Shadow Reapers

Sure!

Kestrel

When the pearl finally shattered, it came as a surprise to Kes who had almost given up hope of breaking it in this session but she smiled and laughed happily before the sound was cut off abruptly and her breath caught in the back of her throat.

"Kes?" Stella asked worriedly, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder. Kestrel sat, her eyes open wide as she felt the surge of power through her veins. Her vision sharpened, the auras of the room's inhabitants springing into focus painfully until she turned her head away, covering her eyes and crying out. But it was to no use. She could see the auras of every living creature within a two mile radius, as if they were right in front of her. She could see features and detail she had never seen before and it hurt, the lights burned in her head; a searing pain.

In the far distance, blurry hollows moved about the world and she felt them stealing energy, stealing life from other beings.

"Take it back," Kestrel whimpered.

"What's wrong?" Stella asked, her voice panicked.

"The exchange of power from the pearl has had an unexpected effect," Urahara explained. "It has caused Kestrel's senses to expand beyond what she is used to. It is compensating for her lack of sight."

Stella-

"Ouch," I said. "Okay, Kestrel, don't try to cover the images. Just let them come to you." I looked at Uruhara and rebuked him. "You couldn't have given her a bit of warning? My roommate has to warn me when she's turning the lights on in the morning!"

He shrugged.

"It's getting better," Kestrel said slowly. "It still hurts but-"

"You'll get used to it," I reassured her. "Although we should probably head if we're planning on getting more than an hour's sleep tonight," I added. "And I have to get a comatose boy home and explain to him why he doesn't remember the events of tonight... that'll be fun."

*sorry, all I got*

(Here's the spells your character will know, kitty: Destructive Art 22: Blue Lightning, Destructive Art 33: Blue Fire, Restoration Art 12: Healing Light, and Binding Art 1: Way of Binding. The last one is a spell that restricts an enemy's movements by binding their arms behind their back with demon magic. The only way for someone to break the spell is if they have a lot of spiritual energy. If it's used on a normal human and they try to break free they can seriously hurt themselves.)

(It's about time we moved on with the story, eh? This next post is going to take place in the morning. It's a long weekend so our characters have the day off, again.)

Audra woke up for what seemed like the eighth time to the sound of high pitched beeping. Kai hadn't been joking when he said it was annoying. She felt movement behind her when she reached to turn it off. When she looked over her shoulder she saw Kai laying behind her. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Better," Audra said. "I think I've had enough sleep now."

He leaned toward her face and kissed her before saying, "I'll go get you some breakfast, try not to move around so much."

The door swung open as Ichidan barged into the room. "Kai, we have an order fro Soul Society!"

"Another Hollow?" he asked as he climbed over Audra and out of the bed.

Ichidan nodded. "I'd fight it myself with my demon magic so you wouldn't have to leave Audra's side but this was looks strong."

Kai nodded. "I understand." He turned to Audra and said, "I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Okay." Ichidan helped Kai transform into his Death God form and together they left to fight the Hollow.

______________


They arrived in an alley in the city only to find an innocent ghost cowaring behind a dumpster. There was no sign of the Hollow.

"I don't see a Hollow. What the hell is going on?" Kai turned to see Ichidan texting furiously on his cell phone. "That phone of yours is probably broken."

"This is strange," he said, "I'm sure there was an order saying a Hollow had appeared..."

Kai turned back to the ghost of a pathetic looking business man with glasses. "Hey! You there, soul! Don't tell me you got rid of the Hollow?"

"B-By Hollow, y-you mean that scary b-bug thing? I-I was so s-scared..."

"Did someone defeat the Hollow and save you?" Ichidan asked. "If so, what did he look like?"

"I-I was scared so I had my eyes closed, so I don't know."

Ichidan sighed. "Well, whatever happened here at least the Hollow is gone." He turned to Kai and said, "I haven't taught you how to do a soul burial, have I?"

"What's a soul burial?"

"It's an exorcism for souls to send them to Soul Society. All you have to do is touch a soul's forehead with the butt of your sword."

Kai turned his sword around so he could look at the bottom of the handle. There was some sort of Japanese character on the end. "Sounds easy enough." As he approached the soul he said, "Alright, soul burial time." He touched the butt of his sword to the soul's forehead. The ghost's body was suddenly engulfed in blue light as the symbol on the end of Kai's sword glowed bright blue where it touched him. His body disappeared, breaking down into spirit particles and reforming into a black butterfly.

Audra

I knew Kai would be busy for a little while, but I was still uncertain. I was afraid to be by myself, in case I passed out again.

