#76: Spooky Season (Special Preview)
As promised, here's the special finale to my Spooky Season challenge! A special look at six of the works in progress in my notebook, including a glimpse at the next chapters of Turnabout and Five Years.
#1. Alternate Opponents in the Winter War
Shunsui watched the three espada with calculating eyes while explosions resounded in the distance from the defense of the pillars. He knew it was only a matter of time before the more powerful hollows joined the battle; in fact, he was surprised they were willing to wait this long. When they made their move, the remaining captains would need to pair off against them quickly into the matches most likely to favor a shinigami victory.
It was difficult to gauge the power levels and ranks of their opponents; based solely on human and shinigami behavior patterns, the older male acted like their leader. He was the biggest, most experienced, had the most subordinates who were the best trained, and was obviously used to being obeyed. Following that trend, the female had the second most fraccion who obviously respected her greatly and an implacable manner, while the younger male only had one subordinate who physically abused him without reprimand. He'd made no attempt to conceal his shock and awe at Yama-jii's attack on Aizen and his fraccion treated him with very little respect.
Using those traits as measurements, the old hollow was primera, the female was segunda, and the younger male was tercera.
However, when Aizen was walled off and the old hollow took control, he first looked to the younger male. He hadn't asked permission per say, but he'd expected a legitimate challenge to his assertion of dominance and he'd completely dismissed the female. None of his comrades had found that strange. That automatically bumped her down to tercera and put the males at comparative power levels. From there, it became a matter of interpretation. Had the older male been asking for permission, or flaunting his power? Was the younger male conceding to a superior, or indulging a subordinate? Did they even follow the ranks Aizen had bestowed, or was there some other deciding factor for hollows?
Personally, Shunsui wanted to face off against the younger male. He seemed like he'd be more fun and a better foil to Shunsui's personality. But what he wanted wasn't the issue; what would be best for the shinigami? As the oldest of the captains present (other than Yama-jii) and the strongest, it was Shunsui's responsibility to take on the biggest threat.
He puzzled over the matter silently, eyes flicking between the two espada and weighing everything he knew about them. He debated the matter all the way up until Yama-jii ordered them to fight. He gave one last, wistful glance at the more easy-going opponent before setting himself in front of the more intimidating foe with Jushiro at his back. Barragan Lieusenbarn glowered back at him, unamused and contemptuous of the insects who dared challenge the god-king of Hueco Mundo.
-
Starrk stared down at the small female captain, already weary of this entire situation. He didn't want to be here, didn't want to fight, and definitely didn't want to kill. This did not appear to be a sentiment the shinigami shared; her expression was downright vicious and she was glaring at him with cold hatred and disapproval. Still, he might as well try...
"I don't suppose you'd be willing to take it easy?"
"What?" She snapped, brandishing the stinger-shaped zanpakuto menacingly.
"I'm not really one for fighting..." He grumbled, obviously reluctant to respond to her aggression. "Why don't we just pretend?"
The shinigami sneered in contempt. "Once I kill you, coward, you can rest forever."
"I thought you might say that." Starrk sighed deeply. With a slow *schiing* Los Lobos was freed from its sheath and the arrancar stood at loose attention with his sword held in a low defensive position, ready to respond but not making the slightest attempt to attack.
Soifon smirked, anticipating an easy victory. Using every ounce of her considerable skill with shunpo, she darted forward, Suzumebachi extended to sting. She was so fast that in the background, Omaeda shouted in surprise and awe as she blurred to within a foot of the espada and lunged. Not even Yoruichi-sama would be able to dodge THAT!
Her strike met empty air.
"You're pretty fast."
The voice was directly behind her. Without pausing to curse or register her shock, the captain of the second division pivoted and drove her stinger into his torso, only for him to lean easily out of the way. As he dodged, she compensated, her strike swerving up towards his stomach, slashing across his throat, down from shoulder to hip, back to his chest...Each thrust was deadly and as fast as she'd ever fought before. Not a single hit made contact. Insultingly, he didn't even bother to parry with his sword or to reciprocate. He just dodged and wove, evading her with apparent ease, even at her fastest shunpo in close quarters.
