I have a poll up for what kind of story I should write next.
Harry Potter groaned, the cold ground hard underneath him as he slowly pulled himself up. The grass felt oddly dry, yet at the same time it seemed damp. He wasn't quite sure what had caused him to fall, remembering only vaguely the weight that had crashed into him.
His questions were answered quickly as Cedric awoke, along with two other voices that weren't there before. His head snapped up, finding Cedric sitting up slowly, rubbing his head. Besides him were two other figures, one relatively short while the other had bright orange hair, like a carrot.
They were fuzzy, blurry, as if he was looking at them out of the corner of his eye. But despite the slight differences in appearance, the swords, and the strange clothes they now wore, he could still recognize them.
"T-Toshiro? Ichigo…?" He called out hesitantly; almost afraid they would answer in the affirmative. The two jumped to their feet as he spoke, glancing at him and Cedric only briefly before turning their gazes to their surroundings. The Hufflepuff off to the side spent several moments staring at the two until he too began looking around.
They were in what looked like a cemetery, old and deteriorating gravestones scattered throughout the area. The ground was covered sparsely with damp, yet mostly dead grasses, the greenest fauna being the weeds. Above them, it was much darker than it had been only a minute ago, the sun no longer visible amidst the dark, looming clouds rumbling angrily overhead.
"Where… Where are we?" The fourth year muttered, scrambling to his feet.
Hitsugaya's face deepened in a scowl. "We need to get out of here," he muttered, "Now." His hand reached behind him, gripping the hilt of the blade sheathed on his back.
Ichigo took the cue, turning to the Hogwarts students. "Get to the cup!" He shouted, already pushing the boy-who-lived along, with Hitsugaya and a thoroughly befuddled Cedric not far behind.
The cup itself lay a few feet away, sitting on its side in a small patch of grass. It still glowed an iridescent blue, standing out in comparison to its dreary background. They scuttled over towards it, the still disoriented boys stumbling over themselves and the uneven ground towards the cup.
They were stopped by the consecutive firings of both a sickly green-colored spell and a metal bullet aimed at where they would have been standing had Hitsugaya not stopped them. The clicking of a tongue came from one of the newcomers.
The quartet whirled around to greet three people. The familiar, though contrasting figures of Aizen and Raynaulski, clad in white and black robes respectively. The latter tapped the butt of a gun against his shoulder, the former holding a wand, his zanpaktou in its sheath. Behind them shivered the crooked form of Pettigrew, a cloth-wrapped bundle cradled in his arms.
Hitsugaya growled, unsheathing Hyorinmaru. Ichigo stepped forward, holding the Captain back from doing anything rash. Even then, it still took all his will to hold himself back. "This was your doing, wasn't it?" He couldn't keep the snarl out of his words, however.
Aizen merely smirked infuriatingly in reply. "But of course. The entire Game has been."
"Too bad the brat opted out, though. I was hoping for a little fun." Raynaulski sighed, making a disapproving click with his tongue.
The ex-Captain gave his companion a glancing, disinterested look at the comment.
Cedric looked between the two opposite him in confusion. Harry, on the other hand, was beginning to hyperventilate, eyes trained solely on the red-eyed man before him. His shoulder began to ache, throbbing with the freshly pulled memory from his third year. Almost subconsciously, Harry gripped his shoulder, as if expecting to feel a blade still imbedded in it.
Partially out of fear and partially out of defiance, the boy-who-lived pulled out his wand, pointing it in their direction, willing it not to shake. Both Japanese students' heads snapped in his direction, silently willing him to do something, but what that 'something' was, he didn't understand. He didn't want to, however. The most important thing was the man in front of him.
"Now, kid, you don't want to do that, do you?" Ray asked, though despite his tone his eyes held a glint of amusement that was only thinly veiled.
"No!" Harry shouted, cutting off the words that Hitsugaya had been about to say, as was evident by his open mouth. "I won't let you hurt people anymore!"
Raynaulski narrowed his eyes, but before he could say anything Aizen gave him a look. The man backed down as another voice spoke, raspier than either of theirs. The sound sent shivers down the spines of the four students, each shifting nervously.
"Stop wasting time." It hissed, coming from behind the two masterminds. Both looked back; everyone seemed to have forgotten about Pettigrew, who was quaking at this point, arms barely holding up the object he retained. It was this 'object' that shifted, causing a squeak to escape Pettigrew's mouth, consequentially rustling the fabric that encased it.
Ray muttered a half-hearted apology and Aizen sighed, the two turning to the Shinigami and wizards. It was time to end this.
Matsumoto breathed in sharply, willing down the panic that swept through her for a terrifying few seconds. The number of hollows began to die down, less and less coming. Despite this, of course, she was exhausted, but Rukia would be there at any moment, so it was the least of her worries.
What caused the panic in the first place had been the sudden absence of two spiritual pressures. They'd been so large and so strong, suffocating to those that weren't used to it, for several moments before they vanished completely.
Matsumoto whirled around, trying to pinpoint the two energies again, or at the very least, the space at which they disappeared.
Rukia Kuchiki arrived only seconds later, killing off the last of the hollows as she did so. The shorter woman watched as her companion whirled around, eyes searching wildly for something amongst the hedge. "Lieutenant Matsumoto," she started, shocking the other out of her thoughts, "What's wrong? Did something happen?"
Rangiku took a minute to regain herself, taking a few deep breaths before speaking. "I— The Captain and Ichigo… They're gone."
"What do you mean gone?" Rukia asked, barely keeping the rising panic out of her voice. The Lieutenant of the Tenth Division looked equally as agitated.
"I—I don't know! Their spiritual pressure just… disappeared." Rukia closed her eyes, reaching out herself only to find what Matsumoto said to be true.
"Where could they have gone?" The shorter of the two asked, her companion merely shaking her head. Kuchiki sighed. "Well, for now, we should get back to Shouta and inform him about what happened. Knowing him, he probably hasn't realized yet."
Matsumoto nodded in agreement, both adjusting their weight to prepare to flash-step back when a wave of repressive energy swept over the area.
Both Shinigami dropped to the ground, the pressure of it nearly suffocating them. "What… What is that?" Rukia gasped, clutching at her throat like a foreign hand was wrapped around it.
The oppressive feeling left as soon as it came, and the two spent a few minutes catching their breath again before Matsumoto answered.
"I think… It felt like magic. Incredibly dark magic." It took only a few seconds before the both of them paled.
"We need to get back. Now." There was not another word as they raced back towards the stands.