Bring Back the Apocalypse II:
Circumambulation
Toshirou was on his feet almost as quickly as Grimmjow had been. He thought he had felt a gentle and evil reiatsu tickling the back of his neck, and when Grimmjow's eyes flew to the window, Toshirou knew that the Arrancar had come. He tried to feel their presence, to determine how many there were, to determine how strong they were. Shit, he thought as Grimmjow left the room, quickly followed by Soi Fon. He'll obviously be going after the strongest one. I don't want to leave any of the lieutenants up against the stronger Arrancar. His hopes were for want as he noticed that Yumichika had already vanished, and his other two subordinates were on their way out of the shop. Shit, I guess it's too late for planning.
"Kisuke!" Toshirou called out as he ran from the room. "Get Soul Society on the line! Tell them we've made contact with Aizen's forces! Have them remain on stand-by for reinforcements!"
He rushed out of the Urahara Shop before he had time to hear a response, if one was even given. He looked up into the chilly night air, his eyes searching the cloudless sky for any sign of his companions. Or his enemies. He felt outward, searching for the reiatsu of any nearby Arrancar. He soon felt a dense and foul pressure come into his head from his left, from what felt like less than a mile away. He leapt onto the roof of a nearby building and continued his search as he deftly moved from rooftop to rooftop.
He didn't have to search long before he was rewarded.
He leapt into the air, using bukujutsu to levitate himself above the city of Karakura. He soon reached his desired altitude and found himself staring at long and slender female Arrancar. She wore a sleeveless dress that ran down to her calf, the black line of the zipper starting at her left calf and curving along her body until it stopped at the top of her collar, which was zipped up to her throat. Her dark hair was buzzed short around her scalp, with the exception of a long patch of white hair running down the center of her head that was styled into a wispy Mohawk. A red mark pulled back from her right eye to her ear, similar to the pair that adorned Ikkaku's eyes. Her hollow mask took the shape of a cheek bone that extended into a thin beak that stuck out from the left side of her face, obstructing that side of her nose. He pulled Hyourinmaru from its sheath and pointed it at the Arrancar.
"A captain!" she gasped playfully, softly placing the back of her hand against her lips. "How lucky am I?" Toshirou growled quietly at the arrogance allArrancar seemed to possess; his fight with Shaw-long Qufang had started out with the same confident boasting. This time, however, the limits of the all shinigami had been released from the beginning. There would be no unfair power gap at the start of these battles. That was a risk they knew they could no longer afford with Aizen's army. Seemingly unaware of his irritation, she continued, her voice growing harsher as she spoke. "And which captain would you be, little one?"
"I'm Hitsugaya Toshirou, captain of the tenth division," he replied, his eyes as icy as the cold he felt welling in the pit of his stomach.
"Oh, such a prestigious title! I am jealous of it! Mine is not as regal as yours, but I think it will suffice," she said as she pulled her sword from its crimson scabbard, leveling it at Toshirou. "I am Ardea Egretta, fracción of the sixth Espada, Geier." She bowed mockingly, her eyes maintaining their line on him. Her voice dropped any semblance of playfulness as she spoke her next sentence.
"It's a pleasure to kill you, Captain Hitsugaya."
She rushed forward quickly, striking at Toshirou with extreme force and speed. She slashed at him six times in succession, each strike he blocked pushing him back further and further. She continued this onslaught, driving Hitsugaya backwards toward a building. Shit, he thought as his back drew steadily closer to the building. I can't seem to find an opening anywhere. She's so fast! Ardea continued her slicing, bringing her blade down onto his time after time. Finally, she brought her blade down extremely forcefully, sending Toshirou flying backwards into a parking garage.
"What's the matter, little captain?" she called out into the smoke and rubble. "Don't tell me you couldn't deflect those little love-swipes?" When no response come from the wreckage, Ardea stuck out her lower lip and called out, her playful tone returning. "I was just playin' around with you!"
"Sit upon the frozen heavens, Hyourinmaru!"
A crescent shaped blade flew out from the smoke and the chain it was attached to wrapped around her leg. A light covering of ice crawled up from the chain and engulfed Ardea's leg; she looked down in slight irritation as she called out to the hidden captain.
"You think a little bit of ice is enough to bring me down, little ca—?"
Her voice stopped as an enormous wave of ice and water flew at her from the rubble. The great blast took the shape of a serpentine dragon as it slithered through the air towards her. She turned to evade it, but she was still attached to the chain wrapped around her thigh. She looked down in horror as she realized the huge ice-dragon was using the chain as a track to her. "Shit!" she yelled as she threw up both her hands, her forearms crossing over her face as Hyourinmaru's open mouth crashed into her. She held herself above the flying torrent of ice and water that threatened to swallow her, her strong skin resilient to the cold, her reiatsu enough to keep from being overwhelmed by her opponent's weapon. But the giant ice dragon changed directions, and pointed them both at the ground. Hyourinmaru crashed down into the street, leaving a large puddle of icy water with the Arrancar frozen in the middle.
