Hollow Be Thy Name [Closed]

Today was one of those days that were slightly too humid for Sasha. Not unlike the climate back at home, the soft warmth of the afternoon clung to her a bit too intensely for it to be the end of the Summer. She thanked whoever had invented the deodorant and pushed out of the subway with squeaking sneakers. The bag she had with her gently swung back and forward as she walked out into the sunlit street. It kept on bumping against her hip, and every time that the corner of her latest finding bit into her flesh she regretted not taking her backpack this morning. No wonder that the corner of the book’s cover looked like a toddler had been chewing on it. Everyone always had the same type of troubles to go through.

Dragging herself through the park she bought herself an ice-cream - a treat for surviving the morning class. Well, motivation was always welcomed and the flavor of green apple really did it. Sinking onto a bench in the right wing of the park, she dropped the bag next to her while leaning back to enjoy the shadow cast by the trees. The peace and quiet didn’t last long.

She wasn’t even half through the ice-cream when something tugged at her senses. Or rather, someone. With her skills in perceiving those like her, or those who were dead, being fairly bad, she felt relieved to have noticed the Hollow at all. Though, once it appeared, and actually spoke, she realized that perhaps this one wasn’t violent. Shinku had been.. different. They were rare, the intelligent ones, but they were out there, somewhere.

“And what type of fun is that?” Lightly pushing the Ray-ban from sliding down her nose as she tilted her head to meet the Hollows gaze, Sasha rose an eyebrow while putting the cup of melting ice-cream next to her. Still cautious about this being a trap, she got up onto her feet and tried to sense if there were others around. This one.. well, looks could be deceiving, of course, but at first sight this one didn’t appear to be too threatening.



358

The human responded, so this one was different than the rest of the cattle that wandered the park. Unlike the others he had ran into, this one, the female didn’t seem ready to outright attack him. Rather odd considering, especially when she lifted up her sunglasses to ask him what kind of fun. It left him rather dumbstruck. The little hollow didn’t even know how to respond at that point, only tilting his head to the left like a confused animal. Perhaps this one was like Shinku, offering only kindness and curiosity. This would be another oddity presented to the little hollow.

Perhaps it was time to test these tepid waters with caution. Gingerly he walked up to the woman, standing right before her, looking up at her as she looked down upon him behind those sunglasses. It seemed he had disturbed her during her moment of relaxation and pleasure as she was enjoying her ice cream. “I don’t know.” His voices chimed rather innocently before he decided to press his luck further, walking to the empty spot on the bench, placing his hands on it to lift himself up, settling next to Sasha as he looked out to the people running about the park, his little legs swaying slightly back and forth.

This was different - there was no fighting nor shouting. It was oddly peaceful, like being with his partner, Shinku. Slowly, he turned his head to look to Sasha, studying the beautiful woman with curious eyes before finally breaking the silence. “Are you… like my friend, Shinku?” The little hollow asked genuinely, placing his hands on his lap before looking back out to the park. Never before had he been this close to a human without one trying to bash his skull in, it was a rather unique and satisfying feeling to have. Perhaps they too could form a bond, but that fear still remained. Thankfully at this moment, he could still mount a counterattack if need be by employing his tentacles or grabbing his lance.

338/852

Having a conversation with a Hollow was unique in her experience. Most of them didn’t speak; they roared, howled, and then they tried really hard to bite off your head. This one, however, was anything but violent. She still didn’t trust the whole situation too much, but was too curious about its appearance to simply move on. And the way it spoke. It was almost.. cute.

It was a Hollow. What the hell was she thinking?

No matter how innocent or how childish they acted or looked like, they could be lethal monsters. There was no way around that. That’s why she had to concentrate and be ready for any attack that the little thing might be planning. Even if that attack would be coming from one of its swaying legs.

Then, suddenly, the blow came from an unexpected angle.

“Shinku?” His friend? A Hollow? A female spider with pets?

Could it really be that they were thinking about the same creature?

“It depends on what you mean by that.”

Keeping her voice friendly she started out gently. This creature might be able to talk, but she wasn’t entirely sure how smart it truly was. While its size shouldn’t define its intellect level Sasha still had to struggle not to put it in the same bracket as a toddler.

