Game 2 - Chapter 2

Hikari had been unusually quiet for the past hour or so. After her initial argument with Maka, she'd been sulking and staring at the forest floor while she tramped a few feet behind the others. Her mind kept drifitng to An-chan, wondering what he was doing, if he'd run into any Hollow, imagining what he'd look like slicing his zanpakutou through the air, his hair in his face, his body covered in sweat...

Huh?!

Hikari blinked, shaking her head and looking around. Kasahara had stopped several feet behind, and was looking east and west towards where the other teams must have been fighting. She hadn't even noticed it up until now, but she could just barely pick up the sounds of shouting and Hollow roars in the distance. And the reitasu felt...kinda different. She couldn't figure out how, but something had definitely happened to one of the other students. The short-haired girl was clenching and unclenching her fists, gripping the hilt of her zanpakutou so tight that her fingers looked white. Just like her to act the hero. Just like her to start acting like such a boy. Did she really think she could do anything? Hikari laughed under her breath, then turned on her heel for a moment, smirking.

"Hurry up, will you? You're going to slow us down, baka." She said, half spitting the last word.

Hikari's eyebrows knotted together for half a moment as an idea flashed across her mind.

Hey, that's not too bad...Baka Kasahara.

The blonde girl smiled, adding a slight bounce to her step. If she had to be stuck out here in this filthy, sweaty, muddy, stupid place, then at least she could have a little fun while she was at it. And if she could....she would.

OOC: Thanx Ash for FINALLY posting, btw. =P

Naomi stood there in disbelief. “This is nerve wrecking” She said aloud. She then thought at least I have two teammates. Just as she said that one of her partners ran off leaving them to fight these nasty creatures. Naomi watched as Kanue tried to to cast a spell. Naomi then decided she would have to help. Naomi drew her weapon. “I hope this works she said. She then ran up to the hollow and unleashed a vicious attack against one of the hollows, attempting to help Kanue.

It seems to Duggo that the best decision for now, in the interest of putting these pains-in-the-ass behind him, is to parry. Perhaps there is something to be learned from observing these hollows' attacks.

With great speed, the Centipede struck again toward the fallen Rikiki. Igarashi saw himself, almost in third person, flying at the monster. But he could tell, even in his blind rage, that he wasn't moving fast enough.

Dammit! I'm not going to make it in time! Igarashi said to himself...

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"W.. wait! Wha... what the..!" Ryouichi sputtered as Ximenez vanished. "Oh, I cannot believe that just happened!" he snapped as he finished concentrating his reiatsu the best he could before letting it fly.

"Way of Binding 4: Crawling Rope!"

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"Yah!" Anshou brought his blade down hard on the unsuspecting Horn Hollow, nearly cleaving it in two. At the same time, Chiken and Tenkawa, across from him, let loose their kidou spells, shouting almost in unison. "Way of Binding 1: Restrain!"

The kidou tore through the air, though it was obvious that Tenkawa's bolt was much stronger than Chiken's. The Flying Bat on the left suddenly seized up and crashed to the ground, but the one on the right snapped through Chiken's spell and swooped down for an attack that sliced Chiken's left arm, sending a spurt of blood spraying through the trees.

Anshou achieved a Sneak Attack!
Anshou dealt 18 WOUNDS to Horn Hollow!
Horn Hollow is SLAIN!

Tenkawa used RESTRAIN on Flying Bat A! Flying Bat A is RESTRAINED for 1 TURN!

Chiken used RESTRAIN on Flying Bat B! It missed!

Flying Bat B dealt 3 WOUNDS to Chiken!

"Anshou!" yelled Tenkawa. "Hurry! That spell's not gonna hold that one for long!"

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Ryouichi watched in grim dismay as his Crawling Rope spell evaporated before it even got close to the Hollow. Helpless to do anything else, he could only stare as the Hollow came bearing down on him and drove its horns deep into his left arm.

"Gragh!" with a grimace, Kanue was thrown to the ground, staring up at the menacing Hollow. It let out a fierce roar as it raised its claws, preparing to deal the finishing blow. Kanue shut his eyes.

"Yah!"

Kanue suddenly felt something warm across his face. He opened his eyes to see the Hollow that was about to kill him dripping blood from a massive sword wound on its chest. Another stroke with the sword, and the Hollow's body made a short jerk before disintegrating into blue light.

Standing there, with an uncharacteristic look of determination on her face, was Naomi, holding her sword out.

"You ok?" she asked him.

"Y... yeah, it's just a scratch," said the unwillingly impressed Kanue. "Don't worry about me, there's more coming."

Naomi turned just in time to see a Henchman flying at her. It pierced her belly deeply with its sharp fangs, and blood began pouring down her legs and pooling around the ground, while another Henchman tore into Kanue. The other two sniffed at the woods, as if they were hounds tracking prey.

Kanue used CRAWLING ROPE on Horn Hollow! But it missed!

Horn Hollow dealt 3 WOUNDS to Kanue

Naomi dealt 11 WOUNDS to Horn Hollow
Horn Hollow is SLAIN!

Henchman A dealt 5 WOUNDS to Naomi
Henchman B dealt 2 WOUNDS to Kanue


"Dammit!" Kanue growled, trying to hold the Henchman at bay. "Where the hell did Ximenez go?"

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One of the Crawlers reared back and took a nasty swipe at Duggo, who masterfully parried the attack with his zanpakutou, while the other one jumped at Zetsumei, who also managed to block. Zetsumei slashed away with his blade, taking a cut out of the Hollow's side, and the big man Daisuke finished it off, blindsiding it with a mighty blow.

Zetsumei dealt 1 WOUND to Crawler A
Daisuke dealt 11 WOUNDS to Crawler A
Crawler A is SLAIN!

