[R] [Honjou/Arrancar/Other/Closed] The Full Chill Twilight's Moon

The mountains were peaceful and rather quiet save for the occasional bone chilling howl of the wind. Beautiful and silent enough to act as both a place to reflect and to serve as a source of inspiration for her latest art piece she found herself for a reason she didn't quiet understand for the moment. Ever since arriving in the human world and stepping up onto the beginnings of the paved mountain path she's felt a light feeling of nostalgia creeping over her body. Something about this place seemed to trigger something deep within her but she didn't know what exactly. Perhaps it was the eerie silence or perhaps it was even the chilly mountain air, the wind possessed the same body piercing cold that Hakuren was accustomed to after all. Still... those didn't seem too likely to be the reasons why she found herself in such a place. One thing was certain however as she continued to quietly walk up the mountain trail... this place did indeed trigger some kind of stirring deep within her, familiarity.

Everything about this place felt so familiar to the silent woman. The old mountain path, the body heat sucking wind, the way the rock and grass covered mountain side looked, even the location and position of small things such as boulders and crags caused her stomach to knot up. It was eerie but at the same time fascinating. Never before has she felt something like this before, never before has she felt like she was so close towards perhaps remembering her own past. The thought of that fueling each and every one of her steps now she continues to work her way up the old trail. She was silent the entire way, her entire being focused on simply basking in everything around her in hopes of triggering yet another buried away feeling. A feeling, a glimpse, a sound, just something pertaining to her past. Learning who she was, being able to remember more than just her first name... she desired it. She wanted to know things about her life before death, wanted to know if she had a family and friends. She wanted to know little things as well... like if she knew how to do minor things such as cook, or clean, or perhaps even whether or not she knew how to read or write. Things she had to learn from Riko but things she was sure she would of known in her human life. She wanted to know it all more than anything because she wanted to be whole. Her life as an Arrancar after all, her life without memories was... empty.

A bottomless void filled her very being. Cold, dark, and engulfing. Her existence as an Arrancar was marred by this intense nothingness.

So her steps taking her now further up the mountain she finds the waves of nostalgia crashing against her stronger and stronger... this place did indeed seem familiar. She stops her slow and steady steps at this and allows her dark and serene gaze to drift about. Rocks, some grass, and the occasional tiny critter were the bulk of what the Arrancar seen, nothing of interest but that wasn't exactly everything... Her eyes then moved from a tiny deer in the distance and landed on what seemed to be a opening in the side of the boulder covered hill top. A cave? A animal den? Whatever it was it seemingly called to the Arrancar, almost like it was trying to draw her into its shadows with whispered promises. Unable to resist the lull for long she takes a step towards the dark opening, her heart beginning to feel as if it were being squeezed by a powerful hand and her breaths began to leave her in deepening gasps. There was indeed something special about that cavern, something that caused Hakuren to feel a cold fear rushing through her already heat less form. It was like the darkness reached out and draped her in a frozen cloak, it chilled the ice maiden to the core and took her breath away and most importantly of all...

It frightened her.

Answers seemed to be somewhere within, answers about herself she's spent decades seeking out. What did the cavern have in store for her? Why did it make her feel this way? She was on the fence as she moved towards the shadow covered portal and with good reason... the fear gripped her after all and it was an irrational fear at that. She couldn't even begin to fathom why she was acting this way, couldn't even begin to make a proper guess. Considering the familiarity of these mountains and how her body seemingly walked towards the cave on its own accord she knew that the fear had to come from her memories. Somewhere buried deep inside her something was warning her but... she just couldn't resist the urge. Haku had to investigate, she had to find some traces of her past... even if those traces led to bad things. Being whole after all was the only thing that mattered in the end, so even if a memory or two were bad she would be happy as long as she was complete.

Standing just outside the dreary opening to the cavern now the doll like Arrancar reaches out with a soft hand and touches the rocks that made up the side of the opening. Cold and smooth... much like her mask, but also promising. The feel of it felt familiar but also... she takes a deep breath and picks up a good whiff of the stagnant and wet cavern air, the act causing her to shiver. The scent was familiar as well, it was more than just the generic smell of any old cavern. It was a unique scent that washed over Hakuren and stirred her very soul. Her black eyes widen at this and her heart begins to race. This place had to hold her answers... it just had to. She was in a trance right then and there, desperate for answers and her mind was running at the speed of light. Thoughts filled her head by the micro second, ranging from what could be in store for her in this cave to why her body was so petrified of this place. It confused her but she was on auto pilot now and so as if being controlled by a puppet master she would crouch and step into the old cave system... only to tense up in completely in utter surprise as it felt like an intense shock ran through her.

Pictures and sounds. Stills of a young and very beautiful teen aged girl standing with an older man and woman. An obvious family. Sounds of idle chit chat between a young woman and a young man. Laughter and affectionate words shared between the two making it clear they were soon to be lovers. Pictures of the same girl from earlier now standing besides a man just a little older than her, both dressed fashionably as if for marriage. A feeling of happiness and completion. A promise to the heart, a promise to be together forever.

