[Siberian Plateau] Kombat (Closed: Erasmus/Lessa/Kiriko)

Kiriko looked around, one arm slowly massaging the hilted blade in her hand. Aneue had said that Siberia was a proving grounds, something about ungodly temperatures and no civilization. She was therefore not much impressed to arrive here only to see trees blanketed not in snow but in pine cones. There wasn't even any permafrost to dampen her footsteps as she paced back and forth, clearly unhappy that her day off was proving to be quite fruitless. Frowning darkly, Kiriko glanced down at the sword in her hand, quirking her head to the side with curiosity. Aneue had grown more silent now that she wasn't trying to terrorize Kiriko into common sense, but that didn't mean the flow of conversation ever quite stopped.

“Well, it's only natural that you wouldn't know about weather patterns like this Imoutou. You didn't live in the Human World after all...” Aneue broke off with a snicker, her dubious tone making Kiriko feel more like an idiot than she had when she first got here. Kiriko didn't accept excuses. She didn't have to make them and they didn't apply to her anyway because an excuse was just words that never made up for anything real. Aneue knew that and was just trying to goad her. Some things about their relationship would never change it seemed.

Shaking her head fiercely Kiriko glared angry holes into the forest loam. She'd worked so hard for this time off too, setting up checks and balances so that things wouldn't go awry back at the Division and even doing double the paperwork to catch up. She wanted some time to really focus on her form, and the piercing chill of Siberia had sounded like a challenge. Kiriko hadn't had much excitement in her training for weeks now, it was getting far too tedious. Her body was losing its instinctual combat readiness and she couldn't accept that as the outcome of Captaincy. Even if she was just a Captain in role only.

Gripping her sword tightly Kiriko's other fist clenched as well as she grit out stolidly, “Well then Aneue, it's a good thing I'm sensing what feels like a Hollow here because otherwise your advice would have been faulty.” The only response she got to that dig was the rasping of bones as Aneue chuckled, ever the patronizing older sister.

“Hop to it dear, wouldn't want to prove me wrong, now would we?”

Kiriko shook her head again as if she could dispel that voice, but there was no recrimination in her actions anymore. If she was sensing things correctly then there really was a Hollow out here, the hair on the back of her neck was already rising in anticipation. It seemed like a strong one too. She was rather desperate for a challenge, if it meant pouncing upon a random person she didn't much care. Tova was one thing, his little minions were another entirely.

Drawing to her feet she slipped towards the Hollow, utilizing all of her stealth knowledge to sneak in unannounced. Kiriko wanted to observe this thing first before attacking. She might be cocky but she wasn't an idiot. It hadn't aggressed towards her while she was here either so perhaps it couldn't sense her yet, she would have to be careful though. Acting alone always carried some semblance of danger in case things went very wrong. Not that Kiriko expected them to, she had Aneue now.

WC: 572 | GP: 11 | Total GP: 11

Books. Books everywhere, providing endless amounts of worlds within which Erasmus could lose himself. He could look into the life of another being or see things through their eyes, experiencing their memories, forging new ones with them and enjoying his short time with them. Ever since he had crafted that infernal bust however he had not been allowed the luxury of reading books in the peace of his own bedroom. No matter where he positioned himself, it could watch him; he even had to cover its soulless, eyeless gaze with a towel at night in order to get a good night’s sleep. Any reasonable person would have thrown the wretched thing in the trash by now, pawned it off, gave it away, anything to be rid of its black hole stare! But not Erasmus. He couldn’t bring himself to be rid of it, even the thought of it not being in his life gave him chills. It was an infuriating loop, damned if he did and damned if he didn’t and he didn’t know why.  He didn’t know why he felt his heart turn to lead whenever he looked upon it, or why he felt the need to touch it, to place his hand upon its head, to caress its cheek, to speak to it in a soothing fatherly tone.

It was greedily sucking away his sanity with every passing day.

Even now as he sat in his familiar red leather armchair, he stared directly at it, fingers zigzagged between each other over his mouth and eyes cold and contemplative. If he could not remove it from his presence then he would have to remove his presence from it, for as long as he could stay away from it before it called him back to peer into its eyeless sockets once again.

The little girl was madness.

He tore his eyes away from the blackened metal with which he had molded the head of an eight year old and navigated the corridors of the Purpureo estate. He didn’t mind where he went, as long as it was far away and different, as different as possible so that he may remove the sight of it from his mind for as long as he could. It was in the second floor study where the world graciously awaited his arrival. He could already feel the faint beckoning that floated from the cold closed lips of the bust. He placed his hand on the spherical map, span it and hovered his finger over it. It took an age for it to cease its rolling but eventually the country of Siberia slowly slid beneath the tip of his digit.

“Cold.” He muttered. “Must wrap up warm.”