“Unlike Shinku, I don’t have pets.” Taking a guess she wondered if this would reveal whether or not they were on about the same entity.


244

The young woman simply replied by saying Shinku’s name in a questioning manner. It was safe to assume that she didn’t know her. Then again, what human would really talk to a hollow? He was still surprised that this one wasn’t provoked by his mere presence. How was it that his partner was able to do this so easily? Or maybe she was just as scared as he was but didn’t show it. There was so much to learn from the other hollow.

There was hope for the future - they’d grow stronger together.

It was then that the human threw a curveball that the little hollow didn’t expect. He was called a ‘pet’. "A pet!?" Was this true? Never before had Knight even thought that he was considered a pet to Shinku. Now, suddenly this irrational thought was pushed into his mind by this human. Does Shinku consider him as a pet? Surely not - not with the way she had treated him as an equal, giving him a gem to make him be able to control her pack and communicate with her always.

The little hollow shook his head, turning to look to Sasha. “I am not a pet.” He said clearly, his voices coming together in sync. “I am Shinku’s partner. Together we will become strong with… our trust.” The next words he tried to say, he struggled to speak. “I’m… sorry that you’re so blind to see that she and I are equals. You do not know of our relationship.” Against his nature, he patted her lightly on her shoulder (thankfully, he hadn’t evolved enough to have acidic skin), “I forgive you. But, don’t make that mistake again… please.”

Knight was serious. There was no mistake in his mind that Shinku was a true... friend. After giving him a soul, inviting him into her liar without harm, letting him lead part of her pack, and hunting together. Their bond couldn't be mistaken for that of a pet and owner. No, it was something more for sure. At least, that's what Knight felt, which was still an odd and new feeling for the little hollow.

356/1208

Slightly surprised by his response she couldn’t help but chuckle lightly. The pat on her shoulder only intensified the sounds coming from her, and soon Sasha was laughing. Cheerfully shaking while trying to hide the wide grin, she shook her head in return.

“I- haha- apologies, I didn’t mean it like that. What I was talking about,” she paused and let some sweet air enter her lungs before continuing. “is her having her..” Helplessly gesturing with her left hand she looked for the right words to describe the dozens of creatures that had surrounded Shinku during their meeting.

“the ones who seem to always be around her, you know, those I call her pets.” Nodding, she turned to fully face the little Hollow. It was interesting to see that he appeared to be slightly offended by the misunderstanding yet remained calm. All of that only proved to Sasha that this one was intelligent.

Leaning back she took a deep breath while carefully eyeing her shoulder where he had touched it. There was no damage there, not even a sign from the odd liquid so many of his kind shed. She had to admit that she was pleased to know he wasn’t one of those. The substance always stung upon contact with the skin; she suspected it to be some sort of odd acid.

“Do you mean that you two are friends or a different type of partners? The closer-type?”

Unsure if he knew what she hinted at, Sasha tilted her head to the side to curiously observe him. It suddenly hit her that she no longer thought of him as ‘it’ or ‘the creature’, somehow she had labeled this one to be ‘male’.

“I’m Sasha.” Offering a smile to go with that she then asked for his name.

“And what do people call you?”


304

Finally, an assignment - Asadi had languished away long enough in the Seireitei. There was only so much training you could do to keep your senses sharp enough for battle. Yes, his training with Yui was certainly an eye opener, but it was nothing compared to facing a life an actual life or death situation. His mission was simple: keep an eye out for an unusual hollow activity in that sector - easy enough.

Upon his arrival, he found the world kissed by the sun’s unstoppable heat. Summer had arrived in the realm of the living and even the humans seemed to hate the heat. Even so, Asadi watched as the people filled the streets despite the onslaught of the heat and the humidity that clung to their skin. Watching them all scurry about brought back the tedium of the Soul Society’s white walls. This was rather boring, but he found fun in his own way. Zipping around town using his flash step, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, and more until he had exhausted all other options to keep himself entertained (It was such a shame, he really should have brought his gigai to have a bit more fun.).

