So, that was an unintentional break. I won't bore you with the details, but suffice to say that I got lazy, and then forgetful, then busy, then started making excuses. Anyway, I'm here now so that's what matters. I know I left off at quite the set-up there, so let's get this show on the road (again).
Chapter 9: Standoff
Yachiru's blade cleaved through the air, slicing in wide arcs barely a hairs breath away from Nels face. The young arrancar leaped back, avoiding the blow but something seemed off to her. Something she was glad to notice. "Yachiru-chan, you aren't trying to hurt Nel, are you?" she asked quietly.
Yachiru paused a moment before nodding. "I don't want to see you hurt Nel-chan," she replied. "Just let me do my job and we can play afterwards."
Nel shook her head vigorously. "You know Nel can't do that," she said sadly. "You want to hurt Nels new friends."
"Okay then." Yachiru said sadly. She suddenly disappeared, a short whishing noise the only sound of her movement. She sped off, her shunpo letting her move much faster than the average person could notice. However, her opponent was someone who played tag with hollows every day. Definitely not your average person. With a sound like static, Nel used sonido to cut Yachiru off at every turn, keeping the pink-haired shinigami from getting any closer to her hideout. White and green blurs shot around, completing multiple laps of the area before finally coming to a stop exactly where they had began. Neither girl was out of breath despite the speeds at which they had moved. Yachiru, however, did look rather annoyed.
"Nel-chan!" she whined, puffing her cheeks out. "I told you to stop that!"
"And Nel told you, she can't let you hurt her friends!" Nel retorted.
Another pause, while the sounds of battle echoed around them from the other fights. Yachiru sighed again. "Nel," she said quietly, the absence of the honorific attracting Nels attention. "I'm really sorry about this. But if you won't get out of my way, I'm going to have to hurt you."
Nel shook her head. "No you don't! Just stop fighting!"
Yachiru laughed at that. "Stop fighting?" she asked. "Absolutely not. I may not be a member of Squad 11 anymore, but I still remember the rules. I can't run from a fight, and I can't loose." She raised her sword, pointing it at her former friend. "Besides," she said, grinning eerily. "I still have other friends to play with. Come play, Sanpo Kenju."
Nel tensed up, not only because she knew what a shikai was, but because she had never seen Yachiru use hers before. It concerned her to know that her friend was willing to attack her so easily, let alone going so far as to release her sword. After nothing seemed to happen, Nel relaxed a bit. Nel thought shinigami's swords change when they use shikai she thought, noting the familiar shape of Yachiru's katana.
Before she could dwell on it any farther, Yachiru sprung into action. Again, she swung her bare blade in a wide arc, meaning not to kill, but to harm Nel, cutting her across the chest. Once again, the arrancar jumped back, barely dodging the blade. However, the small girl cried out in pain as a shallow wound lanced across her body, staining her ragged cloak in blood. Nel clutched at her chest, glaring at Yachiru with tears in her eyes. "How could you Yachiru-chan!?" she demanded.
"I told you, Nel." Yachiru replied deadpan. "I have other friends to play with. Show yourselves, don't be shy." As Nel watched, the air behind the former lieutenant wavered and two figures appeared. One was a large, hunch-backed creature wearing a black cloak and what looked like a hollow mask with wispy white hair, a large crest splitting its face down the center. The other was smaller but still larger than Yachiru and covered in brown fur. Two yellow eyes peaked out around the middle of the creature, the only features on its furry body. Both wielded weapons of their own, the tall skeletal one a large dagger with a smaller, second blade on top, and the smaller one a large cleaver.
"What…who are they?" Nel demanded, backing away from the monstrosities.
"They're my friends." Yachiru explained. "Sanpo," she said, indicating the smaller one "and Kenju" the taller one. "They don't ever leave me, will never betray me. They're like Ken-chan, only they're with me all the time. They're my true friends."
"Yachiru-chan, I'm still your friend." Nel mumbled, fiddling with her cloak a little.
"No you're not!" Yachiru snapped, causing Nel to flinch from both her tone and her words. "Friends don't fight against one another. I wanted to be your friend Nel, but we can't anymore. Not if you're going to protect my enemies." She raised her blade and the monsters did the same, readying another strike. "Now please, stay down this time. I'd rather not have to cripple you." She shot forward, and so did the creatures, moving in perfect synch with the small girl. As she moved her sword, so did they, Sanpo before her blade and Kenju afterwards. It was such a wide area of attack that it was incredibly hard to dodge, and Nel wasn't able to get out of the way fast enough, taking another hit, this time across her back. She yelped in pain and fell to the ground, trembling.
Yachiru watched for a moment, waiting to see if her opponent would get up again. Seeing the Nel was thoroughly defeated, she sheathed her sword, dismissing her shikai companions. The pink-haired girl turned towards the stronghold and started walking towards it, meaning to pursue Isabella. "I'm going inside now arrancar. Don't come back here again," she whispered coldly over her shoulder.
