Shadow Reapers

Audra

I nodded.

"No, you can't save everyone, but you can save some. Save those you are able to save, and that is good enough."

I pat him on the arm, momentarily stroking the muscle beneath the sleeve. "And it's not full-time. You don't have to be a death god all the time. Only when it's needed. Be yourself everywhere else, with me, in school, in the dorms. Only when the need arises must you become a death god. Okay?"

(Sorry about that, I couldn't think of much else)

<Rei>

Another monster? Where were these things coming from!

We pelted through the school hallways in search of Kai, and maybe his dodgy transfere student, heading in a direction that would probably lead us off campus. Not the best idea, leaving campus was always daunting, but then, so was the idea of having my soul eaten by a monster.

'Can you tell how far away he is?' I asked Kestrel.

'Kind of,' she said in between breaths.

We'd just got onto the main street when Kestrel slowed and Hill skidded to a halt. It took me a few extra steps before realising, and I turned back to see only fear on their faces.

'There's something big in front of us,' I said. Kestrel nodded slowly.

I looked up at the air, hoping to have some vague sign of what we where up against.

Kai's eyes went wide all of a sudden as his gaze shifted to look off into the distance.

"What is it, Kai?" Audra asked, a little worried.

"I can feel them."

"More Hollows?" Audra asked.

Kai nodded and looked around for Ichidan. "Ichidan!"

The former death god came running. "I feel it, too," he said.

"I'm going on ahead, take care of Audra for me."

He nodded. "I will."

Kai turned back to Audra and said, "Stay safe," before running off.


Kestrel stood frozen in fear as the two blue flames in front of her lumbered forward. They both made low eerie howls every now and then. "What are we going to do?" Kestrel asked.

"I don't know," Hill said.

That's when she saw it, the red flame from before. It was approaching the two monsters from behind. Although it was smaller in size, the amount of energy that came off it was much greater than both of the creatures combined.

The red flame jumped into the air and made contact with the arm of the creature on the left. The arm of blue fire fell off of the creature's body and extinguished from existence.

Kestrel gazed upon the red fire in the shape of a human. She was both afraid and amazed by it. She never thought such power could come from a single human being. It was so strong that she could feel its energy on her skin, making the hairs on her arms stand on end.

Audra

I froze, watching wide-eyed and certainly pale. Two monsters, identical to the one Kai had drawn, were approaching, howling and looking around while menace emanated from them.

"What are they?!" I whispered, standing behind Ichidan.

"Those are Hollows."

Those were Hollows? They were the monsters that devoured souls of both the living and dead?

Be careful, Kai.

That's when I saw them. I recognized all three of them: Rei, Mr. Hill, and Kes. They were standing at the other end of the road, watching the scene. And they seemed to understand!

Was it possible...?

Yes. They could see them, too.

Kestrel

As Kai fought with the hollows, it brought him closer and closer to Kestrel who gazed at him in amazement. So fierce and sharp was the red light that she could make out each individual hair and even the curve of his lips and the gouge of his eye sockets. He danced back and forth, taking the creature's leg next and then it's head, causing the first of the Hollows to disappear entirely; eradicated from existence.

"Kestrel!" Kestrel jumped at the sound of her mother's panic-stricken voice and cast her gaze around, frantically searching for her to find that one of the hollows had caught hold of her mother's arm.

"Mum!" Kestrel shrieked, moving towards the blue, shimmery figure whose outline was greatly diminished beside that of the huge hollow. Kestrel ran towards the creature, filled with a blind determination and desperation but someone caught her arm and prevented her from reaching the hollow before it vanished, along with her mother's spirit.

Around them the battle with the other Hollows persisted but Kestrel had eyes only for the dark, black space where her mother had stood.

"No," she whispered before turning to face the pale blue outline of a human. "Why?" she demanded. "Why didn't you let me help her?"

Ichidan had grabbed Kestrel's arm to stop her from going after the Hollow. "You're just a human. If I hadn't stopped you that Hollow would have killed you."

"But... my mother..." Kestrel went to her knees and broke out in tears. Ichidan kneeled beside her, doing the best he could to comfort her.

The last Hollow disintegrated as Kai slashed it across the chest with his sword. He turned to the others and asked, "Is everyone okay?"

"One of the Hollows took the soul that was following this girl," Ichidan said, motioning toward Kestrel.

"Please..." Kai approached Kestrel so he could hear what she was saying under all the sobs. She lifted her head and looked directly into his eyes. Kai know who Kestrel was, he knew she was blind. How could she know to look directly into his eyes? "Please... save my mother," she pleaded.