Not likely to happen. You've recovered, remember? I reminded myself over and over again as I changed clothes and stepped out into the hallway. A trip to Kestrel's room wouldn't be too bad; it was just down the hall.

I came to the door and knocked. "Kes? You awake?"

Kestrel

Getting back to our rooms was more difficult than I expected but it wouldn't do to have Damien wake up at Urahara's place. How would we explain that to him? Urahara accompanied us as far as the entrance to campus, carrying Stella's friend, with the cat following smoothly. Having them around was painful on my eyes. I tried not to complain.

"This is as far as we will go," Urahara announced at the gates and Stella and I each wrapped one of Damien's arms about our shoulders, lifting him between us. We stumbled to the dorm and into Stella's room, placing Damien on the bed.

"You'd better keep Kon," Stella decided as I lifted the rucksack from my back. I nodded, wincing a little as it caused all the colours on my retinas to move and blur, all mingling in flashes of light. I decided not to repeat that any time soon.

"Good luck with Damien," I said with a smile and she smiled back.

"Explaining is going to be fun," she said, shaking her head in amusement.

"Just wait until Sally gets back," I replied as I exited the room with a wave of my hand. My own room felt smaller by comparison; quieter. And for that I was grateful. I placed the sleeping Kon on the floor, on the top of a pile of clothes as I changed quickly and climbed into bed.

No matter how tightly I closed my eyes, the colours still swam before me, the features of Damien and Stella in the adjoining room so sharp that I could hardly believe a wall separated us. And then in the room next to that and the next and the next, all the faces, all the bodies hanging in the distance with their fluttering lashes and writhing lips. I re-positioned myself to my back but still the colours danced at the corners of my eyes. Sleep was slow in coming.
_____________________________

"Kes? You awake?" Audra's voice slipped through the door and I went and opened it for her and for a long time, stared at her features before I realised that her voice sounded tired and she was slumped. I assured her into the room.

"Audra... sit down," I said, sitting beside her and looking again at her face.

"What's wrong?" I asked it with little doubt that something was wrong but looking into her face, I couldn't work out just how tired she was. Her eyes drooped slightly, but that could just be her eyes.

Audra

I shook my head lazily. "Kai's alarm clock was a pain in the ass. Woke me up every hour...little does he realize it generally takes me about fifteen to twenty minutes to finally go to sleep again." I scoffed. "But it's okay. I don't mind. He was just looking out for me."

I studied her, as well. She seemed to be bothered by something; tired, even. I took my turn in asking questions.

"What about you? How have you been doing?"

Kestrel

"Good..." Kes said hesitantly as she wondered if this was the best time to tell Audra of her training, but her friend sounded fine, if a little tired, and she looked... okay. "I've just completed some training is all and the affects are... interesting."

"How do you mean?" Audra asked.

"I can see the aura of so many people, so many things. And I can see detail," Kestrel laughed wearily as she looked directly at Audra again. "I can actually see your face. No colour unfortunately but I can see every line, every dot... how strange the human face is." Audra blinked and then laughed a little.

"I suppose it is. But that's great, Kes. Isn't it?" Kestrel sighed and nodded.

"Yes, it will be nice when I'm used to it. But there's better! I can fight the hollows now too." Kestrel explained about the breaking of the pearl and the attack that she had learnt. She also told Audra of how strong she felt, of how much further she might be able to develop her power.

Audra

Hearing this news made me happy, gave me energy again. I was thrilled about her accomplishments, about all that she could do, but, at the same time...I was sad. Where she could fight, I could only stand and watch.

She must have seen the change in my expression, for she paused. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing..."

"It's got to be something. Why are you depressed?"

I sighed. "Because I can't help. I don't know anything about magic or fighting or...anything!" Tears began to come to my eyes. "I feel so useless, and it hurts! It breaks my heart to know that I can't be there for Kai, with Kai, and helping him even some! I'm always just in the way!"

I lost it then; I couldn't help but sob as Kes tried to hush me and reassure me.

Kestrel

Kes put her arms about Audra, rubbing her back soothingly. She didn't know what to say. She understood just how her friend felt, having felt it just a day ago but what comfort was there for someone who could not learn what Kestrel had? For someone who must watch her loved one fight and have no ability to help.

"It's okay," she said gently. "You can help in other ways, by being there for him and by keeping yourself safe." The words sounded lame even to Kestrel but she wasn't experienced with comforting others and yet, to her Audra had come.

"But that's not enough," Audra sobbed, clutching at hand-fulls of Kestrel's clothing. "It's not enough."

