Shadow Reapers

(No problem. I've put off posting a few times because of my new game, so I'm in no position to complain. )

Kestrel

Tension gusted away like a child's balloon caught by the wind and the group's fear deflated, desecrated by a gnarled and wrinkled man.

"We are also the ones who put him in danger," Kestrel said, stepping forward timidly. "If we had not been trying to pass, there wouldn't have been such a disturbance." She bowed her head, as if inviting punishment, but stole looks at the people gathered around. She marvelled at being able to see them, at discerning different hair colours, different freckle patterns. Freckles! Those were something she'd only heard of before. And they looked odd. But in a nice sort of way. The man in front of her had a fair sprinkling amongst his wrinkles and his face creased as he smiled.

"That's of no matter," he said. "We can see you are good people."

"Then maybe you can help us," Kai cut in, walking forward with a firm gait. Kestrel looked from him to Audra and Stella who had moved toward Jidanbou and were treating his wound one with magic, the other with science and both as effective and helpful as the other. They worked well together, Kestrel noted. Audra and Stella, magic and science. There's was a union that could surely save the world, if only Stella could see how amazing her abilities were.

The old man's reply was lost to Kestrel. As she turned back, a thoughtful smile playing at her lips, her eyes caught the movement of one of the people who weaved in and out of the crowd, coming closer, coming toward them. She moved gracefully, as if on a dancer's feet and her autumn hair writhed through the air, snatching particles of song with its twists and curves, her lips turned up in a half moon smile and her eyes a stunning blue. Kestrel had never truly seen the woman before but now her eyes drank her in and there was no doubt that these colours filled the outline she held so dear.

Mother... mother...

"Kestrel," the woman greeted. "I don't know how you're here and not dead but It's so good to see you."

Stella-

Audra and I bent down silmultaneously to help the giant.

"Can you deal with his arm while I have a look at this? He can't afford to lose much more blood."

Audra murmured a few words and her fairies skipped in the air as loosened his shirt and looked at the insides of his huge bloated stomach where the sword had gone, then checked his pulse, weak and fast. Audra knitted his arm back up with magic easily, but I was a little reluctant to let her near the stomach. Not that I didn't trust her, but it was the magic I was unsure of -couldn't it easily stitch things up the wrong way?

"I tell you something, this guy needs to lose weight or he's going to have heart failure," I muttered rolling up my sleeves. "Do you mind goo?"

Audra looked puzzled but shook her head. Praying that my hands were clean, I plunged them beneath his skin to find the torn edges of his stomach sack. Generally I would never try anything like this, but seeing as there was no hope of an ambulance arriving...

I found the edges, my hands stinging slightly from the acid that had spilt out. Audra did look slightly sickened as I beckoned her over.

"Heal those back together, would you?" I said, and turning away, she said the magic words. A flutter of fairy wings, and his stomach was better.

"That is going to hurt in the morning," I remarked. "He's not going to be fighting anytime soon."

I wiped most of the blood and bile off my hands, only to find it had spilt all over my jeans.

"Yuck," I said. "You know, I love blood and gore but that has got to be the most disgusting thing I've ever done. And clever me, I don't have a change of clothes with me."

Audra grimaced as I gestured for her to finish with his skin. "You can borrow something off me," she said.

"Thanks," I replied, looking up to where the others were having a chat with dead people as if it was something they did every day (who am I kidding? Kai did do it every day. But he was just weird.)

"Hey," I said frowning. "Is that... Kestrel's mum?"

Audra looked up as well. "Looks like it."

"That's nice," I said with a smile, turning back to Audra. "Guess this has its perks."

I moved over to the crowd, Audra following.

*no offence to you Dynamo, but Stella... doesn't seem to like Kai very much. Well, I mean, she likes him fine, she just also seems to like making fun of him... I don't know, she told me to.*

***Now that I'm out for break, I'll be able to post more often. All the drama and crap is over with for two and half weeks, thankfully. Now...lemme see...Sorry if it's not exactly what you want. I'm fluking it.

Oh, by the way, my dad is doing better. His arm is still painful, but he's healing nicely.***



Audra

I took my place by Kai's side, catching the end of the old man's words. "...but there is no other way through that gate."

I glanced between him and Kai, my gaze lingering on Kai when he swore. I put my hand against his shoulder lovingly, soothingly. "I'm sure we can find some way."

The old man nodded, still smiling. "But until then, you lot could stay in our little village, among the people."

I smiled. "That would be nice. Thank you." Personally, the thought of staying with strangers alarmed me a little, but I would be with Kai. I would not leave his side.

(Your post was fine. And it's good to hear that your dad is getting better. So your break is two and a half weeks? Mine is a full month, starting last week. )

(None taken, Stella. )

Kai inclined his head. "Yeah, thank you." He turned to Audra and said, "I'm going to take a look around, I'll be back later. Will you be okay without me?"