* * * * *

The very reality of the world tore itself open to reveal a huge black scar of nothing. From the nothing emerged Erasmus, thick clothes, scarf, book in hand and a sword strapped to his back. He had never found a use for the sword other than to relieve boredom by swinging it around in the garden a few times but he took it with him almost everywhere he went, it was after all a part of him.

The moment he emerged he could feel another presence in the distance, the strongest he had sensed yet. He had to wonder what somebody would be doing way out in the middle of nowhere in Siberia, but, he soon reasoned that they were most likely there for the same reason he was; to get away from something for a while. To be alone. Whatever the case was, he began walking. Unconcerned with whoever it was that was in the vicinity, he searched for a good place to set himself down.

[Words: 624][GP: 12][Total GP: 12]

And then it was gone. Her solitude completely destroyed by the faint feeling a rip in the area. A hole sliced open by some sort of Hollow breed. Probably Arrancar judging by the weight of the pressure. Her face settled into a frown as she turned her dejected eyes in the direction of the being. It was moving away from her, which was alway a plus, but brought a thought of worry to her mind. One, Hollow breeds seemed to have been more attracted to her since she had gotten stronger, and two, something as strong as it was definitely going to be turning any heads that were lurking through this normally empty place. She sent a silent prayer that it wouldn't attract anyone else and that she could continue to have this alone time. The first alone time she had in months.
 
But the fates weren't so kind. Not but a handful of minutes later there was just a tiny tingle on her spine. A sudden burst of energy coming in her direction. A sigh escaped her lips, producing a thicker cloud around her cheeks. Just as the cloud dispersed, the source of that tingle was right in front of her. Long, shining blonde hair complemented by bright blue eyes that rivaled Aya's bright stare. The only difference was this girl's eyes were guarded, stern, with only a hint of confusion. Whereas Aya's was more disappointed with a hint of insanity. Always just a hint lingered in all of her expressions. A door that was just slightly cracked open, letting the world have a peek at the shattered state of mind she was forced to deal with every waking moment of her life.
 
'Why is a Shinigami here? Wait.. Is that a Shinigami?' That whisper of a voice echoed inside of her skull. Damn it. Now she couldn't even have her own mind to retreat into. No where she could have her privacy. This earned a slightly more irritated sigh from her. She didn't move from her spot, though. She simply sat on the branch and stared at the Shinigami inquisitively. 
 
"I could say the same to you," she said with a bit more bitterness than she had been planning. "But if you really must know I was looking for some peace and quiet. Though it seems that I won't be getting that, now will I?" She stretched her arms in front of her then stood up, her dress fanning out around her knees and the tail of her scarf dangling by her right shin. "While we're asking questions, are you alone? Most don't come out to the middle of nowhere alone. Especially not those who run with the Seireitei."  she glanced around the area, suddenly that much more alert. Wouldn't that just be her luck? To get jumped by a squad of Shinigami despite her not doing anything. Had she ever even given them a reason to attack her? Not even once had she provoked a fi-- Oh. That was a lie. There was that one Shinigami she killed, but he had swung first. At least, that was how it played out in her mind and this wouldn't be the first time her memory lied to her.
 
Still, she shrugged it off. That was over a month ago. If they had been after her because of that, they would've found her a long time ago. It's not like she hides from anyone. And when she did want to hide, things like this happened.
 
'I have a bad feeling about this.'
 
[604 words. 12 GP]
[20 GP]

She couldn't believe her eyes. Not only was there an Arrancar, and a pretty powerful one if she was any judge just sitting openly in a tree out here but before Kiriko could really assess her new target of interest something completely unexpected happened. She had come out here because Aneue had said this was a desolate area. First with the animals and plant life and now with the other spirits as well? As happy as Kiriko had been to find a Hollow-breed she would be able to fight to indulge in her combat lust she was not so pleased to spot a fellow Shinigami with blond hair streaming as the other girl blinked into being in the middle of the clearing she was watching.

Kiriko admired her speed, but not her tact. Didn't Kachekiwa sense her here in her hiding place? Even if she had missed Kiriko's reiatsu it was kind of hard to miss that strong surge as the sky ripped open only a few minutes beforehand. What was the girl doing announcing her presence like this to any Hollow around let alone the one that might be drawing that enormous energy towards them? Was she that cocky? Kiriko had never seen her fight, but there were rumors enough about Kachekiwa. Perhaps some of them were actually true then. It would be interesting to find out.

Her consciousness nagged at her though as she read the two spirit's lips to determine their conversation. Kachekiwa might be in danger. She shouldn't be hiding if something happened, should she? Aneue rose up in the back of her mind, a rattling bone saber as she giggled in that high pitched tone, “Hehehe, you're so cute. My little naïve Imoutou, huh?”

