Post by Lucas Lightner on Nov 1, 2016 18:48:06 GMT -5
By now, any reasonable person would have left Karakura and decided to lay low for a while. At least, that’s what Lucas quite firmly believed, after two attempts on his life. Each one landed him at a local hospital and got him treated for his various wounds. A smart person would have retreated for now and probably taken his direct recruits with him. That would be the safe thing, the responsible thing, the easy thing to do.
Which meant, to the surprise of no one who actually knew Lucas, that he was already back out in the city and looking for more Quincy. Just like usual, he had managed to stumble close to one of the many, many blue particles that flickered with life under the glass of his silver compass. Even though he could just walk away, duck his head, and avoid any further trouble, Lucas had a job to do.
No, more than that, he had a passion to pursue. His entire life he had dreamed of something like this happening, a force bringing the Quincy together. Now he was the one doing it, not just watching someone else make his vision come true. After the last run-in with a Shinigai, Lucas had sat down and given the matter a lot of thought. He spent night after night on it, weighing the risks, the pros and cons, the threat of never seeing his father again versus what he set out to accomplish.
In the end, it hadn’t even been a challenge. He continued to search for Quincy, to tell as many of them as he could about what was going on, and he wasn’t going to stop because of Shinigami. He wasn’t going to let them tell him how to live, whether through their words or their actions. The rather feminine man with white hair had frustrated him the most and stood for everything about Shinigami behavior that Lucas had come to despise through stories.
Now he knew that his father embellished none of it.
Once again, Lucas was walking through the streets of Karakura Town and getting deeper and deeper into downtown. The particle was moving quickly, and Lucas had to keep up quite the pace so he didn’t lose it in the sea of other particles that danced around the outermost edges of his compass. It would zoom away, stop, and then rush forward again—someone in a car, no doubt. But Lucas couldn’t pick them out, no matter how brisk of a pace he walked or how close to the street he walked just to peek into windows.
Eventually, the particle came to a stop and Lucas managed to catch up with it. When the particle reached the center of his compass, he clicked in closed and looked up. He had come to a stop near a parking lot and the crowd of people going to and fro was dense. He saw short men, tall men—however rare they were, a woman in a white, fur coat, another woman wearing gemstone earrings, and a man in a suit.
He stood there for a moment as the crowd moved around him and, confused, pulled out his compass again. The particle was moving away from him—behind.
They had walked right past him. Was it the midday sunlight that got into his eyes? He was pretty good at picking out Quincy, they were usually more isolated than this.
He turned around and started through the crowd again. He saw the woman in fur again, and the man in the suit, along with all of the other, more average people that surrounded them. But who was it? He glanced to his compass again and, no doubt, they were right in front of him.
All of this time in the city, though, had made him better at one thing: Sensing people. Almost by habit now, Lucas reached out with his mind and started to scan the people in front of him. One negative reading, another negative to the right of that one, and to the right of that person? Larger than average spiritual pressure, right where his compass aid there would be a Quincy.
The woman in the white coat, complete with an ankle-length, green dress.
A Quincy with some serious cash, by the looks of it.
Lucas walked right up behind her.
“Excuse me, miss?” He asked, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. This was getting easier and easier for him, and he was learning what did and didn’t work to get their attention. “You’re a Quincy, and I’d like to have a word with you. It’s a rather urgent matter.”
*****
778 Words
Anna
Which meant, to the surprise of no one who actually knew Lucas, that he was already back out in the city and looking for more Quincy. Just like usual, he had managed to stumble close to one of the many, many blue particles that flickered with life under the glass of his silver compass. Even though he could just walk away, duck his head, and avoid any further trouble, Lucas had a job to do.
No, more than that, he had a passion to pursue. His entire life he had dreamed of something like this happening, a force bringing the Quincy together. Now he was the one doing it, not just watching someone else make his vision come true. After the last run-in with a Shinigai, Lucas had sat down and given the matter a lot of thought. He spent night after night on it, weighing the risks, the pros and cons, the threat of never seeing his father again versus what he set out to accomplish.
In the end, it hadn’t even been a challenge. He continued to search for Quincy, to tell as many of them as he could about what was going on, and he wasn’t going to stop because of Shinigami. He wasn’t going to let them tell him how to live, whether through their words or their actions. The rather feminine man with white hair had frustrated him the most and stood for everything about Shinigami behavior that Lucas had come to despise through stories.
Now he knew that his father embellished none of it.
Once again, Lucas was walking through the streets of Karakura Town and getting deeper and deeper into downtown. The particle was moving quickly, and Lucas had to keep up quite the pace so he didn’t lose it in the sea of other particles that danced around the outermost edges of his compass. It would zoom away, stop, and then rush forward again—someone in a car, no doubt. But Lucas couldn’t pick them out, no matter how brisk of a pace he walked or how close to the street he walked just to peek into windows.
Eventually, the particle came to a stop and Lucas managed to catch up with it. When the particle reached the center of his compass, he clicked in closed and looked up. He had come to a stop near a parking lot and the crowd of people going to and fro was dense. He saw short men, tall men—however rare they were, a woman in a white, fur coat, another woman wearing gemstone earrings, and a man in a suit.
He stood there for a moment as the crowd moved around him and, confused, pulled out his compass again. The particle was moving away from him—behind.
They had walked right past him. Was it the midday sunlight that got into his eyes? He was pretty good at picking out Quincy, they were usually more isolated than this.
He turned around and started through the crowd again. He saw the woman in fur again, and the man in the suit, along with all of the other, more average people that surrounded them. But who was it? He glanced to his compass again and, no doubt, they were right in front of him.
All of this time in the city, though, had made him better at one thing: Sensing people. Almost by habit now, Lucas reached out with his mind and started to scan the people in front of him. One negative reading, another negative to the right of that one, and to the right of that person? Larger than average spiritual pressure, right where his compass aid there would be a Quincy.
The woman in the white coat, complete with an ankle-length, green dress.
A Quincy with some serious cash, by the looks of it.
Lucas walked right up behind her.
“Excuse me, miss?” He asked, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. This was getting easier and easier for him, and he was learning what did and didn’t work to get their attention. “You’re a Quincy, and I’d like to have a word with you. It’s a rather urgent matter.”
*****
778 Words
Anna
