

They should catch up to it first. If they bring down the Hollow on their own then no loss. A weak hunt. If not? Well, I won't be too far behind.

Regardless of how she attempted to reassure herself the wolf's fingers gripped tightly upon her weapon. She was itching for a good fight. It wasn't easy holding back like this. But then it would have been rude to interrupt someone else's hunt as well.

Whatever was happening in front of her it was too confusing to make heads or tails of up inside her head, her mind's eye. Signatures and auras, she'd read plenty about it all but it was an unholy mess in practice. Enough to give a person a headache with the colors and intensities and ebbing and flowing feelings. Each tiny ripple swelled into a new wave as the slightest flexing of reiatsu left an imprint.

The Hollow up ahead was closing on its prey, some sort of unfortunate spiritually aware human. A tasty morsel and exactly the type of person Geminae could make a difference for.

Dipping through an alley wall and dodging around parked cars and an overturned bike, she came out about a block away from where the potential victim was walking home arm in arm with a friend. They probably felt it, both of them, on some level. The hair standing on their necks, a strange howl in the night air that sent a chill up or down their spines. The sensation that the shadows held more than just darkness. They were being stalked, although the truth was much stranger than fiction.

Reaching behind her head with her left hand she grabbed an arrow and slid it into place; unlike her parents and many other members of her family she had not yet fully developed either her spirit weapon or spirit arrows but she could pull in energy from her surroundings to augment what equipment she did have. Here she would wait, for the hunter to make their mistake.

In the distance, the strange new blip was drawing closer but had slowed up. Perhaps another straggling Hollow she had not felt yet? Maybe they were wounded and slowing down. Whichever option was most convenient to believe, she would validate that later.

Geminae emerged from the alley and raised her bow just as the big lumbering Hollow crashed through a lawn and slammed the pavement in front of the two girls. They were both knocked back, terrified at this monstrosity before them. Unfortunately for all involved, it looked like both girls had enough of a gifted sight to be able to see the beast for the hideous thing that it was. A huge, distended jaw gaped open like some sort of ravenous tiki, attacked to long gangly and angular arms. It was something like a gorilla and an ant all rolled into one.

She raised her bow and pointed it at the beast, left-eye squeezed tightly close.

Arrow knocked, she drew it back and breathed out a long, focused breath.

Chords of reishi accumulated behind her head and flowed into the tail of the arrow as her fingers drew back even with her ear.

She adjusted her aim up two inches for distance.

Wind clear.

Fire.

The arrow sang as it sailed down the street striking the beast in its upper arm. The thing howled and roared and turned away from its human morsels to what puny thing had dared trip its ire: Geminae.

Although blood trickled down its hulking bicep, the creature was only pissed off. Its flesh bubbled and sizzled as it regenerated from the wound and its big meaty off-hand yanked the arrow out as it tumbled harmlessly to the street. The last of its stored spirit energy spent.

'Yeah, going to need to go bigger...'

She turned to run, leading it away from the girls so they could escape and buying her time to charge up an arrow.

Too distracted had Yuki been to notice the two girls being stalked by a Hollow. At least initially. When she did actually catch a whiff of their scents she pushed herself forward as quick as she could, cursing under her breath. Of course it wasn't just fleeing! It had been hunting!

Damnit! Okay, enough playing around.

With a powerful leap she moved from the streets and up onto one of the many buildings. There would be less obstructions up here to worry about. It also meant she could get a better look at things when she neared. And of course the high ground was always a good spot to launch an ambush from.

Something big crashed against the ground in the distance ahead. A dull thud. She moved forth as quickly as her legs could carry her, but she was worried that even with her speed she might be too late. All because she had to focus more on hunting and less on her duty. But she could scold herself later. Right now she still had a chance to make things right!

Or she would have if someone else hadn't done it for her. A howling roar echoed through the night. Was it under attack? Did the other scent catch up to it already? The hollow's scent grew thicker in the air. Had it been wounded? Maybe. She heard its approach. A very loud approach.

Sliding to a stop Yuki braced herself for an attack, blade drawn in her right hand. A woman came into view. She was fleeing from something. Oh. The Hollow. A big one at that. Bleeding in its right arm, although already regenerating. This one wasn't going to be an easy fight. She was holding something too, but Yuki had little time to think about it.

Time to make this right!

The first one to pass underneath was the woman. At about that point Yuki hopped off, timing her drop towards the ground. She twisted, turned in the woman's direction. Hair and tail were both blown forward as the huge Hollow passed right underneath her. However her timing was a little off. While her blade did dig into the creature's back she had managed to miss its head.

There goes the element of surprise. Ah well.

