A/N: Two updates in one day, woot! I figured that I should keep going as long as the fires of creation are still burning. This is my action scene. Read away. Good, not good? Let me know. -KG

Chapter Six: The Nightmare Begins

Thunder shook the ground as the rain pelted down. It had started raining before they even got to the gate, but it seemed like waiting to pour until they got here was someone's idea of mocking them. The fighting had started only a half hour ago, but Nanao was already soaked.

They were in a heavily forested area, with short spans of open field in between. Wherever they were, she didn't like it a bit. The looming trees made it hard to get a good shot at the hollows when they ducked into their shadow. It was unfavorable to stay in the open field, but there were more hollows than expected.

When they had first stepped to the gate, not a thing could be sensed. All was quiet, but things didn't feel right. Then, they all appeared out of nowhere in different directions. Their presence was spanned out like a fan so the three squads had branched out to three groups, attempting to finish off the threat as soon as possible.

The leading officers had skewed off somewhere to left-center, focusing on where the reiatsu was the strongest. They fought back to back, as always. Her deadly kido had the back of his twin blades, each keeping watch over the other.

Sweat was running off her brow, mixing with the rain. Sure they said a large number, but this many? She would like to think that they would sent more than three squads with a captain and lieutenant for this. She took a quick glance over her shoulder, watching the pink flash as it danced gracefully through the air, slaying enemies as he went.

Yes, that's what it reminded her of, a dance. Everything he did was graceful. She couldn't help but admire him for that. She sent her energy to her glowing hand once again as she shot a ball of flame at a lizard-type hollow, cracking it's mask in two. It turned to ash and disappeared.

He brought the shorter of his two swords down on the mask of another one before turning towards her. This was the fifth spot they had come to, following the large reiatsu.

"I don't get it. Why does it keep disappearing? It doesn't make any sense." They couldn't argue that there definitely was some energy source out there, drawing hollows. Every time they neared it, it seemed to vanish into thin air.

"I cannot explain it, sir." She incinerated one more before running over to his side. "What do you think we should do?"

He thought for a moment. The hollows around them had been defeated for the time being. "I want you to go check on squad seven. They seem to be lessening. I'm worried about them, some of ours' spirit energy has went down quite a bit. I suppose they're quite drained too."

She made to protest, they always fought together. "But, Captain Kyouraku, I-"

"Na, Nanao-chan. They need your help right now much more than I do, I fear. Go to them. Gather them back towards the gate. Make sure they're safe. I'm closer to the other two. I'll meet you there."

He smiled at her, even though he didn't like the situation much either. "The remaining hollows will be finished shortly. Even if they weren't, we would need a relief squad if we wanted them to continue any longer. They might not have much left in them, what with all the confusion going on."

Nanao nodded her head. She didn't like it, but she wasn't about to disobey an order, especially not from her captain. Flashing to the west, she neared the next unit.

XoXoXoX

When she finally met the seventh squad, they were a mess. There were many injured, and they were all spread out between one of the fields and mixed in with the trees. Her division never looked so poor. When they got back, they would definitely have to step up training a bit.

She rushed over to the closest group, helping them finish off their batch of hollows before going to the next group. She told some to stay around the injured and protect them, and others to help the other groups. She finally reached the officer in charge here, the seventh seat.

She was a girl about Nanao's age. Her brother had been the previous seventh seat, but when he died, his sister took his place. At first Nanao was skeptical of the girl's ability, but in time she saw how very reliable she could be. Now was a good example. Despite the rough situation, she kept a firm head. She had been giving out commands the whole time, trying to keep the rest even enough to fight. It was probably thanks to her that no one was dead.

"Lieutenant Ise!" She came running over when she caught sight of her. "All the surrounding hollows have been eliminated with few casualties." Nanao nodded her head in approval.

"Yes, you all have done an excellent job. Now, gather the wounded. We are going to meet Captain Kyouraku by the gate." Through the crowd she heard an affirmative. She turned to lead the way, when she stopped cold in her tracks.

There it was again, that large reiatsu. It wasn't even that far away. She could sense it in the trees not too far off. Making a last minute decision, she turned to the seventh seat who was helping a comrade stand.

"Keep going to the gate. There is something I need to check. Tell Captain Kyouraku that I will be there shortly." One of their orders was to seek out this source. If it wasn't stopped, it could keep bringing hollows here.

She didn't know why it kept shifting positions, but she was going to follow it regardless. If whatever this was came after this squad, she wasn't sure they could handle it. Their safety was more important than hers.

Taking one look back at the others to make sure they were on their way, she flashed towards the source.