Toshirou emerged from the wrecked parking garage and stood with his guard ready. He'd frozen Arrancar before to no effect and he didn't want to be caught off guard again. He panted slightly, a tiny trickle of blood running from his forehead. He reached up to wipe it away with the back of his hand; no sooner had he taken his attention off the iced fracción when a red cero broke free from the ice, almost taking his head as it shot backwards into the night sky. The ice shattered around Ardea as she broke free, breathing heavily as she glared at Toshirou.
"I see this isn't your first time fighting an Arrancar, little one."
"Once you freeze one, you freeze them all," he replied dryly, his tone holding none of the good humor one would expect from that phrase.
"Well then," she said as she held the sword tightly to her chest, looking to all the world like a knight in a coffin, the blade pointing at the asphalt beneath their feet. "I guess you wouldn't be surprised at the sight of an Arrancar's resurrección, then."
Toshiro dropped back in a defensive position, preparing himself for the surge of power his opponent would soon receive. She extended both her arms toward him, pointing the tip of the blade at herself.
"Sound off, Garzon," she said, plunging the sword into her own gut.
The Arrancar exploded into a huge cloud of smoke. A soft wind blew through the cold street, slowly removing the fog created by the fracción's transformation. Ardea Egretta stepped out from the smoke, her body completely different. Her limbs had all become thinner and more elongated; her long arms doubled her reach, her stilt-like legs making her almost three times Toshirou's height. Her fingers were now as long as knives, with claws on the ends making them just as useful. Her mask had extended to cover both of her eyes and cheeks with the beak extending on both sides of her nose, giving her the appearance of a masquerader's Pinocchio. One large white wing extended from her right shoulder, the feathers tipped with red.
"This is my true power, Shinigami," she said as she rushed forward, swiping her long fingers at him. He slashed back at them, but her hierro was stronger than he expected and his blade did nothing as it slid off her slender digits. She flicked her shoulder forward at him, catching him off guard as the red-tipped wing flew down at his torso. He leapt backwards, but only enough to be spared a critical gash. He bled from the wound she'd opened down his chest as he continued his short retreat away from her extended reach.
"Are you frightened, Captain Hitsugaya?" she asked with a low smirk, her face brimming with confidence. "My Garzon allows me to—"
"I don't care about your release, Arrancar," Toshirou called out to her. She grimaced at him as he cut her off in the middle of her sentence. "I only care about how long it will take mine to kill you." He stepped back, placing his sword in a thrusting position at his side.
"Bankai."
A pair of icy wings swiftly emerged from Toshirou Hitsugaya's back as his power level surged through the roof. His right arm became covered in ice up to the shoulder which continued onto his back and jetted out as a long and icy reptilian tail. He glared at his opponent, her change in attitude visibly different at his increase in power. "Diguren Hyourinmaru."
Toshirou rushed her, cruelly and savagely raining his sword down on her hollowed form, causing ice to form on the hands she was using for defense. The tables had completely turned on her; the young captain she had been pushing around the arena had suddenly begun to return the favor. And he was doing a far better job than she had.
Hitsugaya brought his sword down hard, separating three of her fingers from the hand that they'd once belonged to. She looked in shock at her missing digits, her mouth hanging open as blood began to leak out from the newly formed stumps. He used the distraction to slice at her legs, sending her to her knees. Ice began to form from the gash on her thighs, spreading upward to her waist and down to the street. As it merged with the ice already on the ground, leaving her effectively immobilized, she looked up in fear at the little captain in front of her.
His lip curled up at the pleading look. He thought of his lieutenant, his friend and savior Matsumoto Rangiku, dying at the hands of these Arrancar. He wished that she'd been given the chance to plead for her life before she was cruelly slashed out of the sky. The remembrance of her death filled him with a frozen anger. He stared Ardea Egretta in the eye as he walked up to her frozen torso and slowly placed his blade through her throat. Her eyes widened as the shinigami's zanpakuto entered her flesh and she began choking up blood, the deep crimson liquid freezing as it leaked from her mouth down to her icy body. Toshirou swiftly pulled the sword out of the Arrancar's neck, deftly flicked the blood off the blade, and walked away as the ice slowly encroached over her dying body.
He let his bankai melt away gradually as he slowly walked back to the Urahara Shop.
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author's note at the end of chapter 13.
circumambulation - UR