Humiliated, she snarled and darted high, driving down at his back from above, only to flash beneath and forward at the last millisecond and strike at his chest from below. He should not have had enough time to turn his head, let alone move, but he did. Soifon's shikai was halted by the arrancar's zanpakuto, drawn to parry supernaturally fast. She stared into his eyes from inches away, shocked and angry as her stinger-adorned hand strained ineffectually against his thin blade. But as she met his indifferent, unintimidated, almost bored expression, she felt a fission of unease. He'd just blocked the fastest, most intense attacks her shikai could deliver without the slightest sign of effort.
His sword twisted forward, deflected her shikai away from his body, and made a half-hearted slash at her neck, forcing her to dodge and jump away.
"Is that it?" He sounded eminently unimpressed.
She snarled, but her confidence and bravado had taken a hit, leaving her wary and grim. This would not be the easy win she'd expected.
#2. Human Vengeance
Starrk easily slipped past and through the bars separating him from Kyoraku, his spiritual form unbound by their physical barrier.
Just inside, he paused, waiting for an acknowledgment of some sort. When it didn't come, he frowned and knocked lightly on the wall next to him, right inside of the warning notice.
Shunsui's head snapped up at the unexpected sound, wide brown eyes instantly landing on the espada. The relaxation was just for show – there was no sign of lethargy in his reaction. His lifted face revealed another restraint – a gag hiding the entire lower half of his face. For a moment, there was no recognition in his expression for his old enemy but understanding quickly dawned.
Starrk took a startled step back at the speed of the response but then cocked his head and made a low, contemplative sound when the restraints held. He sauntered forward, eyeing the helpless shinigami with interest.
For his part, Shunsui canted his head forward, narrowing his eyes at the realization of the espada's identity. It had been decades since he'd thought about arrancar and he'd assumed Starrk died from his injuries during the final battle of the Winter War. His hair flopped forwards over his shoulder, obscuring his gaze and he huffed through his nose, shaking his head to flip it back in a practiced motion. He saw the sandaled feet of his enemy come softly to a stop right beyond his bound feet and looked up again slowly, raising an eyebrow.
"I'll confess, Taicho-san, when I decided to come looking for revenge, this wasn't what I expected."
Shunsui's expression remained fixed at the declaration of intent, though his hands slowly flexed against their restraints, searching for power that refused to come to his call. He knew he was helpless. Wistfully, he thought back to his hat. And while he was wishing for impossible things, he'd like his zanpakuto back as well.
Starrk sighed and paced a few steps to the right, then back to the left, wandering around the barren square of a room. There was nothing other than the shinigami inside – just four bare metal walls with small reflective 'eyes' in the corners – observation cameras. It wasn't worth exploring. After a moment, he grumbled irritably.
"What is this?" The look he fixed on Kyoraku was suspicious and demanding. "Shinigami didn't do this."
Amusement touched his enemy's expression. Any other hollow would have instantly attacked and ripped Kyoraku to shreds in his weakness. Despite the long years since their only meeting, he vaguely remembered Starrk's personality and his intelligence. The faint hint of an idea sparked into existence in the back of his mind.
Even if it came to nothing, he hadn't spoken to anyone in far too long. Even Starrk's company could be a welcome change…if he gave up his plan for revenge, of course.
Kyoraku tilted his head to tap his gag against his shoulder and raise his eyebrows in an obvious request.
Starrk frowned, torn. He didn't want to help the other man, but he did want answers.
And vengeance. He couldn't let that slip his mind, though he was more interested in other things at the moment.
Faint amusement touched his eyes as he tilted his head towards the warning sign on the other side of the bars.
"I don't know, Taicho-san. Apparently, you are a 'dangerous energy entity'."
Shunsui's eyes narrowed and he let out a huff that was more of a growl at the label. The expression only lasted a second before dropping into self-deprecating amusement.
"…Oh, fine." Starrk finally grunted and stepped over Shunsui's feet to stand at his side. The Shinigami tensed at their sudden proximity but Starrk didn't draw it out – he slipped one finger beneath a strap of the gag and exerted a touch of hollow strength to easily snap it apart. It fell from Shunsui's face to land in his lap, fully detached.
The Shinigami stretched his mouth gratefully, then hummed and smiled at the unfamiliar sound of his own voice. It had been way too long. He tilted his head, turning a considering look on Starrk.
"Thank you, Espada-san."
"Hn." Starrk grunted and retreated to the other side of the cell. The title was defunct without Aizen but he didn't care enough to tell his enemy that. Besides, he was still the most powerful hollow in Hueco Mundo – it was apt enough.