By the time she landed the creature had already started to howl, stumbling to a sudden stop. It turned to face the Shinigami, and while the mask did make it a little difficult to convey emotion she could tell that it was pissed off. With a flick of her blade to clear the beast's blood she readied herself for battle. Tail swept back, legs settled into a proper braced stance. Unbeknownst to her the new wound was already starting to seal.

"Come! Let's see what you can do!"

Even though it was dark, night time, and the only real source of light was the obnoxious orange-yellow streetlights in intermittetn cones, Geminae could still feel the looming shadow of the Hollow at her back slowly overtaking her. In a straight-line run she simply couldn't win while trying to fight back. But all that came to a stop rather suddenly as the beast roared and slid to a halt. The Quincy kept running, of course. Her instincts were too sharp to risk her life on assumed positioning.

Coming to a rest herself, Geminae turned and readied another arrow as she surveyed why her ploy had failed. Surely drawing blood should have been enough to keep its attention?

Just then, between its legs, the billowing twine of spiritual threads each red and white in nature and wrapped in its own...almost wild energy. That must be what she felt earlier. If not, things just got even more complicated, more interesting, or both. Whoever they were, difficult to see as it was, they were apparently on a side of the fight that wasn't the Hollow's and that was good enough. The Quincy climbed onto a nearby car and began to gather reishi from her shoulder and channel it down through her arm.

Thin strands of dark blue and white energy blinked into visibility in the air around her like a hundred fireflies making their presence known. The shards of energy drifed and swirled into her gravity and wrapped her arrow with killing intent.

"Frappe Legere, Trois" she spoke through gritted teeth as she raised her bow and readied the triple strike. Whoever this was stepping up to the plate was buying her time to finish the job. Maybe this would bring the beast low enough to be finished. Whatever the result, the Quincy kept her hope simple: 'Anywhere but my ally'.

As she drew her hand back, the arrow's tip lit with holy light and two ethereal arrows appeared alongside it, ephemeral but every bit as lethal. She let loose.

For a brief tense moment they squared off. The little wolf versus the hulking monstrous Hollow. But she wasn't alone. The woman who had been fleeing from the creature came to a stop. Hopefully she would be an ally and hopefully all of this wasn't just some ruse.

That would be an impressive ambush.

Yuki didn't strike immediately. The Human was preparing something. Yet another special one had crossed her path, but she could deal with that later. For now she acted as a distraction, held the Hollow's attention.

With a bellowing roar it charged her! Yuki took off towards the beast, blade swinging out in an arch as it grabbed down for her body. Barely a cut was made against the creature's thick hide, but it was enough to drive it back for the moment. Another screech emerged, the other hand swept down towards her, not to grab but to swat her aside.

A strong leap sent her above the attack, but this left her vulnerable. The hulking creature's jaw opened up. Red energy started to manifest within the gaping maw. Yuki pulled her zanpakuto in front of herself, prepared to block the attack as best she could when suddenly three arrows smashed into the Hollow's back!

As their foe let loose with another pained roar the gathered orb of energy fired off, missing Yuki entirely. Pavement detonated from the impact nearby, showering cars and light posts and Yuki with debris. A sigh of relief left the Shinigami as she touched back down, leaping away from the Hollow who, for the moment, was trying to reclaim its footing.

What was that? Whatever it was it was impressive.

The Hollow's balance was returned to it. It turned its attention to the woman behind it. Before it could let loose with another roar Yuki bolted in, blade tearing at the back of the beast's legs. Black blood splattered across the road as it dropped to its knees, hands outstretched to brace itself for the impact.

Alright! Let's see what else they can do!

The huge beast slammed its knees into the pavement, bellowing in anger at the sky, at the night, at the two of them. It wouldn't stay down for long but it was undeniably slowing down as they plucked it with glancing blow after glancing blow. Soon it would be too tired to stave off a killing strike and this town, at least for tonight, would be safer once again.

Seizing the opportunity before them, Geminae charged up toward the downed beast and reach down to the bandolier around her waist. She withdrew a pair of thing silvery tubes each about six inches long and she tossed them around the side of the beast. "Here, take! The ground!" she yelled through accented Japanese. Hopefully the intention would get through clear enough to be apparent.

Once the tubes were in the air she reached for another set, two more silvery tubes of the same design. She lifted her arm up and threw one of the tubes straight down as it pierced the concrete and stuck into the ground like a piton or fence post. Then, at a slight angle, the second.

If her ally could catch the drift and plank their Ginto tubes quickly enough, they just might finish this thing off here and now before it could gather its strength again.