These were memories... Hakuren's memories but... they didn't end there.

Scenes of dark things came to mind. Men with weapons, men who eyed the pretty young woman with lecherous eyes. Sounds filled her ears, sounds of screaming and crying, of blades cutting through flesh and bodies slumping against the ground. The feeling of her heart being torn as she's pulled away and tossed to the ground. Memories... of men having their way with the pretty young woman after forcing her to watch the execution of all those who she held dear to her. They weren't complete, they weren't even clean pictures or sounds but... Hakuren knew they were her memories and as they rushed over her her pretty obsidian eyes widen shock and her stomach twists and turns as her frozen breath is taken from her cold lips. She felt sick, she felt dizzy, the entire world spun around her and not in a good way... not like how it felt when she kissed that shinigami. This was bad. This was wrong. There was something terrible about this place! She... she had too...

She had to run.

Just as she was about to turn out of the darkness and flee into the light she heard it...

A ear piercing scream.

A scream belonging to a young girl.

Heart racing at this Hakuren escapes the cold blackness and steps back out into the gentle light on the mountain side, her usually placid face twinged with distress and pain. Those flashes she seen... those things she heard... If those indeed did happen to her... she now knew why she couldn't remember. She wanted to reflect on them, she wanted to perhaps question Riko about them but... that scream. Someone was in trouble, a young girl at that. She had to investigate, she had to possibly help whoever the screamer was... she couldn't let her own problems lead to someone's death. Haku was a protector after all, it was the task her mother Riko gave her and so she had to see it through.

In no time at all she would arrive upon the scene of a derelict Shinto Shrine. Noting the police tape and the dried blood she senses that this was indeed the place where the girl had to be. The blood was old so immediately she knew that it couldn't of belonged to whoever the scream belonged to and after a brief scan she picked up nothing close by... the screamer was gone, perhaps dead even. Faced with that thought and faced with the disturbing memories she encountered earlier... she couldn't help but feel distraught.

The wave of emotions crashed over her like a tidal wave and her hands would clench at her sides as her form began to shake lightly. Moisture was forming around her eyes though she wasn't about to cry... instead something else happened. It began to snow, very lightly. Hakuren's ability to manipulate heat began to run a little rampant and thanks to that snow was now falling around the abandoned shrine. She would stay in place simply staring off into the distance and thinking for some time before she turned around and began to walk back down the mountain path. Her face was empty but her mind was a mess and the snow just simply kept...falling.

She truly resembled an ice maiden now and she was a lonely one at that.

=====

Word Count: 1763
GP Count: 35
Total GP: 35

Step by step Kirishi felt her sister drag the cart down the rugged mountain path. The twins had yet to find the paved route thanks to her quickly conceived poor excuse for a detour. But avoiding the shrine was her primary concern—for the sake of her sister's sanity in addition to her own. Kirishi knew something at the shrine was bothering her sister and the idea of avoiding it hit her at the same time it occurred to her sibling. She couldn't afford to lose her mind—especially now that the pair find something so close to a real home. Not that Tenko would admit that the freak that gave her a room the size of her old house was part of her family. No: Tenko's only family member, guide, companion, master and friend was her sister. And while Kirishi felt free to make friends and companions with the spirits and shinigami she encountered on her endless pilgrimage, she often times found herself feeling sorry that Tenko was bound only to protect and connect with her sister. It wasn't as though Kirishi was enforcing this old tradition—on the contrary, part of her idea to have Tenko take over her delivery jobs was done with the intention of her sister being able to communicate with more people outside the pair. Unfortunately when encountering a spirit Tenko tended to either close herself off entirely or simply act like Kirishi would—either way never truly interacting with them with her own words. From her own heart.

As Kirishi slid through the woods on her ever-present thin layer of protective air that kept her spotless and clean bare feet unharmed from the rugged terrain, her skin tingled with a sensation unlike anything she had ever experienced before. Whereas localized pockets of heat were fairly common—from bonfires and radiators to groups of people or even spirits chatting in the woods. But what she felt was, without question, a pocket of...cold? While she had experienced something similar to this in the past, there was a vast difference in air quality between a refrigerator, freezer or even air conditioner and what the young woman felt now. Besides: the idea that someone could be hauling a freezer out here in the middle of the woods was a little outrageous to say the least. This air was something more pure...something more fresh. It wasn't air passed over cooling coils wrought from the hands of man—it was something greater. And looking back at her sister, who had stopped moving the wagon to look off in the direction of the cold-front, it was fairly obvious that this wasn't just in Kirishi's imagination. Unless, of course, Tenko was tapping into her mind that deeply.

What do you think that this? Tenko thought to her sister, hushed as though she were speaking aloud. I don't like it...

But it could be a spirit that needs our help, Kirishi replied earnestly. We have to investigate!.