“I’m booooooored.” Whined Asadi as he settled onto his perch, high in a tree near the park’s fountain. He had taken one of the highest branches, gazing over the area for anything unusual as he watched the humans run around having their fun. This was all too peaceful for this mission, it was a hunt after all. Idly sitting in the tree, he found himself lightly tracing his thumb over the hilt of his blade as he closed his eyes, pressing into his senses an attempt to find even a hint of Reiatsu in the area in hopes of getting just a single blip, but there was nothing. An aggravated sigh escaped his lips as he folded his arms across his chest in a bit of a huff. The shinigami wasn’t a patient man - he wanted to report back a successful hunt, maybe something to allow him out of the Soul Society more.

In this lull, he felt something, a sudden glare of energy peaked his interest as he scanned the park to find it. Turned out it was nothing more than a human woman. It was something, but not worth pursuing. Asadi watched as the unknown woman sat down on a park bench to enjoy an ice cream cone and simply closed his eyes, forcing her out of his mind. It wasn’t uncommon for a random human to possess some spiritual pressure after all - be it quincy or spiritualist. As he relaxed back into a meditative state, he felt a shift of spiritual pressure. The shinigami’s eyes flew open, his hues flicking to where the sudden spike of energy came from - right in front of the fountain. A small portal had suddenly ripped open and a tiny figure had stepped forth. Electricity seemed to course through the shinigami's body, his left hand instantly wrapping around the sheath as he rose up on the branch.

Rising to his feet, Asadi didn’t move to action - no, he watched. The little hollow didn’t seem to instantly attack any human that wandered nearby, Odd behavior for the little beast considering that most would attack anything like a wild animal. This one, it seemed to stalk around, moving into nearby bushes. It looked as if it was targeting the woman on the bench. Just as he looked to pounce, the woman seemed to be talking to it. What kind of behavior was this? The shinigami raised his brows in shock and confusion as the hollow hopped onto the bench and touched the woman. She was laughing! This wasn’t right - no, something was wrong and Asadi had to find out.

A black haze surrounded the shinigami as his spiritual energy flared up, jetting forth from the man’s feet. In a blur of motion, Asadi leapt from the treetop and rushed through the air, landing a few yards away from the pair on the bench with his blade drawn. “GET AWAY FROM HER!” He barked at the hollow in a harsh rasp. This was all in hopes that the woman might get the hint that the cute little creature was something more than she thought it was and that this would provide an ample enough distraction for the hollow to look away from her.

735/735

The woman was laughing, was it at him? There was no way to be sure but it left the little hollow confused with a mix of emotions before she apologized about the whole situation. It calmed him, soothing over the flared emotion that crossed over him. Taking his hand from her shoulder, he rested it on the park bench as he nodded, finally getting clarity. “The brood - her children. No… I’m not one of them. I am my own entity… I work in conjunction with Shinku.” It was her mentioning mention being friends with Shinku, the closer type, that he didn’t quite understand. What did she mean with that - it was unknown to him and caused him to pause as he tilted his head back to look at Sasha.

“Friends… I think is the word. I don’t understand what you mean by closer.” It was then she offered him a friendly smile and her name that he trilled slightly at her friendly action. Perhaps she was actually a nice person. Maybe Shinku was right about not every species wanting to kill their kind. The hollow bowed his head at Sasha. “I am Knight… nice to meet you.”

This moment of pleasantry was great, if the little hollow could smile, he would be right now. Maybe this was a chance to actually make a friend beside Shinku. As Knight was about to speak, he felt a sudden flare of spiritual energy coming from nearby. His head jerked toward the area only to find a shinigami suddenly appearing before them, shouting for Sasha to get away. This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. Frustration and ire rose in the little hollow’s chest as he stared down the male shinigami. There was no way that he wanted Sasha to be dragged into a fight because of him appearing. Hopping from the bench, Knight stood up, retrieving his lance from his back. Spiritual energy began to focus at the tip of the weapon as he spoke. “Shinigami… I will leave. No harm has been done - now leave my friend alone.” His words came softly, all three of his voices speaking out of time. “No harm or kill.” He reiterated once again before swiping at the air beside him, cutting open the fabric of space.

Putting his lance away, the hollow watched the shinigami for a moment, pondering what his next move would be if he left. Turning to Sasha, he gave her a small nod. “Sorry for this, friend.” With that, he rushed into the portal with mixed feelings about leaving her behind.