"Well," smiled Zetsumei. "That was eas--"

Zetsumei was cut off by a loud, fierce hissing behind him. Before he could react, a large talon tore through his right side as another unseen Crawler snuck up on him. "Aagh!"

"Zetsumei-san!" Daisuke yelled. But that wasn't the only one. A fourth Crawler flew out from the underbrush after Duggo. But Duggo saw that one coming and sidestepped it just as he did the first one.

Duggo, Daisuke, and Zetsumei encountered:

2x Crawler


Enemy first strike!

Crawler A achieved a SNEAK ATTACK!
Crawler A dealt 7 WOUNDS to Zetsumei
Crawler B SNEAK ATTACK failed!

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"What the hell did you just call me?" Maka shouted angrily, turning on Hikari.

"I called you 'Baka.' Baka Kasahara." Hikari leveled her sword at the short-haired brunette. "What, you gonna get all mad about it now? You wanna start a fight, I'll finish it, Otoko-chan. Little Miss Man."

Nearly shaking with rage, Maka unsheathed her own zanpakutou.

"Hey, hey, come on!" Satoko shouted back at them. "This isn't the time!" He didn't know what worried him more - that nearly every other classmate of theirs was locked in a life or death struggle against Hollows or that his group hadn't met any Hollows and was now about to turn on itself.

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The Centipede's gaping, fanged maw bore down on the severely wounded Rikiki, faster than Igarashi's blade could reach it.

There's nothing I can do

A bead of sweat dripped down his brow.

I'm... helpless... I can't save her...

A quiet gust blew through the clearing.

And then a gale of powerful reiatsu, like a hurricane-force wind.

The Centipede shrieked as its body was blasted well away from Igarashi's fallen comrade, deep into the trees. He looked back to see Ashibue, her hands formed into the pattern for casting Way of Destruction 1, slowly catching her breath.

That... was just that level 1 spell? Igarashi muttered to himself. That was a lot stronger than the one Ximenez used on Hinamori-sensei...

With new determination in his eyes, Igarashi let out a battle cry and drove his blade down at the Centipede's throat. His zanpakutou struck true, and he buried it almost all the way to the hilt into the Centipede's flesh. It let out a roar of agony and began flailing wildly. Igarashi jumped down from the monster's body, pulling his sword out in a shower of blood.

"Nice shot," he smiled at Ashibue, who of course said nothing back.

The Centipede, wounded and furious, reared back onto its tail, taller than the two cadets now facing it.

Ashibue used THRUST on Centipede! Centipede's action was cancelled!

Igarashi dealt 5 WOUNDS to Centipede

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Igarashi had subsided to a moment of rage and despair he had not experience in along time, and he would have been lost in it had it not been for Ashibue's astounding spell that reminded him of what he needed to do.

Now slightly covered in blood, Igarashi was still angry, but this was an anger of focused determination to protect and avenge his fallen teammate, no longer the blind fury he had displayed briefly. Being in control of his actions once again, he faced the Centipede that was now recovering and shrieking in anger at them. Igarashi smiled maliciously when he saw the Hollow turn itself to them, forgetting momentarily about Rikiki. "Good!" He shouted in a defying, and even mocking tone at the large hollow, making sure it could hear him.

"Now that we have your full attention..."

Igarashi glanced briefly at Ashibue as he raised his blade, preparing to attack, making sure she could see his intentions and hoping she would follow his attack with one of her own. She had proved with her previous action that she was indeed far more powerful than what the eye let on, so it was important that she could know what Igarashi planned to do next, even if it was rather obvious

"GO TO HELL!" Igarashi shouted as loud as he could as he rushed at the Centipede with astounding speed, readying his Zanpakutou to deliver another fierce strike at the beast, hoping he could be able to finish it off this time around.

The blood was pounding in Junshirou's ears. He raced over to Chiken, his eyes following the Hollow swooping overhead. He concentrated on it, following its movements carefully, getting his hands ready...

"Way of Binding 1: Restrain!"

He watched the bolt of kidou as it flew through the air, hoping that it would do better than the last one did. Hopefully this would be over quickly so they could attend to Chiken...

Naomi stood their leasking blood like a hose. She looked over at Kanue who was also hurt. “There’s to many” she said wiping some blood off her neck. “I have to try again” Naomi took wiped off her sword, she was weaker now from the attack but mabey still strong enough to attack. She darted quickly to the hench man A. She then did a fake left and turned right. She ran up a tree and back flipped attempting to come down and lunge her sword through this beast

Kasahara sneered a little in Hikari's direction after Takeshi tried to get the situation under control. Her hand still gripped the handle of her cleaver shaped zanpakutou tightly, but atleast her temper was being managed. Unfortunately it wasn't tamed enough to prevent her from saying more to the bratty blonde girl in front of her. "I don't even know why you're still here. I'm still waiting to see you run home to daddy."

The grip on her weaponed eased as she began to mock the other girl. "Oh wait, you're probably waiting for your prince charming to sweep you away and take care of you, am I right? Mizukin was his name, wasn't it? Always clinging onto him and act your best when he's around. It's pathetic..."

The tomboy stopped her chatter upon finding some hipocracy in words. She wasn't much different from the blonde Kijou sister in that she was following someone around. Unlike Mizukin, though, her someone is a person she does not know. It's been three years without any sign of him and she has been searching for something familiar to find someone who was already vague to begin with. Upon her face was a hint of a crestfallen look as her anger dissolved. Still agitated, Kasahara looked towards Takeshi before giving a huff and moved forward again. "Forget it."

She kept her weapon unsheathed but she no longer cared about being called Baka Kasahara or how much the blonde girl got on her nerves.