"Then learn to fight," Kestrel suggested suddenly. "Attend martial arts lessons. It's not much but... it's something." You've done it again, Kes. Learn to fight? Try to fight Hollows with fists?

(Hey, Stella. I was thinking your character could fall in love with the new one I'm going to be introducing soon. Don't get confused, though, it's not the same character I discussed with kitty, for his hair is not red. But just so you know, this guy is going to act cold toward anyone that talks to him for a while.)

Kai went back to Audra's room on his own to retrieve his body. Ichidan said he had something else he had to do so he took off when they got back to the college. When he got back he noticed Audra had left. It was only after he got back into his body that he heard her voice a few rooms down.

When he left the room to find her he accidentally bumped into someone. "Oh, sorry!" The guy he had bumped into had long features on his perfect face. He wore square glasses over his small eyes and plain clothes. His black hair was styled in a normal business cut. He didn't say anything. The guy just looked at Kai for a few moments before walking away.

Kai scratched his head. "Weird guy." He decided to let it go and find Audra.

He found her in Kestrel's room. She was crying as she clung onto Kestrel's body. When Kai came in Kestrel gave him a look that said clearly that he had come to her rescue. He guessed Kestrel didn't have that much practice when it came to comforting others.

Kestrel bent down to Audra's ear to say, "Kai's back."

Audra quickly wiped her tears away and tried to put on a smile when she turned to face her boyfriend. She didn't want him to see her this upset. "Welcome back, Kai. How did it go?"

"Audra..." Kai went to his girlfriend and pulled her into his embrace. Just from that one gesture Audra broke down again and began crying into his shoulder. Kai scooped her up into his arms and sat on the bed beside Kestrel. He rubbed her back in a comforting motion and said, "There, there, Audra. It's okay, I'm here now." He looked at Kestrel and asked, "Why is she crying?"

"She's tired of always having to watch you fight and not being able to help in any way," she told him. "I suggested she take martial arts so she can learn to fight."

Kai nodded. It was sound reasoning. When they had time he could always teach her himself since he already knew karate. He turned back to Audra and continued to comfort her until she finally calmed down.

____________________

Ishida Uryuu: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ury%C5%AB_Ishida

*Um... yeah... as glad as I am to carry the storyline on, I regret to say that I'm going on holidays on Friday, and straight afterwards I'm going to school, so I'm pretty much going to have to pull out of all my storybooks... somebody can carry my character on, if they'd like, but I'm probably only going to get on every fortnight or something... possibly once a week when I get home but I really don't know how much other stuff I'm going to have to do... so if you want to scrap Stella, it's fine, but if you want to keep her on, that's cool too, it's really up to you guys.*

Stella-

I couldn't sleep, even though the others were snoring lightly. Next door, I could hear somebody crying. I guessed that Kes was awake and presumably that was Audra with her.

I sneaked over to the door and pulled on a hoody then crept out into the corridor. In the dark, I didn't see the figure coming towards me.

"Ouch," I said as he bumped straight into me.

"Watch where you're going in future," he said, giving me a dirty look.

Not one for dirty looks myself, I smiled. "Can I help you?"

He shook his head. "No," he replied and continued walking.

I shrugged and went next door.

"Some randomer's going up and down our corridor being mean to people," I said by way of greeting. Kai, Kestrel and Audra were all in there.

"Party up in Kes's room," I said sitting down. "What's going on?"

(I'd like to keep Stella involved, that way if you ever want to come back and join in again you're always welcome. I'd like to post but I'm still waiting for Ayumi to post something.)

**Sorry! Again!**

Audra

I clung to him, holding on to their words. Martial arts. Fighting. Loved ones. It was reasonable, and Kai could teach her himself.

She sniffled and looked up at her boyfriend. "Can we start lessons tomorrow? Please?"

(Hey, Ayumi. When we first started posting in Be You, did you ever once think it would turn into something like this? Also, just to help move the story along, I'm going to skip to tonight. And just a warning, this post is going to be a little long so bare with me.)

Kai nodded. "Of course we can. If nothing else comes up I can start teaching you tomorrow after school." He stood up with Audra still in her arm and headed for the door. But he hesitated, looked at Audra and asked, "Do you want me to carry you back to your room?"

She thought about that. She didn't want to leave his embrace, but she also knew people would stare if they saw him carrying her down the hall. "No, I can walk."

"Alright." He lowered her to the ground so she could stand on both legs. Before leaving he turned to Kestrel and said, "Thanks for taking care of her while I was out, Kes."

"You're welcome. Be safe you two."

He nodded, then said, "See you later, Stella."

"Bye."