430/1638

[exit]

Knight, she smiled broader. It fit him. Especially with the little lance he had to defend himself with (or attack others, she wasn’t delusional), the name really matched the picture. Somehow it only made him more adorable. Like a little jaguar kitten that was yet to grow into anything life threatening, Knight brought forth a certain warmth which Sasha reserved for anyone or anything cute and helpless. Not that he truly wasn’t. She knew what he was but couldn’t help the fuzzy feeling. Perhaps it was how she was wired.

“Yes, ni-” Unable to finish her sentence by the sudden outburst of reiatsu, she twisted just in time to see a sword being pulled. The blade glittered in the bright afternoon sun. Light broke in rays of various colors and briefly blinded her.

“What the-?” Shielding her eyes with the back of her arm she jumped up onto her feet. The Shinigami was screaming some nonsense about Knight having to take his distance. It irked her to hear the words and feel the judgement of the reaper as if he had judged her instead of the little Hollow by her side. In response to his ignorance she gritted her teeth.

Turning, eyes wide with confusion, she shook her head. “Don’t go,” the words barely made it past her lips when Knight apologized and left. Through the tear in space he vanished from the park leaving her with the idiot of a Shinigami. They could have talked more, could have explored what Shinku was to them, how she was doing, how Knight teamed up with an intelligent Hollow who didn’t harm people. There were so many topics they could have touched and never would because of this man’s arrogance.

“You dumb fuck.”

Irritated to the bone she growled at the man while helplessly moving her arms in a ‘what the fuck have you done’- type of way. She looked for words, but found nothing but more cursing. It’s why she kept quiet, staring at him with eyes slowly starting to burn from the growing anger inside. Like venom it spread through her. At first she was paralyzed, then all of her muscles tensed in order to stop the light shaking.

“Why? Why did you have to ruin this moment? What the fuck?!”


381

It seemed that his bit of shouting had worked. The little hollow stood up from the park bench, drawing its weapon. Asadi could feel the energy being focused by the small beast when suddenly it spoke, throwing him off completely. Hollow’s could speak if they were at a higher state of being, but those were usually large creatures! This thing was ridiculously small, there was no way this was even real, was it? It called him a shinigami and said it would leave. This wasn’t normal for a hollow to behave like this, especially when it told him not to harm or kill his ‘friend’. The abnormality of it all, especially with its multiple voices caused the shinigami to feel uneasy about the whole situation.

“Interesting.” Chimed in Alya. “Either capture it for study or kill it.” Asadi felt rather crossed that his spirit even had to say anything as he muttered to himself.

But before he could even react, the little hollow had opened a portal and apologized to the human, slipping away. A curse left his lips as his weapon’s spirit chided him for not reacting soon enough. Then he noticed that the young woman who accompanied the little hollow looked fairly upset over the thing fleeing the scene. Surely that wasn’t the case though. That’s when she let him have it. Being belittled by an unknown woman for doing his job left him cringing, turning his head away from Sasha as if he had been struck, wincing from being called a ‘dumb fuck’ and ‘ruining this moment’. Alya was cackling in his mind, which didn’t help the situation anymore.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Asadi yelled, holding his left hand up as if that would stop her verbal barrage at him while he slid his blade back into its sheath. “I was only trying to protect you!” The man frowned, not fully understanding the situation. Were they really friends or something else? Her reaction certainly seemed to say they were close. A spiritual human and a hollow friends? No, couldn’t be.

“Certainly seems like something more than a trick if she’s that pissed at you.” Asadi rolled his eyes at Alya’s words.

“Don’t tell me that you two are actually friends like that beast said.” He said calmly to Sasha. “If it’s that intelligent, it was probably trying to trick you into a falsehood and attempt to kill you when your guard was done. What in the world is a human like you doing talking to a damn hollow anyway!? Surely you know how dangerous they are! Don’t tell me that all humans are as ignorant as Quincy with how things work.” Because it certainly seems that way. Asadi found himself grumbling and at odds with the woman. “Keep your distance unless you wish to wind up dead.”

469/1204

“Protect me? Did I ask for your protection?” She growled before taking a break and catching her breath. Not that she had been yelling that hard, it was just the rage rushing through her veins which prevented her from breathing the way she should. Clenching her fists tighter she inhaled, exhaled, then shoved away the thought of him wanting to do good. He was just a dumb Shinigami thinking he knew everything, like most of them thought, and instead of peacefully approaching the pair he had decided to roll his muscles.

