Good news! I have a new hard drive! Bad news, we actually haven't gotten anything written again... Chev's unmotivated or too involved with other stuff I guess. :( But, I do have enough for a few more weeks at the moment. And I'm on a really limited internet access until mid-October since I'm currently living in the middle of no where. -Airumel (8/17/12)
-Chapter 13-
The last tendrils of golden sun were painting the clouds a bright red as the luminous orb sank beneath them. Ichigo Kurosaki leaned back on a bridge watching the setting sun, "You're here already?" a shorter young woman walked up the bridge to stand beside the orange-haired young man. Both wore the black hakama and gi of the Shinigami.
"Urahara-san predicted they'd show up around here," he stood up and stretched his arms above his head, "I can't help but think he's somehow involved in this... and that arrancar... looked just like... one of the two girls who died a few months ago."
"It is a possibility that it could have been her, but even if it were her I would assume her soul has been completely erased," his companion voiced her opinion.
"I have no doubt it's her. And she recognized me, she must have, otherwise, why would she flee? I didn't get the feeling that she was a weakling."
Further argument was cut off by an odd sensation as if the fabric of the world was being torn apart. "They're here..." commented the woman.
There was no way to hide a group of this size and the arrancar were not even trying to cloak their presence as they stepped out of a rift into the darkening sky. The Sixth Espada and his fraccion, Zezuri, the Fifth Espada Nnoitra, Tesla, and finally Ulquiorra and Airi arrived in the river area of Karakura.
"Where is the shard, woman?" Ulquiorra took command as he was the highest ranking Espada present.
After closing her eyes for a moment, Zezuri pointed west toward the setting sun and a bridge that had just been evicted by the two figures that had stood on it. At once the group sped off through the air towards the indicated direction leaving Zezuri behind with Airi as a guard.
An explosion of spiritual pressure suddenly welled up. Black garbed figures surrounded the large force of white. Four of the newcomers wore the white over cloak of the captain rank. Chaos erupted as steel met with steel all around.
The girls watched as the white and black figures fought, they seemed evenly matched for the moment. However, Airi doubted any of them could stand up to Ulquiorra. After all, he was one of the most powerful Espada in Las Noches! Wait a moment, why was she thinking like this again? Airi shook her head in an attempt to clear her mind. Looking at Zezuri, she spoke, "Let's retrieve that shard."
"Not so fast," a female voice came from behind.
The two girls turned to see a rather busty Shinigami with flowing orange hair, "You're not getting that shard today," she glared at Airi.
"Zezuri. Run," Airi stated to her friend wishing she could at least sound urgent.
Zezuri hesitated but knew that retrieving the last shard was urgent, and she had faith in Airi's abilities. She had sensed that Airi's training over the last few days had resulted in her obtaining greater power. She turned to run after giving Airi and the Shinigami one last look, and headed toward the shards direction. Little did she realize that she was being followed by another Shinigami.
Meanwhile Nnoitra was pitted against another Shinigami captain who wore a lightly colored scarf, as Grimmjow was facing the 11th captain, Kenpachi once again. The battle was fierce, both sides were already suffering from several wounds. Grimmjow knew he would need the powers of his Resurrección again to fight the shinigami captain.
"Hopefully I won't be interrupted again! Grind,Pantera!" he held up his sword as it began to glow with a light blue color. He quickly swept his hand along the length of the blade, releasing a vast amount of spiritual pressure. As tremendous gusts of wind began to clear, the 6th Espada's appearance had changed drastically.
The Espada's change did not put any fear into the shinigami captain as he held his ground, "This trick again? How disappointing!" Kenpachi had also decided to raise the stakes and torn off the eye patch over his face, and threw it to the ground. Spiritual pressure rose even more from the masochist captain as both men seemed to be enjoying themselves.
Ulquiorra was not far off as he was having a staring match with the canine shinigami captain. He knew the arrancar's powers were dangerous, but he was not about to fail his mission.
Zezuri ran towards the bridge as fast as she could, hoping to reach the shard on time. She quickly stopped in her tracks as she felt the presence of another, but when she turned to look, no one was there. But she had no time to waste and had to run faster to her destination. She reached the vicinity of the bridge and stopped to catch her breath. The brunette knew someone was close by as she tried to concentrate on the shard's location once again.
"Hey, looks like one of them is down there!" the young woman who was accompanying Ichigo on the bridge noticed Zezuri down below. "I think she is looking for the shards!"
"I'll stop 'em!" Ichigo lept from the edge as he zeroed in on the unsuspecting Zezuri.
"Wait, Ichigo!" the Shinigami woman called, but it was futile as she followed him to the rivers edge.
Zezuri began to lose her nerve and looked around nervously as she sensed so much spiritual pressure. All of the power was messing with her head as she had trouble sensing anything. She gasped with surprise as she gazed up at the sun, its rays fading and giving her a clear view of her would-be attacker.
"Ichigo!" she exclaimed.
Hearing this, the orange haired shinigami tried to slow his pace but collided with the ground in order to dodge her. The shinigami woman, however, landed gracefully.
"Y-you're alive too?" he said in shock as the dust cleared, "I knew I wasn't seeing things!"
"I need your help! I-" she stopped as the presence that was following her before had made itself visible.
"Out of the way, Ichigo!" a tall man with red hair and strange tattoos stepped out of the shadows.
"Renji!" Ichigo said surprised as his comrade intimidatingly flashed his sword.
