Hisa was panting, sweat was rolling down her forehead, threatening to disrupt her vision. She'd caught a glimpse of black robes, hiding behind a tree as the unmistakable voice of 3rd Seat Madarame shouted at his squad to go back. She sprinted in the opposite direction; avoiding confrontation with the Shinigami was crucial if she wanted to find the girl. Hisa was putting all of her effort and attention into her run when she nearly tumbled over it. Evidence!
Stretching into the trees, trail marks: parallel to one another, not entirely straight. She examined the marks closer, finding large footprints obscured by the marks. She jogged beside the marks, slowing only to analyze a stretch where the marks had changed; from two marks to a single, wider, much more vague mark. Hisa's heart jumped to her throat and her stomach dropped to her feet. A single handprint in the dust confirmed her fears. It was dragging her by the hair! And now it's dragging her by the feet! She sprinted, following the trail.
What if she wasn't fast enough? What if it was a Hollow? What if the girl was already dead? What if the girl had already been devoured? Hisa shook her head, clearing her mind of thoughts. She couldn't afford to think like that. She pushed herself forward, leaping and clearing a fallen log, halting in her tracks when she spotted the monster, and the girl being dragged behind it.
She couldn't just run in and start beating up on the Hollow. What if it decided to kill the girl before Hisa could destroy it? Before Hisa even had a chance to consider her options, her hair whipped with an unnatural breeze as her ears filled with the sound of battle cries. She didn't have time to think, only act. She rushed forward, diving at the girl as Zanpakutō were drawn and swung. Grabbing the girl around the shoulders with one arm and holding her sword high with the other, Hisa braced her body for whatever onslaught was about to take place.
She heard the roar of the Hollow, the taunting of the monster. She heard the confident remarks of Ikkaku Madarame and the other Shinigami. She heard the sound of Zanpakutō meeting flesh, slashing through bone. She heard the deafening cry of the Hollow. She felt the careless swings of Shinigami against her sword, an attempt to slash at the Hollow so close to the girl. She felt the edge of a Zanpakutō slip across her blade and graze her fingers. She felt the air shift when all was quiet again.
The only thing she heard for a few moments was her own unsteady breathing. When she was sure the Hollow was defeated, Hisa lowered her sword to the ground, focusing only on the girl she held in her arms.
The girl was young; she couldn't have been younger than Hisa had been when she'd run away. That awkward time between childhood and adolescence, fraught with rebellion and angst. Perhaps the girl had run too far after a fight. Hisa knew the feeling all too well. The girl's hair was long, straight as straw, the color of honey in the sunlight. Natural debris was tangled in the strands, her diamond-shaped face covered in scratches and dust. She was dressed modestly, her sandals broken in several places. Hisa used what little medical aid she knew, checking the girl's pulse and making sure she was still breathing.
"She'll be alright," Ikkaku said suddenly, startling Hisa.
Hisa nodded, not trusting her own voice enough to respond. Such a young, fragile girl, unsure about her own potential. Already she would be forever haunted by the creature that took her. Hisa began to pick debris from the girl's hair, after all, she'd done all she could medically speaking.
"We'll escort you two back to the village," Ikkaku said to Hisa, then began ordering his men into place. Hisa sheathed her sword and then helped the girl onto Ikkaku's back. Hisa kept up well with the Shinigami, though she wouldn't have if they had used Shunpo. She hid her face from the Shinigami as they ran, afraid that they'd see the fear that Hisa was trying to cast away.