She nodded. "I'll be fine."

Kai smiled and kissed her on the forehead before walking off. As he passed by Ishida, he said, "Hey, Ishida. Keep an eye on everything while I'm gone."

Ishida frowned. "Don't tell me what to do, I'm not here to follow your orders."

Kai sighed, "Man, give it a rest already."

Audra watched as her boyfriend walked down the now busy street. She knew how he must have been feeling, with the gate closed and their presence known, getting into Seireitei was going to be even harder than before. But they couldn't give up, Ichidan's life depended on them.

Stella looked around and asked, "Hey, where'd Kestrel go?"

Yoruichi answered, "I believe she went off with her mother to catch up. Don't worry, she'll be fine."

"At any rate, we need to find someplace to lodge while we plan our next move," Ishida said. He went up to the elder and asked, "Is there anywhere we can stay for the night?"

The elder nodded and said, "Yes, there is. Please, follow me."

"Will Jidanbou be all right here?" Audra asked, motioning toward the unconscious giant.

The elder smiled. "We'll take care of him. You've done so much for him already, we can take it from here. Unlike the other Death Gods, Jidanbou is a nice man. He looks out for us and takes part in many of our festivities. I thank you again for helping him."

(Mine's three )

Stella-

We had followed the elder down a few streets when I noticed Ishida's outfit again. "You're pristine," I said loudly. He gave me a weird look.

"How did you manage to stay so clean?" I wailed.

"I didn't stick my hands in somebody's stomach," he pointed out dryly.

"I hate being the dirty one. Hey, have I got some intestine on my back?" I asked, pretending to check. Neither of them laughed. I sighed and called to the man leading us. "Excuse me!" He simply kept hobbling on purposefully.

"What's his name?" I hissed to Audra, but she she just shrugged.

I jogged a little to catch up with him. "Hey!" I said, and he stopped, then looked me up and down with disdain.

"Yeah, I know, blood and guts and earth all over me, I get it, no need to stare," I called to some children who were doing just that. "Listen, I was wondering if there was an outdoor tap somewhere so that I wouldn't have to completely destroy a bathroom."

He paused, then nodded and gestured. "Around the next corner," he said.

"Thank you," I replied, then looked hopefully at Audra. "Got soap?" I asked. She grimaced.

"In the very bottom of my rucksack."

I looked at Ishida, who nodded, then proceeded to take out a little cream wash bag and produce a bar of rose soap. "That's not effeminate at all," I said raising my eyebrows as he handed it to me, then with all the dignity I could muster, went to wash my bloodsoaked hands outside.

I was making progress when a timid voice said behind me, "You're alive."

I turned around to see a little girl standing there, looking incredibly alone. I nodded. "If I wasn't I'd be worried," I said. I paused. "You dead?"

She gave a tiny nod. "For three weeks." Tears began to well up in her eyes. "I miss my mum and dad and friends," she said.

I shook the water off my mostly clean hands as she began to sob and put my arm round her. "Hey... it'll be okay," I whispered. "You'll make new friends here, won't you?" I looked her in the eye. "I'm Stella," I said, shaking her hand. "And I'll be your friend."

Kestrel

Feeling like a little girl again, she clung to her mother's hand, her eyes glued to that smiling face as they traced a path through the ranks of the dead.

"What's it like here, mum?" Kestrel asked timidly.

"It's alright, I live with some older people and a few children, we have a family of sorts."

"Oh." Kestrel lowered her eyes so they could not betray the emotion she felt but her mother brushed away the tears tenderly.

"It's not quite the same, dear. I miss you terribly." Kestrel smiled sadly and they embraced a moment, Kes clinging longer than she should. The dead were watching. Kestrel understood that look in their eyes, that deep suffering, even though she had never before been witness to it. They were scattered pieces of paper, the words scrambled across them holding only a fragment of meaning. They were incomplete. That was how Kestrel had felt for so long and she knew it was something she'd face again.

"How's your father doing?" Kestrel's mother asked. They both laughed for a moment, the answer not really necessary but Kestrel delivered it anyway:

"The same as ever, he's working on a painting again, mother. I wish I could see it. I think that's why we have such trouble being close, because I can't see his work and that's all he lives for..."

"He loves you," Kestrel's mother said simply and Kestrel nodded but they both knew it wasn't quite true. After that they talked of pleasant times and laughed and played games; they did everything that hadn't been possible when Kes was young. But the sun was fading and both knew it couldn't go on forever, it couldn't last.

"You'll be careful, won't you, Kes?" The girl nodded solidly.

"I will."

Yoruichi showed up a few minutes later. The cat strode up to Kestrel and her mother and said, "There you are. I came to find you and take you to the inn we're lodging in for the night while we think of our next plan of action."

Kestrel's mother turned to her daughter and said, "So, you really are going to try and get into Seireitei, aren't you?"