Some part of Shunsui was covertly amused at the obvious discomfort in Starrk's retreat, despite the arrancar's superior position. The glittering idea in his thoughts was slowly becoming more defined and he had to hide sharpening consideration from his expression as he looked over the powerful arrancar.
The powerful, free arrancar.
"So." Starrk leaned against the wall across from his enemy, eyeing him critically.
Shunsui returned the look with a playful smile. "So?"
"What happened?" An eye roll was Starrk's only indication of irritation at the blatant avoidance. It would just figure that this particular shinigami liked word games.
"Ah, you know…little of this, little of that." The shinigami made a show of relaxing his arms and leaning back against the wall.
"…Right. You're here because you want to be here. "Starrk's reply was dry as dust "And I'm sure those chains are a fashion statement."
"Perhaps." Amusement was thick in Kyoraku's voice.
The former espada pushed off the wall and paced to the other side of the cell to look through the bars to the hallway beyond. He sensed the tension suddenly afflicting the man behind him at the implied intention to leave but did not comment on it. Instead, he spoke quietly, not expecting a response.
"How did they even get you? You're strong and-."
"Why, thank you!"
Starrk ignored the interruption, not even looking over his shoulder.
"They obviously can't even see you." He tipped his head at the 'energy entity' sign. "Which means they have no spiritual energy of their own. And yet-." He turned to look at the reiatsu blocking collar, cuffs, and chains on Kyoraku. "-Somehow, you're here in their power."
He paced, prowling the small cell like a caged wolf. Or a hunting hollow. Shunsui stiffened despite himself.
"They can't have fought you. They must have tricked or trapped you. But what would be so-."
Realization came quickly and Starrk abruptly turned his full focus on Shunsui, wolf-bright eyes boring into the captain from far too close.
"Where is your friend, Taicho-san?"
Kyoraku's smile vanished between one blink and the next, replaced by a blank mask.
#3: Jushiro Lost in Hueco Mundo
Jushrio had no idea how long he laid there, but when he woke up, he was hungry, thirsty, sore, and his lungs ached abominably. However, he was alive, a remarkable feat in and of itself, and more clear-headed than he'd been since entering Hueco Mundo. For a long stretch of time he simply laid there, allowing his muscles to relax and mulling over his predicament as he pulled together his strength. Finally, he turned over…and came face to face with a leering hollow.
He scrambled back with a startled yell, somehow pulling himself to his feet and drawing his zanpakuto on instinct. But he was too slow, too stiff; it would be on him any second…!
It didn't move.
When he finally stopped, he realized that the creature wasn't moving or breathing and the eyeholes of its mask were dark and dead. It had been a long time since this hollow was alive.
He crinkled his nose as he realized he'd been sleeping pressed up against a dead hollow, but the thought fled him entirely when his eyes wandered to the massive piles of corpses now mere meters away. From the base of the dune near the bottom of the first pile, he could see the closest one clearly and he could really appreciate the sheer size of the morbid monuments.
Each one had to contain hundreds of adjuchas, powerful ones of small size, and their cracked masks stared back at Jushiro, as empty and grinning as human skulls. The light of the moon painted them in stark shadows, giving them the illusion of shifting movement. The bodies themselves were stacked haphazardly, stable from long years of settling but he could see smaller piles clustered around the base where there had been 'avalanches' at some point in the distant past and the entire valley was littered with mask fragments that must have been blown astray by the wind.
The sight of it raised the hair on Jushiro's neck and despite the fact that it was apparently safe enough for him to survive a long lapse of consciousness at this exact spot, he kept his zanpakuto free. The situation was in no way natural; someone had done that to the bodies and the hollows, had considered this appropriate for some reason. Whoever it was must have kept roving hollows away as well; had they been able, they would have attacked the grisly feast like the power-hungry monsters they were.
Jushiro knew of no being; human, shinigami, or hollow; strong enough to do such a thing.
He edged his way carefully around the first, largest pile, eyeing it warily but keeping most of his attention on the bone shards around his feet, each one capable of crippling him if he so much as stumbled. He'd nearly made his way to the second pile by the time he looked up, scanning the empty masks and skulls, and stared straight into a pair of glowing blue eyes.
