The Archer And The Beast [Closed/Alyshea]

Preoccupied is what she was and not at all sure that she wasn't going to wind up in a world of shit, but she had made a decision and was going to see it through. Her father had sounded alright with her choice, at least she thought so. She frowned as she paused on the corner of the street once more back in Karakura Town. Her eyes barely saw her surroundings as she looked down the street for she was mulling over her conversation and second guessing her decision.

Meeting the Fullbringer had been unsettling to her on a variety of levels. She knew that it wouldn't have been such an issue for her if her current direction in life had been driven by desire rather than by a sense of atonement. Her commitment to becoming an asset to the family within the company, to the exclusion of her Quincy identity was not working out so well. Her heart was not content and she realized she had been longing to break free. That certainly could be a destructive compulsion if left to fester, so she had called home.

It had been a good talk with her father, even though she still wasn't sure if he was just telling her what she wanted to hear and would rather have had her rush back to Pfalzgrafenweiler. There was no rush to return with the artifact, he assured her. Go back to Karakura Town and take some time to find yourself, he had suggested. Her protests actually caused him to laugh and, if she was honest, hurt her ego just a bit when he had brushed them aside by saying the family was not going to fall apart without her.

She took out her phone and opened her father's text with the address in it. He had suggested she take a month off and said he was sending her the directions to a small place the family had in Karakura Town that she could use as a kind of retreat. When she tried to object and say she needed to bring the artifact back, he said there was no rush there either. She had bit back her question on why in the world they had sent her clear across the world for the damned thing if there had been no rush. It all was a bit suspicious to her now that she thought about it.

Stuffing her phone back into her pocket, now that she had oriented herself a bit, she turned the corner and passed between two buildings toward the house. The buildings were spacing out a bit more, she was glad to see. That was reassuring as her father said the little house was kind of secluded and would be a good place for her to get some peace and quiet. She really should have just taken a taxi, but since she was going to be staying in town for a while she thought she could get a better awareness of the place if she took the time to walk.

She looked about once more, trying to spot the landmark and reassure herself she wasn't completely lost. There was supposed to be a park around here someplace...

An icy chill washed over her with such sudden ferocity that she literally jumped back from its touch. Her eyes caught the flash of claws swiping the space where she had just been and instantly adjusted to give her a full view of the Hollow coming right at her. Her arm had nearly been sliced, her sleeve of her jacket having been ripped by those claws was a bit much of a narrow escape for her.
He was just too close, distance was what she needed.

A quick burst of Reishi and she was speeding backwards across the street through the use of Hirenkyaku. The area was a bit narrow, however, and she realized a bit too late that it had been the perfect place to make an attack. Defending herself was the last thing on her mind, however, and it just might cost her her life. She drew in Reishi through her cross, feeling the rush of the particles coursing through her body, and summoned up her bow.

As yet she could not create a solid weapon like her cousins, for she had been loath to train or even go out hunting for quite some time. Even so, she was able to manifest her weapon and drew back the string with an arrow notched to the ready. Taking aim, she fired a Heilig Pfeil at the lanky creature's chest even as her heart pounded in her own. Even as she loosed her arrow her eyes traveled up to his face shocked to see that his mask was bare and he didn't have a face at all. The chill she had felt seemed to settle into her, the lack of a face was just a bit too unsettling.

Word Count: 824

Deep down No-Name was pleased that the mortal had dodged his attack, truly he was, after all if his blow had struck then he might have simply killed the mortal with a single strike which would have taught him nothing. It also wouldn’t have given him much time to vent his anger if things ended in a blink of an eye. So yes he was was pleased… deep, deep… deep down. On the surface however things were somewhat different. On the surface No-Name was not pleased. On the surface he was panicking. First of the mortal had dodged his attack and vanished with a move somewhat like the one Soul Reapers, or he himself, used but somehow different. Regardless of it’s differences he’d annoying noticed that she moved swiftly that he was capable of. Then again that was typical, he was slow even compared to many of the Hollow he hunted. No what really panicked him was the bow that flashed into existence into her hand, glowing with searing light that hurt to look at.

He tried to draw confidence from the fact that the strength he sensed from her was less than his own, in fact to highlight the fact No-Name began to exert his own Spiritual Pressure, which always flowed freely, to it’s full potency. He would crush her with it. He would bring her despair. Delicious fear. However a few moments after that bow blinked into reality the energy he could sense around her began to rise at an exponential rate.

’How?’

That was all he had time to think to himself before she drew back and loosed a projectile of light at him. He didn’t wait a moment longer, he had seen the destructive powers of those before and what they could do while spying on these mediums before.