Chiken had felt the kidou come out wrong, weaker that it needed to be. He had gotten distracted with Anshou's and Tenkawa's actions and he had also let his mind wander too much. The blow from the flying hollow had provided a huge slap to the face and got Chiken's attention though.

Letting his left arm rest at his side with a grunt, Chiken turned and was ready to try the spell again on the flying hollow. However, he noticed that Tenkawa was already aiming at it. Noticing the downed hollow struggling to get free, Chiken turned his attention to it. A little bit of frustration evident in his voice, he took aim at the already restrained hollow.

"Way of Binding One:Restrain!"

Satoko was getting tired of this, the bickering between his partners was both unnecessary and intolerable, and seemed to be proving itself dangerous. At first he hadn't thought much of their arguements, it was annoying, but nothing to get worked up over. However they had quickly progressed from arguing fools, to arguing fools with their Zanapkutou drawn, this had not pleased Takeshi, infact, it rather upset him. "Hey, hey, come on!" Satoko shouted back at them. "This isn't the time!"
Oi..
How are we supposed to work together to fight Hollows if all we're at eachother's throats? Speaking of Hollow's, why haven't we seen one yet? Everyone else is locked in combat, while we walk aimlessly forward, I'm reconsidering what I said earlier, if we chase down one of the other groups, at least we'll have something to do, and maybe with somethign to focus on, those two will shut up. With a light sigh, Takeshi tuned himself back into reality, his thinking had taking surprisingly short, as he tuned back in to Kasahara's continuation of the verbal battle between her and Hikari, which still looked like it could turn deadly if one of them pushed the other just a little to far.

Quote :

"I don't even know why you're still here. I'm still waiting to see you run home to daddy."

That was mean, and just as irrelevant as their other insults...

Quote :

"Oh wait, you're probably waiting for your prince charming to sweep you away and take care of you, am I right? Mizukin was his name, wasn't it? Always clinging onto him and act your best when he's around. It's pathetic..."

Satoko raised an eyebrow, that one had some truth to it, insults are more bothersome when they hold truth. Satoko awaited her next snide remark, but none came. Watching Kashara, he noted her change in expression, but didn't bother to identify what she changed it too, merely that she seemed to have ceased her mocking of Hikari. Meeting Kasahara's eyes when she looked at him, he was glad that she had stopped arguing and begun moving forward, but dismayed that she had done so without sheathing her Zanpakutou again.

Takeshi was becoming nervous and jumpy, worried that his comrades would leap at eachother any moment, and slice eachother into pieces. Satoko became on guard, ready to intervene in the case of an attack, whether by a Hollow, or one of his teammates. He kept hoping he didn't have to, but was completely ready to. "This is getting tiresome" Satoko muttered.

General Yamamoto wrote:

Crawler A achieved a SNEAK ATTACK!
Crawler A dealt 7 WOUNDS to Zetsumei.

"You're going to pay for that."

*Zetsumie concentrated all of his strength into his next attack and tries to strike Crawler A."

Anshou winced as the hollow cut through Chiken's arm. His breath and pulse got faster and his eyes went back and forth, quickly deciding which hollow to attack. Tenkawa looked better defended and wasn't wounded, so Anshou took aim at the hollow that was threatening Chiken.

"Zetsumei-san!" Daisuke threw himself at the hollow threatening Zetsumei, attacking the hollow and protecting Zetsumei.

Daisuke Kokubunji wrote:

"Zetsumei-san!" Daisuke threw himself at the hollow threatening Zetsumei, attacking the hollow and protecting Zetsumei.

*Zestumie was stuned at Daisuke's action. They didn't know each other that well and yet, here was someone risking his life for him. He though to himself:*

Whether he succeeds or not, I owe this man a favor. I must repay him for his kindness.

Duggo took stock of the situation. Having observed the way these enemies moved, and lurked, and attacked, he imagined it would be no surprise if another popped out of the bushes. Nevertheless, it was time to stop parrying and to start attacking, beginning with the hollow closest to him. His team was more than able to take care of itself, but Duggo was not of a mind to take chances.

This shocked him momentarily. Hadn't he spent his whole life taking chances? Ah, well, there would be plenty of time for philosophizing later, when the danger had passed.

Naomi flew thorugh mid air about to make her attack she looked at Kanue and said. Do something. She then continued to soar through the air with her attack.

They were moving farther away from the other groups, much to Kasahara's disdain. It has been a short while since the hollows started attacking her classmates but the initial worry was still set within her. However, Kasahara tried not to let that, and the other emotions directed towards the other female member of her group, show. Fortunately for the group, Hikari has yet to make a response to her insults. The silence within the area, aside from the sound of light rainfall, was a little uncomfortable. Although the tomboy knew they were to concentrate on the task of finding and eliminating hollows, she couldn't help but to think her teammates were just as unnerved by the quiet as she was. She felt that there was a need to converse with hopes that it won't start into another bicker between Hikari and herself.

Kasahara glances over her shoulder to find Takeshi behind her and Hikari even further behind them. He looked just as uneasy as she felt, but managed to say very few since the two females started fighting.

"Sakimoto should be alright." It wasn't what she initially wanted to say. The brunette wanted to apologize for having him put up with their petty arguments, but somehow it didn't feel right to have such words escape her lips while Hikari was still in earshot. Next best subject would be their mutual friend, Sakimoto. "He can take care of himself, right? You probably know that better than I do."

She did manage to observe how close Takeshi's relationship with Sakimoto was within the past few weeks. The blonde boy was closer to red head than she was to Takeshi himself.

Ryouichi could only wait as the Horn Hollow charged at him, closer, closer, closer, until he felt it bury it's namesake horn into his shoulder. The horn burned as it tore mercilessly through muscles and arteries, though miraculously the hollow managed to miss the actual bones in Ryouichi's shoulder. Ryouichi's gasped wordlessly at the pain, his eyes widening. After what seemed like an eternity, he slipped off of the Hollow's horn, falling limply to the ground.

