Sorry it's taking so long to update the stories - where most people would have more time to write during the winter break, my schedule is just the opposite. sigh I'm doing the best I can, however, providing you with adequate reading material for the new year. Hope you enjoy it!
I don't own bleach.
Worldly Possession
Arriving at the Karakura Memorial Bridge, the two shinigami were met with Urahara and Kon. Sounds from behind them indicated that the shop owner's employees were fast approaching, swatting hollows along the way. The reiastu here was heavy; it was a good indication that this was the place hollows had been arriving from Hueco Mundo.
As if on cue, several more spewed forth from the dimensional rift, hollows flowing from the portal in a cascade of black a purple energy. Those too were efficiently cut down before any trouble ensued.
Urahara intently glared at his GPS, intently tracking the hollow behavior as Ichigo ended another beast's existence. "This is very interesting." The striped hated man commented, loud enough for the others to hear.
"What is?" Ichigo asked, the annoyance edging on his voice. "And you better not say you see hollows!" Zangetsu deftly cut through another hollow, slicing all the way to the soft dirt below.
"Actually yes, Kurosaki-san!" the store owner smiled widely, greatly appreciating the chance to deepen Ichigo's irritation. A slapping of hand on forehead only made the effect sweeter.
"What I really discovered is that the hollows are exuding a very peculiar behavior. Instead of devouring souls or generally disrupting and wreaking havoc, they seem to be …roaming."
What the hell does that mean?" the soul reaper stood a mere ten feet away from Urahara, the well-known frown etched in his face. The zanpakuto wavered in place, waiting for an answer from the sandaled man before continuing its onslaught.
"If you haven't noticed, the hollows you have been slaying haven't been attacking you; they've been only lashing out in self defense. It seems as though they're…looking for something." Casually the man held out the hollow tracker at arms length
Lifting the phone from Urahara, Ichigo listened as the store keeper continued. "In the past four hours hollows have traversed an area of Karakura town exceeding eighty five percent of the rural environment; only minimal damage has been sustained to any of that region. Most of that was due to conflict with hollows."
Ichigo's eyebrows furrowed into a deeper scowl. "What are these bastards up to?"
"That I am not sure." Urahara's sideways smirk under the wide brimmed hat said enough of the current situation.
Close enough to hear, but far enough away to maintain his secure position, Uryuu was intently focusing on the green striped man's words; certainly something was going on, and he was busy racking his brain for a feasible reason why. What other purpose would all these hollows serve in Karakura at once?
A rustle redirected his entire attention behind him. A hollow had been pressing his position for some time, but had not ventured this close until now. Its proximity must have closed until it detected him.
No matter. A low level demon like this would be easy to polish off, even without his Quincy powers. Producing the small bag from the inside pocket of his uniform, he pressed two fingers into the opening, extracting a small pill-like device.
"I will feast on your soul!" the hollow defiantly screamed.
Hardly, Ishida thought as the object was tossed at the beast. A shockwave of reiatsu exploded from the orb, resulting in a touch induced spiritual electrocution.
The hollow destabilized, its spirit particles disappearing quickly. It was effective and direct, hardly any energy expelled outward to merit notice from the others.
He silently thanked the shop keeper's odd inventory. The mechanism itself was simple, absorbing latent spirit energy from Uryuu while he carried it; upon impact it sent all charged energy into the unwitting opponent. Uryuu made a mental note to purchase more from Urahara at a later date.
Wiping dust from his jacket, he thought of the next logical move. Certainly he could not go around all of Karakura pelting pill-orbs at hollows; he needed to find out what the main objective was. Mind racing through possible scenarios, he felt the presence of another hollow edging too close. Luckily his comrades would not spot him; the inclusion on the wooded area offered a great deal of protection from prying eyes. He readied himself to attack the new intruder.
"It seems that there are two different types that are emanating from this gate." Urahara concluded after monitoring the dimensional fissure for several minutes.
"Hollows?" Rukia questioned.
The shop owner nodded.
"One is more of an errand running creature; small in size, but very agile – probably to cover large distances." The grey eyes sparkled with the assumption as he continued. "There are larger hollows that have come through as well, though not as frequently as the others."
"That doesn't matter - I can kick all of their asses!" Ichigo sliced and landed partway from the rest of the group, breathing somewhat irregularly. Clearly the shinigami had caught his second - or third - wind.
Opening the case of the phone, Urahara made some minor adjustments to the circuits inside; after a moment an ear shattering pitch resonated through the small group. Momentarily the party was deafened, hands shooting up to protect the delicate organ against the sound. The tone assaulted their ears, the abnormally high pitch jarring their senses.
"Just as I thought." The Urahara's voice cut through the shrill sound grating against everyone's ear drums. Just as suddenly, the tone ceased, leaving the group to stare blankly at Urahara.
"That sound is a spiritual wavelength meant to keep hollows interconnected; they can send each other messages within its current." A triumphant gaze traveled across the party, amused in his own findings. "That confirms our previous hypothesis."
Dammit, Uryuu thought as he bypassed another swing from the large beast. He had already thrown two of the capsules at the hollow, yet they hadn't phased it. The reiatsu emanating from the creature wasn't that strong, so how was it resisting his attacks?
"Die!" The creature roared, lashing out against the Quincy in a two strike right-left hand swing.
Jumping backwards in a flip over the hollow's arms, he rolled away from the attack. Quickly launching two more orbs in its direction, he watched as the pills bounced off harmlessly. The creature didn't even flinch, its bulging eyes and green skin lacked any movement whatsoever.
A roar bellowed from the demon; a gurgling sound churned from inside the beast, and dart projectiles flew from its mouth. Hundreds of the little barbs skewered the scenery, making a direct line for Ishida.