Sputtering mentally she couldn't exactly ignore that jab, not while keeping her pride at least. Poking the sword at her hip, Kiriko stood stiffly and sent her dialogue inward. “What are you talking about Aneue? I don't understand...” it was hard to be so humble, to admit her own lack of knowledge. But if there was anyone out there who could accept her and believe in her it was Aneue. That was what Kiriko had learned through the Arrancar King. It was so strange to be listening to her Zanpakutou spirit instead of fleeing the voice, so strange to be smiling even at the chiding reminder that for Aneue Kiriko was nothing more than a foolish child most of the time.

“It's simple,” Aneue soothed, her hypnotic voice drawing out the syllables until it was nearly a sing-song croon, “You think jumping out there and ruining your perfect hand would actually help Kachekiwa? Look again, closer. That girl is strong enough to take care of herself, and besides you know your own limitations, don't you? Unless you can use my power you're not going to be winning any and all battles and I don't see any of your subordinates here today to give up their flesh to be your warriors. So settle down and think about that. Without me, you're still not strong enough. You can't go jumping into fights unless you're sure you can win them. You know that, don't you? Without me, you're nothing.”

Kiriko winced, a tense anger rising up to burn at her chest and collarbones. She wasn't that weak! She still had her fists, she still had her Kido. Kiriko could fight without even touching her blade, if she needed to. What was Aneue talking about, trying to say she was weak? Her sharp irritation grew and bubbled, and Aneue began to rattle, a loud harsh noise of bones hitting against each other. “Idiot! I'm just worried about you is all, you're my Imoutou, I don't want to see you get hurt... Don't be so cocky, think smart. That's all I'm telling you to do. Come on Imoutou, I'm your family, right? So you should listen to me.”

Kiriko wasn't sure about that inflection, but her mind was too busy to focus on the possessive tone that her Zanpakutou spirit always seemed to have. Aneue was right. She should fight smart and not be too arrogant. With that other spiritual pressure here things could get dicey. As much as Kiriko wanted to say she could beat any opponent it just wasn't the case, not without her Shikai at least and Aneue was right about resources. She decided to remain here, covered by a scree of foliage and also apparently the inadvertent attentions of the two girls out there.  

WC: 752 | GP: 15 | Total GP: 26

With a groan the male Arrancar tugged the neck line of his crimson sweater, it was the first time he had even worn a sweater and he was already sure of his dislike for the things. He hadn't yet gotten around to buying clothes that he would like, instead he had simply taken whatever Satine could offer him. For the most part her selections had been pretty decent. At least in his personal opinion they were decent. Perhaps she had had ill intentions with a few of his articles. There had been quite a few brightly colored shirts in the collection that she had given him, and more than a few pink colored garments. After visiting the town a few times he had noticed that not may people wore brightly colored clothes for whatever reason. Perhaps she thought that his tastes would be similar? It was possible that she had meant to spite him. He had noted her disdain when he announced that the pink shirt was one of his favourites. He yanked at the sweater again. Not only did it cling a little too tightly to his body, it felt itchy and grating against his skin and if it weren't for the fact that it was the only thing protecting his torso from the cold he would have removed it.

A light mist billowed from his lips as he sighed, at least the scarf and jeans were fine, nothing wrong or out of the ordinary about them except for the fact that one of the rear pockets had been torn off. He began to wonder if the clothes he had were just hand-me-downs that Satine had acquired from somewhere.

He shifted slightly as his current sitting position grew old. He had found a great place under a tree; a giant log sat on it's side just at the foot of the trunk and allowed him to both sit down and lean back against the tree itself. The log however was far too knobbly for his liking so he had fashioned a make shift pillow out of his scarf and parked his rear end upon it. He had been like this for a while now, already a few chapters deeper into the open tome he held within his palm. It didn't help however. He was sure that the cool atmosphere of the surroundings and the immersive tale of the pages would occupy his thoughts to their fullest. But he still couldn't stop thinking, about the bust, about the mysterious little girl, or about what Aisha had told him about Hollow. It all brewed together into one mass of negativity. Realising that he wasn't absorbing the story and had been reading the same line multiple times Erasmus simply closed the book with a defeated expression.

He could still feel that single presence not too far away, though now it was accompanied by a second. No doubt they could sense him too, it wasn't like he made the effort to conceal himself. In fact he didn't even know how to do such a thing, he had never tried it before. As if the very thought had triggered some kind of unconscious mechanism his spiritual pressure hid itself, he wasn't sure how he knew he had done it, nor how he had done it in the first place, but he had done it. It was almost like he knew how to do it once and had merely forgotten. Actually he was more than certain that that was what it was, his previous self must have been able to do it. Swordplay, Sonido, Vibrations and now power concealment. What would he discover he could do next? 

