Chapter 11: Field Trip!
AP students huddled together at the school's front for the assembly of their groups that they would be traveling in. Each group consisted of three people who were randomly selected by possessing the same number as your other teammates. Simple right?
Wrong.
Students were traveling to and fro in pursuit of their teammates, causing panic and aggravation among the other students.
Heather Lee, a six year student and one of the 'lucky' students chosen to become a chaperone on the field trip, sighed exasperatingly and put two fingers in her mouth. A shrill whistle seized all nonsense as everyone turned to the long dark-haired beauty who was rubbing her temples to relieve her oncoming headache.
"Listen up people, you are the cream of the crop and among you are some of the most intelligent minds in the academy. You all were chosen because you stood out from the rest of the freshmen here. All year you were able to keep your grade at a 3.5 average. So why is it so difficult to find your partners and to go stand with your teams on the other side of the field?" She asked, pointing to the area of land behind her.
Groups formed faster than expected and on the other side of the senior were fifty groups of three. Some groups rejoiced while others caused a scene that attracted everyone's attention like a moth to a flame.
"Ahhh!"
Hayden and Youhna stood there staring back at the stuck up royal that stood across from them in pure horror.
"I-I'm paired up with these two?"
And to think that things were starting to go well…Heather let out another annoyed sigh and made her way over to the trio of girls.
"Something wrong?" The senior asked, honestly trying to care.
"Yes," The girl with navy blue hair and red eyes answered. "There must be some mistake, there's no way I can work with such commoners!"
Heather raised an eyebrow at the drama queen. So this was her problem? Working with souls that were of a lower rank than hers? The senior couldn't help but to feel her temper flare and gladly released it on the dramatic student.
"Quit your bitchin'!" Everyone was silent again as the girl's voice rang clear and true in the air. "You're no better than any of the other souls so don't think that you're more valuable or more important than the rest of these souls out here! Did you ever stop and think that maybe one day you might have to take orders from one of them? Ever thought that one of them could be a future captain or lieutenant? Central Forty-Six doesn't choose division leaders based on their family's wealth! It's their power and skill that takes them to the top. Remember that."
The senior turned to stomp away when she heard a sword slipping out of its sheath. Quickly sliding out her own weapon, she made a heel turn to clang her sword into Mai's in a startling blast of embers.
"Who do you think you're talking to commoner?" The girl asked angrily, pushing against Heather's zanpukto.
Heather wasn't even intimidated by her opponent's spiritual pressure. Puddles of water started forming around the older girl's feet.
'So she's a water type…interesting.'
Heather smirked and pushed the girl backwards before whispering a quick kido to the earth. The ground obeyed her request as it seemed to grab a hold of Mai and twist her feet into the earth.
With every full twist, the royal sank deeper into the ground until she was up to her neck in soil. She pulled with all her might but couldn't free herself from the older girl's trap.
"I ought to let the ground swallow you whole for your arrogance, but that would mean probably staying behind for a year as punishment for killing a student. So you, weak little freshman be grateful. Had this been an out of school encounter, you would be six feet under right now."
With a snap of Heather's fingers Mai was vomited back up by the earth, now laying on the ground gasping for air.
"Let this be a warning to all of you arrogant, fearless, monarchs. If I see you torturing someone not born of royalty or throwing a fit about working with regulars like her, I will confront you just as I did this girl or worse. It doesn't make sense to kill someone's self-esteem over the fact that they're not a monarch. We're all working for the same purpose of reaching our goals of becoming the best Shinigami we can be for the good of Soul Society and the World of the Living. That's a hard enough goal to reach by itself. Let's not be blinded by such tribal things!"
The senior led the group onward, spitting near the still irregularly breathing Mai as she went.
Hayden howled in laughter at the recent events that occurred between Mai and Heather.
"Heather pwned your ass!" The blond yelled back towards the still conflicted Mai who was making up the tail of the mass of students.