With a startled shout, he leapt backwards, bringing his sword to bear and nearly severing his right foot when it landed next to a hollow jawbone. The creature did not move and he stared at it in incomprehension; the faded light of the moon washed everything in shades of white and black and the man's face appeared unnaturally pale in its light with dark shadows cast around his eye sockets, mouth, and chest, painting him to resemble the dead creatures he was sitting amongst. But the light also gleamed on long human hair and smooth skin, not bone. The rest of his body was concealed by a thin wrap of dark fabric, worn ragged by time and the elements.
His eyes, gleaming animal-bright in the scant light, were most definitely those of a hollow.
"What…" Jushiro's voice cracked, dry throat complaining. "Did you kill…?" Not that he knew how to frame his questions.
"No." The voice was raspy with disuse, but otherwise completely apathetic. "They just died."
Jushiro's sword wavered and he frowned deeply, trying to parse the meaning. They couldn't have just keeled over without cause…
"You should leave." The strange hollow continued, a note of tired bitterness creeping into his voice. "Or you'll die too."
There was a limited number of ways for a hollow to make a person 'just die'; some sort of airborne poison or energy attack was most likely and, with a sickening lurch, Jushiro realized he might already be affected. Had it been too late by the time he passed the first bodies? Was his collapse attributable to something other than fatigue? Although the hollow seemed to be warning him away…perhaps he still had time…
"Do you secrete some sort of poison?" Jushiro asked, somehow managing to keep his voice calm. He began to inch backwards but bit back a cry of pain when a fragment of bone pierced the side of his foot.
"No. I'm too strong." His eyes flicked to Jushiro's foot. "You're bleeding."
"I noticed." Jushiro gritted out. The wound was not deep but it was painful and slashed across the arch of his right foot. Even at home, where he could have gotten it healed instantly, he likely would have kept his weight off of it for at least a day. Here, it was a debilitating weakness; walking would be difficult and the scent of his blood would draw hollows for miles, like sharks to chum. In fact, the one he was currently facing looked a bit more alert now and was sniffing the air with interest.
Jushiro grimaced, but before he could find a way to retreat, the hollow spoke again.
"You're different."
"Am I? Different from what?"
"Everyone." A bare human hand freed itself from the confines of his cloak and waved dispassionately at the bodies around them. "You're not a hollow." He scrutinized Jushiro with increasing interest. "What are you?"
Startled (what sort of hollow couldn't recognize a shinigami?) he responded instinctively. "I am Jushiro Ukitake, taicho of the thirteenth division of the Gotei 13."
"A shinigami." The hollow said the word slowly, as if tasting it, then frowned. "Your kind kills hollows."
"Ah…" Abruptly, Jushiro realized he probably should have lied rather than claim to be an enemy, considering his situation. "That is, when it is necessary, shinigami cleanse hollow souls."'
"Hm." Vague interest, at most. "You're strong."
"I suppose so, yes. I am a captain, after all." Jushiro's sword never wavered but his hostility was waning in favor of genuine confusion.
"Is that like a Vasto Lorde?"
Jushiro blinked slowly, opened his mouth, and then closed it without speaking. That was an absolutely ridiculous question. Who would ever compare the two?
But the strange (increasingly so) hollow was waiting patiently for an answer. He carefully chose his words, trying not to offend. "Er…perhaps if you are only considering power levels, they might be similar." And the hollow did seem to be hung up on that subject, didn't he? Then again, he was a hollow – their lives were defined by power and strength. "Are you a Vasto Lorde?"
"I was." His eyes wandered to gaze into the distance over the piles of bodies. "Once. Now, I'm…me. Us. You're still alive."
Delivered with the same deadpan intonation as the rest of the sentence, and making about as much sense, it took Jushiro a moment to realize the hollow was expecting a response to his final non sequitur.
"…Yes?"
"My power hasn't crushed you to death." This time the comment was quiet and obviously introspective. It was a good thing he wasn't expecting a response, because Jushiro had no idea what to say. His eyes widened in shock and, for the first time, he consciously acknowledged the suffocating blanket of reiatsu pressing down on him. As a captain, he was trained to block such things from his senses (necessary when going to battle alongside such powerhouses as the head captain and Kenpachi). He observed the bodies with new eyes and swallowed deeply, realizing what had happened.
#4. AU to Turnabout where Starrk is Lilynette's zanpakuto, but it's impossible for them to stay that way.
