Shadow Reapers

Sorry about the delay, guys. But feel privileged because this is the only storybook I'm making time for tonight...

Kestrel

Trying to control the pain was near to impossible and long after the attack was over, her senses burned as if they had been dipped in acid, rapidly corroding. Kes whimpered.

"It's over?" Audra asked uncertainly, approaching Kai slowly at first and then hurrying over. Stella and Kes followed more slowly, the former supporting the latter. Urhara intercepted them before they reached their friends.

"My apologies, Kestrel. I did not consider this when I unleashed your ability," Urahara said. Kes nodded her acceptance.

"It's okay," she said. "I will accustom myself. If I can't get control of it, I will be useless in combat." Urahara nodded thoughtfully and Stella looked a little alarmed, as if she had not considered this possibility. "Actually, I'd like to be present at all future training until I can watch without any show of weakness."

"That is your decision," Urahara answered.

Steadily the group moved back upstairs, taking Kai up to one of the bedrooms where he could rest and recover. But training was not over for the day. In fact, Urahara was eager to see what progress the girls had made.

(I feel so special. Thanks for taking the time to post tonight, kitty. i understand that you've got a lot on your plate tonight. I, myself, have three major projects to work on that are due at the end of this semester for college, one of which I haven't even started yet. If you have lots of work to do, we'll understand if you can't post that often.

Anyway, once Ayumi posts we can do a time-jump to the night our characters leave for Soul Society. I've got nothing else to post until then.)

*hello, I'm here until Tuesday, so could we please get this show on the road so I can get lots of posts in between now and then? Yays! Finally getting to the Soul Society. Still totally confused about that whole fight, though...*

(Here's what Ayumi wanted to post before I got too hasty and moved the story forward without her.)

Audra

I hesitated as Uruhara turned to us. The other boys - I could not remember their names - were helping Kai into "our" bedroom, down the hall behind Uruhara...

"So, shall we see your powers? Audra?" he asked, but I didn't hear him. My eyes were for Kai, my attention on him alone. Uruhara ended up calling my name several times before I heard him.

"Well? Can we see your powers?"

I stammered, glancing between him and my love. Uruhara must have understood my expression and silence; he, too, looked over his shoulder briefly at where Kai had been carried to.

"I just...I can't focus. I have to see him..." my explanation was timid if nothing else.

A moment. Then two. He finally nodded. "Go ahead. I'll see you later."

I was out of the room in a heartbeat. I bounded across the place, down the hall, and to the doorway. The other boys were leaving, murmuring softly, but I didn't care. I didn't even mind their exclamations when I almost ran into them. All that mattered was seeing Kai, taking care of him...

He was laying still on the bed, staring wearily at the ceiling. I eased over, taking my place by his side.

"Hey, champ," I whispered, running my fingers through his hair.

"Hey," he smiled back. "What did you think?"

"That was...wow. I never would've thought it'd be so...so...great. I wish I had had a camera or something with me; I'll never see anything so grand again." We chuckled at that. I bent to place a kiss on his forehead. I wouldn't tell him what I was thinking, though. But of course, I'm a burden, a weak little human girl with fairies inside a ring. I'll never be that powerful... I can't help but envy you, Kai.

"Get some rest," I finally spoke, "or would you like me to sing you to sleep?"

A soft growl was enough of a yes to me. I continued to run my fingers through his hair as I softly sang my favorite little lullabies. He was out in minutes.
_____________________________________

Soul Society

Byakuya was back at Ichidan's cell the next day to update his brother on his sentence. Renji wasn't here this time.

"Ichidan Kuchiki, you are guilty of first degree offenses and will be executed twenty-eight days from now at the Central Execution Grounds. That is the final decision of the Soul Society. That is all." Ichidan remained silent as he watched his older brother leave the room.

The sun was set in the center of the sky as Byakuya walked down the long balcony of a large Japanese style building. Even after telling Ichidan about the sentence he felt nothing. He stopped when he heard a voice behind him say, "You were very calm, Captain Byakuya. Well done, well done." He looked over his shoulder to see two men.