She had never been so embarrassed in her life. Never before had she been so easily defeated and by a mere commoner. She also noticed how Heather only used her zanpukto to only block her attack and to push her away to put some distance between them. Just how powerful was that girl anyway? Even if she had used kido herself, it would take a hell of a lot of power to control the earth the way that she did.
Mai let out a frustrated growl as she tried to ignore another comment from an insanely giddy Hayden. Yep, she was screwed and there was nothing she could do about.
'This must be how poor people feel…'
"Stir the stormy atmosphere, NinaSky!"
Hayden's zanpukto transitioned into its released form which was a staff and she held it out threateningly, waiting for a good aim.
"Lightning Strike!"
A bolt of lightning descended from the raging heavens, crashing down on the robot hollow that was climbing towards Mai who was on a roof of a nearby building.
Ripples of electricity echoed throughout the training area. Despite the spectacular light show, the robot hollow was still in one piece. The miniature robot flipped itself over and slowly continued on its journey to Mai.
The girl got herself ready and released her zanpukto.
"Unleash your wrath, Aquina."
Her zanpukto morphed into its shikai form, which were two large fans that were decorated with different shades of blue and fancy silver frames. Water droplets swirled around the girl as she summoned her first attack.
"Tsunami Conquering Rush!"
A sixty foot wall of water rose in front of her and collided with the artificially intelligent robot before collapsing on all the other buildings, completely missing its goal of destroying the hollow, but leaving behind a very soggy and furious Hayden and Youhna.
Mai giggled at her two soaked to the bone group members. Hayden was a hare's breath from finishing where Heather had left off and Youhna was an inch away from cooking the girl in a blazing fire. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself and let her spiritual pressure gently wash over her and her blond partner. They would be dry in a moment.
Mai continued to laugh at the two girls. She was tickled pink at the sight of them with their clothes clinging to them and their hair flat on their heads.
The robot hollow kept moving along the buildings when Hayden caught up with it, kicked it over, and used her zanpukto to cut through its wiring. The robot's glowing red eyes faded into darkness and died. She turned, receiving a glare from Youhna.
"What? That was the only way we could stop the thing."
"You could've slashed the thing in halve, wouldn't that have been easier anyway?"
The blond kicked the dead robot again.
"It doesn't matter, he's dead now."
"He?"
"I decided to call him a he because it looks like a 'he' to me."
"But it's a robot."
"End of discussion!"
The trio turned the corner to search for more hollows, failing to see a figure hiding in the darkness. The person smirked eerily before letting their form dissolve into the shadows. The stranger knew that they could take all three girls and get the job done within a couple of minutes without gaining the attention of their superiors. They just had to wait for the perfect moment…
They watched as the robot hollow burst into flames and left body parts all across the training area.
"Two more to go and we're to report to Heather and the other seniors in the front of the training area."
"Yeah, we knew that already." Hayden replied glancing over at a slightly ticked Mai.
Youhna took up the rear this time, trying to ignore her bickering teammates. She didn't like Mai either, but why couldn't they stay away from each other?
A foot scuffing across the ground caught the girl's attention.
"Who's there?"
It was quiet, too quiet.
It was then that Hayden noticed that Youhna wasn't with them. The dirty blond looked back to only see Mai, still in her own world. Something was wrong…terribly wrong.
"Youhna? Youhna where are you?"
Mai, who had been walking slowly, looked over her shoulder as well to stare into the darkness.
"We have to go back, come on."
Hayden charged into the shadows first followed by an unconcerned Mai.
Dark figures were moving all around her, setting the stage for an ambush. Youhna kept an eye on all of them, waiting for one to pounce on her, but they never did. They continued to circle her as if they were only there to confuse her.
"Come out now!"
The shadows revolved around her in a faster and more complex pattern that left the poor student flustered.
'Youhna release me!'
The girl did as she was told and released her zanpukto.
"Rise from the gates of Hell, Xiomara!"
Flames surrounded her and chased away the darkness that obscured everything.