“We were having a conversation. It certainly appeared to be more civil than you are!” Channeling her anger into her limbs she jerked her arm and pointed at his chest in accusing manner. To make it worse he managed to both offend and challenge her in one breath. If he had any gray matter to use he surely didn’t appear to know how to.

She really had enough of it. Every single time they mingled into business that wasn’t theirs. With some delusion about being destined to do it they tried to mend things after breaking them with their own hands. They always dragged everything living they touched into madness and stupidity. Then, somehow, they were proud about it too. It was disgusting. She felt something inside her snap. Then she lashed out like a whip.

Fist travelling at eye level reached out to slam into his arrogant face. Bright red the reishi pumped through her veins, helping her to move quicker, to punch harder. She wanted to hurt him for treading all over Knight’s very being. For trying to walk all over the Quincy, too. This was for everyone, she realized with her fist closing in determined to break bones if only the opportunity for it would arise.


300-

All Asadi heard from Sasha was her growling at him in all her rage as she rebuked his claim of trying to protect her. Cleary he could tell that she was upset, her body language even showed it. The shinigami was only trying to save from being eaten something that he didn’t even have to do at all! She should be thanking him, not chastising him like he had done something wrong. This was all ludicrous or so he thought. For all the human gods out there, was she absolutely mental?

For fucks sake, he was only here doing his job and now she was saying that she was having a conversion with a hollow that was more civil then he was being! What was the world even coming to that he was being attacked for doing his job? Humans, they shouldn’t even be gifted with the sight of seeing spirits or the like, at least from what he judged from this little interaction. The man grimaced at the whole thing as Alya laughed in his mind. What kind of person was she to deem a hollow as friendly? She must be new to her powers for her to be idly turned to thinking that those horrid beasts are friends!

Suddenly he felt it hit him like a brunt force punch to the gut as the unknown woman’s spiritual energy spread to her limbs. His eyes flung wide open in shock - that technique was something a quincy used. Her spiritual energy “FUCK!” Was all he managed to yell as he grabbed his sheath, ripping it from his belt to hold it before him, blocking the impressive blow from the woman. His feet dug into the earth before the earth itself gave way to the strike. His sheath shattered into a thousand pieces as he was sent reeling end over end into the distance.

Meanwhile, the people without spiritual powers had witnessed a mad woman yelling at nothing and suddenly charge forth to punch what looked like the wind. Several people had stopped to witness the craziness, some even filming the whole event with their phones. The ‘normies’ seemed to relish the fact that such a beautiful woman was even going through this sort of tirade. For sure Sasha would end up on YouTube like the nutter she was acting.

Asadi rolled end over end until he was able to dig his feet into the earth, coming to a halt on his feet, barely able to hold onto his blade. Heavy breath left the shinigami as he righted himself with the world. The blow had left him spinning as he came to the realization that the world wasn’t right. Putting everything together, it seemed like the Quincy were working together with the hollow. Or, at the very least, attempting some sort of alliance. That could easily spell a whole new dynamic for the afterlife. Those that destroy souls and those that consume - the balance was under threat! “QUINCY AND HOLLOWS!” He bellowed forth. “Spread your wings.” He whispered to his blade. Suddenly a gust of wind ushered forth as light scattered around his blade. In that cascade of light, his blade elongated, turning into a large staff in his hand. “I can’t allow this to happen!”

In his rage, the shinigami pressed his spiritual energy, casting himself forward at impressive speed, his staff aimed at the woman’s midsection as rage coursed his veins, attempting to strike Quincy who threatened the balance of the world that he was trying to protect. “I will protect the balance.” He cried as he put all his strength into his blow.

605/1809

Solid and hard, something had been inserted between her knuckles and his face with lightning speed. It took her a second to realize that the shattering material in front of her was his sheath. Had been, because by now there was nothing left of it. Pieces flew around them as he slid back. She had her eyes on her opponent until something moved in the corner of her eye. People, she realized with a growing amount of annoyance. Instead of walking further some had stopped to watch her as if she was someone about to perform a trick. A quick glance made her aware of some holding onto phones. They wanted to see a spectacle, well, they were about to get one.