With another glance at the cover of his rather unhelpful book he rose to his feet. Whoever the person he had sensed before was they were now accompanied by another, so perhaps they didn't wish to be left alone. If that were the case then maybe Erasmus could find a distraction in social interaction which he could not find in reading.

CRACK

Erasmus' sonido fired off like a muffled gun shot. He didn't simply shoot himself into their little conversation however, that would have been very rude. Instead he stopped a little ways off from them and walked the rest of the distance. His demeanour was warm and friendly as he approached, hailing them with a wave of his hand. For some reason he was surprised to find two women out there in the middle of nowhere, even more surprised was he to learn that as he drew close enough to discern the features on both of the female faces, one of them was very very familiar to him. As usual however, he didn't know why. The only clue he had as to how he had once known the blonde woman was a deep well of melancholy accompanied with fond nostalgia. His smile slowly drifted away as she drew nearer.

"I'm...Sorry," he muttered, pulling his gaze away from Lessa with great difficulty to look at the woman suspended by a tree branch. "I hope I'm not intruding."

[Words: 850][GP: 17][Total GP: 29]

She stretched once more, relaxing a bit as the bones in her back and shoulders snapped into alignment noisily. The Shinigami wasn't too bright, or perhaps just ignorant, but for whatever reason, she seemed naive to the fact that Arrancar very rarely came in packs. And on that note, if Aya was looking for peace and quiet, why would she had brought someone with her? Sometimes other beings really amazed her. How could they be so... So... 

'Different?' The voice supplied, while subtly pointing out its ability to clearly keep up with Aya's thoughts. An annoying feature that only served to make the Arrancar that much more agitated. Not that she would let it show. Quite the opposite, actually. She was smiling and everything about her seemed friendly. Even her relaxed stance and innocent tilt of the head. All perfectly normal and sweet. 

"I'm alone," she struggled to keep her voice nice--struggled to keep her condescending tone out of the topic. "I actually don't know who that other Arrancar is..." Now that she was thinking about it, that Arrancar was clearly powerful. How had she not heard of it before? She always prided herself in at least familiarizing herself with the other Arrancar; it was one of the minor duties she figured she had as an Espada. Then again, there were a lot of Arrancar, so it wasn't completely mind blowing for her to find out she missed a couple entities. 

Not that she would have to worry for long because like a burst of thunder, the man appeared, strolling towards them with a wave and bright green eyes focused on the Shinigami. Did he know her? It seemed like it. ... Odd. Aya had found friendship in a Shinigami once--Shiki--but that didn't blow over so well. Ever since the invasion, it was severely frowned up among the Hollows. She made a mental note to question it later. Not now though. Right now she wanted to be alone.

"You're not intruding," she said evenly. A blatant lie. Everyone here was intruding. "But I'm going to have to agree with blondie... What're you doing here? I had figured this was the last place in any of the worlds where I'd find others." Okay maybe that time her bitterness seeped through her tone, but only just a bit. And honestly, could they blame her? Surely they had all been thinking the same thing when they same here. Who goes to the middle of nowhere expecting to find others?

[416. 8 GP]

[28 GP]

Kiriko cursed lowly to herself, her forehead creasing as she heard and felt the sudden appearance of the Arrancar that held such a vast reiatsu that it was terrifying. Even if he had for some reason locked it all away for the moment, a strange act considering he revealed his body in the next second. This though, this was getting too dangerous. Leaving Kachekiwa alone with one normal Arrancar was one thing, but two opponents and one of such caliber? That was just suicidal. Kiriko didn't know Kachekiwa's strength very well at all, except for those odd rumors in Soul Society, but she did know that the girl was her friend. And that her own loyalty dictated that she ensure Kachekiwa was alright. She hadn't felt any threat earlier when it was Kachekiwa against the girl, but with this new presence Kiriko wasn't entirely positive of anything anymore. Why had he shown up like this?

It didn't matter anyway, her hiding that was. Any man with that much power had to be able to sense Kiriko over her, and it would go worse for her if they thought she was trying to use the shadows to attack in surprise because so far it wasn't actually leading towards a fight. Strange as that was for a meeting of mortal enemies. Strategic battle sense was different from tactics in this case, so Kiriko slowly let her hand fall away from her blade and breathed in deep of the cold crisp air. Making an approach was going to be awkward no matter how she did this so she might as well go for gold and act as if she had just stumbled upon the three of them.

She trusted Kachekiwa to go along with her act. The other two, it was a toss up as to how they would react to her intrusion. Aneue was coldly silent, her lack of conversation a sharp pain in Kiriko's heart. But she had to follow her mind and not her heart, so for this one time she ignored the blade's feelings. Striding forward, her feet purposefully stepping on errant twigs and dried leaves, Kiriko made a small amount of noise to announce her presence. She wasn't bumbling around, but she did take care to sound the alarm just enough that someone wouldn't expect much out of her arrival. Nibantai were always silent, it felt like a disgrace to have the crackle and snap of foliage beneath her tread herald her coming.