Her ally approached and after removing two silver tubes tossed them towards the Shinigami. For a brief moment she lifted her zanpakuto, prepared to swipe the objects out of the air! After all she didn't know if it was an attack. But the woman shouted to her, told her to take them, to do something with the ground. Only at the last second did she dive inwards, catching the items mid-roll back to her feet. Immediately they were held out at arm's length.

Okay. They aren't exploding or anything.

Yuki turned, blade slamming into one of the Hollow's hands as it reached out for her. Then she stepped in, slamming her weapon down towards its head. Of course it blocked the strike but she was just trying to keep it on its knees while she figured out what to do. It was only when the woman punctured the ground with a tube that she finally figured out what she wanted her to do.

Ah. The ground. Right.

As she dropped the metallic rods her tail swept in, snatching them from the air. Again she swiped at the Hollow, not letting up on her strikes while her tail plunged one of the tubes into the asphalt. A few steps were taken to the Hollow's other side, another sweeping attack with her blade followed by another rod punctured into the ground.

Surrounding it. I should probably step back.

When the second tube was driven into the ground Yuki hopped back and lifted her zanpakuto, growling towards the downed beast in an attempt to keep it distracted. Its head lifted, countering her growl with a roar of its own! What were a few little rods supposed to do to this thing? She most certainly was curious!

With all four tubes anchored into the ground, each made a distinct *pop* as their liquid reiryoku boiled over and the Ginto sprang to life. This technique, Heizen, was intended to be far more lethal and devastating to Hollows than little tubes of metal and spirit juice had any right to be. The problem, then, was in the lethality of the caster. Simply put, Geminae was an amateur.

As each tube swelled and glowed, they morphed into large rectangular boxes, each at least a foot long and wide, and they oriented themselves toward the Hollow unfortunately trapped in the middle.

Each block rocketed from its casting location and collided with the Hollows gut and midsection, pinning the thing right into place as they glowed hotter and brighter with each passing second.

"Finish it, now! Before the Heizen breaks!" She shouted over the static scream of the spiritual energy building up around the Hollow.

It would fight and claw and rage and break this weak restraint. There wasn't much time.

Now this was interesting. A weapon designed to hunt Hollows? Or was this just a wayward application of a tool designed for hunting something else? Either way it was valuable information.

The silver tubes popped open. Within moments they had transformed into boxes. Not that large, but then she didn't know how much they weighed either. What was their purpose? To trap? No. As soon as they'd finished their unusual transformations each one shot inwards, colliding with the Hollow. There started to glow, the creature's flesh sizzling.

Ah. A trap then. Heizen? I'll have to remember that.

Yuki raced forward, hopping up as her blade raised towards the sky, and with one powerful cleave she drove the weapon down! They were going to have a long talk after this. Another Human she needed to interview. But at least it had been a pleasant enough hunt. A powerful foe.

Black blood splattered across the Shinigami. An arm had managed to break free, already torn up in places where it had been trapped. As the creature howled in pain Yuki cringed, ears folded back against her head. Her blade had dug about halfway into the Hollow's arm, but it could still move it.

She hit the ground on one knee, weapon held up overhead as her foe pressed down against the Shinigami. Its mouth opened. Red gathered, coiled together to form an orb. This again! The creature might have been stuck in place but now so was she. Her blade was between them. She had to hope that it would hold up to whatever was coming, but then she really didn't want to find out if it could.

I really hope that she has something else! Damnit Kido would be useful right now!

Although her counterpart is effective, they were not critically effective. A solid blow but one that only trapped them next to the Heizen under the weight of an attack. She could feel the charge building up...small hairs on her arms and on the back of her neck standing, even through the tight material of her bodysuit. Reishi, energy, killing intent. Cero.

Panting to catch her breath as she was, a cero at this range could be deadly for her, her ally, or a number of innocents nearby should the blast go even slightly astray. Geminae reached back for an arrow and slotted it as she hopped onto one of the Heizen blocks and ran up the beast's back leg. Using her momentum she hopped once, twice, up to its shoulders and pushed off with a burst of high-speed movement propelling her upward; a perfect shot.

Reishi coalesced at the tip of her arrow. There was no time for the full ritual but at this distance, it didn't really matter anyway.

A loud rip tore through the air as the arrow loosed and pierced the top of the Hollows' mask and buried itself deep into its head.

In an instant, the struggle going on down below stopped as blood began to pour out of the Hollow's mouth and its body began to dissolve into black flames and spiritual ash. As her kill corroded into nothingness and she touched back down to the ground, the young Quincy wondered how much of her late-comer help would be left.

A red light bathed the ground around the Shinigami. Yuki started to force the Hollow's arm back, the two trembling as they fought one another for an advantage. However she knew she wouldn't reach it in time. Not at the rate she was going.