Eight bladed tentacles rose from along his back to rise up and slither through the air above his head. One of them shot out with blinding speed to strike out at the arrow before it could strike true. There was an explosion of power as the blade impacted with the arrow and No-Name snarled in anger. Pain lance down the limb and he could see the blade had been badly cracked and was leaking blood. So his block hadn’t been entirely successful.

“whAt Are YOU moRTAl? wHat GIVEs YoU PoweR? yOu ARE LiVinG? yOu ARe bReATHInG? Yes?” he hissed in that strange voice of his. The Hollow was fairly certain this one, unlike the Soul Reaper was a mortal. “but yOU aRE wEak. loW PoWer. LOW eNeRgY. hOw Did You mAke BOw SO stRONg? hOW diD YoU make dEAdly arrOw? tell Me!”

Charging forward he tried to regain the momentum of the battle which the girl, she looked young to his eyes anyway, had seized with her deadly attack. When he was just out of what would appear to be range four of the bladed appendages suddenly shot out, stretching and lengthening, as the thrust towards her. Each was aimed at a different location. One for her chest, two for each of her shoulders and the last for her stomach.

As he struck he kept running towards her, trying to get into range to use his claws without having to stretch them.

“telL Me!”

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WC: 547
Total WC: 1293

The arrow sped across the narrow distance and she knew she should move again, Alistair had always told her not to make of herself an easy target. Though she knew it was unwise to tarry, she just had to linger and watch for the wild flailing of those suddenly appearing appendages was enthralling. Even as she saw him try to parry he Heilig Pfeil, she knew what would happen well aware how her energy would react with that of the Hollow. So it was only only a bit of a surprise that he didn't completely get that arms of his severed for his trouble. He had been prepared to lose that arm to save himself, clearly self aware enough make that much of a sacrifice rather than die.

She had to move, however, and couldn't stand there becoming intimidated or entranced by his terrifying charge forward. The glow of her bow still clutched in her hand, she began to race away but the sound of his voice just floored her in her tracks. Blinking she was stunned into inactivity as she tried to come to terms with hearing it speak. The voice penetrated her souls with it eerie multitude of voices, as though it were a huge gathering of people all clamoring to be heard and warring to be the voice. Too human and much too frightening for the similarity. As if that was not enough to cause her to falter, there were the questions he hurled at her himself.

How did this monster even manage to know such concepts let alone put them into such articulation with even its limited vocabulary? It was the very image of the macabre. She wished to deny what she was hearing, seeing, thinking and just run but somehow she could not budge. All she saw were those clawed limbs flailing imagining that they were the very souls it had consumed, that they too would leap out at her and surround her. The image of herself being pulled down to the ground on all sides but those twisted and mangled souls as they fought each other to rend her flesh filled her mind. She nearly failed at keeping her focus and the bow in her hand began to flicker.

It was all too reminiscent of the night she had been unable to help Alistair. Oh she hadn't frozen, she had just been too late. It was the helplessness of it all, the inability to make any action that would stave off the inevitability of death. Those arms lashed toward her, she could track their path as easily as if she was lining up a shot on the pool table in some bar. It was just nothing she could do to make it stop!

He was nearly upon her, but it was the need to stop his advance that freed her to action. She need not even lift her bow and have room or time to make good aid, and she had to do was lose her Schattenweber into the ground. Even as she drew back on the string her dark arrow formed that would unleash her veil before her. Loosing the arrow it spun forward into the ground spreading her stasis veil before her like an ever expanding shawl of her Reiatsu. She exerted her will and her need into the haze it spread before her like never before. He had to stop, he just had to "STOP!"

Word Count: 573 + 824 = 1347

His charge was brought to an abrupt stop, the Hollow utterly stopped moving appendages and all. No-Name didn’t even resist the sudden force that seized him. He felt more confused than anything else, the befuddlement even overcame his fury at the wound he received from the woman. The sensation was so strange, it was almost like being halted by an overpowering Spiritual Pressure but without the dread or being forced to ones knees. It simply… stopped him. She had commanded him to stop? Had it simply been her words? Did simple speech have so much power? No… he refused to believe words could hold such potency.

His mask tilted downwards as he glanced down at the black arrow embedded in the ground. Darkness spread out from that spot and enveloped the area that No-Name was standing in. Slowly the pieces began to click into place.

‘Oh.’

Was this a power all these Archers had? Or were there simply talented members amongst their race? Special ones who developed powers in the same way as Hollow did. If it was just her then she might be strong for one of these Archers? What kind of Hollow would she make? A powerful one. Such wasted potential giving this strength to a human.

