Shadow Reapers

That's okay, Dynamo. I don't mind if you use my character a little and it moved the plot on pretty well.

Kestrel

"No," Kestrel cut in, "No, no, I'm fine. Let's go." Sally looked at Kestrel and shrugged so they set off again.

"If you're sure you're okay..." Stella prompted and Kestrel nodded enthusiastically but all the while, her mind was dwelling on something else. Did I really see it? she wondered. Did I see? What was that? Is it still there. If I concentrate... Kestrel shuddered and decided she didn't want to try it.

"So then, what's this place called?" Kestrel asked.

"Well we thought we'd go to the Gargoyle first," Sally replied.

**I won't be able to post much over the next three days. I have a dog show all weekend.**

(Rorylegend: The ghosts appear the way they did when they were alive and they do remember things and people who see ghosts can touch them. But, I'll go into more detail about the 'devilspawn' in a bit. Ayumi: Okay, have fun.)

Kai looked back to Ichidan and asked, "Well, are you?"

"You have nothing to fear. I did not come here to harm any humans, it's against our laws to do so."

"Your laws?"

"What is it saying, Kai?" Audra asked.

Kai told Audra the spirit he was talking to was a death god named Ichidan Hatsuga. He repeated every word the spirit said from that point on so Audra could hear what he was saying.

"Yes, our job is to protect the living and escort the dearly departed to a place called Soul Society."

"Soul Society? What's that?"

"I suppose humans would call it Heaven," he said.

"What are you protecting us from?" Kai asked.

"A death god has two jobs in this world. The first one is to bring the dearly departed to Soul Society like I said. The second is to kill Hollows and purify them."

"Hollows?"

"Hollows are spirits born of anger and despair. They indiscriminately attack both the living and the dead and eat their souls. When a spirit is bound to this world for too long it eventually starts to hate everything around it. When that happens a Hollow is born. Some of them are born right here in the real world, and sometimes even in Soul Society. But most of the time they come from a place called Hueco Mundo. It is a world full of Hollows."

"So, basically what you're saying is these Hollows are angry spirits that feed off both the living and the dead?"

He nodded. "By eating souls they become stronger, and more dangerous. Even we death gods know exceptionally little about them, they are strange creatures that do not think like the rest of us do."

"So, what do these things look like?"

"The most common features of a Hollow are the masks on their faces and holes in their chests."

(By the way, Ayumi, I assume you can speak Spanish? I think Hueco Mundo is a Spanish word. If it is, do you know what it means?)

Stella-

I rolled my eyes. "Sally, do we have to?"

"Yes," she said, dragging me by the arm. "You said you would."

She led us down into the neon lit building. I whispered to Kes. "You'll see, she'll disappear in five minutes. But some of the others are probably around, I'll introduce you."

She nodded, and we made our way through the crowds to the bar.

"Just a Sprite please," I said. Sally had, indeed, disappeared.

I suddenly shuddered inadvertantly, as if a ghost or a presence or something had just brushed past my shoulder. "Somebody just walked over my grave," I said.

**I took third today...dang...and I don't speak too much Spanish. Just a few words. But I do know a website: altavista.com. (Click on Bable Fish Translation.) It translated to Hollow World.**

*Soul society, hollows... ahh the kid by the lamp post! I remember this one This is going to be a looong storybook. I can't really think of anything relevent for Rei to do, so she can sneak around listening to conversations or something, unless anyone wants to bring her in*

Audra

My eyes widened with Kai's. Masks? Holes in their chests? Then, that would mean...

"Shit..." I whispered. "That's what you saw!"

"I know."

I waited as Kai spoke with Ichidan.



**All I've got...I'm tired, I'm sore, and I'm hungry. Can't think right now.**

*could a human get in trouble if they were somehow purposfully keeping a spirit there? sorry I have so many questions!*

Hill-

The phone rang.

The phone rang again.

On the third ring Hill picked up the phone.

"What?"

"Good your home." it was his much younger, less responsible brother, Adam.

"No I'm out-my ghost is answering the phone." he could hear voices in the background.

"Haha your so funny, don't even joke about that-I don't ever want to have to see your ghost. I mean it's bad enough I have to see you living."

"Is there a point to your call?" Hill snapped at his brother.

"Yes, Mr. Grumpy Gills there is. I need a place to stay."

"Where are you?"

"Across the street." Hill stood up from his desk and looked out the window to see his brother and a few other poeple standing across the street. "Look just tonight I promise-I shouldn't drive and nor should anyone that I was with."

"Don't you mean are with? I can hear them."

"Yeah, well they aren't staying too obviously." Adam must have turned to talk to the other people because there was a swirl of voices and Hill only caught a few words here and there. He finally became perpetually annoyed and hit the phone against the table until Adam was the only voice he could hear. He walked to the front door and waited for Adam to get across the street.

"Hey, hey! Stop it! Unlock the door would'ya?"

"You really need to work on your responsibility you know?"

"Hey I'm in college-I don't need to be responsible." Hill hung up the phone and opened the door.

