Hollows in the Emerald Isle

The sun set over the city of Galway and as it sank into the sea the night became to take over and the city seemed to wake up. Rose patiently watched as the city came to life with lights. Her Zanpakuto hung like an ornament from her hip, it had been so long she had every raised her blade she wondered if it was still functional. Slowly she started walking away from the city, to where? She didn't really know. For years since she left the academy Rose had traveled the living world wanting to live in peace without violence but it had been an empty few year and the loneness.

She walked long into the night till she stumbled upon a traveling Camp. She had seen the smoke form the camps fire long ago and now that she was closer she could hear merry singing and joyful banter. It was here she spent the night, though no one could see her she enjoyed being around other souls just for a while.

After all the fun had gone from the night and the partier had gone to bed Rose started again on her road to no where. She headed east toward the country's Captain and toward main land Europe, it was the last confident she had left to visit.

After the long boat ride it felt good to be out of the cramped metal container. It had taken all his restraint to keep himself from busting free of the crate and eating everyone on board. Stratus had to remind himself he wanted to keep a low profile. His only way of escaping the city after the last incident was to get onto the ship. He had no clue where it was going nor how long it would take to get there. At some point the exhaustion and hunger put him to sleep. He was woken by a yell from the man opening the container. Although invisible to humans, he did have an effect on physical object. His tossing and turning had crushed the merchandise. With the fresh air hitting his face Stratus forgot his hunger and leaped from the metal bin into the city.

It was an interesting place to behold. It didn't look like any of the other places he'd see. The buildings and streets all looked so foreign. He laughed. He had no clue where he was, but all that mattered was that he was hungry. The strange sounding people were just meat, it didn't matter who. He opened his senses. So few targets. Humans with weak power weren't appetizing. He let his senses go further and he found what he was looking for; a higher spiritual signal. It was still some distance away and the sun was already fading in the sky.
"Perhaps a quick snack." He leaped down to the street and grabbed a passing young man off his bicycle. The clawed hand clamped over the boy's mouth before he could utter a scream. His eyes widened as he being held by some unseen force. Stratus leaped back on top of the build in the next second. Mid jump his fangs tore into the boy. Even muffled Stratus could hear the cries of pain and panic as he was eaten alive. The gray hollow continued to move towards his real target leaving a trail of blood across the roofs as he went.

It was dark when he finally caught up. The target had stopped moving giving him some time. He raced along the treetops. He could sense the target better now. Already it had started to move once more. Suppressing his own signal he began to slowly follow. This was part of the fun; stalking his prey. The chase was always fun. As he moved he found what could only be a small campsite. Stratus' stomach growled. The young boy hadn't nearly filled him. With a snicker he dropped down upon the sleeping humans. It was an easy kill, but he didn't noticed the pet. As he feasted upon the recent kill. The large dog began to bark and growl. It couldn't see him as well, but animals could always sense hollows on some level. He quickly batted the mongrel away, but it was too late. The barks had woken the others and they beheld the gruesome attack. A woman screamed and others started to yell an alarm.

Rose wasn't far from the Camp when the screams reached her ears. She turned to the stop and ran for a second them stop and really thought about that to do. She could feel a spiritual advance being at the Camp but she didn't want to fight but at the same time she could let it hurt the human. She stood tore between her desire to protect and her wish to do no harm. She took a step away from the camp and then another, she began walking away.

A scream cried out to a nearly unhuman note, Rose couldn't ignore it. She turned on her feel the speed back toward the Camp running as shifty as her leg could carry her. The close she came close the scream grew louder but fewer. Stepping into the Camp bodies lay around unmoving,unliving. Rose knelt down to the body of a young man no older then seventeen and wept. Why she thought why would anyone do this pain and violence only breeds the same

Amidst the chaos unfolding he could still sense the target's moments. He snickered as he threw a person down as the other fled in terror. The target was moving towards him. What luck. He leaped into one of the trees that lined the campsite. The fact the target was coming back meant they had probably heard the screams. If possible he wanted to attack before they ran after seen the carnage. Stratus quickly forgot about the other humans in favor of the higher spiritual target. Within moments the person in question entered the camp. From his perch in the tree he saw the young woman kneel over a fallen body. He could only smile. The grey hollow broke a branch from the tree. With his claws he quickly cut off the leaves and smaller pieces. In seconds he now held a crooked looking spear. Stratus pulled back his arm and threw the makeshift javelin at the target. Was this little human really worth his time?

Tear rolled down her face onto the body. She hate it so much why did there have to be so much pain in the word. She closed the boys eye and crossed his arm she could do little else for him but leave him with some dignity as she stood he hand dropped onto her Zanpakuto. It was hard to open, it had been such a long time since it had been used last. In a flash she swiped the sword from it sheath and cut the spear two at least he skill weren't as rusty as her Zanpakuto. Just as fast as it had came out her Zanpakuto was back in it's sheath.

"Please" She called out in an honest voice. "Don't do that. There no need for more. Please i couldn't bare it" She was on the verge of tears yet again. From the spear she gather her attack was in the tree line but she didn't know where not that it mattered, she wasn't about to cause more violence and pain if she could avoid it at all

The hollow watched as the figured cut down the simplistic attack. Not bad at all. Still a far cry from what he truly desired. He could hear the sorrow in her voice. He laughed and then dropped to the ground. He crossed the clearing and stood some distance away from the target. She had skills with that sword, best not to test the strength of the blade.
"You weep for these cattle?" he spoke and gestured to the humans running and screaming about like chickens without heads. "They don't deserve tears." Such a disgusting habit these humans had. "Believe it or not you're the reason they died! You brought me right to them." he snickered. It was fun to torment the woman. She genuinely cared for the useless sacks of meat! A smile played across his lips. He looked at the running crowd, and spotted exactly what he was looking for; a woman and her child. Even better they weren't far away. From each hand he shot a strand of slime. The sticky string hit their clothes and Stratus yanked the on rope. The humans were pulled off their feet into the gray hollow's waiting hands. They screamed. As would anyone suddenly yanked by an invisible force. They screamed even more as the same force pulled them apart.

Stratus now held the mother and her 15yr old son by their necks. The woman in his right and the young boy in his left.
"I'll make a deal with you." he shouted "I will leave this place, sparing the lives of all present, yourself included. But first I must kill one more person, one more for the road." he chuckled. Truth be told he was almost full. Why make a pig of himself? "So you get to choose! Shall is be this woman past her prime!?" Stratus gave the woman's neck a squeeze, and she wailed. "Or shall this boy's light be snuffed out early before it can tasted the finer things in his pathetic life?" The boy was already screaming from his mother's cries, when his neck was squeezed the shouts increased. The people running about didn't even notice the strange scene unfolding. They were too concerned with their own lives.
"Take another step and they both die. And then I'll hunt each and everyone one of these meat sacks down and kill them in front of you." he said coolly. By the time she crossed the distance between them he could easily snap their necks or worse. "I'm sure you don't want all thosedeaths on your fragile little conscience. " He had to admit he was enjoying this more than any fight. What a choice he had given, and what grief it would cause the survivor. The moment was pure bliss for the hollow.