The Middle Kingdom (Kuro Only)

China, "The Land of the Heavenly Dragon", Kurama had been sent here to investigate a strange fluctuation of spiritual energy. It was brief, in fact the sensors only had about four seconds to triangulate its position and with that it was only able to narrow it down to the Shennongjia district of Hubei.

The area is rather unique, in that it is the only county-level administrative unit of the People's Republic of China that is designated a "forestry district". The place was named for the mountains within its borders, usually considered to be the highest section of the Daba Mountains... But China was China to Kurama, it didn't matter where he was in it. On this mission, he would not need a gigai. He was not instructed to go undercover, for whatever it was would be painfully obvious to notice in such an unpopulated area.

The thing that bothered him though, was that is was indeed an unpopulated area. No Hollow, Bount, or other such creature would want to take refuge so far away from sustenance... A normal person would write it off as a computer malfunction but the members of the investigation squad were trained to think unlike a normal person. They were trained to see things from every angle, and forests don't explode with levels of spirit power like that without some logical explanation. He'd have to look around a bit to find out what the explanation was.

He stepped out of the senkai gate and was immediately washed over by a cool, misty breeze. "...I'm in China right?" The trees around him were partially covered in small patches of snow, yet the creek beside him was unfrozen. "The Chinese must find this place to be freezing!" He took a deep breath of air and stretched out his arms. He looked up to find that he was at the base of a large rock face. A small trickle of water poured down the rocky hillside and added the the droplets of water that were falling on Kurama's face. "Note to self, build a cabin out here." He took a few steps towards the creek and sat himself down on a nearby rock. After a few minutes of down time, he decided it was time to get to work. Kurama began sensing around him for anything out of the ordinary, but other than the complete lack of spiritual pressure around him, he felt that nothing was wrong. "Perhaps it was just a computer glitch... Well, at any rate, it can't hurt to explore a little. It'll be like a second vacation..."

The Fourth Seat Officer hopped off of the rock and began strolling about. It was indeed beautiful here, "I can see why so many humans come to visit this place. It has a tropical feel and yet I'm not sweating my ass off like I was in Maui..." Several exotic animals made themselves known to him as they went about their daily life, completely oblivious to the Shinigami walking amongst them. "I doubt these guys would care even if they could see me... I doubt they've even learned to fear humans out in a remote region such as this..." He started to watch a cute little monkey that was eating some sort of lichen. Unknown to Kurama it was a Golden Snub-nosed Monkey, an endangered animal that inhabited this region. He watched the the little guy started to climb up a small tree to wear a slightly larger monkey was sitting. The seemed to begin playing some sort of game with each other, a form of tag or chasing game. Interested in how else these creatures interacted with each other, Kurama followed. He dashed after them until he'd reached an area full of the things. Six... He counted six of them, perhaps some sort of family. He set his pack down and leaned against a tree as he watched the family interact.

He probably watched them for about twenty minutes or so... Seeing how they communicated with one another, how they foraged for food... off of one another... yuck. He watched as they picked up sticks and rocks to use as tools for breaking open tough skinned fruits. One of the monkeys started sending a message on his soul phone... "SOUL PHONE?!" Kurama quickly turned towards his pack which had been dumped out and rifled through... He twitched as he looked back at the monkeys. The one with his phone began to gnaw on it and bash it against a tree. "Cut it out!" He jumped at the monkey and snatched the phone away the monkey was startled but didn't run more than about three steps away and shout that the floating phone...

The other monkeys began to watch the odd silver object as it floated out of sight into Kurama's pocket. He was about to start gathering his gear when an eruption of spiritual pressure washed over him and sent the monkeys running in terror. God knew how much he wanted to run in terror with them instead of head towards the immense collection of energy, but that was his job and exactly why he was placed on this mission instead of some one ranked lower than him. The energy felt familiar... but not the good kind of familiar... It felt like that of an Arrancar...