Before she had even a moment to dwell upon what might come next the red light was suddenly replaced by blue. A fiery arrow stuck deep within the Hollow's head, the light fizzling from its mouth, replaced instead by a gush of thick black blood. With a push Yuki shoved the creature's hand back, moving herself a few steps away to catch her breath. Gradually their prey's body crumbled away into ash and black flames.

That's weird.

Nothing remained. Not one soul. Yuki was a little flabberghasted. She sniffed at the air, glanced around as ears twitched this way and that. Had that not been its true body? Was this some sort of illusion?

Something doesn't feel right here. It has to be somewhere.

Maybe it had already passed. She didn't know the extent of this Human's power. Yes. That had to be it. So Yuki finally cleaned her weapon, only to settle it back into its sheathe. She would have to look into it later.

The little wolf turned to her recent ally, lowering her head in a respectful bow. "Thank you for the assistance. I am Yuki" softly spoke the Shinigami, finally having had a chance to introduce herself. With any luck this Human wouldn't suddenly attack her like the last special one that she'd met.

"May I ask you a few questions?"

"Thank you for your timeliness." She thanked right back as she braced her hands against her knees and caught her breath. The arrow that did the killing blow always seemed to dissolve with them, but the others lodged in the beast's body had fallen onto the pavement. After a few moments of rest she began to gingerly step around the 'battlefield' and pick up the used arrows, examining them for continued viability. She patrolled, she paid an occasional look to her guest as she considered the request.

"Of course," she lilted in her soft-spoken and French-accented words. The 'r' rolled soft and slow, slightly longer than the others with an airiness to it that she couldn't help. "What is it that you want to ask of me? My name? Geminae de Loure."

At that, she smiled and made a proper flourish with her hands, bowing formally but still clutching the remnant arrows in her hand.

Arrows? She mixed some sort of energy attack with them. That is a little unusual.

With her introduction complete Yuki relaxed the formal bow, observing quietly while the woman made her way around the battlefield. To be honest Yuki was really the one who arrived to assist. Clearly this woman was prepared for such hunts.

"It is nice to meet you Miss Geminae. First I must ask if you are a Human. Your appearance clearly suggests as such, but I must be certain. Also how long have you known about these special abilities of yours? About your ability to see spirits?"

More than one question perhaps, but Yuki didn't want to take all of this woman's time up. She remembered how antsy Raphael had been. If she could avoid being rude then she would! Also they were the simpler questions that she had.

Like that accent. I have never heard it before. It is really interesting.

"Oui, I am French", she smiled she blew a puff of air upward to encourage her hair to get the hell off of her face and return to its rightful place; after all, she needed to look good for her first impression.

"I was raised for zis life from a young age. It is for always the tradition of my family. A...how do you say, gift. Yes, a gift we pass, mother teaching daughter, father teaching son." She shrugged slightly as she grabbed the last hour. Now she would begin the arduous task of inspecting each arrowhead carefully under the dim yellow glow of the streetlight. It was an admittedly imperfect circumstance but she didn't want to seem thoughtful or wasteful.

"Are you a shrine guardian? My father told me zat I would meet them here and in the countryside but, alors, I did not expect to be hunting alongside one."

French? French. What was French? Some area here on Earth, I believe. Maybe I should visit other places sometime.

Indeed, Earth was quite pretty. Certainly prettier than Seireitei. And there were many delicious smelling foods. Maybe someday she'd take some time off here. Wander around, experience things. Perhaps when she had some friends.

Yeah. Then. Maybe then I'll do it then.

The little wolf slowly nodded her head. So they were similar in that regard. Both were raised to do what they do now. Then came the woman's questions. It was only fair that she be allowed to ask a few. Yuki didn't lie either, nor did she see any reason to. Already this woman was a huntress and already she knew of spirits. Besides, it wasn't as if any other mortal was going to believe her. At least that had been her experience.

"No. I am a Shinigami. I assist the spirits of the dead in their transition to the next life. I also hunt the creatures we just slayed."

Yuki paused. Again she took a brief look around. There were no signs that a soul might have lingered. Nothing was unusual now, but in the moment of the Hollow's destruction she was certain that she'd felt something different. Something off.

Maybe I am imagining things.

She was about to ask more questions when a little ringing noise emerged from her pocket. Reaching into her robes Yuki slipped out her denreishinki, flipping it open to check out the new alert. Another Hollow. It was close too. Perhaps if she brought it down she could double check what she'd felt. Would it feel any differently?

"I apologize" Yuki started, lowering her head briefly. "I must go. Please keep safe."

With that she was off, leaping from one rooftop to the next! Perhaps she might see the same woman again in the future. That would be lucky!


// EXIT THREAD