Kai directed Audra out of the room and down the hall with a hand around her waist. A few seconds after he closed the door, Kon woke up. They stuffed animal yawned and looked around, noticing Kestrel and Stella's solemn faces. "What did I miss?"

______________________

Kai spent most of the day with Audra in her room watching movies on her television. Whenever they started to get hungry he would go down to the cafeteria and bring back something to eat. Once nightfall came, Ichidan started receiving orders again. Audra was feeling better by then, so she didn't mind being left alone. In fact, if she ever needed anything Kestrel and Stella agreed to take care of her until he got back.

The orders turned out exactly how the one this morning had, with the Hollow already being eliminated before they arrived, or maybe they just weren't showing up at all. It was only after the third time that Kai got fed up and said, "Alright, what's going on here? There's no Hollow again!" He turned to Ichidan, who was dragging Kai's body out of a nearby group of bushes.

"Never mind that," he said, "just get back into your body before someone comes." He opened his phone and looked at the glowing screen.

"Seriously, you need to get that phone fixed," Kai said as he kneeled down and grabbed his body.

"Are you implying that this is my fault?" Ichidan asked as Kai began to fuse his spirit into his physical body. "I just tell you exactly what appears on the command receiver."

When he was back in his body he said, "I know, that's why you need to hurry up and get it fixed."

"Believe me, I would love to," Ichidan said.

"Dissension in the ranks? What a disgrace." Kai and Ichidan both turned to see a man in white approaching them. "Good evening, Kai Okami, Ichidan Hatsuga."

"Who are you?" Kai asked, then he remembered his face. "Wait a minute, you're the guy I bumped into in the hall today, what are you do-"

"Okami," he interrupted. "You can see ghosts, can't you?"

Kai's heart sank into his gut. He tried to deny it. "What're you talking abo-"

The newcomer suddenly looked to his left, staring intently down the empty street. "A new Hollow has appeared."

"What?" Ichidan said. His phone suddenly began ringing. His eyes were wide when he flipped it open. "He's right, one really has appeared. We've got orders."

"Which way?" Kai asked.

The newcomer pointed down the street he was staring. That's when Kai got a glimpse of a piece of jewelry hanging on a small chain from his wrist. It was in the shape of a cross. "That way," he said, staring at Kai through his glasses. "If you don't even know that much, how can you call yourself a Death God?"

The jewelry hanging from his wrist suddenly burst into blue flames of spiritual energy that shot up and down from his hand. He grabbed onto the energy with one hand and pulled on it with the other. The way he did it was oddly similar to how a person would use a bow and arrow. When he released it, a bolt of spiritual energy shot forward like an arrow. It flew over houses and streets for about half a mile, until it looked like it hit something and disappeared.

They were both simply flabbergasted. Ichidan looked at his phone and gasped. "The signal disappeared..."

Kai narrowed his eyes at the newcomers. "What the hell are you?"

His back was facing Kai after firing the spiritual energy. "Ishida Uryuu, Quincy." He looked over his shoulder and added, "And I hate Death Gods."

"What the hell?"

"Don't you understand?" he asked. "Kai Okami, it means I hate you."

Kai didn't even have a chance to say anything. One second he was there, then in the blink of an eye he disappeared. All that was left was the eerie howl of the wind through the cold Toronto streets. "What the hell is going on...?" Kai whispered.

(Hey, Ayumi? Remember that ring on the chain necklace Kai had given Audra in the last storybook? After this post I'm going to be needing her to wear it all the time. You'll see why soon.)

Kestrel

"Ready?" Kes asked as she knocked on Stella's door. There was a muffled response from inside and then the door was pushed open and Stella nodded.

"Ready," she said. Together, they walked down towards Audra's room, both carrying bags and both dressed in unusual attire. Kestrel wore tight fitting, white trousers and a fluffy, lavendar dressing gown tied at the waist with a belt in the same fabric. Stella was dressed similarly but her trousers were black and not quite so tight fitting and her dressing gown was not so fluffy and a shade of sky blue. They giggled as they made their way down the hall.

Stella knocked on the door.

"Audra?" she called. Kes could see her, sitting on the bed, and watched as she approached and touched a slender hand to the handle. She twisted it and stepped back, her eyes a little wide as her two friends entered the room. Kestrel closed the door behind them.

"What are you doing?" Audra asked as Stella started pulling things from her bag.

"These should fit you and they're only temporary until we can get some proper outfits," Stella said, holding out a pair of red trousers and a white nightgown covered in red and pink hearts.

"We visited the libraray," Kestrel explained, pulling books from her own bag. "And we've been reading about martial arts. Now, we're going to try it out. Get dressed."