"Thanks for letting me know that I picked the right girl, and just when I was about to give up on my search for a fire type!" The feminine voice stated before echoing into oblivion.
"Who are you?"
The student asked, holding her long sword out in front of her with three floating glowing orange rings hovering over the top hilt of the sword. The rings hummed eagerly in bloodlust.
"Easy, easy, I just need to test you to see if you're good enough first."
A black tentacle smacked Youhna away. The girl managed to block it in time, but there was no avoiding the wall of the other building.
A loud crash was heard a couple of yards away.
"That can't be good. Youhna's probably in trouble, we have to help her!"
The blond ran about ten steps before abruptly stopping. Mai stood there with her arms folded across her chest and a defiant look gracing her features.
"She's strong enough to save herself."
Hayden clenched her jaw. She didn't need this shit now, her friend could very well be on her way to a gruesome death and they were just standing there?
"Mai we don't have time for this, come on before something happens to her that we all may regret."
"Speak for yourself. I could care less if she dies."
That was it. Marching up to the blue-haired girl and yanking a thick lock of hair, she dragged her. Another sharp boom seared the quiet atmosphere and Hayden accelerated all while preparing herself for battle and dragging the monarch with her, not caring if she hit her head on a sudden turn.
Youhna was stunned, never before had she'd experienced being grasped by the neck and slung into the next building. Footsteps were heard and her opponent emerged from the pile of rubble that she created when Youhna blasted her into the other room. Her eyes were an angry shade of crimson and her hair fell in a short white bob that stopped at the ends of her ears. Her pale skin was covered in a shiny black armor very similar to Xiomara's that reflected the faintest light.
"Don't resist me."
Youhna scurried away from the girl only to be pulled back by her broken leg. She screamed in pain as she was jerked closer by the girl.
"You're going to be my host whether you like it or not."
The girl placed her hand on the girl's heart before she melted into Youhna's body.
Searing pain engulfed every inch of her and yet she didn't have the strength to fight or anything. Things nearby were becoming blurry and distorted until everything plunged into darkness.
They were too late.
Youhna was found on the floor of another building, breathing heavily. Blood and more gaping holes told the tale of a struggle, but what was the threat? No clue was to be found as the other two teens searched through the buildings.
Hayden hoisted an unconscious Youhna on her back and shupoed towards the place where Heather and the other chaperones were.
The sky wasn't it's usual angry red, an inky black was blending in with it. The flowers weren't the same either, on the stem of the blossoms were small black thorns that made them look dangerous.
"What happened here?"
"First Scorch, Orange Sun!"
A beam of fiery light surged towards the girl that Youhna recently fought who stood there staring at the attack that charged towards her. At the last moment she vanished, reappearing behind Xiomara and hitting her in the back with a whip of darkness.
"Give up yet?"
Xiomara replied with her second attack, hitting the intruder in the arm. The girl reappeared again, holding her now scorched right arm.
"So you still have some fight left in you, eh? I guess I'll just have to beat it out of you!"
The battle intensified and Youhna felt herself being pulled out of her world by a cool sensation on the injured parts of her body.
Heather added more reitsu to her kido and watched the wounds close up faster while checking on the girl's now fully recovered leg.
"Yes, she's waking up!"
Light brown eyes opened and Hayden cheered while hugging the girl that was still too weak to get up.
"Careful Hayden, she's been through quite an ordeal."
Mai stood a distance off, rolling her eyes at Hayden's theatrics.
Despite the hits Xiomara landed on the girl, she had lost the battle and was at the mercy of the white haired girl that stood over her smirking.
"Don't worry I won't kill you, but you will submit to my wishes."
A wave of disgust hit Xiomara and passed.
"The name of your new co-master is Reidyn."
Author's Note: First, I would like to apologize to my audience for taking forever to update. Second, it's not what it looks like. I'm not in the story. It's not that I'm so full of myself that I added myself as a character. Earlier this year, I came up with a character named Youhna and her counter part's name just so happens to be Reidyn. I love the name so much that I thought it should have its own character.