The characters Cosmo and Nef are non-canon and belong to their respective owners, I am the owner of Cosmo and my friend is the owner of Nef.
The sound of frantic fleeing footsteps, the smell of fresh blood, this was all these two Shinigami needed to chase down a wounded hollow, wounded by the broader of the two Shinigami. Even though it was night time and the moon was reaching its zenith in the sky, these two wouldn't stop.
The hollow's breathing was heavy and loud, the wound carved across it's chest making it difficult for the hollow to keep the pace going, but it was cunning and kept trying to foil them at every turn, diving through undergrowth, going over fallen trees, anything to get away from those two that wiped out it's allies.
"How we ended up doing clean-up I do not know" The first of the two said with annoyance..
"Hey, it's your fault for letting that Menos Grande escape last week, because of that we got stuck on clean-up duty for this place. Besides its fun chasing down prey" The other one said with glee in his voice. He was always one for loving fights, it's why he belonged in squad 11.
The smaller of the two sighed as they continued running through the forest following the blood, neither of them were able to use Shunpo (Shinigami ability to move at faster than the eye can see speeds over short or long distances) so they were stuck with running. This didn't bother them though, the find running good as it builds up stamina which could be helpful against tougher enemies.
The hollow could hear voices behind it and knew they were closing in, since the wound was taking most of its concentration, its ability to sense reiatsu was very limited so judging the true distance between them was too difficult, so he concentrated on running and tried another turn through the trees only to end up right in front of them.
"Where do you think your going then?" The taller of the two Shinigami said with a murderous glint in his eye, "Looks to me like this chase is over" he stated as he drew his zanpakuto, it seemed to glow as if on fire on this dark night as it was pointed at the hollow.
"Just end this already, I would like to return to the base camp before sun rise, I would like some sleep after all this running." The smaller one stated as he stood in the shadows of a nearby tree.
"Tch fine, you're a spoilsport you know that" The katana swung through the air and the thunk that followed was the last sound they needed to confirm the chase was truly over.
"Geez, why do you always play with your prey Nef? It gets us into no end of trouble….Well, trouble with any captain other than Zaraki Kenpachi." was said with a slight bit of annoyance from the one standing in the shadows.
"I play with it because it's fun, why else would anyone fight or chase their enemy any way" replied Nef cleaning the blood of his zanpakuto and putting it back in it's sheath, "As for the trouble, my captain says if I keep up training like this, playing with my prey and finding new challenges in fights I may end up with a seat someday. That's why he encourages it. He encourages you to do the same Cosmo, he's speaking about getting you transferred from Squad 4 to Squad 11 because of what you did to that group of Hollows a few weeks back" Nef smirked.
Cosmo was surprised when he heard that he may get transferred to join Nef in squad 11, and also annoyed that Nef had told the captain about his fighting ability. "I thought I told you not to mention that to anyone, I don't want to be seen as a fighter, I am a healer since I was found to be proficient in Kido, besides what would they say having someone who uses Kido in that squad? I don't want to be harassed…They do it enough already" Cosmo was thinking about all the times he was ordered around by a squad 11 member because he belonged to squad 4. "Enough talk, lets just head back to camp.
And with that comment both began the long run back to their base camp, on the outskirts of the forest, keeping note of anything useful in here incase they have to chase another hollow.
It took them just under an hour to get back to their base, disguised using kido which Cosmo dispelled as they got close. Looking around they noticed a note pinned to the trunk of a tree next to the camp site.
"Yo, Nef take a look at this." Cosmo said while pointing at the note, "Wonder who it's from this time."
"Pffff, most likely orders to find another low-level hollow ass. Ignore it for now." Nef told Cosmo.
"You're the boss" Cosmo said as he headed to his bedroll after putting the illusion spell back around their base camp.
The moon was already passed its zenith when the two settled down for some sleep, their zanpakuto's close-by incase they were awoken by anything trying to use kido to dispel or remove the illusion barrier. The night air was cold and quiet and the moons rays offered but a small amount of vision for anyone out. The forest was quiet and there was nothing that could bother them as they slept, so for the first time in what felt like a long time, they were both able to relax while sleeping.
The sun began its slow rise to power in the sky when Cosmo and Nef began to wake up. Nef slowly got to his feet and stretched, heaving a mighty yawn, so mighty infact it scared the birds out of the trees, this caused Nef to chuckle as he finished stretching. Cosmo on the other hand lept up to a crouch then to his feet, quickly shaking off any sleepiness left in him.
"Geez, it's been a while since I slept so well, back at Seireitei it's all 'Intruder Alert' this and 'Enemy sighted' that, never peaceful which is why its good to be sent out on stuff like this." Cosmo said as he picked up his zanpakuto.
"I never can figure out how you can go from complaining to enjoying situations so fast." Nef said confused.
Cosmo shook his head at this remark and went about packing up the bed roll and any other supplies before tying them up and heaving them over his shoulder. Nef was doing the same but he only need to put a little effort into carrying his stuff….and he brought more than Cosmo did.
They were just about to leave when Cosmo remembered the note, "Hey hold up Nef", Cosmo went and grabbed the noted. Nef could tell if the note was orders, bad news or anything else just by looking at Cosmo's face as he read it. He himself was bamboozled when all he saw was a look of confusion, usually he'd nod for orders, scowl and bad news and anything else was usually spoken aloud.
"Nef, did you ever remember anyone telling us we'd be having someone join our team?" Cosmo asked without taking his eyes of the note, making sure he didn't misunderstand it.
Nef thought for a while before answering, "Nobody has said we'd be having liabilities following us, who sent the note?"
"Apparently its signed by captains Kyoraku and Ukitake, didn't they always say that we were somewhat out of control? For all that's sane in this world I'd hate to find out if they dumped a mentor on us, remember what happened to the last person who tried to teach you something by themselves?" Cosmo said to Nef
Upon hearing this Nef recalled the moment someone at the academy was assigned as a personal Kido tutor because Nef set a new record as bottom of the class, beating that set by Renji Abarai. Nef managed to blast a crater in the ground. "Oh yeah." still laughing "Those days at the academy were some of the best. We only managed to leave because we got recruited into squads for our ability in a certain field, mine was fighting and yours was kido….I still don't remember the exact reason you gave for refusing to fight anyone"
"I refused to stop people getting annoyed and probably embarrassed. You yourself know what it's like trying to fight me."
"Yeah, I know, anyway lets head back and see what's in store for us." Nef said looking out into the distance, then he turned back to look at Cosmo with a smile on his face "If your right and it's a mentor, I am buying a weeks worth of sake for you….Because I know you'll need it." Nef laughed again
Even Cosmo couldn't help but laugh at what Nef said, so at that, the two laughing fools headed out on their was back to Seireitei and most likely back to trouble.
Phew first chapter over and done with, expect chapter 2 sometime soon. Remember, reviews are always welcome.