Running after the cold-front, Kirishi shocked her sister yet again who, setting down the wagon, quickly grabbed her fan, umbrella and the bag of whistles and ran after. She barely had time to affix the bag to her obi—her inappropriate dress flapping inconveniently in the breeze as she leapt around one tree and the next after the strange wind she and her sister felt earlier. With her eyes closed for only a couple seconds after finding a clearing to ensure she wouldn't smack head-first into a tree, Tenko concentrated on the path the cold-front took. It was too small and subtle for her to detect it accurately enough...but she could tell it was far away enough from the shrine now to be safe.

Kirishi's smile widened as she approached the source. She knew this had to be another spirit. It had been at least a week since the pair encountered one—the walk from Karakura was fairly arduous and Tenko kept insisting they didn't dottle in any towns along the way. And the feeling the twin got from the spirit was something familiar—something that told her instincts she should be afraid. But another, more serene presence could be felt. Something that overrode her spiritually honed instincts and told her to keep going. Not that either of these feelings would ever over-power her diligent belief that all of the world's spirits needed help from the twins. That every spirit, irregardless of how they felt about the human race, needed the mortals to help cope with the world and the other beings that inhabit it. That humans were the balance in an otherwise chaotic world. And that the twins were the ones to adjust the scales one way or the other to ensure peaceful co-existence.

I see her!

Kirishi stopped before leaving the woods and the paved path occupied by what was undoubtedly the most beautiful spirit the twins had encountered in ages. Kirishi instantly recognized the spirit as a Yuki-Onna, her upbringing under an Omnyouji and proclaimed servant of all kami and youkai again overpowering the common sense that should have first spotted the hollow-mask resting on the stranger's head. And despite the unnerving aura emanating from her form, the serene look on her face caused a peaceful radiance that calmed down both sisters enough to drop their guards. And yet, the spirit seemed sad. A deep sadness that pierced even Kirishi's normally optimistic attitude...but one that the young sister had felt before. A certain sadness reminiscent of her sister. Was it simple loss? Fear? Pain? Loneliness?

Shaking her head as Tenko mentally repeated several chants that helped clear Kirishi's head and reminded her of her duty, the onmyouji stepped out from the bushes and approached the snow maiden without a shred of un-confidence or fear. There only stood a slight timidity from having watched the tears of this poor creature that only helped fuel her optimism regarding her ability to help. The familiar feeling put Tenko's heart and mind at ease as well. Whereas the gaki or 'hollow'-like aura would normally put her on alert and ready to defend her sister, Kirishi's attitude helped soothe Tenko's worries regarding this particular spirit. In fact, having never before met or even heard of a human-shaped hollow-like being like this helped encourage them even further.

”Konbanwa, Yuki-Onna-Sama,” Kirishi greeted the arrancar from behind.

Tenko waited in the bushes, but not hiding herself well enough that the arrancar would be surprised by her sudden appearance. She gasped as she felt something run warm across her cheeks—feeling her eyes she brushed away tears. Concentrating on her sister's body, she felt the same physiological reaction from her twin. But why was Kirishi crying? Or was it Tenko? Could it be a reaction from being so close to the shrine? Or perhaps her sister's empathetic release was the result of seeing the sad woman in the snow...or perhaps both.

”H-how may I help you today?” Kirishi continued, adding, much to her sister's surprise: ”Savior-sama?”

WC: 1157; 23 GP [55 GP total]

Sometime and some distance away the lonely Arrancar kept up her slow but steady trek, tears still running down her face with every step she made and the softest of sniffles escaping her cold blue lips occasionally. Her heart hurt as she walked, the emptiness within her felt as bitter as the cold that now embraced her very being. Intense loneliness and just plain intense pain. Hakuren felt empty without Kasasagi and to make matters worse... just those images and feelings and sounds from earlier left her beyond distraught. To be put simply the beautiful Arrancar felt like she was a beaten and battered animal, like a puppy, she hurt and her wanderings were simply aimless. Every couple seconds her mind would drift back to her memories or at least what she assumed to be her memories. Just the pain she felt and those images... it was just something she was expecting and it hurt her beyond belief. Considering she dreamed of regaining her memories and after all this time when she finally does get a solid clue about her past and it was the farthest from what she dreamed of. She felt and just looked... broken now.

With every sniffle she made and with every tear that fell from her beautiful ice like skin the snow would continue to fall from the sky. Within yards from her body it felt as if all the heat was simply extinguished from the area and thanks to her clashing emotions and distressed state the intense cold and snow fall would every once in a while pick up, and take on the form of a very small but intense blizzard. From any onlooker a good enough distance away from the distraught woman it would look as if she was standing within a storm of strong wind and ice mixed snow. Haku's form was hidden behind the veil of ice and the powerful gusts and heavy flow of snow only made catching a glimpse of her all but impossible even to humans who could see a spirit being such as herself. In truth she was just like the ice maidens of legend now, for Hakuren Suzumei was indeed lonely and Hakuren Suzumei did indeed wish for nothing more than to receive some form of comfort. She wanted to forget about what she saw, she wanted to forget about possibly failing a soul in trouble back at the abandoned temple and most of all she just wanted to be besides Kasasagi Aizawa.