Realizing that these might be his last moments, Ryouichi stared up at the Hollow, trying to comprehend where he had gone wrong. But... haven't I done everything right? So why...? Suddenly, he inhaled sharply. Ahahahahaha. That's right! I see now... hahahaha. Abruptly, Ryouichi realized that he was actually chuckling out loud as well as mentally, though it was just barely audible, and muffled by the rain. So that's it. This is my punishment? I should never have become involved with you,-

Ryouichi's thoughts were cut off as Naomi felled the Horn Hollow with an uncharacteristic ease.

General Yamamoto wrote:

"Y... yeah, it's just a scratch," said the unwillingly impressed Kanue. "Don't worry about me, there's more coming."

Naomi turned just in time to see a Henchman flying at her. It pierced her belly deeply with its sharp fangs, and blood began pouring down her legs and pooling around the ground, while another Henchman tore into Kanue. The other two sniffed at the woods, as if they were hounds tracking prey.

"Dammit!" Kanue growled, trying to hold the Henchman at bay. "Where the hell did Ximenez go?"

By now Ryouichi had regained most of his composure (and sanity), though he was still a little shaken inwardly. If he's really run away, I'm going to make damn sure that Ximenez is punished as quickly and as painfully as possible.

Lifting his left hand up to cast another spell, Ryouichi was met with a sight that almost caused him to snap a second time. He saw red. Wet, dripping, dark red. Those things made me bleed. How dare those unworthy creatures... Ryouichi's rage consumed him, rendering him unable to form any more coherent thoughts. Suddenly, Ryouichi realized that his anger made his new kidou spell just as unstable as the last. But it was too late: the words had already left his lips.

"Way of Binding 4: Crawling Rope!"

Hikari let out a loud sigh. "I see what you're doing! You're running away! Come back here, youAAACK--" At this, Hikari's foot caught on an unseen root hidden in the underbrush. Satoko and Maka turned back just in time to see Hikari flail face first into the wet dirt at her feet, sending a splatter of mud into the trees. Slowly, she pulled herself up, revealing that her entire front was brown with mud, from her face all the way to her knees. "Nnnnn....," the fury and humiliation quickly built up in Hikari's face, the red in her ears almost showling through the mud. "That's IT!" she burst out, jumping to her feet. "I have HAD it with this place!" Turning around, she delivered a swift kick to the nearest tree. "Gragh!" she yelped as she bruised her foot on the tough wood before managing to stumble blindly backwards and trip over the same root again, getting her backside covered in mud this time.

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Igarashi smiled maliciously when he saw the Hollow turn itself to them, forgetting momentarily about Rikiki. "Good!" He shouted in a defying, and even mocking tone at the large hollow, making sure it could hear him.

"Now that we have your full attention..."

Igarashi glanced briefly at Ashibue as he raised his blade, preparing to attack, making sure she could see his intentions and hoping she would follow his attack with one of her own. She had proved with her previous action that she was indeed far more powerful than what the eye let on, so it was important that she could know what Igarashi planned to do next, even if it was rather obvious.

Behind him, Ashibue moved her hands in a pattern, whispering an incantation before letting loose another Thrust spell in the monster's direction.

=================================

Naomi stood there, leaking blood like a hose. She looked over at Kanue who was also hurt. “There’s... too many,” she said, wiping some blood off her neck. She grit her teeth and nodded. “I have to try again.”

Naomi grazed her sword against the ground, wiping some of the Hollow's blood off onto the grass. She was a little dizzy now from her wounds, but the rushing adrenaline left her more than strong enough to attack. She darted quickly toward the Hollow that had attacked her, then did a fake left and turned right. She ran up a tree and back flipped attempting to come down and lunge her sword through this beast. Kanue looked on in amazement that Naomi could continue to fight in the nearly-dead condition she was in.

Slice went Mesuokori through the Henchman's mask with ease, sending its form sparkling away in blue light.

By now Ryouichi had regained most of his composure (and sanity), though he was still a little shaken inwardly. If he's really run away, I'm going to make damn sure that Ximenez is punished as quickly and as painfully as possible.

Lifting his left hand up to cast another spell, Ryouichi was met with a sight that almost caused him to snap a second time. He saw red. Wet, dripping, dark red. Those things made me bleed. How dare those unworthy creatures... Ryouichi's rage consumed him, rendering him unable to form any more coherent thoughts. Suddenly, Ryouichi realized that his anger made his new kidou spell just as unstable as the last. But it was too late: the words had already left his lips.

"Way of Binding 4: Crawling Rope!"

Perhaps it was the rage, or maybe luck, but this one worked, as the ropes of energy wrapped tightly around the Henchman in front of Kanue, sending it to the ground immobilized.

But it wasn't over yet. Now the other two Henchmen in the clearing focused their attention on Naomi and Kanue, advancing toward them menacingly...

Naomi dealt 12 WOUNDS to Henchman A
Henchman A was SLAIN

Kanue used CRAWLING ROPE on Henchman B
Henchaman B is IMMOBILIZED for 4 turns

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The two Crawlers converged on Zetsumei, attempting to finish him off. They leapt into the air, their claws out. Zetsumei clenched his jaw, preparing for the end.

"Yah!"

With speed uncharacteristic of his size, Daisuke moved in front of the two Crawlers, protecting the young green-haired boy. One Crawler nearly bounced off Daisuke's enormous bulk, but the other managed to get its teeth into his side, drawing blood. He whirled his fist around in a counterattack, smashing one Crawler in the face so hard that its mask shattered as it flew into the ground, disintegrating.