Brushing away a branch she stepped into the clearing and slowly looked around. While she had previously had visual contact in hiding it wasn't an open picture and it was good now to finally get a real glance at everyone involved. She had no experience at being artless and all Kiriko could do then was to look at her fellow Shinigami and inquire, “Kachekiwa-san, what is going on? I felt all of these presences and came to investigate,” part bald explanation and part searching question Kiriko fell silent even as she stepped closer towards her compatriot.  

WC: 511 | GP: 10 | Total GP: 36

He hadn't felt it on the way over but now that he was in the thick of it the tension was obvious, hanging in the air like a weight on his shoulders. The little blonde one had aimed a verbal needle at him in the form of the way she spoke, likewise the Arrancar in the tree spoke as if his presence was severely unwanted despite speaking words to the contrary. He realized suddenly, as his eyes drifted from one woman to the other, that social interaction was much less appealing, but what else had he expected as he walked in on a Shinigami and an Arrancar? There was bound to be some amount of animosity looming over them and now it loomed over him. Of course he knew that Shinigami and Arrancar got along like cats and dogs, but would they really just attack each other in cold blood? Selk and Satine had told him tales of how Arrancar ruthlessly cut down Shinigami and how Shinigami ambushed Arrancar and killed them in cold blood. Did that mean there were more hiding out among the trees? His eyes refocused on the shrubbery behind Lessa, dangerously close to the spot where Kiriko was hiding out. Hopefully he hadn't walked into anything too serious.

"I-Uh, I came here to read and take my mind off of a few things." He told the truth sheepishly, holding up the book of Alice's Adventure in Wonderland for them to see for themselves, a bold purple bookmark poking out from under it's pages. "It didn't work. A-At first, I could only feel one presence over here so I figured that they had come here to be alone so I didn't bother them, but once I felt a second presence." His head bobbed towards Lessa. " I-uh, figured that maybe it'd be ok if I came over." It was easy enough to avoid the gaze of the woman in the tree, only looking up at her when directly talking to or about her, but the blonde one was at eye level and Erasmus had much more difficulty keeping his gaze from meeting hers. Something about her just made him uncomfortable. It was strange for him to be so timid, but given the fact that he had just walked into a meeting of mortal enemies, one of which stirred up emotions most unpleasant, it was understandable.

Then another appeared from behind the treeline, the crunching of dried leaves and the snapping of discarded twigs announcing her arrival and suddenly Erasmus' theory of a shinigami ambush was becoming more and more believable. The swords that they carried quickly seemed much more threatening. He took a moment to shoot Amaya a slightly concerned look, she no doubt had more wisdom about such things than he did, after all, compared to her Erasmus was probably the equivalent of a new born baby. He turned back to the shinigami pair, making a point to look only at Kiriko. She wasn't as powerful as the blonde woman, but if there were more like her out there, watching, then things were looking bleak.

"I had a feeling that there were more of you hiding out here." The sword that had once been strapped to his back had to be removed for him to sit down, as a result it now resided at his waist where he leaned his arm upon the pommel. Somehow it provided him with a sense of comfort.

[Words: 576][GP: 11][Total GP: 40]

Aya shifted her weight, letting the branch beneath her feet creak just a bit. She didn't like this situation one bit. The Shinigami was clearly on edge about the entire situation despite the fact that they were technically on neutral group. Miles away from any humans, spiritual or otherwise, and an entire world away from the Seireitei. Her caution was unjustified. Especially since she had been the one that had approached Aya. It was like she was just waiting for a reason to strike. 

The shuffling of another person is what really made the Arrancar tense up. She stepped back and eyed the girl who popped out from a bush surprisingly close to the tree Aya was in. Her face set into a deep scowl. "Came here alone..." She mumbled under her breath. A statement clearly directed towards the girl ready to attack, but a bit too quiet to be heard. Her bright green stare remained on this new person, watching as she made her way a bit closer to the first Shinigami--Kachekiwa as it seemed. They were getting ready to attack. They were playing friendly to make the Arrancar lose their defenses. Well, Aya wasn't that stupid.

She glanced up at her fellow Arrancar just in time to meet his gaze. If his stuttering hadn't given it away, that look of pure concern did it. On the surface he seemed strong enough but something struck Aya as odd. Why hadn't he drawn his sword if he was worried? Wasn't that typical of an Arrancar to start the fight? Then why wasn't he? For a moment she wondered if he could sense something about the two  Shinigami that she couldn't. 

