And back we go again, into the depths of fiction, and back to the tale...
It was around midnight that our vigil finally ended, but in the worst way possible. The cries of hollows were heard by everyone on the perimeter. Over the course of the night, they had encircled us. It was strange, though. This large a number of hollows in one place was both worrisome and odd. The numbers of hollows gathered would have required gargantuan amounts of organization, and that in itself said a lot. It would have to be one powerful individual hollow to gather this amount of followers. Either that, or a group of relatively strong hollows, which was also a disturbing thought. That would indicate that the hollows were becoming more organized than they had been in many years. The last couple of times still resonated in history as times of great trouble in both worlds. Hopefully, this was a freak happening, but it was too large for that to be very possible. The words that came from my Zanpakutou seemed to sum up the thoughts of everyone. "There will be blood tonight..."
The expected order came only a minute later, to move up. We were to form a staggered semi-circle around the city, protecting it, for the Hollows would not approach from the sea. It was imperative that we prevent them from breaking the line. Such a disaster would lead to much chaos and suffering among the living in the city. Much better to stop this flood of darkness before it swallowed those who still had lives to live.
The time it took for us to reach the assigned point couldn't have been more than a minute, but it was already too long. By the time we arrived at the barren field, the hollows were already in sight at the other end. One minute later, with a deafening, unified cry, the hallows smashed against the staggered line. From there on out, it was noisy, sweaty, difficult work. In all their varied shapes and sizes, the hollows kept coming. Besides me, Matseki roared out an incantation, the resulting bright red flash throwing a hollow backwards, clawing at its face before his Zanpakutou pierced both hands and face alike. For me, time stood still, my mind shunted back in time to the last battle, the last rush of hollows. The fears were beginning to overwhelm me. The only reason my body kept moving was purely training, but even my distracted mind knew that that would eventually not be enough.
A flash brought me back to reality, narrowly avoiding the burning beam of the cero that had been aimed at me.
"Izanagi!" I heard Matseki roar as he sliced through another hollow. "SHIKAI!"
I started, then nodded, my Zanpakutou's form wandering into my mind. His muzzle was stained with blood, his teeth bared in a terrifying grin. For the briefest of moments, our eyes locked mentally, then he too nodded. Hesitating no longer, I drew my thumb down the blade, my eyes narrowing as it twisted and changed form. "Sakeru, Shiro Ookami!"
In my mind, he howled with excitement, and in my hand, he howled with bloodlust, driving me on into the advancing tide. The razor-sharp, near invisible blade of air pierced and cut indiscriminately of size or shape, never ceasing its path of chaos. Occasionally, it would whip across to cut a cero from the air. My feet were planted, immobile, while my hands were a blur, spinning the blade in my hands. Of the sword itself, only the metal section was visible, gleaming in the light from the moon. The air portion, near invisible in the night, silently ended the rush of hollow after hollow. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Matseki next to me, his Zanpakutou crushing a hollow with each swing, now a massive warhammer, though he spun it nonchalantly with one hand, sending hollows flying backwards. With each swing, there was a massive sound, like a thunder clap, and the hollow's head would explode under the pressure. Above the trees, flashes shaved away at the darkness, as other defenders blasted away at the hollows, or were nearly blasted away themselves by cero.
Suddenly, a voice came over my shoulder, and it took me a second to realize it came from the Hell Butterfly fluttering there, a voice frantic and exhausted, but also familiar. "This is sixth seat Toyama! We're being overrun here! The fifth seat was hit by a hollow, and I haven't seen him since! Please, I need help! Ah!"
My movements defied all natural logic, but it was too late to stop myself, the field where Matseki held the hollows at bay already falling behind. Through the trees, heading to where I knew Ayumi was supposed to be stationed. I didn't have time to worry about Matseki. He would be fine, and the fuku-taichou would be there in under a minute. Ayumi didn't have that long. Something wet splashed my face, and I reached up to wipe it off, only then realizing that it had fallen from my own eye. Around me, the forest blurred, each tree merely a dark streak in the night. The cries of Hollows and the roars of Shinigami rang out into the blackness, but my deaf ears heard none of it, all of my senses focused towards the clearing that I knew, with all of my body, was there.
The moment I broke through the rim of trees into the clearing that Ayumi and the fifth seat had been holding, my eyes were met with a sight that made me push myself still further. The hollows had completely encircled Ayumi, and though she was in Shikai, trying to escape with frantic beats of her wings, they had her by one of her legs and were slowly dragging her down, their mouths wide open, hideous tongues already brushing against her skin.
Without thought, I crashed into the crowd of hollows, my arm and sword blurring as they whipped across, the razor sharp blade practically melting through the first two hollows in my way. Their comrades turned to face me, forgetting about their previous prey. With a furious roar, echoed by the howl in my head, I leapt at them. Above, Ayumi had finally managed to get free, the hollows' attention now shifted to me. Up in the sky, she began picking targets, blowing them to pieces with volleys of explosive feathers. I fell back into the rhythm of the fight, but it was already ending, the few remaining hollows drawing back, leaving their wounded behind, where Ayumi and I were quick to dispatch them. Exhausted, I slumped to the ground, preparing to seal and sheath my Zanpakutou at last, but I was stopped by a tight grip on my shoulder.
Ayumi had landed beside me, but now stood, looking up at the treeline, her eyes wide and her face pale. "N-no...not here...how...?"
Startled, I swung my eyes to look where she was watching. When I saw it, I blanched, my body freezing in fear. The only sound my ears heard was the words that slipped out of Ayumi's mouth, far too heavily laced with fear.
"Menos Grande..."
AND THAT IS THAT! (TO BE CONTINUED!)
My apologies for the cliffhanger, but it gets...more complicated in the next chapter, which is largely completed in handwriting, and waiting to be typed. Don't worry, only one more part to this violent section of the story, and I promise that the conversations will return after that. It is understandably hard to read something that has little to no conversation, so I promise that after this tangent is over, the conversation and lovey/dovey will return.
Just a simple thing today
And I'll relate it to you
So listen when I say
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