Straining against the invisible force caused his slim limbs to tremble with the effort before he give up, his form slouching slightly as if in exhaustion. No-Name had no special abilities that could free him from such an unusual technique. He tilted his head slightly as he considered his foe before dropping to his knees.

“this POWEr Is UneXpect. so pOwerFUL. yoU Are nO Mere hUMan. wHat arE YOu ArCHEr? TelL Me thIS AT leaSt beFore YOU DEStRoy me.” he spoke, his strange voice conveying a certain level of exhaustion. As he spoke his Spiritual Pressure dropped slightly, as if tiring but only as if. The Hollow was forcibly dropping his energy output, a difficult task but hopefully it give the right image.

Of course he had no intention of allowing this woman to destroy him but the words were injected with enough sincere curiosity that no deception would be heard there. He needed to learn more about these beings before doing anything. They were Human Mediums, he was almost certain but unusual. In his admittedly limited experience all Human Mediums have different powers yet these archers had much in common with one another, they all seemed to summon glowing bows and fire arrows of sheer destruction. While the black arrow might be unique to her, potentially at least, the rest of the skills she’d shown were in line with the other Archer’s he’d spied upon since arriving in Karakura.

“tElL Me ThIs At leaST. yoU ARe DEFINITEly hUmAN. NOT LiKe ThosE SOUl ReApeRS WHO onLY LOOk LIKE MeN. but Not liKe Ordinary mediUms. sO. whAT. are. You?”

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WC: 477
Total WC: 1770

It took her a moment to realize that the arrow had worked, that she had fired it in time, that she wasn't being skewered by those horrible limbs. The relief was enough to make her tremble but she knew she was not out of the wood yet. She had to finish the job while she still could. Drawing upon the reishi around her through her Mekkyaku she faltered as soon as she heard the numerous voices coming from inside the beast.

God but it always freaked her out whenever she ran across one of these hellish creatures that could talk and the sudden brush with death, emphasizing how lax her skills and reflexes had become only seemed to make her nerves worse. To her knowledge the ones who could talk were smarter, had lived longer, and thus killed more. It was an incredibly smart hollow that had killed her cousin because she had been reckless. Why in the world had she been missing this lifestyle? It was madness is what it was and she was going to get herself killed. She could feel herself getting a bit nauseous just thinking about it.

She couldn't see where his voice, those many voices were coming from either no matter how long she stared at its mask. It was just too uncanny to handle and she needed to get a hold of herself quick. She wouldn't be a bit surprised if he was just faking and was hoping she would draw near so it could lash her with those arms. With trembling fingers she tried to draw back the string of her bow, to let the gathered Reishi pour through her body and feel the exhilaration of her Reiryoku being molded to form the notched arrow, but a sudden warmth running down across her lip caused her to draw her hand upward to her nose and wipe her knuckles across her skin. Her hand came away bloody and that voice just continued to as her, "I'm a Quincy and the one who is about to end your life!", she suddenly exclaimed as she wiped her hand upon her pants before putting it to the bow string and formed her arrow at last. She tried to take aim but she just kept feeling more and more panic knowing she would miss for sure. Releasing the normal Heilig Pfeil this time, she watched it speed toward the target and knew it would miss its head by at least an inch.

Word Count: 415 + 1347 = 1762

For a moment he feared she would not answer him, that she would ignore him but finally she spoke causing the Hollow to grin beneath his mask. A Quincy? Fascinating that was exactly what he wanted. A word, a name, to put to the archers. So not ordinary Humans then but definitely alive, he could hear the heart thudding in her chest, the blood flowing through her veins. This one was afraid, scared. He saw her nose begin to bleed and he almost laughed, things would only get worst for her from here. She drew back her bow and loosed another of those horrible arrows at him. He prepared to sacrifice a limb to stop the attack except... he didn't need to. He washed the arrow rip past his head and strike nothing but air.

A strange grating noise began, countless voices falling into one another as they shrieked in vile amusement. Ah yes... he was laughing. That was happening more and more often lately but he was still unused to the sound. He wondered what it meant but he had more pressing interests at present.

Ignoring the Quincy for a moment his hand stretched out, lengthening with ease, as it moved despite the effects of the Quincy's odd abilities. It reached the black arrow and he wrapped long, unnaturally jointed, fingers around the object before pulling it from the ground. The Hollow's arm retracted and he held the thing in front of his mask, studying it. Most fascinating. Oh it hurt to hold, his flesh bubbled where he touched it but the Hollow ignored the pain. He had assumed the thing had something to do with Shadows but he was incorrect. He had believed once he took it out of the ground it'd stop working but he could still feeling it's clinging effects clawing at him, slowing him.