Carefully, casually, she jumped up to a different branch, putting her closer to the other Arrancar, her hands never leaving her side and no motions towards the sword on her back made. A smile formed on her lips. A smile that she thought was sweet and friend, but in reality was borderline psychotic, though her voice completely betrayed any sense of insanity. "I think it'd be better if we went our ways. After all, I'm not too fond of ambushes." She looked back at her ally of sorts. Would he even fight alongside her if necessary or would he turn tail like a scolded dog? She'd probably find out soon, considering the viciousness of her tone was far beyond provoking. It was practically a taunt. She might as well said 'Come at me and I'll wear your skin' thanks to her tone.

And without missing a beat, she half turned, clearly showing the massive sword on her back. The crystalline long sword only held on her back thanks to a loosely leather ring that caught the guard of the blade shimmered in the sunlight and demanded attention in the most ostentatious ways. 

[472. 9 GP]

[Total restarting thanks to claim / 9 GP]

Kiriko watched the interplay between everyone, her eyes keen to catch each expression and tone. It has really paid off, all of her work with body language, because she was finally getting to the level where it was nearly intuitive to grasp at hidden things. The next step was clear to her, and it even seemed easy. If she could take this knowledge to the battlefield then her senses would be honed to perfection. There was really only one way to test if she was capable though, and that was a fight. Not that Kiriko thought confronting these two Arrancar seemed smart, certainly not with that behemoth of a man over there, but it was a thought that circled the back of her mind aggressively.

The Arrancar girl was thinking the same things it seemed, as she hopped up higher to find better ground and looked down at the two Shinigami with such fervor that it almost stung. Kiriko glared back, her eyes blank and frosty, as she felt her hackles rise as the young Hollow-breed threatened them vocally. It was pretty easy to see that she was intent on a fight, but seemed to be holding back because of her partner. Smart, as the man was waiting as well for some unseen cue. Was there someone else hiding around here that she couldn't sense? He had pulled his sword to his side, and Kiriko accepted the fact that both opponents were so ready to draw. It was a tangible threat too because neither Kiriko nor Kachekiwa had their weapons open.

The tension was so thick, it made the air tight and heavy between them. She felt sluggish as she turned and carefully redistributed her weight into a ready stance. Not too obvious, but something that would give her a heads up were that girl to launch out of the tree at her. She wasn't afraid of some whispy little Arrancar, no the greater fear was about her friend. If Kiriko got into a fight here, would Kachekiwa be drawn into the clash? The answer was obvious. She didn't want the other girl to get hurt because of her, so she kept her movements slow and careful. Neither telegraphing nor calling out her own rising paranoia.

The sword at her side hummed softly, a death rattle raging through her head. Kiriko smiled in kind, her own expression white and mirthless. Eyes pinned to the two Arrancar, she waited to see what they would do. Kiriko was no idiot, she wouldn't make the first move. Though her hand itched to draw her blade. She was better off without the cold metal in her grip anyway, Kiriko had always been more skilled in hand to hand combat than swordplay. An oddity for a Shinigami to be sure but something she prided herself in nonetheless. That flashy sword of the Arrancar's was bound to be more than just metal, but Kiriko knew herself worthy after having found that beast of an Arrancar only a short time ago. Any opponent would be easier than that insane woman.

WC: 513 | GP: 10 | Total GP: 46

"You just got lost?" Erasmus questioned the little blonde Shinigami, the disbelief clearly evident in his tone of voice and the way his right eyebrow rose over the other. He honestly found it difficult to believe her story; if she had entered the human world in search of the woman beside her then surely the fact that they were currently in the very same location meant that she hadn't lost her way. Or was it just a happy coincidence that in the vastness of the human world she had just happened to get lost in the exact same place as the person she was looking for? Instinct was kicking in. The situation was dodgy and Erasmus didn't like that. Venom and bile was being thrown back and forth in the form of subtle hostilities and everything was being thrown into a pot of violent broth, the liquid slowly bubbling up and up, close to reaching the rim of the cauldron now. How much more could it take before it overflowed? Could it be saved? Could the situation be prevented?

Amaya's actions just added even more fuel to the fire, her tone downright challenging them to make the first move, even going so far as to turn her back to them. For a split second Erasmus wondered if he should follow suit, nerves began to fool him into following the pack mentality of going with the alpha; sure Erasmus was stronger, but Amaya had the advantage in the fact that Erasmus perceived her as holding superiority over him in the form of knowledge. That crazy thought was swiftly discarded, turning his back would surely offend the pair of reapers. But the offer to leave had been placed down on the table, maybe they were waiting for Erasmus to open the distance as Amaya had done, a signal that they would be allowed to leave peacefully? He didn't know, the tension was starting cause a fight or flight adrenaline to flood his mind.