"Now! Zetsumei-san!"

Zetsumei nodded. "You're going to pay for that," he said to the Hollow that had injured both him and Daisuke as he concentrated all of his strength into his next attack. With a mighty swing, Itonabou cleaved right through the second Hollow, slaying it.

In the other corner of the clearing, Duggo faced off against the third Crawler, Rojou Seikatsu at the ready. He feinted slightly before aiming at the Crawler's neck. He made a cut, but not a perfect one, and the Hollow was able to counterattack. With a twist, Duggo managed to fend off the Hollow's claws.

Crawler A dealt 4 WOUNDS to Daisuke
Crawler B dealt 0 WOUNDS to Daisuke
Crawler C dealt 0 WOUNDS to Duggo

Zetsumei dealt 9 WOUNDS to Crawler A
Crawler A is SLAIN
Daisuke dealt 13 WOUNDS to Crawler B
Crawler B is SLAIN
Duggo dealt 3 WOUNDS to Crawler C

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The blood was pounding in Junshirou's ears. He raced over to Chiken, his eyes following the Hollow swooping overhead. He concentrated on it, following its movements carefully, getting his hands ready...

"Way of Binding 1: Restrain!"

He watched the bolt of kidou as it flew through the air and took down the second Hollow. Anshou rushed in and finished it off with a swipe from Shiroganesashi.

"SKREEEE!"

The kidou holding down the first Hollow snapped, and the first Flying Bat took off screeching toward Anshou. Chiken turned his attention to it. A little bit of frustration evident in his voice, he took aim at it.

"Way of Binding 1: Restrain!"

But this one was no more successful than Chiken's last bolt, and the Hollow took a swipe out of Anshou's blindside.

Flying Bat A dealt 3 WOUNDS to Anshou

Chiken used RESTRAIN on Flying Bat A
MISSED!
Tenkawa used RESTRAIN on Flying Bat B
Flying Bat B is IMMOBILIZED for 2 turns
Anshou dealt 12 WOUNDS to Flying Bat B
Flying Bat B is SLAIN

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"Heh," muttered Maka, laughing almost in spite of herself. "Serves her right." She glanced over her shoulder to find Takeshi behind her. He looked just as uneasy as she felt, but managed to say very few words since the two females started fighting.

"Sakimoto should be alright." It wasn't what she initially wanted to say. The brunette wanted to apologize for having him put up with their petty arguments, but somehow it didn't feel right to have such words escape her lips while Hikari was still in earshot. Next best subject would be their mutual friend, Sakimoto. "He can take care of himself, right? You probably know that better than I do."

But Satoko wasn't listening. There was something in the air. Something terrifying. A strangely familiar smell. His fingers tightened white around Ryuunosuke's handle. Something was about to happen...

=========================================

"GO TO HELL!" Igarashi shouted as loud as he could as he rushed at the Centipede with astounding speed, readying his Zanpakutou. He drove Sougenkotsu deep into the Centipede's neck, practically severing its head. He slashed down through the Hollow's flesh as he hit the ground, and with a loud hiss, the Centipede crashed to the ground, twitching in its death throes.

Igarashi smirked at the fallen Hollow as he resheathed his Zanpakutou. "I suppose it's on to the next challenge then?" he said to Ashibue, wandering
away from his kill, flashing her a thumbs up.

Ashibue didn't reply. This was normal, but Igarashi noticed the horrified look on the girl's face.

"What's wrong?" he asked her.

Shakily, she raised her hand and pointed. Igarashi turned, and then he remembered.

Rikiki... he'd forgotten about Rikiki...

"GYYYAAASSHHHH!!!"

Pouring blood from its mask and neck, the dying Centipede reared onto its back one last time, wrenched its body around, and with its final breath, brought its fangs down toward Rikiki's unconscious form.

Kanue stared at the two advancing Henchman, gripping Mugenji almost in vain, preparing to defend himself. Naomi dropped to her knees next to him. The amount of blood she'd lost was getting to her.

This... can't be the end... Kanue growled to himself. I'm too.. I... I can't be done in by mere grunts like this...

But there was nothing else he could do.

With a roar, the two Henchman leapt into the air, fangs dripping and claws shining.

Slice!

The two Henchman never made it anywhere near their marks. From the darkness of the woods came a flash of red as Cardinal Ximenez flew at the two Hollows from behind, cutting through both of them in a single stroke. A spray of Hollow blood stained the faces of both Naomi and Kanue as both Henchmen disintegrated into blue light.

Smirking, with his sword in hand, Ximenez grinned at the other two students. He reached into his robe and pulled something out into his hand. "Here," was all he said, tossing a small green disc toward Naomi and another to Kanue. Kanue just stared at it for a moment, while Naomi picked hers up. It was coated in a sort of plastic that she easily peeled off, and the green came from a strange paste inside each disc.

"What's this?" she asked the man in the red hat.

"It's an alchemical concoction that 12th Division whipped up," he answered. "Got some blood clotter and some painkiller in it. Put it on your wounds."

Kanue picked up the green disc and opened it suspiciously. The stuff had a horrible odor, like camphor blended with sour milk. Trying not to breathe it, he dipped his fingers in. The consistency was slimy and slightly runny, like a watered down clear green pudding. Tentatively, he touched some of the gunk to the bleeding hole in his shoulder. He sucked in a sharp breath as it stung for a brief moment, but the stinging was quickly replaced by a cool, soothing sensation, spreading down his arm. It felt absolutely wonderful. Without any more hesitation, he daubed the rest of the salve on the wound in his side. Naomi unceremoniously smeared the stuff all over the gouge in her belly.