It wasn't difficult to tell when the hollowfication had gone too far; a final gush of blood sprayed from Starrk's chest and he gasped, face contorting in a rictus of pain for the last, final push through his soul.
When it faded, he could feel the wind rushing through his chest, cooling the hot blood coating the inside of what was quickly becoming his hollow hole.
Next to him, Lilynette curled up on her side, whimpering with pain. Her body was more physical than Starrk's so it took a little longer but eventually she took a deep stuttering breath and relaxed. One small blood-stained hand released her stomach and reached for his hand.
"I think that's it." Her statement was uncharacteristically flat and unemotional.
Starrk slumped and nodded. "Yeah."
Each of them now had a coin-sized hole passing all the way through their body; slowly but inexorably widening. Instinctively, they knew that there was nothing else Unohana could do for them now; the only thing that could return them to being a shinigami and zanpakuto at this point was true death and a proper konso.
As much as they did not want to be arrancar again; they wanted that even less.
"Might as well get this over with, then." Starrk spoke quietly, voice rough.
Lilynette grimaced and nodded, pushing herself up to sit against the tree she'd been using as a headrest.
"What do I do?"
Starrk sighed and scratched at one ear with his claws. He was going to miss this body when the hollowfication was complete.
"Go into your Inner World and find the hole in the ceiling. I'll meet you there."
Sitting next to each other, Starrk and Lilynette relaxed despite their pain, entering a sleep-like trance that allowed them to reach inside without actually being asleep. At least, not completely.
In seconds, Lilynette was wandering the Menos Forest of her Inner World, eyes fixed on the ceiling as she looked for the colorless void where Starrk had once escaped as a Gillian. That Lilynette had so unwisely tried to enter when Muramasa called Starrk away.
Starrk, on the other hand, went somewhere else entirely. Somewhere new but hauntingly familiar. Since their deaths, he had been content to remain in Lilynette's Inner World, serving as her zanpakuto and voice of reason. He'd never tried to establish himself as a separate entity; not in body, mind, or soul.
Now, though, some instinct drove him into his own head. Zanpakuto did not have Inner Worlds. They did not need them; they were mere representations of the soul of their shinigami given voice and the ability to grow into separate entities. But when Starrk closed his eyes in Soul Society, he opened them in the unending desert of Hueco Mundo.
His Inner World.
If he'd allowed death to take its course and became the primary soul, was this where Lilynette would have ended up as a zanpakuto?
It was a disturbing thought.
A twinge in Starrk's chest reminded him of his mission and he shook off the gloomy memories brought to the surface by his surroundings. With a sigh, he set off across the familiar sands. Once, he'd emerged from the Menos Forest at the base of an old crystal tree, following the column of its trunk through the desert sands. He could see its massive branches in the distance, their silhouettes cutting a sharp, dark profile against the moon. Instinctively, he knew there would be a hole among its roots; an exact duplicate to the one in the ceiling of Lilynette's Inner World.
Within his own mind, the distance was only as far as he perceived it to be. Instead of days, it took minutes for him to reach the crystal tree and find what he was looking for under its roots. On this side, the tunnel was more of a hole than a fissure and much smaller – only slightly wider than the width of his shoulders.
In Hueco Mundo, the hole had been irregular and jagged, deep claw marks carved through the stone, sand, and crystal, and was quickly swallowed by the ever-hungry sand. It tried to swallow him too as he forced his way out. Like abrasive water, it poured into the hole over his head and all around until he was swallowing gritty mouthfuls when he tried to breathe and his eyes were closed against the stinging grains. Once he was out, it only took seconds for the sand to erase his tunnel from existence entirely.
There was no sand threatening this tunnel; it was surrounded by a circle of bare stone between crystal roots. Inside, it was a straight edged black abyss. No light penetrated and he could see nothing when he peered inside.
The sight of it caused inexplicable anxiety to rise in his chest, swift and choking, but the resulting lance of pain through his hollow hole reminded him of his purpose.
"Lilynette?" He called down into the void.
There was no answer. Not even an echo greeted him.
#5. Scene from Five Years (Ch. 9)
"OI!"
The breath whooshed from Starrk's lungs as a heavy weight dropped onto his stomach, jarring him instantly (and painfully) from his musings. He let out a startled 'oomph!' and his eyes snapped open, meeting the annoyed glare of his fraccion where she was now sitting on top of him.