Locking his feature's gaze with the mortal woman's he tightened his grip and the black arrow snapped in half, he dropped the Reishi object and it disintegrated taking it's stasis effects with it.

He had stopped laughing.

Darting forward he snarled angrily and the seven, unharmed, bladed tentacles rose into action before they all shot out towards the Quincy seeking to run her through. The individual limbs stretched out unnaturally at a rapid pace seeking to slay the target.

-----------------------------
WC: 388
Total WC: 2158

She was scared alright; terrified in fact. So many things were combining here to cause the intensity of her fear to rise. The creature talked, for starters, and a more horrific conglomeration of voices she had never heard. His humanoid form seemed to make mockery of life in general, those arms more spider like than anything man could wield. And the speed with which he moved put her in no position to ponder or make sense of the nightmare before her. It had curiosity and a need to understand her that equaled her own need to make sense of him, and yet even with this evidence of an actual mind driving the creature those voices made her skin crawl as she imagined all the souls within that sounded like they were all clamoring for dominance of its burgeoning identity. She didn’t know what was worse, the sound of his laughter or the look he had given her when it stopped.

Alyshea had never faced a breed of Hollow anywhere near as unsettling as the slenderman. A mask without caricature, though more expressive than it should warrant. She was staggered by the attitude in the whipping round of his head to pin its eyes upon her and she instinctively flinched. “How is that possible”, her mind strove to fill the need to make sense. Her answer seemed to only serve to enrage it further.

His attack, occurring almost before the sound of her snapping arrow could fade, came with a suddenness and intensity of rage she could not hope to halt. All too quickly for her own good the Hollow had figured out the cause of the force holding him from his prey and instinctively destroyed the source. Even as her stasis arrow ceased to be, her net dispersed and he was free once more. Though she had failed to stop him dead in his tracks, her arrow had slowed him and provided her an opening which she had to take or die.

With her heart pounding in her chest, the cacophony of those voices heightening her mounting panic, she focused her accumulated Reishi beneath her feet and broke left as those appendages of the beast slammed down toward her location. Paradoxically long, no growing in length, stretching out like elastic? She had no idea how it could manage to change its form or if it was all just the natural extension of his limbs. That anything about a creature such as this could be natural staggered her sense of reality.

While her use of Hirenkyaku had saved her life she became suddenly aware that she had not escaped unscathed. At least she had managed to put the street to her back rather than the building, and being no longer pinned against the wall of the building she had freedom of movement. There was a sickening ooze of warmth trickling down the front of her right thigh where one of the bladed limbs had scored her flesh. So trapped within her fear, Aly had not even felt the cut when it happened, but not that she knew it was there she could begin to feel the burn of that slash. Distance is what she needed, to confront this Hollow, but a full retreat was looking better to her all the time.

With her bow still manifest, clutched in her hand, she raised it to sight in on the beast summoning a Helig Pfeil before letting loose her shot. Her drawing hand came away from the bow to wipe at her face. Warmth ran over her her upper lips as well, the red smear upon her hand informing her that her nose was bleeding too. That made no sense to her for she wasn’t prone to them, not even as a child, and had take no blows to the face. A wave of nausea filled her at the sight of the blood increasing the threat of vomiting. As the arrow flew toward the creature’s right side she prayed it would be enough of a distraction to give her more time to flee.

Word Count: 680 + 1762 = 2442

His blades missed their mark and swiftly began retracted back into his body causing the Hollow to hiss with fury. The scent of blood wafted through the air and the tinniest sliver of blood dripped from the end of one of his appendages. Still such a small wound did nothing but arouse his hunger worse than before.

Still running forward he sensed a flicker of power just before her blue arrow tore through the air straight towards him. Too late to dodge all he could do was roar hatefully as the projectile slammed into him, with a jolt of sharp pain, and hurtled him backwards off his feet to crash onto the ground. However he wasn’t dead… reaching up he pulled the arrow from his shoulder and threw it aside. She had missed her chance, her marksmanship had failed and the Hollow was only injured in a most minor fashion. Even now his weak regenerative powers where slowing the dark blood leaking from the wound and repairing the damage. She had failed. His powers where in effect. He had seen her bleeding nose and no doubt the effects would only get worst from his gift. Cracks formed along his mask, the mouth snapped open and the beast laughed once more but this time instead of the polyphonic noise from before this was a harsh, monstrous and rasping although this time it lasted only a few moments.

The creature rose back onto it’s feet in a single motion, the legs straightened first before the back bent in an unnatural arc and rose up behind it. No-Name was once more standing, having risen in a way no normal being could, before he glanced left and right as his Hollow mind considered the situation.