Kai looked at her for a few moments, then nodded. "I'll save your mother, Kestrel."

"I'm afraid it's out of our hands," Ichidan said. "That Hollow took the soul with it to Hueco Mundo."

Kai's heart sank. Hueco Mundo was the world of the Hollows. If Kestrel's mother was taken there...

Kai didn't say anything. He didn't want to upset Kestrel anymore than she was. Still, there was one thing he could say. "I promise, I'll slay the Hollows that took your mother."

Audra

I approached the group, watching Kestrel mourn for her loss. I had seen the ghost behind her, seen their resemblances, and seen the ghost's "death." And the word "mother"...it made me cry as I knelt beside the girl.

"We did what we could," I tried, rubbing her back. "But it won't happen again. We'll stop them!"

She continued to sob, crying out for her lost mother...

"I promise."

"Unfortunately, there is no way to completely stop the Hollow," Ichidan said. Everyone looked at him. "As long as souls exist, so will the Hollow. It's the way things are."

"But that's why death gods exist," Audra said. "You protect lost souls from Hollows."

He nodded. "That's correct." He knelt down beside Kestrel. "Your name is Kestrel, right?"

Kestrel wiped away a tear and said, "Yes."

"Listen, I know you are in anguish, but you need to know that once someone, be it living or dead, is taken by the Hollow to their world they will be devoured and turn into one of them."

"No..." Tears began to stream down her cheeks again. "You mean, she'll become one of them?"

"Don't lose hope, Kestrel. Even if your mother becomes one of them it is possible to still save her. If she is slain by a death god's sword her soul will be purified and sent to a place called Soul Society. It's a place where all souls go when they leave the world of the living, and from there they are reborn and come back to Earth." He put a hand on Kestrel's shoulder. "What I'm trying to say is even if your mother becomes one of them we can still save her soul."

"And we won't rest until we do," Kai said.

*Sooso sorry I've been away for so long, Italy... anyway, I'm just going to put myself in. Remember Stella can't see ghosts before you post after this... you are inside aren't you? If not, this can take place outside I guess.*

Stella-

I packed up all my folders and bought myself a smoothie. I wondered where Kestrel was. Knowing she was in the same classes as Sally was (or had been, wherever she was, she hadn't come home last night, probably with a guy), I headed towards the building.

"Kestrel?" I asked, going down the empty corridor. It felt slightly sinister.

"Kestrel?" I shouted again.

"In here," called a sniffly voice. I went into the room and opened the door. There was a small group of people standing near the front. A girl was rubbing Kestrel's back, while another girl, an Asian boy and another guy were standing looking on with Mr. Hill.

"What's wrong?" I asked rushing over. "Are you homesick? Are you okay?"

She rubbed her eyes quickly. "I'm fine. Really. I'm fine."

I ignore her reluctance. "What's wrong?" I looked up at the others. "You're Kai, right? Calvin's friend. And... Audra?" She nodded. "Who are you two?" I asked nodding to the others. "And what's going on?"

(It did happen outside, make it so it skipped to your post. My character can be back in his body and the others helped Kestrel back to the college.)

(I hope this is okay, Tag.)

Ichidan gave Kestrel one more pat on the shoulder before saying, "We'll let you rest, it's been a long day for all of us." As Ichidan, Kai and Audra filed out of the room, Ichidan stopped and faced Rei. "What's your name?"

"Rei," she said.

"Can we speak to you out in the hall for a moment?"

"Sure." She followed the three of them out of the room. Ichidan reached into his pocket and pulled out a tube-like object that fit perfectly in his palm. She looked at Kai and asked, "So, are you really some sort of spirit god? It was awsome how you fought those creatures." She turned back to Ichidan. "You called them Hollows, right?"

Ichidan held the device in his hand in front of Rei's face. He pressed a button and it made a small bang, creating a tiny smoke cloud around Rei's face. When the smoke cleared the girl went unconscious. Ichidan caught her before she hit the ground.

"What did you do to her?" Audra asked, worried.

"She's fine," Ichidan reassured her. "I just erased her memory."

"What?"

He showed her the device. "This is called a memory modifier. With it, I erased her memory of today's event and put in a replacement. Although, the replacement memory is always random, it's one of the bugs we were never able to work out."

"I don't really understand," Audra said.

"Wait until you see her again, then you'll understand."

"Why did you have to erase her memory?" Kai asked. "If she can see the Hollows she knows what we're up against. She won't tell anyone about it."