Kestrel nodded. "A friend of ours is being wrongfully charged for a crime by helping us. If we don't save him, he'll be exicuted."

"I see." Her mother turned to look at the giant wall that still stood between them and Seireitei. Something caught her eye as she pointed to a rooftop. "Isn't that your Death God friend?"

Kestrel looked, too, and saw Kai sitting on the rooftop, staring at the giant wall. "Yeah, that's Kai all right."

"Even if he's that high up, he won't be able to see over the gate," she said.

Kestrel nodded in agreement. "But he'll still keep looking, because he won't give up. That's the kind of person Kai is."

***I will post later. I have to leave now; my debut for church is in less than an hour. AAH!!!***

Audra

Even though I was several feet away and following Yoruichi, I still heard what Kes and her mother were saying. I looked up, and, indeed, Kai was there. Sitting still and staring at the gates.

He'll be fine, I assured myself. He's just thinking. I'll come back for him later, if he doesn't come to bed.

I turned and followed Yoruichi down the road, toward a tall, two-story building. It looked welcoming, at least. But it was definately better than a cold, hard ground - maybe even the beds at the campus. Definately better than bunks at a military base.




***Not much...sorry...***

(No problem.)

A few hours later, Kai came down from the rooftop. The sun had already set, leaving the sky a blanket of black. He hadn't come up with any ideas of how to get through. He decided to go back and see if anyone else came up with anything. After asking a few people still walking the streets, he found the inn where they were lodging. He went in to see everyone sitting around a table. The elder was also sitting with them.

"Ah, you're back," Yoruichi said.

"Great timing," Kestrel added, "Yoruichi was just about to tell his how to get into Seireitei."

Kai took a seat beside Audra and said, "So, he thought of a way to get through the gate?"

"Forget about breaking through the gate," Yoruichi told him.

"What? You want me to give up?" Kai asked.

"Not give up." He looked at Stella and asked, "Show him the diagram."

Stella nodded and pulled out a piece of paper from under the table. It was a diagram of the wall that surrounded Seireitei. There were four points around the wall, one of them being an 'X'.

Yoruichi explained, "Once a gate has been opened, the security on the inside becomes even tighter. That means the same strategy we used on Jidanbou's gate is not the best one."

"I agree," Ishida said.

"What about the other gates?" Audra asked. "There's still three of them left."

"It won't make much difference which gate we try to use, as each gate will be heavily guarded."

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Kai asked.

"If we can't use the gate, we must enter another way."

"How?"

Yoruichi turned to the elder and asked, "Elder, do you know the Kukaku Shiba?"

"W-What!? The elder was taken aback by his question.

"I understand she's someone who constantly changes residences. I haven't been able to find out where she lives now."

The elder's hands tightened into fists and began to shake. "Kukaku...Shiba..."

Audra heard something outside that sounded like the hooves of horses. It was faint, but it sounded like it was getting closer.

"You're not planning to go through the wall with that!"

"Do you guys hear that?" Audra asked.

The thunderous hooves kept growing louder and louder, until suddenly they stopped, and a man flew through the front door. He yelled his surprise as he landed head-first in front of everyone.

"Owowowowowww..." He kept a red gloved hand on his head as he got to his feet. He wore what looked like a karate gi with a black vest. A white and red bandanna was wrapped around his head and sunglasses covered his eyes.

"Who is this guy?" Kai asked. A loud snort at the door turned Kai's attention toward a large brown boar coming through the entrance. The boar wore a red ribbon tied into a bow on its head. "Wha-! Who let that boar in here!?"

The newcomer groaned as he got to his feet. As he brushed off his pant legs, he mumbled, "Darn... she threw me again..." He stood up straight and smiled at the elder. "Hey! Been a long time, old man."



The elder yelled at him, "Ganju, what are you doing here!? Go home!"

"Some greeting. I come to visit you after all this time and this is what I get?" He looked around at everyone else. "Your guests look shocked." his gaze locked onto Kai when he saw him. He removed his glasses, revealing his small pupils. "Hey. What's a dirty Death God doing here?"

"What?" Kai said.

Ganju, the newcomer, went up to Kai's face and said, "Not 'what?'!" He started patting Kai's cheek with his hand. "What's a dirty Death God doing here, I asked!"

Audra could just see what was about to happen. Kai did not like having people up close and touching him like that.

Ganju grabbed Kai's jaw. "Huh? Got nothing to say, kid?"

Kai's fist collided with the man's face, sending him across the room.

(I hope you guys can post something off of this. If not, just let me know and I can send you another script to use as reference if you need it.)

*I'll run with it, but can't do an awful lot with it... hey you know what, wiki-ed the guy, vague idea of who he is...*

Stella-

Ganju got up and rubbed his chin. "So... you like to play like that do you? Hmph, couldn't have expected anymore." He seemed sufficiently recovered to make a run at Kai again, before Audra stepped in front of him.