‘Can’t… catch her.’ he thought to himself. ‘Too fast.’ he concluded with annoyance. The woman moved like Inigo but at least the hound eventually came into range when he wished to engage those terrifying jaws of his. No… he needed to do something to force the woman to make a mistake… to force her to come closer… to force her to make a mistake…

‘Oh… human weakness… yes.’

Instead of pursing her the Hollow darted off to the side and vanished through the wall of a nearby building. It didn’t take him long to find what he was searching for in a nearby alley. Pulling it along he made his way down this particular street until he found the place where he’d been fighting the Quincy.

Opening his mouth, the cracked maw hadn’t re-sealed yet, he roared loudly to get her attention.

“QUINCY!” he called. He had never attempted to speak with a mortal before, at least not in a fashion that actually beckoned one. Was this an example of the progress his mind was making? Was his evolution making his mind sharper? One might say more human although such a comparison was utterly disgusting. “THIS... THING I HOLD... THING MAY BREAK IF YOU DO NOT COME SOON.”

As he spoke a few of his bladed tentacles tighten around the thing he was holding. A young mortal girl. As the appendages secured their grasp, the scythe like blades pushed into her throat drawing a tiny drip of blood.

No-Name really hoped that the Quincy hurried up. The child’s weeping was beginning to hurt his head. The sooner they got this over and done with the sooner he be done with the little mortal.

-------------------------
WC: 573
Total WC: 2731

Despite her history of running wild from time to time, hitting the bar scene and keeping rough company, Alyshea was never one to use a lot of vulgarity in her language. Missing the hollow at such close range, however, caused a short stream of obscenities to pour from between her clenched teeth, “Son of a bitch”. Her failure to maintain her training could well be the death of her today if ever she lived so long. Expecting to be bull rushed by the beast after pulling the arrow from his body and casting it aside like nothing more than a stinging bee, she was quite surprised when he turned tail and fled. She was momentarily tempted to rush right after him, but these days she was hesitant to be led on a chase into a site of the monster’s own choosing. It was just too reminiscent of the night Alistair had been killed.

Additionally she was in no shape to chase down the creature. She was already wounded and the smart money was on taking the opportunity to make her get away. The night was not supposed to end in a wild hunt fighting for her life against talking hollow. That bit of oddity still troubled her as to the power level of her foe. From what she could recall from what her grandfather had instructed her was that the devourer of souls became stronger with each kill they made eventually going through evolutions to become not only more sentient and powerful but to one day transform into an entirely new foe called Arrancar. The tales she had sat in rapt attention of within the clan hall during family get togethers of such encounters filled her with the certainty there was no way she was even close to being ready to face off with such a being.

Fully intending to quit the fight and get while the gettin’ was good, she took note of her surroundings to reorient herself toward her destination of the family safe house. That was when the vile voice of the hollow sliced through the streets with words she could ill afford to ignore. Although its words were quite primitive the intent of the beast’s taunt was not lost upon her. It had something, someone, and was using the threat of killing whoever it was to draw her out. It was not the first time she had been witness to tactical maneuvering by such a being, but somehow for it to voice its intentions made the threat even more sinister to her mind. Alyshea could do little else but take the bait and rush toward the encounter.

The whole point of her powers was for the purpose of protecting the innocent. It was true that for a while she was motivated by revenge in her drive to go out and hunt hollow, but she never involved her kin in such pursuits, not since getting her cousin killed. Pushing away from the pavement, she activated her Hirenkyaku once again barreling down the street toward the tainted energy the beast exuded. There she saw him with a child in his clutches, a small girl weeping uncontrollably and she called out with a steady challenging tone in her voice that bespoke a calmness she could only pretend to feel. “Let her go Hollow! Your fight is with me”, she yelled. She drew her bow up aiming at the creature’s head even as she manifested a notched arrow, and yet she held her stance and did not let lose her bolt. The risk of harming the child was just too great and unless he forced the situation he effectively had her held hostage to this staged drama of life and death.

Word Count: 620 + 2442 = 3062

No-Name tilted his head slightly at the Quincy's words. She demanded the beasts release? Demanded the Hollow fight her... yet she had not seemed so enthusiastic... so willing to fight but moments before. This was surprising... or was it? This was why he had captured the young mortal was it not?  To make her come close... to make her refrain from attacking? His eyeless mask stared back at the woman, she had an arrow ready on that bow of hers but she had not loosed the hateful projectile.

Blood.

Hunger.