If it was indeed an Arrancar, Kurama was in over his head. "Dammit!" Kurama pulled out his soul phone in order to call it in but instead finding that the little bastards had damaged the internal chip. He hit buttons at random for it seemed the only was to get the piece of shit to respond. Finally that cracked screen lit up. The words "Message Transmitting" were all he could make out with the crash severing the rest of the text.

"This is Kurama Himura, Fourth Seat of Squad Ten. I'm not sure who is currently receiving this message, my phone seems to have been damaged..." He glared back at the spot where the monkeys had been only seconds ago... "I am in the Human Realm. Area 16, Southern Shennongjia District of Hubei, China. I am detecting powerful spiritual pressure, as of yet unidentified but I believe it to be that of an Arrancar. Requesting backup immediately!" The light on the phone went out probably meaning that the transmission had ended. "Fuck! Ah whatever, looks like I'm going up against this thing alone." Kurama began to shunpo towards the collection of spiritual energy, noticing the mist thickening up ahead. As he proceeded closer, he felt as if all life around him had ceased. He could no longer sense any spiritual pressure around him, not even his own... The mist was now thickening into a fog that began to obscure his vision. A mad cackling erupted from all around him, like an echo in a large cavern.

"Welcome to my domain, Shinigami. I hope you don't mind the mess, I didn't have much notice that you were coming or I'd have cleaned up a bit more." Kurama could see dozens of corpses littering the ground around him. Zanpakuto were scattered and broken like the bones of the men and women around him, it twisted his stomach into a knot and sent chills down his spine, HIS!

"Come out you fiend!" Kurama shouted as he fired off a low-level kido without even needing to speak its name. A gust of wind, carrying thousands of grains of sand burst through the mist and began to soak of water, then falling to the ground, covering it with a field of mush. Despite the kido, the mist was largely undisturbed and was quickly replaced with more of the fog. "Three other shinigami tried that one, but they all needed to speak its name. Since you didn't, I'm assuming that you are more powerful than them, at least powerful enough to have access to more potent kido than a simple Dust Wind, why don't you try something more powerful?" Kurama gritted his teeth as the voice taunted him. "Hado Number 39! Lesser Gale Force Winds!" Powerful winds ripped through the mist and uncovered an even greater mass of corpses, on of which stood smiling at him with blood red eyes. The corpse-looking man laughed with amusement at the sight of Kurama's shock. He took a few steps forward with his hand out-stretched. "Welcome... My name is Kiri. I am the ruler of the realm of fog. We don't exactly get many visitors there... In fact I'm the only inhabitant..." Kurama drew his blade and glared at the arrancar with a fury that few had experienced before. "Ooooh, Some one woke up on the wrong side of the Tatami this morning."

Kurama flash stepped forward, his blade beginning to frost over with the combination of mist and cold that was surrounding him. He slashed through the Arrancar only to see him dissipate into thin air. "Well that's not nice. I guess it goes to show you that not everyone appreciates good hospitality nowadays." The mist began to reform around Kurama, his winds dying out as the stronger energy overcame them... "It seems it's time to show you the door then..." Out of no where, a curved sword sliced through the mist and hacked at Kurama's torso. He had no way of sensing it until it was too late and he wasn't able to dodge. Instead he used his left hand to soften the blow as he lifted both his feet about a centimeter or so from the ground. The result was a large cut on his palm and chest, sending him flying backwards several yards. The cackling continued as Kurama looked around him, seaching for the Arrancar. Once again the blade burst from its silvery, white cover and slashed into his right arm. The gash was painful but luckily not fatal...

He wouldn't be able to take many more of these blows, especially if the man's accuracy began to improve. He wished he were back in Karakura Town with Captain Akarui, Ri, and the others... At least then he'd stand some sort of chance against this guys...

Kuro Akarui's Soul Phone:

Code:

Incoming Message: From Kurama Himura.

"This ... Kurama Himura, ... Squad ... not sure ... this message ... phone ... damaged... I am in the Human ... Area 16, South ...ongjia ... Hubei, China. I am detecting ... as of yet .......... I believe it to be that of an Arrancar. Requesting backup immediately!"