"She can't see ghosts."

Audra started saying, "But, she just said-"

"She was lying. Death gods can feel whether or not a person can see souls." He held up the device so they could see it.

Kai got a better look at it and asked, "You used this on some of the other people in this college, didn't you? Everybody's saying that scorch mark that I made the other night was caused by a guy torching a truck."

Ichidan nodded. "Yes, I did use it. Some students had witnessed it that night, so I had to erase their memories." He kneeled down to pick up Rei in his arms. "I suppose we should take this girl to her family so she can rest. Do either of you know where she lives?"

Kestrel

After a while, just Stella, professor Hill and Kestrel remained in the dim classroom, the latter leaning against her friend, eyes closed as she attempted to compose herself. Someone had left a window open and the hum of evening traffic filtered into the room, drowning out the voices of those in the corridor.

"So you're not going to tell me why you're so upset?" Stella asked bluntly; it was not the first time she had posed the question and as concerned for her friend as she was, she was also weary of the drama and half wished she were back in her room with Sally, chatting or working on a school project. Kestrel shook her head roughly.

"I have somewhere to be and I will understand if you do not attend my lesson tomorrow, Kestrel," professor Hill stated calmly, hesitating only moment before leaving the room without any words of comfort - he did not know what to say.

"We should go too," Kestrel said suddenly in a voice quiet and weak but certain. Together, she and Stella stood and Kestrel dried her cheeks before leading the way from the classroom.

Audra

Rei was taken care of; we'd found her room and dropped her off there, giving her over to her companions. Ichidan and I accompanied Kai to his room, to do...what?

I sat down on the bed as Ichidan looked around the dorm, taking in all the details.

Now what?

"You did well today, Kai," Ichidan said.

Kai stood by the window, looking of into the distance at the setting sun. "I let that innocent soul get taken by that Hollow."

"There was nothing you could have done to prevent it," Ichidan said. "There were too many Hollows around for you to stop it. You should be proud that you saved the lives of your friends if nothing else."

Kai sighed. "I still can't say I'm prepared. As much as I'd like to, I'm not such a saint that I can promise to risk my life for strangers. But..." He turned to face Ichidan and Audra. "Neither am I scum enough to sit quietly by while people are getting hurt before my eyes." Kai held his hand out to Ichidan. "I'd like to help you with this death god thing."

Ichidan looked at him for a moment then smiled, taking his hand and squeezing it firmly. "Good, I'm looking forward to it."

*Wow guys sorry I have been gone so long..I had four soccer games this week but didn't expect not to be able to get on the computer at all! SORRY!*

Hill-

Hill excused himself before leaving his classroom and walking out onto the sidewalk. He followed his feet as he headed home, barely aware of his surroundings. It had be a long day and it was barely even five o'clock. Hill rubbed his head and then ran his fingers through his hair as he stepped onto his front porch. He realized he had fogotten his things back in the classroom so he lifted his hand to knock on the door but it swung open before his hand could hit the door.

"Where have you been!" Adam scolded him through a mouthful of cereal. His hair was sticking up on one side and he was sloshing his bowl around too much for comfort.

"Honey, I'm home." Hill said with a half smile.

"The kid won't come out of her room." Adam replied shoving another spoonful in his mouth, "She sat in their screaming about Hallows all day but I couldn't feel any."

"Probably because you were asleep!" Hill shouted as he walked through the messy kitchen trying to ignore the spilled milkshake, on his way to Keagan's room. She was sitting on her bed, her head in her knees.

"Hey, honey it's okay, the Hallows are gone." He ruffled her hair.

"They took someone with them." She said not lifting her head.

"How do you know that?"

"I just know okay! I want to be alone."

"Okay." Hill rose and left her room heading back to Adam in the living room. "She's being strange."

"Yeah." Adam scoffed.

"There are a lot of people on this campus who can see ghosts." Hill added as an almost bewildered afterthought.

"More than us and the two you saw last night?"

Hill nodded and sighed, "But I'm not sure how well they are educated about the whole situation. There is a death god though."

"Really, I never liked death gods, they're all 'you human me god-haha' you know what I mean?" He shoved another spoonful into his mouth.

"Anyways, I think we should have them all over, to talk or something."

"Look, I don't exactly want the whole world knowing I see what I see okay? You're the one who is the good cemaritan who tries to help the ghosts cross over or whatever, I personally am creeped out by ghosts. So there is no 'we' in this situation."

Hill sighed and nodded.

*hey Dynamo I have some ideas..can I PM you?*