The sharp wind coming from the Shinigami had some of the people moving back. Of course they couldn’t see him, but they knew that something was up when the dust came flying up from the the park’s road. Some of the leaves had joined in, circling back toward the ground once the wind had settled.

Sasha paid it no attention. Having noticed the shining light she let her attention shift to the Shinigami once more. He was dangerous and had to be taken care of, but with the people surrounding them that became a bit more difficult to do. One way or another she had to get them to go. Unless she was willing to somehow bring the fight to another area. The latter idea sounded even harder to realize than the first one was.

Using her arm to block his attack with she let her reiatsu free as well. The refreshing cloud of pastel green spread quickly and mixed with the pressure that came from the Shinigami. While it didn’t become any heavier because of it, the mixture was enough to have most of the curious humans leave. There was something off about this place, and now they knew it. Sensed it even while not being fully aware. Their breathing had become harder, so they leaked to other places like water from a broken bucket.

“Fool,” she hissed when his staff came into contact with her ribs. Blut raged through her body with vigor. From pale blue her veins changed into a crimson red. That’s when she lashed out again. Ignoring the freshly forming bruise she gritted her teeth and tried to kick him in the knee in an attempt to destabilize him.


406/1993

The spiritual Pressure generated by the release of Alya scattered the winds around them in a sudden updraft, leaves and dirt leapt into the air, causing sudden outcries from the mortals as they shielded their eyes or turned away as the shinigami rushed towards his target. Very narrowly avoiding her attempt to block his strike, his blow struck home. The blow had struck her ribs, the force rushing up his arms with a solid thud. A smirk of satisfaction came to the young shinigami’s face, but it was all short lived as he felt the spiritual pressure of the quincy and saw a pastel green come from her body, mixing in a stark contrast to the black his body exerted.

All in that moment, the humans around them could tell something was off and slowly began to leave the area, bringing some relief to the shinigami as he prepared to make his next move. That changed quickly as a hiss escaped Sasha’s lips, the blue from her veins changing into a crimson red as she struck blow to his left knee. A sickening snap was heard as Asadi threw his head back in pain, biting his lower lip as he was sent to the ground, rolling to his right, quickly snapping back to his feet as he braced himself with his staff. The man’s eyes watered in pain as he limped slightly on his left leg. Pain coursed from his knee, spreading up the entirety of the limb - had she broken it?

A silent curse slipped his lips as he stared at the woman with malice. “I’m the fool for starting a fight with mortals around!?” The shinigami spat. Taking his staff in both hands, he held it before him, putting all his weight into his right hand as he back to rotate the weapon hand over hand until it was a blur. As he did so, the air currents around him began to whip and sway, taking with it his black spiritual energy. In a violent motion, he stopped his staff with his right hand, slamming the weapon to the ground, sending forth a blast of dark winds at her. It was his hopes that it’d knock her off guard, maybe to the ground. Perhaps even scare the rest of the humans from the park so there weren’t any casualties.

There was no way he could walk away, well, literally walk away at this point after what she had done. Asadi had to get in his far share before getting out of dodge.

424/2233

To her own surprise her foot hit its intended target with more force than she had expected it to. Either this Shinigami was quite fragile or she was actually growing stronger, she thought when his knee gave out and the lack of stability sent him to the ground. Being unprepared for the consequences of her own actions she briefly stared at his pain struck face. Apparently the break was all he needed to be back onto his feet. This, of course, had her wondering if he had played her somehow. Perhaps the sickening snap had only been a trick of him in order to have her think that he was weaker now. So she braced herself against what was yet to come. Blut shifted to its blueish hue. The more she did it the easier it became. By now she hardly had to think about the process, her body felt her tension, knew that something was up, and acted accordingly. Reishi circled in her bloodstream when the storm hit her right in the face.

Closing her eyes just to make sure that the upcoming black energy wouldn’t damage them, she felt the power behind it blow her away. Sliding across the grass she rolled further just to come to a stop against one of the many trees surrounding them. The crash wasn’t too bad, Blut had protected her spine, bones, and organs. Still there were plenty of scratches and more bruises scattered across her body.