"I was waiting for her to retrieve the shard before I took her back to the Soul Society for further inspection."
"But I know her! She went to my school, so did the other!" Ichigo tried to clear the situation, "But you don't look like you're an arrancar..." he said a little relieved.
"That doesn't change the fact she is working for Aizen. She needs to be brought in immediately!" the female shinigami spoke harshly.
"Rukia is right, we are also to bring in any of the arrancar we can reprimand. They'll tell us all they know about Aizen before we execute them." the flame haired shinigami glared at Ichigo who was looking straight back at him with defiance.
"Execute?!" Zezuri finally got a word in edgewise, "You don't understand! Aizen-!"
"Save it for later, pipsqueak!" Renji ordered.
"N-no! I was only looking for your help!" Zezuri backed away. As she began to panic, the shard that was nearby, began to glow, Zezuri felt her power raising with it.
"The shard!" Rukia exclaimed but was forced back from the shining object's pressure, "I can't get near it!"
"I still can't touch it..." Zezuri thought, deciding not to dive for the shard.
Airi was locked in battle with the female shinigami when she sensed Zezuri's spiritual pressure soar. I don't have time for this one! She thought frantically. She attempted to thrust her opponent aside as their swords clashed against each other.
"Don't think you're getting by me that easy!" shouted the Shinigami, as she resumed her attack stance, "Haineko, Growl!" Her blade dissolved into dust and flew at the unsuspecting arrancar who stopped in her tracks as the ashes left deep cuts wherever they made contact.
Wanting to scream, Airi found herself falling to the ground, blood streaming around her. This was it, wasn't it? She'd be killed here, by a stranger, and Zezuri, what of her? She'd probably be killed too...
"No!" A voice inside her mind yelled, "We're not out of this yet!"
As if someone had suddenly turned on a light, Airi knew she had a chance against this Shinigami. Better than a chance. She knew she could destroy her. For a brief moment the realization of how much power she had caused Airi's feet to freeze in place.
"HAAAAAAAHHHH!" the shinigami charged in, sword again solid and raised.
Raising her sword in her left hand, she held the shimmering metal blade parallel to the ground over her head, "Rage! Oceano viento!"
A strong wind pushed back the charging Shinigami. She put her arms up to shield herself as she watched the arrancar girl transform into her released form. As the raised sword disintegrated, the white feather-like mask fragments in the blonde's hair grew in size and an identical set formed on the other side of her face. Three sets of short, white feathered wings erupted from her upper back, a set of tail-feathers formed on her lower back, while her fingers grew into sharp looking talons.
Airi found herself drowning suddenly in power. She couldn't remember anything. Who was she? What was she doing?
Fight.
The one word swam through her mind.
After the transformation was complete, the Shinigami didn't hesitate for a second. Unleashing her sword's power, she attempted to cut down her opponent in one move. Yet, as the ashes approached the monstrous form of the fully released arrancar, it blew back.
"Matsumoto! Look out!" a captain had temporarily broken away from the chaotic fight in the middle of the sky.
"Toshiro?" gasped his lieutenant as her captain blocked the returned ashes with a wave of ice from his sword.
"It's CAPTAIN HITSUGAYA, and pay more attention to your opponent's power level! She's clear past a good number of the others."
"Yes, sir!"
The two shinigami made ready to fight Airi.
A twisted smile crossed her face as some of her long blonde hair fell across her face. She couldn't remember even Ulquiorra's orders not to show emotions. Craving the spilling of blood she lifted a taloned hand skyward. A torrent of water and wind engulfed her opponents. Not waiting for the first attack to end, the arrancar flashed in before either Shinigami could blink. Talons stretch out she clawed at her original attack, sending her to the ground.
"Matsumoto!" shouted Hitsugaya in dismay.
His lieutenant fell to the ground, but remained motionless.
"You... you'll pay for that!" he growled, "Bankai!"
Komamura, the fox-headed captain of the 7th division now fought with all of his might against Ulquiorra. Yet, even in bankai, he was struggling against the unreleased Fourth Espada. What unnerved the 7th captain the most was how calm his opponent remained. When it finally broke, it was not of any attack the Shinigami had thrown.
A concerned look crossed the Fourth Espada's pale face as he felt his control of Airi slip away. He'd thought she'd been strong enough that she wouldn't scumb to her natural hollow instincts.
"We're done," green eyes stared calmly at the huge fox creature.
"What?" Komamura asked before he was cut down by an unseen bolt of lightning.
As the unconscious form of the over-sized Shinigami crashed into the river, Ulquiorra sped off to reclaim his fraccion.
From afar, Grimmjow also felt Zezuri's rise in spiritual pressure. He remembered the last time she came into contact with the shard and hoped she had not made the same mistake again. A look of worry crossed his face for a brief moment before turning to his opponent.
"No more playin' around!" he growled.
"Wouldn't count on it. But Aizen's little tool is probably being taken care of by now, along with the shard," Kenpachi said in a cocky tone. "You're all fools to think we'd come unprepared," he laughed.
Grimmjow clenched his jaw, knowing that they were in trouble. He needed to save Zezuri and take the shard back to Las Noches, but that plan was slowly fading away.
Dun dun dun... cliffhanger! And Airi's release! :) It was a bit difficult to figure out her abilities. Last time around she used electricity and was a bat, but... there's another character that suddenly had very similar powers and the same kind of wings... so I wanted to make it a bit different. Anyhow... thanks for reading! And hopefully see you next week! -Airumel