"I said I'm ready to fight again!" She snapped, in a tone that made it obvious she'd said it many times before and he hadn't noticed. "Unless you're too lazy…?" He could tell she was eager to 'punish' him some more and he grunted, irreverently shoving her off.
She landed on the ground with an indignant yelp as he sat up and stretched. "I'm good. Just thinking."
"Yeah, yeah…Don't hurt yourself." She rolled her eyes with a disgusted snort, well used to his laziness excuse, and walked across the clearing to pick up her sword, hefting it easily over her shoulders and leaning her head back against the flat of the blade. "So, what's next?"
"Hm…" Starrk stood and stretched, cracking his back and sighing with relief before picking up his zanpakuto. "You're pretty good with balance and you're getting better with sharp turns and weight distribution…how do you feel about working energy attacks in?"
Her eyes lit up and an eager grin spread across her face, her old enthusiasm for becoming stronger jumping to the forefront of her mind. "That sounds awesome!"
Starrk eyed her thoughtfully. "Have you ever done it before?"
"No duh." She scoffed and opened her mouth as her masked right eye starting to light up and a ball of green light formed in front of her face - powering up a cero in demonstration. After about thirty seconds of watching her gradually form her attack, Starrk frowned and shook his head.
"That's too slow. Your enemy would take you out before you could finish."
Lilynette scowled and let the power disperse. "So what am I supposed to do? All our other energy attacks are in resureccion!"
"Bala?"
She scowled and muttered nearly inaudible. "I can't make it strong enough." She looked away. "One of the numeros laughed at me the last time I used it. I kicked his ass!" She glared at him in challenge, but he simply nodded.
"Can you summon your cero in your hands?"
"I…probably?" Lilynette's preference was using her mouth; it was easiest and allowed her to create the strongest version of the energy attacks. It was also the technique that most cero-capable hollows preferred – Starrk was, as ever, an exception. However, if she concentrated, she could still summon the energy elsewhere; it would just be weaker and take a lot longer.
Starrk waited patiently while she did so and, once she had a small, loose ball of energy roughly the size of a quarter, he stopped her. "That's enough. I know you can energize your zanpakuto." (All arrancar could materialize their zanpakuto at will, and as such instinctively knew the reiatsu patterns and energy of their individual blade.) "Have you ever tried directing the energy into it?"
"Eh…" She pulled a face at the thought, eyeing the tiny cero in her hand dubiously. "That sounds stupid. It wouldn't be enough power, anyway. It's not even enough to punch through an adjuchas' mask! Why can't I just throw it?"
"We're talking about fighting shinigami, not hollows. Shinigami don't have heirro." He folded his arms and cocked an unimpressed eyebrow. "And a shinigami will be expecting that; if you can focus the energy through your blade, you can give your blows a harder impact. They won't expect that." He could do it and he was pretty sure she'd pick up on it quickly since directing their energy was one of the core abilities of using their resureccion. In his basic form, he typically avoided it because he didn't want or need the extra punch, and he could just as quickly and easily form a cero. Lilynette, however, needed the advantage.
"I guess…" She grumbled, enthusiasm flagging in the face of what she thought was a pointless exercise. She glanced between the blade and the small cero before tentatively bringing them together, pushing the energy slowly into the blade. At first glance, it didn't do much – there wasn't even a glow surrounding the weapon, and she looked up at Starrk in question.
"Focus the energy where you think I would be most effective."
"It would be 'most effective'-." She lowered her voice ridiculously, trying to mimic his deep voice with the quote. "-as a cero."
He rolled his eyes. He was getting tired of this…he wasn't used to being the proactive one and he couldn't force her to learn anything. "If you don't want to try…"
"No!" She snapped, sensing he was on the verge of giving up. Her hesitation vanished in face of the threat of not learning anything. "I'll do it! Where do I focus it?"
"Try the tip first."
She was surprised by how easy it was; a mere ten seconds later, there was a tiny ball of energy about half the size of the original marble-sized cero at the recurved tip of her blade. "Hey, I did it!" She grinned and Starrk nodded his approval.
"When you attack, is there any difference?" She came towards him with purpose and he rolled his eyes, shaking his head and sheathing his sword. "It won't work on me. Try it on the tree."