That hatful weakness flared within him once more. He could smell the blood of the little creature within his grasp. A long tongue flickered out from his horrifying open maw as if to taste the air. Yes he could taste her blood. He wanted to feast... wanted to consume... but no. The girl was more precious as a... as a.... but no the word escaped him. She was better in his grasp as his defence against his true prey, this Quincy. Yes he would consume her. This little.... child... yes. This little child had no power but energy radiated from the Quincy and it was that energy that helped feed the endless hunger that infected all Hollow. Yes. Her he would have not this tiny thing.

She wished him to release the child? Why? He could not understand why she cared. Yet he had predicted it had he not? It was strange. No-Name seemed to know far more than he thought, knowledge lurked deep in his mind. Words, principles, meaning, ideas. Where did they come from?

'No... I know what I was. What I must have been. I know how Hollow are born... no I do not know the process but I do know all souls where once humans who died. So the soul that created the Hollow called No-Name was once a human. Is this where my understanding for such ideas comes from? The thoughts of the human who's Soul became me?'

He was an interested idea. No-Name might have been considered a beast by the woman who fought him but he had an insatiable curiosity within him. He yearned to always learn more, to know more about himself, about the world and about all these different kinds of prey that he could hunt. This woman had already taught him so much about her kind... yes Quincy would be easier to hunt and consume in the future thanks to her help.

'Then I should do as she asks... as thanks.' he thought to himself with dark humour... humour... yes that was new too.

The long appendages uncurled themselves from around the little mortal and rose to wiggle and squirm in the air above him although he kept his hands resting on her shoulders. Long, slim, fingers unfurled and released the girl. Shoving her roughly he snarled.

"GO."

Of course the child couldn't hear him. The little girl looked from one side to another side. All she knew was whatever invisible thing had held her no longer did so. She could see the Quincy in front of her but of course again she couldn't see the glowing weapon in her hand. What she did see was an adult and she was scared so that was all the child needed to see. Crying she began to run towards the woman.

Until the bladed tentacles slammed straight through her back and ripped out her chest.

The Hollow laughed as he flung the dying girl aside in a brutal motion and hurled her away.

Humour... it was new.

Still laughing he ran to his left and vanished through the wall as swiftly as he could in an attempt to flee the Quincy's wrath. He couldn't fight her in the open, not even in that narrow street, she was simply too fast for him. So he would find another answer.

Having phased through a series of walls passing from building to building and when he stopped No-Name was standing in a small room. It appeared to me a den inhabited by a pair of humans. Those humans, a male and female, sat watching a box which emitted both light and sound. Well he might as well do something while he waited for the Quincy to find him.

The scythe like appendages flicked outwards as he tore the two mortals apart. A sound rang throughout the room... it took a moment for No-Name to realise what it was.

Ah... laughter.

Humour... it was new... but it was good.

-------------------------
WC: 753
Total WC: 3484

She nearly let loose her arrow the instant his mask split to let his gangly tongue flick out into the air certain that he was about to devour the girl right before her very eyes only she didn’t have a clear shot. The look of terror was more than obvious upon her face, even as she was held in the clutches of the hollow. Aly couldn’t even begin to imagine the raw fear that must be running through the mind of this innocent. Unlike this child Aly had the comfort of her family around her to explain the apparitions she could see and protect her. Her tensions had never been at a greater height, watching and waiting what seemed like an eternity for the Hollow to act even though it had been but a few seconds. Holding herself with rigid determination her fear and self doubt seemed to leech away leaving only the warrior facing down upon her hereditary enemy. No matter what she had to save the life of this child.

Miraculously the beast did the unthinkable and set the child free shoving her forward toward the Quincy. No doubt he knew it would give him time to make his escape, she surmised. It never occurred to her that he had already made an escape from her once and had he not drawn her to him with the child he would have gotten away completely. Her focus was on the hollow even as she rushed forward to bring her into her embrace.

From out of nowhere his limbs lashed out stabbing the child through from spine to sternum leaving her limp form to fall into her arms as he extracted the skewer. The hollow’s laughter was drowned out by the sound of the scream ripped from her own breast. Her words came out in a rushed garble of cries, “No, no, no, no, no…” Crumpled down upon her knees, the child’s torn corpse lying slung across her thighs, her right hand pressed to her small chest in a futile attempt to stop the flow of blood.

The heel of her hand sank into the cavity of her chest, only no heart lay within that gaping gash having been ripped from the child’s form when the tentacle had been withdrawn. It was just like that night with her cousin, the death being something she had inadvertently caused and nothing to be done but mourn. Only this time she refused to be paralyzed by grief and horror, this time the thirst for revenge filled her pulling her to her feet even as she shifted the child to the ground to lay in the pool of her own blood. “You will pay for this monster”, she screamed into the night. “I swear it, you will pay!”