At that moment she was essentially a true Yuki-onna and the very embodiment of loneliness.

The wind and snow not at all phasing her perpetually cold form Hakuren would walk for several more steps, simply lost in thought. This was so strange to her... even though she was in pain and even though she was so confused. Ever since that day... that day she met that beautiful shinigami, things have been different for Haku. Little things make her feel emotions she's never once gave much thought to and even the tiniest of reminders of the lavender haired woman caused Haku's heart to give a pained beat and even took the very icy breath from her lips. It was true that she was smitten beyond belief by that girl but for some reason ever since she met Kasasagi Aizawa her emptiness and loneliness just simply grown. When she wasn't around her she was thinking about her, and each and every time the doll like woman thought about that short but very attractive woman her body would just hurt. She just felt completely emptier than usual and considering those dark memories she encountered that emptiness was a literal maelstrom of discomfort for the Arrancar. She needed comfort, she needed her Mother, but even more she needed... Kasa.

Caught up in her thoughts and drowning in her tears the snow woman would suddenly stop in her tracks as she felt a tiny presence fight through her emotion linked blizzard and approach her from behind. Tensing up as she took a second to identify the presence she'd suddenly hear a young and energetic voice ring out from the body behind her. The voice and thus the presence was a young girl... a child. A child who could see spirits and a child who wasn't disturbed in the slightest by them. For a split second Haku would show some light curiosity about this girl behind her but that curiosity was snuffed out by her pain and sorrow. She didn't know what to do or say to the girl after all, didn't know why the girl approached her... so sniffling to herself and tears still running down her beautiful face she'd brush the girl off and continue on with her steps, as if she were trying to distance herself from the child.

One step, then two, then three... and she'd stop again as the teen spoke out.

Did she... just call her savior? Hakuren was confused by this and turned around very slowly to look at the girl, the woman doing her best to keep her mask remains hidden behind her bangs. Right away her cold obsidian and sorrow filled eyes would land upon the speaker and right away would Haku be greeted by the vibrant color of the girl's aura, her magnificent body heat. Confused by the child's words but needing some kind of relief from the pain she felt Haku would take a soft step towards the white haired, blue eye girl and outstretch her hand. "Savior? I am... not one." She whispers softly as she now stands nearly atop the girl, her fingers now resting right against the child like teen's flat chest and taking in her lively heat, essentially feeling the child up in the process. "You are... warm. Feels good." She softly comments only to feel a pain in her heart as the rush of body heat reminded her of Kasasagi. Looking away from the girl but still keeping her palm pressed against her chest she'd fight back a sniffle and do her best to simply cease thinking about her beloved.

The warmth felt too good to move from but... Hakuren Suzumei just felt so down trotted. She was a true Lady of the Snow.

====
Word Count:1028
GP Earned: 20
Total GP:55

A chill ran up the young girl's spine unlike any she had experienced. Despite the thin layer of warmth around her body, the yuki-onna's touch seemed to pierce the confined body heat. No; such a theory didn't account for the sudden draft forming around the sister's back-side. This woman's icy caress didn't simply penetrate Kirishi's heat—it outright dismissed it. Whether the snow maiden was simply too cold for the young onmyouji's shield to resist or whether the blanket of warm air was what attracted her in the first place was beyond Kirishi's thought at that time. As she now experienced, for the first time in her live of wandering the mountainous wilderness of the province, Kirishi found herself face to face with an environmental hazard her natural power had up to this point made entirely alien to her. Ice. Snow. Cold.

Tenko couldn't stand the feeling that paralyzed her younger sister. Using the power of her kamaichi and of the kamaitachi itself, she forced her sister's body to expel another layer of heat. The action instantly chilled Kirishi to the core but helped instantly free her mind from the reaction brought about by the yuki-onna's hand. Before the body heat could be dismissed or absorbed, however the spirit's technique worked, Kirishi took a three-fold long step back and shyly covered her chest with her arms with a blush appearing on her face.

The cold lingered. Kirishi felt she could make out the shape of the spirit's palm where it landed on her chest. Absorbing her mind in the feeling, disconnecting these musings with her sister for a moment, she found a certain sick pleasure in the cold. No; it wasn't that it was some entirely foreign sensation nor was it the temperature itself. It was the emptiness. The hollowness. The lack of emotion or care that Kirishi had to suppress at all times from the world. The sadness that her sister felt and expressed whenever she could that the young sister had to keep deep within herself. The cold emptiness in the core of her body now reflected her deepest sorrows—those that had to be repressed at all costs lest the spirits and youkai of the world feed off her emptiness. Lest her sister give up hope on a cruel and unforgiving world.