"Heal up!" Ximenez grinned widely as he casually thrust his sword downward, skewering the last Hollow on the ground, the one tied in Kanue's kidou ropes. It let out a dying hiss before fading away just like the others. "Things are about to get a lot more interesting around here." Ximenez cast a glance over toward where Maka's group was waiting as he traced his tongue down Onishita's side, tasting the blood now dripping down the blade.

Cardinal Ximenez achieved a SNEAK ATTACK
Ximenez dealt 22 WOUNDS to Henchman B
Ximenez dealt 25 WOUNDS to Henchman C
Ximenez dealt 21 WOUNDS to Henchman D
Henchman B, C, and D are SLAIN

Kanue healed 3 WOUNDS
Naomi healed 4 WOUNDS

======================================

Before his shocked eyes, Igarashi watched as the Centipede's fang pierced Rikiki's neck as it crashed to the ground, sending a horrible noise through the clearing, something between a squelching of blood and a loud splintering of bone. Rikiki's body jerked once and was still. The Hollow cast out one last hiss, turning to stare at Igarashi momentarily before slowly disintegrating into blue dust.

It sounded to Igarashi as if it was laughing.

No...

"Rikiki!" Igarashi yelled as he forced himself out of shock, racing to the girl's side with Ashibue hot on his heels.

She wasn't a pretty sight. The Centipede had torn through muscle, bone, lungs... Rikiki Brown was now a mangled, twisted, broken mess. Her eyes fluttered open, making horrible strangled noises from her mouth. Her throat and jugular were torn open, and the white of her Shinigami robe was completely dyed red with her blood.

Rikiki's vision was red and blurry, but she was aware of being grabbed by the shoulders, and someone... likely Igarashi, yelling at her to get up, to stay with them.

When she tried to speak back, to say anything, a flood of blood erupted from her throat, and her words came out a sick gargle. She felt the hot red liquid run out of her eyes, and she could see Igarashi shaking her shoulders and looking up, Ashibue looking down at her. Again, she tried speaking to them, she wanted to apologize; she'd gotten them into such a mess...

But only served to soak Igarashi's robes in more blood. Rikiki's vision began to fade into blue... No! She focused on Igarashi, resisting the azure light. Uzumaki glowed, and her eyes flashed pink, but it seemed even that even he could not halt the encroaching doom. Rikiki struggled to stay focused on Igarashi's body above her, to fight back the light.

Finally, her eyes faded into the blue, and she tried to whisper one single word, but nothing could be heard through her torn throat.

Then there was peace.

Slowly, Rikiki's form began to fade away in Igrashi's arms, disintegrating into the same blue light that had taken the Hollow that killed her, until Igarashi was left clutching nothing but air.

Ashibue used THRUST on Centipede
MISSED!
Igarashi dealt 7 WOUNDS to Centipede
Centipede is SLAIN

Centipede dealt a COUP DE GRACE to Rikiki!

**Rikiki Brown is SLAIN!**

========================================

At that moment, each member of Class 3-A felt a pang tear through their souls.

"No...," Zetsumei whispered, still kneeling behind Daisuke's back. Even Duggo clenched his jaw a bit. That... hyper girl...

It was something they could all feel, as Rikiki's reiatsu faded completely from the world.

Chiken and Tenkawa jerked their heads to the west, still trying to fend off the last Flying Bat that was menacing Anshou and them.

"N... no," whispered Naomi. "R... Rikiki...." Ximenez shook his head slightly before adjusting his hat and sauntering slowly in the direction of Maka's team.

========================================

Maka dropped her sword to the ground with a loud clatter.

"W... what was that?" said Hikari shakily. "That... that couldn't... that wasn't..."

"She's dead," Maka said mirthlessly.

"No!" Hikari shouted. "She... she...," she turned her face down, her eyes starting to glisten with tears. "She... she can't be...."

"Well, she is," Maka sighed. "She's gone." She reached down and picked Kyouryuketsu back up.

"She's not!" The tears began to flow, cutting clean streaks down through the dirt on her face. "How can you be so cold about it?!"

"Because I'm a Shinigami, that's why!" Maka snapped at the crying blonde girl. "And that's what Shinigami do. We fight Hollows. Sometimes we become heroes. Sometimes we 'look cool' as you put it. But sometimes we get hurt. And sometimes... die." Maka looked away. "If you're not even aware of something that fundamental, Hikari... Then you really should think about getting out of this Academy and into another line of work."

Hikari bit her lip, trying to stop the tears. She wiped her sleeve across her face, smearing mud along with the tears away from her eyes.

"Rikiki Brown died bravely in the line of duty. That's all," Maka continued. "We have to put our feelings behind us now. And focus on the mission. Otherwise, she'll have lost her life for--"

CRASH!

Maka's words were cut off as the earth suddenly began to tremble around them. Satoko sucked in a breath. No, he said to himself. There's no way... it can't be...

CRASH!

The ground pounded again ominously. The sounds of breaking and cracking trees started coming closer and closer. Hikari took a deep breath and clenched Kyokumoumei in her hand.

It's coming.

With a loud roar, a fierce claw tore through the treetops like a scythe through wheat, and into the clearing stomped an enormous Hollow, easily more than twice as tall as the three students standing there. The ground shook with each step it took. Its hands were massive razor-sharp claws, and upon its mask was a strange symbol that pulsed with glowing power.

And its reiatsu was so fearsome that it seemed as if the air had substance and the gravity itself had increased.

Maka, Satoko, and Hikari encountered:

1x Sigil


===============================

"And... there it is," Ximenez smiled back at his fellow squadmates. "Shall we go?"

(Wow, that update was so long I had to split it in half.)

Before anyone asks, it will take three turns for any of you to reach Maka's group. If you are still in combat with Hollows, you MUST finish off any Hollows before taking off to help Maka, Hikari, and Satoko.