The trunk creaked telling her that it was time to get up. Coughing a little, she rolled onto her feet and carefully opened her eyes to look for her enemy. He shouldn’t be too fast now that his leg was damaged, at least that’s what she was hoping for. Shaking off the pain with gritted teeth Sasha noticed her target moving. Without waiting she let an arrow form. It wasn’t as strong as it should be - she felt somewhat unhandy with the glove, but it would have to do.

Breathing in deeply she concentrated on his frame. Her hand stopped shaking, she kept her breath to minimize the pain in her ribs - and to get a better aim - then let go of the arrow once she had a clear view on his other leg.

Like blue lightning it shot forward toward the Shinigami. She felt almost proud about how decent the arrow looked while soaring through the park. With the disaster tourists gone, they could use the spacious area to play hard.


417/2410

Those in the area around the fight quickly fled the scene. The sudden whipping of the wind caught everyone off guard as dust and leaves scattered harshly. It didn’t help at all that some strange woman was fighting absolutely nothing. Soon the park was empty, save the two fighting.

A smile crossed Asadi’s face as he saw Alya’s winds whip forth, striking against the damn Quincy. Watching her roll across the ground, crashing into a tree brought the Shinigami such joy and elation. That was until he saw that color on her skin change from red to blue. Vague memories plagued him - something from the books that he couldn’t quite remember. Some technique that the race had that made them strong. Was it offensively or defensively? Maybe it was both. Whatever it was, she had used it against him and his knee was constantly throbbing, shooting pains up his leg.

Whatever it was, it protected her from what would normally leave a human broken and beaten. Now Sasha lay smashed against the tree, coughing. Alya chastised the man, telling him to get a move on before she could regain her senses. Taking a step forward with his left leg - a grave mistake. Blinding pain shot through his body as the joint screamed against his wishes. Grinding and stabbing at the movement as the man gnashed his teeth in pain, quickly moving to his right leg as he braced his staff on his left side against the ground like a crutch.

That was all the time the young Quincy needed to get up from the ground and draw upon her weapon. There was little time to react as he winced, putting weight back onto the wounded leg as he shifted his right leg behind him, pressing his left leg forward as both hands took hold of the staff as if he were about to thrust it forward. Sasha released her arrow as Asadi closed his eyes, feeling it drift through the air currents. Feeling it close, he concentrated his spiritual energy to the end of his staff, kicking off the ground with his left leg.

A scream left his lips as he turned his body, the wind current surrounds Sasha’s arrow, following his staff. With a harsh grunt, Asadi turned three hundred and sixty degrees around, the arrow following him. The currents guided the arrow around, sending it directly back at the Quincy as he fell to his right knee, looking on through the pain.

414/2647

She felt really glad that the glove didn’t bother her as much as it had been at the start. By now the arrows she formed were decent. Her control on the area didn’t slip as easily anymore either. It was something to be proud about, and Sasha didn’t shy away from feeling. Honestly, it slowly fed her desire to become stronger, harder to break, better during the fights. Altogether it was helping her to grow closer to what she was, and that felt quite good.

What was less exciting was the way her opponent managed to send her arrow right back at her. Either through some gravity trick or pure control over the airflow, he turned, tugged the blue energy with him, then let it fly back toward her face. The latter showed annoyance and shaken pride. Quickly the annoyance grew and so did her Blut. Fractals of blue covered her skin, the expanded through her veins, into her muscles, across her face.

Extending her hand with the palm forward, she let the arrow crush into her the marble like skin. In thousands little pieces it shattered, splashing across the grass beneath her feet like raindrops. Some sparkled for a brief moment before fading out of existence. Such a waste, she caught herself thinking while looking up to see if the Shinigami was up to something bad.

His scream still echoed in her ears.
That limb of his took its toll on him - that was a good thing.
The problem, however, was her inability to to actually damage him from where she was standing. At least the arrows would do her no good and therefore bring her no victory.

Either she would need to lure him closer or, taking a step forward she cracked her brain for a solution, she would have to somehow trap him before being able to spear him with one of the arrows.

“You speak of the balance, but can’t prove much,” letting an arrow form in her hand, she waited, then tried to poke him into motion. “for all I know every single one of you could be delirious.” Her green eyes were cold.