"You are a senior in college, even though I doubt you will graduate."

"As always brother, ever the optimist." Adam flung himself onto the couch, bottle in hand. He took a drink then looked up at Hill tentatively, "Where's the kid?"

"Keagan is in her room." He glanced down the hall to be sure her door was shut.

"She okay."

"Yeah, just a little shaken up about the de-"

"Devilspawn, I saw it too. At first I thought it was just the alcohal, but then I realised it was real. Well real to me, no one else could see it obviously."

"I think there are more people who can see what we see than we think." His mind flashed back to the young couple that had run off earlier.

"What'd you mean?"

"I dunno, get some rest. And will you stay with Keagan tomorrow? She is pretty upset." Adam nodded his head before laying back on the couch. Hill walked to his room and closed the door, making sure his alarm claock was set before he fell asleep.

*Sorry long post*

(Ayumi: Hollow world, that makes sense. Rory: No, a human can't get in trouble for purposely keeping a spirit. Tag: I told you all it was going to be long. lol)

Ichidan looked at Kai for a moment. "You saw one?"

"Yeah," Kai said. "My girlfriend and I were on our way home from our date when I saw a Hollow. It had a mask and a hole in its chest, just like you said."

"When did you see it?" Ichidan asked, his voice had gone serious.

"About an hour ago, why?"

"It's not safe here, you have to leave."

"What? Why?"

"I knew there was something odd about you when you came to talk to me," he said. "Your spiritual energy is constantly fluctuating, it's something I've never seen before. No doubt that Hollow sensed it, too. It will be attracted to your energy because of how different it is, and it'll come after you."

"Are you saying it might be coming here right now?" Kai asked. There was fear in his voice.

"It's likely that's the case."

"But, what about everyone else here?"

"Don't worry, I will defeat the Hollow before it can harm any of the students. You still have time, get out of here before-" Ichidan stopped talking when a low howl echoed through the courtyard.

Kai's heart sank as he recognized that howl. "...It's back."

Audra

Wait. What? Did I hear him correctly?

"Kai? What do you mean?" I asked, edging closer to him. "What do you mean by 'it's back?'"

He swallowed, face going white as he peered off into the distance. I saw that fear again, the same as before. That gave me no doubt: it was back.

"What do we do?"

He stared at me. "I have to leave."

"Okay, then, let's go. Let's get the hell out of - "

"No, Audra. I have to leave. It's after me. I won't put you in danger!"

"I won't leave you! Kai...we need each other, you know that. I am not leaving you!" I felt tears coming into my eyes. I hated this. Would we really be separated? "Please. Don't leave me behind."

*I guess we should meet up, seems like a good time... I'll bring Kitty along, I suppose...*

Sally had already disappeared with some boy around the back after an hour. I had found a few of our other friends and introduced Kestrel to them and she seemed to get on well with them.

I yawned. I had had a long day. "I think I'm going to head," I said, looking round. Some of the others nodded.

"We'll come with you."

"Kes, you coming?"

"Oh, yeah, I suppose so,"

"Awesome."

We collected our things and began along the road back to our dorms. Slowly, the group dissapated, until just the two of us were left.

I waved goodbye to the last guy as he jogged up the steps the the door of his building and we carried on.

Suddenly, in the courtyard, Kestrel froze to the spot again. I gave another involuntary shudder.

"Is it just me, or-?" I looked round the courtyard for the source of our uneasiness, but I couldn't see anything.

Kestrel

I saw it again. A figure in the darkness, outlined in a blue light so bright it hurt my eyes. It wasn't far away now and where it stood, I could make out two other shapes. To see one was something but three? Surely I had to be hallucinating. Hallucinating! How could even that be possible without sight?

The second shape was outlined in a darker colour, one I've recently come to know as red and the third in white, these two both human and yet, I knew they were different, so strange, so...

"Kes, what is it?" Sally asked, shifting uneasily. I turned to face her, surprised to find that there was the faintest of glow in the dark, the faintest touch of white.

"What's in that direction?" I asked, as calmly as I could, pointing directly towards the lights.

"A building..." Sally replied.

"Beyond that," I prompted, taking a few tentative steps in that direction to find that, indeed, there appeared to be a building in front of me. Though I could feel the solid wall, I could see beyond it. I could see a light in the dark as if all that existed in the entire worl were those three figures.

"There's the fountain," Sally said, "and I suppose the art block and..."

"Let's go that way."

<Rei>

I waved goodbye to professor Wyne and headed down the corridor. To finish that painting I'd have to go to his next class, which put me in the predicament of missing the drama club's pre-audition meeting. Either way I had to avoid Dad, who no doubt found out I didn't finish my schoolwork yesterday. And then there was...

I gave a deep sigh and headed for the fountain, where I flipped open my sketchbook, took a black stick from my sandal and waited for something to happen. Too much stress, not enough inspiration.

Observing the water I searched for any odd shaped glimmer, anything at all. That was until I realised it wasn't moving in ripples anymore, but in deeper waves.