The one on the right, who was leaning against the railing, was skinny and had silver hair. His face looked oddly similar to a fox's with his slitted eyes and ever present grin. The one on the left who was leaning against the wall was a big man with spiked hair with small bells on the tips of each spike. He had a long, thin scar down the left side of his face over his eye, and an eye patch over his other eye. They both wore long white capes like Byakuya, indicating they were both squad captains themselves.



The man on the right continued, "Such calmness in the wake of your brother's execution. You are indeed a role model for Death Gods, Captain."

"Don't be ridiculous," the man on the left said in a deep husky voice. "You and the captain of the ninth squad are the only Death Gods who would fret over dying."

"You think so?"

Byakyua turned to face them both and asked, "Now what would two captains without their aides want with me?"

The man with silver hair answered, "Oh, we were just... concerned that the Sixth Squad's captain might be feeling down because his brother was about to be executed."

"Our family lineage is none of your concern," Byakuya told him.

"So you're not upset, right?" the man with the eye patch asked. "Criminals are such a bother to the nobles."

"My, my... how unusual for a commoner to understand the subtleties of nobles."

The man stepped away from the wall he was leaning on and said, smiling, "Not really. I've always been the sensitive one since I was a kid. How about this? Just to show my sensitivity, I'd even offer to chop off the criminal's head, before the execution."

Byakuya was now staring intently at the man with the eye patch. "I wasn't aware you could fell a person's head, considering your present level."

His smile widened even more. "Wanna try me?"

"You want to?" The two of them began to reach for their swords.

Before either of them touched the hilts, both the man with the eye patch and the one with silver hair disappeared. Still sensing their reiatsu, Byakuya looked to his right at the roof of a nearby building. The man with silver hair stood on the room, holding the end of a rope the was tied quite tightly around the other man's body. The man with the eye patch struggled to free himself, saying, "Hey! Ichimaru! Let go! Why you-!"

"Forgive us, Captain Byakuya. I never intended to offend you in any way. We're leaving now. My regards to you brother." With that, he left. The other man's voice faded into the distance as he was dragged away. Byakuya watched them as they left for a few moments, then went on his way.
____________________________________

Two Weeks Later...

Kai was sitting in his room. It was 12:59 at night when he got up from his bed to open the window. "Let's see... This should do it." He remembered what Urahara had told him seven days ago after his last training session.

"In seven days, at 1:00am, please leave your window open and wait."

"Something tells me I'm going to regret this..." Kai mumbled.

Something suddenly landed on his head, making a soft squeak when it did. "Are you just going to leave me here!?"

Kai sighed as he grabbed Kon and pulled him off his head. "We've gone over this, Kon. I need you to stay here in my body so you can take notes on everyone's classes to make sure we don't miss anything. We're paying the tuition out of our own pockets, and our grades will stay on our records for the rest of our lives. We can't afford to fail any classes."

Kon freed himself from Kai's grip and landed on the bed. "But if it wasn't for Ichidan, that shop keeper would have destroyed me! I want to fight with you guys! And besides, you guys are hopeless without my help!"

"Are you saying you actually want to go to Soul Society? The place that issued the destruction of all Mod Souls?" Kai asked.

"Uhh..." Kon seemed to think about that for a moment. "On second thought, education is always important. If you don't graduate you can't get any good jobs."

"That's what I thought." Kai looked at the clock on his bedside table and watched as it switched over to 1:00. He waited for something to happen. After a few moments, he heard a faint whistling outside. He looked outside but saw nothing. The noise slowly got louder, then a round object came soaring out of the sky toward the window. For a split second he saw an illustration of Urahara's face and a hand making a peace sign on the front of it before the object shot past his head and hit the wall, splashing a red liquid substance all over the wall.

Kai and Kon both looked at the blood-like liquid with looks of mortification. Kon was the first to scream, "What the hell is that!?"

As the liquid slowly slid down the wall, a message was revealed. It read, Please come to the front of Urahara's shop immediately.

"What the hell is wrong with that guy!?" Kai yelled. "It looks like a dying message at a murder scene!"