Transmission Ended Due To Loss Of Connection.

((OOC: It's a Rank 6er. So it's right up your alley and not too far from my ability... Combined we should be able to handle this thing... Though I gave it some epic powers to give even you a hard time. No sensing in this fog is permitted. The fog is counted as a wind and water based ability equivalent to that of a level 60 kido spell. It will be difficult to remove even temporarily and impossible to remove permanently. The mist is a passive ability and can not be halted by bakudo spells. He has the ability to move through the mist as if an inter-dimensional door so anything that the mist touches enables him to pass through so long as there is mist on the other side of it. The mist is made up of reisi and is able to be absorbed by quincy and those having similar abilities. The Arrancar also can use the mist to trap its opponents within using the same space-altering ability stated earlier. As long as the mist exists in the surrounding atmosphere, the Arrancar can regenerate spiritual energy but it seems to be lacking any ability to regenerate its vitality. Any blood lost is transformed into a red mist which converts into small "ticking time-bombs" of pent up energy. They are weak but large amounts of blood loss will result in extreme numbers of these "bombs". That is all the info I'll give you at this time, I may have a couple more surprises later but that should be enough to cover anything that you may try to do... Good F'ing luck, may the force be with you. ))

Soul Society had received Kurama's message and forwarded what they could patch through directly to Kuro's phone. He was lazing about in his office out of sight of his squad members. Half dozing behind his desk, he was startled by the urgent beeping his phone suddenly started to ring with. He grabbed the phone in haste and read what was displayed on the screen, muttering various keywords as he took in the message.

"Kurama-san....Area 16, China....detecting...........ARRANCAR!?"

Kuro grabbed his zanpakuto from his desktop and leapt over top of it, scattering paperwork everywhere in his hurry to get to the senkaimon. Kurama was an excellent shinigami with promise. Kuro thought he may even have potential to be better than him one day. But at his power level now, it was unlikely that he could handle an arrancar on his own. Kuro sped through the squad two grounds. A couple of his squad members tried to get his attention and inquire about what had him so worried, but Kuro tore past them all without a second glance. He kept running a dead sprint until he reached the senkaimon.

"I need this senkaimon opened to area 16 and clearance for limit removal immediately!" he barked to a few shinigami nearby. Luckily the information department had made the necessary preparations after sending him the message and had set everything up for him in advance. Kuro had to admit that the gotei could operate with surprising efficiency at times. The senkaimon was opened momentarily and one of the gotei members present signaled Kuro with a thumbs up to let him know that his request had been met. He nodded in gratitude before dashing through the gate.

The gate opened in the same spot Kurama had first arrived in. Kuro felt around for the presence that Kurama had reported, but felt nothing as of yet. Instead of wasting time trying to feel it, Kuro began to look around for signs of Kurama's presence. He noticed only a few clues; the occasional snapped twig, slightly disturbed flora. Nothing telltale that could guarantee that he was following Kurama's path. He was starting to grow discouraged when he noticed a pack lying on the ground surrounded by various spilled contents. He bent down to investigate when he suddenly felt a faint spiritual pressure. It definitely felt like a hollow, but why did it feel so weak? Kuro felt his way towards the signature, hoping that this was what Kurama had reported.

As Kuro made his way forward, he noticed a mist beginning to fill the space around him. He was traveling deeper and deeper into a cloud of strange mist. He drew his zanpakuto and tried to locate the pressure he'd faintly felt before. But strangely, the spiritual signature had disappeared. He was unable to sense anything in this cover of vapor. It made him feel slightly uneasy, but his desire to find and help his comrade kept him going strong with a stern look of stubborness on his face. He suddenly heard an insane cackling sound up ahead. Using his ears, he dashed through the mist toward the sound. He saw a shape through the mist as he got closer being attacked by a mysterious second shape that seemed to keep appearing and disappearing as it struck again and again. Kuro could faintly make out Kurama's features as he came even closer. That meant that the disappearing shape was the enemy. Easy enough

Kuro waited until the arrancar made yet another swipe at Kurama's left side. It disappeared into the mist again before predictably appearing on the opposite side striking at the right while Kurama's focus was on the left where it had just attacked. Kuro had thought it would attack like that and met its face with a palm thrust from his released zanpakuto gauntlet, which he had released silently as he shunpoed into his counter-attack. The arrancar stopped laughing as it noticed the new arrival and faded back into the mist, pausing its attack for a few moments. Kuro figured that it was rethinking its strategy to deal with two simaltaneous opponents. Kuro kept his back to Kurama's as he spoke.