Tenko felt the emptiness in her sister's heart for but a mere second. The languish and pain subsided as the hidden sister reassured herself of her charge's optimism and happiness. The feeling that Kirishi's happiness was but a facade left a sour lingering taste in Tenko's mouth that she had to spit out at once lest it fester into some sort of rationalized thought. The idea that the hatred Tenko felt for so many things in her life could be felt by her sister was something she refused to acknowledge. And it was probably rightly so—for unbeknownst by all but the sister's shared subconscious, the light of hope and happiness in Tenko's heart, no matter how well hidden, was considerably stronger than in that of her 'happy' sister. Whereas Kirishi lived in a constant battle since that day two years ago keeping the hope in her soul fueled with a never-ending act of kindness and cheer, Tenko lived as a bitter pessimist to ensure her sister's sometimes reckless abandon for life wouldn't take from either twin the last thing they held close to their hearts. But sometimes Kirishi hoped they could find themselves in a situation that neither of them could walk away from. One in which the pathetic lies and masks they wore could be tossed aside and their true natures could be revealed. And yet, it remained both sister's greatest fears that the other understand a truth hidden even from themselves. A lie growing stronger and stronger since that fateful day two years ago.

But at some level the twins recognized the lie. Yet even the deception they shared amongst one another was shrouded by false-hoods they held against their own hearts. Perhaps it was their special bond that made it one and the same—a lie to one another and a lie to themselves at the same time. Perhaps it was the lack of a neutral third party in their lives that helped proliferate these feelings so such an extent that it overtook their entire beings; that it defined who they were and how they felt. If hindsight was twenty-twenty, the twin's insight into one another have, in a sickening twist, made it all the more difficult to see one another's flaws. Their solitude has strengthened their bonds while making their existence all the more foreign and incompatible with that of others. While they certainty knew a fair number of people, aside one another, they still never had any true bonds outside of their sisterhood. Mamoru was in the same category as the other humans the twins met. No; while the twins still felt they were just exploiting the strange human, they at least saw him as a some what kind person. Not unlike the twin's grandfather. The one that tried to teach the twins how to control their powers. The one Kirishi flayed into a thousand pieces. The only human to never run from the twins in fear nor whisper behind their backs as though they were insane street-urchins speaking to figments of their imagination. Their grandfather who never shoo'd away nor arrested nor admitted the twins to an institution. Not that any of these unfortunate histories ever resulted in an inconvenience for the wily sisters. Between Tenko's knowledge of the law and Kirishi's power of the kamaitachi, the twins felt they were as un-catchable as they were free. Unstoppable as they were homeless. Ungrounded as they were alone.

And perhaps it was this loneliness that drove them to connect with spirits. Spirits who wouldn't judge them for knowing the ways of other worlds. Spirits who attack not out of fear or ignorance but because, in a way, they see the twins as almost-equals. Not that the twins would ever think of themselves as anything less than the spiritual beings they spend every hour of every day seeking and serving. Nor did they see themselves as greater than the humans without spiritual-perception who shunned them. They were in a place without equals—even the other spiritualists they have met seem to only get angry when they explain their mission; when they lay their hearts bear for others to judge. Even Mamoru became furious when the twin's mentioned their tolerance of 'hollows'. Even a man who sought spiritually aware humans found himself unable to bond with the sisters.

Emerging from the brush, Tenko bowed deeply to the snow maiden as she listened to her sister's heart. Kirishi took three steps back and fell to her knees as her sister stepped past her. Her eye's widened as she felt the cool air. It became increasingly more intense as she approached the arrancar; her exposed toes in her sandals going numb. Without Kirishi's ability to manipulate the air immediately around her body Tenko found herself going cold much faster than her twin. But the approaching sister felt confident in as she felt Kirishi's body beginning to warm again. But her 'confidence' waned as the assured Tenko approached the unknown spirit. Specifically as she saw what even she could interpret as tear's rolling down the spirit's cheeks. But where a more compassionate human would have pity, Tenko's heart instantly filled with jealously and a burning hatred fueled by the love of her sister that overwhelmed any positive feelings she had for the pitiable creature before her that dared mock the lofty expectations the twin held for the beings they referred to as 'spirits'. She stood near the being for at least a whole minute in silence as she analyzed both the spirit and her sister's emotional state. All the while Kirishi fell deeper and deeper into a sickeningly comforting pit of loneliness as her empathetic nature drew her to desire any sort of bond—even with the incarnation of loneliness that stood before them.

”Stop.” Tenko said clearly between clattering teeth as she continued to ignore her body's physiological reactions to the harsh climate that clashed with her light summer-style yukata. She took a powerful stance before the spirit—stronger than that of any she can recall, even when protecting her sister from physical harm. Her posture and facial expression clashed as tears began to form on either side of her now cold-reddened cheeks. The pain in her heart was overwhelming—but the pride she had in her sister and her beliefs, overwhelming even the rational belief of her own account of that fateful night, was beyond even the emotional spiral Kirishi was willingly diving into on the ground behind her. ”My sister called you her savior. Her hero. She believ—no. You saved her. And I'm not going to allow her idol to disappoint her!