His speed was dazzling, leaping from the barrage of darts and away. The hollow had not paused, spilling hundreds of the tiny points as the Quincy moved. It effectively impaled him to a tree.
The darts didn't hurt as badly as he thought they would, the barbs sending only a small pinch through his body. It was until he noticed the sickly green fluid the arrows were immersed with did he start to panic. Now the darts didn't hurt at all; as a matter of fact, he couldn't feel much of anything.
"Kuso…" The clenched teeth emitted the low growl as the hollow came up to him. It mouth hung open grossly as more of the viscous liquid spilled from its mouth. A hungry look shone in its eyes as it looked at its prey.
It seemed that he had no choice. To be eaten by a hollow, or…
"We should close this portal." Tessai commented to his boss.
"If we did, all hollows here would effectively be cut off in our own world." A fan waved casually across his face.
"If we don't, something bigger may come through." He added to the thoughtful pondering. Tessai adjusted his glasses and waited, obvious that his employer was weighing pros and cons of the situation.
"Everyone, move away from the portal!" he waived, acting much like a lifeguard by intonation. "Tessai is collapsing the dimensional fissure!"
"Hai." Tessai nodded as he began the binding chant. This would take no time at all.
"Damn…it!" Struggling was become futile. He couldn't hold his body upright anymore. Though effectively freeing himself from the tree, the paralyzing agent worked quickly, draining his reiatsu and physical power simultaneously.
There was no other choice but this.
Coaxing the innate Quincy power, his total focus and concentration went into one shot. He couldn't miss. He couldn't fire again.
Inside he could feel the dark energy pressing, looking for an opening from which to pour out.
Bottling one and persuading the other, the blue cast bow formed in his hand. An arrow notched and ready, he used his remaining energy to plant his stance and fire the spiritual dart right into the hollow.
The projectile slammed into the white mask, crumbling the upper edge of the pallor material. The hollow clutched at his head and roared as its body corroded, spirit energy dispersing into nothing.
Satisfied, the Quincy stumbled toward Ichigo and the others. Uryuu hoped that the liquid he had been injected with only consisted of a paralyzing agent.
A pulse of spiritual pressure behind him made his eyes widen. It was definitely the energy of another hollow, much similar to the one he just defeated. Uryuu hadn't quite taken into consideration that his desperate attempt may attract other hollows.
This one however, seemed to appear from nowhere.
Even if he had equated the arrival of a new hollow, the situation remained the same; he couldn't risk another burst of reiatsu. As he thought, he could feel the evil energy seething under his skin.
Should he run? At this moment there was no chance of it, the paralyzing agent already made him droop uncontrollably; though he couldn't feel his body, he wasn't going to let that keep him from using it anyway.
Fighting would take up just about as much reiastu as contacting his comrades. Faced with this predicament, he decided to risk it; one clean shot should do it. He still had enough strength in his body to dodge, he could take the hollow out.
The creature gawked, pawing the ground. It green and black skin glistened, pulsing with its own life. It gurgled, sounding strangely like a purr in its throat.
"I've found you." The demon growled, almost sounding pleased.
Ishida froze in terror, trying to grasp the meaning. This hollow was looking for him?
Suddenly the hollow's head rose up, emitting a terribly high pitched tone. Uryuu jammed his hands against his ears in hopes to dampen the noise, but to no avail. He shut his eyes and focused internally, trying to block out the sound.
There was something else in that tone, an underlying murmur that he could barely make out. Maybe tuning into that will distract the ear shattering sound, he thought.
I found him, the voice said. He's by the bridge. We will take him and leave…
Uryuu realized suddenly that the voice was not in that shrill call – rather spoken inside his head.
Uryuu knew that he had to act.
The air around the portal expanded and retracted, warping the space within it. As Tessai finished the incantation, the fissure condensed and disappeared. A few wisps of purple wafted from the spot.
"That'll do it." Urahara chimed. "Now we can concentrate of the hollows left behind."
"Finally! I was wondering when..." Ichigo trailed off, staring distantly across the field.
"Ichigo?" Rukia settled beside her comrade, hoping to disturb the trance.
"…huh? Oh, nothing…" A troubled expression crossed his face for a moment, then dismissed it with a statement. "We've got a lot of hollows to beat down, so let's get to it."
Steady.
The blue bow flared at his fingertips, the flames rising around his arm.
Steady.
His hand reached for the string, and pulled forth an arrow.
His body wavered, his concentration was beyond the breaking point. Soon, the poison would have spread his entire body. Fingers twitched as if confirming the action.
Thoughts of Ichigo strayed in his mind. Uryuu would never admit that he should have stayed home, though it had crossed his mind. On the battlefield was were he needed to be, so that he could protect what truly mattered to him.
Isn't that what his grandfather taught him? Did Ichigo truly matter to him?
Another flick of his wrist. This shot needed to be perfect.
Releasing the string, the arrow cut through the air, racing for the mask of the still throating hollow. The separation was instantaneous, the face falling away from the gurgling stump of neck.
He did it.
Slumping to his knees, his breathing was ragged and uneven. Paralyzed lungs were probably not the best to breathe with, he thought, but neither is using any other paralyzed organ. I need to get some medical attention. Body unwilling to cooperate, he was just about willing to fall on the ground right there: The dirt was starting to seem really relaxing right now.
AN: Sorry if the end of this chapter is too abrupt. If you would like to see the rest, feel free to review to keep it going! I'm almost to 50, that's a big accomplishment for my first fan fiction posted on this site! Special thanks to my supporters, everyone who has been on this great journey with me! Especially TheAngelOfLucifer, you've been here since the beginning. :)
I'll be back soon:)