"Sorry I couldn't get here sooner. The communication was a bit fuzzy and the squads had to get it cleaned up to figure out what it said. But now we can win this. Just keep your eyes open."

Kurama stood, motionless, completely stricken with fear. He was only half aware of Kuro's presence... As he waited for his inevitable death, a voice sounded in his mind.


Kurama snapped back to reality, hardly showing more than a few seconds of his mental absence. His mood had completely changed in that short period of time, fear had been replaced by confidence, shown by a light smirk on his face. He held his zanpakuto in his outstretched hand and let all of his spiritual energy flow from him. The air grew even colder as he did so, the arrancar halted his barrage of attacks to watch behind his curtain of mist.

"Bow before the Frozen Sage, Kurounin Aisu!" His zanpakuto transformed into a gleaming icy blue nodachi as the mist around him began to crystallize and form a thick layer of snow. "Touketsu Reiki!" All at once the mist transformed into an intense blizzard of ice and snow, shifting the elemental domain into Kurama's favor. "Now, to show you the kind of pain that all the Shinigami you slew here had experienced. The horror of not being able to see your opponent coming. Now I have the upper hand, and you seem to have nowhere to run."

The arrancar glared at Kurama, he was now completely visible without his veil of mist. Kuro too could easily see the man but for at least the next few seconds, the Fourth Seat Officer wanted a go at the self-proclaimed "Ruler of The Realm of Fog".

"Hyousetsu Katachi!" Kurama's form exploded into a spray of white powder. The blizzard began to pick up in speed as well as intensity. Now one with the storm, Kurama flew over towards the arrancar, still staring at the spot where he'd just been. Kurama reappeared and lashed out with his blade. The arrancar was once again able to sense him but it was too late, the blade sunk deep into his shoulder, spraying blood across the ground. The blood froze and joined the the whirlwind of white powder, fueling Kurama's already overflowing spiritual energy. The arrancar leaped away and took a defensive stance.

Kuro could have his way with the man now, there was nothing dishonorable about outnumbering a murderer such as him...

Interesting Kuro thought as he watched Kurama's new ability lay a huge hurting on their foe. I wonder when he got that power.

But this was no time to be overly impressed. The foe was an arrancar. The mist ability was most likely only a parlor trick compared to what he could do when he got serious. They had to act fast and try and finish him before he let loose his recerrecion. Kuro followed the arrancar's retreat with a quick shunpo, appearing along with him at his distance and slamming him hard with a thrust from his gauntlet in the stomach. He followed this move with a blast of energy out of his palm fired into the pit of the enemy's body. His hierro prevented the blast from penetrating his torso, but it left a large scorched hole in his clothes and a nasty looking burn on his skin. Kuro was about to follow up with a combo of punches when a thought hit him.

Kuro's instincts had warned him of the danger, but not fast enough. As he paused in his attack and prepared to distance himself to give himself more time to think, the arrancar wiped his opposite hand along his cut shoulder, letting a pool of blood well in his palm. He flung the dark liquid at Kuro, hitting the front of his haori with a small splash. The arrancar cackled viciously as the blood grew warm on Kuro's front before exploding with small bursts of energy spread out over the splash zone on his haori. Kuro was minorly scalded, but otherwise not too injured. He shunpoed back away from the arrancar gritting his teeth in annoyance.

"Dammit. It was a trap. He let you cut into his shoulder so that he could make use of this other ability. Watch out Kurama, we don't know the extent of this strange power enough to carelessly butcher him. This will be tricky."