The rage boiled in Tenko as she looked upon the Yuki-onna. She had saved her sister's life day in and day out for the past six years. She had spent her whole life protecting her and suddenly this being swooped in last minute and—no. Tenko gritted her chattering teeth and shook her head as she reminded herself that this yuki-onna's role existed only in her sister's delusions. The shadowy being Kirishi saw the night of the fire had to be Tenko. She is always the one who saves her sister. She is her sister's savior. And as she raised her hand as though preparing to slap the spirit across the face, more tears welled up on the ends of Tenko's eyes. But they weren't her tears. Those salted beads of sadness belonged only to her sister; Tenko's had suppressed years of tears and anguish even from a being with whom she shared a singular mind and she wasn't about to abandon that duty because of this sad ice spirit. And even if the objective truth wasn't such; even if this spirit did save her sister two years ago and, as her sister claims, she was unconscious when Tenko arrived despite standing before her. Despite slicing through Tenko's back with the powers that killed every last person the twin's could have called family.

Tenko's hand swept through the chill winds towards the yuki-onna, only to be stopped by a warm breeze—a veil of pressurized wind as familiar to the twin as her own skin.

”I'm sorry,” cried out a voice before the enraged sister. Blinking twice in an effort to see past her own livid emotions, Tenko instantly went numb as she found her sister standing between her and the yuki-onna. Kirishi had sprang from her position a mere ten feet behind the pair and embraced the snow maiden with her now rapidly cooling body. Using her air-flow skill to deflect Tenko's hate-filled slap, she gave the strange spirit a loving embrace whilest forcing her spirit energy with the power of her blood manipulation to vent as much body heat as she could. Kirishi wasn't mad at her sister—she was just disappointed and ashamed in herself.

”But I know you did save me! Two years ago! Then...I ran away,” Kirishi said as she desperately channeled more spiritual energy through her body, ”after we vowed to help all spirits...to bring their hearts together as one...we have failed you as harriers and couriers in protecting your right to have someone. To connect with someone. To be with someone.”

Tenko could only fall to her hands and knees and beg for forgiveness behind her sister's loving embrace. She wasn't angry at the spirit before her; she was angry at herself. Even if she was ordered to leave the shrine that day to help her sister she was angry that she wasn't able to protect her sister that day...but this realization was anything but sudden or enlightening. She knew it. She knew it two years ago. But she still fell into the temptation of blaming this poor spirit for her short-comings.

”Please, yuki-onna-sama...accept us as your faithful servants...” Kirishi begged as she bowed in reverence to the spirit. To her the spirit represented more than just a savior--it represented acceptance of her where so many other spirits had rejected her. It represented a confirmation of her duty. It represented a glorious vision--a reward of her faith and her destiny. And she wasn't going to let destiny slip through her fingers. She wouldn't allow it--she refused to allow it. And even if her sister refused to believe her--the person with whom she shared even a soul--she would still follow her own path to the bitter end.

WC: 2101; GP: 42 (97 Total)

Sadness welled through her form but warmth never once ceased to flow through her body as she kept her fingers placed heavily against the white haired child's chest. Not quite realizing the effect she was having on Kirishi the Arrancar continued to simply stare at the girl while lost in a drunken haze thanks to the heat she kept on drawing in as well as the intense sadness and loneliness that kept on crashing over her form. The snow and harsh winds never ceased as a result of this for Hakuren just wouldn't allow herself to feel good even with Kirishi's warmth. The ice maiden was essentially at her very core lost and feeling a world of self loathing as well as a torrent of bedlam brought on by a combo of those dark memories and well... the fact that she quite possibly had a hand in ending someone's life. She saw herself as a defender after all, a protector, she couldn't complete her life's focus if she let just anyone die. So thanks to those feeling she now just stood before this young teenager, surrounded by fierce winds and powerful snow flurries. She craved the warmth before her, craved just anything that could fill in the throbbing pit of emptiness that ate at her soul, and as a result of this confusion and desire she was quite possibly killing a young woman. Killing her out of her intense loneliness.

Coursing through her was a radiate energy that flowed from Haku's fingers, generated by the girl she touched, and traveled through her body causing her heart to race in excitement as well as caused her veins to feel as if they were filled with liquid heat. Despite her confusion, despite her pain, despite everything... touching this young woman, pressing her fingers against her chest let her draw in the girl's energy and that energy was exactly what the Arrancar needed. It was a soothing drug, a peaceful warmth, and as the seconds passed that constant stream of heat began to chip away at her confusion and pain. Steadily she was getting better, feeling calmer, but that was truly the opposite case for the white haired teen who's energy she leeched from. While it wasn't her heat siphoning that endagered the human the child still was reacting strangely, reacting in a life threatening manner. It was as if the girl was taking on Haku's traits and losing her humanity in the process, almost as if Hakuren's unchanging maelstrom of loneliness was shooting out of her from her hand and traveling into the child's form. Surely if this kept up something bad was going to happen but could Hakuren stop her? Did the Arrancar even notice what was happen for that matter? She might of began to feel more in control of herself but the fact remains, Hakuren Suzumei was still drunk off the heat. However... that was when she heard it... another voice.