She did, lunging forward and flicking the blade past the tree so she could yank the tip around it and back towards herself in a claw-like tearing motion. As soon as she moved, the energy withdrew into the blade, but stayed focused near the tip, and the slight extra kick easily ripped through a good four inches of solid wood. She stumbled back, blinking in surprise – that was at least twice as deep as she was able to manage on her own.
Starrk nodded in approval. "Good. Now-."
"Ha!" She leapt forward enthusiastically, ignoring him and fighting invisible imaginary shinigami, slicing her blade through the air in deadly swipes. Her zeal for training resurged at the immediate sign of improvement and brought with it a burst of creativity and energy. Even before Starrk could give her directions, she was pushing more energy into the blade and testing different parts with the sword fighting techniques she already knew. She enhanced her thrusts, slashes, and yanks with energy focused on the curve, the tip, the base, the outer flat edge, the inner flat edge (though that one was a bit of a disaster) … and anything else she could think of.
Starrk found himself forgotten off to the side, but he didn't mind. That was basically what he'd had in mind anyway, and he was satisfied that she was trying again – hopefully, she'd learn the technique before something else dragged her attention away. Seeing as she was already making progress, he thought there was a good chance of it.
With another quiet sigh, he settled back into his sleeping spot and watched her slashing away at imagined enemies, letting her practice and hoping she'd wear herself out. He'd stop her if it looked like she was going to cero the park, give their location away, or hurt herself, but otherwise…
Well, this seemed like a good time for a nap.
#6. Scene from Turnabout (Ch. 14)
Going through a senkaimon was nothing like using a garganta but any lingering unease Starrk felt at the difference was overwhelmed as soon as he stepped out the other side. He'd been so focused on the shinigami, the threat they posed, and everything about Muramasa that he hadn't stopped to think about the implications of Karakura Town's location. The second he stepped out of the portal behind Kyoraku, the faint flickering reiatsu of hundreds of fragile living beings registered to his senses like heart beats, followed by tens of thousands more as the city a mere mile away filtered into range. All of them fragile, fleeting and so, so easy to snuff out.
Starrk froze.
Vasto Lordes did not go to the World of the Living. Hell, adjuchas avoided it as much as possible and gillians only crossed the dimensional barrier when they were lured or forced. Even a weak Menos Grande could slaughter untold numbers of humans on accident just by standing in the middle of a city and relaxing control on their reiatsu. The resulting dead plus souls were useless to Menos Grandes; barely a taste of a meal compared to the hollows they could get in Hueco Mundo. Humans could not make a dent in the gaping emptiness; that snarling, all-consuming hunger that devoured their entire existence. Worse, just appearing in the Living World attracted shinigami like flies to honey and that was a battle best avoided.
Starrk might not be a hollow anymore, but the Living World still unnerved him. Everything was so fragile that he felt like breathing on it wrong would break it. There were even a few humans right on the other side of the portal, each one a delicate balance of easily-damaged, constantly-aging flesh and bright sparks of fleeting life. Their presence made him instinctively drag his reiatsu as far beneath his skin as possible. Whatever reiatsu signature he was projecting vanished in a flash as he forced his reiatsu back into the cracks and crannies of Lilynette's Inner World.
She squeaked in surprise at the rush and Shunsui missed a step as the energy signature at his back vanished without warning. But there was reiatsu surging in the distance, six shinigami crowding out of the senkaimon, a group of frightened humans looking at him with more wariness than relief, Soifon glaring down the Quincy with clear murderous intent, and…
…and a Gillian stepping through the trees.
"What the hell?" Renji's strident yell broke the tableau. Without waiting for direction, he leapt into the air. With a single stroke of Zabimaru, he slashed the hollow's mask in half and it disintegrated. The cheering of his zanpakuto spirits silenced seconds later when the noise attracted the attention of more gillians. Dozens of massive masks towered over the centuries-old trees, capping black forms that rose high into the sky and wailed like dying beasts.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Soifon's irritated yell snapped the newly arrived shinigami out of their appalled silence. She turned her back on the Quincy with a disgusted snort and glared at the lieutenants behind Shunsui. "Get up here and fight!"
I hope you like this as a finale to my Spooky Season series! I can't guarantee these scenes will appear, since none of these fics have gone through final editing yet and most of them aren't anywhere near complete, but they're important in the current drafts.
Thank you so much to everyone who's come along with me for this challenge! I've really enjoyed reading all of your reviews and comments!
Happy Halloween!