"Stop!" she commanded. The guy -whoever he was- paused for a second and looked at her.

"Protecting a Death God are we?" he snarled.

"Yes, and you'll stop if you have half a brain."

"Audra," Kai said, pushing her away. "I can deal with this myself."

"Oh, stop being so proud," I chimed in. "You'll only get bruised more."

Kai threw me a dirty look. Ganju (whose nose looked like it had been broken more than once), also shot a look at me, Kes and Audra before returning to Kai.

I leant over to the elder and whispered "Should we do something?"

He shook his head. "Ganju hates death gods -it's best for one or the other of them to get over that."

"Why? Does he hate them, I mean?"

Ganju -although his sense of smell may have been impaired, his hearing was not. "Because they killed my brother," he said.

"Fair enough," I said. "But don't take it out on Kai, let's face it, he's had a rough day."

Kai still stared at him. "Which one killed him?"

Ganju didn't answer, staring at me and Kes sitting at the table, his eyes flicking to Audra. "Hang on," he said. "You're all living."

*I hope that's okay...*

(It's all right, but I would like to make a change that's a little more fitting to his personality. We're not supposed to know about his brother yet.)

Stella leant over to the elder and whispered, "Should we do something?"

The elder simply said, "It's best to let them settle it themselves," before taking a sip of his tea.

"This is no time to be drinking tea!" Ishida said. "Who is that guy, anyway!?"

The newcomer looked at Ishida. "You don't know who I am!?"

Ishida: "I don't."
Stella: "Neither do I."
Kestrel: "Me neither."
Audra: "Nope."
Kai: "Don't even want to know."

The man sighed, "Hah... It can't be helped. I'll tell you." He pointed to his chest with his thumbs. "My name is Ganju! Self-proclaimed Crimson Bullet of West Rukon District! Self-proclaimed the most 'want-to-call-you-big-brother' candidate for fourteen years running! And self-proclaimed West Rukongai's Top Death God Hater!"

"Self-proclaimed?" Kestrel said, a little confused.

Stella shook her head. "Why do we keep running into all the weirdos?"

Kai sighed. "You're hopeless."

Ganju gave Kai a cold stare. "What did you say?"

Kai returned the stare with one of his own. "You heard me."

Ganju cried out at the top of his lungs as he tackled Kai outside through the front door.

(Just so you know, Ganju has four lackeys waiting for him outside. They're all riding boars just like him. I hope this is all right, I couldn't think of another way to get them outside to the next fight scene.)

*Posted at same time so just ignore this one*

Kestrel

"And we'd like to keep it that way," Kestrel said as she dropped her offensive stance and turned back to Yoruichi. "So who is the Kukaku Shiba and how can she help?" The cat's nose twitched and his mouth opened, ready to issue a response when suddenly Ganju threw himself at Kai and began pounding his head.

"Take that Death God! And this and that and-" Kai exploded, sending Ganju crashing into the wall and the elder shook his head in dismay before burying it in his hands in an open disapproval.

"Try that again and we'll take you down," Audra snarled, stepping up to stand beside Kai who had regained his feet. Stella stepped in too and Kestrel took a few steps further, as if she might be making for the middle ground between the two men but held back a little.

"I don't know what your problem is," Stella said. "But we'll fight you if we have to."

"State your business here or go home," Kestrel added.

*right, sorry...*

Stella-

I sighed as Audra hurried out of the door after him. Kestrel and Ishida both stood up as if to follow. I remained seated next to the elder, at which point they both gave me a look.

"What?" I said with a shrug. "It's not like I'll be of any help, and I'd rather sit and chat than go watch another fight."

Kestrel's eyes softened slightly but she made no sign of letting me stay. Ishida went a step further, grabbing my wrist and dragging me out the door.

"Bye," I mouthed to the elder as we went outside.

To where Audra and Kai were surrounded by some guys riding pigs. (Seriously, pigs? Why would you do that? Sure, they looked impressive, but they were still pigs.)

Kai and Ganju were nose to nose, while Audra cast her eyes over the four others. They all looked angry, and as if they would obey Ganju's every order. They were all snarling.

A quick calculation caused me to gasp. "There are five of them," I muttered. "And five of us. One each." I didn't know if these people could use magic or not, but the smallest was still about twice my size, and riding a pig with fearsome tusks. I physically trembled and mumbled a quick, desperate prayer under my breath. Ishida glanced at me and seemed as if he suddenly realised my concern. He shuffled closer.

"It'll be fine," he mumbled. "Just stay close, don't draw attention to yourself, and if you do, hit them where it hurts."

Ganju and Kai were closer than ever. Like lightning, both of them -I don't know who moved first, raised their right fist and slammed it into the other.

Ganju's friends pounced.