"That guy has something broken in his head!" Kon added.

As the liquid slid down more, another message was revealed. This one read, P.S. If you thought this was "like a dying message" or something common like that... you have no sense of humour!

Kai's blood ran hot with anger as his eyebrow began to twitch. "...that...bastard..."


Gin Ichimaru: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gin_Ichimaru
Kenpachi Zaraki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenpachi

Stella-

"Okay, Kon'll be giving me and Sally a hand, and I'll make sure I get all your music notes and oh-! Kes, will you need your toothbrush?"

It was three minutes to one by the clock on my phone, and Kes was sitting looking a little nervous on the end of her bed while I did a last minute check about her room for her.

"I don't think we'll have much time for oral hygeine, Stel," she said smiling.

"My dentist would be none too pleased," I muttered and set it down again. "It's nearly one. Shall we open the window?"

"Let's." Kestrel stood up, twisted the handle of the window and flung it wide.

Nothing happened for a moment, then something flew past and hit the wall.

Please come to the front of Urahara's shop immediately.

I laughed. "Gosh, Urahara thinks he's hilarious, doesn't he?"

Kestrel on the other hand, looked frightened. "Is that... blood?"

P.S. If you thought this was "like a dying message" or something common like that... you have no sense of humour!

"Clearly not," I replied. "Ready?"

She nodded. "Ready."

We met Audra in the corridor, looking a little pale.

"Was the blood really necessary?" she asked. I giggled as we began to make our way down the stairs.

"Kes, did you bring a toothbrush?" she asked.

"To tell the truth, I'm not even sure if we're able to bring stuff with us," Kestrel said. "But no, I didn't."

"Me neither."

"Whereas I'll be safe at home with white teeth," I said in a sing-song voice.

"Stella, about notes..."

"Kon and I have it covered, I've asked Sally to help, you'll be fine..."

It was a cold night and I was grateful for my layers as we made our way through the icy air.

"And Stella, can you please make sure to flush the toilet in my apartment once a day to stop it smelling like drains..." Audra was saying when we stopped short outside the shop.

"Oh!" I squealed.

"Oh..." gasped Kes.

"Oh," said Audra incredulously.

Ooohhh

*I, of course, have no idea what they're oh-ing at...*

(I do. )

The three of them stood there staring at Ishida, who had arrived before them. What surprised them was his outfit. He wore a long robe, white pants, and a white mantle, all of which were white. The hem of the front of the outfit was blue, as well as the strips on the back that represent a Quincy cross. He seemed like the last person who would dress up for this sort of occasion.



"What took you all so long?" he asked.

"What's with the getup?" Stella asked. "Some how I never pictured you as the type to play dress-up."

Ishida frowned. "I made this outfit myself to maximize me abilities during battle. I would not be wearing it otherwise. What about you? You won't need to wear that much where we're going."

"I'm not going, remember?" Stella asked.

"If you say so."

Audra looked around and asked, "Where's Kai? He should be here by now."

Urahara emerged from the shop. "I'm sure he's on his way," he said. "There's no way he could have missed the message I sent him."

"That message wasn't funny at all, Urahara," Audra said. "I thought it was blood. I almost passed out!"

He crossed his arms and shook his head. "My, my. You guys are no fun at all..."


Meanwhile, Kai was on his way to Urahara's shop. With Kon's help he had separated his Death God body from his physical one. Ironically, that was the reason why he was running late. No matter what the situation called for, Kon did not like Kai shoving his hand down his throat.

As he made his way down the empty streets he kept thinking about Ichidan and everything he had done for him and his friends. With out him, Kai doubted he would still even be here. "So many things have happened," he said to himself. "And now..." He remembered how Ichidan had left willingly just so that Death God with the long hair wouldn't kill Kai. "I won't let it be like it never happened."

He finally arrived in front of Urahara's shop to see everyone waiting for him. "Oh, Kai! You finally came! Good, good." urahara said in his usually cheerful voice.

Kai noticed Ishida. Surprised, he asked, "Ishida, why are you here?"