And... sorry about that, Rikiki. That sort of thing just kind of happens in RPG's sometimes. If you want, you can make a new character and join in later this chapter along with the other new players that are coming in.

Kasahara had tried to keep her emotions to herself upon feeling Rikiki's reiatsu disappear completely. She wasn't going to cry; she would never do that. Hikari, on the other hand didn't hold back her tears and mourned openly in disbelief for their fallen classmate. Why couldn't the brunette do the same? Why couldn't she weep for her former roommate? No. The tomboy had to be strong. It left her sounding blunt and uncaring. "Rikiki Brown died bravely in the line of duty. That's all. We have to put our feelings behind us now. And focus on the mission. Otherwise, she'll have lost her life for-"

She didn't have a chance to finish her sentence. There was a sudden crash in the distance and the commotion continued towards her group. She held her weapon tightly in front of her with one hand and steadied her balance as the ground shook. It was big; it was REALLY big. As the havoc causing hollow drew closer, the air around her grew heavier. The pressure wasn't crushing, but wasn't so light that it went unnoticed. In a quick decision, she rushed forward as soon as the monster came in view. Kasahara didn't know how fair her teammates would fair against this large hollow's blows, but she did believe that she could withstand them better than they would.

She had to be first to attack it. The brunette had to draw its attention towards her first. She imagined that this would give her team a fighting chance.

With a wild swing of her zanpakutou, she focused her attack on the most important part of a hollow, it's mask.

OOC: Let's hope the post goes through this time. ¬_¬


"...Rikiki..."

As Rikiki's reiatsu faded into oblivion, a sudden realisation struck Junshirou. This was all real... anyone could die at any time. He wondered why on earth such inexperienced groups would be sent to fight Hollows like this... why had they split off into such small groups, or why hadn't there been more experienced fighters in each group? But anyone could die at any time, and this realisation sickened Junshirou. It had been so long since he had felt anyone he knew die, he had forgotten what the feeling was like...

A surge of reiatsu several kilometres away. ...what was that monster? A reiatsu that huge... and it was near Kasahara's group...

He couldn't take any chances. He didn't want anyone else to die; it would have been too much of a pointless waste of life and potential, and it would make it difficult to move on. It would be difficult enough as it was. They had to go help Kasahara's group.

The Hollow that Junshirou had restrained before broke free, attacking Anshou. "...we need to finish here first," Junshirou thought. "We need to kill this Hollow, and then go to help Kasahara's group."

He shouted to Anshou and Chiken. "We're going to help Kasahara," he shouted, continuing in the same breath, "Way of Binding One: Restrain!", determined to finish off this last Hollow so that they could save their friends.

Rikiki Brown is dead, but right now that didn't matter. Satoko felt the Hollow before anyone else, long before, mostly because it was so familiar. So very, god be damned familiar. It brought the smell of blood to his nostrils, the smell of his blood, his torn flesh, the smell of asphalt, and the horrid smell of the Hollow's breath. Running, tired, air, breath, Hollow, claws, blood, death. Memories came flooding back to Satoko, horrid, terrible memories. Those memories, they reminded Satoko how to feel true fear. This was before Satoko saw it.

Loud noises, it was getting closer, so damned close, closing in on him. Satoko reached over to Ryuunosuke, clenching it as hard as he could. Even though it reminded him of the memory so much, his brain still tried to deny it. Satoko sucked in a breath. No, he said to himself. There's no way... it can't be... More pounding, the ground tembled, the trees shook, and wildlife fled the area, the noise disturbing them and their homes. It, it... no... it's not possible, it died that day... It had to have...

"It's coming." Takeshi said weakly, only truly realizing this now. There was no other alternative, it was coming; it was coming for him, to finish him off.

Quote :

With a loud roar, a fierce claw tore through the treetops like a scythe through wheat, and into the clearing stomped an enormous Hollow, easily more than twice as tall as the three students standing there. The ground shook with each step it took. Its hands were massive razor-sharp claws, and upon its mask was a strange symbol that pulsed with glowing power.

And its reiatsu was so fearsome that it seemed as if the air had substance and the gravity itself had increased.

"Sigil..." Satoko knew it's name without a moment's thought, he couldn't remember why he knew it, he just knew. Satoko felt his hand, the one on the Zanpakutou, begin to tremble slightly. First just a light tremor, then light trembling, which spread up his arm, and eventually across his whole body untill he was, quite literally shaking with fear. "You're... You are... you're the one who..." Satoko tried so hard to form a real sentence, but the words wouldn't come, wouldn't form in his mouth untill his beaten brain truly and honestly registered the fact. "You're the Hollow that killed me."

Both overwhelmed with the presence of fear, this emotion he hadn't felt in so long, and the sight of his killer, his only real fear. Satoko became unable to think; he was unable to take in Kashara's and Hikari's reaction to Rikiki's death, unable to focus as Kasahara leaped at it, incapable of registering the new amounts of powerful reiatsu. All he could register was the hormones rushing to his brain, telling him only one thing.

Run.



{Sorry guys, but I've been waiting a while to do this, and no matter how strong the Hollow is, an RP is about role playing. so I have to stay in character, right?}

"And... there it is," Ximenez smiled back at his fellow squadmates. "Shall we go?"

Ryouichi nodded briskly. Go and fight the hollow, knowing that there is strength in numbers, or stay and let the others face almost certain death at the hands of that thing? There's only one viable option. They still have their uses, after all.

Beside Ryouichi, Naomi still looked shaken. "Oxen-san?" he questioned, "Are you okay?"