"Stop!"

At once it was as if lights went on inside the cold woman's head causing her to snap back into reality. Obsidian black eyes would fall upon the human she was touching then and upon taking a simple look at the girls' cold and empty face she'd feel a pang of guilt slowly creep up her gut and quickly move her hand from the girl's flat bosom. What has she done?! The dark haired woman was in a state shock over it, over the fact that she seemingly almost brought harm upon a human and such a young and pretty one at that. She may of been a Yuki-onna, may of been a being of loneliness, may of been in a state of intense despair even but... never once... never before has she lost control of herself like that and forced herself upon another. It was as if her pain possessed her and it picked at Hakuren's core and caused her to let her beautiful black orbs glace at her hand and stare at those fingers... those fingers that touched this child seconds ago and almost killed her. The Arrancar can't help but shiver as she remembered the intense warmth that flooded her when she touched the human, the warmth was a drug a powerful drug that reminded her of Kasasagi after all. It brought her life, numbed her pain, and most importantly just made her feel great. Her stomach fluttered as a result of this and a heat pooled deep within her but... those feelings were at war with her sadness. She almost killed this human being after all... so there was no way she could be happy and no way she could relish in the heat. She was sorry, so very sorry.

"Sorry..." The apology escapes her blue lips and was almost drowned out by the howling mountain winds, her voice low like always but mixed with regret. She was indeed sorry for she had no intention to harm the white haired girl and with her eyes drifting from the child she touched to the holder of the voice that stopped her, a girl that could only be the child's twin... she let her eyes send the girl her pain, her anguish. "I... did not mean to." She mumbles this and shakes her head in shame at herself only to grow confused by the twin's other words. Savior? Hero? Saved her? Why was this girl saying that to Hakuren? The ice woman never seen the girls before today so why was she being called their hero? And should she even be deserved to be called hero? She might of been a protector to her mother and to her love but... other than that? She was a failure. Hakuren was no savior she was a monster... an Arrancar and a lonely one at that.

Lost in thought at this and feeling both confused and pain she barely noticed the sister step towards her in a angry fashion. Form reacting slowly at this she notices Tenko readying herself for a slap but instead of dodging or even tensing up for that matter she simply stood still. If she was indeed going to be hit then she deserved it. She put this girl's sister in danger and thus she deserved a punishment of some sort. So she accepted the slap but... as she tilted her head to give Tenko her human cheek to sleep and as she waited for the coming sting of the blow... nothing came. Instead a slight flare of reiatsu would catch Haku's attention and she'd notice the angry twin's blow was stopped mid swing, stopped by the other twin... the girl Hakuren almost hurt. Once again this confused her because she couldn't understand it, she couldn't understand why this girl was trying to help her! She almost killed her after all! Almost lost control and destroyed her out of a need to feed her pain. And to make matters worse the girl she harmed was now apologizing! Apologizing to her sister and acting as if it were her own damned fault and not Hakuren's! Confusion swept over her and all she could do was remain silent... and watch.

That was at least until intense warmth radiated around her as she found herself being drawn into a tight embrace. A hug and it was the white haired girl, the other twin, the girl she hurt, that was hugging her. Liquid heat filled her veins as the girl pumped her body full of reiatsu generated heat and a soft but pleasant moaned escaped the sad Maiden's blue lips at this. Her stomach fluttered, her heart raced, and her core throbbed at this. She felt good, great even, and she couldn't help but think of Kasa... but despite feeling her needs sated and despite being engulfed by a lust as a result of this strong heat... she was still confused over why she was being hugged in the first place, and this girl's words... why? Why was she saying that she saved her? Wouldn't Hakuren of remembered if she did?

Her mind was blank however...

No memories came to mind despite how many times she scanned it, she couldn't of been this girl's savior... but she couldn't exactly say it. Hakuren Suzumei hurt this girl once already and she refused to crush her further. She refused to pain this girl who was making her feel so great and with her mind made up the Arrancar with the pretty snow white skin would find her hands meeting Kirishi's slender sides, the touch generating more heat and causing that throbbing within her to grow worse as more memories of Kasa rushed over her, and wholeheartedly return the embrace. " Harriers? Couriers? Connect?" She simply asks these questions in the lightest of voice as she touched the child, she was confused about it but... a courier? If that was true then these girls were messengers? Messengers who at least one was swearing her services to Hakuren. Upon hearing this the tall woman would think about Kasasagi, her beloved, and about how they left without failing to develop a way to contact each other. Separated for her lover, separated from her new found source of comfort... it hurt her and spurned her loneliness. But if these girls were couriers then surely?