Instead of letting go of the arrow she stamped her right foot on the ground and let the matter dissolve into reishi. Like a wave it spread toward him before trying to solidify around his feet. Then, if she would catch him, she could try to hit him with the arrow.


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Asadi looked on as the pain in his knee seemed to run from the base of his foot and up into his side - it was excruciating. Gnashing his teeth together as he tried to push it out of his mind, he looked on proudly as he had turned the Quincy’s attack against her. Now it was soaring right back at her and the sense elation passed over him like a wave. Even Alya seemed to think his trick was pretty good for him.

“Don’t get cocky, kid.” She mumbled at him.

That wave of elation was quickly snuffed out. The Quincy was using more spiritual energy, changing colors once again, raising her hand up and casually blocking her own attack as if it was nothing. Asadi’s mouth became slightly agape as all his work was undone. The realization suddenly came over him - the color changing in her veins. Blue had to be for defensive purposes while red was for offense. A silent curse escaped his lips as his hands went to the ground, pushing himself up as he grabbed his weapon in his right hand. There was hell to pay and he seemed to be the one holding the wallet. Biting the right corner of his lip, he listened to her blather on about balance.

“Riiiiiight.” Asadi called out casually. “You know this is all a HUGE misunderstanding.” That didn’t seem to matter as Sasha was already drawing another one of those damned arrows. As the shinigami prepared himself for another bout the Quincy did something unexpected. She stomped her foot on the ground - odd. Then he felt it, but far too late. From below, Asadi was suddenly struck by a wave of reishi that sent him flying into the air, causing him to lose hold of Alya, left her fall to the ground haphazardly. Unabated by it, the shinigami used it to his advantage as he was cast into the air. Turning to his right side, his body began to rotate over and over again, the winds surrounding him in a cyclone, obscuring his body completely.

This woman, this Quincy left him no other option than to fight on. There was no continues justification on the matter - it was fight or die. The wind whipped around him blindly as Asadi set his sights on Sasha. Pushing forth with all his spiritual energy, Asadi and the cyclone rushed forth at the woman at blinding speeds as he held out his right arm, his fist clenched tight. By whatever God or Gods there were if he couldn’t break through that iron skin of hers, he was going to at the very least make it hurt or knock the wind out of her.

As he rushed forward, his plan was to ‘crash’ into her, slamming his arm into her throat to choke her out and wrap his arm around it while his reishi winds whipped at her body. And, if she did happen to get past his attack, well, that tree behind has seen better days.

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Too hard, she cursed inwardly when he was sent flying. Instead of getting a grip on the Shinigami she had helped him escape the arrow she had just loosed! And not just that, to make it worse, the further away from her he was the easier it would be for him to dodge her next attack or prepare to command the wind and misdirect the arrow again.

“Damn it!” This time the words were out.

She had lost sight of him because of the wind he created. Protecting her eyes with her right arm from any sort of flying debris she let Blut Vene spread through her body to make sure that she could stand up to whatever was to come. Hopefully it wouldn’t be a lot stronger than the previous hit, she didn’t feel like breaking any bones today.

Peering from behind her arm she saw him coming way too late. He went right beneath her defensive limb and wrapped his arm around her throat. The blow had her coughing, the grip prevented her from getting enough air to fix the problem, while the wind commanded by him started to slice into her skin. She had to do something fast, had to get out of this predicament somehow. The energy filled storm didn’t hurt, but might in time. It wasn’t her real worry now, though. Air was.

“Bastard..” she growled while grabbing his arm with her hand. Tugging at it she tried to loosen the vice-like grip but had little success doing it. Slowly but surely less air came through. Knowing that she would choke if this would go on, Sasha decided to sacrifice her protection for strength.

Fingers glowing red tightened around his arm. The wind cut into her skin, then further into her flesh. She gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, and used her elbow to smash it into his side. Once, twice. Her other hand didn’t let go - she had to damage him as badly as she could so she would get some time to recover.

Only when the lack of air had her knees buckling did she let go of his arm. Her elbow throbbed from the hitting it had done and blood leaked from the cuts all over her body. She coughed, sucked in sweet air through still gritted teeth and then stumbled to the side. Finding a nearby tree to lean on Sasha then had her gaze scan the area.

Where was he?


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