A/N: I'm kind of proud of this chapter. Hope you guys like it! :D
What? Ari watched as the girl's…hair pins burst from her hair and formed a triangular shaped orange light. The hollow bashed into it, and reeled back, stunned. Uryuu stepped forth, and from his arm sprung a bow and arrow set that seemed to be made of bright white light. He dug his feet into the ground, and let the arrow fly. Seeing her chance, Ari dropped down, slipping out of the Hispanic teen's grasp, and bolted, trying to hide Rem as best she could with her arms-her backpack was back in the patch of trees. Her head ran into something.
"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" A familiar voice rang out.
Damn. She tried to duck under Carrot Top's arm on her head, but somehow he managed to match her every move. Ari glanced back. The hollow was gone. The group was staring at her. Great. She only hoped they didn't see Reminai, and urged the dragon hatchling to be as quiet and as still as possible with her mind.
"We just saved your butt for the second time and you're going to run away?" Ichigo said, sounding angry.
Well when you put it that way…..
"Second time?" Ari asked innocently.
"Quit fooling around. If a person's riatsu is strong enough, the spray won't work on them. You've been leaking your riatsu all over the place. Obviously, it can't have worked on you. I don't know how Ichigo and Rukia could have made such a mistake." Ishida said matter of factly. Ichigo glared at him.
"Why you!"
"Enough Ichigo. He's right." A voice said. Ari looked over-it was that Rukia person. Ari fixed a glare on Rukia as the Soul Reaper walked up to her.
"Now-what do we do with you?" Rukia's gaze shifted to Ari's arms, and her expression changed to one of curiosity.
"What's that you're holding?"
"Huh? She's holding something?" Ichigo asked.
"Yes, idiot, she is. Only a bafoon like yourself would fail to notice it." Ishida said coolly, earning another growl from Ichigo. A chill rippled through the air. The sky started getting darker. Reminai brought his head up and growled. Everyone's eyes were drawn to the hatchling as he scanned the skies.
More big meanies are coming.
Why?
Reminai looked at her.
We smell good.
Reverberating roars shook the air. All around them, swirling black circles formed. Ari's eyes narrowed.
Is that where they come from?
Reminai let out something that sounded like a cross between a growl and a loud chirp, snapping the air warningly.
"Chad, get her out of here."
The Hispanic teen nodded towards Rukia, and a strong arm lifted Ari up and over his shoulder like a ragdoll.
"Hey!" Ari yelled, as much scrambling to not crush Reminai as Reminai was scrambling not to BE crushed. Settling on Ari's back, he nipped the huge guy's ear, chirping what was clearly a scold.
"Hmm. Sorry."
With that, Chad launched himself down the road, running like a madman. Reminai's claws dug painfully into Ari's back-the only way he could hold on. Ari reached back with some difficulty and grabbed him, wedging the hatchling in the crook of Chad's neck, securing with a hand.
Who knew someone so large could move so fast?
"Hey-Chad is it?"
The teen grunted under a full head of curly dark hair.
"Where are you taking me?"
"Somewhere safe." He replied simply, and kept running. Suddenly he skidded to a stop, lurching so suddenly Ari and Reminai nearly fell off. Reminai snarled.
Big meanie!
Oh, great.
The roar nearly broke Ari's eardrums. From the sound of it, the hollow was right in front of them.
Chad's shoulder began to grow hot. Blinking, Ari stared in disbelief.
He's…glowing white?
The tendrils of light that were emanating from him focused on his other arm. There was a flash, and then the entire arm was different. It was…purple with black stripes. It looked as though it were made of rubber or something-definitely not skin. And the shoulder-it didn't even look like a shoulder anymore. There was this horn like structure that grew to the point where it was taller than Chad's head that covered the outside of it.
Chad drew his arm back, the hand curled into a fist. Ari's eyes narrowed….he intended to punch the hollow? Seriously? But the hollow wasn't even in range…
When Chad threw his fist forward, a flash of light much like the light he had been emanating followed the path. It rumbled and shook the ground, the concrete throwing up dust as it went. It hit the hollow faster than Ari thought possible, resounding with a loud crack as though it had hit something made of glass. The hollow's scream filled the air as it drew its black painted fingers to its cracking mask, writhing terribly. Its skin began to split in various places, light streaming from the split skin. With a final scream and a flash, the hollow disintegrated.
What? Ari stared at the spot the hollow had been in, disbelief crawling up her features.
"We better get going," Chad said, and he started running again. He weaved in between people, across walkways, and then turned sharply into an alley, nearly cracking Ari's head open on the side of the wall.
"Hey! Watch where you're going, will ya?" the snap was out of her mouth before she could stop it. Chad didn't respond, only kept running.