"I... accept. Accept you as my servants." She whispers this to Kirishi and tightens the grip her hands had around the girl's dainty sides, squeezing her somewhat affectionately as a result of the drunken heat and well the joy she felt over potentially having a means to be reunited with her special someone. "I am... Suzumei, Hakuren. And I..." She pauses her request and looks at the twins and for a second feels doubtful. How could these girls help her? They were so small, so frail... how could they contact Kasasagi Aizawa and help her? It was farfetched and perhaps a pipe dream but... any chance of being with Kasasagi again was a chance she was willing to take. So she pushed the doubt away and let out the softest of sighs. "I want you to find... Aizawa Kasasagi... a shinigami and my special someone."

It was a straight forward request but a difficult one however even acknowledging that the Ice Maiden was still happy. If these girls could find Kasa... then things would be alright. The ice maiden after all simply wanted to be with her lover. Simply wanted to be with her Kasasagi.

=======

ooc: << Longer than I thought but don't bloody try to match it if you don't have to! XD
Word Count: 1737
GP Earned: 34
Total GP: 89

Kirishi stayed in Hakuren's grip as she listened intently to her words. They were the sweetest words the girl had heard since that fateful day. But this day too would mark a glorious anniversary for the Sugata-clan: the day the twins, without the use of their family name, had at last gained the trust of a spirit. The day Kirishi was able to, with only the use of her charms and devotion, was able to become what they had vowed. They had become what they had always dreamt of: servants of a greater being. With full belief that a life given to service to one impossibly wiser than oneself was the truth path to happiness, the twins had always sought a spirit or temple of their own. And while they had served spirits in the past, it was always those temples and kami given to them through their father and grandfather. They had never been able to find even a single shinigami willing to give them more than a minute of demeaning laughter in response to their request. In response to their search for service. Their search for purpose.

Tenko, on the other hand, remained hesitantly cautious regarding Hakuren's acceptance. This wouldn't be the first time a spirit accepted the twins only to try to devour them moments later. But, despite her cynicism, there was something about this spirit that was different to the guardian-twin. Something within her heart told her this was different. There was a certain...warmth about her? No. There was something else. A certain providence and honor. A certain compassion mingled with a sense of duty. And while the memories of being chased and mauled by hollows told her not to trust the strange spirit that stood before her, there was a certain something that she couldn't recognize that Hakuren had that the other inhuman and alien-like spirits lacked.

”Kasaragi”

Tenko's eyes opened wide as she raised her head from her deep bow. It was...love. The motivation Tenko had for her sister and this arrancar had for her lost beloved were one and the same. But as Tenko felt the air around the trio and as she analyzed Hakuren's words, she realized just a fraction of the extent of this love—a devotion so great that it was beyond her mere mortal understanding. A love so strong that even a moment without the object of her devotion was like a loneliness so painful that it manifest itself in a life-threatening cold. For a brief moment, Tenko felt the same awe and reverence for Hakuren that her sister felt for all spirits. But that was all that was needed for heart to be forever changed, even if just a bit. It was all she needed to accept Hakuren just enough to at least accept her mission. At least accept her trust.

”Thank you,” Tenko said for her sister as she reached inside the robe of her Yukata. Standing from the ground she approached the huddled mass of her sister and the Yuki-Onna and produced an envelope and a whistle. ”And please, take these. Protect these. If you ever need us—either of us, if you can forgive my hasty insolence, please call us on this reed. We will hear you wherever you are. We will devote ourselves to finding you. And we will do whatever it is you ask of us...”

Kirishi gripped Hakuren a bit tighter as she listened to her sister speak. She wasn't used to her sister being so open with spirits—usually it took a good mental prodding or two before she was able to open up to them. But she could still feel a certain hesitation in her sister's thoughts and words. A certain distrust of the ice-spirit that caused Kirsihi a bit of worry. She knew deep inside how her sister felt about the spirits and that only made Kirishi respect her sister even more: that she could continue her duty so vigilantly despite her desires was just a testament of how strong she was. And how strong Kirishi wished she could be.

”And so long as you carry this,” Kirishi responded as she looked at the small wooden whistle in her sister's hands, ”we will be your vassals forever more...”

The twins, of course, had no idea they were swearing an oath to one of a noble family—the idea of noble-spirits families was something entirely beyond the limited scope of the twin's knowledge regarding the spirit world. But deep inside they could still feel the noble spirit of Hakuren in her poise and her words. Even when they first met her crying alone on the mountain road, Kirishi felt nothing but the uptmost respect for her. And, as her vassal, she felt a pride unlike anything she had felt before. This wasn't just another spirit handed off to them by her father or grandfather with which the twins had to commune with every few months—this was something special: an ally they won over themselves. And someone to whom they could devote their all.

”...and we will find your Kasasagi,” the young girl continued, ”I swear my life on it.”

WC: 855; GP: 17; Total GP: 17 (reset)