"Who was that on the phone?" Vincent asked as they walked down the path at a brisk pace.
Though he understood the man was just trying to break the silence, he didn't think that information was something he should give out. Besides, he seemed to react badly to scientists, if that biochemical researcher mentioned before was any indication.
Then again, it would let him vent, and Vincent seemed a trustworthy person to keep secrets with.
"A fellow Captain." He answered. "Mayuri Kurotsuchi. He's the Squad Twelve Captain and head of the Department of Research and Development."
As expected, Vincent stiffened somewhat, but kept his pace.
"I sent in my report earlier and he was interested in the materia. Told him he'd have to wait to get one."
"His reply?"
"He said he's 'dying to get one', and then hung up. Wish he was dead, the bastard." He absentmindedly kicked a rock ahead of him where it skidded over the edge and into the water below.
He blinked when he heard Vincent chuckle slightly.
"There never seem to be any sane scientists, do there?"
"Damn right. Sanity seems to be the price for curiosity." He paused, a strange Spiritual Pressure coming their way. It seemed…feral.
"Something wrong?" Vincent stopped as well, looking back curiously at the white haired Captain.
Instinct kicked in for the gunman as he, too, sensed the oncoming threat. Red and teal eyes glared warily at the collection of thick rocky towers in their path. From behind and above those outcroppings rose several more Guard Hounds. At the top of the tallest tower was one that was crimson red, the whip at its neck a dark blue. At least now he could recognize the Spiritual Pressure of these beasts.
"Crimson Hound, they lead the packs." Vincent muttered to his companion, swiftly pulling out his gun and taking a battle stance. Toshiro had yet to move, still glaring fiercely at the red beast.
For a moment it stayed that way, teal eyes glaring into the black of the hounds, Vincent's own red orbs glancing warily at the growing pack.
"Valentine, keep moving. I'll handle them and then find you later. I can follow your Spiritual Pressure."
"I can't do that."
Cold settled in and Vincent realized that the Captain was trying something dangerous. Something that could catch him in the crossfire. Pressure increased in the air and held a dense anger, which he didn't quite understand. What was he so angry about?
"This day just goes from bad to worse, and I've run out of patience." Toshiro scowled fiercely, drawing Hyorinmaru rather violently and leaping towards the first hound.
Sensing the oncoming battle, Vincent skirted past the pack, which was focused entirely on the ice Captain, and managed to get by before ice began covering the stony landscape surrounding Hitsugaya.
"Why can't I ever go five minutes without something ticking me off!?"
He used a Kido without a chant, his energy alone fueling it enough to kill off a hound just as he cut down another three. The red one howled, summoning more of the beasts to him. He was the main threat, so Toshiro jumped up to its level, slicing the stone in front of him with his blade and freezing the top of the rock, taking the red beast with it.
Ice shards fell to the ground as Toshiro broke through his new statue and rushed down below to finish off the pack. He sensed Vincent's energy flare a little further off and knew someone else had been waiting to get in their way again. After realizing they would have been stalled again had Vincent stayed, Toshiro let his Spiritual Pressure loose a little more and any other hounds around froze over before breaking from the force of his energy.
Reigning in his power the small Captain rushed towards where Vincent was currently fighting with a group of Deepground soldiers on some kind of hovering motorcycles. There were six of them, four already taken down by Vincent's deadly aim.
"Way of Destruction Number Four, Pale Lightning!"
The blue sparks hit the end of one of the motorcycle, they were moving too fast for an accurate shot, but got him off balance enough to send him crashing over the edge of the cliff.
Toshiro stood back to back with Vincent as the final rider circled around them.
"That was quick." Vincent commented lightly.
"Don't tell me you actually thought a couple of mutts could kill me?" Toshiro shot back.
"Hmph, probably should have known."
"Are you getting this one, or are we just going to watch him spin around us?"
"By all means, he's yours."
While he'd been talking, Toshiro had been able to figure out the rider's speed and would know when to strike. At his mark, he dashed forward, swinging Hyorinmaru in the direction the rider would come. The ice spread out along the ground and he backed away, waiting. Feeling he was safe, the rider kept driving, only to be speared by the ice as he rode over it when the energy was released.
"Impressive." Vincent raised an eyebrow in amusement.
"This has wasted too much time, we need to hurry."