"What? Weren't you told I was coming?" he asked. "No way will I remain defeated by those Death Gods. I'm going, too."

"Pretty slow on the up-take, aren't you?" Yoruichi asked as he emerged from the shop to stand beside Urahara. "I'm sure you've already noticed the increase in the hidden powers of these three. While you were training to regain you Death God powers, I trained Kestrel and Audra to enhance their own abilities. Ishida has also been training in his own way. You have all grown considerably in strength over these last few two weeks, but it will still be dangerous where you're going."

Kai stared at Yoruichi for a few seconds. He blinked a few times, then yelled, "That cat just talked!!"

Stella-

"Kai, honestly," I said, rubbing Yoruichi behind the ears. "You are possibly the slowest person I have ever met. Yoruichi's right. How did you not know he talked?"

Kai shrugged. "I've been busy."

"Oh, yeah, far too busy to take note of your surroundings I'm sure," I said, and though I smiled I was a little genuinely annoyed, so I added, "So caught up in your own importance."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kai said, verging on anger.

"Nothing," I said standing up. "Nothing at all. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to ask Snowy something."

Leaving a slightly puzzled Kai I walked over to the boy who looked like he had just jumped out of a detergent ad.

"What did you mean by 'if you say so'?"

"Bit slow on the uptake yourself, aren't you?" he said with a smirk.

"I don't know what you're insinuating, but can you please not tease me? I know I'm not going, and I wish we could leave it at that."

People were annoying, especially in the early hours of the morning.

"So, Urahara," I said with a yawn. "Why one o'clock? Why fake -but totally awesome- blood on the walls? What's going on? How are you getting there?"

"So full of questions tonight, aren't you?" Urahara asked. "Why don't we go inside so I can show you?"

They all followed Urahara down into the basement where he had trained both Kai and Kestrel. Tessai was already there waiting for them. The debris and craters Kai had made during his ten day training period were still present, but other than that, there was nothing to see.

"Here we are," Urahara said.

They all looked around but saw nothing. Audra was the first to say, "Uhh... Where's the gateway?"

Urahara snapped his fingers. Suddenly, four large rectangular stone pillars materialized out of thin air beside him. They came together to form a hollow square. Other than it's sudden appearance, it didn't seem special in any way. "This is the gate that leads to Soul Society. It's known as Senkaimon, which in English means, 'Tunnel World Gate'."

"It doesn't matter what it's called, as long as it can get us there," Kai said.

"You are eager to leave, I know, but please let me finish," Urahara said. "Listen very carefully. This gate is equipped with a spirit particle conversion machine. As you already know, Soul Society is a world of spirits. It is impossible to enter that world unless you have the form of a spirit. However Kai, being a Death God, is the only one who can cross through. So we will the machine to convert the rest of you into spirits."

"In other words," Ishida said, "even without extracting our spirits, by going through this gate..."

"Correct," Urahara said, answering him before he finished. "You will be able to enter Soul Society as you are."

"Got it," Kai said as he approached the gate. "Now, lets-"

"However!" Urahara casually jabbed his cane into Kai's side as he walked by, making him fall to the ground. "The time that we have to open the gate and connect it to Soul Society is four minutes."

"Four minutes?" Kestrel asked, worried. "Is that enough time?"

"Normally, it would be impossible."

"What!?" Kai shouted.

"It's a reckless idea to start with. You were warned that this journey would be dangerous." Urahara told them. "I'll do my very best and hold it for four minutes. If you can't cross over in that time you will be trapped forever between Soul Society and this world."

Kestrel

"Then we will cross in for minutes," Kestrel said.

"Now wait a second, isn't there any way we can get longer or..." Kai faltered and at last nodded in defeat. "Okay then." Resolutely everyone but Stella lined up and Kestrel found she didn't know how to say goodbye or whether she even could but she hated to leave Stella after everything they had been through. And at the same time, she was glad that at least one of her friends would be safe.

Ishida looked at Stella who looked back, some unknown communication passing between them and then he turned to face the gateway. They all shouldered their packs and prepared themselves.

"Ready?" Urahara asked.