Damn.
"Look, sorry. I didn't mean that."
Still no response.
Blood curdling laughter filled the air, and Chad screeched to a stop once again.
"We've found you! And those delicious smelling souls!" a wicked, high pitched voice called. Ari snapped her head up, towards the sound of the voice. Reminai growled a warning to the three hollows standing on top of the buildings on either side of them. The one shaped like an alligator standing on two feet dropped down in front of them, snapping his terrible jaws in front of them. Drooling.
The one shaped like a contorted centaur dropped down on the other side of them, effectively blocking off their only escape.
"There's no escape now, my pretties." The one still up on the roofs called.
Good grief. What was this, the Wizard of Oz?
Chad grunted, and drew his arm back towards the alligator hollow. He thrust it forward, along with that amazing light that followed once again. But this hollow wasn't subdued like the other ones. It dodged faster than Ari could even see and lunged at them, mouth open wide.
Chad swung around, and there was a sickening crunch as the alligator's mouth closed around his purple arm. Ari stared in horror as deep red blood dripped down from Chad's arm. No sharp intake of breath, no grunt, no sound from Chad suggested he had sustained the terrible laceration he had. Then Chad's skin began to grow hot again, and a flash of light thrust itself from his arm, blowing up the hollow from the inside out. But no blood, pieces of bone, or anything hit them somehow as the hollow disintegrated. Somehow.
Chad took the opening it gave, and threw himself into a run again down the alleyway.
"That won't work!" A voice snarled, and Ari was thrown from Chad's shoulder as he crashed to the ground. On reflex, she twisted in the air, holding Reminai to her chest as her back slammed against the hard concrete. Her head followed after, bouncing off the ground with a force that stunned her. Blurry visioned, she saw the fuzzy outline of the hollow over Chad's struggling body.
"You didn't really think you could escape, did you?" the hollow mocked, hooves resting on Chad's shoulders and hips, earning a cry of pain from him.. A cold wave of fear washed over Ari.
Is this…really happening? Was the only thing her mind could register. Reminai snarled. The hollow bent its antlered head and torso down to sniff at Chad's neck. It licked its lipless boned jaws.
"Mmm..I'm going to enjoy this…" he said, opening his mouth wide.
"NO!"
The scream tore from Ari's throat, causing the hollow to pause. Ari was up and running towards the hollow before her mind registered what was happening. Reminai held tightly onto her shoulder, but she didn't even feel his claws anymore. She swung herself up onto the hollow's back, reaching down and grasping the antlers that protruded from the top of its mask, using her weight to wrench the hollow's head up and back.
"What the hell are you doing girl? Let go of me!" the hollow demanded, trying to reach back and dislodge her. But the best he could do was scrape at the air above him-Ari had her legs curled tightly around his torso's abdomen for support, and with his head wrenched back, he couldn't do anything about it-he had no leverage. Reminai reached forward and fastened his teeth on the back of the hollow's head. Ari felt warmth seep through her body. Fear deserted her. Bright green light began to flow from from Reminai's body, and she saw from her arms, that the light was flowing from her as well. For a moment, it was as if she could feel the hollow's mask clenched between Reminai's teeth. There was a sickening crunch, and Reminai's teeth went all the way through. The hollow began to scream, twisting in pain. It jumped to the side and began to gallop, trying to escape.
Power surged through her, leaving a tingling sensation in its wake. The hollow's legs collapsed beneath it, throwing Ari forward. She looked at her stomach, rolling the momentum away as she hit the ground, somehow managing to come out of it in a crouching position towards the hollow. Reminai was still on the hollow's head.
The hollow's arms fell slack, and the torso hit the ground limply. Light poured from its head wound, and it disintegrated. Satisfied, Reminai returned to Ari, standing up on his hindlegs, forepaws on her shoulders. Reminai rested his head in the crook of her neck, sighing contentedly.
Wait…did he just grow? Last time I checked, Rem wasn't that big.
Ari grasped the hatchling around the middle and stood up. Yep, he's definitely heavier.
For the first time she noticed the small feathers littering the ground. She held the dragon hatchling up. The down feathers on his body were decidedly thinner, showing more of the scales underneath. Ari decided to ask Chihiro about it later. A groan brought her attention to the form lying on the ground. The other hollow seemed to have deserted them.
"Chad!" she exclaimed, running over to him. There were hoofprints on his back-looking like they had been burned through his clothes onto his skin. The teenager, incredibly, after a moment of lying there, rolled onto his side and heaved himself into a sitting position. Faltered a moment, and then rose to a standing position.
"Hey, are you okay?" Ari asked. Chad glanced at her, and then gave her a thumbs up.
Total lie.
Reminai snorted in agreement.