She didn't get far before a large blast of reiatsu emitted behind her, causing her to stagger a bit. Accompanying the wave of green energy was a loud scream from non other than Nel herself. Yachiru shielded her eyes, trying to see through the wind and sand kicked up from the blast. When it all settled, Yachiru leaned forward, curious as to what had happened. Instead of the injured little girl she had expected to find, a grown woman was sitting in the white sand, breathing heavily, a sword with a pale green sheath lying in front of her.
"Who…who are you?" Yachiru asked, grabbing her zanpaktou. "What happened to the arrancar?" That's when she noticed the white mask on top of the new woman's head. It was shaped roughly like that of a rams, twin horns curling around the side of her head protectively. When the stranger woman looked up, Yachiru's suspicions were confirmed, the red facial mark and pale scar identifying her. "Are you…Nel?" Yachiru asked.
The woman stood, dusting herself off and grabbing her weapon. "Partly," she answered. "I am Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck. Former Trecera Espada of Aizen's army." She drew her blade, holding it at the ready. "And I will protect my friends at any cost. Even if I have to hurt you, Yachiru."
David wandered through the trees of the Menos Forest, bow at the ready and cursing his luck. He had hoped that he would stop the enemy sniper, Joshua he believed his name was, before he could escape and hide out. Unfortunately, he had lost him on the twisting, turning path between the trees, and now had no clue where his opponent was. If I can't see him, then he has the advantage he thought to himself. I don't know exactly what he can do with his zanpaktou, but it was able to break cleanly though that boulder we were hiding behind earlier. And the scope didn't look so great, so it has to have some kind of special properties behind it. He sighed softly, the noise sounding much louder in the quiet forest. If only I had…
He leapt back, raising his bow and firing wildly into the woods on his right. He had heard something not a moment before, and it was a good thing he did because with a mighty crack, the tree that had been just behind him was punched through with a neat hole. What the hell!? How did he find me so fast? David started running, making sure to stay as silent as possible while moving through the woods. He's got to be a seriously good tracker to be able to find me that easily.
Meanwhile, Joshua jumped from tree to tree, landing on each thick branch so softly that he made no sound. As soon as he was sure that he was out of sight of the quincy, he had taken to the high ground, his training telling him to find the perfect vantage point. However, when his target was also moving around the forest below, it made it hard for him to set up a proper nest to take a shot from. Whenever he would line the shot up, the quincy would round yet another corner and be gone. He had only taken the shot he had because there had been no other way for him to move but in Joshua's line of sight. How he had managed to avoid the attack was anyone's guess. Joshua paused, observing David once again. His target was still moving, changing direction on the fly and doubling back every once in a while. He knows I've found him, but still hasn't found out where I am the sniper realized. Still, it's concerning to me that he managed to avoid one of my shots. That guy back at the base did too. One thing's for sure, he thought, shouldering his rifle and preparing to move on, these aren't average people.
David's brow was in what seemed to be a permanent furrow. Not only was he trying to figure out how his opponent's abilities worked, and how to exploit them, but he also had to concentrate on not making any obvious moves for fear of becoming a target. If he gets one good shot at me its over he thought grimly. Okay, so what do I know? His weapon can shoot through rock just as easily as flesh. It makes no noise other than whatever it hits. Realization shot through him, almost causing him to stumble and fall. He quickly righted himself, making a large leap to get behind a tree. It did make a noise! That last time, I heard a small whistling sound! So why did I hear it this time? His answer came to him when he landed, his footstep echoing slightly in the forest despite how softly he normally landed
It's the forest! It's so quiet in here that I can hear whatever it is that his weapon does when it fires! David smiled to himself as he ran. He had learned something about his opponent. It wasn't much, but it was enough for him to start to plan.
Joshua paused, looking out over his scope. He had almost taken the shot when David had stumbled, but his immediate leap to cover had prevented that. It wasn't the desperate fling to safety that bothered the Suicide Squad member. It was what had caused the stumble in the first place. No one who's concentrating that much on getting away is going to make a slip-up like that unless he's a complete amateur he thought. So there has to be something else to it. But what?
He moved again, jumping into a different tree. This one was near the edge of a clearing, something that Joshua was desperately hoping the quincy would wander into, somehow forgetting or simply not knowing that wide open spaces are death traps when trying to flee from a sniper. Naw, he's not that stupid. He knows that his best chance is in the forest. Just as Joshua was about to leave, he saw something that completely caught him off guard. David had leaped out of cover and was now standing in the woods, completely still, his back to him and his bow down.
What the hell is he planning? Joshua was instantly suspicious of this behavior, especially since he thought his opponent was smarter than this. Is he giving up? Then why doesn't he say so? Joshua readied his rifle, scope zooming in on the quincy's head. I don't like this he thought, hesitating to take the shot.