No more was said and they started running towards their goal instead of their brisk walk. What disturbed Toshiro the most was that he still couldn't feel any Spiritual Pressure around them for quite a distance, and his companion had said they were getting close to Edge. If they were close, shouldn't there be some kind of Spiritual Pressure around, or whatever their energy was? Unless Deepground was already there…more like had been there.
The minute the buildings came into view the dread began to rise in Hitsugaya's gut and he Flash Stepped towards the beginning of the town. The gunman would catch up quickly.
The rain had started, only adding to the gloomy feeling of emptiness he found there in the town. He extended his search for life forms but his Spiritual Pressure couldn't latch onto anything. No, there were Deepground soldiers here, though not that many, and a few humans were still inside. One was rather strong, was it one of the WRO soldiers? It wasn't anywhere near strong enough to be a Jenova War Hero, if he based it off of Vincent's power.
The person was coming towards him, trying to loop around behind him. That meant they knew he was there. He waited for Vincent to catch up, still keeping a close watch on the lurking human.
"Still didn't make it in time." Vincent growled, showing no signs of weariness from the fight and long run. "Is there anyone?"
"There's one person who thinks they can sneak behind me." Was Toshiro's reply, sensing the person was finally behind them and moving quickly towards them. They stopped and both he and Vincent turned to see who it was.
A woman in her late twenties or early thirties held a gun in their general direction, though she quickly moved it to Toshiro. A white lab coat hung over a rather revealing outfit colored black and red. Her left arm hung by her side, and her left eye was shut tightly behind her glasses.
"You heard me?" She snapped at the Captain, making him frown slightly.
"He can sense people for a distance." Vincent replied for him, earning him an icy glare. "You're with the WRO?"
Though she seemed to relax with Vincent, her gun stayed aimed at Toshiro.
"Who's asking?" She demanded.
"Vincent Valentine, Reeve sent me."
"And this one?"
"Toshiro Hitsugaya. You can get details from Reeve." Toshiro replied with a frustrated sigh. "We got here as fast as we could."
Finally the woman put away her gun and sighed.
"My apologies. Shalua Rui of the WRO." Her blue eyed gaze turned to Vincent. "The Commissioner has told me much about you."
Hitsugaya turned towards the empty streets.
"What happened here?" He questioned, hoping she had answers. The dread still held firm at the thought of worst possible solutions.
"That's what I'd like to know." Shalua replied, her tone somewhat sad. "I'm here on other business, but…something's not right."
'No kidding.' Toshiro mused.
"It's too quiet." She continued. "I've seen no trace of Deepground or the squads that were sent in to find them. Also, where are the five hundred people who are supposed to still be living here?"
Vincent turned hopefully to Toshiro.
"She's right, there's no one here…though you're wrong about no Deepground soldiers. There's a few scattered around." The Captain replied.
"Well, this is getting us nowhere." Shalua said. "If there's soldiers still around, you can handle them, right?"
"If it's really just a few." Vincent answered, gaze shifting between her and Toshiro. The prodigy was standing still, reaching out for any signs of life. At the moment, he wasn't paying attention to them.
"Like I said I have business to attend to. I'll see you around." The woman turned away, only once glancing back to glare warily at the silent child.
"Business?" The gunman questioned out of curiosity.
"The Commissioner keeps telling me I'm wasting my time. My time searching."
She once again turned to leave but was stopped by the gunman yet again. Behind him, Toshiro watched their conversation with an indifferent stare.
"Searching for what?"
Turning back once more the two companions noticed a slight pain hidden behind her mask of stiffness.
"For my reason to live."
Finally she left and the two were on their own to search the town. Teal eyes narrowed at where the woman vanished, concerned for her safety. She was stronger than most, but humans still had their limits and she was handicapped. That, and the pain he saw in her eyes was all too familiar, the pain one has when they fear they've lost someone forever with a spark of hope that they can get them back.
"Be on guard, every soldier is hidden somewhere in this ghost town." Hitsugaya brought Vincent's attention back to him as he started moving along the streets. The rain was cold and soaked them through, but while Vincent shivered slightly, Toshiro moved happily along. Even in the hard rain Toshiro's white hair stayed spiked, which Vincent found worrisome, as it was an easy target in the dark streets.
Then again, the young Captain could take care of himself. He'd seen the Soul Reaper's power himself many times now, and was sure he'd barely scratched the surface of his powers.
So now the strange duo is in Edge! Shalua has made her appearance and we're moving onto searching for signs of life and the answer to the mystery of Edge's missing people.