Shakily he stepped back, hoping that they would get the message, but they didn't move. They stared. They just stared at him, and her and him again. Erasmus also stared at them, first the blonde one and then the one that was clearly her superior and back again. This was the last thing he had expected when he had left the house that day, but if there was one thing that had been accomplished it was the fact that his mind had been taken far far away from the little girl from his past. Now he was just focused on the task at hand, surviving. 

The Shinigami were rooted in place. They had no intentions of leaving. Fight or flight? Which one Erasmus? Choose! Erasmus' hollow mind chose to fight. Slowly his fingers slid down the handle of his sword, gliding over the guard and enclosed around the opening of the sheathe. His eyes remained darkly fixated upon the two women before him, every sense on the look out for anything out of the ordinary. His thumb moved upwards and lightly touched the cold surface of the swords guard. No doubt they would recognize the sound of a sword being pushed from it's scabbard. No doubt they would take action the moment they heard it. The Hollow Man took in a deep breath of icy air. He concentrated hard on his next action, his right arm ready and nervously anticipated the moment when it would be required to fly towards the hilt and slash it from its home. His thumb pushed harder into the guard.

Shik!

[Words: 600][GP: 12][Total GP: 12]

[GP Reset due to claim]

Aya chuckled, or rather giggled, when the Shinigami spoke to them. Stupid? Beast? She sure had a lot of balls to talk like that, or perhaps she was that confident in herself. Even as the woman continued to lash out her insults left and right and Aya's comrade drew his sword, Aya had yet to even touch the sword on her back. Instead, she dropped her voice to a light tone, just barely loud enough for her fellow Arrancar to hear. "This is going to be a distraction. You better make the most of it otherwise she'll be on us in a few seconds flat." And then she was silent. She let him think over her words. Maybe he had said something in response, but she wasn't much in the mood for listening at this point in time. After all, the little brat Shinigami had been itching for a fight since she showed up. If Aya and her ally were to try and leave right now, surely she would hunt them down.

And then she moved. All in one fluid motion, she pivoted her body and pulled her sword from her back. As if that motion was the trigger, the air around Aya's body ignited into almost suffocatingly high temperatures and the shards of crystals on her her sword burst into flames. She slashed the sword downward, as if she were cutting the air and sent the flames flying towards the Shinigami. The wave of yellow and blue flames tore through the air towards their blonde hair target.

And then she shifted her weight, keeping her sword pointed towards the ground and a grin spread across her face. Not because she was happy--she didn't much care for fighting after all--but because situations like this caused her to lose her grip on what bit of sanity she had. She may have been grinning like an insane woman, but on the inside she was frowning and worrying about getting out of this situation alive. And more importantly, she was wondering if her fellow Arrancar would be willing to fight alongside her. She didn't have the best reputation with her Arrancar and while this guy didn't seem to recognize her, she wouldn't be surprised if he turned his back on her.

[378. 7 GP]

[16 GP]

[Sorry for the short post. My muse is gone, but I didn't wanna hold up the thread.]

Kiriko watched all three spirits with a close eye. Tracking the expressions on their faces. Kachekiwa was the easiest to read, her anger absorbing her, but the two Arrancar made no attempt to mask their intentions either. After a few harsh words and a slip of a sword she realized this was heading in a direction that could not be reversed. But wasn't that fate? For Shinigami and Hollow-breeds to fight until the ends of time? It was just in their nature, both of them. She felt no guilt staring down the larger man, and neither was she surprised with the girl drew her blade with a flash and the air suddenly combusted. Flames licked at the trees and Kiriko was already moving before she had the time to fully assess the situation.

Kachekiwa could not be harmed. Not her first friend. Not if Kiriko had anything to say about it. She had felt the other woman's eyes on her before, and knew that the weight of leadership had fallen atop her shoulders today. The only reason Kachekiwa had held back to just angry words was that she felt she needed to respect Kiriko's orders. That meant this entire thing was her fault, and Kiriko would not allow anything to befall her friend due to her own hesitance.

Throwing up her hands Kiriko's reiatsu flooded the area around her body as she called upon her energy while throwing up a hasty Kido spell. There was no time to incant, the flames were speeding closer with each inhalation, and she fell back on the repetition of an old and familiar spell. Blue light coursed from her hands to form a stream of reiatsu that coalesced in front of Kachekiwa. Like a transparent barrier it stood tall and strong as the flames struck. Instead of simply blocking however the barrier pulsed and repelled the flames right back from whence they had come. Bakudo number eight. The comforting weight of her knowledge eased any tension inside of Kiriko's body, this would not be that difficult after all.