David's thoughts were not so different from his pursuer. What is he waiting for? Does he know what I'm doing? Or is he not even nearby? He shook that thought off. He has to be close, he's probably been following me since the beginning. So why-?
David was interrupted by a noise, but not the one he had been expecting. In all this trouble with following Nel and finding his enemy's stronghold, then being pulled into a sick game of cat and mouse with a crazed gunman, David had completely forgotten about where he was. Menos Forest, home of the Menos Grande. And apparently, so had Joshua, as the Menos stood right behind him in his perch on a tree, charging a cero blast at point-blank range. "Shit!" both men yelled before all hell broke loose.
All the running around and jumping through trees had drawn the attention of no less than ten Menos. They were gathered in a loose circle, surrounding the clearing. Each had targeted the two of them, firing off cero one after another, forcing both shinigami and quincy to move quickly in order to avoid being incinerated. Joshua leaped out of the tree, moving into the clearing as he turned in midair. He fired a shot, directly into the Menos' mask. The creature howled in pain as the white bone-like mask shattered like porcelain, killing it. Joshua tucked and rolled across the ground, ending up in a crouch, rifle already lined up to take down another of the colossal hollow. To his surprise, the beast was already falling back, dozens of bright blue arrows piercing its hide and mask. Joshua didn't hesitate, moving on to the next target, shooting it down as well. He did, however, choose to discipline his temporary ally.
"Don't kill them! The balance between worlds is already fucked up enough from the war you assholes started, we don't need any more souls being destroyed." Joshua scolded, blasting apart Gillian after Gillian.
"Speak for yourself, I don't think one of two is going to change it that much." David shot back, taking down another pair of Menos with an immense cloud of arrows. "Besides, I wasn't a part of the Wandenreich, you can't blame me for that."
Between the two of them, they quickly dealt with the remaining Gillian. As the last of the giants fell, they stood on opposite sides of the clearing, back to back, catching their breaths. Suddenly, David swung around, not even pretending that their alliance would stick, drawing his bow. He was met with nothing. No shinigami, no hollow, there was nothing standing in the clearing but him. He paused, not lowering his guard and scanning the area. Where did he go?
He had only a second to react when he heard it. The same sound he had heard before, a slight whistling noise that was followed by the sound of a short blast of air. Psh. He dropped down, taking the shot meant for his chest in the shoulder. Flinching in pain, he still managed to raise his bow and scatter arrows across the field in front of him. Three of his arrows stuck into the grass much higher than the rest, and immediately the clump they were in moved, a much more human sound emanating from it.
"Ow! Son of a bitch!" the grass clump swore, getting unsteadily to its feet. It was shaped roughly like that of a person, with a weird extension to one of its arms. "Do you have any idea how much these things hurt?" Joshua demanded, removing the illusion and revealing that the arrows had pierced his shoulder and back.
"I can say the same thing to you asshole!" David retorted, clutching his own shoulder. "The compressed air that thing shoots isn't a walk in the park."
Joshua tilted his head, quizzically. "You figured that out after, what, three shots? Not bad quincy, not bad." He held up his shikai. "This is Museikaze. It takes in the air around it, adding some of my own reiatsu to it and fires it out. Totally silent, completely unblockable." He aimed down the scope again, drawing a bead on Davids head. At the same time, the quincy drew his bow back, doing the same. They both stood there for a second, waiting.
"Why don't you shoot?" David asked, not moving his aim in the slightest.
"Same reason you won't." Joshua replied. "We both figure that our weapons can fire at roughly the same speed. Both of us know that the other is a good enough shot that trying to run away will only end badly. But we can't shoot, because if we do, the other person will have just enough time to get their shot off before they fall."
"Exactly." David said. "So, what now?"
Joshua stayed silent, thinking. "Well, I guess we can wait until someone drops their guard."
"The Menos will come back before that happens." David pointed out. "If we're going to end this, we have to end it quickly."
"I agree." Joshua said. "I'm pretty sure that both of us want to be the person to walk away from this, so I'd like to suggest a truce. But, if past experiences are anything to go by, neither of us trusts the other enough for that to work. Not after last time."
"I agree." David said, echoing his opponent. "So now the only question is, who is going to figure out a way around this first?"
There was silence after that, the standoff seemingly demanding the attention of the entire forest. Nothing moved, nothing breathed; even the wind was completely silent. The entire world had dissolved except for the two of them in this clearing, in this moment.
It happened in an instant. A flash of blue, a sharp whistle, and both combatants dropped to the ground simultaneously. The standoff was over, and the sounds of the forest returned, as if the world had released its held breath. With a groan, one of the two men got to his feet, clutching his right arm where blood seeped through his fingers. David stared at the downed form of his opponent. "I really hope a hollow doesn't come by and eat you," he said sincerely. "I only put enough power in that bolt to knock you out, maybe give you a semi-serous injury. Maybe we can meet again, when we're not trying to kill each other." He dismissed his bow and ran into the forest, heading towards the reiatsu of his friends.