XoXoXoX

Wincing slightly, she stepped out of the dark tree line, being careful not to jar her left shoulder. It had been widely sliced open by a hollow and was gushing blood readily. It didn't pain her too much, it just annoyed her that she got it in the first place.

Following the energy, she had come out into a small clearing in the woods. At first there was nothing, just like before. Then, she whirled around feeling a pulse behind her. This was one of the largest hollows she had seen in some time. It wasn't a Menos, but it was still formidable.

She had not been fully aware of it's movements until it was too late. For being huge, it sure was fast. The claw-bearing thing had brought one down on her, just barely hitting her. If she wouldn't have moved in the last second, it probably would have cut her arm clear off.

They moved around quite frequently after that. She couldn't find a good opening, so she had to stun it with a flash of yellow light. After it cleared, she was already upon it, fire dancing in it's face. It turned to ash before her.

She assumed it had only been about fifteen minutes or so in the fight. Even though not much time had passed, she still found herself drained. At least it had stopped raining. When she turned her eyes back to the field where she left squad seven, she stopped completely and stared.

The field was doused with a thick blanket of blood. Now there were even less soul reapers standing. It seems they got no further than when she had left them. All traces of hollows were gone now. Did they return here when she had gone?

She spotted her captain on the other side of the field, the other two squads in tow. She used some of her remaining strength to flash to the now visible officer, herself barely standing. She saw her captain do the same.

"What happened?" His deep voice had a bit of a calming effect on the obviously stressed seventh seat. Nanao did not even want to count how many dead bodies were strewn about. He looked at Nanao briefly and frowned at the gash he saw in her arm. He refrained from questioning her yet, wanting to know why so many were not living anymore.

"Well, I'm not exactly sure myself, but it was about five minutes after you left Lieutenant Ise." She turned to look at her superior. "We were gathering the wounded just like you told us and were preparing to leave toward the gate."

She had to take a deep breath to steady herself, struggling with the words. Nanao felt the bottom of her stomach drop out. "About five minutes after you were gone, what seemed like a thick fog rolled in. It felt...ominous. A lot of us were confused. It wasn't like a hollow's energy."

Nanao had looked away, ashamed that she was probably the reason there were so many gone. "Then, more hollows appeared. We tried our best to fend them off, but some of them wouldn't move. I didn't understand it really. We tried talking to them, moving them, anything to get them to respond. Nothing worked. They were frozen."

The girl clenched her eyes shut and balled her fists. "Then, some of them started screaming." She looked up at her lieutenant with sad eyes. "They were calling to you. They had their hands crossed in front of them, and they were being cut down as they stood there. I still remember the fear and pain on their contorted faces."

She paused before she continued. "I...I think..." She struggled.

"Go on. It's alright now." Her captain never failed to be gentle.

"I think...that they thought it was you, Lieutenant Ise. They were pleading for you to stop. But you weren't here...I don't understand. We finished the rest of the hollows off, but..." She started to shake. Nanao gasped loudly.

"That's enough now. You did a good job. Let's get the rest of them to the Fourth." Nodding, she turned to tend to the fallen. Shunsui looked over to Nanao.

She had a hand planted firmly over her mouth, as if that would be enough to stop her from falling apart. Her head was bowed slightly. How could I let this happen? What...what evil is this? They think I was the one cutting them down...

He laid a steady hand on her good shoulder. "Nanao-chan..."

She couldn't take it, not like this. She stepped away a step and bowed deeply. "I'm sorry, Captain Kyouraku. I will never disobey an order ever again. Please forgive me. I'm sorry...I'm so sorry."

He put a finger under her chin and tilted her back up, looking her in the eyes. He didn't fail to see the welling tears there, and when one lone tear fell, he swept it away with his other hand, still holding her face.

"Listen to me, Nanao. This is not your fault. I don't care what you're thinking."

"But I left! I should've stayed and-" She couldn't let this just be a brush off. She felt she didn't deserve such a thing.

"No." She quieted instantly. "There wasn't anything you could've done. You were doing your job in finishing off foes in the area. If you would have stayed...you might've been one more on the list of those that didn't make it today. I don't see how that would have helped our division."

It pained him to even think it. "I couldn't live with that ever, knowing that because of something I did, you would suffer. Those that died here today will not be forgotten."

She stood quietly for a minute, another tear escaping her eye. Wordlessly, he pulled her into his arms, supporting her shaking frame. She latched on to his haori, still soaking wet from all the rain.

She allowed herself a few tears as he held her close. He stroked her hair, trying to comfort her as well as his own aching heart. If only he could protect her from the world.

-End of part 6