Running through the night she trailed after his foul signature only to stumble upon the blood filled room of the double homicide. Summoning her bow, Aly fired at the door blasting it from the hinges, all thought of stealth and protecting the uninitiated from witnessing the supernatural in action. The scene before her was much more horrific than the one she had just left, though if asked were such a thing possible she would have staunchly refused to believe how that might even be possible. Such was the state of her swiftly vanishing naivety.

Quentin Tarantino couldn’t have bathed a movie set with more blood even with his sizeable hollywood budget, not in a million years. The grisly remains were strewn all over the room, entrails sticking to the illuminated surface of the flat screen TV slid to the floor in wet splatters one after the other. Her eyes were transfixed upon the couple, their ages no longer distinguishable from the numerous slashes. Her head was swimming trying to come to grips with the sheer butchery with which she was surrounded.

Fortunately the beast had not made his escape and her eyes locked onto him with the fury of revenge. There were no long winded diatribes in her to hurl at her foe before dispatching him. She simple formed her arrow and fired right for his chest. Only then did she speak, “Die you bastard and go straight to hell.” 

Word Count: 704 + 3062 = 3766

Blood dripped from the crack in the Hollow’s Mask that served as his mouth which had yet to seal and which was the only distinguishable feature on his Mask. The blood was proof that he had not only used his appendages to slaughter the mortals. Speaking of those all the scythe like blades and his clawed hands were likewise stained with crimson although one of those tentacles rising from his back was much shorter than the others, the ragged remains of the limb he had sacrificed to stop the woman’s arrow. It felt like it had happened so long ago but mere minutes had passed since their confrontation had begun. No-Name’s laughter was still echoing around the room when the door blew inwards with tremendous force followed by the roared and skin tingling power of the mortal who sought to destroy him.

The Hollow was leaning over the remains of what had once been two humans, moments ago filled with so much life but now their time had ended. Would they become like him in time? He wondered. Or were their souls simply gone? Who knew? The Hollow turned his head slightly as his eyeless eyes locked upon his foe. Straightening up he was still forced to stoop so as to fit under the roof of the room although he seemed little bothered by it, no in truth he was used to fighting in much smaller places. Already his appendages sprouting from his back had shortened and resized to ensure maximum maneuverability in the limited room provided by the building’s interior.

He stared at her with utter glee. No-Name had heard the Quincy screaming after he fled having killed the young mortal female. He didn’t completely understand why she had behaved in such a manner but part of him knew he could elicit such a reaction with his acts. Now her pain had shifted to hatred, a pure rage fuelled by the loss, her failure and the destruction of her innocence. Yes. Anger and pain, these where things No-Name understood, things he could comprehend without confusion and they also give him great joy to see in another. The words of her snarled threat meant nothing to him but the tone spoke volumes. Oh yes… she hated him.

The Hollow slowly raised his arms to each side almost like a preacher about to give a great sermon or perhaps a man glorying in the heat of the sun after being trapped in cold darkness. He soaked in her hate, it energised him and he practically fed of such negativity. After a moment he stopped laughing, he barely noticed that he had still been making the sound at all.

Inside he was shifting. His amusement was fading even as his hunger grew. Her Spiritual Pressure battered against him even as she was practically alight with that lethal power. He didn’t care how hateful it was, he didn’t care how uncomfortable it made him feel. He wanted it. He wanted her. Every drop of blood and every inch of flesh would be his. He would consume her, feed on her and sate his hunger for another day. She would help him grow. She would be another step to his ascendency. He took half a step forward when suddenly the damaged appendage trembled before falling lifelessly back down his back after which it began to ache. Oh yes… she had destroyed it… nearly killed him… she couldn’t be forgiven for that.

“HELL.” he growled “WHAT IS THAT?”

Before she could respond, if she would respond, his appendages darted out to both sides. Wrapping around an armchair to his right and the couch upon which the corpses rested to his left he hurtled both pieces of furniture at the woman. Unfortunately for her that included the leftovers of the couple he’d murdered shortly before her arrival. With her line of sight obscured as these covered the distance between them No-Name darted forward, keeping low as his clawed hand smashed straight through the couch, aimed at the Quincy’s stomach.

HE WOULD FEED.

---------------------
WC: 670
Total WC: 4154

Alyshea was filled with hate and with rage, it was rather the new experience for her. Even the night Alistair had been killed she hadn’t felt this wild anger coursing through her the way that it was doing tonight. It was not something she had ever had to contend with before, this being provoked to the point of such darkness. On some level she viewed this creature, however, to be an even greater monstrosity than that feline that had taken the life of her kin. At least it had fed upon its kill, driven by need to survive but this thing? Though there was blood upon its face, clearly from having used its teeth to rip and tear at the flesh of the couple, he had not consumed his kills but rather had strewn the body parts all over the place for what, entertainment value?