This time, Chiken wasn't distracted by anything. The spell going wrong was purely his fault this time, as was the reason Anshou just got attacked. Not even knowing what he was doing anymore, Chiken let out a loud, low growl and started to rush the flying hollow without even grabbing for his zanpatokou. He was charging on all fours for the hollow, not even caring about his left arm. Chiken was acting on pure instincts, even though he didn't know where the instincts came from. He would've rammed the hollow without even trying to use his zanpatokou at all if he wasn't stopped.

Luckily, he was stopped by the huge mental slap of Rikiki's reiatsu disappearing. It was a horrible sensation, as if a small part of his soul was just stabbed and torn apart. Chiken looked instinctively to where he last felt her reiatsu and stopped dead in his charge. Quickly standing back up, he felt a shudder of pain go up his arm from running on it. Letting it hang limply at his side, he felt another huge presence take the spot of Rikiki's reiatsu and it wasn't very welcoming. He looked over at his teammates, unsure what to say or do. He then heard Tenkawa muttering to himself then shouting the plan of what to do now and his Kidou spell. Nodding his agreement with the decision to help Kasahara, Chiken took a deep breath and forced himself to focus enough to cast a kidou spell correctly this time. He started with pointing at the hollow, but was interrupted by a voice whispering in his ear.
"Wait little one, your actions are better spent healing your teammate."
Obeying Myounahanashi, Chiken turned to point at Anshou.

"Way of Binding Three: Refresh!"

Time stood still...

Or at least, that was the impression Igarashi had when he turned his head to watch Rikiki's throat get torn apart by the Centipede, the Hollow that he was certain he had killed seconds ago. Any joy he had felt had now been turned into despair and regret, only to be intensified by the Hollow's dying "laugh". There was something about it that chilled Igarashi's spine if even for one second, it somehow stirred an horrible feeling hidden inside Igarashi's mind, a feeling of impotence.

Powerless... nothing to do but watch...

As he reached upon Rikiki's mangled body, the feeling became stronger. Knelling before her, he reached to grab her hand.

It's cold... such a cold hand...

He shook her shoulder to try and get a reaction from her, Igarashi became horrified, but not because her body was all torn and drenched in blood, but because upon seeing her face, and her eyes.

Blank... misted-over eyes...

He already knew. No matter how hard he shook her, no matter how hard he shouted, she was...

Dead.

Igarashi was not sure why he was so certain about it, he just knew, still, he kept on, trying his best to lie to his mind, also because he also knew, that deep inside, it was his fault... for dropping his guard.. for taking things for granted....

...

His face and robes covered in even more blood, Igarashi felt a terrifyingly familiar feeling as he saw Rikiki fade away in a blue light... an eerily familiar blue light. As painful and horrible as he felt, Igarashi could swear in that moment that he had lived all this before... even though he could not recall anything... or he refused to recall it. Igarashi looked as if he had become a crimson statue, kneeling, his hands holding something that was not there anymore, and his eyes looking completely blank...


Time stood still...




If seconds or minutes had passed, Igarashi was unable to tell the difference... But suddenly, an intense Reiatsu brought reality crashing back to him... an energy he had never felt before... and it also felt... hostile. Mightier than even the Reiatsu of the beast he had just felled. His mind became absorbed sensing that Reiatsu, for some reason, it had become easier for him to pinpoint it's location... and even the presence of others nearby...

"Wait... is that...?"

Identifying the other's Reiatsu, Igarashi became aware that they were Kasahara, Ashibue's sister... and Satoko....

"No..."

Igarashi stood up, his long red hair covering most of his bloodied face, expressionless, he turned at the direction of Satoko's group. It was clear what he needed to, he had just lost a teammate, he would not lose another one again, much less Satoko and Kasahara... the ones he respected and cared about of the group. Without even turning his face, Igarashi spoke to Ashibue as he started walking; "Your sister is in danger, let's go." More than likely, Ashibue already knew that, but Igarashi didn't pay attention, he said that mostly to appeal for her help, as much as it hurted to admit, Igarashi was aware he could not do things by himself... he had not the power to do so, that much was painfully clear to him.

His step quickly turned into a fast running motion as he began to jump and sidestep past grass and trees, rushing straight into the direction of that incredible Reiatsu, Igarashi could only hope that Ashibue was following him, but he had no time to turn back, he had to arrive and help before it was too late. His mind thinking only one thing.

"Not again... Never again!"

Daisuke stared off into the distance. He too had felt the Brown girl's spirit disappear, and it left Daisuke unsettled. It was something he'd felt before, and...

And then there was the monster he could sense was attacking Kasahara, Takeshi, and that spoiled Kijou girl. He glanced back over his shoulder. Zetsumei was still injured and bleeding, and there was still one more hollow that had to be dealt with.

"Duggo-san," he called to his other partner, loosing his zanpakutou scabbard from his belt. "We need to go and assist Kasahara-san and her team. However, we cannot just leave Zetsumei-san here in his condition. I suggest that you take off ahead of us." He aimed his sheathed blade at the last hollow. "I will finish this one off and take care of Zetsumei-san. If we can, we will then join you in the battle. Agreed?" Daisuke prepared to attack the last hollow while still protecting Zetsumei.

Will Make my post after school.

Attention everyone:

You'll get EXP when the mission is over.

Stop asking me.

Dammit, Anshou said to himself. First Rikiki gets herself killed, and now Hikari-chan is...

He lifted his shiroganasashi and attacked the last remaining hollow.

Duggo turned to his teammates. "No dice, man. We'll stick together. We're far better off as a team than not. Let's kill this bastard then go join the others."

Duggo squared off against their remaining foe alongside his teammates. "Let's get 'im."

To himself, Duggo thought: "What is this teamwork shit, and why is it working? Has the Academy changed me that much?"

"We will go help the others once we are done here. I am to weak to help them but I will help finish the last hollow off here if he is still around."

(Zetsu attacks the last crawler.)