My stomach tensed, eyes skimming the surface whilst my mind raced for an explaination. Charmen? Snorgotts? They'd never seemed this real before... Perhaps it was about time to visit the psychology department.

The waves grew bigger, even the drops changed their course.

Every muscle in my body turned to stone and an hot shiver ran down my neck.

(I just got back from a karate tournament. I won first place in Kata and second place in sparring. That's a pretty big accomplishment for me since the last tournament I went to I only won third place in sparring, and that was only because my opponent bopped me in the head and got disqualified. But hey, that's what mouth guards are for.)

Kai looked at Audra for what seemed like the longest time. He took her in his arms and held her tight. "I won't leave you, Audra. I'll stay by your side, no matter what." That's when it occurred to him that because this Hollow or whatever it is was after him it might also come after Audra, too. He couldn't let that happen, he'd sooner die then let Audra be taken from him by some monster. He whispered, "I'll protect you."

"I found you."

Kai looked over his shoulder to see the Hollow from before. He wasn't frozen with fear this time. He had a will to protect the one he loved, and that alone chased the fear away.

"What are you doing!?" Kai looked to see Ichidan yelling at him. "Get out of there, now!"

Kai started to move but something stopped him. It was like a giant wave of power was weighing him down. The power seemed to be coming from the Hollow. The creature opened its mouth and lunged toward Kai and Audra.

Ichidan suddenly appeared in front of them. Blood splattered onto Kai's cheek as he blocked the creature's path. He had blocked most of it with his sword, but the Hollow's flat teeth dug into his shoulder. He let out a fierce grunt as he pushed the Hollow away, his sword cut across the creature's mask.

Ichidan fell to his knees, blood running down his body and staining his black kimono. Kai instinctively ran after the death god. "Ichidan! Are you alri-" The Hollow came back and hit both Kai and Ichidan with the back of its hand, throwing them both a few yards away.

"Kai!" Audra couldn't see the Hollow so to her it looked like he suddenly flew through the air. She started to run to his side but before she could get to him the Hollow grabbed her and lifted her up into the air. She screamed as the creature began to crush her with its grip.

Kai saw the Hollow take Audra. A wave of fear and anger washed over him when he saw his lover in the hands of the devil spawn. "AUDRA!!!"

"Kai..." Kai turned to see Ichidan trying to stand. "Do you... want to save her?"

"Of course! Is there a way!?"

"There's only one..." He pointed his sword at Kai. "You... must become a death god."

"What?"

The sword wavered in Ichidan's grip. "This sword is a death god's greatest weapon, his Zampakuto. You must thrust it through your heart..." He coughed and blood came out of his mouth. "...and I will pour my powers into you. I don't know if this will work, but there isn't any other way."

Audra let out another scream as the creature continued to crush her. Kai turned toward her. For a moment his face showed pure fear, but as he turned back to Ichidan that fear turned into courage. "Give me that sword, death god." Kai put his hands over the handle on top of Ichidan's hands. The edge of the blade was pointed at his heart. He breathed in deep, then plunged the sword into his chest.

Kai literally exploded with spiritual energy as his soul was torn from his physical body. The power was so intense that it scorched the ground around him. The sudden release of energy diverted the Hollow's attention away from Audra, causing it to momentarily stop crushing her.

As the energy began to subside a black blur shot across the Hollow's arm. About half a second later its arm split open and spat out blood. It let out a pain filled shriek as it dropped Audra. The black blur caught Audra before she hit the ground.

The one who cut the Hollow's arm and caught Audra was Kai. He was now wearing a black kimono like Ichidan and held a sword in his free hand. He used his other arm to hold Audra. Unlike Ichidan's Zampakuto, Kai's sword was three times the width and almost twice the length.

Kai gently set Audra on the ground. He looked up at the Hollow and pointed his sword at it. "I'll make you pay for hurting her."

(Okay, so this is what Kai is like when he's in his spirit form. His real body is basically dead until he merges with it again. Also, because the Hollow almost killed Audra she can now see ghosts, too. Sorry for the long post, but if I stopped half way through to let someone else post they would have screwed it up somehow and I wouldn't have been able to get my character to do what he just did.)

**Congrats, Dynamo! Nice job!**

Audra

The pain was too much. My whole body screamed against every moment, my eyesight blackening and blurring around the perimeters as everything reeled. It was hard to breathe, hard to stay awake, hard to focus...

What was that thing, that beast that was beginning to materialize before me? And the two men in black...were those kimonos? One of the men was on his knees, leaning dangerously, blood all over him...

The second, a familiar, young man, was battling that...that monster. A Hollow, wasn't it? Hell, I didn't even remember why we were here...all I knew was pain.

The monster screeched as the warrior disappeared in a blur; blood splattered from a gaping gash in its chest. In the next instant, an enormous slab of metal - a sword? - protruded from its chest. My world began to go black as the Hollow was, in a single motion, cut in half.

I groaned, rolling onto my side as everything faded out, disappeared.

"Kai..."

I fainted.