"Ready," they said. But before Urahara could start to open the gateway, Stella pushed her backpack filled with all their notebooks into kon's hand and came to stand beside the others.

"Ready," he said uncertainly.

***I'm sorry I didn't post! We've been trying to set up a new computer! Jeez...so excuse me for not having as much access to a computer as you two do!

I cannot keep up. I don't know what to do now.***

***I think I can make sense of it all. I'm not in a better mood at ALL but I will at least TRY.***

Audra

I glanced at Kai. I had still not gotten over his success two weeks ago, with regaining his powers and unleashing a new sword with enough force to nearly tear this chamber apart. I still remembered it, was awed by it, and even envied him. There was no way on earth my powers would ever be so grand.

But this was it. Now was the time. To fight.

I swallowed, taking my place in the line and waiting. The gates would soon open, and then we'd be in Soul Society...basically, Heaven.

Then we just had to survive.

Wow.

(Everything between Ayumi and I has been sorted out. I editted my post from this morning with what she would have posted if I hadn't moved ahead too soon. I'll post something in the morning before I start working on my major project that's due in two weeks. I worked on it all day today and I'm planning on doing the same tomorrow, but I'll make time during breaks to post.)

"I am coming with you." Everyone looked at Yoruichi who went to stand beside Kai. "It is very easy to get lost between worlds. I will be your guide and make sure you all get to the other side. But understand that if you fail, you cannot return."

"Then that means we just have to win," Kai said.

"Exactly."

The inside of the gate suddenly flashed with a bright light. Urahara and Tessai were kneeling at each side of the gate with their hands on the ground. Their hands were glowing with a bright blue aura. "Run in the instant the gate opens," Urahara told them. The gate let out an even brighter flash before morphing into a wall that looked like it was made of water. Everyone jumped in.

Stella was left behind as her friends went to save Ichidan.

(Alright Stella, it's up to you to make your character decide to follow them. Just so everyone knows, the place between both worlds is going to be like a long dark tunnel. Occasionally, machines called Sweepers go through the world to clean up lost souls. Sweepers look like organic trains, if that makes any sense, and our characters are going to be chased by one on their way to Soul Society.)

*alright. I'll give it a go... Stella's going to be acting on the spur of the moment...*

Stella-

I gave a deep sigh and sat cross legged in front of the gate. Off they went. Kai, Audra, Kestrel, Ishida, Urahara and Yoruichi. All the people in my "new" life were gone.

I suddenly felt incredibly lonely, like, Peig Sayers lonely. Left in this world by myself.

I sighed again and stood up, turning my back to the gate and looking round the room. Suddenly, a glint of something below me caught my eye. A tiny silver keyring. I picked it up. It had been on Audra's rucksack.

Suddenly a thought struck me. What if this was important like her necklace? Or what if it was lucky? Or had a meaning for her? What if she couldn't do anything without it?

We couldn't have that, could we?

I looked back at the gate. Surely I could get in and out in time to give it to her.

And even if I did it, could be stuck in there be much worse than being left behind. I thought about it. Kes, Audra, Kai, Ishida...

Almost without thinking, I made up my mind, and taking a run up, jumped through the gate and out of this world.

*how's that?*

(Perfect.)

Kai, Audra, Ishida. Kestrel and Yoruichi all ran as fast as they could. The tunnel they were in was very dark, and the walls seemed to move.

"I don't see the exit," Audra said.

"We're still a long distance away from the exit," Yoruichi said. "Just keep running, and we may yet survive."

"Guys! Wait up!" Everyone stopped running. They turned around to see Stella catching up to them. She was out of breath when she stopped in front of everyone.

"Stella, what are you doing here!?" Kestrel asked.

"Forget about it for now!" Yoruichi told them. "We have to keep going or else the exit will close before we get there!"

The ground suddenly began to vibrate as a large grinding sound could be heard in the direction where the came. They could see a bright light slowly getting bigger.

"What's that?" Kai asked, worried.

Yoruichi started running again. "If you have time to look back, then use it to run!"

(Here comes the Sweeper. )