Her shot went wild her fury making her sloppy at the worst time hitting the TV and causing electricity to arc and spark into the room adding a heavy ozone odor over top of that of the blood with which he had washed the apartment. It was almost as if it was trying to provoke her with all the horror it could muster. Perhaps that was it? She was his intended prey tonight while those he had killed were beneath his tastes? She caused another arrow to form notched to the string of her bow as she drew it taut again. What should have been as easy as shooting fish in a barrel had turned into an exercise in carelessness upon her part.

It spoke once more questioning her about Hell but she refused to spare words for him any further. He would find out soon enough what hell was if this next shot hit the mark. She had to calm herself. Only she knew that he wouldn’t, that he would be utterly destroyed and removed from existence. There would be no reincarnation for him this night. The speed with which he grabbed up the furniture to hurl her way was more than alarming and she realized all too late that she had fallen into his trap. He had lured her here on purpose and in these close quarters it was becoming all too clear to the woman that she was at a disadvantage.

Leaping backward, her feet lifted up from the floor as she created a cushion of Reishi to stand upon. Speeding back she barely missed getting stabbed clear through just as the little girl had been. No, she had to get the advantage and remove the fight from the city and prevent him from taking further lives this night. But the last time she had fled he had grabbed the child to draw her back within his range. She would have to stay accessible to him, risking herself more than she was accustomed in order to lead him away. If she had trained in swords like her cousin then she could surely dart in and out of his arm’s reach taunting him like a wolf nipping at the heels of an elk to separate it from the pack. Well she would just have to improvise.

Stopping in the middle of the street, she did not flee the scene but waited upon the creature to exit the building and come after her. Just in case he was loath to do so, she called out to him, “Hell is your new home, Hollow” then began to fire one arrow after the other in through the open doorway of the residence. He would either leave the place or take a hit. Either would serve her purposes well enough. Although not the best of plans it was good enough for now. Provoked to rage as she was, it was a wonder she could manage to come up with any strategy at all, llet alone a good one.

Word Count: 651 + 3766 = 4417

A snarl of frustration tore out from behind the beast’s mask as his claws missed their mark. No-Name could sense that familiar burst of power as the girl accelerated backwards to escape his reach. He cursed his luck, he should have attacked faster, more brutally and with more of his limbs limbs. She fled him again, swiftly out of reach as she exited the building. Fury flickered at him as he paused, frozen with indecision. Had all of this been for nothing? Despite the casual slaughter he had enacted tonight on these mortals the Hollow wasn’t a fool. He knew doing this could bring the wrath of others down upon him. Other Quincy, the ones who called themselves Soul Reapers… yes they could see what he did here and come for him. Revenge… he understood that even if he didn’t know why they cared for the death of these meaningless beings, these dull creatures without a spark of power within them.

She shouted something at him, this hell again, he still didn’t know what it was but his anger was overpowering his reason. With a hateful roar he began to run towards the door when an arrow flickered by his head. Then another and another. She wasn’t aiming at him, not exactly, but the mortal seemed willing to fill the house with holes in the attempt to kill him. Surprise flickered through the Hollow. Her arrows were powerful enough to pierce the walls of this building… did she not care if they smashed into the den of another human and killed them?

‘Home of another…’ the words flickered through his mind even as the fear of those burning projectiles tempered his rage.

Dropping low he scurried across the floor, moving on all fours like an animal as he ducked behind some furniture and dived into another room.

‘Another home…’ the thought came again as he pondered what to do next. Oh yes… this was a row of houses, was it not? Attached to one another. So logically if he kept moving from house to house then more humans would fall across his path. The appendages on his pack rose and shifted in anticipation of another kill.

“yEs, yeS, YEs…” he whispered to himself with a growing giddiness. He had a plan.

Last time she fled he killed a the little one. Then when she hesitated and fell into his trap he’d escaped and murdered the pair of older mortals. Now? Well she’d fled him again although admittedly not far. Perhaps he should simply teach her a lesson about the prey being foolish enough to try escaping the grasp of the predator. She was his right.

Grinning behind that blank white Mask he dived through another wall, then another before finding life inside. He could hear voices… male…. and female… at least 2 older and… 2 or 3 younger humans too. A family unit.

Blades rose and his spiritual pressure fluttered out as his eagerness for another kill escaped him. He would turn the streets red with blood until the Quincy faced him on his terms.

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WC: 514
Total WC: 4668