She did not yet wish to show her hand of secrets, so instead of using her Hakuda or calling up the more covert nature of her Shunko Kiriko held back to Kido. If all they thought she could do were the demon arts then she would be better off once the two had revealed their abilities. The flames from that woman's attack were already cast back at the enemy but Kiriko could not leave it at that. She respected the two Arrancar enough to know that she had to fight at her best if she wanted to win. Her options were limited for Hado though, and only a few of her techniques could strike more then one opponent as was needed now. Hands flashing through the air she drew a semicircle of red light in front of her body, her fingers wreathed in angry crimson as the light grew bigger and bigger. Standing so close to Kachekiwa she knew that the range of her attack would spread out to encompass anyone beyond the two of them. It was almost too close, but she shifted despite that to bring the second Arrancar into range. Her second hand drew the other half of the circle and it filled in with red. Glowing like molten lava the center formed into a large ball of flames. There was no time for breath as wires shot out from the circle and immediately following the flames explode, following the wire out and around the two Arrancar to surround them in deadly flames.

WC: 600 | GP: 12 | Total GP: 58

Spell Number: Bakudō Number Eight
Spell Name: Seki (斥, Repulse)
Description: Seki is primarily used for deflection. The practitioner generates a orb of light blue energy that rebounds an attack when said attack makes contact with it. The effect not only blocks the attack but repels whatever strikes it.
Incantation: Unknown

>Name: Hado Number Forty: Takibi (たきび - Open Fire)
>Level(s) of release the tech is available at: Sealed+
>Relevant Skill(s) & Ranks: Hadō – Basic
>Stat(s) Involved: Spirit
>Flavor Description: The practitioner forms two semicircles with their hands and matched them together, creating a complete circle with both of their hands. When the Kido is activated, a red ball of fire forms in the center of the circle. Shortly after, thin wires of fire form a circle with a five foot radius to the user. The wires explode outwards, encasing everything in the immediate vicinity in a thick coat of red fire.
>Incantation: 'Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, sea of chaos, flutter of wings, ye who heeds the words of Man! Lies and gall, the inferno ignites, release the tainted flames! Hado #40: Takibi!'
>Effect: Operates at Spirit+15 damage, Spirit speed. Operates at Spirit+25 damage, Spirit speed when incanted. (Can break soft cap when incanted)
>Casting Time: 1 combat action (w/o incantation); 2 combat actions (w/ incantation)
>Duration: 1 combat action
>Limitations: Only hits at Close Range, but can hit everyone in close range. Within five feet of caster is a safezone.
>Cooldown (if any): N/A
>Stamina Cost: 3 Stamina

"Is it really?" He shot back at the little blonde woman when she told him that pushing his sword from it's scabbard was a bad idea. "Might I point out that we were the one's to step back first. You had a chance to end this peacefully and you cast it aside, you're no worse than I am." He said. He wasn't quite aware of what he was saying, words just seemed to be flowing from his mouth, unfiltered by his brain as every ounce of thought process he could spare was focused on dealing with whatever came his way next. It was his hope that the pair would be in favor of not shedding needless blood but it would seem that the Shinigami doctrine had been so deeply encoded within their minds that they would start a foolish fight over foolish things just because the people they were dealing with were Hollow. He now understood why Selk described them as blindly proud beings with no way of thinking for themselves. Then the little blonde one reached down for her own weapon, prompting Erasmus to remove his own from it's home with a shimmering screech. A brief stand-off saw Erasmus' supposed ally whispering in his ear. Something about a distraction. He didn't know, he wasn't entirely listening, his heart was thumping too loudly in his ear for him to catch her words.
 
Then everything erupted into a flurry of motion, sound and incredible heat. Amaya had unleashed a great blaze upon the woman who had just reached for her sword, it's dancing body flying straight for her face. Steam rose into the air, mixed with the smoke that billowed from the tree's and wildlife around them as the scorching flare set the surrounding are alight. Erasmus felt lost in the confusion, everything was happening so fast. He had barely seen the attack move before the superior Shinigami officer was already taking action, he hands moving at speeds he had only though possible during long distance movement such as Sonido. Another great wall of fire was erected and absorbed the Arrancar's attack, the blazing pillar of embers grew with the added fuel and then exploded outwards. In a panic Erasmus released a roar of effort as he flinched away from the incoming attack. He did nothing to prevent it, he merely slammed his foot forward and braced himself for impact; what happened next he never would have believed had it not been for his own surge of spiritual power.
 
The very flames that Kiriko had launched back at Erasmus and Amaya had halted just in front of the Arrancar of Loss, as if they had been met by an invisible force that hung just before the pair of hollow breeds. They burned in mid air, still trying to push through to them and in a few quick seconds dissipated entirely touching neither of them. At the same time the very earth beneath their feet shook as a great rupture in the ground broke open beneath Erasmus' heel and a huge mass of rock and earth shot up in front of the two Arrancar, giant pillars of stone reaching up to beat and batter the Shinigami officers.
 
[Words: 534][GP: 10][Total GP: 22]